New Music - From A To B (1980)

Artist:  New Musik
Title:  From A To B
Release:  1980
Format:  LP
Label:  GTO Records
Catalog#  GTLP 041

New Musik’s debut album, “From A to B”, is one of the best and most influential electronic LPs of the ’80s. Its keyboards may sound dated, but there’s a freshness to these charming, unpretentious songs that hasn’t been spoiled by technological advances in computerized instrumentation. Many new wave revivalists have attempted to capture the nerdy vocals and quirky synthesized bleeps of “From A to B” and failed. This record is a product of its time, recorded when keyboards were viewed as eventually replacing guitar and bass as rock & roll tools. While many synth pop groups became mired in existential woe to show that they had emotions underneath the layers of Casio hiccups, New Musik is having a blast on “From A to B”. “With robot precision/We’re gonna be doin’ just fine,” sings Tony Mansfield (guitars, keyboards, vocals) with geek sincerity on the exhilarating “Straight Lines.” Like Kraftwerk, New Musik uses keyboards to create moods and not just to make feet move. The tracks on the LP are structured like traditional pop songs. There are no love ditties, but tracks like the soaring “On Islands” generate warmth and the group often utilizes acoustic strumming to prevent everything from seeming too mechanical. “Science” is nerdy sci-fi dance music years before Thomas Dolby.


Side one
1.  Straight Lines  (5:12)
2.  Sanctuary  (4:12)
3.  A Map Of You  (3:50)
4.  Science  (3:20)
5.  On Islands  (4:24)

Side two
1.  This World Of Water  (3:37)
2.  Living By Numbers  (3:28)
3.  Dead Fish (Don’t Swim Home)  (5:24)
4.  Adventures  (3:52)
5.  The Safe Side  (3:09)

available at: http://www.ad-vinylrecords.com