The Hidden Cameras in collaboration with Rough Trade Records, today announce a 20th anniversary expanded reissue of their album ‘Mississauga Goddam’ to be released on October 11th 2024. The reissue features features bonus demos, b-sides and live session recordings. To mark the announcement of this reissue, a never before seen video of the band performing ‘High Upon The Church Grounds’ live at Old Vic Church in Toronto is also being shared today. Also newly available today is a HD upgrade of the video for one of the singles from the album, ‘I Believe In The Good Of Life’, watch below.
The Hidden Cameras – I Believe in the Good of Life (HD Upgrade)
“I’m so happy to finally make this live recording and video available of ‘High upon the Church Grounds’ as it encapsulates the essence of what we were doing in 2002 perfectly. The song was written in Vienna as I was backpacking across Europe before I started a band or even performed live ever. It was written with the idea of a large band performing alongside me with drums and bombs blowing up and about“ and a choir chanting as ‘saints’ – a seemingly never-ending song that starts as a humble folk song and ends as a bombastic krautrock anthem. A song about the church performed in the church at the turn of the millennium. This particular performance was in the chapel at Old Vic in the University of Toronto. We blew their fuse with all the gear and lights we were using during the soundcheck. This was also the performance that Geoff and Jeanette (from Rough Trade) attended and signed us shortly thereafter.” Joel Gibb
The Hidden Cameras burst onto the Toronto music scene in the early 2000’s boasting an irresistible combination of pop and queer sensibilities. Playing self-proclaimed ‘Gay Church Folk Music’ a new genre of their own making and songs ranging from haunted, aching ballads to foot-stomping anthems, the band’s outrageous stage shows packed such disparate venues as sweaty dance bars, art museums, a working porn cinema as well as many churches. Fronted by lead singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the ensemble continues its musical provocations to this day, with Berlin now as its centre of gravity.
The Hidden Cameras’ second album, Mississauga Goddam followed the previous year’s startling debut ‘The Smell Of Our Own’, which deservedly gained praise high and wide with it’s breathtaking melodies, inspired instrumentation and explicit lyrics. Mississauga Goddam was an exhilarating extension of this and much more.
Maverick frontman Joel Gibb is the band’s driving force, while the number of additional ‘Cameras’ performing alongside him sometimes number more than a dozen. This unpredictability is also testament to their desire to be more than a band simply doing what is expected. They have historically moulded and adapted their personnel and performances, depending on where they perform. They have consistently gone out of their way to play in unusual settings, with churches, art galleries, porn cinemas and old peoples’ homes have all playing host to these eclectic happenings. Inspired by the dynamic art world of their native Toronto, The Hidden Cameras often named and theme their live shows, creating specific banners and stage decorations, assembling their own imaginative stage wear and that of their now legendary male go-go dancers.
‘Literate, Baroque, eternally harmonious… an assured classic’ – Record Collector
Tracklisting:
1.Doot Doot Plot
2.Builds The Bone
3.Fear Is On
4.That’s When The Ceremony Starts
5.I Believe In The Good Of Life
6.In The Union Of Wine
7.Music Is My Boyfriend
8.Bboy
9.We Oh We
10.I Want Another Enema
11.Mississauga Goddam
Extras Tracklisting:
12.High Upon The Church Grounds
13.I Burn My Seed
14.Music Is My Boyfriend (CBC Session)
15.Builds The Bone (CBC Session)
16.Fear Is On (4 Track Demo)
17.Steal All You Can Motherfucker
18.Divide
19.Dunes
20.Music Is My Boyfriend (4 Track Demo)
21.I Believe In The Good Of Life (4 Track Demo)
22.Bboy (4 Track Demo)
23.High Upon The Church Grounds (Live at the Old Vic)
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Links:
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