| Turpsycore | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 3 March 2015 | |||
| Length | 3:12:53[1] | |||
| Label | American Patchwork (AMPATCH016) | |||
| Momus chronology | ||||
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Turpsycore is a 2015 album by Scottish musician Momus. It was released on 3 March 2015 by independent record label American Patchwork on CD and distributed by Darla Records.
Turpsycore is a triple album dedicated to music's "so-called 'eccentrics'." Two out of three of discs are cover versions of David Bowie and Magazine/the Buzzcocks' Howard Devoto.[3][4] The song "Ultra-Loyal Sheepdog" began as a Tumblr post in March 2014 when the musician wrote a biography on one of the characters in Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's "Mottai Night Land" video.[2]
The title is a deliberate misspelling of Terpsichore, the muse for joy and dance in Greek mythology.[2][5][6] Likewise, the name is a nod to turpentine and turpitude.[7] Also relating to Greek mythology, Momus is the god of mockery and blame.[5]
The color palette is a reference to Greece's polychrome technique.[7] His later album Glyptothek was published in the same year.[5] Songs from Turpsycore and from other 2000s albums Bambi, Bibliotek, and Glyptothek were recollected in the Cherry Red Records anthology Pubic Intellectual.[8]
The content of the first disc was originally published by Sony Music Japan.[9] The second and third discs of Turpsycore were recorded at the "cabaret concerts" in London's Cafe Oto in September 2014.[7] The cover is designed by Hagen Verleger.[9][6] It was nominated by the German Design Council for the German Design Award.[6]
Bristol's Cube Microplex staff called Turpsycore "a triple disc spectacular."[3] The Japan Times's Devon Fisher commented "[Momus] pays proper tribute to the artists — some famous, some less so — who, like him in his Shibuya-kei days, brought a more literate, worldly and bizarre perspective to the realm of popular culture, refusing to stagnate or get 'over-familiar and over-sold.'"[2] Zitty's Thorsten Glotzmann said it was "thoroughly enigmatic and bizarre – overloaded with literary, film-historical and pop-cultural references."[5]
Heathen Harvest staff reviewed it favorably stating "A good Momus album plus a two bonus discs of off-kilter covers of David Bowie and Howard Devoto songs. What's not to like about it?"[10] PopMatters's Dave Heaton remarked the album was "a truly eccentric three-disc set."[11] CDM's Peter Kirn called the Bowie disc "unsurprising" but the Devoto covers "were just what I (didn't know I) needed – a set of songs tackling sexual ambiguity and anxiety from a singer who was born to play the part."[4]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bathyscaphe" | 2:27 |
| 2. | "System of Usher" | 3:28 |
| 3. | "The Dowser" | 3:02 |
| 4. | "The Boy Camille" | 3:23 |
| 5. | "The Hiker" | 3:00 |
| 6. | "Cameo" | 3:05 |
| 7. | "The Brutalist" | 2:57 |
| 8. | "Ultra-Loyal Sheepdog" | 2:54 |
| 9. | "The Spider" | 2:39 |
| 10. | "The Painter" | 3:02 |
| 11. | "Catholic App" | 4:06 |
| 12. | "Unreconstructed" | 3:33 |
| 13. | "Following" | 3:51 |
| 14. | "Spore" | 4:02 |
| 15. | "The Driver" | 3:59 |
| 16. | "The Hate Horse" | 2:20 |
| 17. | "Foxy Little Otter" | 2:12 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Bewlay Brothers" | 5:18 |
| 2. | "Joe the Lion" | 3:30 |
| 3. | "Be My Wife" | 3:04 |
| 4. | "African Night Flight" | 2:46 |
| 5. | "Sweet Thing" | 6:23 |
| 6. | "DJ" | 4:27 |
| 7. | "Time" | 3:47 |
| 8. | "Lady Grinning Soul" | 3:57 |
| 9. | "Love Is Lost" | 3:35 |
| 10. | "Ashes to Ashes" | 4:29 |
| 11. | "Candidate" | 5:06 |
| 12. | "Conversation Piece" | 3:45 |
| 13. | "The Drowned Girl" | 2:27 |
| 14. | "Letter to Hermione" | 3:33 |
| 15. | "Uncle Arthur" | 2:11 |
| 16. | "Where Are We Now?" | 4:23 |
| 17. | "Absolute Beginners" | 4:51 |
| 18. | "Life on Mars" | 3:53 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Motorcade" | 5:26 |
| 2. | "Cut-Out Shapes" | 4:34 |
| 3. | "Because You're Frightened" | 3:57 |
| 4. | "Upside Down" | 3:56 |
| 5. | "Back to Nature" | 6:36 |
| 6. | "Lady 21" | 3:33 |
| 7. | "Pound" | 4:35 |
| 8. | "Rainy Season" | 4:57 |
| 9. | "Ticket" | 3:47 |
| 10. | "Philadelphia" | 3:31 |
| 11. | "You Never Knew Me" | 5:21 |
| 12. | "Friends of Mine" | 3:22 |
| 13. | "Parade" | 5:00 |
| 14. | "Of Course Howard" | 4:47 |
| 15. | "Smoking Mirror" | 3:48 |
