PATCHOGUE RECORDS RELEASE ‘JACQUES RIGAUT’ 7” VINYL NOVEMBER 6
Venus Bogardus’ elegy to a Dada suicide is an art-rock anti-classic.

Artist: VENUS BOGARDUS
Title: JACQUES RIGAUT
Release Date: 6 TH NOVEMBER, 2006
Format: 7” heavy grade vinyl
Catalogue No. PATCH001
Side A: Jacques Rigaut (4:06); Trying Not To Die (0:20)
Side B: Epoch Zero (3:46); Lord Patchogue (0:30)
All compositions by James Reich & Hannah Levbarg, copyright 2006.

Scheduled for release on the anniversary of the suicide of writer Jacques Rigaut (1898-1929), Venus Bogardus’ first vinyl record is an art-rock homage to one of the anti-heroes of the nascent Dada group. The limited edition, numbered record will feature screen printed, hand-made sleeves and include artwork contributed by Stanley Donwood (Radiohead). The single also features narrative material by Jean-Luc Bitton, Rigaut’s biographer and a special contributor to the DVD release of Louis Malle’s Le Feu Follet, (1966) a film which draws on Jacques Rigaut’s life and suicide.

The song is derived from a dream of James Reich’s (vox, guitar) in which he shared the last hours of Rigaut’s life. Details from the dream and the actual suicide, which was meticulously planned (Rigaut used a ruler to measure the exact position of his heart, employed a pillow to silence the gun and made certain that the bed was fitted with a protective rubber sheet to avoid stains before shooting himself through the heart), became a poem and the song’s lyrics, in a slightly reworked form. All of the tracks on the Jacques Rigaut single express Venus Bogardus’ conceptual intensity and “impassively raucous, louche rock ‘n roll,” (Venue Magazine). As another reviewer states, invoking The Velvet Underground, “Venus Bogardus prove that electricity comes from other planets,” (OppositionT).

The single, which was recorded at The Loft Studio in Cardiff, shall be available through the Patchogue Records web site and select record stores. For further information or to arrange an interview with the band, contact Jo Trew (Media Relations) through the e-mail address at the top of the page.

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Venus Bogardus, named after a character in a seminal work of 1950s lesbian pulp fiction by Ann Bannon, began as James Reich (vox, guitar) and Hannah Levbarg (vox, bass) with their first show at Moles Club in Bath, supporting ¡ForwardRussia!/ in December 2005. According to at least one journalist, they ‘stole the show.’ (Charley Dunlap, Bath Chronicle). Another journalist present was the music editor for Decode Magazine, Miss Gardiner, who became an early advocate of Venus Bogardus and a frequent visitor to Secession Books, the bookshop that James and Hannah owned. Annie Gardiner, a talented guitarist, bassist and songwriter, decided to become Venus Bogardus’ drummer, even though she did not yet play the drums. The band played its first show with her on May 5 th 2006 for the re-launch of Purr Promotions/Purr Records and have been gigging frequently and successfully since.

Venus Bogardus are a beautifully diffident anglo-american band, whose sound is informed by experimental literature and avant-garde art. Their music references no-wave, punk, dada, Low period Bowie, Sonic Youth, Television and John Cale. This, their debut recording on Patchogue Records, is a spectacular gesture. You can learn more about Jacques Rigaut from Jean-Luc's Bitton's website which catalogues his research for his forthcoming biography, and from the publications of @tlas press (Lord Patchogue and Other Writings by Jacques Rigaut, and 4 Dada Suicides). Jean-Luc's latest book is entitled 'Sea of Tranquility' and is published November 17th by Denoel.

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