Information Society es una banda que mereció un mejor lugar entre sus contemporáneas de su tipo.
Aunque el synth pop bailable en el caso de éstos oriundos de Minneapolis está impregnado de otras influencias menos presentes en sus colegas británicos, ya que en ellos hay más presencia de electro funk, hi nrg y hip hop, bajo el paraguas del "freestyle"; e incluso no falta un buen toque de música industrial.
En "Hack", su segundo álbum de estudio hay un collage sumamente disfrutable de todas esas influencias.
Referencias directas a los "padres de todo", es decir Kraftwerk, así como samples de éstos, de Beastie Boys, sonidos de módems y efectos sonoros varios, etc. le dan el toque de distinción a la mezcla y también una continuidad a la secuencia de canciones.
INFORMATION SOCIETY - HACK (FULL ALBUM)
SEEK 200
THINK
MIRRORSHADES
CAN´T SLOW DOWN
FIRE TONIGHT
INFORMATION SOCIETY
Paul Robb
James Cassidy
"Kurt Harland Valaquen" (Kurt Harland)
TRACKS "Seek 200" (Harland) — 3:06 "How Long" (Robb) — 4:06 "Think" (Information Society) — 4:42 "Wenn Wellen Schwingen" — 0:24 "A Knife & a Fork" (Information Society) — 3:03 "R.I.P." — 0:20 "Now That I Have You" (Information Society) — 5:04 "Fire Tonight" (Harland) — 5:39 "Can't Slow Down" (Robb) — 4:44 "T.V. Addicts" — 0:31 "Hard Currency" (Harland) — 2:34 "Move Out" (Information Society) — 3:58 "CP Drill KKL" (Harland, Maher) — 0:37 "Mirrorshades" (Robb) — 5:29 "We Don't Take" — 0:10 "Hack 1" (Information Society) — 3:23 "Charlie X" — 0:11 "If Only" (Robb) — 4:06 "Come With Me" (Harland, Maher) — 4:23 "Slipping Away" (Harland) — 3:58 "Here Is Kazmeyer" (Cassidy) — 0:15 "Chemistry" (Robb) — 2:12 Note: the sub-listings under several main tracks are index 2, while each of the main tracks is index 1. These are listed as the decimal part of the track number on the back cover of the jewel case. For example, "Slipping Away" is 14.1, "Here Is Kazmeyer" is 14.2, though they will usually play or be ripped as a single track numbered 14.
El segundo álbum solista del frontman de The Cars casi pudo ser un trabajo más de la banda, a juzgar por las intervenciones de sus compañeros Greg Hawkes,Elliot Easton y Benjamin Orr.Sólo faltaba David Robinson, el baterista para tener a todos los Cars en la placa.
LOOK IN YOUR EYES
Colaboran también Steve Stevens guitarrista habitual de la banda de Billy Idol, Roland Orzabal (de Tears for Fears), Tony Levin (King Crimson/Peter Gabriel), Tom Verlaine (Television) y G. E. Smith (de The Saturday Night Live Band).
El productor y baterista Chris Hughes cumple aquí ambos papeles,compartiendo la producción con el propio Ocasek y Ross Cullum.Hughes había cosechado un buen éxito el año anterior con el álbum de Tears For Fears "Songs from the big chair".
COMING FOR YOU
No será una obra maestra imprescindible, pero para mí resulta un más que buen álbum de pop rock ochentero, bien producido y pegadizo.Una de esas placas a las que vuelvo asiduamente con mucho gusto.
Junto a la interesante canción que da título al disco, ésta es la canción que me llevó hace años a conseguir éste disco (cosas de adolescente):
KEEP ON LAUGHING
Pequeños detalles:
La introducción del tema anterior, con la que abre el álbum nos presenta entre efectos sonoros, la melodía de un tema que vendrá después,"Look in your eyes", para luego arrancar propiamente con "Keep on laughin'".
TRUE LOVE
Al final del disco, cuando termina el tema "This side of paradise", deja paso a una repetición instrumental de "True love" con la que culmina el álbum.
THIS SIDE OF PARADISE
PROGRAMA (Autor de todas Ric Ocasek excepto indicación.) "Keep on Laughin'" 4:36 "True to You" 3:59 "Emotion in Motion" 4:40 "Look in Your Eyes" 6:00 "Coming for You" 5:34 "Mystery" 4:20 "True Love" 4:23 "P.F.J." 3:39 "Hello Darkness" (Ocasek, Greg Hawkes) 4:52 "This Side of Paradise" 8:04
PERSONAL Ric Ocasek - vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards Steve Stevens - guitar Tom Verlaine - guitar Sandy McLelland - background vocals Elliot Easton - guitar Greg Hawkes - bass, keyboards, background vocals Chris Hughes - drums Tony Levin - stick bass Benjamin Orr - background vocals Roland Orzabal - guitar, background vocals G.E. Smith - guitar Andy Topeka - programming, synclavier, technical maintenance
"Catching Rays on Giant" es el sexto álbum de estudio de la banda alemana Alphaville, el primero tras un largo paréntesis (13 años desde su último trabajo de estudio), y fue publicado en el año 2010.
En realidad se trata de Marian Gold al frente de una formación completamente nueva, manteniendo la calidad del sonido Alphaville, sintético y romántico, con un pulso atractivo y un saludable aire atemporal que bebe de las décadas anteriores de mayor gloria de la banda.
SONG FOR NO ONE
PROGRAMA
01.«Song for No One»3:32
02.«I Die for You Today»3:47
03.«End of the World»3:59
04.«The Things I Didn't Do»4:40
05.«Heaven on Earth (The Things We've Got to Do)»4:45
06.«The Deep»4:23
07.«Call Me»3:47
08.«Gravitation Breakdown»4:15
09.«Carry Your Flag»4:53
10.«Call Me Down»4:31
11.«Phantoms»3:39
12.«Miracle Healing»5:04
I DIE FOR YOU TODAY
ALPHAVILLE 2010
Marian Gold - Vocals
Martin Lister - Machines
David P. Goodes - Guitars
Jakob Kiersch - Drums
Propaganda fue fundada en Düsseldorf hacia 1982 por Ralf Dörper, miembro de la banda de ebm y rock industrial Die Krupps, junto a Andreas Thein y la vocalista Susanne Freytag.
Más tarde se incorpora el músico y compositor de formación clásica Michael Mertens y a la cantante Claudia Brücken.Con esta integración editaron en 1984, su primer sencillo, "Dr. Mabuse", sobre el personaje cinematográfico de Fritz Lang.
Thein dejaría la banda poco después.
DR.MABUSE
DR.MABUSE
Mabuse
Why does it hurt when my heart misses the beat?
The man without shadow promises you the world
Tell him your dreams and fanatical needs
He's buying them all with cash
Sell him your soul, sell him your soul, sell him your soul
Never look back, never look back
Sell him your soul, sell him your soul
Never look back, never look back, never look back
Sell him your soul, Mabuse
He's devoted to the devil, fascinated by crime
Glamorous death is his destination, eternal passion his gain
Sell him your soul, sell him your soul, sell him your soul
Never look back, never look back
Sell him your soul, sell him your soul
Never look back, never look back
Sell him your soul, sell him your soul
Never look back, Mabuse
Why does it hurt? Why, why does it hurt?
He's a satanic gambler, a beautiful fool
And you've already lost the chance of your lifetime
So don't be a fool, don't be a fool
Kein Zurueck fuer dich, there's no way back
Sell him your soul
Warum schmerzt es
Warum schmerzt es
Wenn mein Herz den Schlag verpasst?
Don't be a fool
Never look back
SORRY FOR LAUGHING
.
El primer álbum llegaría en 1985 a través del sello de Trevor Horn, ZTT: "A Secret Wish", y producido por Stephen Lipson.
Contaron además con la colaboración de músicos de la talla de David Sylvian, Stewart Copeland y Steve Howe.
Impregnado de un concepto fuerte y con un diseño (de imagen y sonido) particularmente elegante, el álbum alcanzaría el puesto 16 del ranking británico.
La banda recibió el apelativo de "Abba from Hell" por parte del periodista de NME, Matt Snow y también "the children of Fritz Lang and Giorgio Moroder".
"A Secret Wish" fue seguido al poco tiempo, en el otoño de 1985, por el állbum de remixes "Wishful Thinking".
Por razones totalmente subjetivas, éste es uno de mis discos favoritos de todas las épocas, y en mi opinión, uno de los mejores álbumes de la década de los ochentas.
El tema de apertura es "Dream within a dream", en el que Sussane Freytag recita el poema de Edgar Allan Poe sobre un tema musical exquisito y sofisticado (lo dije otra vez pero...es que lo es), composición de Michael Mertens; con toques jazzísticos y a toda "orquesta" y que va creciendo; y emociona.Pone los pelos de punta.
DREAM WITHIN A DREAM
El single "P:Machinery" fue un gran éxito en Europa. Llegó a incluirse en la banda sonora de un episodio de Miami Vice, exitosa serie de tv de la época.
P:MACHINERY
P: MACHINERY
Motor - power - forks - motion - drive - motor - forks - motion - drive - motor - forks - motion - drive - power - forks - motion - drive - propaganda - On joyless lanes we walk in lines a calm but steady flow. Accompanied by loud commands our strength is running low. Another hope feeds another dream another truth installed by the machine. A secret wish the marrying of lies today comes true what common sense denies. Rotating wheels are destiny in flame the city lies. Machines call out for followers far out into the night. The calls of the machines drowning in the steam. Another hope feeds another dream another truth installed by the machine. A secret wish the marrying of lies today comes true what common sense denies. The calls of the machines drowning in the steam. On joyless lanes we walk in lines a calm but steady flow. Our strength is running low. Another hope - another dream - another truth - installed by the machine - installed by the machine.
La exquisita "Duel" fue otro single exitoso, y con justicia ya que es una canción de pop sofisticado y elegante; y a mi juicio, perfecta.
DUEL
DUEL
Eye to eye stand winners and losers
Hurt by envy, cut by greed
Face to face with their own disillusion
The scars of old romances still on their cheeks
And when blow by blow the passion dies
Sweet little death just have been lies
The memories of gone by time
Would still recall the lie
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding, I start screaming
It's too late the decision is made by fate
Time to prove what forever should last
Whose feelings are so true as to stand the test
Whose demands are so strong as to parry all attempts
And when blow by blow the passion dies
Sweet little death just have been lies
The memories of gone by time
Would still recall the lie
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding, I start screaming
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding, I start screaming
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding, I start screaming
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will leave you on your knees
You start bleeding, I start screaming
THE CHASE
El final del álbum original, es una variación instrumental de Dr.Mabuse, que remata con la frase inicial del poema de Poe.
STRENGHT TO DREAM
A Secret Wish fue reeditado varias veces a lo largo de los años. En julio de 2010 sale la edición de lujo doble con motivo del 25 aniversario, con material original y varias remezclas
2010 2 CD Deluxe "Element Series" Edition CD 1: "The Dark Religions Depart..."
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
01."Dream Within A Dream" Edgar Allan PoeMertens9:09
02."The Murder Of Love" Brücken/DörperBrücken/Mertens5:14
03."Jewel" DörperBrücken/Dörper/Mertens6:21
04."Duel" DörperBrücken/Dörper/Mertens4:42
05."Frozen Faces" Brücken/Freytag/MertensBrücken/Freytag/Mertens4:24
06."p:Machinery" DörperMertens3:49
07."Sorry for Laughing" HaigHaig/Ross3:28
08."The Chase" DörperMertens3:55
09."Dr. Mabuse" DörperDörper/Mertens/Thein10:42
10."Dream Within A Dream" (Analogue Variation)Edgar Allan PoeMertens8:04
11."Jewel" (Analogue Variation)DörperBrücken/Dörper/Mertens3:10
12."Duel" (Analogue Variation)DörperBrücken/Dörper/Mertens4:42
13."p:Machinery" (Analogue Variation)DörperMertens3:49
14."Dr. Mabuse (First Life)" (Analogue Variation)DörperDörper/Mertens/Thein5:03
15."The Last Word (Strength To Dream)" (Analogue Variation) CD 2: "...And Sweet Science Reigns"
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
01."Do Well" (The First Cut/Duel/Jewel (Cut Rough)/Wonder/Bejewelled)DörperBrücken/Dörper/Mertens20:06
02."Testament One" (instrumental)Brücken/Dörper/Mertens1:20
03."Die tausend Augen des Mabuse" DörperDörper/Mertens/Thein9:47
04."Sorry For Laughing" (Unapologetic 12" Version)HaigHaig/Ross10:12
05."Thought (Part I)" (instrumental)Dörper/Thein2:08
06."Thought (Part II)" (instrumental)Dörper/Thein0:29
07."p:Machinery" (Goodnight 32 Mix)DörperMertens4:12
08."The Chase" (The Goodnight Mix)DörperMertens3:55
09."(Echo Of) Frozen Faces" Brücken/Freytag/MertensBrücken/Freytag/Mertens10:20
10."p:Machinery (p:Polish)" DörperMertens9:24
11."Testament Three" (instrumental)Brücken/Dörper/Mertens0:26
Total length:
72:28
Do Well is the cassette single version of Duel. Die Tausend Augen Des Mabuse is an extended version of the 6'31" twelve-inch mix (aka "13th Life"), without the early fade out. Thought (parts one and two) appeared together on Wishful Thinking (part two is the p:Machinery reprise). The Goodnight 32 mix of p:Machinery was released in 1985 on a 7-inch single as "p:Machinery (reactivated)".
P MACHINERY(POLISH)
*****
The Power Of Propaganda: A Secret Wish 25 Years On...
Wyndham Wallace , August 5th, 2010 10:22
Celebrating 25 years since its release, Propaganda’s A Secret Wish has just been reissued with a bonus disc of rarities. Wyndham Wallace confronts their Sturm und Drang
The vinyl spins and the needle drops. There's a brief crackle, like fat spitting in a frying pan, and then there's a voice. "All that we see or seem," it says, its vowels clipped, "is but a dream within a dream". A lone horn calls out a melancholic fanfare before the curtain rises and a rhythm track begins, sparse and rigid, layers of cocooning synth slowly proliferating around it, that horn repeating its call to arms. "Take this kiss upon the brow," the voice continues, its accent frigid yet inviting, "And, in parting from you now / This much let me avow: / You are not wrong, who deem / That my days have been a dream." The sound continues to intensify, its insistent bassline occasionally growling fiercely, piling on synthetic brass, church organs, wave after wave, layer after layer, the voice back again intoning words about a "surf-tormented shore" and "pitiless waves", then gone once more amidst a maelstrom of thundering drums and squealing guitars. The tempest settles in, ferocious, merciless, seemingly eternal until at last the storm clears, the keyboards placid once more, the horn forlorn but still bold, those synthetic strings now shimmering in the sun, the propulsive rhythm of the drums and bass moving us forward. Finally, amidst the same dramatic landscape in which we began, the song reaches its gentle conclusion.
The vinyl pops again. I lift the tone arm and return it to the start once more. This is how I want to remember Propaganda.
The words are by Edgar Allen Poe. The song is 'Dream Within A Dream', the unapologetically colossal, grandiose opening to Propaganda's A Secret Wish, a debut album so deliciously ambitious that to this day it remains one of my most played records. The first band that journalist Paul Morley wanted to sign to the nascent ZTT Records that he'd set up with Trevor Horn and Horn's partner, Jill Sinclair, Propaganda were German, from the same city – Düsseldorf – that had given us Kraftwerk. But they couldn't have been more different, despite their festishisation of industrial machinery and technology: Kraftwerk were all about repetition, about minimalism, whereas Propaganda were almost their polar opposite, bombastic and theatrical, Shostakovich to Kraftwerk's Stockhausen. They fitted the ZTT vision perfectly, however. Founded with vocalist Susanne Freytag and artist Andreas Thein, by Ralf Dörper, a member of industrial act Die Krupps, they combined limited traditional musical abilities with a love of the avant-garde and art, the perfect playthings for a conceptualist like Morley and a studio virtuoso like Horn. Signed on the back of 'Disziplin', a track inspired by Throbbing Gristle's 'Discipline', they immediately regrouped, bringing in Freytag's friend Claudia Brücken to sing – something that led Dörper to admit recently that "too much of Susanne (Freytag) somehow got lost in production" – and Michael Mertens, a classically trained percussionist for the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. Thein, meanwhile, made a quiet exit after their first recording sessions in the UK at Horn's Sarm Studios.
There were three acts on ZTT at that time: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Art Of Noise – Morley and Horn's innovative collaboration with arranger Anne Dudley and studio engineers Gary Langan and J. J. Jeczalik – and Propaganda. If Frankie were the garish cartoon gang and Art of Noise the bespectacled nerds in the science lab, then Propaganda were their fearsome, gothic nemesis. And if Frankie's Pleasuredome was the twin-towered palace that ZTT built and Art of Noise's Who's Afraid Of The Art Of Noise was the air in which they built it, then Propaganda's A Secret Wish was its velvet-lined dungeon, dangerous and erotic. In fact one publication – Morley credits Time Out – christened Propaganda 'Abba-In-Hell', a soubriquet that Andrew Harrison's short but sharply observed sleevenotes clearly endorse: "two girls and two boys, two sides to the music, light and darkness…" But this observation was actually too old-fashioned and simplistic for a label with such a futuristic agenda. There are surely more complex states than Christian visions of heaven and hell, and it was one of these that Propaganda inhabited: largely monochromatic, punctuated by brief bursts of saturated colour; sleek and shiny, but oozing an alien life of its own. If this was an incarnation of Abba then it was in a universe where emotion was largely communicated through its absence, language was constantly mutating, movement was stiff but elegant, glamour and intelligence were weapons to be feared, drama the ultimate goal.
By this point, Horn's involvement with Frankie had become all-consuming, making him unavailable to follow up his production work on Propaganda's ZTT debut single, 'Dr. Mabuse'. David Sylvian was apparently considered, as were Stock, Aitken and Waterman – allowing Morley the opportunity to refer to Propaganda as 'Deutschmark' to SAW's 'Dollar' in Harrison's sleevenotes – but the producer's job eventually fell to Horn's engineer, Steve Lipson. It was an inspired choice: so successful was Lipson at embracing Horn's techniques that it's a shock to remember Horn wasn't behind the console.
25 years later, A Secret Wish is no longer so secret, and this edition – the latest in the reissue of the ZTT catalogue undertaken by Union Square's Salvo imprint – will no doubt further boost its reputation. Curator Ian Peel's exhaustive research, exhibited in his own contribution to the accompanying booklet, match the care and attention he has lavished on other ZTT re-releases, and the wealth of material he has accumulated – 152 minutes in total – shed fascinating light on the working methods of both the band and the label. Just like Frankie, Propaganda were martyrs to studio boffinery, and the album is here presented in both its original form and that of the digital release that followed some months later, a version that saw Lipson elaborate on a number of tracks. A second disc presents further mixes and rarities, including extended ten minute versions of 'p:Machinery' and 'Sorry For Laughing'.
It's the digital version that leads Disc One and, as someone who grew up with the LP, it's slightly disconcerting to get screwed by ZTT's remixology right off the bat. After a quarter of a century with the original analogue mixes, Lipson's subsequent tweaks seem distracting: it's easy to feel cheated by the loss of certain mini-dramas and frustrated by the unnecessary extensions included on 'Dream Within A Dream', for instance. But this was the ZTT aesthetic, as though these fiercely mechanical sounds, bigger than the people who gave birth to them, had a life of their own and a shape that could alter at will. To belittle these variations is to miss the point, especially given how we encourage artists to adapt songs for the live arena, and the six out of nine tracks that were in some way altered are included at the end of Disc One anyway. Furthermore, the bonus tracks show you just how far they were prepared to go in their pursuit of imperfect perfection: the deranged shrieks at the start of the coruscating 'Jewel (Cut Rough)' – taken from 'Do Well', a twenty minute cassingle pieced together by Morley and engineer Bob Kraushaar before album recordings were even complete – are almost worthy of Diamanda Galás, and 'Thought', an instrumental re-recording of the Throbbing Gristle track that got them signed, is a relentlessly cantering assault that understandably set Morley's ambitious mind racing.
These alternative mixes are an admission that much of Propaganda's work is studio trickery, what Andrew Harrison calls "a self-magnifying hall of mirrors", though their success or failure is less important than their existence as experiments in the first place. But does rare tune 'Wonder' – a merger of 'Jewel's percussion track with what sounds like a keyboard audition for Mike Oldfield – add anything to the Propaganda myth? You'd think not, since it's taken from that 'Do Well' cassingle, the sound of Morley faffing around as he fulfils every music journalist's dream by actually being involved in music-making. Since this was the era in which ZTT was arguably as exciting as any band it signed, however, it's at least worth investigating such material on a historical or cultural level once you've immersed yourself in the very heart and soul of A Secret Wish itself. A track like 'Testament One' – obviously simply another element of what made up 'Jewel' – hints at treasure buried within the so-called 'originals', and the joy of 'Die Tausend Augen Des Mabuse', Horn's ten minute take on 'Dr. Mabuse', is not in the version itself so much as the way it peels layers back off the song, shedding new light on the original, opening ears – just as stoners always hope a joint will – to new sounds and phrases never noticed before.
So what of A Secret Wish itself, the reason we're all here? Its heart of darkness is 'Dr. Mabuse', of course, a vast canvas across which they throw dark, sinister shadows. Its theatre and spectacle are heightened by the triumph of Mertens's vision, the merging of his orchestral training with the pop demanded of the band by ZTT, and bear a similar weight of trepidation to the movies of Fritz Lang that inspired it, from Brücken's opening words – "Why does it hurt when my heart misses the beat?" – to her anguished parting shot, "Never look back..." It's synthpop at its finest, a simple bass riff industriously stamped out while a keyboard line that John Carpenter might have created flits deftly in the background. Then there's 'p:Machinery', its initial Atari effects obliterated by a jackhammer beat and Satanic voices booming out the chant, "Power! Force! Motion! Drive!" until the band are officially introduced - "Propaganda!" – and another of those simple but thundering Synclavier basslines kicks in. A simple keyboard melody chimes above – contributed by David Sylvian, and not unlike one of Japan's – ushering in the verse, Brücken's voice intoning lines about a post-human society in which "on joyless lanes we walk in lines / a calm but steady flow". Its bleak outlook is somewhat offset by outbreaks of brass that perhaps only really sounded authentic when we were all blinded by science, but it's still a tour de force, massive, intimidating, especially in the belligerent bridge and the almighty drop that precedes the outro, a moment of almost intolerable tension.
The big hit, of course, was 'Duel', an unexpectedly jaunty number (later covered by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and, oddly, Mandy Smith) which, even though it's introduced with typical ZTT pomp by a grand piano, nonetheless conveys a sense of film noir melancholy off the bat, largely thanks to Brücken's voice, which often sounds like it's squeezing its way past her tonsils. The lyrics she delivers don't hurt either, the chorus enigmatically, perhaps disturbingly, announcing that "The first cut won't hurt at all / The second only makes you wonder / The third will have you on your knees / You start bleeding / I start screaming". But the unexpected return of the piano, and a virtuoso performance that somehow recalls Jools Holland's appearance on The The's 'Uncertain Smile' add some fun - a quality one doesn't often equate with Propaganda. 'Duel' has a dark side, however: 'Jewel', an alternative version of the same tune was – according to Harrison's sleevenotes – provoked by Morley's loan of a selection of punk records to Lipson. So inspired was the producer that 'Jewel' was born the next day, Brücken in the vocal booth "absolutely screaming the vocal'" while Lipson made "wild stabbing movements with his hands" outside. Percussion slams like a factory at peak hours, there are terrifying, futuristic stabs of Phantom Of The Opera keyboard, and then Brücken arrives, her delivery jerky, maniacal yet dispassionate, an impression that, much to its benefit, the record never quite manages to shake off. Her 'Denglisch' adds to the confusion, hinting at times that she's not entirely sure of the meaning of her lyrics, like some automated replicant, something further underlined when her vocal is sped up as though she's malfunctioning. But when that massive keyboard line arrives towards the song's end, and the donner und blitzen rumble in the background, there's no doubt that this is a purely human drama, even if it is inspired by fears for our increasingly industrialised society.
In addition, there's 'Frozen Faces', whose second half could twinkle on a million chillout compilations, and 'The Chase', which, after an unsettling start, shifts into the kind of pop that Talk Talk might have come up with before they decided it was more fun in the studio than on the stage. This still refuses to let us off entirely, however, closing with another sinister marshalling of jackhammer beats. And of course there's the cover of Josef K's awkward 'Sorry For Laughing', an idea so warped as to be inspired (though the bonus 'Unapologetic 12"' mix, all ten minutes of it, reveal the song's Scottish roots a little more clearly with a jangling guitar upfront). Propaganda turn the song into a monolithic tombstone of a tune: Brücken's oddly glottal delivery, swathed in swaddling synths, lends it the air of a Weiman Republic disco, the disciplined rhythm at its core soothed by the promise of imminent, intimate contact, however lonely it might be. Finally there's 'The Last Word', whose keys – Daft Punk as much as Georgio Moroder – eventually give way to another round of stormy sound effects (later, one suspects, employed by Lipson and Horn on Grace Jones' 'Slave To The Rhythm'), a last round of orchestral flourishes and Freytag's poignant parting query: "Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?"
You'll need to skip to the end of Disc One to hear 'The Last Dance' in its purest form: Lipson's CD mix chooses instead to force the listener to endure the majestic conclusion to 'Dr. Mabuse' segued into a Stars On 45 album megamix before finally giving way to the album's closer. In fact, if there is a criticism that could perhaps be leveled at this reissue, it's that by the 'p:Polish' version of 'p:Machinery' at the end of Disc Two, with its guitar showroom acrobatics, it's hard not to long for the concise, perfect vision of these songs familiar from the vinyl and cassette releases. There's a limit to the amount of indulgence one can take, after all, and to have four interpretations of what was pretty much immaculate on the album is perhaps overkill. But these bonuses are mere gravy: the meat is in A Secret Wish's analogue mix, and that's pretty much beyond criticism. Even accusations of pretentiousness are easily countered by the hints of camp cabaret dropped throughout: the deadpan Hollywood voice in 'Dr. Mabuse' ("Don't be afraid!") or, to be frank, Freytag's entire recitation of Poe's 'Dream Within A Dream'.
The vision of A Secret Wish was the apex of ZTT's musical achievement - possibly even more so than Frankie's Welcome To The Pleasuredome. Quite apart from its influence on other musicians like Depeche Mode's Martin Gore and producer / DJ Ewan Pearson, it never underestimated its audience's intelligence, exploited and overcame German stereotypes and even left its mark on the charts. Furthermore, it was almost perfectly conceived, with Lipson's production as palatial as anything Horn ever achieved, and the band's image cultivated by Anton Corbijn in perfect synchronicity with Morley's vision. The band broke up soon afterwards, caught up – like Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Art Of Noise – in a wrangle of lawsuits, some of them regrouping with members of Simple Minds for 1990's flaccid 1, 2, 3, 4. Rumours of a reunion of the original line up continue to gather pace following their performance at Wembley Arena for Trevor Horn's Prince's Trust concert in 2004. But none of that is important. It's A Secret Wish that's important. The power of Propaganda endures...
Red Hot + Rio es un álbum compilatorio producido por Paul Heck como parte de una serie de álbumes benéficos de la organización Red Hot AIDS. Ésta edición ha sido una de las más exitosas de la serie, generando cientos de miles de dólares destinados a lo largo del mundo a la lucha contra el SIDA.
Está concebido como un homenaje a la música de Antonio Carlos Jobim, y al mismo tiempo como tributo contemporáneo a la bossa nova
EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL - CORCOVADO
Artistas brasileños como el propio Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Gilberto Gil entre otros, unidos a otros artistas internacionles contemporáneos - y predominantemente de lengua inglesa - tales como Incognito, Crystal Waters, Sting y PM Dawn.se unen en éste proyecto en un abanico de sonidos y tendencias diferentes pero evocando el sonido de un compositor y de una ciudad incomparables.
Shh, es un secreto: Servidor adquiríó éste CD principalemente por ésta joyita que sigue:
CESÁRIA ÉVORA CON CAETANO VELOSO Y RYUICHI SAKAMOTO - É PRECISO PERDOAR
ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM Y STING - INSENSATEZ
MARISA MONTE Y DAVID BYRNE - AGUAS DE MARÇO
TRACKLIST "Use Your Head (Use A Sua Cabeca)" performed by Money Mark – 2:47 "Corcovado" performed by Everything but the Girl – 3:56 "Desafinado (Off Key)" performed by Astrud Gilberto + George Michael – 3:20 "Non-Fiction Burning" performed by PM Dawn with Flora Purim + Airto – 4:31 "The Boy From Ipanema" performed by Crystal Waters – 4:24 (Interlude) – 0:14 "Segurança (Security)" performed by Maxwell – 3:29 "É Preciso Perdoar (You Must Forgive)" performed by Cesária Évora + Caetano Veloso + Ryuichi Sakamoto – 6:01 (Interlude) – 0:33 "Water to Drink (Água de Beber)" performed by Incognito + Omar + Ana Caram – 4:19 "Dancing…" performed by Milton Nascimento – 3:20 "How Insensitive" performed by Antonio Carlos Jobim + Sting – 3:44 "Waters of March (Aguas de Março)" performed by David Byrne + Marisa Monte – 3:15 (Interlude) – 0:25 "One Note Samba / Surfboard" performed by Stereolab + Herbie Mann – 7:18 (Interlude) – 0:21 "Black Orpheus Dub" performed by Mad Professor – 3:59 "Maracatu Atômico" performed by Chico Science + Nação Zumbi + DJ Soul Slinger – 4:27 "Sambadrome" performed by Ivo Meirelles + Funk 'n Lata – 0:58 "Refazenda (Refarm)" performed by Gilberto Gil – 4:00 "Preciso Dizer Que Te Amo" performed by Cazuza + Bebel Gilberto – 4:42
"The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast" es el sexto album larga duración del duo electrónico experimental Matmos. Matmos está integrado por M. C. (Martin) Schmidt y Drew Daniel, junto a otros artistas y colaboradores, siendo uno de los habituales es J Lesser.A su vez ellos han sido colaboradores habituales de la genia islandesa Björk, tanto en estudio como en giras.
En éste álbum el concepto es que cada canción es dedicada a una persona que ha influenciado al duo, cada una conteniendo elementos sonoros que representen de alguna manera a esa persona. El arte que acompaña al cd también es notable, con su "set" de tarjetas que pueden colocarse e intercambiar frente a la "ventana" frontal del estuche.
PROGRAMA 01."Roses and Teeth for Ludwig Wittgenstein"(Contains a single line recited by Björk "The rose has teeth in the mouth of a beast." 02."Steam and Sequins for Larry Levan" 03."Tract for Valerie Solanas" 04."Public Sex for Boyd McDonald" 05."Semen Song for James Bidgood"(Vocals by Antony Hegarty.) 06."Snails and Lasers for Patricia Highsmith" 07."Germs Burn for Darby Crash" 08."Solo Buttons for Joe Meek" 09."Rag for William S. Burroughs" 10."Banquet for King Ludwig II of Bavaria" 11."Kendo for Yukio Mishima" (Japan-only track)
THE ROSE HAS TEETH IN THE MOUTH OF A BEAST (FULL ALBUM)
There Is Nothing Left to Lose es el tercer álbum de Foo Fighters, lanzado en 1999. Siendo su primer trabajo con BMG, el álbum debutó en el nº 10 tanto en Europa como el Reino Unido, expandiendo su número de fans aún más con hits como Learn to Fly, Stacked Actors, Breakout y Next Year. Muchas de las canciones se alejan de las raíces grunge de la banda y el disco logra cierta sensación experimental.
BREAKOUT
La atmósfera más melódica en general encontrada en el álbum pudiera venir también de la situación en que fue grabado. Dave Grohl ha hecho público el hecho de que el disco fue grabado en su casa y que la banda haría "una carne asada todos los días después de grabar". Las primeras impresiones del disco incluían un tatuaje temporal parecido al que se muestra en la portada.
STACKED ACTORS
Un muy divertido vídeo con la participación especial del duo Tenacious D. El resto de los personajes son interpretados por los tres Foo Fighters de entonces...Payasadas sello personal de Grohl y sus muchachos.
PERSONAL Dave Grohl – voz, guitarra Nate Mendel – bajo Taylor Hawkins – batería Producción Producido por Adam Kasper y Foo Fighters Grabado por Adam Kasper en Studio 606, Virginia Grabación adicional en Conway Studios, Los Angeles Canciones mezcladas por Adam Kasper en Conway Studios Exceptuando "Learn to Fly", "Aurora" y "Live-In Skin", mezclado por Andy Wallace en Larrabee Studios, Los Angeles Ingeniero de mezcla adicional en Conway Studios: John Nelson Ingeniero de mezcla adicional en Larrabee Studios: Tod Reiger Masterizado por Bob Ludwig en Gateway Studios Dirección artística de Henry Marquez y Foo Fighters Fotografía de Danny Clinch Management: G.A.S Entertainment co.
"Exit Planet Dust" es el primer álbum de estudio del dúo británico de música electrónica The Chemical Brothers (Tom Rowlands y Ed Simons), publicado en el Reino Unido el 26 de junio de 1995 y en los Estados Unidos el 15 de agosto de 1995. Uno de los discos fundamentales de su época en opinión de un servidor, junto a "Blue Lines" o "Play" de Massive Attack y Moby respectivamente.Con la virtud de encantar tanto a aficionados de la electrónica y rockeros ortodoxos por igual por su consistente sonido que acerca ambos mundos musicales.
El principio de "Leave Home" está sampleado del inicio de la canción "Ohm Sweet Ohm" del álbum "Radio-Activity" de Kraftwerk.
LEAVE HOME
La secuencia vocal de "Song to the Siren" es una secuencia invertida de la canción "Song of Sophia" del álbum "The Serpent's Egg" de Dead Can Dance.
SONG TO THE SIREN
CHEMICAL BEATS
THREE LITTLE BIRDIES DOWN BEATS
ONE TOO MANY MORNINGS
PROGRAMA (Todas las canciones escritas por Tom Rowlands y Ed Simons). "Leave Home" – 5:32 "In Dust We Trust" – 5:17 "Song to the Siren" – 3:16 "Three Little Birdies Down Beats" – 5:38 "Fuck Up Beats" – 1:25 "Chemical Beats" – 4:50 "Chico's Groove" – 4:48 "One Too Many Mornings" – 4:13 "Life Is Sweet" – 6:33 "Playground for a Wedgeless Firm" – 2:31 "Alive Alone" – 5:16
