Mick Harvey & Friends Bring Fairy Tale Terror In The Ministry Of Wolves
Live show/album explores the subconscious madness of the Brothers Grimm. Watch it here.
EX-BAD SEED MICK Harvey doesn't think fairy stories should only be enjoyed by kids. "They kind of shine a light on some kind of dark side of the human spirit in a simple and bizarrely entertaining way," he argues.
To this end he joined the collaborative group The Ministry Of Wolves to work on a stage show based on the wild and haunting stories collected by German folklorists the Brothers Grimm in the early 19th Century, and the retelling of them by poet Anne Sexton in her 1971 book Transformations. Also present are Einstürzende Neubauten and Crime & The City Solution man Alexander Hacke, Paul Wallfisch and Danielle de Picciotto, who notes, "in a fairy tale anything can happen. You can turn into a wolf or an angel!" See below for documentary and musical evidence of the project, involving trolls, wild men and someone with a toilet plunger stuck to their forehead.
The songs they composed for the Theater Dortmund production - including Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel & Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood - can be heard on the album Music From Republik Der Wölfe, out now on Mute. The band are currently touring Germany and Austria but play The Lexington in London on April Fools' Day .
