Sunday 21 February 2010

Electro Classic Jukebox: John Foxx.


Following his departure from Utravox! in 1979 (Midge Ure would take over the singing duties in 1980 after his own departure from Visage), John Foxx declared that he would "like to be a machine," and then, like Jonathon Frakes in Star Trek: The Next Generation, made it so. Retreating with engineer Gareth Jones to an Islington studio "the size of an eight-track cupboard," he followed his Kraftwerk and Gary Numan dreams and recorded the first of his two solo records, Metamatic. (The name, if you're curious, refers to a "painting machine," first unveiled in 1959 at the Paris Biennial by kinetic artist Jean Tinguely.)*

Released in January 1980, Metamatic was an abrupt departure for Foxx. As the old joke goes, he completely threw out the guitars and brought out the synths! It's an exciting record, written by a man who had read Crash by JG Ballard just a few too many times (funnily enough, JG Ballard seems to have been a major influence on many of these pioneers of the synth-pop sound - his dystopian futuristic landscapes, usually only about five minutes into the future, really spoke to their newfound "outsider" status). Full of allusions to cars, speeding, concrete, vast empty stretches, and roadworks, one can say with absolute honesty that Metamatic moves. It's always in motion, and that's what makes it so damn cool.

For my money, I'd like to nominate "Underpass" for outstanding song on this record. We've all seen underpasses in real life. They're not pleasant places, for the most part. Listening to this song, you can picture the grimy concrete of the pilings, hear the traffic roaring above your head, see the murky illumination of the fluourescent lights, and see the homeless lurking in the shadows in makeshift tent-cities. In other words, it's a great place to get mugged. Without further ado, here is John Foxx and "Underpass"!


Just another fun little note. The engineer on Metamatic was one Gareth Jones, then just starting out with his career. John Foxx's second (and last) album was called The Garden. Afterwards, he opened up a studio of his own, called Garden Studios. It was here where Depeche Mode recorded Construction Time Again. Who was the engineer? None other than Gareth Jones.

* Thank you, Wikipedia!

No comments: