PSEUDO ECHO

Unfortunately, any collection of Pseudo Echo 12" mixes has to include the band's cringe-inducing 1987 cover of Lipps Inc.'s "Funkytown." The 1980 original -- the last gasp of disco with a simple keyboard riff that clings to the brain like a parasite -- wasn't anything special, but it was certainly funky. Pseudo Echo's version is horrendous; the vocals are soulless and the pumped-up production slices away the edges the old record had. Sadly, most people recognize Pseudo Echo from its "Funkytown" atrocity. The track was Pseudo Echo's lone U.S. hit. This compilation shows that in the '80s Pseudo Echo was able to combine dance music and rock & roll as deftly as its Australian peers in INXS. Singer Brian Canham may not have had the snake-like charm of INXS' Michael Hutchence, but his brooding voice makes these songs sound more mysterious than they normally would. The lyrics are often superficial and repetitive; however, the hooks are dynamite. The menacing guitars and chilly synthesizers of "A Beat for You" instantly turned it into a club classic -- all seven minutes of it. "Listening" and "Living in a Dream" are far catchier than "Funkytown" ever was. "Stranger in Me" borrows the icy keyboards of Ultravox and Visage, but nobody ever claimed Pseudo Echo was original and groundbreaking. No, Pseudo Echo just wanted to get bodies gyrating, and Long Plays 83-87 offers the perfect way to get into the groove. ~ Michael Sutton, AMG

Estimated despatch 5-10 days after ordering.