Category: Reviews (Page 69 of 199)

TWICE A MAN On The Other Side Of The Mirror

13 June 2020 /


Having released 21 albums since 1982, Swedish veterans TWICE A MAN have never been ones to shy away from serious issues.

The trio’s superb 2015 song ‘High in The Clouds’ confronted the prospect of environmental armageddon aided by the eerily beautiful voice of Karin My.

Having ventured down the ambient route with ‘Cocoon’ as a kind of interim solace following the release of the ‘Presence’ album from which ‘High In The Clouds’ came, TWICE A MAN have literally come out of the woods and found the world in a state of corrupt turmoil.

Like a delayed ‘1984′ with misinformation and paranoia everywhere and eugenics being pushed through the backdoor by right wing governments using the current pandemic crisis as a smokescreen and capitalism as its reasoning, TWICE A MAN highlight this increasingly dystopian situation emerging in front of everyone’s eyes on ‘On The Other Side Of The Mirror’.

Led by Dan Söderqvist with Karl Gasleben and Jocke Söderqvist providing the dark gentle storm of sound, the opening ’Breath’ exudes brooding industrial moods and sombre vocals, with chilling string machines enhancing the melancholic alienation.

But ‘Fireflies’ utilises ethnic percussive flavours and the return of Karin My to feed the claustrophobic air with Lampyridae acting as deadly symbolism for the end of future dreams.

The sinister gothic militarism that accompanies ’Rain of Shame’ is deeply fitting; fuelling a combustive atmosphere, Söderqvist realises “this is not my world, this is not my time”.

However, a variation in tempo and construction time again makes a highlight of ‘Naked’ with its penetrating basslines and swirling dramatic overtures that echo imperial phase DEPECHE MODE.

The shortest track on the album at four minutes, ’Growing’ sees TWICE A MAN emulating Gary Numan but in a more abstract psychedelic fashion with a sound that also recalls ‘New Head’, OMD’s unusual collaboration with Simon Fung of CHINA BLACK from 1996.

Closing with ’Modern World’, this is another warning in the vein of ‘High In The Clouds’, an orchestrated epic featuring another heavenly Karin My vocal as a dense cacophony of textural guitars, haunting high register synths and thunderous drumming points towards a deadly apocalyptic darkness.

Perhaps more organic and even heavier in tone than ‘Presence’, ‘On The Other Side Of The Mirror’ however reflects a world “where fear is the face of reality”; it is not an easy listen, offering observations and ambiguity rather than answers.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Maybe there is, but that light could actually be an oncoming train! “Your future dreams are fireflies, you see them through your children’s eyes.”

‘On The Other Side Of The Mirror’ is released as a CD, vinyl LP, cassette and download by Ad Inexplorata, available from https://twiceaman.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-other-side-of-the-mirror

http://www.twiceaman.com/

https://www.facebook.com/twiceaman/

http://www.explorata.net/shop/index_eng.php

http://www.explorata.net/shop/index_eng.php

Text by Chi Ming Lai
13th June 2020

DISCOVERY ZONE Remote Control

8 June 2020 /


DISCOVERY ZONE is the new electronically focussed solo project of Berlin based New Yorker JJ Weihl who is also a member of psychedelic rockers FENSTER.

‘Remote Control’ as a title concept examines the wonder and terror of technology; are we in control of the machines or are the machines now controlling us?

Pointing towards a cerebral approach, there are sound collages like the dialogue laden ‘Sophia Again’ and conceptual introduction ‘Nu Moon’. In some respects, the album is laid out like ‘Dazzle Ships’ by OMD and there is even a speech collage called ‘Time Zone’.

But one of the album’s most accessible features is ‘Dance II’ which is wonderfully catchy, exuding an esoteric funk. Expressing a touch of ‘La Dolce Vita’ with its bright scaling synth hook and New York disco vibes, a mood of elation is captured that expresses optimism and hope as well as the joy of second chances.

The laid back mood of ‘Come True’ is more conventional, utilising jazzy six string in an almost AIR-like fashion, with Weihl’s delivery recalling Beth Hirsch’s vocal contributions to ‘Moon Safari’ while processed choral samples and bubbling synths sweeten proceedings even further. ‘Fall Apart’ is cut from a similar cloth but adds in a distorted guitar solo.

Held down by pulsating synths and incessant reverbed drum machine, ‘Blissful Morning Dream Interpretation Melody’ does exactly as the title suggests as the treated vocal sonics bolster the spacey avant pop to present a surreal out of mind experience for that otherworldly feeling.

Enjoyably sinister is the ‘Remote Control’ title track with its vocoder laden aesthetics competing with pentatonic melodies, subtle dub and the Doppler effect of ‘Trans Europa Express’ but from inside a Spiegelsaal to symbolise a robot takeover.

Taking a different turn with its forlorn reverbed drum machine, ‘Come Slow’ sets up a ‘Twin Peaks’ atmosphere as an interlude but as it disappointingly fades, there are no doubts that this segment could have been developed much further.

The closing instrumental ‘Tru Nature’ reflects on the late Andrew Weatherall’s rework of THE GRID’s ‘Floatation’ and chills around a conga backbone while the pitched up voice samples of THE ART OF NOISE gently immerse themselves into surrounding water.

‘Remote Control’ hits the spot on many occasions and as DISCOVERY ZONE, JJ Weihl has relished the opportunity for some solo artistic expression.

This is a good debut, the musical equivalent of a hologram, hazy and shimmering but with a clear field of depth and different listening experiences felt depending on the time of day.

But while there are plenty of accessible melodic moments, some may find the spoken word sections quite challenging to absorb and unnecessarily interrupting the flow.

‘Remote Control’ is released by Mansions & Millions, in vinyl LP and digital formats available from https://discoveryzone1.bandcamp.com/releases

http://www.a-okay-mgmt.com/discoveryzone.htm

https://www.facebook.com/discoveryzzzone/

https://www.instagram.com/discoveryz0ne/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Colette Pomerleau
8th June 2020

PAGE Under Mitt Skinn EP

6 June 2020 /

PAGE, the Swedish poptronica trailblazers are back with a new EP entitled ‘Under Mitt Skinn’.

Releasing their first single in 1983, the duo of Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko is seen as the classic incarnation despite the line-up variations over the decades. In between her stints, Marina Schiptjenko joined Alexander Bard from ARMY OF LOVERS in VACUUM and then BWO, while front man Eddie Bengtsson had his ongoing solo mission SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN but initially found fame with S.P.O.C.K.

Often been considered as Sweden’s answer to Vince Clarke, in 2017 Eddie Bengtsson publically expressed his despair at the state of new electronic music and how it was not enough to have just a single good song on a full length album. So for his end of year listing, he celebrated his influences which he considered to have stood the test time such as TUBEWAY ARMY, ULTRAVOX, THE HUMAN LEAGUE and the lesser known Anglo-Irish combo CUDDLY TOYS.

PAGE’s album from that year ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’ featured a musically faithful cover of Gary Numan’s ‘Tracks’ in Swedish as ‘Spår’; it planted the seed for a more Numanesque sound but it was 2018’s ‘Start’ EP and the 2019 album ‘Fakta För Alla’ that saw PAGE totally get in the Moog.

‘Under Mitt Skinn’ includes ‘Tracks’ but also five new songs, three remixes and a cover curio. The opening ‘Saint Anastase’ acts as a mighty instrumental prelude in the vein of Vox ‘N’ Foxx, with hints of ‘All Stood Still’, ‘I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)’ and ‘Swimmer’ driven by a frantic neo-motorik beat. Having adapted ‘Alles Klar’ as ‘Allt Är Klart’ with SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN in 2007, Bengtsson does another fine tribute in acknowledgement of Synth Britannia.

‘Under Mitt Skinn’ and ‘Hoppet’ both continue the Numan fixation which PAGE have explored on ‘Fakta För Alla’ and ‘Start’ with propulsive monosynth riffs, immersive vox humana and precise uptempo structures. But ‘Ta Det Som En Man’ plays with the ivory motif of ‘The Damned Don’t Cry’ and amalgamates it with ‘Fade To Grey’ for the ultimate VISAGE homage på Svenska.

Held together by a metronomic Compurhythm backbone, the clean simplicity of ‘Panik’ is its key, with some simple piano derived melodies and uncluttered strings, but alien distortion counterpoints to add tension. Less derivative and more like classic PAGE, this is the best of the new songs on this collection, although a sneaky ULTRAVOX warble odyssey at the end just cannot be resisted.

Eddie Bengtsson has often remarked that ‘Fakta För Alla’ is possibly the best work of his career and two of its tracks are reworked by others. ‘Blöder Du’ is percussively remixed by Svein Welde but remains moody and doesn’t lose its mystery.

Meanwhile the Hacienda redux by Pierre of ‘Ljuden I Ditt Rum’ adds a baggy wah-wah feel which parties like it’s 1991 and even threatens to turn into the final section of THE STONE ROSES ‘I Am The Resurrection’!

The Side Order family redux of ‘Som Ett Skal’ from ‘Hemma’ however could have done without its irritating glitch stutters and this effect spoils an otherwise acceptable remix of what is now considered modern day PAGE’s signature song.

As a novelty bonus, Swedish industrial band INDEPENDENT STATE featuring John Westlund and Den Där Killen offer a synth punk cover version of ‘Lägger Av’ from ‘Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Ut’; it could be mistaken for a Nordic Plastic Bertrand and that more or less sums up its playfully enjoyable nature.

‘Under Mitt Skinn’ will more than satisfy PAGE fans and enthusiasts of elektronisk pop who have enjoyed the run of enjoyable releases since ‘Nu’ in 2010. But while the dynamic vintage overtures of Billy Currie, Gary Numan and John Foxx are still very much omnipresent on this EP, there are signs through the five new tracks that this influence may be steadily evolving into another phase for Marina Schiptjenko and Eddie Bengtsson.

‘Under Mitt Skinn’ is released by Energy Rekords as a CD, available from https://hotstuff.se/butik/cd-page-under-mitt-skinn-ep-foldout-digipack-cd-limited-edition-300-copies/76383

https://www.facebook.com/PageElektroniskPop

https://www.instagram.com/page_svensk_pop/

https://open.spotify.com/album/6joc62sEjHePUv0ZRncgN1

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Jonas Karlsson
6th June 2020

JENNIFER TOUCH Behind The Wall

1 June 2020 /

Jennifer Touch, the Dresden-born / Berlin-based producer and DJ makes her long-awaited album debut with ‘Behind The Wall’, having presented her first recordings in 2014.

Wearing a coat of many colours, Jennifer Touch is a developing talent who as happy with techno and industrial as she is with synthpop. It has been over 30 years since the fall of The Berlin Wall and it is not surprising that she has looked back to her time growing up in Communist East Germany as the catalyst for this long player released on the Brighton independent label Fatcat Records.

The daughter of DDR flower-power children, she was introduced to synthpop and new wave via her father’s extensive record collection which included THE HUMAN LEAGUE and DURAN DURAN. The joyful image of ‘Deutschland 83’ agent hero Kolibri hearing ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’ for the first time on a Sony Walkman is perhaps symbolic of how many young East Germans like her became enthralled and curious about life and culture on the other side of The Iron Curtain.

Taking in DAF, THE KLF and PJ Harvey along the way on the route to adulthood, this melting pot of tastes inspired her early music productions. The excellent ‘Chemistry’ was the track that launched it all to a wider listenership outside of club circles and it appears on ‘Behind The Wall’ in remixed form. Cleaner and tighter but still retaining the essence of the original, Touch conceived her baby while in a state of depression. “I knew I had the music inside me” she explained, “but it felt like I was stuck,”

But ‘Behind The Wall’ begins in a more abstract manner with ‘Imaginary Boys’, an art piece that acts as a building soundtrack to Touch’s commute through Berlin to the studio each day. While much of the city has been rebuilt, many aspects of its distinctive architecture remain and loom with a dark and powerful resonance.

The album’s emotional centre point is ‘Attic’, where stark electronics and metronomic beats echo EMIKA but built around a rigid if much colder foundation. A fight against a system of restricted surroundings, its feelings are relevant in the lockdown of today as they were more than three decades ago in Eastern Europe.

With a hypnotic DAF-like sequencer hook and a brooding metronomic mood, ‘Daria’ is sombre electro-punk, while the depressed aural symbolism of ‘The Wall’ sees Touch expressing her pain of confinement both physically or mentally.

The unsettling adrenaline rush ‘Teflon’ is a non-stick statement of resilience but also an adventure in industrial techno cabaret, with Touch’s role as a chanteuse veering between deadpan and distress also sharpening the Götterdämmerung austere.

The rhythmically dominant ‘I Love You, Let’s Go’ harbours thoughts of escape as the electronics throb and veer towards psychedelia, but ‘Iggy’s Slight’ does what it says on the tin and pays electro homage to Iggy Pop, in particular ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ via the retention in spirit of its iconic bassline.

Meanwhile, ‘Flatlands’ beautifully takes a leaf from the songbook of fellow Berlin resident ZANIAS aka Alison Lewis of LINEA ASPERA both vocally and musically with its immersive minimal darkwave to provide an album highlight. With a gritty gothic resonance, ‘Supersize’ is the least electronic number of the collection although this is offset by radio signal swoops and a percussive noise rattle.

However, the mantric ‘Your Dawn’ takes the record down ohne schlagzeug with drones encapsulating a stark subterranean atmosphere which Touch says is “A rescue boat I wrote for a very close friend who was experiencing some dark and sad times. It’s an invitation to dance with me, a lullaby, a consolation”.

While there are stand-out tracks, overall ‘Behind The Wall’ does not quite reach the heights of more recent releases by EMIKA and ZANIAS, enough promise is revealed to indicate that Jennifer Touch could join their ranks in a few years. Whether she decides to expand on her song-based vision or ventures back to the purer techno-oriented productions of 2019’s ‘Seven’ EP remains to be seen.

‘Behind The Wall’ is released by FATCAT Records on 5th June 2020 in CD, red vinyl LP and digital formats, available from https://jennifertouch.bandcamp.com/

http://www.jennifertouch.com/

https://www.facebook.com/touch.jennifer/

https://www.instagram.com/jennifertouch/

https://soundcloud.com/jennifertouch

Text by Chi Ming Lai
1st June 2020

NINA Synthian

31 May 2020 /

German born NINA took the synthpop world by storm, releasing her debut ‘Sleepwalking’ in 2018.

She lent one of her early songs ‘My Mistake’ to a Mercedes-Benz advert, alongside landing support slots with DE/VISION, ERASURE and others. Clubbing together with Canada’s PARALLELS, she toured America, creating a wild audience eager to hear more from the gifted Berliner.

And so comes ‘Synthian’, not only superbly titled but also delivering a more mature, darker tone to NINA’s repertoire. The songstress shares the achievement with her collaborator, Laura Fares aka LAU and producers of note such as Oscillian, Richard X, Till Wild and Ricky Wilde. As described by NINA, “‘Synthian’ is the bigger and bolder sister of ‘Sleepwalking’. It’s more mature and daring”.

Indeed the title track is very deep and brooding, with catchy poppy synth line, eloquently dispersed with acute guitar and a longing vocal, preparing the listener to be taken onto a retro journey with a difference. The following ‘Automatic Call’ picks up the tempo quite stunningly, arpeggiating away while carrying the wonderfully produced vocals, to achieve a perfect synth gem.

‘Runaway’ glides over the scales, entering the retro world with ease, showcasing that NINA at her best with some gentle help from Ricky Wilde. A big fan of Wilde’s sister, NINA loved collaborating with her talented brother: “Ricky comes up with the most beautiful melodies and harmonies. I loved working with him. He’s humble and patient”. ‘Unnoticed’ is a romantic cry for love from a lost soul, wrapped in a cosy electronic blanket of greatness, showcasing the German synthpop queen as the owner of the most incredible voice as well as one that can write mesmerising tunes.

‘The Calm Before The Storm’ continues the serene tempo, while ‘The Wire’ brings out those darker, harsher tones; it’s deliciously deep and expresses deeper thoughts. “It’s about feeling disconnected from the world” she said, “Losing a sense of being human and having a deep desire for the human touch”. One may say the track was written to describe the world of today, where that loss of connection has become more apparent than ever; the synthy pandemic anthem, you could say.

The cute ‘Love Is Blind’ meanders around the retro musicality and layered vocals, while ‘Never Enough’ ushers further nostalgia leading into ‘Gave Up On Us’, whose mesmerising arpeggios are deliciously uplifting; it’s like going back in time, roller-skating along the promenade with a Walkman and pink bubble gum.

The closing and very apt ‘The Distance’, delves into NINA’s personal life, describing her experiences with a long distance relationship. “‘The Distance’ is about a long distance relationship and how true love can span miles and beyond. It has a more cinematic approach; heavily inspired by the likes of M83 and WOODKID. It’s a very personal song. A lot of people are being apart from their loved ones right now and can probably relate”.

Indeed the later than anticipated release of the opus, couldn’t have landed at a better time. More placed than it ever would be, NINA wishes to bring some light and hope into the uncertainty of current situation, so difficult for many.

And if your wish was to “make people feel better through music and offer some kind of hope”, then you certainly did just that. A superb album.

‘Synthian’ is released by Aztec Records on 5th June 2020 in CD, magenta neon vinyl LP and digital formats, pre-order from https://ninasounduk.bandcamp.com/

https://www.iloveninamusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/iloveninamusic

https://twitter.com/iloveninamusic

https://www.instagram.com/ninasounduk/

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
31st May 2020

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: [email protected]
Privacy Policy

Up ↑