Shelleydevoto "Buzzkunst" Cooking Vinyl CookCD 230 2002 (45:36)
Can You See Me Shining? (3:31)
Strain Of Bacteria (2:10)
Deeper (2:53)
'Til The Stars In His Eyes Are Dead (2:57)
On Solids (3:28)
Self-Destruction (3:50)
You Are Still There (3:13)
God's Particle (2:34)
A World To Give Away (3:59)
Stupid Kunst (3:15)
System Blues (3:02)
So There I Was (4:08)
Wednesday's Emotional Setup (2:48)
Going Off (3:48)
Soon after the inaugural "Spiral Scratch" EP, Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto parted ways, Shelley carrying on with the Buzzcocks and Devoto moving on to Magazine. A quarter century later they've reunited for live shows and this album, possibly a one-off. Firstly the duo are to be commended for not retreading their punk origins, choosing instead to explore a more contemporary direction. Unfortunately that direction is lame electronica. Devoto's peculiar voice is the same as ever, but I find it much more annoying here with a backdrop of bland beats, dated synth textures and cheesy wanking. The handful of short instrumentals don't fare too much better, even with the addition of saxophones on "On Solids". A computer and software does not an electronic musician make. It's either ironic or telling that the two songs most faithful to their roots - "Can You See Me Shining?" and "'Til The Stars In His Eyes Are Dead" - are by far the best, especially the latter with its high energy and heavy guitar riffage (if you heard or bought the single, don't expect the rest of the album to sound like it!) Sure, they would have been lambasted by most critics and fans had the entire album been like "Stars", but sometimes it's best to just do what you do best. The video portion of the disc is live footage of two songs, Shelley and Devoto looking about as bored as I am with the material. Get Magazine's brilliant career retrospective "Maybe It's Right To Be Nervous Instead" box set instead!
Shelleydevoto.com
Buzzcocks
Shot By Both Sides.som
Where did I get this cd? - CD
Universe