Rema-Rema – Fond Reflections

REMA-REMA,Fond Reflections’ – the debut album that never was:

“An intriguingly overlooked piece of the 80s underground rock puzzle, fitting somewhere between British post-punk and American noise-rock, yet with an atmospheric slant that’s largely their own.” Tiny Mix Tapes

40 years after disbanding comes ‘Fond Reflections‘, the debut album that never was from cult 4AD band Rema-Rema.

London based Rema-Rema featured former members of The Models & Siouxsie and The Banshees, and Mass, and their much-loved ‘Wheel in the Roses’ EP (1980) was among the first records to be released via 4AD Records in August 1980. 4AD owner Ivo was apparently immediately struck by music later saying, “It was the first point I knew that we were actually doing something serious.”

‘Wheel in the Roses’ was their only contribution to the label’s storied history, they split-up before its release, going on to form or join bands as diverse as Renegade Soundwave, The Wolfgang Press, Mass, and Adam and the Ants. A decent copy of the EP will set you back approx £50.

The debut album that never was, ‘Fond Reflections’, comes almost forty years after their debut EP and has been culled from the band’s rich archive of reel-to-reel and cassette recordings, with member Gary Asquith and mixing engineer Takatsuna Mukai painstakingly working on them to make this collection as cohesive as possible. The ten tracks pretty much reflect the band’s live set and is the closest to what their debut album could have sounded like.

Worth noting too that although all their 1980 EP tracks are present on this album, they are different recordings.

The CD edition comes with a second disc entitled ‘Extended Wheel in the Roses’. As its title suggests, it’s the four EP tracks as they were plus ‘Entry’ (taken from the same studio session as the EP’s A-side of ‘Feedback Song’ and ‘Rema-Rema’) and ‘No Applause’ and ‘Murdermuzic’, two more tracks recorded at the same Albany Empire, London show in 1979 as the EP’s B-side, ‘Instrumental’ and ‘Fond Affections’.

As a longtime Rema Rema fan, this album is a gift. After 2 LPs worth, I wished there was more! I actually held off buying this because of the review below complaining about the sound quality because I have little patience for bootleg quality recordings. These recordings do not sound like that. They are recorded very well and I don't even understand the complaint. Having said that, I did lower my expectations based on that review so I probably should thank him for allowing my jaw to drop that much further after finally hearing this. Also, I love the design and appreciate the printed inner sleeves which is a touch that fewer and fewer releases bother to include. Lastly this is very well pressed- my copy is flat and flawless. It would be hard to beat this for my favorite release of the year. And for all this, the price I paid was unbelievable.

40 years after disbanding comes Fond Reflections, the debut album that never was from cult 4AD band Rema-Rema.

Rema-Rema featured former members of The Models and Siouxsie and The Banshees, and their much-loved
Wheel In The Roses EP (1980) was among the first records to be released on 4AD. Their only contribution to the label's storied history, they split-up before its release, going on to form or join bands as diverse as Renegade Soundwave,
The Wolfgang Press, Mass, and Adam and the Ants.

The debut album that never was, Fond Reflections, comes almost forty years after their debut EP and has been culled from the band's rich archive of reel-to-reel and cassette recordings, with member Gary Asquith and mixing engineer Takatsuna Mukai painstakingly working on them to make the album as cohesive as possible. The ten tracks pretty much reflect the band's live set and is the closest to what their debut album could have sounded like. Worth noting too that although all their 1980 EP tracks are present on the album, they are all come from different recordings.

What a pity that 4AD doesn't seam to put the love to the design to the record as they used to. Centered typography on the backside with uninspired typographics and setting, barcode and all the shit you'll find on a commercial record. I used to buy 4ADs for the cover, too. Not really any more. Due to the high class musical content I made an exeption this time ;)

Damn. Respect the views expressed below, but I'm bummed about the decision to use those dubious live studio versions of the Wheel in the Roses material. Just not really stuff I want to spring for vinyl copies of, whereas if this reissue contained the original Wheel in the Roses material instead, I woulda bought it in a heartbeat.

Bad choice by 4AD, imo.

I heard that there was an extended version of 'Wheel in The Roses" turning up on CD some time back and 'Fond Affections' turned up this morning. Fond Reflections is utterly marvellous. ALL OF IT. The live rehearsal recordings are SO powerful. Fond reflections is an absolute dream for any fan of Rema-Rema. If there's any more out there (especially live recordings), let's have them.

Rema-Rema were raw and uncompromising and, most importantly, the forerunner of Mass. Mass oozed pure mania from every pore. Gods. I'd seriously consider sacrificing a limb for more Mass. Take note 4AD.

I respect plaidzebr's review below, but if Rema Rema is a band you dreamed there was more of, this will more than hit the spot. I loved every second of it. Yes, it is rehearsal recordings, rough demos and was never intended to see the light of day but it is total JOY!!! I am so, so, so happy this came out.

The vinyl issue presents a beautiful gatefold sleeve, pristinely pressed vinyl containing 50 minutes of music spread over 4 sides, with bootleg quality sound. The album itself is made up mostly of previously unreleased tracks, barring the tracks from the "International Scale" 7" and Entry/Exit 12", including some less successful versions of tracks that were originally released on "Wheel In The Roses." I love Rema-Rema, but I can't for the life of me figure out why 4AD decided to issue this deluxe double album of lo fi demos, live recordings and rehearsals. I realize there's nothing else to release, but the facts remain. It's great to hear these tracks once, but I can't see myself revisiting most of them again, unlike "Wheel In The Roses," which in my opinion is timeless. "Fond Reflections" certainly doesn't play like an album. It plays like a variously-baked collection of demos and rehearsals that were never intended to be collated into an album. Perhaps I had too high expectations. I'd recommend lowering yours before listening.

But, I thought, I also bought the cd version, so at least I'll finally have the original "Wheel In The Roses" in a high quality digital format on the second cd titled "Extended Wheel In The Roses." Yeah, not so fast. Soon I discover that yes, three of the four songs from "Wheel In The Roses" appear in the same versions as the original release, but the song "Rema-Rema" (surely their best known work) has been inexplicably replaced with an interesting but sub-par unreleased version, and the original version of "Rema-Rema" is not included anywhere in this set. Instead, there are a few more low quality live tracks. And then 45 minutes of blank cd. What the everloving fuck? 4AD? Why?

I know there are some people who will be pleased to hear unreleased material from this band, and will be able to look past the poor sound quality. "Wheel In The Roses" was not an audiophile recording, after all. In fact I was ecstatic when I learned this album was in the works; I pre-ordered it as soon as possible. And some tracks fare better than others; "International Scale" sounds basically the same as it did on the 7" release, and while lo fi, it's raw and does deliver the uncut Rema-Rema essence. The rest of "Fond Reflections" is not totally unlistenable. But the complete omission of "Rema-Rema" in its original glory makes no sense, and overall I feel very disappointed by "Fond Reflections."

Edit: Hey reader, so yeah you noticed I got some facts wrong in my review. But there's more nuance to it, and because I don't have time at the moment, I'm going to correct the errors at a later date. Long story short, I pulled the original vinyl, and the performance of "Rema-Rema" is the same on the reissue cd, but the sound quality is very different between the two. Anyway, nice to see that so many people care about Rema-Rema. I will revise this review very soon.

It should be noted that the four songs here from the original ep are different versions.