Soul Murder
The second part of the triptych: crime jazz, dance, bossa nova and spoken word, nominated for the Mercury Prize.
Barry Adamson, 1992
- Released
- 6 April 1992
- Studio
- Worldwide Studios, London
- Label
- Mute
- Producer
- Barry Adamson
Soul Murder was released by Mute on 6 April 1992 and nominated for that year's Mercury Music Prize. Adamson wrote, arranged and produced it. It was recorded and mixed at Worldwide Studios in London, with additional recording and mixing at Konk Studios, and Billy McGee arranged and conducted the strings. Marcia Schofield, Arthur Nichols and Maria Zastrow supply narration, and a choir sings on On the Edge of Atonement.
Adamson said later that on the opening song he had presented himself as a kind of beat poet, but it did not satisfy him, and he wanted to put words and melody together. In Split he introduces his own cast of names, among them Oscar de la Soundtrack and Mr Moss Side Gory. Trouser Press called the album a sketchbook of brilliant ideas, including crime jazz, sinewy dance and smoky bossa nova, peppered with strange samples and spoken-word bits, and picked out the 007 reinterpretation, which alternates between rock-steady ska and big-band attack, as the highlight.
Track listing
- Preface1:14
- Split3:58
- The Violation of Expectation3:04
- Suspicion4:05
- A Gentle Man of Colour3:50
- Trance of Hatred0:59
- Checkpoint Charlie6:32
- Reverie4:50
- Un Petit Miracle2:55
- 007, a Fantasy Bond Theme3:57
- The Adamson Family3:45
- Cool Green World3:31
- On the Edge of Atonement3:16
- Epilogue0:58
Personnel
- Barry Adamson bass, keyboards, vocals, narration, producer
- Kevin Armstrong guitar on Checkpoint Charlie and Cool Green World
- Billy McGee conductor, string arrangements
- Marcia Schofield narrator on A Gentle Man of Colour
- Enrico Tomasso trumpet
- Malcolm Baxter trumpet
- Steve Shaw trumpet
- Pete Whyman alto and tenor saxophone
- Phil Brown bass trombone
- Anne Berland vocals on Checkpoint Charlie
- Stan Loubieres recording, mixing
- Paul Kendall engineer, mixing
- Celia Johnstone front cover photography
More from Barry Adamson
Moss Side Story (1989), Delusion (1991), The Negro Inside Me (1993), Oedipus Schmoedipus (1996)
Sources
- Soul Murder, Wikipedia
- Barry Adamson, Trouser Press
- Memento Mori: The Strange World Of... Barry Adamson, The Quietus (2018-10-30)
- The Mancunian Candidate, frieze (1997-01)
- Barry Adamson, Mute