GusGus Polydistortion

GusGus Polydistortion

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Gus Gus' first formal album as a full band was a quietly astonishing record -- the "new Sugarcubes" tag which the band gained was always misleading, since instead of that group's fractured avant-rock approach, Gus Gus always tended toward a mix of understatement and chilling power. Also, the collective had its roots much more firmly planted in dance, but not merely modern techno -- everything from exotica (opening track "Oh" prominently samples Arthur Lyman) to grimy hip-hop breaks formed the basis of Polydistortion. Combined with the cool restraint that defines all the band's work, notably present in Daniel Agust and Siggi's almost unearthly calm (but never totally dispassionate) singing, the result is an effective blend of styles that works from start to end. Lead single "Believe" gathered and held the most attention, and for very good reason. The inspired choice of Kool & the Gang's "Jungle Jazz" for the core rhythm sample was sharp enough, but with further arrangements contributing to the dark, glowering funk on display and Agust's subtle singing delivering either a vivid statement of religious commitment or a sly demolition of same, it becomes flat-out brilliant. No less brilliant lyrically and musically was "Is Jesus Your Pal?," with Siggi's almost childlike vocal a hypnotizing call over minimal, gripping accompaniment. Not everything is quite so heavy, though -- "Polyesterday," the other main single from the album, is a touch calmer, with Siggi's singing meshing with the jazz-funk of the track very well, if still cool all around the edges. Plenty of other strong tracks also appear, such as the gentle but no less compelling grooves of "Cold Breath '79," Siggi's vocals softly wafting among the beats, or the extended jam "Remembrance," both hot and cold at once.

Spear Of Destiny The Singles 1983-88

Spear Of Destiny The Singles 1983-88

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While he hasn't quite achieved the fame and fortune of his contemporaries, British post-punk icon Kirk Brandon has remained one of the genre's most beloved artists. From his late-‘70s recordings with the Pack to his groundbreaking work with Theatre of Hate between 1980 and 1983, Brandon's unique musical vision gained him an enormous amount of respect from critics and adulation from fans. When he suddenly split up TOH in 1983 and formed Spear of Destiny, it came as a complete shock to those who had followed them from their early singles to their album Do You Believe in the Westworld (produced by the Clash's Mick Jones). But Brandon's musical vision had changed and he needed a new vehicle in order to showcase the next musical step in his career. While not entirely dissimilar to TOH, Spear of Destiny allowed Brandon to both expand and streamline his sound. While not exactly the most commercial of bands during their most successful period in the mid- to late ‘80s, SOD were one of the most unique bands of the era.While SOD may not technically be a punk band, or even a post-punk band for that matter, Brandon was still a punk at heart and didn't bother ironing out the rough spots for the sake of commercial consumption. On the other hand, his music was much more accessible than TOH's, introducing him to a larger audience. Although many of his punk fans followed this new venture, many of Spear of Destiny's new fans were either unaware or uninterested in what had come before, which gave Brandon's unique vision a new lease on life. The Singles: 1983-1988 is the best SOD collection on the market, and is a must-have for fans and newcomers alike. Disc One focuses on the single versions of every A-side they released during this period, from their Gaelic-tinted debut single "Flying Scotsman" to the slickly produced "Radio Radio" five years later with the addition of a dub version of "Liberator." Covering both their Burning Rome (Sony) and Ten Records (Virgin) output, this is the most complete overview of their singles so far. Some of the recordings sound dated (as ‘80s releases usually do) and slightly over-produced, but the passion behind them is undeniable. "The Wheel," "Come Back," and "Never Take Me Alive" are standouts, but there are no duds here If that wasn't enough, Disc Two offers up 12" remixes of most of the tracks on Disc One (including an excellent dub mix of "Come Back," which brings its reggae vibe to the fore) plus an extended mix of "Land of Shame" (from the Outland album). Though some may not have considered SOD a band worthy of many 12" mixes, this second disc is a true revelation. Some 30 years after SOD first stepped on-stage, it is a total mystery as to why they are not as fondly remembered as they should be. Perhaps it is because of their ever-changing lineup? Maybe some folks don't care for Kirk Brandon's emotional howling on some of the tracks? Whatever the reason, it's never too late to give them the credit they deserve!

Pet Shop Boys Actually Further Listening

Pet Shop Boys Actually Further Listening

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With their second album, Actually, the Pet Shop Boys perfected their melodic, detached dance-pop. Where most of Please was dominated by the beats, the rhythms on Actually are part of a series of intricate arrangements that create a glamorous but disposable backdrop for Neil Tennant's tales of isolation, boredom, money, and loneliness. Not only are the arrangements more accomplished, but the songs themselves are more striking, incorporating a strong sense of melody, as evidenced by "What Have I Done to Deserve This?," a duet with Dusty Springfield. Tennant's lyrics are clever and direct, chronicling the lives and times of urban, lonely, and bored yuppies of the late '80s. And the fact that dance-pop is considered a disposable medium by most mainstream critics and listeners only increases the reserved emotional undercurrent of Actually, as well as its irony.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Junk Culture

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Junk Culture

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Smarting from Dazzle Ships' commercial failure, the band had a bit of a rethink when it came to their fifth album -- happily, the end result showed that the group was still firing on all fours. While very much a pop-oriented album and a clear retreat from the exploratory reaches of previous work, Junk Culture was no sacrifice of ideals in pursuit of cash. In comparison to the group's late-'80s work, when it seemed commercial success was all that mattered, Junk Culture exhibits all the best qualities of OMD at their most accessible -- instantly memorable melodies and McCluskey's distinct singing voice, clever but emotional lyrics, and fine playing all around. A string of winning singles didn't hurt, to be sure; indeed, opening number "Tesla Girls" is easily the group's high point when it comes to sheer sprightly pop, as perfect a tribute to obvious OMD inspirational source Sparks as any -- witty lines about science and romance wedded to a great melody (prefaced by a brilliant, hyperactive intro). "Locomotion" takes a slightly slower but equally entertaining turn, sneaking in a bit of steel drum to the appropriately chugging rhythm and letting the guest horn section take a prominent role, its sunny blasts offsetting the deceptively downcast lines McCluskey sings. Meanwhile, "Talking Loud and Clear" ends the record on a reflective note -- Cooper's intra-verse sax lines and mock harp snaking through the quiet groove of the song. As for the remainder of the album, if there are hints here and there of the less-successful late-'80s period, at other points the more adventurous side of the band steps up. The instrumental title track smoothly blends reggae rhythms with the haunting mock choirs familiar from earlier efforts, while the elegiac

Various Zang Tuum Tumb The Organization Of Pop (Music From The First Thirty Years of ZTT Records)

Various Zang Tuum Tumb The Organization Of Pop (Music From The First Thirty Years of ZTT Records) London Edition

Various Zang Tuum Tumb The Organization Of Pop (Music From The First Thirty Years of ZTT Records) New York Edition

Various Zang Tuum Tumb The Organization Of Pop (Music From The First Thirty Years of ZTT Records) Tokyo Edition

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Calling the '80s and U.K. imprint ZTT (which stood for "Zang Tumb Tuum" and "Zang Tuum Tumb," depending on the day) "indie" doesn't touch upon how ambitious the label was, ambitious on a Frankie Goes to Hollywood or out-to-change-pop-music scale, and all dressed in expensive, cutting-edge clothing while they unleashed their garish blows against the empire. Acting as the label's co-CEOs, Paul Morley filled the liner notes with flowery prose that even the classical music set would have called snooty, while uber-producer and clever Buggle Trevor Horn produced -- some would say, over-produced -- glorious releases that were perfect for showing off stereos and marveling at studio wizardry. This was not post-punk music in the textbook sense but in the hangover sense, as ZTT didn't care for things being so smelly or messy, but with forgotten, esoteric, and gimmicky acts like Nasty Rox Inc., Das Psycho Rangers, and Anne Pigalle .Any "greatest-hits" compilation of the label ends up just a Frankie, Art of Noise, 808 State, the Frames, and maybe Propaganda mega-set. Razor & Tie's great The Organization of Pop allows the esoterica to flow through, bookending itself with the only thing Grace Jones ever recorded for the label (her album for the often conceptual ZTT was ten versions of the same song) and then some neo-classical music from house composer Andrew Poppy. In between there's Tom Jones swinging his lead on the Horn-produced blow-out "If I Only Knew," MC Tunes battling 808 State on the chirpy "Dance Yourself to Death," and Nasty Rox Inc. combining the sample-heavy music of Art of Noise with the Washington, D.C.-based genre of go-go music on an only-in-the-'80s number dubbed "Escape from New York." There are Glen Hansard and the Frames floating light-rock style, Shane MacGowan taking a break from the Pogues, and Claudia Brucken's post-Propaganda project ACT, but the reason newcomers will want the set are here, too, with all the proper Frankie ("Relax," "Two Tribes"), 808 State ("Pacific," "Cubik"), and Art of Noise ("Moments in Love," "Beat Box") selections landing on the track list and in their proper remixes. Buyers of the physical version get a great essay from Michaelangelo Matos, which captures the thrill of being a ZTT fan as it happened. It's a fine addition to this already loving and valuable release.

The Art Of Noise Influence Hits, Singles, Moments, Treasures

The Art Of Noise Influence Hits, Singles, Moments, Treasures

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Art of Noise. If ever there was a band/concept/thing that was so completely brilliant in its essence, and reached its apogee with its first album, it’s them/it. Their debut, Who’s Afraid of the Art of Noise, encapsulated everything in its nine tracks. If they’d vanished immediately afterwards, it would’ve been a Never Mind the Bollocks-style statement of when hip hop met Dadaism and rammed the Fairlight centre stage while japing around with masks and spanners. It spoke of the beginning of a whole new world during the mid-80s, during the period between the post new-pop fall-out and seriousface issues-based stadiumness. It was of its time and yet still way ahead of it. Influence sees the band – who were essentially composer Anne Dudley, multi-instrumentalists JJ Jeczalik and Gary Langan, along with producer Trevor Horn and journalist/ZTT minister of information and spin Paul Morley, and later Lol Crème – chart their journey through their hits on disc one and throw up bits and bobs from their cupboard of rare things on disc two. Naturally, the early hits are all here: Close (To the Edit), Moments in Love and Beat Box, and then it proceeds consecutively through difficult second album In Visible Silence with the previously-never-on-CD Legs getting an airing and the impressive Duane Eddy hook-up of Peter Gunn. Then it gets a bit sticky; Paranoimia with vocals from Max Headroom is none-more-80s, and the less said about the reanimating of Tom Jones for a version of Prince’s Kiss – taking it from a subtle saucy funk to a blustery strip-night horror should’ve been punishable by death – the better. They did recover some form with the Rakim-assisted Metaforce and its accompanying album The Seduction of Claude Debussy, but the early magic wasn’t quite there anymore. The second disc, with its unreleased mixes, experimental scraps, John Hurt narrations and doodahs, is pleasant enough, but you do sense that a lot of incredible stuff has been left off due to either being lost to time or – hopefully – because it’s being saved for a colossal repackage of the debut. However, let’s not dwell on the negatives: this is a handy overview of an amazing yet frustrating band, and there’s more genius on display in its first few tracks than some acts manage in a lifetime. If that encourages today’s pop generation to explore and develop new music, then Influence will have done its job.

Curve The Way Of Curve 1990-2004

Curve The Way Of Curve 1990-2004

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Curve thrived on contradictions. They were at their sexiest when they were at their ugliest; they were at their most cathartic when they were at their most claustrophobic; they were at their sleekest when they were at their most layered. Curve were also, in a roundabout and involuntary way, considerate: had they been more concerned with melodies and a little less so with textures, Garbage wouldn't have been necessary -- in turn, that later band's members would have less money in the bank. Curve's blurred textures, created in part by guitars subjected to a battery of effects, led to frequent classification as shoegaze, but their sound -- reliant on pounding/driving/pulsing rhythms generated by both machines and humans -- put you in a chokehold, not a daze. There were steady torrents of vroom and oomph, and Toni Halliday's confrontational lyrics and vocals were more likely to pierce through the din than melt into the background. They were certainly dark and yet were hardly goth; they were set up like a rock band but were essentially a dance band. The Way of Curve is the most representative of the band not for its set of wise selections, but for the fact that it's as difficult to classify as the band itself. It lands somewhere between a beginning and an end, not quite a proper beginner's guide while falling short of being a gap plugger for those seeking all the elusive B-sides. The first disc, covering the band's first A-side through its most recent recordings, does include many of the best moments, but a few essential tracks are neglected in favor of too much later, lesser material. (Right around the major-label comeback single, 1997's "Chinese Burn," it became evident that the musical climate had finally caught up with them.) "Pink Girl With the Blues," a low-key, independent-label comeback single from 1996, is one of the most significant inclusions, since many longtime fans have gone years without ever hearing it. Storming and seething, it rightfully belongs on this first disc, pitting Throbbing Gristle/Moroder-like percolations against a kinetic, snarling flurry of guitars. The second disc rifles through B-sides and obscurities, beginning with "On the Wheel." That song is Curve's own "Erotic City" -- meaning it's a B-side that many justifiably regard as the band's apex -- and you don't have to actually see The Doom Generation to know that the scene in which the song is used must be the best one in any Gregg Araki-directed film. There are negligible choices made with the remainder of this second disc as well, the greatest miscue being the favoring of the Aphex Twin mix of "Falling Free" over the far superior original. Even with these flaws, The Way of Curve provides plenty for any form of fan.

Slowdive Pygmalion

Slowdive Pygmalion

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Pygmalion is the most abstract of Slowdive's albums; after moving from the sugary pop of Just for a Day to the more mature and more experimental Souvlaki, the band began to incorporate even more elements of ambient electronica -- drum loops, samples, and songs even less tangible than on previous releases. There seem to be two prevailing opinions of the album, among Slowdive fans: either (a) it's disappointingly "out there," since it doesn't work with the conventional pop underlying the sounds of Souvlaki, or (b) it's absolutely brilliant, taking their sound into the realms it was always destined to go. The second opinion seems a little more reasonable; tracks like "Blue Skied an' Clear" and "Crazy for You" demonstrate that the songs are still in there, somewhere -- they're just buried under more abstract sounds than before. The album is not for those seeking a direct and solid song under the surface -- but for anyone who appreciates the indirect and intangible, it's a stylistic masterpiece. [Cherry Red's 2010 reissue adds a second disc containing the album's demos.]