Disc of the day
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
Features Disc of the day
Thomas Dolby
The Flat Earth
(EMI, 1984)
He wore headphones with aerials, but he wasn't Dave Stewart, heavens be praised.
"Techno-boffin" was a description slapped on many an early-'80s synth-prodder, but Thomas Morgan Robertson was the real deal, a former Members' sound man who earnt his nest egg playing the innovative synth parts on 1981's Foreigner 4 before splurging it on four surprising, eclectic solo albums and, latterly, making it all back as a magus of mobile phone software. This, his second album, spawned Top 20 Latin-electro-funk novelty Hyperactive!; the rest roamed the canyons of his over-read, under-sensible mind with baffling, beautiful results. Screen Kiss is a vertiginous crane shot over the debris of Hollywood's dreamland; Mulu The Rainforest is lysergic world-jazz brained on dead man's root; The White City an utter synth-spazz about someone called Keith who builds "a drug cathedral" while Robyn Hitchcock contributes a hatstand monologue. Unimaginable sounds boom and whistle, while a preoccupation with mental dislocation adds a constant dark undercurrent, even unto the haunted dinner-jazz cover of Dan Hicks' I Scare Myself. After the chart action of The Flat Earth, Dolby appeared to please himself too much, and indulgent collaborations (George Clinton on the P-Funk-lite May The Cube Be With You) and tacky promo concepts (Dolby as Travis Bickle - or is it Mr T? - in Fieldwork) ensued. But at his mid-'80s peak - 1985 also witnessed his masterly production of Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen - there was method in his mad scientist act.
Danny Eccleston
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 26/10/2009
Further Listening
Donald Fagen - Kamakiriad (Reprise, 1993)
Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age Of Wireless (EMI, 1982)
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen (Kitchenware, 1985)
Previous Disc of the day
-
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
6:00 AM GMT 20/11/2009
-
-
Isley Brothers - The Brothers: Isley
The Cincinnati siblings bed into their heavy period.
6:00 AM GMT 18/11/2009
-
Lee Morgan - Search For The New Land
The trumpeter's most soulful excursion entrances MOJO messageboarder.
6:00 AM GMT 16/11/2009
-
-
end of body content back to top
Footer
Join us on:
© Copyright Bauer - all
rights reserved.
Reproduction of this
website, in whole or in
part, in any form or
medium without express
written permission from
Bauer is prohibited. All
use is subject to our
Terms of Use
|
|
Comments
Comment on this post
Comment on this post