Bauhaus: Dark Entries (1980/AXIS 3|BEG37)

         While technically not the first 4AD release, being not the first cataloged release under that moniker; due to its release in the AXIS name in January 1980 and its later release by 4AD that same year, this is the first release that I will review. Bauhaus A the only bandsof the AXIS four to have recorded before and the only one to continue making music after this single. This single of course is Dark Entries and was originally released on January 16th. Bauhaus around this time were becoming quite a famous name after their debut single ("Bela Lugosi's Dead") HAD last year attracted much radioplay and sales. That single was released on Small Wonder and is considered, by popular lore, to have kicked off the Goth movement. With having success but lacking a proper label, they approached Beggars Banquet with a tape, of which Peter Kent managed to receive and eventually sign the band to AXIS.
         The track Dark Entries is a rollicking, thunderous track that is continuously spiraling downward, with chords after chords seeming to get lower in tone after each other. It is quite a theatrical track that rushes towards the end with  dynamics building and Peter Murphy's singing becoming more increasingly chant like. It's a fairly decent A-Side which I think, while not maintaining the same level of excellence of their last single, is something intense and concentrated enough to warrant a few listenings. The funny thing with Bauhaus and their B-Sides is that most of the time they are at best throw-away tracks. Here the B-Side is Untitled, which consists of a minimalist guitar riff, some whisperings by Murphy about tissue and other none sense, and nothing else. Luckily it goes on for a abouts 2 minutes max. Because of its brevity and how different in mood it is from Dark Entries, I find Untitled actually fairly funny even though I doubt Bauhaus even considers it a real song. Overall it is a good single and if you wanted to own it on CD it can be found on the reissue of their album In the Flat Field.

4AD (1980-1993): An Introduction (Re-posting)

      

            With the release of the excellent "Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD" by Martin Aston, along with a thirst for some project to bide my time with, I've decided to take a stab at reviewing all the releases from 1980-1990 of one of my favorite record labels of all time. To describe 4AD in this period, one could use the words ethereal, dark, contemplative, introverted. This was really only one facet of the 4AD sound which could swing from electronic dance to alternative funk to American college rock to straight up goth.

            The main connection all the groups had under this time is a similar overall aesthetic as well as  guidance from Ivo Watts-Russell, a co-founder and the head of the label in this era. "Facing the Other Way" goes into good detail on Ivo's life, however where I begin is with the English music scene in the late 70's.  By 1979 the initial punk scene had came and went leavimg behind the beginnings of what would be a promising indie label society. Labels such as Rough Trade and Factory, initially inspired by the punk DIY ethos, had started around '78 signing bands like the Swell Maps and the Raincoats and Joy Division and A Certain Ratio respectively that were to represent the beginnings of the new post-punk era.
           The start of 4AD began with Ivo and Peter Kent while they were working for the Beggars Banquet record store. They had been listening to demos bands sent for the label division of Beggars  and decided after a discussion with the Beggars Banquet label, to create a sub label for groups that they were interested in. They initially called the label Axis.
              In early 1980 Axis released its first and only 4 releases, all of which were singles. Three out of the four weren't much to talk about; they overall were very different from what 4AD would represent. Bearz's She's My Girl was a bit of new wave that was accessible but floated along with subpar melody and a vaguely catchy handclap chorus. Fast Set's Junction One is a decent piece of minimal synth that wasn't too far from what Kraftwerk were doing three years before. The B side is a rather maudlin cover of a T Rex track that sounds to have been produced from someone's Super Nintendo MIDI card. The third single was Shox's No Turning Back which was a bouncy up-beat early synth pop track that was largely forgettable. The fourth single I will cover in the first official review as it was the only Axis single reissued on 4AD. That was Bauhaus's Dark Entries.
              As Ivo and Peter were preparing to release the singles, a foreign label also called Axis had caught wind that they were using that name to start a label and mailed them a letter asking to change their name, while conveniently allowing them to sell off their first and only axis issues. After this 4AD was created after a quick glance at a poster (Neither Pete or Ivo can remember who came up with the name though) with 1984 AD written on it. And thus the proper beginning of the label begin.