Soul Mining

Product Information

In the meantime you may be curious to read about the making of Soul Mining in the following interviews in Quietus and Monocle

Mulholland, Garry (2007). Fear of Music: The Greatest 261 Albums Since Punk and Disco. Orion. p.161. ISBN 978-0-7528-8243-7. Originally released in 1983, 'Soul Mining' is the major label debut album by post-punk outfit The The, fronted by Matt Johnson. Featuring the singles 'Uncertain Smile', 'Perfect', and the iconic 'This Is The Day', the album, which is Gold-certified in the UK, has been long out of print on vinyl, except as part of a limited run 30th anniversary 2 LP box set reissue in 2014. Featuring a host of talented musicians, including JG Thirwell (aka Foetus, Manorexia and Steroid Maximus), Zeke Manyika (Orange Juice), electronic DIY pioneer Thomas Leer and Jools Holland, Matt Johnson set out with a clear vision in mind - to produce an album that felt cinematic; a record of width, depth and texture and one which avoided the mundane line-up of two guitars, bass and drums. Lauded with critical acclaim ('Soul Mining is a brilliant and very idiosyncratic album' - The Guardian ; 'Like shaving lotion applied to cleanse a wound, Johnson's songs are attractively scented and sting like hell' - Melody Maker) the music and lyrics of 'Soul Mining' are as fresh and relevant today as they were almost 40 years ago. Zeke Manyika – drums on "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)", "The Twilight Hour" and "Giant", chant on "Giant" Graphic designer Fiona Skinner, who had become Johnson's girlfriend in 1982, created the bespoke typeface used on Soul Mining. [1] [15] The album and the single "This Is the Day" marked the first appearance of the band's logo, which also used Skinner's font, and which would be used on the majority of the The's subsequent releases.This June, Sony will release a 30th Anniversary deluxe vinyl version of The The’s, 1983 album Soul Mining. There are so many high-spots sufferers from vertigo beware. "This Is The Day" is so infectious it should carry a government health warning and the line "you didn't wake up this morning because you didn't go to bed, you were watching the whites of your eyes turn red" is one of my all-time favourite lyrics. "The Sinking Feeling" and "Soul Mining" are hauntingly beautiful. And "Uncertain Smile" is a masterpiece containing an absolutely jaw-dropping piano solo by Jools Holland which remains the finest thing he's ever done. Nash, Ed (25 June 2014). "The The – Soul Mining (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 8 May 2020.

Amongst the goodies in the box is a ‘news-poster’ which contains extensive notes written by Johnson that detail the making of the album. This draw is conducted in a secure enivironment selecting an identifier which can not be used to access your account and the data is deleted as soon as the draw has been conducted. a b Loder, Kurt (10 May 1984). "The The: Soul Mining". Rolling Stone. No.421. p.55. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010 . Retrieved 23 July 2017.

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Soul Mining is very much of its time, with the anti-thatcher rally cries and drum machines that were lifted from the Human League's studio. at the same time, it's like absolutely nothing else from 1983. Johnson's peers were either gleefully wallowing in synth pop or turning into vampires. Only Johnson, perhaps because he has always been a little out of his mind, chose to walk that line between accessible pop (which also meant risking critical scorn) and high art. Ever since hearing 'Giant' for the first time in a Berlin club, this album has accompanied me through my life and has constant rotation several times a year. a b c d e Doran, John (16 June 2014). "Under My Skin: Matt Johnson Discusses Soul Mining With John Doran". The Quietus . Retrieved 27 November 2021. Originally released on 21st October 1983, the recording of Soul Mining began in the spring of 1982, when the then 20-year old Matt Johnson, financed at this point by London Records, de-camped to New York to record 'Uncertain Smile' with producer Mike Thorne. A subsequent session, again in New York with Thorne, and featuring David Johansen of the New York Dolls, resulted in 'Perfect', yet both sessions, and the deal with London Records, were subsequently scrapped as The The switched to CBS Records and decided to start the album afresh. Work on the album was reconvened at John Foxx's Garden Studios in the then pre-gentrified Shoreditch area of London with Matt co-producing with Paul Hardiman - the album was subsequently mixed at Martin Rushent's Genetic Sound studio. Featuring a host of talented musicians, including JG Thirwell (aka Foetus, Manorexia and Steroid Maximus), Zeke Manyika (Orange Juice), electronic DIY pioneer Thomas Leer and Jools Holland, Johnson set out with a clear vision in mind - to produce an album that felt cinematic; a record of width, depth and texture and one which avoided the mundane line-up of two guitars, bass and drums. The aesthetic of The The was also something Johnson was very conscious of, assembling a supportive and talented team of creative individuals to help him refine his vision - his then girlfriend Fiona Skinner designed the type-face of the unique and enduring logo and his brother Andrew, working under the moniker Andy Dog, created the album artwork, a painting of one of Fela Kuti's wives. The boxset also includes a unique ‘news-poster’ containing extensive notes written by Johnson detailing the making of the album.

This Is the Day" was released ahead of the album as a single on 2 September 1983, [16] but like the previous singles, it performed poorly in the UK, peaking at number 71. [5] Thomas Leer – synthesisers on "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)", "The Twilight Hour" and "Giant" This Record Store Day release marks the beginning of a new exploration of THE THE’s timeless catalogue. Matt Johnson and his unusually named "The The" remain the uncrowned heroes of the underground music scene. Such songwriting and musical talent is rare and hard to match, let alone to compete with - delivering one of many magnum opuses throughout his eclectic music career. "Soul Mining" is a call-to-arms, one of the truest in terms of expanding the view of the world around. Introspective as always, but not hard to respond/relate to according to our personal life experiences. There is just something that stays forever enigmatic, brutally honest and pleasantly egocentric about it.

a b Thorne, Mike (31 October 2002). "The The: Uncertain Smile". The Stereo Society. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021 . Retrieved 21 November 2018. Rylance, Stephen (29 July 2014). "This Is the Day: The The – 'Soul Mining: 30th Anniversary Edition' ". PopMatters . Retrieved 27 November 2021. Reviewing the remastered reissue in 2002, PopMatters said, "It may not make the list of best records of the '80s, but it's damn close, and would definitely stir some intense debate over its inclusion." [40] A supplement entitled "80 from the 80s" in the August 2007 issue of Mojo included Soul Mining as one of only four albums from 1983 to make its list of the 80 best albums of that decade, [41] and three months later in November 2007 The Guardian included Soul Mining in its list of 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die, where it stated that Johnson's "artful pop ... hides an underlying menace at odds with the chart-toppers of the time". [42] Melody Maker placed Soul Mining at number three in its critics' list of the best albums of 1983 [36] and the NME placed it at number 25 in its own list the same year. [37] In 1989 Record Mirror and Sounds both included the album in their critics' lists of the albums of the decade, Record Mirror ranking it at number eight [38] and Sounds ranking it at number 24. [39] a b Petridis, Alexis (27 June 2014). "The The: Soul Mining reissue review – a brilliant and idiosyncratic pop album". The Guardian. G2 supplement, p. 20 . Retrieved 26 March 2016.

Staunton, Terry (July 2014). " Soul Mining | The The". Record Collector. No.429. p.101 . Retrieved 27 November 2021. Throughout May 1983 the The held a weekly residence of concerts at the Marquee club in central London, featuring many of Johnson's musician friends from the British post-punk scene. Johnson used these concerts to decide which musicians he wanted to contribute to the forthcoming the The album. These included Orange Juice drummer Zeke Manyika, do-it-yourself synthesizer pioneer Thomas Leer, and the experimental Australian musician Jim Thirlwell, credited on the album as one of his early aliases "Frank Want", and who would go on to achieve some degree of recognition recording under the name Foetus. [7] We have also produced an A2 giclée print with the re-working by Andy Dog of the iconic artwork he created for his brother’s seminal album, Soul Mining. Printed in vibrant colours on heavyweight 315gsm, soft-textured, 100% cotton, archive-quality white paper with the classic THE THE logo hand-embossed into the top left hand corner. MJ: It was just because of practicalities. We didn’t want to rush to hit the Christmas thing. We looked at my schedule, Sony’s schedule, Cally’s schedule, and this was the only time that everything fitted in. Lyrically prowess such as this can allow for more forgiveness of musical missteps, but that isn't an issue here either. The music is upbeat and catchy for the most part. This is a fantastic album that is a weekly listen if not more and has been since before Christmas last year. I close this out with my favorite lyric, one that gives me hope for my future, however hollow it usually rings during the day-to-day.

Credits

When in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services. As for “Uncertain Smile”, well, what a triumph of songwriting and storytelling. The whole ideology of The The was there in the name, an amorphous collection of musicians tailored for each song, and while Johnny Marr didn’t sign up for another decade, he and Matt Johnson were already musical soulmates in the early 80’s (it sure sounds like Marr on guitar here). The guitar riff is a mellifluous lilt and the words are simply heartbreaking (“I’ve got you under my skin/where the rain can’t get in/but as the sweat pours out, just shout/I’ll try to swim and pull you out”). It actually gets even better when Jools Holland appears with his boogie-woogie shuffle. Recorded in one take, he lifts the song into the stars. In the newspaper that accompanies the box set, Matt Johnson correctly describes it as “Possibly the finest piano solo in British pop music over the past 30 years.” In retrospect, the eighties have often been greeted with an air of sarcasm. The mainstream audience tends to scoff at anything that was released in the era. However, there has been an apparent increase in the popularity of the fluorescent dance music of the eighties in alternative music culture, with artists such as M83 and Chvrches spawning a fresh new interpretation. While the influence may only be stylistic, the sound of The The seems to resemble this trendy new eighties resurgence more than most other groups of the era. This is perhaps due to the fact that The The’s stark, eccentric sound has dated rather modestly, considering the amount of stylistic conventions that are used in this album. The juxtaposition of sounds and themes in The The’s music is obviously a positive addition to their overall sound, creating a unique touch. Camelle G. Hinds – bass guitar on "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)", "Uncertain Smile", "The Twilight Hour", "Giant" and "Perfect"