RUBBERLEGS: Leg Warmers Reheated

Rubberlegs

Leg Warmers Reheated

© 2003 Gordon P. Smith (634479742828)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

SPECIAL: 10% discount if you buy more than one copy of it today!

(About MP3 downloads at CD Baby)

Rubberlegs is occasionally danceable electro-poprock with a bent experimental edge that veers between the sickly wrong and the richly spacy. The best all-electronic band you never heard in the '80s and '90s.

tracks

1 China Too
2 People Who Talk in Elevators
3 Hotprint (The Old Input-Output)
4 Bound & Gagged (preview mix)
5 Vain for Fun (live)
6 Sick of these Pegs (live)
7 Is it So Hard for You? (live)
8 Puppy-Wave Radio (live)
9 Cocktails on the Tundra (instrumental mix)
10 CONDUIT 1: Night Water Raft
11 CONDUIT 2: Glass Passage
12 CONDUIT 3: Treat
13 CONDUIT 4: Andreas' Fault I
14 CONDUIT 5: Waterwheels
15 CONDUIT 6: Andreas' Fault II
16 CONDUIT 7: Morning Sadhana
17 CONDUIT 8: Pipers' Procession
18 CONDUIT 9: Constructors' Rally
19 CONDUIT 10: A Frenzy of Carpentry

try this

albums you will love

genres you will love

By Location

Recommended if you like ...

notes

Rubberlegs began life as three musically codependent friends, practicing an improvised form of at-home group therapy as they attempted to work through many lifetimes' worth of karmic buildup. Their apartment was the instrument of choice, centered as it was around an array of favored synthesizers and sound processing devices, while not sparing other surfaces which were equally well abused. Microphones were scraped in and out of levis jeans and across exposed brick walls, banged against corningware casserole dishes and liquid-filled crystal wine glasses. Primitive personal computers and delays were strong-armed into playing jarringly hypnotic loops of sounds, captured live from the air and circuitry around them, while the three 'legs jumped through sound banks, keyboards, percussion devices and masonry, adding spice to the mix. A tape was always rolling in record mode, and thus were born the varied sounds of "Leg Warmers Reheated," in crazed spontaneous emissions of live experimentation. Many of these sessions were later deconstructed, and reformed as the inspirations for the more structured pop songs that begin this recording.

"Leg Warmers Reheated" is a collection of some of the best electronic music that you never heard in the '80s and '90s. It may well be the first retrospective that was ever released BEFORE the individual songs that it recaps! This irony is not lost on Rubberlegs, whose songs "China Too" and "People Who Talk in Elevators" were finally heard by MP3.com's masses in May 2000 (which put them in the top 5 of the New Wave chart for weeks), and were first performed live in public soon thereafter. The truth is, the 'legs were having so much fun back in the day, making sense and meaning out of all these wonderful noises, that it never occurred to them that they had a duty to expose themselves and their wacky sound palette to the rest of the world. How wrong they were.

Rubberlegs continues to perform in and around their home base, New York City, and in such far-flung places as West Virginia and Austin, Texas. True to their live roots, they play without any backing tracks or drum machines: every sound you hear at a Rubberlegs show originates directly from their own fingers and voices.

www.rubberlegs.com
myspace.com/rubberlegs
cdbaby.com/all/rubberlegs


Don't miss Rubberlegs' newest CD, just released:
=== "The Timinator :: Boyfriends, Vol. 1," ===
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rubberlegs2

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • Steal it or Buy it but GET IT NOW!
    author: Arthur Barry

    This is a GOTTA HAVE CD! Period. Great stuff.

  • RUBBERLEGS: "Leg Warmers-- Reheated": a review
    author: Jed Ryan, PM Entertainment Magazine

    RUBBERLEGS: "Leg Warmers-- Reheated": a review: "Electropop with a different kind of fizz and a zap to the nerves" and ""flexibly danceable electronic rock with an experimental edge" is how the self-styled group Rubberlegs describe their music-- and indeed, the music of these NYC-based musicians is ripe with quirky vocal and technological innovations, infused with a playful and humorous sensibility throughout a majority of the CD. The title alone of the CD, "Leg Warmers-- Reheated", immediately evokes one of the campiest (or tackiest?) fashion statements of the '80's, along with those "Frankie Says Relax" T-shirts. Yes, in case you haven't guessed by the "leg warmers" part or judged from the CD cover art, Rubberlegs' sound definitely has an "'80's" flavor to it... but Rubberlegs' style is more related to the music of OMD, early Depeche Mode, Howard Jones, The Flying Lizards, and New Order (without the suicidal afterthoughts) rather than Whitesnake and Poison. The "Reheated" part is because this "retro"-spective CD is a collection of songs written by the band's original members (Gordon "Peg Rubberleg" Smith, Thomas J. "Bunny Lake" Rolani, and the late Robert Mesrach) mostly from 1983 to 1989, and newly remastered in 2003. "Leg Warmers-- Reheated" is now available for a whole new generation to enjoy, especially those who enjoyed lighthearted, escapist 80's pop music. Yep, this is the same genre of music that everyone danced and sang along to at the time, yet humorless music critics (What do they know anyway?) so mercilessly assaulted as being too "fluffy" and relying too much on electronic FX. But Rubberlegs' music isn't just nostalgia for those of us who grew up with Rubik's Cube, PacMan, Dep for Men Hairspray (remember that?) , and "Square Pegs (No pun intended, Gordon...)". Regardless of '80's flavor, Rubberlegs' music has a timeless quality to it. This can't be more clearly evidenced than by the reception that the band gets as they continue to perform classics like "People Who Talk in Elevators" in 2005. The praise for "Leg Warmers-- Reheated" has largely been due to three catchy, instantly addicitive songs which became electro-pop favorites on MP3, independent radio stations, and at live shows-- whether the audience is gay, straight, male, or female. The songs are "China Too", "People Who Talk in Elevators", and "Hotprint". "China Too" has a sound which can only be described as "electro-oriental pop" (Think of it as a companion track to The Vapors' 1980 "Turning Japanese"), while "People Who Talk in Elevators" will keep you re-playing the track again and again just to hear the outrageously funny spoken word segements interwoven with the beats. "Hotprint", the sexiest song ever written about...typsetting (!), squeezes as many sexual double entendres into a five-minute song as possible ("You make me moist, my ink flows free; I am a tool of typography. You are my type, I'm your brand it seems; We will create dirty magazines... [Insert your disk in my drive; I never said it was floppy!"...])’". The music takes a different turn with "Bound and Gagged", the title of which is a bittersweet exploration of the twists and turns of a long-term relationship. Gordon Smith, the group's main vocalist, serves us a laid-back, pensive delivery on that track which actually exhibits his vocal style and range more than any of the other songs on the CD. Starting with Track 5, "Vain For Fun", the CD takes he music to an even more eccentric and slightly darker level. "Vain For Fun" features an anxious tone and moody vocals by Robert Mesrach, and then we get the track "Lost My Legs", which is sorta disturbing along the same lines that made Yaz' 1982 "I Before E Except After C" so creepy. When our protagonist's vocals finally become clear on that track, the meaning and underlying story of "Lost My Legs" hits us like a bullet. The second half of "Leg Warmers-- Reheated" is composed of a 26 minute segment called "Conduit", which is largely instrumental, and mostly on the experimental side. Even though it's free from lyrics, these wordless segments on the CD dispel any preconceived notions that electronic music with a minimum or absense of of vocals can't evoke emotion. The moods which arise range from trippy and playful ("Puppy-Wave Radio") to more ethereal, dreamy, mysterious, and cryptic sounds. Towards the end of the CD, there are some upbeat touches on the final movements ("Constructors' Rally" and "A Frenzy of Carpentry") which seem to complete a pathway some may describe as (1) Golden Age, (2) Tragedy, and (3) Rebirth. Rubberlegs' own long, fascinating, winding history clearly seemed to follow this pattern as well. (And you can read that history in great detail at www.Rubberlegs.com/BioLong.) Is it art subconsciously mimicking life? Or life mimicking art? Who knows... The real question with this innovative group (now consisting of Gordon Smith, Thomas J. Rolanti, and drummer Anthony Maulella), is "What's next?". Since Rubberlegs succeeded in pushing the boundaries of electro-pop music through the '80's and '90's, why not continue breaking boundaries in 2005? Check out www.Rubberlegs.com.

  • In Constant Rotation!
    author: Tom & Allan a.k.a BUDDY

    A wonderful collection of songs....from the pop-synth favorites China Too and People Who Talk in Elevators to the opposite end of the spectrum - the ambient sounds of the mysterious Conduit Suite. We keep discovering another favorite after every playback. The engineering quality and production of this release is spotless! You can tell immediately that this CD was quite personal to Gordon & Bunny. Can't wait for the next Rubberlegs release!

  • croons over RUBBERLEGS's perky electropop sound in a most engaging way
    author: Robert Urban

    Handsome lead singer Gordon Smith croons over RUBBERLEGS's perky electro-pop sound in a most engaging way. His sparse, well-sung phrasings are punctuated here & there by various dubbed-in spoken words, vocal chirps, falsetto tweets and whispered asides. Gordon’s innocent, earnest & self-effacing delivery is at once both charming and disarming. One cannot help but love this guy - a sort of kinder, gentler David Byrne. Gordon also displays a gift for witty, double-entendre-laced lyrics - evident in humorous songs like "Hotprint" and "People who Talk in Elevators". (hint - anyone who's day job is in a corporate/office environment will especially dig Gordon's clever observations). My personal fav song on "Reheated" is the preview mix of "Bound & Gagged" - unusual in it's rockier style and perhaps a harbinger of heavier RUBBERLEGS fare to come. Read full review at: http://roberturban.com/reviewrubberlegscd.html

  • As talented as they are twisted... absolutely brilliant!
    author: *V*I*R*G*O*

    Rubberlegs is one of the most unique, innovative electronic acts around. Their immense creativity, bent (but incredibly smart) sense of humor, and virtuoso programming and production make them a strong antidote for the recent epidemic of electro-mediocrity. They're as talented as they are twisted, and absolutely brilliant. Take two pegs and call me in the morning.

  • Retro Yet Innovative
    author: Roland Tec

    This CD is awesome! The material is clever, fun and very well recorded. I especially love the sound of Gordon's voice. Like buttah! This one's a keeper. I wake up to this CD almost every day. Now I can't wait for their next one! Hurry up, guys!

email

Please log in to email this artist.