- Clan of Xymox (album)
-
Clan of Xymox 
Studio album by Clan of Xymox Released 1 July 1985 Genre Darkwave Label 4AD Clan of Xymox chronology Subsequent Pleasures EP
(1983)Clan of Xymox
(1985)Medusa
(1986)Clan of Xymox's eponymous debut in 1985, and their first release on the 4AD label (CAD503, CAD503CD, GAD503CD).[1]
The album was produced by Ivo Watts-Russell (joint-founder of record label 4AD) and recorded at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh. The remixes included on the album ("A Day" and "Stranger") were mixed and produced by John Fryer at Blackwing Studios, London.
John Fryer had gained notability for working with seminal bands on the 4AD, Mute, Rough Trade and Beggars Banquet record labels, including Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget and the Cocteau Twins.
The album drew comparisons to Joy Division and The Cure and created a buzz in the clubs as well as inhabited the arthouse scene.[2] Reviewers in subsequent years have derided the album as dated and derivative, but accurately reflecting of the emerging goth sound of the time, with "icy, throbbing keyboards; bummed-out vocals; chilly, robotic percussion; gloomy, ethereal guitars; and unusual, cryptic song titles".[3]
Melody Maker in 1985 pronounced the debut 'a nervous and brilliant record' from 'guitar-splayed firefields of Cry In The Wind and Stumble and Fall, and thrill(!) to the system clearing, bass bloodied 7th Time... The range and depth of this mysterious record do not exclude arrogant electro dance anthems like Stranger and A Day ; nor do Xymox avoid sentimentality as on No Human Can Drown '.[4]
In the same year, Sounds Magazine deemed the album 'a strange and wonderful debut from 4 AD's first signing since Dead Can Dance'. Particular favourite is A Day 'which suggests so many places, colours feelings and despairs that it is totally awe inspiring'.[5]
Track listing
No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "A Day" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 6:40 2. "No Words" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 4:26 3. "Stumble and Fall" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 5:05 4. "Cry in the Wind" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 5:16 5. "Stranger" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 7:41 6. "Equal Ways" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 5:44 7. "7th Time" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 4:38 8. "No Human Can Drown" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 3:22 9. "Stranger (remix)" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 5:21 10. "A Day (remix)" R. Moorings, P. Nooten, A. Wolbert 9:11 Personnel
- Xymox
- Ronny Moorings – Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar, Keyboards
- Anka Wolbert – Vocals, Lyrics, Keyboards, Bass
- Pieter Nooten – Vocals, Lyrics, Keyboards
- Producers, Engineers
- Ivo Watts-Russell – Producer
- Jon Turner – Engineer
- John Fryer – Engineer, Producer (remixes)
- Keith Mitchell – Assistant Engineer
- Graphic Design
- Vaughan Oliver – Graphic Design
References
- ^ Clan of Xymox. 4AD. 23 March 1999
- ^ "Clan of Xymox". 4AD. http://www.4ad.com/artists/clanofxymox. Retrieved 2 Aug 2011.
- ^ Clan of Xymox (album) at Allmusic
- ^ Roberts, Chris (Aug 1985). "Clan of Xymox". Melody Maker.
- ^ Homer, Jon (1985). "Debut, Clan of Xymox". Sounds Magazine.
Categories:- 1985 albums
- Darkwave albums
- 4AD albums
- Clan of Xymox albums
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