Tag: Record review

An Album of the Month Event You Should Check Out

by KevinLeave a Comment on An Album of the Month Event You Should Check Out

We’ve got a great host and a killer record, all set to go. All we need now is you! Here’s how to join the fun.

Good Afternoon!

Today we’re talking The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat, and well, how you can talk about the band with other like minded people.

Note: As some of you know, I’m one of the editors for an online music publication called The Riff. Each month we host an album discussion (via Zoom), and this month’s is coming up on Sunday. To be clear, all credit goes to  Terry Barr who facilitates the meeting, and  Scott Fountain this month’s host. These two are doing the heavy lifting.

As you’ll see below, these are low-key affairs; all are welcome! If you want to share some thoughts, that’s awesome. Wanna just sit back & listen? That’s cool, too.

Either way, it’d be better with you there.

KA—

It’s that time again; it’s time for our monthly album discussion!

One of The Riff’s core tenets is sharing music. That obviously involves writing about it, but also talking about it together. We do that monthly here.

This Sunday May 4th is that day.

Below is my boilerplate explanation of these discussions and the value you’ll get from joining us. Under that are both the record being discussed and the meeting log-in details.

  • Don’t know the record? Doesn’t matter.
  • Not comfortable speaking in public? Me either. And you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Heck, you don’t even have to turn your camera on. It’s a safe space, but you control what you share.
  • Ultimately, you’re part of the community; we want you to be a part of this, too.

So check out the “rules” below, and then plan to dial in.

What is this?

For new readers (hi everyone!), The Riff hosts an online discussion every month.

Here’s how it works:

  • A writer (more on that in a second) picks a record to discuss and writes a brief piece about their choice and the meeting details.
  • At the meeting, they discuss why they picked it, offer a bit of a backstory/context, and whatever else they’d like to share.
  • Everyone else on the call can share their own “hot take,” related story, or anything else you think is relevant.
  • At the end of the meeting, next month’s writer volunteers (or is chosen), and the process repeats itself.

NOTE FOR INTROVERTS: If you’d prefer to sit in and listen, that is 110% okay. Keep your video off…stay muted…it’s up to you. It’s a safe place; you can participate as much/as little as you’d like.

This month’s host:

This month’s host is a star contributor to The Riff and a friend of On Repeat Records. Scott Fountain is a fantastic writer, and his expertise spans many genres. You can also find him here on Substack, where he recently planted his flag. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, I highly recommend it!

Cool! So, what are we talking about?

Scott has chosen The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat.

From his story announcing the pick:

I’m not sure if critics called it proto-punk in the 1990s, but during that time, I could identify that sense of evolution between late 1950s rock and late 1970s punk. Likewise, recognizing how different forms of rock share a common lineage with rhythm and blues, jazz, and country was always (and still is) fun to consider.

While songs from White Light / White Heat may not be as upbeat and have as much drive as other proto-punk songs from the 1960s, Lou Reed’s lyrics, amongst an orchestrated sea of noise and distortion, set a bar for topical songwriting involving sex, drugs, and violence.

Musical adventure, exploring new sounds, and sharing great music with great people make these discussions a joy.

Join us and see for yourself.

Listen:

(Click the record to listen on your platform of choice)

I’m in! How can I join?

Here ya go:

When: Sunday, May 4th: 4 PM Eastern/ 8 PM GMT

Where: Join Zoom Meeting

Join our Video Meeting
ID: 827 4674 3053
Passcode: 91987

Thanks for being here (and there!),

Kevin—

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New Order’s Technique at 35: A Quick Look at the Band’s Seminal 1989 Record

by KevinLeave a Comment on New Order’s Technique at 35: A Quick Look at the Band’s Seminal 1989 Record

On their fifth release the dance rock pioneers hit their peak

Good Morning!

Today we’re taking a quick look at ‘Technique’ by New Order as it turns 35.

There’s not much point in burying the lede here; this lookback won’t come close to being objective. If you’ve been with us for more than a few weeks, you know my love for this band and are keenly aware that On Repeat could devolve into a New Order fan page at any moment.

That said, this record is a massive achievement for the band at a time when not much else was going right for them-certainly not internally, anyway. To put something out amidst so much strife and financial pressure alone would be worth noting. That it is some of the best work they’ve ever produced makes it all the more remarkable.

Most people will remember March 24th, 1989, as the date the Exxon Valdez ran aground. I remember walking to the closest shopping mall to get tickets to see New Order.

That was the closest Ticketmaster outlet, and I was probably halfway down the street before my mom had even finished giving me permission. With the benefit of hindsight — and now being a parent myself — I now know what a huge leap of faith this must’ve been for her. We lived in the suburbs, and she was giving the green light to an (almost) 14 yr. old to ride the bus across the metro area to see a band she heard nonstop but didn’t know.

I suppose on some level you just know when to let your kids leap

The band was on the road supporting their 5th studio album, Technique, and it came out when I was in junior high. The record was one of the bright spots in an otherwise blah era for me.

If Low Life is a show at an intimate venue, Technique is a sweaty rave filled with strobe lights and ecstasy. Indeed, the record was partly recorded in Ibiza with the band off their rockers. Technique is firmly rooted in the sounds surrounding them in their new environs. They choose the sunny locale at Hook’s insistence after a run of recordings made in “dark and horrible” London studios. The band decamped for Ibiza, hoping the change in scenery (and menu of drugs) would have the same positive effect that New York had had for them years earlier.

It worked…sort of…

After four months, the band only had ‘Fine Time’ and a couple of other tracks recorded to show for their time on the island. Declaring their holiday over, their label called them back to the UK, where they finished the record at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios.

We had expected to hear a lot of acid house music when we got to Ibiza because that had taken off in Manchester two to three months before we left, but we didn’t – we were hearing something called Balearic Beat,” Bernard said.We were actually disappointed at first because we were really into acid house, and what we heard, this Balearic Beat, was this crazy mash-up of styles and really commercial-sounding but there was also some really good stuff. By the end of our time there we were really influenced by it.

Their time in the sun may seem unproductive on the surface, but it had left an indelible mark on the group’s sound.

Fine Time is an acid-house Balearic Beat classic. Round and Round1 is pop perfection and saw decent airtime on MTV.

Run is credited to not only New Order, but also (*checks notes) John Denver?!

Yes, really. Denver sued the band, alleging that the guitar riffs were lifted from his Leaving On a Jet Plane.The case was settled out of court, with his name subsequently added to the credits.

A mediocre picture of the fantastic ‘Fine Time’ 12”

We could do a track-by-track breakdown, but the short version is this: Technique feels like the band’s most honest record. Whether that’s down to the drugs or the Balearic sun, I don’t know. In the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter.

Perhaps more importantly, it is economical. Listening to it, every note has its place, and there is nothing extraneous. It’s both a dance record and a pop record—in other words, a New Order record—but listening to it, there is a discipline that sets it apart from the band’s previous work.

The songs themselves are compact; the sequencers nailed down— there is no 9-minute version of anything on this LP. By this point, the band had also mastered the art of shifting between pop and dance tracks.

On Brotherhood, a distinct boundary exists between the two (literally- the styles each have their own side on the album). There are no guardrails here; the band makes segueing between styles look easy.

All of that is well and good, but why is it my number 1?

Technique was really the first record by the band that I found on my own. Yes, I knew them. Yes, I’d heard almost everything they had recorded up to that point. But this was different; I’d learned of its release on my own and gone and bought it with my own money.

No hand-me-downs from friends’ older siblings or songs clipped from mix tapes. You always remember your first…

Good records always take you somewhere special. Thirty-five years later, Technique still does that for me.

Listen:

New Order | Technique, 1989

Click the record to listen on the platform of your choice.

What are your thoughts on this record? Do you have any favorite tracks or memories associated with it? At 35, does it still hold up? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Thanks for being here,

Kevin—

1

The video features several supermodels, including Elaine Irwin, who would marry John Mellencamp a couple of years later, and Cynthia Bailey, who would rise to fame when cast on Bravo’s ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ reality series.