The 1981 Listening Post - Japan - Tin Drum

 Japan - Tin Drum

#585

By Lori Alley

Japan 

Tin Drum

Genre: New Wave/Post Punk

Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Lori’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Highlights:

Still Life in Mobile Homes

Look, I’m the old lady in the Subaru parked next to you at the grocery store playing “Pay

To Cum” on my Spotify. So I’m not exactly conservative in my musical tastes. But this is so

unpleasant, as an “experimental” album that it sounds like a seizure decided to make a record.

Is it “good”? Yes, the musicianship is VERY good. It is a swing and a miss? Yes.

According to Wiki, this is the final studio album for Japan, who met (in a Spinal Tap-ian

way, picture Nigel playing “All The Way Home”) at Catford Boys School in England, playing 2

chord songs to start their career. Eventually they did indeed become “Big in Japan” but really

struggled to make a real splash in England or the US. The only slight breakout hit was “Ghosts”

which I didn’t find appealing. Only recently has this album been lauded for its brilliance in some

circles, but equally criticized in others. I’m a HUUUUUGE Eno fan (lots of that influence here)

but something’s just wrong. I think if it was a purely instrumental album it would be amazing.

But there’s just TOO MUCH overlay, and it’s too referential on too many levels. You know, like if

you tried to make a Japanese version of Bangers and Mash. Musically, it’s overworked,

overthought, overdressed.

The lead singer, David Sylvian just gets in the way. His voice is not interesting and some

writers have criticized his Bryan Ferry impression. This is produced by Steve Nye who also

produced some tracks on one of my faves - XTC’s Mummer among others- and you can hear

some of that influence here. The musicianship is not the problem for me, it’s the vocals, the

lyrics and the way the songs are put together. It’s like that ongoing 20 year argument I’ve had

with a friend; you DO NOT MIX PASTA SHAPES in the same dish goddamnit!!!!! It’s too muddy

and you can’t ever settle on the groove.

Or maybe it’s like if Ted Bundy had simultaneously used poison. It’s just overkill. You’d

have to think, “come on guy, pick a lane and stay in it”! It’s not that they aren’t good at what

they’re doing, it’s just too many things that they are doing at once.

It may be that reading and researching this band’s history is more satisfying than

listening to them. I actually found an actual RESEARCH article online about this album. Like a

full-on academic research review (also interesting). You know, like how many English bands

were sort of Duran-Duran/Eno/Bowie/glam rock etc but then also had a Japanese/Asian

influence? Not many I guess. So there’s that.

Fun facts: They had another album in 1991, for example under the new name “Rain,

Tree, Crow.” They also won a BBC Radio 6 award many years later for Tin Drum as “Best

Album.” So many people disagree with me, some agree. One can at least say that this album

has spawned some true discussion about it’s merits.

Disclaimer: In the last 9 months I’ve done nothing but work, run, and bingewatch the

birdlike antics of young hopefuls for 8 seasons of American’s Next Top Model so perhaps I’m no

arbiter of taste. I’ll be interested in the arguments.

https://open.spotify.com/album/71R4tl3qYgZVvdlwE7Fxs6?si=OMkpWpvZRVCSFREKlpUfAg

The 1981 Listening Post - The Cars - Shake It Up

 The Cars - Shake It Up

#541

November 6 1981

By Lori Alley

The Cars 

Shake It Up

Genre: New Wave 

Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Rating 3 ish out of 5

Highlights: 

Since You’re Gone 

I’m Not the One 

A Dream Away 

Clunker: Cruiser 

I’m kind of bossy so I’m going to tell you the optimum way to fall in love with this album: Imagine you’re in the fall of your senior year, and you’ve pretty much had just about enough of high school, and your damn parents. You might spend most mornings trying to decide what to wear (while listening to the The Cars on vinyl) and lamenting the fact that nothing looks very good because your thighs are just WRONG (did I HAVE to eat the whole bag of salt n’ vinegar chips? And what’s that on my face????). Your uncle went to Florida on vacation and he left his beater shift stick Subaru in your driveway. Yeah, it has a cassette player. Yeah, you can’t really drive a stick shift. But there’s NO WAY you can handle taking the bus again. You choose, maybe Bowie, no….Shake It Up for the cassette player and head off to school, stripping the gears in this car and starting to feel better since, hey, it’s THE CARS AND YOU’RE DRIVING YOURSELF TO SCHOOL!!!!! Once you pull into the high school parking lot, you’re feeling better than your usual low-grade moderate depression that nobody ever really notices and head into Algebra class with Since You’re Gone in your head. 

I mean, that’s not the ONLY way to listen but I recommend it because I’m listening to it now and it doesn’t quite have the same punch. STILL! What was it about The Cars that was so appealing back then? Honestly, I’d like to write them a love letter, they way you might to your first love who sort of just faded away. “Dear The Cars, thanks for all of the memories. You were more important to me than you know.” Something like that. I think this is the answer: They manage to make catchy love songs sound somehow dark, dour, dangerous. Look, you wouldn’t think a song called “Shoo Be Doo” (from Candy-O) would sound foreboding, but you’d be wrong. That’s quite an appeal for a teenager, this is music that was edgy for it’s time, it had a new dark, VERY DREAMY sound but the lyrics and the romance and the catchiness of the hook combined for something that was really upbeat at the same time. Just like teenager-ness feels. When one Cars song has a dirgelike beginning, don’t give up! Before you know it there’s a super catchy fun turnaround of attitude and all of a sudden it’s fun! Want to dance? It’s like they say about the weather in Maine, “if you don’t like it just wait a few minutes.” ( A Dream Away is a great example of this). 

This album seems like it might be a contract obligation, although I can’t prove this. It’s produced by the ultra-prolific Roy Thomas Baker (no, not the guy in Hud). He practically produced every single album in the world. Okay, that’s an exaggeration but from Cheap Trick to Devo, he’s your guy. It’s the 4th studio album and doesn’t really have the energy of the first two. It’s ALMOST lounge -esque. But that’s okay, they didn’t sell their souls or anything. The radio hit was of course, Shake It Up with the unfortunate choice of Cruiser for the B side. Was this a cry for help? Why do they always do that?????? 

No matter what you think of The Cars you have to admit they were the essential 80’s band. They had the look, the dark guy (Ocasek who marries the beautiful model), the blonde guy (Orr) and the nerdy guy (Elliot something…) . Hey, wait a minute, am I describing Wayne’s World? To sum this album up, it’s well produced, great lyrics, songs all together so-so. Some gems in the mix, mostly parts of songs that are good. I wouldn’t say this is their most consistent album, but I still consider it good driving music- not too challenging, not too distracting but interesting enough. And with all the choices out there, I guess that’s saying something.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4lDlCfyIhAXwP3hO2GVUaw?si=q71w6OBIScuOEUhzu4U1Yg

The 1981 Listening Post - Moebius and Plank - Material

 Moebius and Plank - Material

#254

By Lori Alley

Moebius and Plank 

Material

Genre: Progressive electronic

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Lori’s Rating 3.5

Highlight: Conditioner

This album only has 5 songs ranging in length from 4ish minutes to 8ish minutes for a total play time of 34.17.  Conditioner is worth the listen, given what one reviewer called an “unexpected touch of Teutonic Wit.”  There are actually a few Oompahs in Conditioner.  It has a sound reminiscent of cartoon background music while the characters are running and running and running.  The rest of the album is only so-so, I found the other songs boring, although Osmo-Fantor is sort of dreamy.  I had my hopes too high for Nordostliches Gefuhl because it translates to Northeastern Feeling.  Since it’s currently 35 degrees and cloudy here in Maine I thought it might bring some flavor to my day.  But really it’s just sort of dull.  Toll Kuhn (Reckless)  is OOOOKAAYYYYY  because it’s a bit more lively.  Maybe I had more fun translating these titles than listening to them.  HOWEVER!  I really appreciate this music, and I totally understand how groundbreaking this duo was.  It’s like a lot of great art/music; the container, or, approach, is as important as the contents.  It’s easy to imagine how this must have rattled the music world 40 years ago.  I don’t think you need to listen to the whole thing unless you’re really into the progression and history of the development, this is an important stop on that road.  But you’d get the gist just by a few samples.  

https://open.spotify.com/album/3uNDKtotqHklTLzmRaS1IX?si=17APvUUGS_m_SE7GkILm-g

The 1981 Listening Post - Brian Eno and David Byrne - My Life In The Bush of Ghosts

 Brian Eno and David Byrne - My Life In The Bush of Ghosts 

#62

By Lori Alley

February 1981

Brian Eno and David Byrne

My Life In The Bush of Ghosts - 

Genre: Experimental/Avant Rock

Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Lori’s Rating 5+++++

Highlights: 

Help Me Somebody

America Is Waiting

Mountain of Needles

The Jezebel Spirit

Qu’ran

  Mea Culpa 

                       Okay!  All of them are highlights!!  Don’t make me choose!!!!!

Bibs up everyone, I’m gonna slobber all over this (sorry for that image, I think this album is a timeless work of art).  I was a junior in high school when this album came out.  Let’s just say that my friends and I were obsessed enough that we routinely quoted lines from it  - “do you hear voices?”  and Jim Vallette adopted his memorable new persona  “ Jezebel.”  

I learned somewhere along the way that the definition of a classic is that it can stand the test of time.  This album does that and , I would argue, is MORE relevant to the 2020 zeitgeist than it was 40 years ago. It’s almost as if it could predict the future.   If I made a movie “2020, The Year In Review” this would be it’s soundtrack.  And nobody would be the wiser (or want to watch the movie, either).  To me it sounds as fresh as it did all those years ago.  Side note:  For fans of this album I also highly recommend The Catherine Wheel (David Byrne) which is equally addictive and came out in Sept. of that year).  

The cool thing about this album, as weird as it seems at first glance, is that you can dance to it in your garage with a bunch of drunk people.  It is at once trippy, interesting, catchy, earwormy and yet somehow still unfathomable.  That’s a particularly Eno-esque trait, I know, but I think My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts is the ultimate example of his ability to do that musically.  Makes you think “hey wait, what IS this?  And yet also want to play it while you do housework.  

Not to get political, because really, enough already, but America Is Waiting.  

https://open.spotify.com/album/0uWpq6h99OaylNLXe2KPTR?si=xfE-7QbkQ7qpbeX_9x3miw

The 1981 Listening Post - Todd Rundgren - Healing

 Todd Rundgren - Healing

#32

By Lori Alley

January 28 1981

Todd Rundgren

Healing

Genre: Theatrical rock

Allen’s Rating: 3.5

Lori’s Rating 2.5

Highlight:  

Pulse (kind of Skylarky)

Clunky McClunkersons: 

Golden Goose

Shine

This is Todd Run’s 9th studio album and apparently was launched as a concert show along the eastern US, backed by local choirs.  So it’s some kind of project, probably during a midlife crisis would be my guess.  Okay Todd, how do I say this, I’m no musical expert but YIKES, what is this??.  I really like his voice, the tone is so unique, but some of the calisthenics in these songs are simply beyond his vocal ability.  Typically, I think of Todd as the male version of Carol King, “Hello It’s Me” and his other hits, well, they’re catchy and pleasant and sort of great.  But otherwise, (and I’m sure this really ate at him) I never quite noticed him.  For me he’s most famous for his production of XTC’s Skylarking.  I mean, GENIUS, ammiright?????  But this project is simply indulgent and kind of strange.  I gave it a middling rating, because it’s just sort of that.  If you love Todd you won’t hate this album but it probably won’t be your go-to.  

https://open.spotify.com/album/28Y7qITdIQ1c6B0m8RNNkJ?si=_4o_NM95RJOfJiSE41G1ag

The 1980 Listening Post - Yello - Solid Pleasure

 Yello - Solid Pleasure

#411

by Lori Alley

October 15 1980

Yello

Solid Pleasure

Genre: Synthpop

Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Rating: 2 out of 5

Highlight: 

Smirak's Train

TOUCH MY MONKEY!! Sorry, the lead singer of this Swiss band is a millionaire/gambler/dilettante named Dieter Meier, so there was practically a gun to my head. (I would highly recommend watching some videos of this guy dancing). 

I have only heard of Yello because of their single "Oh Yeah" -you know, that song in Ferris Bueller's Day Off?   I can imagine the royalties from that song alone paid for a lot of drum machines and trips to Vegas.  So, there are probably a TON of Yello fans out there, maybe like people who love Star Trek and Dr. Who.  I mean, I don't get it, but I get that you get it. 

Actually I LOVE techno but not this, sorry to say.  There were three singles from this album, and they are indeed the most tolerable of the bunch - Night Flanger, Bimbo, and Bostich.  Other than Smirak's Train which is a hidden masterpiece, the rest is a true Musik smorgasbord.  It's totally ALL OVER THE PLACE!  Cleanup in aisle seven! 

Okay, so let's say you want to break up with someone, but you're just not up for the hassle of being honest.  I'm suggesting that you send them "Downtown Samba" and convince them that the moment you heard it you fell in love, and that it's the anthemic background music to your life together.  It is the most insufferable piece of dreck I have ever heard. It really is a samba with lines like "Hey you, over there, watch me, come closer!"  It's so creepy it's practically wearing a Members Only jacket and polyester pants. 

I guarantee this breakup method, or your money back.  It actually ends with voices talking over the music like My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts except instead of being interesting it's actually the stuff of nightmares.  I'm not kidding. 

Here's another one:  "Bananas to the Beat." Just, no.  And really, what ARE these crazy kids going to do next?  Maybe a few instrumentals like Magneto, and a song called "Massage" which sounds like meditation chanting (I seriously do usually love meditation chanting, but this is just sorta weird). 

Bimbo isn't TERRIBLE, imagine if Adrien Belew and Devo were at an awards show doing a Shaft tribute song.  Night Flanger is hovering very close to copyright infringement of the Doors, and "Reverse Lion" might be where 'good' experimental music crosses the line into 'Dahmer' experimental.   Most of the songs are just really derivative, strange, and kooky.  Okay, okay, before everyone gets mad at me, I do have to say, listen to “Smirak's Train”.  If you're at all an ambient music person, this one's pretty lulling and addictive.  I gotta give them that. And if I were being even more generous I can see that they pushed some boundaries, blah blah blah and probably influenced some future generations of techno bands. 

If you were throwing an ironic 80's party though, these guys would be a must (but don't forget to mask!).  I can see that this just maybe didn't age well.  

https://open.spotify.com/album/4ybpV482xl3I2cZe6xBpQW?si=-0UzICwySOaJTH6_TUAqLg

The 1980 Listening Post - XTC - Black Sea

XTC - Black Sea 

#376

by Lori Alley

September 12 1980

XTC 

Black Sea

Genre: Rock/Art Rock? 

Allen’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Lori’s Rating 4 out of 5 

Highlights: 

Respectable Street

Generals and Majors 

Rocket From A Bottle

Paper and Iron

Living Through Another Cuba

Clunker: Language in Our Love 

This is XTC's 4th album and was released while they were still touring. It was their second highest charting album and with only eleven songs is a quick listen. I'll just put it out there right now;

XTC is my favorite band of all time. 

I mean, I LOVELOVELOVELOVE them. They are the sound of my high school years, college, and oddly enough my 40's.  

They are the band we'd listen to in my basement after a day of ice fishing and Yukon Jack, while it was snowing hard outside and Linda Marie Parker and I would be playing records and hoping Dylan will make a run to the Mainway for another bottle of cheap Chard and a pack of smokes.

I don't really know what it is about them but they've resonated with me since I was 15 and first heard Drums and Wires. It was like finally hearing music that really really clicked. I am like that weird stalker fan that's pretty sure we're best friends, and really, how have they lived without ME their entire lives?! But as we know, there's no accounting for taste. So, take this into account with this review which I will serve up with a dash of fawning and a tablespoon of gush.

When I first heard this album it was just like all the others, I immediately loved it. But I could tell something different had happened to them, like a deeper, heavier, more daring sound. I remember thinking, this is XTC, but somehow with better layers. This is where the roots of English Settlement started. (Am I overdoing the pomposity of my own opinion? Maybe. ) I like the transitions between songs, in fact, the transitions, as the next song starts, are for me sometimes the highlights of their work. When Respectable Street ends and Generals and Majors starts, I can hardly contain myself. I hope this is an intentional choice by the band or the producer. (I find this phenomenon to be true for me on all of their albums, when Yacht Dance starts, I mean it, just shut up for two seconds.) 

Back to this record - I love the lilty, lyrical sounds, the political lyrics, and that what sounds kooky is actually masterful musicianship. It has moments of sheer exuberance and it's INTERESTING. I guess I realize that I am just not bored by this band. They don't mind changing course (or key) mid-song. SURPRISE! There's something so exciting about that. 

Black Sea is where XTC finds their more defined identity, ironically just as Andy P. is starting to fall apart. The dirgy and clunky Language in Our Love should not be included in any album, this is their one mistake here and has resulted in my 4 rating. But otherwise they'd only have 10 songs and that's not quite enough I guess. Rocket in a Bottle and Paper and Iron have the dark weirdness of Drums and Wires, you can REALLY hear that sound. But otherwise there's a lighter, catchier more upbeat sound to some of the other songs, almost with a sense of humor. The ska-esque Living Through Another Cuba is almost joyful despite the song topic. Same with Optimism's Flames - it's almost funny.

I don't know if XTC is a band that you either love or hate, but I'd defend them to the death, and I can't even really articulate why. In a world of 80's radio and pop songs they were like a drink in the desert for me, they showed me that there was a whole world of people doing good things with instruments, using their powers for good, and not evil. Whatever mishaps they had, mistakes they made (Rag and Bone Buffet), I forgive them! At least they bring some smarts to the table, and a kind of fearlessness, a type of genius, and originality in their risky choices.

That's how I see it anyway. Let the arguing begin!

https://open.spotify.com/album/6sLuXZdrb1cmsAnfrmgbrU?si=iWJsgTQNQfiFTphF58Om4w

The 1980 Listening Post - Swell Maps - ...in "Jane from Occupied Europe"

 Swell Maps - ...in "Jane from Occupied Europe"

#292

by Lori Alley

Swell Maps

…in “Jane from Occupied Europe"

Genre: Postpunk Masterful Caucophony

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Lori’s Rating 4.5/5

Highlights:
International Rescue
Border Country
Cake Shop Girl
Collision with a Frogman

Okay Swell Maps, where have you been all my life?  This is QUINTESSENTIAL punk/post punk.  Look at them this way: if really really good abstract art was a sound, it might be this.  Or, pare down the Buzzcocks, add a tiny bit of Eno's later Drawn From Life (esp. Robot Factory), then mix in music for a 1960's spy movie and you've got this album.  According to The Wiki, they influenced Sonic Youth, Pavement and the Replacements. 

 I get it.  I would have LOST MY SHIT if I'd stumbled across this in high school (although further research reveals that their first album "A Trip To Marineville" may have appealed more.  The track Midget Submarine appears on that record first).  

The Swell Maps also made a few instrumental songs for this album, they're mechanical but with a lilt and although slightly wandering,  and would not be irritating background music on a long drive, or while taking a shower.  Here's a line from Cake Shop Girl "How'd you like to buy a wedding cake for you and me?"  I mean, simply charming and very CHEEKY.  I would call this record adventurous, ground breaking, smart, SWELL, hilarious and SPOT ON if I were a music reviewer.   Oh wait!  I am!  I can't say enough about the originality or authenticity of this sound.  It's hard, as always, to contextualize something that came out in 1980 in 2020, but I think because of it's strength it is a really great, and still fresh somehow, reminder of the times.  I would also recommend listening to The Peel Sessions for more good stuff from The Swell Maps.  You're welcome!



https://open.spotify.com/album/4e9bxElchi4bcv9HwxijnS?si=OLJedYwgQFGl-77lhrUFug