In something of a departure from the style of previous articles on this blog, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are on tour again at the moment and I managed to see the first night, at Brighton Dome on Friday 29 October 2010. Here are a few shots taken from the balcony during the show and they give a good idea of the elaborate lighting rig for the stage set on this tour. A good set too with a mixture of tracks from the new album plus most of the hits and some nice early surprises such as ‘Bunker Soldiers’.
Since my earlier post that documented the recent CD re-issue of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s first album raised the idea of doing an unboxing of their latest opus, it seemed only fair to oblige now that I have received my copy. Being something of a Peter Saville fan as well, it is good to see OMD heading back in the direction of earlier artwork styles. It does rather feel as if the whole box set thing is a bit over the top though, I have to confess. As for the album itself, I would describe it as rather schizophrenic, with a jumble of styles – some obviously aiming to re-mint the classic ‘Architecture & Morality’ sound via the Mellotron-saturated sounds, some coming on all ‘Sugar Tax’ era pop/dance style, while the shadow of Kraftwerk continues to hang over pieces such as ‘History of Modern’ (Part II), ‘RFWK’ and ‘The Right Side’.
I wasn’t quick enough off the mark to get the limited edition free t-shirt as well, otherwise this is the contents of the UK edition of the boxed set.
So, I’ll let the pictures tell the story on this post… You can click on each image to see a 640×480 enlargement.
^ The front of the boxed set, unopened^ The sticker detailing the contents (peeled off of the shrink wrap)
A little known Scottish band, was aware of them at the time but never heard them. Through the delights of vinyl blogs I have since become acquainted with their limited output and have liked what I have heard. One can imagine that they possibly got sucked up and spat out by the EMI corporate machine looking for the Next Big Thing. Only one album and three singles (one post-EMI) saw light of day, none of which have ever seen a subsequent CD release as far as I’m aware.
^ Berlin Blondes ‘Science’ Japanese single picture insert – front
This particular number is a Japanese promo edition of their first single, ‘Science’. The album and first two single were produced by Mike Thorne, more famously associated beforehand with Wire and subsequently with Soft Cell. Musically, this might bridge both worlds, to some extent, with the requisite angular guitar and a very prominent bass to the fore, but plenty of synthesizer on board to colour the sound along with drum machines. Well worth seeking out if you have a penchant for early 80s pop oddness, this contrasts well with a lot of other material from the same era. Continue reading “Berlin Blondes, ‘Science’ Japanese 7″ promo single (EMI, EMS 17031, 1980)”
If you are a fan of the Associates then ‘Sulk’ needs no introduction, being easily a high water mark for them and their particularly unique take on pop – but the variations on this release cause some confusion and probably you have a different idea of what exactly constitutes this album depending on when or where you bought it…
^ Side by side: Outer and inner sleeves of the original UK (left-hand side) and later European issues of ‘Sulk’ (right-hand side) on vinyl
For me, the definitive version is the one I bought just after it came out in Britain;
‘Sulk’ (Associates/Beggars Banquet, ASCL1, vinyl LP)
Side One:
A new release this, as of June 2010 – an American re-issue of the first album by Orchestral ManÅ“uvres in the Dark, this time round packaged in something approaching the style of the original vinyl issue.
^ Front of sleeve, opened out
I’ll let the photos speak for themselves so you can see what the packaging is like. Musically, the CD is like the 2003 CD re-master except that it loses two tracks, the ‘Electricity’ and ‘Almost’ Martin Hannett/Cargo Studios versions. If you’ve already got the CD and aren’t overly fussed about the packaging, walk on by people, nothing to see here and you are losing two tracks. If however you have a thing for a miniature reproduction of such a fantastic sleeve design, this may well be softly cooing your name already…
Continue reading “Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) 2010 tour live shots”
