Category: Reviews (Page 37 of 199)

BLAINE L REININGER Wounds & Blessings

2 January 2022 /

Colorado-born Blaine L Reininger is best known as a member of TUXEDOMOON, a classically trained musician who embraced the European avant-garde and now lives in Greece.

Exponents of “cabaret no-wave”, TUXEDOMOON’s second album ‘Desire’ released in 1981 was co-produced by Gareth Jones after the band were impressed by his engineering skills on John Foxx’s ‘Metamatic’. Blaine L Reininger had a parallel solo career and continuing to work with Gareth Jones, released the acclaimed 1984 album ‘Night Air’ which featured the TB303 driven cinematic synthpop of ‘Mystery & Confusion’.

‘Wounds & Blessings’ is Reininger’s new studio double album featuring 28 new tracks organised into 4 themed suites of Songs, Bricolage, Sourced and Serene. Featuring TUXEDOMOON bandmates Steven Brown, Luc van Lieshout and Paul Zahl as well as Greek guitarist Tile-machos Moussas, Reininger additionally utilises computer plug-ins, samplers and AI-assisted lyrics alongside his trusty violin and guitar. The end result ranges from purely orchestral to entirely electronic compositions with everything in between.

With the world’s current state of flux, the subject of mortality heavily colours ‘Wounds & Blessings’. With an infectious electronic bass squelch, ringing keyboard signatures and a cacophony of swooping guitars, the Bowie-esque ‘100 Sad Fingers’ sees Reininger adopt baritone alongside an across a striking range of backing vocals. The art rock thrust of ‘I Inhabit The Dunes’ sounds like it could have come off ‘The Next Day’ or ‘Lodger’ for that matter while ‘Je Retournerai’ is more reminiscent of Iggy Pop.

Taking the pace down, ‘Chemise Grise’ is sung partly in French and recalls Leonard Cohen but ‘Trials & Tribulations’ springs a surprise at the start with dance beats and vocoder. ‘Roll Off The Edge’ is a crazy combination of tablas, jazz, funk, post-punk, chants and bursts of organ while ‘Occult Simplicities’ though could be best described as art school Lalo Schifrin!

The second half displays more of the considered classical and soundtrack styled compositions as featured on the ‘Commissions’ series with jazz inflections over drum loops as on ‘Newbs Descending A Staircase’ and the moodier instrumental territory of ‘Die Ferne Klang’ where Reininger’s sombre violin moods come to fore alongside percolating electronic vibes. ‘Sun Package’ combines rootsy slide guitar with a widescreen synthetic backdrop while the eerie ‘Unbirthday’ provides some nocturnal reflection. As the album progresses onto its home straight, the more traditional ‘Cahiers Noirs’ rings with the sadness of real and virtual violins before ‘Push’ presents sections of discordant ivory passages to close.

Blaine L Reininger is nothing but diverse and stylistically, he has never been able to be placed in a genre box. Fans will again relish the variation on offer with this ambitious work. Requiring more than a passing listen to be appreciated, casual observers may only find a quarter of the ‘Wounds & Blessings’ immediately appealing but that is already 3 or 4 tracks more than most albums offer on the quality front these days anyway.

‘Wounds & Blessings’ is released by Les Disques du Crépuscule as a 2CD set and download, available now direct from https://www.lesdisquesducrepuscule.com/wounds_and_blessings_twi1255.html and https://burningshed.com/store/les-disques-du-crepuscule_store/blaine-l-reininger_wounds-and-blessings_2cd

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by George Geranios
2nd January 2021

LAURA DRE Kyoto Dreams

27 December 2021 /


Presenting a swift follow-up to her acclaimed solo debut album ‘Moving Spaces’, German Filipino songstress and musician Laura Dre presents an ambitious concept record in ‘Kyoto Dreams’.

Loving a download only instrumental bonus track of the same name from ‘Moving Spaces’, her label Outland asked for more of the same and Laura Dre duly delivered, but with a twist.

Having grown up with German Hörspiel cassettes, “I instantly had this crazy idea of creating a story with Japanese voice acting…” she said.

The 12 instrumentals contained on the ‘Kyoto Dreams’ album inspired by Citypop, chill-synth and lo-fi house are interspersed with a story in Japanese about a workaholic named Rin played by Hiroko Okunishi; she lives without dreams and ambitions but she embarks on a journey of enlightenment to find that something to enrich her future self. Other characters are voiced by Karinne Okunishi, Satomi Kinoshita, kay and Ayumi Kobayashi. To assist non-Japanese speaking listeners, English translations of the story’s script are available on Laura Dre’s website as well as in the booklet of the CD release.

Of the music, ‘Lost in Transit’ is an example of how music and speech can come together on an exotic midtempo instrumental. Using glitchy pitched shifted vocal samples, ‘Bus To Okinawa’ is more jagged in comparison and its darker austere is intriguing. ‘Waiting’ offers pretty vibes in keeping with its title, while ‘Drifting’ is a more dreamy flight of fancy where the inclusion of speech also works.


‘
City Lights’ is superb and its danceable NEW ORDER Goes To The Far East backdrop captures a wonderfully nocturnal feel but ‘Ocean Adventure’ is naturally more nautical, blue and relaxed. The glorious ‘Kyoto Dreams’ is the Citypop-influenced bonus that was the seed to this ambitious adventure and it remains an enticing musical travelogue with hooks, atmospheres and percussive colours in an example of how a good synth instrumental should be constructed.

With Koto textures galore, the Zen hip-hop of ‘Temples’ pitches up some of the dialogue to be more child-like and although ‘Four Seasons’ develops on the hip-hop theme, it does so with a much shadier downtempo approach.

As the album effectively bookends with ‘You Are Here’, the ‘Part 2 – Tokyo 5pm’ variation utilises metronomic club beats over its moodier ‘Part 1 – Unknown’ counterpart, while an extended reprise of ‘Bus To Okinawa’ and the short conceptual statement ‘New Departure’ close the ‘Kyoto Dreams’ album like the soundtrack over the end titles of a film.

Musically, the 12 instrumentals on ‘Kyoto Dreams’ stand up as a collection. But for those who may not be as wholly invested in Laura Dre’s vision of a radio play and its chapters alternating with music, the story in Japanese may prove to be a frustrating distraction. For casual listeners, this switching music / spoken word approach rarely works and even the mighty YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA at their commercial heights baffled their homegrown audiences with their 1983 album ‘Service’ by alternating synthpop songs with comedy sketches in Japanese by SUPER ECCENTRIC THEATER!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is certainly not against albums with interspersed conceptual pieces as the site’s love of KRAFTWERK’s ‘Radio-Activity’ or ‘Dazzle Ships’ and ‘English Electric’ by OMD have proved.

Now whereas those featured tracks of news broadcasts, speaking clocks and airport announcements in international languages respectively, these concrète experiments were shorter and fewer in number, although ‘Times Zones’ from ‘Dazzle Ships’ remains a flawed artistic snapshot of the world that outstays its welcome by a minute.

In the case of this sophomore Laura Dre album, listen to it as a whole and see how you feel. As a radio play on its own, a synth instrumental record or as Laura Dre’s vision of combining both, what it means to the individual listener is what matters; it will mean different things to different people and only they can decide what to put in their own ‘Kyoto Dreams’ playlist.

‘Kyoto Dreams’ is released by Outland Recordings in a gold vinyl effect CD in a digipak with a Japanese / English instruction booklet and digital formats available from https://lauradre.bandcamp.com/album/kyoto-dreams

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Wiebke Kreinick
27th December 2021

FIFI RONG There Is A Funeral In My Heart, For Every Man I Loved

8 December 2021 /


Chinese-born avant-pop songstress Fifi Rong released her debut album ‘Wrong’ in 2013 and attracted the attention of YELLO who she later collaborated with a few years later on two tracks from their ‘Toy’ album.

Integrating traditional elements into western popular music, her sound is simultaneously melancholic and sensual. After releasing a number of EPs and singles in a wide range of styles including ‘Figure of 8’ with Mark Reeder, she became less inhibited artistically and reconnected with her Chinese heritage. The end result is her new self-produced double opus.

Having once stated ‘Love Is A Lonely Thing’, when that relationship ends, ‘There Is A Funeral In My Heart, For Every Man I Loved’. Self-explanatory, it comes in an English language version (which will be available singularly to the international market) and in her native Mandarin, although for now, this double package will be exclusively available to her ever expanding army of crowdfunders.

With a whisper, opener ‘Out Of Clock’ sets the downtempo intentions with bent double bass and reversed sounds combining for a deathly kiss. Mildly picking up the pace with a primitive drum box, ‘Only Man’ is classic Fifi Rong with its hushed angelic vocal tones, harmonies and effects capped by a fabulous tape manipulation ending.

The bent double bass returns on ‘Love Yourself First’ with some exotic synth textures before moving along at a subtle 3/4 mood recalling COCTEAU TWINS, while ‘Another Me’ is another classic Fifi Rong track, sparse and emotive, doing exactly what her fanbase love her for. ‘Distance’ sees our heroine take to guitar while ‘Beg For More’ is more vibey. ‘I Refused To Break Down’ acts as a determined spoken interlude before leading into ‘Alchemist’ which makes the most out of the songstress’ authentic vocal presence.

The piano-led ‘Dream On’ follows a similar path as ‘I’m Enough’ ramps proceedings up with a slice pace variation and some wonderfully atmospheric interplay. The marvellous ‘Stay Away’ makes the most of the melancholy in a slice of ambient trip hop before an acapella reprise of ‘Another Me’ closes ‘There Is A Funeral In My Heart, For Every Man I Loved’

This is heavy but beautiful listening, where the vocals are central with the musical backdrop providing them with a haunting embellishment. “To let my music live, I had to let everything else die in my heart” Fifi Rong said, “But the ghosts of doomed romances had nowhere to go…”

Five years in the making, this is an intense intimate body of work with a timeless soulful quality via its heartfelt ambition. Becoming broken hearted is an aspect of the human condition will never change but as with all good melancholic music, it does so with hope and with melody.

‘There Is A Funeral In My Heart, For Every Man I Loved’ is released on 10th December 2021, available from https://fifirong.bandcamp.com/

http://www.fifirong.com/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Dylan Chubb
8th December 2021

KINGSTON UNIVERSITY STYLOPHONE ORCHESTRA Stylophonika

6 December 2021 /


The Dubreq Stylophone created by Brian Jarvis was for many people, their first direct experience of an electronic music instrument.

Operated with a stylus in contact with a metal keyboard that was etched as part of a printed circuit board, musical notes were created via different-value resistors connected to a voltage-controlled oscillator when the circuit was closed. Entering production in 1968, the Stylophone was seen as a novelty instrument until Marc Bolan introduced the pocket sized device to David Bowie who subsequently used its otherworldly qualities on his breakthrough hit ‘Space Oddity’ in 1969.

Over the years, tracks using the distinctive tones of the Stylophone have included ‘Style’ by ORBITAL which was constructed out of samples rather than played live and BELLE & SEBASTIAN’s ‘Mayfly’ with its buzzy solo. From stylus to stardust, the KINGSTON UNIVERSITY STYLOPHONE ORCHESTRA was created by Dr Leah Kardos in early 2019 after legendary producer Tony Visconti introduced her to Dubreq who donated a collection of new and vintage Stylophones to Visconti Studio’s instrument archive based at the University.

The idea of a performing ensemble using these unique instruments took shape in Kardos’ head. After a notice was posted up, a number of curious students showed up for the first rehearsal. Despite the Stylophone’s known limitations, its restrictions were to inspire creativity and ingenuity with a unique collective noise.

The worldwide pandemic meant regular rehearsals were impossible so a collaborative recording project which could be worked on remotely was conceived using not just the original Stylophone series but Dubreq’s newer instruments from the same family like the Gen X-1, Gen R-8 and Beatbox, along with Korg Volca sample sequencers, Theremins, Omnichords, a Moog Grandmother and the human voice. When Kinston University opened up again in March 2021, the orchestra returned to Visconti Studio finishing their long playing debut.

Entitled ‘Stylophonika’, half the album pays homage to electronic music’s pioneers and while those delightful cover versions act as entry points, the original material that was composed specifically for ‘Stylophonika’ also excels. Takes on Jean-Michel Jarre’s ‘Oxygene (Part 4)’ and the Tony Visconti-produced ‘Space Oddity’ featuring some commendably authentic vocal phrasing from Ershad Alamgir and Jack Holland are very enjoyable.

But ‘Blade Runner (End Titles)’ sounds glorious with the Stylophone ensemble playing the main melody and it could be argued that their grainier timbres add an even greater dystopian quality to the iconic Vangelis theme. The same goes for the rework of Wendy Carlos’ ‘Music For The Funeral Of Queen Mary’ from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ with assorted variants of Stylophone penetrating the backdrop of Moogs.

As the album’s closing piece de resistance, the piercing Stylophone tones sound magnificent (complete with just about audible “keyboard taps”) in the affecting sonic cathedral that is Brian Eno’s ‘An Ending (Ascent)’.

Composed by Zuzanna Wężyk and building into a multi-layered soundscape, ‘Akoustiki’ utilises some eerie cyclic choir phrasing and an angelic lead vocal by Arte Spyropoulou alongside bursts of vintage Stylophone set to a rhythmic mantra that is distinctly ritualistic.

However Leah Kardos’ own ‘Brundle Beat’ soothes with a dramatic swirling soundscape while the elegiac ‘Olancha Goodbye’ acts as her touching musical eulogy to the late Harold Budd with a hushed blend of Omnichord drone, glistening electronics, soothing choir and appropriately understated percussion. If Harold Budd was the master of “soft pedal”, then this is “soft stylus”, constructing its own dreamy pavilion.

Directed and produced by Leah Kardos to capture a Yesterday’s Tomorrow aesthetic via the Stylophone’s classic component vibrato and glide, ‘Stylophonika’ is a fine tribute to the instrument that also explores its strange future possibilities with love and affection. If you love the Stylophone, then you will adore this album.

‘Stylophonika’ is released by Spun Out Of Control on 28th January 2022 as a limited edition Protein Pills Purple or Pink & Blue Cosmic Swirl vinyl LP and download, pre-order available from https://spunoutofcontrol.bandcamp.com/album/stylophonika

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
6th December 2021

NINA I’ll Wait

3 December 2021 /

Utilising samples from Cliff Martinez’s ‘Drive’ score, the ‘Control’ EP released at the end of 2020 was possibly Nina’s darkest work yet.

A couple of solo songs ‘Carnival Night’ and ‘Gold Heart’ have since followed but her new single ‘I’ll Wait’ is something altogether different. It is from the upcoming horror movie ‘There’s No Such Thing As Vampires’ directed by Logan Thomas.

The story sees two strangers, Joshua and Ariel, crash into each other’s cars in the dead of the night. They then find themselves pursued across the North American desert, the target of an unstoppable supernatural force!

Composed by Logan Thomas and produced by Oscillian with additional instrumentation by Greg Beaton and extra vocals from long-term collaborator Lau, ‘I’ll Wait’ begins with a sparse backdrop where Nina gives a wonderfully emotive performance over a heart murmur and sparkling understated arpeggios, before a Phil Collins style drum barrage takes hold; ‘I’ll Wait’ could be her very own ‘In The Air Tonight’ or ‘Mama’!

Nina and Logan Thomas spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about both song and film…

‘I’ll Wait’ is something of a departure, was this prompted by it be specifically for the film or where you are heading musically now? Any particular inspirations?

Nina: The film’s director, Logan Thomas wrote the original song and then asked me to sing it. I naturally made it my own and brought on one of my collaborators Oscillian to produce the final recording. Dark romanticism has always been part of my musical DNA and I am definitely embracing it more with songs like ‘I’ll Wait’ and my previous single ‘Carnival Night’.

Was there a brief or a free reign?

Logan: I was composing the synth score for the new feature film ‘There’s No Such Thing as Vampires’ and was deeply influenced by the Synthwave movement while I was directing and cutting that movie. We eventually brought in songs by FM84, Jessie Frye, Marsheaux and Nina.

But I also wanted an original love song for the film. You gotta have an original song in a movie like this! Think Annie Lennox’s song for Coppola’s ‘Dracula’! It needed that kind of longing, and I knew Nina was the perfect voice for that! Now, I had only been focusing on directing and composing since I’d moved to Los Angeles, but before that I was heavily into song writing.

So I crawled back into my studio and worked out a melody and lyric that I hoped would build in layers. Almost a hypnotic roundabout until the song reached its climax. So I recorded a demo here and sent it to England for Nina to record it for the film. They finished and sent it back to us in LA. Greg Beaton and I went back in and I added some more synths. Then Greg did some remixing and added that big, wonderful ‘In the Air Tonight’ drum track! So it was definitely a cross continental collaboration with a lot of artists.

So “what” are you waiting for?

Logan: HA!… Well, I suppose you have to see the movie to know that..

Nina: For me, it’s all about music and love. I will wait forever for romance and the song I have not yet written. I hope I never lose that feeling of endless desire.

How did the video come together as a concept?

Logan: Ah, the video… Well. So originally we (the production company) had set up everything to shoot the video here in CA. We crewed up. Had the location, and even began building Nina’s wardrobe. Nina was set to fly here and we would shoot for 2 days. It was going to be a very ‘The Hunger’ inspired music video. Big 80s glam with smokey gothic interiors. Think early Tony Scott and Russell Mulcahy. The COVID restrictions were sure to finally lift in June 2021, allowing international travel to America… and then… they didn’t.

Now we had everything in place and couldn’t get Nina here. So, gotta think pretty fast!… we set up a short session in Berlin to have Nina filmed just singing at, or past the camera. Very simple. Then, for 2 days, we took the footage of Nina and projected it all over the location that we had set in Los Angeles for the original video. Ironically, this method of “projection” ties in very nicely with it being a song for a “movie”! I just love that video. So necessity was definitely the mother of innovation there.

You are living in Berlin again, have you settled back into the groove of the city yet? Has anyone said you are speaking German in an English accent?

Nina: It’s great to be back in my home city with family and friends. I try my best to enjoy life as normal as possible (COVID restrictions). I spend most of my time in my home studio writing/producing and playing with my adorable Snow Bengal ‘Kimba’. Berlin has a unique atmosphere that I find very inspiring, so my creative process is different in a very special way. Yes, some people do notice a little twist in my accent, and I like it!


How are the other new songs coming along, what’s next, anything you can tell people about?

Nina: The new songs are coming along very well, thank you. I am taking my time with Nina Vol 3 because I am trying new things. In the meantime, I am completing collaboration projects with Kid Moxie and Radio Wolf. 2022 is going to be a very fun year for releases!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Nina and Logan Thomas

‘I’ll Wait’ is released as a digital single via Ascent Releasing

The film ‘There’s No Such Thing As Vampires’ is released on 12th December 2021 in North America and Great Britain on Video On Demand and BluRay

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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
3rd December 2021

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