2011-02-24

Berlin - Dancing In Berlin (1987)

Berlin - amerykańska grupa muzyczna z nurtu new wave, której liderem oraz wokalistką jest Terri Nunn. Zespół został założony w 1979 roku.


Ich pierwszym znaczącym hitem była kontrowersyjna piosenka "Sex (I'm A...)" (1982), której emisji zakazały niektóre amerykańskie stacje radiowe. Lecz prawdziwą sławę przyniosła zespołowi nastrojowa piosenka "Take My Breath Away", która pochodzi z filmu Top Gun (1986). Za tę piosenkę grupa zdobyła Oscara 1986 za najlepszą piosenkę. Singel z tą piosenką (1986) jest do dziś najlepiej sprzedającym się singlem zespołu, a sama piosenka stała się ogromnym międzynarodowym przebojem. Poza tym zespół wylansował dwa duże hity: "The Metro" i "No More Words".

1. Masquerade - Extended Version
2. Like Flames - Extended Version
3. Sex (I'm a...) - Long Version
4. Dancing In Berlin - Dance Re-Mix
5. You Don't Know - Extended Re-Mix
6. The Metro - Re-Mix
7. No More Words - Dance Re-Mix
  

2011-02-19

JOHN FOXX & MOTOR interview


MOTOR: ‘On 'Metamatic' you famously used the CR-78 drum machine. Do you think the album benefited from the exclusive use of one drum machine?’

JOHN FOXX: ‘Oh yes –you got a real sonic identity right away – just plug the drummer in and off you go. There was a lot of bunk mythology about drums in those days – bands routinely spent days getting a drum sound in studios. Used to drive me nuts.
The CR78 was so brilliant, you could get down to the serious business of sound mashing right away – plus you could put it through lots of those little effects boxes that conventional engineers sneered at. They read technical specs and had forgotten how to listen. But all the high spec boxes were crap. Far too polite.  It was the wee cheap ones with the nasty sounds that were truly revolutionary.
At the time, the CR78 also seemed such a little box that no one took it seriously. It was intended for cabaret work  - so you didn’t have to pay a drummer and carry a kit around. Not meant for anything significant.
Drums, on the other hand, were very serious - complex and heavy, with a big skilled guy to hit them hard, loads of mystique - specialist microphones all at different angles and mounted on specific stands– it had all become a daft set of studio conventions. Like getting married is now - you get coerced into spending twenty grand and giving all your friends and family a two-week holiday. Totally unnecessary.
I remember thinking my way clear of it all by using something I learnt in art school – the concept of relative scale. If you allow a thing enough space, it can be as big as you like. So I gave the CR78 all the drum space on the record. That gave it room to expand into a proper presence, rather than being a wee add-on, and it also made Metamatic sound very different from anything else around at the time.
Another quirky thing about that machine - it was a very unhip, non-dancing but capable Japanese programmer’s idea of western rhythms, from a cabaret/ lounge point of view - with fundamentally inaccurate waltz, samba, bossa nova, disco and rock thrown in. Pretty wild. You couldn’t fail to get something challenging out of that.’

MOTOR: ‘Do you think it’s an advantage or disadvantage for electronic musicians today have an overwhelming amount of soft and hardware instruments available to them?’

JOHN FOXX: ‘Another valuable thing I learnt in art school is that limitations can be a positive advantage. If you can do absolutely anything, then your work will most likely be a mess.
Operating from self imposed strictures breeds a certain elegance that people  seem to instinctively recognize.  I guess it’s a relief from the real world, which is a jumble of incoming incoherence.
Compare walking into a minimalist room to a teenage bedroom. Or try putting all your favorite food onto one plate - it doesn’t make a good meal.’

MOTOR: ‘Many of electronic producers today are less musically trained, but much more computer savvy than say the 80's. Everything today fits neatly into genres. These genres become big and then die in the space of a few years. Do you think the lack of human soul and musicality on much of the new electronic/dance music contributes to its short lifespan?’

JOHN FOXX: ‘Things haven’t changed much. I clearly remember a period in the 1960’s when there was a new dance every week –the Watusi, the Frug, the Twist, the Hitchhiker etc – and a new single to go with it  - we don’t remember most of em at all.
I think there is room for both long and short-term stuff - Like the difference between newspapers, magazines and novels – all reading matter, but each aiming at different kinds of longevity or immediacy.
Musicality is vital - but not conventional musicality which is built on observing conventions that can efficiently disable you from engaging with anything truly new.
As for Soul – I think that might mean an ability to make what you have available transmit what you want to communicate.’

MOTOR: ‘How do you feel about soft synths - do you think they capture the original synths they aim to emulate? I was always a big fan of the Pro One and the Arp 2600 for example, but I rarely incorporate them in my songs because of the pain of controlling them and recalling sounds/presets. Sampling these synths creates loop based music, but loses the fluidity of the original synths.’

JOHN FOXX: ‘Yes it’s interesting. You can’t shift a sample too much, and softies are useful up to a point but they are too nice to get really rough. If you want something truly mucky and disobedient, then get an old analogue machine. It’s back to that careful engineering and technical spec stuff - the bad behaviour gets ironed out – but that’s what you really want. That’s the whole point. The sound always has to feel bigger than its medium, otherwise it will seem too feeble and passive.
Pushing the envelope is utterly vital to any useful kind of music. Otherwise it just lies down contentedly on the sofa and gets fat on Cowell.’

MOTOR: ‘If you were to record 'Metamatic' today, would you still use the same instruments?’

JOHN FOXX: ‘Well, I guess I wouldn’t record Metamatic today – Then I was trying hard to write about what I was living through, while everyone else seemed to be trying to make the ultimate punk or prog or pop record.
I found it wasn’t easy writing about the present, because of course its always unrecognized at the time. But give it ten years or so and everyone begins to go “oh yea – now I get it”. 
It’s the driving forward using the rear view mirror syndrome - that’s what humans do. We’re going forward in time but can’t see ahead at all. All its possible to see is the past. So we don’t recognize the future until it’s gone. Then we know what it was. By then, of course, we’re into another unrecognized present. Hilarious, makes you wonder how we ever got out of the swamp.
I guess Metamatic is getting recognized now, because we have that particular past finally in view for the first time. Took about thirty years and I don’t have enough lifespan to do it all again. It’ll have to be the Watusi next.’
  

2011-02-17

+1 - Young Europeans (1985)

    
+1 is a swedish 80s synthpop band made up of Ulf Alvedahl (aka Hull Alvvalley), Thomas Larsson, Thoth, Caj Ehrling and Magnus Wahl (aka Bonk Wahl).


They had three hit songs on the Swedish Trackslistan charts in ‘85-‘86.
The band released one album called Young Europeans in 1985 and the singles (I Don’t Want To Be Left Alone) Tonight, Nevermore (with varied mixes and b-sides) and Young Europeans (7”).


1 - (I Don't Want To Be Left Alone) Tonight 
2 - Peace Army (Long Version) 
3 - Indian Shadows 
4 - Thousand Reasons 
5 - (I Don't Want To Be Left Alone) Tonight (Maxi Cut) 
6 - Young Europeans 
7 - Nevermore 
8 - P.I. 
9 - Arabian Princess 
10 - Peace Army (Short Version) 
11 - Soldier 
   

2011-02-14

Sad Lovers & Giants - La Dolce Vita (Live in Lausanne) (1999)


Zespół Sad Lovers and Giants gościł już wcześniej na łamach bloga:
sad-lovers-giants-epic-garden-music
sad-lovers-giants-melting-in-fullness
sad-lovers-giants-feeding-flame
dzisiaj proponuję w uzupełnieniu płytę z trasy koncertowej z roku 1988.


1 Close To The Sea
2 In Flux
3 Alaska
4 Cowboys
5 Like Thieves
6 Sleep
7 Echoplay
8 One Man's Hell
9 Imagination
10 Colourless Dream
11 Return To Clocktower Lodge
12 Clint
   

2011-02-07

Gary Numan / John Foxx remix competition

     

To celebrate the upcoming Back To The Phuture shows at the Manchester Academy April 1st and The Troxy in London April 2nd, a Gary Numan And John Foxx Remix Competition is being held. This is the first time in their prolific careers that they have been willing to share the creative side of making their music with their fans. The competition involves fans making the best remix of either 'Scanner' by Gary Numan or 'Shatterproof' by John Foxx & The Maths, for the chance to win a pair of VIP passes to a Back To The Phuture show, a signed copy of the latest Gary Numan album 'Jagged Edge' and John Foxx album 'Interplay', and have their remix played over the P.A. at both shows. Entries will be judged personally by Gary Numan and John Foxx. 

The details for the competition are found on the  Gary Numan Facebook page here (http://www.facebook.com/GaryNumanOfficial?v=app_10442206389), the stems to make the 'Scanner' remix are found here (http://soundcloud.com/bttp/sets/gary-numan-scanner-stems) and the stems to make the 'Shatterproof' remix are found here (http://soundcloud.com/bttp/sets/john-foxx-and-the-maths-shatterproof-stems). 'Scanner' remixes are uploaded to this SoundCloud page (http://soundcloud.com/groups/bttp-gary-numan-remix-competition) and 'Shatterproof' remixes are uploaded to this SoundCloud page (http://soundcloud.com/groups/bttp-john-foxx-remix-competition/tracks).

The competition deadline is 18/03/11 and tickets to the Back To The Phuture shows can be bought here: http://www.crowdsurge.com/backtothephuture/.
     

2011-02-05

Cook Da Books - The Collection (198?)

        

Cook Da Books formed in 1980 in Fazakerley, Liverpool, composed of former members of The Dogems and Brooklyn. They initially gained attention with their acclaimed, and politically-charged, debut single "Piggie in the Middle 8", about the widespread British riots in 1981 (which hit Liverpool hard) and other local issues. They then hit the bigtime when they were included on the soundtrack to successful French film La Boum 2. They can be seen giving a concert during the movie, and the track of theirs which was included, "Your Eyes", was very popular, hitting #1 in France and Hong Kong, and scoring the band international recognition, while they remained relatively unknown in their home country and the United States, despite high profile support slots with Men at Work, Joan Armatrading and The Undertones, among others.
www.solitairemusic.net/cdb.htm




01 Caress Me Like A Flower
02 Golden Age
03 You Hurt Me Deep Inside
04 Your Eyes
05 I Wouldn't Want To Knock It
06 Soho.mp3
07 Up In Smoke
08 Piggie In The Middle Eight
09 Silverman
10 All I Want Is Everything
11 Low Profile
  

2011-02-02

Starter - Start (1981)(2004)


STARTER was s minimal electronics/synthpop group from Switzerland, formed in the early 80s by vocalist and fashion designer Francis Foss, Claudine Chirac (from fellow electronic group Grauzone) and Jet Harbour. Later lineups also included Stephan Eicher, Pauchard and Reto Keller.
This album is a compilation of their 1981 album plus singles.

01 Lunapark 3:50
02 Is This Love 3:52
03 Minijupe 3:21
04 Baby 3:40
05 Plastic 3:22
06 Tanger 5:08
07 Tarzan And Jane 4:52
08 Machinedrum 1:24
09 Part Of You 4:39
10 Victim 4:44
11 My Love 3:54
12 Night By Night 6:37
13 Cause I Love You 5:33
14 Victim Of The Beat 5:32