Customer Reviews

Buzzkunst

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To call this album an experiment is risky: the term might evoke bilious recollections of self-indulgent, misguided excesses like Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" or Neil Young's "Trans" or even Dave Edmunds' "Information." But experiments can also produce brilliant, revelatory outcomes, and when the alchemists are Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto, one can't be blamed for expecting a golden result.
The duo, paired for the first time since Devoto walked away from the Buzzcocks in 1977, doesn't disappoint on this dense, intriguing, smooth and very cool album.
Shelley and Devoto today have little left to prove, and are able simply to create. Create they do, with the instrumental tracks providing fascinating breaks between some of the most compelling and provocative lyrics of the century so far. The creative interplay between these two living legends of punk/new wave/alternative rock on "Buzzkunst" ignited a fire whose embers continue to glow (witness the triumphant new self-titled Buzzcocks album).
This album is required listening for any serious fan of modern music. So why don't I give it five stars? Well, there's an '80s-reminiscent faux-arty quality to Devoto's voice on some of the tracks that I just can't get past. Just personal taste, I guess! Still, I recommend this CD without hesitation.

Wow, after all these years Shelley and Devoto put an album out together. As a long time fan I was worried it wouldn't live up to expectations and hopes. Boy was I wrong! This record takes off like a shot with brilliant pop/punk tunes and Howard's voice has never been better. The sound is outstanding, reminiscent of Devoto's solo records, deep bass, clean clear sound. You'll find yourself humming these indelible tunes all day long...All I can say is buy this record and crank it up! It's my pick for best record of the year so far, and an amazing surprise!!!

I just got into Howard Devoto's in the last year, and since his last album (beast box-Luxuria) was out in 1990, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he and Pete Shelley had collaborated on a recording for the first time in 25 years. I first listened to it with some trepidation, and my first reaction was "This is either really good or really bad". I didn't listen to it for another day but soon gave it another chance and by then, I had decided it was really good. The biggest appeal is the originality; the electronic sounds might not be the most innovative but with Devoto's trademark growling/singing it is truly something new. As always, Devoto's lyrics are touching and intelligent. There are three or four instrumental tracks, the best of which is "Strain of Bacteria" which sounds like the soundtrack to a biological documentary.
If you're a fan of electronica, check this out, it's different and new, and it deserves a chance. Fans of Howard Devoto will be pleased to hear him sounding as good as he did in his Magazine days.

If you like the buzzcocke but even more if you like Magazine, this is the record for you. OK it is a bit as if time has stood still, because it is really post-punk new wave but what a record!!!!

Very cool. I've been listening to Devoto and the Buzzcocks since 1979. I always liked Howard Devoto's lyrics and phrasing. I thought that Luxuria's 'Unanswerable Lust' was one of the best albums ever made (no one seems to agree with me). I thinks it's great that he and Pete Shelley got together one more time and created something very different. I've had the CD for a few months now and it still holds up.

Totally unlike the Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley solo work,or Howard Devotos post Buzzcocks work either. There are a few tracks of interest Til The Stars In His Eyes Are Dead" rocks...Deeper" is a nice moody track....and "Can You See Me Shining" has a good techno beat. On the other tracks I found "gosh awful"lyrics and truly [weak] riffs..contained in songs going nowhere. I found "Buzzkunst" a sorry work by two rock and roll masters.

I LOVE The Buzzcocks--they are among my top five (or at very least 10) favorite bands of all time. And I love Howard Devoto, whose "Jerky Versions of the Dream" is one of my all-time favorite albums. Based on those facts and the reviews here, I bought this CD with high hopes and much excitement. But after several listens, I neither get it nor like it.

Pete Shelley's involvement here appears to be minimal. And love Howard as I do--and willing as I am to follow him on his more experimental outings--this effort leaves me cold. Not a single song stands out, let alone gets stuck in your head.

I expected pop candy. What I got was grating electronic jazz. Boring and frustrating--and ultimately, very forgettable.

"Shelley" is Pete Shelley, both solo artist and leader of the seminal punk outfit Buzzcocks; "Devoto" is Howard Devoto, co-founder of Buzzcocks before forming the influential postpunk Magazine. Buzzkunst is their first collaboration in twenty odd years, and a strange and wondrous beast it is. Pete Shelley is responsible mainly for music and effects, including the shimmering touches of electronica and short bursts of guitar. Howard Devoto, as always, is the mouthpiece, a blowhard who by turns you want to smack and then applaud. Highlights abound, especially the jaunty opener "Can You See Me Shining?", a shiny piece of new wave plastic, the thrashing "'Til the Stars in His Eyes Are Dead", and the haunting closer "Going Off". Welcome back, lads; next time, don't take so long.