Moving on from 2001 to 2008 and the next John Foxx compilation that was to emerge, ‘Glimmer: Best of John Foxx’. The metamatic.com website’s cryptic summary for 2008 states “Interlude. Operation by proxy and semantic extension. Despatched a couple of robot agents to the other side of the world, and hid in Durham Cathedral. Partial manifestation in the cobbled squares of Europe. An interrupted radio broadcast from Shinjuku. Remixed and remastered. Ambushed in Bethnal Green by Dub-terrorist Editions, Ltd armed with sprayguns – fended them off with x-ray vision and an old suit.”
‘Remixed and remastered’ was the order of the day here for the particular items of interest, with ‘Glimmer: Best of John Foxx’ acting as an advance landing party in September for a fuller scale double-disc CD remastering re-issue programme for three of John’s Virgin-era albums following shortly thereafter in October 2008. As for the remixing…more on that later under ‘Additionally of interest..’ below.
‘Glimmer: Best Of John Foxx’ UK compilation 2 x CD (Music Club Deluxe, MCDLX097, 2008)
By this point in time, Foxx was well and truly back for over a decade now after having re-activated his long dormant circuitry with 1997’s live partnership with Louis Gordon and the release of the ‘Shifting City’ album. This compilation takes in a hefty amount of the early period solo Foxx period with ‘Metamatic’ and satellite single releases, a few from ‘The Garden’, and then a smattering of further Virgin era tracks before making a smart move of including Ultravox-era classics in re-recorded form (including an absolutely wonderful ‘My Sex’), but goes surprisingly light on the albums from the ’00s that immediately precede this compilation, such as ‘Crash and Burn’ and ‘From Trash’, which have no representation here.
In quite a significant coup, the sleeve notes are provided by none other than the late and lamented Mark Fisher (aka k-punk). A fifteen minute or so read, these are wonderful – sleeve notes can be so hit and miss, but these do a wonderful service to Foxx’s work and serve to illustrate what a loss Fisher’s passing has been. A good selection of photos of Foxx from Ultravox era onwards also grace the booklet. (The CD itself comes in a card slipcase as well as the more standard two-disc jewel case cover.)
Tracklist:
Disc 1:
- Glimmer (3’38”)
- Plaza (3’55”) [from ‘Metamatic’]
- No-One Driving (Single Version) (3’46”)
- Underpass (4’00”) [from ‘Metamatic’]
- Quiet City (5’06”) [from ‘The Pleasures Of Electricity’] ‡
- Dislocation (The Omnidelic Exotour Version) (4’39”) [from ‘Exotour 1997’ EP] ‡
- 030 (3’22”) [from ‘Metamatic’]
- Twilight’s Last Gleaming (4’25”) [from ‘The Golden Section’]
- Sunset Rising (2’38”) [from ‘Cathedral Oceans’]
- Cities Of Light 5 (Alternative Version) (5’18”) [from ‘The Pleasures Of Electricity’ 2009 double-CD version] ‡
- Europe After The Rain (4’02”) [from ‘The Garden’]
- Hiroshima Mon Amour (The Omnidelic Exotour Version) (5’04”) [from ‘Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour’] ‡
- The Garden (7’10”) [from ‘The Garden’]
Disc 2:
- Through My Sleeping (5’01”) [from ‘Shifting City’] ‡
- Endlessly (1982 Single Version) (3’50”)
- My Sex (Alternative Version) (7’46”) [from ‘Live From A Room (As Big As A City)’] ‡
- He’s A Liquid (3’03”) [from ‘Metamatic’]
- Car Crash Flashback V2 (4’19”) [from ‘Sideways’] ‡
- Dancing Like A Gun (4’11”) [from ‘The Garden’]
- Just For A Moment (The Omnidelic Exotour Version) (4’08”) [from ‘Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour’] ‡
- Dislocated (Radio Edit) (3’53”) †
- Burning Car (3’16”)
- Miles Away (3’19”)
- Stepping Sideways (3’45”) [from ‘Drift Music’] *
- Free Robot (7’18”) **
- No-One Driving (Early Version) (3’57”)
- Plaza (Extended Version) (4’54”)
- Burning Car (Dubterror/Karborn Mix) (4’39”)
All tracks by John Foxx except where noted, as follows:
‡ John Foxx and Louis Gordon
† Jori Hulkkonen with John Foxx
* John Foxx with Harold Budd
** Metamatics with John Foxx
As can be seen from the tracklist, this compilation sources its material from a variety of differing releases and in general gives a pretty good account of Foxx’s work and, to some degree, collaborations, with perhaps a heavier emphasis on those first two solo albums, to be fair.
What is / was unique to this compilation?
There were two tracks unique to this compilation at the time of release (at least on CD format) and three ‘of interest’ to Foxx collectors who may not have been able to track down the originals on other artists releases.
‘No-One Driving’ (Early Version) (3’57”) – a small extract of this had previously been issued on the ‘Metal Beat’ interview CD, here it was in its full duration.
‘Plaza’ (Extended Version) (4’54”) – again, a small extract had been included previously on the ‘Metal Beat’ interview CD, included in full here and noted in the booklet as having been restored from a damaged tape.
‘Additionally of interest…’
For Foxx collectors without the time, energy or resources to seek out every unique, original release, there are three welcome additions to be found on this CD:
- ‘Burning Car’ (Dubterror / Karborn Mix) (4’39”) – This was issued a week before the release of the ‘Glimmer’ compilation on a very limited edition vinyl only 12” single, coupled with a Dubterror / Karborn mix of ‘20th Century’. Other than the 12” single, I think this compilation is its only other physical release.
- ‘Dislocated’ (3’53”) by Jori Hulkkonen with John Foxx – this is the ‘Radio Edit’ version of the song that was released on a CD EP in 2005 and in its longer (7’44”) ‘Album Version’ on the Jori Hulkkonen album ‘Dualizm’ from the same year. (There’s also a vinyl 12” with various remixes of the song too.)
- ‘Free Robot’ (7’18”) by Metamatics with John Foxx – this is the ‘album version’, originally released back in 2005 on the Metamatics’ album ‘3 Jak and Dive’ – also issued on a vinyl 12” single with ‘Radio Edit’ version too. The ‘Radio Edit’ version also saw a release on a 2007 compilation, ‘My Favourite Kind Of Irrelevance 1997–2007’
So, although technically these are not exclusive to this CD, for the casual John Foxx collector it is good to have them on a compilation such as this, I feel.
Where can the exclusives be sourced now?
Both ‘No-One Driving’ (Early Version) (3’57”) and ‘Plaza’ (Extended Version) (4’54”) were included on the 2018 3xCD deluxe edition reissue of ‘Metamatic’.
So, while there is some degree of overlap with the previously featured ‘Modern Art: The Best of John Foxx’ compilation CD, there’s a good deal here of interest and a smattering of exclusives or hard to finds dangled to ensure interest.
‘Cinemascope’ CD box set (Metamatic Records, META20BX)
I’ve now updated this post in the series to cover ‘Cinemascope’, which I neglected to include when first published. My good friend and frequent commenter Lieutenant 030 brought my attention to the John Foxx ‘Cinemascope’ CD box set (Metamatic Records, META20BX) that was released in 2008. I didn’t come by this release myself as I already had all the individual discs it had, so gave it a pass at the time. ‘Cinemascope’ gathered together the following previously released CDs and one DVD.
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- ‘Cathedral Oceans’ (John Foxx) [DVD]
- ‘Crash and Burn’ (John Foxx & Louis Gordon)
- ‘Electrofear’ (Nation 12)
- ‘Cathedral Oceans III’ (John Foxx)
- ‘Tiny Colour Movies’ (John Foxx)
- ‘From Trash’ (John Foxx & Louis Gordon)
More detail and further images of the discs courtesy of Lieutenant 030…
Can a box set be classed as a compilation set? Some sets are clearly compilations containing tracks from either a specific period of time for an artists or a more in-depth anthology across an artist’s entire career. But what about a box set that just contains a selection of albums? A case in point would be John Foxx’s Cinemascope from 2008, this set contained 5 compact discs and a single DVD covering the period of 2003 to 2006. The set consists of 2 solo albums, 2 with Louis Gordon and the sole Nation 12 album while the DVD is the Cathedral Oceans release. Set in a robust clamshell box, all of the discs in this set are contained within unique card covers that reference the original release but without any text on the front giving them the look of art prints of which there are 6 additional ones that comes with this set, all of them in that unique Foxx style that people will instantly recognise, this style would be repeated in the next box set, 2014’s The Virgin Years 1980-1985.
Taking the albums within this release in chronological order the first is 2003’s Cathedral Oceans DVD.
Originally released in a standard DVD case it is the album set to Foxx’s photographic art works where he has layered varying textures and foliage on top of decaying statues and architecture giving the listener/viewer a totally immersive ambient experience. The front cover of this release is similar to both the original CD release and the DVD but has an overlay of bushes instead of ivy on the statue’s head, this image was first seen in the booklet for Cathedral Oceans III. Further detailed selections of this photo are on the rear and the disc is plain back with the title in the same manner as the rear of the sleeve printed on it.
Next up is John Foxx And Louis Gordon’s Crash And Burn album also from 2003.
The front cover is the close up of the eye as per the original but once again there is no typography on the front. The rear of the sleeve is more in line with the original vinyl release consisting of 12 photographs from the series of 18 but with the first row separated by a black band with the artist, album and track titles. The disc artwork is a direct copy of the original CD and is the only disappointment of this box set, it would have been nice if they continued the same design as the other discs but as this is the only niggle that I have with it then I can accept it.
Nation 12’s Electrofear album was first released in 2005, a collaboration between Foxx and Bomb The Bass’s Tim Simenon.
A change of direction for the sleeve of this release with the front being a detail from the 1990 12”. Remember that the rear is an adaptation of the original album in a reconfigured order and the track Electrofear is highlighted in red to display the title of the album. The track list also states that there are 3 bonus tracks, Electrofear (Alternative Mix), Invisible Woman (Electronic Mix) and Remember (Dub Dub Mix), but these 3 tracks were also displayed as bonus tracks on the original release and I have never seen a release that didn’t have these tracks. The disc itself repeats the front sleeve image on the left with the band name and title in red on the right hand side.
Following this we have the final part of the Cathedral Oceans trilogy, Cathedral Oceans III.
Originally released in 2005, Cathedral Oceans III was a continuation of the almost religious sounds that Foxx had first started back in 1981 with Pater Noster and the title track from The Garden but in a much more heavier ambient vein, this music would not sound out of place in any kind of building of worship as well as your own house. I have always found it unusual that Cathedral Oceans II was never given a release on its own having been first release as a double set with Cathedral Oceans, now known as Cathedral Oceans I, in 2003 and then again in 2010 as part of The Complete Cathedral Ocean collection. This would have been within the catchment period for this box set but alas, maybe there is a unique story in behind these decisions. But back to 2008 and Cathedral Oceans III, the front cover of the sleeve is once again a copy of the original release minus typography and the back containing more photographic details of the front with the artist, album and title tracks. The disc continues the pure black with stylised typography print.
Tiny Colour Movies was first released in 2006, an album of mostly small instrumentals that were developed after John watched a series of films at a friend’s birthday party in Baltimore.
The front cover contains 16 of the photographs that was included in the original releases booklet, one of them being the image of a hand holding an illuminating picture card with a cloud scene on it. The rear of the sleeve continues the theme of the other discs with a further 12 images separated with the black band. The disc continues the theme set out by Cathedral Oceans and would be continued on From Trash.
Talking of which, From Trash is the final disc in this release.
Originally released in 2006 it is another album from the 11 year collaboration that John had with Louis Gordon that could warrant a box set of its own. The cover follows the same format in having the picture detail from the original on the front and 12 of the images from the original booklet on the back separated with the black band containing the disc details. The disc also follows the same convention as the other main discs.
Thanks very much to Lieutenant 030!