Following a successful series of worldwide screenings, RECOIL ‘A Strange Hour In Budapest’ had the first of its UK Cinema premieres at Everyman’s Screen On The Green in Islington.
Its comfortable surroundings provided the ideal setting for this lavish high definition film directed by Attila Herkó. Released earlier this year exclusively on Blu-Ray, in Alan Wilder’s words it was “to supply the most accurate experience of being at the concert”.
Intercut with picturesque views of the Danube city, live footage filmed at the venue and the special projections directed by Steve Fabian, Igor Dvorský & Dmitry Semenov, ‘A Strange Hour In Budapest’ is a powerfully resonant audio/visual document that presents many highlights from Alan Wilder’s career in a concert setting.
In addition to bespoke computer generated graphics, there are illustrations ranging from monochromatic erotica, abstract space photography and austere footage of crashing aircraft. The latter are particularly poignant as they reflect Wilder’s own near death experience when an RAF Tornado jet crashed in front of him while he was on a driving holiday in Scotland back in 1994. Although those shocking memories are musically captured in the track ‘Black Box’ from 2000’s ‘Liquid’ album, that trauma is highlighted in the live presentation with the pulsing Shotgun rendition of ‘Prey’, the tension exasperated by its disturbing images.
Trippy grooves as on the haunting Siobhan Lynch vocalled ‘Drifting’ and the cosmic vibes of the Tangerine Dream sampling ‘Allelujah’ dominate the first part of the show but inevitably, it is the song based material such as ‘Faith Healer’ featuring Nitzer Ebb’s Douglas McCarthy and the reworkings of Depeche Mode that get the Szikra audience into a frenzy, particularly with the Aggro Mix of ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ and the late Johnny Dollar’s superbly powerful Jeep Rock take on ‘In Your Room’.
Incidentally, the sound reproduction throughout the film is outstanding and at times in the cinema, it was actually difficult to distinguish between the applause in the film and that of the audience watching! Other highlights of ‘A Strange Hour In Budapest’ include the grainy projections of Wilder’s live partner Paul Kendall practicing robotics during a great cover of ‘Warm Leatherette’ and a superb mash-up of ‘Jezebel’, the Grungy Gonads Mix of ‘Walking In My Shoes’ and ‘Are Friends Electric?’.
Asked about it by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK during the post-film Q&A, Wilder replied: “It was when we did the American leg of the tour, I wanted to make a few changes to the set to keep it more interesting having learnt from the first leg of the tour that there was a dip that needing picking up…so I came up with the idea of using ‘Walking in My Shoes’ . At the same time, we were going to play a gig with Gary Numan in Chicago so I thought it be fun to throw that track in and see if he noticed…and he didn’t!!” The cinema cracked up with laughter.
“He watched the set but he didn’t even notice his bit of music in it… ‘Cloth Ears’ I call him,” Wilder affectionately quipped. He added: “’Jezebel’ and ‘Walking In My Shoes’ just happened to fit tempo-wise, I had to change ‘Jezebel’ by a semitone to make it work with the ‘Walking…’ key signature but it worked well”.
Alan Wilder’s Q&A was an entertaining experience with him superbly articulating his thoughts and views. “No! I’m not going back to Depeche Mode!” he announced, setting the scene. On the subject of the loudness war, he was also forthright: “Just turn the volume knob up!” But on the future of RECOIL though, he was less specific: “All I know is I want to make some new music but whether it’s for an album, I’m just not sure because the concept of albums seems to be something people are losing interest in and they way people are listening to music is changing…I would like to work with film, a couple of people have approached me about that”.
When Keith Trigwell from Depeche Mode tribute band SPEAK & SPELL mentioned how 2011’s auction sharing Wilder’s memorabilia connected with the fans, he candidly answered: “Shared?!? I’d like to share my stuff with you…for this much!”
Wilder’s honesty is one of his many traits that have made him such a revered and respected figure in the music scene. However, some present seemed rather perturbed when Wilder gave answers that perhaps they didn’t want to hear.
On BECK’s new album campaign where fans have been recording their own backing tracks via sheet music provided online, he observantly commented: “It’s up it’s a*se isn’t it? How easy a life does he want?” However, he did concur that he is always open to exploring innovative ways for musicians to connect with their fanbase.
On the move away from hardware synths to software, he replied: “I’m not that nostalgic… we were struggling to get clicks to synch together and would spend three days on something that you can do in five minutes on a computer now…some of these plug-ins are amazing and stay in tune! Let’s not get over nostalgic about the past…but there are some great bits of vintage gear of course”.
On the studio process and how adversity can produce great music, he remembered ‘In Your Room’ as being “a tough track to record”, eventually being a combination of three different versions. By the opposite token though, ‘Enjoy The Silence’ “came together (like that) within a couple of hours”, the bassline achieved simply by playing around with a sequencer.
What was less enthralling during the evening however were some of the more inane lines of questioning by attendees who seemed to be more interested in talking as much as possible while NOT actually listening to the replies of the evening’s humble host. Wilder rightfully called it “random cr*p”. There is an etiquette to these things and sorry, “’Construction Time Again’, how exciting was that!” is NOT a great question!
But despite this, there was a warm family atmosphere with Wilder being the consummate professional, answering questions intelligently and with humour throughout. Figures from the DM fan community mingled alongside fans while Mr Wilder gave his time to everyone readily and happily. It was a memorable evening for all concerned and a fascinating selected event to boot…
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Alan Wilder
‘A Strange Hour In Budapest’ is released on Blu-ray by Shunt Production in conjunction with Umatik Entertainment. Please see www.store.recoil.co.uk for full product details.
‘The Mighty Boosh’ was a surreal BBC comedy show focussing on the adventures of two zookeepers at Bob Fossil’s Funworld, the socially awkward, jazz enthusiast Howard TJ Moon (Julian Barratt) and the vain, fashion-obsessed Numanoid Vince Noir (Noel Fielding). In the eighth and final episode of series 1 entitled ‘Hitcher’ in 2004, Howard and Vince are tasked with transporting Ivan, a viciously aggressive bear to The Zoo For Animal Offenders.
They have a discussion about what to play on the truck’s stereo. Vince’s first choice is Gary Numan… Howard however has different ideas and insists on jazz funk!!! But Ivan The Bear makes his feelings known about jazz funk and actually prefers Gary Numan!
The hilarious scene will be resonate with any synthpop fan of a certain age who had to put up with the bully boys at school who thought that meandering sax solos and slap bass runs were the height of musical achievement as they posed in their Fred Perrys, cardigans and loafers!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK can remember being presented with a smashed up, burnt copy of ‘Cars’ in a paper bag by these lesser forms of pondlife! Ironically after his farewell Wembley concerts in 1981, Numan began to use elements of jazz funk in his music, working with several of its leading exponents like Dick Morrissey, Joe Hubbard and Bill Sharpe!
Numan was referenced several times in ‘The Mighty Boosh’ and even made a guest appearance in the third series for an episode called ‘The Power Of The Crimp’. The dark circle was completed when Numan played ‘The Mighty Boosh Festival’ in 2008.
Meanwhile, Gary Numan’s ‘Dead Moon Falling’ Tour takes place in December 2012 and will feature some new songs from the forthcoming ‘Splinter’ album due for release in 2013, plus new reworkings of tracks from 2011′s ‘Dead Son Rising’ album by ALEC EMPIRE, THE DUKE SPIRIT, NINE INCH NAILS’ Alessandro Cortini, THE CHARLATANS’ Tim Burgess and GAZELLE TWIN.
Gary Numan 2012 live dates include: Southampton Guildhall (2nd December), Manchester Ritz (3rd December), Edinburgh Picturehouse (4th December), Norwich UEA (5th December – rescheduled from 7th September), Wolverhampton Wulfren Hall (6th December), London Forum (7th December), Nottingham Rock City (8th December)
In a comparatively short period of existence, the living art of GAZELLE TWIN has made a worthy impression on the electronic music world.
Although originally inspired by the deep tonal experimentation of FEVER RAY, Elizabeth Walling, the lady behind GAZELLE TWIN, differs with her classical vocal training and manipulated soprano stylings providing a ‘Fourth World’ vibe of possible musics like a dark angel of dystopian menace.
With the haunting intensity and unsettling future primitive of debut long player ‘The Entire City’, admirers have included John Foxx and Gary Numan. As well as the spectre of Bjork and the enigma of COCTEAU TWINS, there has also been the influence of acts as diverse as Prince and JOY DIVISION whose songs have been covered on her various B-sides. The origin of the GAZELLE TWIN moniker is that it is an anagram of Elizabeth Walling, save a few letters. But also in an ancient Jewish text ‘Solomon’s Song’, there is a translation where “the twin fauns of a gazelle” are used as a metaphor for a woman’s breasts.
Themes of nature, science and technology exude in ‘The Entire City’ while integrity and a strong intellectual base form the uncompromising aural palette. Great tracks such as the Paganist intensity of ‘Men Like Gods’, the fragile beauty of ‘Changelings’ and the metaphysical idealism of ‘I Am Shell I Am Bone’ are swathed in a sonic cathedral of neo-religious overtones and Sci-Fi choral chants like an act of worship in the 23rd Century.
Conceived in part to be the imaginary soundtrack to JG Ballard novel ‘The Drowned World’, the mysterious sparse nature of the original compositions opened them to the possibilities of remixing. Thus, ‘The Entire City Remixed’ was born, an appendix to the parent album with contributors including ERAS, GHOST EYES, ZEBRA & SNAKE, SCANNER and ENORMOUS SHADOW as well as JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS whose remix of ‘Changelings’ also featured.
Both GAZELLE TWIN’s take on ‘A Falling Star’ and the remix of ‘Changelings’ are included on the new JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS album ‘Evidence’. But Elizabeth Walling’s most high profile collaboration to date is set to be unleashed with her reworking of Gary Numan’s ‘We Are The Lost’, scheduled to appear on his forthcoming remix album ‘Dead Moon Falling’.
In a period of frenetic activity, Elizabeth Walling took time out from completing her new EP ‘Mammal’ to chat to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK
What is your own artistic background and how has that shaped the concept of GAZELLE TWIN?
My creative sensibilities started very young, I was always creating, imagining and learning in my own space. I think I spent a lot of time alone as a child, or at least that’s what I remember. I had time and freedom to think and explore. I studied music formally in my late teens and early twenties, but ultimately I consider myself self-taught in everything, in most respects.
GAZELLE TWIN I think, has emerged from a gradual and very natural process of those basic childhood experiences, as well as long-held aesthetic attractions and desires which have emerged as I have grown.
I have always felt different, strange, and found costume very liberating to be free from those uncomfortable moments. That’s what is at the heart of GAZELLE TWIN. As I grow older, it seems to have become my survival kit for everyday life, not just an occasional retreat into a fantasy world.
It may sound intense, but really, this project, as it has grown, has helped me in so many ways with incorporating my own personal experiences (physical, emotional etc) into some sort of concrete entity that I can learn and strengthen from. Without it now, I would be a bit of a wreck.
The visual aura and live presentation of GAZELLE TWIN is very mysterious and enigmatic but there were a few earlier photos which revealed your true identity as it were. What made you settle on becoming more anonymous?
I found there were too many limitations on simply being myself in the context of quite an ambitious musical project and as an artist. Being female, having to wear certain clothes, make-up etc, ie all those routine things I do in everyday life to live as a regular female human… these things relate too closely to fashions, time periods and have so many preconceptions bound up in them. I wanted to eliminate that altogether as well as remove ‘myself’ from the project to allow it to grow and change into something larger than me, larger than the world around me. That is what I was doing with the music initially, it was boundless in terms of vision and scale and it needed a visual counterpart to really work.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK first became aware of you via your cover of JOY DIVISION’s ‘The Eternal’ which was the B-side to ‘I Am Shell I Am Bone’. They make quite an appropriate pairing. How daunting was it to record that bearing in mind the song’s history?
Very daunting indeed. I didn’t approach it lightly. There are some JOY DIVISION songs that should never be touched, let alone covered – ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is one of them. I would never touch a song like that. It’s too iconic, too well-known. I felt ‘The Eternal’ was perhaps less familiar to people and that it could withstand a new voice, so to speak.
As the second cover song I had ever recorded at the time, I tried to keep the arrangement simple, just focussing on the beat and the ‘atmosphere’. Curtis’ vocal melody is almost Gregorian in that song so I wanted to highlight that too, by removing most of the piano accompaniment. I wanted to be gentle, treating my version like a feint echo of the original rather than a completely new version.
At the other end of the spectrum, you’ve also covered Prince. Is there anyone else you would like to have a go at covering?
Yes, ‘I Wonder U was my first cover. I think the song is strange enough in the first place not to sound too stand-out alongside the rest of my music, so I was playing it safe with that one really. I found it fascinating to break the song down in order to re-record the parts, such as the bass. Actually that was part of the attraction of covering it in the first place… just to work out what the hell was going on there.
I prefer covering songs written or sung by men. Perhaps because it instantly allows me to create a new perspective on it. There are countless Bowie songs that my fiancée always recommends to me which I would love to try out one day. John Foxx’s work lures me constantly for covers and Scott Walker is very tempting also. I doubt it will be long before I do one of his actually.
I do have a new cover coming out on an EP called ‘Mammal’ around November time. It’s a song by WIRE – another legendary band, another iconic male vocalist… Colin Newman. This time I sought the permission and blessing from him directly. That made me feel better about it… he said nice things.
What attracted you to use synthesizers in your work and which artists were your biggest influences as far as ‘The Entire City’ was concerned?
I grew up with electronic music really. We had numerous keyboards and synthesizers in our house which I would always use to learn or write songs, or record on cassette players and so on. I would say they have always been part of my music-making since being a child.
There is a warmth and clarity with synthesizers (especially analogue) which can replicate the same essence and quality of nearly all acoustic instruments such as strings, brass and even reeds.
I experiment most with rhythm which is one of the most important elements of my creative process – so using electronics allows me to explore some really complex and unusual ideas quite easily. I love working to a mechanical pulse.
There are many influences on that first album; people often like to remind me of what seem to be the most obvious but actually the least strongest ones – The Knife, Fever Ray etc – but actually my influences go way back to early music, classical, early 20th century composers such as Varese and Stockhausen to contemporary artists such as Louis Andriessen and soundtrack composers of the 80s like Vangelis, Carpenter and Brad Fiedel. I’d say choral music has influenced me more than any other music in my life as I spent the largest part of my life so far listening solely to that.
I can hear elements of JON HASSELL’s avant textures in your music, is that a coincidence?
Yes it must be, because I have never heard of him until now. I will check him out.
The album has this other worldly atmosphere and is very unsettling in places, almost like music for horror movies… ‘Bell Tower’ was used in a viral video for ‘Prometheus’. Has cinema inspired you musically and have you had any offers of soundtrack work?
Yes. Film is the bedrock for many of my compositions in the past and now – although just as much in the thematic sense as the musical.
I grew up listening to plenty of film soundtracks by composers like Morricone, Williams, Goldsmith, Herrman etc who were all inspired by the Gods of Western music: Shostakovich, Beethoven, Wagner etc. That’s a good influence to have had, even if I hadn’t studied composition formally later on in life. It really stuck with me. I’d love to work on films and even video games one day, that was always my impetus for writing.
So far there have been no commisions, but the ‘Prometheus’ short film you mentioned (which I still haven’t actually seen yet) was a great thing for me, albeit very small scale. Eventually I hope to delve into film composition as my career develops. I’ll probably prefer to be a behind-the-scenes writer than a performer at some point anyway. I tire quite easily of all that already.
Some observers might consider your work difficult to listen to. How would you encourage them to persevere with it?
I wouldn’t try to encourage them. There would be no point. I don’t mean that to sound dismissive, but I’m not one to explain or justify my work to anyone, least of all try persuade someone to persevere with it if they don’t already have the desire to do so. Why should they? It should be a natural thing. There’s a lot of music I don’t give much of a chance to on first listen – I think gut reaction counts for a lot and of course that’s completely different for everyone.
‘The Entire City’ won quite a few notable admirers including John Foxx who you later supported. He and Benge reworked ‘Changelings’ while you did ‘A Falling Star’. What do you think has been brought to each others’ songs via your reciprocal treatments?
John and Benge have been wonderfully supportive to me, not just forthcoming with praise but actively involving me in their projects. I am very grateful for that kind of respect and time. It’s very rare to have that, I can tell you.
I loved working on the remix for ‘A Falling Star’, it’s already such a beautiful song with lots of space. I found it hard to approach initially. It was also my first ever remix so I put myself under a lot of pressure to take care with it. I decided to just highlight John’s voice which actually works amazingly well completely on its own. But I added my own vocal to replace some of the synths.
John and Benge’s remix of ‘Changelings’ was really delicate and elegant. It’s one of my favourites of all the remixes because it doesn’t alter the song much at all. I love the addition of John’s vocal in there too. It was perfectly suited. I am so flattered that they chose to put both of the remixes on the new ‘Evidence’ album. It’s really special for me.
You have remixed Gary Numan now too. On first impression, it would appear his rockier sound of today might have less in common with your music than with say John Foxx’s. So how did you respond to the challenge?
I would tend to agree generally, however not with the song I was asked to work on as it happened to suit me really well. It has a middle-Eastern melodic style that is not too far away from my own palette, particularly in ‘Men Like Gods’. I also loved the textures in the beat and was really excited to get working on bringing that to the forefront.
I wouldn’t say it’s the most radical remix I have done – sometimes a song is so right to be set in one style that it’s hard to take it further or add more, so really I just tried to strip it down and highlight what I liked most about it. I also added a few higher vocals to the mix to deliver a subtle feminine element.
Remixes are a major part of GAZELLE TWIN with the recent release of ‘The Entire City Remixed’ collection. What inspired that and which were your favourite reinterpretations on it?
It was primarily to give the original album a boost as well as open up a few opportunities to work and connect with other artists I admire such as John and Benge, Scanner and others. Some of the remixes were from requests out of the blue before I had even decided to do the album, so it was good to be able to offer them a place on an official release. My favourites on there are ‘Nest’ by FLINT KIDS, ‘Changelings’ by JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS and the BERNHOLZ remix of ‘Bell Tower’.
The neo-tribal remix of ‘Men Like Gods’ by GHOST EYES is quite superb…
Yes I really liked that remix too, especially when they took the time to attach it to a bizarre Betty Boop video which really works.
What next for GAZELLE TWIN? How is the new album shaping up and will you be pursuing any different musical avenues?
I’m working on making as much material as possible and putting as much out as I physically can over the next few years. I’ve been working on some other commissions and collaborations away from GAZELLE TWIN which is very enlightening and enjoyable, if only to get a break and some distance from my own work.
When I write an album it’s a bit like doing a thesis, there is a lot of research, learning, exploration and cataloguing of ideas and themes before I set about writing any music. I consider every experience and everything I come across as potentially relevant and useful to my work. That takes up quite a lot of my life.
Would an audio visual element like IAMAMIWHOAMI’s ‘Kin’ be of interest in your future artistic vision?
I am interested to see how far extreme abstractions like IAMAMIWHOAMI can survive in a pop context once they become better known… It’s hard to maintain anonymity and mystique for very long. This is something I am still figuring out too. I hope it can last.
The music side of that project is not quite as off-the-wall as the visual side which is a shame, but that’s just my own personal opinion.
I love Jonna Lee’s vision, her focus and defiance is strong. I’m envious that there is a budget and support behind it too – for those ideas to really be realised in full, cinematic glory and a vast viral campaign. I definitely wish I had some of that from time to time! I think most big ideas do require money, unfortunately.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Elizabeth Walling
GAZELLE TWIN ‘The Entire City’ and ‘The Entire City Remixed’ are released by Anti-Ghost Moon Ray Records. The ‘Mammal’ EP is scheduled for release in November.
JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS ‘Evidence’ CD which features GAZELLE TWIN on remixes of ‘A Falling Star’ and ‘Changelings’ is released by Metamatic records on 24th September 2012 and available exclusively at the John Foxx Store via Townsend Records
EVOKATEUR are Sarah and Hector Villaraus, a duo who blend electro gothic cinematics and mechanised beats with emotive melodies.
Even in “a dark world of ashes”, one needs hope in moments of despair. Melancholic they maybe but doom merchants they are most certainly not… Sarah’s vocals provide a dreamy contrast to the occasionally post-apocalyptic soundtrack. Time Out have called them: “Sinister mecha-pop”.
Their first single ‘Wolf Girl’ released in March 2011 launched their stark but accessible sound. But the single’s B-sides also showed an appreciation of the darker side of the Moog with a sinister remix of ‘Wolf Girl’ by Gary Numan and Ade Fenton plus a beautifully resigned cover version of TEARS FOR FEARS ‘Mad World’.
From their first EP ‘Crow’s Wedding’, the lovely ‘Wildflowers’ was glittery but tinged with sadness, while there was also the slightly more dance laden ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’. The duo’s accompanying grainy self-made video certainly added a gone to earth aura. Meanwhile, ‘Same As You’ was pretty modulating synthpop, up there with the Nordic influenced crystalline demeanour of QUEEN OF HEARTS. ‘Undone’ though adopted a more unsettling shade but despite the drones and distorted noise, it was carried off without being dour or resorting to witchery.
Their new six-track release ‘Chime Hours’ is the second in series of three EP releases which will gradually form an album’s worth of material. From it, ‘White Horses’ is laced with Eurocentric grandeur and angelic beauty. It is perhaps has hints of SCHILLER’s ‘Playing With Madness’ but with grittier overtones.
‘1684’ ups the tempo and is almost like MEDIAEVAL BAEBES meets DEPECHE MODE, while the moodier ‘Post’ adds operatics and swirling neo-theremin. Continuing their downtempo excursions, ‘How Long’ is held together by a sparse framework with minimal percussive elements that build for some chilling breathy atmospherics.
EVOKATEUR do dark but they do pop as well, although the spectre of LAMB’s ‘Gorecki’ does loom. It sounds very promising so their development will be observed with interest.
The ‘Crow’s Wedding’ and ‘Chime Hours’ EPs are available as downloads via iTunes and Amazon
When Gary Numan broke through in 1979 as the world’s first ever synthesizer pop star, it was not only musically that he made an impressive impact.
The unsmiling, pale faced ‘Machman’ cast a striking visual figure.
In the age of post-punk paranoia, he unwittingly represented the fears of an alienated youth facing minimal prospects and unemployment under the spectre of ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’ while the government gave out booklets on how to ‘Protect & Survive!
Now a newly released DVD entitled ‘Machine Music: The Best of Gary Numan’ captures the one-time Mr Webb throughout his career from his early innovative promo videos right up to the present day, plus the added bonus of TV appearances and live highlights which have helped shaped the myth and occasional ridicule of Gary Numan.
Numan’s first promo ‘Cars’ is still truly iconic. Having phased out the band moniker TUBEWAY ARMY, he was out on his own but the video featured close-ups of the Polymoog and his 1979 backing band RRussell Bell, Billy Currie, Paul Gardiner, Chris Payne and Cedric Sharpley.
All dressed in uniform black suits but subtly wearing their own unique colour of tie, the significantly importance of this video was it conjured a communal tribal mentality… the message was “do you want to be in my gang?”
In fact, many people did as ‘Cars’ went to No1 and his magnificent ‘Touring Principle’ became the hottest ticket in town. The accompanying video of that show beat BLONDIE’s ‘Eat To The Beat’ into the shops as the first album length video costing around £40 in 1980!
The ‘Complex’ promo featured the band again but this time, sans Currie who was now back with ULTRAVOX but this video hasn’t aged as well, all Dr Who fuzzy effects and Thames TV lighting. These early productions were directed by the pioneering husband and wife team of Derek and Kate Burbidge.
Considering how today’s technology allows pop promos to be made on an iPhone, they did very well with the equipment available which at the time was prohibitively expensive. But this was a forward thinking period where you learnt as you went along. So everything got back on track with ‘We Are Glass’ featuring another iconic image, this time the ‘Telekon’ jump suit. Numan felt the wrath of the all important Children’s TV shows though due to producers considering his smashing up of television sets with a silver truncheon just too violent for the kiddies!
‘I Die: You Die’ featured Numan’s beloved Corvette Stingray but after that, the promos became a bit more ham as poor Gary tried to be James Cagney. The Julien Temple directed ‘She’s Got Claws’ from 1981 is a case in point, while the gangster storyline of ‘Music For Chameleons’ is unintentionally comedic.
The rare ‘Love Needs No Disguise video’ with his now solo band going under the name of DRAMATIS gets away with this St Valentine’s Day Massacre look by being a live performance piece but by this time, Numan was starting to struggle musically. His hobby of flying inevitably started creeping in his videos such as ‘Warriors’ and ‘I Can’t Stop’ (absent from this collection) as he lost interest in his music.
Photo by Ed Fielding
This coincided with a downturn in his financial fortunes so there simply wasn’t the budget for promo videos anymore, hence a huge gap in the time frame of this compendium. But with critical reappraisal in the 21st Century and the huge advances in technology, promo videos such as ‘Dominion Day’ and ‘Rip’ have been forthcoming with ‘The Fall’ in particular being a fine filmic representation of the music with equal measures of unsettlement and paranoid gothic metal atmosphere.
‘The Fall’ brings the Numan visual story up-to-date, but the best thing about ‘Machine Music’ is the collection of treasures to be found on the second DVD of rare and live TV appearances from around the world.
That memorable performance of Are ‘Friends’ Electric? with the young Numan swathed in white light on Top Of The Pops is all present and correct, while there is also the influential ‘Saturday Night Live’ appearance (featuring then new band member Denis Haines “bricking it”) which sold electronic music to America …everyone from Trent Reznor to Afrika Bambaataa was watching that night and thus industrial rock and electro hip-hop genres were effectively born.
Of course, the music of Gary Numan was often best experienced live so the 1980 ‘Teletour’ has been captured on this set with ‘This Wreckage’ and ‘Remind Me To Smile’, while the even bigger Wembley show as captured on ‘Micromusic’ is represented by ‘Down In The Park’, complete with sinister robot car!
The special ITV clip of ‘Metal’ is the prize of ‘Machine Music’. A brilliant promo video in its own right with Numan’s sneering dystopia appropriately set in an electricity sub-station, ‘Metal’ is indeed the great Numan track that really should have been a single.
The version of ‘I Die: You Die’ from The Kenny Everett video show in 1980 is the one David Bowie controversially had removed from the original 1979 Christmas edition, so threatened The Dame felt about the rising young upstart from Wraysbury. It was shameful diva-ish behaviour which Bowie has since nominally retracted by saying “Gary Numan has written some of the finest things in British pop” in Q Magazine some years later.
‘Machine Music’ is a wonderful visual document which to his credit, Numan has allowed to be an almost warts and all visual assessment of his career. The Top Of The Pops specials of ‘We Take Mystery’ and ‘White Boys & Heroes’ filmed in New York and Los Angeles respectively are a bit cringey to watch now, while Numan’s own views about ‘The Man Who Lost It All In Monte Carlo’ red bow tie look in ‘Your Fascination’ and ‘Call Out The Dogs’ are well documented.
But this is what Numanoids love about their hero and why they’ve stuck with him through all his highs and lows. Now, if only more artists were able to be as frank and honest…
‘Machine Music: The Best of Gary Numan’ DVD set is released as a limited edition of 3000 and will be available during his forthcoming UK concert tour. Any remaining copies will be on sale via the Official Gary Numan online shop at Townsend Records.
DVD Tracklisting:
Disc 1 – PROMO VIDEOS
1 Cars
2 Complex
3 We Are Glass
4 I Die: You Die
5 This Wreckage
6 She’s Got Claws
7 Love Needs No Disguise (with DRAMATIS)
8 Music For Chameleons
9 We Take Mystery
10 Warriors
11 Berserker
12 Your Fascination
13 Call Out The Dogs
14 Dominion Day
15 Cars (with FEAR FACTORY)
16 Rip
17 Crazier (with RICO)
18 In A Dark Place
19 Healing (with ADE FENTON)
20 The Fall
21 My Machines (with BATTLES)
Disc 2 – TV, LIVE AND RARITIES
1 Down In The Park (Micromusic)
2 Are ‘Friends’ Electric (Top Of The Pops, 1979)
3 Cars (Saturday Night Live, 1980)
4 Praying To The Aliens (Saturday Night Live, 1980)
5 Metal (ITV, 1979)
6 I Die: You Die (Kenny Everett, 1980)
7 Remind Me To Smile (Live Teletour 1980)
8 We Take Mystery (Top Of The Pops promo film, 1982)
9 White Boys And Heroes (Top Of The Pops promo film, 1982)
GARY NUMAN plays his first ever singles tour featuring everything from the punk debut ‘That’s Too Bad’ to his first electronic release ‘Down In The Park’ and the hits including ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’, ‘Cars’, ‘Complex’, ‘We Are Glass’, ‘I Die: You Die’, ‘This Wreckage’ and ‘Berserker’ plus later Top 30 successes ‘Rip’ and ‘Crazier’.
The ‘Machine Music’ Tour includes:
Leicester O2 Academy (22nd May), Glasgow O2 ABC (23rd May), Newcastle O2 Academy (24th May), Sheffield O2 Academy (25th May), Dublin Button Factory (26th May) Bournemouth O2 Academy (28th May), Bristol O2 Academy (29th May), Cambridge Junction (30th May), Birmingham HMV Institute (31st May), London HMV Forum (2nd June), Cardiff Coal Exchange (2nd June), Brighton Dome (3rd June)
For more details on the DVD and tour, please visit the official website at www.numan.co.uk
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DVD Box Set is released by 2entertain
What attracted you to use synthesizers in your work and which artists were your biggest influences as far as ‘The Entire City’ was concerned?
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