- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
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- Matthew Jeanes
- Albums and Singles
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- Matthew Jeanes
- Albums and Singles
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- Lucas Schleicher
- Albums and Singles
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- Gary Suarez
- Albums and Singles
Suicide changed my life. This summer, New York City was treated to anexclusive one-off concert of the legendary duo of instrumentalistMartin Rev and vocalist Alan Vega at the Knitting Factory. Drenchedfrom the downpour outside, I shivered with my beer until they arrivedon stage and proceeded to show this jaded critic just how powerful aseemingly simple two man performance can be. Ripping through a set ofclassics ("Ghost Rider," "Cheree") and more recent material ("DeathMachine," "Misery Train," the unreleased "Friday Night Fever"), Suicideenergized the entire audience again and again, ultimately leaving touproarious hollers and applause. Immediately afterwards and still, Iconsidered this night to be one of the greatest musical experiences inrecent years, rivalling several notable shows including the return ofPsychic TV.Naturally, my excitement peaked yet again when I learned that Mutewould be reissuing two essentially forgotten Suicide records thiswinter. While their first two albums, given the Mute reissue treatmentback in the late nineties, are regarded as their most influentialrecordings, 1988's A Way Of Life and 1992's Why Be Bluewere overlooked in an almost malicious fashion and have finally beengiven a second chance. Up until now, these Ric Ocasek produced releaseshave received little attention beyond the collective stereos of adoringacts like Depeche Mode, Pan Sonic, Primal Scream, and Spacemen 3.
Wax Trax! completists may remember A Way Of Lifewith a certain amount of distaste. Unaware, uninformed consumersexpecting the reformed duo to adopt the sound of labelmates Front 242,Meat Beat Manifesto, or Greater Than One were surely aghast at thealbum's overt, unabashed reverence for Elvis Presley and early rock androll. Though it failed to fit comfortably amongst that wave ofindustrial music, the album exudes a similar emotive quality to that oftheir second album, due to Ocasek's return to the boards and the band'sdesire to record more of a "live" album. The music, credited entirelyto Rev, ranges from the hard driving "Rain Of Ruin" to the gorgeous"Surrender." Vega's desperate gasps and poetic yelps on "DominicChrist" and the incredibly ominous "Heat Beat" recall those of his peerGenesis P-Orridge at his best and most energetic. Patience didunfortunately wear thin for this Suicide devotee on the painfully datedelectro-rockabilly "Jukebox Baby 96," a reasonably popular and updatedversion of Vega's 1980 French Top Ten solo hit.
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Compared to the eclectic flavors of A Way Of Life, Why Be Blueabandons a good deal of the noise and moves in a more accessibledirection. However, a poppy version of Suicide is, in and of itself,far more disturbing . The album, again produced by Ocasek, consistsprimarily of upbeat and danceable tracks including "Cheat Cheat" andthe New Order-esque "Play The Dream." The title track opens the CD withVega's near-gibberish lyrics and a typically repetitive Rev production,wasting little time to show this newfound optimism. "Flashy Love" isthe clear standout track, with Rev toning down his effects a bit toallow both his melodies and Vega's catchy verse-chorus-verse vocals toshine through. On "Last Time," one of the few slower songs here, Rev'swarbling synths and phasing drums attempt to drown Vega's voice in thissonic sea. Truth be told, the panning and delay makes this song, aswell as the rest of the album difficult to enjoy in headphones. Leaveit to Suicide to make what could have been a pleasant pop album into achallenging, yet still rewarding listen.
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As with the previous Suicide reissues, each album comes with a bonussecond disc featuring European concerts from the latter half of the1980s. The live discs present the band in two distinct settings: onedifficult and confrontational (London, 13 December 1987), the othermore welcoming (Paris, 17 April 1989). In London, apparently before arather small audience, the duo previewed tracks from thethen-unreleased A Way Of Life, including "Dominic Christ,""Jukebox Baby '96," and "Surrender." The band's frustration is clear,with Vega growling his way through Rev's gritty versions of "Cheree"and "Girl," closing with the classic "Harlem." Roughly a year and ahalf later, they are met with an eager audience in Paris, who aresubsequently rewarded with a set packed with tracks never recorded inthe studio such as the opener "C'Est Lie Vie", the very groovy "MamboMambo," and "Night Time." The classic "Dream Baby Dream" comes intowards the end, sounding even more somber than the original recordednearly ten years earlier. While the recordings of these performancesnaturally reminded me of the powerful experience I had this summer,neither of them matched it. In any case, these four discs are a greataudio document of a band in limbo, stuck in that uncomfortable spacebetween the Seventies smashed bottles and furious punk assholes and thesuperior cult status they enjoy today worldwide. Many would have givenup where Suicide have managed to endure, and for that they have earnedthemselves the bragging rights. Anybody with any respect for modernmusic whatsoever should waste no time in seeking these two double discsets out. -
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- Jonathan Dean
- Albums and Singles
In many ways, Can was (and is) the ultimate rock band. Accordingly,volumes have been written about Can by writers far more eloquent,knowledgeable and pretentious than me, so I will forgo any in-depthexplication of the band's considerable importance and influence.Suffice to say that Can virtually invented a new paradigm for rockmusic, pioneering a marriage of avant-garde techniques andimprovisational rock. They combined classically trained instrumentalvirtuosity with unhinged psychedelic meltdown, and recorded epicrecords filled with massive, funky grooves that were simultaneouslytrance-inducing and booty-shaking.Though the back catalog has been available for years via vinyl andCD reissues on Mute/Spoon, this marks the first time that the albumshave been massively overhauled and subjected to new digitalremastering. Beginning with the first four chronological releases,these reissues were overseen by Can founders Holger Czukay and IrminSchmidt. All discs are playable on CD and SACD compatible players, andeach contains allegedly improved artwork (though it actually looks likea step down in quality to me), rare band photos, and predictable newliner notes by The Wire's David Stubbs.
Perhaps not surprisingly considering Czukay and Schmidt helmed thesereissues, the elements that seem most obviously emboldened by the newdigital mastering are the bass and keyboards. Because the originalalbums were all made from carefully edited and assembled two andfour-track recordings, it would have been impossible for a particularinstrument to be isolated and expanded in the mix. Nevertheless, I amcertain that I detect a bigger presence of bass across all four discs,and Schmidt's architectural swathes of organ have never sounded fulleror more atmospheric. The hiss that was often detectable on previous CDissues has been almost completely eradicated. Often when hiss isremoved from old recordings it can wreak havoc with the treble tonesand bottom end, smoothing every sharp edge away into soft-edged,nebulous blandness. However, an extremely careful job has been done toremove hiss without disadvantaging the original mix. The volume hasalso been increased considerably across all four albums. Louder is notnecessarily always better, but in this case, it means an increasedpresence and a greater sense of acoustic vastness, with no discernabledistortion. The hiss removal and volume increase contribute a terrificlive feeling to this material, dragging it out of a dusty, formaldehydepast into a seething, organic present, loaded with previously inaudiblesonic detail. Jaki Liebezeit also benefits from the remastering, witheach robotic, hypnotic pummeling of his primitive drumming burstingwith an even more earth-shattering urgency than before. Only the lateMichael Karoli seems relatively unchanged by the new digitalprocessing, his uniquely spindly, spidery guitar still shredding andpiercing its way through the mix.
Though I've never heard anyone claim it's their favorite Can album, the pre-Damo Suzuki debut Monster Movieis nonetheless a force to be reckoned with. This is primarily becauseof the sidelong behemoth of "Yoo Doo Right," on which American vocalistMalcolm Mooney obsessively scrapes up the remnants of a brokenrelationship while the band unleashes a stoned, hypnotic groove thatsets a new record for transcendent monotony. The remastering jobbreathes new life into the song, highlighting a sense of presence andcohesion that previous editions have lacked. Though I know it's aterrible cliché, it sounds almost as if the band is in the room withme, and I could practically feel the flecks of spittle flying out ofMooney's mouth with every anguished repetition of his lyrical refrain. Monster Movie and its follow-up Soundtracksseem to be the most improved of the four reissues, perhaps because ofthe comparatively poor quality of the original recordings.
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Soundtrackswas a collection of music Can recorded for fivelong-forgotten films, with the main attraction being the 15-minute"Mother Sky," containing the first example of Damo Suzuki's stunningvocal technique. The track sounds cleaner and crisper than ever before,with each strike of the kettle drum sounding absolutely monolithic, andCzukay's bass tracing its own melodic path through the song.
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The massive double LP Tago Magois my favorite album of all time, hands down, making objective analysisall but impossible. I've become quite accustomed, over the years, tothe sound of the previous Mute/Spoon CD issue, so I did not easilywelcome the changes apparent on the new remaster. After just a fewspins of this version, however, I was completely won over. Whether inthe thick, rich detail of Schmidt's cosmic keyboards on "Paperhouse" orthe warm, dimensional presence of the transcendent "Oh Yeah," this Tago Magohas much to recommend it over all previous incarnations. Quiet,simmering tracks like the dark, ritualized experimentation of "Aumgn"or the album's hazy comedown "Bring Me Coffee or Tea" benefittremendously, as new ghostly details become evident at all audiblelevels, making these pieces seem even more ingeniously conceived thanbefore.
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The differences are least obvious on Ege Bamyasi,although the volume increase and fidelity boost make tracks like theclassic "Spoon" sound razor sharp, living in the perpetual present,instead of some shaggy Krautrock past. I welcome any chance torediscover and experience anew the unparalleled genius of Can, butthese reissues are truly a cause for celebration. They literallybreathe new life into music that has become such a legendary,influential, intellectually scrutinized body of work that one mighthave assumed that it had no more surprises to offer. While I'm notconvinced by the new packaging or the rather doctrinaire liner notes,the improved sound of these discs more than makes up for thoseshortcomings. People who own the original LPs or the previousMute/Spoon reissues would be most enthusiastically encouraged to seekout these remastered editions, and for those who still don't own theseCan albums, you have no excuse not to run out and buy theseimmediately. They would also make a swell, reasonably priced Christmasgift for that very special music junkie in your life who might not haveeven heard them yet!
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- Lucas Schleicher
- Albums and Singles
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
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- Jim Siegel
- Albums and Singles
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- Jim Siegel
- Albums and Singles
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- Jim Siegel
- Albums and Singles
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