1994-95   Exclusive fan club album Archive and unreleased tracks Gritty grooves     State to State is a collectors item which was available through the, now defunct, State to State fan club. It is particularly special in that its musical strains stretch back to the early Quadrastate sessions of 1989, when former members were still active. Here also are a number of unreleased clips from the Gorgeous sessions and later.
Beginning with 'Intro/Cubik', primal 808 sounds scurrying into strangler guitar live, it is clear that this album is ready to pummel.
"Here's the automated rhythm device first", she states and we are assailed by a sweep of Statecore acid twirls on 'Lemon'. The boys dusted off the TR-808 for this one it seems! 'La Donna Bionica' begins ominously and rips into a plucky synth bassline to jump to. Sounds like 808 trance to me.
'Diana' smacks off with techno darkness and spurts out a series of guitar bubbles, while 'Fear' takes a sample and checks in with the rolling 808 beats we've come to expect, then the bliss of three chords played to perfection!
'King Quill' deserves a section all to itself. Simple slow beats, tubular lines, uplift piano, superb moog melody and sentimentality. Excellent!
The final track, 'Control', is an 89 early version of 'Contrique'. It looks back to former days. Maybe even a Gerald Simpson 'Eyes of Sorrow'-like string sequence starting it off.
This is certainly an album for the fans. Chock full of playful sounds and early beats, tracks that didn't quite make the first cut and glimpses of 808 sonic history.
"A Lemon...a yellow juicy fresh lemon..."
Essential for devotees!