Mix Club 2010 - March reviews

[the masked man]

This month's mix came from Beenieman. Instead of the expected reggae-fest (which, true enough, formed the contents of the bonus disc), he came up with a selection of new wave favourites which pretty much formed the radio soundtrack of my teenage years.

1. Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone. One of the great intros - brief telephone ring, followed by a brisk unaccompanied couplet from Debbie Harry. This is the type of tight, urgent template that all guitar-based pop should follow.

2. ABC - Poison Arrow. This was an album that took a while to click with me - Trevor Horn's ultra-synthetic production always seemed too airless. I got used to that (just as well, given that it was the dominant sound of the 80s) and finally got round to enjoying the brilliant songs and canny wordplay. This is the most dramatic song on the album, with Martin Fry's voice milking every overwrought line for all it's worth.

3. Soft Cell - Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go. The other side of early 80s pop: minimal and spacey where ABC were lush and cluttered. This track is overplayed (Marc Almond really hates it as a result), but it's still a strange and sinister delight if you can forget its history. This came out in 1981, when the idea of the extended 12" dance mix was still pretty new in the UK. Soft Cell always used this format far more creatively than most of their compatriot contemporaries, and this seamless transition between their covers of two soul classics shows how forward-thinking they were.

4. Culture Club - Time (Clock Of The Heart). Boy George is one of the most underrated of British vocalists; here, his rich but vulnerable voice effortlessly managed a skillful pastiche of 70s soul. Later, too many bad drugs and too much bad press stalled Culture Club's momentum, but on their first two albums they made a number of sparkling pop classics.

5. Human League - Human. Interesting choice! Sheffield's premier electronic pioneers ran out of creative ideas in the mid 80s, and ended up flying to Minneapolis to sing songs written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It wasn't a total success, but this immaculate song was the highlight. It's pure Jam & Lewis musically - those dramatic electronic drum breaks and spongy bass lines had already appeared on a number of tracks by The SOS Band and Change - but vocally the League put their stamp on the disc. I love how Susan Sulley's spoken section introduces an incongruous Yorkshire accent to the record!

6. Roxy Music - Oh Yeah. OK, here's my confession - I like Roxy Music's post-reformation albums of this period. Yes, they weren't as creative as on their early 70s classics, but they did that mood of moneyed ennui so persuasively, that I couldn't help but swoon. This song is yet another aching heartache in some designer dream home, and it's just gorgeous...

7. Martha & the Muffins - Echo Beach. The ultimate one-hit wonders of Canadian pop! Actually, these urbane Ontarians had a number of hummable songs, but this delectable autumnal tale of longing is what they'll always be remembered for. Good sax fills too - whatever happened to saxophones in pop? Did Kenny G kill this idea off?

8. Split Enz - Nobody Takes Me Seriously. Also regarded as one-hit wonders in the UK (though with a different song - in fact, 'I Got You' is probably the first example of New Zealand pop that most Brits of my age ever heard...). However, I do remember this getting quite a bit of airplay, and it's pleasing to hear it again. However, I think 'Missing Person' is even better...

9. The only song here I don't recognise. It contains a rather arch female vocal over a rather generic early 80s backing track, all synth washes and reverby-guitar placed low in the mix. It's not bad at all, but the song could be stronger. I think this is some band like Missing Persons or The Motels, but, as I say, it doesn't ring a bell.

10. The Colour Field - Thinking Of You. This was a curious diversion for Terry Hall; after the Fun Boy Three split, he lent his doleful voice to summery 60s pop confections like this. It's the sort of record that shouldn't work - the voice is somewhat out of place - but it does. Personally, it helps that this song (which is circa 1985) brings back Proustian recollections of my university days.

11. Godley & Creme - Wedding Bells. Never sure about this duo's music, either here or with 10CC; it's all pretty accomplished but a certain smugness stops in connecting with the emotions. Somehow, this seems rather inconsequential.

12. Modern English - I Melt With You. I liked this band a lot, being something of a 4AD fetishist, so it was a surprise that this song provided them with a minor US hit. I don't think I recognise this mix, though - is this a US remix? It actually sounds rather flatter than the version I'm more familiar with (come to think of it, there are a number of versions on the CD reissue I own), with the drums placed charmlessly high in the mix. These days, I actually think I prefer the cover by Nouvelle Vague.

13. Gang of Four - Damaged Goods. Absolutely stunning band, though one that struggled to follow-up their overly definitive debut album. This sums up well what they did on that LP, with the contrasting vocal lines up against a jagged wall of urgent, trebly guitars. Fantastic!

14. The Jam - Eton Rifles. A band I sometimes struggle with, as I don't care for Paul Weller's hectoring vocals, but there's a good reason why they were one of the premier UK bands of the late 70s. This is perhaps their best single, a caustic reflection on the class struggle with some of Weller's best lyrics ("All that rugby puts hair on your chest / What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?"). But the real star here is Bruce Foxton, whose surging bass-lines fuel an extraordinarily exciting intro.

15. The Specials - Ghost Town (12" Version). Few records have ever encapsulated a poltical mood as well as this - as Thatcherism bit hard, and unemployment was stoked up as a tool of social control, 'Ghost Town' tuned into a nation whose torpor was turning to anger. Those sinister fairground organ sounds, those deflated vocals, a sense of overbearing fear and foreboding....it's strong stuff, all right.

Well, that ceratinly brought back some memories, most of them very pleasant indeed. Thanks as well for the bonus disc of reggae and dancehall songs which seem to have a constant theme of, well, getting high. Reggae is an area I want to know more about (I didn't follow the genre much beyond the early 80s), so this is a good primer of stuff I don't know (I did in particular like the first track, which seems to be called 'Under Mi Sensi').

Thanks for a generous package overall!

[beenieman]

I'll be back home in a week or so and I'll attend to the reveal, actually it'll have to be more of a commentary, then.

For the life of me I can't remember what Track 9 was though.

[John_K]

In some parallel universe that part of me must inhabit I was convinced I'd completed this task last month.

Needless to say I returned to reality and realized I hadn't, apologies mixer, here's my cobbled together review:

01. Sultry laid back opening with breathy vocals, it's pleasant enough but plods along a little and I keep waiting for it to take off to somewhere else.

02. Something poppier this time, kind of psych with lots going on, a lot of which I can't get my head around as I listen to for the third time as I type this. Interesting…

03. Parping horns, odd percussion, and chimey keyboards. This is quite a rambling sprawl of a track that I feel I probably have somewhere but I can't place it, curious as to who it is.

04. This sounds like the Florence album I listened to for the first time last week, but not sure that it's her, maybe one of the ladies that has come along in her wake? I liked the Florence album and this is quite nice too.

05. 'Evil makes you feel like you' Indie rock, alright but not grabbing my attention so far…

06. Screamy shouty 'chili peppers' type thing, certainly forced me to sit up, but other than that not for me at all.

07. Pounding indie rock, US origin? Nice feedback fadeout at the end.

08. I know this! This is Buck 65 with Wicked and Weird, I like this it's fun with its rapid delivery.

09. This track sounds really distorted as it starts out, like a radio station not quite catching the signal. After the drum beat when the vocal begins, it's frustrating as it's so familiar but I can't but my finger on it. Please tell me who!

10. Another very familiar vocal that I can't place. Slow paced track, with some nice background horns and crashing percussion. Again I look forward to realizing I have this in my collection…

11. The longest track on the mix, clocking in a little over 8 minutes! Having played it 3 times so far it doesn't quite sit with me, but I'm more than curious to know who it is…

12. Indie pop, repetitive vocal, sorry not for me…

13. Mark RIP… The wonderful Sparklehorse with Gold Day, beautiful track to wrap things up.

Thanks for the disc mystery mixer, sorry for the delay posting a review, look forward to the education of the reveal...

[beenieman]

This month's mix came from Beenieman. Instead of the expected reggae-fest (which, true enough, formed the contents of the bonus disc), he came up with a selection of new wave favourites which pretty much formed the radio soundtrack of my teenage years.

I had the idea that this was indeed the soundtrack of your youth. So while there were clearly no surprises hopefully it proved a worthwhile keeper as a comp/

1. Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone. One of the great intros - brief telephone ring, followed by a brisk unaccompanied couplet from Debbie Harry. This is the type of tight, urgent template that all guitar-based pop should follow.

What a great voice she had. A touch of masculinity in there but oh so sexy.

2. ABC - Poison Arrow. This was an album that took a while to click with me - Trevor Horn's ultra-synthetic production always seemed too airless. I got used to that (just as well, given that it was the dominant sound of the 80s) and finally got round to enjoying the brilliant songs and canny wordplay. This is the most dramatic song on the album, with Martin Fry's voice milking every overwrought line for all it's worth.

A band you’d think could have made hits forever. In fact fry thought they could. But it all ended quite quickly didn’t it? As it did for many of these bands. I’d happily listen to this kind of music forever

3. Soft Cell - Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go. The other side of early 80s pop: minimal and spacey where ABC were lush and cluttered. This track is overplayed (Marc Almond really hates it as a result), but it's still a strange and sinister delight if you can forget its history. This came out in 1981, when the idea of the extended 12" dance mix was still pretty new in the UK. Soft Cell always used this format far more creatively than most of their compatriot contemporaries, and this seamless transition between their covers of two soul classics shows how forward-thinking they were.

I loved this song back then, and still do. I remember being in New York at the time and seeing an 18 minute12 inch mix of this. The disc cost over US$20, probably the most I’ve ever paid for a single song. But boy was it worth it! And you’ve got to have the extension into “Where Did Our Love Go” to make this work. Actually it may be the better song but it’s Tainted Love that always gets the “credit”.

4. Culture Club - Time (Clock Of The Heart). Boy George is one of the most underrated of British vocalists; here, his rich but vulnerable voice effortlessly managed a skillful pastiche of 70s soul. Later, too many bad drugs and too much bad press stalled Culture Club's momentum, but on their first two albums they made a number of sparkling pop classics.

God he was good then. I got all of his 12 inch singles, including the pre “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” ones which I probably placed just once and War Song & Medal Song. This is one of his best songs. Soul music for sure.

5. Human League - Human. Interesting choice! Sheffield's premier electronic pioneers ran out of creative ideas in the mid 80s, and ended up flying to Minneapolis to sing songs written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It wasn't a total success, but this immaculate song was the highlight. It's pure Jam & Lewis musically - those dramatic electronic drum breaks and spongy bass lines had already appeared on a number of tracks by The SOS Band and Change - but vocally the League put their stamp on the disc. I love how Susan Sulley's spoken section introduces an incongruous Yorkshire accent to the record!

It’s Dare that I play to death still. This was a left field later track that showed they still had it. Albeit thanks to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Another act that should have kept having hits forever but faded away. They had a perfect sound.

6. Roxy Music - Oh Yeah. OK, here's my confession - I like Roxy Music's post-reformation albums of this period. Yes, they weren't as creative as on their early 70s classics, but they did that mood of moneyed ennui so persuasively, that I couldn't help but swoon. This song is yet another aching heartache in some designer dream home, and it's just gorgeous...

Flesh & Blood is my favourite album of theirs. I doubt many from the UK would endorse this but hello! And while I could chose a number of tracks from this alum this is what I always revert too. I’ve used it on countless comps as Track 1 (including my May 2009 BCB Mix) but here I tried placing it in the middle. Hey! It works anywhere. Fantastic song.

7. Martha & the Muffins - Echo Beach. The ultimate one-hit wonders of Canadian pop! Actually, these urbane Ontarians had a number of hummable songs, but this delectable autumnal tale of longing is what they'll always be remembered for. Good sax fills too - whatever happened to saxophones in pop? Did Kenny G kill this idea off?

I could have gone for another track (“Paint By Number Heart” for example) but I wanted this to lead into the next track. I lived in Toronto when this came out. We used to play this before the weekends in the summer before we’d head up to the cabin by the lake. Another case of Perfect Sound Forever!

8. Split Enz - Nobody Takes Me Seriously. Also regarded as one-hit wonders in the UK (though with a different song - in fact, 'I Got You' is probably the first example of New Zealand pop that most Brits of my age ever heard...). However, I do remember this getting quite a bit of airplay, and it's pleasing to hear it again. However, I think 'Missing Person' is even better...

Thematically similar to Echo Beach with it’s reference to the follies of office working. One of my favourite Enz tracks. I’m not a big fan outside of the True Colours album to be honest.

9. The only song here I don't recognise. It contains a rather arch female vocal over a rather generic early 80s backing track, all synth washes and reverby-guitar placed low in the mix. It's not bad at all, but the song could be stronger. I think this is some band like Missing Persons or The Motels, but, as I say, it doesn't ring a bell.

The Motels - Suddenly Last Summer. Again that Summer escape from the office vibe. Probably my least favorite track on this disc to be honest but still first drawer.

10. The Colour Field - Thinking Of You. This was a curious diversion for Terry Hall; after the Fun Boy Three split, he lent his doleful voice to summery 60s pop confections like this. It's the sort of record that shouldn't work - the voice is somewhat out of place - but it does. Personally, it helps that this song (which is circa 1985) brings back Proustian recollections of my university days.

Terry Hall has had a stellar career. This is a later track and you’re right it has more of a 60’s vibe rather than 70’s.

11. Godley & Creme - Wedding Bells. Never sure about this duo's music, either here or with 10CC; it's all pretty accomplished but a certain smugness stops in connecting with the emotions. Somehow, this seems rather inconsequential.

They were certainly show-offs but they did have the knack for making fine music, of which this is a good example.

12. Modern English - I Melt With You. I liked this band a lot, being something of a 4AD fetishist, so it was a surprise that this song provided them with a minor US hit. I don't think I recognise this mix, though - is this a US remix? It actually sounds rather flatter than the version I'm more familiar with (come to think of it, there are a number of versions on the CD reissue I own), with the drums placed charmlessly high in the mix. These days, I actually think I prefer the cover by Nouvelle Vague.

This is the US single version. The only track of theirs I know. I didn’t know there was another version, Nouvelle Vague. I’ll download it.

13. Gang of Four - Damaged Goods. Absolutely stunning band, though one that struggled to follow-up their overly definitive debut album. This sums up well what they did on that LP, with the contrasting vocal lines up against a jagged wall of urgent, trebly guitars. Fantastic!

New wave pop despite their supposed superiority to such stuff. Excellent track.

14. The Jam - Eton Rifles. A band I sometimes struggle with, as I don't care for Paul Weller's hectoring vocals, but there's a good reason why they were one of the premier UK bands of the late 70s. This is perhaps their best single, a caustic reflection on the class struggle with some of Weller's best lyrics ("All that rugby puts hair on your chest / What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?"). But the real star here is Bruce Foxton, whose surging bass-lines fuel an extraordinarily exciting intro.

I’m not a big fan but this was to me their peak and best single.

15. The Specials - Ghost Town (12" Version). Few records have ever encapsulated a poltical mood as well as this - as Thatcherism bit hard, and unemployment was stoked up as a tool of social control, 'Ghost Town' tuned into a nation whose torpor was turning to anger. Those sinister fairground organ sounds, those deflated vocals, a sense of overbearing fear and foreboding....it's strong stuff, all right.

One of the best songs ever! I never lived in England but this told the world in unequivocal terms of the despair of the times.

Well, that ceratinly brought back some memories, most of them very pleasant indeed. Thanks as well for the bonus disc of reggae and dancehall songs which seem to have a constant theme of, well, getting high. Reggae is an area I want to know more about (I didn't follow the genre much beyond the early 80s), so this is a good primer of stuff I don't know (I did in particular like the first track, which seems to be called 'Under Mi Sensi').

Thanks for a generous package overall!

Glad it worked. Clearly a bit of ‘coals to Newcastle’ was involved.

Here’s the track list:

1. Blondie Hanging On The Telephone 2.20
2. ABC Poison Arrow 3.28
3. Soft Cell Tainted Love~Where Did Our Love Go 8.57
4. Culture Club Time (Clock Of The Heart) 3.43
5. Human League Human 3.47
6. Roxy Music Oh Yeah 4.54
7. Martha & The Muffins 3.38
8. Split Enz Nobody Takes Me Seriously 3.30
9. The Motels Suddenly Last Summer 3.39
10. Colourfield Thinking Of You
11. Godley & Crème Wedding Bells 3.26
12. Modern English I Melt With You 3.49
13. Gang Of Four Damaged Goods 3.28
14. The Jam Eton Rifles 3.30
15. The Specials Ghost Town 6.00

[Duncan]

In some parallel universe that part of me must inhabit I was convinced I'd completed this task last month.

Needless to say I returned to reality and realized I hadn't, apologies mixer, here's my cobbled together review:

01. Sultry laid back opening with breathy vocals, it's pleasant enough but plods along a little and I keep waiting for it to take off to somewhere else.

02. Something poppier this time, kind of psych with lots going on, a lot of which I can't get my head around as I listen to for the third time as I type this. Interesting…

03. Parping horns, odd percussion, and chimey keyboards. This is quite a rambling sprawl of a track that I feel I probably have somewhere but I can't place it, curious as to who it is.

04. This sounds like the Florence album I listened to for the first time last week, but not sure that it's her, maybe one of the ladies that has come along in her wake? I liked the Florence album and this is quite nice too.

05. 'Evil makes you feel like you' Indie rock, alright but not grabbing my attention so far…

06. Screamy shouty 'chili peppers' type thing, certainly forced me to sit up, but other than that not for me at all.

07. Pounding indie rock, US origin? Nice feedback fadeout at the end.

08. I know this! This is Buck 65 with Wicked and Weird, I like this it's fun with its rapid delivery.

09. This track sounds really distorted as it starts out, like a radio station not quite catching the signal. After the drum beat when the vocal begins, it's frustrating as it's so familiar but I can't but my finger on it. Please tell me who!

10. Another very familiar vocal that I can't place. Slow paced track, with some nice background horns and crashing percussion. Again I look forward to realizing I have this in my collection…

11. The longest track on the mix, clocking in a little over 8 minutes! Having played it 3 times so far it doesn't quite sit with me, but I'm more than curious to know who it is…

12. Indie pop, repetitive vocal, sorry not for me…

13. Mark RIP… The wonderful Sparklehorse with Gold Day, beautiful track to wrap things up.

Thanks for the disc mystery mixer, sorry for the delay posting a review, look forward to the education of the reveal...

Hey JK, sorry, I'd forgotten all about March. Actually, I was kinda hoping that you'd Sloop me, then I wouldn't have the embarrassment of admitting that I've no longer got the playlist saved on my iTunes and that I have no idea what most of the tracks are. If you have the time (and are still interested) would you mind posting the track times here and then I can work it out? Cheers.

[John_K]

Hey JK, sorry, I'd forgotten all about March. Actually, I was kinda hoping that you'd Sloop me, then I wouldn't have the embarrassment of admitting that I've no longer got the playlist saved on my iTunes and that I have no idea what most of the tracks are. If you have the time (and are still interested) would you mind posting the track times here and then I can work it out? Cheers.

I'll get those track times for you later...

01 - 6:02
02 - 3:48
03 - 4:47
04 - 4:02
05 - 3:16
06 - 5:37
07 - 3:37
08 - 3:44 (Wicked and Weird - Buck 65)
09 - 5:46
10 - 4:07
11 - 8:14
12 - 3:39
13 - 4:15 (Gold Day - Sparklehorse)