Metronomes, The

***Mannequin is more than enthusiastic to announce the re-release of both the LPs (Multiple Choice from 1980 and Regular Guys from 1985) plus the two single 7"s Saturday Night/Sunday Morning and A Circuit Like Me from this legendary minimal synth band from Australia. The group was an integral part of the early electronic music scene in Australia and their releases have become collector's items in Europe, as they are mostly impossible to find. The Metronomes first appeared in Melbourne in 1979 and initial members were rock journo/synth player Al Webb, bass player Andrew Picouleau (Secret Police, Sacred Cowboys) and synth-pioneer Ash Wednesday, nowadays a live tour member of Einstürzende Neubauten. Al himself will admit later that Ash's ingenuity in creating something out of very little was the key to the Metronomes sounding as "produced" as they did. Their first 7'' single Saturday Night/Sunday Morning came out in 1980, featuring a real metronome as rhythm section with instrumentals layered over, and the second A Circuit Like Me/Closed Circuit from 1980 featured more experimentation with drum machines and rhythm sections recorded using a borrowed Roland CR 78. It was the first time in their compositions that a vocal had been used, courtesy of a lady called Talking Judy. The first full-length Multiple Choice was recorded in the winter of 1980, using Roland Strings, a mini-Korg, some Arp synthesizers and a Boss Dr-55 -- a drum machine that was intensively used by many minimal synth bands during the '80s. The second album Regular Guys was released in 1985 and featured the next wave of synth toys like the Oberheim synth, Oberheim drum machine and Prophet 5. Once the programming was set up, the instrumental tracks were dumped via a PCM box direct to video tape, a pioneering process which almost entirely eliminated tape-hiss. Hand-numbered limited pressing of 500 copies. 2LP housed in a gatefold cover with rare pictures. Includes an insert with The Metronomes' band history by former member Al Webb.