Crime And The City Solution / An Introduction To... (A History Of Crime - Berlin 1987-91)
| Album: | An Introduction To... (A History Of Crime - Berlin 1987-91) | Collection: | General | |
| Artist: | Crime And The City Solution | Added: | Oct 2012 | |
| Label: | Mute Records | |||
A-File Activity
| Add Date: | 2013-02-09 | Pull Date: | 2013-04-14 |
|---|
| Week Ending: | Mar 31 | Mar 24 | Mar 17 | Mar 10 | Mar 3 | Feb 24 | Feb 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airplays: | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | May 15, 2019: | Brownian Motion
All Must Be Love |
4. | Mar 21, 2013: | Daydream Disaster
Free World, All Must Be Love |
|
| 2. | Sep 16, 2015: | Brownian Motion
The Bride Ship |
5. | Mar 13, 2013: | Minding The Gap
All Must Be Love |
|
| 3. | Mar 25, 2013: | Ninety Point One Degrees Fahrenheit: Cold Blood
Free World |
6. | Mar 07, 2013: | The Sunset Life
All Must Be Love |
Album Review
Grumpy Sean
Reviewed 2013-02-05
Reviewed 2013-02-05
Part of Mute's latest effort to mine its copious archives, the "Introduction to..." series consists of partial reissues selected by the bands. And this one comes as a teaser for the first new Crime and the City Solution album in over 20 years, being released in March 2013.
Originally based in Melbourne, Australia, Crime and the City Solution first hit its stride in the wake of the Birthday Party's dissolution, when Rowland S. Howard and Mick Harvey joined fellow Melbourne native (and C&CS founder) Simon Bonney in London. The band became something of a "supergroup" with the addition of Epic Soundtracks (ex-Swell Maps). But the records sampled on this CD come from the period after Howard and Soundtracks moved on to form Those Immortal Souls -- Bonney and Harvey moved to Berlin and recruited a slew of new band members including ex-members of Einsturzende Neubauten and D.A.F.
Culled from three albums and a non-album "swan song" recording, this compilation is a great entry point to C&CS's dark, oppressive, pseudo-love songs. Strings weave in and out of Bonney's deep growls, drums are set on "pummel," and the guitars generally scowl. Dangerous wintry music, a less-debauched version of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, completely appropriate for Berlin (the hangover after the wall came down?). I had to keep taking breaks while reviewing to avoid being overwhelmed and curling up in the fetal position under my desk. No FCCs.
Shine (1988)
1. * dn, epic dark burning ballad
2. med, somewhat plodding crime/jail rock, cold end
3. med(+), jangly guitar low in the mix, feels like a train rocking on the tracks (like something Arcade Fire ripped off?)
4. dn, less epic, more mellow
The Bride Ship (1989)
5. dn+, dank, oppressive
6. dn, droning/looping story song
7. * med / varies, weird recitative breaks with distant strings
8. * med / varies
Paradise Discotheque (1990)
9. med+, folk-country-rockish with a menacing bridge, chilly end.
10. med(+), steady groove/grind
11. dn, reminds me of Dead Can Dance, Balkan influences
12. med-, mostly pleasant (almost AAA) but veers into darker vortices
13. * dn/builds, oppressive, murky, vox more spoken than sung
14. * dn/builds, demented calliope waltz ; NO BREAK
15. * dn+, almost shoegazy conclusion to the suite
1991 - final studio recording
16. dn+, lush minor-key rock with a major-key bridge/gearshift
Originally based in Melbourne, Australia, Crime and the City Solution first hit its stride in the wake of the Birthday Party's dissolution, when Rowland S. Howard and Mick Harvey joined fellow Melbourne native (and C&CS founder) Simon Bonney in London. The band became something of a "supergroup" with the addition of Epic Soundtracks (ex-Swell Maps). But the records sampled on this CD come from the period after Howard and Soundtracks moved on to form Those Immortal Souls -- Bonney and Harvey moved to Berlin and recruited a slew of new band members including ex-members of Einsturzende Neubauten and D.A.F.
Culled from three albums and a non-album "swan song" recording, this compilation is a great entry point to C&CS's dark, oppressive, pseudo-love songs. Strings weave in and out of Bonney's deep growls, drums are set on "pummel," and the guitars generally scowl. Dangerous wintry music, a less-debauched version of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, completely appropriate for Berlin (the hangover after the wall came down?). I had to keep taking breaks while reviewing to avoid being overwhelmed and curling up in the fetal position under my desk. No FCCs.
Shine (1988)
1. * dn, epic dark burning ballad
2. med, somewhat plodding crime/jail rock, cold end
3. med(+), jangly guitar low in the mix, feels like a train rocking on the tracks (like something Arcade Fire ripped off?)
4. dn, less epic, more mellow
The Bride Ship (1989)
5. dn+, dank, oppressive
6. dn, droning/looping story song
7. * med / varies, weird recitative breaks with distant strings
8. * med / varies
Paradise Discotheque (1990)
9. med+, folk-country-rockish with a menacing bridge, chilly end.
10. med(+), steady groove/grind
11. dn, reminds me of Dead Can Dance, Balkan influences
12. med-, mostly pleasant (almost AAA) but veers into darker vortices
13. * dn/builds, oppressive, murky, vox more spoken than sung
14. * dn/builds, demented calliope waltz ; NO BREAK
15. * dn+, almost shoegazy conclusion to the suite
1991 - final studio recording
16. dn+, lush minor-key rock with a major-key bridge/gearshift
Track Listing
| 1. | All Must Be Love | 9. | I Have The Gun | |||
| 2. | Hunter | 10. | The Dolphins And The Sharks | |||
| 3. | On Every Train (Grain Will Bear Grain) | 11. | The Sun Before The Darkness | |||
| 4. | Home Is Far From Here | 12. | Last Dictator Pt. 1 | |||
| 5. | Keepsake | 13. | Last Dictator Pt. 2 | |||
| 6. | The Bride Ship | 14. | Last Dictator Pt. 3 | |||
| 7. | Free World | 15. | Last Dictator Pt. 4 | |||
| 8. | New World | 16. | The Adversary |