''Armed Audio Warfare'' is the second full-length release and first compilation of
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
group
Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened as Meat Beat, Manifesto or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens that was formed in 1987 in Swindon, United Kingdom. The band, fronted by Dangers (the only ...
. It was originally scheduled as the group's first album for release in May 1988, but the
master tapes
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the Audio mixing (recorded music), final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all cop ...
were damaged in a fire, necessitating the rewriting and recording of the material, which was released as
Storm the Studio. ''Armed Audio Warfare'' is actually a compilation of unreleased and rare tracks that give a flavour of how that first album may have sounded had it been released as planned.
[Sleeve notes to original Vinyl pressing on ]Wax Trax!
Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that ...
Composition and background
The album contains rare tracks from, or related to, various releases of the band from its inception to late 1988. According to the liner notes, "Genocide" is a "burnt" remix of "God O.D.", recorded in December 1988. The song is composed of part of the lyrics from "God O.D." but with a darker, more industrial instrumentation, and a lack of sampling. "Repulsion" is a track previously released on a compilation by Sweatbox, the band's first record label, in May 1988.
"Mister President" is a previously unreleased, sample-heavy track recorded in February 1988 with a notable clip from the introduction of ''
Monty Python's Previous Record
''Monty Python's Previous Record'' is the third album by Monty Python. Released in 1972, it marked the group's first collaborations with regular sound engineer Andre Jacquemin as well as musician Neil Innes, who had previously appeared with fut ...
''. The fourth track, "Reanimator", contains significant dub influences. It was to be released as part of the "Re-Animator" single in August 1988, but the single never had a commercial release.
[Miller, Christopher (October 1998)]
Meat Beat Manifesto Discography
Digital Chemist
'. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
Tracks 5, 6, and 7 are part of the band's first release, the November 1987 ''Suck Hard'' EP, as an A-side and two B-sides, respectively. On almost all releases of ''Armed Audio Warfare'', there is a misprint that inverts the titles of tracks 6 and 7. "Kneel and Buzz" has a raw, live sound, plus samples from the communications of the
Apollo 11 mission. The title itself is a pun on the names of astronauts Neil (
Armstrong Armstrong may refer to:
Places
* Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places
Antarctica
* Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands
Argentina
* Armstrong, Santa Fe
Australia
* Armstrong, Victoria
Canada
* Armstrong, British Columbia
* Armstrong ...
) and Buzz (
Aldrin
Aldrin is an organochlorine insecticide that was widely used until the 1990s, when it was banned in most countries. Aldrin is a member of the so-called "classic organochlorines" (COC) group of pesticides. COCs enjoyed a very sharp rise in popular ...
). "Fear Version" is a very short, yet intense track recorded in January 1988 that was intended to be on the ''Suck Hard'' CD reissue, but the single was subsequently never released in that format. "Give Your Body Its Freedom" is cited, in the liner notes, as the original version of the track "Strap Down (Roar of the Underground)", from the June 1988 single ''Strap Down''.
The lengthy song contains live vocals, heavy sampling and distinct sections, including a rather intense buildup and climax contrasted with a calm final minute.
The tenth track, "Marrs Needs Women", is the first of two tracks added to the CD reissue of ''Armed Audio Warfare''. It is an extended version of the B-side "Mars Needs Women" from the November 1988 ''God O.D.'' single. It has a funk-oriented sound, along with samples from the films ''
The War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
'' and ''
Mars Needs Women
''Mars Needs Women'' is a 1968 independently made American made-for-television science fiction film from Azalea Pictures. The film was produced, written, and directed by self-proclaimed schlock artist/auteur Larry Buchanan, and stars Tommy Kirk ...
''. The eleventh and final song, "Cutman", is a previously unreleased track, with five distinct parts, densely layered samples and soul, jazz and hip-hop influences.
Track listing
# "Genocide" – 5:17
# "Repulsion" – 3:23
# "Mister President" – 5:58
# "Reanimator" – 4:10
# "I Got the Fear" – 4:59
# "Kick That Man" – 5:25
# "Kneel and Buzz" – 4:33
# "Fear Version" – 1:07
# "Give Your Body Its Freedom" – 7:28
Additional tracks on the CD release:
# "Marrs Needs Women" – 4:11
# "Cutman" – 5:34
Personnel
*
Jack Dangers
Jack Dangers (born John Stephen Corrigan, 11 January 1965) is an English electronic musician, DJ, producer, and remixer best known for his work as the primary member of Meat Beat Manifesto. He lives in San Francisco.
Career
Prior to founding ...
* Jonny Stephens
* Greg Retch
References
{{Authority control
Meat Beat Manifesto albums
1990 albums
Albums produced by Jack Dangers
Wax Trax! Records albums
1990 in music