Oil & Gold

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Oil & Gold
Shriekback - Oil and Gold album art.jpg
Studio album by
Shriekback
Released1985
Genre New wave, pop rock
Length44:15
Label Island
Producer Barry Andrews
Shriekback chronology
Jam Science
(1984)		Oil & Gold
(1985)		 Big Night Music
(1986)

Oil & Gold, the third full-length Shriekback studio album, is widely considered the band's highest moment. Released in 1985 on Arista Records in UK and Europe, Australia and New Zealand and on Island Records in the United States, [1] after 1984's Jam Science on Arista Records, Oil & Gold saw the band metamorphose from contemplative to rocking. The addition of Martyn Barker on drums and Lu Edmonds on guitar gives many of the songs an almost punk rock feeling, although the album also features synthesizers from film soundtrack composer Hans Zimmer. [2]

Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in Kentish Town by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of the Gang of Four (bass), with Carl Marsh, formerly of Out On Blue Six (guitars/vocals) soon added to the line-up. They were joined by Martyn Barker on drums in 1983. Other members included: Luc Van Acker, Linda Nevill, Emma Burnham, Brian Nevill, Pedro Ortiz, Clare Hirst, Lu Edmonds, Wendy and Sarah Partridge, Steve Halliwell, Eve Moon, Ivan Julian, Mike Cozzi, and Jessica Palin/Jose Fina Cupido.

Arista Records, Inc. is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment and previously handled by Bertelsmann Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for Columbia Records. Until its demise in 2011, it was a major distributor and promoter of albums throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. Today, the label's reissues and catalogue releases are handled by RCA Records and Legacy Recordings.

Island Records British international record label of Jamaican origin; imprint of Island Records Ltd.

Island Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another label recently acquired by PolyGram, were both at the time the largest independent record labels in history, with Island in particular having exerted a major influence on the progressive music scene in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s.

Contents

In many ways, Oil & Gold is the bridge between the old trio of Barry Andrews, Carl Marsh, and Dave Allen, and the new vehicle for Andrews alone. Longtime singer Marsh left the band after the recording, leaving Andrews to take over the vocals. Still, the album's highlights, including the three opening songs, sung by Marsh, and the minor hit, "Nemesis", became the band's signature sound. The album brought them a far wider audience than they had previously enjoyed, and sold well in its U.S. release on Island Records. [3] Both of the singles released from the album reached the Top 100 in the UK singles chart: "Nemesis" reached number 94 and "Fish Below The Ice" reached number 88. [4]

Barry Andrews is a vocalist and keyboardist. He is a former member of the bands XTC and League of Gentlemen with Robert Fripp, and was co-founder of Shriekback. He has collaborated with Brian Eno on several projects, most recently guesting on keyboards for the 2005 album Another Day on Earth. Andrews also played on the 1980 Iggy Pop album Soldier with David Bowie, Ivan Kral, Glen Matlock and Klaus Kruger.

The two songs "This Big Hush" and "Coelocanth" were featured in Michael Mann's 1986 film Manhunter and "Faded Flowers" was featured in Band of the Hand . "This Big Hush" was also used in season 6 episode 7 of Nip/Tuck. [5] The song "Everything That Rises Must Converge" refers to the short story of that name by Flannery O'Connor. The video for the song "Nemesis" features the 2000 AD character Nemesis the Warlock. [6]

<i>Manhunter</i> (film) 1986 film by Michael Mann

Manhunter is a 1986 American psychological crime horror thriller film based on the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Written and directed by Michael Mann, it stars William Petersen as FBI profiler Will Graham. Also featured are Tom Noonan as serial killer Francis Dollarhyde, Dennis Farina as Graham's FBI superior Jack Crawford, and Brian Cox as incarcerated killer Hannibal Lecktor. The film focuses on Graham coming out of retirement to lend his talents to an investigation on Dollarhyde, a killer known as the "Tooth Fairy". In doing so, he must confront the demons of his past and meet with Lecktor, who nearly counted Graham amongst his victims.

<i>Band of the Hand</i> 1986 film by Paul Michael Glaser

Band of the Hand is a 1986 American action crime film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and produced by Michael Mann, starring Stephen Lang, Leon Robinson, James Remar, Lauren Holly, and Laurence Fishburne.

<i>Nip/Tuck</i> (season 6) season of television series

The sixth and final season of Nip/Tuck premiered on October 14, 2009 and concluded on March 3, 2010. Though a seventh season was originally set to air in 2011, the remaining nine episodes were merged into the sixth season.

Track listing

All songs written by Dave Allen, Barry Andrews, Martyn Barker and Carl Marsh.

  1. "Malaria" – 4:29
  2. "Everything That Rises Must Converge" – 4:03
  3. "Fish Below the Ice" – 4:24
  4. "This Big Hush" – 6:11
  5. "Faded Flowers" – 3:44
  6. "Nemesis" – 3:43
  7. "Only Thing That Shines" – 4:23
  8. "Health and Knowledge and Wealth and Power" – 4:44
  9. "Hammerheads" – 4:17
  10. "Coelocanth" – 4:13

2011 bonus disc

  1. "Suck (BBC Live at Hatfield Polytechnic 1984)"
  2. "Mothloop (BBC Live at Hatfield Polytechnic 1984)"
  3. "Feelers (BBC Live at Hatfield Polytechnic 1984)"
  4. "Nemesis (Extended Mix)"
  5. "Nemesis (Arch Deviant Mix)"
  6. "Fish Below Ice (7" Edit)"
  7. "Lined Up"
  8. "My Spine (Is the Bassline)"
  9. "Fish Below Ice (Plankton Enriched Mix)"
  10. "Fish Below Ice (Dance Mix)"

Personnel

Martyn Barker is an English drummer, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, best known as the drummer for Shriekback. He has also been a member of King Swamp, and worked with Robert Plant, Marianne Faithfull, Billy Bragg, Beth Gibbons, Rustin Man, Alain Bashung and Juldeh Camara & Justin Adams. He currently has co-written and co-produced two records with songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Talitha Rise, as well as producing and drumming for acts worldwide.

Lu Edmonds English rock and folk musician

Robert David "Lu" Edmonds is an English rock and folk musician. He is currently a vocalist and saz player in the Mekons and the lead guitarist for Public Image Limited. Growing up abroad in Poland, South America, Russia and Cyprus, Edmonds was educated in local schools and at Ampleforth College.

Hans Zimmer German film composer

Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film score composer and record producer. Zimmer's works are notable for integrating electronic music sounds with traditional orchestral arrangements. Since the 1980s, he has composed music for over 150 films. His works include The Lion King, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1995, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Interstellar, Gladiator, Inception, Dunkirk, and The Dark Knight Trilogy. He has received four Grammy Awards, three Classical BRIT Awards, two Golden Globes, and an Academy Award. He was also named on the list of Top 100 Living Geniuses, published by The Daily Telegraph.

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References

  1. ↑ Shriekback – Oil And Gold discogs.com, retrieved 20 May 2015
  2. ↑ Sound: Dialogue, Music, and Effects. Edited by Kathryn Kalinak, Rutgers University Press, 1 May 2015, Ch.5, p.120. ISBN   9780813564289
  3. ↑ About Shriekback, MTV, retrieved 05 June 2016
  4. ↑ Shriekback full Official Chart History, Official Charts Company, retrieved 14 June 2016
  5. ↑ Shriekback Music - Tunefind retrieved 07 June 2016
  6. ↑ Shriekback - Nemesis, YouTube, retrieved 01 June 2015
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