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album // Blues
Review forthcoming.
lp/cd/c:
1. Groove
2. Look To The Future
3. Two Curious Friends
4. Blues Pt. 1
5. XX21
6. Heart On The Line [HP Saucey Mix]
7. Bike (Sid Sings Syd)
8. Love Baby
9. Blues Pt. 2
10. Inanga
CD bonus tracks:
11. Crazy Earth
12. Midnight Trip (Tubby Noise Mix)
13. Blues Pt. 3
14. Bike (Steve James Mix)
single // Crazy Earth
Review forthcoming.
12":
A1. Crazy Earth (L'Essence De Syd)
A2. Crazy Earth (Acid Rain)
B. Crazy Earth (Global Warming)
l12":
A. Crazy Earth (Full Greenhouse Effect Mix)
B. Crazy Earth (Music For Icecaps Mix)
single // Love Baby / Midnight Trip
Review forthcoming.
7":
A. Love Baby (Carnivorous Mammal With Short Limbs Mix) (Edit)
AA. Midnight Trip (N29 Mix) (Edit)
12":
A. Love Baby (Carnivorous Mammal With Short Limbs Mix)
AA. Midnight Trip (N29 Mix)
l12":
A. Love Baby (Charlie Endell Mix)
B1. Midnight Trip (Less Noise Mix)
B2. Midnight Trip (Tubby Noise Mix)
single // Groove
Fortran 5's 'Groove' is a blissed-out track
in the vein of some of the slow and trippy productions Andrew Weatherall
provided on Primal Scream's Screamadelica and adds snatches
of The Door's 'Break On Through' (not credited here, but subsequently
credited on the album). The track features soulful female vocals,
seventies-style R&B guitar, steady baggy-esque beats and a dub-reggae
breakdown reminiscent of the Orb. Coincidentally enough,
the 'Herbal Supper Mix' of 'Groove' is by the Orb's Alex Paterson.
The mix is relatively restrained compared to some of Paterson's
later excursions, more or less extending the track's various sections
and notching up the low-end. The organ lines which featured in the
background of the original are here given their own space to breathe,
giving the mix a chilled-out, psychedelic vibe.
'XX21' is a mutant dancefloor-friendly track, which
samples the arpeggiating electronics of DAF's 'Co Co Pina'
and features some stuttering guitar samples and a throbbing, pulsating
electronic backdrop with a thudding house beat. 'Bike (Sid Sings
Syd)' is quirky electronic pop with a funky hip-hop/house beat,
plus some sly minimal 303 lines. Inescapable throughout are the
samples of Carry On's Sid James, which don't sound half as
much of a novelty as the idea of the track would suggest, the clipped
samples forced into the formations of Syd Barrett's original lyrics.
12":
A. Groove (The Herbal Supper Mix)
B1. XX21
B2. Bike (Sid Sings Syd)
cd:
1. Groove (Edit)
2. Groove (The Herbal Supper Mix)
3. XX21
4. Bike (Sid Sings Syd)
single // Heart On The Line
Released just ahead of the album Blues,
Fortran 5's 'Heart On The Line' was one of the
most confounding tracks on the album, featuring ethereal but sinister
vocals from Miranda Sex Garden chanteuses Jocelyn
West and Katharine Blake. The lyrics seem
to deal with trepidation, but at times sound like they are detailing
some dark sacrifice that had to be made in the name of love. The
combination of West and Blake's choral-style singing adds a certain
edginess to the grooves of the song, which features some gently
filtered heavy bass and a solid 4/4 rhythm, as well as Balearics-friendly
guitar sounds, obligatory house piano, burbling noises and beautiful
synth strings. The track was mixed on the album by Justin Robertson
and is here recredited as the HP Saucey Mix.
The single release of 'Heart On The Line' came with
three additional mixes to Robertson's, including what is, by duration
alone, effectively a single mix by Erasure's Vince
Clarke. Vince takes the thudding dance grooves of the original
and softens the whole thing, simultaneously adding layers of distinctive
synth sounds and buzzing, malevolent riffs, rearranging some of
the original elements into a fragile pop song as only he knows how.
(On the promo 12”, Clarke's untitled mix is stated as the
'VC Mix'.)
Two remixes by Moby are also included.
His Voodoo Child mix is a solid dancefloor beast, clipping the vocal
so that it sounds like Opus 3's take on 'It's A Fine Day' and throwing
in a much heavier, almost hardcore beat replete with stalking sub-bass.
Meanwhile his Bassline mix wanders along on a bassline that feels
like it was borrowed from a jazz record, adding pizzicato piano
arpeggiations and echoing percussion. Both mixes are completely
distinctive, but the former carries the most dancefloor kudos.
A 7" version of the release was also released,
with the album track 'Two Curious Friends' on the flip. The sleeve
includes segments of Simon Leonard's Fortran
5 novella.
7":
A. Heart On The Line [Vince Clarke Mix]
B. Two Curious Friends
12":
A1. Heart On The Line (Voodoo Child Mix)
A2. Heart On The Line [Vince Clarke Mix]
B1. Heart On The Line (HP Saucey Mix)
B2. Heart On The Line (Bassline Mix)
cd:
1. Heart On The Line [Vince Clarke Mix]
2. Heart On The Line (Voodoo Child Mix)
3. Heart On The Line (HP Saucey Mix)
4. Heart On The Line (Bassline Mix)
single // Look To The Future
Review forthcoming.
7":
A. Look To The Future (Joey Negro's Future Reality Edit)
B1. Look To The Future (Radio Remix)
B2. Bass Degree Zero (Excerpt)
12":
A1. Look To The Future (Joey Negro's Future Mind Mix)
A2. Look To The Future (Joey Negro's Future Dub Mix)
B1. Look To The Future (Start The Dance Mix)
B2. Bass Degree Zero
cd:
1. Look To The Future (Joey Negro's Future Reality Edit)
2. Look To The Future
3. Look To The Future (Start The Dance Mix)
4. Look To The Future (Psychedelic Shack Mix)
5. Look To The Future (Joey Negro's Future Dub Mix)
6. Look To The Future (Joey Negro's Future Mind Mix)
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