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Posted by waitesmaccaLFC (U13817325) on Thursday, 5th February 2009
Hey ho everyone, this had gotta be BIG BLACK. In fact, wack on GRINDER please
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by CardiffGentleman (U13471703) on Friday, 6th February 2009
Agree with Big Black - absolutely awseome live, and you feel that that sound couldn't have been made with a real drummer, |( as opposed to the bunnymen/Sisiters who were better with as real drummer ).
However them aside you cant' then really have people like soft cell with a real drummer it just wouldn't seem right.
I'm sure I've seen a documentary about the band that just walked on stage and turned on the drum machine to a bemused audience.
The Human League?
Kraftwerk, of course, used real people like Wolfgang Flur, never guessing that in subsequent discussions which people would hold over the GPO subscriber lines using real computers in their own homes - how futuristic is that! surely it will never happen! -that the mention of that name would divert the topic of conversation to cycling and other solitary activities.
Well, I just stopped and imagined, and it was Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "Bunker Soldiers" that stepped into the empty space between my ears.
But if not OMD, surely the winner is Echo and the Bunnymen - IIRC the only band not only to name their drum machine but also to give him star billing in the band name!
There was that band the Nalpalm Death bass player was in that used a drum machine, was unusual for a thrash band. I had a clear vinyl of one of their albums, the names gone though. Maybe not the best but certainly interesting.
Couple of contenders for me would be John Foxx (of course) and for historical value Thomas Dolby. A pretty much overlooked guy these days but he did some good stuff back in the day. Not least he was the first person (as far as I know) to use a drum machine.
In fact it wasn't really a drum machine, it was a stage lighting sequencer that he rigged up to a Simmons electronic drum kit to play patterns. I think it was a good year or so before Linn brought out the first proper drum machine.
I'd also chuck in Jon Crosby's VAST project, especially the first album creatively titled VAST and the track 'Pretty when you cry'.
Also specifically some of Nine Inch Nails stuff such as the Bowie hook up 'I'm afraid of Americans'.
Sorry Windy!
Finally how about Propaganda? They were pretty handy with the old beat box. P Machinery, Dr Mabuse and Duel, being but three brilliant examples of the binary skin bashing art.
John Foxx? I remember that name from some shattered windscreen!
Somehow the sounds on Metamatic are part of the record rather than just a rhythm box...
I'm sure I read that Gary Numan heard Ultravox's "Slow Motion" and was inspired. Don't know if everyone thinks that's good though...
Never knew Thomas Dolby was such a pioneer TBH...
Oh yes, the title music to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's rally coverage used to be a (remix?) version of Propaganda's "Duel" with (additional) extra-heavy drums. I've never tracked it down on the internet. Any ideas?
Godflesh!
It was actually the original guitarist from Napalm Death, not the bass player who formed Godflesh. Some of the er.. best guitar/bass/drum machine 'grindcore' around.
holy frankenthread Batman!
I find myself agreeing with tolhurst, although I now know that the original Human League featured a slide projectionist...
...but I would argue with tolhurst; conceivably, the "click tracks" on "She's a Liquid" or "Metal Beat" actually count as a drum machine...
...but as that discussion is on topic, am I missing the point about Godflesh?
Godflesh used a drum machine, unusual for a thrash/hardcore band.
Godflesh used a drum machine, unusual for a thrash/hardcore band.Β
thanks MrGreen, and as "John Foxx" wasn't a band as such, that makes Godflesh "Best band using drum machine".
You must have been thinking about this one for months!
Airhammer, they're a great laugh. And The Sad Little Stars, who are ace.
My band used a drum machine for our last recording and people don't notice unless we tell them. Result.
People thought the drummer in my band WAS a drum machine. He wasn't best pleased. Good drummer though, just a @(+#** the rest of the time.
, in reply to message 13.
Posted by Cyril Benson in Penrith (U2611279) on Saturday, 16th January 2010
I have no idea if It's Immaterial used a drum machine, but on the basis that they were a synth-pop duo, it's a safe bet (and better than starting a new thread).
A jewel in the slowly-forming crown that is my Buying A 7" Every Day For A Year is "A Gigantic Raft In The Phillipines", by the said It's. I was a big fan of their debut LP "Life's Hard & Then You Die", and its successor "Song", full of insanely catchy tunes behind tales of ordinary under-achievement and disaster - perfect for duffers. But "Raft" preceded those albums, and is a new one on me, and on being delighted to find that it is an insanely catchy tune behind a tale of maritime disaster, I wondered if Gid has a track record of playing This Sort Of Stuff.
, in reply to message 14.
Posted by Cyril Benson in Penrith (U2611279) on Saturday, 16th January 2010
*Philippines
The Three Johns were always great live... and with a drum machine!
I saw Echo and the Bunymens first gig in Manchester. In a tiny cellar just off Tib Street in the town centre. That was great too... but they obviously disagreed to an extent - coz they got rid of 'Echo' and got Pete DF in.
, in reply to message 16.
Posted by Cyril Benson in Penrith (U2611279) on Saturday, 16th January 2010
Isn't Thomas Dolby another producer who thought they could do better behind the mic? Golden Age of Wireless and The Flat Earth are genius. Latterly less so.
The godlike Carter USM, of course, how I ed at the pious "oh they don't use a real drummer" stuff in the NME... then, after they were done with being famous, they got one!
Ooh no. Mr Dolby was a songwriter/performer before he had production aspirations.
Apropos of nothing I've started using a 'drum machine' of sorts. Me, my guitar and a drum machine recorded onto my ipod.
in *theory* this works... but if you forget to nudge the soundguy and remind him that you need to hear the "drum machine" in the monitors it can be a very lonely improvisation over a track where you have no idea whether it's the verse or chorus.
I've heard one of the 1980 Depeche Mode gigs and the drum machine is quite good.
Stand out has to be Mr. Byrne walking onstage in 'Stop Making Sense'... Psycho Killer indeed.
Actually Thomas Morgan Dolby Robertson could possibly be credited with the invention of the modern drum machine. The legend is that he originally linked up a stage lighting sequencer to a Simmons electronic drum kit to produce his own drum patterns. Soon after the Linn Drum machine appeared, which was a lot of fun at the time.
TMDR should get more attention on 6M. Can I officially request 'Living in a Suitcase'?
, in reply to message 19.
Posted by I am not an organiser etc (U11351618) on Tuesday, 2nd February 2010
The Three Johns weren't just great live - some good recorded stuff as well. Surely there's a session that needs polishing off, mssrs Riley or Coe?
, in reply to message 20.
Posted by I am not an organiser etc (U11351618) on Tuesday, 2nd February 2010
er... that should probably have said 'dusting' off...
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