Scatterbrain "Keep Dancing" (1981)

Keep Dancing [debut]

release date: Aug. 1981

format: vinyl (IRMG 3) / digital (10 x File, FLAC) (2005 remaster)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]

producer: Scatterbrain, Anders Lind

label: Irmgardz... / Glorious Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Neo-Love Tango" - 3. "Vatican Reggae" - 4. "Crosses of Verdun" - 6. "Ice Age" - 8. "Insect Danger" - 10. "Keep Dancing!"

Studio album debut by Danish band Scatterbrain originally released on Irmgardz... The band here consists of founding members Jesper Siberg on vocals, keyboards & electronic percussion, Hilmer Hassig on guitars & synths, Jens Erik Mose on bass & synths, and Morten Torp on vocals & synths. Despite only releasing two albums, Scatterbrain has quite a substantial legacy in Danish music history, where the band stands as forerunners and as the first actual synth-rock band coming out on the punk rock scene.

In retrospect, the band appears influenced by Joy division and to what was perceived as a growing art punk scene at the time counting artist like Magazine, Visage, Gary Numan, and Ultravox and apart from these musical contemporaries it also seems that artists like King Crimson, Brian Eno, and Kraftwerk should be included amongst the band's natural sources of inspiration. This also include inspiration from artistic ideas of visual arts and authors, and Scatterbrain build on cold war politics and a de-humanisation of society, which is also reflected in some of the aforementioned artists' music (with bonds to David Bowie and Lou Reed) and also a similar starting point of contemporary Danish author Michael Strunge and his poetry, e.g. "Skrigerne" (1980) and "Vi folder drømmens faner ud" (1981).

Keep Dancing came out to positive reviews but the band and its music didn't attract a wider audience and Scatterbrain was first and foremost a cult-like band. In retrospect, however, Keep dancing and the band's second album Mountains Go Rhythmic (1984) both stands as highly original releases with the debut as an album that has found status as a cornerstone in modern Danish rock-history.

At the time, I came across the debut and I kept an illegal copy of the record, which I both found challenging but also quite fascinating and unforgettable, although, I also saw it as strange and too experimental for my liking. Many years later, as of 2023, I got hold of the original vinyl issue, and it's definitely an album to know of.

Recommended.

Marianne Faithfull "Dangerous Acquaintances" (1981)

Dangerous Acquaintances

release date: Sep. 1, 1981

format: vinyl

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]

producer: Mark Miller Mundy

label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Sweetheart" - 6. "For Beauty's Sake" - 2. "Intrigue"

8th studio album by Marianne Faithfull follows two years after Broken English (Nov. 1979) and it's produced by Mark Mundy, who also stood behind the production odf the predecessor, although, the album here showcases a different sound.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Record Mirror 4 / 5 stars ]

Toyah "Anthem" (1981)

Anthem

release date: May 22, 1981
format: vinyl (VOOR 1) / cd (1999 enhanced reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Nick Tauber
label: Safari Records / Connoisseur Collection - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "I Want to Be Free" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Obsolete" - 3. "Pop Star" - 5. "Jungles of Jupiter" - - B) 1. "It's a Mystery" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Masai Boy" - 3. "Marionette"

3rd studio album by Toyah [the band] following The Blue Meaning (Jun. 1980) originally released on Safari Records. Here the band again showcases one of its ever-changing line-ups as only lead vocalist and songwriter Toyah Wilcox and main musical composer Joel Bogen on guitar took part in the making of the predecessor, and here they constitute Toyah together with three new members: Phil Spalding on bass, Adrian Lee on keyboards and Nigel Glockler on drums.
Musically, the album is not only Toyah's best charting album (and only album to reach 'Gold' status) but also the band's most famous studio release. Despite only following The Blue Meaning (1980) by some 11 months, this is quite a different tonal experience. The '80 album was made with other band members, and although, the songs were also primarily by Wilcox and Bogen, the songs on Anthem introduce a completely new approach and style, but more importantly: the songs are simply better on every level. The Nina Hagen / Siouxsie Sioux influences are gone, and instead some would argue that Wilcox here instead loans (too) much from songs and the singing style of Kate Bush.
The album spawned Toyah's biggest hit song, the non-single cover song "It's a Mystery" (released on the Four From Toyah ep) - written and composed by Keith Hale (originally for his band Blood Donor), who also co-wrote two songs for Toyah on the debut album, Sheep Farming in Barnet (1979), and the album itself peaked at #2 on the albums chart list only surpassed by Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam & The Ants [which is a bit of a paradox as that was released in Nov. 1980, hence only featured on the successive year's list]. Also the single "I Want to Be Free" was a commercial success peaking at #8 on the singles chart list.
Anthem may owe much to Kate Bush, David Bowie, Blondie and Patti Smith, but it's still an original mix and a most coherent whole that belongs to the list of truly fine and important albums of the early 1980s, and imho, it should be included in any list compiling the best of new wave.
The 1999 'enhanced' cd issue contains an additional six bonus tracks.
Recommended.

1999 enhanced CD issue

Kraftwerk "Computerwelt" (1981)

Computerwelt

release date: May 10, 1981

format: cd (1986 reissue)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]

producer: Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider

label: Kling Klang / EMI - nationality: Germany

Track highlights: 1. "Computerwelt" - 2. "Taschenrechner" - 3. "Nummern" - 4. "Computerwelt 2" - 5. "Computer Liebe" (4 / 5)

8th studio album by Kraftwerk released three years after Die Mensch-Maschine (1978) - also seen as number five in the list of classic Kraftwerk albums counting from Autobahn (1974), which by Hütter and Schneider is regarded their first, although, they actually released three albums before that. Like the band's recent albums this was recorded in the band's Kling Klang studio in Düsseldorf, and as usual it's the band's founders Hütter and Schneider who are credited as producers. On the 79 album we saw percussionist Karl Bartos as co-composer and on this, he's been granted a more prominent role as composer, and he is thus exclusive composer together with Hütter on all of the album's tracks. Schneider is credited the music on four of a total of seven tracks, and once again Emil Schult is credited album cover and as contributor as songwriter of three songs. And - one might be tempted to add - percussionist Wolfgang Flür is only credited as... percussionist, although rumor has it that he only appears in the credit list and doesn't play on the album at all, but officially it's the band's final album with Flür as instrumentalist.

The album continues deom where the '78 ended, and may at first sound like a mere extension of that, but Kraftwerk basically defined their strength in the present by composing small hooks and catchy melodies, made sharper as pure 'pop' tunes. This is best expressed on "Computer Liebe", as song Coldplay has used on its 2006 hit "Talk", just as La Roux incorporated parts of the track in the song "I'm Not Your Toy" (2009), and LCD Soundsystem has used a sample of "Heimcomputer" (track #6) on the song "Disco Infiltrator" from its debut album LCD Soundsystem (2005).

Reviews were again quite positive and in Germany the album reached number #7 (as Autobahn had done back in '74), and number #15 in the UK. Four tracks in total were selected for singles release: in order tracks #2, #5 , #3, and #1, with no significant rankings. The second single "Computer Love" didn't initially perform significantly, but when it was re-released later that year as the B-side to "The Model" (from the 78 album Die Mensch-Maschine), then it topped the singles chart in the UK (although it was more likely "The Model" pulling that home). In retrospect, the album has achieved a fine position as an influential album, appearing on a number of lists counting the best albums of the 80s.

In my opinion, the album is a classic Kraftwerk album, although without reaching the same heights as the previous four. In the early eighties, the band was overshadowed by bands and artists who managed to write better hooks and music that wasn't so strictly electronic, although most of them drew great inspiration from Kraftwerk's back catalogue. I don't find a lot of recycling in many of the album's compositions, and it may be seen as the band's first step away from the strong influence they have otherwise had in shaping synthpop.

The title track makes it essential.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5, Mojo, Select 4 / 5, Uncut, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

Icehouse "Icehouse" (1981)

Icehouse [debut]
release date: Jun. 1981
format: digital (1990 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Cameron Allan
label: Chrysalis Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Icehouse" [same song by Flowers] - 2. "Can't Help Myself" [same song by Flowers] - 4. "Walls" [same song by Flowers] - 6. "We Can Get Together" [same song by Flowers] - 10. "Not My Kind" [same song by Flowers]

Studio album debut by Australian band Icehouse; or actually: the international debut 'cause fact is, in Oct. 1980 this band was called Flowers, and they released the debut album Icehouse exclusively for the Australian and New Zealand markets on Regular Records. Flowers was founded in '77, and the debut album provided some entries on the Australian charts and the band soon signed with Chrysalis, who wanted the album released worldwide. Songwriter, lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and oboist Iva Davies was the band leader and together with bassist and backing vocalist Keith Welsh they founded the band, who were joined by keyboardist Michael Hoste - who is replaced during the recordings of the first album by Anthony Smith, and together with drummer John Lloyd they were Flowers. Now with a record contract with Chrysalis the quartet was sat out to re-record both music and vocals, and the company wanted Flowers to pick another band name for the release, since a Scottish band were already called Flowers, so they came up with the title of their first track for new band name. The two albums (Flowers' Icehouse and Icehouse by Icehouse) appear almost identical. The '80 album was released with eleven tracks - one more than the Icehouse album, and then the track order is different.

Stylistically, it's in the category of uptempo synthpop and pop / rock with influences from especially Ultravox, Gary Numan, David Bowie, early Roxy Music, and T. Rex.

I didn't listen to this until some point in the 90s, and by then found it of little interest but simply had to hear it 'cause Icehouse's sophomore album, Primitive Man (1982) was such a distinctive and originally strong release. Despite also being 'synthpop', it's still quite far from their more famous album(s), and what really strikes me - of course listening to it from a later point - is how little original it sounds. It is very much with Ultravox, Gary Numan, Roxy Music and Bowie in mind that you listen through (nearly) all of these songs.

Only a must for collectors.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

"Icehouse"

by Flowers (1980)

David Lindley "El Rayo-X" (1981)

El Rayo-X

release date: Apr. 1981

format: vinyl / cd (reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,04]

producer: Jackson Browne and Greg Ladanyi

label: Asylum / Elektra - nationality: USA

Track highlights: A) 1. "She Took Off My Romeos" (4 / 5) - 2. "Bye Bye Love" - 3. "Mercury Blues" (4 / 5) (live 1981) - 4. "Quarter of a Man" - 5. "Ain't No Way" - 6. "Twist and Shout" (live 1988) - B) 1. "El Rayo-X" (4 / 5) - 3. "Don't Look Back" - 5. "Tu-ber-cu-Lucas and the Sinus Blues" - 6. "Pay the Man"

Studio album debut by David Perry Lindley is a late but also much anticipated release. Lindley was co-founder of 1960s psychedelic folk band Kaleidoscope and later became renowned for his skills as multi-instrumentalist on all types of strings. He was an acclaimed studio musician and worked for and with artists like Jackson Browne, Crosby & Nash, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton, and Ry Cooder before finally making music under his own name.

Stylistically, the album feels timeless with influence from various styles and genres. Only the title track and the closer "Pay the Man" are credited Lindley but really, all songs here are re-arranged according to Lindley's taste, and the result is a highly original coherent whole serving to document what a musical wizzard Lindley is.

This is absolutely and highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Thin Lizzy "Renegade" (1981)

Renegade

release date: Nov. 20, 1981

format: cd (1990 reissue)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]

producer: Thin Lizzy, Chris Tsangarides

label: Vertigo - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "Angel of Death" - 2. "Renegade" - 5. "Hollywood (Down on Your Luck) - 6. "No One Told Him" - 9. "It's Getting Dangerous"

11th studio album by Thin Lizzy following one year after Chinatown (Oct. 1980) is again made with a new co-producer - a sound engineer for Judas Priest, who later co-produced Gary Moore's debut on which Phil Lynott co-wrote the fine "Parisienne Walkways". The album is the first with keyboardist Darren Wharton as official member.

The album is not renowned as one of Thin Lizzy's best, and I do understand that. In total, the band ended up with 12 studio albums and their final three are mostly left out of what is considered the band's best. Chinatown may be one of my favourites but as I have come to understand, fans of the band saw it as a detour, or: an album a bit off, but Renegade appears to be less loved - in fact, it's claimed that the band themselves have regarded this as their worst. Imo, it's not entirely that but it really lacks great songs - generally, that is, 'cause Lynott and Scott Gorham still knows what it takes to make a great tune - the real problem is that there are just too many fillers on this one to make it a good album. And then the production sound doesn't help much as it feels shallow and thin compared to the bolder arrangements on the band's earlier releases. On the hard rock forum Metalmusicarchives.com the album takes position as the band's tenth best (or 3rd worst) with only the debut (1971) (as eleventh) and second album Shades of a Blue Orphanage (1972) as its worst.

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 2 / 5

The Beat "Wha'ppen?" (1981)

original cover

Wha'ppen?
release date: June 1981
format: vinyl (BEAT 3) / cd (1999 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Bob Sargeant
label: Go Feet Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Doors of Your Heart" (4 / 5) - 2. "All Out to Get You" - 3. "Monkey Murders" - 4. "I Am Your Flag" - - B) 2. "Walk Away" (4 / 5) (live)

2nd studio album by The Beat is like the debut produced by Bob Sargeant and originally released on the band's own label, Go Feet. The sextet remains intact, but it's quite evident that the style has altered since I Just Can’t Stop It from 1980. The tempo has slowed down and it's much more an experimentation with a huge fusion of styles.
Instead of the more original ska revival and 2-tone there's clearly more focus on reggae and calypso with steel band and dub.
The album was released to mixed reviews but still sold quite well reaching #3 on the national albums chart list and NME ranked the album #4 on its 'Albums of the Year' end list.
The album contains some very fine compositions, but the overall impression is a release with many loose ends - some fillers, and perhaps also what appears as an incoherent release, partly because of the strong debut with its tight original sound and sheer energy, but also because of an indistinct direction and blend of too many styles. That said, Wha'ppen? may not equal the strong debut but it's really no near a mediocre album - it simply contains too many fine compositions..
The '99 remaster has a different track listing and comes with several bonus tracks. [ allmusic.com, Records Mirror, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

1999 cover

Eva Dahlgren "För väntan" (1981)

För väntan
release date: 1981
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,96]
producer: Anders Glenmark
label: Columbia / Sony Music - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Titta på mig" - 3. "Violence" - 4. "Jag vill ha dej"

3rd studio album by Eva Dahlgren, and her first rock-founded album after two initial more pop-styled releases. The album was well-received in Sweden, and it gave her, her first Swedish award 'Best Female Artist', Rockbjörnen in '81 for this album.

The Gun Club "Fire of Love" (1981)

org. cover

Fire of Love [debut]
release date: Aug. 31, 1981
format: cd (2000 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Chris Desjardins, Tito Larriva
label: Last Call Records (re-issue) - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Sex Beat" - 2. "Preaching the Blues" - 3. "Promise Me" - 4. "She's Like Heroin to Me" - 5. "For The Love of Ivy" - 7. "Ghost on the Highway" - 11. "Goodbye Johnny"

Studio album debut by L.A. post-punk quartet The Gun Club, here consisting of songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, bassist Rob Ritter, guitarist Ward Dotson, and drummer Terry Graham. The band changed line-up throughout its 16 year lifespan, and this is only the most recent line-up at this point. The band was founded by Pierce and Kid Congo Powers (aka Brian Tristan), who didn't play any instruments - Pierce was founder and president of the Blondie fan club, and he has been described as obsessed with Debbie Harry, and Powers was chief of the Ramones fan club. The two friends teamed up with the rhythm section of bassist Don Snowdon and drummer Brad Dunning, who initially were the only two with experience in playing an instrument, and this quartet constituted the first incarnation of The Gun Club. Powers left before the recordings of this album as he was offered a spot in the already established New Yorker-band, The Cramps, despite not being a skilled guitarist - he had the looks though. In came Ward Dotson, who could actually play, and with Ritter replacing Snowdon and Graham replacing Dunning they were ready to record their debut. Regardless, the change of band members, Lee Pierce is nevertheless synonymous with The Gun Club, as he was the only lasting member through the many formations of the band. The band plays an energetic form of post-punk with a clear garage rock influence, which comes out as rockabilly, psychobilly, and what some would call punk blues - in later years more boldly characterised as blues rock. At the time of the release of the debut, I guess, another label would have been art punk. The blend of styles puts the band in family with The Cramps.
The album has undoubtedly aged, but it really was something else in 1981 at a time when most bands of the punk scene either played post-punk (or: art punk), no wave, gothic rock, or psychobilly. This is quite original with its inclusion of blues rock and garage rock in an up-tempo and melodic way, although Pierce was influenced by the relatively new style of no wave. The band and Jeffrey Lee Pierce has been a source of inspiration for many artists including Danish Sods / Sort Sol, Thin White Rope, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and in modern days: The White Stripes. From the early 1980s, I recall, a rather well-known record store in mid-town Copenhagen, who had taken its name from this album's first track: Sex Beat Records.

It's not all great but I really like the original intense vocal of Jeffrey Lee Pierce, which consists of both an uncertain craziness and a disturbing fragility, and then I'm quite pleased with the garage rock sound on most of the tracks - an element they [or: he] sought to maintain on most albums by the band. Sometimes, however, the band tend to play with too much psychobilly, at least on this album, which again make me think of The Cramps. The album is somehow the only by The Gun Club to be included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Personally, I don't find it among the band's top-3 albums.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Uncut Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

2000 remaster

The Undertones "Positive Touch" (1981)

cover vinyl

Positive Touch

release date: May 5, 1981

format: vinyl / cd (1994 reissue)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: Roger Bechirian

label: Ardeck - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: A) 1."Fascination" - 2. "Julie Ocean" (4 / 5) - 3. "Life's Too Easy" - 4. "Crisis of Mine" - 6. "His Good Looking Girlfriend" - - B) 1. "When Saturday Comes" - 2. "It's Going To Happen!" (5 / 5) - 3. "Sigh & Explode" - 6. "Boy Wonder" - *15. "Kiss in the Dark" - *16. "Beautiful Friend" - 17. "Life's Too Easy (Alternate Version)" - *18. "Fairly in the Money Now"

*Bonus track on 1994 cd reissue

3rd studio album by The Undertones and the follow-up to Hypnotised (1980), which quite naturally was perceived as the difficult second album after a most stunning debut, and Hypnotised actually succeeded better than critics had imagined it would. With that, the band succesfully bonded with the sheer energy of the punk rock debut and at the same time proved to be able to take their style to a new territory mixing it with pop / rock and more subtle new wave, although, you could argue that the strongest moments still bore the energy of the debut, but nevertheless, the band showed more diversity with an album that went as high as to number #6 on the UK albums chart list - a peak performance of any studio album by The Undertones.

Positive Touch is a big leap in terms of style changes - and perhaps it distances itself too much, both by being their most incoherent album, and also for introducing a bold use of brass and strings. Looking at the highlights, though, it's remarkable that it both contains near soul pop-tunes like "Sigh & Explode" and "Julie Ocean" AND "It's Going to Happen!" - a song which is up there amongst their absolute best but which also appears very much on its own. The band had tried really hard not to be political and they were at times critizised for not addressing the ongoing Northern Irish conflict and here they actually make produce their possibly most political statement with "It's Going to Happen!"

The 1994 expanded cd is the better release with at least three fine bonus tracks - "Beautiful Friend" is a non-album single, which came out in between Positive Touch and The Sin of Pride but it fits nicely on the album alongside "Fascination" and "Julie Ocean". In retrospect, Positive Touch still is a mighty fine album showing how you could make the difficult transition from punk rock to pop / rock with bits of power pop and Northern soul bonding quite nicely with how beat artists of the 60s made the transition by employing blues and r&b to form new musical styles.

[ 😲allmusic.com, Smash Hits 4,5 / 5, Select 4 / 5, 👎Blender 3 / 5 stars ]

1994 cd-reissue

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Almost Blue" (1981)

Almost Blue
release date: Oct. 23, 1981
format: cd (1994 remaster Extended Play)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Billy Sherrill
label: Demon Records - nationality: England, UK

6th studio album by Elvis Costello and his fourth consecutive album with The Attractions is an album of country covers recorded in Nashville, USA with producer Billy Sherill.
The '94 Extended Play version almost doubles the number of songs with its 23 tracks (the original album contains 12 songs) of which seven are live recordings (five from a concert in Aberdeen '81, one from The Palomino Club, Hollywood '79, and one live track from Royal Albert Hall, London '82.
The album was a hard one to swallow by critics and fans, I guess. Costello selected a bunch of songs that were not sheer hit-singles but still were classic country songs, and he may have felt he could do anything he wanted, so he turned to a style and genre, he had not yet excelled in. Also, the genre was perfect when considering his troubled private life with a wife and kid at home, and his ongoing relationships with new lovers on top of drug addiction issues.
Costello had been a success from the start and it's no wonder he thought he could do anything. But in restrospect, I don't think of this as one of his better albums.

Btw. the front cover is with reference to the 1963 album Midnight Blue by Kenny Burrell.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Mojo, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Trust" (1981)

Trust
release date: Jan. 23, 1981
format: vinyl / digital (2015 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,33]
producer: Nick Lowe with Roger Bechirian
label: F-Beat Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Clubland" (5 / 5) (better sound) (live) - 2. "Lover's Walk" - 3. "You'll Never Be a Man" - 4. "Pretty Words" - 5. "Strict Time" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "Luxembourg" - 7. "Watch Your Step" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "New Lace Sleeves" (4,5 / 5) - 9. "From a Whisper to a Scream" (4,5 / 5) - 10. "Different Finger" - 11. "White Knuckles" - 12. "Shot With His Own Gun" (4,5 / 5) - 13. "Fish 'n' Chip Paper" - 14. "Big Sister's Clothes" (5 / 5)

[ full album playlist ]

5th studio album by Costello and his third consecutive release with The Attractions is like his previous four albums produced by Nick Lowe. The album is also his fifth studio album in just four years, which at the time made him renowned for his pace as a songwriter having so far 'only' released his own original material.

Stylistically, this is - I feel - more in family with Armed Forces than the predecessor with a stress under singer / songwriter. It's a fine conglomerate of all his strengths: strong lyrics, great hooks, power pop, energetic new wave and heavy ballads. "Clubland" is like no other song with its calm, its soul, AND its sheer energy!

The album has always been one of my favourite Costello albums, and I simply don't understand how it was seen as inferior to his first four. Perhaps critics just needed a break from praising yet another Costello album 'cause how was it even possible to release quality songs again and again?! Anyway, I cannot leave a single track out when highlighting the best tracks. "Luxembourg" is perhaps the weakest track here, but speaking of 'weak' when that would be a damn fine song on most other artists' albums. Critics still liked the album, although, it has been rated in even more positive terms retrospectively.

Highly recommended.

EDIT Dec. 2015:

The 2015 remaster is released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

[ allmusic.com, Blender, Rolling Stone, Uncut 5 / 5, Smash Hits 4,5 / 5 stars ]

2015 remaster

The Durutti Column "LC" (1981)

LC
release date: Dec. 15, 1981
format: digital (fact 44)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,15]
producer: Stew Pickering and Vini Reilly
label: Factor Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Sketch for Dawn I" (4 / 5) - 2. "Portrait for Frazer" - 3. "Jaqueline" (5 / 5) - 4. "Messidor" (4 / 5) - 5. "Sketch for Dawn II" (4 / 5) - 6. "Never Known" (5 / 5) - 7. "The Act Committed" (4 / 5) - 8. "Detail for Paul" (4 / 5) - 9. "The Missing Boy" (4,5 / 5) - 10. "The Sweet Cheat Gone" (4 / 5)

2nd album by The Durutti Column, where Reilly continues his own original style, which seems so unprovoked by anything else, and leaving music critics at the time with a difficult time labelling his music. LC (short for 'Lotta Continua' i.e. 'The fight continues') is one of his finest albums. "The Missing Boy" is written in memory of Reilly's late friend Ian Curtis (lead vocalist of Joy Division).
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

1996 Remastered Bonus Tracks Edition

The Go-Betweens "Send Me a Lullaby" (1981)

(with the Faces of, L-R:
Forster, Morrison,
McLennan)

Send Me a Lullaby [debut]
release date: Nov. 1981 / (Feb. 1982)
format: digital (2 disc remaster)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,92]
producer: The Go-Betweens and Tony Cohen
label: EMI Music - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 2. "One Thing Can Hold Us" - 3. "People Know" - 5. "Midnight to Neon" - 10. "Hold Your Horses"

Studio album debut by Australian band The Go-Betweens originally released Nov. 1981 as an 8-track mini-album on the Australian label Missing Link Records, and then in Feb. '82 it was released in the UK on Rough Trade Records as a 12-track album with a slightly different track listing, although keeping all of the eight original tracks.

The band was founded in 1977 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia by the two friends Grant (William) McLennan and Robert (Derwent Garth) Forster, who met at university. Forster persuaded McLennan to take up learning the bass, and soon after he also played the guitar. They both sing, play guitar and bass, and from early on they shared roles in providing new songs to play. After a period involving various drummers, and after having toured the UK in attempts to find a record company that would release their music they returned to Australia. (Belinda) "Lindy" Morrison joined the two in 1980 as stable drummer. at a time when Morrison and Forster already were a couple. The band recorded its debut album in the Summer of '81, which saw its national release on Missing Link, and as the UK distributor was Rough Trade Records they released the album three months later with the addition of four compositions for the British market. Alongside The Birthday Party, The Go-Betweens experienced interest from the UK - and the band also saw the market in Britain as broader and more attractive, which explains their decision to return to Britain - only this time as a trio and with some reputation.

Stylistically, the album may sound more abrupt and as demo-like takes when comparing to later albums, and the band boldly reveals its influence from Velvet Underground, Tom Verlaine, Bob Dylan and the like, and then producer Tony Cohen also worked with The Birthday Party, as he would later continue as engineer and producer for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - there's a link to the immediacy, the garage sound and a certain abruptness you'll also find on early albums by these artists.

The album may not contain natural hit songs, nor strong memorable compositions but it's also clear that despite the strong influences it's by no means music by musical amateurs nor less original material.

[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Beto Guedes "Contos da Lua Vaga" (1981)

Contos da Lua Vaga

release date: 1981

format: cd (2002 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]

producer: Beto Guedes

label: EMI - nationality: Brazil

Track highlights: 1. "O Sal da Terra" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Tesouro da Juventude" - 3. "Boa Sorte" - 6. "Veveco, Panelas e Canelas" - 7. "Quatro" - 10. "Canção do Novo Mundo" (4 / 5) - 11. "Noite Sem Luar"

4th studio album by Beto Guedes follows two years after Sol de Primavera and is the first with himself as producer. Much as usual the majority of the songs are written by Guedes with various other co-composers like Ronaldo Bastos, Marcio Borges and Luiz Guedes. In tradition with his former releases this also contains one song written by Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant (track #6), and ends with a song of his fathers (track #11).

"O Sal da Terra" is already a modern classic of MPB but other songs lifts this release and makes it his so far second best only superceded by Amor de Índio (1978).

Recommended.

The Raybeats "Guitar Beat" (1981)

Guitar Beat [debut]
release date: 1981
format: digital (expanded reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Martin Rushent
label: PVC Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Tight Turn" - 2. "Big Black Sneakers" - 3. "Tone Zone" - 5. "B-Gas Rickshaw" - 6. "International Operator" - 8. "Calhoun Surf" (4 / 5) - 11. "Guitar Beat" - 13. "Holiday Inn Spain" (Bonus track)

Studio album debut by American band The Raybeats released on PVC Records and produced by British engineer and producer Martin Rushent in England. The album came out as an anachronism while the world of popular music was either pop / rock, disco, mainstream pop, contemporary r&b, new romantic, new wave, or post-punk-minded, but this is mostly pure surf rock as played primarily in the US in the 1950's. Some tracks contain elements of no wave and jazz fusion, and it's an exclusively instrumental release. I guess, most people never really knew about the album, and it was only by chance that I stumbled on it in 1982 or '83 when it was still a new album. A friend of mine had bought the album in a local record store with mostly punk rock music, and I remember finding it quite interesting but never really great, but fine enough to keep a copy on cassette for years. The version I refer to here is an extended cd with two bonus tracks. Unfortunately, they changed the original track listing, which seems like a major blunt - although, a quite typical label decision.
The Raybeats released one more album before disbanding in '84.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Debbie Harry "Kookoo" (1981)

Kookoo [debut]
release date: Aug. 8, 1981
format: vinyl / digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,72]
producer: Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards
label: Chrysalis - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Jump Jump" - 2. "The Jam Was Moving" - 3. "Chrome" - 4. "Surrender" - 6. "Backfired"

Studio album debut by Blondie-vocalist Deborah Ann Harry released under her stage moniker Debbie Harry. The style is rather different from what one might expect. The simplistic uptempo new wave has been exchanged with a more funky form carried out by the three prominent members of the American disco band Chic, songwriter / guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers and songwriter / bassist and producer Bernard Edwards and drummer Tony Thompson. The guest trio contributes with a disco and dance pop style and Rodgers and Edwards are the primary songwriters on four of the albums ten tracks and they are co-writers on two. The remaining four songs are written by Harry and Chris Stein with whom she mostly writes material for Blondie and who also contribute as guitarist on the album. Two of the songs (tracks #8 and #10) are credited all four main songwriters.
The two Chic songwriters are credited a vast number of classics within the world of disco, and they later on contributed with their [magic] qualities on Diana (e.g. "I'm Coming Out") by Diana Ross, "Let's Dance" (title song) by David Bowie and Madonna's Like a Virgin album - all that is part of the highs of modern popular music, but here the result is not good. Harry and Stein's punchy new wave style, their admiration for reggae and funk in a simplistic form collide with the much more orchestrated and varied sounds and shapes of disco. Or: that's how it sounds like 'cause what really lacks here is a bunch a good songs. In fact, there's hardly any. The production sound is fine, though, and initial parts of songs are truly far from bad, but the overall picture is bland and it leaves me kinda thinking "was that it?"
The best thing about the album, which puts it on the shelve among classic albums, is actually the front cover artwork made by Swiss artist H.R. Giger.
I acquired the album at some point in the mid-80s just because it was a solo album by Harry but never played it much, as I soon found it lesser album with little connection to the music by Blondie.
[ allmusic.com 1,5 / 5 Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]

Voxpop "Voxpop 2" (1981)

Voxpop 2

release date: Nov. 1981

format: vinyl

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,33]

producer: Peter AG Nielsen, Voxpop

label: Genlyd - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: A) 3. "Hul i væggen" - 4. "Bly som mimosen" - 7. "Stjernekrig" - - B) 1. "Alt for ung" - 5. Stjernen derude"

2nd studio album by Danish power pop and new wave sextet Voxpop following one year after the debut Voxpop. The band consists of songwriter and lead vocalist Elisabeth Gjerluff Nielsen, guitarist Bo Bistrup, guitarist René Poulsen, bassist Flemming Mus, keyboardist Robert Stang, and drummer Kim Hagemann.

Pretenders "Extended Play" (1981) (ep)

Extended Play, ep
release date: Mar. 30, 1981
format: vinyl (cut-out record - MINI 3563)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Chris Thomas
label: Sire Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Message of Love" (4,5 / 5 ) - 2. "Talk of the Town" - 3. "Porcelain" - - B) 1. "Cuban Slide" - 2. "Precious" (live)

5 track ep release by Pretenders in the same line-up as on the one-year old debut. Two tracks (#A3 and #B1) are outtakes from the debut album, and tracks #A1 and #A2 are included on the sophomore album Pretenders II (Aug. 1981).
A tight and very fine ep.