Tag: Mute Records (Page 9 of 10)

CABARET VOLTAIRE Interview

21 November 2013 /

CABARET VOLTAIRE have long been considered the underground band that is equally and oppositely as quintessentially Sheffield as THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s pop juggernaut.  

They have built quite the reputation as being The North’s Angry Young Men – and Somewhat Perturbed Older Men – as seen in the recent and unmissable ‘Made in Sheffield’ documentary. The reputation is, to be fair, slightly unfair as in many interviews – including this one – there has been nary a skerrick of curmudgeonly behaviour.

Named after a Dada-ist nightclub in Zurich, the early Cabs – starting in the pop/psych/glam/prog mire of 1973 – cut their teeth on radical sonic experimentation, sharing the stage with the likes of JOY DIVISION and fellow incendiary and surreal industrialists THROBBING GRISTLE.By 1979, the band begin to form more pop-adjacent sensibilities, releasing their visceral and rather famous post-punk single ‘Nag Nag Nag’ on the nascent Rough Trade label alongside the recently remastered album ‘Red Mecca’ before Chris Watson left the band in 1981 to form the more experimental HAFLER TRIO, shaking up the line up, and forcing remaining members Richard H Kirk and Steve Mallinder to regroup.

Kirk and Mallinder decided to take a tabula rasa approach and make a fresh start. They were thoroughly seduced by the synthesizer and – like NEW ORDER – the hypnotic electro and club music penetrating right through to the north of England from New York’s Danceteria. Sounds including Afrika Bambaataa, Arthur Baker and the New York electro scene.

With the rich world of personal synthesis now at their literal and figurative fingertips, the duo that now comprised CABARET VOLTAIRE took a concoction of their experimental aesthetic, the political turmoil of Britain at the time of the miners’ strikes and some frankly killer grooves to create infectious and idiosyncratic pop music. Dance music. Hypnotic, collagist, surreal, dystopic dance music made between 1983 and 1985, later lost to time (and eBay) as rarities, no longer in print.

The now somewhat more grown-up Richard H Kirk continues to create and record as CABARET VOLTAIRE, but when the opportunity to grasp hold of the lapsed licences to the CV material of that period arose, it was too good a chance to resist. Consequently, Kirk has spent the last 2 years lovingly baking the tapes of the albums, 12 inches and VHS recordings of that time back to life and collating them as ‘#8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985)’ for Mute Artists. He kindly spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about this release…

This Box Set cans the years 1983 – 1985. In a neat piece of symmetry, it has taken you two years to curate the box set! What made you decide to devote two years of your life to this project?

To me, it is an important part of the CABARET VOLTAIRE story. The reason it came about initially is that these albums were signed to Some Bizarre / Virgin 28 years ago, and Virgin’s catalogue licence period recently came to an end. I talked with Mute about the possibility of taking the albums on because they have quite a lot of early CABARET VOLTAIRE recordings. They agreed and the rights were moved across to Mute and we started the work to transfer the files from their original tape.

What did you want to get from the process yourself?

I just wanted to make a good job of it and make sure the material we decided to release was quite comprehensive. I really wanted to bring extra unheard of and unseen material to the project. It was originally just going to be a set of CDs and DVDs, but Mute decided they wanted to do vinyl – that’s how the box set came about. Although the box is, obviously, kind of limited, the main thing for me was to make these albums available again as physical releases, not just as downloads. I thought about it the way a writer thinks about their books: a writer would always want their work to be available and published, even if it is now 30 years old.

Was it a very time consuming affair for you? Did you find yourself tempted to do any studio retouching along the way?

I wasn’t doing it 24-7 for 2 years, let’s put it that way. I’ve always got a lot of other things I’m doing, but by the end of this year it will have been a 2 year process.

What took all the time?

Firstly there was the process of locating all the master tapes from the archives and getting them digitised. Doing that involves a process where you have to bake the tapes, because old tapes get something called ‘sticky tape syndrome’. If you try to play tapes from that period now, often oxide sticks to the tape heads and your recording is totally trashed.

You have to be quite careful with older materials, especially Ampex pro-quality tape used in studios. Getting that done was the start of the process, and once they’d been baked I got sent digital copies on CD to listen to. I had to make sure all the songs were the correct versions compared with the released versions. Then we remastered them, and I had to check that the CDs sounded right, that everything was in its right place, and same with the vinyl, we had to check the test pressings.

I also went through a lengthy process of locating old video material, some live shows that were filmed back in the day 30 years ago. We transferred those from VHS to digital, making sure they were intact! To be honest, they’re not fantastic quality… certainly not broadcast quality, but they’re a document of our performances at the time. We’ve also put ‘Gasoline In Your Eye’ on there (a release from the time Mute called an experimental showcase). I also worked closely with the designer for the release, playing with images, doing frame grabs from old archive footage. I had to write some sleeve notes as well so… you know it has been a long and quite slow process, thankfully all finished now.

How do you consider the CABARET VOLTAIRE of 30 years ago compared with your current ideas and artistic output? How do you rate the music you made in that period?

It was both good and bad really – 30 years ago, life was a lot simpler… I was 30 years younger! It was also a very busy time for us. We were in studio and playing live shows a lot. Creating this box set brought back a lot of memories from that time. I remember it as a good period of my life – I was definitely enjoying myself!

Have you emerged from the strangeness of a 2 year flash back restless to create something new – particularly, some new CABARET VOLTAIRE material?

CABARET VOLTAIRE is now just myself. In recent times, that has involved being curator of CABARET VOLTAIRE. However I do have plans to make some new recordings and live performances next year. It would be very different, it won’t involve repetition of the past. I want to do something totally new – it’s more likely to be an art installation project rather than a band, to me that feels more appropriate.

CABARET VOLTAIRE’s albums from this period – including ‘The Crackdown’ and ‘Micro-Phonies’ are thought of as a melange of art, electro and a flirtation with politics/social ideas. Were you hoping to inspire your listeners to question society? Did you consider yourselves a political band?

Back in the day when all of this was recorded, as a band we never over analysed or over intellectualised what we did. We did it by feeling and let other people do the analysis – they could read into it whatever they wanted. We didn’t have long meetings about what we were going to do or what we wanted to say, we just got in and did it.

Did you have a political reaction to your environment at the time though?

We were very aware politically. We were living through times not dissimilar to now; we had Margaret Thatcher who was decimating the country. Especially where I’m from in Sheffield, a lot of people never recovered from the pit closures, At the time, it almost felt like the country was at civil war. I remember we were doing some live shows and travelling around in the tour bus, we were getting stopped and police checked because at the time there was a miners’ strike on and they thought we were going to the strike. Things like that are difficult to forget.

Do you see any relevance to the political sensitivities you had then to the UK now? Do you think this box set is coming out at just the right time?

It’s really kind of sad, but people don’t seem… I think everyone’s given up – just accepting what’s dished out to them by people in power – it’s difficult to do much about it.

Precisely! Do you think the anger over Thatcherite Britain which has been distilled into the 1983 – 1985 albums has a place in 2013?

I believe the baton should be taken up by younger people, sadly. I mean, it’s going to affect their future most of all. But you can easily see why it’s not happening when protests are shut down, and people are cattled and criminalised.

Do you see anyone you think is a suitable inheritor to the early CABARET VOLTAIRE’s ideas? Do you hear much music being made now like yours?

I very much doubt it can happen – music is now mostly about entertainment from what I can tell. There don’t seem to be any real radical people out there saying anything like “f*ck the system”.

Are you still incorporating politics into your own work?

I’ve been doing that in my work for a long time: when The Twin Towers tragedy happened 12 years ago, I was making music against George Bush against the war in Iraq, against Afghanistan. I’ve done that and kept that within the work that I do now. I don’t know whether 30 year old recordings from CABARET VOLTAIRE are going to fire people up – it would be nice if it did but I doubt it – I hope I’m proved wrong.

Are you happy that there’s vinyl coming out with this release? Are you a vinyl purist?

I still have a collection of vinyl – and I certainly still play vinyl. Although when I DJ, I tend to record my vinyl and burn it to CDs. But there’s nothing better sound wise than vinyl, especially in terms of bass. CDs are just easy and convenient, and I’m certainly not a download person. I’ve never downloaded music in my life – legal or illegal. It’s just not how I choose to consume music, but I’m not a snob about it. The vinyl in our box set sounds great!

I’m curious to know what your current studio set up is like?

I work in a couple of different ways. If I’m doing more dance based music, I’ve got an Atari 1040ST computer and some really old software called C-lab. It’s primitive, but it’s really spot on in terms of timing. I use that, samplers and old analogue synths with MIDI – that’s how I create part of my work. However I also have Protools and a 10 year old G4 Mac with a few plug-ins… so it depends what I’m doing and what I’m wanting to achieve.

What analogue synths do you still use now?

The keyboard I’ve been using recently I bought in ‘83 when recording ‘The Crackdown’ – the Roland Juno 60. I’ve used it a lot over the years but sadly it has now lost its capacity to save patch memory and needs to be repaired – it doesn’t save sounds anymore. But it still makes some fantastic sounds. I also have an SH09 synth I bough in the late 70s that I still use on a lot of stuff, and a Roland Juno 106 which is fantastic for bass and sub-bass.

Sadly a lot of my analogue stuff is starting to break, I don’t have a lot of outboard effects now because they have died on me – and it’s difficult to find someone in Sheffield who can repair old synths. I don’t have a car so that makes it hard. But I love all that stuff, I definitely prefer it to using plug-ins or softsynths.

Music writers in the past have been quite critical of this period of your work, compared with the more experimental music prior – but it seems to have found its time – it’s not uncommon to hear ‘Sensoria’ or ‘Just Fascination’ these days, as industrial dance has found its second spring. Did you feel surprised at the time by the response?

There have been things written about the ‘83 to ‘85 period where people wrote that it was “bad pop music”. Personally, I think they completely missed the point. Most of what I’ve done, I stand by including these records. I love the earlier CV stuff and equally love what I did with Mal (Steve Mallinder) later.

Personally, I prefer this period to the earlier CV releases.

It’s so good to hear someone say that. There’s some kind of weird prejudice out there still I think from the ‘83 – ‘85 period ‘The Covenant, The Sword & The Arm Of The Lord’ is one of my favourites.

We created and produced it all ourselves in a studio in Sheffield. It was about then we started to use samplers and digital equipment. I think it’s a really good album but a lot of people wouldn’t agree with me.

It can’t be denied that the direction you took after Chris Watson left – sonically – was a real departure from the post-punk frenetics of ‘Nag Nag Nag’.

It was partly because with Chris leaving we didn’t want to repeat what we’d done before. We were also getting more and more into New York electro – in the early 80s, a lot of great new stuff was coming out of New York – really exciting sounds. We thought: “you know, this is the way forward, to make the music more dancefloor friendly, and hopefully it would get through to more people”.

Did you have ambitions of becoming more accessible – and potentially more commercially successful?

We definitely retained a darker more subversive side to what we were doing, but we definitely wanted to reach more people. If we made something darker, the beats would hold it together. It wasn’t any kind of formal decision, it just seemed natural. We’d been big fans of dance music in the 70s but it was the technology that was the missing link. Suddenly we got programmable drum machines and sequencers, and with that we got the repetition you need for dance music – it brought that sound within our grasp.

Did you have limits on how far you were prepared to go in your songwriting to be more commercially successful?

We weren’t daft you know – it seemed obvious to us that if we were a bit more commercial then more people would listen to what we’re doing, and it proved correctly. ‘The Crackdown’ went into the Top 40. It was kind of an experiment. But, we never worked with producers, we always produced ourselves. A lot of 80s music is very recognisable because of the producers who were big at the time, Trevor Horn etc. Instead, we worked with very good engineers – like Flood – but kept control. Even when we worked with remixers, we went into the studio with them so could maintain control.

How about now? Would you take the money if you were offered a lucrative commercial deal – a jingle or a chart pop remix?

I would remix anyone if they pay me enough money. I’m a gun for hire – no matter how bad something sounds, you can make it sound cool. *laughs*

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Richard H Kirk

Special thanks to Zoe Miller at Mute

‘#8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985)’, a six CD / four vinyl / two DVD box set is available now via Mute Artists

http://mute.com/artists/cabaret-voltaire

https://www.facebook.com/CabaretVoltaireOfficial

http://shop.cabaret-voltaire.net/

Text and Interview by Nix Lowrey
21st November 2013

GOLDFRAPP Tales Of Us

5 September 2013 /

Unlike some noted acts who seem to make the same record all the time and get lauded for it, GOLDFRAPP have virtually changed styles with every album.

In fact in their lineage of successive works, only the futuristic glam of ‘Black Cherry’ and the saucy Kylieof ‘Supernature’ between 2003-2005 have any natural progression. And as a reaction to the synth AOR of previous album ‘Head First’ comes the more organically textured and largely acoustic ‘Tales Of Us’.

There’s no filthy Teutonic schaffel or really any synths but the end result probably is more Liz Fraser, Kate Bush and even Alison Goldfrapp herself, as this is possibly Ms Goldfrapp’s most personal work to date, although much of the inspiration has came from various horror novels.

GOLDFRAPP’s more sedate, atmospheric numbers have always been one of their major strengths and comparisons with their previous less full-on works are inevitable. Debut long player ‘Felt Mountain’ was avant Weimar cabaret that showcased Alison Goldfrapp’s amazing vocal range from Callas to Bassey to Dietrich. Fourth album ‘Seventh Tree’ moved more towards folk and psychedelia but was less satisfactory.

Waiting in anticipation at the Deer Stop for some marvellous cinematic soundscapes, Frappers now have ‘Tales Of Us’ to savour. With the lush orchestrations that make this a very different kind of GOLDFRAPP record, silent partner Will Gregory has made his presence felt with his background in classical and soundtrack music. Thus  ‘Tales Of Us’ could be seen as the duo’s own ‘Scott 4’.

‘Jo’ flaunts the album’s intentions with a drifting acoustic strum but it’s not until second number ‘Annabel’ that things really get into focus. A song made to be film theme if there ever was one, ‘Annabel’is a beautifully sparse classic. Calling card ‘Drew’ has a more haunting film noir quality. The romantic arrangements recall the work of soundtrack composer Michel Legrand and noted narrative songsmith Jimmy Webb. In it, Alison Goldfrapp’s voice is as exquisite as ever.

Sustained piano and a string quartet shape the start of ‘Ulla’ before a full orchestra and jangling guitar join in while ‘Alvar’ echoes ‘Let It Take You’ from ‘Supernature’ and even ‘Voicething’ from ‘Head First’ with its closing vocal cacophony. ‘Thea’ is the most overtly electronic song on ‘Tales Of Us’ but ‘Strict Machine’ it most certainly is not! Alison Goldfrapp’s vocal soars angelically surrounded by very subtle synthetic textures and a balanced 4/4 signature. While the beat is mechanical, the overall pace doesn’t throw in any incongruity to the album’s concept the way ‘I Feel Loved’ did on DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Exciter’.

More sparseness comes with ‘Simone’ but like ‘Jo’, does drift and needs several listens… ‘Stranger’however has a direct Morricone-esque quality with whistling permeating for that ‘Felt Mountain’ feel which is enhanced by a most lovely vocal refrain like ‘Deborah’s Theme’ from ‘Once Upon A Time In America’. The stark ‘Laurel’ is tinged with loneliness before the closing ‘Clay’sprites up with chopping cellos and percussion in possibly the liveliest song on the album.

‘Tales Of Us’ is a beautifully produced work with a sense of inner macabre but the enigmatic oddness that made ‘Felt Mountain’ so enticing is ultimately missing. But while perhaps not up there with ‘Felt Mountain’, ‘Tales Of Us’ is definitely a more satisfying listen than ‘Seventh Tree’.

‘Tales of Us’ is released by Mute Records on 9th September 2013 in CD, vinyl, download and boxed set formats

GOLDFRAPP Autumn 2013 tour dates include: Amsterdam Paradiso (21 October), Brussels Ancienne Belgique (22 October), Berlin Heimathafen Neukölln (23 October), Paris Le Trainon (25 October), Zürich Kaufleuten (26 October), London Hammersmith Apollo (1 November)

http://goldfrapp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Goldfrapp

https://twitter.com/goldfrapp

Text by Chi Ming Lai
5th September 2013

POLLY SCATTERGOOD Wanderlust

21 February 2013 /

Polly Scattergood made her debut in 2009 with a self-titled album released on the iconic Mute Records.

With key influences such as Bjork and Kate Bush, it combined jubilant experimental pop with her innocent, affected vocals.

Following her debut which featured the startlingly disturbing ‘Nitrogen Pink’ and soon to make a guest appearance on BEF’s ‘Dark’ covers album with a kooky rendition of ‘The Look Of Love’, Polly Scattergood is back and her new single Wanderlust’ realises her potential.

It is a slice of deliciously wired avant pop in the GOLDFRAPP vein, disconcerting but delightful like COCTEAU TWINS and rousing with an air of fragility.

It’s been nearly four years since her debut album and Mute Records have said Scattergood “has created a more mature, yet still innately unique, Sophomore album”. Commuting between Norfolk and Berlin to record her new album ‘Arrows’, the schizophrenic nature of these two very different parts of the world appears to have had a startling effect on ‘Wanderlust’. The album is out in the summer.

‘Wanderlust’ is released by Mute Records and available from 1st April 2013 via the usual digital outlets

Polly Scattergood plays Sebright Arms, 31-35 Coate Street, London E2 9AG on 27th February 2013

http://www.pollyscattergood.com/

http://www.facebook.com/polly.scattergood

http://mute.com/polly-scattergood

Text by Chi Ming Lai
21st February 2013

Innocent Bystander: The Legacy of FAD GADGET

29 March 2012 /

Frank Tovey – otherwise and more famously known as FAD GADGET – was one of the nearly acts in the rise of synthesiser music.

Whilst his releases garnered much in the way of media attention, the magic translation to commercial success which happened for a number of his electronic peers, eluded him.

And yet, at the same time, FAD GADGET was one of the most influential acts from the post-punk scene. Despite his lack of chart success, FAD GADGET was a precursor and inspiration to the synthpop, EBM, industrial, and techno scenes that followed later in the decade, and most notably a significant influence on DEPECHE MODE.

April 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Frank Tovey, and also the forthcoming release of a retrospective collection of his best work, so what better time to take a look back at the life of one on Britain’s less feted synth pioneers? Certainly we can think of none more deserving of greater attention.

Francis John Tovey, the man behind the FAD GADGET persona, was born in East London on 8th September 1956.

His father had a shellfish shop in Bow where the young Frank would work on Saturdays to earn his pocket money. He saved up to buy his first musical instruments, a flute, a violin, and an electric piano, but his early forays into music were none too successful, he himself saying in an interview with The Face in 1980 that “As soon as I’d learnt three notes, I’d get bored and give them up”. Frank’s early exposure to the likes of T-REX, DAVID BOWIE, LOU REED and IGGY POP led him – and countless others – to join a few bands, but he soon became frustrated with what he saw as his lack of musical ability and failure to master any musical instrument.

He went to St Martin’s College of Art in 1974 and, subsequently, enrolled at Leeds Polytechnic. He developed an interest in performance art, apparently the only student in his year to specialise in performance, becoming heavily interested in mime in a way only a post punk artist could without laughing!

One fellow student was Marc Almond, soon to be of SOFT CELL: “I remember Frank fondly from our days at Leeds Poly in the late 70’s, as being both a friend and an inspiration. I always felt we were kindred spirits. We were inspired by similar things, came from much the same world and were in many ways, even then, outsiders. Frank brought all he had learnt from the legendary Lindsey Kemp into the classes and I was eager to learn from him”.

After graduating in 1978 Frank returned to London where he took up a series of dead-end jobs to support himself as he developed his interests in performance art.

Initially he wanted to make music to accompany his mime, so bought a humble set up: a tape recorder, a small Korg drum machine, and an electronic piano, and set them up in a cupboard in the house he was sharing with his girlfriend and some others.

This cupboard was the site of his first demos, including early versions FAD GADGET’s first single and B-side, ‘Back To Nature’ and ‘The Box’, the latter inspired by the claustrophobic atmosphere of recording in the airless dark space of the cupboard.

Frank’s housemate Edwin Pouncey was friends with Daniel Miller, who had just recorded and released as THE NORMAL, the single ‘TVOD’ / ‘Warm Leatherette’ on his own label, Mute Records. Although apparently Miller had no plans to become a proper label or release any other records, he was persuaded by Pouncey to listen to Frank’s demo tape and to meet with him.

Frank recalls how he was initially due to meet with Miller at a gig of THE MONOCHROME SET, but due to an unfortunate set of circumstances involving too much beer and THE MONOCHROME SET drum kit, the meeting didn’t take place until later at Rough Trade’s offices. Miller was apparently blown away by Frank’s demo tape and immediately offered to release a single. Frank chose to release it under the name FAD GADGET, later saying in an interview in 1982 with Paul Morley that it was intended to sound throwaway, disposable.

And so in September 1979, the ‘Back to Nature’ single was released, and became an underground classic, being played in the same kind of clubs as contemporaries such as THE HUMAN LEAGUE, THROBBING GRISTLE, CABARET VOLTAIRE, JOHN FOXX and GARY NUMAN (the latter having already had chart success with TUBEWAY ARMY and the single ‘Are Friends Electric?’ – it was around this time that FAD GADGET began performing live. Early gigs were apparently not entirely successful, Frank himself saying in an interview that he remembered one early gig at a holiday camp in Bognor supporting THE MONOCHROME SET (yes them again) where he performed to an audience of three.

However, the FAD GADGET stage persona was honed at these early gigs; later gigs would feature Frank stripping himself naked and covering himself in shaving cream to accompany his song ‘Ladyshave’, or showering the front rows of the audience with his own torn-out pubic hair. He also began to use implements like electric drills in his performance, to the great pleasure of his father, who allegedly would tell his friends that his drill was featured in Frank’s music!.

Notably, one early audience member was Dave Gahan of DEPECHE MODE, who of course would go on to become label mates and notably support FAD GADGET in one of their own early gigs at the Bridgehouse in Canning Town. Furthermore, of course, some of FAD GADGET’s last gigs before Frank’s death were supporting DEPECHE MODE on their ‘Exciter’ tour.

Frank went on to record and release the second FAD GADGET single, ‘Ricky’s Hand’ in March 1980, a cautionary tale about a drunk driver who crashes and maims himself, (featuring the strains of Frank’s father’s electric drill), followed by a third single ‘Fireside Favourite’ and the first album ‘Fireside Favourites’ in September 1980. This proved to be an independent chart hit and Tovey toured Europe and the United States before returning to record a follow up album, ‘Incontinent’, the title and the lyrical content referring to his experiences in, and observations of, the USA.

The cover features a particularly memorable photograph of Frank dressed as the children’s puppet show anti-hero Mr Punch, a figure that had apparently entranced him as a child and that he felt fitted the brutal nature of the times and of his observations of American culture. Also for this album, Frank began to incorporate real musical instruments and rely less heavily on found sound and synthesis. To promote the album, FAD GADGET went on tour across the UK supporting the then-massive TOYAH, and released a series of singles, again garnering favourable press coverage, but again also failing to trouble the mainstream top 40.

Despite, or perhaps because of this, Frank went on to record a third FAD GADGET album, ‘Under the Flag’, at Blackwing Studios in London, featuring YAZOO’s Alison Moyet guesting on the single ‘For Whom the Bells Toll’. The FAD GADGET stage persona began to unravel around this time, Frank injuring himself in some way at practically every gig, culminating in a stage dive in Amsterdam in which he snapped tendons in both ankles.

The lyrics for the ‘Under The Flag’ album were written around the time of the Falklands conflict and were influenced by the reporting of the time, and also, by the recession and social fragmentation evident in Thatcher’s Britain. Frank returned to a more electronic sound on this album, heavily using the then new Roland MC4 Microcomposer sequencer.

Positive reviews of the album and accompanying first single ‘Life On The Line’ led to an appearance on the newly-launched Channel Four and a slot supporting DEPECHE MODE at their Christmas show on 23rd December 1982. Frank and his band then embarked on a quite extensive tour.

1983 was a relatively quiet year for Frank, with just the single ‘I Discover Love’ being released, once again Frank showing a change of sound back to the more acoustic, electronics being eschewed in favour of piano. However, at the end of the year he, like many British artists before him, made a creative and psychologically significant move to Berlin to record his next album at Hansa Tonstudio, then recent home to DEPECHE MODE who had successfully mixed the ‘Construction Time Again’ album and recorded ‘Some Great Reward’ there.

The first single ‘Collapsing New People’ had a title referencing, and featured percussion from, German Industrial pioneers EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN who were recording at Hansa at the same time. February 1984 saw the release of the last FAD GADGET album, ‘Gag’, the cover featuring an Anton Corbijn photograph of a tarred and feathered Tovey.

Once again the sound was a mesh between the synthetic and the more organic, once again the reviews were, on the whole, positive, and once again, commercial success failed to materialise for FAD GADGET.

Following a couple of single releases, Frank decided to retire the name and continue to record under his own name. The ensuing period of ‘Frank Tovey’ releases is either seen by his fans as his best, or an irrelevance. Certainly, it is a world away from the icy groove of his earlier releases, embracing even acoustic folk. For the purposes of the FAD GADGET story, we skip forward to the Millenium’s beginning – the year 2000. Frank, who had at that time been producing a band called TEMPLE X, was persuaded to perform a one-off gig as FAD GADGET with TEMPLE X being his backing band.

The gig at London’s Elektrowerkz was attended by some of the members of DEPECHE MODE, who talked him into supporting them on the European leg of their Exciter tour, playing in front of and being well received by arena crowds for the first time ever, one gig of which we were lucky enough to have attended.

The success of the support slot for the Mode led Frank to rekindle his interest. A ‘Best Of’ collection was released and Frank was back writing and beginning to record what would have been new FAD GADGET material. However, the story has an unhappy end as, on 3rd April 2002, Frank died suddenly of a heart attack at the young age of 45, having suffered from chronic heart problems since childhood.

Mortality had never been far from the mind of Tovey, and in fact his on-stage entropic character tapped and communicated that frailty, those anxieties. Tovey’s creativity was far from exhausted or fully realised, and he was certainly taken from the world criminally early.

Remembering and respecting the subversive genius of FAD GADGET.

Dedicated to the memory of Frank Tovey 1956-2002

‘The Best of Fad Gadget’ is released by Mute Records

http://www.fadgadget.co.uk/

http://mute.com/artists/fad-gadget

Text by Mike Cooper and Nix Lowrey
30th March 2012, updated 4th April 2018

GOLDFRAPP The Singles

21 February 2012 /

Alison Goldfrapp could be considered the most influential female music figure of the 21st Century so far.

Her sexy space age air hostess outfit accessorised by thigh length boots from the ‘Wonderful Electric’ DVD has become an iconic image while the distinctive electro glam GOLDFRAPP sound has been borrowed by pop princesses Rachel Stevens, Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and even rock bands such as MUSE!

She has become so influential in fact that in the ultimate back-handed compliment, the music press even gave Madonna the nickname “Oldfrapp”! The fairy godmother of modern electro has always cut a striking visual persona with photos of her playing keyboards in her smalls pre-LITTLE BOOTS, cuddling wolves dressed as a deviant Sally Bowles and strutting about the metropolis in a pink jump suit among the varied scenarios.

All this, despite her inherent awkwardness with regards live performance and interviews. While Alison Goldfrapp has obviously been the voice and face of GOLDFRAPP, her silent partner Will Gregory has been crucial to the chemistry. A musician and producer of strong intellect with a proficient instinct for pop, classical and soundtrack music, he has been the stabilising element to the front woman’s more art school eccentricities. When they first worked together in 1999, both were considered to have been around the musical block.

Goldfrapp was involved in well documented collaborations with ORBITAL and TRICKY while Gregory did a stint with TEARS FOR FEARS at the height of their commercial powers, playing sax in their live band and on the tracks ‘I Believe’ and ‘The Working Hour’. The dreamboat duo have successfully managed to avoid being categorised, surviving both Trip-Hop and Electroclash, two early labels that confused journalists tried to lump them with!

Almost chameleon-like, GOLDFRAPP have changed styles with every album, making the audience work for their pleasure. From their serene but sinister cinematic debut ‘Felt Mountain’ to the futuristic glitz of ‘Black Cherry’, the X-Certificate KYLIE of ‘Supernature’ to the folktronica of ‘Seventh Tree’ and the more recent retro AOR of ‘Head First’, GOLDFRAPP have for the most part, been supreme despite these mood swings.

But by way of a goodbye to their tenure on EMI (via their original label Mute), GOLDFRAPP release a compilation called ‘The Singles’. It is not a collection of their best work by any means or even a definitive singles document. As a snapshot to entice the curious to investigate their most glorious work via their albums, this is a worthwhile curriculum vitae, an indicator as to why their sound has been pillaged mercilessly throughout the world!

The superb ‘Lovely Head’ with its spine tingling whistle and electronically assisted banshee wails started it all in 2000. Will Gregory’s mad Korg MS20 treatment on Alison Goldfrapp’s sumptuously charged screaming was one of the most thrilling musical moments of the noughties. Made famous by a mobile phone ad featuring Gary Oldman and as the theme to indie flick ‘My Summer of Love’ starring Emily Blunt, the duo’s stratospheric debut single had Ennio Morricone’s’s widescreen inflections but to accompany an ascent to the Matterhorn rather than a trek through a Spaghetti Western.

Surreally sexy, GOLDFRAPP’s slower, more atmospheric numbers have always been one of their major strengths. Of those esoteric offerings, ‘Black Cherry’ and ‘Utopia’ are thankfully present. The former is still chillingly enticing while the latter is a seething ditty about a “fascist baby” and the science of genetic engineering… ”my dog needs new ears” indeed. ‘Felt Mountain’ was a masterpiece of avant string laden Weimar that showcased Alison Goldfrapp’s amazing vocal range from Callas to Bassey to Dietrich! A slow burner that eventually sold half a million, it was deservedly nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001.

But despite that, the first of GOLDFRAPP’s major direction changes occurred in 2003 with second album ‘Black Cherry’. It upped the tempo and added a more forthright electronic template. Deliciously wired like THE GLITTER BAND fronted by Kate Bush, the 6/8 rooted ‘Strict Machine’ became ubiquitous as incidental music to any TV documentary about the adult entertainment industry. Preceding it was that other filthy slice of Teutonic schaffel, ‘Train’.

Its growling Polivoks riff was too discordant to have mainstream appeal but as visualised by its erotic promo video, it became popular with dancers of that ilk! After being beaten senseless by the efficient but monotonous four-to-the-floor club beats of the nineties, this was a statement of intent. GOLDFRAPP showed that this was not the only way!

Will Gregory himself said to Sound On Sound at the time: “I get freaked out when I think about us all sitting down at 10 in the morning in front of Logic set at 120bpm, 4/4. I think we all need something that’s our own, that you feel is special…” And this was the sound that was to be latched onto by chart pop producers everywhere!

‘The Singles’ opens though with 2005’s ‘Ooh La La’, the T-REX pastiche that is probably still the best known GOLDFRAPP tune having been featured in adverts, ‘Hollyoaks’ and the like. However, it was ‘Some Girls’ by Rachel Stevens that first put the icy glam electro sound into the UK Top 5 in 2004. Although so obviously GOLDFRAPP-lite, many thought ‘Ooh La La’ was actually ‘Some Girls’ follow-up, much to dismay of Ms Goldfrapp! “I AM NOT RACHEL STEVENS!” she exclaimed! However, ‘Ooh La La’ attracted many younger music fans who wanted to move on from Kylie and the like for something more sophisticated. Parent album ‘Supernature’ ended up selling one million world

The fantastic ‘Number 1’ brought ROXY MUSIC into the 21st Century. Styled like lusty OMD with beautiful tones and buzzy noises combined to full counter melodic effect, the vocal delivery was almost like a female Bryan Ferry. Ms Goldfrapp was once filmed describing synth sounds by colours… this song seemed to feature all the colours of the rainbow. ‘Ride A White Horse’ was another proud pop moment, but with its Studio54 decadence and more T-REX referencing, something had to give and Alison Goldfrapp temporarily abdicated her electro queen crown for the confusing, acoustically flavoured ‘Seventh Tree’.

From it, ‘A&E’ was outstanding, a paradoxically sweet tune with an unsettling narrative about a girl’s attempted suicide. Also from ‘Seventh Tree’, ‘Happiness’ could have actually been one of their trademark 12 bar stompers but was toned down to a more drippy maypole dance to fit with the album’s concept… REX THE DOG’s rejected remix of the song was far better! One could respect the intentions of ‘Seventh Tree’, but ‘Felt Mountain’ it most certainly wasn’t!

A return to synths and poptastic tempos with the ‘Head First’ album in 2010 coincided with a more relaxed and confident Alison, someone who was now comfortable in her own skin having come out in her personal life. Lead single ‘Rocket’ was considered uninspiring by some observers, but it was a catchy MTV-styled disco tune featuring the brassy stabs from Laura Branigan’s cover of Italo standard ‘Gloria’. The gorgeous middle eight was angelic while the near lyrical banality of the chorus was utter genius, intended sexual innuendo or not! ‘Believer’ is the other ‘Head First’ representative but with the choice being restricted to single releases, then the ELO meets Billy Joel aping ‘Alive’ might have been a better choice as an example of accessible electro AOR for the masses.

But ultimately, this compilation is not for GOLDFRAPP fans. At 14 tracks, it is as short as possible so as not to bore potential punters and steers away from GOLDFRAPP’s more obscure but splendid singles such as ‘Human’, ‘Twist’ and ‘Pilots’ (which incidentally was banned by the BBC in the wake of 9/11). In fact, there is no inducement for fans to purchase other than the two new songs included.

An opportunity for a deluxe set with a DVD of promo videos or bonus CD gathering the tremendous B-sides such as ‘White Soft Rope’, ‘Gone To Earth’, ‘UK Girls’, ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Yes Sir’ has been missed. But with the two unreleased numbers, ‘Yellow Halo’ is a lovely eulogy to Alison Goldfrapp’s late mother and a close relative to ‘A&E’, while ‘Melancholy Sky’ is a dreamy ballad with that classic John Barry orchestrated film theme vibe; Will Gregory even breaks out the sax!

So are these two compositions an indication of where GOLDFRAPP are heading next? Certainly some other worldliness would be welcomed by many of their loyal audience waiting in anticipation at the Deer Stop. For this chapter in the GOLDFRAPP story at least, it ends as it started… with some marvellous cinematic soundscapes.

‘The Singles’ is released by Mute / EMI Records as a CD and download

https://www.goldfrapp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Goldfrapp/

https://twitter.com/goldfrapp

https://www.instagram.com/goldfrappmusic/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
21st February 2012

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: [email protected]
Privacy Policy

Up ↑