Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully.Driven by the bittersweet, ironic songwriting of Luke Haines, the bands carefully crafted, three-minute pop songs are in the vein of the Kinks, the Smiths, and the Beatles, particularly the songs of George Harrison.Yet the Auteurs never sound like imitators -- they combine their influences into a signature sound, distinguished by Haines sharp lyrics and sighing melodies.
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Sure there were some notable synth bands, The Human League, OMD, Depeche Mode, but the quiet man, labouring alone with his battery of monophonic synths and drum machines, was somehow closer to the alienated spirit of the age. Gary Numan, John Foxx, Thomas Dolby, Fad Gadget, these were the names that captured the popular imagination of the day. Thomas Leer looked set to join the upper echelons of electro auteurs following the success of his debut single, Private Plane. Recorded in his bedsit apartment, he had to nearly whisper the vocals so as not to wake his girlfriend sleeping in the next room. But the NME named it single of the week, and soon Cherry Red, the much respected indie label, offered him a deal. The Auteurs New Wave Rar Trial Experiments OfMovements and Contradictions saw him leaving behind the proto-industrial experiments of his earlier collaborations with Robert Rental, in favour of an angular, funk-inspired sound that seemed to mix a love of Sly and the Family Stone with a more poppy take on Cabaret Voltaires Red Mecca. It was a brave experiment, especially given the primitive nature of the drum machines with which he was trying to approximate funk grooves, but they failed to translate into serious sales. Then, suddenly, he reappeared two years later, having reinvented himself as a computer-savvy, sampler-wielding sophisticate, more Trevor Horn than Richard H. The Auteurs New Wave Rar Series Of GlossyKirk. Major label Arista was so taken with Leers new worldly traveller image that they bank-rolled a series of glossy twelve inch singles to be released on a reactivated version of the Oblique label, which had last seen service for Private Plane. Recorded with the latest in synthesizer technology, the Fairlight CMI digital sampling keyboard, these three singles offered a master class in mid-eighties pop elegance, the equal in many respects to the finest efforts of ABC, Propaganda, or Frankie Goes To Hollywood. The future must have seemed bright indeed for the former Thomas Wishart, but Arista appears to have lost confidence in Leer by the time these singles were compiled into an album. The Scale Of Ten was slipped into record stores without much fanfare in 1985, and then, just as quickly, disappeared. Collected here are the singles that Leer released between his major releases from these two periods, Contradictions and The Scale of Ten. They not only offer a glimpse of his musical development in these, his missing years, but represent some of his most signficant achievements as a solo artist. All About You, his last release for Cherry Red, is the real standout, a plaintive synth ballad that is as understated as it is unforgettable. But the three singles from the reactivated Oblique label are no less striking, full of inventive arrangements, strong melodies and exquisite productions. The extended versions are especially notable, forgoing the more obvious tricks of the remix trade in favour of intriguing dub experiments and rhythmic work outs. As a bonus, we are including Whos Fooling Who, a song released only as a flexi-disc that acccompanied a Dutch music magazine in 1983. Though not as polished as the other songs here, it offers something of a missing link between his Cherry Red and Arista incarnations. ![]() Check out his web site here. The Auteurs New Wave Rar Driver All AboutCrash The Driver All About You 01 All About You 02 Saving Grace UK 12 Cherry Red 12 Cherry 52 1983 International 03 International (Global Mix) 04 Easy Way UK 12 AristaOblique LEER 121 1984 Heart Beat 05 Heart Beat (Extended Mix) 06 Control Yourself UK 12 AristaOblique LEER 122 1985 No. No. 1 (Extended Version) 08 Trust Me 09 Chasing The Dragon UK 12 AristaOblique LEER 123 1985 Whos Fooling Who 10 Whos Fooling Who Netherlands Flexi Vinyl Magazine 1983. Reply Delete Replies Reply Crash The Driver 24 February, 2010 13:36 Thanks for spotting the typo, Kapotte Muziek. The mp3 is tagged correctly; only the track listing in the post was wrong. Reply Delete Replies Reply Anonymous 24 February, 2010 15:30 This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. Reply Delete Replies Reply claro mensajes 12 July, 2010 02:19 Having downloaded the excellent Rob Rental pack below I was just about to ask you for something similar on Tom Leer and well. Reply Delete Replies Reply adwords blog 26 July, 2010 07:11 This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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