Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx Glimmer: The Best Of

Hate to spoil the light hearted mood of the thread, but I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed by the "Glimmer" tracklisting. Why? well 3 reasons actually.....

1. Last year we all went out and bought the remastered Metamatic on the grounds that it was "The Definitive Version" and now a year later on, unreleased versions of Plaza and No-One Driving have suddenly appeared. If these tracks were known to exist last year, why couldn't they have been on the Metamatic release?

2. "Glimmer" falls between two stools - it doesn't really have enough unreleased material to attract the dedicated fans, nor is it different enough from "Modern Art" to attract the casual ones. Using the same Cathedral Oceans track again when there's not just 3 released albums but (reputedly) several unreleased CO tracks seems like a missed opportunity, for example.

3. It's quite a common marketing ploy with "Best Of" albums to include a couple of new tracks and maybe remixed or rerecorded versions of the old classics (as Sparks did on their "Plagiarism" Best Of, for example). Given that most of John's recent work is made on computer soft synths and should therefore be easily recallable, wouldn't reworking a couple of songs have been a good selling point? I know there's a couple of dance remixes by other artists, but as John's fanbase largely consists of people in their 30s and 40s, we're all getting on a bit for that generic dance music that younger generations seem so fond of.

Don't get me wrong; any Foxx album is better than no album and it's so cheap I'll probably buy it anyway, but it could have been so much better.......

I can only agree with you on that.

I suppose in terms of CD-life, Modern Art is now 'old' , though while apparently still widely available, now would be the right time to release an updated compilation - but that doesn't seem to be the case, as it's more like an expanded version.

I don't mean to sound overly critical, but like I said, I was hoping for something more up to date. As it is, old title, old cover photo and mostly, old tracks.

John's recent albums have been among his very best, so it seems frustratingly odd that none of this stuff makes an appearance. Though as has Rob stated, those recent albums have been licensed to Fulfill. Yet we do have "Carcrash Flashback v2" on the CD... wasn't that also licensed to Fulfill?

I'm not sure, but perhaps this track is licensed to Island rec. 'cause Carcrash Flashback is an old never officially released (Big Shame!!!) Ultravox! track. This track was mentioned by Warren Cann together with "City does'nt care" in the Interview made by Jonas Warstad. Warren said he have a tape of these tracks...
Hope the guys can make an agreement one day to release these tracks together with some other never released songs which are on tape anywhere on the attic of their houses... :rolleyes:

Too much dreaming - but it's nice...

I agree with Herbert's other points, but yeah, this really bugs me, too. New remixes like the Karborn/Dubterror versions belong on something like Glimmer, I suppose, but if we're buying those Metamatic tracks for the fourth or fifth time and being told that this is the final complete authoritative release of Metamatic, those early versions belong there, not exclusively on Glimmer.

Posted on John's blog today:-

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Metamatic tracks


I've seen a few comments criticising the inclusion of No-One Driving (early version) and Plaza (extended) on the new Best Of, Glimmer. The reason why they didn't go on last year's Metamatic re-issue is very simple - the album was already mastered when this particular version of No-One Driving came from a different source from our own batch of tapes. Meanwhile, Plaza (xtended) had to be re-constructed as there were serious problems with the tape - a job that we didn't have time for last year as the Metamatic shows were booked and the album release date scheduled. We did have time to include a snippet of them on Metal Beat interview album - but they weren't mastered and at that stage most of Plaza was still unlistenable. Also, Metal Beat was turned around very quickly, just in time for the shows because it didn't have to be sold into the shops first. That said there are 23 tracks on the Metamatic re-issue, a lot of work went into it and it's not exactly a ludicrously expensive price either! I don't usually respond to criticism but the reason for it is that all this stuff is an ongoing process. John has stored cassettes, multi-tracks, 1/4 inch tapes, DATs - every format you can think of - over the last 30 years and sadly we don't have the space or the budget to hire every kind of machine at the same time and get everything transfered - though we do our best. Also, we wouldn't be able to work on anything new because we wouldn't have time to do anything else. So, for instance, two weeks ago John and I went through another box of old cassettes that he'd completely forgotten about but had found in storage and amongst other things, we discovered some other bits and pieces from the Metamatic sessions - things that need a bit of work on and some re-contruction but which sound really interesting. Which is why I'm writing this. I think it's a shame if this is to be an ongoing issue. I think Metamatic cd2 sounds great, flows as an album and is a decent length. It's definitive in the sense is the best version to look at and listen to. However, odd bits and pieces may continue to crop up and for the moment I believe the majority of fans want to hear them. Hence the inclusion of Plaza and No-One Driving on Glimmer. If more things turn up, as long as they sound good, they'll go on other compilations, rarities albums, interview albums and so on - I'm not storing them up for another version of Metamatic! The same rules govern all these re-issues. The priority is to make them look and sound as good as possible - other bits and pieces may crop up in years to come but I don't think that should be used as a stick against these albums. I hope you agree.

Steve Malins

I think that's very well put Steve, and answer the criticisms effectively. Apologies for my part in that.
It's too easy to knock things, and so many people know so little about how these things work in reality that its often difficult to understand and we are too quick sometimes to question decisions and strategy.

You continue to do a fantastic job with John and his increased output and higher profile in the last couple of years is testament to that. Thank you.
There's probably enough material on the 'forthcoming' list to last us for the next five years.

If only we all had the patience!!

Thanks for posting this Brian for those of us not in MySpace to comment on.

Cheers Martin.

On closer investigation of the replies to the original Glimmer blog post on John's Myspace it would seem that Steve could be referring to some posts over there.

Steve's post does give a lot greater clarity to the whole subject.

Brian

Brian, I think we have to be honest and say that Uncle Stevie's reply is a combination of the postings on both MySpace and here at Metamatic (six pages of thread here - some good, some bad and some so so). There's nothing wrong with opinions - realistically, if people (fans) here feel that they're not getting value with this release they can vote with thier wallets and not buy it. But fair play to the lad, he has read the threads and felt it deserves a response comment, which he's more than adequately done.

Uncle Stevie - for unspecified second quarter tax reasons that I can't go into here, please tell John that, rest assured, I shall be buying my copy.

I thought it was very good of Steve Malins to give a good explanation on Myspace why some tracks didn't appear on Metamatic. It's easy to be critical and I can be critical as the next man but at least I know why now they were missed off.

Peter

Well done Steve, long may John be finding dusty cardboard boxes at the back of his garage, and long may people such as yourself, Rob, Cerise, et al, work to ensure us 'impatienties' hear music new and old. (Whilst I'm saying this, a big flag has unfurled behind me and 'Underpass' is playing mixed with 'Land of Hope And Glory', conducted by John Foxx and Simon Rattle...oh bugger, I've lost the plot again!!)
Anyway, you all do a great job, see you at Cargo - will the 'Tiger Lily, Undiscovered Album' be available then?
Cheers