Oppenheimer Analysis -

Oppenheimer Analysis was the English coldwave duo of singer Andy Oppenheimer and keyboardist Martin Lloyd. The pair self-released the cassette-album New Mexico — credited to the reverse-namesake vocalist — in 1982. Songs from that release were combined with unreleased early-’80s material on the 2005 self-issued CD Songs from the Atomic Age. That same year, an eponymous four-song EP of the pair’s archival recordings was issued on the specialty label Minimal Wave.

Members: Andy Oppenheimer (vocals, lyrics), Martin Lloyd (keyboards, drum programming)

Background

Oppenheimer Analysis formed in London in 1982 when singer and lyricist Andy Oppenheimer teamed with keyboardist and producer Martin Lloyd.

Oppenheimer was born in Leeds in 1953 and grew up between Leeds and Liverpool. He graduated from Liverpool University in 1974, then moved to London for work in popular-science and academic publishing.

Lloyd was born October 7, 1950, in Nottingham and spent part of his adolescence in Manchester. He taught himself guitar at age 15 and played with youth-club folk group the SAYFE Set. After his family moved to Scotland in 1967, Lloyd joined Glasgow beat-soul group the Tragic Scandal, which subsequently changed its name to Acid. He played electric guitar in rock groups while at university in Bristol and performed folk material with guitarist Kevin Howcroft.

Lloyd bought an Akai reel-to-reel recorder in 1972 and used it for guitar- and synthesizer-based home demos. He acquired a Korg MS-20 synthesizer in 1979, followed by a Korg SQ-10 sequencer and a Roland TR-808 drum machine. An advertisement for musicians brought Lloyd into contact with David Rome, later of Drinking Electricity. The pair recorded home demos in Battersea and Ealing before issuing the Analysis single “Surface Tension” (b/w “Connections”) on Rome’s Survival Records in 1981. Lloyd also made solo cassette recordings and worked with singer Paul Ashley.

Oppenheimer and Lloyd first met at a publishing party connected with the 1979 World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton. Their common interests included electronic music, science fiction, Cold War imagery and contemporary London club culture. The pair frequented Studio 21 on Oxford Street and participated in the Futurist and New Romantic scenes while Oppenheimer organized occasional club nights. Lloyd established the eight-track Feedback Studio in Battersea, where the pair started writing and recording together in 1982 under the name Oppenheimer-Analysis. Oppenheimer supplied lyrics drawn from scientific and political subjects, while Lloyd developed the material through guitar, synthesizers and multitrack production.

The duo tested the material at the Bell in Islington and completed an initial demo tape at Feedback Studio. Their live setup paired Oppenheimer on vocals with Lloyd on keyboard over prerecorded backing tracks. The pair followed the demo with sessions for the twelve-song cassette New Mexico, recorded at Feedback Studio for distribution through gigs and mail order.

Discography: