808 State - ex:el

DE 1991 LP; ZTT / WEA: ZTT 6 / 9031-73774-1
DE 1991 2x12" Singles; ZTT / WEA: ZTT 6D / 9031-73913-1) [limited edition]
DE 1991 Cass; ZTT / WEA: ZTT 6C / 9031-73774-4
AU 1991 Cass; ZTT / Festival: 903173774 - 4 [Australia]
DE 1991 CD; ZTT: SAM 808 [Promo]
DE 1991 CD; ZTT / WEA: 9031-73775-2
CA 1991 CD; ZTT / Warner Canada:; CD 73775 [Outer sleeve/case "ZTT / WEA: 9031-73775-2"]
JP 1991 CD; ZTT / WEA; WMC5-316 [Promo with OBI]
JP 1991 CD; ZTT / WEA; WMC5-316 [With OBI]
JP 1997 CD; ZTT / WEA: WPCR-1308 [Re-Issue]
UK 1998 CD; ZTT: ZTT 103 CD [June 1998]
US 1998 CD; ZTT / Universal: UD-53192 [20th October 1998]
CA 1998 CD; ZTT / Universal: UBD-53192
BR 2002 CD; Sum Records: 6750-2

4:56 San Francisco
3:51 Spanish Heart
4:01 Leo Leo
4:58 Qmart
4:49 Nephatiti
5:12 Lift
4:41 Ooops
4:20 Empire
4:54 In Yer Face (in yer face mix) [mix unlabelled; UK time wrong]
3:34 Cübik (original mix)
4:05 Lambrusco Cowboy
4:55 Techno Bell
4:21 Olympic [CD only]

Released:

UK / Germany: 4th March 1991.
Japan: 25th April 1991.
US Tommy Boy: 14th May 1991 (see advert at bottom of the page).
Australian: <Unknown> 1991.
Japan Reissue: 25th July 1997.
UK ZTT Reissue: June 1998.
French Wargram Reissue: <Unknown> 1998.
US Universal Reissue: 20th October 1998.
Brazil Reissue: 2002.

Credits:

1: SAN FRANCISCO. 2: SPANISH HEART. 3: LEO LEO. 4: QMART. 5: NEPHATITI. 6: LIFT. 7: OOOPS. 8: EMPIRE. 9: IN YER FACE.10: CÜBIK.11: LAMBRUSCO COWBOY.12:TECHNO BELL. 13: OLYMPIC. Composed and produced by 808 STATE. Published by Perfect Songs Ltd. Spanish Heart published by Perfect Songs Ltd. /Warner Chappell Music Ltd. Qmart / Ooops published by Perfect Songs Ltd./ Second Wind Publishers. Vocals and lyrics on Spanish Heart by Bernard Sumner. Vocals and lyrics on Qmart/Ooops by Bjork Gudmundsdottir. Engineered by Michael Haas. Additional engineering on Lift by Darren Tidsey. In Yer Face /Cübik/Olympic engineered by Graham Massey at Square One. Recorded at Revolution Studios, September to December 1990. Digital multitrack. Digitally mastered. Mastered by Aaron Chabraverty. Bjork of The Sugarcubes appears courtesy of One Little Indian Records.
Design - Johnson/Panas Manchester. Photographs from Optical 90 the video. © 1991 ZTT Records Ltd. except Cübik/ Lambrusco Cowboy/Olympic © 1990 ZTT Records Ltd. ©1991 ZTT Records Ltd. The copyright in this sound recording and artwork is owned by Warner Music UK Ltd.

UK Press Release:

808 STATE

1990 ended on a high note for 808, with "Cubik Olympic State" shooting up the charts to give the band their second Top 10 hit (after "Pacific State"). Now they're aiming to keep on that high with the release of a new single, "In Yer Face" in February and LP the following month.

Along with the announcement of a Manchester "IN YOUR FACE TURBO RAVE" on March 16th, the coming album has been attracting a lot of attention; not least for the fascinating collaborations it promises. New Order's BARNEY SUMNER brings his thoughts and voice to one track, with the unmistakable vocals of the Sugarcubes' BJORK adorning two other songs.

"In Yer Face" is only the band's 3rd major single release, and there was an 8-month gap between the release of "Pacific State" & "Cubik Olympic", but the Manc trio were far from idle during 1990: first providing the musical and production muscle behind their mate MC Tunes. - Which duly brought two hit singles and an album, The North At Its Heights. On top of this they've completed their second LP - Ex.El - and finished their first longform video "Optical 90" (which mixes promo-clips with live footage from last year's jaunt to Tenerife).

For their own part, 808 State's unique brand of textured abstract-style dance music has been attracting ever-increasing attention since the members first got together nearly three years ago. Focal point for the group's formation was hot Manchester record shop Eastern Bloc, still run by band spokesperson Martin Price.

Graham Massey is the band's programmer/engineer and all round computer boffin, having been involved with numerous groups over the years. Darren Partington and Andrew Barker are the band DJs. They've been mixing together since the age of 12, when they DJ-ed at the local Salvation Army youth club. They were once described by ID Magazine as, "probably the hottest hip-hop mixing duo in the world."

808 State (the name came from the Roland 808 State drum machine) record, engineer and produce everything themselves. They are masters at combining their knowledge of what people want to dance to (in the right clubs) and what they want to buy (in the right shops) with totally original sounds and ideas which they discover and exploit by means of the technology available.

Variously hailed as "exploring the possibilities like few others", "groundbreaking", and "one of the most talented groups operating in dance music", 808 State have become accepted as elder statesmen of the dance scene, as their appearance at the BRITS Music Weekend (at Wembley) proved.

With the new single (that's had the critics in 808-ctasy).. the album..the video..the In Your Face Turbo Rave, 808 would appear to be in a very healthy state.

February 1991.

German Press Release:

PRODUCT FACTS

Künstler: 808 STATE
Album: EX.EL
Best.-Nr.: 903 173 774-1 / LC 4281
Produzent: 808 STATE
Veröffentlicht: 01.03.1991/0111p

A-Seite:

1. San Francisco 4:56
2. Spanish Heart 3:51
3. Leo Leo 4:01
4. Qmart 4:48
5. Nephatiti 4:49
6. Lambrusco Cowboy 4:05

B-Seite:

1. Lift 5:12
2. Ooops 4:41
3. Empire 4:20
4. In Yer Face 5:12
5. Cübik 3:18
6. Techno Bell 4:55

(All songs by 808 State)

Nicht nur im heimatlichen England wird 808 STATE, die Band, die sich nach der mittlerweile zum Kultobjekt gewordenen analogen drum machine TR 808 von Roland benannt hat, als Vorreiter des Sounds der Neunziger gefeiert. Doch 808 State und ihre "Zukunftsmusik der Acid-Generation", wie sie der 'ME' taufte, sind keineswegs nur ein Thema für eine zahlenmaBig kleine Dancefloor-Elite: Mit Singles wie Pacific State und Cubic schafften sie im letzten Jahr vier Mal den Sprung in die britischen Top 20 und sammelten mehr Hits als jede andere Band aus der trendsetzenden Manchester-Szene. Darüber hinaus holten sich 808 State auch an der Seite von MC Tunes Chart-Punkte.

Auch diesseits des Kanals gehört das Quartett nicht nur zum Pflichtprogramm der Trendclubs: Als "eine Reise durch die Geschichte der synthetischen Musik von Tangerine Dream zu Kraftwerk oder Art of Noise", beschrieb der 'Pflasterstrand' das Programm des 808 STATE-Albums 90, 'ME/Sounds' vergab fünf Sterne für "die letzten groBen Dance-Innovatoren" und 'Spex' feierte das Album als den "Soundtrack, den vier Bubikopf-Englander extra geschaffen haben, damit ihr rubergrooven könnt ins neue Zeitalter".

Angekündigt von der Single In Yer Face erscheint jetzt EX.EL, der mit Spannung erwartete Nachfolger von 90: Komplett von den vier Bandniitglie-dern geschrieben, und mit den Studiogästen Gerard Albrecht (New Order) und Sugarcubes-Sangerin Bjork Gudmundsdottir eingespielt, entpuppt sich EX.EL als der klingenden Beweis für das Orakel von 808 State-DJ Darren Partington: "Man darf nicht vergessen, daB die Tänzer ein eigenes Gesetz darstellen: Was sie mögen, WIRD passieren." Und was Tänzer mögen, wissen 808 STATE aus eigener Erfahrung: "Wenn Du aufhörst, in die Clubs zu gehen, kannst Du es vergessen", meint Darren Partington drastisch. "Wir beobachten das Geschehen in den Clubs ganz genau und achten auf die drei Takte, bei den die Leute ausflippen." Aus solchen Momenten haben die vier die Soundcollagen auf EX.EL zusammengesetzt. Grundgerüst der Songs sind natürlich die intelligent gewählten Rhythmen aus der namensgebenden beat box und ihren digitalen Schwestern. Darüber breiten 808 STATE einen Teppich aus schwelgenden Keyboardläufen, gesampelten Bläserhäppchen, verfremdeten Gitarren, Vogelstimmen und einem Arsenal von Percussioninstrumenten aus dem Computer. Und zum ersten Mal gibt es auf EX.EL Songs mit durchlaufendem Gesang wie das groovende Midtempostück Spanish Heart und das bizarre, von Bjork gesungene Ooops.

808 State - ex:el

US 1991 LP; Tommy Boy: TBLP 1042 / 16998-1042-1 [Promo]
US 1991 LP; Tommy Boy: TBLP 1042 / 16998-1042-1
US 1991 Cass; Tommy Boy: TBC 1042 / 16998-1042-4
US 1991 CD; Tommy Boy: TBCD 1042 / 16998-1042-2

4:56 San Francisco
3:51 Spanish Heart
4:01 Leo Leo
4:58 Qmart
4:49 Nephatiti
5:12 Lift
4:41 Ooops
4:20 Empire
5:12 In Yer Face
9:28 Cübik (Tomix mix)
4:05 Lambrusco Cowboy
4:55 Techno Bell
4:21 Olympic

Released:

Press Release:

Manchester, England dance kings 808 STATE once again flout the conventions of instrumental music on their second album entitled EX:EL. Variously hailed as "Ground breaking," "Futuristic," and "Disneyland's Tiki Room amplified for dance-club habitues," their unique brand of textured, abstract dance music has been attracting ever-increasing attention since the members first got together in 1988. "On EX:EL, 808 State continue to be feisty, loud, rhythmically top and fond of sudden blurting sounds that come from nowhere and are not boring," writes New Musical Express. "They remain kings of everything."

Focal point for the group's formation was hot Manchester record shop, Eastern Bloc, still run by band member Martin Price, a man with the reputation of being the "biggest mouth in Manchester." Eastern Bloc was named Britain's "most influential record shop" by Blitz Magazine. Graham Massey is the group's programmer/engineer/computer hack, who has been involved with numerous groups over the years. Darren Partington and Andy Barker are the band s dj's. Teaming up at age 12, the pair began mixing together at the local Salvation Army youth club. i-D Magazine reviewed them as "probably the hottest hip-hop mixing duo in the world."

The group expand their concept with the introduction of guest vocalists Bernard Sumner of New Order and Bjork Godmundsdottir of the Sugarcubes. Sumner can be heard on "Spanish Heart." "Working with 808 was good fun. I really admire them," states Bernard Sumner in a Melody Maker interview. "I helped with the arrangements and worked on it a bit, but it's mainly their song. I just did the vocals and the words. Basically I wanted to do this because I really like 808 State. They're a good dance force in Manchester." Two tracks from Bjork, "Oops!" and "QMart" were recorded after the Sugarcube vocalist contacted the band and asked if they wanted to work with her. "808 are one of the very few bands with direction today, that just aren't following everyone else," she says. "I really love their music and it was totally delightful when they thought I could fit in." Described in NME as "Eerie ice and heart breaking splendor," "Oops," will be released as the first US single from EX:EL. "We're sick of that hard soul vocal you always find on dance tracks," states Martin. "That's become formula now. We needed somebody to put something in rather than for us to have to drag something out of somebody. That's exactly what we got with Bjork."

The US release of their debut album Utd. State '90 brought widespread critical acclaim. Both "Pacific" and "Cubik" reached the Top Ten on the Billboard Dance Chart, with both tracks garnering pop airplay, an unusual feat for instrumental tracks. The UK release of the album brought a spawned a Top Ten Pop hit with Pacific;" the LP cruised to the Top 20. "In terms of its scope, [808 State's] abilities to take unearthly and unlikely sounds and inventively turn them into memorable music, this album is one of the year's best. It puts the Mancunians right up there with their forbearers such as Kraftwerk," stated a writer in New Musical Express. "State of the art and one of the blueprints of the '90s." While the "808" in their name is borrowed from the Roland 808 Drum Machine, "The 'State' part," says Price, "is our world that we exist in - an 808 State of mind." After opening Eastern Bloc, Martin decided to start his own label, Creed. Collaborating with Graham and A Guy Named Gerald, they released their debut album Newbuild, then an EP, Quadrastate, which contained the original "Pacific. Gerald decided to solo, and Price and Massey hooked up with Darren and Andy. The releases brought 808 State to the attention of ZTT label owner and producer Trevor Horn (Art Of Noise, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Grace Jones and Malcolm McLaren), who signed them.

"808 State don't apologize for their techno approach, they flaunt it," wrote Rockpool. With the recording studio as their natural habitat, the group play with a wide mix of instruments, machines and sound sources; not all are electric. "It's always going to be chucking pots in the sink and recording them," says Price, "so there's always going to be that experimental edge to what we do." All are producers and dj's who work interchangeably in the studio. One technique they often employ is "silhouetting." Starting out with a sample, the group build a track around it, then take it out. They also use two or three basslines in one track, or, like Detroit-techno producers, sample a chord and play it back from single notes. The techniques are used to achieve what Price calls "mood." "Sometimes you wake up in the morning and feel benevolent towards mankind, and that is reflected in your music," he says. "Sometimes you wake up in the morning and want to kill somebody. That's reflected as well. Two of us might be thinking kill, and two might be thinking love and peace. It's the mixture, the chemistry. There is tension, and we have come to blows." Adds Massey, If anyone saw us they'd-be astonished. It's just a horrendous amount of shouting for twelve hours at a time - completely exhausting. The music is born out of conflict." The group uses instrumentation like saxophones, guitars and occasionally drummers as well as samples and turntables in their live shows. The group won rave reviews after their live performance during the "Hacienda Night" at the 1990 New Music Seminar. A New York Times writer described the group as "The clear standout among Manchester's electronic bands... Where the other bands dress psychedelic and play disco, 808 State combines them into an aural fantasy that can survive if it is removed from the dance floor." 808 State present the sound of a dance state - a global village where technology provides the medium and direction - and the soundtrack to a future dance aesthetic.

Remarks: 808 State.

808 State - ex:el

UK 199? Cass; ZTT: <No Cat>

The Streets Of San Francisco
Bernard
Leo Leo
Qmart
Nephertiti
Guitar
Ooops!
[Empire]
Bounty
Cübik
Lambrusco
Taco Bell
Olympic State

Remarks: (Unreleased Demo)