“…government exists to serve and respect the people and can only do so by trusting the people; that every individual has the right to privacy and that personal information is exactly that — personal; that every individual has a right to justice — access to proper representation, to know the evidence against them, and be punished only if a normal court of law has decided the law has been broken; that every individual has the right to communicate, move about, assemble and express him or herself without the state obstructing, interfering with or monitoring those activities; that government and the state are not the same thing; that good government is only possible when these liberties are respected and government is fully accountable to the people.”
Excellent article by Henry Porter in today’s Observer newspaper about civil liberties under attack in the UK. Link below to the full text.
Pet Shop Boys today release “A man from the future” via Parlophone Records.
Recent Pet Texts
I enjoyed visiting “Zaha Hadid: The Architecture of Performance” today — an exhibition which opens at the new Zaha Hadid Foundation in London on November 3. It includes a section about Zaha’s designs for our 1999 Nightlife tour. It brought back a lot of memories! More details at the link below. Neil x
Exciting to meet everyone involved in the new Rambert dance production of Russell T. Davies’ TV drama, “It’s a Sin”, before rehearsals started yesterday. The production opens at Manchester’s Factory International in February before beginning an extensive tour. Tickets are on sale now — link below.
Pet Shop Boys feature in the October issue of ZEITmagazin MANN.
In the accompanying interview, they reflect on their career, their approach to songwriting and their thoughts on contemporary pop music.
Interview: Johannes Dudziak, Christoph Dallach
Photography: Nadav Kander
Styling: Julian Ganio
Pet Shop Boys’ new album, “A man from the future”, honouring the work and life of Alan Turing is number 19 in this week’s official UK album chart and number 6 in the physical albums chart. The album has also so far charted at number 8 in Germany, 7 in Belgium and 12 in Switzerland. Thanks to everyone who’s supported the album and given it such a warm reception.
Parlophone are investigating production issues which have unfortunately created problems with certain tracks on the “A man from the future” Blu-ray. PSB have just been made aware of these and apologise for the disappointment caused. Once these issues are resolved, Parlophone will manufacture and distribute replacement discs to those who have purchased the Blu-ray. Details on how to apply for a replacement disc will be shared as soon as we have them.
Pet Shop Boys’ single “DJ Culture”, co-produced by British dance music duo Brothers In Rhythm and mixed by Stephen Hague, was released 35 years ago today. Explaining the lyrics, Neil said that “just as in DJ records everything is sampled to sound authentic, so in a lot of aspects of modern life – for instance in politics – it is almost as though attitudes are sampled.” These photos were taken by PSB photographer and friend, Eric Watson, during the “DJ Culture” sleeve session in 1991.
Very happy to read the first “A man from the future” album reviews and all your kind messages this week. x
