Thursday, May 15, 2014

Modern English - Mesh and Lace (1981)


Why didn't someone tell me that Modern English is so good?? I mean, I've always loved "I Melt with You" (and anyone who claims otherwise is lying) but I had no idea they were so legit. Released from the hallowed halls of early 80's 4AD, then re-released in '92 with over half an hour of additional, album-worthy material, their debut Mesh and Lace is a first-rate piece of dense, driving, atmospheric, noisy, anxious post-punk that is approximately 400x better than I expected it to be. It's totally self-serious, a bit pretentious, and smacks of goth-y melodrama, but to me, these are not problems.

Track listing:
1. Gathering Dust
2. 16 Days
3. Just a Thought
4. Move in Light
5. Grief
6. The Token Man
7. A Viable Commercial
8. Black Houses
9. Dance of Devotion
10. Smiles and Laughter
11. Mesh and Lace
12. Tranquility
13. Home
14. Swans on Glass
15. Incident

The pressure's on, no time to lose

14 comments:

  1. Yeah I buy that argument completely. Great post, thanks.

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  2. This is excellent indeed. Absolutely modern.

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  3. Cool! I just read a big tome about 4AD and got sold on a lot of stuff like this that I'd previously thought I knew to be a bit . . . naff (Dead Can Dance, for example). Thanks for this further access to what I shouldn't pretend to know about without listening to it first (and for your generally ruling blog).

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  4. Is it possible to maybe upload the extended re-issue of the sophmore album 'After the Snow'? I have been in search of this specific release for some time now via blogspots and so forth but, to no avail. Any chance that this could be in the offing?

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  5. dear unknown.....

    look here -> http://revolutionrock012.blogspot.com/2017/12/modern-english.html

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  6. Thanks mate, this is awesome LP.
    Cheers from Lima - Perú

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  7. This along with the Simple Minds album posted we're way too good. Thanks my friend. Idk how I missed these for so long. I'm usually pretty keen on forgotten early stuff from bands that we're less impressive later. Both had some good stuff after the ones you posted but....The ones you posted had some GOOOOOOOD stuff.

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  8. Seriously, "anyone who claims otherwise is lying"?

    Sigh. I cordially dislike -- not hate, but dislike -- the song. More than half the reason is the singer's totally failing to hit the high note (=melt= with you!) at the peak of the hook. It literally makes me cringe.

    I spell it out here because I really hate the casual accusation of lying about musical taste. All your writing here proves that you are better than that.

    Cheers.

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    Replies
    1. OK. It's a joke, made five years ago, for the purpose of highlighting how likable and popular the song is. Of course there are people who genuinely don't like it. There are people who don't like rock music as a whole. Or pizza, or going to the beach. It's fine, you're fine, we're fine.

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    2. I didn’t know you were joking. In my defense, there are many people who express those thoughts seriously in arguments about taste. (I should have listened to my last sentence above.) Anyway, “claim” is usually one of their tell-words, and I rise as though poked.

      Sorry about that.

      Cheers.

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    3. Get a sense of humour.

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  9. Hey dude, any chance re-uploading this masterpiece?

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