***JOE CROW is a post-punk musician from Birmingham, England. He was a member of legendary Brum band THE PREFECTS, and hung on long enough after the name-change to appear on a couple of early NIGHTINGALES singles. In 1981 Joe began his solo career and recorded a 2-song demo “Compulsion” and “Absent Friends.” Joe sent copies of the finished recordings to Cherry Red, who thanks to Lawrence of Felt, ended up releasing the single in 1982. An edited version of the single would later appear on the compilation Pillows & Prayers that collected songs which originated as 45s or EPs. Martin Gore of Depeche Mode subsequently covered “Compulsion” on his Counterfeit EP in 1989 forever solidifying its status in the cannon of UK melancholic synth pop . “Compulsion” and “Absent Friends” were originally intended as a double A-side. Composed, performed and recorded by Joe on an 8-track reel-to-reel at Sinewave Studio, Moseley Village in February 1981. Joe plays everything: guitar, bass, Boss Dr. Rhythm, Bee Gees Rhythm Machine, Wasp synthesizer, bongos stuffed with towels and an old tin tray for a snare drum. Everything was borrowed. “Compulsion” is an imaginary suicide note, a meditation on loss and grief. Its dark twin “Absent Friends” is an anti-song: no verses, choruses or middle-eight, some willfully odd chord progressions and plaintive yet melodic keyboard motif. Both songs are a spectral hybrid of alternating childlike and cynical vocals over lo-tech basement electronics with profound lyrics. This expanded 12” reissue adds 3 unreleased bonus...
12" $13.75
05/05/2015