Page 37 - the Noise December 2017

BY BEVERLEY NAPALM
DATA
Could you find your Analog Mind?
(Discom)
Hey kids, how are you on your early ‘80s Yugoslavian minimal synth? Isn’t the internet a wonderful place? You never quite know what is going to pop up. Could You Find Your Analog Mind? is an LP compilation containing 12 previously unreleased tracks by the unher- alded and obscure Yugoslavian synth pioneers DATA made between 1981 and 1984. The record documents an important and comprehensive musical testimony of early Belgrade’s electronic scene made by two trailblazers, Zoran Jevtic and Zoran Vracevic. It shows both Jevtic and Vracevic as cultivators of remixing and editing as well as important composers of early Yugoslavian synth pop made under the influence of the Japanese electronic scene!
It’s a fascinating listen that has a wonderful trapped in amber “future – retro” feeling throughout. The songs are meticulously assembled and charmingly dated, simply due to the sounds they are constructed with. There is an over-arching thirst pulsating throughout the collection, effortlessly achieved by pushing the limitations of equipment of the day to the max.
These songs are all pre-digital, and to make such recordings I can only assume was an incredible undertaking technically and physically. To even obtain such modern equipment of the day during this time within the Former Yugoslavia must have been near impossible. All of which adds to the mystique and triumph of these recordings.
The songs at the time were recorded to tape when editing and remixing involved the true art of cutting and re-assembling magnetic tapes without the aid of digital processing. There was no hitting control Z once you had physically cut a master tape in two! Analog sequenc- ers, synths, rhythm machines, and vocoders, all staples of the DATA set up, were very hard to use as musical tools, and noisy within a recording environment. It took skill to manipulate the science of programming and editing to achieve results.
The limitation of the equipment adds to the appeal of the recordings. Synths at the time were clumsy and monophonic (only capable of playing a single note, not chords), so the recordings rely on multi-tracking to fill the sound out. It was an age when you literally built your own sounds rather than tweak a pre-set on a store-bought synth. It’s a lost art in these fast-paced days when there is now more technology in the average person’s phone than was in a typical recording studio in 1981.
Whilst it clear DATA has their own unique Slav-slant, it’s not out of step from early De- peche Mode or Soft Cell in its temperament and execution. “Ona Remix” and “Ne Zovi To Ljubavlju” in particular recall the excitement of the early synth-pop scene. There’s plenty of color packed into the songs framework of single of note sequenced bass, and programmed drums. And there’s a dazzling array of imagination at work also.
The songs are great, very poppy and catchy, veering off into icy coldwave on occasion. It’s cleanly executed and most certainly constructed with an eye on its own commercial poten- tial. The only reason you are just hearing of DATA so long after the fact is due the constraints of the band’s geography at the time, and not a lack of their talent or ambition. This music was meant to be heard! Not sitting in a box under someone’s bed in Belgrade for three de- cades. It’s an important find and will be of particular interest with regard to the history of electronic music’s development around the world. I wonder and look forward to what other beauties Discom will find lurking undiscovered in the former Yugoslavia.
Derrick Harriott and the Crystallites
Psychedelic Train
(Dr. Bird / Cherry Red)
Although unjustly not a household name within mainstream culture Derrick Harriott is . a man of remarkable talent and clarity of vision. Harriott cut his teeth in the late 1950s as part of the acclaimed Ska band, The Jiving Juniors. As a producer, he was responsible for a slew of bona fide heavy hitters in the field of Jamaican music, such as Big Youth, King Tubby and The Ethiopians. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Harriott embraced and propelled the evolution of Reggae and continued producing progressive material through- out the many defined eras of Reggae music, through Dub, Lovers Rock and into the nu- anced digital age of Reggae. In the early ‘60s, Harriott embarked on a solo career and set up his own label, Crystal. He had numerous hits in the mid-‘60s with his powerful and soulful falsetto blending so sweetly along to a divine Rocksteady beat.
By the late ‘60s, with Rocksteady Ska in full bloom throughout Jamaica and the UK, and sitting comfortably as one of the leading lights of the genre, there was room for Harriott to experiment with the formula. Taking on board other influences such as funk and soul, his vocals where given scope to further sparkle. Released in 1970, Psychedelic Train was very much a sit-up-and-take-notice crossover album of its time that found immediate success among the (original) Skinheads and Suedeheads in the UK. It’s remarkable to me that this LP has remained out of print for so long. We have Cherry Red to thank for making this mas- terpiece available without having to sell your firstborn for an original copy, with a dazzling 13 bonus tracks in tow no less!
Released the same year as The Temptations Psychedelic Shack LP, it’s hard not to draw comparisons, not least with the album’s title, but also for the politically charged messages within. (I am not sure which LP came first, although it’s not important, as both are truly re- markable works.) It was a time to rise up and be counted, as exemplified by “Message From A Black Man,”The track was also recorded by The Temptations, and written by their producer and “psychedelic soul” pioneer Norman Whitfield, so clearly an influence on Harriott.
Whilst jamming Psychedelic Train I have often found myself joyously (and hopefully not too inappropriately), in the kitchen cooking or washing pots to the infectious dynamite groove, singing out loud “I’m Black and I’m Proud.” Album opener, “Psychedelic Train” man- ages the remarkable feat of somehow merging mellow vibes and herky-jerky nervousness at the same time. There are some subtle flavors poking through such as the cheeky wah- guitar, which I imagine was a dramatic addition to a Rocksteady track at the time.
“No Man Is An Island” celebrates Harriott’s stunning smooth falsetto vocals, with a more traditional Ska backing. In truth, each of the original 12 tracks that comprised the original release are pure gold, whilst the bonus tracks are the icing on the cake with some tasteful dub excursions that show how Harriott never took his finger off the pulse.
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