Dream It Down

Last updated
Dream It Down
Underground Lovers Dream It Down.jpg
Studio album by
Underground Lovers
ReleasedJune 1994
RecordedJanuary 1993 to January 1994
Genre Indie rock
Length49:10
Label Polydor
Producer Glenn Bennie, Vincent Giarrusso, Wayne Connolly, David Chesworth, Robert Goodge, Simon Grounds
Underground Lovers chronology
Leaves Me Blind
(1992)		Dream It Down
(1994)		 Rushall Station
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Herald Sun Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Dream It Down is the third album by Australian indie rock/electronic band Underground Lovers, released in 1994. It was the second and final album released as part of a recording contract with the Polydor label and was named Australian album of the year by Triple J. [2] Two singles, "Las Vegas" (May 1994) and "Losin' It" (August 1994) were taken from the album.

Indie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United States and United Kingdom in the 1970s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. As grunge and punk revival bands in the US and Britpop bands in the UK broke into the mainstream in the 1990s, it came to be used to identify those acts that retained an outsider and underground perspective. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing importance of the Internet, some indie rock acts began to enjoy commercial success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a term.

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments and circuitry-based music technology. In general, a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means, and that produced using electronics only. Electromechanical instruments include mechanical elements, such as strings, hammers, and so on, and electric elements, such as magnetic pickups, power amplifiers and loudspeakers. Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, and the electric guitar, which are typically made loud enough for performers and audiences to hear with an instrument amplifier and speaker cabinet. Pure electronic instruments do not have vibrating strings, hammers, or other sound-producing mechanisms. Devices such as the theremin, synthesizer, and computer can produce electronic sounds.

Underground Lovers, are an Australian indie rock and electronic music band. The founding mainstays are Glenn Bennie and Vincent Giarrusso who had formed the group as GBVG, in 1988. By May 1990 the duo were renamed as Underground Lovers and joined by Richard Andrew (drums), Maurice Argiro and Philippa Nihill.

Contents

Background

Songwriter Vincent Giarrusso said the band wanted the album to be markedly different from its predecessor. "Leaves Me Blind had a desperate feel to it," he said. "With this new album we wanted to make the point that you can be subversive and confronting by softer means—that's even more powerful than being smacked over the head with drum rolls and guitars going the whole time." [3]

The album was originally recorded in January 1993, but the band, unhappy with the result, teamed with part of the Filthy Lucre production team—Robert Goodge and David Chesworth, formerly of Melbourne electronic band Essendon Airport, and Simon Polinski—to re-construct the songs with a combination of re-recordings, overdubs and editing. Songwriter Vincent Giarrusso said: "We went with David and Robert because we were comfortable with what they could do. They knew how to take the songs to where we wanted to get them. David is an amazing musician; classical, adventurous. Robert is great at showbiz." [4] Bennie said the extra work on production had come at a cost: "It was a lot more frustrating to get the parts right, whereas on Leaves me Blind we went for a lot of first takes." [3]

David Chesworth is an Australian-based interdisciplinary artist and composer. Known for his experimental, and at times minimalist music, he has worked in post-punk groups, electronic music, contemporary ensembles, and experimental Performance. Together with Sonia Leber, Chesworth has created a series of large scale installation and video artworks. Exhibitions include Venice Biennale (2015), Sydney Biennale (2014).

Essendon Airport were an Australian electronic music, post-punk group formed in 1978 which explored experimental minimalist and funk music. Founding mainstays were the duo of David Chesworth on electric piano and drum machine and Robert Goodge on guitar. They were joined in late 1980 by Ian Cox on saxophone and Paul Fletcher on drums. In 1982 they added Barbara Hogarth on bass guitar but disbanded in the following year. The group issued a four-track extended play, Sonic Investigations , and a studio album, Palimpsest. They reformed as the original duo line-up for occasional performances in 2003 after the issue of a compilation album, Sonic Investigations of the Trivial. A new double CD version of Palimpsest, and other live material, was released by Chapter Music in August 2011.

The album also marked the arrival of Derek Yuen in the band, replacing original drummer Richard Andrew, who went on to join Sydney band Crow. [5]

Track listing

(All songs by Glenn Bennie and Vincent Giarrusso except where noted)

  1. "Dream it Down" – 4:32
  2. "Losin' It" (Bennie, Giarrusso, David Chesworth, Robert Goodge) – 5:03
  3. "Recognise" – 8:05
  4. "Blues Team (Only Thinkin')" – 2:32
  5. "Superstar" – 3:27
  6. "Supernova" – 3:03
  7. "Las Vegas" (Maurice Argiro, Bennie, Giarrusso) – 5:31
  8. "Va Va Va Va" – 2:54
  9. "Weak Will" (Bennie, Giarrusso, Chesworth, Goodge) – 5:31
  10. "Beautiful World" – 3:57
  11. "Earth Manna" (Argiro, Bennie, Giarrusso) – 4:33

Personnel

Additional musicians

Amanda Brown (musician) Australian composer, violinist and singer

Amanda Gabrielle Brown is an Australian composer, classically trained musician, singer and songwriter. She is known for her role as the violinist of the band The Go-Betweens and more recently a session musician and soundtrack composer.

Wayne Connolly is an Australian producer/engineer and musician. Throughout the 1990s, Connolly played in Sydney band, The Welcome Mat, with whom he released a series of critically acclaimed albums and EPs on the Waterfront Records, Regular Records and id/Mercury labels. In 1994, he formed Knievel with Tracy Ellis and Nick Kennedy, who went on to release five albums and a series of singles on various labels in Australia, the United States and Japan including Murmur, Citadel Records and Albert Music. Knievel achieved high rotation on Triple J, toured locally and abroad, and supported acts such as Luna, Teenage Fanclub, Death Cab for Cutie and The Pernice Brothers.

Technical personnel

Charts

Chart (1994)Position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [6] 55

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References

  1. ↑ Herald Sun, 16 June 1994, page 43.
  2. ↑ Brady, Shane (15 January 1998), "Ways T'Burn review", The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, p. 22
  3. 1 2 Compton, James (14 July 1994), "Underground surfaces via vivid Dream", The Daily Telegraph Mirror, Sydney, p. 48
  4. ↑ Te Koha, Nui (30 June 1994), "Talk is cheap", Herald Sun, Melbourne
  5. ↑ McFarlane, Ian (1999). The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . Sydney: Allen & Unwin. p. 656. ISBN   978-1-86-448768-8.
  6. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
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