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When it comes to new-wave, Minimal Compact is rarely mentioned. And this is an injustice that history cannot afford, considering that at least their second album, "Deadly Weapons", dating back to 1984, deserves to stand alongside the great masterpieces of that era.
The group, which had Israeli origins, quickly moved to France, where they established good relations with the acclaimed Tuxedomoon, their Belgian neighbors. The influence of the Americans is indeed evident in the record. It starts with the single (which had some success in the underground clubs of the time) "Next One Is Real", three minutes of funky-paced neurosis, filtered through electronic disturbances, a dissonant saxophone, and a vocal performance by the great Samy Birnbach (a highly skilled DJ) that is angry and dramatic. The piano sketches minimalist figures in the subsequent "Losing Tracks (In Time)", a slow requiem that exudes pain and decadence from every note, a slow funeral march of a submerged civilization that preludes the polyrhythmic percussion of "The Well", laden with Middle Eastern spices, reflecting the group's origins. This characteristic can be found more or less explicitly throughout the work and represents the true hallmark of their sound.
The hypnotic "Nada" stretches over a pounding rhythmic carpet and sharp guitar interventions, reminiscent of a more intellectual version of English dark-punk, particularly the oriental infatuations of Siouxsie. The title-track is another masterpiece of neurosis, but instead of evoking the cramped metropolitan spaces of Colin Newman and, even before, his esteemed Wire, it gazes upon desert landscapes at sunset, over North African vistas, dressing in an irresistible exotic charm. Disorienting keyboards and monotone recitations are occasionally interrupted by a muezzin-like female voice, proclaiming her death sentences. A piece of great allure.
We can only go back and reconsider the figure of this quintet, surely one of the most underrated bands of the period. It's never too late to remember.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Next One Is Real (03:03)
I went out from an open cell
blotted past just some rotten spell
undress have another life
I went down where the souls get hired
worked for days then we all got fired
under x in a dead-end file
fake, deceit and the common lie
next one is real
next one is real
next one is real
understand well I'm quite aware
human weakness for a perfect world
under stress now have another round
welcome back in the arms of hell
have a few and you'll feel so well
what a mess have another one
I was gone but my ghost still cried:
next one is real
next one is real
next one is real
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