Mono (UK band)
Encyclopedia
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. Audible, and frequently cited, influences in Mono's songs include jazz
y instrumentation reminiscent of 1960s spy film
soundtracks and production styles rooted in 1960s pop music.
and Martin Virgo on keyboards
, synthesizer
programming, and production
. Virgo, trained in classical piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
, had been working as a session musician
since the early 1990s as part of the production team of Nellee Hooper
, which led to credits on a remix of Massive Attack
's "Unfinished Sympathy
" (considered one of the landmark songs of trip hop's "Bristol sound") and Björk
's 1993 album Debut. De Maré comes from a family with several generations of history in entertainment; her father was Tony Meehan
, drummer for the Shadows
, her grandfather was one of the Gongmen
featured in the opening logo sequences in Rank Organisation
films, and her grandmother was a dancer who worked with Shirley Bassey
. She had been working as a session singer for hip hop
and R&B
musicians, as well as writing and touring, though much of this material consisted of underground and white label
releases.
The two were introduced to each other while in London in pursuit of their respective musical projects: Virgo was in the midst of a break in session work, while de Maré had been planning to set up a personal recording studio in Paris. Despite different musical influences (de Maré by R&B and soul
, Virgo by 1960s pop standards, and classical music from sources such as France and the Second Viennese School
), their collaborative songwriting efforts apparently meshed easily. Virgo describes the demos
recorded at this time as comprising ideas such as "Parliament
breaks
under bits of Serge Gainsbourg
". After some demo tapes were distributed among music industry executives, the band received a number of contract
offers from record label
s. The pressure of this drove them to form a group, even with de Maré having gone on vacation in Los Angeles at this point. Originally planning to use the name Tremelux, they chose instead Mono, derived from the title of the Phil Spector
release Back to Mono
.
The band signed a UK-only contract at first with Echo Records
, passing up labels like Warner
, Island
, and London
. Their first release, in 1996, was an EP of the song "Life in Mono" and various remixes, most notable of these being two by the Propellerheads
, a popular big beat
band and remix group at the time. This was followed by the Formica Blues
album in 1997.
In 1998, the use of "Life in Mono" in the soundtrack, trailers
, and end credits
of the film adaptation
of Great Expectations
(after Robert De Niro
, who was working on the film, heard the song) brought greater exposure for the song than ever before, and it became the number one most requested song on US radio station
s (such as KROQ-FM
in Los Angeles, KITS
in San Francisco, and WNNX
in Atlanta) for weeks following the film's release. (In terms of specific radio stations, for example, "Life in Mono" made #45 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1998 and #76 on the 91X
Top 91 of 1998, while Formica Blues was #73 on Toronto's 102.1 The Edge
's 1998 year-end top 102 albums countdown.) With the band's new U.S. deal with Mercury Records
(signed with then-A&R
vice president Steve Greenberg
, who had reportedly been looking to sign the band from the start), promotional singles of "Life in Mono" were also distributed to nightclub
s at about the same time as modern rock
stations, though only later was the single provided to Top 40 stations.
Now at the height of their popularity, Mono embarked on their only concert tour
. After a quiet period, however, the band broke up in 2000. De Maré now sings for Violet Indiana featuring Robin Guthrie
of the group Cocteau Twins
; later, in 2004, she recalled feeling "creatively stifled" as part of Mono. Violet Indiana has released a number of singles, two albums and a singles collection. More recently, de Maré also founded Pearl Dust, a music management company. Virgo joined International Love Corporation, an unsigned
rock band promoted through MySpace
and CD Baby
, as keyboardist.
, Burt Bacharach
and Phil Spector
. These influences are evident in the songs on Formica Blues, which Virgo has characterized as being inspired by the most-played music in his record collection. For example, "Life in Mono" samples harpsichord
s from Barry's soundtrack to The IPCRESS File
, and "High Life" pays homage to the sound of the girl group
s Spector produced in the 1960s.
The music of early 20th-century classical music composers has also been identified as samples in the song "Hello Cleveland!"; in particular, the presence of pieces by Anton Webern
, Arnold Schoenberg
, and Alban Berg
, the principal members of the Second Viennese School, supports Virgo's citation of the group (as well as their Klangfarbenmelodie
technique) as among his influences. The opening chords of "Hello Cleveland!" are apparently a sample of the opening chords of Keith Jarrett
's "17 October 1988" from his Paris Concert
CD.
album, two releases of the "Life in Mono
" single, further UK singles "Silicone", "Slimcea Girl" and "High Life", and the song "Madhouse", released only on the soundtrack to the 1998 film version of Psycho
.
A score of remixers were commissioned on their four single releases; aside from the Propellerheads, the more notable of these include Stuart Price
(in an early appearance as Les Rythmes Digitales), Mr. Scruff
, Matthew Herbert
, Jóhann Jóhannsson
(under the alias Lhooq), and 187 Lockdown
.
The Independent
, in a review of the Cafe Blue show (attributing it as the group's "debut gig") questioned the choice of location but gave a positive response.
In 1998, the band embarked on its only tour
, twenty-one dates divided between North America and Europe while skipping the UK altogether. Following the tour's conclusion, the band were to return to the United States to join the lineup of the 1998 Lilith Fair
. They were scheduled to play the following seven dates (reportedly cancelled):
just prior to their first U.S. concert, the band remarked on the lack of a promotional campaign in the UK, and the relative longevity of charting records in the U.S. in comparison; still, "Life in Mono" failed to chart highly on either country's national singles chart, reaching #70 on the Billboard Hot 100
and #60 on the UK Singles Chart
.
and Hanson
; other reviewers, such as Spin
s Jeff Salamon, take a more critical stance in noting the preponderance of bands with similar influences—period film scores and orchestrated pop, overlaid with beats—in the wake of Portishead, and criticize Mono for playing "by-the-numbers" in a combined review with Alpha
's ComeFromHeaven
, which is rated above Formica Blues for its more varied musical approaches. Several other critics make a note of Mono's relationship to this body of artists—characterized by Allmusic as "mid-'90s male instrumentalist/female singer duos" and The Independent
as "that very Nineties pairing of the shady back-room knob-twiddler and the photogenic chanteuse".
Still others felt that Mono stood out from this group (suggested as a "case of bad timing" by Melody Maker
, which nevertheless published a very favourable review of Formica Blues): those with this opinion, such as Chaos Digizine, tended to compare the band more to Saint Etienne
, to illustrate their successful "weaving together musical elements of the past and present". In turn, a certain selection of pop singers and composers from the 1960s were frequently associated with Mono as well. The London music newspaper Echoes summarizes: "John Barry, Juliette Gréco
, Françoise Hardy
... Astrud Gilberto
... Jerry Goldsmith
, Jane Birkin
, Brigitte Bardot
... cheap raw fags, cheaper red gut-rotter... Avengers
... black roll necks... Jean-Paul
, Simone
, Albert
...", concluding with references to period television, fashion, and the leading figures of existentialism
.
In this, the band found approval with critics who appreciated their faithfulness to the music of the era: Toronto's Eye Weekly
said that "unlike many of their contemporaries, they have a reverence for properly constructed songs", and similarly, Charles Taylor, in The Boston Phoenix
, remarked that "What distinguishes the album from a shopping list of mid-'60s cool is the enormous affection de Maré and Virgo conjure up for the period they invoke. It's the lack of irony or distance in that affection that are the key to understanding this band."
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
duo which had a hit in the late 1990s with their song "Life in Mono
Life 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...
". The group's music is often described as trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
, based on its similarities to contemporary electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
acts including Sneaker Pimps
Sneaker Pimps
Sneaker Pimps were a British trip-hop band formed in Hartlepool, England in 1994. They are best known for their first album Becoming X and particularly the singles "6 Underground", "Spin Spin Sugar", and "Tesko Suicide" from the same album...
and Portishead. Audible, and frequently cited, influences in Mono's songs include 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 instrumentation reminiscent of 1960s spy film
Spy film
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...
soundtracks and production styles rooted in 1960s pop music.
History
The band, formed in late 1996 in London, consisted of singer 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...
and Martin Virgo on keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
programming, and production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. Virgo, trained in classical piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
, had been working as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
since the early 1990s as part of the production team of Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper is a British producer/remixer/composer best known for his work with Björk, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Sinéad O'Connor, Garbage, Andrea Corr, U2, Sneaker Pimps, Soul II Soul and Massive Attack...
, which led to credits on a remix of 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...
's "Unfinished Sympathy
Unfinished Sympathy
"Unfinished Sympathy" is a song by English electronica group Massive Attack, from their debut album Blue Lines . The song was written collaboratively by the members of the group , with Jonathan "Jonny Dollar" Sharp and Shara Nelson, the latter providing lead vocals for the song...
" (considered one of the landmark songs of trip hop's "Bristol sound") and Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
's 1993 album Debut. De Maré comes from a family with several generations of history in entertainment; her father was Tony Meehan
Tony Meehan
Daniel Joseph Anthony "Tony" Meehan was a founder member of the British group The Shadows with Jet Harris, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch...
, drummer for the Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
, her grandfather was one of the Gongmen
Gongman
The Gongman is a company trademark for the Rank Organisation. It was used as the introduction to all Rank films, many of which were created at their Pinewood Studios)....
featured in the opening logo sequences in Rank Organisation
Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company formed during 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities....
films, and her grandmother was a dancer who worked with Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
. She had been working as a session singer for hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
musicians, as well as writing and touring, though much of this material consisted of underground and white label
White label
White label records are vinyl records with adhesive plain white labels affixed. Test pressings, usually with Test Pressing written on the label, with catalogue number, artist and recording time or date, are produced in small quantities to evaluate the quality of the disc production...
releases.
The two were introduced to each other while in London in pursuit of their respective musical projects: Virgo was in the midst of a break in session work, while de Maré had been planning to set up a personal recording studio in Paris. Despite different musical influences (de Maré by R&B and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, Virgo by 1960s pop standards, and classical music from sources such as France and 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...
), their collaborative songwriting efforts apparently meshed easily. Virgo describes the demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
recorded at this time as comprising ideas such as "Parliament
Parliament (band)
Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
breaks
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....
under bits of Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
". After some demo tapes were distributed among music industry executives, the band received a number of contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
offers from record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s. The pressure of this drove them to form a group, even with de Maré having gone on vacation in Los Angeles at this point. Originally planning to use the name Tremelux, they chose instead Mono, derived from the title of the 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....
release Back to Mono
Back to Mono (1958-1969)
Back to Mono is a box set four-disc compilation of the recorded work of record producer Phil Spector, during the decade of the 1960s, released in 1991 by ABKCO as #7118-2. The first track, "To Know Him Is to Love Him," presents the only exception as it was released in 1958, featuring Spector as...
.
The band signed a UK-only contract at first with Echo Records
Echo Records
The Echo Label was a record label started by Chrysalis Group in 1994, and linked with Pony Canyon in Japan. The Chrysalis Group were the original owners of Chrysalis Records, which they sold to EMI....
, passing up labels like Warner
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
, Island
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, and London
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
. Their first release, in 1996, was an EP of the song "Life in Mono" and various remixes, most notable of these being two by the Propellerheads
Propellerheads
Propellerheads 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...
, a popular big beat
Big beat
Big beat is a term employed since the mid-1990s by the British music press to describe much of the music by artists such as The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and Propellerheads typically driven by heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in...
band and remix group at the time. This was followed by the Formica Blues
Formica Blues
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....
album in 1997.
In 1998, the use of "Life in Mono" in the soundtrack, trailers
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
, and end credits
End Credits
"End Credits" is the first single from Drum and Bass duo Chase & Status' second studio album No More Idols. The single was co-written, co-produced and features vocals from Plan B and was released on 29 October 2009, reaching a peak position of No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart...
of the film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of Great Expectations
Great Expectations (1998 film)
Great Expectations is a 1998 contemporary film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name, directed by Alfonso Cuarón and starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft and Chris Cooper. It is known for having moved the setting of the original novel from 1861...
(after Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, who was working on the film, heard the song) brought greater exposure for the song than ever before, and it became the number one most requested song on US radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s (such as KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
in Los Angeles, KITS
KITS
KITS is a San Francisco, California, USA-based radio station broadcasting at 105.3 MHz. The station is owned by CBS Radio and programs a modern rock format. The station also broadcasts on HD channel L2, locally on Comcast cable channel 986, and is streaming online.-Hot Hits:The station's...
in San Francisco, and WNNX
WNNX (99X)
W255CJ FM 98.9 is a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, airing a modern rock radio format branded as 99X, which originally began on full-power station WNNX FM 99.7 in 1992. Its city of license was previously Tallapoosa , which is now far beyond its current broadcast range, nearly in Alabama...
in Atlanta) for weeks following the film's release. (In terms of specific radio stations, for example, "Life in Mono" made #45 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Countdown of 1998 and #76 on the 91X
XETRA-FM
XETRA-FM — branded 91X, and sometimes identified as XTRA-FM — is an English language, Mexican-owned modern rock music station broadcasting from Tijuana, Baja California on 91.1 MHz. The studios are located in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego...
Top 91 of 1998, while Formica Blues was #73 on Toronto's 102.1 The Edge
CFNY-FM
CFNY-FM, promoted under the branding 102.1 The Edge, is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 FM. The station rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s due to its freestyle DJing format and unique choice to play alternative music...
's 1998 year-end top 102 albums countdown.) With the band's new U.S. deal with Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
(signed with then-A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
vice president Steve Greenberg
Steve Greenberg (record producer)
Steve Greenberg is a record producer currently heading the S-Curve Records label. He is noted for "discovering" popular musical acts such as Hanson, Baha Men, Jonas Brothers and Joss Stone. He received a 2000 Grammy Award in the "Best Dance Recording" category as a producer of "Who Let the Dogs...
, who had reportedly been looking to sign the band from the start), promotional singles of "Life in Mono" were also distributed to nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s at about the same time as modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
stations, though only later was the single provided to Top 40 stations.
Now at the height of their popularity, Mono embarked on their only concert tour
Formica Blues Tour
Mono's 1998 tour, promoting the album Formica Blues, was the only tour undertaken by the UK band, which formed in 1996 and broke up in the years following the tour....
. After a quiet period, however, the band broke up in 2000. De Maré now sings for Violet Indiana featuring Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie is a musician best known as co-founder of the Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has played guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to programming, sampling and sound processing...
of the group Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
; later, in 2004, she recalled feeling "creatively stifled" as part of Mono. Violet Indiana has released a number of singles, two albums and a singles collection. More recently, de Maré also founded Pearl Dust, a music management company. Virgo joined International Love Corporation, an unsigned
Unsigned artist
The term "unsigned artist" or "independent artist" is used in the music industry as a marketing technique.-History and current scene:Many unsigned artists used to sell their music and music-related merchandise without the financial support of a record label, while often seeking a recording contract...
rock band promoted through MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and CD Baby
CD Baby
CD Baby is an online music store specializing in the sale of CDs and digital music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online digital music retailers.CD Baby has achieved recent...
, as keyboardist.
Musical style
Virgo has stated that his top musical influences are 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...
, 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...
and 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....
. These influences are evident in the songs on Formica Blues, which Virgo has characterized as being inspired by the most-played music in his record collection. For example, "Life in Mono" samples 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...
s from Barry's soundtrack to The IPCRESS File
The 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...
, and "High Life" pays homage to the sound of the 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 Spector produced in the 1960s.
The music of early 20th-century classical music composers has also been identified as samples in the song "Hello Cleveland!"; in particular, the presence of pieces 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...
, 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 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 principal members of the Second Viennese School, supports Virgo's citation of the group (as well as their 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...
technique) as among his influences. The opening chords of "Hello Cleveland!" are apparently a sample of the opening chords of Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
's "17 October 1988" from his Paris Concert
Paris Concert
Paris Concert is a live solo piano album by American pianist Keith Jarrett, and released by ECM Records. It was recorded on October 17, 1988 at the Salle Pleyel, in Paris, France in front of a live audience....
CD.
Discography
Mono's entire discography consists of the Formica BluesFormica Blues
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....
album, two releases of the "Life in Mono
Life 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...
" single, further UK singles "Silicone", "Slimcea Girl" and "High Life", and the song "Madhouse", released only on the soundtrack to the 1998 film version of Psycho
Psycho (1998 film)
Psycho is a 1998 American horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
.
A score of remixers were commissioned on their four single releases; aside from the Propellerheads, the more notable of these include Stuart Price
Stuart Price
Stuart 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...
(in an early appearance as Les Rythmes Digitales), Mr. Scruff
Mr. Scruff
Mr. 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...
, Matthew Herbert
Matthew Herbert
Matthew Herbert , also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician...
, Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jóhann 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,...
(under the alias Lhooq), and 187 Lockdown
187 Lockdown
187 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....
.
Tour
In 1997, Mono played a few shows across the United Kingdom and France.- 11 August: La CigaleLa CigaleLa Cigale is a theater at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart near Place Pigalle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The theatre is part of a complex that is connected to Le Trabendo and the Boule Noire. The hall can accommodate 1389 people or 954 people...
, Paris - 8 September: Cafe Blue, BristolBristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
- 9 September: The Cobden, London
- 10 September: Dry 201, ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
- September 11: Bargo, GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, in a review of the Cafe Blue show (attributing it as the group's "debut gig") questioned the choice of location but gave a positive response.
In 1998, the band embarked on its only tour
Formica Blues Tour
Mono's 1998 tour, promoting the album Formica Blues, was the only tour undertaken by the UK band, which formed in 1996 and broke up in the years following the tour....
, twenty-one dates divided between North America and Europe while skipping the UK altogether. Following the tour's conclusion, the band were to return to the United States to join the lineup of the 1998 Lilith Fair
Lilith Fair
Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 to 1999, and was revived in the summer of 2010. It...
. They were scheduled to play the following seven dates (reportedly cancelled):
- 28 June: Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion, PhoenixPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
- 29 June: New Mexico Festival, AlbuquerqueAlbuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
- 1 July: All Sports StadiumAll Sports StadiumAll Sports Stadium was a stadium located at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It had a capacity of 12,000 people and opened in 1961....
, Oklahoma CityOklahoma City, OklahomaOklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma... - 2 July: Sandstone Amphitheater, Bonner SpringsBonner Springs, KansasBonner Springs is a river city in Johnson, Leavenworth, and Wyandotte counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a suburb in the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. The vast majority of the city, which lies in Wyandotte County, is part of the "Unified Government" which contains Kansas City,...
- 4 July: Deer Creek Music Center, NoblesvilleNoblesville, IndianaNoblesville is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, located just north of Indianapolis. The population was 51,969 at the 2010 census making it the 14th largest city/town in the state, up from 19th in 2007...
- 5 July: Polaris Amphitheater, ColumbusColumbus, OhioColumbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
- 6 July: Pine Knob Music Theater, DetroitDetroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
Reception
Mono's success was largely centered in the United States, countered by their relative obscurity in the United Kingdom. When interviewed by Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
just prior to their first U.S. concert, the band remarked on the lack of a promotional campaign in the UK, and the relative longevity of charting records in the U.S. in comparison; still, "Life in Mono" failed to chart highly on either country's national singles chart, reaching #70 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and #60 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
Comparisons
In making comparisons to other popular artists of the late 1990s, Al Muzer, in Consumable Online, commends the band's music for being more sophisticated than chart-topping acts such as the Spice GirlsSpice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
and Hanson
Hanson (band)
Hanson are an American pop rock band formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by brothers Isaac , Taylor , and Zac Hanson . They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations...
; other reviewers, such as Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
s Jeff Salamon, take a more critical stance in noting the preponderance of bands with similar influences—period film scores and orchestrated pop, overlaid with beats—in the wake of Portishead, and criticize Mono for playing "by-the-numbers" in a combined review with Alpha
Alpha (band)
Alpha is a trip hop/electronica group, comprising founding member Corin Dingley, vocalist and lyricist Wendy Stubbs and Hannah Collins; other founding member, Andy Jenks, left the group before the release of their 2007 LP "The Sky Is Mine"...
's ComeFromHeaven
ComeFromHeaven
ComeFromHeaven is Alpha's debut LP. It was the debut release on Massive Attack's Melankolic record label in 1997. Combining trip-hop with downtempo, the album features the vocals of Wendy Stubbs, Helen White and Martin Barnard...
, which is rated above Formica Blues for its more varied musical approaches. Several other critics make a note of Mono's relationship to this body of artists—characterized by Allmusic as "mid-'90s male instrumentalist/female singer duos" and The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
as "that very Nineties pairing of the shady back-room knob-twiddler and the photogenic chanteuse".
Still others felt that Mono stood out from this group (suggested as a "case of bad timing" by Melody Maker
Melody 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...
, which nevertheless published a very favourable review of Formica Blues): those with this opinion, such as Chaos Digizine, tended to compare the band more to Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
, to illustrate their successful "weaving together musical elements of the past and present". In turn, a certain selection of pop singers and composers from the 1960s were frequently associated with Mono as well. The London music newspaper Echoes summarizes: "John Barry, Juliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco, — also Michelle – is a French actress and popular chanson singer.-Early life and family:Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance, in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal...
, Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy is a French singer, actress and astrologer. Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style. She is married to the singer and movie actor Jacques Dutronc.-Biography:...
... Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
... Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
, Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE is an English-born actress and singer who lives in France. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Burma.- Early life :...
, Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
... cheap raw fags, cheaper red gut-rotter... Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
... black roll necks... Jean-Paul
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
, Simone
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
, Albert
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
...", concluding with references to period television, fashion, and the leading figures of existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
.
In this, the band found approval with critics who appreciated their faithfulness to the music of the era: Toronto's Eye Weekly
Eye Weekly
Eye Weekly was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following week, Torstar launched a successor publication, The Grid.-...
said that "unlike many of their contemporaries, they have a reverence for properly constructed songs", and similarly, Charles Taylor, in The Boston Phoenix
The Phoenix (newspaper)
The Phoenix is the name of several alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts including the Boston Phoenix, the Providence Phoenix, the Portland Phoenix and the now-defunct Worcester Phoenix...
, remarked that "What distinguishes the album from a shopping list of mid-'60s cool is the enormous affection de Maré and Virgo conjure up for the period they invoke. It's the lack of irony or distance in that affection that are the key to understanding this band."