One-time Looper member Scott Twynholm, who co-wrote the original version, has reimagined “Dave The Moon Man” for the release. Listen to the textual electronics and delicate piano of his remix, opening into waves of layered orchestration.
Originally released via Sub Pop in 1999, this anniversary edition will include remixes, reworks, new sleeve notes and alternative artwork. It will be released digitally on March 8th, 2024 and on transparent green vinyl (accompanied by a Flexi Disc) and double CD on March 22, 2024 via Mute.
Up A Tree was completed while Stuart was still working with Belle & Sebastian which he co-founded in 1995. “I wanted to expand on the spoken word style I’d discovered on ‘A Century of Elvis’ and ‘Spaceboy Dream’,” he says, “and technology had just reached a point where I thought it might be possible to make an album entirely on the PC.”
Up A Tree brought Looper instant acclaim (including an 8.1 review in Pitchfork, who credited the album with originating a new genre they dubbed Folk-Hop). It reached #21 on the UK Independent Album chart, #79 on the Scottish Albums Chart and brought in fans such as Ben Folds who recently called Up A Tree “… a gift of a record,” going on to say, “Looper was in my Walkman headphones on a few memorable tours. I just left the CD, Up A Tree, in the player and watched the scenery go by as we traveled. Both burned into my head.”
The vinyl edition of Up A Tree comes with a Flexi Disc of “Brilliant Paper,” an unreleased track by Looper in collaboration with the visual artist and Life Without Buildings singer, Sue Tompkins, recorded in Glasgow at the turn of the millennium. The double CD includes a remix by Pulp (credited as The Chocolate layers), as well as reimagined instrumentals and acoustic versions by the band themselves. The anniversary edition also features alternative artwork designed by Karn and includes new sleeve notes by Sub Pop’s Jenny Hayo, who recounts working with Looper on their first records and US tour. Stuart’s sister, Karla Black, takes us back to the Glasgow School of Art in 1998, reminiscing about the first Looper show: a multimedia affair incorporating TVs, super 8 film, 35mm slides and kinetic sculptures to accompany Stuart’s spoken word songs. Since nothing broke down and everybody clapped they decided to keep doing it.
Looper Up A Tree 25th Anniversary reissue is out digitally on March 8, 2024 on Mute & on vinyl & cd March 22, 2024: https://mute.ffm.to/looper_uat_25
CD TRACKLISTING
CD1:
1. The Treehouse
2. Impossible Things #2
3. Burning Flies
4. Festival ’95
5. Ballad of Ray Suzuki
6. Dave The Moon Man
7. Quiet And Small
8. Columbo’s Car
9. Up A Tree Again
10. Back to the Treehouse
CD2:
1. Back to the Treehouse (Ambient Mix)
2. Ray’s Golden Fist (Bananahand Remix)
3. Burning Flies (Acoustic)
4. Columbo’s Car (Peugeot 403 Mix)
5. Blurred Stars
6. Up A Tree Again (The Chocolate Layers St. John’s Ambulance Mix)
7. Quiet and Small (Acoustic)
8. Dave the Moon Man (Scott Twynholm Remix)
9. Impossible Things
10. Up A Tree Again (Acoustic)
VINYL TRACKLISTING:
1. The Treehouse
2. Impossible Things #2
3. Burning Flies
4. Festival ’95
5. Ballad of Ray Suzuki
6. Dave The Moon Man
7. Quiet And Small
8. Columbo’s Car
9. Up A Tree Again
10. Back to the Treehouse
+ Brilliant Paper on flexi disc
