Category: Reviews (Page 129 of 200)

MARK REEDER Mauerstadt

26 June 2017 /

‘Mauerstadt’ literally translated from German means “wall city” and it’s the title of the new album from renowned Berlin based remixer Mark Reeder.

Its release date set is on the day that the French Revolutionaries broke down the walls of the Bastille, so Reeder says the album title is significant “because my album’s title / theme is about breaking down the walls in your head and confronting the idea that building a wall to keep your enemies out or your own people in, is starting to become fashionable again and how it really isn’t such a good idea”. Reeder adds “It’s not a concept album though, it’s basically an album full of tragic love songs”, but he readily admits “ok, it’s basically ‘Collaborator’ part 2” 🙂

‘Collaborator’ was Reeder’s previous compendium of remixes and of course, musical collaborations released on Factory Benelux in 2014. Featuring highly on the album with a number of vocals was his long standing friend Bernard Sumner on tracks by BAD LIEUTENANT, WESTBAM and BLANK & JONES.

Despite his association with Factory Records as their German representative in Berlin and NEW ORDER over the years, it was only until recently that Reeder got to work on material from his favourite band when they returned to the fold in 2015 with ‘Music Complete’. Invited to remix three of its tracks, two of them appear on ‘Mauerstadt’ as the centrepieces of the collection.

The ‘Akademix’ version of ‘Academic’ gives the primarily guitar driven anthem a superb sequenced makeover that improves on the original. But with the already quite electronic number ‘The Game’, Reeder takes a different approach on the ‘Spielt Mit Version’ by stripping it down and restructuring it with more orchestrated overtones. Although both previously released on the ‘Remix’ download EP through Mute, these tracks now get a much requested physical release as part of ‘Mauerstadt’.

As well as NEW ORDER, Reeder is also known for his love of female fronted electronic pop with MARSHEAUX, MARNIE and QUEEN OF HEARTS among the notable inclusions on ‘Collaborator’. The latter contributes two songs on ‘Mauerstadt’, the best of which is a mighty extended ‘Bonded by Sadness Mix’ of ‘United’. Effectively the song with a lengthened instrumental end section, after Queenie coos passionately in Bush-like banshee style, Reeder takes to his guitar for a short solo that is part-Sumner and part-Hooky. Meanwhile, the heart wrenching ‘Killer Queen Mix’ of ‘Suicide’ sees more strings added to the QUEEN OF HEARTS fan favourite from her album ‘Cocoon’.

But ‘Mauerstadt’ opens with British duo THE KVB and ‘In Sight’, their brooding collaboration with Reeder. More accessible than FACTORY FLOOR, this is danceable electro with mood and melody. The album is also notable for featuring some of Reeder’s more recent solo work. There’s a tribal filmic quality to ‘Giant Mushrooms’, while his ‘RIAS Mix’ of the title track which was originally part of his ‘B-Movie – Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989’ soundtrack, is a cavernous swirl of hard electronics and big beats.

The frantically paced ‘Like A Sonic Tonic Remix’ of ‘You’re So Good For Me’ for INSPIRAL CARPETS is a fine tribute to their late drummer Craig Gill on one of his last recordings with the band, providing an enticing indie disco hybrid. Continuing the Mancunian theme, ‘Mmm Mmm Ahhh’ from electro wave duo MFU grooves along with some Cold War inspired drama and a gritty bass guitar line on Reeder’s ‘Umm & Arrggh Remix’.

Driven by a mighty Linn handclap and an imperial PET SHOP BOYS styled club vibe, the ‘Power Surge Mix’ of EKKOES’ ‘Electricity’ certainly delivers more bite than their original material on the ‘Elekktricity’ album, although the Italo House feel of ‘Heartbeat’ on Reeder’s ‘Heart Throb Mix’ is perhaps less appealing.

Thrusting with a synthetic bass triplet, ‘Broken Hearts’ is Reeder’s collaboration with Swedish songstress Maja Pierro and with its uplifting HI-NRG feel, blips away for the kind of hypnotic dance number that Our Man In Berlin is known and appreciated for. Perhaps coincidentally, the ‘Will Love You Tomorrow Remix’ of ‘If You Love Me Tonight’, also featuring Pierro, sounds like a female fronted EKKOES or could that be more that the Reeder sound is actually the identifying factor here?

So Mark Reeder does the trick again with ‘Mauerstadt’ and ably uses his punk, pop, disco and trance sensibilities to procure another fine collection of remixes that work at home, on headphones, in the car and on the dancefloor. That is no mean feat; as Reeder’s friend Rusty Egan once commented about the inane material contained within Beatport: “Name that tune, if you can hear one…”

Luckily, ‘Mauerstadt’ has the tunes and the beats.

‘Mauerstadt’ is released in CD and double white vinyl LP formats by Kennen Limited, available from http://www.mauerstadt.com/

https://www.facebook.com/markreedermusic/

https://twitter.com/markreedermfs

http://www.kennen.de/kennen-produkte/produkte-mark-reeder.html

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th June 2017

BLACK NEEDLE NOISE Lost In Reflections

23 June 2017 /

Last year saw yet another metamorphosis for the legendary John Fryer, this time masquerading as BLACK NEEDLE NOISE.

The first opus under the name, which contemplates the scratching sound of black record, ‘Before The Tears Came’, introduced a plethora of sounds and noises performed by the cream of who is who in the world of vocals. Elena Alice Fossi, Zia, Ledfoot, Andreas Eleveness, Attasalina, Jarboe and Betsy Martin amongst others, all got invited to share the “strange and interesting journey”, which proved to be a rather popular outing.

Of course Fryer isn’t a stranger to exquisite productions. Having been a living and breathing backbone of the famous London Blackwing Studios for nearly a decade, during its most prominent years of synthpop, with the likes of DEPECHE MODE, FAD GADGET, COCTEAU TWINS, DEAD CAN DANCE and many more, Fryer learnt his graft masterfully, also being the responsible adult as far as the production of NINE INCH NAILS’ ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ was concerned.

More recently the man himself lent his skills on the wonderfully ethereal MURICIDAE and fantastically glamorous SILVER GHOST SHIMMER, at the same time being an active producer of other artists.

A year on, and the noise magician is ready to serve his follow-up dish of BLACK NEEDLE NOISE, this time thoughtfully titled ‘Lost In Reflections’. Having recently swapped his home studio in the frosty Oslo onto the warmth of LA, Fryer has been busy with further collaborations.

The opening one being, ‘Treasured Lies’, with the returning appearance of Zia Land. This emphatic track is a gripping catalyst of emotion, laced with ominous musical elements and Fryer’s signature guitar as a closing point.

Kendra Frost of KITE BASE makes her entrance on the newest long player twice, firstly on simplistic ‘Warning Sign’ and secondly on the empirical ‘This Kind Of Road’. The latter is a quintessential Fryer track, reminiscent of his ability to build the whole picture in an atmospheric manner of flowing intricacies, without the danger of overloading or dislocating the musical joints. A harsher reality is introduced on the quirky ‘She Stands On A Storm’, even though the angelic voice of Andrea Kerr is delicately interwoven within the grittier, almost STABBING WESTWARD-like arrangement. The track represents an idea of “killing with delicateness”, and it’s exactly what it does.

The highlight of the long player enters half way through, with the generously exquisite ‘Heaven’ with Jennie Vee, stealing the limelight with her distinctive vocal, crying out the melancholy and dreaminess a la Angelo Badalamenti. Oh please David Lynch, use this for the new ‘Twin Peaks’ series!

OMNIFLUX’s Mahsa Zargaran creates magic with her assimilating vocal extravaganza, utilising a soundscape of its own, canvassing the bass heavy background and a profusion of turbulence.

Clearly impressed with Mimi Page’s guestwork on the latest DELERIUM’s album ‘Mythologie’, Fryer borrows the multitalented singer to perform on magically atmospheric ‘Swimming Through Dreams’. As if taken from the parallel reality; this ghostly, mist engulfed gem features humming sounds, which drift away into another world, until “nothing remains”. Indeed ‘And Nothing Remains’ with DEAD LEAF ECHO’s Ana Breton. Continuing the theme of ethereal, otherworldly and from another reality, Breton’s delicate songsmanship glides over abrasive textures of Fryer’s musical aura.

Where one genius meets another is on ‘A Shiver Of Want’. Probably the biggest collaboration on ‘Lost In Reflections’ is that with the legendary Bill Leeb. Leeb, classed as one of the most influential electronic masters, as showcased on his works with FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY and DELERIUM, lends his grainy vocal over a timeless track, which could have easily been released in another era. The piece drags under, creates an uncertainty and leads into the unknown, but the attraction of being pulled is irresistible.

Sivert Høyem guests on ‘Breathless Speechless’, which changes the atmosphere, still keeping the slower tempo in place. Dreamy to the point of oblivion, scary, but addictive, dirty but virgin, seductive, yet clean with that guitar again, which leads to the sinisterly terrifying concepts of The Black Lodge. Just waiting for Bob to appear out of nowhere…

The closing ‘Neon Noir’ couldn’t be more different from the rest of the production; faster, more positive, inviting and very synthy, Fryer gathers the posse to follow the “neon shines so bright” and lose themselves in music. Fine by us.

Refined, very arty, evoking different emotions is what BLACK NEEDLE NOISE is about. John Fryer, with a wealth of experience, paints various musical landscapes with a little help of capable vocalists.

More cinematic this time round, the master pushes the boundaries of what’s acceptable and inevitably he wins, again.

‘Before The Tears Came’ is available as a download album from
https://blackneedlenoise.bandcamp.com/album/lost-in-reflections

https://www.facebook.com/BlackNeedleNoise/

https://www.facebook.com/John.Fryer.Official/

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
23rd June 2017

2RAUMWOHNUNG Nacht Und Tag

20 June 2017 /

The German electronic duo 2RAUMWOHNUNG have been active since 2000.

Very well known in their native land, Inga Humpe and Tommi Eckhart started out in the legendary Sternradio club in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz.

Apart from providing backdrops to various TV ads, the pair released a number of highly acknowledged albums and collaborated with a few big names, notably Westbam, Paul van Dyk, Paul Kalkbrenner, Blake Baxter and Oliver Huntemann.

Although their 2007 album ’36 Grad’ still remains the Berliners’ biggest achievement to date, a brand new outing is being tested upon the lovers of the quirky side of synth.

‘Nacht Und Tag’ is indeed a rather eclectic mix of tunes, cunningly performed in a mix of English and German. Bearing the elements of typical Teutonic beats, interspersed with occasional club, trance, some gripping guitar and a great dose of synth op, all wrapped up with a dreamy, candied voice of Humpe, ‘Night and Day’ is a perfect easy listening record, even if one isn’t educated in the nuances of the German language.

Probably the most interesting element of the production is how the songs have been presented as those of night, “nacht”, and their equivalents of day, “tag”.

‘Bonjour Cherie’ grips with the recognisable voice of Dieter Meier of YELLO, twinned with the seductive additions from Humpe. Excellently executed, thanks to the help of guest instruments, such as trumpets, it really is delicious.

The “day” version is equally sensuous, with Meier’s voice doing something Barry White-esque, with added bass. ‘Ich Hör Musik Wenn Ich Dich Seh’ floats graciously with its simple melody and wonderfully smooth vocals, soothing and dreamy in its “nacht” reincarnation and more synthy in the “tag” version.

‘Lucky Lobster’ with Umami sounds very beachy, Hawaiian style in the “day” and more ABBA like at “night”.

The ravishingly dancey ‘Hotel Sunshine’ during the night, becomes more primal during the day, while ‘Somebody Lonely & Me’ hardens up in daylight, to revert to the primal synth YAZOO style at night time. A worthy first single, it’s a true gem on both sides of the mirror.

Both versions of ‘1993’ are similarly captivating, giving out the aura of said year and the 90s in general. The day version is laid back to the point where David Lynch could have easily used it in his newest ‘Twin Peaks’ series during the closing titles.

It’s quite a return for 2RAUMWOHNUNG, with the cleanly executed “nights” and sunny “days” of the 1950s.

The concept of presenting two versions of each tune is endearing and quite clever, showcasing the numbers as totally different entities and visualising the tracks from different perspectives. Far better than listening to five mediocre remixes of equally mediocre songs that some artists like to feed us with.

While a few will say that 2RAUMWOHNUNG were past it a long time ago, it has to be stressed that ‘Nacht Und Tag’ proves to be a worthy alternative proposition for many this summer.

‘Nacht Und Tag’ is released by It Sounds GMBH in 2CD, double vinyl and digital formats

http://www.2raumwohnung.de/

https://www.facebook.com/2raumwohnung/

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
20th June 2017

MARSHEAUX Ath.Lon – Rejected Demos

12 June 2017 /

Following the success of MARSHEAUX’s most recent long player ‘Ath.Lon’, Marianthi Melitsi and Sophie Sarigiannidou present a limited edition cassette EP comprising of seven rejected demos from those recording sessions.

Entitled ‘Ath.Lon – Rejected Demos’, the release is limited to 300 copies of the revived analogue format pioneered by Philips in 1962 which provided the provided hours of fun as the late 20th Century’s equivalent of illegal downloading. “Home Taping Is Killing Music” bore the legend on the paper inner sleeves of LP releases when the UK record industry lobbied the government to impose a blank tape levy in 1982. But with ‘Ath.Lon – Rejected Demos’, MARSHEAUX readily show how the modern day version of home taping is skill in music.

Driven by throbbing sequences and laced with rawer vocals than normally expected of MARSHEAUX, the tape’s opener ‘Just Don’t’ lyrically references of another outtake ‘How Does It Feel?’. Following on, the metallic textures used on ‘Satellites Of Love’ closely resemble MARSHEAUX’s remix of KID MOXIE’s ‘Dirty Air’ as a prominent guide vocal from producer Nick Bitzenis provides an production insight into the demo process.

The uptempo instrumental ‘Lush’ is like synthpop interpretation of Miki Berenyi’s same named indie combo and it’s a shame that there is isn’t a vocal from the duo’s more deeper voiced Sophie Sarigiannidou to join the dots. The imposing ’Behind’ is a track with lots of potential in its mighty metronomic beat and eerie synths but ends suddenly after just two minutes while the almost punky ‘I Don’t Care’ utilises a LADYTRON styled snarl.

‘Life Goes On’ recalls the crispness of OMD’s ‘Helen of Troy’ although offset with an incomplete wispy vocal and prolonged male voices, but the sombreness of ‘Slowdown’ shows a rarely heard side of MARSHEAUX with an unusual (for them) sub-bass thrown into the mix, although the rhythm track is very bare and sans hi-hats.

Releasing this collection on a cassette has a hissy novelty value but is very restrictive and as anyone with a memory of more than twenty years will recall, the format’s most distinctive analogue audio trait was the horrible noise it made when the tape was chewed!

‘Ath.Lon – Rejected Demos’ acts as a ready companion to the 2012 rarities compendium ‘The E-bay Queen Is Dead’.

It will be interesting if any of these MARSHEAUX demos are developed further, because in the case of ‘Lush’ and ‘Behind’, there may be some synthpop classics lurking within.

MARSHEAUX kindly chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about these rejected demos…

It’s been a year since ‘Ath.Lon’ was released, how do you look back on it and the critical response after?

‘Ath.Lon’ was a special album as it was recorded simultaneously in two cities, while communicating by emails and meeting a couple of times. We had a great response from our fans and people in general said it was much better than ‘Inhale’ album. Looking back, we have to say we are quite satisfied with the result.

So how come you have managed to stockpile seven rejected demos?

While working on ‘Athlon’ we wrote over 25 tracks. Some we put only on ‘The.Ath.Lon’ limited CD box, some in the digital version of the album and the rest of it is going to be released this week on this cassette. There are also some more which we didn’t finish, as time was pressuring us to release ‘Ath.Lon’.

But why cassette? It is analogue but the biggest analogue noise it makes it when the tape chews… 😉

Ha ha indeed. Maybe we are affected by the cassette hype, it is a medium though that both of us love very much. We are going to sell them in our concerts with a pencil that says ”undo rewind”…

Why did you feel these songs did not fit with the character of ‘Ath.Lon’?

As we said before, when we were about to decide which songs would fit on ‘Ath.Lon’, we all had different opinions. For example, ‘Safe Tonight’ wasn’t going to be in the album and it turned out to be our first single. Everything is subjective. ‘Lush’ could easily be a single, but it ended up as one of the rejected demos. Looking back, we remember deciding which songs we were going to use while on tour in Spain last year.

Which ones do you think could have made it into any one of the MARSHEAUX albums and which?

This is a difficult one. Each one of our albums was created and worked under other concept every time. For example in ‘Lumineux Noir’, we would never use any of the ‘Ath.Lon’ tracks and vice versa. On the other side, no other album of ours has a ‘Mediterranean’. It’s one of our favourite songs and could easily be the tribute to YAZOO that we always wanted to do.

You will be playing inside the legendary Hansa studios in Berlin, how did this come about and do you have anything different planned for it?

Yes, we had this offer and we didn’t have a second thought about it, it is fantastic to play in the same space were Bowie recorded his Berlin trilogy and DM recorded ‘Black Celebration’ and ‘Some Great Reward’. We are very excited that we are going to play and also stay there. We hope we’ll catch some of the aura of the space.

This is the day before DEPECHE MODE play in Berlin. Having met as Devotees, have you any thoughts on the new album ‘Spirit’?

We’ll be honest. ‘Spirit’ is the most weak DM album. Even ‘Delta Machine’ was far better than ‘Spirit’. Although ‘Going Backwards’ is a fantastic and classic DEPECHE MODE track, the rest of album is like they are trying to imitate and remember what they were.

What is next for MARSHEAUX?

There’s just been a new video released for ‘Now You Are Mine’, but we’re going to have some time off to relax and from September, we’ll continue touring. We need to rest and think about our next move.

‘Ath.Lon – Rejected Demos’ is released as a limited edition cassette by Undo Records, available only from http://undorecords.bigcartel.com/product/marsheaux-the-rejected-demos-cass-ep-ltd

https://www.facebook.com/marsheaux/

https://twitter.com/marsheaux

https://www.instagram.com/marsheaux/

http://www.undorecords.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
11th June 2017

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING RECORD – VOLUME 2

9 June 2017 /

With a manifesto that “explores common ground in a strong aesthetic approach towards art, film, music, technology, science, and nature”, the Brighton based artistic co-operative Anti-Ghost Moon Ray founded by GAZELLE TWIN, BERNHOLZ, ACQUAINTANCE and GREAT PAGANS have released a new compilation of music made by themselves and like-minded friends, entitled ‘Annual General Meeting Record – Volume 2’.

‘Volume 1’ was in aid of Médecins Sans Frontières, raising £535 and ‘Volume 2’ proceeds will go to Refugee Action (UK) who provide advice, support and guidance to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

The international cast contribute 14 tracks emcompassing dark electronica, lost soundtracks and field recording experiments. ITAL TEK’s ‘To Dust’ provides a deep synthy rumble as an introduction to proceedings while Russian artist ROSEMARY LOVES A BLACKBERRY offers ‘Play or Pay’, a slice of screechy Euro-rythmics that comes over like an artier LADYTRON circa ‘604’

TIMERON’s ‘Risers’ blips and swirls in an enjoyable experimental cocoon, but it’s I SPEAK MACHINE and ‘Blood From A Stone’ that is possibly the highlight of the collection, the mysterious workshop electronica recalling the eerie overtones of early GOLDFRAPP. The project of Tara Busch, the track is perhaps nearer to the song based solo work of her excellent ‘Rocket Wife’ EP than the other material on her soon-to-be-released soundtrack to ‘Zombies 1985’.

The wacky LONE TAXIDERMIST does her bit on the scary avant house of ‘Red Kiss’ with a mixture of weird noises and horror film vocal stylings coupled to a 4/4 beat. Much gentler, ‘These Lands’ by ANNEKA showcases the glorious vocal talents of the young songstress with a quality equal to a Morricone soundcsape in the vein of ‘Ecstacy Of Gold’.

Adding some supernatural spectres, Anti-Ghost Moon Ray’s best known artist GAZELLE TWIN contributes the ritualistic ‘Smash’ which recalls a more electronic RAIN TREE CROW, while FOG SCHOOL’s ‘You Were Born for Chilling Deeds’ with its ghostly voice pitch shifts is self-explantory.

The lengthy ‘We’ve Got to Have Some Music On The New Frontier’ from ACQUAINTANCE and the woodwind laden ‘Sweetness’ from GREAT PAGANS’ Alex Painter both explore more artier climes.

Following a similar path, ‘Divides At’ is a stark railroading instrumental from NEAR FUTURE, the duo comprising of BLANCMANGE’s Neil Arthur and BERNHOLZ; the latter also provides his own solo experiment ‘58’ which sits comfortably with the aural sculpture of LIGHGHT’s ‘Gutter’. Closing with soundtrack composer Nick Sutton and the uneasy ambience of ‘Prayer’, ‘Annual General Meeting Record – Volume 2’ is another inventive and well curated collection.

It showcases some varied interpretations of electronic music, providing an assorted degree of cerebral fulfilment while also supporting a highly worthy cause.

‘Annual General Meeting Record – Volume 2’ is released by Anti-Ghost Moon Ray as a digital download and limited edition cassette in aid of Refugee Action (UK), available exclusively from https://antighostmoonray.bandcamp.com/album/annual-general-meeting-record-vol-2

http://www.antighostmoonray.com/

https://www.facebook.com/antighostmoonray/

http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/our-services/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
9th June 2017

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