3

80'Sオルタナティヴ史の裏社会、DOMEの81年作がヴァイナル再発

元WIREのBRUCE GILBERT、GRAHAM LEWISによる真にオルタナティヴと言えるユニットDOMEの1981年にリリースされたアルバムがEDITIONS MEGOよりヴァイナル再発。『1』、『2』に続き、DOME RECORDSから僅か12ヶ月の間にリリースされた作品。DEPECHE MODEとYAZOOのレコーディングで知られるエンジニアERIC RADCLIFFE、ヴィジュアル・アーティストRUSSELL MILLS、そしてMUTEの総帥DANIEL MILLERが、D.O. Millerの名で参加。

With occasional instrumental help from Russell Mills, Mute Records producer-in-residence Eric Radcliffe and, on saxophone for three songs, Mute head Daniel Miller himself, Dome kicked up an unusual storm on 3. Along with singing provided on many numbers by the mysterious A.M.C. -- not the cable channel, but a near-anonymous vocalist squeaking up in the mix throughout -- the Gilbert/Lewis duo found a variety of strange but effective ways to make their particularly curious points clear. There's little question upon listening to 3 that more than a few of the '90s experimental/post-rock types had this or the CD version of it kicking around in their collections. Main in particular likely referred to this release more than once, and it's little wonder that group's Robert Hampson worked with Gilbert on a collaborative album. The song titles alone test the edge of abstract; "Danse" and "Jasz" may approach understandability, but when one deals with things like "An-An-An-D-D-D" and "Ur-Ur," Cole Porter this isn't. There's a vaguely similar comparison to be made to the Talking Heads album Remain in Light or David Byrne's solo work with My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, in that rhythms from varying world sources are explored and tested out. However, Dome takes a far more consciously aggressive, electronic approach to such source material, running things through heavy echo and skewing the pitches as low as possible, as much forecasting the rise of industrial as anything else. The freakish clatters and tones on tracks such as "Na-Drm" certainly aren't calculated to easy, smooth listening. Miller's brass work is surprisingly enjoyable in context; treated with the same production style and limited to rhythmic fills instead of melodic runs, it adds just enough of a wild card to tracks like "D-D-Bo." ~ Ned Raggett