Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx and Louis Gordon From Trash / Sideways / Tiny Colour

How about kicking things off with a discussion about this years output?

My own POV is that 2006 has been the best year since 1980.

The combination of these three albums into one huge listening experience (with the addition of the awesome "Running In Traffic" from the Big as a City album) is sublime. There's hardly a duff track amongst them and the highlights are right up there with past glories IMO.

My personal top three are Freeze Frame, Impossible and Running In Traffic (even though the latter does sound an awful lot like Miles Away ).

What does everyone else think?

Voxxy

A fine idea...

Personally - the highlight for me has to be Tiny Colour Movies which I feel is John's most important release since Metamatic.

Bit of a sweeping statement I know - and it's not to say that I don't enjoy Cathedral Oceans or any of the material that has been produced with either Louis or Harold, it just means that TCM is the one for me...

Rob

I guess I'm addicted to beats Rob

Likewise, I enjoy the "drifting" music but I have to make quiet time to really appreciate it.

Give me a clanking old CR-78, a dirty great bassline and that Odyssey screaming solo though and the old adrenaline starts pumping accompanied by a wide grin

I have to agree that Tiny Colour Movies is a very important release and this would be complete with the DVD.

What´s surprising is that the whole package of The Hidden Man, Live From A Room, From Trash and Sideways is out of this world. It´s unimaginable.

It´s truly been a remarkable year. I like the idea of John's solo electronics coupled with the commerciality of his work with Louie.

For 2007/ 2008 this solo electronica theme could be taken further with the release of Urban Motets (or under a new theme) and The Quiet Man plus DVD. It´s about time these gems are released. I mention 2008, as in 2007 John will be busy with his various collaborations but hopefully we´ll finally get to hear the original version of Like A Miracle.

My faves have been Kurfurstendamm, Skyscraper, Looped Los Angeles and Peripheral Character from TCM. Running in Traffic from The Hidden Man, A Million Cars, Friendly Fire, Another You, From Trash and Freeze Frame from From Trash. Car Crash Flashback V2, A Silent Way, Sailing on Sunshine, X Ray Vision and A Room As A Big As A City (Extended) from Sideways.

This year´s been like a Greatest Hits package! Unbelievable!

Thanks John! Thanks Louie!

Chris C

This year for me as certainly been the best year JF wise since 2001 (the year of re-discovery).
This year is Johns most productive year ever. I've been privileged to have seem him live 5 times. It's hard to pick an outstanding release because I like them all.

The Leeds CO concert was outstanding as I wasn't going to go but with thanks to Mark and Shadowman for the encouragement I booked a train and an hotel at the last minute. I think it'll be a long time before I witness John doing another CO concert in a church, I can't decribe the atmosphere inside and it finished all too quickly.
Peter

For me, the performance of Tiny Colour Movies in Brighton was the highlight.
It's the kind of music I would like to see John produce more of in the coming years, and I'm delighted to see him at last able to explore his fascination with film.
In that respect, "Skyscraper" would have to be the single best track from him I have heard in a long time.
It wasn't just the gig though. I was fortunate enough to meet John both before and after the show, and enjoyed more than a passing 'thanks that was great' kind of comment.

Otherwise, it was AMAZING to see John and Louis do 'The Man who Dies Every Day' on the mini-tour. Again in Brighton.
Funnily enough, the last three times I have seen John live have all been in Brighton?

This has been the best year to be a Foxx fan.

FROM TRASH is definitely the most cohesive of the Foxx/Gordon collaborations. As usual, though, one track stands out for me: "A Million Cars." I love the clashing synth power chords and Foxx's dramatic, Bowie-esque delivery. Another favorite is "Never Let Me Go," which reminds me a bit of Val Garay's hazy synth production flourishes from the early 80s.

What a year!!!!

The most foxx albums in one year ever in hes entire career and 'gig cds' worthy of most artists standard releases.

The best for me was the latest album 'from trash' the best tracks being 'a million cars' 'impossible' 'the one who walks through you' and 'another you'.

Second is 'TCM' especially 'skyscraper' and from 'Sideways' i cant stop playing 'car crash flashback'

I wonder why John's been so prolific as of late. He's released more material so far this decade than he did in the 70s and 80s combined. Hell, I'll continue to cough up the cash.

The highlight for me was being able to take LG to the CO concert in Leeds in early November. A wonderful evening and experience.




EG
x

I agree with Rob on TCM. John definitely seemed to wear his influenced heart on his sleeve there. Gr8 album!

Although...

For sheer can't-get-it-out-of-my-head-ness: Running in Traffic gets my vote. A tongue-in-cheek reworking of elements of Miles Away, perhaps, but sublime nonetheless...

It gave me chance to use my iPod's little activated 'repeat' function.

Happy days!

Speaking of tongue-in-cheek reworkings, am I alone in hearing bits and pieces of "Slow Motion" in "X-Ray Vision"?

Foxx has been doing a lot of that this century. I actually prefer "Invisible Women" over "Underpass."

Rob...

Is it possible to get "The Hidden Man" a wider release so that U.S. fans can acquire it?

Perhaps he's thinking about retiring and wants to bump up the pension fund a bit before he does. It might also explain the apparently 'special' nature of the forthcoming 't-shirt' (i.e. farewell) gig.

Pure speculation on my part btw.

i should probably check out the metamatic.com but what is "the hidden man"? also is "sideways" available somewhere?

Here's a link for the Sideways CD. I'll try and get some more details of how to get hold of The Hidden man for anyone who missed it when it was first available...

Rob

Hi all! I thought I would weigh in on my opinion of Sideways vs. From Trash. I received Sideways first, and was pleasantly surprised that it was so melodic and varied... glad to hear those high sinuous soaring lead synth lines, and a return to a vocal meloday.. the best work he's done since Shifting City.. probably even better than that. Then I recieved From Trash and was incredulous of the choices John made for the tracks of the "official" album vs. the "out-takes" of Sideways. To my ears, though From Trash has some great tracks, Sideways is clearly a superior album. I find that From Trash is more like John & Louis previous albums, in that to my ears, there is too much reliance on repetitive pounding disco beats with the vocals often buried in the background and without much melody. Anyway... I'm grateful to have all the new material this year, but was dumbfounded that he left the Sideways tracks as a limited release (maybe not so limited now, I hope).
- Ted

I certainly hope not. I kinda doubt that being the case, though. I seem to recall John saying something to the effect of, "I want to be doing this when I'm 80!" If he's really thinking about retiring, then he's the best-preserved 80-year-old I've ever seen.

P.S. Just how old *is* John, anyway? As far as I know, he's always kept that bit of information to himself. Such an enigmatic fellow that John Foxx.

One should never ask a gentleman his age..

I don't recall ever seeing a birthday for JF. The rest of Ultravox were born between 1950 and 1953 if memory serves and I'd say that was about right. Perhaps Rob or Cerise has the right date - I can't see why it would be a state secret!

Agree with you there, Ted, 'Sideways' gets my vote over 'From Trash'.
Cheers

That depends what 'state' you're in...



PS: After this Xmas you could bury me in a jam jar!...

Nope, even we don't know!

I think its good Cerise that some things are still not known about John, it helps to keep some of the quiet man image surrounding him. The recent threads about this on T.Point was very interesting on the subject.

You need to keep the mystery sometimes, and as i always say.....

I know virtually nothing about John's personal life. While listening to the Dave Clarke interview, I was shocked to discover John had a mother. I just assumed he'd burst fullgrown from Zeus's forehead...with a Polymoog.

For me 2006 has certainly been a fantastic year.
I have seen John and Louis perform twice (Wolverhampton - where I met John and Louis for the first time as well as Rob, and then Coventry) both times have been excellent. I also saw John in Bath shortly after the Coventry show which was a bonus.

I am also looking forward to the "free" gig in London for which I eagerly await the details.

If you consider the volume of material that has also been released during 2006, it has been excellent and well received by the majority of people who I have seen on the various forums.

Having been listening to John and Ultravox since 1978, the new music has dragged me kicking and screaming into the 21st Century having been locked into 1977-1981 for so long.

All I can say is that long may the music continue and the hard work and support shown by Rob and Cerise in keeping this monster moving and everyone else here for that matter!

Bring on 2007

H

Hi Folks. Good to be back!!!

Aww shucks - thanks H!
Cerise & Rob

I'd just like to say it's been nearly 3 weeks now since I last heard a new John Foxx album! What's taking so long? Pull your finger out, eh?

Yes, I aggree with you Rob.
Musically the highlight is this CD.
From the new CD's with Louis I prefer Sideways - than From Trash. ( What NOT! means one of it is a bad CD... like both but Sideways is the better one for me.)

But my personally highlight was for sure our trip to Leeds, Brighton and London. And to speak with John again - this was a special favour!! It was sooooo nice to meet you all guys!!! We come back - 100% sure!!!

Looking forward to the T- shirt gig...

Sideways for me is the "highlight" CD of the year. John and Louis at their best.
Peter

The way i see it is that 'from trash' stands out as John and Louis intended as the official album due to the overall structure and track listing. With songs like 'a million cars' 'impossible' and 'the one who walks through you'. But i do think 'sideways' is the second best album they have produced together. Thats the amazing thing about this year, that two albums can be released of such quality that fans are devided on which is the best. My thought is both albums are much improved on there previous ones.

I find both albums fascinating from an engineering standpoint. They're both very dynamic compared to the previous Foxx/Gordon collaborations. From Trash, in particular, sounds magnificent on my home theater system.

Parts of Crash and Burn, conversely, sound very dense, with many elements in mono. That's not a criticism but merely an observation; I would imagine that John and Louis were going for a claustrophobic, muted sound on tracks like "Broken Furniture."

Nonetheless, I was immediately taken with the new collection of songs and how dynamic, loud, and vibrant they sounded on my system.

Hi!

'From Trash' is AMAZING!! (Well, whatever John Foxx does is amazing in my opinion!)

If I'm not playing it in my car, it's banging out of my sound system st home! John and Louis are a great combination and they sound fantastic.

I wish that I could be as creative with my synth - not enough hours in the day!

Sarah xxx

I´m with From Trash. This is what I wrote earlier in a related Forum:

I´m still with From Trash as the JF & LG album of the year. It´s the one to promote and fly their flag but Sideways deserves a special mention. It´s a grower with excellent tracks. It´s even got one of JF & LG´s best tracks, Car Crash Flashback V2. The album is more than an outtakes one and has a different theme to From Trash. This one is an electro-psychedelic classic and rightfully deserves to be known as JF & LG´s 5th studio album. It´s so good that it stands proudly in its own right and naturally is selling well.

Well done Steve for managing John!

Both these albums should be in any electro fan´s collection.

Chris C

For me, the difference is that "From Trash" sounds like a 'considered' album that took a long time to produce, whereas "Sideways" sounds like it was knocked up in a few hours. This is no bad thing; it's one of the strange quirks of making music that the tracks you make in a few minutes often sound better than those you've pored over for months.
Perhaps the only holes I can pick in "Sideways" are that some of the tracks run out of steam after around 3 minutes, and the 2 extended versions tacked on at the end are a little superfluous.

I completely agree with your last comment Herbert.

For me, From Trash is my favourite of the records released this year: Impossible is one of the best Foxx tracks ever. Tiny Colour Movies in Brighton was the event of the year because of the visuals.

I'd quite like to see someone else live this year though.

From Trash is an excellent album. Certainly one of my favourites from John, alongside The Pleasures of Electricity and Metamatic.

I never wanted to try and compare Trash to Metamatic - there's no point. They're very different albums. From Trash is very much 'in the now'. To me it felt like the album John and Louis has been working towards, since starting out together with Shifting City.

All the typical Foxxian themes are there along with some fantastic electronic music. "Another You", "Impossible" and "A Million Cars" easily rank among John's best song writing. I also think that "Running in Traffic" should have been on the album rather than "The Hidden Man" CD, as it's a great pop track.

Sideways, I like a lot. But it's very different to the 'proper' album, From Trash. These are more like demos and ideas, but it's a fantastic listen. I really love "Neuro Video", "Carcrash Flashback" and "In A Silent Way".

For me from trash is john and louis most complete album with no tracks sounding like fillers. Things like ray1, ray2 seemed like things lumped on at the end. From trash is not patchy at all although more asseblie than previous albums. Likewise sideways is pretty amazing and improved artwork as well.

That's well said. Unlike SC, TPOE and C&B, there isn't a single track I skip on From Trash.

Hmm.

I have TCM, From Trash, Live from a room, and Sideways.

So where did "running in traffic" come from? What did I miss?

(Hi Shaun. I've not been to dubsounds for a bit. Missed much?)

"Running In Traffic" is a great, uplifting poppy track, that sounds slightly similar to "Miles Away".

It was an exclusive track on the "Hidden Man" interview CD.

Here's the page about it on my website:
http://www.quietcity.co.uk/hiddenMan.htm

...except I just realised I still haven't got round to putting a more comprehensive track listing for it.

As well as "Running...", the CD also featured "From Trash" and an longer version of "Freeze Frame", which I like a lot. I thought it was a shame they cut the ending short on the final album.

Interesting.
I have just written my review of The Hidden man and found myself ranting about how pointless the extra two minutes seem to be!
Apart from the last resonating note, I don't feel the song benefits from being any longer.

Running in Traffic however, could go on for an hour and I'd still love it!
Would be great to see this develop into a live 'stomper' of Shifting City proportions.

I happen to like the way the music progresses at the end of it. However maybe I'm more attached to it because I had got used to it that way before I heard the album edit.

I don't particularly care for the extended versions of "Impossible" or "A Room As Big As A City".

It was nice to hear the longer version of "Impossible" though because I like the track a lot. I do like the ending of the longer version. Although comparing the two, I would have probably made the album version even shorter - cutting it off before that loud synth note comes screaming in.

It just goes to show how it's 'different strokes for different folks' as I really like the extended version of ARABAAC, it seems to develop more, with the tinkly piano in the background etc (I thought the album edit was too short). As I've said before, I've swapped the album version of 'Freeze Frame' with the ext version and added 'Running In traffic' to the 'From Trash' copy in my car - tempted to do another one swapping the two 'Rooms'. Agree with you, Martin, with regard to 'RIT' being a great live track - is this a wishlist? (Nobody mention Urban Motets!!)
Cheers

can some one please tell me where I can get Sideways?

Please...

Hmm, it was available at musicnonstop.co.uk but they must have sold out as it's no longer listed.

Unless I am just being more dumb than usual...

Hmmm... I seem to have missed the "Sideways" boat too, and I thought I was on top of things recently. I just checked the link given earlier in the thread, but it ends up at a blank white page.

Was it a limited release, and is it likely to be (re)available?

I seem to remember that 'Sideways" was going to be available in the shops this year?

My local HMV (who are VERY good and get anything in) don't even have it listed, so I guess it isn't on general release yet.

Its still listed on SisterRay

http://www.sisterray.co.uk/

Thats where I got my Hidden Man from today

Brian

Soopoib!!!

Thanks Brian... One copy of "Sideways" now on its way to me.

Excellent.

Thanks for the Sister ray link Brian, something to look forward to this weekend.

God these message boards are a wonderful thing arn't they!

Cheers

So, what is actually on "the hidden man"??

There's no track listing on sisterray...

From memory...

Disc one contains an in-depth interview with John, talking about Ultravox, with sound clips from the Omindelic Exotour.

Disc two contains three full tracks (Freeze Frame (longer version), Running In Traffic and From Trash) and sees John talking about Tiny Colour Movies and his work with Louis, featuring various sound clips from their albums.

Your Memory is spot on Alex.

Brian

Don't forget John's reading from "The Quiet Man" at the end

A real gem

Oh yeah... accompanied by some of "Drift Music"... very atmospheric and very moving.

Oh Joy

postie has just delivered Sideways

So what am I doing sitting on here?

pop it into the car and drive.......

i kinda wish that 'from trash' and 'sideways' would have been released as a double-cd, or at least not making it seem that sideways is kind of an out-take compilation. too bad there's no polling option here, i'd be curious to know which one people prefer, seems like sideways could be more popular of these 2. i personally think sideways is better, the songs are catchier and it has more "pop" feel to it, there are tracks that could be hits, like "sailing on sunshine" or "in a silent way".

also how limited was 'the hidden man', i don't have it but i'd be curious to hear especially that otherwise unavailable track "running in traffic". why wasn't it included on 'sideways'?

I'd happily have done without the two "extended" tracks. (On Sideways)

I don't have Running in Traffic, or Underwater Dream Sex. And I sure don't intend to buy a whole album to get them..

I'd like to see a poll (here) so we get a chance to vote for one or the other..

I would have prefered no extended tracks on 'Sideways' either. Partly because it changes the feel of the album from being a real album to a collection of odd tracks. Secondly, the version of 'A Million Cars' on 'From Trash' is the edited version, where as the one on 'Sideways' is the full version not an extended version.

So i would have liked it as a double album as suggested, without the extra tracks on 'Sideways', but the full version of 'A Million Cars' on 'From Trash'

"A Million Cars" isn't on Sideways?

AFAIK, the only version of this released so far is the one on From Trash. Wonder if you're confuring this with "Impossible"?
Even then - the versions on From Trash are not 'edited' are they, which is why they are described as extended on Sideways.
Similarly "Freeze frame" on The Hidden Man.

I'm not aware of 'edited' versions of these tracks?

Is there any difference between the versions of 'From Trash' on the album, and that on The Hidden Man?

Unless, I'm missing something obvious. More coffee, please

Your right its 'Impossible' instead. A few slight problems today, im 'Miles Away'.

As for 'Impossible' being extended on 'Sideways' thats a matter of opinion, even though it is stated as that, i agree.
The 'From Trash' version is edited in the same way as the version of 'Underpass' on 'Modern Art' i.e. nothing edited out, but just fades in later and out sooner.
In that sense 'Impossible' on 'Sideways' is in fact not extended as in something added, but the full version. Just as 'Underpass' on 'Metamatic' is full not extended.

well ... "freeze frame" on the "from trash" album is a rather bluntly edited / faded out version , which i really dislike in that edit & i always prefer to listen to the full length version on "the hidden man" album ... or to my very own radio re-edit of it ! ;-)

Odd, as HMV's website is listing it.