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23 Skidoo, "Urban Gamelan"
Re-master of the 1984 album, a more muscular production than Seven Songs and a pull back from the sonic tribal barrage of The Culling is Coming. Urban Gamelan comes with 12" singles “Coup” and “Language” (and their dub mix b-sides) as well as a beautiful and copious booklet.
After 23 Skidoo's auspicious debut Seven Songs achieved unexpected independent success in the UK the group consciously pulled away from anything approaching its scratchy, industrial, ethno-funk. For a while they embarked on a path involving tape effects, cut-ups and a Gamelan style percussion derived from conventional instruments and scrap metal. The resulting 1983 album The Culling is Coming alienated and bemused listeners in equal measure. Later that year, though, Alex and Johnny Turnbull, (the nucleus of the group) decided to put some distance between themselves and other clanging noise-making combos of the period such as SPK and Test Department (who by then were employing jackhammers in their performances). To that end, Skidoo hired a bass player, Sketch Martin (from chart duo Linx) to enable them to edge a little closer to commercial music. Ironically, at the time Sketch was apparently looking to move away from commercial music but the merger was an oddly effective compromise. The initial result was the 12" single "Language" and more importantly the 12" "Coup" perhaps the most obvious contender for 23 Skidoo's one chance at an absolute chart smash.
Of course "Coup" was never released in 7" form which meant that daytime radio airplay was never going to happen. Live performances also didn't happen as the Turnbulls were busy concentrating on their martial arts training! To compound the shot in the foot, as was often the style at the time, Urban Gamelan did not feature either of the singles. Instead "Coup" appeared as the almost unrecognizable "GI Fuck You" and "Language" masqueraded as a meager percussion version. While the dub stylings of "Fire," the eerie march of "Jalan Jalan," and the clanging tick tock beats of the title track were radical at the time and still interesting, nothing on the album comes close to the slippery, alarming, brilliance of "Coup." What a track. Aswad's horn section was drafted in to howl after Sketch Martin's spanking bass led the listener boldly down a path while occasional machine gun bursts punctuated the air. The Chemical Brothers would replay that bassline for their inane hit "Block Rockin' Beats" and I trust 23 Skidoo got paid. Yeah, right.
For more on 23 Skidoo be sure to check Jonathan Dean's reviews of much of this material (as released on the Rodin label).
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