“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE
Emerging from the ashes of X-RAY SPEX who disbanded in 1979, Jak Airport (guitar) and BP Hurding (drums + sax) founded CLASSIX NOUVEAUX with Mik Sweeney (bass + synth) and Sal Solo (vocals, guitar + synth)
The Hertfordshire-based Sal Solo, who had attended St Michael’s Catholic School in Stevenage, possessed a striking persona that echoed Nosferatu while his voice had an impressive range that could be ominously deep while also hitting a piercing falsetto at its top end.
Sharing bills with acts like THE CURE, FAD GADGET, THEATRE OF HATE, OUR DAUGHTER’S WEDDING and SHOCK gave CLASSIX NOUVEAUX their post-punk futurist credentials. But with the burgeoning New Romantic movement, the band found themselves associated with the likes of SPANDAU BALLET and DURAN DURAN; although more guitar-driven, electronics were part of their modernist dressing and Sal Solo would often brandish an EDP Wasp on stage while BP Hurding would later use Simmons drums.
By the time CLASSIX NOUVEAUX were signed to the EMI-affiliated Liberty Records to release their first album ‘Night People’ in 1981, Jak Airport had left to be replaced Gary Steadman. From it was their breakthrough single ‘Guilty’ which had a video directed by Russell Mulcahy; featuring colourful extras from The Blitz Club who were even more flamboyant than Sal Solo, the video was rotated on MTV in America. As a result, singer Kim Carnes became a fan and when she released her New Romantic friendly cover of Jackie De Shannon’s cult country tune ‘Bette Davis Eyes’, its video was heavily based on ‘Guilty’, using the same set and director.
CLASSIX NOUVEAUX finally got the hit they deserved when ‘Is It A Dream?’ reached No11 in the UK singles charts in 1982. From their second album ‘La Verité’ and more optimistic than their earlier work, its brassy Stevie Wonder-inspired synth riff and Mik Sweeney’s funky fretless bass kept things upbeat and immediate while Gary Steadman’s Roland guitar synths and a vocoder triggered from an organ rhythm unit also featured prominently.
The success led to Liberty Records increasing the budget for the third CLASSIX NOUVEAUX album ‘Secret’ to enable Alex Sadkin, who had worked with THOMPSON TWINS and DURAN DURAN, to produce. However, record company politics intervened and the band were dropped. Although the album was released in 1983 without much fanfare, ‘Secret’ captured a more exotic sound palette with the sumptuous ballad ‘Never Never Comes’ becoming a cult favourite in Eastern Europe.
With all the uncertainty and upheaval, Sal Solo re-embraced his Roman Catholic faith and following a pilgrimage to San Damiano in Italy where the Miracle of St Francis of Assisi took place, released ‘San Damiano (Heart and Soul)’ in 1984; it eventually hit the high of No15 in the UK and No1 in Poland. CLASSIX NOUVEAUX were no more, until now…
Thanks to the wonders of the world wide web and remote recording, the classic CLASSIX NOUVEAUX line-up of Sal Solo, BP Hurding, Mik Sweeney and Gary Steadman reunited in 2021. Initially testing the water with a new version of ‘Inside Outside’ from ‘Night People’, the quartet have recorded 7 new songs for ‘Battle Cry’, their first brand new studio album in 40 years.
Sal Solo said: “The reason this project came about after 40 years is really because of the fans. About 10 years ago, some of the Classix fans were making Facebook pages but it didn’t really come to our attention until a couple of years back. We realised these people are really dedicated and decided to give them a kind of birthday present. I said to the guys ‘Why don’t we do a recording together and surprise the fans?’ Everybody said yes… and so we did a quick remake of one of our old songs ‘Inside Outside’ and to our surprise everyone’s immediately talking about new material!”
Appropriately, that first fruit of labour ‘Fix Your Eyes Up’ opens the album and it is appealing as a mature but classic CLASSIX NOUVEAUX song. ‘Battle Cry’ though is 6/8 prog pop that could be IT BITES with evangelical messages that reflect Sal Solo’s continuing role in the church. With Gregorian overtones, the soft ‘Wretched’ continues the theme and explores spiritual concerns in the face of sin.
‘Final Symphony’ takes its lead from LED ZEPPELIN and latter day Gary Numan in a goth rocker laced with haunting synthetic tones. But despite lyrically referencing the hit song titles of their synth-led contemporaries, ‘No Do Overs’ is a surprise ballad that begins acoustic; a reflection of the days time erased, overtones of ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ or JS Bach’s ‘Air On A G string’ are thrown in, depending on your way of thinking.
Lyrically inspired by the end of The Book of Revelations, ‘Revelation Song’ is a mid-paced synth-metal number with fantasia imagery and folk brass drama added to the pot while a rework of ‘Never Never Comes’ offers lento funk. Solo is known have wished that he recorded ‘Is It A Dream?’ at a much slower tempo and this has no doubt had a bearing on the 21st Century version of ‘Inside Outside’ which kickstarted the reunion. Turned into something more atmospheric with VST chorals, its ironically sounds more like the original ‘Never Never Comes’.
The lengthy album closer ‘Colour Me The Sky’ continues the steadfast mood of the two reworked Classix favourites but in true prog style, it takes an about turn into explosive heavy metal and traditional six string sections, complete with assistance from virtual choirs and orchestration.
CLASSIX NOUVEAUX fans the world over will be very happy that they have been gifted a new record by a band who undoubtedly should have had at least the same success and cultural recognition as the Grammy Award winning A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS. Vocally, the theatrics are dialled down and musically, this is largely not the Classix of the past. As Sal Solo says in the ‘Battle Cry’ CD booklet notes: “If the music can speak to the fans as they are today, then we’ll be happy. It can still be a soundtrack for their lives, but not their lives in adolescence, it’s their lives as mature adults.”
Those who may have perhaps passed over their canon back in the day or are new to CLASSIX NOUVEAUX can listen back online to some excellent music thanks to the wider profile that will be accorded thanks to the release of ‘Battle Cry’. The internet is the reason why this album exists and why the music of CLASSIX NOUVEAUX will still be talked about today.
4 years since his ‘Dissolution’ mini-album and 5 years since the last album proper ‘Out Of Touch’, Jaakko Eino Kalevi releases a brand new double opus ‘Chaos Magic’.
“I was not planning to make a double album but somehow that is what it grew up to be” said the Finnish psych-pop voyager to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “I was just working on my song ideas and in the end didn´t want to drop anything out. I tried but it didn´t make sense to me.”
Inspired by his new home of Athens and the Greek word “kháos”, Jaakko Eino Kalevi has sought to find beauty in the chaotic nature of the everyday on ‘Chaos Magic’. Although written and recorded primarily in Greece, it was founded in collaboration at other locations including Germany, Estonia and Switzerland. The end result is a wide range of music covering sunny art pop, synthy new wave, cosmic jazz, electronic disco, space rock and darker baroque song experiments.
Starting it all off is the ‘Chaos Magic’ title track, a flauty jazzy instrumental with vibey reminiscences of AIR. Cut from a similar cloth, ‘Drifting Away’ does as the title suggests in a suitably sunny and breezy seaside jaunt about relaxing with wine and sax from fellow Finn Jimi Tenor.
The smooth but energetic synthpop of ‘Dino’s Deo’ recalls the Belgian electronic trio TELEX with great bubbling sequencer patterns while much more sombre in tone, ‘Hell & Heaven’ drops in phrases en Français from Franco-American anti-rock sibling duo FAUX REAL; “It was musically so dramatic so I had to go dramatically biblical in the lyrics” said Kalevi of this union. Swathed in haunting legacy of past relationships, Kalevi comes over spooked as a hypnotic bass Klangfarben and some classic European synth melodies dominate the marvellous ‘Night Walk’.
The classy mutant disco of ‘Palace In My Head’ displays a quite different demeanour from the bright start of the album with a darker claustrophobic atmosphere shaped by a demonic electronic bassline. However, French actress and singer Alma Jodorowsky who starred in the electronic music film ‘Le Choc Du Futur’ adds exquisite response vocals in the chorus recalling the central song from the film ‘Future Shock’ to offset proceedings perfectly.
An amusing comedown tune, the NEW ORDER flavoured ‘I Forget’ touches all the spectrums in its delivery with catchy synth riffs, an uplifting keyboard solo and wispy female vocals from Sigurlaug Gísladóttir who has released albums in her own right as Mr Silla. Meanwhile, ‘The Chamber Of Love’ pays homage superbly to ‘Everything She Wants’ by WHAM! in its arrangement. Less immediate but no less accomplished, ‘Cyborg’ takes the template into artier territory but still remains pop.
‘L’Horizon’ offers a full electronic funk workout with a prominent slap bass riff and Alma Jodorowsky adding more of her enticing Gallic allure. But even better is the brilliant Far Eastern flavoured ‘Galactic Romance’ sung by Yu-Ching Huang in Taiwanese Mandarin to provide an intriguing and hypnotic highlight as a romantic Moroder-esque space song.
‘Trouble Man’ stomps with more Far Eastern resonances with the rhythmic palette recalling the obscure CHINA CRISIS B-side ‘Cucumber Garden’ and in an outlier to the album’s other tracks, even features a rousing guitar solo.
Closing with the 13 minute synth and sax rock epic ‘Let’s See How Things Go’, Jimi Tenor returns along with another Finn Mikko Viljakainen aka Vilunki 3000; edited from an even longer version, with oddball girly choir chants to boot, the length creates suspension although it may be too much for casual listeners.
Cool yet catchy, this is a wondrous album and while it is a little bit long, ‘Chaos Magic’ contains some of the best music released in 2023. Eclectic and escapist, Jaakko Eino Kalevi might have even released the album of the year.
‘Chaos Magic’ is released by Weird World / Domino Recording Co on 17 November 2023 as a CD, double LP + download
Jaakko Eino Kalevi 2023 live dates include:
Berlin Arkaoda (16 November), Köln Eigelstein Torburg (17 November), Amsterdam Cinetol (18 November), Brussels Rotonde (20 November)*, Paris Point Ephémére (21 November)*, London Two Palms (22 November)*, Stockholm Stadsgårdsterminalen (13 December), Oslo Parkteatret (14 December), Copenhagen Ideal Bar (15 December), Helsinki Korjaamo (16 December)
When the first huge synthesizer complexes from the likes of RCA, Moog, Buchla and EMS emerged, initially they were the realm of the avant garde.
But gradually they ended up in all genres of music, often as dressing and for effect before becoming a dominant melodic presence. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 25 FAVOURITE SYNTH SONGS BY NON-SYNTH ACTS listing in 2016 demonstrated how more rock-oriented exponents such as Paul McCartney, Robert Palmer, Pete Shelley, Leonard Cohen and even Neil Young took to electronic experimentation in the wake of the pioneering exploits of KRAFTWERK and the subsequent success of Synth Britannia.
As synthesizers became more cost effective and reliable, they began to replace live musicians within the mainstream, particularly in a live context. Using synthesizers to imitate the sound of an orchestra and brass section rather than using the real instruments themselves on his UK tour, who would have thought that it would be Barry Manilow who would anger the Musicians Union enough to table a motion in 1982 to ban synthesizers from recording and live performance.
Here are 25 songs in yearly then alphabetical order of a more cheesy listening, AOR and mainstream pop bent which have utilised synths prominently enough to raise the question, “is it or is it not electronic pop?”
DAVID ESSEX Gonna Make You A Star (1975)
Produced by Jeff Wayne with heavy use of synthesizer on its brassy leadline and bass counterpoints, ‘Gonna Make You A Star’ was a UK No1 single for David Essex. Singing in a cockney accent, the song was his ironic commentary on his roots and being seen as a pop idol in the vein of David Cassidy, hence the line “Oh is he more, too much more, than a pretty face? It’s so strange the way he talk – it’s a disgrace”.
Available on the DAVID ESSEX album ‘David Essex’ via Sony Music
American jazz and pop vocal quartet THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER hit No1 with the self-explanatory ‘Chanson D’Amour’ in 1976. But in 1979, they covered ‘Coo Coo U’, a song first recorded by THE KINGSTON TRIO in 1959 with synths, vocoder and varispeeded voices in the manner of THE RESIDENTS. Their avant-easy approach continued in a futuristic Akai advert which saw the quartet dressed as Numanoids!
Available on THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER album ‘Extensions’ via Craft Recordings
While synths had always been part of ABBA’s forte on songs like ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’, the Super Swedes eschewed their characteristic piano and went to whole electronic disco hog on ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’. Released in the UK on 12” only, it reached No7 and despite being the same as the ‘Super Trouper’ album mix, it became the biggest selling 12 inch before being overtaken by NEW ORDER’s ‘Blue Monday’.
Available on the ABBA album ‘Super Trouper’ via Universal Music
Having been in the syrupy cabaret act GUYS ‘N’ DOLLS, David Van Day and Thereza Bazar continued in that vein with songs like ‘Who Were You With In The Moonlight?’. But the duo approached Trevor Horn who was carving out a new career as a producer and gave DOLLAR a more distinctive technologically enhanced art pop sound. ‘Mirror Mirror’ was the bounciest of the four singles produced by Horn which brought him to the attention of ABC.
With songs such as ‘She’s Gone’ and ‘Rich Girl’, Daryl Hall and John Oates were rooted in soul of the blue-eyed variety. While ‘I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)’ was not exactly Gary Numan, the hook laden tune did make use of similar instrumentation with a Prophet 5 featuring heavily as well as the Rock 1 setting on a Roland CR78 CompuRhythm for their first UK Top 10 hit.
Available on the DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES album ‘Private Eyes’ via RCA
Better known for his anthemic ballads, Rod Stewart had jumped on the disco bandwagon with ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’. In 1981, he went with a LinnDrum driven new wave synth sound not far off what Robert Palmer had experimented with the year before on his ‘Clues’ album. A slang term for rebellious youth, ‘Young Turks’ saw Rod The Mod adapting his gravelly voice over a frantic pulsing backdrop.
‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Vol1’ was conceived as a high-tech covers project featuring guest vocalists helmed by Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh of HEAVEN 17. Tina Turner had been languishing on the “chicken-in-a-basket” circuit but the album saw her recorded return on a blistering reworking of THE TEMPTATIONS’ Ball Of Confusion’. It featured musicians as diverse as guitarist John McGeoch and Paul Jones on harmonica next to Roland System 100 sequencing!
Available on the BEF album ‘1981-2011’ via Virgin Records
Best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Making Your Mind Up’ in 1981, three UK No1s, a coach crash and very public in-fighting leading today to one member owning the BUCKS FIZZ while the other three quarters ply their trade as THE FIZZ, ‘Stepping Out’ was their self-produced and self-composed foray into synths with a twist of ABBA! It was originally released as the B-side of ‘If You Can’t Stand The Heat’.
The spacey ‘Put Your Love In Me’ from 1977 saw HOT CHOCOLATE playing with ARP Solina string machines but produced by Mickie Most, the tearjerking ballad ‘It Started With A Kiss’ was shaped by synth counterpoints from Pete Wingfield who had produced DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS ‘Geno’. By strange coincidence , the song was a favourite of Kevin Rowland, then riding high with the Celtic-flavoured reinvention of the band.
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS You Got Lucky (1982)
Something of an outlier in the Tom Petty catalogue away from his heartland rock, ‘You Got Lucky’ used a taped drum loop and while there was a Morricone-inspired guitar solo, it was Benmont Tench on an Oberheim OBXa and Roland Juno-60 who carried the song’s main structure. However, despite later singing ‘I Won’t Back Down’ in 1989, ‘You Got Lucky’ was not popular with Petty and was initially rarely played live.
Available on the TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS album ‘Long After Dark’ via Universal Music
If there is one man who can be credited for bringing synths into the wider easy listening sound, it is producer Alan Tarney who later worked with A-HA. Composing the music to ‘Orchard Road’, Tarney provided an eerie electronic backdrop for Leo Sayer to plead forgiveness to his wife after a marital affair. The released version was actually the one take demo with Sayer improvising the words, capturing his regret.
Considered by many to be the ultimate alto-operatic power ballad, ‘The Power Of Love’ was dominated by a synth and computer programmed backdrop by Harry Baierl punctuated by Simmons drums. The song was initially denied a release in Jennifer Rush’s US homeland for sounding “too European”. Seeming like it was about to morph into ULTRAVOX’s ‘Vienna’, the song was later covered by Celine Dion.
Former teen idol David Cassidy reinvented his music career with a Cliff Richard song that had originally been released as ‘Young Love’ which was written and produced by Alan Tarney. Given a revised slower treatment by Tarney with new lyrics by Cassidy, the synth laden ‘The Last Kiss’ also featured a cameo backing vocal by George Michael who was to have his own ethereal synth heavy hit with ‘A Different Corner’.
Available on the DAVID CASSIDY album ‘Romance’ via Arista Records
While ‘Waiting For A Girl’ was dominated by a synth line played by Thomas Dolby, ‘That Was Yesterday’ was virtually devoid of conventional guitar and bass although live drums were retained. Almost like gothic AOR, the 12 inch and instrumental orchestral versions enhanced the synth elements even more in a song about the haunting sub-conscious emotions of past relationships.
Produced by Alan Tarney who had worked on two of Cliff Richard’s previous albums ‘Wired for Sound’ and ‘I’m No Hero’ as well writing his synth-laden No1 single ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’, the synth and voice sample swathed backing on ‘Some People’ was held down by a crisp drum machine backbone. It provided serene surroundings that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on an A-HA or CHINA CRISIS track.
Along with the HI-NRG cover of ‘Losing My Mind’, the dramatic house-infused pop of ‘I Want You Now’ was a signal that ‘Results’ was not to be the usual Liza Minnelli cabaret record. Keen on doing a pop album in contrast with her normal output, Minnelli had particularly liked PET SHOP BOYS ‘Rent’ and Neil Tennant was already a fan, so a likely collaboration was a given with a sophisticated Continental austere being the result…
Available on the LIZA MINNELLI album ‘Results’ via Cherry Red Records
Produced by PET SHOP BOYS, the duo were invited by film producer Stephen Woolley to provide music for ‘Scandal’, a dramatisation of 1963 Profumo affair. With the idea that ‘Nothing Has Been Proved’ should be sung by a star of that time, Dusty Springfield’s performance was complimented with orchestrations by Angelo Badalamenti. The duo would later be asked to return by Woolley to provide music for 1992’s ‘The Crying Game’.
Available on the DUSTY SPRINGFIELD album ‘Reputation’ via Cherry Red Records
Written by Bruce Springsteen for film ‘Philadelphia’, ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’ had been intended to be a recording with lead vocals by veteran jazz singer Little Jimmy Scott. But Springsteen returned to his own vocalled demo with a drum loop and elegiac synths which provided the song with a much more mournful feel in line with the film’s poignant subject matter.
Available on the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN album ‘Greatest Hits’ via Sony Music
Co-written by Brian Higgins who later made his fortune leading production team XENOMANIA, ‘Believe’ was a musical departure for Cher with a euphoric Europop tune that could have been mistaken for ERASURE. Produced by Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling, it was notable for the robotic overdriven Autotune effect that distorted the vocals by removing the natural portamento slide between pitches in singing.
After the kiddies TV show pop of SCLUB7, many were predicting solo stardom for Rachel Stevens. Produced by XENOMANIA who worked with GIRLS ALOUD and later PET SHOP BOYS, ‘Funny How’ shone brightly. Co-written by Stevens, this was a perfect Princess Stephanie Eurodisco record in the vein of ‘I’m Not Scared’ that was the best track on her second album ‘Come & Get It’. However, this was to be her final album.
Available on the RACHEL STEVENS album ‘Come & Get It’ via Polydor Records
Having come out on top in ‘Popstars: The Rivals’ in 2002, GIRLS ALOUD had a glittering career with their XENOMANIA produced pop. ‘Love Is Pain’ recalled PET SHOP BOYS in its electropop stylings. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, who were working with XENOMANIA at the same time, wrote the song ‘The Loving Kind’ which featured on the same album ‘Out Of Control’.
Available on the GIRLS ALOUD album ‘Out Of Control’ via Polydor Records
In 2008, there came the surprise news that Christina Aguilera was collaborating with Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu of LADYTRON. Fast forward to 2010 and the two finished tracks ‘Birds Of Prey’ and ‘Little Dreamer’ were relegated to bonus track status on the ‘Bionic’ album. Free of her oral gymnastics, Aguilera showed great restraint on ‘Bird Of Prey’ over a dreamy synthetic soundscape with a hypnotic Middle Eastern feel.
Something of an electronic gem, ‘Flowerbed’ was the hidden track on the reunited TAKE THAT’s Stuart Price produced opus ‘Progress’. Beginning with soothing vocoder, Jason Orange came over in the manner of Al Stewart in a rare lead vocal. Over a dreamy backing track that possessed the glacial Nordic quality of RÖYKSOPP, the sprinkling of textural ambience built to a metronomic percussive climax.
Available on the TAKE THAT album ‘Progress’ via RCA
An established New Country starlet, Taylor Swift went the full pop route with an album named after the year of her birth. Despite pressure from her label to include fiddles into songs that were predominantly electronically derived, there was the CHVRCHES aping ‘Out Of The Woods’ but ‘Style’ took the lead from synthwave in a song allegedly about her fleeting romance with a certain member of NEW DIRECTION.
Available on the TAYLOR SWIFT album ‘1989’ via Big Machine
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK mistook this Ed Sheeran popwave number for Ollie Wride when it was played on BBC Radio 2. A far cry from the dreadful ‘Galway Girl’ or the R ‘n’ B of ‘Sing’, ‘Overpass Graffiti’ was swathed in synths and with its snappy stuttering beat and engaging chorus, it brought to mind another artist of a more traditional bent, Don Henley of THE EAGLES and his huge hit ‘The Boys Of Summer’.
Available on the ED SHEERAN album ‘=’ via Atlantic Records
Berlin-based musician and DJ Luca Venezia, better known as CURSES, presents ‘Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX’, his second curated compilation exploring the darker side of club music though the decades. The first volume had been a lockdown inspired exploration of his own record collection.
Released by Eskimo Recordings and featuring 49 tracks, the music is split into three distinct chapters with more than half being previously unreleased; “Many of these songs come from friends close of mine, or artists I perform with and tour with a lot, whose music and craft I admire and champion.” Luca Venezia told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the set, “We are all making a very niche style of music, and everyone is approaching it in their own unique way, it is only natural we migrate to be friends and share the stage together… like a primal instinct.”
Conceived with his ideal night out in mind, compiling such an compilation was not without its headaches; “Fortunately with the help of Eskimo and N.E.W.S., the licensing team are an absolute powerhouse” recalled Venezia, “It wasn’t easy, especially the older material, like Malcolm McLaren’s ‘Madame Butterfly’… and yes, there was SO much music I wanted but couldn’t get the rights to. Not because the artists said no, but because it was impossible to find WHO owned the rights now. Members in bands split up, some pass away, some vanish… it’s a puzzle at times to license the 80s underground electronic gems”.
Chapter 1 contains the pioneering acts of the past that were occasionally signed to major labels and even flirted with the mainstream pop charts. The set opens with ‘Distant Dreams Pt 2’, a wonderful suitably obscure 1980 B-side from THROBBING GRISTLE, while another lesser known gem comes from BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE with ‘The Big V’, the instrumental variant of the 1986 single ‘V. Thirteen’.
The first name likely to be recalled when dark club music comes to mind, especially to Taylor Swift fans, are CABARET VOLTAIRE and they fit like a glove on this compendium with ‘Blue Heat’ from ‘Micro-Phonies’, as do Dutch band CLAN OF XYMOX with ‘Obsession’, an excellent example of classic electro-goth disco.
Of course, NITZER EBB are present and correct with ‘Hearts & Minds’ while DAF stand firm with their declaration as ‘Brothers’ in their appealing but less heralded English language disco phase.
Collecting superb tracks from various acclaimed cult acts, ‘The Murder Of Love’ by PROPAGANDA and the I Dream Of Jeanne Mix of ‘Modigliani (Lost In Your Eyes)’ by BOOK OF LOVE demonstrate how the developing digital technology enabled powerful sampled sounds effectively at the flick of a switch. However, best of all are former SOFT CELL backing singers VICIOUS PINK who really should have had a huge worldwide hit with the brilliant Tony Mansfield produced ‘Cccan’t You See’
Chapter 2 moves the night on starting with ‘Voloczny’, an unreleased song from back in day by BOYTRONIC towards the present with modern day electronic producers such as Jennifer Touch and Kris Baha. In a new 2023 version, THE KVB come over like THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN with synths on ‘Still Warm’ while YEARS OF DENIAL capture plenty of stark menace on ‘It Sucks.
Canadian wife-and-husband duo ESSAIE PAS provide enigmatic prose en Français over a cascade of pulsing synths on ‘Retox’ while Berlin-based trio DINA SUMMER update the gothic disco template on ‘Darkness’. Affirming the international cast of ‘Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX’, Spain’s DAME AREA go on a heavier industrial club excursion via ‘Buon Cittadino’ but on the opposite side of the coin and Atlantic, DESIRE offer enigmatic coyness on ‘Love Races On’ outside of their Italians Do It Better stable.
Chapter 3 is the part of the night you probably should go home but don’t… a wilder, harder and more aggressive energy is here if you so desire. There is naturally a Dark Remix of ‘Machina’ from BOY HARSHER with guest vocals by Mariana Saldaña. But utilising tense triplets and brassy melodramatic stabs, CURSES revamps J.W.B. HITS THE BEAT’s ‘Body On Body’. CURSES returns to remix NUOVO TESTAMENTO’s ‘Heartbeat’ and there is an enjoyable instrumental in ‘Non Fiction’ by SILENT SERVANT.
Two of the best tracks come via Australia; ‘Burning Eyes’ is a Hi-NRG romp with wispy voice ad-libs courtesy of NEU-ROMANCER and ZANIAS’ ‘Tryptamine Palace’ is a tremendous textural dance track. ANDI VS RANDOLPH & MORTIMER make their presence felt with big beats on ‘Formidable Truths’ while Michel Amato aka THE HACKER does not disappoint with the previously unreleased ‘Monopoly’. To end, Greek synth duo PARADOX OBSCUR make a beefy contribution in ‘Evo-Devo’ that recalls French art pop duo LES RITA MISOUKO.
On the spiritual and musical thread that helped make this cohesive collection, Luca Venezia surmised: “Every artist involved has their own personal and unique take on the timeless love affair between human and machine. All the music on ‘DEUX’ also embraces the punk and DIY raw energy of live music into electronic music; artists LIKE YEARS OF DENIAL, BOY HARSHER, NUOVO TESTAMENTO, NITZER EBB, BOYTRONIC and DINA SUMMER are all good examples of how the music is very personal, verse chorus verse song-based concert music, yet can also be DJ’d in a club at 4am in a dusty thriving warehouse rave.”
Music from the past and present can sit comfortably together in the same place and ‘Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX’ proves it.
With thanks to Luca Venezia and Mirren Thomson at Eclectica
After a successful tour opening for DRAB MAJESTY and numerous live dates in Europe as part of BOYTRONIC as well as solo, Britalo king James Knights is back on home soil with a new EP ‘$auna Mu$ik’.
Containing his first new music since ‘Boom Bang Boom!’ in 2021, the lead track of the ‘$auna Mu$ik’ EP is the vibrant hook-laden Eurobeat romp of ‘What Planet Did You Come From? (Baby)’, a tune that was premiered during his live shows in 2023.
Throwing in the kitchen sink with synth, sax and vocoder, it has shades of Patrick Cowley’s work for Sylvester and Bobby Orlando’s Divine productions. Mexican producers Ant-People who remixed ‘Boom Bang Boom!’ is back again to provide a more metronomic disco take while Franz Scala provides a body rhythmic instrumental reconstruction.
KNIGHT$ has previously displayed his love of BRONSKI BEAT via his own trouser tightening number ‘Hijack My Heart’ so it is no surprise that he has faithfully covered ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’ for the vinyl edition of ‘$auna Mu$ik’.
But an extra treat comes in the tongue-in-cheek new wave political observation ‘Hi-NRG Crisis’. With shades of THE FRESHIES but with electronic backing, it documents a Brexit Britain ruled by a revolving door of rich narcissists who nothing of real life or the plight of their citizens. ‘Hi-NRG Crisis’ will make the perfect soundtrack to the next video montage made to highlight the vile self-serving nature of this Tory government…
While dealing with the themes of infatuation, ‘$auna Mu$ik’ is also not afraid to highlight more existential issues closer to home now that ice cream season is over…
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