31-03-2013, 12:42
online listen
too alternative? for me
sounds like? I got nuthin
1.1 from me and a converted 2.4 from allmusic
web site - http://crimeandthecitysolution.com/
from the album - Goddess
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8kpy15K14k
released Mar 26th, 2013
![[Image: MI0003492505.jpg?partner=allrovi.com]](http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_250/MI0003/492/MI0003492505.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
Bio - from allmusic
Despite roots dating back as far as 1978, Crime & the City Solution did not truly emerge until
1984, coming to life in the wake of the dissolution of the seminal Birthday Party. The group
was led by evocative singer/songwriter Simon Bonney, a Melbourne, Australia native who led a
series of bands under the verbose Crime name throughout the late '70s and early '80s; a
longtime friend of the Birthday Party, he contacted former members Mick Harvey and Rowland S.
Howard after the group's breakup, and following the addition of Howard's brother, bassist Harry
Howard, the most successful and famed lineup of Crime & the City Solution was born.
In 1985, the quartet debuted with The Dangling Man, a self-produced EP quickly establishing the
band's moody, atmospheric, blues-based aesthetic. Former Swell Maps drummer Epic Soundtracks
joined Crime after the EP's release, freeing Harvey to alternate among a variety of instruments
for the haunting follow-up, Just South of Heaven. Their full-length bow, Room of Lights,
appeared in 1986 and featured the remarkable "Six Bells Chime," which so impressed the
acclaimed filmmaker Wim Wenders that he invited the band to perform the song live in his 1988
masterpiece Wings of Desire.
By the time the film appeared, however, the incarnation of Crime & the City Solution presented
onscreen was no more; after Room of Lights, the Howard brothers and Soundtracks exited to form
These Immortal Souls, leaving Bonney, Harvey, and violinist Bronwyn Adams (also Bonney's wife
and songwriting partner) to relocate to Berlin, where they recruited a number of local
musicians, including Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Alexander Hacke, to cut 1988's ornate,
intoxicating Shine. Even more baroque was the follow-up, 1989's The Bride Ship.
In 1990, Crime returned to the studio one final time to record Paradise Discotheque, a record
built around Bonney's ambitious four-part suite "The Last Dictator," a song cycle inspired by
the downfall of Romanian warlord Nicolae Ceaucescu. After contributing "The Adversary" to the
soundtrack of Wenders' Until the End of the World, Crime & the City Solution disbanded; while
Harvey continued to record and perform with former Birthday Party mate Nick Cave in the Bad
Seeds, Bonney began work on his 1992 solo debut Forever and followed it with Everyman in 1995.
Bonney, Adams, and Hacke re-formed the band in 2011 for the purpose of recording and touring.
They enlisted David Eugene Edwards (16 Horsepower, Woven Hand), Jim White (Dirty Three), Troy
Gregory (Dirtbombs, Swans, Spiritualized), and Matt Smith (Outrageous Cherry, Andre Williams)
to record and tour. In anticipation of a forthcoming album, Mute Records released the
compilation A History of Crime: Berlin 1987-1991: An Introduction to Crime & the City Solution
in the fall of 2012. In March of 2013, American Twilight was released.
Album Review - from allmusic
Detroit was the perfect location for Crime & the City Solution to record their first album in
22 years. They couldn't have been framed by a better metaphor than setting up in a city
consumed with the fight -- often against itself -- for survival. Founder, lead vocalist, and
lyricist Simon Bonney is joined by longtime collaborators violinist Bronwyn Adams and guitarist
Alexander Hacke. They are accompanied by drummer Jim White (Dirty Three), David Eugene Edwards
(16 Horsepower, Woven Hand), Detroit natives Matthew Smith (Outrageous Cherry) on keyboards,
Troy Gregory (Witches, Dirtbombs) on bass, and visual artist Danielle DePicciotto. Everybody
sings. Co-produced with the Motor City's Dave Feeny -- who also engineered -- American Twilight
retains C&CS's trademark senses of cinematic drama and dynamics, but the sound is meatier,
denser, and grimier, and Adams' violin has a much more prominent role than it has in the past
(a real plus). "Riven Man" is a sonic collision of basic Detroit rock and expansive Motor City
funk (courtesy of Gregory's bassline, Smith's horn sounds, and the urgent backing chorus).
Bonney's deep baritone retains its authoritative power, alternately growling and plaintively
singing. In "Goddess," with its charging guitars (one can hear traces of the riff from Grand
Funk's "We're an American Band" crossed with the dirty-assed strut of the Stooges; the irony is
no doubt intentional -- and it works), rumbling bass, and tom-toms, Bonney offers an urgent
homage to the Divine Feminine; it's underscored by the entire band as a backing chorus. Bonney
expresses both reverence and longing in "Domina," a spiritual waltz combining gospel hymnody,
country, and wide-open, labyrinthine, rockist drones driven by Adams, White, and Hacke's slide
guitars. "The Colonel (Doesn't Call Anymore)" combines C&CS's iconic, shapeshifting sense of
the epic with droning, swirling blues and stormy Detroit post-psych rock. Despite its musical
urgency, "My Love Takes Me There" is a testament to its subject's transcendent power. Its
jagged theatrical guitars contrast beautifully with Smith's mariachi horns, and Bonney's voice
articulates it all with conviction and aplomb. "Beyond Good and Evil" is Gothic country music
infused with a heartbreaking tenderness. The title track's relentlessly unhinged rock & roll is
framed lyrically as an admonition necessary during an impending period of darkness. Though
Bonney poetically offers observations around the notion that "Armageddon is coming in the city
of fun" and accepts it, his vocal holds an unwavering faith for the survival of those who dare
to love and the hope to endure it. This makes his urgent delivery the voice of sanity in the
ensuing musical maelstrom. American Twilight is more than just a triumphant comeback by C&CS --
who were not fully appreciated for their uniqueness the first time around -- it is a literate,
sprawling, bruising rock & roll record that convincingly addresses the crises we face --
cultural, spiritual, integral -- and the choices we make. What could be more necessary?
Track Listing
1. Goddess
2. My Love Takes Me There
3. Riven Man
4. Domina
5. The Colonel
6. Beyond Good And Evil
7. American Twilight
8. Streets of West Memphis
too alternative? for me
sounds like? I got nuthin
1.1 from me and a converted 2.4 from allmusic
web site - http://crimeandthecitysolution.com/
from the album - Goddess
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8kpy15K14k
released Mar 26th, 2013
Bio - from allmusic
Despite roots dating back as far as 1978, Crime & the City Solution did not truly emerge until
1984, coming to life in the wake of the dissolution of the seminal Birthday Party. The group
was led by evocative singer/songwriter Simon Bonney, a Melbourne, Australia native who led a
series of bands under the verbose Crime name throughout the late '70s and early '80s; a
longtime friend of the Birthday Party, he contacted former members Mick Harvey and Rowland S.
Howard after the group's breakup, and following the addition of Howard's brother, bassist Harry
Howard, the most successful and famed lineup of Crime & the City Solution was born.
In 1985, the quartet debuted with The Dangling Man, a self-produced EP quickly establishing the
band's moody, atmospheric, blues-based aesthetic. Former Swell Maps drummer Epic Soundtracks
joined Crime after the EP's release, freeing Harvey to alternate among a variety of instruments
for the haunting follow-up, Just South of Heaven. Their full-length bow, Room of Lights,
appeared in 1986 and featured the remarkable "Six Bells Chime," which so impressed the
acclaimed filmmaker Wim Wenders that he invited the band to perform the song live in his 1988
masterpiece Wings of Desire.
By the time the film appeared, however, the incarnation of Crime & the City Solution presented
onscreen was no more; after Room of Lights, the Howard brothers and Soundtracks exited to form
These Immortal Souls, leaving Bonney, Harvey, and violinist Bronwyn Adams (also Bonney's wife
and songwriting partner) to relocate to Berlin, where they recruited a number of local
musicians, including Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Alexander Hacke, to cut 1988's ornate,
intoxicating Shine. Even more baroque was the follow-up, 1989's The Bride Ship.
In 1990, Crime returned to the studio one final time to record Paradise Discotheque, a record
built around Bonney's ambitious four-part suite "The Last Dictator," a song cycle inspired by
the downfall of Romanian warlord Nicolae Ceaucescu. After contributing "The Adversary" to the
soundtrack of Wenders' Until the End of the World, Crime & the City Solution disbanded; while
Harvey continued to record and perform with former Birthday Party mate Nick Cave in the Bad
Seeds, Bonney began work on his 1992 solo debut Forever and followed it with Everyman in 1995.
Bonney, Adams, and Hacke re-formed the band in 2011 for the purpose of recording and touring.
They enlisted David Eugene Edwards (16 Horsepower, Woven Hand), Jim White (Dirty Three), Troy
Gregory (Dirtbombs, Swans, Spiritualized), and Matt Smith (Outrageous Cherry, Andre Williams)
to record and tour. In anticipation of a forthcoming album, Mute Records released the
compilation A History of Crime: Berlin 1987-1991: An Introduction to Crime & the City Solution
in the fall of 2012. In March of 2013, American Twilight was released.
Album Review - from allmusic
Detroit was the perfect location for Crime & the City Solution to record their first album in
22 years. They couldn't have been framed by a better metaphor than setting up in a city
consumed with the fight -- often against itself -- for survival. Founder, lead vocalist, and
lyricist Simon Bonney is joined by longtime collaborators violinist Bronwyn Adams and guitarist
Alexander Hacke. They are accompanied by drummer Jim White (Dirty Three), David Eugene Edwards
(16 Horsepower, Woven Hand), Detroit natives Matthew Smith (Outrageous Cherry) on keyboards,
Troy Gregory (Witches, Dirtbombs) on bass, and visual artist Danielle DePicciotto. Everybody
sings. Co-produced with the Motor City's Dave Feeny -- who also engineered -- American Twilight
retains C&CS's trademark senses of cinematic drama and dynamics, but the sound is meatier,
denser, and grimier, and Adams' violin has a much more prominent role than it has in the past
(a real plus). "Riven Man" is a sonic collision of basic Detroit rock and expansive Motor City
funk (courtesy of Gregory's bassline, Smith's horn sounds, and the urgent backing chorus).
Bonney's deep baritone retains its authoritative power, alternately growling and plaintively
singing. In "Goddess," with its charging guitars (one can hear traces of the riff from Grand
Funk's "We're an American Band" crossed with the dirty-assed strut of the Stooges; the irony is
no doubt intentional -- and it works), rumbling bass, and tom-toms, Bonney offers an urgent
homage to the Divine Feminine; it's underscored by the entire band as a backing chorus. Bonney
expresses both reverence and longing in "Domina," a spiritual waltz combining gospel hymnody,
country, and wide-open, labyrinthine, rockist drones driven by Adams, White, and Hacke's slide
guitars. "The Colonel (Doesn't Call Anymore)" combines C&CS's iconic, shapeshifting sense of
the epic with droning, swirling blues and stormy Detroit post-psych rock. Despite its musical
urgency, "My Love Takes Me There" is a testament to its subject's transcendent power. Its
jagged theatrical guitars contrast beautifully with Smith's mariachi horns, and Bonney's voice
articulates it all with conviction and aplomb. "Beyond Good and Evil" is Gothic country music
infused with a heartbreaking tenderness. The title track's relentlessly unhinged rock & roll is
framed lyrically as an admonition necessary during an impending period of darkness. Though
Bonney poetically offers observations around the notion that "Armageddon is coming in the city
of fun" and accepts it, his vocal holds an unwavering faith for the survival of those who dare
to love and the hope to endure it. This makes his urgent delivery the voice of sanity in the
ensuing musical maelstrom. American Twilight is more than just a triumphant comeback by C&CS --
who were not fully appreciated for their uniqueness the first time around -- it is a literate,
sprawling, bruising rock & roll record that convincingly addresses the crises we face --
cultural, spiritual, integral -- and the choices we make. What could be more necessary?
Track Listing
1. Goddess
2. My Love Takes Me There
3. Riven Man
4. Domina
5. The Colonel
6. Beyond Good And Evil
7. American Twilight
8. Streets of West Memphis
