Category: Reviews (Page 57 of 199)

PRIMO THE ALIEN Bad Things

17 January 2021 /


In 2017, Taylor Swift reasoned in song that ‘This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things’…

Sections of the Western World can be a rather spoilt, entitled and privileged bunch, priding themselves on the availability of opportunity but failing to see the bigger picture with the long term economic and social benefits of inclusion, such as universal healthcare in the US or European Union membership in the UK.

With 2021 beginning with a narcissistic insurrection that has only made America grate again, artist and extra-terrestrial PRIMO THE ALIEN highlights some of those ‘Bad Things’.

The project of the vivacious Texan singer and musician Laura Lee Bishop, with a fabulously sprightly popwave tune that is up there with Dana Jean Phoenix or Laura Dre, in the accompanying video, PRIMO THE ALIEN goes on a lockdown exercise walk in a deserted suburban cul-de-sac.

She then encounters a pick-up truck with a Trump Pence 2020 election campaign flag… the rebellious pink haired songstress takes umbrage and breaks into the vehicle. She grabs a red “Make America Great Again” cap and gives it a good cathartic stamping. Meanwhile, she takes the flag to her yard and sets it alight. Yeah, “IT FEELS GOOD”!

This may be just the actions of one person but when synth musicians such as John Maus have declared their support for Donald Trump in his insistence that the 2020 election was stolen, then this video is a symbolic statement. As Claudia Brücken from German band PROPAGANDA said in 2007: “Sooner or later, one has to take sides to remain human”.

Mischief motivated by optimism has always been a part of PRIMO THE ALIEN, whose creative persona was conceived around an intergalactic assassin sent back in time to 1987 who develops a love for not just the era but also her intended target. Produced by PRIMO THE ALIEN and Taylor J Webb, ‘Bad Things’ is a taster of two forthcoming EPs ‘Heart On The Run’ and ‘Rock Professor’ which will be released as a Siamese twinned mini-album.

Blessed with a dynamic versatile voice, PRIMO THE ALIEN has promised more pop and rock elements alongside variations on the electro aesthetic for this forthcoming double EP release.

Although she released her first album ‘To The Max!’ in 2017, PRIMO THE ALIEN achieved a wider breakthrough thanks to her more recent collaborations with noted synthwave exponents such as TIMECOP1983 on ‘My DeLorean’, BETAMAXX on ‘Watch Me’, SUNGLASSES KID on ‘Fixing Me With Love’ and ICARUS on ‘Vapor Memories’.

‘Bad Things’ is available now as a download single from https://primothealien.bandcamp.com/track/bad-things

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https://open.spotify.com/artist/34O5j4kXzwzwpusQApiRLA

Text by Chi Ming Lai
17th January 2021

FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY Mechanical Soul

15 January 2021 /

FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY are a band that continues to fly the flag for Industrial / EBM music as they release their 18th studio album ‘Mechanical Soul’.

The album features guest appearances from Jean-Luc De Meyer of electronic music veterans FRONT 242 and guitarist Dino Cazares from FEAR FACTORY. The turn of events of last year appear to have provided some excellent source material for the band, with titles such as ‘Purge’ and ‘New World’ appearing amongst the tracklist alluding to a very different future for the world that we live in.

The main discussion point re: album opener ‘Purge’ is in its similarity to the 2013 GESAFFELSTEIN track ‘Pursuit’; both feature an almost identical riff, but with the former one transposed up a couple of semitones. The musical DNA of DAF plainly runs through a track too which doesn’t especially evolve during its five minute duration, although the effects used on Bill Leeb’s vocals (including pitch shifting and Auto-Tune) help to keep the listener engaged.

‘Glass & Leather’ is far more successful and features a dramatic intro which eventually reveals a hooky distorted 303-ish sequencer riff and although this is repeated throughout the track, it provides a hypnotic soundbed allowing Leeb’s vocals to weave in and out of the piece. A 909 kick drum and open hi-hat drive ‘Glass & Leather’ to a mid-point breakdown with cut-up vocals before kicking back into the main riff again.

‘Unknown’ (which was released last year) is an album highlight and far more song-oriented with a hooky vocoder-driven chorus which musically recalls the band’s earlier sound on their ‘Tactical Neural Implant’ and ‘Caustic Grip’ albums. Also worthy of mention is the rather nifty post-apocalyptic promo video which goes with the track; featuring clips from the short Sci-Fi films ‘Sentinel’ & ‘Detroit, 2029’, they provide a perfect visual accompaniment to the song.

‘New World’ provides an early welcome change of pace, with a LFO-modulated synth riff and another vocodered Leeb vocal. Probably as close as one is going to get to a ballad from the act, the song is another highlight and showcases another side to the band with some superb monophonic synth programming throughout.

‘Stifle’ featuring guitar from Dino Cazeres has more of an early NINE INCH NAILS aesthetic and could easily have appeared on ‘Pretty Hate Machine’, whilst ‘Barbarians’ features the immediately recognisable vocals of FRONT 242’s Jean-Luc de Meyer over a slightly glitchy re-programmed ‘When the Levee Breaks’ style drum break. The latter features an undeniably epic chorus, with synth pads and a PWM bass synth part underpinning de Meyer’s “hail the barbarians” hook; again, this is another track to return to for repeated listening…

‘Komm, Stirbt Mit Mir’ (wonderfully translated as ‘Come Die With Me’) is not unlike an EBM RAMMSTEIN remix and features some intricate little synth interjections and a doomy underpinning string part which evokes the intro to FAITHLESS’s ‘Insomnia’. The album concludes with an actual remix of ‘Hatevol’ provided by BLACK ASTEROID who feature producer Brian Black.

Black is best known for being one half of MOTOR who worked with Martin Gore, Gary Numan and Douglas McCarthy on the 2012 album ‘Man Made Machine’. ‘Hatevol’ comes across as a bit of a ‘bonus track’, not surprising as it originally featured on the last FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY album ‘Wake Up the Coma’.

Although Industrial / EBM style music is not every synth-lovers musical cup of tea, there is plenty to enjoy here for those not versed in the genre. It’s very easy to pigeonhole work like this as being overtly ‘shouty’ and lacking in melody, but ‘Mechanical Soul’ is a fine example of a band that has stuck to their principals and is continuing to deliver quality product… highly recommended.

‘Mechanical Soul’ features the following instruments: Elektron Analog Rytm Mk2, Studio Electronics Omega 8, Roland Alpha Juno 2, Mutable Instruments Shruthi, Waldorf Pulse+, Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas, Ormsby DC7, Moog Model 15 reissue, Mutable Instruments Clouds, Waldorf Q+, Doepfer A100

‘Mechanical Soul’ is released by Metropolis Records, in double vinyl LP, CD and digital formats, available direct from https://frontlineassembly.bandcamp.com/album/mechanical-soul

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Text by Paul Boddy
Photo by Bobby Talamine
15th January 2021

ROBIN HATCH Noise

11 January 2021 /

A purveyor of neo-classical piano and synth, Robin Hatch is a composer from Toronto.

Primarily known as a classical virtuoso and a touring keyboardist for Canadian alternative rock band OUR LADY PEACE, she effectively leads a triple life. She had experimented with synths previously on 2019’s Wendy Carlos influenced ‘Hatch’ which featured improvised instrumentals using a Jupiter 8, Prophet 12 and Malekko Industries Manther. It was all very different from her debut solo album ‘Works For Solo Piano’ which also came out earlier that year and an eponymous piano only follow-up that came at the end of a prolific 12 month period.

Recorded at home during the lockdown, ‘Noise’ is unlike her three previous works as an avant synth record that incorporates vocals and drum machine. It is also presented with some rather raunchy imagery, although this amusingly offset by the wry use of a Ford Focus! By way of an ‘Introduction’, the opening track of ‘Noise’ does not deviate too far from the experimentation of ‘Hatch’ although it contains more pulsing rhythmic elements.

‘Trophy’ though brings in vocals although this is far from a conventional format of song, with Hatch expressing herself poetically over a sparse backdrop of drones, ring modulation and minimal machine percussion. Meanwhile ‘Hivemind’ is instrumental avant pop with hints of Berlin based Nordic duo ULTRAFLEX and their ‘Olympic Sweat’. The incessant synth bass, sweetened with the flute of Alia O’Brien, provides a tune with a marvellous cosmic groove.

Slightly more gothic overtones make their presence felt on ‘Heatstroke’ in the shape of baroque vocals in the manner of a deeper AUSTRA crossed with BAT FOR LASHES; the percolating drum machine pattern is reminiscent a more minimal ‘Pearl’s Dream’ and compliments the bed of bubbling electronics.

The excellent hypnotic instrumental ‘Lake Water’ swoops like a sci-fi odyssey driven using an understated rhythmic passage, while the delightfully odd ‘Planetarium’ chills hauntingly over a metronome beat. But then over eight minutes comes the mysterious sound sculpture of ‘The Mirror’ before ‘Tie A Bow’ closes proceedings.

Structured around rumbling drones, some exquisite synth tones are displayed as well as an honest weary vocal for Hatch to provide a superb introspective set piece of ‘Twin Peaks’ proportions. Despite its disconcerting title, ‘Noise’ is an intriguing esoteric adventure that showcases an inherent musicality and documents the beginning of a journey into more accessible climes.

Across eight tracks, it develops Robin Hatch’s avant garde inclinations into pop, not unlike the Ana Klimova character in the wonderful independent French film ‘Le Choc Du Futur’ that celebrates female synth musicians.

‘Noise’ is available as a download album from https://robinhatch.bandcamp.com/album/noise

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https://open.spotify.com/album/1HQQsS2yoihiHyyu6Jiwhb

Text by Chi Ming Lai
11th January 2021

PAGE Aska EP

7 January 2021 /

A new companion release to ‘Under Mitt Skinn’ which came out in Summer 2020, PAGE issue their third EP in six months entitled ‘Aska’.

The trailblazing Swedish duo of Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko have been fairly prolific of late and partying like it’s 1979. In acknowledgement of Synth Britannia, TUBEWAY ARMY and early ULTRAVOX have been very much the key influence in the recent work of PAGE, most notably with the ‘Start’ EP and the long player ‘Fakta För Alla’.

In defence of his nostalgic but affectionate ethos, Bengtsson said to Zero Magazine: “Since neither Numan nor Foxx engage in that type of electronic pop anymore, PAGE is allowed to do it instead!”

Mixed by Richard Flow of MACHINISTA who ably assists PAGE into realising themselves as a retro-futuristic post-punk electronic band, Bengtsson added “All the music is made on synths, but I try to emulate different instruments and create the illusion that ‘here is a bassist, here is a drummer and here is a keyboardist’”.

A second cousin to ‘Saint Anastase’ from the ‘Under Mitt Skinn’ EP, ’Stefansplatz’ is an enjoyably progressive instrumental opening in the vein of THE HUMAN LEAGUE when Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh were at the synthesizer helm. But tackling the sensitive subject of burn out, the ‘Aska’ title song sees service resumed in the Vox ‘N’ Foxx department.

The delightful ‘En Kamera Ser’ though is quirky elektronisk pop bursting with synth hooks, echoing a more Motorik ‘Ett SOS’ and the nostalgic technological observations of KRAFTWERK where cameras were once tactile entities of their own, not a side function in a phone alongside bank accounts.

‘Hög Som Jag’ celebrates the joy of music that is classic PAGE, while ‘Bara Tryck På Play’ pays homage to TUBEWAY ARMY’s ‘Bombers’ or THE STRANGLERS’ ‘(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)’ where listeners are free to choose, depending on their thinking.

To close the main act, PAGE take out full Numanoid membership on ‘Jag Var Så Nära’ as the dark but melodic adventure mines the glory that is ‘I Die: You Die’.

Using tracks originally featuring on its predecessors, ‘Aska’ is supplemented by a poppier remix of ‘Ta det som en man’ by SOCIAL AMBITIONS and a punk cover of ‘Under Mitt Skinn’ from ATTENTAT, but the best bonus comes from DATAPOP who adopt a minimal machine approach to ‘Panik’ that turns it into ‘Home Computer’.

Twinned with ‘Under Mitt Skinn’, ‘Aska’ forms a combination album that becomes reality via a limited vinyl edition that presents these sessions as a body of work with a clear vision. “Good music should be given all the time, attention and concentration it deserves!” says Bengtsson as he remains creatively in the Moog. After all, it is all just a matter of pleasure and principle.

‘Aska’ is released by Energy Rekords as a CD EP, available direct from https://hotstuff.se/en/cd-page-aska-ep-foldout-digipack-cd-limited-edition-500-copies-ercd176/79017

The ‘Aska Under Mitt Skinn’ combination vinyl LP is available direct from https://hotstuff.se/en/lp-page-aska-under-mitt-skinn-limited-edition-300-copies-vinyl-only-erlp177/79018

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Simon Helm
7th January 2021

WE ARE REPLICA Cleared Vision

4 January 2021 /

It was something of a sign for 2020 when WE ARE REPLICA’s first attempt at a full length album was lost when a feral cat got into their studio over the New Year holidays and urinated all over their computer!

But the London-based Franco German dark synth duo of Nadège Préaudat and Martin Kinz soldiered on and now have ‘Cleared Vision’.

“We always liked heavy music as much as electronic music and therefore often use synths like electric guitars” said Kinz while Préaudat affirmed “That helps to capture emotions in its rawest state”.

So it is something of a pleasant surprise amongst all the intensity from life in isolation during a difficult 2020, WE ARE REPLICA have introduced an enchanting avant pop element to their sound. With a muted down aggression towards the mindset that the album’s title suggests, is this possibly some optimism finding its way in through the back door?

‘Only The Best’ brings in some piercing noise but there is a refinement to provide some accessible punky synth. ‘Miami’ though unexpectedly offers a comparatively sunny disposition with Kinz almost perky like a German Eno, although Préaudat offsets all that but even she sounds less intense compared to WE ARE REPLICA’s previous work.

‘Sanitize Me’ is kind of business as usual though and will connect with anyone affected by the lockdown. It may be a bit too close to home, but it is an honest statement and Préaudat is still strangely sexy despite the doom and gloom. Some relief comes from a delightful closing section of cascading keys.

Previous singles ‘Parallele Universen’ and ‘Angel’ feature lyrics in German and French respectively as a homage to Neue Deutsche Welle and French New Wave. But the language is no barrier, acting more like additional instrumental elements.

‘Parallele Universen’ nods towards Robert Görl and sees Kinz in previously unheard territory actually singing. Meanwhile despite the sinister discomfort of ‘Angel’, Préaudat is wonderfully alluring with her deep Gallic tongue. Like Siamese Twins thanks to their common concept, they are separated by the brooding ‘Opus 5’ which is more abstract like a schizophrenic gothic art piece.

Kinz and Préaudat have a deadpan exchange on the creepy and monotone ‘For Whom The Dove Cried’ for the most foreboding and experimental track on ‘Cleared Vision’, before the mantric drone-laden ‘Isolated Star’ screeches with sharp synth lines and a steadfast rhythmic lattice over a concluding eight minutes. Heavy music for heavy times, ‘Cleared Vision’ is like life, up and down and up before descending into a mental breakdown after a pop focussed start.

This album won’t be for everyone but in its enigmatic expression and artful sound sculpture, it reflects our strange dark times. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but whether that light is an escape the other side or a truck heading towards you is another story!

‘Cleared Vision’ is available as a download album direct from https://wearereplica.bandcamp.com/album/cleared-vision

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Pauline Mongarny
4rd January 2021

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