Colin Newman

condition (record/cover): NM / VG+

A masterpiece of refined electronic pop by the vocalist of major post-punk band Wire, featuring eccentric lyrics and surprising arrangements for chamber music ensemble, "Commercial Suicide" was recorded in collaboration with composer John Bonnar, Minimal Compact's Malka Spigel and engineer/producer Gilles Martin. Sixteen folks, including he, get a photo and a check on the inner sleeve. Their instruments are blown, bleeped, plucked, bowed or banged; Colin Newman has assembled his own chamber orchestra, and hidden beneath the naturally deadpan title, the work is of maximum beauty. He's always been the interesting one post-Wire. While many praise his first solo work, 'A-Z', I would never be without the third chapter, 'Not To'. (...) 'Commercial Suicide' breathes more deeply, affects on a wider scale. 'But I...' and 'Can I Explain The Delay ?' (very Newman, no ?), to name but two, sway in a forest of oboes, clarinets, digital treatments and real horns, with the wryest vocals in pop mooning in its self-referential soup. The man can hardly be described as humourless when the lyric sheet reads, for 'But I...': "(spoken at libidum until the music runs out, one gathers that the artist has been waiting for something and we wonder if it was a 71 bus)". 'Feigned Hearing' is priceless: the digital birdies chit-cheep, signalling a joyous spring, but we're not yet into mid-winter ! These processed soundings could hardly be richer.