Sulk

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Pre-Sulk live versions of Gloomy Sunday and No also reveal how Mackenzie and Rankine finessed their material in the studio; the former, an antique Billie Holiday lament, is revived over a percolating disco beat while the latter is a windswept aria whose sense of despair is deepened by Mackenzie’s layered vocals framed by percussive piano notes and disquieting sound effects.

Chris Tighe wrote that the band have "been belated acknowledged as one of the '80s' most inspired pop groups". Billy would hum whatever he wanted, and within a couple of seconds, Alan would be barking out the chords. Formed in Dundee, Scotland in 1979, The Associates were comprised of vocalist Billy Mackenzie and multi-instrumentalist Alan Rankine.On “Message Oblique Speech” and “White Car In Germany” I’m using a water-filled balloon on the strings. Well along comes the dark theatre of it’s Better This Way, a throbbing almost goth like behemoth of a tune, Billy’s vocal histrionics adding the fervent passion.

Looking back, 1982 was a year of truly great British pop albums – such as ABC’s The Lexicon Of Love and Simple Minds’ New Gold Dream – but Sulk, which was so perfect in its imperfections and exploded like the sonic equivalent of a Technicolour orgasm, topped them all. RANKINE: We were recording stuff like “Tell Me Easter’s On Friday” and “Q Quarters” from 9pm on a Sunday evening, to 9am on a Monday morning. During these years Mackenzie contributed to three Yello albums: One Second (1987), Flag (1988) and Baby (1991), whilst tracks for The Glamour Chase and Outernational were recorded with Blank at Yello's recording studio.Rankine believed that "Club Country" was Mackenzie's response to attending the New Romantic clubs at the time and finding the scene to be very superficial. Available as a 12” Bookpack featuring the original album on blue vinyl, 3CDs featuring outtakes, rarities, peel sessions and previously unheard Live at Gigant 1981.

If this reviewers experience is anything to go by, listening to this most divine of albums again will re-kindle your love for this most unique of bands all over again. O.Rang (5) 13th Floor Elevators (2) 1960s (45) 1970s (115) 1980s (198) 1990s (70) 2-Tone (5) 2000s (66) 2010s (47) 28th Day (1) 4AD (22) A. Almost every decision that went into this record was a poor one, from opening with an instrumental to the take on 'Gloomy Sunday' to the despicable and atrocious songwriting (or lack thereof). Kitchen Person” is a rolling thundercloud of gloom and exultation within which the flamboyant, charismatic MacKenzie appears to be examining shyness, while Rankine assembles a soundtrack soaked in exotic menace; the manic mood, in this pre-sampling era, was created by playing at half-speed and then running the tape at full-tilt.so it was just me and Hedges in the studio so I did the keyboard parts to five songs, various layers of piano and synth. Like two lovers (invariably male I think), "Party Fears Two" and "Club Country" are dancing eternally, holding each other into a damned dance throught labyrinths of sulphur and fetal death. The band released an unauthorized cover version of David Bowie's " Boys Keep Swinging" as their debut single in 1979, which landed them a recording contract with Fiction Records. Their music has been described as post-punk, [29] synth-pop, [30] new wave [31] and experimental pop.

Built on an eclectic mix of influences and interests ranging from art rock to glam and disco, the duo found early success with their debut record The Affectionate Punch in 1981. Bap De La Bap is strange sideways stuff, trance-like rhythms and more oblique lyrics, "Vasco de Gama only voyaged with intent to stare. Coming from Dundee to Edinburgh he was quite self-preserving until I got to know him a bit better, but that took place over just a couple of days. In between these two glorious instrumentals were seven original mind blowing compositions and a stunning version of Gloomy Sunday, an all too prescient choice considering what fate was ultimately to befall the gentle, softly spoken singer.This Limited Edition recreation of the 7” single is available for the first time on Gold Cassette, housed in a card wallet. The group left Fiction after their debut, but stayed on for six months in the flat provided by the label in St John’s Wood, recording singles for Situation Two as a means of keeping afloat in London.