Formica Blues
Encyclopedia
Formica Blues is an album from UK band Mono
. It was first released in the UK in 1997. Four singles were released from the album, of which the lead single, "Life in Mono", was the most successful.
The album reached no.71 in the U.K albums charts and remained on the chart for 1 week. In the U.S the album reached 137 on the billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 7 weeks.
summarizes the "basic formula" of the album as "to wallow in the sound of television and film theme tunes
of the Sixties and Seventies, but both to embellish and underpin it with jazz
y breakbeats
and Massive Attack
synthy atmospheres". The use of harpsichord
melody mirrors John Barry
's film scores of the 1960s by design (and by sampling
), though it has also been compared to themes for 1970s action adventure television shows such as The Protectors
and The Zoo Gang
.
"Slimcea Girl" took its title from Slimcea, a low-calorie bread sold in the UK during what has been reported as either the 1960s or the 1970s; the "girl" was one featured in the Slimcea TV ads, which featured a jingle inviting the viewer to be a "Slimcea girl". Another inspiration was Julie Christie
's character in the film version of Billy Liar
, whom Virgo described as a "liberated
" "It girl
", saying, "I just found it a powerful image". The song has been called "a cynical stare at the dreams and fantasies of those people who live behind the blinds [of Suburb
ia])"; musically, it has been described as reminiscent of Burt Bacharach
, gospel music
(in its use of backing vocals arranged like a choir
), and "a Tamla
torch song
".
"The Outsider" is noted for a hammered dulcimer
part, which Virgo had written on a synthesizer, imagined with a dulcimer sound; he subsequently called a dulcimer player (Geoff Smith) to play the part.
"High Life" has been compared to the music of 1960s girl group
s like The Ronettes
, whose production by Phil Spector
is cited by Virgo as a style he wanted to incorporate and update.
"Hello Cleveland!", a complex instrumental, was titled after a line from This Is Spinal Tap
. Virgo used the title ironically; taken from a stereotypical "rock and roll
" context, it was then placed on a song that "wasn't very rock and roll". It is also the most musically esoteric
song on the album; a paper in music journal Echo by Sara Nicholson, presented at the sixty-seventh annual meeting of the American Musicological Society
, pinpoints a number of uncredited classical recordings sampled at certain points in the song. Primarily these are works by the three principal composers of the Second Viennese School
, Arnold Schoenberg
, Anton Webern
, and Alban Berg
; Virgo cites the school as among his musical influences. (Also see the Samples section.) The paper also analyzes the overall structure of the song: it opens with a guitar arpeggio
followed by a solo piano composition (noted as being "strikingly similar to Erik Satie
's Gnossienne#1 in f"), along with a 5/4 drum loop. About one minute into the song, the bulk of the samples are introduced by a one-second sample from the fifth movement of Luciano Berio
's Sinfonia
, which is repeated intermittently throughout this section. The beat stops in the last minute of the song, which returns to the piano motif, fading out.
The album cover and liner notes
artwork, designed by an art student, consist of abstract collages incorporating photography of the surroundings of London.
C12 and a Neumann
U87 microphone, depending on the vocal range desired; compression
and equalization
during the mixing
process created a noticeably processed sound to the vocals.
Analog synthesizer
s were predominantly used over digital ones; those used by producer and engineer Jim Abbiss include a Roland
Juno, a Minimoog
, and a Sequential
Pro One. Abbiss co-wrote "Playboys" with Virgo by manually programming
synthesizers to generate various sounds that make up the song's extended techno
sequences.
Live instruments in the recording studio were themselves sometimes used for samples. Many of the piano sounds on the album (particularly those on "Slimcea Girl") were multisampled from a Steinway
at Abbey Road Studios
, reportedly once used by The Beatles
. Recording of "The Outsider" also ended up with Virgo multisampling the dulcimer brought to the studio.
, in an overwhelmingly positive review, calls Formica Blues "unutterably gorgeous", praising it for evoking the era when "London was about to swing
". The album was subsequently rated number 49 on the newspaper's top albums of the year list (Portishead's Portishead
was rated number 18 on the same list).
The Melody Maker album review opened with the phrase "A case study in post-modern ennui", which became a theme in some analyses of the album. Nicholson, in interpreting "Hello Cleveland!", calls the song a pastiche
of musical "quotations", comparable to Berio's Simfonia in its referencing of past musical works. In addition, since the samples are not identified, Nicholson points out that, for the majority of listeners, they become simulacra
— the postmodern
concept developed by Jean Baudrillard
, meaning imitations that can't be ascribed to an original object — referring to, in this case, the fact that most listeners, including professional reviewers, do not recognize them as being anything beyond generic compositions reminiscent of classical music. From the perspective of a listener familiar with the source material, however, Nicholson suggests that Virgo seems to even use the placement of the samples to parallel the musical references found in the original works.
Nevertheless, Nicholson concludes that the song "collapses", becoming an "aggregation of elements", which is applied to both groups of listeners: "amateur" listeners hear a collection of sounds with no particular significance, while "connoisseur" listeners are unable to construct a "narrative" out of the sounds as there are "too many elements". This effect, however, is tied back to Virgo's description of his musical influences, to suggest that it is exactly the "kaleidoscopic" effect of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound
technique. Virgo, in his statements, in fact says that even though it "isn't music that tends to rear its head in a lot of popular music", the Klangfarbenmelodie
(tone-colour-melody) approach to melody pioneered by the Second Viennese School was comparable to a style of popular music production "where there are so many things going on at once but the overall sound doesn't seem complicated" — which Virgo credits Phil Spector for originating; Nicholson makes the reasonable connection that this is referring to the Wall of Sound.
The Spanish radio program Viaje a los Sueños Polares (on Los 40 Principales
) awarded the album Best International LP in its 1997 staff poll.
BBC broadcaster Mark Radcliffe
listed Formica Blues among his top three albums of 1997, calling it "Atmospheric soundtracks for films that haven't been made yet" (prior to the 1998 release of Great Expectations).
except 8 by Virgo, Jim Abbiss, and de Maré.
The instrumental interludes shown are in especially long pregap
s between the numbered tracks
on the CD.
Uncredited samples in "Hello Cleveland!" consist of: Sinfonia by Luciano Berio
; Six Pieces (Op. 6) by Anton Webern
; Five Pieces for Orchestra
(Op. 16) by Arnold Schoenberg
; and Lulu Suite by Alban Berg
. The sources sampled are found to be most likely recordings by Riccardo Chailly
for Sinfonia and Simon Rattle
for the three latter works — recordings all noted as being out-of-print.
Other musicians:
and CD
formats, and included a number of remixes distributed across the various formats.
for "[ Life in Mono]" was directed by Chuck Leal and Matt Donaldson, and first aired in February 1998. Filmed in New York City
(with the Manhattan Bridge
and the Brooklyn Bridge
prominently shown in some scenes), most of the video consists of de Maré performing the song alone in nondescript urban areas, with Virgo appearing in only a few shots, not doing anything in particular. Another version, interspersed with clips from Great Expectations, was used to promote the song as part of the film's soundtrack.
The video for "Silicone" was directed by Nick Abrahams and Michael Tomkins (working as "Nick and Mikey") for the production company Trash 2000. It was filmed at Heston Service Station Motel, located along Britain's M4 motorway
. Filmed in black and white, it depicts hotel rooms and corridors populated by the band members as well as a "Neolithic
man" dressed in a rabbit costume
, and men in suits with a giant potato or a sculpted chimpanzee face in place of their heads.
The video for "Slimcea Girl" was directed by Alexander Hemming.
The video for "High Life" was directed by Malcolm Venville
, who also photographed the single covers of "High Life" and the 1998 release of "Life in Mono".
During a May 1998 online chat the band revealed plans to film a video with David LaChapelle
, though there is no sign that this was ever realized.
Mono (UK band)
Mono was a British electronic music duo which had a hit in the late 1990s with their song "Life in Mono". The group's music is often described as trip hop, based on its similarities to contemporary electronic music acts including Sneaker Pimps and Portishead...
. It was first released in the UK in 1997. Four singles were released from the album, of which the lead single, "Life in Mono", was the most successful.
The album reached no.71 in the U.K albums charts and remained on the chart for 1 week. In the U.S the album reached 137 on the billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 7 weeks.
Overview
Melody MakerMelody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
summarizes the "basic formula" of the album as "to wallow in the sound of television and film theme tunes
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
of the Sixties and Seventies, but both to embellish and underpin it with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
y breakbeats
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
and Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
synthy atmospheres". The use of harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
melody mirrors John Barry
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
's film scores of the 1960s by design (and by sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
), though it has also been compared to themes for 1970s action adventure television shows such as The Protectors
The Protectors
The Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It is Anderson's second TV series using live actors as opposed to electronic marionettes, and also his second to be firmly set in the present day...
and The Zoo Gang
The Zoo Gang
The Zoo Gang was a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same name by Paul Gallico....
.
"Slimcea Girl" took its title from Slimcea, a low-calorie bread sold in the UK during what has been reported as either the 1960s or the 1970s; the "girl" was one featured in the Slimcea TV ads, which featured a jingle inviting the viewer to be a "Slimcea girl". Another inspiration was Julie Christie
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....
's character in the film version of Billy Liar
Billy Liar (film)
Billy Liar is a 1963 film based on the novel by Keith Waterhouse. It was directed by John Schlesinger and stars Tom Courtenay as Billy and Julie Christie as Liz, one of his three girlfriends. Mona Washbourne plays Mrs. Fisher, and Wilfred Pickles played Mr. Fisher...
, whom Virgo described as a "liberated
Feminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
" "It girl
It girl
"It girl" is a term for a young woman who possess the quality "It", absolute attraction.The early usage of the concept "it" in this meaning may be seen in a story by Rudyard Kipling: "It isn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just 'It'."...
", saying, "I just found it a powerful image". The song has been called "a cynical stare at the dreams and fantasies of those people who live behind the blinds [of Suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
ia])"; musically, it has been described as reminiscent of Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
, gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
(in its use of backing vocals arranged like a choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
), and "a Tamla
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
torch song
Torch song
A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship...
".
"The Outsider" is noted for a hammered dulcimer
Hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...
part, which Virgo had written on a synthesizer, imagined with a dulcimer sound; he subsequently called a dulcimer player (Geoff Smith) to play the part.
"High Life" has been compared to the music of 1960s girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
s like The Ronettes
The Ronettes
The Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley...
, whose production by Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
is cited by Virgo as a style he wanted to incorporate and update.
"Hello Cleveland!", a complex instrumental, was titled after a line from This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap is an American 1984 rock musical mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner about the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap...
. Virgo used the title ironically; taken from a stereotypical "rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
" context, it was then placed on a song that "wasn't very rock and roll". It is also the most musically esoteric
Esotericism
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek , a compound of : "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward",...
song on the album; a paper in music journal Echo by Sara Nicholson, presented at the sixty-seventh annual meeting of the American Musicological Society
American Musicological Society
The American Musicological Society is a membership-based musicological organization founded in 1934 to advance scholarly research in the various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship; it grew out of a small contingent of the Music Teachers National Association and, more directly,...
, pinpoints a number of uncredited classical recordings sampled at certain points in the song. Primarily these are works by the three principal composers of the Second Viennese School
Second Viennese School
The Second Viennese School is the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils and close associates in early 20th century Vienna, where he lived and taught, sporadically, between 1903 and 1925...
, Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
, Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
, and Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
; Virgo cites the school as among his musical influences. (Also see the Samples section.) The paper also analyzes the overall structure of the song: it opens with a guitar arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
followed by a solo piano composition (noted as being "strikingly similar to Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
's Gnossienne#1 in f"), along with a 5/4 drum loop. About one minute into the song, the bulk of the samples are introduced by a one-second sample from the fifth movement of Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...
's Sinfonia
Sinfonia (Berio)
Sinfonia is a composition by the Italian composer Luciano Berio which was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for its 125th anniversary...
, which is repeated intermittently throughout this section. The beat stops in the last minute of the song, which returns to the piano motif, fading out.
The album cover and liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
artwork, designed by an art student, consist of abstract collages incorporating photography of the surroundings of London.
Recording and production
Vocals were recorded, alternately, on an AKGAKG Acoustics
AKG Acoustics is an Austrian manufacturer of microphones, headphones, wireless audio systems and related accessories for professional and consumer markets...
C12 and a Neumann
Georg Neumann
Georg Neumann GmbH , founded in 1928 and based in Berlin, Germany, is a prominent manufacturer of professional recording microphones. Their best-known products are condenser microphones for broadcast, live and music production purposes...
U87 microphone, depending on the vocal range desired; compression
Audio level compression
Dynamic range compression, also called DRC or simply compression reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds by narrowing or "compressing" an audio signal's dynamic range...
and equalization
Equalization
Equalization, is the process of adjusting the balance between frequency components within an electronic signal. The most well known use of equalization is in sound recording and reproduction but there are many other applications in electronics and telecommunications. The circuit or equipment used...
during the mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
process created a noticeably processed sound to the vocals.
Analog synthesizer
Analog synthesizer
An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...
s were predominantly used over digital ones; those used by producer and engineer Jim Abbiss include a Roland
Roland Corporation
is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...
Juno, a Minimoog
Minimoog
The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. It was released in 1970 by R.A. Moog Inc. , and production was stopped in 1981. It was re-designed by Robert Moog in 2002 and released as Minimoog Voyager.The Minimoog was designed in response to the use of...
, and a Sequential
Sequential Circuits
Sequential Circuits Inc. was a California-based synthesizer company that was founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith and sold to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. The company, throughout its lifespan, pioneered many groundbreaking technologies and design principles that are often taken for granted in...
Pro One. Abbiss co-wrote "Playboys" with Virgo by manually programming
Programming (music)
Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
synthesizers to generate various sounds that make up the song's extended techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
sequences.
Live instruments in the recording studio were themselves sometimes used for samples. Many of the piano sounds on the album (particularly those on "Slimcea Girl") were multisampled from a Steinway
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, reportedly once used by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. Recording of "The Outsider" also ended up with Virgo multisampling the dulcimer brought to the studio.
Critical reception
Melody MakerMelody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, in an overwhelmingly positive review, calls Formica Blues "unutterably gorgeous", praising it for evoking the era when "London was about to swing
Swinging London
Swinging London is a catch-all term applied to the fashion and cultural scene that flourished in London, in the 1960s.It was a youth-oriented phenomenon that emphasised the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the...
". The album was subsequently rated number 49 on the newspaper's top albums of the year list (Portishead's Portishead
Portishead (album)
Portishead is the second album of the Bristol-based group Portishead, released in 1997. The album reached #2 on the UK Album Chart and #21 on the Billboard 200 chart....
was rated number 18 on the same list).
The Melody Maker album review opened with the phrase "A case study in post-modern ennui", which became a theme in some analyses of the album. Nicholson, in interpreting "Hello Cleveland!", calls the song a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of musical "quotations", comparable to Berio's Simfonia in its referencing of past musical works. In addition, since the samples are not identified, Nicholson points out that, for the majority of listeners, they become simulacra
Simulacrum
Simulacrum , from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", was first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god...
— the postmodern
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
concept developed by Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism.-Life:...
, meaning imitations that can't be ascribed to an original object — referring to, in this case, the fact that most listeners, including professional reviewers, do not recognize them as being anything beyond generic compositions reminiscent of classical music. From the perspective of a listener familiar with the source material, however, Nicholson suggests that Virgo seems to even use the placement of the samples to parallel the musical references found in the original works.
Nevertheless, Nicholson concludes that the song "collapses", becoming an "aggregation of elements", which is applied to both groups of listeners: "amateur" listeners hear a collection of sounds with no particular significance, while "connoisseur" listeners are unable to construct a "narrative" out of the sounds as there are "too many elements". This effect, however, is tied back to Virgo's description of his musical influences, to suggest that it is exactly the "kaleidoscopic" effect of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
technique. Virgo, in his statements, in fact says that even though it "isn't music that tends to rear its head in a lot of popular music", the Klangfarbenmelodie
Klangfarbenmelodie
Klangfarbenmelodie is a musical technique that involves distributing a musical line or melody to several instruments, rather than assigning it to just one instrument, thereby adding color and texture to the melodic line...
(tone-colour-melody) approach to melody pioneered by the Second Viennese School was comparable to a style of popular music production "where there are so many things going on at once but the overall sound doesn't seem complicated" — which Virgo credits Phil Spector for originating; Nicholson makes the reasonable connection that this is referring to the Wall of Sound.
The Spanish radio program Viaje a los Sueños Polares (on Los 40 Principales
Los 40 Principales
Los 40 Principales is the main musical radio station in Spain with more than 4,000,000 listeners. The station was founded in 1966 and in 2006 the station celebrated its 40th anniversary...
) awarded the album Best International LP in its 1997 staff poll.
BBC broadcaster Mark Radcliffe
Mark Radcliffe
Mark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week alongside Stuart Maconie, called...
listed Formica Blues among his top three albums of 1997, calling it "Atmospheric soundtracks for films that haven't been made yet" (prior to the 1998 release of Great Expectations).
Comparisons
The band's use of period film score-inspired music and breakbeats led to comparisons to the influential group Portishead, the first of what Allmusic calls "mid-'90s male instrumentalist/female singer duos".Track listing
Tracks 1, 3, 7, and 10 written by Martin Virgo; all others written by Virgo and Siobhan de MaréSiobhan de Maré
Siobhan de Maré is a singer, mostly known from lending her voice to the album Formica Blues by the UK band Mono in 1997. In 2000, she joined Robin Guthrie to form Violet Indiana, which varies from shimmery wall of sound style with similarities to dreampop, to sparse single-guitar songs with less...
except 8 by Virgo, Jim Abbiss, and de Maré.
- "Life in MonoLife in Mono (song)"Life in Mono" is a song by UK band Mono, which consisted of singer Siobhan de Maré and musician Martin Virgo. It was released on the band's first EP in 1996 which contained various remixes, most notably two by the Propellerheads...
" – 3:34- interlude – 0:18
- "Silicone" – 4:14
- interlude – 0:35
- "Slimcea Girl" – 3:50
- "The Outsider" – 5:08
- "Disney Town" – 4:09
- "The Blind Man" – 5:22
- interlude – 1:18
- "High Life" – 4:10
- "Playboys" – 6:40
- "Penguin Freud" – 6:18
- "Hello Cleveland!" – 6:33
The instrumental interludes shown are in especially long pregap
Pregap
The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...
s between the numbered tracks
Track (CD)
On an optical disc, a track or title is a subdivision of its content. Specifically, it is a consecutive set of sectors on the disc containing a block of data. One session may contain one or more tracks of the same or different types...
on the CD.
Japan bonus tracks
- "Life in Mono" ("Hope" mix)
- "Silicone" (Winchester Club Space dub mix)
- "Slimcea Girl" (Fat Boy vocal)
UK bonus disc
- "Slimcea Girl" (The AloofThe AloofThe Aloof were a British alternative / pop / electronica supergroup, mixing electronic and dance elements with dub influences. They were active during the 1990s, and released four albums. Two members of The Aloof - Burns and Kooner - were also members of The Sabres of Paradise...
remix) - "Silicone" (Les Rythmes DigitalesStuart PriceStuart Price is a three time Grammy-winning British electronic musician, songwriter, and record producer whose remixing and production skills are in demand by artists including New Order, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Missy Elliott, Scissor Sisters, The Killers, Pet Shop Boys, Brandon...
remix) - "Slimcea Girl" (Fat Boy vocal)
- "High Life" (Next Century Short dub)
- "Silicone" (Mr. ScruffMr. ScruffMr. Scruff is the recording name of Andy Carthy , a British DJ and artist. He lives in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and studied fine art at the Psalter Lane campus of Sheffield Hallam University...
remix) - "Life in Mono" (PropellerheadsPropellerheadsPropellerheads were a British big beat musical ensemble, formed in 1995 and made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term propellerhead is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California use this in a conversation, they thought it the perfect name...
Sweat Band mix) - "Slimcea Girl" (Sol Brothers London dub remix)
- "High Life" (187 Lockdown187 Lockdown187 Lockdown was a British speed garage act, comprising Danny Harrison and Julian Jonah. The duo produced one album, with four singles released from it, and remixed many songs towards the end of the 1990s....
Low Life dub) - "Life in Mono" (Banana Republic Urban dub)
- "High Life" (Natural Born Chillers vocal mix)
Samples
- "Life in Mono": The IPCRESS FileThe Ipcress File (film)The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, and Nigel Green. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best...
, written and recorded by John BarryJohn Barry (composer)John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987... - "Silicone": "Walk On By", written by Burt BacharachBurt BacharachBurt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal DavidHal DavidHarold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
, recorded by Isaac HayesIsaac HayesIsaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
; "Get CarterGet CarterGet Carter is a 1971 British crime film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a gangster who sets out to avenge the death of his brother in a series of unrelenting and brutal killings played out against the grim background of derelict urban housing in the city of...
", written and recorded by Roy BuddRoy BuddRoy Frederick Budd , was a British jazz musician and composer, known for his film scores.Born in Mitcham, Surrey, Budd became interested in music from an early age and had built up a vast musical repertoire by the age of eight... - "Slimcea Girl": "Viva Revolucion", written by Jon CarterJon CarterJon Carter is an Essex, England-born DJ who initially rose to prominence as a big beat electronica DJ. However, as his career progressed both his productions and his DJ sets became known for including a variety of musical styles.-Biography:...
, recorded by ArteryArtery (band)Artery are a British post-punk band from Sheffield, that was founded in 1978. They were originally known confusingly as just The. After several changes in the line-up and four albums they split up in 1985... - "Penguin Freud": "Answered Prayers", written and recorded by David SylvianDavid SylvianDavid Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
; an interpolation of "The Pan Piper", written by Gil EvansGil EvansGil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
Uncredited samples in "Hello Cleveland!" consist of: Sinfonia by Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...
; Six Pieces (Op. 6) by Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
; Five Pieces for Orchestra
Five Pieces for Orchestra
The Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 16 was composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1909. The titles of the pieces, reluctantly added by the composer after the work's completion upon the request of his publisher, are as follows:...
(Op. 16) by Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
; and Lulu Suite by Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
. The sources sampled are found to be most likely recordings by Riccardo Chailly
Riccardo Chailly
Riccardo Chailly, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor. He started his career as an opera conductor and gradually extended his repertoire to encompass symphonic music.-Biography:...
for Sinfonia and Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
for the three latter works — recordings all noted as being out-of-print.
Credits
Mono are:- Siobhan de MaréSiobhan de MaréSiobhan de Maré is a singer, mostly known from lending her voice to the album Formica Blues by the UK band Mono in 1997. In 2000, she joined Robin Guthrie to form Violet Indiana, which varies from shimmery wall of sound style with similarities to dreampop, to sparse single-guitar songs with less...
– vocals, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
(3, 4, 7) - Martin Virgo – productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
(10), keyboardsElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
/programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
(3, 4, 7, 9, 10), guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s (5, 6, 7), bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(5, 7)
Other musicians:
- Jim Abbiss – production (2, 5, 6, 8, 9), engineering (all but 7 and 10), keyboards/programming (6, 8), guitars (6), "wicked tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
" (5) - Mat Coleman – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
(7) - Luke Gifford – engineering (7, 9)
- Colin Graham – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
(7, 9) - Mikey Hartwell – percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
(7) - Lee Hubbard (Bushmaster) – drum programmingDrum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
(6) - The Lauren Hughes Experience – triangleTriangle (instrument)The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
(10) - Chris Margary – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
(7) - Martin McColl – guitar (2, 9)
- Paul Motion – engineering (7)
- Bernard O'Neil – double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
(2) - Paulo de Oliveira – vocals (9)
- Geoff Smith – hammered dulcimerHammered dulcimerThe hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...
(4) - James Thorp – guitar (7)
Singles
Each single was released in 12"12-inch single
The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
and CD
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
formats, and included a number of remixes distributed across the various formats.
"Life in Mono"
Released: November 1996, April 1998- Radio edit
- Alice Band mix
- Sweat Band mix
- "Hope" mix
- Bushmaster
- Instrumental
- Banana Republic Urban dub
- Banana Republic Shift Control mix
- Mr. Natural vocal mix
- LHOOQJóhann JóhannssonJóhann Jóhannsson is an Icelandic musician, composer and producer. He is a co-founder of Kitchen Motors in Reykjavík, the art organization/think tank/record label which specializes in initiating collaborations, promoting concerts and exhibitions, performances, chamber operas, producing films,...
Ingenue mix
"Silicone"
Released: May 1997- Les Rythmes Digitales remix
- Mr. Scruff mix
- Winchester Club Space dub mix
- L.H.B. Implant
"Slimcea Girl"
Released: October 1997- Aloof remix
- Aloof dub reprise
- The Fat Boy vocal
- The Fat Boy dub
- Sol Brothers London dub remix
- Sol Brothers London bass mix
- The Danmass remix
- Fuzzed
"High Life"
Released: June 29, 1998- 7" mix
- 187 Lockdown Low Life dub
- 187 Lockdown Low Life instrumental
- Remember HerbertMatthew HerbertMatthew Herbert , also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician...
's mix - Lowfinger's Stereo Low Life mix
- Natural Born Chillers vocal mix
- Natural Born Chillers dub mix
- Next Century Long dub mix
- Next Century Short dub mix
Music videos
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "[ Life in Mono]" was directed by Chuck Leal and Matt Donaldson, and first aired in February 1998. Filmed in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(with the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
and the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
prominently shown in some scenes), most of the video consists of de Maré performing the song alone in nondescript urban areas, with Virgo appearing in only a few shots, not doing anything in particular. Another version, interspersed with clips from Great Expectations, was used to promote the song as part of the film's soundtrack.
The video for "Silicone" was directed by Nick Abrahams and Michael Tomkins (working as "Nick and Mikey") for the production company Trash 2000. It was filmed at Heston Service Station Motel, located along Britain's M4 motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
. Filmed in black and white, it depicts hotel rooms and corridors populated by the band members as well as a "Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
man" dressed in a rabbit costume
Fursuit
Fursuits are animal costumes made from various materials. They range from simple tails and ears to full costumes cooled by battery-powered fans. Fursuits can be worn for personal enjoyment, work or charity....
, and men in suits with a giant potato or a sculpted chimpanzee face in place of their heads.
The video for "Slimcea Girl" was directed by Alexander Hemming.
The video for "High Life" was directed by Malcolm Venville
Malcolm Venville
Malcolm Frank Venville is a British photographer and film director.Venville was the child of deaf parents. He was, in the words of his uncle, "caught in some no-man's land between the deaf world and the hearing world." Venville atteneded Solihull College and Polytechnic of Central London ,...
, who also photographed the single covers of "High Life" and the 1998 release of "Life in Mono".
During a May 1998 online chat the band revealed plans to film a video with David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...
, though there is no sign that this was ever realized.