Fever +Fetish

Infobox Album |
Name = Fever +Fetish
Type = Album
Artist = Khanoda


Released = November 2007
Recorded = 1995 - 2007
Genre = Pop, Alternative, IDM
Label = Kommunion Recording Company
Producer = Khanoda, Sean Hansen, TBD
Last album = "klosure. DISPOSABLE KLASSIX AND OTHER POTENTIAL FAILURES (1988 – 1998)"
(1998)
This album = "Fever +Fetish"
(2007)
Next album = --

" Fever +Fetish" is the third studio album by singer Khanoda, with a release date yet to be determined.

Current track listing

#Intro (Khanoda)
#Sidewinder (Khanoda)
#Stray (Khanoda)
#Bocca (Khanoda/Martin L. Gore/Sean Hansen)
#Sugar (Khanoda/Tim Kellett/Robin Taylor-Firth)
#The Second Drowning (Khanoda)
#Runaway (Khanoda/Sean Hansen)
#Cherry Bomb (Khanoda/Sean Hansen)
#Rise (Khanoda)
#Put It On (Press) (Khanoda)
#There (Khanoda)
#Shallow (Khanoda)
#If Only For Tonight, We Could Sleep (Khanoda)
#Cruel (Khanoda/Sean Hansen)
#L.I.E. (Khanoda/Sean Hansen)
#Troubled (Khanoda/Kate Bush/Sean Hansen)
#Down By The River (Khanoda)
#Outro (Khanoda)

*"Note: This is the current track list of songs Khanoda has recorded or re-recorded between 2002 and 2006 for "Fever +Fetish", the official track list is yet to be determined."

Album history

Khanoda’s third studio effort, Fever +Fetish, was a major undertaking since its initial conception almost ten years ago. Originally titled "The BLACK Bootleg," recording sessions that began in 1995 for what would later become "Fever +Fetish" were put on hold in 1997, to prepare for the 1998 release of the mock hits collection, "klosure. DISPOSABLE KLASSIX AND OTHER POTENTIAL FAILURES (1988 – 1998)". States Khanoda:

:"It was never my intention to take that long of a break. That time in between, however, was beneficial once I started up again. The process I went about before while making this album started with not wanting to be like anything that’s out there to wanting to be everything that’s out there and more. Now, I’ve reached that point as an artist that no matter what I do and what influences me at the moment it will have my signature on it regardless. It’s that certain level of self-assurance you reach over time when you no longer second guess anything you do and just go with the flow because ultimately it’s yours." [http://www.khanoda.com]

The BLACK Bootleg

Before "Fever +Fetish," "The BLACK Bootleg" was initially a four song EP of demos Khanoda had recorded from 1995 through the early part of 1996 and made available only on cassette and only through mail order. The four songs on BLACK, An Army of Me, Divine Violence, Sugar and The Second Drowning were a vast departure for Khanoda as a songwriter. His lyrics were more dark and cryptic. "Hints and allegations of our lives before, I don’t pray no more, your savior is beneath my body" sings Khanoda on "An Army of Me," decrying a time when he had hoped to heaven that his heart would go on as he lamented on his 1989 single, Say A Prayer, before demanding "please release me, my sanity is all I have left" by "Army’s" end. Musically, Khanoda had shifted from the alternative, prog-rock sound heard on his 1994 album, Lessons Learned On Leithgow St., to electronic and trip-hop; creating multi-layered soundscapes that were sensual and haunting yet effecting overall as exemplified on the songs, "Sugar" and "The Second Drowning." Overtime, however, while preparing for BLACK’s release, which by then was re-titled "Fever and Fetish," Khanoda continued to write new songs in addition to working on unfinished tracks prior to the idea of releasing the EP. The tone and lyrical themes of the new and completed songs, meshed well alongside the tracks already produced, thus leading Khanoda to concentrate on making a full length album instead.

Fever and Fetish

Recorded and mixed out of Khanoda’s bedroom from his apartment in Philadelphia (where he lived at the time), "Fever and Fetish," the album, was completed by summer of 1997. The result was a concept album that begins with a man disillusioned by a breakup, setting forth to find love, finding lust instead, only again to have his heart broken. Interludes consisting of monologues, dialogues and faux radio adverts were used to meld the songs to tell one story. Although Khanoda insists that "Fever and Fetish" is a euphemism for love, the album’s artwork contained very sexually explicit poetry and pornographic images. The album’s bio written by Khanoda made no reference to the album itself, instead it told a story, a day in the life, of a man; his dreams, his pleasures, his disappointments, and his perversions. Khanoda used his own name for the character. In an interview on the official Fever +Fetish site Khanoda states:

:"I didn’t want people to get involved in the technical side of the album, explaining what was done, or the meanings behind the songs. I had the idea to make myself into this character that once they read the story written for the album’s bio, they would get into the story that’s being told on the album. I wanted the listener to get lost in this character’s world right from the beginning."

In addition, an EP serving as a precursor to "Fever and Fetish" titled 603 muv was released in November 1997 offering a back story to the character Khanoda created.

Dispelling the BLACK myth brought upon through klosure.

Contrary to the liner notes in Khanoda’s 1998 release, "klosure. DISPOSABLE KLASSIX AND OTHER POTENTIAL FAILURES (1988 – 1998)," "Fever and Fetish" which is referred to by it’s original title "The BLACK Bootleg" was not "shelved indefinitely" out of Khanoda’s fear of releasing a new album. During the time Khanoda was working on "Fever and Fetish" he gained the rights to the masters from his last two albums which were to be released on his own label, Kommunion, prior to the release of "Fever." Khanoda explained:

:"I got bored half way through remixing and remastering my first album not to mention it was getting costly considering I was paying out of my own pocket for studio time for music I did in the past. The idea to do "klosure." instead of re-issuing my last two albums was out of my need to give a fresh spin on the old stuff, in addition to including songs that I hadn’t released on any of my album’s, and offer up something that would better represent my past and what I was doing currently at that time as a songwriter and producer. What’s more, when you’re an independent artist, you have to do as much as you can to get yourself and your name out there; especially since I don’t do shows and don’t have the financial means to grease everyone’s palms to play my music. "Fever and Fetish" is very special to me and it deserves attention, lots of it. I didn’t want to put it out and have some sleeper album that would take a year or so to break. By putting out "klosure." it allowed myself time to generate attention without having a timeline to when it should happen."

As of January 2006, "klosure. DISPOSABLE KLASSIX AND OTHER POTENTIAL FAILURES (1988 – 1998)" has sold more than 100,000 copies while Khanoda’s official site receives nearly 3,000 hits daily since its launch in April 1999.

Fever +Fetish

Khanoda resumed work on "Fever +Fetish" in early 2002 with re-recording the album’s lead single, "Sugar" along with several remixes of the track to be included on a maxi-single. The same was done later that same year when Khanoda headed off to London and re-recorded "The Second Drowning," "Down By The River" and "If Only For Tonight, We Could Sleep" as well as a new track, "Crush." In early 2003 Khanoda had planned to reunite with songwriter/producer Anthony Newett—whom Khanoda had worked with on several songs back in the late eighties and early nineties including "Something To Shout About" and "That’s My Desire" —however scheduling conflicts between the two prevented the pair from re-teaming. Instead, Khanoda partnered up with multi-instrumentalist, Sean Hansen of the New York bands Joshua and Park Ranger to collaborate on numerous tracks including "Runaway," "Sunshine," "Bocca" and "Cherry Bomb." The union proved successful. Hansen’s pop sensibility and craftsmanship as a songwriter along with Khanoda’s penchant to cross musical genres unflinchingly as a producer brought a new dynamic to the direction "Fever +Fetish" would take musically. In addition to his work with Hansen, Khanoda further expanded the album’s sound from strictly electronic to multi-genre by re-embracing his club kid past to produce the club ready tracks "Rise," "Shallow," "Put It On (Press)," and "There" as well as borrowing heavily from ‘80’s era new wave and punk/pop as heard on "Sidewinder" and "Stray." With several months of recording to go still, "Fever +Fetish" is shaping up to be Khanoda’s most musically ambitious and entertaining album to date.

feverandfetish.com

In 2006 Khanoda continued to break new ground with feverandfetish.com an album specific site launched exclusively to mailing list subscribers of feverandfetish.com on November 21 2006 that explores love through stories about Lust, Ecstacy, Anger and Cruelty. A sub-plot to feverandfetish.com launched on November 22 2005 and is considered thus far as Khanoda’s most ambitious and controversial work to date. DISCIPLE OF TRUTH is a faux hate-blog featuring sexual and racial epithets against homosexuals, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and foreigners in its entries posted by Truth Disciple, a character that, according to Khanoda, serves as a gateway to the stories being told on feverandfetish.com. DISCIPLE OF TRUTH, or DOT as it has come to be known, has created somewhat of a stir with Khanoda’s audience who found the site to be both disturbing and ingenious but, overall, confused by the artist’s intentions and DOT’s relevance to feverandfetish.com. Stating Khanoda:

:" "Many people who have visited the DOT site thus far are trying to understand my intentions behind it; especially friends and ‘fans.’ It's hard to provide my reasons without giving the story away, and while that may seem both coy and self-indulgent, it's the truth. Many of the blog entries (including several of which that are yet to be posted; including posts on the message board) will have relevance to the stories being told once the Fever site is launched. If I were not to have launched DOT first, and provided an "easier entry" by tucking it away within the Fever site, then the relation between the DOT site and the stories being told would have been ultimately overlooked. And while I don't feel it's my responsibility to hold people's hands and guide them through "my world" artistically, I felt in this case--while considering the average person's attention span--that I had an obligation to do so. Most people have just realized that Khanoogle is not a real search engine." [http://www.khanoda.com]

DOT has received over 60,000 hits since its launch.

In response to what visitors would expect from feverandfetish.com, Khanoda explained on his official website:

:"The story begins on November 21, 2006, the future, not so distant, but not now, while the DOT site is happening in real time. The first story, ‘Sweden Sour’ is told through journal entries and emails, ‘Thr3e’ is a narrative, and ‘Dirty Little Secret’ is a combination of narrative, emails and a series of scattered thoughts after the story’s main character learns some startling news. ‘Dirty Little Secret’ carries on through volume 2 and parts 1 and 2 of volume 3. Truth Disciple’s the one telling these stories, via instant messaging; to a person he met online. TD’s name is also revealed in the first volume, too, but there’s enough thrown in for good measure to confuse the shit out of people." [http://www.khanoda.com]

As of February 2007, feverandfetish.com was taken down at the behest of Khanoda.

Album credits

Personnel

* Khanoda - vocals, background vocals, keyboards, programming and sequencing
*Sean Hansen - guitars, piano, keyboards, drums

Production

* Producers: Khanoda, Sean Hansen, TBD
* Engineers: Khanoda, Sean Hansen
* "Sugar" contains samples from "Miracle" as performed by Olive
*"Bocca" contains a lyrical reference from "Never Let Me Down Again" as performed by Depeche Mode
* "Troubled" contains a lyrical reference from "This Woman’s Work" as performed by Kate Bush

Design

*Photography: TBD
*Art direction and Design: MURMUR Design Group

Previous versions

The BLACK Bootleg (Version One - 1996)

#An Army of Me
#Divine Violence
#Sugar
#The Second Drowning

The BLACK Bootleg (Version Two - 1996)

#An Army of Me (The Lunatics Waltz)
#Divine Violence
#Sugar
#The Second Drowning
#An Army of Me (Epiphany’s Doomsday Dub)
#Divine Violence (Scarlet’s Go Fuck Yourself Dub)
#Sugar’s Piano Interlude (Monk’s Tibetan Dub)
#The Second Drowning (Instrumental)

*"This track listing remained intact after the title of the EP was changed from "The BLACK Bootleg" to "Fever and Fetish."

Fever and Fetish (Version One - 1996)

#An Army of Me
#Divine Violence
#Sugar
#The Second Drowning
#Too Cool
#That’s My Desire
#Passion
#Down By The River

Fever and Fetish (Version Two - 1997)

#Intro
#An Army of Me
#Divine Violence
#Sugar
#Prelude
#The Second Drowning
#Too Cool
#That’s My Desire
#You Need Me
#Playground
#Passion
#Down By The River

Fever and Fetish (Version Three - 1997)

#Intro
#An Army of Me
#Divine Violence
#Sugar
#Prelude
#The Second Drowning
#Too Cool
#That’s My Desire
#You Need Me
#Playground
#Passion
#If Only For Tonight, We Could Sleep
#Down By The River
#Outro