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#ARTPOP

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SIMPLE MINDS
Real To Real Cacophony
1979 Canada pressing

Still my favorite Simple Minds record after all these years.

Before they became ultra-huge and heavily leaned into pop music (EXCELLENT pop music I might add), Simple Minds were a unique, odd #artrock band.

The music on Real To Real Cacophany bares little resemblance to the band who unleashed THAT song from THAT movie, or even the band on New Gold Dream or Sparkle In The Rain.

I hate the fact that MOST general music listeners only think of one thing and one thing only when Simple Minds are mentioned.

Their whole catalog features incredible music that stretches far beyond the walls of John Bender pumping his fist in victory at the end of The Breakfast Club.

If you’re up for an adventure, start HERE. This album is incredible.

Self-Titled Summer | Fever Ray (2009, Sweden)

Our next Self-Titled Summer spotlight is on number 46 on The List, submitted by mbr. Here’s a quick rundown:

  • Point of origin(s): “Fever Ray” is the alias used for the solo work of the utterly brilliant Swedish artist Karin Dreijer (they/them). Previous to this, their debut solo album, Dreijer was half of the fabulous experimental electronic synth-pop duo The Knife (formed in 1999, the other member being their brother Olof) and, before that, they fronted the indie rock band Honey Is Cool (1994-2000). Under the Fever Ray moniker and especially with this first album, Dreijer essentially continues (and progresses) both the sound and overall ethos of The Knife, including their approach to public appearances and overall aesthetics.
  • Tasting notes: Experimental electronic art pop, intriguing and unexpected vocals, not giving a fuck about what’s expected of you
  • Standout track: Before listening to the whole album I would’ve said the opener “If I Had A Heart”, which was the first thing I ever heard from Dreijer via the opening credits of the TV show Vikings. It essentially works just like it did in the show, indicating that you’re about to witness just under an hour of intense but gorgeous art created near a fjord or two. That said, just like The Knife song that gained the duo a lot of recognition (“Heartbeats”, specifically via José González’s lovely cover), this track is perhaps one of the tamer songs on the album and rather effectively acts as a teaser that entices you to keep listening.
  • Where are they now?: The Dreijer siblings continued working together as The Knife for a few years following this album, officially disbanding in 2014; Olof has continued with other solo and collab projects.[1] The siblings also continue to run their Rabid Records label, which has put out their solo (and The Knife) releases. Under Fever Ray, Karin has released two more studio albums plus a couple live albums including one released just last month, The Year of the Radical Romantics, which has amazing live versions of four tracks from the s/t. I could say a LOT more about Karin Dreijer, they’re rather fascinating and possibly one of the most interesting artists working today. Also, with the albums that follow the s/t, the importance and sheer weirdness of the accompanying visual work increases – it adds an entirely different dimension to the music, particularly through its use of the grotesque to directly confront society’s accepted gender frameworks – and pumps up the intensity by a factor of, uh, a big number. If you like what you hear here, chances are you’re going to want to check out everything Dreijer has done. A good place to start with the visual stuff is perhaps this amazing Fever Ray ARTE concert.
  • Websites: Artist website, Wikipedia, Bandcamp

Happy listening!

  1. Check out this 12″ release in particular, with Laurie Spiegel on side A and Olof on side B. ↩︎

Genesis - Abacab

This continues the pivot, started with Duke, from a prog group to an Art-Pop group. And, after, basically a pop group.

But as Art-Pop, it's a solid work from the trio, with strong performances, writing, and production from the ubiquitous Hugh Padgham (at least in the early/mid 80s, he had an enviable record and pretty immaculate technique—see XTC's English Settlement and The Police's Ghost in the Machine and Synchronicity).