John Foxx releasing ‘Metatronic’ compilation, playing 30th anniversary ‘analog’ concert

Synth pioneer and former Ultravox singer John Foxx is marking the 30th anniversary of the release of his solo debut Metamatic with a new 2CD/1DVD retrospective called Metatronic — as well as a special “analog” concert in London next month with guest DJ Gary Numan.

Due out Monday in the U.K., Metatronic “focuses on the darker, electro material from his 30-year solo career,” and features 21 singles, remixes and other cuts chosen by Foxx — including “No One Driving,” “This City,” “Burning Car” and a new mix of his first single, “Underpass,” by Mark Reeder (see video below) — as well as eight live tracks recorded in Sydney in 2008 and a DVD containing seven promo videos.

On June 5 at London’s Roundhouse, Foxx headlines and curates electronic-music festival Short Circuit 2010. Following a DJ set by Numan and co-producer Ade Fenton, Foxx and “a one-off group of special guests” are slated to perform “a unique analog synthesizer show” playing the Moogs, ARPs and drum machines Foxx used on 1980’s Metamatic.

Foxx’s set is expected to include cuts from Metamatic and early Ultravox songs, as well as some of the musician’s current work, including a brand-new collaboration with Leftfield’s Paul Daley and songs from this fall’s John Foxx & The Maths debut album, an all-analog project with London musician Benge. The latter group issued its first single, “Destination”/”September Town,” via iTunes in March (see video clip below).

Also in March, Foxx released My Lost City, an 11-track album comprised mostly of previously unreleased material recorded between 1981 and 1985 and only recently rediscovered on “old, forgotten tapes buried away in storage.” In press material for the album, Foxx says, “‘When I played them I was struck by the way they evoke a time and a place — and how I d been unaware of this when they were made. Then they seemed like fragments, unfinished and unsatisfying. A stop on the way to somewhere else.”

See ‘Metatronic’ and ‘My Lost City’ tracklists and video after the jump…

Tracklist: John Foxx, Metatronic

DISC 1
1. “Underpass” (Extended Version)
2. “This City”
3. “No-One Driving”
4. “Burning Car”
5. “The Noise”
6. “Everyone”
7. “When It Rains”
8. “Automobile”
9. “Broken Furniture” (Single Version)
10. “Drive” (Single Version)
11. “Once In A While”
12. “From Trash”
13. “Never Let Me Go”
14. “Smokescreen”
15. “Cinemascope”
16. “Phone Tap”
17. “Smoke”

DISC 2
Live In Sydney 2008:
1. “Crash & Burn”
2. “Uptown/Downtown”
3. “The Man Who Dies Every Day”
4. “Hiroshima Mon Amour”
5. “Underpass”
6. “From Trash”
7. “Shadow Man”
8. “My Sex”
Bonus tracks:
9. “Burning Car” (Early Version)
10. “Underpass” (Mark Reeder Sinister Subway Mix)
11. “Dislocated” (Jussi Pekka’s Pointed On A Map Remix)
12. “20th Century” (Dubterror vs Karborn mix)

DVD
1. “Underpass” (B&W Version)
2. “He’s A Liquid”
3. “No-One Driving”
4. “Smokescreen”
5. “Underpass” (Mark Reeder’s Sinister Subway Mix)
6. “The Noise” (VH1 session)
7. “Shifting City” (Live at Shrewsbury in 1998)

Tracklist: John Foxx, My Lost City

1. “Imperfect Hymn”
2. “Holywell Lane”
3. “Magnetic Fields”
4. “Just Passing Through”
5. “Barbican Brakhage”
6. “Hidden Assembly”
7. “Hawksmoor Orbital”
8. “Piranesi Motorcade”
9. “City of Disappearances”
10. “Umbra Sumus”
11. “Scene 27 – Intro to The Voice Behind The Wallpaper, Trellick Tower 3am”

Video: John Foxx, “Underpass” (Mark Reeder’s Sinister Subway Mix)

Video: John Foxx & The Maths, “Destination” (excerpt)