Jane from Occupied Europe

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Customer reviews

review by: We're all Frankies' date: 2006-02-24 rating:
...in "Jane from Occupied Europe"
Released shortly after Swell Maps' split in 1979 Swell Maps...in "Jane from Occupied Europe" is a classic post-punk LP following the fine debut LP 'A Trip to Marineville' - a record that had attempted to fuse T-Rex, Can Gerry Anderson (see the excellent 'Rip It Up Start Again'). Swell Maps stemmed from Birmingham and could be seen as the British Pere Ubu, fitting alongside the DIY/post punk likes of early Scritti Politti, Desperate Bicycles 'Ambition'-era Subway Sect. Imagine if Gang of Four had been less muscular and nodded to Beefheart Neu! at the same time and you're close. pThis reissue offers the original 14 track LP from Nikki Sudden, Richard Earl, the late Epic Soundtracks Jowe Head; adding a further eight-related tracks including the single version of 'Let's Build a Car', 'Epic's Trip' (which Sonic Youth referenced on 'Daydream Nation's 'Eric's Trip') a series of instrumentals that precede such acts as Durutti Column, Slint, Tortoise Mogwai. Post Punk = Post Rock sometimes...pThe LP proper is fantastic stuff, opening with 'Robot Factory', bizarre Boards of Canada style samples prior to a drumbeat that can be only described as drum'n'bass before drum'n'bass! Interesting that something like this and PIL's 'Four Enclosed Walls' predicted a dance music sub-genre of the 1990s!! 'Let's Buy a Bridge' is a tight organ-driven track with fantastic backing vocals from the whole band a sax worthy of 'The Modern Dance' or 'Trout Mask Replica.' At this point Swell Maps make the mighty Fall look a bit lightweight in that department - though I was reminded a little of Martin Bramah's post-Fall outfit The Blue Orchids. 'Border Country' is another Sudden-compisition that fits lyrically well alongside things like Joy Division Magazine, though the music is as intense as Subway Sect's 'Ambition' or Pere Ubu's 'Non Alignment Pact'- it also has a bit of a Gang of Four feel about it, though a lot more sophisticated (Epic's piano sounds as wonderful as earlier Eno or Neu!, adding an otherworldly feel to the angular). Next is the fantastic 'Cake Shop', a popsong so fantastic I'd stake my shins on Girls Aloud or Sugababes having a hit with it now - Jowe Head writes and sings this one with some stunning organ from Sudden in an ode to...a girl in a cake shop! The album just gets better and better with 'The Helicopter Spies', which is a pulsing post-punk joy that has bass as great as Joy Division and wild handclaps that add to its hypnotic aura...pThe rest of the album is great, really if you play this and you don't like it YOU'RE WRONG YOU'RE WRONG YOU'RE WRONG...er, right? ambient minded souls everywhere haven't lived until they've heard Epic's sublime 'Raining In My Room', which is as gorgeous as Messiaen, Satie, Reich, whoever. Swell Maps...in "Jane from Occupied Europe" is a fantastic record from an extremely overlooked band - it is an album that should be considered alongside post-punk stock-texts as 'Unknown Pleasures', 'Real Life', 'Metal Box', 'Cut', 'Chairs Missing', 'Dragnet', 'Dub Housing', 'Y', 'The Only Fun in Town.' This made the seemingly fresh Artic Monkeys seem like Genesis - this is wild DIY music made by teens who once 'Read About Seymour.' I'm looking forward to this year's compilation of home-recordings of Swell Maps pre-'Marineville.' Leo Sayer...no the answer is Swell Maps.

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review by: leonwhite date: 2003-02-17 rating:
This as an Amazing record...
This is the finest Swell Maps record (and cover) - an amazing and interesting collection of bizzare musical angles I can only describe as sounding like Early Pink Floyd mixed with Pavement/The fall. Highlights include the awsome 'Let's build a car' featuring a noisy two chords and a daft 'out of tune piano', and the 'Helicopter Spies' which involves crazy lyrics to the tune of a repetative 'one note' guitar piece. Of course, the Swell Maps and this record have probably been out long before the rest of you record collection, but they have been largly ignored or unheard of. My personal favorite on this album is 'Cake Shop' which is about a girl who works in a cake shop. This could only have been written by English essentrics!


review by: date: 2002-02-24 rating:
Why isn't this a classic?
This album is genuinely fantastic, by any logic this should be a classic. I can't really describe the music on here, sort of a cross between fast but not hardcore garage punk, pink-floyd style sound effects, krautrock, and free jazz..brStarts with the bizarre Robot Factory, an instrumental with air-brake drums, then moves on to three genuinely fantastic garage stompers, with a slight gospel tinge. Next, there's omnious instrumentals starting with big, mining villages is a waste, then a two-part very abrasive instrumental, Slint-esque.. secret island is a slow crawly garage-stomp type-number.., two piano-echo heavy tracks, then the bona-fide classic 'let's build a car'. the bonus tracks from here to finity are mainly ominous, dark instrumentals, the best being 'stairs are like an avalanche'.brAll in all, i'd recommend this to people with ears.

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