Category: Reviews (Page 81 of 199)

MECHA MAIKO ‘Let’s!’

9 October 2019 /

Hayley Stewart and Jared Nickerson had a good thing going with DEAD ASTRONAUTS.

But it was Stewart’s solo debut ‘Mad But Soft’ that turned heads in the circles of care-free synthwave. A self-confessed lover of Japanese culture, the Canadian songstress adopted the name of MECHA MAIKO and started creating little electronic gems, mixing sweet and poppy naive synth with the nostalgia of the classic era.

Her first creation wasn’t by any means amateur; on the contrary, it showcased slick synthpop candies with interesting twists, promising more was to come from the super talented lady. And then the Canadian Geisha didn’t disappoint. Her five song EP ‘Okiya’ proved that the girl was so much more than candied synth wave. In came experimental sounds, quirky drum patterns and eloquent progressions, presenting a truly different side to MECHA MAIKO’s world of synth.

The Canadian electronic scene appears ever united with the likes of PARALLELS or Dana Jean Pheonix working together, and the latter has collaborated with Stewart, praising the artist in her endeavours. And what does the Toronto based star do with it all? She goes off and makes another album. ‘Let’s!’ will surprise again and potentially steal the top spot for many this year.

It’s enough to hear the opening ‘Apathy’ to prove that Stewart is not scared to use all sorts of influences to get what she wants. Nobody else has mixed the sound of swing into their electronic tunes, and the idea could seem ridiculous until you hear this track. Thrown together with a slight sprinkling of Japanese instrumentation, she goes for the kill.

VANDAL MOON lends his voice on the super electronic ‘Meet Me At The Arcade’ loaded with gaming noises and robotic progressions. ‘End Of Your Life’ brings back the sweet music MECHA MAIKO presented on her first opus, it’s far more grown up now however, even though she still sounds as delicate and gracious as she did before.

A true oriental floor stomper comes next in the form of ‘Trust’; “Trust” her to make something so catchy, so captivating, so fast pacing. ‘Change Alot’ is a semi-paced ballad with vintage PET SHOP BOYS piano, while ‘Phones’ is heavily influenced by heavy club beats interspersed with classic elements; it’s MECHA MAIKO’s own ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’.

She’s very much ‘Alive’ and kicking, as she throws in a sparkly gem song after song, and this one is a superb combination of fabulous vocal and superb programming. ‘I Can’t Wait’ brings things to a halt with a slower paced, wonderfully poignant story, which floats cleverly into ‘Oddities’, with its massively original tribal beats.bThe closing ‘Be The Reaper’ bubbles away with soft vocals and enchanting musical elements, drawing in and pulling under. Another easy listening pearl, it shines on a bed of gritty electronic ocean floor.

For some artists, album number two can be a tricky endeavour, but this simply wasn’t the case here with MECHA MAIKO. If her debut opus was splendid, the following EP quite magnificent, ‘Let’s!’ is truly superb. Varied, interesting and very grown up, this will be the album to look out for this fall. Stewart has outdone herself here, proving that the Canadian synth ladies rule above all.

‘Let’s!’ is released by ORO Records, available from as a digital album from https://mechamaiko.bandcamp.com/

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Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
Photo by Duncan Foy
9th October 2019, updated 20th March 2020

CHROMATICS Closer To Grey

3 October 2019 /


Oregon-born CHROMATICS have undergone multiple line-up changes since their first release ‘Chrome Rats vs. Basement Rutz’, as well as style shifts and near death experiences.

Needless to say, the now foursome Johnny Jewel, Ruth Radelet, Adam Miller and Nat Walker are back from a seven year hiatus with a powerful vengeance in form of ‘Closer To Grey’.

Since their fifth studio opus, ‘Kill For Love’, the band had been planning outing number six, entitled ‘Dear Tommy’.

Singles like ‘Shadow’, ‘Just Like You’, ‘In Films’, ‘I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around’ and the eponymous ‘Dear Tommy’ had been showcased, but the album never materialised.

It has been revealed that Johnny Jewel, for whom “music is medicine”, had destroyed all physical copies of ‘Dear Tommy’ following a near-death experience while swimming in Hawaii. What was supposed to follow, was a re-recording of it and its subsequent release.

Instead, listeners have been surprised with a new long player ‘Closer To Grey’, branded as “VII”, suggesting that all the material on ‘Dear Tommy’ could still see the light of day. Still, the newest release sounds nothing like the sample songs from the elusive missing number six.

The biggest shift for the group came on their highly acclaimed third studio release ‘Night Drive’, where they left their punk sound behind, wowing with competent songwriting, good enough for extensive motion picture use.

More recently the one and only David Lynch employed Jewel and co to perform ‘Shadow’ on the ‘Twin Peaks’ revival series, where the Roadhouse welcomed the band for a live performance.

With their newly found momentum, CHROMATICS air ‘Closer To Grey’, welcoming the colours of fall with a very poignant cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound Of Silence’ as the album opener.

With its mellow hues, an airy vocal by Radelet and a black record noise, the track welcomes the found again nostalgia and an underlying feeling of dread, which has become the band’s signature.

‘You’re No Good’ shifts the tempo however, introducing a very electronic poppy number, glittering with catchy hooks and sparkling progressions. The album’s eponymous song ushers the gentle guitar and ringing bells over an easy going, lazy summer feel, drifting away into synthy ‘Twist The Knife’, which is very LADYTRON meets early CLIENT. The weightless ‘Light As A Feather’ uses the power of layered multi-voice to create a delicate canvas à la Sarah P.

‘Move A Mountain’ continues the fragility of vocals over sparse melody, while ‘Touch Red’ brings in sensual textures, stroking the surface with minimal touch, intercepting every breath and every movement. Heavier artillery is brought out on ‘Whispers In The Hall’ with a ringing synth line and pulsating elements, which multiply to be brought into an extravaganza of electronic noise, only mellowed by the ethereal vocal of Radelet.

The second cover on the project comes in the form of JESUS & MARY CHAIN’s ‘On The Wall’. While with less guitar and much more ambient feel, the track keeps its mellow appearance.

The closing ‘Wishing Well’ wraps up the dreamy affairs with more calmness and delicacy, leading into sweet nothingness.

Is the material on ‘Closer To Grey’ worth the seven years’ wait? Some may find it unlikely, but let’s not forget the singles from what would have been the album number six, ‘Dear Tommy’, which were aired during that period.

The seventh opus is certainly mellow and airy, but it has some harder elements alongside pure pop numbers which can be widely enjoyed. The amazing voice of Ruth Radelet weaves in and out of adept electronica, making ‘Closer To Grey’ a success and a record that is both easy listening and suitable for a weathered synth connoisseur.

‘Closer To Grey’ is released by Italians Do It Better, available digitally from https://italiansdoitbetter.com/product/chromatics-closer-to-grey/

CHROMATICS 2019 European tour includes:

Copenhagen Grey Hall (4th October), Stockholm Berns (5th October), Oslo Rockefeller Music Hall (7th October), Berlin Astra Kulturhaus (9th October), Vilnius Art Factory Loftas (11th October), Warsaw Praga Centrum (12th October), Vienna Arena (14th October), Prague MeetFactory (16th October), Munich Muffathalle (17th October), Cologne Carlswerk Victoria (19th October), Dublin Vicar Street (22nd October), Manchester Albert Hall (23rd October), Glasgow SWG3 (24th October), Bristol Anson Rooms (26th October), London Roundhouse (27th October), Antwerp Trix (29th October), Amsterdam Paradiso (30th October)

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Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
Photos by Johnny Jewel
3rd October 2019, updated 4th October 2019

M83 DSVII

2 October 2019 /


‘DSVII’ AKA ‘Digital Shades Volume Two’ is the 8th studio album by Anthony Gonzalez.

Originally a duo alongside Nicolas Fromageau, Gonzalez arguably peaked when his work ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’ was nominated for a Grammy in 2011. Previous high profile support slots saw M83 touring with DEPECHE MODE (on the ‘Tour of the Universe’ set of dates), KINGS OF LEON and THE KILLERS.

‘DSVII’ primarily takes its inspiration from the soundtracks to classic adventure-based video games such as ‘Final Fantasy’, ‘Dragon Quest’ and ‘The Legend of Zelda’ and musically gives nods to ambient heavyweights TANGERINE DREAM and BRIAN ENO.

Gonzalez explained that the gestation of ‘DSVII’ started after some of the negative reaction to his album ‘Junk’: “I had a weird sensation that people didn’t fully understand the direction of the record. Despite a very successful tour all over the world, I couldn’t stop thinking that the fans were disappointed with ‘Junk’. And a feeling of failure stayed with me for a very long time…”

To help promote the new release, ‘DSVII’ is preceded by three ludicrously arty promo videos directed by Bertrand Mandinko. The one accompanying the album’s final track ‘Temple of Sorrow’ is a deliriously bonkers affair, with nothing musically happening for its first four minutes until the track eventually bursts into life at 4 minutes 45 seconds, coming across like classic AIR with visuals provided from a vintage BBC ‘Blakes 7’ episode.

‘Lune de Fiel’ is an interesting combo of latter day TANGERINE DREAM with live breakbeats and features characters from the previous promo and an equally surreal combination of yesterday’s sci-fi imagery.

The final part of the trilogy ‘Feelings’ takes its visual cues from Italian Giallo director Dario Argento and when it comes to summing it up, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK can’t beat one of the YouTube commenters who states “I switched to Pornhub when my grandma walked in ‘cause it’s easier to explain…” (!)

Album opener ‘Hell Riders’ is an odd mixture of muzak, acoustic guitar and synths and struggles to sustain its 9 minute running time. ‘Goodbye Captain Lee’ takes its musical cues from ‘Forbidden Colours’ with an arpeggiated synth riff which is almost identical to the one in David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s classic piece from ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’.

Without a set of visuals to accompany them, many of the other tracks on ‘DSVII’ struggle to convince. With a running time of nearly an hour, this is an epic work but being completely instrumental (with occasional choral and wordless flourishes), it often struggles to hold the listener’s attention. When it comes to re-creating early synth works, there is a fine line to be trod between being lovingly inspired by the era or descending into a sizable vat of fromage… unfortunately ‘DSVII’ falls into the latter category too many times.

When listening to ‘DVSII’, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK can’t help of thinking of the glorious ADULT SWIM pastiche ‘Live at the Necropolis: Lords of Synth’ which poked fun at the golden age of electronica with caricatures of WENDY CARLOS, GIORGIO MORODER and VANGELIS.

In places with ‘DSVII’, it’s hard to tell whether Gonzalez has his tongue in his cheek or is actually being serious, although ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK suspects it’s the latter…

If you are a fan of throwback muzak, you may find some of ‘DSVII’ enjoyable, but many listeners will surely be digging out their copies of ‘Moon Safari’ and ‘The Virgin Suicides’ instead. Both of these works provide a masterclass in how to do this kind of stuff reverentially without becoming overly bland.

Maybe ‘DSVII’ would have functioned better as a soundtrack album rather than a stand-alone one, which is a shame as all involved here (including an all-too brief appearance from Susanne Sundfør) have obviously committed to this whole-heartedly.

M83 have made the mistake here of overtly focusing on the past rather than simply referencing it and bringing something new to the vintage wavetable.

‘DSVII’ is released via Naïve in double pink candy floss vinyl LP, CD and digital formats

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Text by Paul Boddy
2nd October 2019

CIRCUIT3 The Price Of Nothing & The Value Of Everything

28 September 2019 /


“My debut album sold out… so I spent all the money on more synths…Why not?”

‘siliconchipsuperstar’, the debut album by CIRCUIT3 slipped out quietly in December 2015 but became one of the surprise independent success stories of 2016. Behind the CIRCUIT3 persona is Dubliner Peter Fitzpatrick, whose new synths have now been put to good use on ‘The Price Of Nothing & The Value Of Everything’, the long-awaited follow-up to ‘siliconchipsuperstar’.

But some things in the music biz never change, whatever the level and it has been that difficult second album. “Midway through the writing and recording of the album I paused to write a completely different album and look after my mental health”, Fitzpatrick recalled, “It was worth it. I feel better and I’ve got the next album already written. Every cloud eh?”

With a body of work that explores mental health, politics, human rights, love, contentment and dreams which feature Martin Gore in leather, in a CIRCUIT3 interview with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, Fitzpatrick added “With so much populism and division undermining our society I want to focus on the value and not the price.”

It was a dream about a leather clad Martin Gore that his friend Brian McCloskey had that inspired the lyrics to the excellent album opener ‘Safe To Sleep’; dressed in that iconic Vox Humana Polymoog made famous by Gary Numan, its booming sound is offset by breathy girl whispers from Nicola Stephanie Sangs.

Referencing corruption and various abuse scandals in Ireland, big blocks of sinister human host from a Behringer VC340 vocoder expose that ‘Dirty Little Secret’. The feistier ambition of ‘Sold My Soul’ punches to illustrate Fitzpatrick’s assertion that “At some point you have to do or die” while ‘Electric’ does what it says on the tin with bleeps and a big synthetic brass line.

Dealing with the spectre of depression, ‘DNA’ is a sombre but positive statement on how to accept and work around it. It’s a steadfast take on a subject that Rodney Cromwell touched on  with‘Black Dog’, utilsing crystalline synths and effective use of Compurhythm while allowing a confession that “some days are better than others”. 

Rigid and melodic, ‘Fall In Love Again’ expresses that feeling of finding happiness while attached to a sprightly Clarkean backdrop. But that joy becomes tempered on the emotive ‘Face In The Crowd’; dedicated to Alan Kurdi, the Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic background whose image made global headlines after he drowned in the Mediterranean, the song needs no explanation as a sad musical eulogy to a wasted life and the lack of compassion in today’s societies.

‘Breaking Point’ offers some political reflection and highlights the absurdity of the current divisive stand-offs. Amongst the impressive layers and different textures that waft in and out, Fitzpatrick socks it to those pompous power hungry posh boys: “But you took back control? How are you feeling about it in the cold?”

Sparse raindrop arpeggios from a Jupiter 4 shape ‘The Rain’ which could be Howard Jones’ ‘Don’t Always Look At The Rain’ from ‘Human’s Lib’ reimagined by Philip K Dick; it acts as an embracement of the rain, because it makes the sunshine seem much brighter. It is a musical coping strategy with a touch of Guinness that should be embraced; the late Rutger Hauer would be proud for all sorts of reasons.

Closing with the previously released ‘For Your Own Good’, if the idea of a dystopian Howard Jones album fashioned from the roots of Synth Britannia appeals, then ‘The Price Of Nothing & The Value Of Everything’ is for you. Channelling middle aged angst and concerns about steps to the right in a world that is becoming more and more like punk never happened, this album is melodic vintage synth ear candy with a dose of gloom.


“I want to keep getting better at songwriting and making music that people want to listen to” that CIRCUIT3 synthpop chap said.

“With the new album ‘The Price Of Nothing & The Value Of Everything’, I feel I’m doing that. I’m keeping the flame alive for those sounds and hopefully developing my songwriting along the way” – well, as far as CIRCUIT3 is concerned, Fitzpatrick has achieved that!

‘The Price Of Nothing & The Value Of Everything’ is released by Diode Records, available as a CD, vinyl LP or download from https://circuit3.bandcamp.com/

http://www.circuit3.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Circuit3music

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
28th September 2019

THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND Simple Minds, Simple Pleasures EP

26 September 2019 /

A year since their last single ‘Athletes’, Brooklyn based electronic pop duo THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND are back.

With the likes of PET SHOP BOYS, INFORMATION SOCIETY, KON KAN and NEW ORDER onimpresent in their sound, Vladimir Valette on vocals and Benedetto Socci on keyboards first started releasing music together back in 2010.

Their 2016 debut album ‘Protagonist’ gathered their best songs recorded over a six years period. But three years on, their new EP ‘Simple Minds, Simple Pleasures’ has nowt to do with Jim Kerr & Co and contains a declaration to “cast away your dreams and all those precious schemes”

Lead track ‘Tempted By The Sound Of Violence’ doesn’t deviate too far from previous works as they continue the pair “life, set to a dance beat”. With bleepy electro, house piano and a sample of snarl accompanying some dour but spirited vocals, there’s a blistering synth solo to lighten the tension.

‘Storm & Stress’ is very New York, with break beats and rhythmic squelches in a dystopian club setting, a pop song for “the disenchanted, disillusioned and disenfranchised” as declared in previous mission statements.

But darker and more polarising with a sombre call to revolution, ‘Paper Tigers’ states “the hypocrites are plenty, the sycophants are ready”; it’s THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND’s answer in spirit to DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Scum’.

With many things flaming vitriol and ignorance Stateside, Valette’s mournful voice suits the unsettling state of the nation and the sentiments of THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND on ‘Simple Minds, Simple Pleasures’ challenge that.

‘Simple Minds, Simple Pleasures’ is released on 27th September 2019, available as a download EP from http://themysticunderground.bandcamp.com/

THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND play The Map Room at Bowery Electric in New York on Sunday 29th September 2019

http://www.themysticunderground.net

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th September 2016

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