Brian Hamilton - Metro 1984 lp RARE Private Acid House Techno Electro Boogie NM

$

29

Soundclip info: B2 "Right From The Start" -(Electro 808 Breaks!), A2 "I Can't Stand It", B1 "Space Dance", a2 begins at 1:49, b1 begins at 3:38      
Soundclip:  Update your internet browser to latest version in order to play audio clip.

Media Grade:  NM (beautiful, most superb, peep the soundclips!) 
Sleeve Grade:  EX (sharp copy, see photos!)
Year / Label / Catalogue #:   1984  /  Advantage Records (Private self-released one off)  / BLH-413 (1st Press, Stereo) 
Brief Comments: One of the earliest US lp uses of the acid house Roland TB-303 bass synth, (along with of course Roland's TR-808 drum machine.), extremely rare private press.... From my own D-cogs review:
"One of the earliest US lp's to make full use of the iconic TB-303, featured from start to finish (of course the TB-303 would go on to be fundamental to Chicago House), amazingly a private press (or at very least, a demo press), not sure how Hamilton got a hold of one at the time....It appears, unless the artist is conflated (Brian Hamilton isn't a terribly uncommon name), he is playing / writing on a few 80's AOR / Modern Soul lp's in Australia. Joseph Hornofff would go on to do drum programming for Boy George's 1989 EU only lp, and Mark Senasac engineered / mixed a variety of AOR, electronic / minimal synth lps.
Just as Charanjit Singh, in the famous, incredible "Synthesizing- Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat" 1982 lp didn't intentionally set out to make the earliest Acid House lp (I imagine if you're on this page, you're familiar with the story, if not, you are in for a treat, go now, stop reading this, listen, and read about it!), I imagine Hamilton was looking to make a killer AOR, Dance, Rock lp, something cutting-edge....
It's very possible, if he is Australian, or lived in Australia, venturing back to the US time to time, that he was able to purchase the TB-303 there, and bring it along with him for making this album. Perhaps his plan was to become an American Super Star artist, by cutting this private press / demo here, he must have had some pull / connections, as he got "Right From The Start" to appear on a Hot Tracks comp, that also has Madonna sitting on it (in 1985).
It's remarkable from front to back, some of the heaviest joints aren't up yet, the whole lp is a mind melter.
(A3 "Pleasurepain" appears to have a reoccurring DJ Scratch sound incorporated! Very likely Hamilton was up on Herbie Hancock "Rockit")
From listening, I get the sense Hamilton had been listening to Kraftwerk, electronic Herbie Hancock, Madonna's 1st album with the Jellybean infused "Holiday", very likely some Italo-Disco / early Hi-NRG releases, Hall & Oates, Michael Jackson "Thriller" ( practically every human being from 1982-1986 was listening to Thriller), a variety of Boogie / Modern Soul lp's that were heavier on synths, along with George Clinton "Computer Games", Zapp, Roger Troutman.....potentially Newcleus, and a long shot, but maybe even Cybotron (actually, there's a great chance he would have at least been exposed to "Clear", it was a big single....).
Vocoder is utilized on many tracks, and overall this is one extremely hard to pin down album (in the best way!), because the elements would suggest something more straight forward, whether that hypothetical on paper would mean Electro, Hi-NRG, Italo-Disco, Synth-Pop, etc. except it isn't.
Instead, each constitute element creates a feedback between the other, giving us something larger than the sum of it's parts.
A monster lp, in some ways it feels like he was 4-5 years ahead, in other ways lightyears ahead, there's nothing to compare it to, I suppose in a loose sense, the pure jaw-dropping sensation of listening to say Jack Adkins "American Sunset", another 1984 US private press sui generis lp that blends seamlessly country SSW outsider folk with electronic instrumentation throughout. That's the best provisional loose comparison I can think of (Charanjit Singh definitely shares the early unique TB-303 use, but they diverge, one is entirely instrumental, and literally anticipates entire Electronic Genres, but in terms of early TB-303 for a full lp, they definitely share that attribute!).
I wonder if Josh Davis knows it, given it's practically in his backyard....(It seems something Dante Carfagna would have given the full WaxPoetics "Re:Discovery" treatment, it also does have the Dante "Personal Space" Compilation feel on a few tracks....).
Probably given TB-303 is not credited, singled out (nor any synthesizers, or drum machines), it could have passed even the most diligent eyes, but the ear can tell immediately, which requires enough sensory data stimulation to pull out and put on, in this case it is somewhat camouflaged, and from everything I have gathered, legitimately rare.
Front to back, a monster, one of the most unique records you could listen to over and over and over attempting to decipher, and for pure pleasure, it's right from the start ;) " -
Peep the soundclips :)





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