808 State - C/D

But Ex:El remains my favourite. Sort of weird futurist techno jazz-fusion, with a really alien feel, yet tropical and ethnic sounding at the same time.

Gorgeous is lovely sounding, but lacks depth, and it sounds like they're on auto-pilot in a few places.

Don Solaris has some pretty amazing stuff on it, but is that wee bit more conventional sounding than Ex:El. Best track has to be "Joyrider".

What really amazes me about Ex:El, is they've manged to create an album which sidesteps so many electronic music cliches by, utilising jazz; seeking out idiosyncratic synth patches (it's all chimes and drones, rather than the typical sawtooth pads and acid squelches); and clever use of 'real' instruments (clarinet and sax rather than the power chords favoured by The Shamen/KLF etc).

And the MC Tunes stuff wasn't *that* bad ;-)

weakest thing 808 State ever did is 'Crash' - the appalling track tacked onto their greatest hits...

http://www.808state.com/news/news.htm has more details, and they do put a lot of tunes up for people to download as well - esp. demos, live stuff, unreleased shit, bonus tracks from Japan-only editions etc. - top geezers still

my Pick 10 Only:

Pacific (all 18 or so versions of it)
Cubik
Olympic (Flutey mix)
Ski Family
Lift
Sunrise
Azura
Planet Rock remix (cos it sounds just like Plan 9)
Cobra Bora (Call The Cops mix)
Qmart (ft Bjork)

hardest POX i'll ever compile tho

Some of my fondest memories are of being in one of my brothers friends cellars aged about 13 whilst he DJ'ed 808 State and loads of other stuff and people from all over the country "partied down". I didn't figure out why they were all so friendly for years and years.

Aaaaah, yes! Here we go...

http://www.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/drd000/d055/d055538d407.jpg

Hahahahahaha!

I'll raise you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykIA2ddd8Bo

unambiguously one of the greatest songs ever recorded

such a massive, monstrous, bludgeoning song

if you can't get your head knocked around by those bass subs and that beat, you really are dead inside

sometimes I think this song is the justification of the ride cymbal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS2hOFNWqPY

I remember vividly hearing this for the first time in 1990 and basically being like "YES ALL MUSIC SHOULD SOUND LIKE THIS"

Wow, there are a lot of people on this thread with absolutely terrible taste in electronic music.

Gerald Simpson was the only member of 808 State with any talent and they never did anything worth listening to after he left. GS had a great post-808 solo career, while they just carried on with utterly half-baked funkless dreck.

808:90 is great — EX:EL is okay, kind of boring

in what universe is it impossible to like both A Guy Called Gerald and 808 State

yeah, they aren't that freakin' different

also lol @ randomers first post saying everyone has bad taste, good start

If you're looking for funk, clearly you aren't looking for 808 State, whose entire steez is built around taking mechanized stomp to the most emotional place possible; the entire point is that they are finding emotion in stiff rigidity and you kind of have to be trying to miss that.

Then again, I was once emotionally 18 so I really shouldn't be too hard on the little guy with the ironic name.

Gorgeous is a great album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3xPTPaEnmw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv9oWNRYrOQ

I can't find "Southern Cross" very easily on Youtube ;_;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d4nIfGe1UQ

i rest my case

Wow, it's like second rate Orbital!

Also, camping out in clowntown for a decade doesn't mean your opinions hold any weight. xpost corey

I got Gorgeous and Orbital Green right around the same time. Still think Gorgeous is the better album. Belfast is the best thing on either but i'd rather listen to Gorgeous than Green.

xp i'm sure lots of ppl are impressed by yr impeccable taste but "clowntown" doesn't need you

why did I wait until today to listen to Outpost Transmission

I mean, it does have many of the problems of latter-day 808 State re: trend-chasing and a sense of lost vitality, but there is still a good chunk of beauty to be found there (a la "Long Orange (Testa)")

http://open.spotify.com/user/djperry1973/playlist/5dRSDZ9YttPxipG4LwjGcY

I made a playlist of the Utd. State 90 track list since the album doesn't exist in that form on Spotify

you know what track gets constantly underrated, is "Cobra Bora"

Oof. Darren Partington has been jailed and the whole thing sounds atrocious.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/former-808-state-dj-locked-8409159#ICID=sharebar_twitter

Holy shit! :/

tried listening to Newbuild in the car this morning and I used to love it SO MUCH but my gosh does it just sound like a bunch of noodley sketches w/o any actual songs. It's like an album made entirely of deluxe-edition bonus track demos.

I've never really gotten into Newbuild in and of itself; Utd State 90 served as a much better entry point into their world for me

otm, that and even Quadrastate

Quadrastate the near mythical sweet spot b/w Newbuild and Ninety IMO.

DJP did you ever hear this? omg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfM-BsBhmhw

this new 808 State album really feelin like one of those fake leaks you'd get on Kazaa back in the day

Wasn't aware there was a new one. Will have to investigate, despite your discouraging (but likely accurate) description. Coincidentally, I pulled out he Cubik 12" last week and remembered how much I liked it.

They're finally putting all of the old singles with b-sides and mixes on Spotify and it's fucking glorious

"Open Your Mind (Open Mix)" for example: https://open.spotify.com/track/2doL5gTiCITQaMPIYfwUjV?si=oFksJTmsSI-rwVZ88MSg1w

omg omg omg

It's been so patchy with them! For a while the 2CD deluxe editions were all on there, and then suddenly they weren't

also Don Solaris is massively underrated

― Indolence Mission (DJP), Tuesday, January 18, 2011 3:57 PM bookmarkflaglink

I would like to point out that I was OTM in this thread

Black Dartangnon is so dreamy I could listen to it forever

i pretty much like everything they did up to gorgeous where i actually started with them and they pretty much lost me afterwards!

Its with a heavy heart to inform you of the passing of Andrew Barker . "His family and friends asks that people respect their privacy at this time but remember him for the joy he brought through his personality and music. You’ll be sadly missed” pic.twitter.com/cPR8W3byJl

— 808 State (@state808) November 7, 2021

i gave don solaris another chance for andrews sake but after the 20th listen now it is pretty much garbage but bond and azura are ok but that is not saying much!

classy post

now i am listening to prebuild most is poor quality!

newbuild is fantastic though.

not sure why rephlex put that out, newbuild is a perfectly formed document, all killer no filler. prebuild just sounds like outtakes, and it should have stayed that way. Curious enough for die hard acid heads like myself, but for historical purposes.

yes everything from newbuild to gorgeous is great!

utd state 90 is the best after newbuild before exel

sad news. he used to work in eastern bloc in manchester circa 1990 when he was half of the spinmasters dj crew with darren partington. i used to buy records over the phone from eastern bloc. i'd phone up once a week and he'd play the latest belgian imports over the phone and i'd buy some, which nowadays seems an insane way to do record shopping. anyway, he was a lovely guy and would always refer to a particularly great belgian techno 12" as a "stormtrooper". i always got a kick out of that. gone too soon!

I saw them supported by K Klass and MC Tunes at Sheffield Octagon in '90 and was tripping at the time and it was a fun stupid night. Never really rated them that highly tbh but that memory was good!

Love that, stirmonster

They just finished a short UK tour as well. FFS only 53