The Pleasures Of Electricity
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The Pleasures of Electricity is an album by
John Foxx John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a ...
and
Louis Gordon Louis Gordon (born 1965) is an English musician notable for his collaboration with John Foxx. He has worked with Foxx on a number of albums since 1995. His solo work has also been released on the Toffeetones record label. Biography John Foxx had ...
, released in 2001. It was the duo's second studio album, and Foxx's third after his return to the music scene in 1997. The album continues along the lines of modern electronics flavoured with early-80s touches that was set out by the duo's 1997 album ''
Shifting City ''Shifting City'' is an album by John Foxx and Louis Gordon, released in 1997 (although some sources cite 1995 as the release year). Released simultaneously with Foxx's ambient album '' Cathedral Oceans'', ''Shifting City'' was Foxx's first albu ...
''. However, ''The Pleasures of Electricity'' is more polished and minimalist than any of Foxx's previous albums (solo or in a group), to the extent that the album sounds almost sterile in places. The lyrics recall themes similar to those in Foxx's classic album ''
Metamatic ''Metamatic'' is the debut solo album by John Foxx, released in 1980. It was his first solo project following his split with Ultravox the previous year. A departure from the mix of synthesizers and conventional rock instrumentation on that band ...
'', dealing with traveling and urban life, including almost bizarre lyrics comparing driving in a car to mathematics in "Automobile" (all this delivered in Foxx's most deadpan voice). "Invisible Women" is a track Foxx originally recorded with
Nation 12 John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a ...
over a decade earlier (the version here includes a synth riff recycled from Foxx's single "Underpass" that wasn't included in the Nation 12 version), while "Cities of Light 5" is a further development of "Cities of Light 1" that was also recorded with Nation 12. The album’s original press release states: “Taking a cue from Kraftwerk, one of Foxx’s most obvious stylistic touchstones, “Pleasures…” is a streamlined monorail of lock-step computer-generated beats and wiry synthesizer melodies with an equal emphasis on dark, atmospherics and energised, danceable rhythms.” The artwork of the album was designed by Foxx himself, based on his own photography. The main cover depicts a man in a grey suit standing next to a door, his face completely whited out by a bright light that seems to originate from inside him. This, together with the album name, recalled
René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bounda ...
's painting ''Le Principe Du Plaisir'', and through it
Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...
's
synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
classic '' The Pleasure Principle'', the artwork and title of which were inspired by the said painting (sonically ''The Pleasures of Electricity'' also resembles ''The Pleasure Principle'' and vice versa). In the sleeve notes for the live album ''The Golden Section Tour + The Omnidelic Exotour'' Foxx writes of buying a grey suit around 1978 and photographing his friends wearing it, with the face of the person never showing in the pictures. Whether or not the photographs used on ''The Pleasures of Electricity'' are from this time is unknown, but based on the description the artwork for this album is similar to Foxx's 1978 photography. No singles were released from the album, however "Nightlife" was included on the ''
Modern Art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...
'' compilation released some three months before ''The Pleasures of Electricity''. A 2 CD remastered special edition was released in October 2009. Four tracks on CD 1 featured on the original album were significantly remixed - 'Nightlife', 'Invisible Women', 'Cities of Light 5' and 'Automobile'. Although they feature new sounds and in some cases additional arrangements, they were remixed in the context of the album, and therefore not just added as 'extras' to the package. Disc Two features the original mix of the album plus two previously unreleased bonus tracks 'Screenplay' and 'Twilight Room', thus making it the 'definitive edition' of this album.https://www.myspace.com/foxxmetamatic/blog/509985865 John Foxx official MySpace Blog, 13 September 2009


Track listing


2001 original release

# "A Funny Thing" — 4:18 # "Nightlife" — 5:54 # "Camera" — 7:47 # "Invisible Women" — 5:55 # "Cities of Light 5' — 5:26 # "Uptown / Downtown" — 6:34 # "When It Rains" — 4:24 # "Automobile" — 5:56 # "The Falling Room" — 4:52 # "Travel" — 6:57 # "Quiet City" — 5:04 * All tracks written by John Foxx and Louis Gordon. * On Nation 12's album Electrofear, "Invisible Women" is credited to John Foxx, Shem McAuley, Kurt Rodgers and Simon Rodgers.


2009 Special edition


CD1

# "A Funny Thing" # "Nightlife" (Alternative Mix) # "Camera" # "Invisible Women" (Alternative Mix) # "Cities of Light" (Alternative Mix) # "Uptown – Downtown" # "When It Rains" # "Automobile" (Alternative Mix) # "The Falling Room" # "Travel" # "Quiet City"


CD2

# "A Funny Thing" (Original Mix) # "Nightlife" (Original Mix) # "Camera" (Original Mix) # "Invisible Women" (Original Mix) # "Cities of Light" (Original Mix) # "Uptown – Downtown" (Original Mix) # "When It Rains" (Original Mix) # "Automobile" (Original Mix) # "The Falling Room" (Original Mix) # "Travel" (Original Mix) # "Quiet City" (Original Mix) # "Twilight Room" ''(previously unreleased)'' # "Screenplay" ''(previously unreleased)''


References


External links


''The Pleasures of Electricity'' at Metamatic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleasures of Electricity John Foxx albums 2001 albums