R.I.P. Mick Karn.

Sigh. I can't believe I'm typing this right now, but here goes. Mick Karn, prolific bassist for seminal Romantic band Japan, Peter Murphy's musical partner in side-project Dali's Car, and accomplished solo musician in his own right, has passed away Tuesday evening from advanced cancer.


There was always such an avant-garde approach to his craft -- his riffs could be recognized from a mile away, they were so distinctive; forceful yet delicate, intricate things. It really saddens me that he's passed on. From the brilliant debut Japan record Adolescent Sex of 1977, to 1981's Tin Drum (on which he played all the wind instruments, as well), to 1993's Bestial Cluster, to his work with Bauhaus' Peter Murphy as one third of Dali's Car (seriously: check out their 1984 album Waking Hour -- it's pretty freaking awesome), and his collaborations with the great Japanese artist Yoshihiro Hanno, Karn was all over the map, never satisfied with sticking to one genre or other.


He was a greatly talented muso, a renaissance man in his own right, and he will be fantastically missed. Rest in peace, Mr Karn -- and thank you so very much for all the great musical memories. Amen.


Here are a few of my favourite Japan tracks to share on this sad day.

japan

"adolescent sex"

adolescent sex

japan

"art of parties" live at the old grey whistle test '82

tin drum

japan
"life in tokyo"

And here's Karn with Peter Murphy in Dali's Car's "His Box" recorded live at the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1984.

Electro Classic Jukebox: Soft Cell.

Two years after the triumphant debut of their first album Non-stop Erotic Cabaret and its immediate followup Non-stop Ecstatic Dancing, Soft Cell (Marc Almond & Dave Ball) came back in dark form with their third release, The Art of Falling Apart. While NSEC had more of a playful mentality, singing praises and curses of the sleaziness of late '70s and early '80s Soho, London (think "Sex Dwarf", "Seedy Films", and the lonely doldrums of "Bedsitter"), The Art of Falling Apart found Mssrs. Almond and Ball in much darker territory. From the sadly dysfunctional family at each others' throats in "Where the Heart Is" to the excruciatingly savage and harrowing examination of a stripper's life in "Baby Doll", TAOFA was more interested in telling the stories of people who otherwise wouldn't be noticed by the average Londoner. Maybe that's why it didn't sell as well as its predecessor, but it could also have been the drugs that were beginning to plague the duo. But when I look at the work of Soft Cell during those first three years (their fourth album, This Last Night In Sodom was, to me at least, a mixed bag at best), I find TAOFA to be their most assured and seamless adventure. Almond's voice really reached a level of seedy cabaret brilliance, Ball's synths and drum programming were precise and warm, and their trumpeter John Gatchell delivered some pretty freaking incredible and soulful blasts of jazz into the proceedings. 

All that being said, my favourite track off this album is actually a B-side from the 12" release of "Where The Heart Is". It's a fantastic and really quite weird number called "It's A Mug's Game," and here we find Almond, Ball, and Gatchell delivering what is probably the funniest synth-pop song ever released, ever. This paean to practically the worst day ever has such a silly and incredibly vibrant energy to it, that it nearly explodes out of your speakers. Featuring horrible hangovers, food poisoning, venereal disease, unintended pregnancy, emergency visits to the chemist, money problems, and strict fathers, you've just got to listen to it to believe it. Best lyric: "Oh God, it's another disease / And you just got rid of the last / You were beginning to feel OK / And the friends you gave it to were speaking to you again."

Here's "It's A Mug's Game." Enjoy!

soft cell

"it's a mug's game"

the art of falling apart

Three Australian 80's Hits.

Well! I've now been in the land down under for just under a month, and it's been absolutely spectacular. Things are going great with my girlfriend, I'm getting some healthy color, and I've lost two and a half kilos (probably from all the fresh and organic food I've been eating) -- so all in all at this moment, I'm pretty tops. Still need to quit smoking, but I'm now under a pack a day, so we'll see where I'm at in another month, shall we?


So today I was thinking: How's about I put together a nifty little package of early 80's Australian music for you, my faithful readers, this weekend? Sounds like a plan, thinks I. So with no further ado, here's some 80's treasures that will, today, be on my humble blog!

From 1983, QED were a Sydney band featuring Jenny Morris, a Kiwi from discontinued band The Crocodiles. Wrapping up the rest of the group was Rex Goh (ex guitarist for Air Supply!) and Ian Belton on bass guitar. Featuring Amanda Vincent on keyboards (though for the life of me I don't know who's doing them in this video), QED evoked a sound that to this day evokes in me a tremendous feeling of nostalgia (because, really, what is this site but a musical nostalgia choo-choo train?). They only released one album, Animal Magic, before disbanding (Jenny Morris went on to great acclaim as a solo artist) -- and "Everywhere I Go" was their first single. And here it is. Love Morris' purple coat!

qed

"everywhere i go"

animal magic

Yeah, yeah -- I know everybody on the planet knows who Men At Work are, and can probably sing "Down Under" line for line at the drop of a dime. But I don't care. I'd like to think of today's post as a bit of comfort food, if you will, and since I've started with the year 1983, I figured I'd stick with it. Think of it as something of a theme. So. Men At Work. From the southern Melbourne suburb of St Kilda (love that 'hood), they only released three albums: 1981's Business As Usual, 1983's Cargo, and 1985's Two Hearts. Today's track comes from Cargo, and personally I find it to be quite an effective anti-war song that still holds water. I'm speaking of course of "It's A Mistake," and here it is for your listening pleasure.

men at work

"it's a mistake"

cargo

Though best known for their (rather crappy) 1986 cover of Lipps Inc.'s "Funky Town," Melbourne's Pseudo Echo back in the day composed music that was extraordinarily similar to the output of fellow 80's stalwarts Ultravox. Their debut record, 1984's Autumnal Park featured many high points in early 80's synth-pop, but none rose so high as their hit single "Listening." I remember back in 1985 when I first bought the album (entitled Pseudo Echo in the United States) -- I probably bugged the shit out of my parents by having kept lifting the needle and going back to start this track over and over and over again. It's a great tune; I haven't heard it in a long time, but it's great to go back to a priceless pop gem. Here's "Listening" for your listening pleasure on this gorgeous and sunny Saturday afternoon. Cheers!

pseudo echo

"listening"

autumnal park

R.I.P. James Freud.

It is with great sadness today that I have to report that James Freud, the troubled lead vocalist of Australian band Models, has killed himself after losing his battle with drinking. He was 51 years old. Second Drawer Up extends its deepest condolences to surviving friends and family. It's only been one week since Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame; Mr Freud declined to attend the ceremony, citing "other commitments."

Based out of Melbourne, Models began in the late 70's, pushing forward an interesting hybrid of post-punk laced new wave music, with a touch of glam and a propensity for lyrics that veered towards the macabre. Then, in 1982, James Freud took over lead vocals from Sean Kelly, and with the release of 1983's The Pleasure of Your Company, the band began to experiment with more straightforward electronic impulses. Mr Freud stayed on until the band's hiatus in 1988; rejoining them for a brief spell in the early naughts, then in 2006 and, for the final time, in 2008. He'd always had a weakness for the bottle, and sadly the bottle has finally won out.


So R.I.P. dear James Freud. You've left a lasting contribution to the world of modern music, and you will be sorely missed.

models

"i hear motion"

the pleasure of your company

Happy Birthday, Roland Orzabal!

picture: last.fm

Guess who turned forty-nine today? That's right - it's Roland Orzabal from the legendary Bath, UK electronic duo Tears For Fears. So today I'd like to take a look at his (and his partner-in-crime Curt Smith's) certifiable masterpiece The Hurting. I don't know about you, but thinking about it (and then listening to it) make me quite excited!

Sure, Tears For Fears are probably best known for their later work, such as Songs From The Big Chair with its rapid-fire pow-pow-pow of hits "Shout," "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," and "Mothers Talk." These are great songs in their own right, and I have to admit that they're really quite catchy. Please though, don't get me started on the dreck that followed after - namely "Sowing The Seeds of Love" and "Woman In Chains." Let's just say - uh, not so good, guys. But that's just me.

Anyway! Back to The Hurting. Released in 1983, this delightfully morose and inquisitively sensitive record was based in part on the writings of a psychotherapist by the name of Arthur Janov, who had written a book entitled "The Primal Scream." Orzabal and Smith, who had both grown up in troubled homes without their fathers, found in Janov's writings a way to work out their unresolved unhappinesses. Even their name comes from the good doctor's oeuvre: he had written that a good way to get crap out of your system was tears as a replacement for fears. So right there is a reason this record is so damn special - it's a concept album based on the works of a psychotherapist designed to chase out the demons of a spectacularly unhappy childhood.

Surprisingly, though, The Hurting is not necessarily a depressing listen. Sure, the lyrics themselves revolve around such dispiriting themes such as abandonment, loss, sorrow, madness, tension, and nervous breakdowns (Orzabal's father fell victim to one such breakdown after suffering most of his life with arterial sclerosis). But the music - the music! Utilizing a decent mixture of synths, sequencers, live and programmed drums, and guitar, there's a distinct ebullience present in these recordings. "Mad World," for instance, while it features a lyric stating that "the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had," still soars with its tantalizing mixture of tribal drums, brooding synths, and driving beat. "Pale Shelter" grooves along with a lovely acoustic guitar and bass backup, whilst synths noodle in the background. Curt does sing lines like, "And I can't operate on this failure when all I want to be is completely in command," but not in a mopey way at all. It's all an interesting juxtaposition, to be sure. Even arguably the saddest song of the bunch, the poppy "Suffer The Children," sung to the father who's abandoned his child, features in its coda a chorus of singing children, their voices (one of whom belongs to Orzabal's daughter) flitting about high in the cloudy sky like brightly colored birds. (Maybe I've seen The Shawshank Redemption a few times, ya reckon?)

So Happy Birthday, Mr Orzabal. By facing your fears (by exchanging them for tears) and exorcizing the demons of your unhappy upbringing with a band-mate who shared your passion, you've created a piece of art that will stand the test of time. I, for one, would like to thank you. We here at Second Drawer Up salute you!

And, in true Second Drawer Up fashion, I'd like to share with my delightful readers (you know who you are) a single from The Hurting. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith from Tears For Fears with their single "Suffer The Children." Enjoy!

Correction: I have been informed by an anonymous commentator that it is, indeed, Mr Orzabal's wife, not his daughter, who is providing background vocals on "Suffer The Children." My mistake! Cheers, Mr or Ms Anonymous!

The Chauffeur.

Gather around, children. I'd like to tell you a tale that goes all the way back to the early 1980s, when the "M" in MTV stood for a little something historians like to call "music." Five young lads in the faraway (well, not too faraway if you live there) land of Birmingham, England decided to form a pop band. Taking their cue from the 1968 Roger Vadim-directed cult film Barbarella, they named themselves after the character Doctor Durand-Durand (yes, they removed the lower-case "d"s), and a cultural juggernaut was born.


From the very beginning, Duran Duran knew they wanted to be at the forefront of the world of music videos, and they dove into it with energy and zeal. For their second album, the 100% enjoyable 1982 hit-fest Rio, they decided (along with noted Australian film director Russell Mulcahy - director of Aussie schlock horror flick Razorback) decided to record a video for just about every song on the album. So it was that Mulcahy directed the videos for "Lonely In Your Nightmare," "Rio," "Hungry Like The Wolf," "Save A Prayer," and "My Own Way," along with many other Duran Duran singles from their first four albums. (Hell, Simon le Bon almost got killed during the filming of the post-apocalyptic "Wild Boys!")


But one video from that album that will stick in my memory forever was one that wasn't filmed by Mulcahy. That track would be "The Chauffeur." Directed by British animator and film director Ian Emes (if you've ever seen Pink Floyd perform live, his animation plays behind the band), I think the video for "The Chauffeur" stands out not only as a fine accompaniment to one of Duran Duran's most atmospheric songs, but also as a brilliant piece of art. Yeah, I said it. A Brilliant Piece of Art.


For one, it's the only video that doesn't feature the band in it. (Also, "The Chauffeur" is the only song on the album that doesn't have the title in the lyrics). Shot in a sumptuous black-and-white sheen that brings to mind the photography of Anton Corbijn, Herb Ritts, and the fetishistic BDSM work of Helmut Newton, the short film follows two hauntingly beautiful women as they dress up in revealing lingerie and traverse the London night by car and by tunnel on their way to a hot lesbian encounter in a parking garage. Once there, they're met by a third woman, a female chauffeur in an open-busted corset, whose erotic dance was designed to emulate Charlotte Rampling's freaking hot dance of the seven veils in the 1974 film The Night Porter.


Everything in this video rings awesome. The cinematography is crisp and clear, the framing is artfully efficient, the pacing matches the song's quite well, and - let's face it - the actresses are stunning.


Just a friendly note, kids, that this video is definitely NSFW. And in case you've ever wondered about that rather sinister voice in the background of "The Chauffeur"'s final coda (a wonderfully intense aural experience in its own right) - it's not Simon le Bon saying those things. It's simply an old nature show, with the narrator intoning seriously about "insects in the grass." So now you know.
Enjoy, then, 1983's "The Chauffeur" from Rio. You'll be glad you did.

Duran Duran - The Chauffer (uncensored)
Uploaded by kikojorda. - Explore more music videos.

Electro Classic Jukebox: Real Life.

Like a brief and sadly short-lived flare, Melbourne, Australia's Real Life did their damnedest to stake out a claim for awesome Australian synth-pop in the heady year of 1983. Unfortunately, their foray didn't work out so well - only two singles sprung from their debut album Heartland. But in the land of '80s synthesizer music, sometimes it only took a singular stab at genius to make a piece of art stick into the heart of the public's subconsciousness. Thus I introduce unto you their singular master track, "Send Me An Angel".

Ladies and gentlemen; if you haven't heard this track before, then please close your eyes and let this lovely song wash over you. If you have (and I'm pretty sure you have), then listen to it afresh. It's a great fucking song; with a whistling synth, a reedy voice, and a catchy-as-hell chorus.

The Beauty And The Beast - style video doesn't hurt things, either. You gotta love the mist-smothered forests, of which I'm positive Melbourne is swarming with! Here's Real Life with their career-defining single, "Send Me An Angel".

Review: Construction Time Again.

Released on 22 August, 1983, Depeche Mode's third studio album Construction Time Again remains, for me, at least, one of the benchmarks for 80s synth-pop perfection in both sound and mood. This album also marks Alan Wilder's debut in the band and, listening to the aural soundscape on parade here, it's easy to tell what magic it was that he brought to their style. Let's give it a listen then, and I'll try and tell you exactly why it is that you should (if you don't have everything Depeche Mode has done already) add this to your collection of electronic oeuvres.

Savaged by critics upon its release (The British press was never terribly fond of Depeche Mode's output, and would usually use their column inches to heap ridicule on the band), Construction Time Again is an important piece of work, not only for bringing Alan Wilder (who replaced Vince Clarke, one of the founding members, who'd left Depeche Mode after they'd recorded their first album Speak & Spell) into the fold, but also for the fact that on this album they'd finally found the sound they were looking for. Whereas their second album A Broken Frame was Martin Gore's first chance to compose full-time, it still felt fragmented and unfulfilled, a mere ghost of what they were capable of. To this day, A Broken Frame still feels just ... underwhelming. Sorry, Depeche, but that's the way I feel. So let us take a look at the sound borne from the machinations of the newly-minted foursome.

Listening to the album in its entirety, one of the first aspects of Construction Time Again's framework one would probably notice would be the heavy usage of samples, and how industrial it all sounds. Alongside their longtime producer Daniel Miller (of Mute Records fame, and also sole member of The Normal, known for "Warm Leatherette") and engineer Gareth Jones, they would visit junkyards, construction sites, iron bridges, and factories armed with a reel-to-reel tape recorder, hammers, and drumsticks. To this day it makes me smile to imagine them wandering around and beating metal and concrete with hammers, capturing the sound in a microphone, and using those sounds to compose a large proportion of an album. In fact, track number three, the nearly six-minute "Pipeline," is made up entirely of these captured sounds!

Something else that strikes me about this record would have to be the inclusion of two Alan Wilder-penned tracks, "The Landscape Is Changing" and "Two Minute Warning." The latter, a chilling parable about a nuclear holocaust, and the former, a treatise on the destruction of the environment, give Construction Time Again a rather timeless feel. In fact (and I hate to use this phrase, but it'll have to do), the record comes across as a concept album. "Shame" touches on the guilt of Western Civilization as it wrings its hands at the utter poverty of Third World nations.

"Do you ever get that feeling

When the guilt begins to hurt?

Seeing all the children,

Wallowing in dirt,"

Dave Gahan sings in his deep, pained voice over minimalist drumbeats and a desolate, throbbing bass line. Then there's the timeless classic "Everything Counts," a meditation on corporate greed; "Told You So," a rollicking and seethingly angry track that confronts religious radicalism; and "And Then ... ," about picking up the pieces of a fragmented world and how "to put it all down and start again, from the top to the bottom, and then ..." Hell, did I say Construction Time Again is a timely record? Nearly thirty years after its release, we as a society are still going through a lot of this shit!

Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, and Alan Wilder really touched on a nerve in the universe of electronic music with this metallic masterpiece, and I heartily implore you to (if you haven't already) add this gem to your collection. You'll thank me later!

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is Depeche Mode performing "Told You So" live on The Tube in 1984. Enjoy!