(02.01.07) The idea behind The Forbidden 80s is to take a decade of music that is
often frowned upon but secretly loved worldwide and give it a new twist.
New and established artists from around the world come together to
contribute tracks that, while they are distinctly modern, draw influence
from the music the 80’s brought us. Amongst those contributing tracks
are Scanner, Mapstation, Jason Forrest, Greg Davis and Stephan Mathieu
alongside some lesser known artists.
Kicking things off is Jason Forrest with “Leg Warmers;” a deranged cut
and paste experiment utilising various samples mixed with weird
electronic effects and other digital mayhem. Changing direction
completely is a dubby house track with catchy analogue melodies called
“Bubiacid” by Betrieb that gets more addictive with every listen.
Minamo’s “FM Tokyo” is a gently floating ambient track with occasional
clicks and guitar notes that is thoroughly soothing and tranquil.
Returning more to the more frantic style of the opener is “Talk” by
Steno which is, like Forrest’s track, a manic hyperactive experiment
with acoustic guitar loops and cut up voice samples. Forbidden 80’s
already proves its credentials as a diverse mix of music styles and
interpretations around the theme covering everything from melodies,
rhythms, ambience, experimentation and cut-ups – and that is just in the
first third of the album!
Sergej Mohntau offers another varied mix of styles in a single track
with “Life Ain’t Always the Way;” a track that switches backwards and
forwards between harrowing ambience, guitar cut-ups and experimental
click electronics. Greg Davis turns everything upside down again with
the pleasant nautically themed acoustic song “Sailing.” He is flanked on
either side by Scanner’s excellent classic techno anthem “Glittery
Plastic” and Tu M’ with the fidgety yet fascinating electronics of
“Polaroid ’84.” While Mapstation veers off into digital dub reggae
territory with “Digikal Masters,” Sogar ventures into high frequency
click ambience and HDJ Tom opts for 8-bit computer blips and bleeps with
a touch of buzzing bass. If that wasn’t diverse enough, Stephan Mathieu
presents a meditative tonal driftscape entitled “Heller Raum” while, in
complete contrast, the album closer “Suds” by Nathan Michel is a playful
novelty electro-pop track that features a vocalist not that dissimilar
to Damon Albarn of Blur/Gorillaz/The Good, the Bad and the Queen fame.
The Forbidden 80s is a wide-ranging compilation covering an eclectic range
of musical styles, almost all essentially electronically based, and most
people should find something of some interest amongst the 13 tracks on
offer. Quality varies as always with compilations and this one is
particularly diverse but standout tracks are Scanner’s “Glittery
Plastic” and “Bubiacid” by Betrieb. For those more into mellow ambience
and drones, Stephan Mathieu’s “Heller Raum” is also worthy of a mention.
The Forbidden 80s is out now on Mr Mutt.
