''The Coral Sea'' is a

live recording An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

of two performances by

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

and

Kevin Shields Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an American-born Irish musician, singer-songwriter, composer, and producer, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the band My Bloody Valentine. They became influential on the evolution of alter ...

from 2005 and 2006. The set consists of Smith's homage to the photographer, her friend and former lover Robert Mapplethorpe, and consists of the text of her epic 1996 poem of the same title. Shields accompanies in an improvisational manner on guitar.

Recording

The performances were recorded on June 22, 2005 and September 12, 2006 (with a third, unreleased performance the previous night) at Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank. In terms of music the two performances are stylistically different, but the words remain the same. The poem tells the story of M (Mapplethorpe) on a final voyage to see the stars of the

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

before he dies.

Track listing

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from ''The Coral Sea''s liner notes. ;Performers *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, mixing ;Technical personnel *Ben Thackeray –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

Emery Dobyns Emery Dobyns is an American record producer and songwriter, formerly based in Manhattan in New York City, but now based in Nashville. In late 2021 Dobyns produced and mixed "The Masked Singer EP" for Jewel (singer). He is currently co-producing th ...

– engineer ;Design personnel *Xiaofei Zhang – art direction,

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

Release history

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coral Sea, The 2008 albums 2008 live albums Patti Smith albums Vocal–instrumental duet albums Albums produced by Kevin Shields Self-released albums