Synth Britannia - Synth-Electronic Documentary

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Synth Britannia - Synth-Electronic Documentary

(17 posts)

Started 1 year ago by divider
Latest reply from Dead Soul

divider

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Hi guys, I just stumbled upon this yesterday. The history of our scene and post-punk music in general fascinates me and I thought that most of you, most of whom I consider to be very thoughtful and intelligent, would probably really enjoy this documentary on the early days of electronic music in Britain. I would like to stress that this is the purely British side of the story; excluded are bands like Front 242, D.A.F., and Die Krupps. However, this show fairly in-depth and covers many bands considered to be the fathers/mothers of the scene and amazingly has interviews with the likes of: Bernard Sumner, Chris and Cosey, Martin Gore, Daniel Miller, John Foxx, Gary Numan, Vince Clarke, Neil Tennant, and Richard H. Kirk just to name a few.

It's in several parts. Enjoy:

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Of course, Industrial and EBM music always seem to be underplayed in these documentaries. What do you guys think? What should they include? Did they portray things accurately? WHEN DO WE GET AN INDUSTRIAL DOCUMENTARY done with the same tone and enthusiasm? Of course no documentary is complete or comprehensive enough to satisfy everyone but it seems most of these docs miss the entire EBM and industrial aspect of this music.

Posted 1 year ago #
dodd

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Yeah I've watched that before. It's cool but it's mostly focused on the commercial side of synthpop music of the 80's.

This one is pretty cool too, it starts with an interview with Genesis P-Orridge

http://documentaryheaven.com/modulations-cinema-for-the-ear/

Posted 1 year ago #
Dead Soul

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I'm really enjoying this documentary. It's a little surprising to see a documentary that takes synth music this seriously at all, although that perspective might be because I am a American.

Posted 1 year ago #
metaball

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nice to see it's up on the youtubes now

http://www.side-line.com/side-line-forum/topic/synth-britannia

http://www.side-line.com/side-line-forum/topic/synth-britannia-bbc-series-history-of-electronic-music

Posted 1 year ago #
TheAnger

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For all with Spotify i did this palylist with all the Synth Britania i could find.
http://open.spotify.com/user/theanger/playlist/5QdgV6rOMnUhSCHeiTvohW

Posted 1 year ago #
ketoujin

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@Dead Soul, yes - thats probably the reason. In Germany, since Kraftwerk, TD, Schulze, Conny Plank and all this DAF, Krupps etc. synth Music is/was more serious than in the US.

Posted 1 year ago #
darkamor

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I tried watching this last year, but it was blocked from North American audiences (f' you BBC) but I'm its been reposted for North American Fans to enjoy (I appreciate the fact that the British Media was taking an interest in Synth related music enough to create a documentary) ... :-)

Posted 1 year ago #
Dead Soul

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The Krautrock documentary they did is also worth the time.

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Posted 1 year ago #
divider

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Yeah, I've been watching the Krautrock doc. I haven't finished it yet; can't seem to find time. I'll watch it all this weekend.

My one complaint about Synth Britannia is that is assumes the underground and experimental electo ended in England in 83. Well, that's around the time Nitzer Ebb took off. Not to mention that Portion Control was in full gear at that point as well.

Everyone skips EBM and industrial music in these docs; yes this is a Brittish only doc but come on, Nitzer EBB!? Just talking to Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire isn't enough. The closest you get to coverage of Industrial is the NIN documentary: Metal Machine Music (or something like that) but this doc is HEAVILY NIN skewed and says the Industrial music ended after NIN's Downward Spiral album.

Posted 1 year ago #
raedarius

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Simple enough. The early Nitzer Ebb releases were derided as blatant DAF copies in the UK. It wasn't until That Total Age (1987) that NE got any significant positive press. Back then, sounding like someone else was frowned upon. How things change... Even by 1987 they were still performing as first support slot to other bigger acts, and IIRC were the first band I saw to adopt the 'press play and pretend to drum' approach to live shows.

As to Portion Control, much loved by those in the know, but they were always pretty much an underground act. Much as it sounds unlikely today, you could buy early Cabaret Voltaire albums in WH Smiths (the UK high street newsagent/bookshop chain), something that could never be said of Portion Control.

As I mentioned in one of the earlier threads, this documentary is very much built aroud the piece-to-camera opinions of Simon Reynolds, who was the British music reporter who championed the likes of Skinny Puppy, Laibach, Front 242 to British readers. He could be trusted to wax lyrical about 'our' music if it was part of the remit. However, this programme was about UK innovation in electronic music, and the influence of events in Britain on the music. The UK did not particularly innovate in terms of EBM (there's a discussion to be had about Portion Control's influence here, admittedly, but I go back to my earlier point about them), it joined in.

If there's one act that should have been more heavily referenced in the documentary, it's Fad Gadget. Being dead doesn't help in terms of piece-to-camera journalism, unfortunately.

Posted 1 year ago #
divider

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So I'm just curious, what was Britain like for the industral-ebm scene back in the 80's post 1983. Who did Portion Control play gigs with? What was the attitude toward the music?

Posted 1 year ago #
silikonanswer

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I think Portion Control had a big influence in the Vancouver scene (FLA, SKinny Puppy...) and Cabaret Voltaire also.

Posted 1 year ago #
raedarius

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@ divider,

I don't really remember the UK being massively EBM orientated until 'Official Version' era Front 242. Portion Control were a little out of step at a time when SPK and Test Department got the available press coverage. The shock aspect was important for coverage and I don't think that PC really looked to exploit that. The UK seemed to be more industrial than EBM for the most part, and these compilations give a good idea of the company PC were among:

http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Elephant-Table-Album/master/21581

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Rising-From-The-Red-Sand-Volume-One/master/258532

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Rising-From-The-Red-Sand-Volume-Two/master/319210

This was the defining article in Sounds (weekly music newspaper) of the time:

http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/articles/wplanet.html

By about 1987-8 the music press moved on from championing Severed Heads and SPK to Ministry, Front 242, Skinny Puppy, Laibach (though also associating it with Big Black, Butthole Surfers, AR Kane and the like).

Posted 1 year ago #
darkamor

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I feel the best way to answer the BBC Documentary Synth Britannia is to create your own (covering 1982 - 1992, 1993-2003, etc) & share how New Wave influenced everything from EBM to Electro (unless you feel an email / petition campaign directed at BBC to please continue Synth Britannia & suggest what Bands to feature) ....

You won't find a documentary like this Stateside (Networks are too busy trying to create another "American Idol" type show (rolls eyes)

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Posted 12 months ago #
divider

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I would be cool if they covered the lull years as we might call them (PC, Test Dept, and SPK) all the way through to Minsistry and beyond but that would entail going beyond Brittan.

Posted 12 months ago #
Dead Soul

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I want to find a copy of this now
"Made In Sheffield"
http://www.amazon.com/Made-Sheffield-Jarvis-Cocker/dp/B0009I7NGC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306520199&sr=8-1

Posted 12 months ago #
Dead Soul

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Time to raise this from the dead.

BBC documentary on Factory Records.

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Posted 10 months ago #

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