Description:
Originally released in 1984 with the title We Hate You South African Bastards, Love Your Enemies is a patchy but fascinating collection of Microdisney's early work. At this stage, the balance between the impeccable west coast pop pastiches of Sean O'Hagan and the lyrical ferocity of Cathal Coughland was still erratic--it would reach full bloom with the Crooked Mile and 39 Minutes albums--but workable enough to signify that Microdisney were going to be something special, even if the general public never quite got around to acknowledging the fact. Love Your Enemies has all the hallmarks of pop juvenilia: tinny production, occasion
Originally released in 1984 with the title We Hate You South African Bastards, Love Your Enemies is a patchy but fascinating collection of Microdisney's early work. At this stage, the balance between the impeccable west coast pop pastiches of Sean O'Hagan and the lyrical ferocity of Cathal Coughland was still erratic--it would reach full bloom with the Crooked Mile and 39 Minutes albums--but workable enough to signify that Microdisney were going to be something special, even if the general public never quite got around to acknowledging the fact. Love Your Enemies has all the hallmarks of pop juvenilia: tinny production, occasional over-elaboration and, in Coughlan's case, a rich Cork accent still undulled by the duo's relocation to London (in later years, Coughlan would develop a fine, malevolent croon that resembled Roy Orbison with a grudge). Even now, however, Coughlan--who deserves to be measured among the very finest pop lyricists--was displaying a rare facility for language and an unerring instinct for absurdity. "Helicopter Of The Holy Ghost" and "Michael Murphy" both deploy their words with a gleeful violence, and there can be little doubt whose idea it was to title O'Hagan's polite instrumentals "Patrick Moore Says You Can't Sleep Here" and "Pretoria Quickstep". Love Your Enemies also contains Microdisney's first truly realised moment: "Loftholdingswood", something like a Steely Dan radio hit with words by Jonathan Swift. Coughlan's taunt of "Aren't you glad you were born in England?" remains a benchmark for sarcasm in music. --Andrew Mueller
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Manufacturer: Revola
Release date: 9 March 1998
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 5025006630421 UPC: 5025006630421
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