we try to be on it. but sometimes we’re late.

like today. so, i’ll apologise and try and bring you bang up to date with the Margate Exodus.

last saturday (the 30th) saw the launch of the margate exodus down in on the sleepy Kent seaside with amongst other things the prolific and (I think) pretty bloody great, artist Anthony Gormley setting fire to his Waste Man sculpture on the beach all of which is being filmed by director Penny Woolcock for Channel 4.

“The Margate Exodus is a contemporary retelling of the Book of Exodus, the story of Moses and his search for the promised land.”

The way i see it the notion of transcience, flight and promise is an integral part of the human story regardless of historical context, so it’ll be superinteresting to see what this contemporary film throws up. Not only that, but as a further part of the multi-facetted project 10 singer-songwriters were commissioned by arts organisation, Artangel (who regularly put on original and inspirational art events around the country) to write and record a song inspired by one of the ten biblical plagues.

“Following the original biblical order of the plagues, Plague Songs opens with Klashnekoff’s menacing Blood, via King Creosote’s bewitching Relate the Tale (Frogs) and Brian Eno and Robert Wyatt’s insistent Flies, Laurie Anderson’s mournful The Fifth Plague (Death of Livestock) and Imogen Heap’s mesmeric Glittering Cloud (Locusts) to Scott Walker’s evocation of Darkness and Rufus Wainwright’s tragic Katonah (Death of The Firstborn).” (says the website)

(Not wanting to let the hl nepotism slip for a minute, musical director of the project David Coulter is a former collaborator of good friends of the Horse Latitudes The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britian.)

Anyhoo, the record, Plague Songs is out now to buy on 4AD records - having only heard two tracks I can’t really either recommend or warn you off it - but the roster is pretty awesome, and Rufus’ track is classic lilting, sweeping and soaring Wainwright. 4AD are streaming the album all month, so you can listen to it here

or get Rufus’ contribution right now and right here.