One record at a time: 16. The Art of Noise - Noise In The City: Live In Tokyo, 1986

Record fourteen is the last LP in my collection by The Art of Noise. Despite being recorded in 1986, "Noise In The City" was only released in 2021 on CD and this limited edition white vinyl. I have mixed emotions about Music On Vinyl. Whilst they continue to nobly release music on physical formats, they don't always make the best job of it. Take the re-release of "In Visible Silence" which looked beautiful but had the sonic fidelity of a potato. 

However, the trouble here is largely the actual recordings themselves. Whilst the 'limitations of the source tape' are revealed here and there (this is the same on the digital version) my issue is more with the performances. Sometimes a live event can seem wondrous when you're there, seeing and hearing it for the first time, but it doesn't necessarily translate into a good recording. Put it this way, I can see why this album wasn't released when the band where at their commercial zenith back in 1986. The combination of live percussion, Fairlight backing tracks and terrible backing singers doesn't make for the most wondrous soundscape. The chat and introductions between songs are excruciating and raise the alarming prospect that Paul Morley may have actually brought something to the table.

Tracks such as "Eye of the Needle" "Paranoimia" and "Opus III" are frankly a mess. Whilst "Legs" and "Moments In Love" remain credible representations, its not hard to see why other electronic artists just played (or mimed - I'm looking at you M. Jarre) to a tape machine when trying to recreate their music back in the 80's. So whilst his album doesn't succeed as a listening experience, it serves as an honest historical record of the tour it was made on. And at the end of the day, I know I should be pleased that someone has taken the time to create a new release by The Art of Noise - I just wish it was better. 2/5

The 'live' minefield of Gary Numan

Along with my New Year's resolution to not buy any new music by Bjork, I have vowed to fill in some of the holes in my Gary Numan collection (and there are very many).

As a relative newcomer to the music of Gary Numan, the main thing that strikes me is the mind boggling number of releases. There are 20 studio albums, of which 5 have been released in two versions (extended and regular editions), the majority of his output from the Numa label has been released in a remastered/expanded form, there are untold number of compilations (especially licensed budget ones), lots of fan club CDs and bootlegs of every variety.

2004 and the new 2014 "Redux" edition of  'Electronic Pioneer'

The only thing that helps me keep track of what I own and what I am chasing is the Discogs website and my Numan bible: "Electronic Pioneer: An Armchair Guide to Gary Nuaman" by Paul Goodwin. This book is a good source of information and has helped me prioritise what I should buy. If you are drawn towards Gary's back catalogue, I'd recommend you track down a copy (it's screaming out for an index and colour images however).

But despite this book and all of the online discographies, the one area of Gary's back catalogue that mystifies and appals me in equal measure are his live recordings. Every studio album (and some compilation albums) seem to have resulted in a tour and an associated live recording being released. It is unclear if these live albums are released to recoup financial losses incurred on the tour (such with Jean-Michel Jarre's "The Concerts in China" or Mike Oldfield's "Exposed") or if Numan sees genuine value in releasing them. Personally, I can see little merit in some of these albums. The vocals on "White Noise" are indistinct and muddy. Paul Goodwin describes the version of "This Is New Love" included on this album as 'truly dire' - and he's being kind.

The number of Numan live albums is staggering

"The Skin Mechanic" is a clumsy, soulless journey through Roland D-50 presents (just like a few Numan studio albums). "Dream Corrosion" finds Numan at rock bottom with poor material and audio that doesn't even sound live. It's almost as if he sampled some crowd noises, rigged up his D50 (again) and sang his way though his back catalogue. "Dark Light" is a fine sounding album that is just let down by terrible artwork.

"Scarred" features more prominent guitar work but remains smeared with "Digital Native Dance" and other D-50 presets that had been out of fashion for 15 years by the time the record was released. "Engineers" was dragged out of the vaults by Beggars Banquet, dusted down and released almost 30 years after it was recorded. And as good as it sounds, I can't understand what it adds to the roughly contemporaneous Living Ornaments '79, '80 or '81. More recent offerings such as "Hope Bleeds" and "Replicas Live" are quite good individually but when considered in the context of Numan's back catalogue they just feel like overkill. Other recent releases such as "Jagged Live" seem to generate some debate as to whether it is was "live" at all.

"Ghost" is one album I am yet to track down (strangely from a tour held to promote a compilation album) along with "Telekon Live" and "The Pleasure Principle Live". I even want to acquire CDs that don't even appeal to me such as the "Fragment" albums or the recent "Big Noise Transmission". Why do I have this compulsion to own this stuff? What power does Numan posses? I must say I have noticed that his fans seem to be the most loyal, vociferous and devoted I have ever come across. Maybe, just maybe, he's beginning to exert this power over me.

Pet Shop Boys Live. This is my kind of music...

When I go to a concert, I go to see the group in the flesh. I go to hear them perform their music 'live' in a convivial atmosphere.

In reality, I have to stand next to a woman with the worlds largest handbag, who is accompanied by a man with loud verbal diarrhoea. Behind me stands a fat woman who wants to bump into my back every 3.12 seconds, with the only view of the stage possible being the drunken mosaic created by a sea of iPhone view finders.

But forgetting these major annoyances and trying to ignore the guy video recoding the crowd in front of me (I kid you not, he even had an Angry Birds iPhone cover), I try to concentrate on the performance.

"Pet Shop Boys Electric Live" is a stage show like no other. This show was close to being a religious experience and the MEN a cathederal to dance music. I began to fall deeper into the hacienda created by the music and realised standing still was impossible.

The main aspect of the show that stays with me is the lighting design. No, not just the lasers (which are great) but the whole effect of the show lighting. The stage almost seemed to have no limit, the music and lights began to surround us and draw us deeper in.

Highlights of the show are undoubtedly "I'm Not Scared", "It's A Sin" and "Vocal" but it is also great to hear the original 'Demo' version of "I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)" and the faster paced versions of "Rent" and "Love etc".

Despite a large number of the crowd only seeing the show though their view finders there was a good atmosphere; even Neil and Chis seemed to be smiling.

This concert was somethig to be savoured. A celebration of a genre of music through the back catalogue of one of its greatest exponents.

Truly electric.

a-ha are gone........

A recent trip to see Goldfrapp was so unengaging and frankly, boring, that I don’t even have the strength to write about it here. Last night I needed ‘a-ha’ to banish my memories of their insipid ‘Lifelines’ tour and renew my passion for the live concert.

I wasn’t that hopeful as I entered the Sheffield Arena, I knew this gig was set as a ‘half-house’ with 50 to 75% of the seating curtained off (a very curious affair that I have only ever seen in that arena).

Once inside the arena I headed for the merchandise stall. £15 for a program isn’t that unusual today. The phrase ‘value for money’ is not in the lexicon of bands, tour managers or program vendors, 99% of the time it is about ripping fans off with unscrupulous zeal. Happily, a-ha are marking their farewell tour with a tour book. And it really is a book!

Once the band took the stage I simply forgot any concerns or niggles about the arena and simply marvelled at the show unfolding in front of me. One of the most impressive live spectacles I have seen in many years. If you missed this tour then tough. They are finished. Over. a-ha will be no more by the end of the year.

Until they get short on cash or bored and then the reunion tour will winging its way to a city near you in 2015. But don’t get me started on band splitting up and reforming……..

Time to support the support

Everyone knows support bands are crap. Nobody pays them much attention and invariably they don’t deserve it. Everyone knows that. Right?

Well no.

Invariably I don’t turn up to gigs until a few minutes before the headline act are due to take to the stage, too much shit like “Où Est Le Swimming Pool” or “I Blame Coco” is not good for my ears. On a recent trip to Birmingham to see “Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark” a happy mix of bad timing and pure coincidence meant that we arrived in time to see most of the support act “Villa Nah”. Despite only catching ¾ of their set I was very impressed. Very impressed indeed. In fact I have spent more time since the gig listening to and thinking about “Villa Nah” than I have OMD.

Tracks such as “Daylight” and “Running On” are nothing short of genius. Hints of their skills were apparent in their remix of OMD’s “If You Want It” which was the only decent remix made available (indeed some of the others are amongst the worst I have head in a long time). There is a real craft and care taken in the work of “Villa Nah”. Nothing happens by accident; every note, snare drum, opening filter or vocal intonation sounds part of a wider aesthetic that is both familiar and new. Brilliant stuff and likeable guys.

So will I go to see support acts now? No. Absolutely not, but I am very glad I did this time. It must have been fate.

Live drumming

In case anyone should be interested, this is how I feel ALL electronic musicians should work. Yes, using a real drummer creates an energy and a vibe that programming just can not match. But it's seriously lame when your original work was purely electronic.

Forget an acoustic kit for your drummer. Do this:

Ambition fulfilled: Depeche Mode Live

It’s not often you get to fulfil one of your life’s ambitions. It’s even less frequent that such an ambition lives up to your expectations. Yet in the case of seeing Depeche Mode live, both things happened.

Being in the standing area of the MEN allowed me to get pretty close to the stage and as ‘In Chains’ began to start, everyone knew we were in for a great night. Dave was his usual exuberant self and Martin was clearly set for a good time. Only Fletch spoiled the party with his ridiculous hand gestures and posturing.

Following the obligatory new album tracks (they are, after all, promoting a new album) they began to churn out cracking versions of ‘Walking in My Shoes’, ‘A Question of Time’ and ‘World in my eyes’. One highlight for me was ‘It’s No Good’ which sounded as fresh and exciting as when I first heard it. Following a lacklustre ‘Enjoy the Silence’ we reached the arm waving spectacle of ‘Never Let Me down again’. This was something I’ve always wanted to be a part of ever since I saw ‘101’ all those years ago.

Quite brilliant performances of ‘Behind the Wheel’ and ‘Personal Jesus’ rounded out a truly remarkable concert that did not disappoint. Whilst the set design did not seem to have moved on much from the ‘Touring the Angel’ tour of 2005/6 and the dreadful timing and incompetence of Mr Fletcher became evident the longer the show went on (I will be interested to see if his dreadful playing of the snare in ‘Behind the Wheel’ makes it onto the live album.), all seemed to have enjoyed seeing the band in the flesh. Here’s to next time. Still miss Alan’s input though.

Royksopp Live: Everything is beautiful

Seeing bands live is often an underwhelming experience. What annoys me especially about electronic musicians playing live is their use of acoustic drums or guitars that don’t feature on the recordings. Not so with Norwegian band Royksopp. As the duo walked on stage it was clear that only one cymbal and an inaudible bass guitar would sully an evening of electronic entertainment. And boy did they entertain.

The rather lacklustre intro of “Royksopp Forever” with its unintentionally distorted bass and plodding rhythm was soon banished by “Happy Up Here” (once someone remembered to turn Karin’s microphone on) and a string of high energy tracks built the crowd into the frenzy that was “Poor Leno”. My clothes shook with the bass, my face had a big grin and I remembered how good electronic dance music can make you feel.

Rather than just play the majority of their tracks in their album form they chose to play remixed and altered versions which were, in the main, far superior in the live context. Despite the inaudible bass guitarist (who couldn’t help himself and proceeded to prance around the stage in typical rock n’ roll fashion) they were the personification of cool stood behind their synths and decks with broad smiles that said they were as happy to be there as we were.

My happiness was further enhanced by the fact that Royksopp have by far the most beautiful female fans of any band I have ever been to see.  A beautiful evening indeed.

Pet Shop Boys @ 02 arena

Well I have to blog my visit to see Pet Shop Boys on their Pandemonium tour at London's 02 arena. They were quite brilliant. 

One of the things about seeing artists live is that they often play the tracks as they sound on their album. Yet the Pet Shop Boys often take a more imaginative approach and present their tracks in new remixed versions coupled with stunning visuals. Particular highlights for me were the re-workings of "Why Don't We Live Together?" and "Two Divided by Zero". The Shep Pettibone Remixes of "Love Comes Quickly" and "West End Girls" sounded as fresh as they did when they were first released in 1986.

Only a few grumbles. The sound was pretty poor in terms of quality and also far too quiet for a venue of this size. The 02 which encloses the arena, and the transport links seem to struggle with large numbers of people leaving at the same time. Having to walk around the entire 02 to get out is not good planning. The merchandise was rather expensive and not a massive amount of choice. A disappointment to me. Roll on December and the MEN in Manchester (which I didn't make as the snow was so heavy the trains were cancelled).

Junior Boys live

Seeing band live is always an exciting and unique experience. Thus, it was with some relish that I drove to Manchester University a couple of days ago to see Canadian electro gods Junior Boys. The intimate 'club academy' provided the perfect venue for the sonic beauty that is the music of the Junior Boys.

Tracks such as 'Hazel', 'Work', "Counting Souvenirs', 'Birthday' and 'In the Morning' created an almost club like atmosphere with deep basslines and electro riffs. Whilst the arrangements varied little from their album counterparts there was more than enough energy in the performance to generate the atmosphere required to get the crowd dancing.

The only down sides to the show were that Jeremy was obviously ill and in his own words, only "95% certain he was playing a show". This may have contributed to the fact that his vocals were almost indistinguishable in the mix. Why they choose (like so many electronic bands) to include a drummer and a guitar in their live set up is quite a mystery. On more than one occasion I was ready to shout: "Oi! Greenspan put the guitar down". Yet as he later admitted, we could shout whatever we wanted and he couldn't understand us (presumably due to our English accents).

Junior Boys come highly recommended. My favourite album is 'So this is goodbye' which along with Soulwax's 'Nite Versions' is a modern classic of electronic music.

Level 42 live. Never to be missed.

The last time I saw the Level 42 perform was during their ‘Greatest Hits’ tour of 2002. The only disappointment of this tour was that founding member and keyboard virtuoso Mike Lindup was absent. His return in 2006 meant that I simply had to see them during their 2008 UK tour.

On the 15th of October the band were playing the newly refurbished Sheffield City Hall. My only visit to this venue had been in 2000 and it was a distinctly underwhelming experience. However, the new oval hall is much improved. It was a pity that the stewards would not allow either dancing or photographs. Luckily, the majority of the audience broke with these conventions with encouragement from the band.

The concert itself was brilliant. Seeing Level 42 perform live is an essential part of following the band, as their musicianship is simply stunning. I will never tire of seeing Mark King’s inimitable bass playing. You watch his right thumb for an hour and a half solid. Seriously.

However this would be something of a waste as the energetic Gary Husband (drums) and genius of Mike Lindup (keyboards) are equally mesmerising. Rather than rattle through their ‘Greatest Hits’ the band chose to acknowledge that they represent more than their 80’s chart success and presented some of their best album tracks, extended instrumentals and tracks chosen by fans via their website. Some of those less familiar with these ‘obscure’ selections could be seen sitting down and ruminating over the extended instrumentals ‘Man’ and ‘The Pursuit of Accidents’ only to be brought to their feet to sing ‘Running In The Family’. Yet everyone seemed to enjoy and appreciate what they heard whether it be chart hit or not. When experts like Level 42 perform music, an audience will respond to the pure skill and dedication on show regardless of their familiarity with the material.

At the end of the show the band did not simply walk off but spent some time at the front of the stage shaking hands and chatting with their dedicated fans. A nice touch sincerely meant. I know it was sincere because I was lucky enough to meet Mark King and his brother Nathan (guitars) outside the venue afterwards.

One of the greatest live bands in the world. Even if you are not overly familiar with their work you should never pass up the opportunity of seeing them in the flesh. It’s a wonderful, life affirming experience.