John Foxx compilations across the years Part 4

Moving on from 2001 to 2008 and the next John Foxx compilation that was to emerge, ‘Glimmer: Best of John Foxx’. The metamatic.com website’s cryptic summary for 2008 states “Interlude. Operation by proxy and semantic extension. Despatched a couple of robot agents to the other side of the world, and hid in Durham Cathedral. Partial manifestation in the cobbled squares of Europe. An interrupted radio broadcast from Shinjuku. Remixed and remastered. Ambushed in Bethnal Green by Dub-terrorist Editions, Ltd armed with sprayguns – fended them off with x-ray vision and an old suit.”

‘Remixed and remastered’ was the order of the day here for the particular items of interest, with ‘Glimmer: Best of John Foxx’ acting as an advance landing party in September for a fuller scale double-disc CD remastering re-issue programme for three of John’s Virgin-era albums following shortly thereafter in October 2008. As for the remixing…more on that later under ‘Additionally of interest..’ below.

‘Glimmer: Best Of John Foxx’ UK compilation 2 x CD (Music Club Deluxe, MCDLX097, 2008)

By this point in time, Foxx was well and truly back for over a decade now after having re-activated his long dormant circuitry with 1997’s live partnership with Louis Gordon and the release of the ‘Shifting City’ album. This compilation takes in a hefty amount of the early period solo Foxx period with ‘Metamatic’ and satellite single releases, a few from ‘The Garden’, and then a smattering of further Virgin era tracks before making a smart move of including Ultravox-era classics in re-recorded form (including an absolutely wonderful ‘My Sex’), but goes surprisingly light on the albums from the ’00s that immediately precede this compilation, such as ‘Crash and Burn’ and ‘From Trash’, which have no representation here.

In quite a significant coup, the sleeve notes are provided by none other than the late and lamented Mark Fisher (aka k-punk). A fifteen minute or so read, these are wonderful – sleeve notes can be so hit and miss, but these do a wonderful service to Foxx’s work and serve to illustrate what a loss Fisher’s passing has been. A good selection of photos of Foxx from Ultravox era onwards also grace the booklet. (The CD itself comes in a card slipcase as well as the more standard two-disc jewel case cover.)

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Tracklist:

Disc 1:

1. Glimmer (3’38”)
2. Plaza (3’55”) [from ‘Metamatic’]
3. No-One Driving (Single Version) (3’46”)
4. Underpass (4’00”) [from ‘Metamatic’]
5. Quiet City (5’06”) [from ‘The Pleasures Of Electricity’] ‡
6. Dislocation (The Omnidelic Exotour Version) (4’39”) [from ‘Exotour 1997’ EP] ‡
7. 030 (3’22”) [from ‘Metamatic’]
8. Twilight’s Last Gleaming (4’25”) [from ‘The Golden Section’]
9. Sunset Rising (2’38”) [from ‘Cathedral Oceans’]
10. Cities Of Light 5 (Alternative Version) (5’18”) [from ‘The Pleasures Of Electricity’ 2009 double-CD version] ‡
11. Europe After The Rain (4’02”) [from ‘The Garden’]
12. Hiroshima Mon Amour (The Omnidelic Exotour Version) (5’04”) [from ‘Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour’] ‡
13. The Garden (7’10”) [from ‘The Garden’]

Disc 2:

1. Through My Sleeping (5’01”) [from ‘Shifting City’] ‡
2. Endlessly (1982 Single Version) (3’50”)
3. My Sex (Alternative Version) (7’46”) [from ‘Live From A Room (As Big As A City)’] ‡
4. He’s A Liquid (3’03”) [from ‘Metamatic’]
5. Car Crash Flashback V2 (4’19”) [from ‘Sideways’] ‡
6. Dancing Like A Gun (4’11”) [from ‘The Garden’]
7. Just For A Moment (The Omnidelic Exotour Version) (4’08”) [from ‘Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour’] ‡
8. Dislocated (Radio Edit) (3’53”) †
9. Burning Car (3’16”)
10. Miles Away (3’19”)
11. Stepping Sideways (3’45”) [from ‘Drift Music’] *
12. Free Robot (7’18”) **
13. No-One Driving (Early Version) (3’57”)
14. Plaza (Extended Version) (4’54”)
15. Burning Car (Dubterror/Karborn Mix) (4’39”)

All tracks by John Foxx except where noted, as follows:
‡ John Foxx and Louis Gordon
† Jori Hulkkonen with John Foxx
* John Foxx with Harold Budd
** Metamatics with John Foxx

As can be seen from the tracklist, this compilation sources its material from a variety of differing releases and in general gives a pretty good account of Foxx’s work and, to some degree, collaborations, with perhaps a heavier emphasis on those first two solo albums, to be fair.

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What is / was unique to this compilation?

There were two tracks unique to this compilation at the time of release (at least on CD format) and three ‘of interest’ to Foxx collectors who may not have been able to track down the originals on other artists releases.

‘No-One Driving’ (Early Version) (3’57”) – a small extract of this had previously been issued on the ‘Metal Beat’ interview CD, here it was in its full duration.

‘Plaza’ (Extended Version) (4’54”) – again, a small extract had been included previously on the ‘Metal Beat’ interview CD, included in full here and noted in the booklet as having been restored from a damaged tape.

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‘Additionally of interest…’

For Foxx collectors without the time, energy or resources to seek out every unique, original release, there are three welcome additions to be found on this CD:

• ‘Burning Car’ (Dubterror / Karborn Mix) (4’39”) – This was issued a week before the release of the ‘Glimmer’ compilation on a very limited edition vinyl only 12” single, coupled with a Dubterror / Karborn mix of ‘20th Century’. Other than the 12” single, I think this compilation is its only other physical release.
• ‘Dislocated’ (3’53”) by Jori Hulkkonen with John Foxx – this is the ‘Radio Edit’ version of the song that was released on a CD EP in 2005 and in its longer (7’44”) ‘Album Version’ on the Jori Hulkkonen album ‘Dualizm’ from the same year. (There’s also a vinyl 12” with various remixes of the song too.)
• ‘Free Robot’ (7’18”) by Metamatics with John Foxx – this is the ‘album version’, originally released back in 2005 on the Metamatics’ album ‘3 Jak and Dive’ – also issued on a vinyl 12” single with ‘Radio Edit’ version too. The ‘Radio Edit’ version also saw a release on a 2007 compilation, ‘My Favourite Kind Of Irrelevance 1997–2007’

So, although technically these are not exclusive to this CD, for the casual John Foxx collector it is good to have them on a compilation such as this, I feel.

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Where can the exclusives be sourced now?

Both ‘No-One Driving’ (Early Version) (3’57”) and ‘Plaza’ (Extended Version) (4’54”) were included on the 2018 3xCD deluxe edition reissue of ‘Metamatic’.

So, while there is some degree of overlap with the previously featured ‘Modern Art: The Best of John Foxx’ compilation CD, there’s a good deal here of interest and a smattering of exclusives or hard to finds dangled to ensure interest.