Ice Machines: The Album came out last week, ten tracks from five producers from Ireland with 100 Poems represented by a pair of new recordings- a cover of Warm Leatherette and a new track Komputer. Warm Leatherette is something of a foundational moment in post- punk/ synth- pop, Mute's Daniel Miller as The Normal and a 1978 single that set JG Ballard's 19973 novel Crash to bleak, squelchy, dystopian, industrial synth. It was originally the B-side of the single, T.V.O.D. being the lead track but it quickly become the one that gathered the most attention.
It's a track that I always want to play next to Fad Gadget's Back To Nature, a similarly singular groundbreaking record, again lo- fi industrial synth with a post- apocalyptic feel.
It's a brave song choice for a cover and Mike Wilson of 100 Poems takes a slightly different approach- the synths are still ominous and foreboding but the vocal (by Georgie) is more human, less detached.
The second 100 Poems track is Komputer,a love song to the Commodore 64 and 8- bit home programming. The Commodore 64 was the best selling desktop computer of all time, an origin story for the modern world. Mike's track fizzes and buzzes, clunky graphics and the whir of the cassette machine re- animated while an American woman talks us through the joys and simplicity of home computing.
The ten track album Ice Machines can be found at Bandcamp, name your own price with all proceeds going to the Musical Youth Foundation. As well as the pair of 100 Poems tracks there are contributions from Circuit3, Empire State Human, PolyDROID and Amalgamated Wonders Of The World and covers of Simon and Garfunkel, The Carpenters and Depeche Mode.
2 comments:
Blimey. That video for Warm Leatherette makes a very effective ad for wearing seatbelts.
What a great version, love it
Post a Comment