Fanfare in the Garden

Retrospective, compendium of Lora Logic’s illustrious career. Late 70’s London post punk, art punk that veers into contemporary 90’s pretty pop and even trip-hop. Known for her distinctive sax playing with X-Ray Spex, The Stranglers, Swell Maps, RainCoats, Red Crayola et al, her band E.L. were on the forefront of late 70’s art punk, post punk, contributing cuts to classic Rough Trade comps and elsewhere. Her sound is a perfect representation of all that was ultra hip in the day, upbeat driving urgent beats, crunchy clean yet dissonant guitars, funky deep bass and disjunct yet solid drum beats that you can certainly dance to. But most distinctive is her sax playing, often doubled up, dubbed for a chorus effect, a technique that she uses prolifically with her distinctive soaring tremolo’ed vocal styling (which she abandons in later years to great success). Indeed, this double CD goes from her earliest works to late 90’s material. More than just historically significant, her later work in the 90’s (pretty much all of CD2) stands by itself as timely pop beauty. In fact, I think I like it the best as she breaks free from her stylistic trappings and allows herself to simply sing melodies and explore pop in its pure sense, teaching the young ‘uns a thing or two. Check it out. If this piques your interest, also check out Liliput, Delta 5, The Fall, Glaxo Babies, Slits, New Age Steppers, Gang of Four. Or just shoot the shit with Riina.

CD1 (mostly pre, early-80’s):
1) famous classic, upbeat art punk
2) disjunct backbeat, solo sax
3) slower slightly dubby gives way to upbeat yet minor feel, epic
4) upbeat
5) deep stranglers bass, upbeat w/ breaks and rhythm, meter shifts
6) waltzy
7) London dubby
8) upbeat punky
9) upbeat driving
10) smoother, almost “nice”
11) slightly swingy instrumental
12) cool beat w/ silly funky feel
13) title track, mid-up paced, funk punk feel
14) sax in front, multitracked intro launches into fullon art-disco feel
15) smooth, cool feel
16) interesting percussion, tribal low-fi
17) marching feel, bent for sure
18) mid mellower rock

CD2 (mostly later 80’s and mid 90’s material):
1) full on early 80’s London disco
2) smarmy sax intro, funky art punk
3) slight swing, mid paced, more chill
4) fucking really good pop, not old at all ’98
5) mellower sweet pop
6) slightly surfy twangy feel, pretty pop
7) bouncy near Motown hand clap feel, cool sounds turns slightly ska, killer
8) chill funky trip hop feel
9) downtempo funky electro-acoustic feel
10) really pretty folky indie pop
11) pretty piano arpeggio lullaby
12) electro disco feel
13) chill new wave synths w/ sax, vocs
14) lower-fi, slower
15) w/ the Red Crayola- upbeat new wave disco beat
16) an anti-Xmass song, complete with sleigh bells and children’s chorus, strange
17) “theme”song, funky cool stripped disco