Friday, June 15, 2018

The Senses Bureau ‎- Love And Industry ep (1986, Euroamerican) & Edge of the Wedge - Chime ep (1984, EW)

Ok, decided to fulfill a couple of requests...for records I don't actually own.  Was able to track down digital files of them however, and pretty clean and discernible ones at that.  While I can't offer much in the way of a history of either the Senses Bureau or Edge of the Wedge, I'll be happy to reveal a few precious shreds of personal insight.

The Senses Bureau seemed intent on bifurcating their Love and Industry ep, ostensibly as a means to illustrate their conflicting sonic motifs.  The first two songs, "Dress for Success" and the title track are firmly cut from pedestrian post-punk cloth (think, The Fixx, maybe C.S. Angels).  Fairly convincing at that I might add, but the remainder of this record mines a less encumbered, singer/songwriter bent, one that's rote and sometimes too nondescript for the Bureau's own good.   Quite frankly, Love and Industry often resembles the work of two distinct artists - but I can think of far worse ways to kill twenty minutes.

Edge of the Wedge however had something more consistent going for them, at least on what appears to be their lone EP.   Five decent, if not halfway to that point, slices of low-key wave-pop is what these Louisiana residents bequeathed to listeners almost 35 years ago in the guise of Chime.  There were some cheeky undertones for sure baked into a couple of their tunes (see "Animated Lover"), but never overpowering enough to mar an otherwise benign listening experience.  A create reinterpretation of the Kink's "You Really Got Me" caps off this nifty five-songer.  Enjoy (or not).

The Senses Bureau - Love and Industry ep
01. Dress for Sex
02. Love and Industry
03. Big Brother
04. Push & Pull
05. Bellie du Jour
06. Lost for Words

Edge of the Wedge - Chime ep
01. She Loves by #s
02. You're the One
03. Tu Dois
04. Animated Lover
05  You Really Got Me

Senses Bureau: Hear
Edge of the Wedge: Hear

8 comments:

DeathDealer said...

Thank You! Another great share

mmraku said...

I'm married to the drummer for Senses Bureau. If you really want a copy of the ep we have a few boxes left!

Unknown said...

I was the bass player for The Senses Bureau, and if there are really any copies of the EP left, I'd love to have one.

In the meantime, here's what I've been working on most recently, which is a departure from that band's sound:

https://www.youtube.com/user/digtheswingset/videos

Ben said...

And I was the bass player that replaced Alex, the bass player listed just above.

So I'm not on this record, but I played the music for a year and would also love to own a copy of this. Where can one find these EPs, mmraku?

Alex Szantos said...

ahh the zippyshare links have gone dead :( any chance you could reupload ? thank you so much, love the blog and your write ups

Ben said...

Someone posted a bit of Love and Industry to YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt4uX3QRHBE

mmraku said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mmraku said...
This comment has been removed by the author.