Category: Introducing (Page 14 of 26)

Introducing JØTA

12 September 2016 /

JØTA Photo by Vasil Dzhagalov

Space travel and synths were just made to go together.

JEAN-MICHEL JARRE, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, KOMPUTER, SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN, DRAMATIS, OMD and DAVID BOWIE are just some of the acts that have musically documented those pioneering adventures. Joining this roll of honour, JØTA is the cosmic solo project of Peter J D Mason, instrumentalist with feisty synth duo BECKY BECKY.

Inspired by the Soviet Space Programme of the Cold War era, his forthcoming album ‘КОСМОС НАШ’ soundtracks the exploits of Laika The Space Dog, Alexey Leonov, Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova among others. The latter pair were respectively of course, the first man and woman in space; they are coupled together for JØTA’s second single on FEINT Records.

The octave shift driven ‘Tereshkova’ recounts her trailblazing journey around the earth 48 times in 1963. Not only was she the first woman to enter space, but she was the first civilian too. The track takes a more abstract approach compared with KOMPUTER’s tribute ‘Valentina’ released in 1996.

On the B-side ‘Gagarin’, while it is neither the first or even the second instrumental to be conceived around the legend of Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, it is a goody and the trancey template goes well with the visuals borrowed from the film ‘Gagarin: First In Space’.

When asked about why he found the exploits of the Soviet Space Programme more fascinating than those of NASA, Mason said: “I’ve always had a soft spot for the Soviets, as they had the great ‘firsts’ of the Space Race. The first satellite, first animal, first man, first woman, first spacewalk, even the first casualty with the tragic story of Vladimir Komarov who knew he wasn’t coming back to Earth alive, yet chose to go to save Gagarin…” 

Laika+Gagarin

The JØTA mission controller added: “Most people just don’t know these names, these achievements so it felt right to honour them”.

And it’s not just cosmonauts that interest Mason. JØTA’s debut single ‘Korolev’ was a celebration of the leading Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer who mastermined the Sputnik and Vostok programmes.

Swathed in swoops, buzzes and bleeps, JØTA is danceable electronica that uses synth hooks rather than beats as its main focal point.

‘Tereshkova’ b/w ‘Gagarin’ is released by FEINT Records as a download single via http://feintrecords.com/shop

JØTA live dates include: Brighton The Hope & Ruin (16th September with SOCCER96 + MERLIN TONTO), OSC at the Brighton Digital Festival (22nd September + talk), Brighton The Joker (15th October)

https://www.facebook.com/J0TAmuzk/

https://twitter.com/Jota_mzk

https://soundcloud.com/jotamuzk

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Vasil Dzhagalov
12th September 2016

Introducing ANI GLASS

29 June 2016 /

Forget football, it would seem Wales are beating England in the new avant electro stakes too.

ANI GLASS is the stage persona of Cardiff-based musician Ani Saunders. She is the younger sister of acclaimed songstress GWENNO. Like her sibling, ANI GLASS sings in her native languages of Welsh and Cornish. Having served her apprenticeship with girl groups GENIE QUEEN and THE PIPETTES, working with Andy McCluskey and Martin Rushent respectively along the way, Ani was a member of indie band THE LOVELY WARS before releasing her first solo single ‘Ffôl’ ( ‘Foolish’) in 2015.

Recalling London’s PAWWS, ‘Ffôl’ was a pleasant opening gambit with a tinge of electro R’n’B, Cymru style. Its flipside ‘Little Things’ was a multi-lingual Eurodisco anthem in the making, full of simultaneous joy and melancholy.

But the brilliant new single ‘Y Ddawns’ (‘The Dance’) is a wonderfully exhilarating pop art adventure. Produced by W H Dyfodol, the song is a rallying call for those seeking inspiration in language and art.

Deeply voiced in the verse with a gorgeous soaring resonance in the chorus and bridge, the lyrics refer to “finding solace and meaning in music, dance, art and culture”. Swathed in synths and driven by a metronomic beat, ‘Y Ddawns’ is a declaration of hope, something much needed in these turbulent, uncertain times.

With more material on the way, ANI GLASS is currently working on an EP inspired by Welsh artist Ivor Davies and his exhibition ‘Ffrwydrad Tawel’ (‘Silent Explosion’).

Ani Glass - Y Ddawns (photo by Rhodri Brooks)‘Y Ddawns’ is available as a download single from https://aniglass.bandcamp.com/

ANI GLASS 2016 live dates include Cardiff Castle’s Tafwyl Fair on 2nd July and the Swn Festival on 23rd October

https://www.facebook.com/aniglasscymru/

https://twitter.com/Ani_Glass

https://www.instagram.com/ani_glass/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Rhodri Brooks
29th June 2016

Introducing THE HEARING

20 April 2016 /

Over at The Finland Station, Helsinki-based musician Ringa Manner has been making crystalline sine waves with her project THE HEARING.

There are obvious parallels with SUSANNE SUNDFØR, as a singer / songwriter from a folk laden tradition influenced by Freddie Mercury and Kate Bush, slowly developing with enhanced technological support and innovation. Like MARSHEAUX, THE HEARING has also opened for 30 SECONDS TO MARS. Her debut album, ‘Dorian’, was released in Finland in 2013 by Gaea Records. The solemn but frantically percussive ‘Wohu Wohu’ was a good representation of her initial template while ’Sands’ utilised synths and drum machine.

Now signed to Solina Records, home of SIN COS TAN, ‘Backwards’ from the new album ‘Adrian’ is a great bleep forward. Romantic and dreamy, yet harmonically tense in the way that makes Nordic electronic pop so intriguing, ‘Backwards’ sets the tone for ‘Adrian’ with an expanded palette of synths, soaring pop melodies and busy rhythm construction.

‘Straight Teeth’, the opening song on Adrian’ is sharp with profanity, while a stark arpeggio provides the backbone for the sub-bass laden ‘Rehearsal’. Both ‘Too Happy’ and ‘Color Code’ are songs of many intricate layers that recall GRIMES and THE KNIFE respectively before the lively percussive chant of the album’s title track.

But the highlight is the sub-eight minute ‘Kabeldon’, the most frantically electronic item on the album and perhaps the one with the closest affinity SUSANNE SUNDFØR’s more recent work with bows to DAVID BOWIE’s ‘I’m Deranged’. A mad cascading piano kicks in alongside the steadily building drum ‘n’ bass cacophony of noise before it all slows down into an eloquent Nordic dubstep ballad!

After all that, there comes the comparatively conventional and sweet Scandipop of ‘Faint’ while the dramatic closing number ‘I Dream Of Demian’ wouldn’t sound out of place on an IAMAMIWHOAMI long player. A worthy sophomore offering, ‘Adrian’ paves the way for THE HEARING to make even further artistic gains; after all, SUSANNE SUNDFØR’s international breakthrough ‘Ten Love Songs’ was her fifth album proper.

‘Adrian’ is released by Solina Records as a vinyl LP and download on 22nd April 2016

The HEARING plays The Great Escape in Brighton on 20th and 21st May 2016

http://altagency.fi/artists/the-hearing/

https://www.facebook.com/Ringasofi/

http://solinarecords.com/the-hearing/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
20th April 2016

Introducing REIN

24 March 2016 /

Every now and again a debut release comes along that just screams “star in the making”.

REIN is the polar opposite end of the electronic music spectrum to the likes of CHVRCHES, but it’s plain to see that she is on the fast track to achieving success.

Joanna Reinikainen was born in 1990 in Sweden near to the capital city of Stockholm. She felt like an outsider in her youth, she was different to her peers. When she was thirteen, her father took her to see KRAFTWERK.

It was a revelation and she knew then that she wanted to write and produce her own music. It could be said it wasn’t a huge surprise as the music business is in her genes, her father was a successful pop star in Sweden in the 1980s.

She cites NITZER EBB as a big influence and her own material as addictive, drum heavy EBM. She was the guest vocalist on Swedish duo OPERATING TRACKS single ‘Testify’ in 2015 and then went on to record her debut EP at the end of that year. Released in January 2016, it created an instant buzz about this fiercely independent female music artist.

The self-titled EP is a five track statement of intent, to showcase her abilities and talent. Track one is a hard hitting, adrenaline pumping anthem ‘There Is No Authority But Yourself’. Don’t expect hearts and flowers, all REIN’s tracks are gritty and could be said to be a bit gloom laden, but REIN likes to tell it as it is. Second track ‘Concrete Jungle’ has an unexpected softer vocal to begin with, but then hits back with a bombastic climax.

‘Can’t Handle Me’ is a defiant, hook laden blockbuster, followed by ‘Rebel Girls’ which could be a homage to the strong, political women that she admires in the music industry like MIA, the British solo artist. DIE ANTWOORD would be another act she would like to work with too, given the opportunity. The EP’s last track ‘Born To Die’ is a life reality checker and undeniably punk inspired.

She loves to write and produce in the studio, mainly on computers but is just as passionate about performing live. As expected, she is a force on stage with just a female drummer, Irina Rojas for company. So it’s no surprise that fellow countrymen COVENANT wanted her to support on their upcoming tour, while she will be performing as support to the iconic electronic pairing DAF at BodyFest on 15th October 2016. More live dates in Sweden have been announced and having just signed to Playground Music, a new single is expected later in the spring.

With thanks to Andreas Jismark

The ‘Rein’ EP is released by Cold School and available via the usual digital platforms

https://www.facebook.com/reinofficialmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/_reinofficial_/

https://soundcloud.com/reinelectronic

https://open.spotify.com/album/1v1qJ1YAofpZYXlPrfTbcY

Text by Deb Danahay
24th March 2016

Introducing JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM

17 March 2016 /

Johan Baeckström has been an active writer and producer of electronic music for several decades.

It was 1994 when he started his project DAILY PLANET with vocalist Jarmo Ollila. Hailed as the top voice of electronica, Ollila’s distinctive tones featured on two albums that the band released, even though there had been an 18 year break between them. In 2015 Baeckström outed his solo project ‘Like Before’; an analogue gem, which brought upon him comparisons to Vince Clarke himself.

ERASURE inspired indeed, the original mix of ‘Like Before’ brings back the likes of sweetly synthesised tracks from ‘I Say, I Say, I Say’; with a competent vocal from the man himself, proving that he, too, can hold his own as the main singer.

Songs like ‘Come With Me’, ‘Great Unknown’ and ‘Running Away From Myself’ maintained the standard on a very promising debut that also included a blippy cover of RATIONAL YOUTH’s ‘Saturdays In Silesia’. A label mate of KITE, March 2016 marks the return of the Swedish wizard with the ‘Like Before’ EP, featuring four versions of the title track, as well as a cover of WHITE DOOR’s ‘Jerusalem’.

‘Jerusalem’ gently envelops the proficient vocal with an adequate number of synth sounds, before three further remixes of ‘Like Before’ produced by DELAYKLINIKEN, WAVE IN HEAD and QUANTUM SYMPHONICS respectively, show off an efficient concoction of electrifying elements.

This short and sweet production will certainly appeal to the fans of DAILY PLANET, but should hopefully introduce new listeners to Baeckström’s endeavours, and deservedly so. Has Sweden done it again?! Yes! Yes, they have 🙂

The ‘Like Before’ album and EP are both released by Progress Productions

https://www.facebook.com/bstrommusic/

https://twitter.com/bstrommusic

http://www.progress-productions.com/

Text by Monika Izabela Goss
17th March 2016

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