Mirrors took some stick for wearing their OMD influences on their sleeves, but few acts in recent times have managed to sound as magisterial as the Brighton-based outfit did on this track. Although it provided vital signs of hope for British indietronica, a second album was not to be before the band dissolved amidst the pressure to sound less like their heroes. It’s a shame, because OMD certainly didn’t mind.
Rare Video of the Week
With Tina Schnekenburger running their Conny Plank-produced backing tracks, the duo of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft dominate the stage in this video from 1981. Robert Görl remains one of pop’s greatest drummers, marking time with the same martial precision on display here. Singer Gabi Delgado snarls and purrs in equal amounts, leaping between ends of the stage like a cat chasing a sunbeam. This is raw power, Iggy.
For completists, here is the 1979 version of the song, recorded before the Görl-Delgado split from the rest of the band:
Lustans Lakejer [EN: Lackeys of Lust] was one of Sweden’s first – and remains one of its greatest – new wave bands. Formed in 1978, the band achieved success with their first single, “Diamanter är en flickas bästa vän” [EN: “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”], twice: originally, in a punk-pop vein, and in 1982 with a more refined style, which saw them taking up position as a Swedish Duran Duran or Ultravox. Led by vocalist Johan Kinde, LL continue to charm their way across the country’s stages. This video is from a performance on Swedish television.
S.P.O.C.K might look, on the outside, like a Star Trek-themed novelty act, but in fact it’s a complex and sophisticated blend of poptronica and philosophy. Like the best science fiction, their music tells us more about our life on Earth than any imaginary venue in space, but the message is hidden within layers of vintage synths that lure you towards the dancefloor. It turns out that this video was made by the same company who produced Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants”, which makes sense in a way.
I Satellite is the project of Kalamazoo’s Rod Macquarrie. It’s inspired by Numan, Foxx and Alphaville, but driven by the capabilities of his unique collection of vintage machines. This song was a firm favourite during I Satellite’s Nordic tour for the new cold war, earlier this year.
Maybe we’d forgotten how great it was when Lush, Pale Saints and Galaxie 500 were doing their thing, but the shoegaze spirit is strong with this one. Canadian expatriate, Jennie Vee, already impressed us with her debut solo EP, Die Alone, and from her New York base shows that there is more to come. Just don’t let a major label do to her sound what Virgin did to Frazier Chorus.
Dan Pachet used to host a late-night public access cable TV show called Alternative Rockstand. His own tastes were quite varied, but he knew when something was worth listening to outside of the musical mainstream. He captured footage of Skinny Puppy playing the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1985, but it was poorly lit and shot from the back of the venue. The video has gone from Youtube, but you can still find this unique early interview by Pachet.
Secession were one of Scotland’s finest alternative acts. The video for their 1987 single, “The Magician,” had been missing in action, as it was never officially released, but it’s just been uploaded to Youtube by the video’s director. Where’s it been hiding? Why wasn’t it released? We don’t know, but any video mixing bicycle repairs with beans on toast might have been vaguely suspect in those days.