Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 83 - Bardo Pond - On The Ellipse

[spiritualized]

3. KRS-One - KRS-One (1995)

I'm going to give this a 7.5
Not quite an 8, but almost there. If there is a clear winner in my hip hop tastes, it's East Coast vs West Coast, Boom Bap and all. Put this on my 90s preference, I don't know, but I really enjoy the beats on this album.

I knew KRS-One only of R.E.M. fame, and I never actually listened to a full album. It's a bit long, it starts really badly (what's with all the name-calling for a START of an album ?), but when the beats get going, they are quite fantastic.
Of course, Jeru, NAS, Wu Tang Clan, Method Man, Genius/RZA, the Pharcyde come to mind. They are top of the pile and this isn't. It has a menacing delivery which is not subtle and that detracts from the point, I believe.

Highly enjoyable and has good replay value - I will listen to his first album at some point (Return of the Boom Bap), which is supposedly even better.

[Holden]

3. KRS-One - KRS-One (1995)

What an album! Phenomenal testament to the past, present, and future of hip hop. I'm going to give this one a 10/10. Absolutely blew me away! Good pick, schaefer.tk!

[Rob]

Before I dive into KRS One, I have to finally give a vote for last week's entry:

James - Laid: 8
A shame this one turned up in such a busy week for me, as I wouldn't have mind to spend more time with it. I expected higher grades in general, because this is a very consistent release with loads of great melodies. I expected it to be full of high-energy cheeky songs like the title track, not in the least because the cover suggests something similarly collegiate. Most of the songs are more like ballads though. I get that it close to safe and comes close to being too clean. It is not a reinvention of any rule book, but the melodies, the lyrics and the overall performance is top notch. Besides, it might seem a little less original because it sounds very Britpop, but Britpop was still in it's early days and these guys had been playing for some time already. And here they already show most of the movement how it is done. There are no duds here, but the title track, Sometimes, Say Something, Knuckle Too Far and P.S. should have been essential classics.

[Madzong]

KRS-One - 7.5

[FrankLotion]

3. KRS-One – KRS-One (1995) - 8/10

Third good album in a row for me!

I thought this was pretty great in general, I had always heard from people that KRS’s solo career was disappointing in comparison to what he did with BDP but this was a surprisingly solid tracklist. The topics and his vocal styles change frequently and keep things industry and the production is uniformly good across the board (half the tracks were produced by KRS himself!) Also the features he’s included throughout are excellent.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t rant about MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know a little bit, which is the one song here that I’ve known for a while. First off, that beat has to be one of the very best from DJ Premier, often considered the greatest hip-hop producer of all time, which almost sounds as menacing as KRS does. Speaking of which, this is Exhibit A for why KRS is always in the top 5 all-time rapper list (for old-heads that is), he has this amazing delivery that sounds like he’s bellowing from his chest but here his flow is even more effortless and the emphasis he puts on certain words that he raps/sings keeps the verses surprising and oddly catchy. Also that Kurtis Blow homage at the beginning does a great job re-establishing KRS as equally significant in the genre.

My only real complaints with the album are, like the James album last week, it runs a bit long for me at over an hour, and some of the songs themselves drag on for six minutes.

Favorite Tracks: Rappaz R. N. Dainja, De Automatic, MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know, Ah-Yeah, Free Mumia, Wannabemceez, The Truth, Build Yo Skillz.

[rumpdoll]

KRS-One - KRS-One 6.5/10

I liked the first few tracks but it gets a bit repetive after a while. Could be better with a few less tracks.

[spiritualized]

2. James - Laid (7.5)

Another very good album, but its length and lack of risk-taking take it down a notch from true excellence.
The production is top notch, clean as a whistle and the songs are really quite good in their core. But it's not just exciting enough - it feels like the U2 version of James.

A good batch of songs, only marred by a will to do a bit too much.

[Listyguy]

KRS One - 6/10
I'm not really a fan of Boogie Down Productions, and I guess I'm not much of a fan of KRS-One's solo work either. By the time this album was released, we already had Biggie, A Tribe Called Quest, and 2Pac. And I don't think this album is on the same level as the best works by any of those artists.

[Honorio]

3. KRS-One - KRS-One (1995) 5/10

[mileswide]

KRS-One - KRS-One 7.3 (my #20 for 1995)
My highlights: Ah-Yeah, R.E.A.L.I.T.Y., Build Ya Skillz, Wannabemceez

This month's highlights ranked:
Laid
Ah-Yeah
R.E.A.L.I.T.Y.
The Winter Hit Hard
The River Curls around the Town
Build Ya Skillz
Bare Branches
Wannabemceez

[Rob]

KRS-One - KRS-One: 5

For the most part, this just isn't my cup of tea. There is no denying KRS-One's skills as an MC (even if I wish he'd stop proclaiming his greatness himself, or for that matter let other people come on just to say how great KRS is; the name KRS-One and the word MC are heard a ridiculous amount of times). KRS has a great flow and way with words, to say nothing of a deep and powerful voice. Some of his observations are great, though I wish that not half of the time here is spend on bragging. I probably don't quite get the genre, because for me MC's Act Like They Don't Know, Wannabemceez and Represent the Real Hip-Hop seem to be popular, while I would scrap them from this album that runs too long. Give me the more conscious stuff, as I really enjoyed R.E.A.L.I.T.Y., Ah Yeah and the heavy De Automiatic. I feel that there is quite a good forty minute album here, but the mammoth length and the repetition in the music and subject matters just makes it something I won't return to.

[Honorio]

Amen, Rob!

[Schüttelbirne]

3 | KRS-One | KRS One | 1995

I don't know who started this whole business of an artist making a self-titled record in the middle of his/her career that is supposed to be a big statement (If I had to guess, I'd say it was The Beatles). And I also don't know why the dash in the middle of his artist name is missing in the title of the album.

The whole album starts with people I don't know saying wonderful things about KRS-One for one-and-a-half minutes. If I knew any of these people, maybe this would mean more, but as is I'm completely indifferent to these statements that continue throughout the album. Apparently it's other rap musicians, but I'm not really at home in '90s hip hop.

"De Automatic" has a nice chorus, and KRS-One boasting his own lyrical ability with the following:
"How do you think I kick a lyrical style no end, you figure?
It's simple, I'm a rap God, and youse a nigga
Don't mean I'm bigger, it simply means I'm smarter
For starters, I come at you poetically harder"
This is not in any way true. Just look at the rhymes in the second verse: He rhymes "dramatically" on "automatically" which is not terribly original because the suffix is the same. "Dark" on "Park" is also not really interesting. "hours" on "devour" would be interesting if he didn't use the plural form which is sloppy. Exactly the same with "survival" on "rivals". And I don't get how "titles" rhymes with "cycle".
I don't want to be pedantic about this and I don't really care a lot if two words actually rhyme in a rap song. But if somebody spends four lines praising his own lyrical ability, and then isn't able to find an interesting rhyme scheme, then it just seems like empty praise.

He does tell a story about poor beginnings and now being famous, but that story is only told to prove authenticity towards another rapper who is obviously not authentic, afraid of the dark, still lives with his mother and simply does not possess the lyrical prowess KRS-One has. I get that this is a part of rap culture, and isn't meant seriously, and I don't mind it all that much here. But it certainly shows something that will become clearer later in the album.

The next song is without a doubt the biggest hit on the album, "MC's Act Like They Don't Know". It has over 23 million streams on Spotify, impressive when compared to the other songs from the album, some of which have less then 300.000. The song once again deals with authenticity, this time the observation that many successful rappers don't perform very well in a live setting. He of course is completely able to do that. Since I've never seen him in concert (and I don't have any intention of doing so) I can't say anything about this. I do understand that self-praise is part of the genre, but there are certainly more charming ways of doing this.

"Ah-Yeah" has a nice chorus and flow. I do criticize him a lot here, but he does know how to rap. The lyrics here are a bit weird: "You black people still thinkin' about voting / Every President we ever had lied" isn't a sentiment I want to understand. And the whole conspiracy thing is maybe a bit weird from today.

"R.E.A.L.I.T.Y." takes the idea for its chorus from Wu-Tang Clan, but that isn't the worst thing to take an idea from, escpecially if it turns out as well as this. This is easily the best track on the album because it actually has something to say. The social impetus is continued on the following "Free Mumia", including the wonderful line "Claimin I cause violence but America was violent before rap/Fact!". The contributions Channel Live provide are integrate well into the song. I just don't get the line drawn from Caligula over Hitler to Schwarzenegger. Caligula was not Austrian, and Schwarzenegger wasn't a big deal in politics yet. If somebody could provide me with the reasoning behind this (if there is one), I'd be thankful.

"Hold" is nice role prosa (I couldn't find a translation for "Rollenprosa" so I just translated it literally, I hope this is correct), but his delivery seems so forced and focused on articulation instead of emotion that the track loses most of its potential.

"Wannabemceez" is another one of those self-praise songs where other people are just not as good as he is. Just an example: "My grammar / With stamina, grabs a rapper like the fresh catch of the day / And crack the back of that DJ" If there is a thing about rap I've never thought about it's the grammar of the lyrics. Complex grammar will completely disable anyone from following the lyrics, so the grammar should be easy and the focus should be on wordplay, rhymes and ideas mostly concerning the vocabulary. I don't know why he thinks his grammar is superior, because it doesn't seem like that to me. And once again, I get that praising yourself is part of this specific genre, but you can read in many reviews how great his lyrics are and they just don't seem that way to me. In many cases, I'm totally content with disregarding the lyrics because they don't interest me in all cases (I mean I listen to tons of jazz music without lyrics). The only thing that annoys me is bad lyrics; I wouldn't call KRS-One's lyrics bad, but they do have irritating elements that make me think far too much about them when they probably are not supposed to be taken this way. But since I can only describe my own perceptions, I just wanted to note it.

"Represent the Real" ends with a long outro where people talk about how great KRS-One is and they represent different things. It does have a nice beat and flow, but it is not really noteworthy.

There's so much to unpack in "The Truth"; I don't think I can get to all of it. First of all, the first time I listened to it, and he started to talk about Jesus's death, I dreaded a "Welcome to the Terrordome"-moment which kind of ruined Public Enemy for me. Noticing how the creation story in the Bible doesn't make a lot of sense isn't incredibly original and is something you would hear in grade school. Taking the Bible literally to make fun of it, is also not very interesting, because a text dealing with transcendental things is probably not going to be realistic and shouldn't be criticized for it. I could elaborate, but I will leave it at that right now (this is far too long already).

The last four tracks don't really add anything noteworthy to what I wrote above, so to summarize:
TL;DR: KRS-One obviously does possess rap skills (and he doesn't get tired of praising them), but I feel like a lot of the praise he gets is misdirected, because his lyrics aren't really special, and in the case of "The Truth" actually pretty dumb. The beats are nice, but are not astounding enough on their own to carry the entire album, especially for longer than an hour. The interludes about people "representing xy" praising him, are already annoying in the very first minute of the album and don't get any better. I wouldn't say that KRS-One is a bad artist, but this is certainly not the big artistic statement the title implies. This entire review sounds like I'm completely bashing it, but I actually think the album is quite solid and I do understand why schaefer.tk chose it for his all-time list.

Highlights: "Ah-Yeah", "R.E.A.L.I.T.Y.", "Free Mumia"

5/10

[Brad]

3. KRS-One – KRS-One (1995): 4

Thanks!

[spiritualized]

This time, we delve into the infamous 80s, with a short EP from Toy Love, brought to you by Brad




4. Toy Love - Toy Love (EP) (1980)
Nominated by Brad (#328)
Genre : Punk Rock, Power Pop (unranked in the RYM Punk Rock chart)
Length : 4 tracks, 11:09

AM ranking : Unranked
Artist Ranking : Unranked
RYM ranking : Unranked for 1980, unranked overall (10 ratings @ 3.75 / 5.0)
10.9k unique listeners and ??k scrobbles on last.fm

Choice cuts : Rebel / Squeeze

The below is a playlist with all four tracks from the EP, which you can find on the compilation "Cuts", albeit in a slightly different order. It is also apparently remixed to the tastes of the band members, although I'm sure Brad will tell us if he prefers the original version, which I cannot find on YT. More on this in the below reviews



Biography (from Wikipedia)

Chris Knox was the band's front man and other members were guitarist Alec Bathgate, bass player Paul Kean, drummer Mike Dooley, and keyboard player Jane Walker. The band developed out of the earlier punk band The Enemy from Dunedin, and are often regarded as the progenitors of the Dunedin sound movement. Toy Love were together for less than two years (1978–80) and spent a large part of that time in Australia.

They released just one album, which was self-titled Toy Love. The band members were apparently appalled by the mixing of the tracks, which took the edge off the band's deliberately raw sound. Allmusic gave the album a 3/5 rating. In April 2005, the album was remastered and released along with a number of demos and unreleased tracks as a double CD entitled Cuts.

After Toy Love broke up, Bathgate and Knox remained together as the Tall Dwarfs. Kean was later a member of The Bats.

In 2012, Toy Love was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame and given the Legacy Award at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.

Jane Walker died in October 2018; her death was announced by Flying Nun Records on Twitter.


A review from a fan - for the CUTS compilation (RYM)

Tezcatlipoca - Nov 30 2007

Toy Love started like any other great band: someone (in this case perennial motormouth Chris Knox) discovered an orgy of original ideas running rampart in his mind and decided to flesh them out in musical form. Toy Love were fast, tough but also accessible and oodles of fun. After touring extensively to get the songs to a boiling point, the band decided it was time to put things down on tape. Of course they would have to get a record deal first and, as the foundation of the perfect fit: Flying Nun was a few years in the future, they went contract hunting outside their homeland. They ended up putting pen to paper with the multinational W.E.A..

And thus The Man screwed with things it shouldn't have and the magic of Toy Love evaporated, the edges were neutered and they were immersed in an unbecoming bath of glossy new wave plastic. Basically, the shameless tampering with the source material destroyed the band and with little surprise the bastardized version of their debut that saw the light of day was disowned by them. It did teach Chris Knox a crucial lesson: artistic freedom is all. Knox, never one to give up, bought a 4 track and, besides his lo-fi looniness with the Tall Dwarfs, helped instigate the whole Dunedin scene by producing local bands (like the Clean for example) in his own recording gear.

Luckily, Toy Love's story doesn't end there as somewhere along the line, and after much butting of heads, Chris Knox got a hold of the original tapes he and the band submitted to W.E.A. (the ones that the band kept were destroyed in a fire in the 80's). This release then acts as a colossal sponge that erases the symbolical place as a footnote history consigned Toy Love to and makes, once and for all, justice to the hard drivin' quality of their music. Greatness was there all along, screaming to get out but only now managing to escape the genie lamp callous W.E.A. CEOs confined it to; the garagey roughness of the guitars, the relentlessly twitching dynamics, colourful keyboards and oddly catchy, frequently rapid fire vocals that never forget to bring melody along with them. "Cuts" is the sound of a hugely entertaining band voraciously making up for lost time via ferocious power pop nuggets.

If you like this, also listen to :

The Monks - Bad Habits
The Haskels - Taking the City by Storm
Radio Stars - Songs For Swinging Lovers

[Brad]

4. Toy Love - Toy Love (EP) (1980): 9.5

Choice cuts : Rebel / Squeeze

The below is a playlist with all four tracks from the EP, which you can find on the compilation "Cuts", albeit in a slightly different order. It is also apparently remixed to the tastes of the band members, although I'm sure Brad will tell us if he prefers the original version

Nah, I think either version is fine - the 2-disc CD compilation includes both, but the differences aren't major to my ears... nothing egregious like the "Wuthering Heights" re-do (for example). I love all the cuts here but it's actually the last two songs that push this over the top for me. I had a friend in the '80's from NZ who brought a bunch of early NZ underground singles with him - we used to cover these songs in our garage-only band, figuring if we ever played in front of people they'd just assume we wrote them. A couple years later I found the Tall Dwarfs, along with an onslaught of Flying Nun bands like my beloved Verlaines, Chills, Clean, Bats, etc. as a DJ at my college station (late '80's-early'90's). Seems like it all goes back to Chris Knox as the prime mover...

BTW, love the write-ups... great stuff!

[spiritualized]

After Toy Love broke up, Bathgate and Knox remained together as the Tall Dwarfs. Kean was later a member of The Bats.

That sentence sums it up to me, in all its glory.
"Cuts" is #924 in my AT 1000 as I discovered it only recently, suggested by some kind of recommendation engine. I liked it immediately, finding the songs tuneful and rediscovering the trademark bass sound from the Dunedin bands. I didn't know all of it started there, but let it be known that Tall Dwarves, The Bats, The Chills, The 3Ds count amongst my favorite bands of all time. There is something about the Dunedin sound which appeals to me greatly, a fantastic mix of melody, guitars, a prominent bass, the addition of keyboards, it all gels.

And yet this is branded punk rock. I don't think so - there is an attitude, a behavior, perhaps lyrical content which tie in with the punk rock philosophy, but musically, it's far more subtle and the Kiwis musicians managed to be, like their rugby counterparts, one of a kind.

I miss the Dunedin sound - it had a very short shelf life, sadly - but Toy Love and all their offsprings continue to bring joy and energy to my ears. This EP exemplifies the start of a great sound, so it's worth a 9/10.

[spiritualized]

figuring if we ever played in front of people they'd just assume we wrote them.

Ahahahah - I know exactly what you mean

[Holden]

4. Toy Love - Toy Love (EP) (1980) - 7

[Listyguy]

Toy Love - 7/10
I can always trust on Brad to have solid power pop/jangle pop recommendations, and this EP fit that bill. "Squeeze" in particular really stood out to me as a strong track. Also, this might be the shortest album/EP I've ever listened to (the next shortest I can remember is Group Sex.

[Madzong]

4. Toy Love - Toy Love (EP) (1980) 9/10

[Honorio]

4. Toy Love - Toy Love (EP) (1980) 7/10

[Brad]

There is something about the Dunedin sound which appeals to me greatly, a fantastic mix of melody, guitars, a prominent bass, the addition of keyboards, it all gels.

Right on... I've found small pockets of like-minded fans of this sound over the years - seems to tap into your soul if you're anywhere near that wavelength. Curious as to whether you're a Verlaines fan as well (?) - I understand they're not everyone's cup of cider, but their early stuff especially glides right into the core fabric of the Dunedin scene.

[FrankLotion]

I seem to be finding less and less time for myself at this time of year but I wanted to quickly put in my two cents for this week:

4. Toy Love - Toy Love EP (1980) - 7/10

This was pretty solid, every track was good and since it's an EP it is a satisfying listen that's never under any threat of wearing out its welcome. I gave it a 7 simply because it's hard for me to give EP's more than that unless it is pretty spectacular, though I wouldn't be surprised if this grew on me more as the years go by.

Favorite Tracks: Squeeze, Rebel

[Schüttelbirne]

4. Toy Love | Toy Love | 1980

I've listened to this seven or eight times this week (which is still less time than I spent on KRS-One), and it grew on me immensely. After the first listen I didn't care for it at all; I didn't dislike it, I just didn't think anything specific about it.
Now I think that each of the tracks has a unique sound to it, and all of them are very enjoyable.
I'll spare you intricate analyses of the tracks and just give you a ranking:

1. "Sheep"
2. "Don't Ask Me"
3. "Rebel"
4. "Squeeze"

7/10

[mileswide]

I just don't get the line drawn from Caligula over Hitler to Schwarzenegger. Caligula was not Austrian, and Schwarzenegger wasn't a big deal in politics yet. If somebody could provide me with the reasoning behind this (if there is one), I'd be thankful.

I don't know if you were seriously looking for an interpretation, much less one a week later, but I reckon the key is in the next line "A lust for the violence is the science of their behaviour". It's trying to make a connection between white people through history and across national borders to argue that the race is inherently violent. The argument is made with a greater level of research and a more convincing (if equally contentious) narrative thread in the following year's 'Nature of the Threat' by Ras Kass, which is 'problematic' but still kind of stunning in its scope.

Anyway, this week's rating: Toy Love - Toy Love EP 6.8 (my #32 for 1980)
My highlight: Sheep

This month's highlights ranked:
Laid
Ah-Yeah
Sheep
R.E.A.L.I.T.Y.
The Winter Hit Hard
The River Curls around the Town
Build Ya Skillz
Bare Branches
Wannabemceez

[Schüttelbirne]

I just don't get the line drawn from Caligula over Hitler to Schwarzenegger. Caligula was not Austrian, and Schwarzenegger wasn't a big deal in politics yet. If somebody could provide me with the reasoning behind this (if there is one), I'd be thankful.

I don't know if you were seriously looking for an interpretation, much less one a week later, but I reckon the key is in the next line "A lust for the violence is the science of their behaviour". It's trying to make a connection between white people through history and across national borders to argue that the race is inherently violent. The argument is made with a greater level of research and a more convincing (if equally contentious) narrative thread in the following year's 'Nature of the Threat' by Ras Kass, which is 'problematic' but still kind of stunning in its scope.

Thank you!
That makes sort of sense, even if the inclusion of Schwarzenegger in that respect seems like a bad attempt at a joke. But maybe that's just me.

I've never heard of "Nature of the Threat" before and reading up on it, it strikes me as something I should probably stay away from...

[DaveC]

3. KRS-One - KRS-One (1995): 5/10

Favourite track: R.E.A.L.I.T.Y.
Least favourite track: Represent the Real Hip Hop

Not a genre that I usually enjoy, so 5/10 is actually a decent rating from me. I don't mind braggadocio when it is not accompanied with excessive misanthropy, and some of these songs are indeed 'real'.

[mileswide]

I've never heard of "Nature of the Threat" before and reading up on it, it strikes me as something I should probably stay away from...

It's a good track (its parent album Soul on Ice is massively unsung) but I can empathise with your reaction too

[Rob]

Toy Love - Toy Love EP: 7

Because of both the length of the songs and the EP itself it is easy to put this on repeat and repeat and repeat. I recognizes Don't Ask Me, as it appeared in Biggest Fan Songs, where at the time I rated it as average, but it has grown on me and has become the standout. The band finds enough variation in it's fast pop punk formula to keep things fun, while never it's appealing sense of energy. It doesn't shake my world so to speak, but it is definitely great while it lasts.

[spiritualized]

This week, we stay in the infamous 80s and their most famous advocate, Moonbeam !



5. Cybotron - Enter (1983)
Nominated by Moonbeam (#193)
Genre : Electro, Synthpop, Detroit Techno (#46 in the RYM Electro chart)
Length : 8 tracks, 39:23

AM ranking : Unranked
Artist Ranking : #2517
RYM ranking : #711 for 1983, unranked overall (808 ratings @ 3.34 / 5.0)
4,496 unique listeners and 39.8k scrobbles on last.fm

Choice cuts : Clear / Cosmic Cars

Like last week, the album on Spotify is not the original one, but it looks like a re-release from 1990, entitled "Clear". I have reordered the playlist to match the original tracklist, hoping that the newer versions don't differ too much from the original ones...



Biography (from Wikipedia)
Formed in 1980, Cybotron released their first singles, "Alleys of Your Mind" and "Cosmic Cars," as 7-inch records on Atkins's own label, Deep Space Records. In total, these records sold 15,000 copies. In 1983, the group was signed to the Berkeley, California-based Fantasy label and released its debut album, Enter.

In 1985, Atkins left the group due to artistic differences with Davis. Davis wanted the group to pursue a musical direction closer to rock, while Atkins wanted to continue in the electro-style vein of "Clear." After the breakup, Davis carried on and released several records as Cybotron, the last in 1995. Atkins still has an active musical career. He founded Metroplex Records and continued releasing records under several names, including Model 500, Model 600 and Infiniti. Atkins also continued DJing under his own name.
Although generally considered electro, Cybotron was also part of the early evolution of Techno music. Cybotron was the first musical outlet of Techno co-originator, Juan Atkins, and the group's unique combination of musical influences, boldly experimental aesthetic and Afro-futurist philosophy became the underpinnings of Detroit Techno.

Cybotron used a synth-dominated sound, paired with a drum machine, whose rhythms were similar to those emerging from New York at the same time. This was reflected in their first single, “Alleys of Your Mind,” which was released on their own Deep Space label and was playlisted by The Electrifyin’ Mojo in 1981. It became a local hit in Detroit, where it sold about 15,000 copies. Their next two singles, “Cosmic Cars” and “Clear” had even more success which led to them being signed by Fantasy, a label located in Berkeley, California.

Cybotron’s music could have easily been the soundtrack to the changing scene in Detroit. The city was in transition, from an industrial boomtown to a post-revolutionary wasteland, from US capital of auto-manufacturing to the US capital of homicide. In the late 60s and early 70s, the syndrome of “white flight” to the suburbs led to the decline of the auto industry and the de-gentrification of formerly securely middle-class black districts. Cybotron’s music worked to mirror this shift in atmosphere in Detroit. Songs like “Alleys of Your Mind” and “Techno City” were specifically aimed to mirror the city, using technology to capture this spirit. Cybotron used subliminal funk pulsing amidst their crisp-and-dry programmed beats to truly reflect the dying auto industry in Detroit.


A fan review

suburbanschizo - Aug 28 2019

Enter exists unto a world all its own - I literally can't think of too many other albums that sound like this. Is it Electro? Techno? What's with all those AOR-ish guitars soloing all over the place on the first half? And those slightly goofy, deadpan, synth-funk meet new wave vocals?

That's why this shit rules and is my favorite thing the mastermind behind Cybotron, Juan Atkins, has done. However, it's worth pointing out that the version of "Cosmic Cars" here seriously pales in comparison to the earlier 1982 single version here, Cosmic Cars / The Line. Unfortunately. So that's kind of a bummer.

The last few songs do away with the guitars (as far as I can tell). "Cosmic Raindance" is a pretty cool pure Kraftwerk-ian, progressive electronic instrumental, not like anything else on the album, and "El Salvador" might actually have ended up being the best tune here if not for the enduring classic and Cybotron's most well-known song, the one and only "Clear." Something I've always wondered is if the Friday the 13th Part III theme song, which actually was issued as a legitimate single, was any sort of inspiration for "Clear" - it sure sounds like it, but I dunno.

Verdict: love it, but make your own version with the superior "Cosmic Cars."

If you like this, also listen to :

Sound-System - Herbie Hancock
Space Is the Place - Newcleus
Deep Cut - Melon

A reminder of the current standings (remember, you can vote or change your vote anytime)


1. Toy Love - Toy Love EP : 7.630 (10 votes) [Brad]
2. James - Laid : 6.842 (12 votes) [Zombeels]
3. Hood - Cold House : 6.830 (12 votes) [CupOfDreams]
4. KRS-One - KRS-One : 6.400 (12 votes) [schaefer.tk]

[Holden]

5. Cybotron - Enter (1983)
6/10
A nice precursor to the modern electronic music I love but not quite as good.

[DaveC]

4. Toy Love - Toy Love (EP) (1980): 7.5/10

Favourite track: Squeeze
Least favourite track: Don't Ask Me

I nearly gave this an 8, but that would be unfair to full albums.
I always enjoy the Dunedin sound without being blown away by it and this is a prime example.

[Listyguy]

Enter - 8/10
I'm not much of a fan of techno music, but this album isn't really that techno or electronic. It sounds pretty similar to a lot of the synthpop albums of the 80s, especially the first half. The guitar work is also pretty great throughout, which I enjoyed here. This is definitely my favorite discovery of this game so far!

[mileswide]

Cybotron - Enter 6.1 (my #13 for 1983)

I never knew this was where the synth line from Missy Elliott's Lose Control was from. Leaning heavily in favour of the instrumental-focused tracks here.

My highlights: Clear, Cosmic Raindance

[Schüttelbirne]

5 | Cybotron | Enter | 1983

Note: I tried a different approach with this write-up, trying to construct a narrative from the individual songs. In the process objective information or even subjective statements about whether I liked it, are mostly missing. I thought this was an interesting experiment (for me personally) and I would like to hear what you think. (And yes, it's pretty pretentious, I know. But it was certainly a lot of fun.)


The first thougths when looking at the album cover are: Jump through the veil and you'll disintegrate. You'll cease to exist as a physical being and become pure information. You will enter a new world where the border between man and machine is not as clear as it used to be. The first song on the album, "Enter" asks the listener to "enter the next phase / enter the program / technify your mind". [It also serves as an invitation to the listener to engage with the material on the album, to the enter its sphere and let its sound "technify" the mind.]

The album cover emphasises the thought of leaving behind the natural sphere and entering a strange new world where the physical form evaporates and far more is possible than the world outside of computers can provide. But is it something positive? Is the process of "technifying one's mind" an expansion or is it a form of escape. The second track "Alleys of Your Mind" suggests the latter: "Anti-Love is the word", "Paranoia right behind". Fleeing into a new sphere of being becomes a new form of "tak[ing] your fate in your hands".

But what is so bad about the natural world that an escape is even something worth considering? It's the economy, as "Industrial Lies" tells us. The primary interests are "maximize / profitize / exploitation", and anything to further these interests is allowed in the modern world. Warmongering is also just a part of economics, a way to make more profit. Who can be blamed for wanting to escape a world where the ends do justify the means?

Add to that, the isolation the singer finds himself in. When he wakes up, he has "nowhere to go", when he's in the streets, he finds "no smiles on the faces of the people" he meets. He doesn't have a job and finds himself at the mercy of a bureaucrat with "ice cold eyes". But before that, he has to wait in "The Line": "Take a number / [...] / Take your place." There's no space for stepping out of the line, life is determined by outside forces and self-determination is a lie.

In "Cosmic Cars" the singer tells us his thoughts: "I wish I could escape / From this crazy place / Fantasy or dream / I'll take anything". He finds this escape in the technical world with the titular Cosmic Car. It might be simple imagination or maybe he plays race games, who knows? What's clear is that he loves his car. The electric guitar, signifying the old, natural world doesn't find much use in the technological, new world where the dominating instruments are the completely electronic synthesizers.
"Cosmic Raindance" provides another glimpse into his psyche. A ritualistic custom is being transformed into a technical one. The synthesizers and drum machines provide the texture for a new technical ritual to make it rain. And it works. Something arrives with the sound of rain.

"El Salvador" does not refer to the Central American country, but rather to the Spanish words for "The Savior". It becomes clear that the "Cosmic Raindance" is not a ritual to provoke actual rain, but rain serves as a metaphor for a savior to come to escape the world. The Savior is actually able to destroy the world in a carthatic ending to the song, after which there's nothing left but birds chirping. I am not sure, if the world destroyed at the end is the natural world or the new, technological one. Maybe it's both, because once the poisoned old world is dead, there's no need for a new world to escape to.

But that's not it. The final song is "Clear", which breaks the fourth wall and intices the listener to "clear your mind", and make way for the new world because "tomorrow is a brand new day." What one needs to do to achieve this new world and what exactly a cosmic raindance entails, is left open.

Whether the world desired by the singer is a utopia or a dystopia, is not clear. The album certainly satisfies escapist urges with the thought of leaving the world and entering another world, where one can be free of The Line and drive his Cosmic Car around forever.

Highlights: "Enter", "The Line"

6/10

[Brad]

5. Cybotron - Enter (1983): 6

Thanks!

[Honorio]

5. Cybotron - Enter (1983) 6/10

[Rob]

Let me join the people who give Cybotron's Enter a 6. We are all becoming one and equal in the world of the Cybotron.

If Schüttelbirne's amusing piece gave me one idea is that there is perhaps a musical journey in the original track order. It seems that it goes from more rock to more electronic, which might be a reflection themes of the digitalization. Though I'm not 100% if this holds up under closer scrutiny. Fact is, I loved the first three songs far more than what followed and I won't deny that the grand guitars were the main reason for this. They just sound so epic and atmospheric, like playing a gloriously old-fashioned video game in a sci-fi setting. After that it slowly becomes more and more of a precursor to Daft Punk and sadly I'm not the biggest fan of Homework/ Discovery era Daft Punk on this forum. Enter and Industrial Lines is were it is at for me.

I also hate Cosmic Cars. Like, really hate it. All thanks to the way the singer sings his r's. It's incredibly annoying.

[FrankLotion]

5. Cybotron - Enter (1983) - 6/10

When I first put this on I was wondering why everyone was giving this a 6 because I thought it started strong enough with the first two tracks. But then I got to track three, and I'm happy to see I'm not the only one who got a bad taste but Cosmic Cars has some truly excruciating vocals and the beat gets tedious pretty much immediately.

Thankfully I was able to quickly forgive this since the next track Enter was quite awesome, I'm actually surprised I've never heard this song anywhere before. His singing reminds me a lot of Bryan Ferry here in the best ways and the guitar solos are solid. There were ups and downs for the rest of the tracklist but it was enjoyable enough, I can hear a lot of LCD Soundsystem in the percussive synth noises so that was a plus.

Favorite Tracks: Clear, R-9, Enter, Cosmic Raindance

[spiritualized]

5. Cybotron - Enter (1983) - 5/10

When I saw the name Cybotron, I immediately connected with a drum'n'bass artist linked to Dillinja which I particularly appreciated at the time. I was quite surprised to see that there was an 80s outfit bearing the same name, co-starring Juan Atkins, no less. I enjoyed the odd Model 500 tracks in the old days, so I was naturally curious.

To sum it up, I'm not fond of it. Although you can see the groundbreaking elements in this record it is also heavily (too much) influenced by multiple 80s acts.


Enter is a good track, but I'm not sure the mix of guitar solos, new romantic vocals and electronic beats works very well. The heaviest influence in the next tracks is clearly Kraftwerk, with Alleys of Your Mind veering dangerously towards plagiarism. Somehow, to my surprise, the guitar solos meld quite well with the keyboards on "Industrial Lines" and the voice is not irritating, although again copying Kraftwerk.
"The Line" (favorite track) is far more industrial and has quite a good riff, à la Killing Joke's Wardance.
The next three tracks drop heavily in quality - Cosmic Cars' disco-funk failing badly at upping the tempo with awful lyrics. Finally, Clear "clears" the way for Juan Atkins to develop his house/techno leaning which would ultimately lead to the disagreement between him and Richard Davis and sign Cybotron's demise soon after.

Overall, worth listening to, but not a keeper.

[spiritualized]

For the first time, we have an album from the 10s...



6. MUNA - About U (2017)
Nominated by votingbloc (#120)
Genre : Synthpop, Pop Rock, Dance-Pop (#950 in the RYM Synthpop chart)
Length : 12 tracks, 48 mins

AM ranking : Unranked
Artist Ranking : Unranked
RYM ranking : #1029 for 2017, unranked overall (226 ratings @ 3.15 / 5.0)
70.7k unique listeners and 1.2m scrobbles on last.fm

Choice cuts : Crying on the Bathroom Floor / I Know a Place



https://open.spotify.com/album/0mfj2MrZ ... AdzZGCblIg

Biography (from Allmusic)

A sophisticated synth-pop trio, Los Angeles' MUNA came to wide attention in 2016 with their infectious single "I Know a Place." The song peaked in the Top 40 of the Billboard Adult Pop Music chart, paving the way for their 2017 full-length debut About U.
The Loudspeaker EPFormed at the tail-end of 2013 by vocalist Katie Gavin, guitarist/vocalist Naomi McPherson, and guitarist/vocalist Josette Maskin, who met while studying at the University of Southern California, MUNA quickly put together their debut EP, More Perfect. Released in mid-2014, the EP brought together their love of '80s new wave and synth pop, R&B, and modern left-field pop. The trio spent the next year writing new material -- signing to RCA in the U.S. and National Anthem in the U.K. in the process -- before releasing their sophomore EP, Loudspeaker, in May 2016. By the end of the year, MUNA had recorded their debut album, with the resulting About U appearing in early 2017. Co-produced by the band and Dan Grech-Marguerat (Radiohead, Lana Del Rey), and featuring the single "I Know a Place," it reached the Top Ten of Billboard's Heartseekers Albums chart. A follow-up non-album single, "In My Way," arrived in September of that year, just as they joined Harry Styles on tour. In 2019, the trio returned with a more heavy-hearted sophomore full-length, Saves the World.


A critic review (no fan review available)

Allmusic

Formed around the vocals of Katie Gavin and the guitars and backing vocals of Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin, the Los Angeles-based pop trio MUNA's first album About U is a homegrown affair that's at odds with the production-line style most modern pop employs. The songs are written by the trio only, the album is self-produced (with help from Dan Grech-Marguerat, who has worked with Dragonette and Lana Del Rey), and there are minimal intrusions by studio pros. It makes for a very focused sound, with McPherson and Maskin's echoing guitars featured on most songs and Gavin's strong vocals and dramatic, sometimes sexually explicit lyrics front and center. The trio's sound is influenced by slick '80s pop and synth-heavy new wave, and the album is split evenly between heartbreak beats ("Crying on the Bathroom Floor,) moody, danceable jams ("Around U"), and darkly emotional ballads ("Everything"), with the occasional straightforward pop song mixed in. Any or all the tracks would fit in nicely next to the work of their contemporaries like Shura, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Tegan and Sara. Maybe a little too well at times, and as a result, About U won't win any prizes for originality. Despite the pains they took to create the album themselves, MUNA don't quite manage to separate themselves from the pack of artists with a very similar sound. It is a promising debut, though, with a pleasingly direct lyrical approach, very assured vocals, and enough songs with sharp enough hooks ("Loudspeaker"), emotional punches ("Winterbreak"), or both ("End of Desire") to make it worth the effort to check the record out.

If you like this, also listen to :

V - Kite
Adieu l'enfance - La Féline
Introduction, Presence - Nation of Language

A reminder of the current standings (remember, you can vote or change your vote anytime)


1. Toy Love - Toy Love EP : 7.630 (10 votes) [Brad]
2. James - Laid : 6.842 (12 votes) [Zombeels]
3. Hood - Cold House : 6.830 (12 votes) [CupOfDreams]
4. KRS-One - KRS-One : 6.400 (12 votes) [schaefer.tk]
5. Cybotron - Enter : 6.260 (10 votes) [Moonbeam]

[acroamor]

I went to USC with the members of MUNA - back then, they were just another band I'd see play at house parties. It's been exciting to see them blossom past that!

[Holden]

6. MUNA - About U
Super solid pop album! I'm going to give it a 7/10.

[votingbloc]

Wow, that's pretty awesome, acroamor!

MUNA first came on my radar with the 3 singles they released in 2016 all of which hooked me, so I was really looking forward to the release of their debut album. While I find the stronger tracks to mainly be in the album's first half, the back half is still solid enough to place this one among my favorites.

The aching obsession in "Everything" is balanced against the spinning free of an orbit in "Around U." The anthemic heights of the chorus in "I Know A Place" match the song's yearning for a utopia. The album's standout to me, though, is "Winterbreak," which was of those pre-release singles that initially made me a fan. The icy, hypnotizing vocals combined with the lush synths beautifully evoke the intoxicating, broken lust sung about.

9/10

(And thanks for the heads up regarding this week, spiritualized.)

[FrankLotion]

6. MUNA - About U (2017) - 7/10

I liked this, a good tempo throughout and some solid hooks. Everything in particular really grabbed me.

Favorite Tracks: So Special, Around U, Everything

[Listyguy]

About U - 7/10
A solid synthpop album with a few standouts.

[Brad]

6. MUNA - About U (2017): 4
Man, I hate giving this bad a rating but this just really isn't my thing.

Thanks!

[Schüttelbirne]

6. MUNA | About U: 4/10

[mileswide]

Muna - ABOUT U 4.8 (my #34 for 2017)
My highlight: End of Desire

This month's highlights ranked:
Clear
End of Desire
Cosmic Raindance