| Martin Rev | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1980 | |||
| Recorded |
| |||
| Studio | Sorcerer Sound Recording Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 29:45 (original) | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Producer | Martin Rev and Charles Ball | |||
| Martin Rev chronology | ||||
| ||||
Martin Rev is the debut solo album by Martin Rev. It was released in February 1980 on Lust/Unlust Music via their Infedility imprint. The album showcases the cerebral synth-pop sensibilities of its artist, who was one half of the pioneering synthpunk duo Suicide.
Suicide's manager Marty Thau first approached Martin Reverby with the idea for him to record a solo album on Thau's Red Star Records in 1978, shortly after the release of Suicide's 1977 debut album on the same label. Rev was receptive, but Alan Vega (the other half of Suicide) felt it was too early for either artist to go solo. In the fall of 1979—by which point Suicide was in a touring lull and Red Star had been in financial trouble—Rev revived the idea for a solo album. He pitched it to Charles Ball, Suicide's live audio engineer in Europe. Ball was the owner of Lust/Unlust Music, which had a number of imprints devoted to various flavors of post-punk music, including Infedility, which was focused on no wave music from New York City. After Ball gave Rev the greenlight, Rev recorded the album in December 1979 at Sorcerer Sound Recording Studios, owned by Alan Fierstein and located at 19 Mercer Street. [1] Martin Rev was recorded with synthesizer, rhythm machine, xylophone, piano, microphone, and eight-track recorder. [1] [2] Rev self-produced the album with Ball. [3]
Side one opens with "Mari", named after Rev's wife Mari Reverby (née Montgomery), who briefly played in Suicide in the early 1970s. [4] It sports a dense, upbeat synthesizer melody with rhythm-machine percussion. [1] "Baby O Baby", the only song on the album to feature vocals, has Rev singing with a guttural, monotone affect. "Nineteen 86" features distorted church bell samples while a synth riff runs in the background. [1]
Side two opens with "Temptation", with xylophone providing the main melody, while deep and wooshing synth pulses provide counter-melody and ambiance. "Jomo" sports harmonium-esque drones underneath a bedrock of splashing synth noise and a motorik beat. [1] [4] "Asiá", the closing track, features piano and rhythm machine above synthesized organ and metallic echoing. [4] [1]
Martin Rev was released in February 1980 on Infedility, [5] shortly before the release of Suicide's second album on ZE Records. [1] In 1997, the album was re-released on Daft Records of the Netherlands as Marvel, with the bonus tracks "Coal Train" and "Marvel" (recorded later in 1991) added to the end of the original track list. [6] [7] In 2002, it was reissued under its original self-titled name on Reachout International Records (ROIR), featuring the aforementioned bonus tracks as well as three additional songs recorded in the same 1991 session: "5 to 5", "Wes", and "Daydreams". [6] In 2013, Superior Viaduct reissued the album with the original 1980 track list. [4]
New York Rocker 's Roy Trakin called the album a "particularly revelatory in capturing [Rev's] left-field genius". [8] Tiny Mix Tapes 's Clifford Allen described it as "full of stunningly beautiful passages ... it shouldn't be overlooked in any study of punk-era electronics or the Madagascan array of art that permeated Koch-era New York". [4] Charlotte Robinson, reviewing the 2002 reissue in PopMatters , called it "an erratic and sometimes exhausting listen", inconsistent but overall interesting. [6] She found the original tracks ultimately "reinforcing the assertion that Rev was 20 years ahead of his time". [6] Jon Savage of The Guardian called it a "a prime, albeit forgotten example" of the 1980s golden age of electronic music: "[I]n its dark minimalism, it points forward to Plastikman, the Tresor artists and other future explorers". [9]
All tracks are written by Martin Rev
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mari" | 4:25 |
| 2. | "Baby O Baby" | 4:47 |
| 3. | "Nineteen 86" | 4:35 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Temptation" | 7:18 |
| 5. | "Jomo" | 4:40 |
| 6. | "Asiá" | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 29:45 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Coal Train" | 5:28 |
| 8. | "Marvel" | 12:50 |
| Total length: | 48:03 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 9. | "5 to 5" | 2:00 |
| 10. | "Wes" | 4:16 |
| 11. | "Daydreams" | 5:22 |
| Total length: | 59:41 | |
The Associates were a Scottish post-punk and pop band, formed in Dundee in 1979 by lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine. The band released an unauthorized cover version of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" as their debut single in 1979, which landed them a recording contract with Fiction Records. They followed with their debut studio album The Affectionate Punch in 1980 and the compilation album Fourth Drawer Down in 1981, both to critical praise.
Suicide was an American musical duo composed of vocalist Alan Vega and instrumentalist Martin Rev, intermittently active between 1970 and 2016. The group's pioneering music used minimalist electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers and primitive drum machines, and their early performances were confrontational and often ended in violence. They were among the first acts to use the phrase "punk music" in an advertisement for a concert in 1970—during their very brief stint as a three-piece including Paul Liebegott.
Walls and Bridges is the fifth solo studio album by English musician John Lennon. It was issued by Apple Records on 26 September 1974 in the United States and on 4 October in the United Kingdom. Written, recorded and released during his 18-month separation from Yoko Ono, the album captured Lennon in the midst of his "Lost Weekend". Walls and Bridges was an American number-one album on both the Billboard and Record World charts and included two hit singles, "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" and "#9 Dream". The first of these was Lennon's first number-one hit in the United States as a solo artist, and his only solo chart-topping single in either the US or Britain during his lifetime.
Silver Apples were an American electronic rock group from New York, active between 1967 and 1970, before reforming in the mid-1990s. It was composed of Simeon, who performed on a primitive synthesizer of his own devising; and, until his death in 2005, drummer Danny Taylor. The duo were among the first to employ electronic music techniques outside of academia, applying them to 1960s rock and pop styles.
Alan Bermowitz, known professionally as Alan Vega, was an American vocalist and visual artist, primarily known for his work with the electronic proto-punk duo Suicide.
Gone Troppo is the tenth studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison, released on 5 November 1982 by Dark Horse Records. It includes "Wake Up My Love", issued as a single, and "Dream Away", which was the theme song for the 1981 HandMade Films production Time Bandits. Harrison produced the album with Ray Cooper and former Beatles engineer Phil McDonald.
Metamatic is the debut solo album by John Foxx, released in 1980. It was his first solo project following his split with Ultravox the previous year. A departure from the mix of synthesizers and conventional rock instrumentation on that band's work, Metamatic was purely electronic in sound. The name 'Metamatic' comes from a painting machine by kinetic artist Jean Tinguely, first exhibited at the Paris Biennial in 1959. The album peaked at #18 on the UK Albums Chart.
Ringo is the third studio album by English musician Ringo Starr, released in 1973 on Apple Records. It peaked at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In Canada, it reached No. 1 on the RPM national albums chart.
Platinum is the fifth studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 23 November 1979 on Virgin Records. It was Oldfield's first album to include shorter songs and music written by others. A modified version of the album was released in the United States and Canada and titled Airborn.
Martin Reverby, better known by his stage name Martin Rev, is an American musician who was one half of the influential synth-punk band Suicide. Rev has also released several solo albums for a number of record labels, including ROIR and Puu. His style varies widely from release to release, from harsh and abrasive no wave to light bubblegum pop (Strangeworld) to heavy synthesizer rock.
McCartney II is the second solo studio album by the English musician Paul McCartney, released on 16 May 1980. It was recorded by McCartney at his home studio in the summer of 1979, shortly before the dissolution of his band Wings in 1981. Like his debut solo studio album, McCartney (1970), he performed all the instruments himself. It yielded three singles: "Coming Up", "Waterfalls", and "Temporary Secretary".
Suicide is the debut studio album from the American rock band Suicide. It was released in 1977 on Red Star Records and produced by Craig Leon and Marty Thau. The album was recorded in four days at Ultima Sound Studios in New York and featured Martin Rev's minimalist electronics and harsh, repetitive rhythms paired with Alan Vega's rock and roll-inspired vocals and depictions of urban life.
Organisation is the second studio album by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 24 October 1980 by Dindisc. On Organisation the group worked with a producer for the first time, enlisting former Gong bass player Mike Howlett, while session musician Malcolm Holmes became the band's full-time drummer. The record is noted for its dark, melancholic tone in comparison to other OMD releases.
Suicide: Alan Vega and Martin Rev is the second studio album by the American band Suicide. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars for Ze Records in 1980. Recorded in January 1980, Ocasek gave keyboardist Martin Rev new equipment to perform on while Alan Vega distanced himself from the music to concentrate on the vocals. Michael Zilkha of Ze pushed to give the album a more dance music oriented sound, hoping that disco musician Giorgio Moroder would produce it.
Destiny Street is the second and final studio album by American punk band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. It was released in 1982 by record label Red Star.
Marty Thau was an American rock 'n' roll entrepreneur and music producer. He was best known as the founder of indie punk—new wave label Red Star Records in 1977, and for being the manager of the New York Dolls and co-producer of Suicide's classic self-titled debut album.
Cotton Jones is an American indie folk band, with elements of psychedelic folk, dream pop, and chamber pop, based in Cumberland, Maryland and currently signed to Suicide Squeeze Records.
"Cheree" is a song by the synth punk band Suicide, written by its members Martin Rev and Alan Vega. It was released as a single in 1978 by Bronze Records. Since its initial release, it has been covered by a number of artists, most notably by? and the Mysterians on their 1999 album More Action.
"Sailaway" is a song written by Maurice White, Eddie del Barrio, Philip Bailey, and Roxanne Seeman and recorded by American R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire for their 1980 album Faces. It was produced by White and recorded during the Faces sessions in Montserrat at George Martin's AIR Studios and in Los Angeles at The Complex/ARC Studios 1980, engineered and mixed by George Massenburg.
Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series is a series of eight EPs with contributions from various artists paying tribute to Alan Vega and his band Suicide. The individual 10" vinyl EPs were pressed in limited quantities and released through the London-based label Blast First Petite. According to the project's press release, the series was originally intended to be a monthly year-long series across 12 EPs, but ended up being released periodically over three years starting in 2008, continuing into 2010. The series launched with simultaneous releases of Dream Baby Dream and Shadazz on October 28, 2008. Each EP features one or two artists covering either a Suicide or Alan Vega solo track, paired with either a previously unreleased live or demo version of a Suicide or Vega solo song. Most releases in the series featured what Blast First referred to as a "major" artist and also an "upcoming" artist. Most of the EPs were also released digitally around the time of the 10" vinyl release, with some seeing limited-edition CD releases as well.