Bastard

Colin Newman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 29, 1997)
• Original Release Date: July 29, 1997
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: World Domination
• ASIN: B000005LB4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,634 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sticky

2. May

3. Slowfast (Falling Down the Stairs With a Drumkit)

4. Without

5. G-Deep

6. Spaced In

7. Spiked

8. The Orange House and The Blue House

9. Turn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Techno primer for the post-punk set, October 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bastard (Audio CD)

Colin Newman's original band Wire started off making highly influential, subversive guitar-driven post punk, disbanded for a few years, and came back with an interesting, subversive synthesizer/sequencer-driven post new wave sound. Newman's own solo career has shown rampant experimentalism-- his underrated (and sadly out of print) "Provisionally Entitled the Singing Fish" can safely be called one of the first ambient recordings of the 80's released on a major label, while "Commercial Suicide" had Colin working with a chamber orchestra. So it comes as no surprise that "Bastard" continues the artist's envelope-pushing ways. What strikes me most about this disk is its integration of the "old" and "new" Wire sounds: slashing, brittle guitars, real sounding drums, and lowdown bass pepper the electronica throughout, bringing some joyously unexpected twists and turns to the proceedings. Try as I may, I can't get into "pure" techno/electronica-- far too sterile, monotonous and predictable for these ears, but I can see "Bastard" at home on the CD racks of both recovering 30-something punks, and today's club hopping techno kids looking for a little soul with their sequencing. Leave it to Colin Newman to come up with a techno album with a human touch.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Full-on drum&bass, but nothing remarkable!, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bastard (Audio CD)

This album is a disappointment for all Wire- and Newman-fans, who like Colin's typically British understated way of singing. Further, is an uneven, thrown-together collection of drum&bass-tunes with some rocky guitar-sounds. There are some interesting songs here, but Colin has done this much better on his clubby "Immersion" and "Oracle" releases.

I'm a bit surprised to see that the US issue of this album only contains a single disc. "Bastard" was released throughout Europe as a double-CD-set, including the fantastic "Voice"-EP, which was previously only available on vinyl! This EP comprises four songs, alternating between futuristic techno-pop and gentle ambient, and offers a far better example of Newman's sound.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trance-dance is not for everyone, but..., March 10, 1999

By 

Billy Campbell (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bastard (Audio CD)

...I have always liked it. Being a Wire and Colin Newman fan, I had to hear this. And while it is not much like his other work, I found it worthwhile. If you've heard and liked Seefeel, for example, you will probably like this.

Repetitive riffs dominate. Some reviewers have called this dance music, but I wouldn't physically dance to this, nor expect to hear it in a dance club. But the hook-like samples, slowly evolving background, and interesting percussion can make the mind dance. There are no vocals, but I didn't miss them.

Again, not everyone's cup of tea, but mine and maybe yours if you like listening attentively.