From solenoid Sent Mon, May 31st 1999, 20:19
From solenoid Sent Mon, May 31st 1999, 20:19
On Mon, 31 May 1999, Andrew Duke Cognition/In The Mix wrote:
> This past weekend I stumbled upon a large bunch of material from
> John Foxx (there were 3 solo albums including Metamatics, can't
> remember the other two titles) and Ultravox (a lot of albums and some
> singles and EPs). Unfortunately, they were a bit pricey, in my opinion,
Of John Foxx (assuming you particularly would like the instrumentation,
the mixing potential, and just how well aged the tracks are)
I'd go for the following priority whereas each one that has a cool
mixable track has a "*" or an excellent track has a bunch:
Metamatic (LP) (the best if I could only have one foxx/ultra rec)
No instrumentals here, but good songwriting, using exotic
raw synths and 100% CR-## drum machine. "Dislocated" & moody***
Vienna//Herr X/Alles Klar (81, Herr X is a German-spoken "Mr. X")
Alles Klar is a Kraftwerkesque instru and the skeleton of a
track on Metamatic) both are very mixable and sophisticated*!*!
Glimmer/This City/Dr.No/? 2x7" (the two b-sides are instr)**
New Europeans (Japanese album with cool Ultravox b-sides)(81)***
All Stood Still//Alles Klar/? 12" 81 (the 3rd track is proto-technoey!)*!*
Underpass//Film One (Film One is cool, but almost too slow to mix)
Systems of Romance (78, best Foxx/era UV LP, rock/punk, arty!)*
Burning Car//? (first single 79?) (bside is cool, but primitive)*
?//Swimmer1/Swimmer2** (81)
Europe After the Rain//This Jungle 7"/12" (81) (no instr, last decent hit)
New Europeans (EP, 4 songs)(cool, but not so mixable as Japanese ver)
Rage In Eden (81) (new romo/new wave,good armchair stuff, electronic)
I did an electro/instrumental ver of "The Thin Wall" at the
Emanate rec release party last Nov and the crowd (ok, just Eric
Hill maybe) went wild. It was fun!
Quartet (82) (full on pop new wave, good songwriting, but not as arty)
The Ultravox from 76-79 had John Foxx and was an arty punk, with some
Brian Eno and Conny Plank production, so you can imagine the odd
punk-electronics and instrumentation. Foxx's voice has a very jagged, yet
distant (like he is belting it out from across an empty parking lot) feel
both in the way he sings and the reverby production. His first solo lp
Metamatics is both extreme in this way (good) and yet really personal.
Metamatics has this atmosphere that no one else could get, not even Gary
Numan, though he sure tried, and it is one of the most unique pop albums I
can think of. He was emulating some 60's pop ideas, but the
instrumentation was so extreme (modular synths, heavy effects, drum
machines) and had no real history or precedence for usage that Foxx was
just finding his way of making pop with these strange new instruments.
What is great about htis is that he really listenned to the sound of the
synths and drum machines and let them play themselves, that is, "sound"
electronic, rather than force them to be like some other instrument...
If you like the Beatles around 67, then the Foxx stuff from 83-86 might
interest you. The b-side to Your Dress has a great example of the classic
Foxx majestic-synth-pads sound and the track is long and sounds cool mixed
over beats. He started to abandon the blatantly-electronic side of his
tunes and got more studio musicians and approached pop music and released
few interesting instrumentals...
Foxx is a successful graphic designer right now. He sells clip art and
stemmed from his original record cover collages and photography, which is
a similar classical-vs-Bauhaus-artschool feel not unlike his music.
Soooooo, if you buy just one thing, get Metamatic. If you don't like it,
you might not like any of the rest really... if you do like it, consider
my list seriously. If you like the instrumentals, you might enjoy Le Car
on Ersatz Audio if you don't already have those 12"s. Le Car is similar
in that they focus on the same drum machine sounds and efficient monosynth
accents, bass and lead bits, though they are pretty minimal and have no
synth pads.
Solenoid