Avant Hard

Avant Hard is the third studio album by English electronic music band Add N to (X). It was released in 1999 on Mute Records.

Avant Hard
Studio album by Add N to (X)
Released	20 April 1999
Studio	Unit 20 The Instrument Eastcote
Genre	Electronica[1]
Length	56:25
Label	Mute
Producer	Add N to (X) Barry 7 Dean Honer
Add N to (X) chronology
On the Wires of Our Nerves (1998) Avant Hard (1999) Add Insult to Injury (2000)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Independent	[3]
Melody Maker	[4]
NME	9/10[5]
Pitchfork	7.3/10[6]
Q	[7]
Select	4/5[8]

The track "Metal Fingers in My Body" was used in an advertisement for a digital television service in the UK, played as the background music for skateboarder Danny Way for a montage of tricks. "Barry 7's Contraption" was used as the background music for a telecoms advert for Orange UK directed by Chris Cunningham, and was used regularly as backing music on the TV series Banzai.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Add N to (X) (Steven Claydon, Ann Shenton and Barry Smith).

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Barry 7's Contraption"	4:09
2.	"Robot New York"	4:11
3.	"Skills"	3:51
4.	"Steve's Going to Teach Himself Who's Boss"	3:05
5.	"Fyuz"	4:32
6.	"Buckminster Fuller"	3:36
7.	"Revenge of the Black Regent"	6:12
8.	"Metal Fingers in My Body"	5:13
9.	"Ann's Eveready Equestrian"	4:07
10.	"Oh Yeah, Oh No"	7:00
11.	"Machine Is Bored with Love" (song ends at 3:54; includes hidden track "Are Streets Antiques" (5:55) after 0:33 of silence)	10:22

Sample credits

• "Machine Is Bored with Love" is based on samples from "Fugue in D Minor", written and performed by Egg (Dave Stewart, Dirk Campbell and Clive Brooks).

Personnel

Production Add N to (X) – production, arrangement Barry 7 – production, arrangement Dean Honer – production, arrangement Ebby Acquah – engineering Steve D'Agostino – engineering Roger Johnson – engineering

Additional musicians Rob Allum Alison Goldfrapp Artwork and design Add N to (X) – artwork Joe Dilworth – band photos

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)[9]	100
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[10]	18

References

1. Cox, Christoph (June 1999). "Add N to (X): Avant Hard". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 70. p. 19. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
2. Phares, Heather. "Avant Hard – Add N to (X)". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
3. Perry, Tim (10 April 1999). "Pop: Album Reviews". The Independent. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
4. "Add N to (X): Avant Hard". Melody Maker. 17 April 1999. p. 38.
5. Martin, Piers (13 April 1999). "Add N To (X) – Avant Hard". NME. Archived from the original on 12 November 1999. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
6. Richard-San, Mark (July 1999). "Add N to (X): Avant Hard". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 7 August 2004. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
7. "Add N to (X): Avant Hard". Q. No. 153. June 1999. p. 100.
8. Lynskey, Dorian (May 1999). "Add N to (X): Avant Hard". Select. No. 107. p. 82.
9. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
10. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 March 2020.