Ed Kuepper is marking 50 years as a recording artist with three releases arriving today via Remote Control Records: the new live album The Exploding Universe – Live alongside expanded reissues of Today Wonder (1990) and Autocannibalism (1992).
Recorded at Melbourne’s National Theatre in 2023, The Exploding Universe – Live documents Kuepper’s first full-band tour centered on his solo material in more than a decade. Backed by drummer Mark Dawson, bassist Peter Oxley (Sunnyboys), keyboardist Alister Spence and brass arranger Eamon Dilworth, the double LP and CD draws from across his catalogue, with performances of “King of Vice”, “Electrical Storm”, “Spartan Rituals”, “Honey Steel’s Gold”, “Also Sprach The King Of Euro-Disco” and more. Kuepper describes it as: “Friends, what can I say…. a snapshot of a special night”.
Originally released in 1990, Today Wonder returns to print on vinyl and CD after years out of circulation and will also be available on streaming services for the first time. Featuring “Everything I’ve Got Belongs To You”, “Horse Underwater” and “Eternally Yours”, the CD edition adds seven bonus live recordings from a Dutch radio session. Kuepper says: “I felt like I was breaking a pattern of working with this LP. After several years of playing tight arrangements night after night, I wanted to find something different in the way I was playing and writing. Something more open to spontaneous interpretation basically.”
Also reissued is Autocannibalism, the 1992 album released under The Aints name. It will be available on vinyl for the first time, make its streaming debut, and include a bonus CD capturing the band live in Melbourne in 1990. Kuepper says: “In a way, The Aints were a reverse/parallel project to Today Wonder. A very similar way of looking at the material, though using different tools garnered a very different sonic outcome. First time ever on vinyl pop pickers… direct from the original tapes.”
The Exploding Universe – Live, Today Wonder (1990) and Autocannibalism are available now on vinyl, CD and digital.