Clock DVA Advantage

Clock DVA Advantage

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Clock Dva were a strange band in the '80s; not so much for their sounds, which were always somewhat misaligned within the Industrial scene, but for the fact that just when they seemed about to break up, they would release a masterpiece (the same thing would happen during the 1990 reunion, a year in which they would present "Buried Dreams", the hardest and most experimental album of their career, ten years after their debut). In 1983, following the death of bassist Turner and temporary dispersals into parallel projects, frontman Adi Newton decided to surround himself with a group of new collaborators (including guitarist John Valentine Carruthers and producer/keyboardist Hugh Jones) and effectively reshape the band's sound. The monolithic Industrial atmospheres of the previous Thirst album disappeared in favor of more accessible music, still nocturnal and urban but decidedly more akin to the British post-punk scene. Significant novelties in the sound of "Advantage" include an unprecedented taste for more open (at times almost epic) vocals and the presence of more aggressive horn arrangements while drums and drum machines create almost dance-like rhythms against the backdrop of Carruthers' multifaceted guitar distortions. A sound that constantly enriches itself with progressively different colors, supported by writing capable of capturing multiple nuances, from the most heart-wrenching moments to the more dissonant ones, between solitary pain and ecstatic exaltation. Instead of empty basements and abandoned factories preyed upon by mutants, the setting this time seems to be the highly romantic one of a large and rainy metropolis. Here, a film noir protagonist roams about in the most classic and dusty of trench coats; the ghosts of detectives with lost souls continuously pass by with their trail of impossible loves, blind dates, and tears lost in the rain. The sense of threat grows from track to track (or rather, from tale to tale) as Newton's cavernous voice guides us towards hotel rooms that have witnessed indecipherable misdeeds, following the trail of coded messages delivered by fatal blondes while open elevators wait to take us towards some kind of 'eternity'..

Howard Jones Dream Into Action (Super Deluxe Edition)

Howard Jones Dream Into Action (Super Deluxe Edition)

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Dream Into Action begins with Howard Jones singing "Things Can Only Get Better," a sentiment that only hints at the good vibes touted by the synth pop singer on his second album. On his debut, 1984's Human's Lib, Jones sang about positivity, but this sequel plays like a self-empowerment manifesto, filled with cautionary tales and anthems of hope. "No One Is to Blame," a cavernous ballad of encouragement which was given a hit revision with the assistance of Phil Collins, exemplifies the latter but it doesn't typify the album, which trades in peppy pop tunes of self-actualization, best represented by the chipper hits "Things Can Only Get Better" and "Life in One Day." Synthesizers retain their place in the spotlight but Dream Into Action doesn't feel like a synth pop album, not in the way the sleekly electronic Human's Lib did. Instead, this is a big, bright album that epitomizes the sound of the mainstream in the mid-'80s, a time when computers worked overtime to disguise themselves as human sounds. And that's why Dream Into Action is, in many ways, the apotheosis of Howard Jones' career: he'd yet to drift into softened adult contemporary, and he still had enthusiasm for his hooks, his machines, and his positivity, the very things that distinguished him from the legions of synth poppers in the mid-'80s. [Cherry Red's 2018 Super Deluxe edition of Dream Into Action is filled with rarities, including the early "DIA Farmyard Sessions," extended mixes, and single edits.]

Two Lone Swordsmen The Fifth Mission (Return To The Flightpath Estate)

Two Lone Swordsmen The Fifth Mission (Return To The Flightpath Estate)

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Andrew Weatherall's first post-Sabres outing (together with Keith Tenniswood) is a truly beguiling cachet of alternately moody and unexpectedly funky down- and mid-tempo electro. Miles more complex and integrated than such future-funk wibblers as the Clear Records stable, Fifth Mission is often as tear-jerkingly emotional as it is goofball lino material; machine music imbued with more than a bit of humanity. Uniformly excellent

The Damned Damned Damned Damned (30th Anniversary Edition)

The Damned Damned Damned Damned (30th Anniversary Edition)

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While the Sex Pistols will always have a prominent place in the story of U.K. punk, the Damned did nearly everything first, including the first single, the smoking "New Rose," and the first album, namely this stone classic of rock & roll fire. At just half an hour long, Damned Damned Damned is a permanent testimony to original guitarist Brian James' songwriting (ten of the 12 tracks are his) and the band's take-no-prisoners aesthetic. Starting with Captain Sensible's sharp bassline for "Neat Neat Neat," which rapidly explodes into a full band thrash, the Damned left rhetoric for the theoreticians and political posing for the Clash. All the foursome wanted to do was rock, and that they do here. Dave Vanian already has his spooky-voiced theatrics down cold; "Feel the Pain" indulges his Alice Cooper fascination while the band creates some creepy fun behind him. Most of the time, he's yelping with the best of them, but with considerably more control than most of the era's shouters. Scabies' considerable reputation as a drummer starts here; comparisons flew thick and fast to Keith Moon, and not just for on-stage antics (of which there were plenty). His sense of stop-start rhythm and fills is simply astounding, whether on "So Messed Up" or in his own one-minute goof, "Stab Yer Back." Though the Captain doesn't get his full chance to shine on bass, he's more than adequate, while James just cranks the amps and lets fly. Concluding with a version of the Stooges' "I Feel Alright" that sounds hollower than the original but no less energetic, Damned Damned Damned is and remains rock at its messy, wonderful Best

The Shamen En-Tact

The Shamen En-Tact

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Besides being one of the few early British dance albums worth its weight in artistry as well as sound, En-Tact is a truly historical gathering of the cream of the new dance music; mixing and production come from a cast including Paul Oakenfold, William Orbit, Graham Massey, Orbital, Evil Eddie Richards, the Beatmasters, Meat Beat Manifesto, Joey Beltram, Tommy Musto, the Irresistible Force and Caspar Pound. The Shamen fare well also on their own productions, and the singles "Move Any Mountain," "Make It Mine" and "Hyperreal Orbit" are infectious techno-pop anthems, while "Omega Amigo" is an early ambient classic.

Gene Loves Jezebel The House Of Dolls

Gene Loves Jezebel The House Of Dolls

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Tagged by most fans as their favorite Gene Loves Jezebel album, with its fabulous sonics, punchy rhythms, soaring guitars, and bright and brash pop melodies, this is also the record responsible for sundering the band. In one fell swoop, producer Peter Walsh turned GLJ from a band whose brilliance lay in their ability to blend rock and goth into something truly unique, into a pop/rock monster. The group itself never sounded better. The rhythm section is exceptionally tight and powers the songs like a metronome. James Stevenson's guitar literally shines, glimmers, glitters, and swoops through the grooves. It's no surprise then that the album contained a slew of songs that quickly became college/dance classics. The infectious "The Motion of Love"; the sweeping lushness of "Gorgeous," guaranteed to hook the listener at first listen; the pulsating, yearning paranoia of "Suspicion"; and the driving "Twenty Killer Hurts," which turned up in a Miami Vice episode, were classic GLJ's songs given an American sheen. What were missing were the gothic shadows, darkwave jangle, and Celtic undertones that once enmeshed the band's sound. The Jezzies themselves hated The House of Dolls, not the songs themselves, but the slick production Walsh covered them in. Co-vocalist Michael Aston hated it most of all, and was frustrated by the group's growing pop affiliation. He quit the band in the middle of recording, and appears on only two tracks, "Message" and "Up There," the album's broodier tracks. Although he later returned, this was to be his last recording with the band. Of course, the album turned out to be GLJ's most successful, abetted by the production, and aided by Stevenson's full-on arena-esque guitar. It's hard to believe this was the same band that gave the world Promise and Immigrant, and in a way it wasn't. 

Thomas Dolby The Flat Earth Collector Edition

Thomas Dolby The Flat Earth Collector Edition

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Exceptionally mature for a sophomore effort, The Flat Earth has held up considerably well since its 1984 release. This staying power belongs to a fantastic ensemble of supporting players as much as to Thomas Dolby's songwriting and crisp production. "Dissidents" steps in cautiously and conjures images of blacklisted authors and ugly snow, gray from oppression. Here and elsewhere, Matthew Seligman's bass is a welcome addition -- throughout the album his work is lavish, growling, popping through octaves, funk-a-fied and twinkling with harmonics. The title track, "The Flat Earth," is a wondrous R&B daydream of piano and Motown stabs of rhythm guitar. "Screen Kiss" has a similarly ethereal quality, and the lyrics are lush with imagery, if occasionally cryptic. "White City"'s drug reference and chugging groove are as murky as they are energizing, so new wavers might find themselves frowning a bit on the dancefloor. Then there is "Mulu the Rain Forest," a globally minded curiosity of foreboding and disorienting samples that certainly feels a long way off from The Golden Age of Wireless. Dolby gets points for shrugging off any obligation to formula, but this voodoo spell has an adverse effect on the rest of the album. What follows is certainly a graceful recovery -- his rendition of 1967's "I Scare Myself" is a balmy jazz club cocktail -- faithfully nostalgic, right down to a bittersweet trombone solo from Peter Thomas. "Hyperactive" is, and always was, one part bizarre to two parts infectious. Guest vocalist Adele Bertei fuels the fire of what was already destined to be a memorable diversion, beyond the reach of Top 40. Thomas Dolby's work on The Flat Earth harks back to a time when songs mattered more than videos, even as MTV was discovering its strength. Last time the songwriter blinded us with science; this time it's musicianship. [The remastered version of Flat Earth comes with bonus remixed and live tracks, as well as Dolby's singles from the soundtracks of Howard the Duck and Gothic.]

Matthew Sweet Girlfriend

Matthew Sweet Girlfriend

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Matthew Sweet's third album is a remarkable artistic breakthrough. Grounded in the guitar pop of the Beatles, Big Star, Byrds, R.E.M., and Neil Young, Girlfriend melds all of Sweet's influences into one majestic, wrenching sound that encompasses both the gentle country-rock of "Winona" and the winding guitars of the title track and "Divine Intervention." Sweet's music might have recognizable roots, but Girlfriend never sounds derivative; thanks to his exceptional songwriting, the album is a fresh, original interpretation of a classic sound.