If there's one thing I'm a huge sucker for, it's big solo musical projects. Growing up on Nine Inch Nails and then graduating to Foetus, I really admire the drive of these guys who with nothing but their own skills and a few session players here and there can construct music that rivals that of many proper bands. I'd heard a few good things about The The (one memorable description was "Foetus lite" from some commenter in the depths of Youtube), but I'd not actually heard the music till recently. Doing one of my usual music exchanges, a buddy of mine throws me a copy of Soul Mining, telling me he'd spent a solid week listening to pretty much nothing but it.
Well, I'll get this out of the way, it's not quite that good. I couldn't really even see myself listening to something I'm immensely fond of that much. It is, however, a tragically forgotten gem of early 80s pop. The The's de facto leader Matt Johnson rips through countless genres (from driving dance-oriented synth pop to Bowie-esque minimalist rock) with the assistance of a pile of no-name session jobber and some shocking guest stars (including TV host Jools Holland on piano and motherfucking J.G. Thirlwell. Johnson gets a bit too ambitious with the genre-hopping, but when he focuses on just doing straight-up pop he shows a good ear for a catchy melody and the drum machines on the opener "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" are excellent dancefloor bait. The nine and a half minute "Giant" is also commendable for managing to craft a hook that remains listenable for the entire length of the track, with a four minute percussion breakdown that combines African polyrhythms with the typical digital percussion of most early synth pop to make an interesting listening experience. All told, the disc is a glorious relic of the early 80s, misfiring a few times but with enough moments of brilliance to justify the screw-ups. Definitely worth pursuing if you're after synth stuff a bit more challenging than the usual fare.
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