ASSOCIATES: THE RADIO ONE SESSIONS VOL. 2 (1984-1985; 2003)
1) A Matter Of Gender; 2)
Message Oblique Speech; 3) The Affectionate Punch; 4) Kites; 5) The Crying
Game; 6) Even Dogs In The Wild; 7) Gloomy Sunday; 8) Heart Of Glass; 9)
Obsession Magnificent; 10) Take Me To The Girl; 11) Give; 12) Helicopter
Helicopter; 13) Breakfast; 14) Perhaps.
The second volume of The Radio Sessions covers the first years of the «Associates»
without Rankine — which is already disheartening — during which McKenzie was
still more concerned about aesthetics than about choreography — which is a
little better. It is no way as overwhelmingly strong a collection as the first
volume, which goes as far as to present the band in a certain light that is
unshed by their studio catalog. But it is still more of a must-own for McKenzie
fans than The Glamour Chase or Wild And Lonely.
Curiously, the 1984-85 sessions that McKenzie's
«Mark II» Associates did for Radio 1 were not at all centered around tracks for
the upcoming Perhaps. Three tunes
from that album that are tacked onto the end of the CD are not live at all:
they represent either alternate mixes or simply the exact same tracks (I don't
have the time or will to check it out more accurately) as Perhaps itself — padding out the running length without any clear
reason. The real live tracks all date
back to The Affectionate Punch / Sulk era, and represent McKenzie's
attempts at somehow prolonging these songs' breathing period by reinventing
them.
The first four tracks give us a more
disciplined, a more tightly buttoned Associates brand, where the drummer looks
more like a robot than a punk on fire, the guitarist shuns unpredictable syncopation
or flourishes like plague, and the wall-of-sound, if present, seems static
rather than «constantly evolving». However, they still sound like an actual
band, perhaps moving closer to The Cure in spirit, and this means that, for
instance, ʽA Matter Of Genderʼ gets one more life here — the original studio
take, the Rankine-era live version, and the post-Rankine rendition all sound
like different statements. And ʽMessage Oblique Speechʼ, a track I never noticed
much on Fourth Drawer Down, is
seriously sped up, given a repetitive, but catchy new synth-riff, and becomes
a hysterical anthem instead of a meditative bore.
The second session yields three stripped-down
performances, centered around McKenzie's singing and a lonesome piano: a
torching rendition of Dave Berry's ʽThe Crying Gameʼ, plus beautiful takes on
ʽEven Dogs In The Wildʼ (the song works great with a bass/piano/finger-clicking
accompaniment — and that chord sequence in the chorus, probably the deepest,
most inspired thing these guys ever came up with, sounds even more stunning on
solo piano than in its original electric guitar arrangement) and ʽGloomy
Sundayʼ — it all sounds surprisingly fresh and lively compared to the stuffed
synth-pop aura of all the post-Rankine productions.
The final section has a couple tracks that are
unavailable elsewhere (ʽObsession Magnificentʼ, ʽGiveʼ), as well as an early
take on ʽHeart Of Glassʼ that is much better than the «finished» version on Glamour Chase, with more of a live than
computer feeling — at the very least, it sounds inoffensive enough to actually
let you start thinking of the possible benefits that a replacement of Debbie
Harry by Billy McKenzie could accrue in this context. Or maybe not. But it does sound inoffensive enough — real
guitars instead of synth loops are a good guarantee.
Overall, if you decide to own Vol. 1, there is no reason to stay away
from Vol. 2, but you got to be
prepared for its being a little different. It is a good travel companion to Perhaps, despite focusing on earlier
(or later!) material — and an invitation to feed some more on the bleeding
heart of Billy McKenzie that should be taken quite seriously by all of his
vampire admirers. My own fangs are a bit short, but a thumbs up is still guaranteed.
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