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Designer Beatnik (1986): The Odd-Duck-Entry in Stephen Duffy's CatalogSep 12 '10 (Updated Dec 23 '10) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line This isn't characteristic of Stephen Duffy, but it's interesting that he attempted it along with Pigbag's Roger Freeman. It's not terribly great, but it's interesting.
(Disclaimer: Those looking for a brief description of the album will find what they're looking for in the "Review Body" section. The section titled "Track Reviews" is meant only for those who want to read detailed descriptions of the songs, and they do not constitute the essence of this review. Lastly and most importantly, this review might not be written by the point of view of a Dr. Calculus fan.) Overall Score: 9/15 Best song: “Perfume From Spain” Worst song: “Designer Beatnik” Review Body: One reason that I'm upset that Stephen Duffy isn't a more highly revered figure in pop culture is because I've only been able to find scant information about this unusual album that he recorded in 1986 with Roger Freeman, a former member of the post-punk band Pigbag. It sounds very much like Art of Noise; it's heavy on the drum machine sound, does a lot of sampling, and it's artsy-fartsy as hell. The main difference is that it's a tad more mainstream-oriented. The band name, Dr. Calculus, is borrowed from a character in The Adventures of Tintin, the cartoon series by Herge. I have to assume Duffy was using this name tauntingly since Herge's estate had previously threatened to sue Duffy for using the name Tintin. Again, I wish the Mother Internet hadn't failed me on this one, because I haven't been able to find any information about that. I know nothing about Roger Freeman and Pigbag, so I went to the trusty old YouTube and listened to a song of theirs called “Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag.” It's very much reminiscent of this album, except there's no sampling. Their electronic bass-synthesizers are heavy, the riffs are played by a swinging horn section, the drum machines are loud, and there are a lot of puttery and out-of-tune horn noodles. When I first gave this album a whirl, I couldn't believe that Duffy could possibly be associated with it; it sounds nothing like his vying-for-the-Duran-Duran-sound of his previous two albums and even less like the pretty folk-pop albums he would later create with The Lilac Time. So I'm guessing it was Roger Freeman who really ran the show, and Duffy was the supporting character providing all the samples. Why do I assume that Duffy provided the samples? Because the vast majority of the spoken dialogue sounds like it's from young women. Some of the dialog is even in French. If you've seen Duffy's music videos, then you've seen a lot of young women with a '60s French fashion sense. But enough of that. Let's talk about this bloody music. If you like Art of Noise, then you might want to check this album out. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with it. I know I said earlier that Designer Beatnik is a little more mainstream oriented, but it's still way too weird for people with strictly mainstream tastes. And people who love Art of Noise (which I don't particularly) will most likely find this to be a pale imitation. Take “Man” for instance. There are a plethora of overdubbed, pittery horn solos, random piano notes, and sound effects, and it's all based on a scaling and not-catchy synth-bass line. It's art music at its core, but what on earth is it trying to show me? From beginning to end, the only imagery I get out of it is that of dozens of people lying down on the street, all simultaneously having epileptic seizures. It's just utter craziness. The coolest song of the lot is undoubtedly the closer, “Perfume From Spain,” which has the distinction of being the only piece here with lead vocals. It's a very mid-'80s sounding rap and it's stylin'. (Whatever happened to rap? It's lost that '80s style!) It has a sung chorus, which is haunting and memorable. That's a pretty good song and potentially worth a listen from you. I also enjoy the opening number, “Blasted with Ecstasy,” and that is completely because of those irrepressibly fun horn grooves. So the first song and last song are good; it's the middle of the album that causes the problems. They write a whole lot more of these heavy-drum-machine art songs, but they start to get tiring after awhile. They also throw in a handful of ambient tracks, but as I mentioned about “Man,” the imagery is never that strong and so I don't think there's much of a point in listening to them. ...As a whole, this is an interesting album and quite an odd-duck-entry into Stephen Duffy's discography, but I don't think I'll ever care to listen to it again. The exception to that could be “Perfume From Spain.” The ambitiousness of this album had the potential of warranting a 10-rating, but I find that I only care enough about it to award it the 9. Now, on with The Lilac Time!!! Track Reviews: Blasted with Ecstasy A- Given that this is the first time I ever reviewed a song like this, I'm not sure how actual fans will react to my ratings. I suppose it doesn't matter since these ratings are usually based on my gut emotions! You'll probably like this song if you're British and you like Madness. It's heavy on the drums, has some grooving bass guitar, and it has a catchy riff played with some swinging horns. If that description doesn't ring of Madness to you, then I'm not doing a very good job describing this song! The main difference is that there's no singing in this. There is some talking, which sounds to me like they were extracted from some old movies. That seems to be up Duffy's alley, since he mined a few old movies for his music videos. ...This is a pretty good groove they have going, too. I definitely see this as an art-piece rather than a club-piece. The main groove is catchy and sort of detached. In the middle it stops playing, and the timpani is given a chance to play a doom-ridden passage Programme 7 B The reason Americans removed the word “me” from “program” was because we thought it would be hilarious if we could make it look like British people were saying “program me” whenever they would start talking about the television. This song is a lot like the previous one, except the horn-led groove remains a little more static throughout the entire piece. The synth groove is also a little more rapid and, for that reason, it sounds slightly more dated. (Let's be clear, this album is very 1986... but some songs are more 1986 than others...) There's a lot of sampling going on here, but instead of people speaking in complete sentences, they're just snippets of noises. At one point, I hear someone make gagging noises. Woooo! Moments of Being (Interlude) This is a heavily atmospheric, one-minute instrumental that doesn't contain any danceable drum machines. Probably a good thing, since I would probably want to bash my brains in if I had to listen to those grooves for 40 minutes straight! We hear some pretty woodwinds playing long-drawn-out but rather inconsequential notes, and a wavy synthesizer. Killed By Poetry C That happened to me once in Brit Lit. My brain went completely numb, and I had to watch a little bit of Home Improvement to get feeling back. ...Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I used to watch Home Improvement. Anyway, the grooves are getting way less interesting at this point, and I'm beginning to mentally check out. If you like weird '80s artsy music like The Art of Noise, then feel free to raise these ratings. But this just isn't doing anything for me. Where are the infectious horn grooves? The horn is still playing, but it's only sparingly providing some background noises. The horn groove was replaced with a boring synthesizer loop that sounds like everything else from 1986. This might end up working on a hilariously dated '80s sports movie, but it's kind of boring when I'm just listening to it in a dark room like I am now. I hear a woman speaking in French over the groove, but she's not really following its rhythm. Moments of Being (Interlude) B- ...Yes, this album was not made for me. There's a fringe audience of people who like weird synthesizer artsy music, and if you're in that audience, then get this!! This is another incidental piece with some wavy synthesizers and strings playing some rather inconsequential notes. I hear a young girl muttering over it, complaining that something is “boring.” Again, it's odd, but I wish they would create something a little more engaging. Man B Man, this is another weird '80s, synth-poppy, artsy-fartsy song! The groove is based on a simple but fast, scaling bass-line that plays pretty much non-stop throughout the whole piece. The bass-line isn't catchy at all, so listening to it for a long time like this gets to be a little bit irritating. They also don't bring me any of those awesome horn-grooves, but rather make this another one of their cluttery art pieces. It's quite chaotic with all sorts of crazy and puttery horns noodling around, and synthesizers playing seemingly random notes. ...I do generally like crazy, almost avant-garde art pieces like this, but only when they give me striking imagery. ...All I'm imaging from this is a lot of people in a street wearing freaky costumes and simultaneously having epileptic seizures. ...This is interesting to be sure, though. Dream Machine C “Get into my dream machine and make me come / get into the dream machine and touch me / get into my dream machine and go faster, faster, faster...” Hopefully it's not just a dirty mind... Anyway, this is another very '86 sounding song with an electro-groove that isn't too far removed from the sort that Madonna would put in her pop albums at the time. It really doesn't do much for me. A horn groove will occasionally come in, but it's never very much. We're left mostly with just a bare drum machine beat. Some atmospheric synthesizers and strings come in sometimes, which I guess illustrate some sort of dream-like state. I dunno. I can't really get into it. Candy Floss Pink B- I'm really not bored out of my mind with this album—I'm just fairly indifferent to it. I've been very impressed with some artists' takes on ambient music, but these guys just don't give these things much wonder. It's a series of sound effects that don't really go very far. They give us a rather excellent saxophone solo, at least, which is playing amidst a quiet tambourine, echoing gongs, and bendy synthesizers that wave in and out. It's tranquil at times, but not nearly freaky enough to mean much to me. Just Another Honey C You know the drill. Loud drum machines, synth-bass, and the occasional horn groove. Why can't the horn groove be consistent throughout this song and continually changing its patterns? It wasn't a mind-blowing thing, but at least it was fun. I like that the synth-bass sounds more in Kraftwerk's domain circa The Man-Machine instead of Madonna, but really that's just a minor thing. This song repeats forever and ever. The female-spoken dialog has already lost its novelty. WE NEED NEW BLOOD, DAMMIT!!! Designer Beatnik C Alright, maybe I'm starting to get a little bit bored. This is one of those ambient tracks, but it didn't seem like they went nearly far enough with the texture. All we get is someone playing around with a xylophone, some synth horns playing chords, a sparse bongo drum, and a triangle. In the background we hear some people talking, but of course we don't understand what they are saying, because it's so far into the background. Perfume From Spain A Holy crap, this song is pretty cool! It's the only song with actual lead vocals. They're rapping part of the time, but for the chorus, they sing a rather haunting melody. We hear a few rappers taking over at intermittent times, which is quite a lot of fun. The synth-bass groove is catchy, and those vibe instruments play some rather foreboding notes. Occasionally the percussion changes around a little, bit which tends to keep it fresh. We also get interrupted by small episodes of sound effects, which actually more or less work with the flow. They go off in a few tangents in the middle that I don't care about, but eh... Also, weirdly enough, I keep hearing that quickly descending string riff from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in this. Concluding Remarks: Eighties electronic music with quasi-rapping on it isn't usually something I like listening to, but I find this to be mildly amusing all the same. Due to the unfortunate “obscure” status of the creators of this odd album, I don't think it was ever released on CD. BUT you can buy mp3s if you want if you go to the Amazon. Link to mp3 downloads: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X9E7ZW/ref=dm_dp_adp?ie=UTF8&qid=1284324897&sr=8-1 Read more Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time reviews by Starcollector! The Ups and Downs (1985) | Because We Love You (1986) | Designer Beatnik (1986) | The Lilac Time (1987) | Paradise Circus (1989) | & Love For All (1990)  |
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