808 State - Blueprint

  by Daniel Cressey

published: 11 / 11 / 2011

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Since 808 State formed in the late 80s and smashed their musical way through Manchester, referencing the Roland drum machine that gave the band their name has spread across multiple genres. This collection of some of their greatest tunes showcases just how much the music world later embraced other things the band saw and heard before anyone else. Such is the plethora of beats, samples and loops here that you could put together a decent case for 808 State being pioneers in any of a dozen musical genres. But that would be to miss the point and, more importantly, the fun. Tracks like 'Timebomb' are still headsmashingly heavy assemblages of beats that rank on a par with anything else stemming from the most sweaty, dingy and exotic dance clubs of any nation. While time and mimics may have robbed the band of their novelty factor, the music still stands head and shoulders above would be imitators and those who've absorbed the lessons of 808 State via cultural osmosis rather than close study. But pace their name, 808 State never exclusively limited themselves to the digital. Remixers and guests on this collection range from James Dean Bradfield and Brian Eno to Aphex Twin and Bjork. In the – for once informative and genuinely interesting – liner notes, Darren Partington bemoans the fact that now, “Trance is trance. Techno is techno. And you dare put the wrong snare of hi-hat in and it's not techno.” He adds, “We never got involved in this scene for that.” 'Recondite/pedantic classification has no place here. 'Blueprint' is simply a swaggering, awesome reminder of just how good dance music can be, whatever label it gets filed or released under.

Track Listing:-

1 Flow Coma
2 Pacific State
3 In Yer Face
4 Cübik
5 Timebomb
6 Cobra Bora
7 Olympic
8 Nimbus
9 Nephatiti
10 Firecracker
11 Plan 9
12 Lopez
13 Lemonsoul
14 Qmart
15 606
16 Spanish Ice
17 Metaluna/Compulsion

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/808StateOfficial
http://www.808state.com/
https://twitter.com/state808

Label Links:-

http://www.salvo-music.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/Salvo4Music

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