Pete Shelley - Homosapien (1981) (CD2006)

Homosapien was Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley's 1981 debut solo album, the title-track of which was released as a UK single the same year. The single was banned by the BBC, but was nevertheless a hit in several countries.

The album began as a collection of studio demos recorded by Shelley (and produced by Martin Rushent) for the next Buzzcocks' album. In the process, Shelley and Rushent grew enormously fond of the sound they had created in the studio, which featured an interesting blend of drum machines, synthesizers and sequencers coupled with guitars. Shelley, weary of the Buzzcocks' financial state, decided to leave the band after Island Records' Andrew Lauder offered him a solo record deal based on the demos.

Released at the start of the home computer boom, the album cover featured Shelley in a stylised 'office' leaning on a Commodore PET computer.

As was typical in the era, Homosapien had a different track listing in the United States, with three songs being excised and three single b-sides being added in their place.

In 1997, Razor & Tie Entertainment reissued the US version on CD with five bonus tracks taken from Shelley's follow-up album, XL1. In 2006, the original UK version was reissued on CD by Varep Records. It includes all the songs from the US version as bonus tracks, as well as two other b-side "dub" mixes.
~ wiki/Pete_Shelley

1 Homosapien
2 Yesterday's Not Here
3 I Generate A Feeling
4 Keats Song  
5 Qu'est-Ce Que C'est Que Ca?
6 I Don't Know What It Is
7 Guess I Must Have Been In Love With Myself  
8 Pusher Man
9 Just One Of Those Affairs
10 It's Hard Enough Knowing   

+ bonus tracks
11 Witness The Change
12 Maxine
13 In Love With Somebody Else
14 Homosapien (Dub)  
15 Witness The Change / I Don't Know What Love Is
16 Love In Vain

New Musik - Warp (1982) (CD2002)

 

Like Kraftwerk, New Musik were techno-pop pioneers; Warp is essentially Kraftwerk's futuristic dance music without the German accents and the icy hooks. If the tracks on Warp sound familiar, it's probably because the album's chilly keyboards and mechanical percussion helped to form the blueprint for '80s synth acts such as I Start Counting and Depeche Mode and the electronica artists that followed in the '90s like the Crystal Method and the Prodigy. That doesn't mean they're entirely original. "Here Come the People" opens up with funky riffs prevalent among club-oriented new wave bands from the early '80s; its robotic, monotonous vocals are snagged from Kraftwerk. Tony Mansfield (vocals, keyboards, guitars) has a thin voice that sometimes recalls Tim Finn of Split Enz. Unfortunately, Mansfield sings without emotion and his often cryptic lyrics are repetitive and uninvolving. If songs such as "Kingdoms for Horses" or "The New Evolutionist (Example 'A')" are actually about anything, a casual listener wouldn't be able to solve the puzzle. However, "A Train on Twisted Tracks," "I Repeat," and "The Planet Doesn't Mind" don't need comprehensible lyrics; they may not have much heart, but it can be fun listening to the lads play with their high-tech gadgets. [Originally released in 1982, Warp was reissued with bonus tracks in 2001.] ~ Michael Sutton




2002 Japanese reissue of 1982 album. Includes 5 bonus tracks for Japan, 'The Planet Doesn't Mind' (single version & 12 inch version), '24 Hours From Culture-Part II', 'Twelfth House' & 'Here Comes The People' (remix).
~www.cduniverse.com

1. Here Come the People
2. Going Round Again
3. A Train on Twisted Tracks
4. I Repeat
5. All You Need Is Love (New Musik)
6. All You Need Is Love (Beatles)
7. Kingdoms for Horses
8. Hunting
9. The New Evolutionist (Example 'A')
10. Green and Red (Respectively)
11. The Planet Doesn't Mind
12. Warp

+bonus tracks Japanese CD
13. The Planet Doesn't Mind (7" version)
14. The Planet Doesn't Mind (12" version)
15. 24 Hours from Culture - Part II
16. Twelfth House
17. Here Come the People (Remix)