Gary Numan “Telekon” 1980. Ultra-elecronic new wave/synthpop, Numan’s second solo release and third album in the “machine” trilogy (along with Tubeway Army’s Replicas and Numan’s The Pleasure Principle, both from ’79). Our version is the North American release which has the swirly and danceable single “I Die: You Die” which does not appear on the UK album (that single was a stand-alone in the UK; it went to #6 there and to #102 in the US). Neither the UK nor the US version have the single “We Are Glass” (#5 UK) but that track is on the cassette version released in Japan. Other bright spots (besides the two singles just noted which only halfway count): “Remind Me to Smile” has some funk and some sparkly anthemic keyboards and a bit of hand-clappy fun (it was released as a single in the US; I don’t know if it charted) and “I’m an Agent” has an interesting urgency and groove. The single “The Wreckage” appears on all the releases; it went to #20 in the UK, making it one of his lowest single charts there at the time (heavy and ponderous, it’s not a great song). Telekon itself debuted at #1 in the UK boosted by the two better singles he put out prior to the record’s release. I really like Gary Numan and I love synthpop but this record is….boring. The beats are mostly monotonous in a non-hypnotic, vibey way so it’s easy to just tune the record out – just like a machine making background white noise. Maybe that was the intent?