S/D: John Foxx

Ha! Ha! Ha! is pretty fantastic, too, esp. the Clustery piano intro of "Distant Smile" before the Lydonesque rant busts in.

John Foxx: what a great phony.

it is available on CD...
you can order it from
www.metamatic.com

I can not listen to it now without hearing him shout Underpants! Underpants!

seven bonus tracks from the album's 7" singles... about three of which are just as good as the main album. the track '20th Century'... the band Adult. really cribbed quite a bit from him. it's the same roland drum machine, same crispy stabs with the attacks cut off, and the lyrics for the track consist merely of Foxx saying over and over again 'It's the 20th... Century!!!!'

I think the songwriting is better on 'golden section', but 'metamatic' is a lot more distinctive/influential. I'm not the hugest fan, but it's certainly fun to know about these records.

does anyone know if this current tour (in glasgow tonight) is him performing the metamatic album in full? i seem to recall hearing it was but can't seem to find any evidence to support this. thanks.

Has anyone heard his latest album, Tiny Colour Movies?
-- Revivalist (Revivalist), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 09:54

yeah it's wicked.

ok. it seems it is.

and it also seems it was last night. bugger!

_Metamatic_ just received a deluxe 2-CD reissue. Figures, I just bought it earlier this year!

I love Ultravox' Systems of Romance, but I'm listening to The Garden and having some trouble getting into it. What do you like about it? Standout songs?

Received via e-mail:

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Artist: John Foxx & Robin Guthrie

Album: Mirrorball

Release date : May 4, 2009 Label: Metamatic Records

Like John Foxx's recent A Secret Life album with Steve Jansen (ex-Japan), his collaboration with Robin Guthrie was an idea that began when the pair performed at a Harold Budd concert in May 2005. Layers of echoes and reverberations are explored on Mirrorball, so that Guthrie's unique playing merges with abstract, often improvised vocals - a style which Foxx has explored on his own Cathedral Oceans albums.

Robin Guthrie has scored two movies in recent years – Greg Araki's Mysterious Skin and the Dany Saadia-directed 3:19. He has recorded instrumental albums Imperial and Continental and also several collaborations with pianist Harold Budd, the most recent being Before The Day Breaks and After The Night Falls in 2007. The former Cocteau Twins guitarist and producer has also performed extensively with his hour-long animated film Lumière, and recently premiered the follow up, Galerie, both films being created as backdrops for his atmospheric, hypnotic guitar-based instrumentals – a style that has been a massive influence on everyone from My Bloody Valentine through to Antony and the Johnsons.

John Foxx has been experimenting as a film-maker (including a pioneering video for L.F.O. and recent performances of his Super 8 project Tiny Colour Movies in Melbourne, London and Barcelona), artist (he has exhibitions this year in London and New York and his images have been used on the covers of books by Anthony Burgess and Salman Rushdie) and musician and he's now developing a growing international reputation as a writer – last year he headlined a major literature festival where he reads extracts from his as yet unfinished novel The Quiet Man.
He is currently working on new material with Paul Daley (Leftfield).

www.robinguthrie.com

www.thequietman.co.uk

"Metamatic" is great. Better than any 70s Ultravox! album and also better than several 80s Ultravox albums.

Foxx / Guthrie track: Luminous on myspace

John Foxx
http://www.myspace.com/foxxmetamatic

Y'know what, The Pleasures of Electricity is his best song-based album after Metamatic. I have spoken.

New album, "Evidence", just out. It'll be his third in 18 months and some of his best work!

Anyone heard all his Louis Gordon albums? I've only heard cuts from compilations which are great. How do the albums stand up?

See my last post. That's the only JF+LG one i know but i love it.

hadn't seen this john foxx box set before:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Virgin-Years-1980-1985/dp/B00L4AKHIU

Neither have I, seems to be going quite cheap as well!

Been digging back into Foxx for a month now – my latest obsession is Cathedral Oceans which is such an interesting concept, transmogrifying memories of singing in dilapidated Anglo churches as a choir boy into these epic ambient canticles. "Golden Green," the closing cut from volume II, is a particularly awesome, and vocoded, example.

Would love to get the box, or at least the DVDs with the surround mixes.

I really hope he does more with The Maths, those albums are jewels in his crown.

i'm convinced that John Foxx stole his look from Patricia Franklin in Carry on Girls

http://youtu.be/9Z886x_-ipk

that was meant to link to 45:17

I really hope he does more with The Maths, those albums are jewels in his crown.

http://zackdagoba.bandcamp.com/

He's an excellent foil for Foxx on the Maths records.

I like the Guthrie and Budd collabs – the guy does textural ambient well. But I'm all about the Cathedral Oceans at present.

I really hope he does more with The Maths, those albums are jewels in his crown.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, February 4, 2015 4:24 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Me too. The more I listen to Interplay, the more I'm convinced it's one of the best albums he's ever made!

If you consider Ultravox it's own thing, I'd rate "Interplay" behind only "Metamatic" and ahead of "The Garden". The thing about the Maths trilogy is they're so consistent which I find his work with Louis Gordon isn't (as good as some of that material is). Something about working with Benge and those vintage sounds brings out the best Foxx.

New compilation, "21st Century: A Man, A Woman And A City" is out. About half the material is new or otherwise non-LP, including his first collaboration with Gary Numan. What an amazing third act he's having.
I got the version with the DVD.

Geek question: is the DVD in 5.1?

I don't think so, there's no mention of it.

I continue to be amazed at how prolific this guy is ... and at a high quality. There's the pop-ish albums w the Maths and the mini album w the Belbury Circle (which is excellent), which harken back to his older records/persona. There's his ambient/ambient-ish collaborations with Guthrie and Budd. There are instrumental records like B-Movie and a few others which blend the Metamatic sound with a bit of Ballard-esque imagery.

Now, I'm just discovering London Overgrown, which is Cathedral Oceans-esque ambient without the chanting -- and Tiny Colour Movies. I haven't even heard the collab with Steve Jansen yet. And that's not even everything. Wow.

Yeah the quality of his music continues to remain very high. Love "B-Movies" but had no idea he'd recorded with Jansen! Must seek that one out.

Pretty mesmerizing video he made for B-Movies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHzPXCcIfyk&feature=youtu.be

Been listening to his ambient collaborations. I really like them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1RMB-iop7A

yeah they're lovely

walking around near-empty city recently have often found myself thinking about Cathedral Oceans

New record Howl out w The Maths today:

https://johnfoxx.bandcamp.com/album/howl-2

Just dropped in to say that the aforementioned album Howl is literally perfection. There is not a song on the album I dislike. Every single song on it is amazing and I love every single bit of it. I know that won't mean much to anyone but I really, highly encourage each of you to at least give it a try.

Also, speaking of John Foxx in general, his song "Running Across Thin Ice with Tigers" is on my personal funeral playlist along with his former band Ultravox's "Alles Klar".

I'm still digging into this but man, not too many 72-year-old guys are making music with this much vitality. It's like he literally hasn't lost a thing in 40 years.

It's true! He's not exactly in Scott Walker territory but great, relevant releases at his age are rare.

I found "Howl" a bit of a grower, but once I went through it a couple of times it started to reveal itself. Robin Simon is such a perfect addition! Still not quite sold on the closing ballad but give me a few more spins.

I'm liking what I'm hearing of this. There's a lot of guitar but I can probably overlook that

I'm liking what I'm hearing of this. There's a lot of guitar but I can probably overlook that

B-b-but that's ROBIN SIMON!! You know, the only other element of Ultravox that was no longer present once they came back with Midge Ure?

Also, I fell in love with this album IMMEDIATELY. There was no "oh, maybe if I listen to this a couple more times I'll get into it" with me. Upon my first listen I was all, "Holy shit, this could end up tying for my favorite album of all time." Like, right now I have the title track playing through my head. It is insanely good.

Oh shit ok! Will probably grab hold and see how I get on with the whole album

Oh shit ok! Will probably grab hold and see how I get on with the whole album

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. PLEASE DO. You will not regret it, mark my words.

BTW, this is making me feel like listening to Foxx's back catalogue as well, e.g. The Golden Section and Metamatic. But first, another spin of Howl.

Such a great album. That final track is all kinds of epic, very Bowie somehow.

Interesting post on his work as a book illustrator: http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2023/05/10/dennis-leigh-book-covers/