2010 has been important year for JOHN FOXX. Not only did he return with a confident Pop-embracing single ‘Destination’ with his new project THE MATHS in the spring, but his classic solo debut ‘Metamatic’ has been celebrating its’ 30th anniversary and the ‘Metatronic’ package (featuring the classic early tracks, plus bonus DVD discs of promos and a 1985 Australian gig) has helped bring his work to a whole new audience.
Work continues on The Maths’ new album, but in the interim here’s a new Foxx release of a slightly different stripe. ‘D.N.A’ is a beautifully-packaged CD/ DVD release featuring a slew of collaborations between our hero and some of his favourite independent film-makers who have signed up to submit their visuals specifically for this project.
Thus, while Foxx’s musical contributions are of the mood-enhancing OST variety, technically ‘D.N.A’ (the title stems from a futuristic global media company alluded to in a short story on Foxx’s website) isn’t actually a ‘soundtrack’ per se. However, while ‘D.N.A’ is presented as a separate audio CD and also as an accompaniment to the series of short films, it takes off best when brought together with the visuals.
Of these, both Ian Eames and Steve D’Agostino submit blurry, subliminal imagery to ‘Violet Bloom’ and ‘A Secret Life #2’ respectively. Both shorts are suggestive of floating and perpetual motion and Foxx’s sonic input is equally eerie and sparse. Japanese film-maker Mocoto Tezka, meanwhile, brings a lot of blurred reds, dream-like sequences and a tangible serenity to ‘Kaiyagura’ and intercuts ‘City of Mirage’ with juxtapositions of rural and urban imagery which take on a hallucinogenic quality after a few minutes.
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Although there’s little to obviously stack up against Foxx’s more pop-orientated work, both ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ and ‘Flightpath Tegel’ are tinged with the kind of icy synth-scapes that made ‘Metamatic’ such a remarkable record. Karborn’s film for ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ is quite jarring, comprising of a series of computer-generated Rorschach-style blots and kaleidoscope colours but I really enjoyed Ian Eames’ film for ‘Flightpath Tegel’ which is full of passageways and (yes!) underpasses. It gives you a sense of the clinical spaces within airport buildings, although as an occasional resident of Berlin in recent years and having spent time coming in and out of Tegel, I probably would say that.
Ultimately, ‘D.N.A’ is rather like that quote of Winston Churchill’s about riddles and puzzles wrapped up in enigmas. It’s endlessly evocative and open to countless interpretation, but it’s also truly thought-provoking and while it may evade some of those sitting it out for the new Maths record, it has its’ own special atmosphere and surely deserves its’ place in John Foxx’s impressive canon of work.
Metamatic wesbite
John Foxx quiet man website
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