When Wire imploded in 1980, Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis quickly began the Dome project, recording their first three albums within a 12-month span, then a fourth in 1983. Collating the four classic Dome albums from the early 1980s with the Yclept compilation presented on vinyl, these classic albums are presented in a luxurious new set which is undeniably essential listening.
Wire's initial incarnation struck a delicate balance between Colin Newman's pop sensibilities with Lewis and Gilbert's avant garde tendencies. This became apparent when the initial solo albums were released, with Newman's A-Z, being a fractured, but brilliant post-punk work heavily steeped in pop, while Dome's first work was a world of bizarre industrial interpretations and pure studio experiments.
That was one of the defining factors of the first three Dome albums:they were all heavily focused on experimentation and treating the studio itself as an instrument.In many cases this would have probably ended up a scatter-shot collection of random sounds and self-indulgent wankery, but this isn’t anything like that.
For example:"Rolling Upon My Day" from Dome 1 begins as a rapid fire synth experiment, but soon evolves into Lewis singing one of his most beautiful songs over sparse guitar and a lo-fi drum loop culled from one of Robert Gotobed's practice tapes. What could have been aimless meandering from less capable artists is instead a brilliantly memorable piece of gorgeous music.
The same goes for "Cruel When Complete", which at its core is simply a processed recording of Angela Conway (A.C. Marias) vocals with subtle accompaniment.Plus, closer "Madmen" has always been one of the most entertaining endings for an album, with Bruce Gilbert barking "If anybody touches these fucking bags, I'll cut their fucking head off with a fucking ax.I’ll fucking piss on them"
Dome 2 simply feels like the second half of one work, though perhaps one with slightly more polish.The two part "The Red Tent" begins initially with beautiful, shimmering ambient synths that are pulled together for a taut, intensely driven industrial throb for its second half.Both "Ritual View" and "Long Lost Life" lean towards conventionality, with the former actually beginning life in a much different form with Wire.
On Dome 3, much of the conventional elements are stripped away, resulting in an oddly rhythmic suite of compositions with onomatopoeic titles, such as "An-An-An-D-D-D"'s vocalisms mimicking the title, and bassy synth pulse of "Na-Drm."Perhaps the most bizarre is the back to back "Ba-Dr" and "D-D-Bo," which pair the Dome experimentalism with erratic disco beats.
Dome 4, also known as Will You Speak This Word, is a different matter entirely. Half of the album consists of the side-long piece of "To Speak," including Vince Clarke on keyboards.Rather than the terse, rhythmic pieces of Dome 3, it is a lush, complex composition that feels more classically informed, even with the abstract rhythmic oubursts at the end.The fractured rhythms of "This" and noisier loops of "Seven Year" harkens more back to the earlier works.
Dome 5, previously released on CD as Yclept, consists of material recorded from the latter 1980s up to its release in 1998.As a whole it is a bigger, louder, and more aggressive work.While the two versions of "Because We Must" bear the marks of 1989's synth and drum machine technology, it has just the right level of oddness, and sounds like an ugly outtake from Lewis' He Said project.The tracks recorded for Yclept, like "Virtual Sweden" and "Vertical Seeding" are even more disjointed and difficult, akin to the work both artists were doing on their own.
Regardless of the format these albums are released in, these Dome albums are among my favorites of the many Gilbert and Lewis related projects, of which there are quite a few.They all strike the perfect balance between challenging experimentation and purely pleasurable listening.With the exception of a few moments on Dome 5/Yclept, they could easily be released today and I would think they're just as brilliant as I do now.The luxurious presentation from Editions Mego, reproducing the original artwork with additional material, only adds to majesty of these albums.
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