B12 Archive complete

I first became acquainted with B12 via their ‘Electro-Soma’ album of 1993. This music was new and to me, truly unique. I have distinct memories of walking to tedious college lectures with the sounds of ‘Soundtrack of Space’ ringing in my ears and not a care in the world. The churning techno of ‘Telefone 529’, ‘Obsessed’, and ‘Hall of Mirrors’ became a little slice of heaven for me. There were many great tracks on ‘Elecro-Soma’ but ‘Soundtrack of Space’ continues to resonate most strongly with me.

However, between 1998 and 2007 nothing was heard of B12 or their pseudonyms Redcell, Musicology, Cmetric etc. Kraftwerk seemed prolific in comparison to Messrs Golding and Rutter. Yet 2007 saw a flurry of activity that went someway towards redressing the balance. The album ‘Last Days of Silence’ and its companion ‘Last Days of Silence (Remixes)’ proved to be the equal of anything in their back catalogue: a welcome return indeed. Thus, the B12 records archive series was hotly anticipated by fans.

I fail to agree with some reviews posted on the B12 records website which suggest that the most recent ‘Volume 7’ is the best in the series. The two discs that constitute volume one and the second disc of volume two are my personal favourites. Yet there are hidden gems on almost every one of the 14 CD’s.

So if you are partial to ‘intelligent techno’ or however else you wish to describe the music of B12, then you could do a lot worse than investing in some, or all of these CD’s. However, with such a rush of activity over, I now fear that B12 may disappear for another nine years. It would be a real shame, as electronic music that is both innovative and original is hard to come by; and these guys make some of the best there is.

Mute are at it too...

OK so they’re at it again. Record companies selling us music we already own. This time things might be different. Mute are set to release a 21st anniversary edition of Erasure’s ‘The Innocents” on October 26th. As well as a standard remastered edition there is a deluxe edition planned. Mute have a fabulous track record in special/deluxe editions and I am actually looking forward to this one. What will make or break this release is the quality of the remastering (j
ust louder with less dynamic range probably), the extra tracks (if any) and the packaging. 

Recently the official Erasure website actually asked for fans views on what was important in such releases. The majority of people plumped for the unreleased racks option rather than the remixes and video footage options. Let’s hope Mute were listening. The 21st anniversary edition may also put right a piece of history. At the time of the album’s release I always felt ‘Phantom Bride’ would be an appropriate single and it remains one of my favourite Erasure tracks. Currently there are plans to release a remix single of the track on October 12th. Let’s hope the remixes are good and not the usual dross.