Dave Jones ‎– Second Attempt [Cass] (1982, ICR)

The Welsh synth hermit returns after his noteworthy debut, giving us more of his Celtic take on the Berlin School. Opener "Black Mikado" wastes no time in getting into high gear as a motoring lower line powers forward and two higher parts compete for the listener's remaining attention. One quivers with vibrato, the other glides and shimmers. Which will prevail? At the halfway marker this well-matched pair are neck and neck, swooping and looping, soaring and diving -it's simply too close to call. But wait, what's this coming up on the outside?? The bass line is back in the race -it's previously sustained timbre is now clipped and suddenly much more assertive. The two upper lines exchange glances and renew their efforts to grab our ears. It's all good sport. 

In response to this excitement track two, "The Jade Temple", curls into a fetal ball and hopes everything will calm down a little. It's sketchy, improvised structure does its best to lull and comfort us. But it in its heart of hearts it can tell we're not particularly impressed. So it does the decent thing and shuts up. We hope for something more like the "Black Mikado" next -and we get it. This time with a beat-box. I have to say I do much prefer Dave's stuff when he uses drum machines. It makes for a far more involving listen, I reckon. Here we get what is essentially a two note bass synth line, embroidered with some nifty passing notes to create a cool groove. This rather negatively titled track is positive in tone -so don't be mislead. Again it trades on two competing top lines -they duel but never clash. Which is to say, the parts seldom harmonise in any sustained sense but keep to their scales to ensure there's no sourness, occasionally meeting in unison for a brief moment before diverging again. At this point I feel slightly obliged to say that although I'm keen on DJ's ability to pluck these improvised phrases out of the air (as he does on so much of his work), I would've liked a little more structure here and there. A few more rock solid parts and maybe some simple chord progressions. It seems to be against his sensibilities though. Ah well. Not to worry. 

I mentioned just that I like it when Dave plugs the drum machines in. I lied. "Necropolis"'s Duracell bunny's synth snare beat is kind of annoying after a bit. Nor do the quickly inked lead flourishes do much to ameliorate the situation. Amends are swiftly made, however. "Oh Prodigy" is a total classic. Replete with echoing kraut PA announcements and an up-tempo two note bass line, the scene is set for some more of those dueling-but-never-clashing lead lines. And we're not disappointed. A couple of sine waves are launched into the mix, one climbs high over the beat-box horizon then descends to ground level before repeating the maneuver whilst the second is keener to free-style its way through the track. Four minutes of this is too way too short! He could definitely have made more of this piece, taking it down to nothing before working it all back up again. A structure this strong is too good not to exploit to the full. 

Next we're treated to a short interlude that seems to consist of a field-recording of Clangers mating. As this implies, "G.F.I." is probably the least musical offering on 'Second Attempt' -but that doesn't mean it's in any sense dissonant. Just that it doesn't have the comparatively tight compositional format of the previous tracks. It's more a kind of, uh, fugue -Dave dallying with a some underused settings on one of his keyboards just because. 

I occasionally find that what I need from my listening stack is a piece of sonic noodling that will prove suitable as a slow wedding march at the matrimonial gathering of two betrothed bio-mechanoids. "Voyager" meets this requirement in full. It even throws in the celebratory salutes of several plasma rifles squeezing off brightly coloured lazer bolts into the azure heavens of an off-planet moon-rise. Which is cool. 

Track eight, "Excerpt", sees a duet between satellites that haven't been communicating too well recently. But they seem to be making it up to each other here. Encrypted messages are exchanged across vast tracts of deep space. Topics covered here include -inevitably- the weather, the possibility of meeting up sometime during the next millennium (inter-galactic orbital programmes permitting, of course), and the potential merits of vacationing on Betelgeuse. Four minutes in and things are getting a little passionate -thankfully the fade draws a veil over further developments and the two satellites are left to bleep each others bleeping bleepers off. 

"End Play"- because it's the, uhm, end. See what Dave did there. Hey, cut the guy some slack. This is his second attempt. And? And he gave us "Oh Prodigy". That's a great one. Plus there's other interesting stuff here, even if it never quite manages to recapture that highpoint. So if you like your early '80s underground synth shenanigans check this tape out. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

Label: ICR ‎– ICR007 

Format: Cassette, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1982 

Genre: Electronic 

Style: Synth-pop, Minimal, Ambient 

Tracklist: 

A1 Black Mikado 

A2 The Jade Temple 

A3 Ro 

A4 Necropolis 

B1 Oh Prodigy 

B2 G.F.I. 

B3 Voyager 

B4 Excerpt 

B5 End Play 

Credits:

Cover – Jonathan Coleclough 

Notes:

Recorded Dec. '81 → Jan. '82 using Moog Prodigy, Boss D.R.55 Rhythm Unit, Boss KM2 mixer/pre-amp, Vox 1900 Phaser, Melos Echo Chamber, TEAC 2108 Simul-Sync cassette deck, Sharp RT 2000 H cassette deck. 

Thanks for help to Colin Potter + Robert Lawrence. 

Chrome Dolby stereo. 

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