1 + 2

1 + 2
EP by Recoil
Released August 1986
Genre Electronica
Length 33:01
Label Mute - STUMM 31
Producer Alan Wilder
Recoil chronology

1 + 2
(1986)
Hydrology
(1988)
Alternative cover
Hydrology Plus 1 + 2 CD album
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

1 + 2, Alan Wilder's first solo release away from Depeche Mode, is a Recoil studio EP, released in August 1986. The CD and cassette version were released two years later with Recoil's second release, Hydrology.

Wilder had always experimented with his own ideas, but when Daniel Miller heard some demos (recorded on a Portastudio, a 4-track cassette machine) and asked to reproduce them, Recoil became a musical entity. The early recordings show Wilder's position as a pioneer in sampling technology and demonstrated how he could completely change the Depeche Mode sound into something new.[2] 1 + 2, his first collection of demos, though completed in the early 1980s, was inconspicuously released as a 12" EP the same year as Depeche Mode's top five album, Black Celebration.[3]

Re-release

The CD of Hydrology Plus 1 + 2 was re-released in 2007, again on Mute Records. The track listing and artwork remain the same.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alan Wilder. 

No. Title Length
1. "1"   14:24
2. "2"   18:37

Credits and personnel

Sample sources

The recording is largely built upon samples of other music, primarily by other Mute Records artists - to avoid legal issues during an era when such approach to music-making was not overtly common.

The samples include the following:

Notes

  1. 1 + 2 at AllMusic
  2. From Recoil's official website: Shunt
  3. Recoil's official website: Shunt