November 20, 2015

With Visage now concluded, where does that leave us, the fans? There was a lot of talent stirred into Team Visage, and their keyboardist Logan Sky has many irons in the fire that offer ways forward now that the Visage story has wrapped up. Sky is one of the new generation of synth-heads dedicated to vintage gear with an analog emphasis for the textures that effectively got glossed over in the hasty migration to digital synthesis [spits] in the horrible mid-80s. As John Foxx has stated elsewhere; in the mad rush to dump analog for digital, the device’s potentials had been barely investigated before relegating them to the scrapheap of history. Sky’s projects are ready to take their time to investigate.

Logan Sky: Face The Flames DL [2013]

1. Face The Flames
2. Blonde Cobra
3. Guatami
4. Fightback
5. Snake Pit
6. Black Clouds
7. Start To Shiver
8. Crash & Burn
9. Zona Rosa Prime Time
10. Nightshot
11. We Fuel Progress
12. Fightback (Reprise)
13. Escape From New York (Logan Sky Remix)
14. Face The Flames (Highway Superstar Remix)
15. Nightshot (Demo)

Sky’s most recent solo album was an excursion into the world of early 80s Synthwave, ala John Carpenter. It’s been highly amusing to see that a generation and a half later, director John Carpenter’s synth soundtracks for his movies have been rediscovered by a new breed who like the tech noir grit that they exuded and consider it a fertile field for experimentation. To invoke a name that cropped up earlier in the Visage review, Roland Romanelli was another touchstone for this sort of instrumental analog synth vibe. The sounds here were rhythmic, to be sure, but not really to be considered dance music. This thread was an exercise in atmospheres re-explored.

Steven Jones + Logan Sky: Desire Lines DL [2015]

1. Desire Lines
2. Desire Lines (OGRE remix)
3. Cold Fury
4. Change Your Flight
5. Change Your Flight (orchestral)
6. The Distance

This year Sky has teamed up with vocalist Steven Jones and has taken a half-step away from the soundtrack genre to something a little more Post-Punk. Jones thrives in the gray area between singing and spoken word with these taut slices of minimal synth goodness. Sometimes Jones performs in a voice over style. At others, he gives a full-bodied vocal performance that pits his dignified voice against the throbbing synths of Sky and recalls the smoky hues of “Fabrique” period Fashion or even more closely, “Theoretically Chinese;” the excellent if surprisingly unsung solo album by Tuxedomoon’s Winston Tong. Yesssss [strokes chin thoughtfully]. Anyone who liked that superb album will find much to relish here.

Steven Jones + Logan Sky: Polaroids DL [2015]

1. Polaroids
2. Hi Rise New York
3. Intersection
4. The Now Crowd (slow exposure)
5. Fake
6. Polaroids (Daygun extended remix)

Jones and Sky have been very productive this year with another EP out just six months later. Visage fans should definitely try the touching tribute to Steve that was “The Now Crowd.”  Their latest was based on the Polaroid trope that plays so crucially in the New Wave and Post-Punk periods.

I need to come to grips with the fact that there is music out there that I would like and it’s only in DL form. On the upside, the cost is modest but you know me. I’m an old guy. I’ll always spend dollars on physical product first. Downloads just grate against my lifestyle. But that attitude must end eventually. Jones and Sky were recently part of the Inaugural New Romantic Festival that occurred in Steve Strange’s home town of Porthcawl, Wales on Halloween. With Steve gone, it was up to Steven Jones to sing lead along with Lloyd Daniels and the rest of Visage in what can be assumed to be the final performance of that band. As shown on “Polaroids,” Jones + Sky are already creating a new branch in the Visage family tree with their own analog electro project as evidenced here.

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