Yage – Livin’ for the Love

Released on:
Fuzzy Logic

Runtime: 5:04

The first side of Fuzzy Logic posits Yage as a moniker dedicated to dark, atmospheric dance music, evidenced on the minimal techno of ‘Quazi‘ and the spy film breaks of ‘Coda Coma‘. ‘Livin’ for the Love’ screws this theory up and throws it out of the window. Opening with a grungy, distorted synth bass that falls closer to Smart Systems’ hoover-led rave than anything even hinting at ambient techno, the track moves through several movements: discordant synth stabs and someone whispering “London” (Smart Systems territory again), piano rave stabs with a woman singing the title (ouch), smoochy jazzy house chords, the growling bass playing a different melody, and back round to the start again. This is Dougans and Cobain playing at being Altern-8.

Cynicism aside, I used to absolutely adore this track when I first found it on Napster, and although time and age have done nothing for my wide-eyed wonder, it’s hard to deny that ‘Livin’ for the Love’ is a pretty fun track. It’s utterly daft, staggeringly dated, and totally out of place on Fuzzy Logic, but sometimes a bit of mindless nonsense is just what the doctor ordered, and this track provides it in spades.

Credits
Composed by Dougans / Cockbain.
Recorded and engineered at Earthbeat Studios 1991.
Mixed and produced by The Future Sound of London.