Tag: I Start Counting

A Beginners Guide to KOMPUTER – FORTRAN 5 – I START COUNTING & Friends

22 October 2024 /

“We are the perfect pop band” said KOMPUTER in 1998 on their debut album ‘The World Of Tomorrow’.

Comprising of Simon Leonard and Dave Baker, KOMPUTER emerged in 1996 as a response to OASIS ripping off THE BEATLES; “We decided that someone should rip off KRAFTWERK, so we did, and the name we chose was KOMPUTER” . said Baker, “Subsequent releases were less obviously KRAFTWERK influenced and still do!”

But some were not into the concept with one observation being remembered by Baker written in a review of a 1996 show at The Garage in London: “My memory of that Garage gig is a very animated and upset young man in an ill-fitting jumper, spilling Tuborg about the place, screaming at the top of his voice, ‘WHAT IS THE FACKING POINT?!’”

Simon Leonard had released experimental music in 1979 as FILE UNDER POP with the Rough Trade single ‘Heathrow’ and as AK PROCESS with the self-explanatory ‘Electronic’ on Output Records. Meanwhile Dave Baker played keyboards in a band called SONS OF CAIN; “I had no creative input except for keyboard parts” he recollected, “I got increasingly fed up and walked off stage one night in the middle of a gig and left the band!”

Baker and Leonard had met at Middlesex Polytechnic in 1982 and bonded over a love of pop. With Baker’s own first experiences of synth sounds coming from ‘Switched On Bach’, then Tomita’s ‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ and ‘Autobahn’ coupled with Leonard’s experience of having already released electronic music, it was only natural that they would become a synth duo.

Named after the coming-of-age drama thriller starring Jenny Agutter, they became I START COUNTING, signing to Mute Records in 1984. “Some of the synths we started with are still in use” Baker told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “Roland 100M modular system, Roland VP330, Korg MS20. A little later the Roland SH101 twins arrived, then the Yamaha CS30. When we started as I START COUNTING we used a Roland MC 4 sequencer, then an MC500, followed by Atari based sequencing. We started using Ableton Live as KOMPUTER.”.

Despite I START COUNTING opening for ERASURE on their 1987 European tour, the musical landscape was changing. The new music that Leonard and Baker were making fell under the spell of techno as the dance music revolution took hold. So in 1990, “for a fresh, initially anonymous start and a new dancey direction”, the duo became FORTRAN 5.

FORTRAN 5 was of a more collaborative umbrella, working with a variety of artists including Thrash from THE ORB, DJ Colin Faver, Neil Arthur, Jocelyn West, Katharine Blake, Larry Graham, Rod Slater of THE BONZO DOG DOO-DAH BAND and Derek Nimmo. Samplers became the order of the day. Baker remembered “the original Mute studio above Rough Trade in Kings Cross had an Akai S612, then we got our own Greengate DS3 sampler, followed by the Akai S900 and S1000, followed by an Emu E5000 which is still in use”.

Despite their first live appearance in while at London’s Electrowerkz in 2019, currently “KOMPUTER is resting but may revive any time” said Baker, “Meanwhile I continue to release material as LONELYKLOWN. I have also just re-released my OOO EEE OOO album ‘Burning Through Time’ on CD and digital. All my solo music is available from my Bandcamp at https://davethekeys.bandcamp.com/ “

Material from their three main incarnations was combined in 2011 for the release of ‘Konnecting…’ and while all these different monikers and side projects could be a challenge to follow, they served a purpose; “Because we refreshed our musical identity once in a while” said Baker, “we re-evaluated our working methods and priorities regularly”

So with commentary from Dave Baker himself, here is ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 20 track Beginners Guide to the KOMPUTER axis and its many konnections…

AK-47 Stop! Dance! (1981)

Named after the assault rifle by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, AK-47 was another solo moniker of Simon Leonard. A lively slice of minimal synth with the vocodered phrases that referenced the weapon, ‘Stop! Dance!’ was released a year before Leonard met David Baker – “Simon was working with other people when I joined but they gradually stopped contributing, leaving the two of us. We were friends, DJ-ed and discussed music before we started working together.”

Available on the compilation boxed set ‘Musik Music Musique 2.0 1981 – The Rise Of Synth Pop’ (V/A) via Cherry Red Records

I START COUNTING Letters To A Friend (1984)

The first I START COUNTING single was produced by Daniel Miller. ‘Letters To A Friend’ was “Our first release on Mute” reminisced Baker of the charmingly deadpan English pop tune with a bright glassy backdrop that sounded like it was recorded in a church. It was “demoed on a Portastudio at Simon’s stepmum’s in Hampstead. Programmed on Daniel’s Synclavier at his mum’s in Decoy Avenue. Musically inspired by a CULTURE CLUB song, lyrically autobiographical”.

Available on the I START COUNTING / FORTRAN 5 / KOMPUTER compilation ‘Konnecting…’ via Mute Records

I START COUNTING Still Smiling (1985)

Also produced by Daniel Miller and with the metallic resonances of ‘Some Great Reward’ era DEPECHE MODE, the bouncy ‘Still Smiling’ was “Almost a sequel to ‘Letters To A Friend’” recalled Baker, “The B-side was ‘There Is Always The Unexpected’ which foretold our future experimentation! Simon and I have both always loved and admired the Daniel Miller and Flood’s extended remix of this. Adrian Sherwood did an amazing one too”.

Available on the I START COUNTING / FORTRAN 5 / KOMPUTER compilation ‘Konnecting…’ via Mute Records

I START COUNTING Ra! Ra! Rawhide (Rasputin) (1988)

Using an edited JFK quote “Communism is the wave of the future” on the artwork while turning Frankie Laine and BONEY M into a musical Frankenstein’s Monster, Dave Baker recalled this early example of a mash-up (before the term existed) as: “A biting piece of political satire bookending the American cowboy classic ‘Rawhide’ and the classic Russian anthem ‘Rasputin’, which so inspired LADY GAGA. There was a scathing review by Mark E. Smith somewhere”.

Originally released on the I START COUNTING single ‘Ra! Ra! Rawhide (Rasputin)’ via Mute Records, currently unavailable

FORTRAN 5 Heart On The Line (1991)

‘Heart On The Line’ was an airy part spoken-part sung folky number with a blissful electronic dance backdrop number was that deserved to be hit when the UK charts was full of rave-driven novelty material that was far inferior. “The original demo sampled the intro from the BLONDIE song ‘X Offender’” said Baker, “Vocals by two of MIRANDA SEX GARDEN (we helped produce their first single in return). Remixes by Vince Clarke, Moby and Justin Robertson!”.

Available on the album via the I START COUNTING / FORTRAN 5 / KOMPUTER compilation ‘Konnecting…’ via Mute Records

FORTRAN 5 featuring DEREK NIMMO Layla (1993)

A superb eccentric upper class reading of ‘Layla’ that saw “Derek doing Derek”, Eric Clapton’s worldwide hit (which incidentally he DID NOT play the signature riff for, that was actually Duane Allman!) was turned into classic English poetry over bouncy electronic backing – “Derek Nimmo was a famous 70s comedy actor” Baker remembered, ”We actually got him in the Mute studio to record this. He was very entertaining and humble!”

Available on the album via the I START COUNTING / FORTRAN 5 / KOMPUTER compilation ‘Konnecting…’ via Mute Records

FORTRAN 5 VP330 (1995)

Named after the Roland Vocoder Plus VP330, Baker said “That VP330 has been through a lot but it still works perfectly. Bought new 1979/80, toured around UK and Europe, on loan to Studio Mute for a few years, now part of my home studio set up. A few of the keys have melted patches where Simon rested cigars”. Using the VP330’s distinctive if less realistic synthetic choirs, the track had an eerie KRAFTWERK resonance in a sign of things to come.

Available on the FORTRAN 5 album ‘Avocado Suite’ via Mute Records

JOHN CAME Ink Tank (1995)

Rumoured to have been ERASURE in disguise, John Came was actually a Leonard and Baker side project where a singular persona was adopted to create the illusion of a lone frontman. Baker remembered that the sinister robotised ‘In Tank’ was “The only track on the album ‘Rhythmicon’ with vocals. These were produced by a custom made talking box, which required painstaking and time consuming programming. We made a brilliant video on Super 8 film”.

Available on the JOHN CAME album ‘Rhythmicon’ via Mute Records

KOMPUTER Valentina Tereshkova (1996)

Embracing the “K” word and mining ‘The Model’ while speeding it up, this was a tribute to the first female Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. But Baker recalled how the song could have come out quite differently: “An original demo was made with Claudia Brücken, with completely different melody and lyrics. The eventual lyrics were inspired by BONEY M’s sometimes biographical style. An anonymous, instrumental 12” was also released”.

Available on the KOMPUTER album ‘The World Of Tomorrow’ via Mute Records

KOMPUTER Terminus – Memory Man (1998)

The highlight of the debut KOMPUTER album as ‘Terminus Interminus’ with its strong ‘Trans-Europe Express’ in outer space vibe, ‘Terminus’ came in a number of variants without the original’s transport narration. A remix by German DJ COSMIC BABY was chosen to be the single but Baker preferred “An excellent mix by the very talented Mr Daniel Miller” as Memory Man which provided a frantic electro tension not present on the other versions.

Available on the I START COUNTING / FORTRAN 5 / KOMPUTER Digital Deluxe album ‘Konnecting… (B-Sides And Rarities)’ via Mute Records

KOMPUTER Kompaktor (2002)

Taking a far more abstract experimental approach on the second KOMPUTER long player, ‘Kompaktor’ was “Inspired by the sounds of a large rubbish crushing machine on Old Spitalfields Market, where Simon and myself worked for many years. It made very loud creaking, wailing sounds like some gigantic elephant or something. From the album ‘Market Led’ which used many samples from both the market and discarded records we reused”.

Available on the KOMPUTER album ‘Market Led’ via Mute Records

KOMPUTER My Private Train (2003)

Compiled by Wayne Clements of Essex duo MACONDO, ‘Robopop Volume 1’ was possibly the closest thing to the ‘Some Bizzare Album’ in the 21st Century. ‘My Private Train’ dated from ‘The World Of Tomorrow’ sessions and was “Never given a standalone release” as Baker recalled, “it was included on a synthpop compilation. I still really like this song. A video was made on a train journey we made between London and Scotland to play at a festival”.

Available on the compilation album ‘Robopop Volume 1’ (V/A) via Lucky Pierre Recordings

KOMPUTER Headphones & Ringtones (2007)

After the pure KRAFTWERK homage of their debut and the experimental sampling of its follow-up, the third KOMPUTER album ‘Synthetik’ explored the brave new world of virtual synths. ‘Headphones & Ringtones’ was an impassive but witty observation on how music consumption had changed in the 21st Century. “The title came from a line from another song, ‘Night Bus’, which was demoed but never released” said Baker.

Available on the album via ‘Synthetik’ via Mute Records

ERASURE Victim Of Love – KOMPUTER Mix (2009)

Having already remixed ERASURE previously as FORTRAN 5 with their ‘Lay All Your Love On Me (No Panties Mix)’, Leonard and Baker were back again with a new take on ‘Victim Of Love’ for the companion piece of the expanded ‘Total Pop! The First 40 Hits’ collection: “I just listened to it for probably the first time since making it and thought it sounded very good” said Baker, “I think the idea was to make it sound more ERASURE than ERASURE”.

Available on the ERASURE compilation album ‘Pop Remixed’ via Mute Records

OMD The Right Side? (2010)

‘The Right Side?’ was the closer of the ‘History Of Modern’ album featuring new vocals, lyrics and melody from Andy McCluskey who had an idea based on ‘Looking Down From London (Metroland)’ after hearing the KOMPUTER remix; “Andy from OMD rang me to ask permission to use our track. Of course we agreed. We were very surprised and pleased with the resulting song, which basically kept our original intact as the basis”.

Available on the OMD album ‘History Of Modern’ via Blue Noise

BLANCMANGE God’s Kitchen – KOMPUTER Remix (2014)

With ‘Happy Families Too’, Neil Arthur wanted to approach BLANCMANGE’s classic debut album using modern technology with updated references like “I’ve just been shopping… online!” on ‘Kind’. The bonus tracks were remixes by Vince Clarke who reworked ‘Living On The Ceiling’ and KOMPUTER who did ‘Cruel’ and ‘God’s Kitchen’; “This is really very good” said Baker of the latter, “I don’t remember anything about making it at all!”

Available on the album BLANCMANGE album ‘Happy Families Too’ via Blank Check

DAVE THE KEYS The Lights Of The Pub (2020)

“My first solo release for the first Lockdown Christmas of 2020”, Baker had envisaged ‘The Lights Of The Pub’ “as a ‘Fairytale Of North London’, it was a tribute to all the pubs standing empty at this time, remembering festive seasons of the past and looking forward (hopefully) at future ones. It specifically referenced The Lamb on London’s Holloway Road, where I play piano every Thursday and raised funds for a Crowdfunder in aid of the pub”.

Available on the single ‘The Lights Of The Pub’ via https://davethekeys.bandcamp.com/track/the-lights-of-the-pub

KOMPUTER Spacer (2020)

From a charity collection comprising of 22 cover versions, it featured an enjoyable Komputerised take on the 1979 Sheila B Devotion disco classic complete with dreamy vocoder. Baker said ‘Spacer’ was “One of very few cover versions we have ever done, released on a compilation in aid of a Crowdfunder for The Lamb pub. The original is one of my favourite ever 12 inch singles, with genius production from Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards of CHIC”.

Available on the compilation album ‘Hatful Of Holloway’ (V/A) via Lamb Ade at https://smarturl.it/hatful-of-holloway

OOO EEE OOO Summer 20 (2021)

Taken from the OOO EEE OOO album ‘Burning Through Time’ released on limited edition cassette only in 2021 and re-released on CD and digital in July 2024, Baker added “This is my favourite track on the album, including snatches of radio noise and speech as well as field recordings from local walks in Queens Wood, Highgate. I like to think it conjures up an atmosphere of being suspended in time in an endless summer”.

Available on the OOO EEE OOO album ‘Burning Through Time’ via https://davethekeys.bandcamp.com/album/burning-through-time

LONELYKLOWN Everything I Try To Do Is Wrong (2022)

Waste not – want not, ‘Everything I Try To Do Is Wrong’ was “actually a rejected KOMPUTER song. During Lockdown I would walk to Simon’s flat in Crouch End every Friday and exchange ideas. I would give him a USB stick with audio on and he would give me handwritten lyric ideas. This was a combination of verses Simon wrote and a chorus idea I’d had a while ago. Simon didn’t think the resulting song was really KOMPUTER so I asked if I could have it”.

Available on the LONELYKLOWN EP ‘Wrong X4’ via https://davethekeys.bandcamp.com/album/wrong-x4

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Dave Baker

https://komp46.wixsite.com/komputer

https://www.facebook.com/KomputerOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/komputerdave/

https://twitter.com/komputerdave

https://linktr.ee/lonelyklown

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1gEqsqT3mT13pTcUhEyzzs

Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Simon Helm
22 October 2024

ASPRA Presents: Play For Tomorrow Vol1

27 February 2023 /

Best known as one half of the Greek synthpop duo MARSHEAUX, Sophia Sarigiannidou launched her solo project ASPRA in 2022

Her first single was ‘Velvet’, an electronic rework of the 4AD cult shoegaze duo THE BIG PINK while on the flip was another cover in ‘Anoint’, a song originally by John Peel favourites THE FIELD MICE. While these choices were unexpected, it did point to Sarigiannidou’s own leftfield tastes. There was also two fabulous collaborations with veteran electronic composer Lena Platonos, prosed unexpectedly en Français.

“I started going to the neighborhood record store and asking them to write me tapes. I bought the ‘Machines’ compilation LP. The disc starts with ‘Messages’ by OMD. What a shock that was… within 3 minutes so many different tunes alternated, one better than the other.” she said, “Through this record, I discovered Fad Gadget, Gary Numan and John Foxx! That afternoon the living room of the house in Thessaloniki was transformed into a window into a future era! It was written everywhere that ‘the synthesizer is the sound of the future’. Mine certainly was!”

Compiling a collection of rare and less obvious post-punk and synth tracks in the spirit of ‘Machines’ from 1977-1985, ‘ASPRA presents: Play For Tomorrow Vol.1’ sees Sarigiannidou offer a snapshot into her creative outlook with songs that four decades on have shown themselves to be “timeless jewels that you can play for today or play for tomorrow…”

While OMD are among the better known acts in the selection with the wistful ‘Of All The Things We’ve Made’ along with ULTRAVOX’s superb ‘Just For A Moment’, the others are more obscure but no less essential. Complimenting these two choices, ‘Karussell’ by Michael Rother of NEU! highlights the German musician’s influence on the aural aesthetics of both.

With wispy vocals and joyfully handled keys, Chris & Cosey’s wonderful ‘October (Love Song)’ was the antithesis of their parent group THROBBING GRISTLE and covered by MARSHEAUX in Greek for their debut album ‘E-Bay Queen’ in 2004. Another highlight is the TB303 driven cinematic synthpop of ‘Mystery & Confusion’ by TUXEDOMOON leader Blaine L Reininger which exudes a Eurocentric spirit as per its title and deserves wider recognition.

But the collection begins with the spacey avant folk of ‘UFO Report No.1’ by THE GADGETS, a track recorded in 1979 and featuring a very young pre-THE THE Matt Johnson. Despite its dour vocal delivery, 1982’s ‘Love Disgrace’ from Italian duo AMIN PECK is immensely catchy with its pulses, chops and glorious synth lines. Meanwhile New Zealand’s CAR CRASH SET earn their place with ‘Fall From Grace’ where deep sombre vocals contrast with a sparkling but gritty mechanical roll over 8 minutes.

Mute Records founder Daniel Miller finds two of his productions included; the dystopian minimal synth of ‘Music To Save The World By’ was the B-side from a one-off single on Cherry Red Records by the little known Alan Burnham while planting the seed of KOMPUTER, ‘Still Smiling’ by I START COUNTING has an innocent charm with those distinctive metallic tinges circa 1985. From that same year, French trio RUTH are eccentric but stylish on their debut single ‘Polaroïd/Roman/Photo’ crossing the detached with the playful while another curveball is thrown when the muted brass kicks in.

Α new wave duo with hints of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND but with a heated Italian vibe rather than the Götterdämmerung of Nico, CHRISMA’s ‘Black Silk Stocking’ was a 1978 single was produced and co-written by Vangelis’ brother, Nikko Papathanasiou. THE BUGGLES maybe best known for ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ but the duo of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes actually made a second album ‘Adventures In Modern Recording’ in 1981; from it, ‘On TV’ is enjoyably oddball while employing exotic Eastern flavours not unlike LANDSCAPE.

Last but not least THE ELECTRONIC CIRCUS’ spirited anti-war anthem ‘Direct Lines’ is sadly still relevant 42 years after its release. In what turned out to be a one-off project led by Gary Numan keyboardist Chris Payne, the resigned hopelessness is captured by the vocals of Penny Heathcote, frontwoman of Brighton band CORVETTES who themselves only issued one single.

‘Play For Tomorrow Vol.1’ is a superb compilation that will appeal to long standing music fans who love discovering music from the imperial pioneering phase of electronic pop that may have fallen under the radar back in the day.

Sophia Sarigiannidou has done a fantastic curation job and it will be interesting to see how these influences might permeate into the soundscapes of the eventual debut ASPRA album.

‘Play For Tomorrow Vol.1’ is released as a CD, available from https://deejaydead.de/en/aspra-presents-play-for-tomorrow-vol-1-limited-cd-digipack-2022 and https://www.poponaut.de/various-artists-play-tomorrow-limited-edition-p-22006.html

https://www.instagram.com/thisisaspra/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
27th February 2023

MUSIK MUSIC MUSIQUE 2.0 1981 | The Rise Of Synth Pop

12 October 2021 /

1981 is the year covered by the second instalment of Cherry Red’s ‘Musik Music Musique’ series.

1980 was something of a transition year for the synth as it knocked on the door of the mainstream charts but by 1981, it was more or less let in with welcome arms. From the same team behind the ‘Close To The Noise Floor’ compendiums and the most excellent ‘Electrical Language’ boxed set, ‘Musik Music Musique 2.0 1981 – The Rise Of Synth Pop’ presents rarities alongside hits and key album tracks from what many consider the best year in music and one that contributes the most to the legacy of electronic music in its wider acceptance and impact.

Featuring HEAVEN 17  with ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’, OMD with ‘Souvenir’ and the eponymous single by VISAGE, these songs are iconic 1981 canon that need no further discussion. Meanwhile the longevity of magnificent album tracks such as ‘Frustration’ by SOFT CELL and ‘I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)’ by ULTRAVOX can be summed by the fact that they have featured in 21st Century live sets alongside their parent acts’ hits.

Although not quite as celebrated, ‘You Were There’ from pastoral second John Foxx long player ‘The Garden’ captures the move from stark JG Ballard imagery to something almost romantic. DEVO are represented by the LinnDrum driven ‘Through Being Cool’, the opener of the ‘New Traditionalists’ album which comes as a statement that the mainstream was their next target; the Akron quintet were one of the many acts signed by Virgin Records as the label focussed on a synth focussed takeover that ultimately shaped the sonic landscape of 1981.

Then there’s TEARS FOR FEARS’ promising debut ‘Suffer The Children’ in its original synthier single recording and The Blitz Club favourite ‘Bostich’ from quirky Swiss pioneers YELLO. Another Blitz staple ‘No GDM’ from GINA X PERFORMANCE gets included despite being of 1978 vintage due to its first UK single release in 1981. The use of synth came in all sorts of shapes and FASHIØN presented a funkier take with ‘Move Øn’ while the track’s producer Zeus B Held took a more typically offbeat kosmische approach on his own ‘Cowboy On The Beach’.

Pivotal releases by JAPAN with the ‘The Art Of Parties’ (here in the more metallic ‘Tin Drum’ album version) and A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS ‘(It’s Not Me) Talking’ highlight those bands’ then-potential for mainstream success. But in the battle of the New Romantic boy bands, the sitar tinged DURAN DURAN B-side ‘Khanada’ easily blows away the SPANDAU BALLET album track ‘Reformation’ in an ominous sign as to who would crack it biggest worldwide.

The great lost band of this era, B-MOVIE issued the first of several versions of ‘Nowhere Girl’ in December 1980 on Dead Good Records and its inclusion showcases the song’s promise which was then more fully realised on the 1982 Some Bizzare single produced by the late Steve Brown although sadly, this was still not a hit.

The best and most synth flavoured pop hits from the period’s feisty females like Kim Wilde and Toyah are appropriate inclusions, as is Hazel O’Connor’s largely forgotten SPARKS homage ‘(Cover Plus) We’re All Grown Up’. But the less said about racist novelty records such as ‘Japanese Boy’ by Aneka, the better… the actual nation of Japan though is correctly represented by their most notable electronic exponents YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA with ‘Cue’ from ‘BGM’, the first release to feature the Roland TR808 Rhythm Composer.

With these type of boxed sets, it’s the less familiar tracks that are always the most interesting. As the best looking member of TANGERINE DREAM, Peter Baumann had a crack at the single charts with the catchy Robert Palmer produced ‘Repeat, Repeat’ while former Gary Numan backing band DRAMATIS are represented by ‘Lady DJ’ although its epic A side ‘Ex Luna Scientia’ would have equally merited inclusion. But BEASTS IN CAGES who later became HARD CORPS stand out with the stark dystopia of ‘Sandcastles’.

The one that “should-have-been-a-pop-hit” is the ABBA-esque ‘I Can’t Hold On’ by Natasha England and it’s a shame that her career is remembered for a lame opportunistic cover of ‘Iko Iko’ rather than this, but the delightful ‘Twelfth House’ demonstrates again how under-rated Tony Mansfield’s NEW MUSIK were, and this with a B-side!

The rather fraught ‘Wonderlust’ by THE FALLOUT CLUB captures the late Trevor Herion in fine form on a Thomas Dolby produced number with a dramatic Spaghetti Western flavour that is lushly sculpted with electronics. Over a more sedate rhythm box mantra, ‘Love Moves In Strange Ways’ from BLUE ZOO swirls with a not entirely dissimilar mood.

Mute Records founder Daniel Miller was breaking through with his productions for DEPECHE MODE in 1981, but representation on ‘Musik Music Musique 2.0’ comes via the colder austere of ‘Science Fiction’ by Alan Burnham. ‘West End’ by Thomas Leer adds some jazzy freeform synth soloing to the vocal free backdrop, while ‘Surface Tension’ from ANALYSIS is an appealing instrumental.

The strangely accessible weirdness of CHRIS & COSEY’s ‘This Is Me’, MYSTERY PLANE’s ‘Something To Prove’ and the gritty ‘Brix’ from PORTION CONTROL will delight those more into the leftfield, while AK-47’s ‘Stop! Dance!’, the work of Simon Leonard (later of I START COUNTING and KOMPUTER fame) is another DIY experiment in that aesthetic vein.

Some tracks are interesting but not essential like Richard Bone’s ‘Alien Girl’ which comes over like an amusing pub singer SILICON TEENS, Johnny Warman’s appealing robopop on ‘Will You Dance With Me?’ and the synth dressed New Wave of ‘Close-Up’ by THOSE FRENCH GIRLS. For something more typically artschool, there’s the timpani laden ‘Taboos’ by THE PASSAGE and SECOND LAYER’s screechy ‘In Bits’.

More surprising is Swedish songstress Virna Lindt with her ‘Young & Hip’ which oddly combines showtune theatrics with blippy synth and ska! The set ends rather fittingly with Cherry Red’s very own EYELESS IN GAZA with the abstract atmospherics of ‘The Eyes Of Beautiful Losers’ although they too would eventually produce their own rousing synthpop statement ‘Sunbursts In’ in 1984.

Outside of the music, the booklet is a bit disappointing with the photos of OMD, TEARS FOR FEARS, HEAVEN 17, B-MOVIE and a glam-bouffanted Kim Wilde all coming from the wrong eras. And while the liner notes provide helpful information on the lesser known acts, clangers such as stating Toyah’s ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ was from the album ‘The Changeling’ when it was a standalone 45, “GONG’s Mike Hewlett” and “memorable sleeve designs by Malcolm Garrett’s Altered IMaGes” do not help those who wish to discover the origins of those accumulated gems.

But these quibbles aside, overall ‘Musik Music Musique 2.0’ is a good collection, although with fewer rare jewels compared with the first 1980 volume which perhaps points to the fact that those who had the shine to breakthrough actually did… 40 years on though, many of those hit making acts (or variations of) are still performing live in some form.

Was 1981 the most important year in synth as far becoming ubiquitous in the mainstream and hitting the top of the charts internationally? With VISAGE’s ‘Fade To Grey’ becoming a West German No1 in Spring 1981 through to SOFT CELL taking the summer topspot in the UK and culminating in THE HUMAN LEAGUE eventually taking ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ to No1 in the US, the sound of synth had done its job. Setting the scene for 1982 and 1983, further editions of ‘Musik Music Musique’ are planned.

‘Musik Music Musique 2.0 1981 – The Rise Of Synth Pop’ is released by Cherry Red on 15th October 2021 as a 3CD boxed set

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/musik-music-musique-2-0-the-rise-of-synth-pop-3cd-clamshell-box/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th October 2021

A Short Conversation with KOMPUTER

2 November 2019 /


In association with Cold War Night Life, SATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2019 at Electrowerkz in London will feature the live return of KOMPUTER.

Veterans of three albums released on Mute Records, KOMPUTER were a reaction to the hangover that was Britpop. But taking a leaf out of the low monobrow antics of OASIS, the duo of Simon Leonard and David Baker decided “instead of ripping off THE BEATLES we’d rip off KRAFTWERK”.

Their first release ‘EP’ in 1996 set out to create some heavily KRAFTWERK influenced numbers and more than made up for the lack of new material from Kling Klang. ‘We Are Komputer’ was their very own take on ‘The Robots’, while there was also the marvellous tribute to the first female Cosmonaut ‘Valentina Tereshkova’ which mined ‘The Model’. Best of all though was the blippy ‘Komputer Krash’ while ‘Oh Synthesizer’ was an electronic hymn in the vein of ‘Neon Lights’, right down to the near identical schlagzeug stance and leadline melody.

A debut album ‘The World Of Tomorrow’ in 1998 followed featuring the marvellous train ride that was ‘Terminus Interminus’ and a tribute to their home city ‘Looking Down On London’, the ‘Metroland’ mix of which was sampled by OMD for their 2010 tune ’The Right Side?’.

Indeed, sampling was the next path KOMPUTER would take and with the discarded vinyl they sourced on visits to Spitalfields Market, 2002’s ‘Market Led’ was produced. But an exclusive track more in keeping with their more traditional electronic sound ‘My Private Train’ appeared on the 2003 Lucky Pierre compilation ‘Robopop Volume 1’ which also included CLIENT, SPRAY, MY ROBOT FRIEND, WHITE TOWN, EMPIRE STATE HUMAN, VIC TWENTY and MACONDO.

With advances in technology, the third album ‘Synthetik’ in 2007 explored virtual synths using traditional song structures and more experimental ideas. From it, ‘Headphones & Ringtones’ was a witty observation on how music consumption had changed in the 21st Century, while ‘International Space Station’ captured a glorious spirit of unity.

Leonard and Baker had actually been collaborating since 1982 as the synthpop combo I START COUNTING who had a pair of albums released by Mute Records and opened for ERASURE.

Then the pair mutated into the more dance driven FORTRAN 5 who also had three albums on Mute and recorded a hilarious ‘Derek Sings Derek’ cover of ‘Layla’ featuring a camp theatrical monologue by the late comic actor Derek Nimmo.

Highlights of their eight album catalogue were compiled for the excellent ‘Konnecting…’ retrospective in 2011 and with this special live reunion, Leonard and Baker have promised material from their I START COUNTING and FORTRAN 5 periods as well as KOMPUTER. In a break from making preparations for the show, David Baker had a quick chat about Russian history, OMD, Daniel Miller and more…

‘Valentina’ celebrated the first woman in space, what fascinated KOMPUTER about that mission and the Soviet space programme in general?

It was actually more inspired by BONEY M! We had always loved ‘Rasputin’, we even did a cover version. We wanted to do a song with a narrative that documented someone’s life. Simon had a book on the history of space exploration, which is where we discovered the mostly neglected story of Valentina Tereshkova.

‘Oh Synthesizer’ must have lit the touch paper of those obsessed with the “K” word, can you remember what the response was like to the debut self-titled EP?

It was like a similar to someone’s recent recollection of one of our earliest gigs: “My memory of that Garage gig is a very animated and upset young man in an ill-fitting jumper, spilling Tuborg about the place, screaming at the top of his voice, ‘WHAT IS THE FACKING POINT?!’”

How did you feel about OMD sampling ‘Looking Down On London’ for ‘The Right Side?’

Very pleased. Sting asked if he could do a version of ‘Looking Down On London’ as ‘Looking Down On Sunderland’ for some charity thing. We said no because it’s a silly idea and he’s a twat. But we love OMD, ‘Tesla Girls’ in particular and it does a great mash-up with ‘Hersham Boys’ by SHAM 69.

‘Terminus’ is one of your most popular tracks, what was its genesis and do you have a favourite mix?

A seemingly infinite airport / station, JG Ballard, ‘The Bridge’ by Iain Banks. We actually did a track a few years ago called ‘The Bridge’, but that was about Suicide Bridge. It was very good.

Daniel Miller’s Mix, the Memory Man mix was our favourite. The COSMIC BABY mix was chosen to be the lead track but we always preferred Miller’s. COSMIC BABY’s mix was a swap, we did a remix of his track ‘Lucifer’, which was very good.

ELECTRICITY.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to David Baker

https://komp46.wixsite.com/komputer

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https://open.spotify.com/artist/1gEqsqT3mT13pTcUhEyzzs

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Simon Helm
Photos courtesy of David Baker
2nd November 2019

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