Until last year Fenton was best known for his independent techno record labels Perverter a
Until last year Fenton was best known for his independent techno record labels Perverter and Advanced. Both have provided the perfect platform for his kind of harsh, twisted soundscapes epitomised by his brutal Confessions Of An English Psychopath single.
However in 2006 Ade Fenton co-produced Gary Numan's Jagged, described by Q Magazine as a 'shudder-fest of consistent quality' , while Mojo enthused, 'it is supremely confident and the innovator of the 1970s never sounds like he's trying to play catch-up.' According to Metal Hammer, 'if 2000's Pure album brought Numan back into focus, then Jagged gives his music fresh shape and vitality.'
After working on Jagged, which came out in spring 2006, Ade Fenton spent the next few months completing his own solo debut Artificial Perfect - a powerful electronic album with elements of Cabaret Voltaire, Nine Inch Nails, Motor, Aphex Twin and Front 242. It's a fluent and cohesively atmospheric collection, opening with the massive, compulsive thrust of The Leather Sea, one of four tracks featuring Gary Numan on vocals. The single Healing is more openly informed by Fenton's career as an underground techno DJ, while Recall and Slide Away are opulent, dynamically-produced songs that show off Numan's alienated but soulful voice to striking effect. Fenton himself fronts the apocalyptic rock of Truth, along with the epic-sounding One Day and manic closer Machine. The album's most introspective moment Everything Changes is one of two songs featuring Helen Tilley on vocals. The other, Burn, seduces with a starkly sensual, Bond-like opening before transforming into a psychotic and half-chanted chorus which is every bit as dark as anything on the album's more overtly heavy tracks.
Ade Fenton remains an in-demand DJ with a schedule that has taken him across the globe, from Europe to North and South America; Malaysia to Australia. He continues to hold his 9 year residency at English techno superclub Atomic Jam and electrify audiences worldwide with his fierce DJ sets that fuse thunderous drums with electro and industrial elements, as exemplified by his recent Live At Maida Vale performance for BBC Radio 1. He is currently adding DJ dates to an Artificial Perfect world tour that will include sets in Brazil, the UK, South Africa, Colombia and Belgium. Fenton begins work on a new Gary Numan album in spring 2007.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 4,063
Gary Numan's "In a Dark Place" single was released July 17th. Numan and Co. decided not to
Gary Numan's "In a Dark Place" single was released July 17th. Numan and Co. decided not to go for a place in the charts, but make this single a collector's special instead. In A Dark Place was available as CD and 7" picture disc vinyl release and as a download. In a Dark Place, reveals a far more open and questioning voice than in Pure, or even Exile. Speaking of God, he cries: "Sometimes I call out for you, and sometimes I'm afraid. In A Dark Place got to No ?? in the UK charts.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 2,647
Crazier CD1 --- The first single to be lifted from the 'Hybrid' remix album, 'Crazier' saw
Crazier CD1 --- The first single to be lifted from the 'Hybrid' remix album, 'Crazier' saw Numan face off against nu-metal electro-punk Rico (an alternative version of the single with Rico joining Numan on vocals appearing on Rico's 'Violent Silences' album) ...and what a result! The new single mix having been brilliantly re-worked by Steve Osbourne, who took the album version and made it really smack the listener around the head, quickly secured regular exposure courtesy of satellite tv music channel Kerrang! who showcased the video in all it's dark glory week after week in its number 1 spot. This eventually led to the single landing inside the UK Top 20 and getting Numan back on TOTP. From its chugging nu-metal guitars and banging drums to its messy electro flourishes and - of course- Numa's soaring (and for a small part harshly whispered) vocal, 'Crazier' was a true industrial rock anthem.
Also featured on this version of the single (the first of three) were Rico's Hybrid remix of the 'Pure' track 'Listen To My Voice', the Grayed Out Mix of fellow 'Hybrid' new track 'Ancients' and the 'Crazier' video.
Crazier CD2 --- The second version of the 'Crazier' single turned out to be a Rico dominated disk kicking off with a Rico remix of the 'Crazier' entitled the 'Slide Mix' which toned down Steve Osbourne's single mix and brought the track back closer to the original album mix. Throwing in some spaced and buzzing electronics and some Rico backing vocals. This mix may have lacked the "punch" of the CD1 version but fan's of Rico wouldn't have been dissapointed as it was definately his own take on the track (this was however NOT the version that later appreared on Rico's album). Up next was a track written by Rico with both Rico and Numan on vocals called 'Big Black Sea' (this would later appear on Rico's album, remixed and with Numan's vocal replaced by Rico's own) which followed Rico's trademark edgy electronic industrial rock sound. The dark and at times anthemic track saw Rico and Numan successfully trade vocal's off each other like some kind of twisted and electronic version of Linkin Park.
The third track was 'Garden Man' which did not feature Numan and again showcased Rico's undeniable talent. More trademark Rico sounds here continuing the overall feel of this second disk. This track also ended up on Rico's album in a new remixed state. Also featured was Live Arte TV Footage of 'Crazier' being performed in front of a live audience.
Crazier CD3 --- The third and final version of the single began with an entertainingly different 'Acoustic Glide Mix' of 'Crazier'. Although once again this version lacked the "up front" anthemic sound of the Steve Osbourne remix, it did manage to successfully deliver a very different take on the single and with its acoustic strumming and string arangement allowed the song to drift off into an almost Nine Inch Nails-esque sound almost mirroring some of the moments from the bands' two latest offerings 'And All That Could Have Been' and 'Still'...the almost "unplugged" sound here being pulled off rather successfully. Following this was an earlier version of 'Ancients' which , despite lacking the polished finish of the 'Hybrid' album version, did show an interesting insight into the raw ideas and process on the way towards the eventual outcome. The final track was the 'Arte Live TV Mix' of 'A Prayer For The Unborn' which was also included as live footage on the disk and was recorded before the same audience as 'Crazier' on CD2.
Overall a highly successful and thoroughly entertaining package.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 7,020
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Fantastic come back for Gary, RIP catapulted Gary to the top of the Kerrang video chart, T
Fantastic come back for Gary, RIP catapulted Gary to the top of the Kerrang video chart, The video spent two weeks at Number 1 on the Kerrang TV chart. This song started to turn Gary's career round, the single itself boasts Numan in fine vocal form. The pained but exultant and angstry lead line, which is followed up by a threatening whisper and a raucous chant of a chorus is excellent, With a trademark thudding electronic backing, he's back to fine form. RIP got to No 29 in the UK charts.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 2,678
Added: 1 year ago
Views: 1,099
Machine & Soul starts well with a throbbing intro and screaming guitar however soon goes o
Machine & Soul starts well with a throbbing intro and screaming guitar however soon goes off the boil. The female vocals are too far forward in the mix maybe a hint at Numans "confidence crisis"! ? The tech-funk beat and "Kippers" guitar style that is present throughout this song (and album) has not yet become obtrusive. Lyrically Numan seems to be on a downer. Not the best song to present to a Numan fan but Gary we forgive you for your little blunder. Machine & Soul got to No 72 in the UK charts.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 756
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Released in the late summer of 1991, "Emotion" was the sound of an artist lost in a sea of
Released in the late summer of 1991, "Emotion" was the sound of an artist lost in a sea of over-powering, aching female backing vocals and cod funk ala Prince. Numan's full blooded attempt at a club sound was both lyrically bereft of ideas and musicall tiresome. Fan's though balked at this latest Numan musical contortion and roundly dismissed and avoided the single when released arguing that it was hard to believe that this was the same man that had previously delivered pure pop classics like "I Die: You Die" and "Cars."
"Emotion" was, in reality, a jaw-dropping exercise in Prince inspired anthemic emptiness and as the lyric so aptly stated "How did this ever get serious" Emotion failed to chart.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 1,304
Heart was lifted from the Gary Numan's album Outland, a slow piano ballad a catchy little
Heart was lifted from the Gary Numan's album Outland, a slow piano ballad a catchy little song, all together this has to be Gary's best ballad lyrically and musically, a very harmoniously track. Heart was released in five different formats and a promo video was made for this song but it still failed to enter the Top 40. Heart got to No 43 in the UK charts.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 1,077
In March of 1987, Gary performed vocals on a song called 'Radio Heart' with a backing band
In March of 1987, Gary performed vocals on a song called 'Radio Heart' with a backing band called Radio Heart. The single went into the UK Top 40 in the spring of 1987, and resulted in the further collaborations, 'All Across the Nation' and 'London Times' for the album called, what else, Radio Heart. Released in November 1987 the project also featured Elton John. Radio Heart got to No 35 in the UK charts
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 3,288
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