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| Pitchfork |
 For a couple of years in the mid-1980s, the British record label Zang Tuum Tumb was, if not the coolest thing on the planet, at least a major nexus of pop coolness. A collaboration between perfectionist superproducer Trevor Horn and theoretician/publicist/ex-journalist Paul Morley, ZTT released many fewer songs than records: In the label's early period, every single from the likes of Propaganda, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and the Art of Noise arrived as a torrent of remixes, extensions, edits, and utter reworkings. ZTT was, at first, essentially an experimental label--which is an odd thing to say, given that it promptly scored a handful of massive hit singles in the U.K. But its central experiment (a successful one) was foregrounding the principles that the essence of a pop hit had at least as much to do with its presentation as with its composition or recording, and that a song and a recording and a mix were three entirely different things.The Art of the 12" is a collection of various remixes from the ZTT archives, some from the label's glory years, others from a bit later on. (It's not quite a greatest-hits-- Grace Jones's "Slave to the Rhythm" and the Art of Noise's "Beat Box" are conspicuous by their absence; it's also not a greatest-mixes: The version of Frankie's "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" here is a rare one rather than a particularly good one.) "Move with me inside the strange world of the 12-inch," declares the BBC-formal voiceover narrator who explains each element in the 12-minute remix of Frankie's "Rage Hard". It wasn't an entirely original idea (King Curtis had gotten there a few decades earlier with "Memphis Soul Stew"), but it was a typically witty example of the way ZTT liked to put a frame around the mechanisms of pop and its marketing. When Horn and Morley and their associates actually applied their understanding of pop theory to artists and songs, though, extraordinary things happened. Propaganda's "Duel (Jewelled)"-- two wildly different interpretations of the same song, grafted together into a single mix-- is one of the most spectacular examples of their "ABBA in hell" aesthetic. (Propaganda singer Claudia Brücken pops up a few other times here, notably on Act's "Snobbery & Decay", a song about decadence given one of the ZTT team's most decadently lush productions, and "When Your Heart Runs Out of Time", an unabashed power ballad recorded with Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory for the soundtrack of Nicolas Roeg's Insignificance.) The Art of Noise's slowly throbbing instrumental "Moments in Love" was famously played as Madonna and Sean Penn's wedding march. And Frankie's "Relax" went through endless permutations, including the "Sex Mix Edit" featured here, but its synth-lubed bass whomp is the most rawly pornographic pop sound of the 80s....full text |
| Allgigs |
| The ZTT reissue programme continues unabated yet again with this double CD package of rarities and commercial flavours-of-the-month (25 years ago at least). In many ways, ZTT dictated the future of the bigger slab of vinyl, providing the blueprint for stretching a four-minute pop song into a ten-minute epic, accompanied by the requisite dozens of versions, some great and some poor. Thankfully there aren't too many of the latter on this dazzling collection. Propaganda weigh in with the album's opening gambit, a 7-minute re-fix of of the hit "Duel", presented as "Jewelled" and originally on the "Wishful Thinking" remix project, proving to be a decent enough beginning to this particular archive. A rare mix of "Dr Mabuse" more or less completes their contributions, save for the numerous spoken/musical interludes scattered throughout (some unreleased, some not and some never on CD). The other big guns on the label, namely Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Art of Noise and 808 State have also had their respective vaults ransacked, highlights of which include the ultimate version of FGTH's "Relax" (edited Sex Mix), AON's perky "Close (To The Edit)" (the Closely Closely extension) and 808's graceful rave-anthem "Pacific" (the Mellow Birds edit). Lesser acts are also given an airing - classical systems-composer Andrew Poppy's sharp and punishing electro-dance remake of "32 Frames" and the really hard to get "Sleepwalking" by the seemingly forgotten Instinct (no album, abandoned singles and just one released track on a budget compilation). It's a real collectors' treasure chest, although by turns there are elements of the pandora's box in here too.... Falling someway short are MC Tunes, Glenn Gregory & Claudia Brucken and (lomax) (that IS how it's supposed to be written - sighs). Either sounding out-of-date or lumpen (or both), it's easy enough to press 'skip' to avoid them and they do after all feature as important episodes in ZTT's life. Besides, listening to the full version of "Snobbery & Decay" by Act and "Moments In Love (Beaten)" by Art Of Noise immediately extinguishes the tedious. Lovers of scratching and hip-hop might also seek solace with the CJ Mackintosh caning of Nasty Rox Inc's "10th Wonder"....full text |
| Hangout |
| From the original house of 12" excess, Zang Tuum Tumb, Trevor Horn and his Robot Orchestra present 150 minutes of rarities, vanities and mysteries. A celebration of the extended remix, for the footsteps and heartbeats of the connoisseur. Recent compilations like 12"/80s and Ministry of Sound's Electronic 80s have reissued some of the best 12" singles of the era, many of which were products and offshoots of ZTT and Horn's infamous in-house 'THeam'. But there's one thing they're all missing: the full-on, authentic Zang Tumb Tuum 12"ers. The true Art of the 12". In this brand new compilation, ZTT pulls together a host of classic, rare and previously unreleased, historically mesmerising extended mixes, including - among others: Previously only available on vinyl...: Art of Noise: Close (to the Edit) (Closely Closely Enough's Enough) 00:07:10 808 State: Pacific 909 (Mellow Birds Mega Edit) 00:07:05 Glenn Gregory & Claudia Brucken: When Your Heart Runs Out of Time (6'20'') 00:06:20 Previously only available on import...: Anne Pigalle: Souvenir d'Un Paris (Mix Aguicheur) 00:07:14 808 State: Cübik (Kings County Perspective) 00:06:00 Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Relax (Sex Mix Edit) 00:08:15 Previously unreleased...: Instinct: Sleepwalking (12" Extended Mix) 00:09:36 Nasty Rox Inc.: 10th Wonder (12" Mix) 00:07:02 Propaganda: Dr Mabuse (12" Master Mix for Germany) 00:06:13 Art & Act: Life's a Barrel of Laughs (Out of This World mix) 00:08:05...full text |
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