We Be Echo – Ceza Evi / Compleat Edition (Album – Cold Spring)
Genre/Influences: Experimental, Minimal-Electro, Dark-Wave.
Format: Digital, 2CD.
Background/Info: Kevin Thorne continued on with We Be Echo after the band split. It brings us back to the early 80s and influential British artists like Throbbing Gristle. This album features the original songs from the debut album “Ceza Evi” (1983) plus bonus tracks and other cuts recorded during that period.
Content: There’s a lot to say about this album featuring a total amount of 32 songs. The common element between all cuts is the easy recognizable 80s spirit of early Electronic experiments and Cold-Wave music. Genesis P. Orridge contributed to one of the cuts, which also is one of the best exposures of this work. You’ll (re)discover numerous instrumental cuts, but also songs with vocals giving a more accessible touch to the work.
+ + + : I have to admit I can’t really remember to have ever heard We Be Echo, but this work is a cool discovery and especially for bringing good-old memories alive. I especially like the Electro-Wave approach with the magic of analogue gear, but still a few typical elements from that period reminding us that musicians were first of all experimenting with instruments and noises.
– – – : Some parts are a bit too Experimental, revealing a kind of free-style approach; no compromises and no rules, but pure sound-anarchy.
Conclusion: Cold Spring Records once more brings forgotten -or unknown, treasures to the surface. I enjoyed the ride.
Best songs: “Inside Life’s Wire”, “This Hour’s Mine”, “Dirty Harry”, “Manson”, “Got You”.
Rate: 7½.
Artist: http://webeecho.com / www.facebook.com/webeecho
Label: www.coldspring.co.uk / www.facebook.com/coldspringhq
About We Be Echo
We Be Echo is the project of English musician Kevin Thorne. The debut album “Ceza Evi” appeared in 1983 on Cause For Concern. Thorne followed it with the cassette album “Pressure Point” in 1985 and “Nothing Left” in 1986, both on Mystery Hearsay.
After a long break the name returned with “Beat Of The Drum” on Sleepers Records and “Darkness Is Home” on SoundOv, both in 2020. Archive sets followed with “1980-1986” on Contact Minimal Records in 2022 and the three-CD “Facets (Recordings 1981 – 1989 & 2020 – 2023)” on Ultra-Mail Prod. in 2023.
The “Ceza Evi / Compleat Edition” double CD reviewed here was issued by Cold Spring. A We Be Echo track was later included on the label compilation “Arise – A Cold Spring Sampler”, released on 8 September 2023.
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