All the sounds of the Fairlight CMI in one CD

I have always been aware of the group ACT because of Claudia Brucken’s involvement. However, her collaborator on his project, one Thomas Leer, was until recently something of a mystery to me. Having recently acquired his 1985 album “The Scale of Ten” I seem to have discovered a Fairlight/Linn Drum classic.

The whole album is created on the Fairlight CMI and sounds like a cross between The Art of Noise, Thomas Dolby and Peter Gabriel with a bit of pop thrown in for good measure. The samples Leer uses are lo-fi 8 bit crunchy brilliance that could only come from a Fairlight. As the album unfolds some classic Fairlight presets are thrown in with some futher creative sampling to add the magic. This is the album I always wanted to hear the Fairlight produce.

For the ridiculously low price of £4.98 you can buy a CD that shows of an electronic ‘instrument’ like no other. Yes, Mr Leer has a good voice, and some of his songs are really quite brilliant, but the fascination for me is hearing a Fairlight used imaginatively. Sure Jarre, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel et al used the Fairlight to great effect but rarely in such isolation. If you wish to hear this machine in its full glory these is no better place to start.