Jane from Occupied Europe
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Jane from Occupied Europe
| type = studio
| artist = Swell Maps
| cover = Janeinoccupiedeurope.jpg
| alt =
| released = 16 August 1980
| recorded = June 1979 – May 1980 (WMRS, Leamington Spa), except "Mining Villages" July 1977 ("at home"), "Epic's Trip" & "Big Empty Field (No. 2)" March 1980 (London)
| studio =
| genre = {{hlist|Post-punk|art punk|experimental rock|krautrock|industrial}}
| length = 44:17
| label = {{hlist|Rather|Rough Trade|Mute|Secretly Canadian}}
| producer = Swell Maps
| prev_title = A Trip to Marineville
| prev_year = 1979
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
Jane from Occupied Europe is the second and final album by the English post-punk band Swell Maps. It was released in 1980 by Rather Records and Rough Trade. In 1989, the album was reissued with eight bonus tracks by Mute, and this edition was subsequently reissued in 2004 by Secretly Canadian.
Critical reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/jane-from-occupied-europe-mw0000654090 |title=Jane from Occupied Europe – Swell Maps |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=25 April 2013 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}
| rev2 = Pitchfork
| rev2score = 8.2/10{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11838-a-trip-to-marineville-jane-from-occupied-europe/ |title=Swell Maps: A Trip to Marineville / Jane from Occupied Europe |website=Pitchfork |date=22 November 2004 |accessdate=25 April 2013 |last=Tangari |first=Joe}}
| rev3 = Record Mirror
| rev3score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=A Speck on the Map |magazine=Record Mirror |date=23 August 1980 |last=Westwood |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Westwood (author) |page=14}}
| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev4score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Swell Maps |last=Wolk |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Wolk |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/799 799–800]}}
| rev5 = Spin Alternative Record Guide
| rev5score = 7/10{{cite book |chapter=Swell Maps |last=Kreilkamp |first=Ivan |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=392–93}}
| rev6 = Uncut
| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Swell Maps: Jane from Occupied Europe |magazine=Uncut |page=123 |quote=Jane... majors in innocent instrumental prog-rock...}}
}}
In 2016, Paste ranked Jane from Occupied Europe at number 42 on its list of the best post-punk albums.{{cite web |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/the-50-best-post-punk-albums/ |title=The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums |website=Paste |date=13 July 2016 |accessdate=24 November 2020}} In 2018, Pitchfork listed it as the 165th best album of the 1980s. Pitchfork{{'}}s Judy Berman wrote: "Swell Maps pasted mostly incomprehensible, drawled vocals into noisy, krautrock-inspired sound collages, straying further beyond the boundaries of any existing genre with each release. Their second album, Jane from Occupied Europe, marked the culmination of that trajectory. It was, most of all, a catalog of thrilling new sounds".{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1980s/?page=2 |title=The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s |website=Pitchfork |date=10 September 2018 |accessdate=24 November 2020 |page=2}}
Track listing
Songs without writer credits are credited on all editions as being collectively written by Swell Maps.
{{Track listing
| title1 = Robot Factory
| length1 = 2:27
| writer1 = {{hlist|Epic Soundtracks|Biggles Books}}
| title2 = Let's Buy a Bridge
| length2 = 1:55
| writer2 = Nikki Sudden
| title3 = Border Country
| length3 = 2:12
| writer3 = Sudden
| title4 = Cake Shop
| length4 = 2:25
| writer4 = Jowe Head
| title5 = The Helicopter Spies
| length5 = 4:20
| writer5 = Nikki Sudden
| title6 = Big Maz in "The Desert from the Trolley"
| length6 = 5:11
| title7 = Big Empty Field
| length7 = 3:44
| writer7 = {{hlist|Epic Soundtracks|Biggles Books}}
| title8 = Mining Villages
| length8 = 1:01
| writer8 = {{hlist|Epic Soundtracks|Phones B. Sportsman}}
| title9 = Collision with a Frogman vs. The Mangrove Delta Plan
| length9 = 8:06
| title10 = Secret Island
| length10 = 4:34
| writer10 = Nikki Sudden
| title11 = Whatever Happens Next....
| length11 = 2:58
| writer11 = Nikki Sudden
| title12 = Blenheim Shots
| length12 = 3:42
| writer12 = Nikki Sudden
| title13 = A Raincoat's Room
| length13 = 1:42
| writer13 = Epic Soundtracks
| total_length = 44:17
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Reissue bonus tracks
| title14 = Let's Build a Car
| length14 = 3:06
| writer14 = Nikki Sudden
| title15 = Epic's Trip
| length15 = 0:55
| writer15 = Epic Soundtracks
| title16 = Secret Island
| length16 = 6:27
| writer16 = Nikki Sudden
| title17 = Amphitheatres
| length17 = 2:56
| title18 = Big Empty Field (No. 2)
| length18 = 2:59
| writer18 = {{hlist|Epic Soundtracks|Biggles Books}}
| title19 = The Stairs are Like an Avalanche
| length19 = 4:04
| title20 = ...then Poland
| length20 = 0:52
| title21 = New York
| length21 = 3:19
| writer21 = Nikki Sudden
}}
Personnel
- Epic Soundtracks (Kevin Godfrey) - drums (1-7,9-12), organ (1,10), toys (1,6,7), backing vocals (2,5,10,11), piano (3,6,9,13), handclaps (5,9), violin (6), mumbling (6,13), guitar (7), saxophone (7), concrete (8), typewriter (8)
- Nikki Sudden (Adrian Godfrey) – guitar (1-5,9-12), toys (1,6), vocals (2,3,5,10-12), organ (4,12), handclaps (5,9), bass (6), eiderdown (6), mumbling (6), piano (11)
- Jowe Head (Stephen Bird) – guitar (1,4,7), toys (1), bass (2-5,9-11), saxophone (2,7), backing vocals (2,3,10,11), vocals (4), pianoforte (6)
- Biggles Books (Richard Earl) – organ (1), toys (1,6), guitar (2,4-7,9-12), backing vocals (2,10), electric guitar (3), acoustic guitar (3), handclaps (5,9), vocals (5,11), mumbling (6), bass (7)
- Phones B. Sportsman (David Barrington) – guitar (5), twelve string guitar (6), violin (6), kazoo (8), vocals (8), handclaps (9), backing vocals (10)
- Golden Cockrill (John Cockrill) – handclaps (5), backing vocals (5), bass (12)
- Barry Gray – organ (2)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|87816|Jane from Occupied Europe}}
{{Authority control}}