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Act / Love & Hate: A Compact Introduction / new 2CD set

By Paul Sinclair

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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

Act: Love & Hate – A Compact Introduction (2CD)

annepigalle

Anne Pigalle: Everything Could Be So Perfect (2CD deluxe)

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

Act: Love & Hate – A Compact Introduction (2CD)

annepigalle

Anne Pigalle: Everything Could Be So Perfect (2CD deluxe)

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28 Comments

28 thoughts on “Act / Love & Hate: A Compact Introduction / new 2CD set”

  1. Pingback: Out This Week / 25 May 2015 | superdeluxeedition

  2. In related good news for fans of that elusive Mr Leer, his ‘From Sci Fi To Bar Fly’ LP is finally getting a physical release on CD, May 25th.

  3. Thrilled about both of these releases, and have pre-ordered both. Both are unexpected and very appreciated! The artwork for the Act compilation is absolutely gorgeous.

  6. What is the the ‘Element’ series? Are they re-relkeasing everything ZTT have ever produced?

    If so does that finally mean they will release my much longed for cd copy of the Insignificance soundtrack?

    1. Regarding STTR weren’t there some issues because of Grace’s Island/Universal contract in the past.? I think there was talk some years ago about a 25th anniversary edition but it never materialized .

  9. Thrilled about the Anne Pigalle deluxe treatment. This was one of the key missing pieces from the ZTT reissues.

    PLEASE give us the deluxe treatment for Grace Jones’s ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ album – that is surely now the major missing piece left of the catalogue?

  11. Two of the best ZTT albums ever (thank you, Steve Lipson) get a decent re-release, magnificent news!
    Let’s keeps our fingers crossed that the ACT director’s cuts are all unreleased versions: Chance is mentioned twice in the tracklisting of cd1 so that’s a good sign!
    Quite a missed opportunity though on the ACT cd set: Why not including the 1988 demo’s of Freeride, Lovesick and Slap? Will we ever be able to hear those??

  13. I’m so glad for the Anne Pigalle deluxe edition !

    It contains the CD debut of :
    – 2 french versions of songs from the original french LP (the third one “Faut-il vraiment…” was on the 2009 japanese reissue of the album)
    – the “mix songeur” of “Souvenir d’un Paris” (the “mix aguicheur” was on 2011’s The Art Of The 12″)

    And it also contains completely unreleased stuff (as far as I’m aware) :
    – the 2 mixes of “Intermission (The Gods Are Bored)”
    – the last 5 songs from CD2 might be demos. The only one that might have been already released is “Looking For Love (Spring ’84)” if it is the same version as “Looking For Love (Demo)” from IQ6 Zang Tumb Tuum Sampled.

    I already own 2 previous CD edition, I didn’t expect such a forgotten but great album to be re-released and expanded. I’m delighted !

    1. I think the Looking For Love by Anne Pigalle on IQ6 is the version from the B side of the single version of Looking For Love rather than a demo.

  14. Well I have the 3CD anthology (didn’t realise it was no longer available) but as an ACT/Thomas Leer/Claudia Brucken fan I might have to get this anyway :-(

    By the way – anyone that does not know them already check out
    Thomas Leer’s Scale of Ten album and Claudia Brucken’s Love: And a Million Other Things.
    Both fantastic Electronic Pop albums.

  15. Anne Pigalle looks great. Not sure how much unreleased content they have, but hopefully enough to put out a Compact Introduction disc for her. So buy this so it does well!!!

    This release works fine with the Japanese 2009 release, but on its own is missing a few mixes.

    I wouldn’t mind an Element 2CD of Act’s Laughter, Tears, & Rage… it could gather up the missing mixes.

  17. Taking a look at Act.

    I don’t think the following have had a CD release before:

    Poison (single version) …not on this? I’ve heard it’s different than the album mix, but I can’t tell.

    Winner 88 …which we do get here (but I assume it’s just the first 3:27 of Winner 88x, as the extended version has a break right where the single version would end)

    12/1 Chance …still not able to clear those Abba samples??

    I Can’t Escape From You (CD5 single version) …not on this? (But on a 1988 CD, so technically already on CD. What version is on the 4 file digital download from 2014??)

    Snobbery & Decay (That’s Entertainment – Cassette version) …maybe on here? Despite the identical track length on Discogs, I remember this being a mix of the 12″ version combined with the album version.

    Snobbery & Decay (The 4 promo Herbie from Mastermind mixes) …not on here. They aren’t spectacular, as they sound much like what was commercially released, but there are some unique parts in them.

    (Theme From) Snobbery & Decay (short version) …if you have the already released long version, then you have the short version.

    The one sure thing we get is (presumably) an extended version of the Chance ‘Whammy Mix’ that appeared on an Art of the 12″ compilation.

    The one thing that I wish they could find more of in their cupboard: More 12″ mixes of I Can’t Escape From you. Is there really only one??!

    Like all the Element art, this looks fantastic, though mostly for the font work (the photo doesn’t do much for me).

  18. Looking at the tracklist for the Love & Hate I find myself asking “Why not just re-release the 3 disc set?”

    Having checked it against the aforementioned limited edition tracklisting on Discogs the only thing I can’t find on it is Chance (Full Whammy!). Could be down to being mis-labelled on the previous comp. but if not those canny swines at Salvo may have given the hardcore fan a solid reason to pick this up….. which perhaps answers my first question!

  19. Always happy to see Claudia Brucken material getting the deluxe treatment, but this doesn’t appear to have anything not on the LT&R anthology. ZTT does usually manage to surprise in one form or another, so who knows? The big news for me is Anne Pigalle’s album. I have been waiting for this one a long time!! More mixes than I knew existed – hooray! Is it safe to assume the last five tracks are live versions?

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