OMD: S&D

Yaaaaaawn. They can do much better imo.

on first listen the album seems surprisingly good! or am i just relieved that it is not as awful as i feared it might be? who knows.

What do you think of the song where Andy McClusky starts getting 'sexy' (Pulse)?

I thought The Right Side was the only good track on it but given that it's essentially the same as Europe Endless off Trans Europe Express, it fucking well should be.

Unfortunately, I found the album totally underwhelming and boring. Which was obviously to be expected, but you try to go into these things with some optimism, y'know.

Definitely search: the debut, Organisation, Architecture & Morality, Dazzle Ships, Junk Culture, Sugar Tax.

The first four albums are excellent, with Junk Culture and Sugar Tax in particular being very underrated.

As for the rest, even though the albums are quite patchy, there's still some great songs in there. Here's my individual song searches for the rest.

CRUSH (1985)
Search: So In Love, Secret, 88 Seconds In Greensboro, The Native Daughters Of The Golden West
Destroy: the rest
(The 12" version of La Femme Accident is searchable though, I think it's much better and punchier than the album/single cut)

THE PACIFIC AGE (1986)
Search: Stay (The Black Rose And The Universal Wheel), The Dead Girls, Southern, Flame Of Hope, Goddess Of Love
Destroy: the rest

LIBERATOR (1993)
Destroy this album completely, it is truly rancid. Andy McCluskey trying to keep up with the kids and ending up sounding like 2 Unlimited.

UNIVERSAL (1996)
Search: Universal, Walking On The Milky Way, The Moon & The Sun, The Black Sea, Very Close To Far Away, That Was Then
Destroy: the rest

HISTORY OF MODERN (2010)
Definitely search: New Babies New Toys, History Of Modern (Part I), History Of Modern (Part II), RFWK, New Holy Ground, Bondage Of Fate.

Destroy completely: Sometimes, The Future The Past And Forever After, Pulse, The Right Side?

However 'If You Want It', 'Sister Marie Says' and 'Green' may be of some interest to some fans.

Comprehensive! I enjoy much of History Of Modern as much as Junk Culture. Good record!

Somehow the existence of Sugar Tax has escaped me completely to this point! *searches*

Sugar Tax, for me, is easily the best of the "solo McCluskey" OMD albums. No, it's not an artistic statement in the same way that their output up until and including "Dazzle Ships" is, but I think it's just as good as "Junk Culture" in the 'it's just good pop' stakes, although it's a different record to "Junk Culture". With "Junk Culture", they tried to incorporate more of a Latin/Caribbean element into their sound and I thought it worked well for the most part. "Sugar Tax" is more of a straight synth-pop album, but it's a good one in my opinion - I think only the cover of 'Neon Lights' is the only thing I'm not too keen on on there (but there's absolutely no way anybody could improve on the original). It has this reputation of being a full-on 'dance pop' album, but really it's the ballads on "Sugar Tax" that make it for me, and to me are some of my favourite OMD songs: 'All That Glitters', 'Was It Something I Said' (which is about the break-up of the original OMD line-up), 'Then You Turn Away', 'Walking On Air'. I love the upbeat 'Speed Of Light' and the Pet Shop Boys-ness of 'Call My Name' too.

Has anyone seen them on the ongoing reunion tour?

I haven't yet, but the more live footage I watch, the more I'm seriously considering it - they pulled out and dusted off 'Bunker Soldiers' the last time they played live in the UK, if I remember.

I've seen it! Lots of awkward dancing! It is appealing! Paul sings "Souvenir"!

The show I saw was a BLAST. Andy oozes showmanship from his very core. All the hits and more, and nothing too embarrassing from the new-ish period. And yes Paul doing Souvenir is such a scene stealing delight. Although he does have this righteous creepiness about him, as if he's a teenage Salacious Crumb underdogging Andy's Jabba in Linda Hunt's body. All due respect and all.

am I still the only person who loves "(Forever) Live and Die"

ha I guess I could have just read the thread, rock on Geir

Ah, it's one of their worst ever singles in my humble opinion. I personally can't believe they're still playing it live! Apparently the main inspiration behind the song was 'You Sexy Thing' by Hot Chocolate (listen to the bassline). I mean, good on them for branching out and trying something different - but it's not really the type of OMD that I like, and I don't particularly think its a great song in itself.

I love it too Dan

I don't mind that song at all.

Remarkably good the other night. Andy McCluskey in great voice, great attitude, and self-consciously less than great moves. Paul solid, too. Andy was funny, made light of his dancing, and even managed a backhanded complement toward "If You Leave" before the band dispensed with it pretty early in the set. I was impressed. Other guys solid, too.

For sone reason could have sworn Andy was born-again, but apparently he's an atheist. Who knew?

"The Dead Girls" is as stately and creepy as I remember it being when I was a kid

There's a new record coming out early-ish next year, 'English Electric'

http://1.2.3.13/bmi/www.omd-messages.co.uk/omd/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ebglish_electric.jpg

^ That's the sleeve of the forthcoming album English Electric, apparently ^

Very Dazzle Ships-like, you could say. I guess you could also say it looks like the ghost of the Hacienda has thrown up on a piece of cardboard!

Paul Humphreys talks a little bit about the forthcoming album here, since the tour dates have been announced...

http://www.electricity-club.co.uk/blog/?page_id=11506

OMD TO RELEASE NEW RECORD;
ENGLISH ELECTRIC OUT APRIL 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZBNx6e3D_Q

http://bighassle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/OMDPressShotforTour.jpeg

BMG is excited to announce that cornerstones of British electronic music, OMD, will return to jumpstart and rewire the canon with brand new album English Electric. Out April 9, the album was written, recorded, produced and mixed by OMD - Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys. English Electric is a 12-track letter to technology, space, love and a grand return to form for a band whose 1980 hit "Enola Gay" occupied the world's stage at last year's Olympics Opening Ceremony.

As percolating synth-pop is pulled along at different speeds and executed with needle-sharp finesse, late night electro ballads collide with big sounding club cuts on a record which also features three interlude tracks, including dystopian missive "Please Remain Seated" and "Decimal," which is accompanied by this suitably mechanical TRAILER directed by Henning M. Lederer. Bloggers feel free to post.

LP Highlights include the radioactive clatter of "Atomic Ranch" - a song which pokes fun at convention with computerised voices - "Kissing The Machine" - which was composed in collaboration with early influence Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos -"Helen of Troy" - which revives the recurring historical figure motif - and the glacial, uplifting "Metroland," the first single.

As Andy McCluskey says of the album; "The overarching feel tends to be a sense of loss, of melancholia, that things haven't turned out the way you wanted them to, whether it be with technology or personal relationships." The title itself - taken from a British industrial manufacturing company - has further resonance for the pair as locomotive enthusiasts and self-confessed technology geeks.

This is the follow-up to 2010's History of Modern and the band's 12th album to date.

The original four-piece - Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper - will be reunited once again this spring for a string of must-see shows, which commemorate the band's 35th anniversary. Tour dates will be announced soon.

Full tracklisting for English Electric:

1. Please Remain Seated
2. Metroland
3. Night Café
4. The Future Will Be Silent
5. Helen of Troy
6. Our System
7. Kissing The Machine
8. Decimal
9. Stay With Me
10. Dresden
11. Atomic Ranch
12. Final Song

The album is being released on standard CD format, as a deluxe edition - with media book and bonus DVD - vinyl format - ltd edition die cut sleeve on heavyweight vinyl, as a limited edition deluxe tin boxset, as well as digitally.

I'm actually getting myself far more excited for this one that I did for History Of Modern!

*than

I'm excited!

Hope they tour the US again, because they are fantastic live.

Yeah, they're great live. Andy's dance moves have matured from "gawky teenager" to "dancing dad" and I like it. It feels properly celebratory, like a wedding or something

'Decimal' seems to have divided the fans a bit. It surprises me how many OMD fans there are out there who don't seem to rate their more unconventional tracks, like 'VCL XI' or some of the B-sides or the interlude pieces on Dazzle Ships, and instead rate stuff like Liberator... I mean, I love a great pop song as much as anyone else, but I often get the feeling that some folks still can't grasp what made this band so great in their earlier years. It annoys me a bit, especially when it comes from OMD's own fans.

'Decimal' seems to have divided the fans a bit.

Perhaps because in the early days of OMD, or even later during "Dazzle Ships," the novelty of hearing sampled voices was fresh, and now, in 2013, hearing a cacophony of sampled annoying robot voices counting and stuff is much less novel? And perhaps much more annoying? I find it sort of tantamount to listening to traffic noises or construction on the radio when I'm in the car, or phones ringing, talking and texting noises in those PSAs before movies.

Another reason to get excited:

http://pitchfork.com/tv/youtube/13-music-videos/686-orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-dark-atomic-ranch-official-music-video

Yup, it's yet another track from the new record called 'Atomic Ranch'... again, like 'Decimal' it seems to have a Dazzle Ships type of vibe to it. The more I'm hearing from this record, the more I'm convinced I'll like the new OMD record more than what Depeche are going to put out this year. It's been many many years since someone has said THAT, I'm sure!

I love Orcs Must Die. The sequel is even better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbqHGsevqI8

As with 'Decimal', it would seem that 'Atomic Ranch' has split opinion in the OMD fanbase. While (from what I've read so far) the reaction seems to be mostly positive, and people are applauding the band for embracing this side of their music again, there seems to be still a section of OMD's fanbase that would be more content if they just re-wrote 'Enola Gay' over and over again. I'm glad the band are ignoring these people and getting on with doing what they want like they did on the earlier albums.

I was playing Neu! 75 the other day, and a friend asked me if it was OMD...

I was playing Neu! 75 the other day, and a friend asked me if it was OMD...

― Ward Fowler, Tuesday, February 5, 2013 3:56 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, Neu! 75 was a big influence on OMD in their earlier years. I'd rather have someone listen to Neu! 75 and someone ask if it's OMD, rather than someone listen to OMD and say "hey, this sounds like Atomic Kitten!"

Why are there two OMD threads saying the same thing?

I'm really excited by the new songs, it seems they've got their conceptual edge back, and Andy and Paul are working together in the same room rather than firing files at each other. "History of Modern" was ok, but I felt it was an extension of the long overdue "Rarities / Unreleased" project that had been brewing on their website for many years. This is something new, looking back at their past and looking forward too. It's a good year for comebacks. So yes, very happy.

XP I didn't understand "4-Neu" (b side of "Genetic engineering") until I heard "Neu 75".

I have a hell of a lot of time for '4-Neu'... they were coming up with great B-sides without even trying back in those days!

Really not sure how much to extrapolate from two brief not quite songs that feature ample sampled vocals/robot voices/whatever. I have no idea what the album sounds like, but I guarantee it is not an entire album of this. And is unlikely to sound like "Enola Gay," or Neu!, either, for that matter.

You're right, it isn't an entire album of this. They're previewing the interlude tracks first to get people talking and get people (especially fans of their older work) excited for the album. In my case, it's working!

I was just responding to this:

As with 'Decimal', it would seem that 'Atomic Ranch' has split opinion in the OMD fanbase.

Like, there's so little going on here I can't imagine how they could even generate an opinion, let alone split opinion. I'm looking forward to the new album, too, but this by the numbers stuff does nothing for me one way or the other.

I don't think this stuff is by-the-numbers at all. To begin with, OMD haven't been anywhere near this type of music for 28 years or thereabouts. In terms of their whole career, it's actually the style of music that they've done the least.

Yeah, but they've still done it. The fact that someone can say "this sounds like 'Dazzle Ships'" affirms "Dazzle Ships" as a template that can be replicated, and that these clips are looking backward to a specific period and sound. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I don't see it as a terribly distinctive direction. Especially since we're a far distance from the heyday of the Emulator and novelty of early sampling.

Ergo, I'm waiting for the songs, not the soundscapes.

While the nature of the tracks do recall Dazzle Ships in approach, 'Decimal' and 'Atomic Ranch' really sound like none of the tracks from that album. You'd have a point if you said 'Sister Marie Says' sounds like 'Enola Gay' (because it does), but if you were to say something like 'Decimal' sounded like 'Time Zones', then that would undoubtedly be a lazy comparison. They don't sound anything alike.

Ergo, I'm waiting for the songs, not the soundscapes.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, February 5, 2013 4:56 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...and I'm sure you'll be critical of those by saying OMD have done those before, too.

Maybe! But I generally find melodies more ingratiating than audio-collage, which again was novel at the time but today can be done by a five year old with a phone. I have no problem if the hooks and stuff recall old OMD, because they're hooks. But a bunch of chattering sampled voices? I dug it back then but don't need more of it now.

I agree that it's not particularly difficult to do an audio-collage these days, however it's more difficult to come up with a great concept behind an audio-collage, or a reason for an audio-collage to exist. These are obviously interlude tracks on an album that sounds as if it's going to be conceptual, so the tracks are obviously going to make far more sense in the context of the album. Even standalone, though, I like them.

I bet the concept is about how we, like, communicate, man.