New Wave music reviews

Great tunes mostly from his Rockpile years. 'Basher' has more for your money but doesn't include 4 excellent tracks found here: Skin Deep, Nutted By Reality, They Called It Rock, and Basing Street (not found on any of his LPs). As a sidenote, indie rocker and Nick-fan Scott McCaughey (Minus Five) released a fine version of Basing Street in 1995.

p.s. And I love the demented photo of Nick on the cover (and I also love the sound of breaking glass).

16 All Time Lowes was released in 1984, just before Nick Lowe decided to return to American roots music with his fifth solo album, Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit, and it appropriately functions as a greatest-hits collection of his new wave years. Most of the 16 tracks are culled from Jesus of Cool and Labour of Lust, with Rockpile's "When I Write the Book" and the non-LP "Basing Street" added for good measure. It's a very entertaining collection, boasting such Nick classics as "Born Fighter," "Marie Provost," "Cruel to Be Kind," "Cracking Up," "So It Goes," and "They Called It Rock." - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

I wonder why such a talented singer & songwriter should be so obscure? To me, he's as good as Elvis Costello. Every single one of these tracks is great. To single out just 4 of them: (I Love The Sound Of ) Breaking Glass with its killer hook (very evocative of David Bowie's Breaking Glass on his "Low" album), the chilling tale of Mary Provost (an actress who lost it when the talkies came in and who was eaten by her doggie in a "cheap hotel up on Hollywood West" - wonder if it was a chihuahua?), the hilarious So It Goes with its quirky beat and the singalong Nutted By Reality. I recommend this album to those who love intelligent rock-pop with clever lyrics and catchy melodies. Very much like early Elvis Costello.

Ok, everyone is now enchanted with Montreal's Arcade Fire, or spending their money with Bloc Party and over consider things like Mars Volta, but I think they're still far from great original indie core. "16th Lovers Lane" was recorded almost 20 years ago,and still it's songs are pristine and loveable as the first time I've heard it. "Love is a Sign" is the most strange love song I've ever heard: "I wish you had a big house,and that your work would start to sell", needless to say more. Buy it, thanks God for this new edition, and when you went really deep into the Betweens, go and check out, for another Aussie stars as The Cannanes.

I had purchase this on cassette tape from many years ago, but just purchased this masterpiece on CD. This is by far the best recording by an underated band who deserved more credit in these United States. Every single song on this album is brillant. 16 Lovers Lane is magnificent, simply breathtaking. I urge you Alternative Rock fans to purchase this. I would rate this in the top five of all the the past albums from the late 1980's. I know my music. So do yourself a favor & purchase this gem right now. You won't be sorry.

Good sensitive souls of the universe, who carve a world inside songs to build a safe home for their hearts, please, won't you buy this record?

This CD is very good, I bought it for the 80's song Tenderness that was used in the movie Clueless but wasn't put on the soundtrack. I like almost every song, I especially like General Public's, Tenderness but I also like The Go-Go's, Head Over Heals, Soft Cells, Tainted Love, Thompson Twins, Doctor! Doctor! Flying Lizard's, Money, and Toni Basil's Mickey. Money and Mickey are both weird songs and kind of goofy but I don't mind listening to them, I guess they are both guilty pleasures, songs you know most people will think you are a dork for liking and you usually would be too embarrassed to admit you liked them! The only songs I don't really care for are Do You Really Want To Hurt Me by some group called Culture Club and the song Broken Wing from Mr. Mister but it's still a good CD, I just skip the songs I don't like! And since most of the songs are good and there are only a few songs I don't like I still would rate the CD a 5!

I really like the CD and love that it has the song Tenderness!

THIS CD IS AWESOME BECAUSE IT CONSIDERS SEND ME AN ANGLE A HIT.MY FAV SONG OF ALL TIME

The sophomore jinx hit Tonio K. hard. The follow-up to "Life in the Food Chain" is uneven. The four stars are earned, though, by the three over-the-top 80's-style ballads "Sons of the Revolution", "Say Goodbye" and "Cinderella's Baby", which are right up there with anything else he's recorded.

With this LP, I became a youthful Dadaist with my tongue planted firmly in my futt futt futt.

Thanks Mr. K.

The only criticism we can do against dada movement is that it didn't wrecked itself, denying its own essence. Er...yes, Tonio K. too. This album is surely one of my favourite of all years. It's messy, unclear, hilariously sad and extatic, and surely really funny. Tonio K began with "Life in the foodchain " which was...rock. This one is...rock. But : If you like rock, .... Tonio K is (yeah, in fact...was) completely brilliantly mad. The songs, even though the album sound like some 50-60 rock encyclopedy are completely addicting. The lyrics are ...hilarious (but take time to decrypt what he tried to say) and completely cynic. The top is reached by the inner picture of this guy...flashing gun on his .... Warning : Tonio K is now a complete .... Go buy "life in the foodchain" and "Amerika" (the best "rock" albums ever made in amerika) and leave the rest to ....

Bill Budd's picture doesn't even appear on the cryptic cover of his debut CD, "And So Here...", nor does his face appear on the artwork on the CD's insert. Why? Maybe the singer-songwriter wanted to be judged only by the merits of his music, bringing his voice and lyrics rather than his youthful looks to the forefront. Not many artists would have the nerve to do this unless they had the talent and confidence to back it up. But immediately with "And So Here...", the CD's title track, the listener is seduced by Bill Budd's distinctive brand of pop music, a thoughtful, mutli-dimensional synergy of 80's-style new wave, folk, and electronica. It's low on pretense, high on emotion. And although Bill Budd's voice is bathed with sophisticated and high-tech-- yet light-as-air-- electronic effects throughout the CD, the real calling card here is Budd's gifted vocals and lyrics. Very rarely do we get to hear a voice as unblemished and as full of wide-eyed awe and innocence as Mr. Budd's. Then, there's the lyrics on "And So Here...". Even though Budd himself has declared that fictitious themes play an important role in his debut CD, his words lead the listener to believe that the people, places, and situations that he sings about are based-- at least in part-- on real experiences. The juxtaposition of Budd's youthful voice, with the sophistication and maturity of his lyrics and subject matters of which he sings, results in a truly unique-- and often exhilirating-- effect. Indeed, "Trying Here", "Un-Me", and "Again" deserve to become classics in the new face of indie pop. "Tim", the second track, makes a truly sincere love song. On the third track, "Empty Day", the first few beats lead the listener to think that we're about to hear a remake of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors"-- but Budd proceeds to deliver an even more emotionally powerful ballad. ("So maybe I bruised your ego; That's not what I intended to do; You think that I could change our future; Even though you feel alone when I'm with you.") The CD reaches its first zenith with "Trying Here", a delightful, upbeat love song written by Drae Campbell which may become Bill Budd's most emblematic track. So rarely has playful love been expressed so vividly as when Budd proclaims,"I like it when you brush up behind me; When your arms go around my waist, I like it even more; I like it best when you let your eyes rest upon me." Making his voice the star of the next track, Budd adopts an appropriately moody, more haunting tone for "Your Shadow". With lyrics like "Not even earthquakes could swallow your pride...", the fictional story is about one man's attempt to rebuild a city after a natural disaster. Accompanied by the sound effects of thunder and a prominent piano in the background, he continues to showcase his voice-- and his widest range yet-- with the following track, "More". With a yearning, soulful delivery, the result is the most delicately beautiful song on the CD.



Mr. Budd returns to a more upbeat sound with "Un-me", a high-energy song presumably about pride, self-empowerment and moving on which builds up in intensity to no less than a truly triumphant climax, with lyrics like "I drink a toast to myself babe, 'cause I'm gonna be alright; I drink a toast to myself babe 'cause I am givin' up this fight. (I'm sayin') This is the last time you'll ever see the 'un-me'; This was the last time I'll ever be the 'un-me'". The catchy track seems like a hybrid of "I'm Coming Out" and "I Will Survive" for the new generation of youthquakers. Budd experiments with exotic melodies and sounds in the background of "Again", a love song about reviving a relationship by trying new things and making plans for the future: "We'll take the train to India; and watch the world unfurl before our eyes; and search the love in the sand and sky; Let the stars hold our thoughts until the sunrise...". "Again" is another standout on the CD. With the ninth track, "Everything", the CD sadly ends all too quickly, and we're left with the same wide-eyed yearning and awe that Bill Budd expresses so well in his debut recording. But we're also left with the feeling that with the energy and musical skill that Bill Budd gives us with "And So Here...", the best is truly yet to come from this young star.

It is a crying shame that artists like Bill Budd don't get air play. The music, lyrics and voice are emotional and powerful. His lyrics are inspired and he in turn does the same for the listener. I feel haunted each time I listen to "And So Here." It just takes talent to be able to take the listener to a higher plain. Sorry it that sounds hokey but it is true. Made my spirit move! Incredible! I became a fan instantly!

Not David Gray so much, he's too "we're grown up now"...think the first time you walked into your junior high dance. It's 1986, there are streamers and somehow dimmed lights where the basketball backboards usually were. All those things you thought romance was going to be, wrapped up in a series of dramatic gestures which would instantly tell your beloved everything she needed to know (or he, or course) all to a backbeat of "Take My Breath Away" or "Just Like Heaven", it's like he still remembers those dramatic gestures we were all going to make, and he's got enough voice where he doesn't have to giggle about them.

The man can sing. And there's some non-derivitive top 40 sensibilities mixed in with a little bit of worldly-knowledge. What else could you ask for?

It beats Coldplay. Think Future Bible Heroes, with a little bit more on his sleeve.

"Angst in My Pants" is one of the greatest albums of the 80s. The Mael brothers were often witty, insightful, and brilliant, but most of the Sparks catalog is, at best, uneven. That isn't the case with this classic album, as Sparks seem to have all of the pieces of the puzzle in place. The backup band is also brilliant, seamlessly blending Sparks trademark brand of keyboard/snyth, guitar, percussion, and electronica. To me the album always reflected the decade of its release - full of smart-assed witicisms, semi-sarcastic vocals, and slightly off-base melodies - it is a beautiful document of the 80s. It is easily one of the 10 best records of the decade. "Eaten by the Monster of Love" is a classic - placed perfectly in the film "Valley Girl," another historical document of the 80s.

Sparks has for a long time been my favorite artists. I had the cassette tape of this album when I was in High School, I wore this tape out listening to it so much.

What can you say. This album contains the song "Mickey Mouse", which always by tradition was the first song in my tape player in my car when vacation plans called for a roadtrip to Disneyland!

"Nicotina" and "Sherlock Holmes" are also great fun songs. The title song, "Angst in my Pants", the song with the most airplay from the album is also one of those songs that go down in the Sparks-Hall-of Fame!

The title song of this album is simply the best song on this album. To me it reminds me of a person with big personal problems, that he og she cant cope with.

How many times can we listen to Aerosmith get the credit for bringing rap to the masses when it was Blondie who did it in "Rapture", Fab 5 Freddy references and all?

A band which never got its due.

Autoamerican is the one album with Deborah Harry that brings back exciting memories of the good ol' party days in Hermosa Beach. My roommate Stacey Flett always loved to party with this album turned up LOUD. Favorite track: Rapture with Lenny Pickett and the Tower of Power horn section. Two versions of Rapture. One is called the disco mix, the other is the original. Stacey if you're reading this get in touch. I hope the yayo didn't get ya.

It's almost impossible for me to describe how much I love this album. There aren't too many albums that can be described as "perfect," but this is one of them. How else can you describe an album in which everything comes together, from vocals, through song writing, through instrumentation, through production? An added bonus is that the cover is absolutely amazing--something that, unfortunately, has been lost in shrinking it to fit within a CD case. AutoAmerican perfectly captures a spirit. Each track is more amazing than the last, with Debbie Harry's vocals holding the whole thing together. With such established classics as "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture"--which have become instantly recognizable everywhere--it's hard to imagine how truly groundbreaking this album was when it hit in 1980. Never before had such a successful band stretched itself so far. What was happening here? "Europa," a high-tech instrumental, opened the album with a vastly conflicted view of the automobile's place in modern America. "Live It Up" was a synthesized monument to night life, undercutting itself at every turn. From there we were back in the 1940s, with Debbie crooning a sweetly backward and naive lounge song, "Here's Looking at You." Next stop--America's premiere New Wave band hires an orchestra and remakes "The Tide Is High," with Debbie singing in both a low and high register simultaneously. After that, the sounds of urban destruction as the introduction to the haunting "Angels on the Balcony," which should have been the album's third hit (and which remains a favorite of most Blondie diehards). Side One closes with "Go Through It," a tongue-in-cheek western number that's so clever and catchy that you can't get it out of your head. Side Two--"Do the Dark," with synthesizers noodling all over the place and Debbie's voice once and for all becoming a part of your entire sensibility. But nothing prepared us for "Rapture," that odd crooning followed by--could it be?--some sort of fast-paced poem that was the first time most white people ever heard of rap. Change directions again--"Faces," Debbie Harry's first foray into jazz, and the song that made the world realize, once and for all, that Debbie Harry wasn't just a pop princess, but a SINGER. Then, another whirlwind--"T-Birds," which should have been the album's fourth hit--so rousing that it could be anthem for just about any sport (though the song itself is about rollerskating). Back into urban territory and Blondie's occasional cynicism with "Walk Like Me," perhaps their most unsettling song because it's so wise. Close with "Follow Me," an unexpected song to end an utterly unexpected album. This import includes two additional tracks--a remix of "Rapture" (the first remix of a song that is still remixed, to this day) and a rare remix of "Live It Up." Blondie will always be remembered for PARALLEL LINES--another perfect (in a different way album). PARALLEL LINES is for everyone--its appeal is universal and instantaneous. AUTOAMERICAN is a mature work of art that improves with every listen. And I mean that. I've listened to this album at least once a week for the last 20 years, and it NEVER gets boring. I'm always discovering new connections in the songs, and it becomes more relevant every day. Everyone should own this album. Hooray to the Brits for keeping this album available. In fact, if anyone else feels this way about this album, I'd love to hear from you: MaxSoccer5@aol.com.

I'm sure i could rave for hours upon hours, and megabytes upon megabytes on how incredible Jeff "Django" Baker and Vic "Sluggo" Ruggiero are, so i'll try and keep this comparatively slim. "Open Season" was an amazing album, one which would be devastatingly hard to follow up . . . for any other artists, that is. With "Back With a New Batch," the music is again complex-yet-simplistic, with reggae, rocksteady, ska, and even dub mixed into a genre so independent that it can only be deemed great music. If you're a music fan (ie, hate matchbox 20 :-) ), this, as well as the band's other 2 (and every Slackers album pressed), should have a spot in your collection already carved out and ready . . .

This is just an awesome CD! Buy it now! mactchbox20 kicks ass!

The first batch, Open Season was great, and this is much better

this is the first time i have herd the 4 skins and i would reccomend it to anyone great album and am quite pleased with my purchace and again i would reccomend it to anyone...

the 4 skins were great, and in their words 'do not incite violence, only sing about what happens!' the stand out track on this album is obviously 'plastic gangsters,' a 2-tone ska song that reminds me of the clash circa 'give 'em enough rope' era meeting madness. it's also one of my favorites on here and i don't like ska. the first 11 tracks on this album are fairly hard to find, so it's a good addition for completists. my copy of this album is an import and has an extra disc of live tracks, consisting of the live side of 'the good, the bad, and the 4 skins' plus the 'from chaos to 1984' lp. i would suggest finding that, cause i picked it up... and all the other 4 skins discs they had were the same price. the sound and performance on the live tracks is brilliant.

This is an essential must-have for any lover of the British oi genre. It's hard to match the raw in-your-face power of the featured early singles like "ACAB" and "Sorry", with Gary Hodges' classic aggro vocals. This cd has tracks spanning the entire history of the band, and includes many hard-to-find songs. This is definitely the best introduction for those new to the band.

This was a speculative purchase due to the editorial references to Numan, Kraftwerk and Ultravox. I have everything that Numan has ever released and about 90% of Kraftwerk's and Ultravox's output too. I didn't hear a trace of anything resembling those artist's creativity (I mean how can you imitate Numan? ;-) I'd say this piece of work sounds most like what John Foxx has been doing for the last few years, but without as much daring or melody. When I listen to something new I like to hear something which makes me want to hear a key track or two again and again. For me there are no key tracks and the whole album blurs into a wash of below par synth-pop. I bought Automatic by I Satellite some time ago and thought I'd like this too. I didn't.

Chris Ianuzzi's solo debut recalls many turn-of-the'-80s influences, but not the ones that have been done to death these last few years. Instead of dry, primitivist electro, he's created polished, cerebral singer/songwriter synthpop a la Thomas Dolby. His gritty voice -- edged with the rasp of Peter Gabriel and the wail of David Byrne -- guides you through the dense, burbling production, telling stories of sci-fi romance and danger.

I just saw "I, Synthesist" last night with "The Cruxshadows" at a local venue. Prior to last night I didn't have a clue as to who "I, Synthesist" was and thought "Oh, just another opening act filler." Boy was I wrong. From the moment this one man band appeared on stage my ear was magically drawn into the beats, synths, and vocals emanating from the sound system. After the set, I didn't have to be told twice and immediately bought this album. I love it and if you like New Wave and modern day Synth Pop you'll love it as well. I'm amazed that I didn't hear more about Chris Ianuzzi before. All in all if you're looking for a nice, well crafted, and catchy electronic album to dance or bob your head to this is a great selection to make.