Visage - HEARTS AND KNIVES
HEARTS AND KNIVES, Visage’s first album in 29 years, has to be one of
the most unexpected comebacks of all times.
I loved Visage the first time around– A great singles band that featured
frontman Steve Strange with a backing from musicians from other bands
(especially Ultravox and Magazine). Most
noticeably Midge Ure who actually chose joining Ultravox over staying with
Visage whom he was already affiliated with
Visage’s return does feature Ure on a couple tracks but more importantly
Steve Strange and his assembled band deliberately uses 80’s technology. The end result is full of burping, beeping
synths and sampled guitar swalls. Strange sings about beauty and fashion and
danger as if it was 1982, The New Romantics were still in charge, and the club
he ran Blitz was still open for business.
The closest thing to this I think is the Ultravox reunion album BRILLIANT
from last year. I wrote about that here http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-few-thoughts-on-ultravox-and-their.html . Like that record, HEARTS AND KNIVES sounds
like it was released back in the 80’s and the intervening years didn’t happen.
A really satisfying record for those who appreciate 80’s music such as
me.
Still Corners - STRANGE
PLEASURES
As sweet as this music (and it is sweet), it is the distance that hooks
the listener. Still Corners’ Tessa Murray’s laidback vocals and Greg
Hughes atmospheric arrangement create songs that function as soundscapes. Modern indie meets 80’s boogie such as ”All I
Know” and “Future Age” are offset by
longer moodier denser passion plays such as “The Trip”. The overall effect is a bit 1980’s in places
and also 90’s as some of the faster songs remind me of Dubstar. This is meticulously pretty music not clean
without personality but hooky and mind altering.
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