Propaganda Announces New 6-Disc Box Set
‘A Secret Sense of Rhythm, A Secret Sense of Sin’ surveys the synth-pop greats’ output on Trevor Horn’s ZTT label.
A new box set will highlight Propaganda’s significant legacy within the history of synth-pop. The Düsseldorf group’s work for the Zang Tuum Tumb label will be the focus of the new 6CD set A Secret Sense of Rhythm, A Secret Sense of Sin (The Complete ZTT Propaganda). Curated by ZTT archivist and historian Ian Peel, the set is due out Nov. 14.
Propaganda was the first band to sign to ZTT, the label co-founded by Trevor Horn, whose music as a member of the Buggles, Art Of Noise, and Yes plus extensive production work earned him stature as one of the key architects of 1980s music. In their earliest recordings, captured for ZTT between 1983 and 1985, Propaganda were crucial contributors to that moment, as chronicled on the new anthology.
Disc 1, Secret, focuses on Propaganda’s 1985 debut album A Secret Wish, which featured contributions from David Sylvian, Stewart Copeland, Steve Howe, Glenn Gregory, and John McGeoch. The Secret disc features two versions of the album, Propaganda’s Analogue Sequence and producer Stephen Lipson’s Digital Variation. A Secret Wish includes the beloved singles “Duel” and “Machinery” plus Propaganda’s iconic debut single “Dr. Mabuse,” which appears here at its five-minute album length and in its 10-minute “Das Testaments Des Mabuse” single mix.
Disc 2, Stahlnetz, is an extended edition of the dark-hued, club-oriented remix album Wishful Thinking, while Disc 3, Singlette, compiles Propaganda’s three specially edited EPs, originally released only on cassette: Do Well, Complete Machinery, and (The Nine Lives of) Dr. Mabuse in its initial intended sequence. Each of the EPs has unique versions, mixes, and sequences.
Disc 4, Series, features Propaganda’s contributions to Zang Tuum Tumb’s Action, Incidental and Fatal remix series. Studio, Disc 5, brings together outtakes and alternate versions from Propaganda’s sessions at Sarm Studios. The final disc, Stage, centers on the final Propaganda single of the Zang Tuum Tumb era: a previously unreleased version of “Dr. Mabuse” from John Hughes’ 1987 movie Some Kind of Wonderful, in addition to TV and video mixes of other Propaganda tracks.
In addition to A Secret Sense of Rhythm, A Secret Sense of Sin, Propaganda is releasing a 1LP reissue of A Secret Wish featuring David Kosten’s mix of the album.
