The Bridge

Currently listening to Thomas Leer & Robert Rental's 1979 album The Bridge... I chanced upon the video for Laurie Anderson's O Superman last night and made a mental note to listen to some minimal electronics today, so I pulled out one of my favorites. Thomas Leer & Robert Rental's one-off collaboration takes its cue from Bowie's Low, the 1st side contains a set of excellent, catchy electro-pop numbers (including the fabulously infectious Monochrome Day), while the flipside is reserved for more abstract, instrumental experiments. The liner notes comes with thanks to Throbbing Gristle for the loan of recording equipment and support and advises: "All blips and unseemly noises were generated by refrigerators & other domestic appliances & are intrinsic to the music" Industrial Records originally put this out and I'm guessing the moody cover image, a late evening shot of London's Albert bridge was the work of Peter Christopherson. It reminds me of the similarly atmospheric image of the Oakland bridge for the Mission of Dead Souls LP.