Gary Numan - We Are Glass

Electro pop would be forever relegated to the zone of 'geeky post-punk curiosity' without Gary Numan. The man came out of nowhere, took the style and brought it kicking and screaming into the mainstream world, whilst still never leaving his integrity behind. Numan would continue to play around within the music, creating intricate sounds and pieces which are so perfectly balanced that they would shatter like glass if even the slightest sound were changed. So it's kinda right for my first Numan review to be We Are Glass.

The A side it We Are Glass, it takes us in with a repetitive beat, and a cool alien symth sound, with Numan comming right in with the lyrics virtually bouncing around the music. The track has a more energetic and liquid feel compared to Cars, a more standard tune really boosted up by it's synths which add a real energy to it, and along with the galloping rhythm guitars, help propell it forward into the future.

The next is a cover of Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopedies (1st Movement), using the synth to give Satie's trademark dissonant melodies an even more ghostly and haunting feel. This reminds me very much of Mort Garson's early electronica. I'm quite a fan of Gymnopedies (learning it on guitar :D , so this track really speaks to me, and it's just so cool that Numan decided to have it as the B side, like, polar opposite of the first track. It carries such emotion and alienation with it.

So here we have two solid tracks on one solid piece of plastic. A great single from a great songsmith!

David Bowie - Low

Low was a real watershed moment for popular music, would electronic music really work on a mainstream audience? Critics were confused, even his record company refused to let it count as part of his contractual obligation, yet it caused a storm on it's release, and ushered in a new age of a new kind of music, electronic pop. Low is one of the greatest and most important albums ever released, born out of desperation and alienation, it is Bowie's definitive artistic statement, and although many people consider it's follow up, Heroes, to be the better album, they're wrong. Heroes expands on what Bowie achieved on Low, and combined it with his more familiar sound, songs were fuller and more formed, but on Low, we had pure emotion. Snippets of information presented to us, lyrics presenting us with the essential facts and nothing more. A sense of bravery and experimentation flows throughout. This is the start of Bowie's 'Berlin Trilogy', and what a way to kick it off!

Bowie was at his end, having just starred in The Man Who Fell To Earth, he was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, he was empty and stressed, his marriage was in ruins and his career was over. Moving to Berlin with Iggy Pop in tow, to escape from his vices and renew himself, Bowie fully submerged himself in the Krautrock scene, Kraftwerk, Can, Neu! and so forth, and this was to inform his last chance, creating an album that's natural yet synthetic, inwardly depressive yet optimistic. With weird stories involving conflicts and confusion with his band, and a collaboration with the artistic Brian Eno, this album really shines and is in some respect a miracle. Mojo magazine has done numerous articles on the creation of and background to Low(including one in this month's issue!), so I'll leave it at that, and go just review the album. As you may have already guessed, I really like it!

Side A is mostly conventional music, starting with the instrumental Speed Of Life,  a motorik beat, repetitive rhythm, and a lead guitar really take us into alien territory, the lead synth gives us a hopeful melody. This is a decent upbeat song, combining Bowie's pop sensibilities with a noticeable Krautrock influence. The short and sweet nature really contrasts with the opening song of his previous album, Station To Station. A funky yet robotic bass guitar and an almost out of tune guitar take us into the second track, Breaking Glass, with lyrics inspired by a fight Bowie got himself in, we're told a story in snippets, and an acknowledgement of his own flaws. We get a neat synth sound throughout in places. It's a great, short, well written song which fades out, taking us into What In The World. With lyrics about 'a little world with grey eyes', this sounds the most 'Bowie' track on the album, with some great guitar, and the repetitive motorik beat still carrying on. The lyrics tell a story, yet still feel somewhat abstracted, and some occasionally out of time singing overlapped works brilliantly.

The hit single Sound And Vision takes us in with a pleasant guitar riff, funky bass and the same motorik drum beat. In true Krautrock style, it opens with an extended instrumental section, synth patterns and so on. It's a very upbeat piece involving sometimes undecipherable lyrics. He starts singling with the chorus and we're treated to some true abstract lyrics, this song is perhaps the true turning point on how the music is lifting out of his solitude and into a new world of colour and optimism. The next song is Always Crashing In The Same Car, which like Breaking Glass, is a very straightforward lyrical theme. Again, the same motorik beat, and some nice lead guitar work, some bubbling synths in the background over an instrumental section. Bowie really lets the groove work itself out here, the upbeat music contrasting his rather subdued and melancholy singing, but it just really works out. The solo is excellent in the psychedelic/prog style, really fitting into place. Next Bowie asks someone to Be My Wife, a cry for help during his fractious marriage which is disintegrating before his very eyes. The guitar is distorted and out of tune, the beat the same as before, the music dramatic. Our man's isolation and loneliness really comes out here, showing a search for belonging, a quest for love. A romantic way of dealing with a gruelling divorce case.  Again the guitar solo really kicks it in the bag, with equal melancholy and upbeatness. The first side ends with the instrumental A New Career In New Town, opening up with a sombre beat, and ghostly synth chords, it then kicks it up a not, bringing back the motorik beat from before, an upbeat melody and a true uplifting feel, Bowie is crawling up from the depths of desperation. As the title suggests, this instrumental track represents the new found hope he felt during his move to Berlin, and his adoption of a more electric style, free from the excesses of conventional rock. There's hints of Kraftwerk and Neu! on this track. Notably, the studio this album was recorded in was situated opposite Kraftwerk's legendary Kling Klang studio. The track fades out into upbeatness. A thoroughly enjoyable first side, nice upbeat music, and a real solid drumbeat throughout.

Side B opens with Warszawa, a track which inspired Joy Division so much that they were initially called Warsaw (Spandau Ballet were also so enamoured with this album that their name comes from an area of Berlin). starting with a moody piano beating over a subtle synth, the track opens up with a haunting melody reminiscent of Wendy/Walter Carlos' Clockwork Orange soundtrack. The piano beat becomes more synthy, emphasising a sense of isolation and yet wonder at the newly developing futuristic landscape, it's exploration not just of music, but of this brave new world. It's a sad track, and it allows itself to fully develop and emotional feeling throughout. Yes, it's sad, but it's a bittersweet sadness, one laced with silent hope. This side of the album is the one which really changed popular music, combining Brian Eno's idea of musical soundtracks for visions, with Bowie's amazing writing abilities, music of the most experimental nature! The track cools down, leading Bowie into some tribal style chanting over this haunting beat, suggesting a future world. The melody slows right down before returning to it's main motif, that of exploration. I close my eyes and this track brings forth visions of steel and glass, a clinical clean world of magic. The next track is Art Decade, featuring a moving synth melody, somehow playful yet haunting over a steady beat. Futuristic sound effects flow around, but this track really feels like isolation, loneliness, walking alone in the futuristic world and taking in the sights, sounds, atmosphere. a total synth track, this serves as the counterpoint to Kraftwerk's Autobahn, the fun of driving slows down, and we are now in a place to take in all the details of the surrounding view. The chords build up, and overtake the melody as the track fades away.

The next track is Weeping Wall, vibes enter the scene, creating a constant beat, as a harsh synth takes the lead, the beat dictated by synth. The lead melody is playful yet again somewhat haunting, but the beat ups the pace compared to the previous two tracks. A distorted guitar emanates a sense of melancholy, while the rest of the track is upbeat. Is this our man bowie coming to terms with himself? chanting returns, crying, while then repeated by the synth melody. It's a track which feels lonely, yet also feels alive. It's got concealed hope, like most tracks on this album. The melody is utterly sublime, and at the end some heavy chords take over before it fades into silence. The album closes with Subterraneans, which greets us with some more alien chords, and some reversed sounds, it's a melancholy sound, describing again this strange futuristic world. To a man coming out of isolation/addiction, the world around him must have seemed strange and alien. The melody is haunting, based upon swells of sound, heavenly yet haunting. Bowie's chanting makes a return, following the melody, and suddenly the chord swells feel less melancholic, the melody less haunting, yet the track is still ghostly. A saxophone now comes in, an almost filmic sound, playing over the backing , flowing like liquid into Bowie's chants which're again both upbeat and downbeat, the track brings back the sax as it draws to it's close, Sax over chanting over synth, it's that sense of bittersweetness, that carries the album onwards, with more melodies overlapping, building a sensation before fading into silence forever.

To say this album is a MUST HAVE is a total understatement, it is truly one of the most amazing experiences that your ears can receive. A totally new world unleashed on an unsuspecting public. I think that everyone should get a copy of this album, regardless of taste, you'll find something amazing inside. A mixture of conflicting emotions, new sensations and unbeatable writing. I first heard this album at the age of seventeen, and seven years on and hundreds of listens later, I am still finding new things, new sounds, new feelings. This isn't just Bowie's finest hour, but popular music's finest hour!

I have Low on CD and Vinyl, as well as the single Sound And Vision on vinyl, and I do have to say, the CD version has more clarity of the sounds, it is very precise, yet lacks the air and volume of the vinyl release, which feels far more spacious. The CD is like a high definition photograph, highly detailed yet flattened, while listening to it on Vinyl is like being there and taking it all in. Both are of high quality, and so I'll leave it to you to make your mind up, I prefer the vinyl LP due to it's sense of space and density.

Ultravox - Vienna

Ultravox, fronted by Midge Ure are a new wave pop group fronted by Midge Ure (one of the key men behind Live Aid) who managed to combine an experimental and interesting take on electronic music with proper solid pop sensibilities. Their classic 1981 hit, Vienna, helped secure the future of electro-pop.

Side A first, Vienna. a ghostly note, an echoed kick and Ure sings, sombre and moody. The melody is haunting, dancing in the back ground. Then an organ and piano come in with the chorus 'it means nothing to me...' bringing the bassline with it, and a neat piano melody. The second verse with more synth effects and piano plonks. I love the chorus of this track, it really stands out as powerful and cinematic, different from the coldness that electronica was associated with. We get a neat instrumental section, repeating the rythm and then speeding up with violin sounds in a faux-orchestrial style. Again, very cinematic, heading for a conclusion, the chorus. It splashes out with some cymbal crashes and a slow grind to end. It's a great song, enjoyable and musically interesting. Plus the textures of those synths just melt the ears.

The B side is called Passionate Reply. Can it live up to the first track? We get a funky Kraftwerk style beat comming in, beefed up with some guitar. Ure does his best Phil Oakey style singing here. This track kics up a steady beat, doesn't change up much but again the use of synth textures keeps it pretty fresh. Repetative can be good afterall. We are treated to a nice instrumental break which sounds like an 80's pop version of Frippatronics. A neat soundscaping made of distorted and merged tones, just with more distortion here. The track begins to speed up as we approach the end. All in all it's quite good, but it's no Vienna.

So then, we have one amazing song and one good song. All in all, a single worth picking up. It's good music.

Mort Garson - Electronic Hair Pieces

Mort Garson is perhaps one of the most influencial unknowns in twentieth century music, his experimental electronic music, made in the sixties, was lightyears beyond what anybody else could dream of. With a string of albums such as the Wozard Of Iz, Signs Of The Zodiac and Black mass, Garson created space age worlds of never before heard sounds. Proper electronic music, proper surreal worlds. This album is a take on the infamous musical, Hair, rendered in an amazingly futuristic and yet somewhat haunting way by Garson's genius. (NOTE: I have not seen the musical, so imagery I use to describe is inspired solely by the music on this record)

A springy aquatic rythm brings us into the first track, Aquarious, verses out of tune and violin like until the chorus plonks in, recognisable and layered of electronic sounds. The music keeps it sounding wet, dripping and the chorus has this kkinda epic majesty to it. It's amazingly done with all analogue electronics. No singing here, just pure space age music. Track two is Frank Mills, a gentle walking kinda music, echoed chords replace soft guitar strums, and a plonky keyboard forms the main melody, resembling an old Sega Master System game's music. It's very sweet and very short. We then get into Be In (Hare Krishna) via a pulsating rythm and a harsh sounding electronic lead, a distorted keyboard. The music pulsates further with percussion taking in, it all loops around the central melody with extra pianos to give texture, then suddenly it gets loud. Violent and fun, the synthyness comes up, the pulsating rythm becomes stronger, and the lead becomes more frivolous and we get treated to some fun pre-Hawkwind spacey wooshes. It's sounding very much like BBC's Radiophonic Workshop, I guess because of the same gear being used. The famous song Good Morning Starshine enters witha Super mario brothers style bassline, a space age keyboard souond plays us the melody, extra texture comes in and we hear the famous 'moog cat' sound. This track keeps a good pace and is nice and gentle after the psychedelic trip of the previous number. Garson manages to bring a nice optimistic sound to what could be harsh electronics a-la Kraftwerk, but this is the polar opposite.  Side 1 ends with Three-Five-Zero-Zero, starting with harsh electronics and wooshes in a very very Radiophonic style, we then get a lovely plonky rythm and beat comming along, and a melody which sounds like it's played flat, but could just be the patch used for it. It's haunting indeed, contrasting the previous song. At moments it's melancholic, at others it marches along. Harsh sounds and whooshes take over ontop of the beat, creating a total headfuck. Kinda an ideal end for the first half of a truely unique trip.

Side two begins with a menacing rythm, punctuated by drowning arps and then the melody comes in in a rather weak whispy noise, background arpeggios come in and more textures make the sound thicker. The track melds into Land Of The Free, and it returns to the normal track. this is the famous song, Hair, but turned into a haunting futuristic world. Bleak and cynical. Track two, Easy To Be Heard, begines more lighthearted and exploratory, it has a sense of wonder and yearning adventure. A playful moog sound for the melody that stretches out to find itself, and is really enjoyable. A flute-like sound comes in, adding more to this adventerous sound, we're walking through woodlands or forests or across landscapes, hills and valleys. Track three askes the question, Where Do I Go? in a wonderful spacey playful tune, it sounds like it's kinda cold and isolated yet warm at the same time, it is very curious, the music reflects the puzzling question in it's title. It's a kinda meandering melody, but seems to stay rather safe, but some nice jazz hooks at points do keep it fresh. Yes, jazz hooks in electronica. The track fades out and we are left with just two more numbers, first is Walking In Space, A majestic WHOOSH followed by a pinky melody become the motif of this ditty. It then bounces and layers on reverbed and echoed sounds, a proper space age feel, before becomming a kinda jazzy number with a decent bassline, space jazz, but not in the Sun Ra variety. Whooshes again return to remind us we are in space, and the rythm changes once again, upbeat and active. Fun and playful. The album finishes off with Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures), starting with a nice beat and some slamming playing just with incredible weight behind the echoed notes. It sounds truely menacing and archaic at the same time, the gentler melody is haunting and melancholic, also almost detuned. Even the playful sections are ghostly. The beat becomes even more aquatic as the track continues, and the whole number fades away.

this album is still such a new and exciting sound, creating a full range of emotions and space age noises with electronic instruments. Mort Garson takes the hair music, and creates his oqen world with it, old hippy ideals become cynical and isolated in a futuristic soundscape. Garson was a true master of layering electronic sounds to create impossible music, and was lightyears ahead of his contemporaries in the field of electronica. This album truely deserves to belong in every home, a real MUST HAVE.

Orchestrial Manoeuvres in the Dark - Maid Of Orleans

Orchestrial Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) were one of a small number of electronica bands that emerged in the late seventies, experimenting with the new cheaply avaliable synthesisers to create harsh electronic sounds, reflecting the more industrial and inpersonal age of the times. OMD were never going to be Depeche Mode or The Human League, where as the other two became pop sensations by merging their electronica with pop hooks, OMD stayed true to their ideals, and focused on more  intellectual music. And so, perhaps for pretention's sake, we are treated to gems such as Maid Of Orleans.

For the A-Side, Maid Of Orleans, a series of ambiant electronic noises leads us into a familiar 80's electro beat, and a sumptious folky, almost 'celtic' melody which feels as if it would work well if played through an ensemble, infact this song would be improved I think, if played via a small-piece orchestra. I don't know. This main melody will repeat itself numerous times throughout the song, as if it was the main idea, and the Joan of Ark lyrics were second thought. Indeed while this track has some really decent sounds, and a nice effect on Andy McCluskey's vocals, the repetative nature of the track doesn't really suit the subject. It's a good listen, though kinda boring.

The B-Side, Navigation is a far more interesting track. Again with a repetative beat and melody, these are however given to us via a much more thought out structure. The lyrics are almost disturbed but an airy delay, creating a surreal atmosphere, which doubled with the simplistic melody creates an almost dreamlike feel. The beat locks us in for the journey, the music sends us to sleep (in the good stoner kind of way). The similar synthed 'celtic' sounds from the previous track feature, but sound more electronic, and to be honest, more real. I really enjoy dreamy, spacey kinda out-there tracks, and so ultimately, this track is worth the single on it's own.

This 7" is often avaliable on ebay, with prices between 50p and £2, and I would recommend picking it up, if the A-side doesn't interest you, the silver-apples-y dream of Navigation surely will. And also the glossy sleeve is a delicious marriage of 20th century graphics with oldey-style stained glass windows. Sometimes pretension is worth it (perhaps this could be the tagline for my blog?).