Dance might insist its own functionality, and for barely-functioning-anyway Billie Ray Martin it is not hard to imagine that her biggest hit (some say only one) Your Loving Arms leaves the impression that nightclubbing rewards were her natural reportoire. But in fact, her debut album Deadline For My Memories was more Dusty Springfield meets Everything But The Girl than playing any part in 1995s throbbing soundtrack of Grace, Livin' Joy and Strike. Billie's sophisticated vision of electronic soul was far more expressive than her peers, and the singer's 4 Ambient Tales e.p was positively unconciousl and still. However, when committed to dealing with her one-hit-wonder reputation as a disco diva, which was a tremendous up when she was, she was a force to be reckoned with. The cool melancholy tingeing Honey made it the hit that never was, but from her own (admittedly cheapskate) In Memphis record, the brilliantly titled Eighteen Carat Garbage, an introverted drum n' bass influenced cut called Systems of Silence was given a gigantic remix by none other than Jr. Vasquez and can be found on her remix disc Recycled Garbage. Going about its elegant 9 minute opus business of sounding nothing like the album it came from, it is given such a grandiose setting that Martin's chillingly seductive paranoia inspires the kind of distaste and fear only George Orwell could match if he penned a song for Grace Jones (hear her scream that middle-eight). Swathed in a storm of Hi-NRG tumult, Billie's German diva gestalt reinforces her unnering kinesthetic, whilst Vasquez renders the session phantasmagoric. Cinematic, thrilling and terrifying, 2:28 is when the smouldering vocal enters the picture.
Monday, 19 April 2010
Billie Ray Martin - Systems of Silence (Jr. Vasquez Remix)
Dance might insist its own functionality, and for barely-functioning-anyway Billie Ray Martin it is not hard to imagine that her biggest hit (some say only one) Your Loving Arms leaves the impression that nightclubbing rewards were her natural reportoire. But in fact, her debut album Deadline For My Memories was more Dusty Springfield meets Everything But The Girl than playing any part in 1995s throbbing soundtrack of Grace, Livin' Joy and Strike. Billie's sophisticated vision of electronic soul was far more expressive than her peers, and the singer's 4 Ambient Tales e.p was positively unconciousl and still. However, when committed to dealing with her one-hit-wonder reputation as a disco diva, which was a tremendous up when she was, she was a force to be reckoned with. The cool melancholy tingeing Honey made it the hit that never was, but from her own (admittedly cheapskate) In Memphis record, the brilliantly titled Eighteen Carat Garbage, an introverted drum n' bass influenced cut called Systems of Silence was given a gigantic remix by none other than Jr. Vasquez and can be found on her remix disc Recycled Garbage. Going about its elegant 9 minute opus business of sounding nothing like the album it came from, it is given such a grandiose setting that Martin's chillingly seductive paranoia inspires the kind of distaste and fear only George Orwell could match if he penned a song for Grace Jones (hear her scream that middle-eight). Swathed in a storm of Hi-NRG tumult, Billie's German diva gestalt reinforces her unnering kinesthetic, whilst Vasquez renders the session phantasmagoric. Cinematic, thrilling and terrifying, 2:28 is when the smouldering vocal enters the picture.
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2 comments:
Hey, Billie Ray is very much functioning! She's just released two albums worth of the Crackdown, has The Opiates album set for imminent release and seems to be doing all manner of collaborations and other recordings if you follow her on facebook or twitter. Keep the faith man!
Not a fan at all of The Crackdown stuff, but LOVE Reality TV and there's some realy great stuff on its way on that album.
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