''Pylon Box'' is a 2020

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

of American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band Pylon, featuring remixed versions of their first two studio albums as well as over a dozen newly released tracks. It has received positive reviews from critics.

Reception

Editors at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated this album 5 out of 5 stars, with critic Mark Deming writing that "Pylon's music schallenging but also welcoming, and fun to dance to" and this compilation "is a glorious celebration of the group's original 1978 to 1983 run" and while he bemoans that 1990's ''

Chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

'' is not featured on this set, "''Pylon Box'' is an otherwise near-flawless summation of a great and unique band, and it's absolutely worth every penny of its purchase price". In ''

Glide Magazine Glide may refer to: * Gliding flight, to fly without thrust Computing * Glide API, a 3D graphics interface * Glide OS, a web desktop * Glide (software), an instant video messenger * Glide (docking), a molecular docking software by Schrödinger ...

'', John Moore praised both the band's unique blend of musical influences and the care that New West Records displayed in making the assembling this packaging. Editors at ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' scored this release 8.5 out of 10 and critic Marc Masters praised the band's musicianship across the years of recordings on this box set, also noting the influence the band had on subsequent musicians. Jon Dolan of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' gave ''Pylon Box'' 4.5 out of 5 stars and ended his review, "From the very first moment they started playing, this was a band that was eons ahead of its time. ''Pylon Box'' is exactly the deep dive their incredible legacy deserves." Jason Anderson of '' Uncut'' rated this compilation 4.5 out of 5 stars and wrote that Pylon's "insistently rhythmic, continually surprising post-punk racket... can sound as thrilling as it surely did 40 years ago".

Track listing

All songs written by Randall Bewley,

Curtis Crowe Curtis Hudgins Crowe is the drummer for the Athens, Georgia, rock band Pylon. He is a native of Marietta, Georgia, and is the middle child of five children. Crowe moved to Athens to attend the University of Georgia art school. His sister Rhett ...

Vanessa Briscoe Hay Vanessa Briscoe Hay (born October 18, 1955) is an American singer for the Athens, Georgia bands Pylon, Supercluster and Pylon Reenactment Society. Biography Born to a textile worker and a housewife in Atlanta, Georgia, Hay attended elementary ...

and

Michael Lachowski Michael Scott Lachowski was the bass guitar player for Pylon, a band from Athens, Georgia. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and attended the University of Georgia art school. He and his roommate Randy Bewley formed Pylon, recruiting Curtis Crow ...

. '' Gyrate'' (1980) #"Volume" – 4:13 #"Feast On My Heart" – 3:35 #"Precaution" – 2:48 #"Weather Radio" – 2:16 #"The Human Body" – 3:11 #"Read a Book" – 2:02 #"Driving School" – 3:53 #"Gravity" – 2:37 #"Danger" – 5:38 #"Working Is No Problem" – 3:29 #"Stop It" – 3:06 ''

Chomp Chomp is a two-player strategy game played on a rectangular grid made up of smaller square cells, which can be thought of as the blocks of a chocolate bar. The players take it in turns to choose one block and "eat it" (remove from the board), to ...

'' (1983) #

"K" – 4:14 #"Yo-Yo" – 3:23 #"Beep" – 2:01 #"Italian Movie Theme" – 3:13 #"Crazy" – 3:48 #"M-Train" – 2:58 #"Buzz" – 2:57 #"No Clocks" – 3:56 #"Reptiles" – 3:58 #"Spider" – 4:06 #"Gyrate" – 3:19 #"Altitude" – 3:19 ''Razz Tape'' (previously unreleased) #

"The Human Body" – 3:08 #"Modern Day Fashion Woman" (Version 1) – 3:03 #"Read a Book" (Instrumental) – 1:48 #"Working Is No Problem" – 3:11 #"Precaution" – 2:10 #"Cool" – 3:02 #"Functionality" – 4:31 #"Efficiency" – 2:20 #"Information" – 2:43 #"Dub" – 4:41 #"Modern Day Fashion Woman" (Version 2) – 3:51 #"Danger" – 4:47 #"Feast On My Heart" (Working Version) – 4:17 Extra unreleased tracks #

"Untitled" – 2:21 #"Cool" – 3:19 #"Dub" – 4:42 #"Recent Title" – 2:27 #"Danger!!" (Danger Remix) – 5:37 #"Crazy" (Single Mix) – 3:14 #"Reptiles" (Channel One Version) – 3:32 #"No Clocks" (Channel One Version) – 2:50 #"Spider" (Alternate Mix) – 3:49 #"3 X 3" (Live) – 2:19 #"Danger III" (Live) – 4:30

Personnel

Pylon * Randall Bewley – guitar, co-production, design *

– drums, co-production *

– vocals, co-production, graphics *

– bass guitar, co-production, creative direction, graphics, photography Additional personnel *Terry Allen – photography *Bruce Baxter – recording,

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound * Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of soun ...

, production (''Gyrate'' tracks) *

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guita ...

–

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

Carrie Brownstein Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatu ...

– liner notes *Sean Bourne –

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

, design *Paul Butchart – recording *Stephen Deusner – liner notes *Kevin Dunn – production (''Gyrate'' tracks) *

Mitch Easter Mitchell Blake Easter (born November 15, 1954) is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as frontm ...

– recording, audio engineering *Gene Holder – production (''Chomp'' tracks) *

Jon King Jonathan Michael King (born 8 June 1955) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and Grammy nominated art director, best known as the singer of the post-punk band Gang of Four. Biography King attended Sevenoaks School, where he was a memb ...

– liner notes *Jason Nesmith – restoration,

audio mastering Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will ...

, co-production *Henry Owings – co-production, creative direction, graphics *Chris Rasmussen – recording *Paul Scales – photography *Lowell T. Seaich – photography *

Chris Stamey Christopher Charles Stamey (born December 6, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. After a brief time playing with Alex Chilton, as well as Mitch Easter under the name Sneakers, Stamey formed The dB's with Peter ...

– production (''Chomp'' tracks) *

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

– liner notes *Jason Thrasher – photography

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2020 compilation albums New West Records compilation albums Pylon (band) albums

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References

External links