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I Start Counting | |
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 I Start Counting (Left: David Baker, Right: Simon Leonard) | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Komputer, Fortran 5 |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Electronic, synth-pop [1] |
| Years active | 1984–1989 |
| Labels | Mute |
| Past members | David Baker Simon Leonard |
I Start Counting were an electronic music duo from North London. The band consisted of David Baker and Simon Leonard. [2]
Baker and Leonard had met at Middlesex University; both had an affection for pop music. [3] In 1982, they began to DJ together which led them to form the I Start Counting project. Leonard specialized in the technology side and Baker was biased toward the musical side of the project. [3] They approached Daniel Miller with some demos of their recorded material. These demos led to Mute Records signing the duo in 1984. [3]
Initially, they recorded two singles for Mute titled "Letters to a Friend" and "Still Smiling"; both singles were produced by Daniel Miller. [4] Then in 1986, I Start Counting recorded their debut album titled My Translucent Hands. The album was produced by Paul Kendall. [5] In 1987, they supported Erasure on their European tour. [3]
The band's second album was released in June 1989, titled Fused. It included a new version of the track "Lose Him", [6] made up of sampled voices instead of a recorded singer.
In 1990, they recorded some new material, but realized that it sounded quite different from their previous electropop recordings. [3] This new style of dance/techno was released under the name Fortran 5; [3] the band would later change their name again to cater for the Kraftwerk-influenced project known as Komputer.
Fortran 5 | |
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 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Electronic |
| Years active | Early to mid-1990s |
| Labels | Mute |
| Past members | David Baker Simon Leonard |
Around 1990, Baker and Leonard had begun recording new material, and realised that the new music had a different sound compared to their previous electropop style. [3] They decided to rename their project Fortran 5 in order to give their new dance/techno style a fresh start. [3] The new project also involved the duo collaborating and working with a number of other artists. [3] These included Kris Weston of the Orb, and Rod Slater from Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. [3]
The band's final album was titled Avocado Suite and was their most experimental work; this was far removed from their early electropop sound. [3]
Fortran 5 also remixed songs from artists such as Inspiral Carpets, Erasure and Laibach. [3]
Simon Leonard also wrote a novella called Fortran 5, which was published by Malice Aforethought Press.
Leonard and Baker reacted to the tedium of mid-1990s indie guitar music by returning to their Kraftwerk-inspired roots which again provoked a name change to Komputer. The band took samples from a variety of sources: from Russian cosmonauts to rubbish compactors and mobile phone ringtones.
Komputer's first releases, the Komputer EP from 1996, and the subsequent album The World of Tomorrow were a respectful homage to the duo's German electronic heroes (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark used a sample from "Looking Down on London" for their track "The Right Side?"). Later material saw Komputer absorbing a much wider variety of influences and creating their own unique style of English electronic pop/folk music.
The duo never performed live as Fortran 5, but from the earliest days as Komputer, live shows were very important, leading to many performances all over Europe, most recently appearing at the Short Circuit presents Mute festival at London’s Roundhouse.
For Synthetik, the band's third album, the music gradually evolved over a long period of time, tracks were tried out in live sets then discarded or reworked in the studio, maturing into a return to the more traditional electro sound of the first album, The World of Tomorrow, with the incorporation of a more experimental and contemporary electronica approach.
As I Start Counting
As Fortran 5
As I Start Counting
Kraftwerk are a German electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre. The group began as part of West Germany's experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders. Wolfgang Flür joined the band in 1973 and Karl Bartos in 1975, expanding the band to a quartet. Since the band's formation, it has seen numerous lineup changes, with Hütter as its only constant member.
Synth-pop is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s.
François Kevorkian, also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage and Studio 54. Kevorkian has produced and remixed work by a diverse range of musicians including the Smiths, Adam Ant, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Diana Ross, Gloria Estefan and U2, and is considered one of the forefathers of house music.
Erasure are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1984, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member of synth-pop duo Yazoo. From their fourth single, "Sometimes" (1986), Erasure established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful acts of the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, the pair achieved 24 consecutive top-40 entries in the UK singles chart. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK top 40, including 17 climbing into the top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.
Autobahn is the fourth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk, released in November 1974 by Philips Records. The album marked several personnel changes in the band, which was initially a duo consisting of Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter; later, the group added Klaus Röder on guitar and flute, and Wolfgang Flür on percussion. The album also completed the group's transition from the experimental krautrock style of their earlier work to an electronic pop sound consisting mostly of synthesizers and drum machines. Recording started at the group's own Kling Klang facility, but was predominantly made at Conny Plank's studio. Autobahn also includes lyrics and a new look for the group that was suggested by Emil Schult, an associate of Schneider and Hütter.
Yellow Magic Orchestra was a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The group is considered influential and innovative in the field of popular electronic music. They were pioneers in their use of synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers, and digital recording technology, and effectively anticipated the "electropop boom" of the 1980s. They are credited with playing a key role in the development of several electronic genres, including synthpop, J-pop, electro, and techno, while exploring subversive sociopolitical themes throughout their career.
Yazoo were an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, Essex, consisting of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke (keyboards) and Alison Moyet (vocals). The duo formed in late 1981 after Clarke responded to an advertisement Moyet placed in a British music magazine, although the pair had known each other since their school days.
Vincent John Martin, known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter for several groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and the Assembly. In Erasure, he is known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics.
Trans-Europe Express is the sixth studio album by German band Kraftwerk. Recorded in 1976 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the album was released in March 1977 on Kling Klang Records. It saw the group refine their melodic electronic style, with a focus on sequenced rhythms, minimalism, and occasionally manipulated vocals. The themes include celebrations of the titular European railway service and Europe as a whole, and meditations on the disparities between reality and appearance.
Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Fever Ray, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.
The Mix is the tenth studio album by the German electronic music band Kraftwerk. It was released on 11 June 1991 by Kling Klang and EMI in Europe and by Elektra Records in North America. It features entirely re-arranged and re-recorded versions of a selection of songs which had originally appeared on Kraftwerk's albums Autobahn (1974) through Electric Café (1986). Some of the songs, such as "The Robots" and "Radioactivity", feature new additional melodies and/or lyrics.
The Catalogue is a box set consisting of the eight albums by German electronic music band Kraftwerk that were released from 1974 to 2003. All albums are digitally remastered, with most of the cover art redesigned, including rare photographs in the liner notes that were not part of each album's original release.
The Assembly were a British synth-pop project formed in 1983 in Basildon, England, by Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe.
"Oh L'amour" is a song by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released in April 1986 as their third single. Written by Erasure members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, it is a lament from someone experiencing unrequited love. The song is an uptempo, synth-pop dance track and its popularity was further fueled in dance clubs by the "Funky Sisters Remix", which appeared on the UK 12-inch single and as a bonus track on the US edition of Erasure's debut album, Wonderland (1986). A different mix of the song was submitted for the single release, adding new instrumentation and extra sounds. This version appears on all of the band's compilation albums. A version of the 12" single was included with early copies of the debut LP Wonderland. One of the B-sides is a cover version of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! ", the first time Erasure covered a song from the ABBA songbook. It was issued by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the US to herald the June release of Wonderland, but became the third consecutive commercial failure for the band in both territories. Despite its low chart placement, "Oh L'amour" has proven to be one of Erasure's signature songs, due to its popularity in dance clubs. It remains a favourite among fans, particularly when performed live.
"Blue Savannah" is a song by English synth-pop duo Erasure from their fourth studio album, Wild! (1989). Written by members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, the song was released as a single in Japan on 25 January 1990 and was issued in the United Kingdom the following month. Alfa Records released it in Japan as the album's lead single, Mute Records released it in Europe as the album's third single, and Sire Records released it in the United States as the album's second single. Considered one of the band's signature songs, the duo still perform it regularly in concerts. It has been described as an uplifting love song; the instrumentation is crisp and heavily synthesized, accented with sweeping, programmed piano.
Daniel Otto Joachim Miller is a British music producer and founder of Mute Records.
The following is a list of items with recorded Mute Records catalogue numbers, starting with label founder Daniel Miller's single as The Normal.
Jesper Skaaning is a Danish electronic musician, producer and film composer. He started his career as a guitarist in various experimental punk bands in the early 1980s and was inspired by European electropop and early electronic Music, especially by Kraftwerk. At that time he formed a band, Acustisk Ungdom, from which he later took his name.
Tomorrow's World is the fourteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released by Mute Records in the United Kingdom on 3 October 2011 and in North America on 11 October 2011. As with their previous album, Light at the End of the World (2007), Tomorrow's World reached number 29 on the UK Albums Chart.
The Neon is the eighteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released on 21 August 2020 by Mute Records. The album debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart with 8,394 copies sold in its first week.
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