‘Methods Of Dance’ brings together the cream of the label’s electronic output from its first decade and a half in existence, drawing together a tapestry of disparate threads united by a singular desire to capture the sound of the new. It demonstrates effectively Virgin’s uncanny knack for picking out the cream of cutting-edge, forward-thinking new music.
From the late 70s into the 80s, Virgin had an almost uncanny knack for picking out the cream of cutting-edge, forward-thinking new music: The Human League, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Giorgio Moroder, Japan, Simple Minds and many more besides.
To begin with, a lot of it came from Germany: The Faust Tapes; Can’s later, more cerebral output. By the end of the decade, however, electronic music had become a worldwide mainstream concern, springing forth Tooting (Snakefinger) via Cologne (D.A.F.) and Tokyo (Ryuichi Sakamoto).
Methods Of Dance takes in all of these sounds and more, in the process revealing Virgin Records to be at the forefront of more or less every key development in electronic music from 1973 to 1986—from ambient krautrock to taut electro-funk . . . and everything in between. Several key figures loom large over this collection. Italian-born, Munich-based super-producer Giorgio Moroder, Phil Oakey’s one-time bandmates Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh and restless sonic adventurer David Sylvian.
If the first half of this set is all about exploration and the realisation of newfound potential—John Foxx’s peerless underpass; Cowboys International’s rampaging ‘Aftermath’ and OMD’s melancholic ‘Souvenir’—by the second, the floodgates have not just been opened but obliterated.
Witness Simple Minds’ ‘New Gold Dream 81/82/83/84’, a pocket epic of electro-rock; Time Zone’s ‘World Destruction’, the earth-shattering answer to the question of what happens when the forefathers of punk (John Lydon) and hip-hop (Afrika Bambaataa) come together and the effortlessly funky chart-topper ‘Hangin’ On A String’ by Loose Ends
Methods Of Dance is the sound of the future being born before your very eyes.
Key tracks include: Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy – Kiss Me; Time Zone – World Destruction; Sparks – The Number One Song In Heaven; Giorgio Moroder & Phil Oakey – Together In Electric Dreams; Public Image Limited – This Is Not A Love Song