Have I missed something?

[Avil]

I have only heard the songs from POp (the compilation album) and Cowboy plus You surround me (my fave song!)
Have I missed out anything special with erasure???
Please tell me...

[~chriswdc]

Oh my..where do I begin? Well, there seems to be a few like me who believe I Say I Say I Say circa '94 (Pop! was released approx. '92 I believe so you have heard nothing from I Say) is their masterpiece.

However, many more will say Chorus circa '91 (I believe "Love To Hate You" from Chorus is on Pop!) is their best. I would argue that both albums are ESSENTIAL for any electronic enthusiast's collection.

Not to mention Wild! features your favorite track "You Surround Me" among many other great songs.

You need all the albums (although I haven't heard Loveboat which has received a lot of criticism). The ones I recommend you pursue first would be: Crackers International (EP), Wild!, Chorus, Abba-esque, I Say I Say I Say.

In my opinion, you have, indeed, missed quite a bit.

[~DavidMDiggler]

Erasure is one of the bands I could never get into...it always seemed they were missing a certain edge to most of their songs. Don't get me wrong, I love the song "Ship Of Fools" off of "The Innocents" and I love the songs "Breath Of Life", "Love To Hate You", and "Home" off of "Circus", but that's as far as I went with buying their albums...

[Avil]

Originally posted by chriswdc

You need all the albums (although I haven't heard Loveboat which has received a lot of criticism). .

First, I have heard Love to hate you and the Abba tracks...

I heard so much negative things about loveboat, so I decided to give it a listen. And you know what? It isn´t as bad as everyone says... I would say that they are a bit like A-ha, more guitars and stuff in their latest material, and as long as this don´t get too far, it´s great! And loveboat is a good album!

[~chriswdc]

Good to know (on Loveboat). I can tell you that a large majority of synthpop fans hold Erasure in high esteem (the great triad: DM, Erasure PSB). For me, their work from about '88-'96 is of exceptionally high quality...pure synthpop, machine-driven with a delicacy, and melodic creativity unsurpassed by other synthpop artists. Typically, if a listener is not particularly impressed by Erasure, they are not particularly impressed by many/any synthpop artists.

[~DavidMDiggler]

Originally posted by chriswdc
Typically, if a listener is not particularly impressed by Erasure, they are not particularly impressed by many/any synthpop artists.

Well I guess I am a major exception.

[~chriswdc]

Yes, that is why I decided to tack a 'typically' on there. :)

[~cliffwalk]

Andy Bell has a powerfully soulful voice.

Alison Moyet has a powerfully soulful voice.

Vince Clarke has been lucky to work with great vocalists because his arrangements get pretty tired.

And that's my attitude about the entire body of work.

Still, some decent ideas and definately a baseline contribution I can't and wont argue... but really... that's where it ends. He started some great things. I almost look at him more as a really smart talent scout with a decent feel for Pop. I can't really hold him much higher except that for some reason without him there probably would've been no Yaz, Erasure, or DM and that woulda sucked.

[~chriswdc]

One might even argue that all synthpop arrangements get pretty tired. I believe it comes down to the appreciation of style more than anything else. Vince Clarke and a handful of others defined synthpop style. Electronic pop musicians have been copying it for 20 years. I believe Andy Bell and Alison Moyet have phenomenal presence, but would consider themselves lucky to have worked with a genre defining songwriter like Vince Clarke.

[~cliffwalk]

Actually, yes, your point is more astute than mine.

I would say that quite a bit of electronic music draws on the same concepts over and over again. Then again, as a musician, I can see why. When I write electronic music I fall into all sorts of duplication traps. Getting myself focused on using autonomous ideas as opposed to falling into a rather limited idiom is HARD. I'm glad many people are finding ways to transcend that.

Dave

[~chriswdc]

Quite right. I always find myself falling into the ostinato bassline trap that Vince Clarke helped make so popular. It is not original at all, but I can not deny that it sounds so right to my ear. I do try to mix it up, but it is extremely difficult to discard those cliches.

[~kellyrenee]

Avil Avil Avil...

You have TOTALLY been missing out!!! OMG, for me, Erasure has been a close second behind DM for well over a decade. They are SOOOOO awesome!!!!!!!!!!

[~kellyrenee]

Avil, the cd's you need to focus on are:

I Say I Say I Say
Cowboy
Erasure
Chorus
Pop (the first singles)

[~cliffwalk]

Originally posted by chriswdc
Quite right. I always find myself falling into the ostinato bassline trap that Vince Clarke helped make so popular. It is not original at all, but I can not deny that it sounds so right to my ear. I do try to mix it up, but it is extremely difficult to discard those cliches.

I hear ya... it's WHY I was drawn to playing R&B and Jazz in college even though I LOVE electronic music. I've been trying to fuse the two loves together for years... most attempts end up hiding in my archives... The only tunes I can finish to my satisfaction are the ones that fall together with that formula...

And I know why...

It's a fast way to sound fashionable ;)

Dave

[~chriswdc]

Originally posted by cliffwalk


I hear ya... it's WHY I was drawn to playing R&B and Jazz in college even though I LOVE electronic music. I've been trying to fuse the two loves together for years... most attempts end up hiding in my archives... The only tunes I can finish to my satisfaction are the ones that fall together with that formula...

And I know why...

It's a fast way to sound fashionable ;)

Dave

Really? I was a jazz trumpeter before I started songwriting, and long before I became a die hard fan of electronic music. I guess electronic music is often very dancey, so 4/4 w/the ostinato bass makes a great dance tune that many people like to hear. I have synthpop project so I can get that out of my system..I also have a few side projects that allow me to get away from it for a while though.

[~cliffwalk]

Cool.... Yeah, I played Jazz Piano in college.... (I was a music major and Jazz Piano was sort of my secondary instrument to Classical Voice) Mixing contexts takes A LOT of time to develop, I've been working on it for a couple years now and keep "reinventing" my sound... still looking for a happy medium of expressive vocals, jazzy-funky rhythms, with room for me to take some solo rides in the music... ALL while keeping it accessible. With my obscure tastes the last objective ends up being the hardest.

Dave

[~chriswdc]

My first electronic band included a jazz/pop keyboardist from Brazil. He was incredible, but I do not recall that he ever blended his playing styles together..it was either synthpop or jazz or ambient, etc. I can imagine that is difficult to do with jazz, although a few bands come to mind that were good at the jazz/pop deal: Level 42, Chick Corea Electric Band, Pieces Of A Dream. It is a rare thing though.

[~cliffwalk]

Level 42, Chick Corea.... yup... you're feeling me :) that's exactly the vein I'd like to crawl into someday. I love Chick Corea's electric stuff (and his acoustic stuff for that matter). I like the more obscure stuff the most but want to find a way to blend that in a little less off the hook so pop ears like it.

Lots of bands have pulled off successful fusions. Doing it as a "one man band" I'm finding isn't as easy but I'd like to try.

Dave

[~chriswdc]

To me, there are a few song elements that must be in place to be "appealing " to general audiences. Once those "fulfillments" are met, I think one can do just about anything. Of course, those cliches used for accessibility can be the very things one might try to leave behind: somewhat steady beat (no wild syncopation), somewhat repitive bass, chord progressions that resolve, and of course the hook.

I love the Level 42 material..their songs have all the pop elements, and adhere fairly closely to standard pop song structures. Their main jazzy components are their use of unconvential chords/jazz voicings in combination with a funk bass style.

[~cliffwalk]

actually it's the repetition and the terrible flooding of space and constant requirement to stay no more than a relative key away from the center (modulation and atonality also very frowned upon unless it's very much hiding).

i agree, Level 42 found a way to enjoy using the upper tertian chords and more jazzish voicings and kept it pop... i'd like to take it a step or two further... I dunno, as I said... it would be easier if I had a rhythm section behind me :) Writing my own bass and rhythm tracks are the hard parts. A good solid drummer and bass combo can fall right into the pocket and not feel reptitive.

Dave

[~chriswdc]

Yeah, I think you are right, Dave. Having a good drummer and bassist would probably pick things right up for you.

It would be very difficult for me to emulate a jazz drummer, for example, because a lot of their work is from experience and instinct..I have no training as a jazz drummer and would go insane trying to tediously emulate them with a drum machine.

As far as bass, I have never been able to get a really convincing fretless bass sound from my synths..a good jazz bassist is plucking, popping, and feeling the moment.

It would be a lot easier if you could collaborate with other performers.

[~kellyrenee]

Hey Chris and Dave...what is your alltime favorite Erasure album? Mine is I Say I Say I Say.

Erasure RULE!

Kelly

[~chriswdc]

I Say I Say I Say is, without a doubt, my favorite Erasure release to date. Although, Wild! is special for me as well.

[~cliffwalk]

I think Erasure sucks.

OK, no, not really... I was turned onto them when an ex-gf lent me The Circus... To this day that's still my favorite because I really connected with the lyrics on that album (even as a straight guy)... I also think Andy's vocals were at that cool place where he didn't quite know his limitations yet so he was singing beyond them...

Everytime I hear that album it picks my mood up immediately.

Dave