Electronic Sound Issue 139 arrives with Scritti Politti legend Green Gartside on the cover, bundled with an exclusive limited edition gold vinyl seven-inch featuring two of the group's much-loved mid-1980s classics: Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) and Perfect Way. Inside, an exclusive interview with Green marks the reissue of Scritti Politti's Songs To Remember (1982) and Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985), two brilliant albums that took the band from scratchy post-punk outsiders to electropop giants. The second of these releases gave them no less than four hit singles and led to encounters with luminaries such as Kraftwerk, Miles Davis and Nile Rodgers. It was certainly a totally different world to the scuzzy squats where Green had started his music career. "I was like a non-league player suddenly thrown straight into a Premiership side," he says. "It was exhilarating, but also excruciating."
The supporting cast includes Mouse On Mars, whose latest album is an awesome collaboration with Lee "Scratch" Perry recorded a couple of years before the dub kingpin died, while Fluke discuss updating some of their pioneering tracks for a new compilation and Luke Vibert explains why he's revived his Plug project. There's also AR Kane, Richard Pinhas, Kogg and La Sécuritié, plus a fascinating article on filmmaker Mark Jenkin, who produces his own electronic scores using a tape loop designed by Brian Eno.
The accompanying seven-inch is a limited edition gold vinyl pressing featuring two of the best-known songs on Scritti Politti's Cupid & Psyche 85 album. The A-side is Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin), a gorgeous blend of pop and funk dynamics that became the group's first UK Top 10 hit when it was released as a single in February 1984. That synth bassline is still a killer more than four decades on. The flip is the similarly poppy and sinewy Perfect Way, a huge track for Scritti Politti in the US, reaching Number 11 in the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1985, staying on the chart for almost six months and later covered by Miles Davis.
As with all Electronic Sound releases, this seven-inch is only available with the magazine.
