Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present The Tears Of Technology / Various (CD)

Details: 2020 release. At the turn of the '80s, a new generation of musicians appeared who saw synthesizers not as dehumanizing machines but as musical instruments that could be coaxed into creating modern, beautiful and decidedly emotional music. It was almost as if the musicians were intentionally creating this music to prove the doubters wrong. Compiled by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, The Tears Of Technology celebrates this brief period when scruffy synth duos from the provinces broke through and took over British pop. Like mellotrons before them, synths could project a strange and deep emotion; listen to OMD's 'Sealand', or the Human League's 'WXJL Tonight', and it was clear that something in the wiring had an inherent melancholy. In the '60s and '70s, the synthesizer had mostly been regarded as either a novelty or a threat. Tomorrow's World warned us that the cold, heartless synth would soon make orchestras redundant. But by 1980, Korgs, Moogs and Rolands were becoming affordable for all, and post-punk had created a safe place for new groups to experiment with these new toys. The influence of Kraftwerk - who had made a landmark appearance on Tomorrow's World in 1975 - is all over this collection. Big names rub shoulders with obscurities by Turquoise Days, Electronic Circus and Illustration, all highly prized recordings among 'cold wave' and 'minimal synth' afficionados. There are pioneers like John Foxx and Thomas Leer, alongside unexpected synth sadness from Simple Minds and the Teardrop Explodes. The Tears Of Technology celebrates an era of electronic melancholia, synthesized intimacies and insights - even Tomorrow's World didn't see that coming.

Tracklist:

1. Jean Walks in Fresh Fields - China Crisis
2. Grey Skies - Turquoise Days
3. Real to Real - Simple Minds
4. Tidal Flow - Illustration
5. An Evening in the Ray - Care
6. Youth - Soft Cell
7. Europe After the Rain - John Foxx
8. Personal Loss - Patrik Fitzgerald
9. Lights of April - Eyeless in Gaza
10. Sealand - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
11. Private Plane - Thomas Leer
12. Direct Lines - Electronic Circus
13. Unless - the Pale Fountains
14. October (Love Song) - Chris ; Cosey
15. A Map of You - New Musik
16. WXJL Tonight - the Human League
17. Christiana - Paul Haig
18. Tiny Children - the Teardrop Explodes
19. Behind the Shades - Oppenheimer Analysis
20. Feather Bed - Trevor Bastow