Gang Of Four - Happy Now (2019)
Gang Of Four - Happy Now (2019)
EAC Rip | FLAC (Tracks) + Cue + m3u8 + Log ~ 425 Mb | MP3 CBR320 ~ 232 Mb
Full Scans | 00:40:26 | RAR 5% Recovery
Dance-Rock / Alternative Rock / Indie Rock / Post-Punk / New Wave
Gillmusic #G04-13CD
EAC Rip | FLAC (Tracks) + Cue + m3u8 + Log ~ 425 Mb | MP3 CBR320 ~ 232 Mb
Full Scans | 00:40:26 | RAR 5% Recovery
Dance-Rock / Alternative Rock / Indie Rock / Post-Punk / New Wave
Gillmusic #G04-13CD
Pioneering post-punk band, the Gang of Four were formed in the bricolage punk rock fallout culture of late seventies Leeds - a place where art was a mirror and guitars were machine guns. Gang of Four tore up the template and made sense of the question marks thrown up by year zero. They redesigned rock in the punk aftermath, taking the incendiary energy of the form and crisscrossing it with funk, stripping away the baggage of rock excess and creating a new stripped-down music that was full of agit energy, heavy grooves, shrapnel guitars and politically charged lyrics matching the fervour of the times.
The notion that the election of Donald Trump and the reality of Brexit was going to inspire a lot of great punk rock, as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher did in the '80s, hasn't worked out quite the way some people hoped. But it has encouraged a few veteran artists to tighten their thematic focus, and that seems to be the case with Gang of Four. 2015's What Happens Next – which debuted the "Gang of One" lineup with guitarist Andy Gill as the only member left from the band's glory days of the '80s – was a relatively refined and toothless work that dealt with the personal more than the political. But that's certainly not the case with 2019's Happy Now; this music is more deeply rooted in electronics than Gang of Four's best work, but here the surfaces are rougher and cut noticeably deeper, with the grooves suitable for dancing but jagged in their execution. Gill's guitar work is very much in his classic style, full of sharp shards of sound and dense clouds of feedback, and it gives Happy Now an aggressive and muscular punch, even if the guitars are sometimes deeper in the mix than they need to be.
Gang of Four have always been more comfortable with thoughtful analysis than sloganeering, and the politics of Happy Now offer no comforting singalongs for your next protest gathering. But Trump's voice gets sampled in "Alpha Male," which clearly concerns itself with some of his myriad scandals, and "Ivanka: My Name's on It" ponders the nature of complicity as it relates to the President and his family. Paranoia in an uncertain time lurks beneath the surface in "Change the Locks," the declining value of truth is the theme of "I'm a Liar" and "White Lies," and the divide between the have and have nots gets ugly in "Toreador." John "Gaoler" Sterry's efforts to sound like original Gang of Four singer Jon King sometimes backfire on him, but he fits better here than he did on What Happens Next, and bassist Thomas McNeice and percussionist Tobias Humble have learned how to generate the funky but ominous bottom line this music needs. Just how much global politics had to do with the making of Happy Now is open to debate, but this music has a clear point of view and a sense of purpose that's stronger than anything Gang of Four has offered listeners in quite some time. Saying Happy Now is the best album to bear the Gang of Four banner since 1995's Shrinkwrapped may sound like a dubious compliment, given how tepid much of their output has been, but this is taut, effective music that honors Gang of Four's heritage but succeeds on its own terms. Global crisis is good for something after all.~ Mark Deming, All Music
***************
Track List:
01. Toreador [3:35]
02. Alpha Male [4:33]
03. One True Friend [4:24]
04. Ivanka: 'My Name Is on It' [3:52]
05. Don't Ask Me [3:41]
06. Change the Locks [4:08]
07. I'm a Liar [4:10]
08. White Lies [3:44]
09. Paper Thin [3:38]
10. Lucky [4:41]
Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016
EAC extraction logfile from 15. May 2019, 22:33
Gang of Four / Happy Now
Used drive : ASUS BW-12D1S-U Adapter: 1 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Genre=%genre%" -T "Artist=%artist%" -T "Title=%title%" -T "Album=%albumtitle%" -T "Date=%year%" -T "Tracknumber=%tracknr%" -T "Comment=%comment%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:34.46 | 0 | 16095
2 | 3:34.46 | 4:33.20 | 16096 | 36590
3 | 8:07.66 | 4:24.37 | 36591 | 56427
4 | 12:32.28 | 3:52.20 | 56428 | 73847
5 | 16:24.48 | 3:41.29 | 73848 | 90451
6 | 20:06.02 | 4:07.62 | 90452 | 109038
7 | 24:13.64 | 4:09.41 | 109039 | 127754
8 | 28:23.30 | 3:43.38 | 127755 | 144517
9 | 32:06.68 | 3:38.11 | 144518 | 160878
10 | 35:45.04 | 4:40.51 | 160879 | 181929
Track 1
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\01. Toreador.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 4.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 1A7F1857
Copy CRC 1A7F1857
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [1F45CE4C] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\02. Alpha Male.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 4.9 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 5F2A3EDB
Copy CRC 5F2A3EDB
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [54746E7F] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\03. One True Friend.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 5.4 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 1AB3B761
Copy CRC 1AB3B761
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [856F1DC1] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\04. Ivanka- 'My Name Is on It'.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 5.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC F5F317FD
Copy CRC F5F317FD
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [A860D5E6] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\05. Don't Ask Me.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 5.9 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A2D4807F
Copy CRC A2D4807F
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [AACB5C08] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\06. Change the Locks.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B887867A
Copy CRC B887867A
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [CD478663] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\07. I'm a Liar.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 6.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 5C8B0552
Copy CRC 5C8B0552
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [BCF280F9] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\08. White Lies.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 6.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 34ECA64B
Copy CRC 34ECA64B
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [BF91E45F] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 9
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\09. Paper Thin.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 6.2 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 22380CE2
Copy CRC 22380CE2
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [22A51C94] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 10
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\10. Lucky.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 7.4 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 920A9D59
Copy CRC 920A9D59
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [6459075E] (AR v2)
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: 5Wup6HC5WurDwTwSRUvriZSozJs-] found
Submit result: 5Wup6HC5WurDwTwSRUvriZSozJs- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
2 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
3 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
4 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
5 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
6 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
7 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
8 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
9 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
10 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum 646925F017F5ABB566C2B7828A0F62B9C36A800EF8030BD4148E8C5467CFF451 ====
EAC extraction logfile from 15. May 2019, 22:33
Gang of Four / Happy Now
Used drive : ASUS BW-12D1S-U Adapter: 1 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Genre=%genre%" -T "Artist=%artist%" -T "Title=%title%" -T "Album=%albumtitle%" -T "Date=%year%" -T "Tracknumber=%tracknr%" -T "Comment=%comment%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:34.46 | 0 | 16095
2 | 3:34.46 | 4:33.20 | 16096 | 36590
3 | 8:07.66 | 4:24.37 | 36591 | 56427
4 | 12:32.28 | 3:52.20 | 56428 | 73847
5 | 16:24.48 | 3:41.29 | 73848 | 90451
6 | 20:06.02 | 4:07.62 | 90452 | 109038
7 | 24:13.64 | 4:09.41 | 109039 | 127754
8 | 28:23.30 | 3:43.38 | 127755 | 144517
9 | 32:06.68 | 3:38.11 | 144518 | 160878
10 | 35:45.04 | 4:40.51 | 160879 | 181929
Track 1
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\01. Toreador.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 4.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 1A7F1857
Copy CRC 1A7F1857
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [1F45CE4C] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\02. Alpha Male.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 4.9 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 5F2A3EDB
Copy CRC 5F2A3EDB
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [54746E7F] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\03. One True Friend.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 5.4 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 1AB3B761
Copy CRC 1AB3B761
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [856F1DC1] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\04. Ivanka- 'My Name Is on It'.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 5.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC F5F317FD
Copy CRC F5F317FD
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [A860D5E6] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\05. Don't Ask Me.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 5.9 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A2D4807F
Copy CRC A2D4807F
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [AACB5C08] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\06. Change the Locks.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 6.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B887867A
Copy CRC B887867A
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [CD478663] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\07. I'm a Liar.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 6.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 5C8B0552
Copy CRC 5C8B0552
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [BCF280F9] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\08. White Lies.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 6.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 34ECA64B
Copy CRC 34ECA64B
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [BF91E45F] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 9
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\09. Paper Thin.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 6.2 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 22380CE2
Copy CRC 22380CE2
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [22A51C94] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 10
Filename E:\Torrents of Autumn\Gang of Four [2019] Happy Now\10. Lucky.wav
Peak level 96.4 %
Extraction speed 7.4 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 920A9D59
Copy CRC 920A9D59
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [6459075E] (AR v2)
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: 5Wup6HC5WurDwTwSRUvriZSozJs-] found
Submit result: 5Wup6HC5WurDwTwSRUvriZSozJs- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
2 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
3 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
4 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
5 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
6 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
7 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
8 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
9 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
10 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum 646925F017F5ABB566C2B7828A0F62B9C36A800EF8030BD4148E8C5467CFF451 ====