John Foxx @ The Roundhouse © 2010 Felicity Hayward

When it rains, is pours. No sooner did I obtain the new JF+TM CD and report on it [yesterday] than my inbox got an issue from Metamatic Central. The Analog Circuit DVD long promised from the 2010 extravaganza Foxx + The Maths, with special guests held at The Roundhouse finally has a release date pencilled in. It was to be released in September, along with the “Evidence” EP, but somewhere along the way, that project graduated to full album status as the band were active and productive in the studio, leaving me to wonder when the mouth-watering DVD would get bumped to. I didn’t have to wait long. The discs will be released on October 15, in just 10 days.

I did say discs. Like the Claudia Brücken “This Happened” project, the Foxx DVD is being bundled with a CD soundtrack as well. Unlike that set, the full concert is released across two CDs for maximum pleasure. Here’s the rundown.

Metamatic | 2xCD+DVD | 2012

John Foxx + The Maths: Analogue Circuit 2xCD/DVD UK [2012]

Disc 1 (DVD)

1. Parallel Lives/Film One
2. Plaza
3. This City
4. Burning Car
5. He’s A Liquid
6. No-One Driving
7. Underpass
8. The Running Man
9. Summerland
10. Watching A Building On Fire
11. Catwalk
12. Dislocation
13. The Quiet Men
14. Slow Motion
15. The Good Shadow
16. The Man Who Dies Every Day
17. Just For A Moment
18. Interplay Video: Analogue + Digital Mixes
19. Interview by Future Music
20. Photo Gallery

Disc 2 (Audio CD)

1. Parallel Lives/Film One
2. Plaza
3. This City
4. Burning Car
5. He’s A Liquid
6. No-One Driving
7. Underpass
8. The Running Man
9. Summerland

Disc 3 (Audio CD)

1. Watching A Building On Fire
2. Catwalk
3. Dislocation
4. The Quiet Men
5. Slow Motion
6. The Good Shadow
7. The Man Who Dies Every Day
8. Just For A Moment

This was the “coming out” party for John Foxx + The Maths which marked their live debut in a show where collaborator Benge was the musical director in a program featuring Foxx + completely analog synths for the first time ever. Better still, Ultravox guitarist supreme Robin Simon, who has worked with Foxx many times over the last 34 years, was on hand to reprise his soaring guitar for material from the seminal early Ultravox period of Foxx’s career on display that evening. This will mark the first time I’ve ever heard the classic “The Man Who Dies Every Day” with Simon on lead guitar!

The visuals for the concert were developed by Johnathan Barnbrook, who has designed each of The Maths releases thus far. The motion graphic films that Barnbrook created for the songs from “Interplay” are also included as bonus material on the DVD as well. It’s fascinating that John Foxx [or Dennis Leigh] has designed each of his releases, singles included, from 1977 onward, but for The Maths only, he’s ceded the design reigns to Barnbrook to create a different identity for the band. Admittedly, one that is rock solid in hitting the target that he and Benge were shooting for; a vivid re-imagining of a late 60s-late 70s techno-synth period that never quite existed. The analog synths are perfectly complemented by the geekporn Cray promo shots that have been used amid all of the NASA images.

Finally, the interview that the magazine Future Music did with The Maths just prior to showtime is included as bonus material as well. I’m assuming that the DVD is PAL so I won’t be waiting too long before creating a systems transfer to NTSC on the trusty iMac. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First I have to order the DVD [here] and then I need to craft the systems transfer. Budget is tight, so I will probably have to sit on my hands, at least until November, but I’m hoping that they’ve pressed up enough of these puppies to last until then. 2012 is certainly turning out to be the year of the DVD with three big ones having come down the pike, and I’ve been waiting for this one since day one.

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