The Life And Times Of A Cinematic Soul
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Barry Adamson interview
Barry Adamson's development from Magazine and The Bad Seeds bassist into a fully-fledged solo artist is a remarkable transition in itself; to see him move from the straightjacket of post-punk and The Bad Seed's brand of blues-informed rock into an all-round soundsmith is somehow even more incredible.
Adamson is first and foremost a excellent musician, as shown most clearly by his basswork on Play, a live album recorded in Australia when Howard Devoto's post-Buzzcocks Magazine toured there. The first two Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds albums have Adamson's influence all over them, sharing much of the music composition duties with Mick Harvey on The Firstborn Is Dead.
However, the freedom that a solo career inherently permits has allowed more interesting elements to pervade his work - rock, café jazz, seventies cop show soundtracks, electronica, sensual balladry… the list goes on ad infinitum, and has led Adamson to straddle a solo career and regular TV and movie soundtrack work. Frequently described as 'film noir', Adamson's soundtrack work is dark and brooding at times. Indeed, his score for David Lynch's Lost Highway only confirms this. However, to label such a creative spirit so haphazardly as a one trick pony is to belie his achievements in sound design overall. His remix work for, among others, Nitzer Ebb and Recoil have consistently shown further facets to his style, and each of his albums has been wholly different from its predecessors.
Critically lauded by Portishead in the NME upon the release of their own noir-ish Dummy, Adamson is a shadowy musical force and much more deserving of acclaim.
Barry left Mute in 2003.
