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I Start Counting were an
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
duo from North London. The band consisted of David Baker and Simon Leonard.


Background

Baker and Leonard had met at Middlesex University; both had an affection for
pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
."Konnecting - I Start Counting" Sleeve Notes. Retrieved 30 May 2011. In 1982, they began to DJ together which led them to form the I Start Counting project. Leonard specialized in the technology side and Baker was biased toward the musical side of the project. They approached Daniel Miller with some demos of their recorded material. These demos led to
Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...
signing the duo in 1984. Initially, they recorded two singles for Mute titled "Letters to a Friend" and "Still Smiling"; both singles were produced by Daniel Miller. Then in 1986, I Start Counting recorded their debut album titled ''My Translucent Hands''. The album was produced by Paul Kendall.“Mute Records - My Translucent Hands”
Retrieved 7 November 2010.
In 1987, they supported Erasure on their European tour. The band's second album was released in June 1989, titled ''Fused''. It included a new version of the track "Lose Him",“Mute Records – Fused (Release)”
Retrieved 17 November 2010.
made up of sampled voices instead of a recorded singer. In 1990, they recorded some new material, but realized that it sounded quite different from their previous
electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...
recordings. This new style of dance/techno was released under the name Fortran 5; the band would later change their name again to cater for the
Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...
-influenced project known as Komputer.


As Fortran 5

Around 1990, Baker and Leonard had begun recording new material, and realised that the new music had a different sound compared to their previous
electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...
style. They decided to rename their project Fortran 5 in order to give their new dance/techno style a fresh start. The new project also involved the duo collaborating and working with a number of other artists. These included Kris Weston of
the Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...
, and Rod Slater from
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as the Bonzo Dog Band or the Bonzos) was created by a group of British Art school, art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelic music, psychedelia with sur ...
. The band's final album was titled ''Avocado Suite'' and was their most experimental work; this was far removed from their early electropop sound. Fortran 5 also remixed songs from artists such as Inspiral Carpets, Erasure and Laibach. Simon Leonard also wrote a novella called ''Fortran 5'', which was published by Malice Aforethought Press.


As Komputer

Leonard and Baker reacted to the tedium of mid-1990s indie guitar music by returning to their
Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...
-inspired roots which again provoked a name change to Komputer. The band took samples from a variety of sources: from Russian cosmonauts to rubbish compactors and mobile phone ringtones. Komputer's first releases, the ''Komputer EP'' from 1996, and the subsequent album ''The World of Tomorrow'' were a respectful homage to the duo's German electronic heroes (
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...
used a sample from "Looking Down on London" for their track "The Right Side?"). Later material saw Komputer absorbing a much wider variety of influences and creating their own unique style of English electronic pop/folk music. The duo never performed live as Fortran 5, but from the earliest days as Komputer, live shows were very important, leading to many performances all over Europe, most recently appearing at the Short Circuit presents Mute festival at London’s Roundhouse. For ''Synthetik'', the band's third album, the music gradually evolved over a long period of time, tracks were tried out in live sets then discarded or reworked in the studio, maturing into a return to the more traditional electro sound of the first album, ''The World of Tomorrow'', with the incorporation of a more experimental and contemporary electronica approach.


Discography


Albums

As I Start Counting * 1986 - ''My Translucent Hands'' ( Mute) * 1989 - ''Fused'' (Mute) * 1991 - ''Catalogue'' (compilation) (Mute, Elektra) * 2021 - "Ejected" (Mute) As Fortran 5 * 1991 - ''Blues'' (Mute) * 1993 - ''Bad Head Park'' (Mute) * 1995 - ''Avocado Suite'' (Mute)


Singles

As I Start Counting * 1984 - "Letters to a Friend" (Mute) * 1985 - "Still Smiling" (Mute) * 1986 - "Catch That Look" (Mute) * 1987 - "My Translucent Hands" (Mute) * 1988 - "Lose Him" (Mute) * 1988 - "Ra! Ra! Rawhide" (Mute) * 1989 - "Million Headed Monster" (Mute)


References


External links


Myspace profile
{{Authority control English electronic music duos British male musical duos Mute Records artists English synth-pop groups Electronic music groups from London