Synth Britannia

[schwenko]

from the Metamatic mailing list
(this looks really good- check out the youtube clips)

John Foxx appears on "Synth Britannia"...

"Synth Britannia", the latest in BBC4's "Britannia" series, will air this coming Friday - the 16th of October, 2009.

John Foxx is interviewed, along with Daniel Miller, Gary Numan, Neil Tennant, Phil Oakey, Martin Gore, Bernard Sumner, Cabaret Voltaire, Vince Clarke, Martyn Ware, Midge Ure, Soft Cell, Kraftwerk, Throbbing Gristle and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

Point your browser at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNiGnTSrL5o and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAuqCf-47z0
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/musi ... f-pop.html

[ebbhead]

"The music will appeal to disaffected youth everywhere...and Germans." - ML Gore

Been very excited for this.

[Retro_NRG]

Nice Find..

Though in the article, some less than flattering things were said about the vanguards:

[i]As Human League founder Martyn Ware says, the element of risk has gone and watching even the pioneering Kraftwerk on their last tour “was like watching four old guys checking their email”.[/i](sic)

and the current wannabes:

[i]Three decades on, artists such as Little Boots and La Roux are fetishising the early Brit synth sounds. But that’s just pop eating itself. They’re not yet taking us into new territory. As (OMD's)McCluskey says: “People ask why I don’t like La Roux and I say it just sounds like a woman warbling, badly, over an old Depeche Mode record. We had such a vast, new space to ride into. We were part of the last big wave of Britain inventing something original that rolled out across the world.”[/i] (sic)

Ouch..[B)]

<MARQUEE><h5>Moving @The Speed of Life</h5></MARQUEE>

[Doctor Doctor]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Retro_NRG[/i]
[i]watching even the pioneering Kraftwerk on their last tour “was like watching four old guys checking their email”.[/i](sic)
[/quote]
As much as I love Kraftwerks music, I can see how this could be the experience at one of their concerts.[8)]


[b]"Can't you see I'm burnin?"[/b]

[Doctor Doctor]

Fantastic and fascinating documentary.

Was interesting that electronic pop was so despised by the British music press back then and is pretty much all that's in the charts today.

This should be seen by anyone interested in the electronic music scene from late 70's to around 83.


[b]"Can't you see I'm burnin?"[/b]

[Frau_Blucher]

I happened to be in the UK when this aired and now have my grubby little hands on a DVD copy. A must see for sure. Most significant for me was actually feeling for the first time how punk and synths shared a very similar ethos. Different executions obviously but similar motivations. Explained a bit more of why I'm drawn to both. It does make me wonder about what's next in music...I just can't see what that might be, but I guess the unknown is unknowable.

PS. The grinning, petty side of me has my favorite part being when they discuss how it all starts to fizzle. They talk about feeling that around 1983 the synth sound starts becoming overdone, saturated, traditional, trite, blandified and homogenized. It's beautiful that the commentary is perfectly accompanied by video of that high cunt Howard Jones bouncing around in his fucking retarded sweater to "New Song" - most excellent! [}:)]

[Ollie Stench]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Doctor Doctor[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by Retro_NRG[/i]
[i]watching even the pioneering Kraftwerk on their last tour “was like watching four old guys checking their email”.[/i](sic)
[/quote]
As much as I love Kraftwerks music, I can see how this could be the experience at one of their concerts.[/quote]

I saw Kraftwerk in 1998, 2005, and 2008. In 1998 they were still pretty much playing instruments. In 05 and 08 I think they were updating their myspace pages while on stage. My fave band of all time, but not the most engaging performers these days.

[quote][i]Orginally posted by Blir[/i]
Most significant for me was actually feeling for the first time how punk and synths shared a very similar ethos. Different executions obviously but similar motivations. Explained a bit more of why I'm drawn to both.[/quote]

Same here. I've always seen the parallel because I was into both at the time it was happening. But trying to explain to someone that I can love Motorhead and Ultravox just as equally usually just gets me blank stares. Its nice to have some validation once in awhile!