Category: Reviews (Page 45 of 199)

SHOOK System

26 July 2021 /

“What I try to do is create a balance between a synthetic almost robotic sound and human emotion” Jasper Wijnands said.

SHOOK is the Dutch musician’s nom de théâtre and over the years, his albums like ‘Continuum’, ‘Bicycle Ride’ and ‘Music For City & Nature’ have explored classical music, the jazzier side of synth and the Japanese derived sub-genre of Citypop which has its roots in YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA’s self-titled debut long player.

For his new album strategy, he made a track public online every fortnight towards a formal full length release.

Of course, there have been other new methods of long player promotion with MAN WITHOUT COUNTRY releasing each side of an album separately, while the three EP method has been adopted by many. A fair number of listeners are old-fashioned and would prefer to hear the whole body of work in one go, but artists need to do as they must to get recognition for their babies.

So conceptually across eight tracks as a statement against the ‘System’, the album investigates the paradox of infinite online freedom and the way it imprisons people. So how does it all thread as a single listen?

The opening ‘System’ title track presents digital slap bass and synthetic drums in a funky protest song that owes a debt to Prince and makes a call that “we need to shut it down”, while acting as a commentary on photoshopped social media culture, ‘Digital Dissatisfaction’ features the charming tones of Juliet over an electro-jazzy backdrop. ‘Sometimes’ follows a similar template, with Wijnands tightening his trousers for some falsetto delivery of his own as Juliet compliments with her counterpoints.

The percolating ‘Data’ takes a vocoder assisted night drive into the metropolis, but the pulsating energy of ‘It’s Time’ adds piano with expressive pride. The lovely Citypop instrumental ‘Process’ is what many love about SHOOK with Ryuichi Sakamoto being an obvious reference.

With a motivational message to embrace the moment, Juliet returns for ‘Hurry Up’ with its girly pitch shifted charming all as Wijnands indulges in a few Bernie Worrell-inspired keyboard runs. Closing with a few more regal Princely vibes, ‘Systematic’ is a cousin of the opener but is a touch repetitive in places so disappoints slightly as an ending

Technology and the virtual world can consume life and ‘System’ both celebrates and criticises it. Anyone who has enjoyed SHOOK’s in the past will love this album and the various themes on a lyrical and musical level.

If you like your synth with a bit of funk and jazz alongside a few Citypop vibes, then look no further.

‘System’ is available now in vinyl LP and digital formats direct from https://shook.bandcamp.com/album/system

https://www.shookmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shookshookshook/

http://instagram.com/shookmusic

https://open.spotify.com/album/2GoEaA0pizqVWzgqPzuLHv

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th July 2021

H2SO4 Love & Death

23 July 2021 /


H2SO4 began in 1998 as a remix project when CODE reworked songs by Rhythm King signings SULPHUR. It led to the release of an album ‘Machine-Turned Blues’ with the  music appearing on TV dramas such as ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Six Feet Under’.

Following the departure of Andy Phillips after the second album ‘Glamtronica’, Graham Cupples and James Butler continued as H2SO4. In collaboration with production duo BOMBAY MONKEY, they present a concept album about love versus death. “We hope this album has you rooted to your seat, interested in what happens next: a story of love and death unfolding before you” said Cupples.

So the fittingly titled ‘Love & Death’ begins with a subtle tabla backbone for ‘Machines Love’ as the expanding club-infused feel penetrated by trancey strings provides a sombre-toned dance tune. As the title suggests, ‘Gangsta’ exudes a grittier indie wah-wah funk while ‘We Are In Motion’ extends the electro-groove before concluding with PET SHOP BOYS styled atmospherics. ‘Don’t Delete Me’ thpugh crosses ‘Floatation’ by THE GRID with the dizzy buzz of ‘Summer Madness’ by KOOL & THE GANG yet deals with the fatalistic prospect of the ultimate deletion…

The downtempo vibe of ‘Missing You’ contrasts with the propulsive triplet driven Bowie-referencing ‘Hello Spacegirl’ which makes a sparkling indie disco floor filler. Meanwhile, a sinister trip-hop flavour is the order of the day with the stark ‘Weirds Me Out’ as the haunting piano piece ‘No Poems’ does not brighten the mood much either.

But saving the best until last, ‘We Are Millions’ is a slice of electronic pop that Tennant and Lowe would be proud of and acts as a call to action in uniting the world to finish ‘Love & Death’ on a more positive note.

Not a cheerful affair by any means but very real, this collection of heavy electronic prog will not be for everyone, especially those seeking escapism, but ‘Love & Death’ will provoke deep thought that captures these uncertain and heavy times.

‘Love & Death’ is released by LO-TEK and available from https://h2so41.bandcamp.com/

https://lo-tek.co.uk/artists/h2so4

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd July 2021

OH BABY Hey Genius

23 July 2021 /


“We want it to sound like the truth, and we want it to be the sound of two people with a passion” say OH BABY.

Distant cousins, OH BABY are Rick Hornby and Jen Devereux who set up an outdoor home studio during the Summer of 2020’s lockdown. Acquiring an old Roland Juno, a Korg MS20 and Boss DR55 Doctor Rhythm, they began working by trial and error while making the most of the limitations of the equipment at their disposal. Although this was partly for financial reasons, they avoided being overwhelmed by choice, a trap that many fall into with the music software available today.

Fascinated by the fact that the human body has a very small electrical current running through it, the idea of electricity creating emotion became a compositional muse on ‘Hey Genius’, the five track follow-up to their more guitar led 2019 debut EP ‘The Art Of Sleeping Alone’.

Featuring an appealing vocal and occasional guitar to provide syncopation, the minimal synthpop of ‘Cruel Intention’ touches on the uncertainties of personal relationships and the dangers of not knowing someone until their mask is lowered when it is far too late! Meanwhile, with an electro-funky resonance, ‘I Need Somebody To Love Tonight’ throws in some airy moods for the dancefloor.

Despite featuring more prominent guitar, ‘L.I.A.R.’ heads towards nocturnal synthwave with its synthetic bass throbs sweetened by exotic percussive traits. ‘High-Teens’ adopts a metronomic groove towards a club friendly synthetic post-punk amalgam to offset the girly tone. With a processed drum box, ‘In Her Car’ works within a spacious collage of synths, bass sequencing and six string, with room to breathe vocally to come over like BLONDIE meeting THE CURE.

Extremely well produced and superbly sung, ‘Hey Genius’ is an accomplished body of work. While primarily electronic in construction, the use of guitar adds a twist that sets OH BABY apart from other modern British electronic duos and recalls a time when synths and conventional instruments sat side-by-side in the pursuit of pop. While not nostalgic by any means, OH BABY provide a fresh take on those past eras without actually sounding like anyone from that time at all.

‘Hey Genius’ is released by Burning Witches Records, available via the usual online platforms and on special limited edition gold colour vinyl with insert print and download card at https://burningwitchesrecords.com/releases/oh-baby-hey-genius

https://www.ohbabyband.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ohbabyband1

https://www.instagram.com/weareohbaby/

https://open.spotify.com/album/1d7iGlPacMFL1ZyoUWCPsr

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd July 2021

КЛЕТ Alconaut

21 July 2021 /


КЛЕТ (or KLET when using the Roman alphabet) is a music project by the Bohemian-born composer and music producer Michal Trávníček.

Now based in Stuggart, Trávníček grew up in the Eastern Bloc behind The Iron Curtain. But when that came down, he had to deal with the sudden freedom now available to him. As capitalism and Western culture was encouraged, it was not all rosy for others. For some who were old enough to remember, the days of Soviet rule did have a number of positives; citizens had work and comradeship, while there was also the excitement of Star City where cosmonauts of the Космическая программа СССР were trained.

While in the West, the exploits of NASA have been rightly celebrated with the first manned moon landing, the Soviet space programme had an impressive series of even more firsts; first satellite, first animal, first man, first woman, first multiple orbit mission, first multi-crew mission, first mission without the use of spacesuits, first spacewalk, first man-made object to reach the Moon, first sample of lunar soil brought back to Earth and first space station. Meanwhile Gherman Titov was until very recently, the youngest person in space aged 25 at the time of his flight in Vostok 2.

But with such technological boundary pushing into the unknown, tragedies inevitably occurred with the first four deaths in space of Vladimir Komarov, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev. The Soviets abandoning their own manned moon mission and the Buran shuttle were further symbols to its decline, with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster being the turning point. But with variations of the Soyuz rocket family still launching humans into space 55 years on, there has been a lasting impact.

Self-described as “full of nostalgia for a future that has never happened”, Michal Trávníček uses space travel and the end of Soviet rule in Eastern Europe as the conceptual metaphor for his debut album ‘Алконавт’ or ‘Alconaut’; the title is a portmanteau of alcoholic and cosmonaut to reference to “any human being who can either achieve the highest high becoming an astronaut or dropping to the lowest low as an alcoholic…”

The album’s pivotal track is its opener ‘Gagarin’s Start’ which honours the handsome hero who was the first man in space as he prepares for lift-off with a suitably spacey slice of Sovietwave comprising of chromatic ivory hooks and an absorbing synthbass backbone. The sparkling sparseness of ‘Eternity’ with its stuttering vintage drum machine provides another highlight.

As the floaty mood of ‘Sputnik’ acts as a pretty travelling companion, ‘Yearning’ offers a reverberant pulse of hope. Moving away from total atmospherics, ‘Black Heaven’ offers some percussive tension while a pitched up voice sample adds an eerie quality to ‘Computer Love’, not a cover of the KRAFTWERK tune.

However, ‘Sound With Soul’ and the uptempo ‘Vostok 1’ both falling prey to more typically North American synthwave approaches which dilute the overall Europeanness of the work slightly. But closing ‘Alconaut’, the elegiac ‘Laika’ presents a gently ringing sound painting to illustrate the sad realisation that school teachers hid the fact that the beloved space dog never actually returned from her adventure around the Earth on Sputnik 2.

Thematically, ‘Alconaut’ has much in common with BETAMAXX and his most recent long player ‘Sarajevo’ which also documented a positive landmark in the history of the Eastern Bloc before things turned sour. This combined celebration of achievement and sadness captured in the weightless melancholy of ‘Alconaut’ is a fine tribute to those who weren’t able to get along after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the groundbreaking exploits of the Soviet space program.

While Michal Trávníček prefers a more enigmatic personal image (although he’s not immune to posing in a Feyenoord football shirt on his Instagram), the considered presentation of ‘Alconaut’ with its Cyrillic scripture, space travel imagery and videos edited from the Russian biopic ‘Gagarin: First In Space’ all work a treat meaning that in this case, the book really can be judged by its cover.

‘Alconaut’ is available on the usual online platforms including https://claat.bandcamp.com/album/-

https://twitter.com/aestheticKLET

https://www.instagram.com/kletwave/

https://soundcloud.com/aestheticclaat

https://open.spotify.com/album/1wvHFv4OLZaRgv2gWYOOUC

Text by Chi Ming Lai
21st July 2021

ALINA VALENTINA Works & Days

18 July 2021 /

Although distributed by Bordello A Parigi, the same Amsterdam label that recently released the uptempo ITALOCONNECTION album ‘Midnight Confessions Vol1’, the heavy disposition of ‘Works & Days’ from Dutch producer Alina Valentina could not be more different.

A product of solitary confinement and recorded during the worldwide pandemic crisis, the eight misanthropic tracks on ‘Works & Days’ reflect their era with a sci-fi noir atmosphere as if trapped in a space station with only occasional communication to keep in touch with the happening of the outside world.

It is unsurprising therefore with its use of vintage synthesizers like the Korg MS20 and Korg Poly 800 as well as newer ones such as the Moog Grandmother that John Carpenter has been an influence. This was particularly evident when Alina Valentina opened her account in 2020 with ‘L’Ascenseur’, a split release with Dim Garden to which she contributed four instrumental tracks and of which, ‘Blood’ owed more than debt to The Horror Master.

‘Works & Days’ takes a step forward by adding vocals and more song based structures although it is still very darkwave in nature. The detuned rings of ‘That Thing Behind The wall’ enhance its horror film atmosphere complete with sharp metallic bashes, while the doom and gloom of ‘The Visitor’ captures the dread of waiting for that knock on the door.

The album’s highlight ‘True Romance’ is an unusual love song which accepts the inevitability of being six feet under because “we eat, we sh*t, we die but we will have each other”; it’s a vibrant electronic statement that doesn’t shy away from darker resonances despite the wish to live longer! But the suitably titled ‘Horrible Place To Die’ captures more of that fatalistic mood with an appropriate vocal tone to “choose your ending right”.

The ‘Works & Days’ title song is representative of the whole album’s minimal lo-fi aesthetic with detached vocals accompanied by sombre drones that ably encapsulate the last year or so’s discontent.

Meanwhile, the metronomic bleep and rumble of ‘Babel Fish’ references the bright yellow fish from ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’ that acted as a translator when placed in an ear and is inventively used as a surrealist metaphor to highlight communication breakdown.

With an icy Eurocentric demeanour, speedy arpeggios and a primitive rhythmic snap pattern, ‘What You Are’ could actually be something from the Italians Do It Better stable while despite some unsettling deep synthbass, ‘Sick Of You’ possesses shinier passages to lighten the cavern despite the frustrated notion of its title.

There is an appealing aloofness in ‘Works & Days’ that reflects a desire to escape. This is all despite a personal existential crisis within due to the uncontrollable forces of nature being tilted over the edge by consumerism and greed. As a result, Alina Valentina’s opus is not a cheerful affair and a bit grim in places but it’s all part of her charm. Ultimately it will appeal to those electronic music aficionados who prefer Cosey Fanni Tutti to comfy synth.

‘Works & Days’ is self-released in digital formats, vinyl LP available via Bordello A Parigi in September from https://bordelloaparigi.com/shop/vinyl/alina-valentina-works-and-days-lp/

http://alinavalentina.com/

https://twitter.com/AlinaValentina_

https://www.instagram.com/alinavalentinaja/

https://alinavalentina.bandcamp.com/music

Text by Chi Ming Lai
18th July 2021

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