Rex The Dog’s infectious brand of synth-driven, euphoric electro is always a winner round these parts, and we’re glad he seems to be getting the attention he deserves at last. If you haven’t caught his live show, we suggest you jump at the next given opportunity and prepare to have your spine fully tingled.
We asked him to choose his essential Desert Island records – and he’s worn his influences on his sleeve with a classic selection of ‘80s synth-pop…and Paul Simon…
Depeche Mode - Speak And Spell
Of all the electronic albums from around this time, this endures for me the most. It’s electronically pure but ruthlessly melodic. There isn’t a dead minute on there. Add to that Dave Gahan’s loutish vocal charm and it’s nearly perfect (there are a few embarrassing lyrics, but they only serve to highlight how crisp everything else is….) Buy it!
New Order - Substance
I was fourteen before I’d heard Blue Monday, and I couldn’t believe this guy sounded so cool. I thought he was a robot at first but then someone told me it was New Order. This album is a great showcase for everything that was great about New Order back then. Especially Bernard Sumner’s ‘I don’t care, but I sort of do’ style of singing and dreamy lyrics. Again, it’s non-stop synth, sequencer, song and melody.
Malcolm McLaren - Duck Rock
My older brother had this when it came out. When I was a kid I was mainly into the stuttering B-boyish samples of Buffalo Gals where it goes ‘B-b-b-b-b-b-b-Brownsville-Brownsville’ and then when I became older I fell in love with the world music-like track Soweto which is super melodic and goes ‘All the Men doooo the boogie’. There’s nothing quite like it….buy it!
Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
Another album actually owned by my brother. We thought it was hilarious that they sang ‘GIRLS! To do the dishes! GIRLS! To clean up MY room’. My brother went to see them live when they had a giant pneumatic penis on stage but I wasn’t allowed to go. I was unhappy about that. They actually rap amazingly. And the beats still sound exciting and fresh. It’s kind of comic book hip hop but that’s its strength I think. Also, they’re the archetypal gang, and everyone likes a gang.
Kraftwerk - The Man Machine
People used to breakdance to The Model in the town where I grew up. Listening to it now, I can’t work out how. I remember buying this album on cassette and being amazed that it was made in the 1970s. The opening sequencer line of The Robots epitomises everything I love about electronics: Modern, rigid, flexible, energetic, on and on and on…. never stop.
Yazoo - Upstairs at Eric’s
I only knew Don’t Go until someone at school told me about Only You, saying “Of course you know that one, it goes ‘Looking from my window above, it’s like a story of love…’”. I didn’t know it but I found it fast and that was it, hooked for life. People always talk about Vince Clarke as the synth genius, but he also wrote some of the best lyrics. Sometimes you don’t know exactly what he’s talking about but you can still listen to it and dream and feel something burning inside.
Paul Simon - Graceland
This is the only non-synthesiser album on here but it’s the king of them. If you can tolerate it, there is a documentary where Paul Simon commentates on how the tracks were constructed. In a way there is an ‘electronic’ aspect because of the use of tape splicing and reverse techniques. But the real reason this album is in our selection is that the songs are so rich with melody, pathos and lyrics that tell half a story and let you imagine the rest: ‘There was a bright light, a shattering of shop windows, the bomb in the baby carriage was wired to the radio…’ Once again, buy it!
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