Category: Reviews (Page 111 of 200)

JON HASSELL Listening To Pictures

29 May 2018 /

Avant garde trumpeter and composer Jon Hassell is best known for his collaborations with Brian Eno and David Sylvian.

Coining the term “Fourth World” to describe his style as “a unified primitive / futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques”, his contributions can also be heard on recordings with TALKING HEADS, TEARS FOR FEARS and 808 STATE. His ‘Fourth World, Volume 1: Possible Musics’ with Brian Eno from 1980 is now considered a landmark in ambient and world music, combining airy electronic treatments on his trumpet with drones and sombre percussive colours often derived from ancient ghatams.

Meanwhile his two 1984 co-writes ‘Weathered Wall’ and ‘Brilliant Trees’ with David Sylvian placed the Fourth World ethos into a song format, albeit an unconventional one while signalling the former JAPAN front man’s departure from pop and into more experimental climes.

Hassell actually criticised Eno’s subsequent album ‘My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’ with David Byrne to Andy Warhol for being too commercial and although it was hardly ‘1989’ by Taylor Swift, it showed the integrity of the man and how still he very much lives for his art at the age of 81.

Very much a sound painter, Hassell’s new album ‘Listening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One)’ introduces his idea of Vertical Listening to “what’s happening NOW” and “letting your inner ears scan up and down the sonic spectrum, asking what kind of ‘shapes’ you’re seeing, then noticing how that picture morphs as the music moves through Time.”

All very thoughtful and with this album, fans of Brian Eno and David Sylvian’s more esoteric work will not be disappointed. Ambient soundscapes proliferate and Hassell’s distinctive signature trumpet sound is very much present on a fair number of the tracks. The steadily rhythmic ‘Al Kongo Udu’ develops on the Fourth World concept from its opening percussive pulses into glitchy 21st Century electronica while being trumpet free. However, it makes its welcome first appearance on the appropriately titled ‘Dreaming’.

The jazz inflected ‘Manga Scene’ also adds some atonal interference and random bleeping for an abstract sound sculpture, but the title track is almost conventional in comparison despite the cut-ups and its almost arbitrary percussive generation. The clattering passages of ‘Pastorale Vassant’ are filled with treated piano and ring modulation while more noise driven, ‘Picnic’ occupies a similar aural playground.

Closing with ‘Slipstream’, the album is bookended with another development of Hassell’s classic Fourth World concept, its overtones eerie but simultaneously escapist.

Like many albums of this type, this won’t be for everyone but for anyone who has ever enjoyed the collaborative aspect of Hassell’s previous work, there are a number of accessible entry points in this artful sonic installation.

‘Listening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One)’ is released by Ndeya Records in vinyl LP, CD and digital formats on 8th June 2018

https://jonhassell.com

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJonHassell/

https://twitter.com/NDEYARECORDS

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Roman Koval
29th May 2018

BRÜCKEN FROESE Beginn

27 May 2018 /

One is a former member of TANGERINE DREAM and son of electronic music pioneer Edgar, while the other is best known for her being part of PROPAGANDA.

‘Beginn’ sees the first results of a new collaboration between Jerome Froese and Claudia Brücken. Atmospheric album opener ‘(The) Last Dance’ starts with a synth string pad, lo-fi Roland CR78-style drum machine and subtle piano part. From the off, this is a beautifully produced track, Brücken sounds absolutely stunning here and her vocals float ethereally over Froese’s textural synth and guitar parts. Sequencers are used sparingly throughout and the emotional impact comes from the lyrics which catalogue the unavoidable break-up of a relationship “…we danced our dance”.

With a couple of exceptions, this is very much a downtempo, chilled-out album. The tempo rarely raises itself above 100bpm and the second track ‘Wounded’ is another example of this. With its skittery percussion and dark string synth textures, ‘Wounded’ has the kind of production aesthetic and chord progression which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Exciter’. The track’s chorus really lifts off with a dark droning FM-bass synth underpinning everything; lyrically we are again dragged into pretty dark surroundings with Brücken storytelling about a person trapped in a relationship.

‘Flight (of) Fancy’ (there are plenty of brackets on the track names!) lightens the mood considerably and is the most guitar-oriented piece on ‘Beginn’; possibly a bit too lightweight in conception (one could imagine Emma Bunton or Natalie Imbruglia covering this), it’s partially salvaged by a welcome minor key sequencer-based part in the middle 8.

‘Cards’ is similar in tone and conception to Alison Moyet’s some of recent solo works… in fact if you were looking at an overall comparison point for ‘Beginn’, then ‘the minutes’ would be a good place to start. Breakbeats which are introduced later in the track and some middle-Eastern inflected melodies keep the dark vibe going and gets ‘Beginn’ back on track again.

‘Light (of the) Rising Sun’ is a short ambient piano / synth based piece; more of an interlude than a complete song, Brücken delivers another beautiful vocal in a track which has positive and uplifting lyrics which counterpoint some of the darker themes present elsewhere.

‘Whispers (of) Immortality’ is the epic center piece of ‘Beginn’ with Brücken providing a spoken word contribution throughout. The song, which features hissing analogue snare and hi-hats, has a Brücken vocal delivery which is very reminiscent of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND’s Nico, especially on the “here she comes” line.

In contrast, the following ‘Sound (of the) Waves’ is very much a game of two halves, the first stripped back with little percussion, then the second lifting off with more breakbeats.

‘Sweet Sense (of) Liberation’ is a definite highlight of ‘Beginn’ and the most contemporary-sounding piece here by a long shot, ’s xPROPAGANDA bandmate Susanne Freytag. With its deep detuned Reese sawtooth sound and Drum N Bass kick / snare pattern, it wouldn’t sound out of place on a Hospital Records compilation. Adding to the album a welcome change of pace, the track has some PROPAGANDA-style spoken word elements in it’ middle section and sparkling blippy sequencer lines throughout.

The album climaxes (as it started) in a low-key fashion with ‘Unbound Spaces’, featuring a mixture of found sounds and synthetic textures and brings the album to a satisfying and melodic atmospheric conclusion.

Interestingly, ‘Beginn’ is a bit of a curveball in that it’s really not what you would expect considering the backgrounds of the two artists; if you approached it expecting a TANGERINE DREAM album fronted with icy PROPAGANDA vocals, then you may be surprised.

It’s plainly obvious to the listener that ‘Beginn’ has had a lot of time and love invested in it; it is immaculately produced and Brücken has never sounded better.

Her vocals compliment Froese’s synth and guitar textures perfectly and if you are seeking a reflective downtempo album which combines these elements, it’s unlikely you will hear a better one delivered this year. A perfect beginning…

‘Beginn’ is released by Cherry Red Records on 15th June 2018 in download, CD and limited edition double vinyl LP featuring two bonus FLEETWOOD MAC cover versions, pre-order direct from https://www.cherryred.co.uk/artist/brucken-froese/

http://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk

http://www.jeromefroese.com

https://twitter.com/ClaudiaBrucken1

https://twitter.com/jeromefroese

Text by Paul Boddy
27th May 2018

CHVRCHES Love Is Dead

25 May 2018 /

Having delivered the decent second album that LITTLE BOOTS, LA ROUX, LADYHAWKE or HURTS never managed, can CHVRCHES’ continue the upward momentum with their third album ‘Love Is Dead’?

With the kaleidoscopic lead single ‘Get Out’ and its supreme singalong showcasing Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty in full bouncy Taylor mode, nothing more than their most overt pop statement to date can be expected.

Produced mostly by Californian Greg Kurstin whose credits have included ELLIE GOULDING, SIA, LILY ALLEN, LITTLE BOOTS, LADYHAWKE, MARINA & THE DIAMONDS, KELLY CLARKSON, LANA DEL REY, KATY PERRY and TAYLOR SWIFT, he certainly makes his presence felt by co-writing nine of the thirteen tracks.

Its predecessor ‘Every Open Eye’ had already unveiled some more Trans-Atlantic leanings while Mayberry’s relocation to New York is another factor to consider. ‘Love Is Dead’ certainly doesn’t mess about, with hooklines that could snare a shark. But while this is certainly pop, the song titles suggest something much darker lyrically as ‘My Enemy’, a shadier downtempo duet featuring Matt Berninger of American stoner rockers THE NATIONAL confirms.

These weightier topics are further affirmed by another Taylor-esque number ‘Never Say Die’ which despite being driven along with big synth arpeggios, sees Mayberry confessing that “I’m falling in, I’m falling out”. Then there’s ‘Miracle’ steered by British producer Steve Mac (noted for his work with boy band THE WANTED) which is still embroiled in melancholy with Mayberry’s emotive pleas despite the “woah-oh” chant chorus and big beats.

It starts off gloriously with ‘Graffiti’, a classic CHVRCHES tune that punches the sky with some rousing vocals from Mayberry, before the steadfast ‘Deliverance’ which tackles the hypocrisy of organised religion under a neon-lit sonic backdrop.

Upping the tempo, ‘Forever’ takes its leaf from the more Trans-Atlantic crossover tunes that figured on ‘Every Open Eye’ with that Brat Pack film montage flash that sees Mayberry wondering “What else could I do?”. The enjoyable ‘Graves’ is cut from a similar musical cloth, but given some Hooky bass grunt as Mayberry reflects on recent human tragedies both home and abroad.

On a similar lyrical gist, ‘Heaven/Hell’ asks further questions accompanied by more bass guitar alongside the synths for a much darker musical backdrop. The clouds loom heavy on ‘Love Is Dead’ from here as the gloomy indie house of ‘God’s Plan’ sees Doherty take his usual album lead vocal; thankfully, it is better than either of his two offerings on CHVRCHES’s debut album ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ which will be a relief to armchair fans of the band.

The minimalist arrangement on the wonderfully sad ballad ‘Really Gone’ would make Vince Clarke proud while closing the record, ‘Wonderland’ crosses some metronomic trance with midtempo AOR styled interludes.

CHVRCHES have undoubtedly shed their innocence on ‘Love Is Dead’ and as the band themselves put it “coming to terms with the fact that there are great things in the world and there are awful things in the world and that you can’t get one without the other”. Darker but crucially still melodic, this is a good third album which is something else that HURTS and LITTLE BOOTS didn’t manage either.

So kudos to Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty for maintaining their standards and continuing to fly the flag for classic synthpop around the world. If you are attracted by the concept of Art School Taylor Swift, then you will love this.

‘Love Is Dead’ is released by Virgin Records as a CD, clear vinyl LP and download

http://chvrch.es/

https://www.facebook.com/CHVRCHES

https://twitter.com/CHVRCHES

https://www.instagram.com/chvrches/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
25th May 2018

JOHNNY JEWEL Themes for Television

22 May 2018 /


A year after the ‘Twin Peaks‘ revival series took the ever expectant fans on a journey of weird and wonderful rediscovery of all things Lynchian, the man behind CHROMATICS, Johnny Jewel, surprises his audiences with a long player designed to paint the alternative backdrop and his story of the cult series.

Having performed in the Roadhouse during the very premiere of the cult show by Lynch, with ‘Shadow’ exactly a year ago, Jewel celebrates the anniversary with a twenty one track double album, which hopes to catch glimpses of the unnatural and superhuman.

“It’s been a year since CHROMATICS performed at the Roadhouse. With disintegrated memory through the haze of television snow, I wanted to share a glimpse behind the red curtain”, Jewel states, providing an auditory insight to the magical world of all things peculiar.

A multi-instrumentalist, Jewel runs his own label Italians do it Better on which he features many acts with his involvement. Be it SYMMETRY with Nat Walker, with whom he also forms DESIRE joined by Megan Louise, GLASS CANDY with Ida No, and of course Chromatics, accompanied by Ruth Radelet, Adam Miller and Nat Walker again.

Having only recently released his third opus, ‘Digital Rain’, the fan of all things analogue introduces an insight into the “sonic exploration of the sounds I was hearing in my nightmares.”

‘Themes for Television’ is Jewel’s idea of a ‘Twin Peaks’ soundtrack, it is his very own version of events, in which fear is paralleled by desire, release and uncertainty. “I wanted to find my way out of the maze by focusing on beauty over fear — like the way the fractured sunrise looks in a dream.” And indeed from ‘Requiem’ to ‘Infinity Room’, the sound manipulator culls six hours of recordings into bite size pieces of extraordinary vision of his own making.

Through the mercenary ‘Black Room’ with its fear inducing aura, into Laura Palmer’s dance-like bossa nova of ‘Loveless’, or the gloomily hopeful swish of ‘Red Curtain’, Jewel leads us into his very own Lynchian inspired universe, where ‘Tomorrow is Yesterday’ and ‘Red Door’ leads into ‘Purgatory’.

DESIRE join Jewel on ‘Saturday (Evening)’, its ethereal vocals and enthusiastically optimistic outlook with glimpses of Julee Cruise’s genteel approach to the vocal. The opening titles to ‘Shadow’ are here too, of course, reminiscing the Roadhouse stage bathed in cobalt, giving the perfect backdrop to hypnotising sounds and eerie sequences.

The rough sounds of ‘Caffeine’ gingerly induce the ‘Waking Up’ process, where delicate notions are crashed with feelings of dread and hopelessness. The dainty bells of ‘Breathless’ ring the graceful melody, forming beautifully, yet sad, laced with sinister feelings, yet forward looking future, to be exhausted into the fading ‘Infinity Room’, where there is no hope left.

Maybe the only hope is ‘Windswept’, with the Lynchian creation of Dougie Jones aka Agent Cooper’s awakening from a dazed mechanical dream, and the longing saxophone adding to the melancholy of his existence.

‘Themes for Television’ is a marvellous surprise from Johnny Jewel; a worthy celebration of his awe for Lynch and the showcase of what masterdom the sound manipulator can achieve with a minimal approach.

There’s nothing left to do but get lost in the difficult to resist capability of his musical designs… and perhaps dream of further ‘Twin Peaks’…

‘Themes for Television’ is released as a CD and double Cherry Pie vinyl LP on 29th June 1018, available from http://italiansdoitbetter.bigcartel.com

https://www.facebook.com/johnnyjewelmusic/

https://www.facebook.com/ITALIANSDOITBETTER/

https://twitter.com/idib_

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
22nd May 2018

NIGHT CLUB Candy Coated Suicide

18 May 2018 /

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK once described NIGHT CLUB as sounding like “Britney fronting NINE INCH NAILS”.

Now re-quoted by some other media outlets, that description appears to have stuck. With their second album ‘Scary World’ on the way, NIGHT CLUB have a mind bending visual accompaniment to go with its lead single ‘Candy Coated Suicide’.

‘Alice In Wonderland’ author Lewis Carroll had a disorder which caused him to have hallucinations about shrinking and chatting to anxious leporids, but what would he have made of this video to ‘Candy Coated Suicide’?

Described by singer Emily Kavanaugh as “like if an 8 year old and her stuffed animals discovered LSD and went on a solid 4 day bender”, the self-directed video sees her cavorting with two synth playing rabbits as well as a teddy bear with chains and cuffs being two of the prominent accessories.

The song itself is an excellent second cousin to ‘Pray’ from NIGHT CLUB’s debut long player ‘Requiem for Romance’ and ‘She Wants To Play With Fire’ off the ‘Black Leather Heart’ EP.

However, the abundance of pitch shifted vocals ensures ‘Candy Coated Suicide’ possesses a slightly devilish quality, while instrumentalist and producer Mark Brooks has added a grittier rock dynamic that makes its presence felt in the bridge to compliment the dysfunctional pop aesthetic.

Currently touring North America with aggrotech exponents COMBICHRIST and horror rocker WEDNESDAY 13, the triple bill hits Europe in the summer including dates in Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow. But while they are in the British Isles, NIGHT CLUB will also be headlining two August shows in Sheffield and London.

‘Candy Coated Suicide’ is released by Gato Blanco and available via the usual digital platforms

The new album ‘Scary World’ is released on 24th August 2018

NIGHT CLUB 2018 live dates include: Dublin Tivoli (7th August)*, Belfast Limelight (8th August)*, Glasgow Garage (9th August)*, Sheffield Mulberry Bar (10th August), London Hoxton Stag’s Head (11th August)

*opening for COMBICHRIST + WEDNESDAY 13

http://nightclubband.com/

https://www.facebook.com/nightclubband

https://twitter.com/nightclubband

https://www.instagram.com/nightclubband/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
18th May 2018

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: [email protected]
Privacy Policy

Up ↑