eurythmics - never gonna cry again (video clip)

classic. eurythmics produced by conny plank. czukay / liebezeit were the rhythm section. the whole first album is simply amazing.

 

synth britannia (bbc documentary)

flashback: fischer z

the berlin concert on the 15th was awsome. almost 2 1/2 hours long. all the hits in great versions and much more.

 

if they are coming to your town: don´t miss them.

flashback: kraftwerk - "radio-aktivität"

most of the people would say that "autobahn"(1974) is kraftwerk´s best album. or maybe "die mensch-maschine" (1978) because of its pre-new wave pop classics ("das modell", "die roboter"). i still think that 1975´s "radio-activity" is their best one. no krautrock jams. no dance music. the title track is one of the best songs ever written.

"radioland" (on youtube)
"antenna" (on youtube)
part of an "arte" documentary (on youtube)

flashback: pop group - "y"

1979. punk was over. new wave turned to post-travolta-disco. and then came pop group. putting bristol on the map of music history. one of the most violent albums ever made. dub echoes, distorted grooves, noise and silence. "don´t sell your dreams" still sounds unbelievable.
they broke up after the 2nd album. mark stewart released a few solo records. the rest worked together as rip rig & panic.

discogs link
"ON/OFF" movie trailer (on youtube)

"don´t sell your dreams" (on youtube)

in 2002 mark stewart appeared on a track of austrian hip hoppers sofa surfers:
"home truths" (on youtube)

flashback: public image ltd. - "this is what you want... this is what you get"





1981´s "the flowers of romance" is also a great album but my favourite p.i.l. release is this one from 1984. everybody knows "this is not a lovesong" and a lot of people will know that goth disco classic "the order of death". the rest is experimental stuff with funky basslines. great album.

"1981" (unreleased version) on youtube

flashback: psychic tv - "dreams less sweet"





released on a major label. after throbbing gristle. and before coil. and long before ptv´s acid house period. genesis p-orridge, peter christopherson, john balance and alternative tv´s alex fergusson plus guests like david tibet (current 93), monte cazazza - the "industrial supergroup". bittersweet folk melodies, abstract music, industrial rhythms. great album.

discogs link

"the orchids" on youtube
"in the nursery" on youtube

flashback: simple minds - "real to real cacophony" and "empires and dance"

when the simple minds released their first album ("life in a day"), 1979) the sound of it was not a big surprise at all: velvet underground, roxy music plus their own johnny and the self abusers kind of punk rock. when they released their second album "real to real cacophony" later the same year it sounded like a completely different band: dark synth drones, urban voodoo rhythms, manic vocals, experimental structures, strange basslines and lots of echoes. the tracks sounded more like unfinished fragments than like real songs. "empires and dance" (released in 1980) is also a great album. still far away from mainstream pop. "today i died again" and "room" are two of the best new wave songs ever.

"naked eye" on youtube
"today i died again" tv performance on youtube
"i travel" tv performance on youtube

flashback: orchestral manoeuvres in the dark 1979-1983

i really think that there is no "best omd album". the first four albums are more or less on the same level. they later released a peel session album from that period (including songs from the first two and the fourth album). post-punk roots, pop melodies, psychedelic sound effects, experimental moments. and always very british. much more than just "kraftwerk plus joy division". different to all the other british acts at that time (watch that "synth britannia" documentary). from underground to mainstream charts in just a few years without changing the style.
and then they faded away like all the others. "talking loud and clear" was still a funny pop song. the rest was boring electronic disco trash.

"pretending to see the future" on youtube (john peel session version, 1979)
"i betray my friends" on youtube (b-side of "red frame / white light", 1980).
"the new stone age" on youtube (live 1981).
"stanlow" on youtube (live 1981).
"statues" on youtube (live 1981).
"bunker soldiers" on youtube (live 1981).
"genetic engineering" on youtube (john peel session version, 1983)

discogs links:
"orchestral manoeuvres in the dark"
"organisation"
"architecture & morality"
"dazzle ships"
"peel sessions 1979-1983"

flashback: einstürzende neubauten - "halber mensch"

although their 1983 release "zeichnungen des patienten o.t." was the better album, "halber mensch" was showing this important band on its peak. they were still beating on metal and were creating lots of weird sounds but at this time they already had (at least) one and a half feet in the field of pop music.

their next album, the neo-krautrock lp "fuenf auf der nach oben offenen richterskala" was still good (and featured with "kein bestandteil sein" one of my favourtite neubauten songs).

flashback: this heat - "deceit"

1981. yes, you can call it "post-punk" (if you want to). but this heat were for post-punk what wire were for punk and roxy music for pop music: an art students collective that didn´t care about rules. "deceit" sounds "dangerous" and it is hard to explain why. drones, asian melodies, new wave guitars and sometimes "perfect pop songs for a better world". but at the end it is much more than this. one of these rare moments (in music history) when "1+1" was much more than just "2".

"a new kind of water" on youtube

"s.p.q.r." on youtube.com

flashback: virgin prunes - "...if i die, i die"



punk attitude, tribal beats, oriental melodies, great lyrics, manic vocals, strange ideas - this album has it all. and even much more. imagine the beatles` "revolver" performed by hawkwind. or early roxy music jamming with einstuerzende neubauten. 1982 was a good year for music and "...if i die, i die" is one of its classics.

flashback: peter hammill - "loops & reels"

punkrock´s favourite prog musician recorded lots of albums. but this is his best one. first released as a tape in the 1980s. unlike his raw larger-than-life psycho pop anthems "accidents" or "porton down" this is no "pop music" at all. pure experimental stuff. the main song "a ritual mask" is violent. a sick fake ethno classic.

"a ritual mask" on youtube