Ennui / Impulse

Ester Zoobes: Callous World / Hollow Tubes Gira Records (1980) You think I'm joking / when I say you are choking Ester Zoobes apparently came from Bristol, but her only single was released first in France and, a little later, in Portugal. It wasn't a hit in either country, and her invasion of Europe halted there. Ester has a very English voice that occasionally hovers on the threshold of being shrill. The songs, as you might guess by the titles, are great: nippy synth tracks that, like so many records of the time, are obsessed with the slippery surface of consumerism and the trials and tribulations of living in a society permanently on the edge of catching fire, either through indifference or design. Callous World  is a busy ditty with ping pong percussion and ska organ that seemingly approaches the cruelty and selfishness of modern life with a jaded tone, more exhausted than exasperated. Human nature is just nature, after all, why wouldn't it be red in to

Marine: Life In Reverse / Marenas Bop / Scrub  Les Disques Du Crépuscule (1981) It's about time this weblog brought the funk, and trust the Belgians to be the ones to bring it.  After centuries of of minimal musical influence, Benelux bands were everywhere in the 1980s, mainly via  Les Disques Du Crépuscule ,  one of the most successful independent labels of the era. Like their UK counterpart Factory there was no end to their pretension and ambition and the label ended up running a fancy bistro in Brussels, which is perhaps why their label name always makes me think of pancakes. Life in Reverse features punctual bass and drums and some groovy work on at least two guitars further complemented by nondescript vocals and an incomprehensible lyric ('I'm such a happy'). This is punctuated by a bongo beat down, some party time whistles and a sax on the edge of a nervous breakdown. It's an arch and s lightly self-conscious record, as if the group are aw