1990 war in England ein Jahr wuseliger Umorientierung. Die Sommer der Liebe waren vorüber, Breakbeats standen in den Startlöchern um Acid House bei den Kornfeld-Raves abzulösen, Warp brachte Bleep und Clonks, in London und vor allem Manchester machte man sich daran Indiebands wie die Happy Mondays und Primal Scream mit den noch jungen Errungenschaften der Clubkultur zu versetzen, und UK Clubsoul rollte weiter. ”Electribal Memories“ von Electribe 101 brachte alle diese Umtriebe auf den Punkt, aber nicht im Sinne eines Konglomerats, das möglichst trendkonform alle verfügbaren Stilarten im Albumformat abklappert und dabei kaum über das klassische Popprinzip hinausgeht, ein paar Singles, ein paar Balladen und einen tristen Rest von Füllern zu versammeln. Electribe 101 begriffen ihr Album offensichtlich als ernstzunehmende Gelegenheit, Pop und Club nach ihren Vorstellungen zusammenzubringen, und setzten eher auf anhaltende Verehrung denn auf saisonale Hipness. Ihre Musik ist zwar eindeutig im damaligen Zeitgeschehen verwurzelt, doch die Hektik der Bestrebungen anderer, von der allgemeinen Dancefloorbegeisterung zu einem geregelten Einkommen zu gelangen, ist hier nicht zu finden. Vor allem bietet die kühle Metropolenmelancholie der Musik aber eine perfekte Plattform für die aus Hamburg stammende Sängerin Billie Ray Martin, die in einer Zeit, als Sängerinnen meistens entweder Disco-Überbleibsel auf dem dritten, oder austauschbare Radlerhosenhupfdohlen auf dem ersten Bildungsweg waren, eine Ehrfurcht einflößende Erscheinung war, eher von Nico und der dunklen Seite von Post Punk geschult, als von der imperativen Glückseligkeit gängiger Clubmusik. Billie Ray Martin interessiert sich überhaupt nicht für diese Traditionen, die Liebe von der sie in Tracks wie ”Tell Me When The Fever Ended“ oder ”Talking With Myself“ singt ist vor allem enttäuscht und verlassen, abseitig, einseitig und obsessiv. Und ganz besonders trifft das auf ”You’re Walking“ zu, wo die nächtliche Stadt nur noch hinterhältige Verlockungen bietet, und sich Liebe darin erschöpft, dem Objekt der Begierde nachzustellen, ohne jegliche Aussicht damit mehr zu erreichen als ein paar Schnappschüsse, um die hohlen Fantasien am Leben zu erhalten (eine Version des Tracks heißt nicht umsonst ”Peeping Tom Mix“). Es spricht aber auch für die Intensität der Musik von Electribe 101, dass ausgerechnet beim instrumentalen ”Ambient Groove Mix“ die meisten Schauer über den Rücken laufen. Ohne die Narration Martins wirkt der Track wie ein dunkel-fiebriger Soundtrack, und man findet sich unweigerlich selber in der Rolle des Stalkers wieder, der im günstigsten Observationsabstand seiner Zielperson durch den Regen folgt. Das ist als Hörerlebnis ziemlich harter Stoff, aber auch eines der beeindruckendsten Stücke jener Zeit. Und es sticht in der Popgeschichte heraus wie das Stilett im Stativ von Karlheinz Böhms Kamera in Michael Powells Psychopathenklassiker.
In discussion with Philip Marshall about the album “Introspective” by the Pet Shop Boys (1988).
There is plenty to choose from in the history of the Pet Shop Boys, why did you pick this album? It’s all about time, and my personal trajectory. In late 88 I was 16, going on 17… And life was unfurling before me. No longer trapped in suburbia, I was spending increasing times in London Town, growing up, and learning all about myself – clubbing and all that entails included. I dug deep into London’s rich vein of “equity culture”, and quickly discovered my late teenage was perfectly in sync with the most exciting of explosions in music culture since post-punk. At this time, lines were blurred. I made a commitment to myself, and sold off hundreds of indie vinyl down the Notting Hill record & tape exchange in order to fund my new-found love of nightlife and the music coupled to it. No mop-headed moaning guitar drivel would ever sully my collection again (or, so I thought back then…). An end to teenage angst, sold by the crate-load. Out with the gloom. In with 808 State, Electribe 101 and never ending weekends… But, the electronic pop I had loved when young stayed with me…
I think it is safe to say that they wanted to do something different from their first two albums. How do you place this in the output of the Pet Shop Boys?
It’s all about timing – “Introspective” was released that November, when my introspection first ended. A thread – from a pop past, to a future life. For them, it was a definite embrace of the then fresh house culture that Europe had plunged into – a relatively brave move for an established pop act and before others, such as ABC, jumped that train… As far as placing in their personal timeline, well one of the things I love about this album is its single-minded stance. Although the songwriting and lyricism is as strong as what went before and what was to come, its formatting, arrangement and structure was wilfully, almost arrogantly, other. Here was a group having number one hits in Europe and the USA, coming off the back of two consecutive number ones, and returning with a release that 1.) was six tracks long, 2.) comprised of extended mixes, 3.) didn’t have their image on the cover, 4.) was oblique, lyrically, in parts… The confidence and, presumably, freedom from EMI’s meddling that their earlier success lent them, afforded them the space to make an other statement. A few weeks ago, I was tearing through the English countryside with Jon Wozencroft , on our way to a Suffolk performance. His car had a cassette player, and we were rifling through his old tape collection. “Introspective” was played. We agreed; it is the “Sgt. Pepper” of house – the sound of a band at the peak of its popularity stretching and flexing its remit without fear of a crash. Read the rest of this entry »
And yet another guest spot at Hamburg’s cherished Betalounge location. Well I told you before how much I loved playing there. If, as usual, I was playing records there that I selected for a gig in town later, that gig was probably a good one, as it contains a lot of records I always loved to play. I remember people hanging out during my set there asking me about Minako’s “Town”, a Japanese disco gem. Hamburg clubbers are often very knowledgeable about music so that surprised me. Result!
Mr. Fingers – What About This Love (Even Deeper Mix) Code 718 – Equinox (Heavenly Club Mix) Was (Not Was) – Listen Like Thieves (Giant Club Mix) De La Soul – A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays (Mo Mo Dub) De La Soul – A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays (6:00 A.M. Mix) ABC – The Greatest Love Of All (Mayday Mix) Thompson Twins – Groove On (Extended Groove Mix) Aurra – A Little Love (Just A Little Silky Mix) Johnny Dynell – Love Find A Way (Club Mix) Electribe 101 – Talking With Myself (Frankie Knuckles Mix) Wamdue Kids – That’s The Feeling Richard Rogers – Can’t Stop The Feeling (Morales Sleaze Mix) Swing Out Sister – Notgonnachange (Classic Club Mix) Tafuri – What Am I Gonna Do About Your Love? (Silk On Steel Extended Mix) Joanna Law – Love Is Not Enough (Mix D’Ambience)
A mix I contributed to the great website deeprhythms, run by Tomi Rotonen since 2001. That is quite the achievement and I hope it will go on for many years to come. Cheers Tomi!
Here are the liner notes:
And we’re back with another fine guest mix – this time by Finn Johannsen, familiar to those who frequently visit discogs and it’s board. I asked Finn for a mix and what a treat he provided us with! It’s not house – just great, great music, perfect for the summer, brings back a lot of memories. In his own words: “What led me to record ‘After Season’ was actually the old-fashioned desire to give something personal to my loved one on a lazy weekend when we both again forgot about the day we came together. We both didn’t really mind forgetting about it, as it had happened more often than not for some reason, but still we were getting a bit sentimental over the time we spent together and all we could share. I guess we all made tapes for our loved ones at some point for lack of better words and I felt this was a perfect occasion to revive that. Other than that I was getting a bit irritated by the recent flood of ‘balearic’ sets, many of which seemed more intent of displaying obscure beautiful mellow music than what was really played there from the late 80’s on. Being involved with club music back then meant you were automatically exposed to this style even if I was never really intentionally looking out for downtempo records. Still, I had some personal favourites then which I regularly revisited, so I wanted to assemble some classics of the deeper variety that always moved me, ranging from melancholia to bliss, with an admittedly large does of strings. Some of these, like Chris Rea and Electribe 101, are confirmed balearic classics, others like Marshall Jefferson’s mix of Dusty Springfield or Plaid’s take on Deee-Lite may not be so obvious and again others like the remix of Salt ‘n’ Pepa are just included because I have this opinion that the production talents of Blacksmith should never ever vanish from sight. You may, however, just take it for what I hope it would turn out to be, a pleasant set of fine tunes.”
Dusty Springfield – Nothing Has Been Proved (Instrumental) Massive Attack – Safe From Harm (Instrumental) The Beauty Room – Don’t You Know Deee-Lite – Try Me On (Plaid Remix) Reborn – Right To Be (Rocker HiFi Remix) Innocence – Senza Voce The Family Stand – Ghetto Heaven (The Remix) Soul Family Sensation – I Don’t Even Know If I Should Call You Baby (Symphony) Quartz – It’s Too Late (Overnight Mix) Electribe 101 – Talking With Myself (Next Big Thing Mix) Swing Out Sister – Notgonnachange (Mix Of Drama) Chris Rea – Josephine (La Version Francaise) Salt ‘N’ Pepa – Expression (Brixton Dub Mix) The Wiseguys – The Real Vibes Dream Warriors & Gang Starr – I Lost My Ignorance (Tim Bran Remix) Shanice – I Love Your Smile (Driza Bone Dub Remix)
Mix containing some spaced out deep house/techno gems. For my standards the flow is quite gentle. For the chill moods in life. My secret weapon of choice on display here: the instrumental mix of Electribe 101’s else quite disturbing stalker tune “You’re Walking”, which is just sublime.
Larry Heard – DNA RNA Electribe 101 – You’re Walking Model 500 – The Passage Kerri Chandler – Digital Love Affair A Guy Called Gerald – Eyes Of Sorrow Maurizio – Domina Morris Brown – Past Subway Ground Master – Marble Arch Blak Beat Niks – I’ll Be There Solar House – Peace Of Mind Lovechild – Sweet Ambience A Bitch Called Johanna – Love Is My Bass Agent X – Urban Paradise Callisto – The Cimmerian R Tyme – Use Me Urban Culture – The Wonders Of Wishing
Recent Comments