Category: Reviews (Page 128 of 200)

TINY MAGNETIC PETS Deluxe/Debris

7 July 2017 /

TINY MAGNETIC PETS were founded in 2009 in Dublin by Paula Gilmer on vocals and Sean Quinn in charge of electronic sound wizardry.

They were joined by Eugene Somers to take care of the percussion side of things and blossomed into a serious act, recognised by the likes of OMD, Michael Rother and Rusty Egan. A debut album and a couple of excellent EPs later, TINY MAGNETIC PETS, named after the collectible Japanese toy, gathered a significant interest with fans of krautrock, classic synthpop and Berlin-era Bowie.

Manufacturing their unusual sound to sit somewhere in between and to cater to the eclectic tastes of the more discerning lovers of pop, they have returned with their second full length album ‘Deluxe/Debris’, with Gilmer and co promising to deliver their best work to date, a “perfect soundtrack for complicated times”.

Kicking off with ‘Lost My Guiding Light’, which starts off with gentle pop sounds like MADONNA’s ‘Drowned World’, it slowly blossoms onto a warming blanket of the perfect musicality, encapsulating dreamy Badalamenti styled guitar, married with the clever use of trumpets and effortless vocals.

Following on comes the epic ‘Semaphore’, which takes the listener onto an eclectic musical journey in its eleven minutes length. From the krautrock beats, through to the sublime guitar interventions, the grandness of the percussion, the breathiness of MARSHEAUX like vocals where Gilmer pleads “please don’t wake me from this dream” to an experimental ending à la APOPTYGMA BERZERK, it’s a symphony of what’s best in the world of TINY MAGNETIC PETS.

None other than Wolfgang Flür guests on ‘Radio On’, a Kraftwerkian excursion on which the Gilmer’s vocal is perhaps reminiscent of Natalie Imbruglia’s. Flür also features on the closing ‘Never Alone’, which transcends a breezy dreamlike state. ‘Cold War Neon’ Frenches it up a little with a female narration over a ballad of suspense, while ‘All Yesterday’s Tomorrows’ introduces a voice reminiscent of Kylie work over some superb synth.

‘Here Comes The Noise’ is presented in two disguises; the first, ‘Pink’ is a magnificent piece, massaging the tiredness away with its floaty quality, while ‘White’ gets the percussion involved, presenting the track as a dance outing over the delicious electronics. ‘Shadow Street’ works perfectly well as a modern day electronic bossa nova with its undemanding rhythm and the consistently marvellous vocal from Gilmer.

Experimenting further, ‘Cloud Sequence’ glides and glows eloquently with a further dose of undiluted musical intentions. It has to be said that TINY MAGNETIC PETS have hit the jackpot with ‘Deluxe/Debris’. Certainly the most interesting production to date from the Irish trio, encapsulating the best in retro and contemporary synthpopia.

Gilmer’s voice has shaped up to be one of the best female vocals of the genre, and the execution by Quinn showcases the knowhow of the good old fashioned songwriting, but in a modern style.

A perfect pop record for the most discerning of tastes. Go Ireland!

‘Deluxe/Debris’ is released by Happy Robots Records in vinyl, CD and download formats on 25th August 2017

TINY MAGNETIC PETS open for OMD on the Ireland + UK dates of ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ 2017 tour:

Dublin Vicar Street (23rd October), Belfast Mandela Hall (24th October), Liverpool Empire (29th October), Bristol Colston Hall (30th October) , Southend Cliffs Pavilion (1st November), Ipswich Regent (2nd November), Cambridge Corn Exchange (3rd November), Leicester De Montfort Hall (5th November), Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (6th November), Sheffield City Hall (7th November), Reading Hexagon (9th November), Southampton Guild Hall (10th November), Guildford G Live (11th November), London Roundhouse (13th November), Bexhill Del La Warr Pavillion (15th November), Manchester Academy (17th November), York Barbican (18th November), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (19th November), Birmingham Symphony Hall (21st November), Gateshead Sage (22nd November)

https://www.tinymagneticpets.com

https://www.facebook.com/tinymagneticpets/

https://twitter.com/TinyMagneticPet

https://www.happyrobots.co.uk/tiny-magnetic-pets

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
7th July 2017, updated 1st August 2017

RHEINGOLD Im Lauf Der Zeit

4 July 2017 /

Between 1980 to 1984, RHEINGOLD were at the forefront of Die Neue Deutsche Welle, releasing three albums and achieving their first domestic hit ‘3klangsdimensionen’ in 1981.

Led by Bodo Staiger, the band also featured his now-wife Brigitte Staiger and Lothar Manteuffel who later formed ELEKTRIC MUSIC with Karl Bartos in 1992 and more recently, played keyboards with Peter Heppner of WOLFSHEIM Fame.

Although hailing from Düsseldorf like KRAFTWERK, LA DÜSSELDORF and DAF, RHEINGOLD differed by having a distinctive rhythm guitar template and more melodic vocals compared to their contemporaries, despite being electronically driven.

Preferring to sing in their own language, the trio attained other notable hit singles including ‘Fluß’ and ‘Fan Fan Fanatic’, before calling it a day after their third album ‘Distanz’ having never performed live.

Then in 2007, RHEINGOLD made a surprise return with a techno-flavoured tribute album to Die Düsseldorfer Schule entitled ‘Electric City’; it featured cover versions of songs made famous by KRAFTWERK, PROPAGANDA and LA DUSSELDORF among others, as well as some updated versions of their own tunes. This led to the 2010 ‘Best Of’ collection containing more conventionally re-recorded songs from the RHEINGOLD catalogue.

And now comes ‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’, translated as “over time”, a brand new RHEINHOLD album that features a significant number of instrumentals but also lyrics by Karl Bartos, Uli Luciano and Brigitte Staiger alongside music played and produced by Bodo Staiger.

The opening number is the self-explanatory ‘Kraut’, a fine tribute to the 20th Century kosmische music forms that Germany has become famous for. The bouncy ‘Im Lauf der Zeit’ title song, featuring strummed and E-bowed six string, showcases an optimistic demeanour that more than expresses Bobo Staiger’s joy at his musical return.

‘Sehnsucht’ is not a cover of RAMMSTEIN but rich Compurhythm driven pop with ringing rhythm guitar reminiscent of THE CURE and atmospheric synths, while ‘Stromaufwärts’ does as its title suggests and paddles upstream in positivity with lovely backing vocals from Frau Staiger.

In an instrumental homage to the grand synth rock overtures of LA DÜSSELDORF, ‘Theme ’84’ slows down and shortens ‘Cha Cha 2000’. With some surprising fretless bass thrown in for good measure, it just cries Düsseldorf.

Back to vocals with ‘Energie’, RHEINGOLD homage themselves and in particular, ‘3klangsdimensionen’; it was a great and under-appreciated song so why not?

‘Ins Leben Zurück’ is a drum box laden rock ballad and perhaps doesn’t have the appeal of the other songs on the album, but ‘Weißes Licht’ gets things back on track in classic RHEINGOLD style.

Meanwhile, the melodic synth of ‘Paradieshafen’ drives along a beautiful instrumental that imagines a dream collaboration between OMD and Michael Rother before a fourth, more pulsating instrumental in ‘Sternstaub’; using a wholly electronic method of realisation, it closes the rather fine comeback album that is ‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’.

An album that sits well alongside DAS BLAUE PALAIS and their Düsseldorf inspired ‘Welt Am Draht’, this is a welcome return from RHEINGOLD and perhaps evidence that extended musical sabbaticals aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

Das ist gut…

‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’ is released in CD and digital formats by Lucky Bob Records / Soulfood

https://www.facebook.com/Rheingold-156171354461006/

http://3klangrecords.de/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
4th July 2017

BLANCMANGE The Blanc Tapes

3 July 2017 /

Daniel Miller referred to BLANCMANGE affectionately as “the maiden aunts of electronic music”, while Moby considers them “possibly the most under-rated electronic act of all time”.

They came to prominence towards the end of the second generation of Synth Britannia. Their first EP ‘Irene & Mavis’ came out in 1980 before ‘Sad Day’ was chosen by Futurist DJ Stevo for inclusion on his influential ‘Some Bizzare Album’ which also showcased DEPECHE MODE, SOFT CELL, THE THE and B-MOVIE in 1981.

Following support slots with JAPAN and DEPECHE MODE, Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe signed to London Records. Releasing their now classic album ‘Happy Families’ in Autumn 1982, it featured their breakthrough hit single ‘Living On The Ceiling’ while ‘I Can’t Explain’ remains one of the most blistering album openers of the era! Fusing the rhythmic dash of TALKING HEADS with the intensity of JOY DIVISION plus the melodic framework of OMD and YAZOO over the top, Arthur and Luscombe won critical admiration and respectable sales for their debut.

On the back of further hit singles in ‘Blind Vision’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me’, the second brilliantly titled long player ‘Mange Tout’ became the duo’s biggest seller in 1984. Having first featured on ‘Living On The Ceiling’, the Indian musicians Pandit Dinesh on tablas and Deepak Khazauchi on sitar were given greater prominence on the album, while another surprise came with their brilliant cover of ABBA’s ‘The Day Before You Came’. This was considered an odd but daring decision at the time. But with ABBA now fully absorbed into mainstream popular culture and the ‘Bollywood’ sound very much part of modern pop, ‘Mange Tout’ could be considered a cultural prophecy…

However, with synthpop now no longer in-vogue, there was a lukewarm reception for the third album ‘Believe You Me’ released in 1985, despite good crossover songs such as ‘Why Don’t They Leave Things Alone?’ and ‘Lorraine’s My Nurse’. This was leading to a blanc burn out and reflected in the electro-funk of ‘22339’ with a proclamation from Arthur that “I feel like I’m losin’ my mind”. Ultimately, it led to Arthur and Luscombe calling it a day in order to protect their friendship following a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1986.

Edsel Records release the first three BLANCMANGE albums as expanded 3CD editions which are also compiled as a deluxe 9 disc set entitled ‘The Blanc Tapes’. The bonus discs gather together B-sides, BBC radio sessions, live material and previously unreleased demos and it is these that will be of most interest to BLANCMANGE fans. Meanwhile, the horribly unsympathetic liner notes by Alan Robinson that adorned the 2008 Edsel reissues have now been replaced by commentary from Neil Arthur.

From their first John Peel Session included in the deluxe ‘Happy Families’ extras, ‘I Would’ is dark and menacing while ‘Running Thin’ is toned in resignation; both now actually sound more like BLANCMANGE in the 21st Century than anything from the first three London long players. The original downtempo ‘Sad Day’ is also present while the lost demo ‘Melodic Piece’ is a marvellously elegant instrumental that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on ‘Nil By Mouth’, the voxless BLANCMANGE album issued in 2015. Meanwhile, the organ laden ‘Black Bell’ is an enjoyably creepy lo-fi demo, but ‘Holland’ springs a major surprise with some prominent guitar in the vein of THE CARS!

The ‘Mange Tout’ bonuses include a stark electronic demo entitled ‘How Time Became The Tide’ which is nothing like anything on its parent album, thanks to its science fiction vibe. The claustrophobic and psychedelic ‘If You Want To Be Hip’ is also very different but again, points to how BLANCMANGE are now, rather than then.

The number of unreleased demos from the ‘Believe You Me’ sessions circa 1985 indicates how prolific BLANCMANGE had become. Although they were now considered a mainstream pop act, the moodier, spacey experiments inspired by the earlier days of BLANCMANGE continued with recordings such as ‘A Remedial Course’, another instrumental that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on ‘Nil By Mouth’.

But on the other side of the coin and revealing some of Neil Arthur’s crooner tastes, there’s a fun ‘Switched On Nashville’ styled cover of ‘Gentle On My Mind’, a Grammy Award winning standard previously recorded by Dean Martin and Glen Campbell. The summery ‘Scream Down The House’ gets rescued from B-side obscurity, but the remaining song demos are perhaps not as enticing as the various instrumentals, although Arthur uses some interesting electronic pitch treatments on his voice for ‘Reach Out’.

As for the live material gathered across the three packages, they quite simply document a band getting bigger and bigger as the venues step up from the little BBC Paris Theatre to Hammersmith Palais to Hammersmith Odeon (where “Bowie killed Ziggy”) in the space of less than three and a half years!

Whether you really need seven versions of ‘Blind Vision’ or six of ‘Feel Me’ is debatable, although the Martyn Ware produced demo of the former captures the rather sombre origins of what was to become a dancefloor smash. Whatever your view, they’re all here and nothing compared to the twelve takes of ‘Promised You A Miracle’ that came with the deluxe edition ‘New Gold Dream’ put out by SIMPLE MINDS!

As its predecessors ‘Blanc Burn’, ‘Semi Detached’, Nil By Mouth’ and ‘Commuter 23’ have indicated, the soon-to-be released ‘Unfurnished Rooms’ continues BLANCMANGE’s exploration into the darker themes and colder sounds that signify a return to the art school roots of their original demos unveiled on ‘The Blanc Tapes’. While Stephen Luscombe has been unable to be involved since ‘Blanc Burn’ due to ill health, Neil Arthur continues to fly the flag.

It’s interesting to think that the 21st Century incarnation of BLANCMANGE has now produced more albums than the original one. And that is something to celebrate… a pint of curry anyone?

With thanks to Steve Malins at Random Music Management

‘The Blanc Tapes’ is released by Edsel Records, while ‘Happy Families’, ‘Mange Tout’ and ‘Believe You Me’ are each available as separate 3CD deluxe editions from 4th August 2017. Pre-order via the Official Blancmange Store at https://blancmange.tmstor.es/cart/product.php?id=33045

The new album ‘Unfurnished Rooms’ is released by Blanc Check on 22nd September 2017

BLANCMANGE 2017 live dates include:

Brighton Concorde 2 (5th October), London 229 (6th October), Southend Chinnery’s (19th October), Southampton The 1865 (20th October), Darwen Library (25th October), Newcastle Boiler Shop (26th October), Edinburgh La Belle Angele (27th October), Glasgow Audio (28th October), Bristol The Fleece (2nd November), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (4th November)

BLANCMANGE also play ‘The Tour of Synthetic Delights 2’ with HEAVEN 17, dates include:

Sheffield Foundry (10th November), Liverpool Hangar34 (11th November), Hull Welly (17th November), Manchester Academy 2 (18th November), Coventry Copper Rooms (24th November), Norwich Waterfront (25th November)

http://www.blancmange.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/BlancmangeMusic

https://twitter.com/_blancmange_

Text by Chi Ming Lai
3rd July 2017

PAGE Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut

1 July 2017 /


Formed in 1980 in Sweden by Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko, PAGE marked the entry point of synthpop into the Nordic country, leading to decades of producing the best pop acts in Europe.

Quickly influencing the masses and creating a cult following, the group released numerous singles before finally the first album in 1991; they have been active on and off since then.

Returning with their new album ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’, which translates as “There’s No Beautiful World But It Happens To Look Like That”, the veteran boy / girl combo ensure that they are still very valid, even 37 years on.

‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’ promises its building blocks are based on a “classic pop concept”, and the opening ‘Krasch’ certainly fits the analogue blueprint of the Swedish essence. ‘Spottar Långt’ carries on the idea of simple, yet wholesome electronic noise, while ‘Lågger Av’ speeds everything up.

‘Sånt Som Inte Går’ introduces the feel of underground synth with an alternative sound, at times reminiscent of the works of GARY NUMAN. Talking of Numan, his ‘Tracks’, translated into Swedish ‘Spår’, finds its way onto the opus, as well as now soiled glam classic ‘Hello Hello I’m Back Again’ in the form of ‘Så Skönt Att Va Här’.

‘Låt Det Gå’ melodiously invites to the classic disco meets with extravagant synth while ‘För Någon’ rocks grit-tingly onto ‘Tid För En Kyss’, originally released in 2015. ‘Det Var Ingenting’ tells us that “it was nothing” with busy sequences and droning repetitive rhythms. The only track performed in English is ‘I Know You Know’, which closes the outing with the additional dose of ear friendly synthpop and a positive dose of dancebility.

PAGE are back with an album which will take you back to the classic years of synth with a twist. If Swedish is one of the languages you speak, you will understand the reflection on the things going on in today’s world. If not, you will revel in the classic signature sound of PAGE.

Not for everyone, this is a good, alternative take on synthpop, clearly very sought after since 1980.

‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’ is released by Energy Rekords as a CD with bonus tracks and vinyl LP, available from http://hotstuff.se/page/x-7640

PAGE perform at Electronic Summer 2017 in Gothenburg on Saturday 2nd September, details at http://electronicsummer.se/

https://www.facebook.com/PageElektroniskPop

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
1st July 2017

TANGERINE DREAM Particles

28 June 2017 /

‘Particles’ is the latest double album release by TANGERINE DREAM and contains a diverse mixture of new material, reinterpretations of older tracks from their extensive back catalogue and a version of the ‘Stranger Things’ TV theme which fairly recently caught the Zeitgeist for many synth fans.

The album which originally came out at the end of last year has been re-issued by the Invisible Hands label and is available on vinyl, CD and download. A minority of long-term fans questioned the legitimacy of the band continuing after the passing of Edgar Froese in 2015, but it was the original leader’s request that remaining members Thorsten Quaeschning, Ulrich Schnauss and Hoshiko Yamane continue his vision for the group even in his absence. Although only containing seven tracks, the first ‘4.00pm Session’ sees a welcome return of a 30 minute epic improvised piece which in places harks back to the glory days of the classic Froese / Franke / Baumann era.

Interestingly, the band recorded this track in the Dierks-Studios in Pulheim where some 45 years previously they had conceived the album ‘Alpha Centauri’. After a short atmospheric introduction, a hypnotic sequencer part with Memotron flutes enters before the track lifts in dynamic with individual synth parts being filtered and poking through the mix. Around the 12 minute mark the track breaks down with growling Moog bass and Yamane’s haunting violin gliding over the top. The only criticism of ‘4.00pm Session’ is that some of the sequencer parts are a little on the thin side and lack the analogue depth of the ‘classic’ era TD ones; this aside, the track more than makes up for the ill-advised integration of almost muzak-style elements into the band a few years ago.

This return to a more improvisational and electronic approach was something that Froese wanted with the Quantum Era for the band and it’s clear that things are in safe hands with the current trio of Quaeschning, Schnauss and Yamane.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last couple of years, you would have been well aware of the massive impact of S.U.R.V.I.V.E.’s electronic soundtrack to the Netflix series ‘Stranger Things’. Taking inspiration from the original film soundtracks of pioneers such as JOHN CARPENTER, the huge exposure of the program has done TANGERINE DREAM no harm at all in re-awakening the popularity of analogue-style electronica, and in homage, the band has re-created their own interpretation here. Where it mainly differs to the original is in featuring a much more multi-layered sequencer approach and also a tempo change midway through.

Fans of the Froese / Franke / Schmoelling era of TD will absolutely LOVE this; and by resisting the temptation to go too self-indulgent on the piece, has meant that you will surely want to hit the “repeat” button once you’ve heard the track through for the first time. ‘Rubycon’ will need no introduction to many, the track featured on the 2nd album TANGERINE DREAM released for the Virgin label back in 1975 and along with ‘Phaedra’ and ‘Ricochet’, became a defining moment for instrumental electronic music. The version featured here was recorded in Windeck and has polarised some fans; the original version had a deeply unsettling and otherworldly start to it, whereas here, some of the intro sounds here are less organic and maybe a little too PINK FLOYD-ish, especially the lead brass synth sound.

However, when the sequencer and Memotron lead combo hits at seven minutes the track takes off and does sound absolutely superb; the echoed bass part underpins the piece beautifully and the slightly overdriven electric piano floats over the top with added analogue strings. There are subtle additions to the piece with extra background sequencing, but aside from some misgivings about the intro, overall this is a highlight here.

The second disc (if you have the CD) features live recordings of 4 tracks; ‘Mothers of Rain’ dates back to the Paul Haslinger / Edgar Froese era and ‘Power of the Rainbow Serpent’ is a Quaeschning composition from the album ‘Mala Kunia’. ‘White Eagle’ has always been a TD fan favourite and the version here retains most elements from the original, although the bell-like lead melody has been replaced with a violin one from Yamane that takes a little adjusting to, but does work in the overall context of the track.

‘Dolphin Dance’ from the ‘Underwater Sunlight’ album is the most uptempo and percussive-driven piece here, still retaining its cyclical bass part, it’s a welcome gear shift in energy level. ‘Shadow and Sun’ was composed by Ulrich Schnauss with Froese, and again originally featured on the ‘Maia Kunia’ album. Prompting a few “woops!” and some clapping from the audience, the track returns ‘Particles’ back to a more reflective ending. Halfway through the piece, it goes on an arpeggiator-driven detour with more (slightly out of time) clapping, before an epic pad-heavy climax brings ‘Shadow and Sun’ to its conclusion.

For many TANGERINE DREAM fans, this album will act as a brilliant ‘holding’ piece until their new album ‘Quantum Gate’ is released in September. The updates of older material in ‘Particles’ have in the main been approached respectfully / sensitively and the mix of old and new is surprisingly cohesive.

With respected synthesist Ulrich Schnauss now fully integrated into the band, there is now some genuine excitement at the prospect of more new material from TANGERINE DREAM, and despite misgivings as to how the band would continue without their legendary leader, ‘Particles’ ably demonstrates that this hugely important act shows every sign of continuing to flourish. Highly recommended.

‘Particles’ is released as a double vinyl LP by Invisible Hands Music available from https://shop-invisiblehands.co.uk/collections/tangerine-dream  and still available as a double CD via Eastgate

http://www.tangerinedream.org/

https://www.facebook.com/TANGERINEDREAM.OFFICIAL

http://www.invisiblehands.co.uk/

Text by Paul Boddy
28th June 2017

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