1 + 2 is the debut album by Recoil, released in August 1986. The CD and cassette version were released two years later with Recoil's second release, Hydrology.

1 + 2
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 1986
GenreElectronica
Length33:01
LabelMuteSTUMM 31
ProducerAlan Wilder
Recoil chronology
1 + 2
(1986)
Hydrology
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Alan Wilder had always experimented with his own ideas, but when Daniel Miller heard some demos (recorded on a Portastudio, a 4-track cassette machine) and asked to reproduce them, Recoil became a musical entity. The early recordings show Wilder's position as a pioneer in sampling technology and demonstrated how he could completely change the "Depeche Mode" sound into something new.[2] 1 + 2, his first collection of demos, though completed in the early 1980s, was inconspicuously released as a Twelve-inch EP the same year as his band Depeche Mode's fifth studio album, Black Celebration.[3]

Re-release

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The CD of Hydrology Plus 1 + 2 was re-released in 2007, again on Mute Records. The track listing and artwork remain the same.

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Alan Wilder.

No.TitleLength
1."1"14:24
2."2"18:37

Credits and personnel

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  • Alan Wilder – production, instruments
  • T + CP Associates – sleeve photography and design

Sample sources

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The recording is largely built upon samples of other music, primarily by other Mute Records artists, to avoid legal issues during an era when such approach to music-making was not overtly common.

The samples include the following:

  • Depeche Mode – "Any Second Now (Altered)"
  • Depeche Mode – "If You Want"
  • Depeche Mode – "The Sun and the Rainfall"
  • Depeche Mode – "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)"
  • Depeche Mode – "The Great Outdoors!"
  • Depeche Mode – "Shouldn't Have Done That"
  • Depeche Mode – "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
  • Depeche Mode – "Shake the Disease (Edit the Shake)"
  • Depeche Mode – "Pipeline"
  • Depeche Mode – "Blasphemous Rumours"
  • Kraftwerk – "Radioaktivität"
  • Kraftwerk – "Uran"
  • Kraftwerk – "Radioland"
  • Duet Emmo – "Or So It Seems"
  • Duet Emmo – "Heart of Hearts"
  • The Hitmen – "Shade In, Fade Out"
  • The voice of Daniel Miller
  • Random radio broadcasts

References

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  1. ^ 1 + 2 at AllMusic
  2. ^ From Recoil's official website: Shunt Archived 2005-11-24 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Recoil's official website: Shunt Archived 2005-11-24 at the Wayback Machine