Act / Love & Hate: A Compact Introduction / new 2CD set
ZTT Records‘ long running Element series continues with Love & Hate, a double CD introduction to Act, the late eighties’ musical collaboration between Thomas Leer and Claudia Brücken.
Act’s brief existence (1987-88) allowed for only album, the Stephen Lipson produced Laughter, Tears and Rage, from which three singles were issued with the usual ZTT multi-format panache (first single Snobbery and Decay was available via numerous vinyl editions and issued as a ‘cabaret-cassette’ single, and ‘compacted’ to CD). Check out this in-the-studio footage of work on Snobbery and Decay via a feature on BBC TV’s Tomorrow’s World, below:
An extensive 3CD reissue of Laughter, Tears and Rage from 2004 seemed to empty the ZTT vaults of every single remix, B-side, instrumental and seven-inch mix from this period so it is unlikely that Love & Hate will have a significant amount of unreleased material (if any) but we do know from the label that this double-disc set offers a ‘Director’s Cut Album’ and the rather prosaic (by normal ZTT standards) ’12” mixes’.
With a stunning front cover and usual typographical flair, this set offers a welcome exploration of one of the lesser known ZTT acts (pun intended). Love & Hate will actually be released alongside a deluxe edition of French chanteuse and Act labelmate Anne Pigalle‘s debut Everything Could Be So Perfect – another reminder that it wasn’t all about Frankie Goes To Hollywood and the Art of Noise back in the day. Maybe this will be taken to its logical conclusion and we’ll see a ‘deluxe edition’ of the album Instinct never released.
Love & Hate: A Compact Introduction will be issued by Salvo/Union Square Music on 8 June 2015. Full track listings below.
Act: Love & Hate – A Compact Introduction (2CD)
- • UK Pre-order: Love & Hate
- • USA Pre-order: Love & Hate
- • CANADA Pre-order: Love & Hate
- • GERMANY Pre-order: Love & Hate
- • FRANCE Pre-order: Love & Hate
Anne Pigalle: Everything Could Be So Perfect (2CD deluxe)
- • UK Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect [Deluxe Edition]
- • USA Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect: Deluxe Edition
- • CANADA Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect: Deluxe Edition
- • GERMANY Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect
- • FRANCE Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect: Deluxe Edition
Track listings
Act / Love & Hate: A Compact Introduction
CD 1
- 1 Gestures
- 2 The Third Planet
- 3 Body Electric
- 4 Laughter
- 5 Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
- 6 Poison
- 7 Bloodrush
- 8 Chance
- 9 I Can’t Escape From You
- 10 I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You
- 11 Absolutely Immune
- 12 Chance
- 13 Under The Nights of Germany
- 14 A Friendly Warning
- 15 Certified
- 16 Where Love Lies Bleeding
- 17 Snobbery and Decay
CD 2
- I Can’t Escape From You (Love & Hate)
- 2 Chance (Full Whammy!)
- 3 Winner ’88
- 4 Laughter
- 5 Theme from I Can’t Escape From You
- 6 States of Logic
- 7 Absolutely Immune I
- 8 White Rabbit
- 9 Absolutely Immune II
- 10 The Naked Civil Snobbery and Decay
- 11 Dear Life
- 12 Snobbery and Decay (That’s Entertainment!)
- 13 Certified (Instrumental)
Anne Pigalle / Everything Could Be So Perfect (2CD deluxe)
CD 1
- 1. Why Does It Have To Be This Way
- 2 Via Vagabond
- 3 Looking for Love
- 4 Hé Stranger
- 5 Intermission (The Gods Are Bored)
- 6 Souvenir d’un Paris
- 7 A Crack in the Ocean
- 8 The 1000 Colours Waltz
- 9 Faut-il Vraiment Que Ce Soit Comme Ça…
- 10 Intermission (Les Dieux S‘Ennuient)
- 11 La Valse aux Mille Couleurs
CD 2
- 1. Hé Stranger (Redirected by Trevor Horn)
- 2 Stranger (Than Fiction)
- 3 Hé Stranger (Plight Return)
- 4 Johnny
- 5 Intermission (The Gods are Bored) (Mix Aguicheur)
- 6 Intermission (The Gods are Bored) (Mix Songeur)
- 7 Souvenir d’un Paris (Mix Aguicheur)
- 8 Souvenir d’un Paris (Mix Songeur)
- 9 Why Does It Have To Be This Way (Piano Version)
- 10 Like We Do
- 11 Looking for Love (Spring ’84)
- 12 Intermission (The Gods are Bored) (Spring ’84)
- 14 The 1000 Colours Waltz (Spring ’84)
- 15 Why Does It Have To Be This Way (Winter ’84)
- 16. A Crack in the Ocean (Spring ’84)
Act: Love & Hate – A Compact Introduction (2CD)
- • UK Pre-order: Love & Hate
- • USA Pre-order: Love & Hate
- • CANADA Pre-order: Love & Hate
- • GERMANY Pre-order: Love & Hate
- • FRANCE Pre-order: Love & Hate
Anne Pigalle: Everything Could Be So Perfect (2CD deluxe)
- • UK Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect [Deluxe Edition]
- • USA Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect: Deluxe Edition
- • CANADA Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect: Deluxe Edition
- • GERMANY Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect
- • FRANCE Pre-order: Everything Could Be So Perfect: Deluxe Edition
By Paul Sinclair
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