PERE UBU
The Modern Dance
Boomkat Product Review:
Pere Ubu's epochal debut album, 'The Modern Dance' is one of the 1970s' most influential records, melting raw American punk with musique concrète and free jazz to form the foundations of post-punk. This Fire edition has been transferred from the original analog 2-track tapes and re-mastered by Starving Weirdos' Brian Pyle.
Just as The Beach Boys had captured '60s California with their run of sunny, psychedelic jaunts, Pere Ubu managed to bottle the essence of Cleveland, Ohio and the wider steel belt, just before deindustrialisation renamed it the rust belt. When they released 'The Modern Dance' in 1978, there hadn't been anything quite like it before. The band was fronted by vocalist David Thomas, who grabbed a couple of his bandmates from proto-punk band Rocket From The Tombs and entered into a new artistic phase, keeping rock and blues at the core but sidestepping into wilder, untapped territory. Thomas's unruly, politically-charged lyrics gave the music a focus for critics, but the band's instrumentation was brand new, with Allen Ravenstine's synth squeals, sax wails and tape loops interrupting the punky, angular - and ostensibly more recognizable - elements from bassist Tony Maimone, guitarist Tom Herman and drummer Scott Krauss.
Pere Ubu were inspired by Captain Beefheart and The Velvet Underground, but they weren't driven by repetition. Just skip to 'Real World', that opens with a good half-minute of dissonant electronics and radio static before a low-slung, dubby rhythm indicates there might be a song coming. And Thomas's itchy, unpredictable delivery, while it echoed punk, felt different - even now, after decades of imitators, he still sounds out on his own, retching from a snigger to a snarl or a terse, poetic staccato without taking a breath. On the title track meanwhile, a chugging krautrock groove is industrialized by dense field recordings and bursts of white noise - it's not a million miles away from Can or Neu!, but Pere Ubu were reflecting their bombed-out Cleveland surroundings (the air raid siren sounds on 'Over My Head' aren't an accident) and its derelict warehouses and ailing factories.
There's a level of chaos here that Thomas and his collaborators are able to control without neutering the revolutionary potential: on 'Laughing' they lapse into free improv, with wailing sax loops that resonate into a nauseating third tone, and, backed by throbbing crowd noise, 'Chinese Radiation' lurches from electronic squiggles and languid riffs into deranged, furious garage rawk before evaporating into dreamy, sardonic cabaret. Without this record, it'd be hard to imagine underground music sounding quite the same - whether you're into Sonic Youth, Pixies, Gang of Four or The Pop Group, Pere Ubu's fingerprints are all daubed all across the musical map.
View more
Boomkat Product Review:
Pere Ubu's epochal debut album, 'The Modern Dance' is one of the 1970s' most influential records, melting raw American punk with musique concrète and free jazz to form the foundations of post-punk. This Fire edition has been transferred from the original analog 2-track tapes and re-mastered by Starving Weirdos' Brian Pyle.
Just as The Beach Boys had captured '60s California with their run of sunny, psychedelic jaunts, Pere Ubu managed to bottle the essence of Cleveland, Ohio and the wider steel belt, just before deindustrialisation renamed it the rust belt. When they released 'The Modern Dance' in 1978, there hadn't been anything quite like it before. The band was fronted by vocalist David Thomas, who grabbed a couple of his bandmates from proto-punk band Rocket From The Tombs and entered into a new artistic phase, keeping rock and blues at the core but sidestepping into wilder, untapped territory. Thomas's unruly, politically-charged lyrics gave the music a focus for critics, but the band's instrumentation was brand new, with Allen Ravenstine's synth squeals, sax wails and tape loops interrupting the punky, angular - and ostensibly more recognizable - elements from bassist Tony Maimone, guitarist Tom Herman and drummer Scott Krauss.
Pere Ubu were inspired by Captain Beefheart and The Velvet Underground, but they weren't driven by repetition. Just skip to 'Real World', that opens with a good half-minute of dissonant electronics and radio static before a low-slung, dubby rhythm indicates there might be a song coming. And Thomas's itchy, unpredictable delivery, while it echoed punk, felt different - even now, after decades of imitators, he still sounds out on his own, retching from a snigger to a snarl or a terse, poetic staccato without taking a breath. On the title track meanwhile, a chugging krautrock groove is industrialized by dense field recordings and bursts of white noise - it's not a million miles away from Can or Neu!, but Pere Ubu were reflecting their bombed-out Cleveland surroundings (the air raid siren sounds on 'Over My Head' aren't an accident) and its derelict warehouses and ailing factories.
There's a level of chaos here that Thomas and his collaborators are able to control without neutering the revolutionary potential: on 'Laughing' they lapse into free improv, with wailing sax loops that resonate into a nauseating third tone, and, backed by throbbing crowd noise, 'Chinese Radiation' lurches from electronic squiggles and languid riffs into deranged, furious garage rawk before evaporating into dreamy, sardonic cabaret. Without this record, it'd be hard to imagine underground music sounding quite the same - whether you're into Sonic Youth, Pixies, Gang of Four or The Pop Group, Pere Ubu's fingerprints are all daubed all across the musical map.
Boomkat Product Review:
Pere Ubu's epochal debut album, 'The Modern Dance' is one of the 1970s' most influential records, melting raw American punk with musique concrète and free jazz to form the foundations of post-punk. This Fire edition has been transferred from the original analog 2-track tapes and re-mastered by Starving Weirdos' Brian Pyle.
Just as The Beach Boys had captured '60s California with their run of sunny, psychedelic jaunts, Pere Ubu managed to bottle the essence of Cleveland, Ohio and the wider steel belt, just before deindustrialisation renamed it the rust belt. When they released 'The Modern Dance' in 1978, there hadn't been anything quite like it before. The band was fronted by vocalist David Thomas, who grabbed a couple of his bandmates from proto-punk band Rocket From The Tombs and entered into a new artistic phase, keeping rock and blues at the core but sidestepping into wilder, untapped territory. Thomas's unruly, politically-charged lyrics gave the music a focus for critics, but the band's instrumentation was brand new, with Allen Ravenstine's synth squeals, sax wails and tape loops interrupting the punky, angular - and ostensibly more recognizable - elements from bassist Tony Maimone, guitarist Tom Herman and drummer Scott Krauss.
Pere Ubu were inspired by Captain Beefheart and The Velvet Underground, but they weren't driven by repetition. Just skip to 'Real World', that opens with a good half-minute of dissonant electronics and radio static before a low-slung, dubby rhythm indicates there might be a song coming. And Thomas's itchy, unpredictable delivery, while it echoed punk, felt different - even now, after decades of imitators, he still sounds out on his own, retching from a snigger to a snarl or a terse, poetic staccato without taking a breath. On the title track meanwhile, a chugging krautrock groove is industrialized by dense field recordings and bursts of white noise - it's not a million miles away from Can or Neu!, but Pere Ubu were reflecting their bombed-out Cleveland surroundings (the air raid siren sounds on 'Over My Head' aren't an accident) and its derelict warehouses and ailing factories.
There's a level of chaos here that Thomas and his collaborators are able to control without neutering the revolutionary potential: on 'Laughing' they lapse into free improv, with wailing sax loops that resonate into a nauseating third tone, and, backed by throbbing crowd noise, 'Chinese Radiation' lurches from electronic squiggles and languid riffs into deranged, furious garage rawk before evaporating into dreamy, sardonic cabaret. Without this record, it'd be hard to imagine underground music sounding quite the same - whether you're into Sonic Youth, Pixies, Gang of Four or The Pop Group, Pere Ubu's fingerprints are all daubed all across the musical map.
Boomkat Product Review:
Pere Ubu's epochal debut album, 'The Modern Dance' is one of the 1970s' most influential records, melting raw American punk with musique concrète and free jazz to form the foundations of post-punk. This Fire edition has been transferred from the original analog 2-track tapes and re-mastered by Starving Weirdos' Brian Pyle.
Just as The Beach Boys had captured '60s California with their run of sunny, psychedelic jaunts, Pere Ubu managed to bottle the essence of Cleveland, Ohio and the wider steel belt, just before deindustrialisation renamed it the rust belt. When they released 'The Modern Dance' in 1978, there hadn't been anything quite like it before. The band was fronted by vocalist David Thomas, who grabbed a couple of his bandmates from proto-punk band Rocket From The Tombs and entered into a new artistic phase, keeping rock and blues at the core but sidestepping into wilder, untapped territory. Thomas's unruly, politically-charged lyrics gave the music a focus for critics, but the band's instrumentation was brand new, with Allen Ravenstine's synth squeals, sax wails and tape loops interrupting the punky, angular - and ostensibly more recognizable - elements from bassist Tony Maimone, guitarist Tom Herman and drummer Scott Krauss.
Pere Ubu were inspired by Captain Beefheart and The Velvet Underground, but they weren't driven by repetition. Just skip to 'Real World', that opens with a good half-minute of dissonant electronics and radio static before a low-slung, dubby rhythm indicates there might be a song coming. And Thomas's itchy, unpredictable delivery, while it echoed punk, felt different - even now, after decades of imitators, he still sounds out on his own, retching from a snigger to a snarl or a terse, poetic staccato without taking a breath. On the title track meanwhile, a chugging krautrock groove is industrialized by dense field recordings and bursts of white noise - it's not a million miles away from Can or Neu!, but Pere Ubu were reflecting their bombed-out Cleveland surroundings (the air raid siren sounds on 'Over My Head' aren't an accident) and its derelict warehouses and ailing factories.
There's a level of chaos here that Thomas and his collaborators are able to control without neutering the revolutionary potential: on 'Laughing' they lapse into free improv, with wailing sax loops that resonate into a nauseating third tone, and, backed by throbbing crowd noise, 'Chinese Radiation' lurches from electronic squiggles and languid riffs into deranged, furious garage rawk before evaporating into dreamy, sardonic cabaret. Without this record, it'd be hard to imagine underground music sounding quite the same - whether you're into Sonic Youth, Pixies, Gang of Four or The Pop Group, Pere Ubu's fingerprints are all daubed all across the musical map.
2024 pressing.
Available To Order (Estimated Shipping between 7-14 Working Days)
This item is to the best of our knowledge available to us from the supplier and should ship to you within the time-frame indicated. If there are any unforeseen issues with availability we will notify you immediately
Boomkat Product Review:
Pere Ubu's epochal debut album, 'The Modern Dance' is one of the 1970s' most influential records, melting raw American punk with musique concrète and free jazz to form the foundations of post-punk. This Fire edition has been transferred from the original analog 2-track tapes and re-mastered by Starving Weirdos' Brian Pyle.
Just as The Beach Boys had captured '60s California with their run of sunny, psychedelic jaunts, Pere Ubu managed to bottle the essence of Cleveland, Ohio and the wider steel belt, just before deindustrialisation renamed it the rust belt. When they released 'The Modern Dance' in 1978, there hadn't been anything quite like it before. The band was fronted by vocalist David Thomas, who grabbed a couple of his bandmates from proto-punk band Rocket From The Tombs and entered into a new artistic phase, keeping rock and blues at the core but sidestepping into wilder, untapped territory. Thomas's unruly, politically-charged lyrics gave the music a focus for critics, but the band's instrumentation was brand new, with Allen Ravenstine's synth squeals, sax wails and tape loops interrupting the punky, angular - and ostensibly more recognizable - elements from bassist Tony Maimone, guitarist Tom Herman and drummer Scott Krauss.
Pere Ubu were inspired by Captain Beefheart and The Velvet Underground, but they weren't driven by repetition. Just skip to 'Real World', that opens with a good half-minute of dissonant electronics and radio static before a low-slung, dubby rhythm indicates there might be a song coming. And Thomas's itchy, unpredictable delivery, while it echoed punk, felt different - even now, after decades of imitators, he still sounds out on his own, retching from a snigger to a snarl or a terse, poetic staccato without taking a breath. On the title track meanwhile, a chugging krautrock groove is industrialized by dense field recordings and bursts of white noise - it's not a million miles away from Can or Neu!, but Pere Ubu were reflecting their bombed-out Cleveland surroundings (the air raid siren sounds on 'Over My Head' aren't an accident) and its derelict warehouses and ailing factories.
There's a level of chaos here that Thomas and his collaborators are able to control without neutering the revolutionary potential: on 'Laughing' they lapse into free improv, with wailing sax loops that resonate into a nauseating third tone, and, backed by throbbing crowd noise, 'Chinese Radiation' lurches from electronic squiggles and languid riffs into deranged, furious garage rawk before evaporating into dreamy, sardonic cabaret. Without this record, it'd be hard to imagine underground music sounding quite the same - whether you're into Sonic Youth, Pixies, Gang of Four or The Pop Group, Pere Ubu's fingerprints are all daubed all across the musical map.
More from PERE UBU:
-
PERE UBU Cloudland MERCURY / Fire Records Indie / Alternative- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
PERE UBU Song of the Bailing Man Fire Records Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
- CD
-
PERE UBU Carnival of Souls Fire Records Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
PERE UBU Worlds In Collision MERCURY / Fire Records Indie / Alternative
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
PERE UBU New Picnic Time Fire Records Indie / Alternative
- LP (Black Vinyl)
- CD
More from Fire Records:
-
ROYAL TRUX Untitled (2024 Remastered Edition) Fire Records Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
-
Ella Raphael Mad Sometimes Fire Records Folk / Roots
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLMEMORIALS Memorial Waterslides Fire Records Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- Colour LP
- CD
-
BARK PSYCHOSIS Hex Fire Records Indie / Alternative
- 2LP (Black Vinyl)
-
Jane Weaver Univers (MEMORIALS Remix) Fire Records Electronic
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
People who bought this also bought:
-
These Immortal Souls Get Lost (Don't Lie!) (2024 Remaster) Mute Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
- CD
-
CRIME & THE CITY SOLUTION Room of Lights Mute Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- Colour LP
-
JIM O'ROURKE Eureka Domino Recording Co / Drag City Indie / Alternative
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
THE SCIENTISTS You Get What You Deserve Numero Group Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
- Colour LP
-
The Fall Bingo Masters at The Witch Trials Ozit Dandelion Indie / Alternative
- LP (Black Vinyl)
-
FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Flying Saucer Attack Domino Recording Co Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
- CD
-
FREE MP3 WITH VINYLBARK PSYCHOSIS Codename: Dustsucker Fire Records Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- 2LP (Black Vinyl)
- CD
-
FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Chorus Domino Recording Co Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- LP (Black Vinyl)
- CD
-
SWANS Feel Good Now Mute Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- 2LP (Black Vinyl)
-
STEREOLAB Pulse Of The Early Brain [Switched On Volume 5] Duophonic Indie / Alternative
- MP3
- FLAC
- WAV
- 3LP
- 3LP
- 2CD
- 2CD