Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx Foxxtober 2013

This is something I named last year, when I first came up with the thought. A month of re-visiting less familiar John Foxx albums, playing them a lot (every day) and sharing responses, thoughts, ideas etc.
It's partly in response to all the nonsense around marketing campaigns like 'Stoptober' 'Movember' and 'GoSober' - all good causes, but intensely annoying.

It's also to do with the fact that October is my favourite month of the year, the time when I feel both alive and reflective, perhaps a little intense and sombre, but also optimistic and inspired.

And a lot of John's darker, quieter 'ambient' and atmospheric albums suit this time of year perfectly. Last year, I played MY LOST CITY, MIRRORBALL, TORNSET and A SECRET LIFE and chatted about them via the social networks at Twitter and Facebook.
This year I want to share the concept here too.

The Foxxtober subjects this year will be

TINY COLOUR MOVIES
D.N.A.
CATHEDRAL OCEANS III
DRIFT MUSIC

Purely self-indulgent of course, but what else would you expect..

So, Tiny Colour Movies

Thinking aloud. Dangerous...
On its release, and for some time afterwards, I rated this as probably John Foxx best album. It's totally unique.
He's done so much since in every direction, presenting the same ideas in different, more accessible ways perhaps, that I wonder if this (TCM) hasn't become overlooked and subsequently under-appreciated.
It is also, in many ways, a victim of its own concept. With the benefit of several 'live' presentations and exposure to the accompanying films from the Weizcs-Bryant collection (of which these pieces are the soundtrack) John's 'fans' have become used to a visual element to the work.
This has to an extent I think distracted from the impact and understanding of the sounds in their own right...

Even tonight, as I start to get into the album again, I am writing my own subtexts, my own scripts - visualising the music in words. It's hard to do that with the sleevenotes to hand, telling what the music represents.

So I have quickly abandoned the stories and set off on my own, cruising the freeway at night down to the harbourside where the people are.

Meeting, eating. Walking, talking. Cruising in long, smooth curves. Mathematical curves.

Reminds me of 'Automobile'...

For some reason, John's music has always sounded so perfectly right in October. The gleam of electric light in the darkening evenings. Morning mist or fog. Leaves crunching underfoot. The sound and atmosphere of the above albums certainly suit the changing colours, smells and temperatures of this time of year.

Empty Avenues also has a glowing autumnal feel for me, so I've been playing it a lot although yesterday, I played (my favourite album) The Pleasures of Electricity for the first time in ages.

October also happens to be the months in years past when I went up to Leeds to see John performing both Tiny Colour Movies and Cathedral Oceans III, which remands my favourite of the trilogy.

As a collection of individual tracks, TCM is really hard to define. The running order and structure is an essential ingredient. For instance, KURFURSTENDAMM and LOOPED LOS ANGELES are among my least favourites. Too long, and I am always tempted to skip them, probably they swim dangerously too close to that reef inhabited by JMJ and Oldfield et al for me to be entirely comfortable in their presence. All a bit Arthur C. Clarke for my personal taste.

But, they are as such, quite different and unusual tracks for Foxx, standing out with their accessible, pop-driven strong melodic lead and catchy hooks

I prefer SKYSCRAPER and SMOKESCREEN. The latter is a particularly seductive renegade. Abrasive, intrusive and curiously discordant. Seems to break a lot of composition rules? A bit of a rogue.

It is certainly one of those that sits on the shelf, gets picked up from the shelf, then goes back on the shelf. Especially with the visual element missing, it sometimes feels like listening to an invisible movie. Which is a shame. Still, a few of the films have made it to the web. I really hope one day something will change so that this can be released properly but it seems unlikely for now. For me, as a combined entity, Tiny Colour Movies is among his very best work.

I've moved on to D.N.A. which is one of my less familiar albums.

It's a logical, easy step into Maybe Tomorrow from Kurfurstendamm etc, and that track too has strong elements of the Electrofear 'acid' beats about it. very cool piece of music I have always liked.
But is it out of place on D.N.A.

Did I really just read that!? The first one is among my Top 3 John Foxx instrumentals ever (with maybe Swimmer 2 and Fog).

You did, Tapio. Each to their own

For me, they are a bit JMJ...

You say it like it's a bad thing..

Sorry - for me perhaps. We all come and go in different directions.
No offence meant