Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx John Foxx & Belbury Circle/Ghostbox Empty Avenues

I've been alternating both EPs, but I have to say Empty Avenues is by far the stronger/more accessible.

I don't know whether this was recoded the same remote way, but it just feels more cohesive and has more synergy... it feels more "John", whereas European Splendour sounds more like Jori's work with just a bit of John placed on top.

If only it were a full album! I'm yearning for the rest!!

I absolutely love "Almost There" and "The Right Path".

Isn't it great to have so much new material to enthuse about!??

If it came to a vote, I'd be inclined to favour the opposition, but it's a close call. I love the swaggering, filmic decadence of European Splendour (Evangeline is absolutely SUPERB) but also I appreciate the more quirky, endearing freshness of EMPTY AVENUES.
It's quite a unique set of songs, differing in style more than most other material

As you say Alex, 'Almost There' is really quite special

It also matches the colours of the design on the gatefold absolutely perfectly

I really like European Splendour - "Evangeline" is absolutely sublime (atmospheric, moving, gorgeous, sad, melancholic, etc), and "Strictly" (reminiscent of TPOE), "Something Is Coming..." has a gloriously dark atmosphere. I'm not so keen on "Can't See You Any More", that's a weak point for me - it would have benefitted from something more upbeat here. And I'm a tad underwhelmed by the Lynch remixes... I was expecting something greater. Or more bizarre.

But as a pair - well, you just can't complain. A full new album's worth in total. And some of the best stuff I've heard in ages.

I got the Belbury Circle EP yesterday and I'm a bit "meh" with it, to be honest.
It just sounds a bit nondescript, made by boring skinny baldie guys in their 40s who don't really WANT anyone to be excited by their music or are that fussed about anyone hearing it.

The best track reminded me vaguely of 1970s telly theme tunes such as Paddy Kingsland's BBC Radiophonic Workshop stuff for "The Changes" spooky kids drama serial, or Dave Greenslade's theme for Philip Martin's "Gangsters" series.

John's incessant use of that Digitech Vocalist harmonizer is long past beginning to piss me off. I really just don't think it sounds very good, harmonically: certainly not on EVERY bloody vocal he ever commits to tape (or should I say hard drive) - either he sometimes gets it to just play some duff harmonies, or (I suspect) it doesn't handle formants very well and so some of the chords it makes grate a bit because the harmonics are not lining up properly.

Sorry if this sounds a little harsh but John can do better, more exciting, more striking stuff than this.

I had a few listens to Empty Avenues now and have to say it sounds better and better with every listen. It is nice to have a different sound with this EP and Quiet Splendour and I like this side of Johns music too. The both Vinyls are also nice. It makes a wonderful break to the Maths sound. I agree with all the Others here, Evangeline and Almost There are the outstanding tracks of these both EP's. I also like the remix version of Empty Avenues. I'm not often like the remixes of John's stuff but this one is really good.

Every new record of John is a surprise and this is the reason I like his stuff so much.
I hope he makes more surprises for us in the next years.

After these both EP's I'm ready now for the next Maths album.

I have to say that I agree with all that, Shadow Man. I'm having difficulty deciding which I prefer out of Empty Avenues and European Splendour; but I certaninly rate both very highly. They make a beautiful contrast with the Maths work.

I keep listening to both of them and I keep enjoying them, as well as noticing parallels/contrasts (Something is Coming Down the Avenues/Empty Avenues, Almost There/Can't See You Any More). But isn't it about time for another CD by now?

I couldn’t disagree more, old boy! For me the two new CDs are the best things John’s done in years and have tempted me back after drifting away from his music as a result of the numerous half-hearted Maths CDs and aimless collaborations of the past couple of years.

Unfortunately the Maths project, after a promising start with Interplay, soon became all about the sounds rather than the songs, to the extent that the last two CDs were little more than two men doodling about aimlessly on outdated analogue synthesizers. For me John’s music has always been about songs – melodies, proper choruses, evocative lyrics and imaginative arrangements, and both European Splendour and Empty Avenues have these in spades.

In fact I’d go so far as to place “Suit” in my all time top ten of John’s music – the mellow arrangement and lyrical themes may be familiar, but it feels like The Quiet Man updated to the 21st Century, yet at the same time curiously timeless.

As for John’s use of the Digitech Vocalist, I’ve never used one myself but John’s been using vocoders and harmonisers all his career, right back to the time of The Human Host in the early 1980s! Indeed it’s the vocal effects that makes many of his songs (such as “Camera” and “Neuro Video”) so memorable and make him stand out from the crowd of identikit vocalists in modern music.

Still, each to his own, and the beauty of John’s output is that even if one particular project doesn’t float your boat, he’ll be back with another one that does within a few months!

I think John has ALWAYS been under-estimated as a songwriter.

But that skill comes through most of his work, regardless of genre.
True enough, there are some of the best examples of recent times in the two new EPs, but as you say, there's something fror all of us in his work.

For me, it's the CO and Harold Budd work that stands above the rest...

I love Suit, but it 'Time Of Your Life' that rate especially highly on this new thing

So I was listening to this again, enjoying it as always, and had a somewhat odd reaction to "The Right Path." I thought, I know what this song reminds me of, even if only slightly -- Clannad, when they started incorporating synths along with the folk instrumentation. Anyone else here a bit of that in there? I have to admit, it's not the most obvious point of reference, though some observers have pointed to a pastoral/folk influence in some Ghost Box stuff. (But it beats a previous passing thought, which was that it reminded me vaguely of something I'd all but forgotten by the Alan Parsons Project.)