One record at a time: 546. Neon Neon - Stainless Style

I cannot recall how I discovered this album back in 2008, but I am very glad I did. On paper, Neon Neon should not really appeal to me: it is a collaboration between hip hop producer Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys, frontman of rock band Super Furry Animals, neither of whom would normally wander into my musical postcode. However, when they decided to join forces and make a concept album about the life of John DeLorean using eighties-tinged electronic music, they were suddenly parked squarely in my lane.

Although the compact disc and MP3 files had been my main way of listening to the album, this glitter-covered limited edition of 300 felt like a compulsory purchase in 2024. Acquiring it was not entirely straightforward. The postman left my first copy in the rubbish bin while I was on holiday, whereupon a well-meaning neighbour put the bin out for collection. I can therefore confirm that only 299 copies of this limited edition still exist. Happily, Rough Trade were very understanding and furnished me with a replacement. All's well that ends well, apart from the record that ended up in the incinerator.

As the basis for a concept album, DeLorean's life is an intriguing and attractive prospect. Things begin with the breezy 'Neon Theme', apparently co-written and performed with Boom Bip's friend Marty Sataman. The first disappointment arrives quickly in the form of 'Dream Cars'. Somewhere along the production line, the master tapes appear to have taken a wrong turn, because the version on this vinyl is markedly different from the mix I know. The song itself is excellent: the original oozes the effortless charm of DeLorean's suave, debonair image, Gruff Rhys delivers a terrific hook and the lyrics are very clever. Unfortunately, the lacklustre mix presented here makes this pressing feel less like a dream car and more like an Austin Allegro.

One of my personal favourites comes next in the form of 'I Told Her on Alderaan'. This track juggles a wonderful melody, Fairlight ARR1 flourishes and silky lyrics, before topping it off with a Star Wars reference. It is geek heaven, with considerably fewer trade disputes than the average trip to a galaxy far, far away.

'Raquel' is a dance number propelled by crisp percussion and a driving bassline. Written from DeLorean's perspective, it concerns his rumoured romance with Raquel Welch, something I knew nothing about until hearing the album. This proves that a concept album can be educational, provided your preferred curriculum includes eighties sports cars and vintage celebrity gossip.

Then we reach the first of the album's three problematic tracks. 'Trick for Treat' is entertaining, but I cannot pretend it is what I boarded this particular DeLorean for. Whilst highly polished new wave and electronic music feels perfectly suited to an examination of DeLorean and his eighties heyday, hip hop is a less comfortable fit. The same applies to 'Sweat Shop' and 'Luxury Pool', which leave dirty great tyre marks across an otherwise immaculate showroom floor. 

On a brighter note, 'I Lust U' is a terrific track, marrying electro beats with ethereal vocals as it reflects on DeLorean's playboy lifestyle. Unfortunately, this pressing appears to contain a previously unreleased mix, which I am attributing to an inept tape operator retrieving the wrong reel from the storeroom. I have precisely zero evidence for this theory, which has never stopped a good vinyl conspiracy before. 'Belfast', meanwhile, refers to DeLorean's failed attempt to establish his car company at the expense of the UK taxpayer: 'Belfast, uh oh. You know my mind by eye. It's just, I thought. I could take you for a ride...' 

Perched at the top of the tree, looking down on everything else, is 'Michael Douglas'. If this track is not genius, I would like to know what is. The synths bump and grind while Gruff sings about consumerism and DeLorean's desire to glimpse his own reflection in Michael Douglas's mirrored sunglasses. It is an absurd premise executed with a conviction that matched the reality.  Proceedings close with 'Stainless Style', a sombre lament that provides the perfect bookend. 

Thanks to the misplaced rap tracks, the album is far from perfect. Yet 'I Told Her on Alderaan' and 'Michael Douglas' generate so much atmosphere that any self-respecting electronic music fan should investigate it as a matter of priority. I would, however, avoid this particular pressing and seek out a version containing the original mixes, which give these songs the treatment they deserve. Consider this edition the gull-winged display model: very sparkly, highly collectible but with a broken flux capacitor. 4/5

One record at a time: 545. Münchener Freiheit - Traumziel

There is a seller on eBay called Momox_UK, which sounds reassuringly local but they are, in fact, based in Germany. This is not a scandal, obviously, but it does feel like the sort of naming choice designed to give a false sense of security. Their business model is simple enough: buy people’s unwanted media in Germany, then sell it on the internet to people like me, who apparently still need more CDs, DVDs and vinyl records despite all available evidence. They are essentially the German version of MusicMagpie. With 2.3 million items sold and positive feedback from 98% of customers, they clearly get things right most of the time. However, they do make mistakes. 

Sometime in 2024, I ordered the CD single of “Eve of the War (Remix)” by Ben Liebrand for no grander reason than a nostalgic trip down memory lane, which is where many middle-aged purchases begin and PayPal statements go to die. Rather than send me the CD, Momox_UK sent me the 12-inch single, along with a copy of “Traumziel” by Münchener Freiheit. I have no idea whether they sent me someone else’s order or simply invented a new lucky dip model for online retail. They did not reply to my emails and appeared perfectly content to absorb the negative feedback like a large Teutonic sponge. Still, at least I did not pay any postage.

Until this record arrived, I did not really know who Freiheit were. Their full name, Münchener Freiheit, seems to have been shortened in non-German-speaking markets, presumably because record companies feared British radio presenters would see the umlaut and quietly resign. A little research revealed that I did at least know one of their later hits. Unlike this album, “Keeping the Dream Alive” was sung in English and became a UK hit in 1988, so I knew the band were competent and capable of writing the sort of tune that lodges in your head. Despite owning “Traumziel” for two years, I had never actually played it, which is poor behaviour even by the relaxed standards of accidental record ownership. So, having acquired it through what may or may not have been German mail-order roulette, it seemed only fair to finally give it a spin.

What I am expecting, based on very little beyond the sleeve, the band name and the knowledge that I did not order it, is polished German pop with strong melodies and possibly the sort of production values that make you imagine a spotless studio full of men in excellent knitwear. The danger, of course, is that it may turn out to be the musical equivalent of being trapped in a continental hotel lobby with a very enthusiastic keyboard salesman who wears shades even when he is indoors. 

As soon as the needle drops, I am caught off guard by how much I like the opening track, “Es gibt kein nächstes Mal”. As far as I can tell, this song was released as a single, and I can see why. It oozes super-slick 80s synth-pop production from every carefully conditioned pore. Fretless bass guitar, twinkling PPG synths and that unmistakable DX7 BASS.1 preset all come together to provide a brilliant backdrop for some very strong vocals. I had expected polite continental competence. Instead, I got a track striding confidently into the room wearing shoulder pads, expensive aftershave and absolutely no doubt whatsoever about its chorus.

The cheap plastic synth horns on “Geheime Wünsche” sound absolutely fantastic, which is a reminder that 80s pop often worked best when it embraced sounds that would bankrupt a modern producer’s credibility in three seconds. The melody in the verses is fascinating too, even if the chorus sounds as though it is about to wander into the band’s biggest hit, “Keeping The Dream Alive”, without asking permission. Unfortunately, “Herz Aus Glas” finds it necessary to borrow from The Beatles, and synth-pop almost never sounds comfortable when it starts copying the world’s favourite Scousers. I cannot wait for that one to finish. Happily, “Mach Die Augen Zu” moves us back into true 80s synth-pop territory, with fantastic production and, more importantly, a proper hook. Hooks are useful. History has shown that songs tend to go better when they have one.

On Side B, the vocal harmonies of “Angst Vor Der Liebe” give way to a mid-paced track that leans a little closer to conventional rock than anything I have heard so far. It is far from offensive though, and has enough neat synth touches to stop anyone feeling like they should be wearing a denim jacket with sow on patches and chains attached. “Venus Und Mars” is more uptempo and fun, but it is not disposable pop; there is too much craft in the arrangement for that. 

The gated snares of “Viel Zu Viel” show that producer Armand Volker knew exactly what he was doing in the context of contemporary eighties pop, which is another way of saying he knew when to make a snare drum sound like someone shutting a warehouse door. The classic wedding of electric guitar to the DX7 BASS.1 arrives on “Schachmatt”, which would not have sounded out of place on the soundtrack to Top Gun, ideally during a scene involving aviator sunglasses, unresolved tension and a man looking thoughtfully into the middle distance. This grown-up, polished pop continues on closing track “Aus Und Vorbei”, where the band say over and out in a mid-tempo groove rather than anything too dramatic.

In summary, I was genuinely and rather annoyingly surprised by this album. It does get weaker as it goes on, and there are moments where the polish does more heavy lifting than the songs, but some of the melodies are truly brilliant and the quality of the vocals comfortably transcends my ability to speak German. Sometimes I do not care what they are singing. It just sounds good. For all I know they could be reading out the warranty terms for an appliance with emotional conviction, and I would still be nodding along as if deeply moved by a clause in the guarantee for a tumble dryer. 

What began as an accidental extra in a misdelivered order has turned out to be a very enjoyable slice of grown-up 80s synth-pop. I am not sure Momox_UK deserve full credit for the discovery, but they may at least receive a reluctant nod of appreciation, posted second class and addressed vaguely somewhere in Germany. 3/5

One record at a time: 544. Men Without Hats - Folk Of The 80's (Part III)

There are certain records you buy because you have been hunting them for years, stalking Discogs listings, waiting for the right pressing to appear at a price that does not require a small bank loan. Then there are records you buy because you find them in a charity shop whilst idly flicking through a smelly box of James Last and Perry Como LPs. This copy of Men Without Hats’ “Folk of the 80’s (Part III)” definitely falls into the second category.

Finding this record in the wild felt like enough of a minor miracle to hand over the money. My expectations were modest, which is often the safest position to adopt when approaching charity shop vinyl, along with checking for scratches and pretending you are not judging the previous owner’s taste. EMI really knew what they were doing when it came to pressing records in the mid-eighties and this vinyl sounds very good to my ears. The fact that it is so flimsy you could use it as a wobble-board offers quiet but persuasive evidence that the modern obsession with 180g vinyl has rather less to do with sound quality and more to do with separating you from your cash.

Released in 1984, “Folk of the 80’s (Part III)” is listed on Discogs as “Electronic Rock”, which sounds less like a genre and more like the result of two forum users having to settle on an oxymoron to resolve an argument. Still, it is oddly appropriate. With a title like “Folk of the 80’s”, the band were clearly not frightened of contradiction, confusion, or making the listener do a bit of administrative work before the needle even touched the vinyl. If you have the original album, the sleeve helps by mislabelling the track listing on the back and the promotional sticker on the front adds another small puzzle by making you wonder which way up the sleeve image is meant to be. This may be a design choice. It may be an accident. Either way, it feels like the band would approve.

The opening track, “No Dancing”, is a slow-moving and atmospheric introduction like the album is politely clearing its throat before deciding whether to make eye contact. It establishes a slightly uneasy setting, only for “Unsatisfaction” to kick the door open with enough guitar-driven swagger to justify that “Electronic Rock” label after all. “Where Do The Boys Go?” has a definite hint of Eurythmics in their “Sweet Dreams” phase, which is no bad thing. There are worse places to borrow atmosphere from than a record that sounded as though it had been lowered from synth-pop Olympus by two impeccably dressed angels programming a drum computer. 

“Mothers Opinion” (sic) is the most ambitious and polarising track on Side A, and also the one most likely to clear the room if anyone has come expecting another brisk synth-pop singalong. It largely abandons traditional pop structure in favour of long, repetitive electronic loops, shifting sound textures and spoken-word interjections, all apparently designed to prove that Men Without Hats were not merely pop, but art. Possibly art with a clipboard. 

Side B is a more uneven affair, though not without interest. “Eurotheme” sounds rather like a track that began confidently enough before everyone realised nobody had brought any lyrics, at which point the band simply decided to press on and hope the synths could cover the awkward silence. “Messiahs Die Young”, by contrast, benefits from production that is rather stronger than the composition itself, giving the impression of an expensive frame around a slightly cheap print. “I Know Their Name” appears to contain the faint whiff of acoustic drums, but it remains perfectly inoffensive. The title track serves as the album’s ideological mission statement, imagining a future in which traditional folk music has been almost entirely absorbed by electronics. It is an interesting idea, and very much in keeping with the album’s oddball ambition, but the song itself feels slightly too pleased with the concept to remember it also needs a tune. 

Ivan Doroschuk’s voice, meanwhile, will divide opinion. At its best it brings character, drama and a faintly theatrical edge. At other moments the vocal flips and oral gymnastics threaten to become the main event, like someone auditioning for every part in a new wave musical while the rest of the band wait politely for their turn. The synths fare rather better. They are used imaginatively, adding atmosphere and colour but aren't allowed to take over the show entirely (boo). It is really the guitars that let the side down. They are not disastrous, but they do occasionally arrive with the subtlety of a pub band wandering into an art school by mistake.

Overall, “Folk of the 80’s (Part III)” is a far better record than my casual neglect of Men Without Hats deserved. It is uneven in places, and Doroschuk’s vocal style will probably remain something of a Marmite proposition, but there is imagination, energy and enough oddball charm here to make me glad I rescued it from the charity shop afterlife. I went in expecting a curiosity and came out thinking I should probably have paid more attention years ago. Not a lost masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly a rewarding listen and a reminder that sometimes the most interesting records are the ones you buy because they were not Perry Como. 2.5/5

One record at a time: 543. M - New York, London, Paris, Munich

M was not really a band in the traditional sense, but rather Robin Scott’s solo project, with session musicians and people who knew where the right studio buttons were brought in to fill the gaps. As a result, this album includes Phil Gould on drums, Wally Badarou on keyboards, Gary Barnacle on saxophone and esteemed producer David Richards as engineer, which is a quietly absurd amount of talent for a record many people now remember for only one single.

The crackly but thankfully unscratched vinyl begins with “Pop Muzik”, which arrives with the sort of confidence normally reserved for people who wear hats and sunglasses indoors. It is catchy, odd and completely aware of its own ridiculousness, which is probably why it still works.

After that, the album proves why M are considered a one-hit wonder. “Woman Make Man” is brief, odd and disturbing, but thankfully Wally Badarou’s distinctive contributions stand out more than Scott’s sleazy and frankly appalling vocals. “Moderne Man/Satisfy Your Lust” is a disco number that uses an orchestra, but rather than capturing the vibe of classics like “Night on Broadway”, it sounds more like the theme tune to a seventies comedy show that was cancelled after one series.

“Made in Munich” leans into the record’s European gloss, while “Moonlight and Muzak” is probably the strongest evidence that Scott sold his soul to the devil of disco. “Cowboys and Indians” is stranger than it needs to be and makes me feel like I have slipped into a parallel universe or am experiencing some sort of drug-induced psychosis. “Unite Your Nation” wraps things up with more nausea-inducing nonsense.

Overall, “New York, London, Paris, Munich” is very much a record of its time and, as someone who was alive in 1979, I can say with some confidence that not every moment deserves a revival. I don’t hate many records, but this one is making a surprisingly strong case for admission to that small and unfortunate club. Is it the done thing to ask for a refund of a pound from a charity shop? 1/5

One record at a time: 542. Annie Lennox - Diva

The sound of Annie Lennox’s debut solo album will always take me back to being young, optimistic and slightly over-invested in pop music. Whilst I lamented the demise of Eurythmics in 1991, I took some comfort in the prospect of Lennox stepping out on her own. If anyone was going to make the solo career feel less like a consolation prize and more like an event, it was Annie Lennox.

I bought lead single “Why” when it came out in 1992, in the limited edition plastic box that I confidently assumed would become a collectors’ item. Almost thirty five years later, it appears to be worth roughly the same £4 I paid for it, which is less an investment portfolio and more a small plastic monument to misplaced optimism. Still, I bought the single, then the album, because the music mattered. When this modern reissue of the vinyl was in a sale a couple of years ago I added it to the collection with the quiet inevitability of someone who had already lost the argument with himself.

The record itself sounds lovely. There is a pleasing sense of weight and space to it, and the Optimal pressing gives the whole thing that slightly elevated air of quality that makes you feel the record deserves to be handled whilst wearing a faint expression of seriousness.

Track by track, “Diva” still holds up remarkably well. “Why” remains the obvious centrepiece, a song so stately and exposed that it seems to arrive already knowing it will be used in emotional television montages until the end of time. Yet the album is not simply a vehicle for its lead single. “Primitive” has a haunting, almost spectral quality, with Lennox’s voice moving through the arrangement like someone carrying a torch through a darkened room. “Money Can’t Buy It” is another highlight, all poise, tension and quiet menace, proving that Lennox could make restraint sound every bit as dramatic as a grand gesture.

“Little Bird” is the album’s most overtly electronic moment, and probably the track that most clearly glances back towards Eurythmics. That is no criticism. Its sharper groove gives the record a welcome surge of movement, and it remains one of the album’s highlights precisely because it lets a little synth-pop urgency into an otherwise meticulously composed room. “Precious”, meanwhile, benefits from the kind of bass hook you would expect from Stephen Lipson, whose production influence keeps the arrangements glossy without leaving them sterile.

Not everything lands with equal force. “Stay by Me” and “The Gift” are more restrained, and on a less assured album they might have drifted into tasteful background territory. Here, though, the strength of Lennox’s presence and the polish of the production keep them interesting, but I can't pretend to enjoy them as much as other tracks. 

Even as a teenager, the irony of a force of nature like Lennox recording “Keep Young and Beautiful” was not lost on me. It remains a wry, slightly theatrical ending that sends the album out with a raised eyebrow rather than a misty farewell. 4/5

One record at a time: 541. Leftfield - This Is What We Do

I bought this album after spotting it in a "Three for £50" offer on Amazon, which is the sort of dangerous retail ambush that makes a me suddenly realise I could fit more vinyl on my shelves after all. This double vinyl edition is pressed by Pallas, whose work is a little variable, but this copy sounds pretty good to my ears. The low end has suitable weight, the detail comes through nicely.

This is Leftfield’s fourth studio album, released in 2022, and it arrived seven years after "Alternative Light Source". It was created by founding member Neil Barnes alongside Adam Wren, who has been the band’s engineer since the early days. That continuity matters, because although this album is clearly not trying to be "Leftism Part Two", it does still feel connected to the same restless, bass-heavy, machine-loving lineage. 

As proceedings open, the title track proves to be a fantastic hook into the album. This song draws the listener in with earth-shaking bass, catchy vocal samples and enough cowbell to keep even Christopher Walken happy. It has that classic Leftfield ability to sound both enormous and strangely precise. “Full Way Round” follows as a gritty, electro-infused beast featuring Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten. His vocal is a half-spoken piece of performance poetry, which is great if you like that sort of thing.

There are more spoken vocals on “Making A Difference”, this time from Lemn Sissay, underpinned by a rubbery house groove. These vocal contributions help the tracks stand apart from the more routine four-on-the-floor material that can proliferate in electronic music, and they give the album a sense of intent and identity. That said, they do not always land completely for me. At times they can sound a touch preachy, as if the track has briefly paused the dancing to hand out a leaflet. Still, the production is strong enough, and the groove persuasive enough, to stop things becoming worthy rather than enjoyable.

One thing you certainly cannot accuse Leftfield of is abandoning electronic music. Tracks such as “City of Synths”, “Machines Like Me” and “Pulse” are fierce, unashamed attempts to harness the sound of machines to convey emotion. That may sound like the sort of thing a robot would write in its personal statement, but it works. There is texture, drive and menace here, with synths that throb, buzz and occasionally sound as if they are trying to escape through the nearest wall. It is electronic music with physical presence, which has always been one of Leftfield’s great strengths.

Earl Sixteen returns to deliver a vocal contribution on “Rapture”, and whilst it is a good track, it does not quite recreate the magic of “Release the Pressure” from the band’s first album. That is hardly a crime, as very few things do. “Release the Pressure” remains one of those tracks that seems to exist on its own private mountain, looking down benignly at the rest of us while the bassline does press-ups. Elsewhere, the triple-time joy of “Heart and Soul” is a personal favourite, bringing a welcome lift and momentum, while the drums on “Accumulator” are worth the entry fee alone. 

Overall, this is an enjoyable and often impressive album. It may not reach the towering heights of Leftfield’s debut, but expecting every release to do that feels a little unfair, like asking every meal to be Christmas dinner. What matters is that one of dance and electronic music’s great pioneering names still sounds engaged, curious and capable of making music with real force. 3/5

One record at a time: 540. Thomas Leer - The Scale of Ten

Back in 2009, I eulogised on this blog about Thomas Leer’s album “Scale of Ten”. I also seem to have claimed that you could buy the CD for less than five pounds, which may have been true seventeen years ago but most certainly is not the case today. If you can find a copy of the 2004 CD release at all, it will now set you back anywhere between £25 and £40.  

A much more reasonable way to hear this album is via the rather more plentiful vinyl version. My copy came from eBay and only set me back a few pounds. As a common-or-garden mid-eighties record it sounds pretty good, although there are a few tell-tale signs of age. A nice heavyweight remaster would be welcome, but I suspect nobody has the slightest clue where the rights reside today, possibly including the rights themselves.

This whole album seems to owe its existence to an episode of GAS. 'Gear acquisition syndrome' is an affliction that electronic music enthusiasts contract from time to time, compelling them to spend usually ridiculous amounts of money on new musical instruments while insisting, with great dignity, that it is really an investment. My own GAS has always been relatively well controlled and low in ambition, largely restricted to staring at things online and then deciding the mortgage probably has a point. Thomas Leer, however, appears to have suffered a particularly severe case during 1985.

It is understandable that Leer would want a Fairlight CMI, but this goal seemed incompatible with the rather modest commercial performance of his music. Undaunted, and full of the sort of ambition that makes accountants develop a facial twitch, he went hunting for a major record label that would buy him the Australian dream machine. Once he had convinced Arista to lease him the instrument as part of his advance, he set about creating new music in his living room. 

Obviously, this kind of expense meant Leer had to come up with the goods in sales terms, so the resulting album needed to be something suitably commercial. Experienced producer Paul Hardiman was brought in to steer the ship in the right direction, while the record company presumably imagined that the recording budget would be reduced because Leer would have completed the pre-programming at home before arriving somewhere rather more costly, like Farmyard Studios. The sleeve proudly proclaims that all instruments and sounds were programmed and performed on the Fairlight, but that is not strictly true. There is bass guitar, drums and even a live orchestra, complete with a distinctive Anne Dudley arrangement, on “Number One”. As it is the eighties there has to be a bit of saxophone too, but that is best left ignored. I get the feeling the cost reduction the record company envisaged wasn't realised as fully as they expected.

Opening track “Searcher” has a great melody and is chock-full of imaginative sounds, finding that happy ground between commercial sensibility and electronic innovation. One of my favourites is “Lust for Loneliness”, while the samples that drive “Warm” are used with real imagination rather than simply waved about to prove the machine was expensive. The singles “Heartbeat” and “International” are something of synth-pop classics and still stand up to the demands of modern ears. “Mistrust” has orchestra hits and drum breaks that sound remarkably like early Art of Noise, which is either influence, coincidence or the Fairlight quietly joining a union. The pace slows only at the end with the highly atmospheric “Passing Through”, which is as perfect an ending as it is possible to imagine.

I like this album because of three distinct elements. Obviously the Fairlight is central, and the catchy compositions deserved a better reception and rather healthier commercial sales than they received. A less recognised element is Leer’s voice, which I find engaging and surprisingly accomplished. He may have thought he was selling his soul for a Fairlight, but “Scale of Ten” proves that the transaction was not entirely one-sided. The machine gave him a new palette, Arista got at least a fighting chance of a hit, and we got an album that still sounds inventive, melodic and oddly undervalued. If that is what a severe bout of GAS can produce, perhaps I should give in to my own symptoms rather than simply browsing eBay and sighing theatrically. 4/5

One record at a time: 539. Kissing The Pink - Certain Things Are Likely

I found this copy of "Certain Things Are Likely" in my favourite second-hand record emporium a couple of years ago. I am fairly sure I overpaid for it, but I prefer to think of this as supporting the cultural ecosystem. If we do not keep retailers like that in business, we will be left with nothing but eBay, and eBay sellers do not put rare Pet Shop Boys records to one side for my next visit like benevolent vinyl-dispensing fairies.

This is Kissing The Pink's third studio album and dates to 1986. After achieving moderate success with their first two albums, this record feels like one final push to broaden the band’s appeal, or at least move them into the part of the shop where everything isn’t reduced in price. Phil Harding was brought in to add his distinctive studio sheen to Peter Walsh's production, giving parts of the record a crisp, radio-friendly finish without completely sanding away the band’s odd edges. One of my favourite bass players, Derek Forbes, appears on two tracks, which is already enough to make me sit up straighter, and even Matt Aitken of the Stock Aitken Waterman production house pops up on guitar. It is a strange but intriguing combination, like finding a serious art installation in the middle of Primark.

What I admire about Kissing the Pink is that they never really abandoned their synth-pop instincts, even when the album is clearly dressed in brighter, more accessible colours. A lot of classically trained musicians can make pop music sound like homework, or worse, like they are doing the audience an intellectual favour. Kissing the Pink avoid that completely. They manage to create memorable pop tunes without giving the impression that they are slumming it, and their humour keeps bubbling away beneath the surface. Even when the songs lean towards the mainstream, there is always the sense that, as soon as someone responsible has left the room, they are quietly adjusting the synth settings to something less sensible.

The opening track "One Step" sounds like the album’s most direct bid for the dance floor. It has the smooth, bright feel that would not have sounded too out of place alongside Madonna, a-ha and assorted other people with excellent hair. The problem is that Nicholas Whitecross’ faux American accent and the dense arrangement of female backing vocals rather swamp the song. Instead of sounding effortless, it feels slightly overstuffed, as if its better instincts are being jostled by too many competing ideas.

"Never Too Late To Love You" suffers from some of the same issues. Nick’s tongue-in-cheek accent and the backing vocals become distracting, even though there is a decent song trying to get out from underneath the arrangement. Of the singles released from the album, the title track is probably my favourite because it feels closest to the band’s natural sound, or at least the version of it allowed out in public after someone had checked its shoes were clean.

Elsewhere, "Identity Card" is relentless pop fun and well worth a listen, while "Jones" borrows neatly from Bowie and Simple Minds to create a pleasing little number. "Can You Hear Me" tries to retain a bit of the band’s eccentric identity by unexpectedly tossing in some bagpipes, although even they cannot quite cut through everything going on around them. The album's nadir is "One Day", which manages the impressive trick of sounding expensive and oddly underpowered at the same time. I am still not sure why anyone would go to the expense of putting a string section on a track and then recording it in a key so low that the singer sounds as if he is trying to retrieve the melody from under the floorboards. 

That is the album in miniature: the compositions are often good, but the presentation sometimes pulls them away from the band’s natural art-pop eccentricity. It leaves "Certain Things Are Likely" as something of a mixed bag, but an interesting one. It may not have turned Kissing The Pink into the chart-conquering concern their record company clearly wanted, and yes, they were dropped afterwards, because pop history is rarely kind. Still, the band live on in the racks, in the memories of people who like their synth-pop with a faint whiff of mischief, and in second-hand record shops where copies like mine sit waiting to be rescued by someone willing to overpay in the name of cultural preservation. Benevolent vinyl-dispensing fairies, consider your work appreciated. 3/5

One record at a time: 538. Justice - Hyperdrama

I have bought all of Justice’s albums since their 2007 debut, “†”, but always on compact disc. It was only with the advent of 2024’s “Hyperdrama” that I abandoned CD in favour of vinyl. The band's back catalogue have all been reissued on vinyl, but I do not feel any burning desire to spend the £86.16 it would require to add them to my shelves. I like Justice, but of the wave of electronic artists who emerged around 2007, they have always fallen a little behind their contemporaries. Digitalism had more imagination, Simian Mobile Disco had sharper production, and Soulwax sounded as if they had found a secret cupboard marked “ideas” and decided not to report it to anyone. Justice make dance music, certainly, but it often veers towards disco and can get a bit silly at times. As I have said on this blog before, I do not like silliness in my music, so I have often found myself tapping my feet in a slightly disapproving manner, which is the most middle-aged form of rebellion available to me.

To be fair, Justice have shifted their sound over time, and this album finds them leaning more into club culture than seventies disco cheese. “Neverender”, which opens the album, is a collaboration with Tame Impala and sounds a bit like Daft Punk with a bit of Chemical Brothers for structural support. It is great stuff. Next up is “Generator”, which throws in various Alpha Juno-style hoover noises and rave sounds you thought had been safely lost to the nineties until they form a particularly excellent audio trifle, complete with string section. “Afterimage” is another massive track, with RIMON’s vocal hovering above the driving rhythms and squealing synths like balm on a sore wound, assuming the balm has been administered at 130 beats per minute.

Also worthy of mention is another Tame Impala collaboration, “One Night/All Night”, whose dark techno pulse suits Justice like a well-tailored jacket. The bass playing of Xavier de Rosnay sounds especially good on tracks like “Dear Alan”, giving the album a muscular low end without making it feel as though it has simply wandered into a gym and started shouting at a mirror.

“Moonlight Rendez-vous” is clearly an attempt to change down a gear, but it falls a bit flat for me and, as we know, saxophone is rarely the answer, children. “Saturnine” reaches for an R&B feel but leaves me colder than an afternoon spent in a chiller, even if there is a cheeky Art of Noise sample lurking in there like it has broken in through a side door. 

“Hyperdrama” is like a crazy puppy that launches itself at you when you first walk in, all paws, teeth and enthusiasm, before gradually remembering it has been to obedience class. It is still a very good puppy, but I cannot help preferring it before it learnt to sit and roll over. 3.5/5

One record at a time: 537. Howard Jones - One To One

This record came into my possession a couple of years ago, though I had completely forgotten where I bought it from until I pulled it from the shelves and spotted the charity shop sticker still proudly clinging to the sleeve proclaiming the sale price of £1.15. As I have lamented before on this blog, charity shops are not exactly awash with treasures these days, so finding something like this feels less like crate-digging and more like encountering a unicorn. There is not a mark on the record and it plays perfectly, so whoever owned it before me clearly treated it with more respect than I treat most houseplants. The median price on Discogs for this album is £2.66, which means I am already more than £1.50 in the black and can enjoy a brief, financially unjustified moment of smugness.

By 1986, Howard Jones had already scored hits around the world and secured his place as an international act. Produced by the legendary Arif Mardin, this album sees Jones using the Fairlight for the first time and aiming for a bigger, glossier sound. Or, depending on your point of view, making a slightly ill-judged bid for the attention of American radio.

The album kicks off with the lead single "You Know I Love You... Don't You?", which was something of a commercial disappointment on release. Personally, I like the song, although I can see why its less-than-fluid lyrics might have slipped past radio programmers with barely a ripple. Second track "The Balance Of Love (Give And Take)" brings in some deep, funky bass, and once the distinctive sound of the DX7 appears, it starts to feel almost perfect from an eighties production perspective.

As the first side progresses, we get a run of well-produced and perfectly competent tracks, but several are missing the little hook that would have pushed them from album-track territory into hit material. The backing vocals on "Where Are We Going?" could not be cheesier if they had been dipped in fondue, while the proto-electro of "Don't Want To Fight Anymore" is so out of place it is almost irresistible. One thing that stands out in Mardin's production is the deeper bass, which gives the record a different feel from Jones's earlier work. The trouble is that bass, however splendidly upholstered, cannot always carry a song on its own.

Side two opens with "Step Into These Shoes", which has a spring in its step but "Pearl in a Shell" it is not. "Will You Still Be There?" is gentler and more reflective, but boy does it go on, and on, and on. "Good Luck, Bad Luck" is one of the more immediate tracks here, with a brisker pulse and the sort of neatly clipped chorus that reminds you HoJo had not entirely mislaid his pop instincts. "Little Bit Of Snow" closes things on a more delicate note, complete with string arrangement and a sense that everyone in the studio had briefly looked up for Page R on the Fairlight and wandered outside to touch grass.

Overall, "One To One" is not Howard Jones at his most dazzling or immediate, but it is far from the misfire some might suggest. It is slick, occasionally over-polished and sometimes a little too keen to sound grown-up, but as a charity shop find for £1.15, it delivers considerably more than the purchase price demanded, which is all one can reasonably ask in this day and age. 3/5

One record at a time: 536. Jean Michel Jarre - Live In Bratislava (Bridge From the Future)

Back in the lead-up to Jarre’s 1990 performance at La Défense in Paris, the ambient piece “Waiting for Cousteau” was played over the PA to build atmosphere and fill the air with music, like a perfume of anticipation. For his more recent grand open-air concert in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2024, Jarre returned to the same idea, this time using a new composition written specifically for the event.

Ambient music is usually designed to drift gently past you, not arrive in a £90 box set glowing like Doctor Manhattan. Still, with Jean-Michel Jarre, even the background music tends to come with a sense of occasion. 

The piece was titled “Bridge From the Future” and was only made available as part of the “Ultimate Collector’s” box set of the live album documenting the concert. Rather bafflingly, none of the concert itself is presented on vinyl in this set and the only way to hear the ambient piece from physical media is on the 10-inch blue vinyl included in the box. 

Everything about this release feels like it was cobbled together with little attention to detail. Jarre has admitted that the audio was taken from the television broadcast, which used a compressed 128 kbit/s sound file. Most of us probably would not notice the drop in quality, but it hardly screams “Ultimate”, unless “ultimate” now means “recorded off the telly”.

As for the piece "Bridge From the Future", it is fine enough as ambient music. There are rain noises, snippets of reversed speech and the usual drone-like synth textures. It is not meant to seize your attention, more to hover politely in the background, and in that sense it does its job. What grates is having to spend a sizeable amount of money on a poorly judged box set to own it. Sometimes I can see why people use nothing but YouTube for their music. Those of us who prefer physical media are being taken for a ride, and this one does not even come with decent sound. A bridge from the future, perhaps, but unfortunately one that charges a toll. 1/5

One record at a time: 535. Jean Michel Jarre - Versailles 400

“Versailles 400” documents a concert Jarre gave at the Château de Versailles on Christmas Day 2023. Ostensibly, the performance marked the 400th anniversary of the palace, although once you remember that Versailles is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Jarre is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, you can probably make an educated guess as to who bankrolled the whole thing.

As the concert was held in the Hall of Mirrors, they could only squeeze a few hundred people into the room, so the event was broadcast on YouTube for the unwashed masses. I suspect you had to be related to Jarre, employed by UNESCO, or have a surname that appears on a building somewhere in Paris to get a ticket. The first recordings of the concert were released digitally, with this vinyl edition following the following  year as a limited run of 2,000 individually numbered copies.

As for the music, I’ve complained before about Jarre going all techno and his apparently constant need to update his classic works in an EDM style. I’m not a fan of this approach. I love a solid four-on-the-floor kick drum as much as the next person, especially if the next person is standing in a field in Belgium at three in the morning, but Jarre was always about more than that. His melodies, beguiling chords and sweeping atmospheric twinkle were the point. Put them under a formulaic techno sheen and even the most impressive compositions start to sound oddly flat, like champagne served in a sports bottle.

After the twee and rather fake-sounding baroque opening “La Château”, we are thrust into “Epica Oxygene”. As the name suggests, this is an amalgam of “Oxygene Part IV” and “Epica”. Before you start applauding Jarre’s seemingly endless drive to innovate, it is worth noting that the track was originally created for a Renault commercial. Jarre might call it “a design collaboration”, but he has essentially slapped the tune from “Oxygene” over the beats of “Epica”, given it a polish, and hoped nobody checked the service history. The end result is fine, but it is hardly going to blow up YouTube.

Whenever Jarre plays “Oxygene 2” nowadays, he seems to insist on subjecting us to two and a half minutes of directionless improvisation before launching into the distinctive melody. All this noodling does nothing for the composition. It does not build atmosphere or anticipation; it just gets in the way of the bit we all paid to hear, like someone explaining the fire exits during the best part of a film. “Equinoxe 4” sounds similar to the lacklustre version he created in 1990 for the “Paris La Défense” concert, while the sped-up version of “Equinoxe 7” sounds like it is in a hurry to get out of there because it has remembered it has left the oven on. 

One of my favourite Jarre tracks is “Chronologie 6”, and the version here benefits from staying largely faithful to the perfection of the original. “Zero Gravity” and “Stardust” are a couple of techno and trance behemoths that you either love or loathe. I’m sure younger fans might like them, but for me these tracks don’t really represent Jarre. There is something slightly wrong about a man approaching eighty years of age knocking out thumping techno. Admirable, certainly. Unexpected, definitely. But still slightly like finding your grandad headlining Creamfields. I’m glad the big man is still around, actively making music and engaging with his fans. I just wish he’d make some music I can enjoy again. Never has a lazily created AI image with little relevance to the music been such a fitting sleeve. 2/5

One record at a time: 534. Jean Michel Jarre - Oxymore Works

Back in 2023, I reviewed Jarre's album "Oxymore" and found it dull, oddly joyless, and almost entirely free of either melody or groove, which is quite an achievement for an electronic album. I suggested it was one of his worst records, and time has not softened my view. 

For reasons best known to Jarre, he then released this remix album in which he invited other artists to create new versions of tracks from "Oxymore". In theory, this extends the "Electronica" concept, but in practice it means household names such as Deathpact, French 79 and NSDOS (No? Me neither) get to add a four-on-the-floor kick drum under Jarre’s abstract noodling. Martin Gore of Depeche Mode and Brian Eno return, while Armin van Buuren arrives to pour a thick layer of generic trance over one track, like custard on a circuit board.

Gore's effort, "Brutalism" is a fairly straightforward techno track that repurposes some of the samples from the original and carries the same sinister vibe, but it has neither the groove nor the ideas to sustain interest across its five-minute runtime. It is a similar story with "Epica Extension", which uses the same sound palette as the original and throws in additional rhythm, but still manages to remain stubbornly boring. The same track is also reworked with Armin van Buuren, with results that are exactly as predictable as you fear. "Sex In The Machine Take 2" sounds like something any bedroom musician with a copy of Fruity Loops could create, and the two takes on "Zeitheist" towards the end of the album are similarly vanilla.

My favourite track here is "Brutalism Reprise" which was recorded with Deathpact. You should probably adjust your expectations if you are waiting for the new "Chronologie Part 4", but this one does actually sound pretty good and, more importantly, has something new to offer. The presence of one good track makes this album less a mixed bag and more a charity shop lucky dip where the one decent item is buried beneath several cracked ashtrays and a fondue set nobody wanted in the first place. Honestly, I'd rather listen to David Gray than this, and I do not say that lightly. My fear is that one day the great man might pass from this world, and something like this will end up being his swan song. 1/5

One record at a time: 533. Jean Michel Jarre - Les Granges Brûlées

Created with rudimentary instruments and released before Jean-Michel Jarre had become an established recording artist, “Les Granges Brûlées” occupies that strange pre-fame territory where historical importance and actual listenability are not always on speaking terms. 

As this album was not repressed following its initial release in 1973, it had become rare and sought-after by the time I became aware of it in 1989. Like “Deserted Palace”, I first heard it on a bootleg CD called “Rarities”, and I was so startled by its sound that I half believed it could not really be the work of Jarre at all. It felt less like the missing link between “Deserted Palace” and “Oxygène” and more like someone had locked a young composer in a cupboard with a synthesiser, an organ, and only intermittent access to daylight.

This is, of course, a soundtrack to a film, although once I had heard the music I cannot say I was seized by an urgent need to watch it. Soundtracks are tricky beasts. They may be perfect when welded to the visuals, but left to fend for themselves on a stereo they can sound like someone has mislaid half the evidence. In this case, the film may well be supplying all the tension, motive and atmosphere that the album merely gestures towards.

There are melodies here, and the main theme is perfectly respectable, but the EMS Synthi VCS3 and Farfisa organ seem to be working overtime to produce even the most rudimentary sounds. Given the sparse equipment involved, that is perhaps part of the fascination: you can almost hear the machinery thinking about what it wants to be when it grows up. Even so, fascination is not quite the same as enjoyment. 

Much of the album has an abstract, wintry seriousness to it, while “Zig-Zag” is the obvious anomaly, sitting awkwardly against the record’s otherwise tense and skeletal tone. I still cannot imagine what scene it was meant to accompany, unless the film briefly turns into a chase sequence involving a clown, a small dog, and a suspiciously well-stocked trail of banana skins. To be honest, I was not really surprised that neither Jarre nor his record label appeared to be in a great hurry to re-release the album.

Then, completely out of the blue, “Les Granges Brûlées” finally received an official CD reissue in 2003. Fast forward another twenty years and this limited edition vinyl appeared via Bandcamp on Transversales Disques, remastered from the original master tapes. The record is very nicely pressed and comes in a poly-lined sleeve with a separate card inner, along with that all-important collector’s guarantee of quality: an Obi strip. Because nothing says “serious archival release” quite like a decorative band of paper that immediately makes you terrified of damaging the packaging. 

All in all, this is a handsome, well-presented release with strong sound reproduction and a genuine sense of historical value. It is also, regrettably, a reminder that not every historically interesting record needs to be invited round for dinner. As a document of early electronic film scoring, it is fascinating; as an album to play for pleasure, it remains rather skeletal when divorced from its visuals. 2/5

One record at a time: 532. Jean Michel Jarre - Deserted Palace

Back in 1989, I bought Jean-Louis Remilleux’s biography of Jean-Michel Jarre. Before the internet turned every obscure fact into a three-second search, books like this were a goldmine for music-obsessed teenagers like me. While reading it, I spotted a partial discography on page 31 that listed two albums I had never heard of. Until then, I had assumed Jarre’s career began with “Oxygène”, so it was a genuine revelation to discover that his debut was actually “Deserted Palace” from 1972. 

The record was long out of print and certainly not lurking hopefully in the CD racks of my local HMV, so it quickly took on near-mythical status. I resigned myself to never owning a copy, and probably never hearing the music at all. Over the years, the occasional LP would surface in mail-order catalogues, but the asking price seemed less like retail and more like a ransom note printed in Record Collector magazine. As a teenager, I could barely afford the French maestro’s latest CD, never mind a rare collector’s item changing hands for hundreds of pounds. 

I did finally get to hear the music when I bought a bootleg CD called “Rarities” in the early nineties. When I first played it, I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed. I had not expected the album to be as polished as “Oxygène” or “Équinoxe”, but I was not quite prepared for how raw, slight and frankly odd it sounded. It was less the grand opening chapter of a glittering electronic career and more the sound of someone finding the keys to the synth cupboard and deciding to have a busy afternoon.

At this stage of his career, Jarre was still a jobbing songwriter and producer rather than the spectacular recording artist who would later fill docklands, skylines and UNESCO-approved landmarks with lasers. “Deserted Palace” was not designed as a conventional pop album. It was a library record, intended to provide short electronic pieces for use in television and media productions. Electronic music was still in its infancy in 1972, so perhaps the hope was that these strange new sounds would appeal to producers and creative types looking for something futuristic, unusual or just sufficiently inexpensive.

The album covers a surprising range of styles, including rap, baroque pastiche, rock gestures and more abstract experimental pieces, although everything is realised through the rather unforgiving combination of a VCS3 synthesiser and a Farfisa organ. As a result, the sound palette is limited, to put it kindly. Some tracks hint at melodies and ideas that would later become far more convincing in Jarre’s hands, but others sound like they were assembled while the equipment was still reading the instruction manual.

This new 2025 pressing is nicely presented, and the back cover describes it as “Volume 1”, which is optimistic in a way I almost admire. Whether “Volume 2” ever emerges remains to be seen, but I am not clearing shelf space just yet. As a historical curiosity, “Deserted Palace” is interesting, and for Jarre completists it fills an important gap. As an album to actually sit and enjoy, however, it is rather hard work. The palace may be deserted, but on this evidence, it may also have had a few problems with the heating. 1/5