Music Is My Weapon

Nick Reynolds from the BBC gives the world insite on Zero 7's Simple Things:

The Gang of Four's debut, the Damaged Goods EP, was one of the best records of 1978. They took the dynamics of a rock band and turned them inside out. They added ideas from dub and reggae and a big dollop of social realism, sexual anxiety and Marxism. Andy Gill's guitar spluttered and crackled, exploding into violent jagged chords. Jon King ranted and yelped.

But Solid Gold comes from 1981. We are in difficult second album territory. I saw them live around this time: they were very loud and pretty exciting. Solid Gold captures none of that. The two extra live tracks included with this reissue give you a better taste of their power. But for the first five tracks of Sold Gold they trudge lumpily through different versions of the same lacklustre idea. The production is really dull.

''Paralyzed'' paints an accurate picture of early eighties Britain: tense, gray, downtrodden and miserable. But it's not much fun to listen to. The album only takes off more than half way through with ''In The Ditch''. This boasts a memorable hook, clever ideas and some real funk.

Much better is the EP Another Day, Another Dollar, also included here. ''To Hell With Poverty'' is a nervy yet toe-tapping slice of white funk. ''Capital (It Fails Us Now)'' is a great song title, and a phrase I still find myself muttering when watching some new fiasco on the evening news.

Bands like Fugazi owe the Gang of Four a big debt for both their music and their attitude. But when Fugazi rage against the system it feels empowered and inspiring. Solid Gold feels like being lectured by a Guardian reader about other people's oppression.

Ironically, the Gang Of Four were more musically advanced than contemporaries like Joy Division or The Fall. But Solid Gold lacks that touch of visionary madness; that lust for extremes that marks a truly great band. Interesting, but not essential.


Martin Longley, also writing on the BBC, tells the world about Zuco 103's One Down, One Up:

This 2CD set combines three aspects of Zuco 103. The One Down disc is devoted to unplugged material, while the One Up spinner divides time between live numbers and remix jobs.

The trio was formed when German keyboardist Stefan Schmid and Amsterdam drummer Stefan Kruger met Lilian Vieira at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Given that these two were already running a Brazilian jazz combo, it seemed wise to induct a singer from Rio, thereby making up a fresh band. Disc 1's supposedly unplugged material still sounds fairly electric, with its Fender Rhodes piano and fulsome basslines. What Zuco really mean is that the songs are slower, more reclined in nature, and that all that blinking-light programming junk has been jettisoned!

Vieira sounds mellowed-out against Schmid's trinkling keys, unwinding a slinky, sloping funk motion. "Mo" has a chamber jazz sophistication, and "Eu Nasci No Brasil" deepens the reflective pool. By this time, Schmid has turned to acoustic piano, then "Q Baiano" makes a sudden move up to a springy, taut gracefulness, with Vieira spilling Portuguese phonetics in staccato couplets. "Voltando" is nowhere near unplugged, stuffed with samples to aid its drum 'n' bass propulsion.

This is all attractive enough, but the real substance is to be found on Disc 2's live set, recorded in Belgium. Here, the trio are operating at a frenetic pace, with Vieira audibly jumping around on stage, her vocals lusty and loud. The core trio is augmented by bass, percussion and the braying electro-skids of Sjam Sjamsjoedin's turntables. The slogging samba rhythms of "Peregrino" rush towards the accumulating breakbeat tension of "Humana", then Zuco shift into an oscillating techno vibe for "To Life", its pounding, monomaniac bass drum being relieved by pattering congas.

The remix tracks offer up a more mainstream experience, with "Treasure" and "Get Urself 2gether" approaching conventional soulfulness, although the latter is livened up by a guesting rapper Tara Chase, sparring with Vieira. It's the remix of "Peregrino" that satisfies the most, dominated by a ratcheting samba beat.

These kind of collections can often be seen as cynical record company-generated fillers between studio albums. But there's sufficient power here to the live cuts and a pleasingly seductive mood to the unplugged material that makes this a well worthwhile progress report for these prime proponents of Brazilian dancefloor fusion.