tempobet yeni adresi
like this cd review

24/02/2015 : OMD - Junk Culture

OMD

Junk Culture

MusicCD
Synth Pop / Electro Pop

[70/100]   

Universal Music
24/02/2015, Paul PLEDGER

Thirty years after its original release, Junk Culture fulfilled its obligation ten-fold - it saved OMD's flagging career after the relative commercial failure of the preceding Dazzle Ships and provided them with a couple of hits into the bargain. Not that Junk Culture is entirely made up from superfluous candy-floss pop - the opening instrumental, the title-track, carries the same Emulated effects found on the original Bladerunner soundtrack (when Harrison Ford's character enters a cafe, movie-geeks) and sounds like an accompaniment to a brutal horror flick, while White Trash generates a certain amount of menace with gothic choir samples and a dubbed out outro.

But the chief reason for investing in Junk Culture in 1984 was for Locomotion (big brassy steel-pan sampling Top 5 smash) and Talking Loud and Clear (pretty musical-box melody, more 'brass', summer-in-a-song Top 20 hit). OK, you also had the minor hit Tesla Girls (oddly missing its t-t-t-tes stutter on this remaster) and the hit that should have been, the sweeping Never Turn Away, but Junk Culture was all about meeting a wider audience head on without dropping its collective trousers.

Of the remaining tracks, Love and Violence had already seen life (in part) on the superior b-side Her Body In My Soul and Hard Day might have graced New Order's Power Corruption and Lies with a downwind. Which leaves the rest, most of which sound a little outmoded it has to be said. Apollo and All Wrapped Up are a pointer towards where the band's fifth album Crush was about to be pitched, the latter actually a soca-influenced take on the earlier track Wrappup. It's at this point that Dazzle Ships retains its superiority in a musically creative sense, if not a commercial one.

As for disc two? Well, there are three unreleased songs to get a little bit dewy-eyed over, especially the terrific 10 To 1 which yearns for an update thirty-odd years on and the reflective All Or Nothing which to these ears sounds like a sequel to Beginning and the End (from the earlier Architecture and Morality). Other demos fill the space along with of-the-era 12" mixes and the reworked Julia's Song (part 2).

Attention to detail aside though, Junk Culture remains a transitional OMD album that has peaks and troughs, highs and lows and over-exhubarant uses of the sample button (I don't blame them - 1984 was an exciting time for technology), yet remains a stoic and occasionally compelling listen.

Footnote: Later, on the rarities disc, Wrappup proves to be a hot potato. Forums and fan-sites have been caterwauling about an obvious error whereby the aforementioned track has been carelessly replaced with the same version of All Wrapped Up from disc one (they might want to correct Spotify as well). The good news is that you can email Universal to get a replacement disc sent through. Just ping a polite message to mk.customerservices@umusic.com and they'll sort you out. There are other reissue-quirks that aren't so obvious - shorter versions of Talking Loud and Clear and Love and Violence plus a stutter-free version of Tesla Girls are a bit clumsy, frankly. Eyes will be firmly trained on the Crush reissue.

This review also appeared on Flipside Reviews

Paul PLEDGER
24/02/2015


Music reviews

14
03
THEN COMES SILENCE
Trickery
13
03
DARK MINIMAL PROJECT
Remixes
27
02
WHISPERING SONS
The Great Calm
22
02
YOUR ENEMY
Broken Toys
21
02
XTORT
Zwart
03
02
MERCIFUL NUNS
Oneironauts

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

NEWS

19
03
Just One Fix | 4 Years Since Ministry Unleashed Sphinctour
18
03
Today, 44 years ago, Joy Division released 'Licht und Blindheit'.
17
03
A Darker Shade Of Green | The Virgin Prunes On Saint Patrick’s Day
17
03
Today, 38 years ago, Depeche Mode released its fifth studio album Black Celebration!
16
03
Today, 37 years ago, Siouxsie and the Banshees released The Passenger!
16
03
Today, 40 years ago, Siousxie And The Banshees released the single Swimming Horses!

Concert reviews

16
11
DREADFOOL - EUFORIC EXISTENCE - EULFI
ELECTRO au BNR
09
09
ENZO KREFT - DARK MINIMAL PROJECT - CAUSENATION
@B52 Music Club Eernegem
23
08
AMPHI FESTIVAL 2023
A second opinion...
18
06
ERATO - BLACK SNOW IN SUMMER
Black Planet Fest - @ B 52 Music Club Eernegem - friday 19th of may
18
06
KORINTHIANS, NEL & JP, NONA PROBLEMO
@Charlatan Ghent - 25 mei 2023
06
05
SIOUXSIE
The glorious resurrection after ten years of silence.

GET A COPY OF OUR MAGAZINE
SEND TO YOUR HOME

INTERVIEWS

15
03
GOETHES ERBEN
When one is young, one does not think about the fact that one day everything will be over. And that is also beautiful and exciting, because as you get older, you look at the past differently.
14
03
EMPUSAE
I link the strength I have had to go up and down the tens of thousands of steps, to confront the heat and the hustle and bustle of the crowds, more and more directly with the nature spirit Ganriki.
29
02
SYNICAL
An Interview With Electro Industrial Artist, Synical
28
02
DEMONWARP
An Interview With Demonwarp
16
02
ELEKTRIKILL
An Interview With Electro-Industrial Band, Elektrikill

PHOTOS

17
03
BEYOND OBSESSION
Mono Deluxe Meschede
07
03
VNV NATION
Stadsfeestzaal Aarschot
07
03
VNV NATION
Stadsfeestzaal Aarschot
07
03
KOSHEEN
Stadsfeestzaal Aarschot
07
03
THE ARCH
Stadsfeestzaal Aarschot
07
03
THE OBSCURE
Stadsfeestzaal Aarschot
07
03
FRONT 242
Stadsfeestzaal Aarschot

ADVERTISE
IN PEEK-A-BOO

VIDEO CLIPS

18
03
DES AMES LIBRES
Cold Hands
17
03
DIRTY HARRY
D' BOP
16
03
MOLLY NILSSON
1995
15
03
CLOCK DVA
The Hacker
14
03
LYNCELIA
Self-Mystery Girl
13
03
CAT RAPES DOG
Moosehair Underwear
12
03
MIREXXX
Inside You