- Again, David Chesworth is the subject of a reissue by Chapter Music. This time round it’s his second solo album Layer On Layer from 1981. Chesworth has been an audio/visual artist since the 1970s, acting as the co-ordinator of the Clifton Hill Community Music Centre, founding Innocent Records with Philip Brophy and playing in groups Tch Tch Tch, Essendon Airport, and Whadya Want (amongst others). His output is numerous and varied, Layer On Layer fitting in a funky art rock period into his oeurvre.
Who’s Asking is a great bit of off-kilter new wave, with its choppy guitar licks; it develops unexpectedly as it moves through different sections. Music Speaks is sultry, built around a cyclic synth melody. There’s some great auxiliary percussion, acoustic guitar and bass on this one.
The Bits That Move Together is a highlight for me, a bizarre/beautiful disco track, again its built upon a staccato synth sequence but treated with delay. It’s a low key banger with some great production values. It reminds me of Peter Gordon and the Love Of Life Orchestra, but with vocals Connan Mockasin would aspire to.
The digital reissue of Layer On Layer includes five dancefloor ready DJ versions of some of the tracks. Chesworth has remained faithful to the originals, mainly refreshing the kick and drums for the contemporary dfloor. In addition to the punk-funk, there are some experimental pieces that extended upon the works on 50 Synthisizer Greats (also reissued by Chapter, back in 2017). Whereas 50 Synths was constructed by overdubbing single keyboard parts on top of each other using a reel-to-reel, these tracks explore the potential of an eight-track studio at LaTrobe University. Power is an interesting ambient piece of various wavering and shimmering synth sounds. When The Beats Meet is an amazing experimental number consisting of rhythmic glitches. No Voices is a spaced-out combination of electronic-sounding drones and acoustic instrumentation.
I’m really glad Chapter has gotten around to putting out some more Chesworth. Art effected new wave with post modern overtones. The music around the Clifton Hill / LaTrobe University sphere of influence (and its associated art) is some of the best of that era.
- Hillfolk.