1980-82 Collected

IKE YARD - "1980-82 Collected" CD (Acute)
Minimal, gothy, slightly dancy post-punk music. This band had the fame of being Factory Records' first American signing. The bass and drums lead the way on most tracks, while the keyboards and guitars fill out the sound but are somewhat in the background. The vocals are clear and gothy and very zombified. The music is very dark. Think JOY DIVISION, CAN, or PIL. The drum machine doesn't sound dated. The liner notes are amazing and the flyers for shows they played give you a good idea of the world this band was part of. They played with MODERN ENGLISH, SUICIDE, CABARET VOLTAIRE, and open for NEW ORDER for NEW ORDER's first US show.
1. One of the more upbeat tracks but it's still not very upbeat. Dancy, repetitive, with prominent bass.
**2. Slow minimal sound with some synthesizer effects. I can hear a Krautrock influence.
**3. Sounds like acoustic drums. They keyboards quietly pulsate and the guitar noodles a little. Instrumental.
4. Cold and robotic. Mostly just bass, drums and vocals.
**5. Start with some post punk guitar but becomes a very gothy, creepy track.
**6. A bit more experimental and reminds me a little of CAN. Instrumental.
7. Funny keyboard sounds. Reminds of of some industrial dance/electronic body music from the 80s.
8. Even more industrial/electronic body music sounding than the previous track. Long, mostly instrumental with a few vocals/vocal samples. CLOCK DVA?
9. Cheesier drum machine sound. Everything else seems subdued.
10. Quiet ambient electronics to begin. Keyboard pulses show up. Takes its time building up and doesn't go far.
11. Stiff beat, with repetitive cold vocals. When he repeats "you're so young, you're so chic" it sounds so funny in contrast to the delivery.
12. Somewhat mumbled vocals.
13. Melody from the keyboards? Instrumental.
14. Live track that is sythn heavy. Gothy.
15. Repetitive sounds with echo. Vocals mostly a couple words repeated.
16. Cheap beat, synth sounds, extra-goth on the vocals.
17. Pulsating keyboards. Slightly dancy.
18. Ambient electronic sounds. Creaking like on a old wood boat, way out at sea, by yourself.
Good stuff -mph