![]() If you simply allow yourself to see what is, instead of assigning meaning to the subject, you have made the leap to an artistic endeavor. If you idealize the subject you are trying to draw, you will be distracted by concepts you attach to it. What’s more, books have a hard time relating exactly how to go about doing this because they are by definition conceptual. This is an ability we all have, we just don’t tend to nurture it. There are countless books that talk about drawing, and offer useful technical information, but few if any illuminate a fundemental stumbling block in learning to draw: in order to draw well, one must submit to a NONconceptual mode of observation. Most people don’t know how to draw, or at least they don’t think they have the ability to draw as well as those who appear exceptionally ‘talented.’ The reality is drawing is a learned skill, and ANYONE can eventually render likenesses to some degree of proficiency. On the whole, OMD deserve respect and adoration for their contribution to British pop music.Let me make an analogy about types of understanding and how we define and observe things – an analogy that pertains to a subject noone can claim I’m not an expert in. Still, all the hits are impeccably performed live and 80s nostalgia junkies will be satisfied. ![]() Indeed, upon cursory viewing it serves little purpose except to exhibit dodgy clothing, even dodgier dancing (witness McCluskey during their 1982 Drury Lane performance of Julia’s Song) and cringe-worthy miming/posturing in the music videos. The bonus tracks are by no means fillers either, as Sacred Heart illustrates.įor a band whose music is best enjoyed, as their name suggests, in the invisible shadows, an accompanying DVD is something of a liability. Highlights include the winsome songwriting of Souvenir and She’s Leaving plus the meditative instrumentals Architecture & Morality and Sealand. ![]() So a second coming of the album is important. Similarly their lineage to Bloc Party and the like goes unnoticed.Ĭonsidering that OMD had been long-time collaborators in the late-70s working as VCL XI on 'digital echoes' of Kraftwerk and Eno (employing tape collages, home-made kit-built synthesisers, and circuit-bent radios) they certainly possessed the requisite vision and creative compulsion. ![]() Its predecessor, Organisation, for all its sonic ambition, was overly challenging and its follow-up Dazzle Ships lacked as many memorable songs.Īs the reformed group prepares to tour the UK in May (2007), there is no better time to reconsider their contemplative, surreal and at times rather austere soundscapes, reminiscent of early 80s contemporaries including Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, The Human League and The Cure.Ĭrucially, despite similar penchants for stark and portentous drum pads, sparse chiming keys and historical references in their lovelorn lyrics, OMD never achieved the same level of recognition, either here or aboard. This third album from the bruised nucleus of bassist/singer Andy McCluskey and keyboardist/electronics enthusiast Paul Humphreys is often regarded as their seminal work, not least because it achieved critical and commercial success: over three million sales and several top 10 hits. After a delay in 2006, New Romantics old and new can enjoy the highly anticipated release of OMD’s Architecture and Morality, remastered and enhanced with DVD footage. ![]()
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