''Games of the XXI Olympiad'' is the fourth album by

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

electronica band

Black Cab A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common si ...

. It was released in 2014. The album continues the theme of their 2009 ''

Call Signs In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

'' album, which was inspired by

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

-era

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, with the new album themed on the

1976 Montreal Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, where a state-sanctioned regimen of

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

produced a generation of chemically superhuman East German athletes. A version of the album was prepared for release in 2012 but was abandoned when the band decided it was neither complete nor very good. Songs were stripped down and extended, in the process transforming "Supermädchen" from four minutes to almost 10. The album, far more electronica-based than its predecessors, was produced in multiple sessions with different producers and mixers, including Woody Annison, Simon Polinski and former

Death in Vegas Death in Vegas are an English electronic music group, for which Richard Fearless serves as frontman. The band was formed in 1994 by Fearless and Steve Hellier and signed to Concrete Records under the name of Dead Elvis. Owing to an Irish record ...

member Tim Holmes. Two earlier singles, "Combat Boots" (2011) and "Sexy Polizei" (2010) were also included.

Track listing

(all songs by

) # "Opening Ceremony" — 2:32 # "Supermädchen" — 9:49 # "Victorious" — 6:34 # "Performance Center Obertauern" — 3:19 # "Kornelia Ender" — 4:48 # "Go Slow" — 6:07 # "Problem Child" — 4:13 # "Combat Boots" — 4:41 # "Little Blue Ones" — 5:56 # "My War" — 5:42 # "Sexy Polizei" — 4:07 # "State Plan 14.25" — 5:07 # "Closing Ceremony" — 4:27

Personnel

* James Lee — guitar, keyboards * Andrew Coates — vocals, programming, keyboards * Wes Holland — live drums

Additional musicians

* Steve Law — sequences, drones * Shags Chamberlain — bass, moog * Richard Andrew — juno, guitar, drums * Anthony Paine — bass * Alex Jarvis — guitar * Dyko — electronic percussion * Lucy Buckeridge — backing vocals * Monique Brumby — backing vocals * Raffaela Jungbauer — spoken word

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Black Cab (band) albums Concept albums