John Foxx - Glimmer: the best of

John Foxx's MySpace has at last given details of a new 2CD 'Best of' entitled 'Glimmer' to be released in the autumn. Glimmer is a collection of Foxx's solo work over the years, with a heavy bias towards the Metamatic (1980!) and later 'electronica' periods, skillfully, and thankfully avoiding the mid-80s wilderness save a couple of tracks. The earlier Ultravox! period songs are in their reworked versions with Louis Gordon. Collaborations with Harold Budd, Jori Hukkonen and the Metamatics also feature. Rare versions of standard faves also included for the fans.
full tracklisting as follows:

CD1:

Glimmer
Plaza
No-One Driving
Underpass
Quiet City *
Dislocation *
030
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Sunset Rising
Cities Of Light 5 *
Europe After The Rain
Hiroshima Mon Amour *
The Garden

CD2:
Through My Sleeping *
Endlessly
My Sex *
He's A Liquid
Carcrash Flashback V2*
Dancing Like A Gun

Just For A Moment *
Dislocated (with Jori Hulkkonen)
Burning Car
Miles Away
Stepping Sideways (with Harold Budd)
Free Robot (with Metamatics)
No-One Driving (early version)
Plaza (extended version)
Burning Car (Dub Terror/Karborn 2008 mix)

* Recorded with Louis Gordon

Be Dazzled!

"these are the little children, the future in their hands..." - Genetic Engineering


It's here at last..or rather I got it at last. 25 years and 4 weeks after the original vinyl LP issue I finally got the remastered CD version of Dazzle Ships by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. So much has been written about it over the past few years, mostly in the 'unrecognised work of genius' sense, and now at last it seems to be getting the recognition it deserves.

I can't begin to describe the effect this album had on me back then - I'd been a fan since their first album, or rather since the I heard their first single Electricity some time in 1979. I searched high and low for that first album (although regrettably to this day do not have the die-cut sleeve) and became more and more involved with the men and their music as the months and years of my angst-ridden youth went by. Architecture & Morality turned out to be their commercial zenith, and in my mind could only be followed up by a complete change in direction..and it was. (That seemed to happen a lot in 1983, see also ABC beauty Stab and New Order's Blue Monday / Power Corruption and Lies). My only crtique of OMD's oeuvre was that it was too short..i couldn't get enough of it and wanted more. needless to say they were hammered commerically and critically and came back a year later with the more standard pop of the aptly titled Junk Culture, which managed to re-establishtheir intelligent pop songs with an eye on the irony...the rest is junk history.
Dazzle Ships stands as a monument to world of technology of the past, present and future. Found sounds and musique concrete are turned into moving melodies (Time Zones, ABC Auto Industry), social comment into pure pop (Radio Waves, Genetic Engineering). and we are still moved by OMD's stirring ballads (International, The Romance of the Telescope). If you like, a re-interpretation of Kraftwerk's Radioactivity bringing the ideas and sounds bang up to date.
But it was too much for the punters who were edging on new pop: Duran Duran and Culture Club were already on the up while Gary Numan, John Foxx et al were already on the wane.

So take the time to buy or download and listen to this newly polished masterpiece.

Be dazzled!

Dazzle Ships minisite

I love 1980

80s record cover of the day.

Thanks to Remember Music

I Love 1980 playlist:

Les hommes lapins

Box set find of the day : Echo & The Bunnymen's Crystal Days.

Thanks to biblioteca ; E&TB complete discography also available.

Foxy

Foxy songstress of the day award goes to Ms. Shelby Lynne. I saw her on a blog and immediately fell in love without even hearing the music ... which I'm sure must be good. Will give her a proper listen on my way home. Is she British? American? Who cares! An amazing choice of songs. What? Oh she's a country singer .. oh well never mind, I can handle that.

Check out (sic.) her album at nitrofiles

Republic Techniques

Bootleg album find of the day award goes to New Order's Electronic Ecstasy : corny title and ghastly sleeve (not shown) disguise a fantastic recording of a very tight performance from Reading festival summer 1993. The Republic album was not everyone's favourite (their first after the Factory 'split') but many songs are performed well here - Regret, Ruined in a Day, Everyone Everywhere - as well as a few 'favourites' such as True Faith and Perfect Kiss to please the crowd. Others such as the ravey 'Fine Time' or even 'Perfect Kiss' should have been left in the studio as the live performance does nothing to enhance them; Blue Monday was and remains almost compulsory, although again this performance is a little shoddy mostly due to Hooky's rather brash anarchic bass line.

No-one is perfect but this bootleg is a real gem capturing New Order magnificently in those early pre-internet 90s.

.

available through nitrofiles

We Have a Download

Download folder of the day.


Thanks to Pacman for pointing me in the right direction and to all those involved.

Ghost

Best new single of the week
Marsheaux - Ghost






Listen to it here

Apparently on 7" only....

Thanks to Electronically Yours esp for the lovely pic.

Fabulous Fifties

Seems as if there's loads of fiftieth birthdays going around in the musics world of late, so here's a bit of a homage to each of the 50th-birthday boys I'v read about so far this year..
A bit of a mixed bunch I'm sure you will agree, yet all have their merits...

Mr. David Sylvian


Mr. Gary Numan


Mr. Martin Fry


new ABC compilation also available, and new single and album later in the month..

Pop / Art

Music news of the day:

The Pet Shop Boys' official site has news that the duo have covered the The Passions' hit from 1981, "I'm In Love With A German Film Star," with world famous photographer and arty friend Sam Taylor-Wood providing vocals.
I just hope they don't make a balls-up of it as it is one of my favourite songs from the era.

See also: Raiding the Vinyl Archive's post on The Passions.

Crisis? What Crisis?

music blog find of the day:
All you ever wanted about the China Crisis

Engineers

A wonderful Virgin compilation which I didn't get in 1980 but waited 28 years instead to be able to enjoy the thrill of downloading and finally listening to the damn thing. A mish-mash of electronic-based rock/pop music that was going round at the time all with a Virgin label connection. OMD's opening Messages is still a blinder to this day (perhaps former bedfellows Dalek-I could have done with a decent producer too to whip them into shape), and Numan / Tubeway Army shows us here how far ahead of his time he was. Be blown away with The Human League's massively sexed-up version of Being Boiled (see also Travelogue and Holiday 80), and of course Foxx's seminal Underpass from decade opening and massively influential Metamatic album. The rest is pretty much 'no-wonder-they-never-became-that famous' territory (Leer / Badowski et al where are you now), save perhaps Fad Gadget and Silicon Teens' cult classics. XTC's contribution is a bizzarre closing track but shows us how versatile and creative Partridge and co. were at the time.
A must. Don't wait 28 years chaps like I did....
Get it here newromantic rules