NEW BIRTH

Alan had always experimented with his own individual ideas (alongside his rather higher profile as the now acknowledged musical formulator of Depeche Mode) but it wasn't until Dan Miller heard some of his demos (recorded on a 4-track cassette machine) and asked him to reproduce them, that the reality of Recoil as a solo project came to light. The early Recoil recordings revealed Alan's position as a pioneer in the newly emerging world of sampling technology and demonstrated how he could turn the Depeche sound around to create something entirely new.

Simply entitled '1 + 2', his first collection of primitive demos, though completed in the early 80's, was inconspicuously released as a mini-album in the summer of 1986, alongside Depeche Mode's top five album, 'Black Celebration'.

"'1 + 2' is completely synthesizer based yet bears no resemblance to the pretty pop ponderings of the group. Mostly of an instrumental nature, some of it pulsates in the traditional sense but serves mainly as ambience. It is nice to see D. Mode's members branch out into serious musical ventures rather than take the easy route of producing merely bubble gum pabulum."

Dance music report