Breathless - The Glass Bead Game (1986)

Breathless - The Glass Bead Game

Tenor Vossa

1986

Take care to look as you pass
Or you might miss the one thing
You’ve strived for all your life.

Dominic Appleton is most famous for his contributions to the dreamy power-band This Mortal Coil in the late eighties, but his own band are so achingly beautiful that as good as This Mortal Coil are, they're in my bad books for taking away his limelight. Breathless released their first LP in 1986 on their own record label Tenor Vossa, making a sweeping mix of post-punk, psychedelic and relaxing prog-rock. Really, though, this album is its own thing - it was unlike any of its contemporaries and nothing has came since to match it.

The Glass Bead Game is only eight tracks long, but all eight soar high in the sonic clouds, with beautifully deep drums and long synth keys that provide layer after layer of romantic noise. Breathless aren't a singles band - this album has to be listened to as an album. Even better if you have a physical copy, because the artwork accompanies the music perfectly, with a painting by keyboardist Ari Neufeld. We open with 'Across the Water,' and already we get a feel of what this album is going to be like. It's quite a short song, but leads into 'All My Eye and Betty Martin' perfectly. This is a seven minute track with layers of guitars, synths, drums, liquid vocals and a strong deep bass that provides a thick foundation. Listening to this album on vinyl with a good sound system whilst in bed is something I do regularly. I first listened to it last year whilst getting into bed - I needed something to listen to whilst laying in bed, but didn't know what. I hadn't listened to them yet, but recently discovered them through sheer luck and decided to give them a try. Because I was in bed, I had no idea which song was which, or when it would end, all I can say is that I was incredibly relaxed by the music. There's something nostalgic about it that caressed me, and as I lay in bed on that cold January night at near to 1am, I felt simultaneously at peace and in awe of what I was listening to.

Dominic Appleton has an amazing voice; his voice is always credited and praised, but I'm going to praise it some more: he nails the romantic desperation, the lust, the love, the beauty - he captures the essence of love itself in his voice and also in his lyrics. He's a perfect songwriter, and alongside Matt Johnson, Adrian Borland and Howard Devoto, he's one of the best not only in post-punk, but in music altogether. He manages to create wonderful lines that encapsulate romance, love and heartbreak. He manages to convey feelings so effectively through words, and he sings it so beautifully. What I love most, though, is how, especially in the first two albums and here in The Glass Bead Game, the vocals blend and wash inside the music. The words leak out of the music, drenched in the sound of those keyboards and basslines. There is nothing that takes centre stage - it's all a collaborative effort to create art. Yeah, this is art. It's not 'art rock,' because as a genre that's something entirely different. This is just art. Pure beauty. It's an album that really was ahead of its time and for those few that know about it, we're lucky and blessed and richer for it. Discovering this album was like discovering a beautiful patch of land that had never been stepped on before, now it's time to show it to the world.

Breathless are still making music (and are still as good) and you can buy their latest LP here.

Modern Eon - Fiction Tales (1980)

Modern Eon - Fiction Tales

Dindisc

1980

Maybe we're all alone in here...

As soon as you listen to this album, you realise something: you realise how special it is, how strange it is, how haunting it is and how mysterious it is. I own the vinyl, I ordered it online. It arrived one evening last year, in March. At around 7pm, the sun was almost set, it was almost pitch black outside, and I pulled out an old 1970s all-in-one portable turntable and put this on. I stared at the cover, trying to make out what it even was, what side of a face I was looking at. 

There's hardly any information online, there's a small old website dedicated to them, but there's not much information. No one really knows what happened to them after they disbanded, no one knows where any of them are now. The only legacy they left behind was one album and five singles. They came and went and that was that. It's all so mysterious. It feels, holding the record and listening to the opening track, as if this album wasn't even made by people - it's just a compelling and mystical recording. The vocals are airy and beautiful, the synths are sweeping and strange, almost watery, and the whole feel of the tracks is as if it's underwater. The bass is deep and dark, the guitars are catchy. And most important: that saxaphone. Fuck, what an amazing addition, and how gorgeously complimenting is it! All the sounds blend together into this mesh of atmosphere and darkness. It truly is a dark and bleak sounding album.

As I lay there listening to the crackling vinyl on the old turntable, I realised just how perfectly my set-up for listening to it was. It adds a whole new dimension, listening to it the way I was. Like those old horror films that are ruined by their Blu-Ray transfers, this album needs to be heard on vinyl. 

Modern Eon are probably remembered most for their single 'Child's Play,' which comes from this album. It's a really gorgeous and captivating track. It's probably the lightest on the album, and really captures the feeling of child-like wonder perfectly. It comes straight after 'High Noon,' and the two are connected by this quiet and perfect synth riff. 'High Noon,' is instrumental for the first 75% of the song. It's my favourite on the album. I remember listening to it in the car at five in the morning in late November a few years ago - looking out the window at the late night sky, with that song playing, was perfect. It complimented the night so well, and inspired me to continue a screenplay I had almost shelved years before that. When the vocals finally arrive, they're distant, echoed and short. "Maybe we're all alone in here," the singers repeat. Holy fuck, it's beautiful and desolate. 

That's a good word to describe the album - desolate. It's an entire landscape of sound and feeling. Everything inside it just hits perfectly, and it all finally accumulates with "In a Strange Way," a bleak, cold and isolated piece (because it really is more than just a song) with layers of abyss.

This album is just beautifully produced, and each track is perfect. The tracks all blend together perfectly, they're catchy and even dance-able every now and then, but that never breaks them from being the atmospheric and massive (or tiny, because of that feeling of isolation) personality that they are. The fact this Liverpool band Modern Eon has all but disappeared, leaving behind nothing but this album and a few singles, just adds to the whole thing. The album just appeared one day, a product of pure nature, a design of true atmosphere.

It really is one of the best albums of all time, and one day it will get its due.

The Outsiders - Calling on Youth (1977)

The Outsiders - Calling on Youth

Raw Edge

1977

You've gotta make up your mind,

'cos if you hesitate.

You'll be sucked up inside,

with no way to escape.

Amidst the chaos of 1977's punk explosion, with wacky colourful spikey haircuts and abrasive three-minute three-chord numbers, there was a young schoolboy who saw the landscape as an opportunity. His idols, Iggy Pop and Velvet Underground, served as his inspiration, and he picked himself up, got his friends together, and started The Outsiders. This was Adrian Borland, most notable for his 1980's post-punk outfit The Sound.

Borland and co pushed their teen angst and romantic disillusion to the next level with their first album Calling on Youth. This album is truly lost in the ocean of music, its original LP was pressed only 1000 times by Borland's father's own record company, created solely for the purpose of producing The Outsiders. Which such limited offerings, the LP nowadays fetches hundreds online, but luckily it was recently re-released on CD.

It's bizarre that this album is so widely forgotten - sure, it isn't great, the punky tracks aren't too memorable, but it's distinctive for being the first self-released LP by a punk band. Whilst The Buzzcocks receive much praise for their first 7", The Outsiders remain shadowed by everything that came before and after. Most of the lyrics were written by drummer Adrian Janes, and mostly talk about alienation and anti-comformity. The track 'Weird,' is an interesting track, opening with the lyrics, "they say the way we dress is weird." It's clear these guys are aggressive about their stance, but the music industry at the time laughed and scoffed. These schoolboys, none of them looking like that typical 'cool' punk, moaning about girls and alienation from society - it didn't go down well at all. 

I can understand that, really, because it is a pretty moany album. I mean, I do love it, but I sometimes question whether I love it more because I am a big fan of Borland or because it's actually good. The album sometimes feels empty and unfinished. It sounds more like a bunch of demo tracks. In light of what came next with The Sound, this is even more feasible - it really does just feel like a practise session - Borland figuring out where he is and what he wants to do. 

It's an interesting album as a punk album because half of it isn't all too much like what you'd expect from punk, especially back in 1977. My favourite track on the album, a track that completely stands out from the others and is just as good as some of The Sound's stuff, "Walking Through a Storm," is a quiet and introspective song. Unintrusive guitars and soft vocals really make it quite a beautiful track. I have a feeling Borland preferred doing this track than the others. We also have 'Start Over,' which has a lower energy, almost sounding like a dark folk song, and the aforementioned 'Weird.' 

The more punk-orientated tracks are less interesting, and it's pretty easy for me to tune out of them. They can be fun, for sure, but not for long. I love the guitar work, though. Borland clearly already had a good handle of his guitar and that would only expand in his career. He really smashes the chords in 'Hit and Run,' perhaps the most energetic song on the album, as long as you ignore those fucking lyrics. 'On the Edge' is always randomly in my head. It's a common saying in England, because yes, English people are constantly on the edge. Whenever anyone says it, my mind continues the lyrics. "I'm on the edge," someone would say. "I'm on the edge / I'm on the edge / I'm on the edge / on the edge!" my brain would answer. It's really quite irritating, because it always happens. Thanks, Adrian.

Ultimately, this album is more for fans of Adrian Borland than anything else, but it certainly has inklings of what was to come, and for his first crack at producing something, it has a good consistency and a confidence that always shone from him. Also, that guitar-work. Any fans of Borland's guitar work can listen to this and smile. 

I also have to note that I got myself a copy of this on eBay for only £30! My Adrian Borland vinyl collection is almost complete, and I cannot wait to give it a spin. I wonder if Borland himself ever handled the copy I'll have?