Blue Aeroplanes
Fire Records
From within a haze of English synth groups, The Blue Aeroplanes established themselves as a compelling avant-garde rock band in the mid '80s. The Bristol group mixes beat poetry with diverse instruments to make rock rooted in the styles of The Velvet Underground and Elvis Costello. Their extensive lineup has always featured at least seven members, allowing them to explore elements of rock, folk, poetry, turntablism, samples, and art. The group revolves around leader and poet Gerard Langley, his brother, drummer and percussionist John Langley, guitarist Nick Jacobs, multi-instrumentalist Dave Chapman, and dancer Wojtek Dmochowski.
The Blue Aeroplanes' debut album Bop Art appeared in 1984 on the Abstract label. Tolerance, featured here, was the group's second album, released by the emerging Fire Records. 1987's Spitting Out Miracles (also featured) was the first Aeroplanes album released in the U.S. After a double compilation CD release in 1988, the group returned in the '90s with a slightly more straightforward approach and on an imprint of a Chrysalis Records with the album Swagger. The group released several albums for Chrysalis, including the acclaimed Beatsongs, and then moved to Beggars Banquet to release two albums that eluded commercial success but again enjoyed critical praise. The band took a long time off after their 1995 album Rough Sound, although they continued to release compilations, including the one here, Fruit, a batch of live favorites released in 1996. The Aeroplanes resurfaced in the 2000 with the album Cavaliers and again proved their knack for originality and creativity with a collection of prog recordings spliced together into a single piece.
Justin Sinkovich
last updated:
10/03/02
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