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• OLD SKOOL LOVERS '80 - '93

Bryan Ferry - Kiss And Tell - 05-Nov-09 12:40 PM
Bryan Ferry elicits many reviews touting his use of rhythm, however not much mention is made of his fantstically delightful use of melody. Kiss And Tell is delightfully melodic and still retains that Bryan Ferry rhythm as well. When you've got expert skinsman Andy Newmark doing your drumming, what the heck else would you expect? One exceptionally delightful other bit of pointless information relating to this delightful track - Listen closely for the pre-bigtime use of the VERY famous Roland TR-808! The sidestick snare/clave element makes a sensational upfront appearance on this track. That ubiquitous 808 just turns up everywhere, does it not? This tune rocks my world and consistently reminds me why I quit Heavy Metal all those years ago. Thank God!

Skinny Puppy - Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse - 13-Apr-09 12:01 PM
This album may not be everyone's cup of tea but for whatever reason on a gray day this album just presses the right buttons. My favorite is the album closer "Burnt With Water". There's just something about the mechanical timekeeper approach of the sort of tick tock noise that counts off the fours until the drums kick in. And when they do that beat - it rocks but yet it's so utterly simple. That's what I love about music! When that intangible hits you, you know it. I love the somewhat common in its day gated reverb on the kick. And as for other tunes on the album, well, that 808 is there in all its glory. I love that machine! And who doesn't? What makes this album also a joy is that you hear other machines at work besides just the 808. I don't know just what they were, but it's nice to not always hear only the 808. Great music for when you don't wanna dance the night away!

Yello - You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess - 30-Mar-09 08:28 AM
As if I didn't say enough about how far out ahead of their time Yello (or shall I say YELLo) was, I will reiterate that statement again after intensively scrutinizing this album! They were way out FAR OUT ahead of their time! The production tricks and techniques are what you might expect of a mid 1990's Drum-N-Bass track, albeit not quite as frantic. And their pre-sellout "techno" approach makes use of some of the other drum machines on the market at the time - as I personally tired of hearing the same old 808-909 combos of the mid-'90's. And last but definitely NOT least, they were musicians creating music in a musical way, not DJ's creating "traxx" which 99% of the time consisted of nothing more than one pattern (which they heard in their head from existing "good" techno tracks) stretched out over thirteen minutes executed very minimally. These are "songs" with structure and thus - changes! Indeed, music was still exciting in 1983 (or '82? - Looks like Elektra released it later after seeing it was commercially viable and therefore marketable). Now I'm totally intrigued - I want to hear more of this band called YELLo... Excellent! FIVE STARS!

Tubeway Army - Replicas - 31-Mar-08 09:38 AM
I can't say so much about this releases as Crijevo, except that it's Numan plagiarizing in reverse - that is - I get the feeling that he ripped off his own melodies on later releases as just Gary Numan, not The Tubeway Army. I noticed this as I was listening to Track 1, Me, I Disconnect From You, which sounded rather not so distantly similar to his own I Die: You Die. But none of that really matters when an artist rips off himself. My favorite track, and to me the standout on the album, is Are 'Friends' Electric?. The underlying synthesizer really makes the track come alive. Of course I never really could say that Mr. Numan is a standout vocalist, nor is he a great optimist - his lyrics are dark and rather pessimistic, but sometimes that's what makes a project work. Could you imagine any Gary Numan album with bouncy, poppy vocals? Eeeee! That would be terrible!

Lipps, Inc. - Funkytown - 21-Feb-08 04:29 PM
Jeez, ya know - I was a whoppin' seven years old when this tune was released! I didn't know it at the time just yet, but the cool synthesizer hook is so - COOL! It's so analog. I also didn't know this at the time, and it's still not verified by any source, but I'm pretty sure Steven Greenberg was pimpin' the legendary Oberheim system - well, maybe not quite yet - but an Oberheim synthesizer on this and many other of his tracks. At this time he was still using real drums and bass. But for anyone interested, this track shows where the music was headed. In a few short years after this one came along, everything became electronic. This was a favorite of mine for a spell back in the summer of 1980 when this one was peaking on the charts.

Steven, where are ya? I'd love to discuss your techniques! Especially on the 1983 and later releases.

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