MINIMAL COMPACT – The Figure One Cuts – LP – CRAM055

1987 “The Figure One Cuts”, MC’s last ‘official’ studio album, is produced in Brussels & London by John Fryer (Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode etc). It further develops the directions explored in “Raging Souls”. Multi-layered guitars and voices, splendid melodies, ample sound and a touch of neo-psychedelia. Minimal Compact release a second album that year: recorded partly for a ballet soundtrack and partly as a special session for Dutch radio VPRO, “Lowlands Flight” is a largely instrumental and abstract. It derives from the loose, experimental sessions the band were conducting in their attic studio (which are documented in “Music From Upstairs”, the 3rd CD from the present set). The band seems to have entered a phase of artistic maturity, but cracks are beginning to appear. The internal tensions between the members are increasingly acute. They’ve been living and working too close together for a long time, and some of them (namely Berry and Fortis) have never really adapted to the European lifestyle. The band are invited to play at New York’s New Music Seminar, and a US tour is booked around that date. This first visit to America is extremely awaited by press and public alike.The band have developed a real cult status there, and they feel that this tour is crucial to their development. Alas, for the second time, the US authorities refuse to grant them a work permit and the whole tour is cancelled. It’s only a meagre consolation for MC to know that English bands such as Martin Stephenson & The Daintees and the Weather Prophets have also been refused entry.

Crammed Discs