DOWNLOAD: New Gang of Four demos
The recent resurgence in dance-rock bands (originated by the Rapture and carried out this year by bands like Friendly Fires and Foals) can be traced back to one legendary band--Leeds' Gang of Four, whose 1979 debut album Entertainment! completely defined the genre. A large part of the band's sound comes from Dave Allen's funk bass lines (not to suggest that Jon King's vocals, Andy Gill's acerbic guitars and Hugo Burnham's drumming don't carry their weight wonderfully), and Dave was cool enough to share some of the band's new demos with us, which we are in turn giving away to you guys. Here are a few words from the man himself, along with the download links to new clips from their studio demos. We're super excited!
It's true, Gang of Four is making new music again after many years. In 2005 we released a version of our own "greatest hits" Return The Gift a CD of songs that we revisited from our back catalogue. The band is without a record label which is very refreshing as in effect it leaves us with a Tabula Rasa. There has been much talk lately of the end of the music business some of which must be taken with a pinch of salt but it is an undeniable fact that music sales, especially on CD, are in fast decline. A legacy band such as Gang of Four has many options when it comes to getting our music to our fans - new and upcoming bands have far less options which is a challenge. While we ponder releasing digital EPs, vinyl with MP3s and specialty packages of CD/DVD combinations, the job of finishing our songs in the studio goes on. In the spirit of radical transparency we are posting some edited rough demos of new material, literally work-in-progress, with the proviso that these songs will still be tossed around in the hopper and be baked until done. Or not. You can read more of my thoughts on the process and track our musical progress at my Pampelmoose blog. And you can follow Gang of Four fans feedback and comments here.
The recording session in London took place in five days in November 2007. The MP3s are posted here to allow you to download them and then compare them to the progress we make on these tracks prior to their release. PC users right click and Mac users control click to download the MP3s. All the song titles are working titles and will inevitably be changed.
Also, here's an interview that Jon King did with a Dutch radio station in 2005
If that's not history than we don't know what is.
Download: Gang of Four - Second Life
Download: Gang of Four - Password
Download: Gang of Four - Faking It
Download: Gang of Four - American Man
