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Nation 12 is a project that started life as a collaboration between electronic pioneer John Foxx and Bomb The Bass’s Tim Simenon back in 1989. at the time the 21-year-old Simenon’s hip hop beats and music cut-ups were right at the cutting edge of British music, as he’d not only constructed his own Number 2 single, ‘Beat Dis’ but in 1988 the dance innovator also co-produced Neneh Cherry’s Top 10 hits ‘Buffalo Stance’ and ‘Manchild’. In addition to his love for hip hop, the Brixton born producer was also a fan of electronic music, especially Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget and John Foxx. Although the latter hadn’t made a record since 1985’s In Mysterious Ways, they met up via mutual acquaintances in 1989 to discuss the idea of a collaboration. After many sessions with Simon Rodgers a record was finally produced. However the release was delayed by the closure of Rhythm King records and the tapes from those recording sessions were also lost. ‘I had one or two things on tape somewhere, but essentially I thought it was gone for good,’ admits Foxx. Then three years ago, two cassettes appeared which contained most of the material recorded by Nation 12. andthey are the source for almost all of the music on this CD release. Although there’s the odd hiss and crackle, both Foxx and Simenon believe it’s part of the album’s raw charm: ‘The music itself is primitive and promising’, says Foxx of this snapshot of a work in progress. ‘It’s like a little map of possible musics. Some of the elements sit together like oil and water, some point to entirely new directions for the period - many of these have since been fruitfully explored by others. If we’d have continued, I’m sure it would have worked.’ Thanks to Martin Heath’s support, Nation 12’s fragments and songs are finally assembled into 77 minutes of music, described by Foxx as a mixture of ‘film noir dance routines, electropunk and psychedelic chant songs.’ |
