A Certain Ratio Live America 1985
Mancunian post-punk/funk group A Certain Ratio stylistically veered from “Love Will Tear Us Apart” to […]
Mancunian post-punk/funk group A Certain Ratio stylistically veered from “Love Will Tear Us Apart” to “Love Rollercoaster” in seven years. Named after a Brian Eno song and contemporaries of (yet overshadowed by) Joy Division, this Factory Records group was recorded live to cassette during a 1985 American tour supporting New Order. By this point ACR‘s performance was only 25 percent menace with 25 percent murk and 50 percent motorik funk akin to Liquid Liquid/ESG; the sax-laden Live America 1985 foreshadows-though thankfully escapes-their descent into lite Latin jazz. Live showcases gloom to gleam, low-pitched slither to marshaled percussion, and represents a certain ratio of each of the band‘s phases. And they even cover New York/Northern Soul disco-funk classic “Shack Up” by Banbarra-now that‘s range.