THE ART OF NOISE – IN NO SENSE? NONSENSE! LP – Nr MINT UK INDIE ELECTRONICA

The Art Of Noise – In No Sense? Nonsense!
(China Records  1987  WOL4)
Matrix No’s: A2/B1 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– tiny sticker mark top left
 

Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn and music journalist Paul Morley. The group had international Top 20 hits with “Kiss” and the instrumental “Peter Gunn”, which won a 1986 Grammy Award.

The group’s mostly instrumental compositions were novel melodic sound collages based on digital sampler technology, which was new at the time. Inspired by turn-of-the-20th-century revolutions in music, the Art of Noise were initially packaged as a faceless anti- or non-group, blurring the distinction between the art and its creators. The band is noted for innovative use of electronics and computers in pop music and particularly for innovative use of sampling. From the earliest releases on ZTT, the band referred to itself as both Art of Noise and The Art of Noise. Official and unofficial releases and press material use both versions.

In No Sense? Nonsense! is the third full-length album by Art of Noise, recorded in 1987 and released in September that year. By the time of its recording, the group had been reduced to a duo, with the engineer Gary Langan leaving the previous year; Langan’s mix engineering work was taken over by Bob Kraushaar and Ted Hayton for this album, but the music was produced entirely by Anne Dudley and J.J. Jeczalik. With this album, the group expanded its sound to include rock and orchestral instrumentation, in addition to its trademark sampling.

Many of the album’s tracks are seamlessly segued; ambient soundscapes blend into percussive rhythms, dramatic buildups, melodic string arrangements, clarinet ensemble arrangements, and vocal choruses and chants. The sounds of various forms of transport are a recurrent theme. Musical motifs from “Dragnet”, “Galleons of Stone” and “Ode to Don Jose” recur throughout the album. In addition, “Roundabout 727” samples “A Nation Rejects”, a B-side from the In Visible Silence album.

The original LP and cassette releases end side A with “E.F.L.” and resume with “Ode to Don Jose” on side B. For the CD pressings that followed, “Don Jose” and its following track, “A Day at the Races”, were swapped. To compensate for the change, the field recording from the end of “Don Jose” were appended to “E.F.L.” instead. Some cassette pressings of this album have the same program recorded on both sides, due to the advantages of C90 tape and the desire to keep the album as one continuous piece.

“Ransom on the Sand” is sampled in “Melt”, the fourth track of Leftfield’s 1995 album Leftism.

Track listing

1. “Galleons of Stone” (Jeczalik)
2. “Dragnet” (Walter Schumann)
3. “Fin Du Temps” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
4. “How Rapid?” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
5. “Opus for Four” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
6. “Debut” (Dudley)
7. “E.F.L.” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
8. “Ode to Don Jose” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
9. “A Day at the Races” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
10. “Counterpoint” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
11. “Roundabout 727” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
12. “Ransom on the Sand” (Jeczalik)
13. “Roller 1” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
14. “Nothing was going to stop them then, anyway” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
15. “Crusoe” (Dudley, Jeczalik)
16. “One Earth” (Dudley, Jeczalik)