Category: Reviews (Page 127 of 200)

HYPERBUBBLE Pretty Plastic

17 July 2017 /

Celebrating 20 years of HYPERBUBBLE, the Texan electro artpunk duo of Jess and Jeff Decuir release ‘Pretty Plastic’.

It’s a compendium of their work previously scattered across vinyl, EPs and compilations issued on labels in the UK, America, Germany, Italy and Japan. As well as gathering rarities, ‘Pretty Plastic’ also includes slight variations on some of their best known songs that have gained the duo a worldwide cult audience.

Beginning with ‘Jouet Pop’ aka ‘Girl Boy Pop Toy’, this is the couple’s appealing musical mission statement as the “synthesizer couple” which often opens their live set and acted as one of the key tracks on their third album ‘Candy Apple Daydreams’ in 2010.

From that very album, an Extended Remix of the title track acts as enjoyable treat, featuring a more dance focussed rhythm construction while maintaining the song’s quirky B-52s catchiness. The longer middle section even throws in a robotised HYPERBUBBLE biography.

Featuring in a Nightmare Mix, the frantic and brilliant ‘Chop Shop Cop’ amusingly asks “you wouldn’t steal a car, you wouldn’t steal a DVD, you wouldn’t download load an illegal MP3, so why did you steal my heart?”, while the sturdy Valentino Mix of ‘Non Biodegradable Hazardous Waste Disposal’ adds another catchy but different focal point.

Having shown their knack for synth instrumentals on 2016’s ‘Music To Color By’, HYPERBUBBLE prove they’re always had it with tracks like 2014’s ‘Son of Sky Smasher’ and ‘Disgow Glasgow’ from 2009.

And if you’ve ever wanted to hear what ‘Money’ might sound like as mad electronic remix, then the 60 second ‘Party On Jupiter’ does the trick, while ‘(She’s So) Technical’ reveals a moodier side to the couple. The driving electronics of ‘Kinky’ provide some spice to proceedings before the octave thrust of ‘Pop Star’ amusingly captures wanabee culture with a spacey twist.

‘Welcome to Infinity’ is Vince Clarke-styled sequenced magic with shades of Donna Summer thrown in and appropriately, the 2004 vintage ‘Disco Invasion’ gives an alien take on Giorgio Moroder.

Things perhaps go off track with the Neuromix of ‘Synesthesia’ which is really for fans only but ‘Another Ride’ puts things back on track before an extended take on ‘Girl Boy Pop Toy’ nicely bookends the collection.

At 22 tracks, ‘Pretty Plastic’ is excellent value and achieves that difficult feat of appealing to loyal followers and acting as a representative introduction to those who are curious about the June Carter and Johnny Cash of synthpop.

‘Pretty Plastic’ released in CD and download formats by Pure Pop For Now People Records

http://www.hyperbubble.net/

https://www.facebook.com/hyperbubble

https://twitter.com/Hyperbubble

Text by Chi Ming Lai
17th July 2017

HANNAH PEEL Sunrise Through The Dusty Nebula

14 July 2017 /

A year after her critically acclaimed sophomore long player ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’, Hannah Peel is set to release her next conceptual opus this September.

Entitled ‘Mary Casio: Journey To Cassiopeia’, the album featuring a 29-piece colliery brass band tells the story of a fictional elderly musical stargazer. Her lifelong dream to leave her terraced home in the mining town of Barnsley to journey into space to see Cassiopeia, the constellation in the Northern hemisphere named after the vain queen in Greek mythology who boasted about her unrivalled beauty.

The video by visual artist Daniel Conway for ‘Sunrise Through The Dusty Nebula’ from the album captures a beautiful telescopic romance of another intergalactic dimension. The planetary soundscape itself recalls OMD’s eerie experiments like ’66 & Fading’ with its hybrid of analogue synthesizers, full brass band and ambient vocal nuances from Miss Peel herself.

It all brings her back full circle to OMD; she covered ‘Electricity’ for her debut ‘Rebox’ EP which brought her to the attention of Andy McCluskey and led to her ‘Organ Song’ aka ‘Today Is Not So Far Away’ being used as the basis for ‘Bondage Of Fate’, a song from their 2010 comeback album ‘History Of Modern’.

‘Mary Casio: Journey To Cassiopeia’ is a seven-movement odyssey that captures Hannah Peel and her zest for musical adventure, experimentation and genre blend. She said in Summer 2016 that this “could have been a Hannah Peel album, but it’s so different in terms of there’s no vocals. It’s very much an instrumental journey, so it helped me to compose it under a different name and gave me the confidence to just go for it.”

‘Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia’ is released on 22nd September 2017 by My Own Pleasure in vinyl, CD and digital formats, pre-order from https://hannahpeel.tmstor.es/

2017 live shows for ‘Mary Casio: Journey To Cassiopeia’ include:

Liverpool Philharmonic Concert Hall (23rd September), Stockton The Arc (30th September), Barnsley Civic Theatre Tickets (21st October), Basingstoke The Anvil Concert Hall (28th October)

Hannah Peel opens for Alison Moyet on her 2017 UK tour, dates include:

Gateshead Sage (31st October), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (1st November), Edinburgh Usher Hall (2nd November), Ipswich Regent Theatre (4th November), Reading Hexagon (5th November), Oxford New Theatre (7th November), Birmingham Symphony Hall (9th November), Southend Cliffs Pavilion (11th November), Cambridge Corn Exchange (12th November), London Palladium (14th November), London Palladium (15th November), Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre (16th November), Cardiff St David’s Hall (18th November), York Barbican (19th November), Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Hall (20th November), Manchester Bridgewater Hall (22nd November), Bristol Colston Hall (23rd November), Warwick Arts Centre (24th November), Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (26th November), Aylesbury Waterside Theatre (27th November), Southampton 02 Guildhall (28th November)

http://www.hannahpeel.com

https://www.facebook.com/HannahPeelMusic

https://twitter.com/hanpeel

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th July 2017

NINA One Of Us

13 July 2017 /

Following a successful appearance at Synth Wave Live in London earlier this year, Berlin-born songstress NINA is back with a new single ‘One Of Us’, which she performed at the event.

A cinematic slice of synthwave pop with a Nordic twist thanks to the collaborative efforts of Swedish electronic artist and producer Oscillian, ‘One Of Us’ sees NINA develop on the promise shown by her previous singles ‘My Mistake’ and ‘Beyond Memory’. The self-confessed Retrophiliac told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK that “The single is about not quite conforming to what society expects from us.”

A steadfast percussive energy certainly comes over the tune’s nocturnal atmospheres although the accompanying video sees Fraulein Boldt walking around a gloomy city estate, reflecting about a time in her childhood when she saved a boy from bullies… “You’ll never be alone as long as I am here” she sings in a brooding tone of optimism.

In an artistic move reminiscent of classic PET SHOP BOYS, the B-side ‘Counting Stars’ is cut from a similar cloth to the A-side, combining NINA’s enticing vocal with a rich escapist soundtrack swathed in synths.

With a host of Autumn shows coming up in the UK, Germany and Sweden, NINA is making strides towards finally releasing her long awaited but as-yet-untitled debut album.

‘One Of Us’ is released by Aztec Records on 11th August 2017, available as a signed CD EP from http://www.ninasounduk.com/merch/autographed-one-of-us-cd

Download can be pre-ordered from https://ninasounduk.bandcamp.com/album/one-of-us

NINA 2017 live dates include:

Retro Future Festival (28th July), Glasgow The Hug & Pint (27th August), Berlin Maze (7th September), Hamburg Prinzenbar (8th September), Köln Arttheater (9th September), London Outland Festival (29th September), London Hoxton Bar & Kitchen (27th October), Stockholm Debaser Strand (4th November)

https://www.iloveninamusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/iloveninamusic

https://twitter.com/iloveninamusic

https://www.instagram.com/ninasounduk/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th July 2017

SPACEPRODIGI Launch EP

11 July 2017 /


“Choose synth – Choose a job – Choose a career – Choose a family…”

SPACEPRODIGI is Mackenzie Bartsch, and as her moniker suggests, she’s an up-and-coming electronic dance sensation from Houston, Texas.

She was recently spotted at the Moogfest engineering class building a Moog DFAM  percussion sequencer.

Describing the Drummer From Another Mother as also being “A Sick Bassline Synthesizer”, she has put her interest in analogue electronics to good use on her debut EP, the appropriately named ‘Launch’.

What is key to SPACEPRODIGI is that while her club friendly beats and tempos will naturally appeal to her own demographic, her inventive futuristic sound design, coupled to her classical training, connects her to the world of DEADMAU5 and DAFT PUNK.

The accessible defined thrust of ‘Atimony’ is a good example of an approach that could potentially capture a very wide audience spectrum. Meanwhile, the sparkling hypnotic energy of ‘Chameleon’ puts the majority of the inane drop focussed rubbish on Beatport that passes as EDM to shame.

The arpeggio centred title track and the lengthier ‘Kidults’ showcase further promise with the latter interestingly doing away with hi-hats for the first minute and a half, relying more on its octave drive and rigid rhythmic lattice; the best track on the EP, it could well appeal to maturer audiences weaned on JEAN-MICHEL JARRE.

This first instrumental salvo of music from SPACEPRODIGI is crafted and spacious without being overblown. Having received her first synth, a Moog Sub37, as a 14th birthday present, Bartsch has added a Minimoog, a Moog Voyager and the forever robust Roland Juno 60 to her studio, along with a Prophet 6 and Tempest from Dave Smith Instruments.

Her appeal has not only brought her to the attention of equipment manufacturers like Analogue Solutions who have provided her with their new Nyborg, but also clothing retailers such as Square Wave whose marvellous “CHOOSE SYNTH” T-shirt she wore to great viral effect.

‘Launch’ is released by Alliance Radar as a download EP via the usual digital platforms

The “CHOOSE SYNTH” T-shirt is available from http://www.squarewaveclothing.com/choose-synth.html

https://www.spaceprodigi.com/

https://www.facebook.com/spaceprodigi/

https://twitter.com/spaceprodigi

https://www.instagram.com/spaceprodigi/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
11th July 2017

QUAESCHNING & SCHNAUSS Synthwaves

9 July 2017 /

Quality instrumental electronic music is often overlooked these days at the expense of vocal driven synth material.

The halcyon days, of when artists such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze and TANGERINE DREAM were all at their peak, are all but a distant memory. However, there are still artists that are producing quality work in this vein. ‘Synthwaves’ is a collaboration between TANGERINE DREAM members Thorsten Quaeschning and Ulrich Schnauss which utilises their enviable collection of synthesizers.

Whereas solo Schnauss has a fairly identifiable “wall of sound with Shoegaze elements” aesthetic, the link-up with Quaeschning has produced a more direct and melodic sound which, in places (unsurprisingly) references the classic sound of TD.

The start-off track ‘Main Theme’ appears to be a homage to the ‘Stranger Things’ opening music, which in itself paid tribute to TD and electronic artists of the era. From the off, the track relies on a deep resonant synth bass and sequencer lines before introducing some William Orbit-style stabs and big reverberant drum sounds. In classic TD style, more layered echoed sequencer parts raise the energy level and what makes the piece sustain interest over its 8 minute length is its continually changing chord progressions and refusal to rely on a linear approach.

‘Slow Life’ starts off with a quite beautiful ambient Eno-esque acoustic piano part drenched in a long reverb before swiftly introducing another wonderfully deep bass and hooky synth sequence. Alongside a later track on the album, the ghost of the classic ‘Risky Business’ soundtrack piece ‘Love On A Real Train’ is initially recalled here, but the introduction of phased Solina strings and guitar-like textures add a further dimension.

‘Cats and Dogs’ which relies on a vintage Oberheim DMX for its drum pattern and the PROPAGANDA lyric-pinching ‘A Calm But Steady Flow’ are pleasant enough, but come across as mid-album fillers.

Where the album really hits its stride though is in the final trilogy of tracks; ‘Thirst’ is the second track to owe a debt to ‘Love on a Real Train’. Based around a Manikin Schrittmacher sequencer part, the track’s skittering percussion and additional synth layers hit a wonderful climax at 3 minutes 17 seconds when a bass synth modulates around the hypnotic synth parts.

Although over 8 minutes in length, ‘Thirst’ never outstays its welcome and for fans of the Berlin School of sequencing, is bound to be an undeniable highlight here. ‘Flare’ comes across in part as a drum-less electronic re-imagining of a ‘Disintegration’-era track by THE CURE; its huge string synth melody sounding absolutely epic and adding in a welcome musical change to the piece. Album closer ‘Prism’ has the kind of chord progression that makes the hairs stand up on the back of the neck and ends ‘Synthwaves’ on a real high.

What’s interesting about this collaboration (and potentially exciting for the fans of the upcoming TANGERINE DREAM album) is that it must have been hugely tempting for Quaeschning and Schnauss to use the tracks here for TD. The very fact that they haven’t means that the upcoming TD release ‘Quantum Gate’ could be something very special indeed and a major justification of the continuation of the band following the passing of leader Edgar Froese.

If you are a long term fan of melodic instrumental synthesizer music and maybe haven’t been inclined to investigate what is current within this sub-genre, this album would be a fantastic place to start. It avoids a lot of the clichés of some Berlin School material and at no point does it become overly self-indulgent.

Immerse yourself in the ‘Synthwaves’ and you may never wish to surface again…

‘Synthwaves’ uses the following instrumentation and equipment:

Thorsten Quaeschning – Steinberg Cubase, Manikin Schrittmacher sequencer, Manikin Memotron, Roland Jupiter 8, Roland JD800, Dave Smith Prophet 8, ARP Solina MK2, Korg Wavestation EX, Waldorf Microwave, Moog Voyager, Eurorack Modular, Roland V Synth, Korg Z1, Korg Prophecy, Korg M1 synthesiser, Clavia Nordwave, Yamaha TG77, Roland System 1, Roland JU06, Korg MS20, Roland JP08, Roland TR-8 Rhythm Performer, Oberheim DMX, Roland Promars, Fender Starcaster, Fender Telecaster, Fender Stratocaster, Spectrasonics Omnisphere, Spectrasonics Keyscape, Screwdriver on wood and contact microphones, several boxes with contact microphones, bees in garden

Ulrich Schnauss – Steinberg Cubase and Logic Pro, Manikin Schrittmacher sequencer, Roland JD XA, Roland Jupiter 8, Roland JD-800, Oberheim OB-8, Roland System 1, Roland MKS-70, Rhodes Chroma, Waldorf Q, Microwave XT, Sonic Core SCOPE system, Ensoniq DP4

‘Synthwaves’ is released in CD, vinyl LP and download formats by Azure Vista Records, available from
https://quaeschningschnauss.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thorsten.quaeschning

https://twitter.com/PicturePalaceQ

https://www.facebook.com/ulrichschnauss/

https://twitter.com/ulrichschnauss

Text by Paul Boddy
9th July 2017

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