Hannah Peel is one of those artists who surprises with their ability to turn common materials into triggers for deep feelings. Air and paper, in this case, are vibrated and cut, and the result is a soul classic first reinvented by a couple of lads from art school in Leeds and then recast by Ms Peel with immeasurable beauty.
Rare Video of the Week
Way back in the early 1980s, a trend arose for smashing pieces of metal and organising the resulting sound into ambient urban soundscapes or dance tracks. Berlin’s Einstürzende Neubauten arguably kicked it off, but in short order the availability of new-fangled sampling technology had Fad Gadget (“Collapsing New People”), Depeche Mode (“People Are People”), SPK (“Metal Dance”) and others incorporating post-industrial metal-bashing into their tracks. One of the originals was London’s Test Dept, who reversed the trend by starting as a hammer-wielding group and moving into dance music. This was their first single, released by Some Bizarre to an unsuspecting public in 1983.
The Department haven’t released their own night serum yet, but a light application of their tester does more than firm and tone. On the evidence of this video, it gets under your skin with a foam of bubbling arpeggiators and some smooth bass, scented with just a hint of dominatrix.
The Anglo-Swedish group, composed of Rob Green and Magnus Lindström (Mr Jones Machine), have been around since 2013, but “As If Transformed” is their first commercial video for Hard Cell Records. Directed by Ed Robinson for OneRedEye, it uses the device of segmented characters, who are picked and mixed to humorous effect. Tearing up and reassembling the pages of Vogue could get you to a similar place, but then you’d miss out on the rotated mohawks and dance steps.
Musical inspirations: 80s sounds. Attitude: model’s own.
Malaria! was a girl band from Berlin, who reflected the unsettled post-punk mood of the walled city at the height of the Cold War but also found their way to Studio 54. They were the antithesis of the Spice Girls – naturally cool, comfortable in their own skins and capable of making an incredible racket. This track from 1983 and the accompanying super-8 film clips capture the band as a blueprint for future generations.
Filmed at a 1984 appearance in the Swedish town of Linköping, this rare clip shows Page performing their hit, “Dansande man” for an appreciative audience. A couple of Pro Ones take a prominent position in the set-up, and both Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko look as cool as could be.
UPDATE
Shortly after this post went up, new footage emerged from Denmark of an even-earlier incarnation of Page from 1983.
These days, Martha Ladly teaches interactive design at OCAD, but in 1983 she had found herself in England, immersed in the country’s flowering pop scene. Together with fellow Canadian art school refugee, Brett Wickens, she wrote and performed this gem, which featured Peter Hook from New Order on bass and had a Peter Saville sleeve. Formerly one of the two Marthas in Martha and the Muffins, Ladly sang for Roxy Music and The Associates, dated Saville and was credited for suggesting the names of OMD releases. Wickens played with The Spoons and Ceramic Hello, released a 12″ with Jah Wobble and worked closely with Saville. Name-dropping aside, this is a lovely slice of Anglo-Canadian pop, just right for summer.
Frank Tovey is sadly no longer with us or we would have to ring to ask about his Prince look in this video gem. Frank was one of the true greats among performance artists, and in his Fad Gadget guise gave us several amazing albums. Unmissable music from an artist who is sorely missed.
The talent of John von Ahlen isn’t limited to exceptional songwriting and prolific remixing. As this video shows, his ability to combine visual codes with deft animation hits the senses in ways that trigger all the right memories to accompany a sharp, dancefloor-friendly track. Can you spot all the references? If so, you’re so 80s you don’t even know it.