Industrial music icon Raymond Watts, better known by the pithy porcine moniker PIG, is making a grand return with the reissue of his groundbreaking album Sinsation. Now available through Metropolis Records and Armalyte Industries, this digital and CD re-release brings the seminal 1990s album back to the forefront, freshly remastered at Abbey Road.
Originally dropped in the mid-’90s via Trent Reznor’s Nothing Records, Sinsation showcases Watts’ signature fusion of the sacred and the sinful. With tracks like Painiac, Hamstrung On The Highway, and Hot Hole, the album epitomizes PIG’s genre-blending prowess, melding hook-laden, electronic-tinged alternative rock with a dose of sleazy glamour and sinister swing.
“Every record I make is PIG through a different noose … and when I made Sinsation the noose hung high,” recalls Watts. “Sinsation was born in 1995 at Ranch Apocalypse in London. The culmination of creation and cremation … an apotheosis of desperation, nihilism and desire … the only place I could go was to the poison well and drink deeply…I was locked inside the studio and myself. The barricades were up in my fortress of solitude with only Steve White and a large box of drugs for company. Sinsation was the sound of the last card turning and burning. The only way out was through. I had to give birth to the noise inside my head and record it. A fiendishly simple and yet simply fiendish task. A place in which I was so uncomfortable that success would be to fail, as to fail had been my only success.”
This revamped edition not only reintroduces PIG’s provocative mix of dark, electronic-tinged rock but also highlights a roster of notable collaborators. Featuring contributions from Karl Hyde (Underworld), Jimmy Cauty (The KLF), Steve White (KMFDM), and Carol Anne Reynolds (Sow), alongside Japanese talents Imai Hisashi (Buck Tick) and Hoppy Kamiyama, Sinsation promises a thrilling dive into its genre-defying depths.
“Sinsation wasn’t anything about the ascent of man – it was the descent of ham,” Watts quips. “As surely as everything passes, so did the spotlight on sin, as the long thin shadow that scratched the words from deep within and conducted the chaos would soon cast its darkness on a new vision. PIG would crawl to a different master in me and hang from a new noose. I was surprised and saddened to re-visit Sinsation, surprised by the energy and invention and saddened to hear the pain … But I was strangely glad to have visited hell, and blessed that I didn’t stay.”
Raymond Watts has forged a remarkable career since his early days in the mid-1980s industrial rock scene with KMFDM. Beyond releasing 14 albums as PIG, Watts has toured with Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, and Einstürzende Neubauten. His influence extends to fashion and film, contributing to collections for Chloe, Marios Schwab, Halston, and The Row, and even providing sound design for the Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Watts also teamed up with Alexander McQueen to enhance the track Inside for the Plato’s Atlantis soundtrack. This collaboration was featured in McQueen’s posthumous ‘Savage Beauty’ exhibition, which set records at both The Met and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Sinsation (Remastered) is available to order here. The limited edition vinyl features two heavyweight slabs of black vinyl, barely containing the sin, sleaze, and salvation that the album exudes. The gatefold sleeve includes two inserts: a 12″ by 12″ lyric sheet and a massive foldout poster (approximately 7″ x 42″) showcasing designer Steve Lovell-Davis’ striking artwork. The fourth side of the vinyl boasts Armalyte’s inaugural etched piece.
On September 28th, PIG launches his Heroin For The Damned tour with Curse Mackey, Stoneburner, and Unicode: Machine—who will be opening each show. The 40-date itinerary (see dates below) follows PIG’s headlining set at Cold Waves XII in Chicago.
You can purchase tickets here.
PIG’s latest album, Red Room, was released on May 17, 2024. You can listen to it below and order it here.
Tour Dates:
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- 9/28/24: Chicago, IL, @ Metro
- 9/29/24: Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze *
- 9/30/24: Des Moines, IA @ Lefty’s Live Music *
- 10/2/24: Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade *
- 10/3/24: Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel *
- 10/4/24: Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck *
- 10/5/24: Denver, CO Kulture Music Hall *
- 10/6/24: SLC, UT @ Quarters *
- 10/7/24: Boise, ID @ Visual Arts Collective *
- 10/9/24: Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s *
- 10/10/24: Seattle, WA @ El Corazon ^^
- 10/13/24: Portland, OR @ Dante’s ^^
- 10/15/24: Sacramento, CA @ Starlit Room ^^
- 10/16/24: SF, CA @ DNA ^^
- 10/17/24: San Diego, CA @ Whistle Stop ^^
- 10/18/24: Las Vegas, NV @ Sinwave ^^
- 10/19/24: Los Angeles, CA @ Catch One ^^
- 10/20/24: Scottsdale, AZ @ Pub Rock ^^
- 10/21/24: Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad ^^
- 10/23/24: OK City @ Beer City ^^
- 10/24/24: Dallas, TX @ Three Links ^^
- 10/25/24 – Houston, TX @ Secret Group *
- 10/26/24: Austin, TX @ Elysium *
- 10/27/24: New Orleans, LA @ Santos *
- 10/29/24: Pensacola, FL @ Handlebar *
- 10/30/24: Orlando, FL @ Handlebar *
- 11/1/24: West Palm Beach, FL @ Respectable Street *
- 11/2/24: Jacksonville, FL @ Underbelly *
- 11/3/24: Greenville, SC @ Radio Room *
- 11/5/24: Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar *
- 11/6/24: Richmond, VA @ Fallout # *
- 11/7/24: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery # *
- 11/8/24: New York, NY @ STIMULATE ME (Bowery Electric) #
- 11/9/24 – Wilmington, DE @ Bar 13 # *
- 11/10/24: Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power # *
- 11/12/24: Cambridge, MA @ Middle East # *
- 11/13/24: Quebec City, QC @ L’Anti Bar & Spectacles # *
- 11/14/24: Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Foufs # *
- 11/15/24: Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace # *
- 11/16/24: Detroit, MI @ Smalls # *
- 11/17/24: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern # *
* dates with Unitcode : Machine
^^ dates with Curse Mackey and Unitcode : Machine
# dates with Stoneburner
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