Category: Reviews (Page 7 of 198)

JOHN CARPENTER, CODY CARPENTER & DANIEL DAVIES Lost Themes IV: Noir

30 April 2024 /

John Carpenter is back-back-BACK! The Horror Master and his regular collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, son of THE KINKS’ Dave Davies, present the fourth instalment of the ‘Lost Themes’ series.

Very few have had a successful career as a film director while also soundtracking their own work like John Carpenter has, with ‘Assault on Precinct 13’, ‘Halloween’, ‘The Fog’, ‘Escape From New York’, ‘Big Trouble in Little China’, ‘Prince Of Darkness’ and ‘Village Of The Damned’ to name just a few…

A family unit of father, son and godson, the trio were inspired by a book of stills from noir films and their titles; John Carpenter’s wife Sandy King gave him the book one Christmas. While these are “soundtracks for the movies in your mind”, whereas the original scores for these noir films were largely orchestral, the trio interpreted the images with their usual synthesizer and guitar template.

The opener ‘My Name is Death’ offers gothic Spaghetti Western resonances before climaxing with a blistering guitar solo picturing the standoff. Despite opening with a stark piano motif surrounded by sweeping synths, ‘Machine Fear’ morphs into a percussive death rattle enhanced heavy guitar riffage, while inside a desolate apocalyptic backdrop, ‘Last Rites’ offers a sense of foreboding in its ragged metal.

A complete contrast, ‘The Burning Door’ could be music to a Cold War spy drama with its haunting East European mood. Meanwhile, with classic keyboard runs augmented by some six string menace, when ‘He Walks By Night’ drops to a church organ, it becomes even more sinister before reprising itself powerfully.

With a slight pentatonic flavour, ‘Beyond The Gallows’ is not surprisingly embroiled in fatalistic tension but galloping along with a compelling electronic bass sequence, ‘Kiss The Blood Off My Fingers’ is ominous although synths do also creep in. ‘Guillotine’ sits in a solemn bed but as it rocks up, it drops back to its spacier beginnings that recall Avro Part before heading back to where it left off.

‘The Demon’s Shadow’ is unsettling as it should be based on its title alone but to close, ‘Shadows Have A Thousand Eyes’ is a hypnotic metronomic closer that brings together strung textures, sparkling arpeggios, power chords and electronic drums inside a cocoon of reverb.

‘Lost Themes IV: Noir’ is the first one in this series to be billed as a John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies collaborative record. But while Davies makes his presence felt on his guitar and the younger Carpenter provides his schooled musicality, the end result is characteristic John Carpenter.

“I’m the experience. I’ve done music for movies before” said The Horror Master about his role in the collaborative process. For that reason alone, ‘Lost Themes IV: Noir’ will delight John Carpenter fans and those who favour the rockier end of synthwave to be shown how it’s done.

‘Lost Themes IV: Noir Out’ is released on 3 May 2024 by Sacred Bones via https://lnk.to/LTIVNoir

Format variants include:

• Sacred Bones exclusive Red splatter on Clear (Silver foil), with poster and a clear 7” with exclusive bonus track ‘Black Cathedral’ and screen printed B-Side
• Sacred Bones Society exclusive black and white splatter on Clear (Silver foil), with poster and a clear 7” with exclusive bonus track ‘Black Cathedral’ and screen printed B-Side
• All retail Transparent Red (Gold Foil) with poster
• All retail tan and black marble (Gold Foil), with poster and a clear 7” with exclusive bonus track ‘Black Cathedral’ and screen printed B-Side
• Rough Trade exclusive Oxblood red and black marble with splatter (Gold Foil), with poster and a clear 7” with exclusive bonus track ‘Black Cathedral’ and screen printed B-Side
• Shout exclusive Black and clear cloudy (Gold Foil), with poster and a clear 7” with exclusive bonus track ‘Black Cathedral’ and screen printed B-Side
• Black LP (Gold foil) with poster
• CD
• Cassette

https://theofficialjohncarpenter.com

https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/collections/john-carpenter

https://www.facebook.com/directorjohncarpenter/

https://twitter.com/TheHorrorMaster

https://www.instagram.com/johncarpenterofficial/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
30 April 2024

MICHEL MOERS As Is

18 April 2024 /

Best known as the front man of Belgian electronic trailblazers TELEX, Michel Moers releases what is only his second solo studio album ‘As Is’.

Together with Dan Lacksman and Marc Moulin, TELEX were the ultimate passively subversive pop group, whether it was by performing a funereal robotic cover of ‘Rock Around The Clock’ on Top Of The Pops while Moers was reading a newspaper or entering the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest to send up the whole charade with the sole intention of coming last!

When TELEX went into hiatus after their 1988 album ‘Looney Tunes’, the dryly humorous Moers released his solo debut ‘Fishing Le Kiss’ in 1991. Although the trio reunited, with the sad passing 2008, TELEX were formally retired.

After 33 years, Michel Moers has admittedly that working on music alone has been a challenge in the absence of his late bandmate and while continuing jobs in photography and architecture, he made music on Sundays like a painter. Recorded primarily using Logic, the songs have been developed over several years and although Moers continues with his distinctive cynical surrealism, one change in approach has been a more direct lyrical expression.

Like with TELEX, ‘As Is’ is multi-lingual while the mood is reflective. Representative of this is ‘Les Gens Sont Affligeants’, a rework of a song that actually appeared on Moers’ debut. Translated as “People Are Disappointing” because let’s face it, they are, with deep chanson resonances offset by arpeggios, it is sad that individualistic entitlement is still very relevant today.

The single ‘Microwaves’ features Claudia Brücken on lead vocals for a more straightforward slice electronic pop with solid bass and icy synth lines that come over like PROPAGANDA meeting TELEX. With dead pan and treated vocals in unison, ‘Potentially (Love-Hate)’ is like a spacey commuter train ride that makes an ideal backdrop for the frustrations expressed; the psychedelic overtones provide an interesting twist while the closing synth work is fantastic.

Declaring “we are only human, curious by nature”, ‘New Friend’ is solemn yet strangely heartfelt while ‘Beau-Triste’ offers sci-fi Charles Aznavour. Upping the pace with splashes of subtle percussive noise, ‘Keske Tu Veux?’ sees sparkly pulsating electronics come into play to contrast the low vocal nonchalance and what’s this? Kerranging rock guitar? In an almost resigned state wondering where the child in himself has gone, ‘Back To Then’ featuring the additional voice of fellow Belgian DAAN continues with the guitars although in a more understated manner alongside the electronics.

The absorbing ‘Pixels’ brings in an appealing synthetic cacophony over a steady metronomic beat but the throbbing ‘R.E.M.I.X’ is a fabulous slice of arty machine dance music where Moers laments aspects of his past, wishing he could “remix my life” just as Karl Bartos did on ‘Without A Trace Of Emotion’ in 2013. To close and translated as “You fall asleep”, ‘Tu T’endors’ is bare to the bone, an airy atmospheric lullaby embroiled in a drifting melancholy before a closing chime of guitar.

While delightfully astute and thoughtful, attentive effort is required from the listener but this makes ‘As If’ all the more satisfying in these days of disengaged music consumption. With this album, you can become invested and involved. Describing where the album belongs in the modern world, Moers himself says “it would be on the living room table”.

‘As Is’ is released by Freaksville Records on 19 April 2024 as a transparent vinyl LP and digital download via https://michelmoers.bandcamp.com/album/as-is

https://twitter.com/michelmoers

https://www.instagram.com/michelmoers/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
18 April 2024

GEMMA CULLINGFORD The Komiza Project

15 April 2024 /

Following up her collaborative EP ‘FOMO’ with performance poet Luke Wright, Gemma Cullingford presents another 4 track offering ‘The Komiza Project’.

It is the soundtrack to her lovely 25 minute short film ‘Home’ which comprises of Super 8 cine footage from between 1974 to 1983 assembled by Gemma Cullingford of her parents from their late teens through to their early 30s in East Anglia, Italy and Switzerland, with cameos from her grandparents, uncles and aunties, brother, friends and pet cat Beans.

The songs themselves date back to 2012 as compositions co-written with Liam Capper-Starr for her first band KOMIZA who released just one EP ‘Early Hours’ in 2014. Taking a step back from the sequencer-assisted dance friendly tunes of her two solo albums ‘Let Me Speak’ and ‘Tongue Tied’, ‘The Komiza Project’ captures Cullingford’s relationship break-up haziness of the time with observational lyrics by Capper-Starr.

The glorious melancholy of ‘Early Hours’ is a synth-laden song of wanting straight out of the Julee Cruise / Angelo Badalamenti / David Lynch songbook. Embroiled in hurt but less direct, ‘Hurry Home’ gazes more to the floor with its shimmering wall of sound and airy vulnerable vocal in the vein of Sarah Cracknell.

‘Ashes’ brings in a subtle bounce and a hint of optimism as part of the emotional recovery with the wonderful synth strings doing a great job of brightening the light at the end of the tunnel. Beginning like a SAINT ETIENNE acoustic ballad, ‘Battle Sighs’ closes with an acceptance to let things go and move on as more of those icy but beautiful synth strings take hold.

As accompaniment to the ‘Home’ film, the personal ethereal songs on ‘The Komiza Project’ make a perfect backdrop to ‘A Norfolk Love Story’ with their ghostly but nostalgic dreamlike qualities complimented by soft wispy vocals. It all fits wonderfully well together despite the seperate components having been made decades apart.

‘The Komiza Project’ is released by Shake! Shake! Records as a 12” vinyl EP in an individually hand numbered plain white sleeve with a unique 6”x4” photograph taken from the ‘Home’ film on 20 April 2024 for Record Store Day 2024 and digital formats on 27 April 2024

https://www.facebook.com/gemcullingford

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https://gemmacullingford.bandcamp.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
15 April 2024

GAGARIN Komorebi

11 April 2024 /

Behind GAGARIN is Graham ‘Dids’ Dowdall, a veteran musical experimentalist who has been a member of LUDUS, FACTION and PERE UBU with Nico, John Cale and Eric Random associations along the way…

It was following a visit to Russia and a move from drums to electronics that led to Dowdall’s adoption of his Cosmonaut moniker and the release of several acclaimed albums and EPs since 1996. Fast forward to 2023 and Dowdall was invited to soundtrack ‘Solitude’, a film by Nina Danino about Nico.

Acknowledging his close relationship with Nico from playing drums in the cult German icon’s backing band, the commission led to an electronic reworking of her 1981 single ‘Saeta’. With its main guitar riff now transposed into a synthesized arpeggio backed by reverberant polyrhythmics building up to a cavernous grandeur, this cerebral tribute to Nico became the first track recorded for the new GAGARIN album ‘Komorebi’ .

However, later in 2023, Dowdall had his own ghost to deal with when he was diagnosed with advanced bladder cancer and underwent chemotherapy. But displaying the utmost resilience, he continued composing and recording the remaining tracks for ‘Komorebi’ in his studio by the sea in Margate, Kent. ‘Komorebi is a Japanese word that refers to how sunlight is seen and felt through leaves and branches so is a fitting title expressing the light and shade looming within Dowdall’s mindset.

Opening the album, the windswept ‘Margate Illuminati’ centres around a repeating pattern but it is wonderfully held down with a sinister drone and percussive tension. ‘Cingulum’ adopts uneasy moods capturing drama and menace while drifting with birdsong accompaniment, ‘Wonderdusk 1’ acts as a widescreen relaxant before a mantric rumble and distorted string machines take proceedings into another place.

As ‘Hazmat’ speeds into bliss during an uptempo about turn, ‘PAM 710’ provides some Sci-Fi ambience. But making use of creative distortion, an unwielding impressionistic effect engulfs ‘Lomea’ as a beacon calls in the distance. Discordant signalling shapes ‘Codeswitch’ before crunching up on the avant-industrial while the ‘Stanmer’ strips things down to distorted sweeps and birds still singing in the background to end.

With most of its instrumental pieces in excess of 5 minutes, ‘Komorebi’ is an absorbing listen and fits right into the current trend for Hauntology as it moves around moody ambience and melodic optimism, noisier textures and darker distress. Released on the 63rd anniversary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space, ‘Komorebi’ is a document of hope and escape in difficult times while not shying away from reality.

‘Komorebi’ is released on 12 April 2024 by Geo Records as a CD and digital album, pre-order via https://gagarin.bandcamp.com/album/komorebi

GAGARIN 2024 live dates:

London New River Studios (11 April), Lincoln Weird Garden (13 April), Gravesend St Andrews Art Centre (26 April), London Walthamstow Trades Hall (27 April), London Biddle Brothers (2 May), Rugeley Lea Hall Pavillion (4 May), Brighton Brunswick (11 May), Manchester Plex – performing OST of ‘Solitude’, a film about Nico (15 June), Colchester Cuckoo Farm Studios (22 June), Gainsborough Church Of Sound (24 August), Colchester Arts Centre (27 August)

https://gagarin.org.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/Gagarinsounds/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Brian David Stevens
11 April 2024

HYPERBUBBLE Cowgirls & Synthesizers OST

21 March 2024 /

‘Cowgirls & Synthesizers’ is the amusing 2023 docufilm by the quirky Texan synth do HYPERBUBBLE.

Comprising of married couple Jessica and Jeff DeCuir, ‘Cowgirls & Synthesizers’ traces their two decade career and the true-story of how HYPERBUBBLE drove to Nashville to record a Country and Western album ‘Western Ware’ using only synthesizers, drum machines and theremin!

Directed by Joe Wallace, with noted musical mischief maker Ricardo Autobahn narrating, commentary is provided by Samantha Newark of cult cartoon series ‘Jem & The Holograms’, Manda Rin of BIS, SHOES, FREEZEPOP and OUR DAUGHTERS WEDDING while somewhere along the way, HYPERBUBBLE end up winners in Dolly Parton’s Netflix song contest with their version of ‘Jolene’ as part of the promotion for her series ‘Heartstrings’.

It all sounds crazy but as Jeff DeCuir once said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in 2014: “Synthesizers with their pitch bend and portamento really lend themselves to that country twang! And the first three letters of ‘Moog’ spell MOO!” – and that recollection has not only ended up in the film but also the soundtrack album!

The record is packed full of fun and captures the essence of the film, beginning with the speedy electro-blueglass of the ‘Cowgirls & Synthesizers’ title song and its shopping list of iconic synths. Meanwhile, ‘Bionic Girl’ continues in the same frantic spirit if based around a more Sci-Fi aesthetic

One of the highlights is ‘Will You Spin For Me?’, a 1984 song originally recorded by SHOES who while known as power pop guitar band, actually had an interim period as a more synth-driven new wave act; here HYPERBUBBLE do fairly faithful cover with SHOES gamely providing backing vocals over the buzzy backdrop.

In 2021, HYPERBUBBLE did a remix of Samantha Newark’s ‘Hologram’ and they pay tribute to her on ‘I Was a Teenage Jem Girl’ and at the end, the lady herself mentions how ‘Jem & The Holograms’ had a live drummer before HYPERBUBBLE celebrate the joys of their ‘Little Drum Machine’; and while Roger Linn’ once posed ironically posed with a sticker that said “DRUM MACHINES HAVE NO SOUL”, the irony has been the since DEPECHE MODE opted to use a numbskull Drumhead, all the soul has gone from their mechanically driven classics when performed live!

Another cover comes in the shape of the OUR DAUGHTER’S WEDDING instrumental ‘Digital Cowboy’ with their own Scott Simon guesting on synth while not a cover, ‘Hyperactive Moviemix’’ concludes with a mad synth barrage and a solo snatch of their best known tune ‘Candy Apple Daydreams’!

The mood changes with ‘No Time To Say Goodbye’ which is a murder ballad in the classic folk tradition but with fabulously ghostly Theremin solo but when ‘Bionic Girl’ is reprised as an authentic “Bluegrass Version”, it acts as a fitting bookend to in validate their cross-genre adventure.

At just under half an hour, with its genre bending antics and places where no synth duo has gone before, ‘Cowgirls & Synthesizers’ is a fun and wacky experience, just like its parent docufilm. HYPERBUBBLE straddle that fine line between deserving an award or a straitjacket, but that is why they so appealing…

The ‘Cowgirls & Synthesizers’ soundtrack album is released by ArtLabTX films Label, available as a yellow vinyl LP, CD and download via https://hyperbubble.bandcamp.com/album/cowgirls-and-synthesizers-original-motion-picture-soundtrack

http://www.hyperbubble.net/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
21 March 2024

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