ULTRAMARINE RULES
a biased look back by Ian C Stewart
"It was up in the mountains... We had this ceremony every year..." - opening sample of Every Man And Woman Is A Star
My first encounter with Ultramarine was in 1992, on the Communion Tour, which came to Boston. Meat Beat Manifesto was the headliner, Orbital went on second, and Ultramarine opened the show.
The entire event was an eye-opener to me, as an avowed (and recovering) metalhead. It was the first gig of that type that I ever went to. By "that type" I mean it wasn't a bunch of rock or metal bands.
The only thing the three acts on the Communion Tour had in common was the aspect of the audience being able to dance to their music. MBM, with their hard-edged, aggressively funky, political songs and sample-crazy instrumentals; Orbital, which was two guys up in a booth, playing one song for 45 minutes; and Ultramarine, which came off as almost a live new age band - they had a full band with bass, drums, keyboards, maybe an acoustic guitar.
Ultramarine was the first group I ever saw twiddling mixing-board knobs onstage. I remember thinking at the time "why not just put the soundman onstage, so we can watch him twisting dials all night too? And the lighting guy as well! Get 'em all up here!"
Their live set blew me away. I recall films being projected behind them - of things like flying and floating in air, which may not even be true, it's just how I remember it! Their music was almost aggressively friendly. The songs had righteous grooves and great melodies, and the band seemed to genuinely appreciate the applause between songs. They all nodded and acknowledged the crowd. I have no recollection of the actual songs they played, but I was converted on the spot.
I kept an eye out for any of their albums but didn't see anything until early 1993, when I found Every Man And Woman Is A Star. The songs were light and danceable, intricately layered, and several had vocals. The words "organic" and "techno" came to mind. The album was extremely long and had many high points, including the sample of The Eagles on "Saratoga," which continues to amuse and amaze. The whole album was awash in squelching 808 basslines, layers of drum machines, live bass and acoustic guitar.
Later that year came United Kingdoms, another 70+ minute epic of organic grooviness that included numerous vocal twists from Robert Wyatt, who I'd never heard of at that point! Wyatt's contributions sort of sum up the slightly-askew (but still groove-oriented) vibe of the rest of the album. His nonsense vocalizations and clapping setting the tone. The songs seemed longer and the grooves seemed more intense. I was probably projecting. But it was a perfect compliment to Every Man And Woman. It was more of the same, but better. Deeper, more intense. Huge dub vibes and bass that shakes your soul.
I remember being disappointed by the "Happy Land" video. I thought (and still do) that it wasn't the best choice for a single and that it might've actually turned people off to the band. I haven't seen it in about ten years, so it might be better than I remember it.
Ultramarine then went on tour with Bjork as the opening act on the tour for her album Debut. I really thought that would be their big breakthrough, and that it would just be another year before they came back to the US, headlining on their own. They were everywhere for a long while there - features in magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, including some excellent interview in the Volume CD/magazine/book thing in the 1990s.
But I didn't wind up hearing new music from them until about 1997. Their albums stopped appearing in local record stores and it wasn't until I was in London that I was able to get caught up with the Hymn EP and Bel Air album, plus an earlier album, Folk.
At some point I found a vinyl compilation (for a buck - thank you, Used Kids) called BARK, which included a pair of tracks by the pre-Ultramarine band A Primary Industry, including their cover of Heart Of Glass. From their album, craftily entitled Ultramarine!
Ultramarine did a throng of remixes for people like Everything But The Girl and Boo Radleys.
Then, in 1998 came A User's Guide. And then nothing. For a long long time.
Now they're back online with a new official website and some fresh reissues. And a new compilation, Companion, which collects remixes of Every Man And Woman material. Which is nearly as good as an all new album...
IAN C STEWART
http://www.ultramarine.uk.com
