Other Ones (the) - s/t

Name: The Other Ones
Album: s/t
Year: 1987
Style: Light Rock, Pop
Similar Bands: Sonic the Hedgehog sndtk, Thomas Dolby, Eurogliders, a-ha, Howard Jones, Eurythmics, ABC, Spandau Ballet, Animotion
"One-Word" Review: Overproduced 1-D pop
Based Out Of: Berlin, Germany
Label: Virgin, WEA, Atlantic

Cover, Record

Record, Back

The Other Ones (1987)

1. Holiday 3:32 (single)
2. Stay With Me (It's Not Forever) 3:28
3. We Are What We Are 4:25 (single)
4. Losing It 2:59
5. Moments 5:06 (single b-side) /
6. He's A Man 3:43
7. All That Love 3:15 (single)
8. All Day, All Night 5:07
9. It Makes Me Higher 3:38 (b-side single)
10. Stranger 3:47 (single)

Album Rating (1-10): 7.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Christopher Neil - Producer
• Simon Hurrel - Engineer
• Alf Klimek - Lead Vox (You Pretty Thing, Spliff, Alphaville, Klaus Baumagrt)
• Johnny Klimek - Bass (You Pretty Thing, Reinhold Heil, 030, Babyloon, Clemek, Effective Force, Holy Language, Pale 3, System 01, Nina Hagen Band, Franka Potente, Tykwer, Matador, Alphaville, Sir Simon Rattle)
• Uwe Hoffmann - Drums (Ca Lingo, King Kong, La Loora, Rockin' G & the G-Letters, White Russia, Zebra Zebra, Die Arzte, Silly, Nina Schultz, Wire, Wiglaf Droste & Bela B, Terrorgruppe, the Twins)
• Stephan Gottwald - Keys (Albert & the Heart of Gold, Zebra Zebra, Marian Gold, D Base 5, Spiro, Bobo in White Wooden Houses, Alphaville, 
• Andreas Schwarz-Ruszczynski - Guitar (Alphaville, Marian Gold, You Pretty Thing, Boy George, Trevor Horn, Klaus Schulze, Pet Shop Boys, Steve Lipson, Julian Mendelsen, Jack White, UKW, Albert & The Heart of Gold, Martin de Vries, Atlantic Popes, Andreas Feidbaumer)
• Jayney Klimex - Lead Vox (Alphaville, Marian, Bankstatement, Tony Banks, Tangerine Dream, Paul van Dyk, XII Alfonso, Terranova, You Pretty Thing, System 01, Simon Bonney, Johnny Logan, Atlantic Popes, Anita Lane, Xaver Von Treyer)
• Greg Fulginiti - Mastering
• Mike Schmidt - Cover
• Dieter Eikelpoth - Photos
• Margo Chase - Logo

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band. Their outfits (over-sized jackets with broad shoulders and fluffy mullets) scream mid-80's renaissance/jazz, and i'm getting a Shriekback vibe from the black & white photo. So i imagine this to be some weird overproduced chamber pop music or something.

Album Review: So the album is in fact quite overproduced in an ultra smooth synth way, but the record is very listenable compared to much of this era. It has enough catchy and lively song melodies buried beneath the extraneous guitar solos and synth sounds that don't quite sound like any instrument they are intending to mimic. The band consists of 3 Australian siblings and three German musicians who met after the Aussie family moved to Berlin in search of a European music break. They only have 2 albums and their big hit Holiday reached 29 on the US Billboard hot 100. Internationally, it was 22 in Switzerland, 13 in Austria, 10 in New Zealand and 4 in Germany. Johnny has made a career working in film and tv soundtrack composing, amassing credits for Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas, Sense8, Deadwood, One Hour Photo, and Land of the Dead.

Stand Out Track: It Makes Me Higher

Links:

Spotify full album
Wiki

Discogs

Allmusic

forever young 80s

tampa bay lost & found

Cosmic Meadows

Spider Murphy Gang - Spider Murphy Gang Live!

Name: Spider Murphy Gang
Album: Spider Murphy Gang Live!
Year: 1983
Style: 50's style Rock and Roll, Rockabilly
Similar Bands: Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Stray Cats, NRBQ, Ramones
"One-Word" Review: Foreign Retro Oldies Tribute
Based Out Of: Munich, Germany
Label: EMI

Cover, Sleeve Record

Back, Sleeve, Record

Spider Murphy Gang Live! (1983)

1. Reissverschluss 3:17
2. Rock'n'Roll Schuah 3:00
3. Schickeria 3:57
4. Ich Shau' Dich An (Peep Peep) 3:06
5. So A Schoner Tag 5:30 /
6. Wer Wird Denn Woana 8:22
7. Mir San A Bayrische Band 3:20
8. Wo Bist Du? 3:17
9. Skandal Im Sperrbezirk 4:00

Album Rating (1-10): 8.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Barny Murphy - Guitar
• Michael Busse - Keys (Band Fur Afrika, Minature Tigers)
• Gunther Sigl - Bass, Vox (Band Fur Afrika, Ludwig Seuss)
• Franz Trojan - Drums (Band Fur Afrika, Peter Kent, Schmidbauers)
• Willy Ray Ingram - Sax (Udo Janson, Nick Woodland & the Magnets)
• Schrat Und Funzel - Live Production
• Armand Volker - Engineer, Producer
• Wolfgang Thierback - Engineer
• Von Harald Steinhauer - Producer

Unknown-ness: I know I've heard the name Spider Murphy mentioned before (Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock), but i don't know anything about this band with that namesake. Based on the cover & back, they look like a typical powerpop band, obviously from Germany, so I'm guessing this band has adopted a US rock aesthetic, and play American-style rock and roll.

Album Review: This German band does, in fact, take on the Elvis/Berry rock n roll vibe and sing orignal songs in German. They are still around and playing shows, slated to perform this summer (2020) in Germany (Covid-19 pending). It is fun oldies rock music with a little updated, punky attitude, at least live it sounds like it is performed faster. Schickeria sounds an awful lot like Chuck Berry in the verse. "Wo Bist Du" is basically "I Fought The Law" played like the Ramones. However, "Wer Wird Denn Woana" sounds very much like a jittery new wave track from the era.

Stand Out Track: Wer Wird Denn Woana (album version)

Links:
Wiki
Discogs
band names explained
IMDB
website (german)
Laut.de (german)
Allmusic

Vert - Nine Types of Ambiguity

Name: Vert

Album:  Nine Types of Ambiguity

Year 2001

Style: Experimental, Ambient

Similar Bands: Aphex Twin, Mouse on Mars, Tricky

One Word Review: Fuzzy, Muffled bip bop soundscapes

Based Out Of: Berlin, Germany

Label: Sonig

 Nine Types of Ambiguity - Cover & Record

Nine Types of Ambiguity - Back & Record

Nine Types of Ambiguity (2001)

1. Blindsight 4:51
2. This Precious Meanwhile 4:30
3. Codfish Dada 6:07
4. The Tide Comes In & Then the Tide Goes Out 4:57
5. Somewhere Between Here & Last Week 3:20
6. To Be Is To Doo 2:21
7. Drawers of Water 5:04
8. Last Night From a Bus I Saw 7:45
9. Scope/Lifetime 10:11

Album Rating (1-10): 6.0

Members & Other Bands:
Adam Butler - Sounds, Music (Mouse on Mars, Emmanuelle Somer, Carlito Verde, Wechsel Garland, Epiphany Project)
Christian Zimmerli - Mastering
Frieda Luczak - Artwork Engaving
Andi Toma - Producer
McFarland/ Broxton/ Odijk/ Dommert/ McGrane/ Butler - Beermat Artwork

Unknown-ness: I've never heard of this band. The artwork makes me think it will be minimal or maybe some Saddle Creek worthy folksy indie rock.

Album Review: Most of Vert’s music has been published on Mouse on Mars’ label, and he even opened for them on a 2001 tour. His music is more melodic and straightforward than others in his genre of abstract intelligent dance music (IDM).

“Blindsight” starts with echoing hypnotic chords, with light percussive clicks and taps that would feel right at home in Twin Peaks. A staticy electric drum beat gives tempo and drive to the continuing floating chords. Singular elements bleed in and out, adding to the sound scape, and creating a repetitive pattern. The chords leave, for a sort of background noise and skipping solo. The sounds increase and grow, with the electric sound from Orphan Black added in, until the chords come back, with a brighter and optimistic feel. The song has seemed to find its stable place, and it rides out the hook until the end.

“This Precious Meanwhile” has a muffled street performer percussive tempo, with some juggling wood block effects buried just below. A general hum and other organic jar tinking and tocking effects are added, along with a flute that seems to note when the repetitive loop starts over. Sampled vocals are used as another instrument, sounding a little like Tricky. The effects are stripped back one at a time, and the song blinks out.

“Codfish Dada” begins with a looped scratch. A watery & blurry synth xylophone is added with a simple repetitive beat. The song scurries along, fuzzy effect are added and taken away, some are deep, some squeaky. The song returns to the start with the scratches from the beginning. The song rebuilds, as if it is in the forest, with electronic birds tweeting, and other effects that offer a feeling of running through a forest or field. The song ends with the sound of violins and other string instruments in a frozen state of warming up, and the continued bird tweets.

“The Tide Comes In & Then the Tide Goes Out” starts out with some static ocean water lapping on the beach sounds, mixed with muffled wind chimes, and a bubbling, skittering effects. Other watery, fuzzed out effects that could range from underwater sounds to bullfrog murmurs are added. The whole soundscape changes, like scenery slowly morphing as one would walk along the beach. Near the end, most of the effects are stripped away, leaving the shuffling, bubbling wood block sounds.

“Somewhere Between Here & Last Week” is 3 plus minutes of a sort of two tiered medieval flute melody. Melody-less drips or clicks are added, sounding random in the background.

“To Be is To Doo” comes next, but on most listing, “To Doo is To Be,” a 7:47 min song is supposed to be next. This track reminds me of the melodies from Aeon Flux’s early vocal-less short days. An accordion, violin and a sporadic metal tuning effect are added to the song, which has a sort of eastern European sound overall. It is by far the shortest song on the album, but is also the most concise and straightforward theme.

“Drawers of Water” begins with a skipping in reverse audio track, and echoing, vibrating Aphex Twin like crystal sounds blink out two tones on pulse, answering each other. In the background, a digital clock tone ticks on by, married to vibrating synth notes which parallel the two tone sounds as they change in pitch. Then around the 3:15 mark, a disco melody violin is added, looped in the same time constraint as the tone and synth changes.

“Last Night From a Bus I Saw” spins like a scratchy record (or it may just be my record). Spoken words samples with an emotionless tone begin the song, followed by a sad, minimal piano hook. In the background echoes a wind, like putting your ear to a conch shell. Other groaning and slow moving effects create a scene of waking up depressed and in pain. Electronic tones, like something from a horror movie (at first) take over the scene, and grow like they are punishing the ear drums…changing in tone, but never offering leniency. They suddenly stop, and we are taken so a sort of thoughtless, naive and charming melody played on a squeezebox, accompanied with enlightened, optimistic effects that seem to assist the childlike melody along, like a guardian angel.

“Scope/Lifetime” is a ten plus minute song, that begins slowly with singular notes that seem unsure how to proceed…they almost seem accidental, or like they are discovering their surroundings for the first time. Or they might be secondary noises from a bunch of instruments that are being set up to perform. It is quiet and singular, accompanied with a consistent record skipping sound that sets the tempo with its broom sweep sounds. The piano notes begin to get more organized, but they are like a newborn still discovering their range of motion. Vibrating tonal effects, chimes and swirling electronic crystal sounds play together, invited in by the piano. The song gets a lot more crowded, once the skittering bongos and wah-wah electronic notes take over, along with a jazzy cymbal/percussion performance that morphs into electronic techo onslaught (that is not overbearing, however). The song continues to grow and it loses all natural instrumentation for a symphony of buzzing, vibrating, and oscillating digital effects that cruise together like a variety of winged bugs in a vacant lot. 

Stand Out Track: To Be Is To Doo

Links:
Vert Website
Wiki
Sonig
Discogs
Allmusic
Full Album Bandcamp

Manuel Gottsching - E2-E4

Name: Manuel Gottsching

Album: E2-E4

Year: 1984

Style: Electronic, Ambient (Kosmische Musik)

Similar Bands: Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Klause Schulze, Kraftwerk, Ghostwriters, Close Encounters Alien Contact.

"One-Word" Review: ambient s.t.u.n. runner on a beach

Based Out Of: Berlin, Germany

Label: Inteam GmbH

 E2-E4 Cover & Record

E2-E4 Back & Record

E2-E4(1984) [English translations]

1. Quiet Nervousness 13:00
2. Moderate Start 10:00
3. And Central Game 7:00
4. Promise 1:00/
5. Queen a Pawn 5:00
6. Glorious Fight 3:00
7. H.R.H. Retreats (With A Swing) 9:00
8. And Sovereignty 3:00
9. Draw 3:00

Album Rating (1-10): 5.0 (mainly for it's importance and influence)

Members & Other Bands

Manuel Gottsching - Composer, Electronics, Guitars, Producer (Ash Ra Tempel, Ashra, Cosmic Jokers)

Dirk Tragesar - Artwork
Klaus Schulze - Licence 

Unknown-ness: I’ve never heard of or seen this record. But just from its minimalist artwork, I could imagine it to be something interesting and experimental. I didn’t have much else to go by, but it was enough to pick it up for a dollar.

Album Review: After doing some minor research, I found out that this record built the groundwork for ambient, techno, and house music of the late 80’s. It was a favorite amongst the likes of LCD soundsystem, who designed their 2006 album after this. The album flows along non-stop, basically as one track, and the songs are based on stages of the songs.

“Quiet Nervousness 13:00” quietly fades up and establishes the echoing 6 note repetitive electronic hook. The song is slowly builds block by block. Watery boings and fluid ping effects bounce back and forth as a call and response as the next building block for the total soundscape. A drum beat is phased into the background that is part conga and part shuffle-shaker. Around the 3:00 mark, a bouncy synth rubber band effect adds a random, chaotic feel to the steady rhythm. Thirty seconds later, a varying higher pitch pulse follows up with another planed-yet-random melody. A complimentary, lower-pitched echoing keyboard effect is added soon after. The complete sound, much like a streamlined track from the Ghostwriters, is a very ethereal, repetitive sonic equivalent of running down a tube-shaped hallway lit by a strobe. The effects are stripped away, in opposite order, until it gets down to the original 3-4 effects. Then the jittery, higher-pitched keyboard comes back. The drum beat shuffles a bit more at the end, and then the song transitions into the next song,

“Moderate Start 23:00” drops the frequency and volume of the call & response watery, fluid, echoing pings down to a minimum, and hosts the jittery and computer bips and bops at the forefront. The same drum and 6-note hook lie in the background, propelling the song along. Eventually the spot lit effects tire, and we’re brought back to a steady soundscape similar to the first track. 18:45 takes us back to the beginning of this track with the “Close Encounters” style notes popping in controlled chaos as the focal point. At 21:50 what sounds like squeaky shoes, or a racket ball on glass sound is added in a musical scale. A lot of these effects remind me of Atari Game sound effects, like when you die in Indiana Jones, that one pops up near the end of this segment, and probably introduces the next stage.

“And Central Game 30:00” incorporates a very high pitch flute-like effect that parallel’s the prime melody of the song, not detracting at all. The pings are louder, but have been for a long enough time, and have come back more frequently. But they are suddenly cut off by the synth effects that bolster the flute, which now come in a solid sonic wave. They soon blend together making one solid sound.  

“Promise 36:00” is only differentiated by a low volume, humming and warm synth texture. Otherwise, one would hardly noticed anything has changed. The sound is replaced by an echoing electric guitar, plucked one note at a time, with a bit of slide action. The melody greatly mimics the ever present stable rhythm and tempo. The guitar sound reminds me of some “good” house and dance music from the late 90’s. There is some “Santana” type guitar work, with its plucked, Spanish guitar sound, played at simplistic speed. The guitar work ends about 35 minutes for a brief pause, and comes back at first in short minimal doses. It builds to a minor intensity, which probably signifys the next track

“Queen a Pawn 41:00” is noted as a dual, 2-layered guitar segment. The tinkling guitar work is coupled with a deeper, secondary rhythm section for a couple short bars in the beginning, and the main guitar sets forth, driving the song with a faster, and more intense drive, also scanning the spectrum of high to low pitch, and at 39 minutes includes a bunch of strummed chords paralleling the original melody, and the tinkling guitar which sounds mighty close to a synth effect is layered overtop in pin prick accuracy. The tinkling and chord strums have become the focus of the track at this point.

“Glorious Fight 44:00” brings an ocean wave as the changing point, and is followed with a deeper, bass like accompaniment to the strummed chords that quietly echos behind the main riff. The echoing, watery pings return from the beginning of the album, and the formerly rhythmic chords now overlap in a hurried and forced manner. A note-by-note solo guitar is layered overtop of everything absorbing the attention.

“H.R.H. Retreats (With A Swing) 53:00” finds the guitar work in a lower, deeper frequency, yet is still as entergetic as before. The other elements are hushed in the background, but they are all still there. The whole background feels like it is back off in the distance, like we’ve travelled along a beach, away from the beginning of a song, walking along this electric guitarist who begins to bring the playing out of the lower frequency and all over the place, but well in control. The guitar finds a couple of favorite notes around the 49 min mark, and hovers with a repetitive motion around them. I can still hear the Atari Indiana Jones’ death sound repeat in the background.

“And Sovereignty 56:00” removes many of the background eccentricities and focuses on the guitar work in a simplified melody now. The driving synths in the background still persist, but that, and some minor drum machine sounds are all that remain of the underlying tempo.

“Draw 59:00” for the remainder of the track, we’ve left the electric guitar behind in the path, and now travel forward with a smoothed out backing synth, ocean tide foaming up and reaching the shore and retreating out, and an island drum loop: all present from the beginning of the track, just noe slowing down and becoming simplified. The drums are stripped away and the static from the ocean sounds persists over a dying melody that sputters rather than grooves, and just fades away, just leaving white noise for the last 20 seconds or so.

Stand Out Track: One track...in its entirety

Links:
Wiki

Wiki - Album Page

Ashra

Discogs

Allmusic

Guardian Techno-Dad Article

German Interview TAZ 2006

Dissidenten - Life at the Pyramids

Name: Dissidenten
Album: Life at the Pyramids
Year: 1986
Style: World, Prog
Similar Bands: Firewater, some XTC, some Talking Heads, (very uneducated in World Music)
"One-Word" Review: India-African-Disco-Pop-Prog
Based Out Of: Berlin, Germany
Label: Shanachie, Exil Musik

Life At The Pyramids - Cover & Record
Life At The Pyramids - Back & Record

Life At The Pyrmaids (1986)

1. Sultan Swing 5:56
2. Mata Hari 5:48
3. Telephone Arab 6:05
4. Blue Nile 2:00/
5. At The Pyramids 4:38
6. Berlin Beduins 4:20
7. Roots of Tanger 3:20
8. Do the Pharaoo 6:10
9. Song for Winnie Mandela 2:30

Album Rating (1-10): 5.5

Members & Other Bands:

Marlon Klein - Drums, Perc, Keyboards, Vox (Gary Wright)

Uve Mullrich - Bass, Oud, Guitar, Vox

Friedo Josch - Wind Instruments, Keyboards
Sheik Abdul Al Rashid - Recording
Marlon Klein - Engineering, Producer
Gunni Heidler - Recording
Stella Chiweshe - Recording, Vox, Mbira
Arno Declair - Photos
Ernst Wirz - Photos, Visual Dissidenten
Hartmut Bremer - Cover
Dan Behrman - US/Canada Booking
El Houssaine Kili - Guitar, Vox, Lyric & Musical Background Info
Hamid Barudi - Vox
Rabii Youmni - Vox
Cherif M Lamrani - Vox, Mandolincello, Lyric & Musical Background Info (Lem Chaheb)
Richie Arndt - Guitar
Charlie Genwo - Fluegelhorn
Roman Bunka - Guitar, Oud
Mohammed "Zain" Adnani - Nay, Vox
Abdelkader Zefzaf - Gimbri, Vox
Roland Spremberg - Keys, Computer Programming
Ernst Walder - Visual Dissidenten
Daniel (Apropos) - Visual Dissidenten
Lilo Nido - Visual Dissidenten
Nadine Fachard - Ethnological Advice

Unknown-ness: I’ve never heard of these guys. But from the name (along with lots of dental work I’ve had recently) “Denten” sounds like it is related to teeth. And from the high energy on the cover and the group photo on the back, I am under the impression that they will be like Adam Ant or Midnight Oil or some new wave, tribal/roots based band. However, most of their songs have a middle eastern theme to them, so I really don’t know what to expect, except that I picked this up because I like the look of the album and there name has a lot of energy in it too.

Album Review: Reading about these Germans, they moved around Europe and Middle East; even to parts of Africa to incorporate the culture, tribal and national sounds to create a conglomerate sound of world music before world beat was created. They have been sited as the grandfathers of the genre. I do not know much, if anything about world music, so this will be a review taken from the background of minimal jazz and prog rock jamming. Please forgive my naivety and probably unintelligence in this review when it comes to musical descriptions.

“Sultan Swing” starts off with a slow fade up into an Arabian sounding flute, tribal drums, and a general hum in the background. The drum beat picks up a ceremonial dance beat, and Middle Eastern (M.E.) style music commences. Vocals and chanting are laid over top in melodic parallel to the music. The little bit of music I listen to that has a similar to this is Firewater’s most recent album, Golden Hour, and some of XTC’s late 80’s music (think “Terrorism”) sound very similar. I’m even to naïve about the music to try and explain what instruments are being utilized. There are two or three distinct sounds that ride each other like musical waves up and down the melodies.
“Mata Hari” starts with a more forceful, driving drum beat and M.E. music continues, this time, accented with guitars which sound very progressive, in the realms of video game music. After the electric guitar solo, the musical genre is transformed into a Caribbean / Island music theme, featuring a rhythm guitar instead and a Talking Heads like vocal style. But when the guitar changes, the singing does too, fitting more into an Indian style than Caribbean.
“Telephone Arab” begins like a night club Arabian dance, with a catchy M.E. hook repeating and layered over a simple staggered electro/techno drum & bass beat. The vocals too, feature the accentuated syllables synonymous with M.E. music. It does go on for a bit, without much variation, but the synth music that accompanies the M.E. music is a little bombastic, like jilting disco.
“Blue Nile” is a dark, swirling building section of a song, like the calm before the sand storm you can see tornado-ing around at the distance horizon. The vocals sound like they are mixed backwards, skipping as they are played in reverse. There is an echoing on the woodwind instruments that almost sounds like bees buzzing around.

“At The Pyramids” begins with a quiet peaceful hum, and what I imagine to be a sitar picked, with its unique, buzz-rattling sound. After a minute 45 sing chanting begins like waking up, and rising as the sun follows your movements into the sky. It is a slow moving song, eyes uncrusting into awakeness. The hum also ends the track
“Berlin Beduins” feels like another video game with a synth mandolin introduction. The song is dark, and again sung with the stereotypical M.E. style of extended syllables and vibrated pitch changes. An electric guitar gives some solo licks, uncharacteristically metal, over the continuing music backdrop.
“Roots of Tanger” has an unsettled, rumbling beginning of randomly plucked deep bass sounding notes and bongo/tribal drum rhythms. This song is more African in its sounding that M.E. but it is not without mentioning that some of the vocals do rely on M.E. style. As the music finds its repetitive rhythm, the vocals take turns going in and out of chanting and into effects and speaking.
“Do the Pharaoo” starts out with a complicated drum rhythm, and the vocals croon over top, gently touching on the notes that are suggested by the rhythm. In the second verse, a rhythm guitar is added to the mix. The chorus, which is the majority of the song, is pretty catchy, and feels like a video game musical loop. The drums and rhythm guitar carry the melody and give a base of where the improved instrumentation can shoot from. And there is a lot of musical jamming in the second half of the song. The verse is remixed and shifter around to be different, but equally as catchy, it is just a bit too repetitive.
“Song for Winnie Mandela” ends the album with a delicate bell/xylophone mix, with an uplifting pleasant bass line (a little like XTC’s “Battery Brides” or Spoon’s “Anything You Want”). The vocals are African tribal in their meter, and the song feels a little like a Paul Simon song. A flute dances around in the background for extra texture, and ads a great deal to the track as it fades out for the finish.

Stand Out Track: Song For Winnie Mandella

Links:

allmusic

wikipedia

official site

Biography

Myspace

Music Stacks

Discogs

PRI's The World

World Music National Geographic

Dog & Pony

Baumann - Strangers In The Night

Name: Baumann
Album: Strangers In The Night
Year: 1983
Style: Electronic Synth Pop
Similar Bands: Devo, Gary Newman, Buggles, OMD, Thomas Dolby, Inflatable Men, Erasure
"One Word" Review: Sugary-Slick-Electro-Robot-Pop
Based Out Of: Berlin, Germany / NYC
Label: Portrait, CBS

Baumann - Cover & Sleeve front
Baumann - Cover & Sleeve back
Baumann - Record

Strangers In The Night (1983)

1. Strangers In The Night 3.53
2. Metro Man 3.53
3. King of the Jungle 3.47
4. Be Mine 3.27
5. Time Machine 3.25/
6. Taxi 3.13
7. Cash 3.23
8. Glass House 4.15
9. Ground Zero 3.35
10. Welcome 3.25

Album Rating (1-10):

9.0

Band Members & Other Groups:
Peter Baumann - Synths, Moogs, keys, Etc, Producer, Cover Concept (Tangerine Dream)
Eli Holland - Lead & Harmony Vox
Rich Teeter - Simmons Drums (Dictators)
Ritchie Fliegler - Guitar
Bruce Brody - Prophet 5, Polymoog & Roland Vocoder+
Robert Clifford - Producer & Engineer
Bob Ludwig - Mastered
Janet Perr - Cover Design
Robert Lewis - Photography
Recorded @ Cronex Media Studios, NYC
Elliot Sears - Management

Unknown-ness: I'd never heard of Baumann. From the cover, I actually passed up purchasing it the first few times I saw it. Based on the cover with pastel geometric shapes hovering over a stark grey landscape, I assumed it to be similar to ELO or a bad late 70's early 80's easy-listening rock album. Even the handwritten font, for some reason made me thing of Alan Parsons Project. The picture on the back did not give very much evidential help. But I saw it again at a different store, and decided to take the 97 cent challenge on it.

Album Review: Since my reserved, tentative purchase of the album, I've listened to it many times. It is really really good. It is amazingly catchy, with just enough mechanical, electronic and pop combinations to make it a perfect 80's stylized record. Doing a little more research, I found out that Baumann is really Peter Baumann of Tangerine Dream. I've heard of TD but I don't know much about them. TD is supposedly very unlike the sound on this record. But this has me interested in them, too, and I will be looking for some TD records to pick up in the future (but I will not review them, since I will be picking them up with a purpose).

"Strangers In The Night" begins with a basic electronic drum beat. Then the synthesized, somewhat disco bass comes in to match the drumming. The synthesized vocals remind me of Thomas Dolby's hit "She Blinded me with Science." This song is just like that, where it is very different, non-representative from the rest of the album, yet still the radio-hit. The song borrows the lyrics from Frank Sinatra's song of the same name and recites them melodically over the electronic backing music. Check out the video for the song with the hovering geometric shapes! If you like Devo at all, you will absolutely love "Metro Man." A quick drum beat and an crystalline synthesizer hook begin this song, the mechanical, robotic vocals come in ripping Devo off completely, but incredibly well. They proceed for two verses separated by the beginning synthesizer hook. Then the catchiest bit, the chorus, comes in. It presents perfect anticipation and delivery song structure (my favorite "structure" in all music). The song is even a bit like the soon-to-be hit Compu Man, which, I'd say is a rip-off of this song, had I heard this one first. The next song, "King Of The Jungle," sounds like an electronic, laid back 'Eye Of The Tiger.' The music & talking-vocals in the beginning verse have a dark undertone. It possesses a "Girls Vs. Boys" (Blur) bouncy bass line which drives the song along. Then synthesized chorus brightens everything up with is upbeat, assured and excited delivery. More Devo synthesized keyboards begin on "Be Mine." This time the vocals are exactly the same as Devo in sound & style. A simple beat is laid down, followed by a bass & kick drum 2-note beat to begin the song. The chorus is incredibly upbeat, catchy, powerful and dense. A twinkling stardust keyboard accompanies the vocals. This is the type of chorus that makes you excited to wait for it's return. And the song thankfully fades out with the chorus repeating over and over again. More Devo style keys and vocals make up "Time Machine." It is slower and more thoughtful. It is even more mechanical than the songs that have come before it, with an electronic surge sound in the background. This is the futuristic song that bonds aliens of alternate worlds together with its politeness and genuine friendship. Echoing verses of "When I Was Young, Life Was So Simple" over lap and fade out to end the first side.

"Taxi" begins the second side with a twinkling electronic loop (think Erasure). The same 2 beat metronome drumming makes the mechanism, which is the song, progress. Odd oceanic ambient sounds dot the soundscape throughout the song. This is the next evolutionary step after disco: blending the danceable beat with more pop, electronics and less string. The chorus is a mocking sing song uttering of 'taxi, taxi, hello, hello.' "Cash" sounds a lot like XTC's "Down In The Cockpit." In fact, you could lay the phrase from this song "Cash In The Pocket" over the chorus "Down In The Cockpit," you could be singing in the style of either song. This is another song in the great style from Devo's peak period. Again, moved along with metronome accuracy of the drum beat, the electronic guitars and keyboards mimic the melody of the main verse. "Glass House" is slower and mysterious in its execution. Satanic synthesized vocals overlap individual words throughout the song. Although not a hint of reggae in the music, the tempo of the song is identical. "Ground Zero" is more of a pop song, and less robotic than anything else on the album, but it is still very much along the lines of Devo. The keyboards and bass are very happy and bouncy. The vocals are less robotic than most of the other songs, and there is real guitar tucked in the back of the chorus. There is a sense of holiday cheer with heavy bells rung toward the end of the track. A quick jittery video game keyboard loop begins the final song "Welcome." Anthemic Devo lyrics welcome the listener to the 'city life, modern age and the dream machine' throughout the song. This is the only song where we get to hear some robotic instrumental music. Swooping electronic sounds and thick bells make up most of the music. This is what makes the album fit into a prog category, although on the whole, I would not have categorized this album as such.

Although basically a rip off of Devo, it is an amazing album. When there are not an extraordinary amount of groups that can make Mechanical Synth music as well Devo, any others that come close are welcomed into the genre. It is not as much of a rip-off as an interpretation. Especially knowing that Baumann has a past that pre-dates Devo with electronic experimentation (with TD); this album seems to be more of a bonafide original than a copy-cat artist.

Stand-Out Song:

Metro Man

Links:

Peter Baumann Prog Archives

Peter Baumann Wikipedia
Baumann Strangers in the Night
Peter Baumann Short Bio
Peter Baumann Allmusic

Peter Baumann Discography
Tangerine Dream Myspace
Tangerine Dream Myspace Official
Tangerine Dream Official

Accept- s/t

Artist: Accept
Album: s/t
Year: 1978
Style: Metal
Sounds Like: Scorpions, Van Halen, Quiet Riot
"One-Word" Review: Classic-Metal
Based Out Of: Germany
Label: PVC, Jem Records Inc

Accept Cover Front & Side 1
Accept Cover Back & Side 2

Accept - 1978

1. Lady Lou 3.03
2. Tired of Me 3.14
3. Seawinds 4.29
4. Take Him In My Heart 3.29
5. Sounds of War 4.35/
6. Free Me Now 3.00
7. Glad to be Alone 5.12
8. That's Rock N' Roll 2.53
9. Helldriver 2.40
10. Street Fighter 3.28

Album Rating (1-10):
5.5

Members & Other Bands:
Udo Dirkschneider - Vox (U.D.O)
Peter Baltes - Bass, Vox
Wolf Hoffman - Lead Guitar
Jorg Fischer - Rhythm & Solo Guitar
Stefan Kaufman - Drums
Frank Freidrich - Studio Drums
Delta Studio in Wilster - Recorded
Rene Tinner & Manfred Schunke - Engineerers
Frank Martin - Producer
Fichtel & Sachs - Motor Saw giver
Jacques Sehy - Photography
Alster in Atelier Hamburg - Cover Design

Unknown-ness: I had not heard of this band, although after reading more about them, I feel I must have known who they were, and their logo looks familiar... although it looks like any other metal band's logo too. With the artwork of a "hot," serious woman, holding a massive chain saw in a very sexual position, then add in a little fog at her ankles, and you have a superb cover for a metal album. There was no question what the content would be. It was only a matter of how cheezy the music would be. And for 1978, I figured it would be rather genuine. Little did I know who these guys were, and how much they did for their musical genre. And here is their debut.

Album Review:Hard driving honest metal, that is what you are in store for here. To start things off, Allmusic says that this is not a good album, compared to their later stuff. I cannot compare this to what I do not have, but as a stand alone album I feel it is solid. "Lady Lou," the first track kicks things off with a fast driving riff. Squealing guitars speckle the background. As do harmonic vocals and a soothing ahhhhhhhh's, which balance against the shouting, (yet in tune) singing. A very catchy and repetitive chorus makes for a complete single and a great way to begin a solid album of metal. Without losing a step or pace, the album follows the basic template through "Tired of Me." After which, they quickly throw in their stereotypical one-off ballad (required by all metal records) with Seawinds. Somewhat like "Winds of Change," I could see many middle school dance halls echo this song where little boys' dreams were crushed, as gaggles of girls scurried away for punch.

Accept gets back on track with their driving, rhythmic head banging "Take Him In My Heart." Angelic backing chants in the chorus complete the track. In the third verse after the guitar solo bridge, we get to hear the high shrieking vocal stylings of Udo for the first time. A fake ending and one final scream and it is over. The last track on side 1, "Sounds of War" is darker, harder, and more sinister than the previous tracks. But it still follows the recipe of driving verse and catchy melodic chorus.

Side 2 begins with the best song on the album. "Free Me Now" is a quick paced (even quicker than before) shouting chant. I'm thinking of Stroker Ace from Ween's White Pepper. But the chorus of "Free Me Now" acts as the pit stop, slowing down the vocal speed to a harmonic chant, topped of with a twinkling guitar lick down the scale. "Glad to Be Alone" sounds like a Black Sabbath song, sinister and heavy footed. "That's Rock N'' Roll" sounds exactly like Van Halen. Perhaps it is a commentary about Van Halen, stating that this song , and subsequently VH's catalog, are Rn'R, not metal. Of course it is 1978, and not 1984, so perhaps it is just a sped up rock and roll song. At this point, Helldriver and Street Fighter feel redundant. They really sound like the rest of the album. But in this case it is a good thing, because, as I've said already, it is a solid from front to back and all the way through.

Stand Out Track:
Free Me Now

Links:
Accept Allmusic
Accept Myspace
Accept Wikipedia
Accept Quasimodo Bell
Accept Heavy Metal Heroes-fan site
Accept Fan site 2
Accept Crazy Axe tribute