An essential set of monochrome synth-psalms from 3 of electronic music's pioneers. For a record that largely consists of harsh drones, linear relentless beats and ghostly electronic soundscapes, Duet Emmo’s sole 1983 release Or So It Seems possesses an inspired playful nature. A collaboration between Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis of legendary UK post-punk outfit Wire and The Normal / Mute founder Daniel Miller, even their name is a cheeky bit of wordplay. An anagram of Dome (the moniker of Gilbert and Lewis’ proto-industrial project) and Mute, it also works as an apt descriptor of their music.
Equal parts primitive noise and awkward machine funk, Duet Emmo virtually splits the difference between Dome and Miller’s The Normal project, making for an uncanny sampler of the Mute sound at the time. While some songs like the haunting title track hue closer to synthpop of the era with a minimalist bent, most of Or So It Seems is far more experimental. The LP’s nearly seventeen minute centrepiece ‘Long Sledge’ squeezes shocking tension out of little more than some distant percussion and audio relics of a subway train lurching through a post-apocalyptic metropolis.
Speaking to us directly from 1983, Duet Emmo exists in the past but still feels like the future, or so it seems, at least.
Duet Emmo
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- Artist
- Duet Emmo
- ReleaseProduct
- Or So It Seems (Remastered)
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- ILSTUMM11
- Release Date
- August 19, 2022
- LP (special)
- CD
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- Artist
- Duet Emmo
- ReleaseProduct
- Heart Of Hearts (Or So It Seems)
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- I2LSTUMM11
- Release Date
- July 13, 2022
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Mute
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- Artist
- A Certain Ratio
- ReleaseProduct
- Loco Live at Hope Mills Studios
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- IMSTUMM454
- Release Date
- December 22, 2023
- CD
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- Artist
- Mick Harvey, Amanda Acevedo
- ReleaseProduct
- Phantasmagoria in Blue
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- ISTUMM493
- Release Date
- September 1, 2023
- Download
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- Artist
- Laibach
- ReleaseProduct
- IRON SKY : THE COMING RACE (The Original Soundtrack)
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- ISTUMM482
- Release Date
- June 30, 2023
- Download
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- Artist
- Swans
- ReleaseProduct
- The Beggar
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- ISTUMM498
- Release Date
- June 23, 2023
- LP
- CD
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- Artist
- Maps
- ReleaseProduct
- Counter Mixes
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- IMSTUMM488
- Release Date
- June 9, 2023
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- Artist
- Jake Shears
- ReleaseProduct
- Last Man Dancing
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- ISTUMM487
- Release Date
- June 2, 2023
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- Artist
- Daniel Blumberg
- ReleaseProduct
- GUT
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- I0STUMM498
- Release Date
- May 26, 2023
- LP
- CD
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- Artist
- Swans
- ReleaseProduct
- Los Angeles: City of Death
- Label
- Mute
- Catalogue Number
- I2STUMM489
- Release Date
- May 24, 2023
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