Not much news news worthy right now so I will just get straight into it.
Here we go...
This is the fourth album from the duo. It was released at
the beginning of 2002. Richard Ashcroft and Beth Orton were featured on
separate tracks as vocalists. The album did well in the UK but not as much in the US. This album
is different from their previous works in the way that the album was created
and there for in the resulting sounds. They started with the drums and built
chords around that. This is different because most people start with the chords
and build from there. The basic sound of the album was based on the white label
release called Electronic Battle Weapon 5, later reworked and renamed It Began
In Affrika. For those of you who don’t know, a white label is a record of
limited release similar to a test pressing but with more copies and put out to
the general public. Because of the limited release they usually go out to
famous DJs and radio stations to get statistics back to the band or record
label.
From what I can tell, there were five singles released from
the album. The first single released was It Began In Afrika. As mentioned
earlier, the song was released before the album was released as Electronic
Battle Weapon (EBW) 5. The song was a big hit in the UK clubs. The song uses a sample
from the song Drumbeat by Jim Ingram. I could only assume that it is the only
words spoken in the track as it sounds as if it were taken from a recording.
The song has a great conga beat that is all over the track. I am not a big fan
of the sound and as such am not really a fan of this track. Nor am I a fan of
the cut up sample that repeats through out the song. This is probably my least
favorite song on the album.
The second single from the album is called Star Guitar. This
is the reason that I bought the album. This song is absolutely genius. The song
plays at about 126 BPM (beats per minute). 120 BMP is considered average for
most songs. That means that this song is just a bit peppier than an average
song and makes me feel like I should be dancing somehow. It has been said that
there is a sample from David Bowie’s song Starman used in the song and is how
it got its name. This is unconfirmed that I know of so take that info with a
grain of salt. The video features a continuous shot filmed from the window of a
speeding train passing through towns and countryside. However, the buildings
and objects passing by appear exactly in time with the various beats and
musical elements of the track. Parts are also cut up and repeated in time with
the music. The video is what got me into the album.
The third and fourth singles from the album, as they were
released as a double A side, are called Come With Us and The Test. Come With Us
starts off with a progressive string loop. There are noises added to give it a
spacey feel then the drums give a fill and the song actually starts. There is a
sample of someone talking relating to some one asking you to “Come with us and
leave your hurt behind…” The song then makes use of the first three words in
the monolog repeatedly in the song. The song has a good beat and beautiful
musicality.
The Test features Richard Aschcroft on vocals. Ashcroft has
a place in music but this may not be the right place for it. The song has a
great video to go with it though. The music that goes with the song is very
special though. I just feel like there is to much negative space for the vocals
that go on the song. Ashcroft needs more music under his vocals for the song to
work better.
The song Hoops was released as Electronic Battle Weapon 6.
This was done in a similar manner as EBW 5. Select DJs and radio stations
received the record. It is a good electronic track but I think that it was not
as well done as Star Guitar. I do like the sparkling feel at the end of the big
hits in the track though.
This is a hit and miss album and probably a part of the
reason that I have never picked up a full album from the group. I have picked
up a few cheap EPs and singles from pawn shops though.
This is the third album by Talking Heads. It was released in
late summer of 1979 and released on Sire Records. The album was produced by the
band and Brian Eno. The album did well in both the US
and UK.
It is considered to be one of the best albums from the group. This is the
reason that I had such a hard time finding a used copy. Although the album is a
favorite from fans, it is not one of my favorites. It is still a great album
from their catalog of music.
There were only three singles from the album. The first of
those three is the song Life During Wartime. The song has a great beat with
understandable lyrics. The song has a sound that digs back to some of their
other singles before this one. I think that this is part of why the song made
it as a single. It also shows where the band is going as a group. The song
works well to also give an idea about the dangers of war time. Especially with
the lyrics, “This Ain't No Party... This Ain't No Disco... This Ain't No
Foolin' Around.” It is a great song.
The second single from the album is called I Zimbra. The
song is inspired by African cultural music. I have never been a fan of the
African music that was brought back to the US from the 80s. I never liked what
Paul Simon did at that time either. I understand what the intent was but it has
never sat right with me. I have on the other hand gotten into some of the
current music, the past five years or so, of artists that have used ideas that
were inspired by African rhythms. It is not the use of African rhythms that
bothers me but the tones that were used to represent African music in the 80s.
The third single that was released is called Cities. The
song is very fast paced with the bass and keyboards leading the song. With the
lyrics the song has a simple point, find a city to live in. But, Byrne’s
surrealistic/humorous delivery is anything but simple. This is not the song
that I remember growing up as a kid but is still a good song that I can get
along with.
All in all this is a good album that I like with the
exception of I Zimbra. With the magic of digital I don’t even have to listen to
it though.
This is the first album from New Order. It was released in
late 1981 on Factory Records. It really was the go-between album as joy
division, with the death of Ian Curtis, became New Order. This was the album
that helped them find who they were going to be with such a big change to the
group. There isn’t any way that I could afford to get this album on vinyl and
most of the singles released from this time were not on the album. For this
reason I got the collectors editions that not only contain the original album
but also the singles that were released that were not on the album on a second
CD.
Dreams Never End was intended to be a part of an EP that was
never released. The song shows where the group will go in the future. Although
Peter Hook sings lead vocals on the album musically the song shows great
promise for the groups future and influencing the future of new wave music.
The other song that was supposed to be released as part of
the EP was Doubts Even Here. This track is also sung by Hook. The song has a
more open sound scape than Dreams Never End simply because of the synth sounds
that are used. The sound is super long playing string parts that remind me of
the sun rise on an open field with mountains or forests in the distance.
Both of these tracks are very good but I would rather listen
to Dreams Never End over Doubts Even Here given that I already know what the
sound of the group would be over time.
There were quite a few tracks that were included on the
bonus disc that were released as singles under the groups name but were written
by Joy Division. This is because New Order are Joy Division with out Ian
Curtis. This means that New Order has rights to the Joy Division tracks. New
Order then went ahead and released the tracks that they were working on so that
the fans could hear all the music that had been waiting for a new album. Some
of these songs are good and some of them are not so good.
There were four of these singles released during the two
years following the release of this album. The first of these was Ceremony. The
song was played and recorded by Joy Division but never released. With the
reforming as New Order the group re-recorded the song with the new lineup and
released the song in spring of 1981. It was re-recorded a second time with the
new member of the band, Gillian Gilbert (who later married the drummer of the
group Stephen Morris).
The second non-album single from the groups early days is
called Procession. Here is a good explanation of the song from Wikipedia, “This
[track] shows the band in an intermediate position between [the] post-punk [of]
Joy Division and [the] light electropop [of] New Order. The lighter pop [feel],
with a strong emphasis on rhythm, overcomes the song's gloomy title, Procession.
This mixed message may help to explain why the song remains obscure in the New
Order repertoire, despite having been a single. The sound is much like Movement's opening track, Dreams
Never End, but with an even more upbeat [feel] and vocals that have nearly shed
the Ian Curtis imitation. The lyrics are abstract and difficult to discern,
given the density of the mix and the strength of the other instruments. The
song is notable, also, because there are brief backing vocals by band member Gillian
Gilbert, which serve as a bell effect.”
The third non-album single from this period is called
Everything’s Gone Green. This was the first single to use a sequencer. The use
of the sequencer would later become a big part of their sound. The use of the
sequencer and the echo on the guitar work in tandem with each other making a
sound that is the basis for not only their sound but the future sounds of new
wave. I couldn’t say that this is the first use of that sound but it was put
out at a very early age of what is the new wave genre.
The last single released from this period is called
Temptation. There were two versions of this song recorded, one for the 7”
version and one for the 12” version. There have been other recorded versions of
this song for other compilations as well. There is a longer nine minute version
called the Alternate Version as the last track on the bonus disc of the
collectors edition. The song is a fun song that is not dark as most of their
music from this time had been.
All in all this is a good collection of extra tracks and the
original album. If you are a fan of new wave or Joy Division/New Order this may
be a needed item for your collection of music.
That's all for now...
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