| 808 State - ex:el (Album) | |
808 State - ex:el (Album)
808 State - ex:el 4:56 San Francisco Remarks: 808 State.
808 State - ex:el 4:56 San Francisco Press Release: Manchester, England dance kings 808 STATE once again flout the conventions of instrumental music on their second album entitled EX:EL. Variously hailed as "Ground breaking," "Futuristic," and "Disneyland's Tiki Room amplified for dance-club habitues," their unique brand of textured, abstract dance music has been attracting ever-increasing attention since the members first got together in 1988. "On EX:EL, 808 State continue to be feisty, loud, rhythmically top and fond of sudden blurting sounds that come from nowhere and are not boring," writes New Musical Express. "They remain kings of everything." Focal point for the group's formation was hot Manchester record shop, Eastern Bloc, still run by band member Martin Price, a man with the reputation of being the "biggest mouth in Manchester." Eastern Bloc was named Britain's "most influential record shop" by Blitz Magazine. Graham Massey is the group's programmer/engineer/computer hack, who has been involved with numerous groups over the years. Darren Partington and Andy Barker are the band s dj's. Teaming up at age 12, the pair began mixing together at the local Salvation Army youth club. i-D Magazine reviewed them as "probably the hottest hip-hop mixing duo in the world." The group expand their concept with the introduction of guest vocalists Bernard Sumner of New Order and Bjork Godmundsdottir of the Sugarcubes. Sumner can be heard on "Spanish Heart." "Working with 808 was good fun. I really admire them," states Bernard Sumner in a Melody Maker interview. "I helped with the arrangements and worked on it a bit, but it's mainly their song. I just did the vocals and the words. Basically I wanted to do this because I really like 808 State. They're a good dance force in Manchester." Two tracks from Bjork, "Oops!" and "QMart" were recorded after the Sugarcube vocalist contacted the band and asked if they wanted to work with her. "808 are one of the very few bands with direction today, that just aren't following everyone else," she says. "I really love their music and it was totally delightful when they thought I could fit in." Described in NME as "Eerie ice and heart breaking splendor," "Oops," will be released as the first US single from EX:EL. "We're sick of that hard soul vocal you always find on dance tracks," states Martin. "That's become formula now. We needed somebody to put something in rather than for us to have to drag something out of somebody. That's exactly what we got with Bjork." The US release of their debut album Utd. State '90 brought widespread critical acclaim. Both "Pacific" and "Cubik" reached the Top Ten on the Billboard Dance Chart, with both tracks garnering pop airplay, an unusual feat for instrumental tracks. The UK release of the album brought a spawned a Top Ten Pop hit with Pacific;" the LP cruised to the Top 20. "In terms of its scope, [808 State's] abilities to take unearthly and unlikely sounds and inventively turn them into memorable music, this album is one of the year's best. It puts the Mancunians right up there with their forbearers such as Kraftwerk," stated a writer in New Musical Express. "State of the art and one of the blueprints of the '90s." While the "808" in their name is borrowed from the Roland 808 Drum Machine, "The 'State' part," says Price, "is our world that we exist in - an 808 State of mind." After opening Eastern Bloc, Martin decided to start his own label, Creed. Collaborating with Graham and A Guy Named Gerald, they released their debut album Newbuild, then an EP, Quadrastate, which contained the original "Pacific. Gerald decided to solo, and Price and Massey hooked up with Darren and Andy. The releases brought 808 State to the attention of ZTT label owner and producer Trevor Horn (Art Of Noise, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Grace Jones and Malcolm McLaren), who signed them. "808 State don't apologize for their techno approach, they flaunt it," wrote Rockpool. With the recording studio as their natural habitat, the group play with a wide mix of instruments, machines and sound sources; not all are electric. "It's always going to be chucking pots in the sink and recording them," says Price, "so there's always going to be that experimental edge to what we do." All are producers and dj's who work interchangeably in the studio. One technique they often employ is "silhouetting." Starting out with a sample, the group build a track around it, then take it out. They also use two or three basslines in one track, or, like Detroit-techno producers, sample a chord and play it back from single notes. The techniques are used to achieve what Price calls "mood." "Sometimes you wake up in the morning and feel benevolent towards mankind, and that is reflected in your music," he says. "Sometimes you wake up in the morning and want to kill somebody. That's reflected as well. Two of us might be thinking kill, and two might be thinking love and peace. It's the mixture, the chemistry. There is tension, and we have come to blows." Adds Massey, If anyone saw us they'd-be astonished. It's just a horrendous amount of shouting for twelve hours at a time - completely exhausting. The music is born out of conflict." The group uses instrumentation like saxophones, guitars and occasionally drummers as well as samples and turntables in their live shows. The group won rave reviews after their live performance during the "Hacienda Night" at the 1990 New Music Seminar. A New York Times writer described the group as "The clear standout among Manchester's electronic bands... Where the other bands dress psychedelic and play disco, 808 State combines them into an aural fantasy that can survive if it is removed from the dance floor." 808 State present the sound of a dance state - a global village where technology provides the medium and direction - and the soundtrack to a future dance aesthetic. Remarks: 808 State.
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