Tracklist
| Left To My Own Devices | 4:43 | |
| Left To My Own Devices (The Disco Mix) | 11:27 | |
| The Sound Of The Atom Splitting | 3:37 |
Versions
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Reviews & Discussion
Review by
May 31, 2005
(edited over 4 years ago)
referencing Left To My Own Devices, 12", 12R 6198
referencing Left To My Own Devices, CD, Maxi, CDR 6198, 20 3080 2
Size matters…
Pet Shop Boys wanted big. Trevor Horn, a man with a reputation for taking his time, had a big idea; to program the electronics quickly, and then hire an orchestra to play along to the sequencers, live. This big idea would mean that the big sound could be recorded in only a few days. Of course, the track took six months to complete.
Horn rented arranger Richard Niles to orchestrate the track. Niles knew all about big.
How big should the string section be?, queried Horn.
Oh, 20 strings should suffice for this orchestra, came the reply.
Horn retorted; doesn't 40 strings sound better?
No, answered Niles, 20 is good for this size of orchestra.
But, insisted Horn, doesn't it sound better to say "I have 40 strings in the studio", than only 20 strings?
Niles's flamboyant arrangement is heavily evident in both mixes on this CD. The seven inch mix is edited from the eight minute Introspective version. Although shorter, the sound is bigger than the album version, with bonus Bruce Woolley backing vocals and guitar by Stephen Lipson.
Horn's twelve incher stretches the whole out over 11 and a half minutes, and is an object lesson in how to make a hell of a lot go a hell of a lot further. The three minute intro is quite sublime; ricocheting beats, looping strings, swooping sequencers, with horns heralding the bassline. Somewhere around seven and a half minutes in, there's a 40 second breakdown that seemingly encompasses a jet, a tractor engine, an army of snare drums and a racing car. Genius.
Left To My Own Devices includes the memorable line: "Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat". Horn had a big desire; to record Claude Debussy to a disco beat (something he eventually achieved with the Art Of Noise's 1999 album). So, the Pet Shop Boys decided to play along and record an acid house interlude for the track, based around Debussy-esque chords. A 40 minute jam was recorded live, with Neil, Chris and Trevor on keyboards and Lipson playing the mix desk. This experiment was not used on the a-side but, after editing and vocalizing, became The Sound Of The Atom Splitting instead. One of the oddest in the PSB catalogue, the track is very divisive.
Pet Shop Boys wanted big. Trevor Horn, a man with a reputation for taking his time, had a big idea; to program the electronics quickly, and then hire an orchestra to play along to the sequencers, live. This big idea would mean that the big sound could be recorded in only a few days. Of course, the track took six months to complete.
Horn rented arranger Richard Niles to orchestrate the track. Niles knew all about big.
How big should the string section be?, queried Horn.
Oh, 20 strings should suffice for this orchestra, came the reply.
Horn retorted; doesn't 40 strings sound better?
No, answered Niles, 20 is good for this size of orchestra.
But, insisted Horn, doesn't it sound better to say "I have 40 strings in the studio", than only 20 strings?
Niles's flamboyant arrangement is heavily evident in both mixes on this CD. The seven inch mix is edited from the eight minute Introspective version. Although shorter, the sound is bigger than the album version, with bonus Bruce Woolley backing vocals and guitar by Stephen Lipson.
Horn's twelve incher stretches the whole out over 11 and a half minutes, and is an object lesson in how to make a hell of a lot go a hell of a lot further. The three minute intro is quite sublime; ricocheting beats, looping strings, swooping sequencers, with horns heralding the bassline. Somewhere around seven and a half minutes in, there's a 40 second breakdown that seemingly encompasses a jet, a tractor engine, an army of snare drums and a racing car. Genius.
Left To My Own Devices includes the memorable line: "Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat". Horn had a big desire; to record Claude Debussy to a disco beat (something he eventually achieved with the Art Of Noise's 1999 album). So, the Pet Shop Boys decided to play along and record an acid house interlude for the track, based around Debussy-esque chords. A 40 minute jam was recorded live, with Neil, Chris and Trevor on keyboards and Lipson playing the mix desk. This experiment was not used on the a-side but, after editing and vocalizing, became The Sound Of The Atom Splitting instead. One of the oddest in the PSB catalogue, the track is very divisive.
'Left to My Own Devices' is a track worthy of reference. This gem from 1988 utilised the studio wizadry of legendary producer Trevor Horne. Horne is notorious for spending months (and money) to complete a single record. His techniques were unorthodox, to say the least. For the string section of 'Devices', he opted to use a real orchestra to construct the piece then, in turn, used that piece as a base to construct the same notes on a synthesiser. Whether or not the final result is of greater effect really depends on your technical knowledge and your tolerance for infamous perfectionists. Overall, the entire track is a wonderful piece of "symphonic disco". It contains all the drama, energy and wit any typical PSB track should have.