BERNARD SZAJNER - Indecent Delit + The Big Scare + Welcome (To Death Row)

In the late 70s and early 80s, enigmatic French artist Bernard Szajner (pronounced Shyner) moved effortlessly from visual and laser effects work to audio and produced some of the best electronic music that even many of the most rabid EM fans have never heard.

His debut album Visions Of Dune, under the moniker of Zed, was a soaring synthesizer instrumental tribute to Frank Herbert's highly influential 1965 science fiction/fantasy novel. Getting the best from Oberheim and Arp hardware, Szajner (at the time a self-confessed non-musician) created a rich album of sublime ambient textures, wailing ethereal leadlines and hard-edged sequencer patterns.
To augment the synthesizers he selected virtuoso musicians like Gong bassist Hansford Rowe, Magma vocal stylist Klaus Blasquiz and occasional live drummer Clement Bailly, and ex-Bachdenkel guitarist Colin Swinburne. The project was overseen by Bachdenkel's manager Karel Beer, and released on his Initial Recording Company label - based in Birmingham, oddly enough - in 1979.

The following year, Szajner released one of the strongest, most memorable electronic albums ever made, Some Deaths Take Forever. The album was dedicated to the worldwide work of Amnesty International '...for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and for the abolition of torture and the death penalty.' A semi-concept album, it follows the progress of a prisoner on death row through execution and beyond, using some of the most incredible sounds and hard-edged electronic textures I've heard, many of them courtesy of the RSF Modular synthesizer. Once again he added an art prog-rock dynamic using a crop of experienced French musicians including Blasquiz and another ex-Magma stalwart, Bernard Paganotti (whose rumbling effected bass dominates the detuned sequencers on Welcome (To Death Row) and Ritual. Guitarist Pierre Chereze and Marc Geoffroy on Fender Rhodes and Polymoog also feature strongly. Without a drummer, of special note is the inspired electronic percussion programming/sounds which added a new dimension of precision and strangeness - especially on the magnificent, hyper-intense Execute.

Disturbing, intense and inspired in equal measure, Some Deaths... received critical acclaim from the more adventurous music journalists like my good friend John Gill in Sounds: 'After dozens of plays, 'Some Deaths' still - musically and morally - shames the bulk of oscillator nuts peddling their dodgy little repetitions around the A&R department of Sky Records. Szajner's frantic, outraged music - employing both electronics and traditional instrumentation - whirls at such a pace that the division between 'pure' and 'machine' music blurs completely. Like his debut 'Visions Of Dune', it shows that some electronic composers still have backbone and energy.'

In 1981 came Superficial Music, which took the original recordings for Visions Of Dune, reversed and slowed them, and added outboard FX like the Eventide Harmonizer to create a dark and portentous atonal 'ambient' work. Szajner was still experimenting with visuals, using new MIDI technology to interface music and light, notably with the Syrinx - a spectacular triangular laser-harp best known for its (uncredited) use in concerts by Jean-Michel Jarre - which triggered synthesizers by breaking the light beams at different points and velocities; and The Snark, a long spindly alien-looking PPG synth controller.

In 1983 Szajner signed a three-album deal with major label Island Records and released the more 'commercial' Brute Reason, an album of recognisable song-structures featuring vocals by footloose former Magazine frontman Howard Devoto. He toured the album with a full band (including Devoto, Paganotti, Bailly, Xavier Geronimi/Colin Swinburne on guitar, Schroeder on saxophone) and showcasing the Syrinx. Szajner's Audiences loved it, but he felt that Island wanted him mainly for the gimmick of the laser harp and he ended up losing money on the live shows.
I have a good quality cassette recording of the London concert at Hammersmith Lyric Theatre, May 15 1983, which I will get around to digitising and uploading sometime.

Brute Reason is a perfect example of intelligent, leftfield electronic rock that should have found a larger audience but didn't, mainly because of a lack of will by the label - music too 'difficult', audience too 'niche', the usual story - which begs the question: why take on such an eclectic artist in the first place if you won't support him as much as you can?
Szajner and Karel Beer collaborated on an anonymous project using the name The (Hypothetical) Prophets, releasing a few singles and in 1982 the album Around the World With... Far too quirky for the mainstream, the album was - like most of Szajner's work - ingenious and ahead of its time.

Disillusioned with the music business, Szajner did not remain with Island and retreated to Paris to pursue other avenues including stage design, theatre direction, painting and light sculpture. Only two more releases saw the light of day: 12" singles on independent label New Rose, 1984's The Big Scare and, two years later, Indecent Delit. Both are testament to Szajner's acute ability to fuse memorable electronic textures and melodies with conventional rock instrumentation, continuing in a similar vein to Brute Reason but with an additional extra quality that makes them classics of their period. By the mid-80s synthesizers had been co-opted as mainstream studio production tools and fewer artists were realising their potential to craft quirky off-kilter avant-pop. These two releases buck the trend and sign off Szajner's all-too brief but illustrious career on a high note.

The reason I haven't linked to download any of Bernard's releases is that James Nice's invaluable LTM Recordings label has recently reissued Some Deaths Take Forever and Superficial Music in terrific new cd editions with extra unreleased tracks. [Go HERE for LTM's Bernard Szajner catalogue page, and HERE for LTM's Bernard Szajner biog page.]
I began an occasional correspondence with James in 1985 because of our mutual love of new wave music of the likes of Minny Pops and The Names, and we finally met 20 years later at a Tuxedomoon concert in Amsterdam. He's doing a great job reissuing material by all of these bands and many more, including Severed Heads, Paul Haig, Gina X, Section 25 and The Passage, and all releases are available to buy direct from James via his LTM website. The label is one of the best resources for discerning electronic-tinged post-punk new wave lovers, so please support James and Bernard and other important niche artists by purchasing instead of downloading.

In appraising Szajner's music Some Deaths Take Forever is probably the best place to begin; Magma fans in particular should be very happy with what they hear. Bernard is still active musically and has been on and off since the mid-80s. He generously sent me a cd of his latest material, of which he has around four albums' worth - which is dark and rich and fabulous - and is seeking a label to release and market it. He is also interested in playing live to promote any future cd release. You can hear some tracks at his website HERE, and at his myspace page HERE.
It would be fitting if, 30 years on from Some Deaths Take Forever, Bernard's unique brand of electronica could reach a whole new audience.

I leave you with the videos for Indecent Delit, The Big Scare, and the masterwork Welcome (To Death Row). And yes, that is a bass guitar break; Paganotti's awesome signature sound.




BERNARD SZAJNER - The Big Scare

THE METRONOMES - Multiple Choice LP + Justification + A Circuit Like Me

Back in 1980 the best way to encounter new wave, post-punk, synthesizer, avant-garde and all kinds of non-mainstream sounds was to listen to the late, great, much lamented John Peel. Peel's Radio 1 show (10pm-midnight Mon-Thur) was THE showcase for anything off the commercial radar and he introduced a few generations including mine to all that was interesting in contemporary music.

One evening he played a cool slice of electro heaven called A Living Person by The Metronomes, a quirky Aussie band that mixed weird and melodic electronics, topped off with a supremely disinterested but sexy spoken female vocal. What wasn't to like?

Not for the first time nor the last after listening to Peel, I rushed to get the album and it didn't disappoint. Some lovely synth work - melodic string washes, bleeps, sequences, alien noises and FX - complemented by guitars, inventive vox and basic but effective drum machines. A dark humour shone through this elegantly crafted album, especially on cuts like The Ballad of the Metronome and Sex II, while the gorgeous A Living Person and Music For Lounges just oozed composition and production class. My favourite piece, Justification, provided the crossover between styles with its simple bass step-sequence, delicious strings, swirling high leadline and repeated spoken mantra "At least it has a steady rhythm."
A cover version of this is in the offing sometime; it's on a long list.

The album followed two 7" single releases, 1979's Saturday Night/Sunday Morning and 1980's A Circuit Like Me/Closed Circuit (video below).
The Metronomes did produce another album but not for another five years, Regular Guys (1985). It certainly has its moments but lacks the inspiration and style of its predecessor. The band members are still musically active but no further releases have been forthcoming - the links to new tracks on their website are dead.

Like so much of the music I loved then, I thought it a crime that bands like The Metronomes flew so far under most people's radar. Synthesizers were fast becoming the new guitars but, with few exceptions, only the most commercial acts broke through and shifted enough units to make a good living from the business. Most of my favourite artists were fated to languish in obscurity or achieve limited cult 'success', get stitched into dodgy record deals, release a couple of albums that were largely ignored, and sooner rather than later, find something else to do. Thirty years on, it's amazing to see so many of them reunited and back on the 'scene', often enjoying hindsight reputations they never achieved first time around.

The Metronomes: Multiple Choice, Cleopatra Records CLP 210.
01. A Living Person
02. Sex I
03. The Ballad of the Metronome
04. Commentator
05. The World Is My Oyster
06. Music For Lounges
07. Sex II
08. Hey Coach
09. Justification
10. Bad Timing

Main personnel:
Ash Wednesday - rhythm programs, synthesizer, random syncussion, treatments, some lead vocals
Andrew Picouleau - bass guitar, synthesizer, random syncussion, Milo tin, some lead vocals
Al Webb - rhythm programs, synthesizer, guitar, random syncussion, backwards hurdy gurdy, some lead vocals

Let's face it, in 1980 those were credits to make any electronic music fan drool.

I'm indebted to excellent blog Capa Nostra Syndicate for the album download link: Capa Nostra Syndicate: Multiple Choice mp3 download

For further info about The Metronomes, go to the band's website, Ash Wednesday's website and Andrew Picouleau's biog.

From Multiple Choice, here's Justification:


And finally, the rare and wonderful single A Circuit Like Me.

AAAH... ! - Slip Away 7" (UK 1982) + ARTISTIC CONTROL - Dance With Me

Let's begin with a fantastic slice of home demo-style catchy-as-hell synthpop - but with a dark halo - from 1982, released on Flesh Logic Records.

As a synth-struck youth I was lucky enough to hear this on David 'Kid' Jensen's early-evening show on BBC Radio 1. I taped it, and poor non-FM signal notwithstanding, it sounded great - right up with the best of its 'professional' peers. The production is way better than the usual garage standard, and the track itself is a thing of beauty. I remember Jensen saying on air that it had been sent to him, and he knew nothing about its origins other than it was postmarked from St Austell, Cornwall.

After the coming of the internet I searched for it a few times without success, until one day last year I found a cover image on Minimal Wave (www.minimal-wave.org). The cover gave away almost no details, but one name stood out: Henry Kent.

The excellent Fantasmi Macchina blog finally provided a downloadable mp3 of the track and its B-side, the competent but less interesting Duty Calls - look for posts in May 2008 and you'll find it. That was a happy day I can tell you, and many heartfelt thanks to Fantasmi. A bunch of blogs have now cottoned onto the single, but last summer I think only he had uploaded it.

This discovery led to two things: an increased determination to complete my own cover version, which I'd held in abeyance until I could get a better quality copy to work from, and a search to try to track down the enigmatic Mr Kent somewhere in the global internet village. After much fruitless donkey work I came across one Dr Henry Kent, a research fellow working for International Paper in Sterling Forest, USA. The signs were just as unpromising as all the other blind alleys I'd been down. Surely this couldn't be the guy I was looking for?

I turned up a blog of Henry's that revealed some personal info: a 'mad scientist' with a Ph.D in Theoretical Physics living in Bloomingburg, New York. An Englishman whose favourite city was Venice and who could decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. And... a man with an electronic music studio in his basement who released 'a couple of crappy 7" singles in the 80s with my weird-haired synthesizer band AAAH!'

Eureka!

Dr Henry J. Kent's stumbleupon blog pic

In a state of near-elation I began looking forward to contacting Dr. Kent to see what he would say about the band, the music, and getting to hear the other enigmatic single release he'd mentioned in his blog. I went straight to the website address he gave: www.flesh-logic.com - this would surely answer some of my questions and perhaps provide contact details.

When I typed in the url, the link was no longer active.

Puzzled, I read his blog to see if I could establish why. Lots of quirky posts, evidence of a crazy sense of humour with lashings of innuendo, but no real information. Then I noticed the most recent blog was dated June 27, 2006. I was reading it on August 9, 2009, over three years later. Curious.

More digging needed.

A few minutes later I found a stumbleupon blog by one Denise R. , one of Henry Kent's 'favourites'. The entry was dated August 31, 2006. This is what it read:

'Dr. Henry J. Kent, a research fellow for International Paper in Sterling Forest died Wednesday, August 9, 2006 at his home in Bloomingburg. He was 53.

The son of Fredrick Kent and Margaret Wurzinger Kent, he was born February 2, 1953 in Plymouth, England.

Henry was a Research Fellow at International Paper in Sterling Forest from 1986 until 2004. His research included mathematical modeling of coatings and led a group of scientists in the design of novel instrumentation to characterize fundamental properties of paper. His published works include three papers in the Royal Society in London England, as well as numerous other contributions to the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) in the United States. He held numerous U.S. Patents for his instrumentation. Recently he had been consulting for a number of companies in the U.S. and Europe. He was actively involved in the Save the Children programs.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia A. Reitemeyer Kent, at home; his parents of Austria; a son, Gene Kent of England; a daughter, Candice Kent of England; two stepsons, Keith Durchanek of Greenwood Lake and Christopher Durchanek of Bel Air, Md.; and a granddaughter, Caitlyn.

A memorial service was held Monday evening at the VanInwegen-Kenny Funeral Home in Wurtsboro.

Interment will be made in the family plot in Kindberg, Austria at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Assoc, P.O. Box 628, Monticello, NY 12701 or to the American Diabetes Assoc., Lower Hudson Valley Chapter, 200 White Plains Road, Suite 523, Tarrytown, NY 10591.'

So that's the story of my abortive effort to track down Henry Kent, weird-haired synthpop genius. Note that, creepily, I found out about his life and death three years to the day after he passed away. The lyrics ('Oh I won't die, slip away...') now seem just a little too heavily laced with irony.

I wish I had tried harder, earlier. I wish - obviously - that I could have discussed a lot of things with him, and perhaps helped in some way to find a new audience for his work. For now though, I'll have to be satisfied that I got to hear Slip Away back in the day, and it remains one of my favourite synthpop tracks. I hope my cover version (which I'll post later when I can figure out more about embedding tracks on my blog) will stand as a suitable testament to my love of this piece of music.

This still feels like unfinished business, knowing that he used to have a website with other music on that I haven't heard. Titles like Input: Output and Rise Robots, Rise only serve to whet the appetite. If anyone has any further information about HK, or links to more tracks - especially that second single, Neon & Nylon - please post a comment and make my day.

To download both tracks, courtesy of the great Crispy Nuggets blog, follow this link:

Crispy Nuggets: Slip Away & Duty Calls 7" mp3 download



Lyrics:

Ther's one outside, there's one inside me
There's one in her eyes, and they used to be blue

Everything, everything, everything, every heart and mind
Oh I won't die, slip away
Oh I won't die, slip away

Cheer for the still, they sing in colours
Cherished and vain, she moves like a movie

We try, we fail, we die, every day
Oh I won't die, slip away
Oh I won't die, slip away

A young boy called science vanished one day
Invented hallucination, threw the rest away

Everything, everything, everything, every heart and mind
Oh I won't die, slip away
Oh I won't die, slip away
Oh I won't die, slip away yeah yeah
Oh I won't die, just slip away

Enjoy.

UPDATE: The wonders of the internet - here's another cool early 80s track by Artistic Control called Dance With Me. The singer is Kez Stone, who was the vocalist and co-writer of Slip Away.
Kez Stone in Henry Kent's studio, early 80s

Henry, Kez and Henry's ex-wife Barbie (who also played on Slip Away), Cornwall early 80s.

Kez's YT channel is kezstone1, and I'm indebted to him for pix, correspondence and enthusiastic co-operation. I hope to be able to further update soon to include an interview with Kez plus the second single by AAAH! and audio of Henry talking about the early 80s St Austell music scene. Happy days!