Tag: BEF (Page 2 of 5)

A Short Conversation with MARTYN WARE

15 August 2016 /

Synth trailblazers HEAVEN 17 recently won the title of ‘Sheffield’s Greatest Band of All Time’ following a public online poll conducted by local newspaper The Star.

Despite competition from DEF LEPPARD, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, ABC and ARCTIC MONKEYS, the combo founded by Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory hung on to come out victorious. Although Marsh left the fold in 2007, HEAVEN 17 are still going strong 35 years on from the release of their debut album ‘Penthouse & Pavement’. Ware and Gregory will commemorate the occasion this October with a concert tour featuring a new electronic version of the acclaimed long player.

HEAVEN 17 initially began as a pop subsidiary of BEF, the production umbrella of Martyn Ware; he would go on to release an ambitious three volume series of technologically enhanced covers albums with guest vocalists. Entitled ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction’, each featured assorted favourites from Ware’s own record collection with the 1981 ‘Volume 1’ reinterpretation of ‘Ball Of Confusion’ sung by Tina Turner effectively reviving the career of The Soul Queen. As a special treat for this 2016 tour, there will be a BEF live set in the second half of the show.

Among the guest singers will be ‘Miss Beehive’ Mari Wilson, SEX PISTOLS’ Glen Matlock and Peter Hooton from THE FARM, while Glenn Gregory will also indulge in a cover or two.

In the middle of rehearsals for assorted HEAVEN 17 and BEF shows in the lead-up to the tour, Martyn Ware kindly took time out for an enlightening chat about a variety of topics including new HEAVEN 17 material, David Bowie, the pros and cons of crowdfunding plus how the major record labels are still up to their old tricks, despite (or because of) changes in the marketplace…

You’ve promised a new electronic version of ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ for this tour. What style are you going for?

We’ve been doing new versions of stuff from ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ for a while. The last time we did it in 2010 was with a full band, so as much for economic reasons as anything, we are doing it with a more stripped down electronic format.

So we’ve tried to reapproach a few of the songs in the style of the new stuff we’re writing and it will be a unique insight into where we are at the moment, kinda retro-futurist…

You said 2013 was the last BEF show, but the brand was revived and you came back at Rewind in 2015. What prompted the change of heart?

Rewind approached me and I said “over my dead body” because it was a pain in the neck organising it all. With all the artists that would be involved, I didn’t think we could make it work financially. But Rewind very kindly said “we’ll make it worth your while” so I had a change of heart. The last BEF shows in 2011 and 2013 made no money and whilst I love contributing toward the cultural health of the country, I’m not so keen on doing it at my own expense. So the change of heart was down to economics really. The production values of Rewind are very high and I like them, so if I was going to do it, it had to be at the highest level and they delivered.

Having M’s Robin Scott perform alongside his daughter Berenice, who is in the HEAVEN 17 / BEF live band, must have been a special moment?

It was amazing, what a lovely man! It was a very strange thing because it was the first time he’d performed ‘Pop Muzik’ since the 80s and its one of our all-time favourite pop songs, it’s almost the perfect pop song to be honest; we were very honoured to have Robin doing it. In the latest BEF show, Glenn is singing it.

So how did BEF end up being part of this upcoming tour?

Our agent Jack Gray, who is also our manager, asked if we’d like to do a BEF element to this year’s tour and I said I’d rather just do a HEAVEN 17 tour. He said the promoter was very keen to do it, but I wondered how we could make it work. Jack asked some people, did the sums and this is where we’re at.

Will there any BEF guests that will be specific to each night on the tour?

The nature of the tour is a specific production and won’t really mix with a support act, the BEF element will be provided by Glen Matlock, Peter Hooton and Mari Wilson. But there’s a little bit of flexibility, so we can potentially have an additional guest singer at some of the venues.

H17-pray

‘Pray’ has been an extremely well-received new HEAVEN 17 track. Can you tell me about its genesis?

We started off with doing something that was reminiscent of early HUMAN LEAGUE and wanted the beginning to sound like it could conceivably come off ‘Reproduction’ or ‘Travelogue’ instrumentally. Meanwhile, the lyrical content emerged from what was on our minds… like with ‘Five Minutes To Midnight’ on ‘How Men Are’, we were obsessed with cruise missiles and us all getting blown to smithereens.

So with ‘Pray’, conceptually it was about politics in the broadest sense of the word, but specifically feeling lost and hoping that something better is going to come along.

The second half of ‘Pray’ reminds me of ‘Young Americans’ era Bowie, particularly ‘Fascination’…

Yes, that was deliberate…

Recent events must have brought to mind when DAVID BOWIE came to see THE HUMAN LEAGUE play at The Nashville and chatted to you afterwards?

Yes, he’s been like a spirit that’s guided me.

In the wake of his demise, I put together an idea for a Bowie exhibition which I’ve since presented to The V&A and The Barbican.

It seems to have stalled a bit, but the idea is to have an exhibition based around the meaning of Bowie’s lyrics and his work in general called ‘Bowie Decoded’. The one failing as far as I could tell about the V&A show ‘David Bowie Is…’ was it was a bit shallow in some respects. It didn’t go into what I regard to be the conceptual depth of Bowie at all, it was all about the artefacts.

So I thought somebody, somewhere should do one about what Bowie means to people and how deep that connection is. Everyone has their own personal journey because Bowie left so much room for interpretation. His ideas, philosophy and artistic intention were so strong that he has been a constant presence in my life and I thought that could be articulated. So I put together a team of people who do interaction and physical exhibition work.

One of the key ideas was to create an online presence both on an app and the web where we could create a database of crowdsourced meaning for his lyrics, so making people empowered to contribute their interpretation of his songs. I don’t think it’s been done before. It would be combined together with a traditional exhibition that would tour, but there would be mechanisms for people to leave their thoughts. These things take time… The Barbican for example plans 2-3 years in advance anyway, but I’m hoping to restart this again.

‘Life On Mars’ occasionally is part of a HEAVEN 17 encore. You’re no stranger to Bowie related covers. Any more you’d like to attempt, either as HEAVEN 17 or BEF?

That’s a good question. At the recent BEF performances at Rewind, we’ve done ‘Ashes To Ashes’ with Peter Coyle from THE LOTUS EATERS singing. I’m so proud of it, it’s the best cover version we’ve ever arranged.

I honestly think if Bowie had been in the audience, he’d have loved it. We love it so much, I think we’ll do it as part of the BEF show on this tour.

With Glenn busy with HOLY HOLY and you working on the 3D commissions etc, it must be a challenge to get any new HEAVEN 17 material recorded?

Yeah, to put it bluntly! We’re never in the same place at the same time. Ideas and creativity are not an issue. We’ve recorded the next single after this one that we’re going sell on the tour. This new single is a AA side 12 inch, one side is called ‘Captured’ and the other side is ‘Unseen’.

They’re coming from the same vein as ‘Pray’, similar kind of sound and vocal palette. It sounds like HEAVEN 17! We’re happy to put our names to them, and there’s a certain kind style emerging, which wasn’t planned. It’s high production values, but incorporating the System 100 sounds together with contemporary stuff. It’s a hybrid of stuff and back to intellectually rigorous lyrics.

Are you going down towards the traditional album route?

This album is just going to be a compilation of all these AA sided 12 inchers essentially, although it might have a bonus track or something. We like the idea of keeping it to about the same length as a traditional album so it will be around 40 minutes, which means probably 10 tracks.

Both myself and Glenn have gone right off packing out a 70 minute CD for the sake of it. The quality is much more important than quantity. So we’ve got 6 tracks done, we’ve just got another 4 to write… easier said than done though. The ironic thing is though, when we do manage to write and record together, it’s quite quick because we know each other so well and trust each other’s judgement; we just get on with it.

The working title is ‘Not For Public Broadcast’, an ironic take on us not wanting to release it digitally. Actually, Glenn wants to go one step further and ban it from the radio as well, but I don’t think we’re gonna let him do that! *laughs*

Have you considered crowdfunding as an option for the new album?

We looked into this… There’s something about crowdfunding that makes both me and Glenn feel uneasy. The existing companies that do it, it’s not an immoral thing but there’s a fine line between giving fans special stuff, and milking them… if we could do the mechanism ourselves where fans support making the record in return for getting their name on the album, that simple thing could probably work for us.

But it’s this thing about “with this package, you’ll also get a piece of pubic hair and with another one, you get to sleep with the artist!”! I’m not having it… if money ties in a passion for a subject, I don’t really like it! But it’s horses for courses, people can do what they want.

I mean, we are selling VIP tickets on this tour, people get to meet us and have photos… we’d always done that for free in the past, but everybody was saying we were stupid. Because to make ends meet, we need to do this stuff, and that I’m afraid is what we have to do now to cover the cost and expense thing of a tour. That makes me feel a little bit uneasy but if people want to pay it, there’s nothing wrong with that. What I don’t like is getting people on a hook and milking it ‘til they’re dry, it’s not right!

The public generally aren’t aware of the financial traumas artists go through…

I got stung a little bit by the third BEF album… that was a big wake-up call! I put a year of my life on-and-off into doing that and then in the end, there was no money in it at all. I don’t think I wasted my time because I’m proud of the album, but there’s no money in that stuff anymore. We just have to find another way of releasing stuff from a financial point of view.

As you know, Universal Music now own our back catalogue and I’m not a big fan of them, because of this five album compilation that’s come out. It has the first three albums but also ‘Pleasure One’ and ‘Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho’ which have been out of print for a few years; so it has some commercial value, albeit limited. We had suggested about doing a proper boxed set including all the later albums as well for a definitive HEAVEN 17 career boxed set, but Universal turned it down saying they couldn’t make any money!

But, they then sent us an email notification, not asking what we thought, but telling us about this five album compilation and actually saying in the email “this is for your information only”, ie this is happening whether you like it or not! And it’s been put out at a price of £12 for FIVE albums! Basically, if something is released as a reduced price compilation or something, under the terms of our old contract, we get paid only 60% of the royalties that are due!

So not only are they charging too low a price for our legacy, we also don’t even get paid the right amount for it! I’m not happy at all! That’s why me or Glenn haven’t been mentioning or publicising this compilation through any of the official channels!

How do you think HEAVEN 17 / BEF are covered by the mainstream and independent media now?

I think people are generally very kind to us, but there’s two sides to this. We don’t have a record company so we don’t have any access to resources like press officers. So everything we do has to come through me and Glenn. We don’t even have anybody working on our social media, me and Glenn don’t have time to service it properly but we do our best.

We can’t afford to be spending money on getting lots of mainstream press. We have some very kind people who are willing to do radio promo for virtually nothing, but we feel guilty about not paying them. So it’s difficult to get stuff in the mainstream press but what we do get is complimentary, as is our coverage online. So I’m very happy with it in general. What’s more important to us is credibility than spreading the word. It’s all about artistic freedom and control over how you’re presented to the public, we are willing to trade large scale commercial success for that.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Martyn Ware

HEAVEN 17 + BEF October 2016 tour includes:

Liverpool O2 Academy (20th October), Birmingham Town Hall (21st October), Glasgow O2 ABC (23rd October), Gateshead Sage (24th October), Sheffield City Hall (25th October), Manchester O2 Ritz (26th October), Bury St Edmunds Apex (28th October), Basingstoke Anvil (29th October), London Shepherd’s Bush Empire (30th October)

http://www.heaven17.com/

https://www.facebook.com/heaven17official/

https://www.facebook.com/BritishElectricFoundation/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
15th August 2016

CLOSE TO THE NOISE FLOOR Formative UK Electronica 1975-1984

23 April 2016 /

Two years in the making, ‘Close To The Noise Floor’ is a Cherry Red Records compilation which binds together many of the formative roots of UK electronic music.

It mixes up recognised artists such as THE HUMAN LEAGUE, BLANCMANGE, BEF, OMD and THROBBING GRISTLE side-by-side with those that for a variety of reasons, managed to remain in the shadows of obscurity. This compilation makes a worthy companion piece to the ‘Mute Audio Documents’ set which was released back in 2007 and showcases that it wasn’t just Daniel Miller’s Mute label that was championing experimental synthetic music.

The four disc set lovingly curates an era of musical experimentation of artists initially “enthralled by the mysterious electronics of PINK FLOYD, HAWKWIND and German Kosmiche artists” and then went on to evolve into a scene, which would provide the stepping stone for the chart-conquering likes of DEPECHE MODE and Gary Numan.

In this 60 song collection, there are a few definite gems hidden here; ‘Tight As A Drum’ by Thomas Leer is a sparkling piece of electronic music, with KRAFTWERK-ish percussion and a semi-improvised synth solo winding its way throughout. ‘Holiday Camp’ by BLANCMANGE which made its re-appearance on the reissued ‘Irene and Mavis’ EP still remains an almost OMD-ish charming lo-fi slice of electronica.

‘I Am Your Shadow’ by the distinctly un-rock’n’roll sounding Colin Potter is an out-there electronic reimagining of Dick Dale’s ‘Miserlou’ combined with added lyrics from a stalker’s perspective, whilst ‘D’Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ (yes, that one!) by BRITISH STANDARD UNIT is transformed from its Rod Stewart sleazy / cheesy original into a hilariously dark and twisted piece with deadpan lyrics and menacing electronics.

‘Drugrace’ by THE PASSAGE has some wonderful almost TANGERINE DREAM style synth melodies and ‘(Leaving Me) Now’ by WORLDBACKWARDS is like a long-lost Gary Numan track with female vocals and added sampled dialogue.

Disc three of the set changes direction in that it mainly showcases instrumental or more soundscape-oriented electronic pieces. It is here that sees instrumental synthesists Mark Shreeve (‘Embryo’) and Paul Nagle (‘Yns Scaith’) gaining some long overdue recognition – whilst Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze and TANGERINE DREAM dominated this genre, it is easy to forget that there was a thriving underground scene in the UK too.

Although as you would expect from a collection of music of this type, a lot of it is (putting it kindly) “challenging”, or if listened to as a teen “back in the day” would have a probably prompted a parental response of “turn that bloody racket down!”.

‘Sedation Strokes’ by Malcolm Brown on disc one neatly falls into this particular category with a cyclical bassline overlaid with what sounds like a mix of an elephant being abused and a screaming woman thrown in for good measure.

Unsurprisingly, ‘All Day’ by THROBBING GRISTLE falls into this category too and alongside tracks such as ‘In The Army’ by BLAH BLAH BLAH, these are pieces that are unlikely ever to appear on your typical ‘Now That’s What I Call Synthpop’ compilations any day soon!

However, songs which have since been recognised as classics of the genre also feature (‘Being Boiled’ by THE HUMAN LEAGUE being the most obvious), but thankfully the choices are not always predictable, hence ‘Almost’ by OMD, rather than the ubiquitous ‘Messages’ and an alternative mix of ‘A New Kind of Man’ by John Foxx features instead of ‘Underpass’ or ‘No-One Driving’.

The main feeling you are left with after listening to ‘Close To The Noise Floor’ is how the punk DIY ethic of four track portastudio production and affordable synths, with a probable lack of A&R involvement, became the ultimate glass ceiling for these acts being able to break through to a wider audience and any form of commercial success. ‘Back to the Beginning’ by SPÖÖN FAZER would be a typical case in a point, a potential hit with a killer chorus given a bigger budget and some quality control in the lyrical department… “You want babies with curly hair, well come on, dance if you dare”(!).

The ‘Close To The Noise Floor’ package itself also contains over 9,000 words of artist sleeve notes, archive photographs and extracts from Sounds journalist Dave Henderson’s ‘Wild Planet’ overview of the underground / industrial electronic music scene. Although you may find yourself listening to some of these tracks only once, there is plenty here to give you an appreciation of a wildly experimental and creative era, the likes of which we are unlikely to see again…

‘Close To The Noise Floor’ is released by Cherry Red on 29th April 2016

Details of the full tracklisting and how to pre-order at:
http://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/close-to-the-noise-floor-formative-uk-electronica-1975-1984/

https://www.facebook.com/closetothenoisefloor/

Text by Paul Boddy
23rd April 2016

An Interview with WALL OF SOUND’s Mark Jones

17 April 2015 /

Walls Have Ears…

Big corporations may have a stranglehold on the modern music industry, but it’s the genuine music enthusiasts with their independent labels and knowledge of their respected genres who feed it by their intuition to recognise talent. One of the most successful has been Daniel Miller with Mute Records; his ambition brought DEPECHE MODE, YAZOO, ERASURE, MOBY and GOLDFRAPP to the world.

And in the current climate, there are others too; in Europe, there’s George Geranios whose Undo Records has given us electro delights such as MARSHEAUX, MIKRO, NIKONN and KID MOXIE. And here in the UK, there has been Mark Jones, impresario of Wall Of Sound Records.

The label began as a collaboration between Jones and Marc Lessner, when Lessner employed Jones at his music distributor Soul Trader. Compilations and club nights followed. Wall Of Sound turned first PROPELLERHEADS and then RÖYKSOPP into Top 10 album acts while the label also launched the career of Stuart Price aka LES RYTHMES DIGITALES.

Belatedly getting a hit single in 2004 with ‘Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat)’ following its use in the ‘Transformer’ Citroën C4 TV ad, Stuart Price’s influence on the shape of 21st century popular music cannot be under estimated… read the production credits of albums by MADONNA, THE KILLERS, TAKE THAT and PET SHOP BOYS if you’re unsure!

Comparatively more recently, Wall Of Sound have released albums by GRACE JONES, THE HUMAN LEAGUE and BEF.

As a long-time fan of electronic music, Mark Jones’ success also led him to becoming involved with BBC6 Music under his Back To The Phuture banner, with programmes that have recognised the history of electronic pop. BTTP also hosted the ambitious ‘Tomorrow Is Today’ event featuring GARY NUMAN, JOHN FOXX, MIRRORS and MOTOR in Spring 2011.

With Wall Of Sound now celebrating their 21st Anniversary with a compilation entitled ‘Walls Have Ears – 21 Years of Wall Of Sound’ featuring the label’s highlights and previously unreleased BBC sessions, Mark Jones chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK…

What was the music that inspired you when you were growing up as a teenager, and how did this shape Wall Of Sound as a record label?

OK, well I reacted against what my brother and sister were into, as you do, which was rock and reggae at the time. I was transfixed by electronic music and got my Mum and Dad to get me a Yamaha CS01 from the Grattans catalogue. I painted my bedroom black and sat up there making noises. The sounds and scapes made it all work. I’ve always loved melody too and been hooked on hooks. Some of the music that made me do it…

THE HUMAN LEAGUE – Every single track / album they created from the beginning 🙂

BLONDIE ‘Parallel Lines’ – I was obsessed with the band and Debbie Harry as a teen.

THE NORMAL ‘TVOD’- Electroid post-punk that inspired me to make the first ever Wall Of Sound single, as Daniel Miller did with this and Mute Records.

DEPECHE MODE ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ – The first synth riff I learnt and still is with me every minute of every day, I followed them around Germany in 1983 🙂

STEELY DAN ‘Do It Again’ – The band that brought all the Wall Of Sound artists together bizarrely.

The label’s first Top 20 single was ‘History Repeating’ in 1997 with PROPELLERHEADS and SHIRLEY BASSEY. It was quite an eccentric idea although in many ways, it was an obvious one given the duo’s interest in Bond themes. Whose idea was it to bring in her in?

Well, we had talked about getting vocalists and the idea was rinsed out in the very early hours in some dodgy Belgian hotel. Alex Gifford and myself were both a bit obsessed with getting her on the track. Alex had recorded a basic vocal through a pitch shifter and it sounded more like BILLIE HOLIDAY than SHIRLEY BASSEY. We then pitched it to Shirley’s management and she was digging it in very first listen… the rest is history… repeating.

What was the reaction like during the climax of Britpop and chart dominance by tedious bores like TRAVIS and STEREOPHONICS to Wall Of Sound’s release of an electropop album like LES RYTHMES DIGITALES ‘Darkdancer’ in 1999?

Oooooooooh! Well, I’ve said this before, but I did get hate mail and death threats when we got ‘Darkdancer’ out there. Some peeps really didn’t get it at that time as they saw the 80s as an enemy. Literally!

How did you discover Stuart Price aka Jacques Lu Cont aka LES RYTHMES DIGITALES? And what’s it been like watching him rise to working with MADONNA and literally becoming the top record producer in the world?

He bunked off school and came to see me at Soul Trader with Adam Blake as they had the band ZOOT WOMAN who I listened to and loved. I signed them up and released them, it was the fifth ever single on the label. He then informed me he had some ‘other music’ which was his school music exam and played it to me; that was ‘Liberator’. We then created LES RYTHMES DIGITALES and Jacques Lu Cont, as I said he couldn’t be the same person and the French thing was buzzing. ‘Darkdancer’ really stands the tests of time.

He is one of, if not, my proudest signing ever to the label. Seeing him elevate to being one of the world’s leading producers, and working with the world’s leading artists is something that I am very proud of.

Is it true that you first approached Phil Oakey about singing on LES RYTHMES DIGITALES’ song ‘Sometimes’ which was eventually sung by NIK KERSHAW?

I don’t remember that, but I probably did 🙂

‘Dare’ was the album that changed Stuart’s life as he was pretty much listening to classical music before that apparently!

The sublime ‘Melody AM’ by RÖYKSOPP was a really important album for Wall Of Sound. How did you find them and what makes them so magically consistent?

RÖYKSOPP have never compromised their artistic integrity, and they never will. ‘Melody AM’ is the biggest selling album in the label’s history. They are who they are, and not someone else. They featured on a Norwegian compilation and we found them there. I flew over to see them and we made things happen.

How do you look back on signing THE HUMAN LEAGUE and the resultant album ‘Credo’?

Well, they say “Never work with your heroes!” but I thought “F*** that!”; so when the opportunity arose to give them the bounceboard and platform that they needed, I couldn’t say no! The band made me do what I do. ‘Credo’ is a great album and was loved by everyone that actually heard it. The band were / are great to work with.

Of course, you released BEF’s ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 3 – Dark’, continuing the association with HUMAN LEAGUE co-founder Martyn Ware. Would you be interested in releasing the new HEAVEN 17 album?

Yes! BEF ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction 3: Dark’ had some amazing guest vocalists. Martyn Ware is another inspiring artist who creates magical moments in music. A new HEAVEN 17 album would be great to hear.

You were a big fan of synth band MIRRORS, although they were on Skint Records and sadly didn’t breakthrough. What would you have done different with them if they had been signed to Wall Of Sound?

Yep, I loved MIRRORS. I’m not clear on what exactly happened though, I assumed the band split up so there was nothing the label could do. You have to understand exactly who a band are and what they want to achieve to make things happen.

You’ve been very critical of the ‘X Factor’ dominance on the music industry. But what are your thoughts on the more generic EDM that’s sweeping the US?

*adopts American accent* EDM?? It’s brand new, right ? 🙂

With EDM, the penny has dropped and the pills have dropped. Hopefully, they will be asking “where did this music come from?” sometime soon…

They need music in a ‘box / brand’ over there but hey, it’s finally happened and broken through. It is crazy. I’ve said this a few times too… when I first took music from the label over to the USA, most peeps I played it to said (*readopts American accent *) “This is not music! This is not ‘real’ music” because it didn’t have a ‘real’ instruments on it.

Then when we did PROPELLERHEADS and more, they were like (*American accent*) “Wait… is that a guitar?? Is that drums?? This is real music now!”; they had a bump there. Never played on daytime radio but it did well and connected to people.

What’s been your highlight with Wall Of Sound after 21 years?

Still being here… but it was apparently always my goal to get to this point. In every interview I did back in the crazy days when journalists asked “Why are you doing this?”, I answered “Cos I’m going to get to 20 years… and stick it up your ar*e!”

I am proud of all of the music that I have released on the label, and giving artists the platform to do what they do and be themselves.

What new electronic acts do you rate at the moment?

All the acts on the label obviously… but there are a few others 🙂

CHVRCHES
DENIS THE NIGHT & THE PANIC PARTY
MARSHEAUX

What’s next for Wall Of Sound?

A new RÖYKSOPP single…

EKKOES – like HURTS meets THE HUMAN LEAGUE

KILLSFLAW – THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS vs LED ZEPPELIN… rock ‘n’ rave or as I am calling it in the USA… RDM! (Rocktronic Dance Music) 🙂

KIDS ON BRIDGES – the album ‘Kidology’ is out there. They combine electronics and guitars
in a cool way too

PERFECT DAY – pop vs rock (prock), they are amazing 😉

There are some very new artists that I cannot announce at momento, as contracts not signed and someone will probably steal them!

Will Back To The Phuture ever return and would you be interested putting on another event like ‘Tomorrow Is Today’ featuring GARY NUMAN, JOHN FOXX, MIRRORS and MOTOR? If so, who would be the fantasy line-up?

Well, I’ve been focussing on the Wall of Sound fanniversary, the ‘Walls Have Ears’ compilation release and more.

But yes, Back To The Phuture will be returning, so many peeps have been asking me about it too. It looks like there will be some residencies around the world and more. There are too many phantasy line ups for me 🙂

Where do I start? BTTP places classic artists with new artists rather than being too retro-minded to. I have some cool ideas, but don’t want to mention them as they will deffo get borrowed. Phantasy line-ups… here are some that explore different electronic genres…

Line-up 1

THE HUMAN LEAGUE
HEAVEN 17
EKKOES

Line-up 2

KRAFTWERK
BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

Line-up 3

DEPECHE MODE
CABARET VOLTAIRE
THE NORMAL

Line-up 4

GIORGIO MORODER
JEAN MICHEL JARRE
CERRONE
YELLO

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Mark Jones

‘Walls Have Ears – 21 Years of Wall of Sound’ is released as a double CD and digital download by Wall Of Sound through PIAS

http://www.wallofsound.net

https://twitter.com/WallofSoundUK

http://www.backtothephuture.net/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos courtesy of Mark Jones except where credited
17th April 2015

A Beginner’s Guide To MARTYN WARE

28 March 2015 /

It was June 1978 when a 7 inch aural artefact dressed in an iconic sleeve was issued by Bob Last’s Edinburgh based Fast Records.

Subtitled ‘Electronically Yours’, it featured the magnificent ‘Being Boiled’ backed with the amazing ‘Circus Of Death’, it heralded a new dawn in pop music. The band behind it was THE HUMAN LEAGUE; comprising of Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Philip Oakey, they stated that their records would feature “synthesizers and vocals only”. Bob Last became THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s manager and so began the illustrious career of Martyn Ware.

With economic recession decimating their industrial heartland in Sheffield, aspirational computer operators Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh experimented with newly affordable synthesizers from Korg and Roland as THE FUTURE with vocalist / guitarist Adi Newton to create sounds would eventually form part of a new musical movement. When Newton departed, Ware recruited his school friend Phil Oakey as his replacement and they became THE HUMAN LEAGUE. And to further reinforce that this was no ordinary band, Philip Adrian Wright joined as the non-playing Director of Visuals.

The band gained enough attention to be signed by Virgin Records. But before their first major label release, ‘The Dignity Of Labour’ was unleashed by Fast Records in May 1979. Financed and distributed by Virgin, the four part avant instrumental 12 inch EP confused both audiences and the record label who had been expecting another ‘Being Boiled’.

But then, THE HUMAN LEAGUE had that air of provocation about them. Occasionally, their acts of subversion could push a little too far… they were thrown off a support slot for the 1979 TALKING HEADS tour when it was advertised they were intending to feature “specially taped songs and rhythms with synchronised moving pictures and snapshots instead of The League”.

The original line-up of THE HUMAN LEAGUE who would record two albums ‘Reproduction’ and ‘Travelogue’, but the lack of sales success would be frustrating and creative tensions were driving the band apart. Last eventually took matters into his own hands and played a game of divide and rule.

Photo by Gered Mankowitz

So in Autumn 1980, Martyn Ware left the band with Ian Craig Marsh joining him and together, they formed a production company called BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION (BEF). The idea was to undertake a variety of projects, one of which was a pop group called HEAVEN 17 fronted by singer Glenn Gregory; their first album ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ album was a landmark achievement.

Combining a natural electronic development of ‘Travelogue’ on the ‘Penthouse’ side while an electro funk hybrid emerged on the ‘Pavement’ side, in Ware’s words, it was “a 100% serious attempt to be incredibly popular”.

And indeed it was… following the success of ‘Penthouse & Pavement’, ‘The Luxury Gap’ was accorded a bigger budget. There came the purchase of more sophisticated equipment and the opportunity to hire some of the best musicians in the business.

With their seventh single ‘Temptation’ becoming a huge international hit, HEAVEN 17 took over more of Ware’s time, although he was still able to maintain a lucrative production career that has included Tina Turner, Jimmy Ruffin, Terence Trent D’Arby and Marc Almond as well as HOT GOSSIP, ASSOCIATES, THE COUNCIL COLLECTIVE and ERASURE.

With the latter, the ‘I Say I Say I Say’ album project brought Martyn Ware and Vince Clarke to work together for the first time. It produced a number of hit singles for ERASURE like ‘Always’ and ‘I Love Saturday’, but it also led to some interesting artistic diversions for both parties. They eventually formed Illustrious to explore and market the possibilities of 3D sound systems.

At this point, HEAVEN 17 was in hiatus, but the friendship led to an invitation to support ERASURE on the 1997 ‘Cowboy’ tour and became the band’s entry as a regulars on the live circuit.

While ‘Temptation’ has been ubiquitous on compilation albums and whenever HEAVEN 17 are able to get on TV, be it on ‘Later With Jools Holland’ or a Plusnet advert, there are many examples of Martyn Ware’s work as an artist and producer that also deserve recognition. Some have been big hits while others have been more obscure but no less valid.

So what tracks would make up an imaginary 20 track double CD retrospective as an introduction to Martyn Ware’s work?

With a restriction of one track per album project, this list is not a best of as such, but a chronological compendium of historic and artistic adventures that capture the career diversity of a man who used technology to realise creative musical ideas as a non-musician, as opposed to using technology for technology’s sake.

Please note, Ware’s work with BIlly MacKenzie has been covered in greater detail within a separate Beginner’s Guide to the larger than life singer, so is not featured in this list…

THE HUMAN LEAGUE Being Boiled – Fast Version (1978)

The first song Oakey wrote with Ware and Marsh, the original version of ‘Being Boiled’ was recorded in mono using Ware’s Korg 700s and Marsh’s Roland System 100 as the rhythmical powerhouse, intended to reimagine FUNKADELIC’s funky overtones. Oakey’s bizarre lyrics were a result of a confusion between Buddhism and Hinduism. Forming part of a demo tape sent to Bob Last at Fast Records, it impressed enough for him to release the track “as seen”.

Available as a bonus track on THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘Reproduction’ via Virgin Records

http://www.thehumanleague.co.uk

THE HUMAN LEAGUE Dance Like A Star (1978 – officially released 2002)

THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s early demo tapes were accompanied by a written manifesto and these sentiments occasionally ended up within the music itself. “This is a song for all you bigheads out there who think that disco music is lower than the irrelevant musical gibberish and tired platitudes that you try to impress your parents with” Oakey profoundly announced as part of the preamble to ‘Dance Like A Star’: “We’re THE HUMAN LEAGUE, we’re much cleverer than you!”

Available on THE FUTURE + THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘The Golden Hour Of The Future’ via Black Melody

http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/

THE MEN I Don’t Depend On You (1979)

“We never wanted to be KRAFTWERK” said Phil Oakey on ‘Synth Britannia’, “we wanted to be a pop band!”. Despite having signed THE HUMAN LEAGUE in 1978, Virgin Records were still having trouble getting their head round the band’s “synthesizers and vocals only” rule and wanted them to use a real drummer. This eventually led to a disco flavoured experiment ‘I Don’t Depend On You’ under the pseudonym of THE MEN, often been cited as the seed of HEAVEN 17.

Available as a bonus track on THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘Travelogue’ via Virgin Records

http://www.discogs.com/artist/27502-Men-The

THE HUMAN LEAGUE Blind Youth (1979)

‘Reproduction’ finally put THE HUMAN LEAGUE into battle against Gary Numan, but sales were disappointing. Ironically, with its cry of “dehumanisation is such a big word”, ‘Blind Youth’ was Ware’s attack on the colder, machine-like style of electronic music that was being spearheaded by Numan. The human aspect was an important thing for Ware and it had been with this philosophy that the name THE HUMAN LEAGUE from the Starforce Sci-Fi board game had originally been chosen.

Available on THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘Reproduction’ via Virgin Records

https://www.facebook.com/BlindYouthHumanLeague

THE HUMAN LEAGUE Dreams Of Leaving (1980)

“Some of the best creative work I’ve ever been involved with was writing with Phil, he’s a brilliant lyric and leadline writer” said Martyn Ware of his former bandmate. ‘Dreams Of Leaving’ was an impassioned slice of prog synth in four distinct movements. The tale of an anti-Apartheid activist escaping persecution in South Africa, but meeting with indifference in their new adopted home, is still sadly resonant today while the final quarter’s sweeps and whistles on Ware’s Jupiter 4 are simply grand.

Available on THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘Travelogue’ via Virgin Records

http://www.humanleague.dk/

BEF Uptown Apocalypse (1981)

When THE HUMAN LEAGUE split in Autumn 1980, Ware and Marsh formed a production company called the BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION (BEF) and released ‘Music For Stowaways’, an instrumental album only available on cassette that foresaw the advent of modern day iPod headphone culture. ‘Stowaway’ had been the original name of the Sony Walkman. Illustrating the concept of a rolling film soundtrack to one’s day-to-day life, ‘Uptown Apocalypse’ reunited the pair with former bandmate from THE FUTURE, Adi Newton while from his new project CLOCK DVA, Steven Turner provided the doom laden bass. This metronomic dystopian piece did exactly what it said on the tin.

Available on the BEF album ‘1981-2011’ via Virgin Records

http://www.heaven17.com/bef/

HEAVEN 17 Fascist Groove Thang (1981)

With his hand being forced on leaving THE HUMAN LEAGUE, Ware was fired up. HEAVEN 17’s opening salvo was the now iconic and self-explanatory ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’. Guest artist John Wilson brought in bursts of bass and rhythm guitar to add a new dimension to a synthesizer sound that was still rooted in THE HUMAN LEAGUE. Banned from Radio1 on its release, the song is still sadly poignant as Europe heads toward being “an unhappy land” again…

Available on the HEAVEN 17 album ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ via Virgin Records

http://www.heaven17.com

BEF featuring TINA TURNER Ball Of Confusion (1982)

‘Music Of Quality & Distinction’ was conceived as a high-tech covers project featuring guest vocalists with Ware as musical director. ‘Volume 1’ most notably saw the recorded return of Tina Turner on a blistering reworking of THE TEMPTATIONS’ ‘Ball Of Confusion’, featuring musicians as diverse as guitarist John McGeoch and Paul Jones on harmonica! Although impressively co-ordinated, ‘Volume 1’ did not sell in huge numbers but the working relationship with TINA TURNER gelled.

Available on the BEF album ‘1981-2011’ via Virgin Records

http://www.facebook.com/BritishElectricFoundation/

ALLEZ ALLEZ Flesh & Blood (1983)

Belgian pop funk outfit ALLEZ ALLEZ were led by the vivacious Sarah Osbourne who later married Glenn Gregory. Their debut EP ‘African Queen’ had featured a very loose groove, but to polish up their sound for their major label debut on Virgin, Martyn Ware came into the fold as producer. While featuring no synths, ‘Flesh & Blood’ featured an exquisite vocal from Osbourne alongside a catchy chanty refrain by backing vocalist Roland Bindi, augmented by lush strings.

Available on the ALLEZ ALLEZ album ‘Promises / African Queen’ via Les Disques Du Crepuscule and the compilation album ‘Methods Of Dance’ (V/A) via Virgin Records

http://lesdisquesducrepuscule.com/promises_african_queen_twi086cd.html

HEAVEN 17 Lady Ice & Mr Hex (1983)

With a Roland MC4 Micro-composer and Linn Drum driving HEAVEN 17’s System 100 and System 100M plus the addition of a Roland TB303 Bassline, the idea of programmed parts inspiring musicians who weren’t used to programmed material to syncopate off them was floated by Ware. Featuring noted sessioners Simon Phillips on drums, Nick Plytas on piano and Ray Russell on rhythm guitar, ‘Lady Ice & Mr Hex’ was a successfully surreal marriage of synthesizers with jazz.

Available on the HEAVEN 17 album ‘The Luxury Gap’ via Virgin Records

http://www.discogs.com/artist/12340-Heaven-17

TINA TURNER Let’s Stay Together (1983)

One of the songs Martyn Ware had wanted to do on ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 1’ was AL GREEN’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’. So when the opportunity came to work with Tina Turner again, Ware suggested it as a way of re-establishing her back into the soul realm. Co-produced by Greg Walsh who had worked on ‘The Luxury Gap’, Linn Drum and Fairlight were used as the programmed backbone while Nick Plytas and Ray Russell were recalled to embellish the soulful electronic hybrid.

Available on the TINA TURNER album ‘All The Best’ via EMI Records

http://www.tinaturnerofficial.com/

HEAVEN 17 And That’s No Lie (1984)

At over 10 minutes, ‘And That’s No Lie’ was an adventure in sound that threw in everything from Ware’s abstract sonic experiments a la early HUMAN LEAGUE, the jazz inflections of ‘The Luxury Gap’, modern Fairlighted electropop and the gospel tinged vocals of ARFRODIZIAK. Far too short as a single but possibly far too long in its album form, ‘And That’s No Lie’ signalled a creative zenith before a wider dampening of spirit within the graduates of ‘Synth Britannia’.

Available on the HEAVEN 17 album ‘5 Classic Albums’ via Virgin Records

http://www.heaven17.de/

TERENCE TRENT D’ARBY Sign Your Name (1987)

HEAVEN 17’s 1986 album ‘Pleasure One’ used a conventional guitar / bass / drums template and had not been a big success. But Ware found himself reinvigorated from working with a flamboyant former GI named Terence Trent D’Arby. From an album that featured four hit singles, ‘Sign Your Name’ was a superb bossa nova ballad that captured some of the more sensitive side of D’Arby’s sometimes brash, but loveable persona that had been apparent on ‘If You Let Me Stay’ and ‘Dance Little Sister’.

Available on the TERENCE TRENT D’ARBY album ‘Introducing The Hardline According To…’ via Sony Music

http://www.sanandamaitreya.com

BEF featuring GREEN GARTSIDE I Don’t Know Why I Love You (1991)

HEAVEN 17’s 1988 album ‘Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho’ was according to Ware “the nail in the coffin; we’d completely lost our way by then!”. Putting HEAVEN 17 into hiatus, he decided to curate his second ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction’ volume, but this time aiming for the mainstream Trans-Atlantic market with an emphasis on his love of soul music. One of the best numbers was a cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ voiced by SCRITTI POLITTI’s Green Gartside.

Available on the BEF album ‘1981-2011’ via Virgin Records

http://www.scritti.net/

ERASURE Tragic (1994)

Now imagine if Ennio Morricone and Wendy Carlos had worked with THE HUMAN LEAGUE and a fledgling DEPECHE MODE on a collaborative film soundtrack? Then the wonderful melancholy of ‘Tragic’ would have been the end result. With music by Vince Clarke and production by Martyn Ware,  ‘Tragic’ was a fine example of how music did not necessarily need words to convey emotion. Andy Bell did add a vocal for an as live version later but it wasn’t really necessary.

Available on the ERASURE single ‘Always’ via Mute Records

http://www.erasureinfo.com/

HEAVEN 17 Designing Heaven (1996)

Making their full return with ‘Bigger Than America’, ‘Designing Heaven’ was the first fruit of the reformed trio going back to their electronic roots. It was classic HEAVEN 17, with echoes of ‘Sunset Now’ and ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’ set to a modern European club friendly format. And as if to make that link more pronounced, Claudia Brücken translated the lyrics into German for a bonus track entitled ‘Den Himmel Designen’ while Giorgio Moroder contributed a remix.

Available on the HEAVEN 17 album ‘Bigger Than America’ via Cleopatra Records

http://martynwareblog.blogspot.com/

THE CLARKE & WARE EXPERIMENT The East Is Falling (1999)

Inspired by Brian Eno’s ‘Music For Airports’, ‘The East Is Falling’ allowed Clarke to indulge in his more ambient fantasies last heard on ’91 Steps’ while Ware shaped the soundscape into a mind bending binaural format that was best listened to on headphones. With a striking piano motif bolstered by layers of sweeping, synthetic strings, the haunting atmospheres made for a fine development of the environmental music tradition.

Available on THE CLARKE & WARE EXPERIMENT album ‘Pretentious’ via Mute Records

http://www.illustriouscompany.co.uk

HEAVEN 17 Are You Ready? (2005)

With HEAVEN 17 playing live on a semi-regular basis, one of the additional band members was singer Billie Godfrey. ‘Are You Ready?’ was  co-written by her using a backing track by Ware. It was a love song but with some darker undercurrents. “There’s a slavish servant to master / penitent soul to preacher idea behind it with the spurned lover almost begging to be redeemed or converted by the object of their desire” Godfrey said in 2010.

Available on the HEAVEN 17 album ‘Before After’ via BEF Records / Alpha Engineering

https://twitter.com/heaven17bef

BEF Featuring KIM WILDE Every Time I See You I Go Wild (2013)

The third volume of ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction’ featured some of Ware’s most starkly electronic work since he was in THE HUMAN LEAGUE. This striking cover of the Northern Soul favourite was best known in a version by JJ Barnes but was written by Stevie Wonder. Arranged by THE MODIFIED TOY ORCHESTRA’s Paul Duffy, ‘Every Time I See You I Go Wild’ featured just Kim Wilde and a Roland System 100. And what’s there not to like about an electronic Northern Soul cover…

Available on the BEF album ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 3: Dark’ via Wall Of Sound

http://www.britishelectricfoundation.com

HEAVEN 17 Pray (2014)

H17-pray‘Pray’ was sonically closer to early HUMAN LEAGUE in its metronomic first three minutes before regular H17 sidemen Julian Crampton and Asa Bennett cut-in brilliantly with their respective slap bass and rhythm guitar runs. Glenn Gregory continued his recent Bowie impersonation trip with HOLY HOLY via ’Young Americans’ as a saxophone completed the connection. It was a tremendous avant synth / soul hybrid that outshined much of the material on ‘Before After’.

Available on the compilation album ‘Fly –Songs Inspired by the film Eddie The Eagle’ (V/A) via Universal Music

https://twitter.com/martynware

Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Martyn Ware
28th March 2015

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2013

16 December 2013 /

In one of the most productive years ever for electronic pop music, it has been extremely difficult to whittle down the list to 30 songs.

The standard has been extremely high and songs which would have made the listing in previous years have been left off. This has meant the controversial omission of DEPECHE MODE. Despite being as popular as ever, grossing over $99 million during the ‘Delta Machine’ tour, once a shortlist for 2013 was drawn, the competition was so stiff that nothing from the album even scraped in!

Yes, 2013 has been that good and wonderful songs by the likes of KELLI ALI, ELEVEN:ELEVEN, GAZELLE TWIN, GHOST CAPSULES, GOLDFRAPP, HANNAH PEEL, IAMX, KOVAK, MOBY, NIGHT ENGINE, NINE INCH NAILS, SAY LOU LOU, and SOFT METALS have just missed inclusion too!

So the songs on this alphabetical list have been released in physical formats, or digitally as purchasable or free downloads during the calendar year with a limit of one song per artist moniker.

ADULT. Idle (Second Thoughts)

The new ADULT. album ‘The Way Things Fall’ was fittingly described by one observer as “a snuff film version of Speak & Spell”. The fears of relationships and the outside world have very much fuelled the dystopian demeanour of ADULT. While still retaining their distinctive edge, their mutant love songs have a magnetic charm. This was particularly evident on the fabulous single ‘Idle (Second Thoughts)’, a vibrant electro hybrid of GINA X PERFORMANCE and SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES which showcased a strange blend of menace and melody.

Available on the album ‘The Way Things Fall’ via Ghostly International

http://adultperiod.com/

ANALOG ANGEL We Won’t Walk Away

Moving away from the industrial battleground in which they made their name, ANALOG ANGEL began the year with the enjoyably immediate ‘We Won’t Walk Away’, a laudable tribute to OMD’s classic ‘Organisation’ era. Complete with primary chord structures, one-fingered melodies and motorik rhythm programming, there was even a hint of the dulcet tones of Andy McCluskey in John Brown’s vocal. But just one thing though… Paul Humphreys wants his Prophet 5 back 😉

Available on the download EP ‘Pride’ via Carbon 12 Records

http://www.analog-angel.com/

KARL BARTOS Without A Trace Of Emotion

‘Without A Trace Of Emotion’ saw Karl Bartos conversing with his showroom dummy Herr Karl and confronting his demons as an ex-member of the world’s most iconic electronic group. The most straightforward pop song on the ‘Off The Record’ album, its autobiographical resignation was not unlike ‘Life’ from ‘Communication’. But whereas his former colleague Wolfgang Flür vented his spleen in book form with ‘I Was A Robot’, Bartos took a more ironic musical approach with the line “I wish I could remix my life to another beat”, a wry reference to ‘The Mix’ project which drove him to madness and out of Kling Klang!

Available on the album ‘Off The Record’ via Bureau B

http://www.karlbartos.com/

BEF feat DAVID J ROCH Same Love

The concept of BEF’s ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Vol3 – Dark’ is dark interpretations of perceivably upbeat songs using a variety of guest vocalists. One of the beauties of this type of project is how seemingly incongruous elements are fused together for a blissful whole. Here, melodramatic Sheffield singer/songwriter David J Roch tackles Bill Withers’ ‘Same Love’ via Martyn Ware’s wonderful arrangement blending a neo-acapella intro into a meaty electro-disco tune with spacey whistles and haunting invader games like Giorgio Moroder producing SPACE’s ‘Magic Fly’.

Available on the album ‘Music of Quality & Distinction Vol3 – Dark’ via Wall Of Sound

http://www.britishelectricfoundation.com

MARGARET BERGER I Feed You My Love

Co-written by Swedish electro songstress Karin Park, Norway’s Eurovision Song Contest 2013 entry came fourth. ‘I Feed You My Love’ was like Robyn and Kelly Clarkson fronting ‘Songs Of Faith & Devotion’ era DEPECHE MODE. In fact, its performer Margaret Berger came second in the 2004 series of Norwegian Idol so the description was quite apt. The on-paper incongruous outcome was leftfield by Eurovision standards but perhaps not entirely shockingly, it got nul points from the United Kingdom; it summed up mainstream tastes in the UK and the country’s general Euro scepticism if nothing else!

Available as a download single via Macho Records

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Margaret-Berger/101820056564427

CHVRCHES The Mother We Share

The saviours of synthpop had an amazing year with sold out club shows and five dates supporting DEPECHE MODE in Europe. CHVRCHES‘ most accessible track ‘The Mother We Share’ was synthpop perfection with the concept of Taylor Swift gone electro having uprooted to Berlin. It deservedly scooped Popjustice’s Twenty Quid Music Prize for best UK single. Despite its wonderfully catchy chorus, it was not wholly bubblegum with its plethora of futuristic sounds and strange noises! Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty delivered on their promise with an impressive debut album ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’, save the two incongruous indie synth numbers sung by Doherty!

Available on the album ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ via Virgin Records

http://www.chvrch.es/

ELECTRONIC CIRCUS Roundabout

ELECTRONIC CIRCUS are led by Chris Payne, the keyboard and viola virtuoso who was a member of Gary Numan’s band between 1979 to 89 and featured prominently on the Top10 single ‘Complex’. He notably co-wrote ‘Fade To Grey’ which became a huge international hit for VISAGE. With his adopted home surroundings very much the backbone of ‘Roundabout’, the track itself possessed a sexy and authentic Gallic charm, courtesy of Chris’ wife Dominique. The exquisite, almost naïve vocals over the most incessant synth riff either had listeners dancing with delight or irritated to the point of submission… the seemingly banal words were actually a very clever metaphor for midlife!

Available as a download single via Coverdrive Records

http://www.electronic-circus.com

FEATHERS Land Of The Innocent

It had to happen and the world found its female DEPECHE MODE! Led by vocalist / songwriter / programmer Anastasia Dimou, the sound was probably more like post-apocalyptic BANGLES or Belinda Carlisle with gothic overtones in hindsight. The first single ‘Land Of The Innocent’ was a wondrous epic based around the arpeggio of ‘Ice Machine’ and driven by a hard incessant beat. Possessing an industrial gloom with an enlightening pop sensibility, it was what LADYTRON would have sounded like if they had formed in a Texan desert rather than spectre of Merseyside!!

Available on the album ‘If All Now Here’ via http://feathers.bandcamp.com/

http://www.feathers.fm/

FOTONOVELA feat MIRRORS Our Sorrow

Not content with producing MARSHEAUX and collaborating with OMD on ‘Helen Of Troy’, Greek production duo FOTONOVELA unveiled a new sophomore opus which was more song based using a number of prominent international vocalists. One of the numbers ‘Our Sorrow’ featured the majestic voice of James New from the missing-in-action MIRRORS. The string synth laden ditty was in the vein of classic OMD and with the South Coast combo calling it a day in 2013, this was a fitting way to depart The Hall Of Mirrors.

Available on the album ‘A Ton Of Love’ via Undo Records

http://www.facebook.com/undofotonovela

http://www.facebook.com/theworldofmirrors

JOHN FOXX & JORI HULKKONEN Evangeline

John Foxx and Jori Hulkkonen had worked together previously but never before on a body of work with a conceptual theme. Their latest collaboration took on a grainier downtempo template and the lead track ‘Evangeline’was all the more beautiful for it. Full of depth, coupled with an anthemic chorus and vibrant exchange of character throughout, this rousing yet soothingly futuristic number was quite otherworldly. The title of the parent EP said it all…

Available on the EP ‘European Splendour’ via Sugarcane Records

http://www.metamatic.com/

http://www.jorihulkkonen.com

GIRL ONE & THE GREASE GUNS Jessica 6

Nobody really knows for sure who are GIRL ONE & THE GREASE GUNS but names like Sissy Space Echo, Warren Betamax, Charles Bronson Burner and Bruce LeeFax are commensurate with their manifesto “to thrive on causing confusion with a mixture of pure synth pop and more experimental electronic sounds”. ‘Jessica 6’ is a tribute to the cult Sci-Fi favourite ‘Logan’s Run’. The eerie post-punk cacophony laced with icy Yamaha string machine makes it the perfect belated choice for the soundtrack. Add in a frantic reverbed backbeat and it all comes over like THE PIPETTES fronting collaboration between JOY DIVISION and OMD.

Available as a download single via Squirrel Records

http://www.squirrelrecords.co.uk/girl-one-and-the-grease-guns/

GOLDFRAPP Thea

From a long player with distinctly orchestrated and acoustic overtones, ‘Thea’ was the most overtly electronic song on ‘Tales Of Us’. Alison Goldfrapp’s vocal soared angelically, surrounded by very subtle synthetic dance textures and layers of percussive craft. While the beat was mechanical, it didn’t sound out of place on the very organic parent album.

Available on the album ‘Tales Of Us’ via Mute Records

https://www.goldfrapp.com

KID MOXIE The Bailor

KID MOXIE is the musical vehicle of Los Angeles based Elena Charbila. Her first full length album ‘Selector’ was bolstered by a MARSHEAUX remix of its best song ‘Medium Pleasure’. Always sounding her best when adopting a breathy continental vocal style, Elena Charbila recorded possibly her best song yet as KID MOXIE with ‘The Bailor’, a dreamy and sexy tunes that glistened in the Aegean Sea. The Wayfarer remix of the song was also issued later in the year in aid of The David Lynch Foundation .

Available as a download single via Kid Moxie

http://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

MARNIE The Hunter

LADYTRON’s Helen Marnie released her long awaited debut solo album ‘Crystal World’ in the summer. Recorded in Iceland, it suitably captured the island’s beautifully relaxed but volatile atmosphere. Its opening track ‘The Hunter’ was a tremendous calling card and the vibrant electropop single that LADYTRON never quite got round to releasing. Very pretty and delectably glacial, the tune was vocally and musically expansive like an Arctic escapist fantasy, melancholic but free of doom.

Available on the album ‘Crystal World’ via Les Disques Du Crespuscle

http://www.facebook.com/helen.marnie.official

MARSHEAUX August Day

MARSHEAUX’s fourth album ‘Inhale’ had been a long time coming. And it appeared as though the Greek financial crisis had loomed heavy over its making, resulting in moodier, midtempo numbers taking centre stage. ‘August Day’ though was a grower, developing on the maturer outlook apparent on the album’s concept, with a hint of CHVRCHES’ steadier paced output. Less immediate but overwhelmingly dreamy, it captured the senses after multiple listens.

Available on the album ‘Inhale’ via Undo Records

http://www.marsheaux.com

MESH The Way I Feel

MESH’s founders Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn know their audience so the lattice of danceable electro-rock continued on their best album yet ‘Automation Baby’. But the beautiful ‘The Way I Feel’ showed a more sensitive side with hints of Ennio Morricone. Shaped by acoustic guitar and string machine washes, the atmospheric maturity that MESH were now showcasing was a welcome surprise.

Available on the album ‘Automation Baby’ via Dependent

http://www.mesh.co.uk/

MONARCHY feat DITA VON TEESE Disintegration

MONARCHY’s ‘Disintegration’ featured the sexy burlesque queen Dita Von Teese on vocals. With its vampish disco crashing into elements of Giorgio Moroder, it sounded like the SCISSOR SISTERS gone right and even threw in a few VISAGE frequency warbles! ‘Disintegration’ was a rather excellent, stomping floor filler of the first degree with some hook laden energy and cooing feline appeal.

Available as a download single via Hacan Sound

http://www.monarchysound.com/

http://www.dita.net/

GIORGIO MORODER Racer

Giorgio Moroder is now 73 years old but is as vital as ever having produced the dance track of the year! Commissioned by Google Chrome for their online game ‘Racer’, the piano line was like ULTRAVOX reworked for Studio 54 while the whirring synths and trancey elements made it come over like history of modern electronic dance music squashed into 4 minutes. But as these ideas were mostly borrowed from Da Maestro himself, it was now his time to grab it all back. Moroder easily rivalled any young hopeful with a set of double decks and a laptop.

Available as a free download single via Google Play

http://www.moroder.net/

ALISON MOYET Changeling

Alison Moyet made a return to the electronic experimentation that made her famous as one half of YAZOO on her new album ‘the minutes’. With contemporary synthesized backing over a powerful rhythm construction and stuttering guitar textures courtesy of new collaborator Guy Sigsworth, Moyet’s deep emotional vocal resonated on ‘Changeling’ with a confidence and energy that dispelled the public’s perception of her as just a jazz singer!

Available on the album ‘the minutes’ via Cooking Vinyl.

http://www.alisonmoyet.com

NIGHT CLUB Poisonous

NIGHT CLUB Love CaSUALTYPositively feline but dysfunctionally dark like Britney gone emo, NIGHT CLUB‘s cutely subversive ‘Poisonous’ based itself, like STEFY’s lost 2007 single ‘Chelsea’, around the riff of ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’. This superb slice of catchy electronic pop from the LA combo of Emily Kavanaugh and Mark Brooks roused with a huge crossover potential while possessing a sinister edge.

Available on the download EP ‘Love Casualty’ via Gato Blanco

http://nightclubband.com

NOBLESSE OBLIGE Hotel California

NOBLESSE OBLIGE are French theatrical performer Valerie Renay and German producer Sebastian Lee Philipp who specialise in a brand of abstract Weimer cabaret tinged with a dose of electro Chanson. NOBLESSE OBLIGE’s lengthy funereal deadpan cover of THE EAGLES’ ‘Hotel California’ highlights the chilling subtext of the lyrics to its macabre conclusion! The synthesizer interpretation of the original song’s iconic twin guitar solo will either be seen as total genius or sacrilege!

Available on the album ‘Affair Of The Heart’ via Repo Records

http://www.noblesseoblige.co.uk/

GARY NUMAN Who Are You?

‘Who Are You?’ is one of those great uptempo anthemic songs in the vein of ‘Listen To My Voice’ from 2000’s ‘Pure’ that confirms when Gary Numan hits the target, he hits bulls-eye! Written for a film about a musician with schizophrenic personality, it fitted well with the parent album ‘Splinter’ and its ‘Songs From A Broken Mind’. The album wasn’t just one-dimensional riff monsters and the varied material was some of Numan’s best work for years.

Available on the album ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’ via Mortal Records / Cooking Vinyl

http://www.numan.co.uk

OMD Stay With Me

OMD-English-ElectricThe standard of ‘English Electric’ was so high that any one of its song based tracks could have made the list. But ‘Stay With Me’ is the album’s hidden gem. The first Paul Humphreys lead vocal for OMD since 1986’s ‘Forever Live & Die’, the song was originally demoed as ‘Idea 3’ and voiced by Andy McCluskey. Ever the master of melody and inspired by events around him, Humphreys reworked it into a more straightforward love song but added a beautiful cinematic resonance. It came over like ‘Love Theme From St Elmo’s Fire’ meets ‘Souvenir’ with subtle lashings of white noise!

Available on the album ‘English Electric’ via BMG

https://www.omd.uk.com/

PET SHOP BOYS Fluorescent

“Incandescent…”; yes the hypnotic ‘Fluorescent’ was basically a buzzy dancefloor makeover of ‘Fade To Grey’ with the chilling Polymoog string preset from VISAGE’s original remaining in the mix while waves of synth sirens attacked it like a Martian invasion. The parent album was ‘Electric’ by name and electric by nature, and easily the PET SHOP BOYS‘ best body of work since ‘Very’. It more than made up for 2012’s lame duck ‘Elysium’…

Available on the album ‘Electric’ via X2 / Kobalt Records

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk

QUEEN OF HEARTS United

A stomping electro disco number produced by Mark Reeder who previously has remixed John Foxx, DEPECHE MODE and PET SHOP BOYS, QUEEN OF HEARTS‘ cooing Bush-like howls and breathy euphoria are a total delight to the ears while the mighty cavernous sound provides the heat! Yet ‘United’ has ended up as the B-side of the less satisfactory ‘Secret’. However, if songs like this are being seen as outtakes, this is all a good sign for her debut album in 2014 which is eagerly awaited…

Available on the download EP ‘Secret’ via Night Moves

http://iamqueenofhearts.com/

REPUBLICA Christiana Obey (TENEK remix)

Originally, written by Saffron with noted producer Andy Gray, ‘Christiana Obey’ had been doing the airplay rounds in 2012 but finally secured a formal release to coincide with REPUBLICA’s touring comeback this year. With its suitably big chorus, Saffron was on good anthemic form while a meaty remix from TENEK enhanced the song even further and made it ready to go!

Available on the EP ‘Christiana Obey’ via Republica Music

http://www.republicamusic.co.uk/

POLLY SCATTERGOOD Wanderlust

Polly Scattergood made her debut in 2009 with a self-titled album released on the iconic Mute Records. With key influences such as Bjork and Kate Bush, it combined jubilant experimental pop with her innocent, affected vocals. From her second album ‘Arrows’, ‘Wanderlust’ realised her potential with a slice of deliciously wired avant pop in the GOLDFRAPP vein, although closer scrutiny revealed it to be more like electronic COCTEAU TWINS with that rousing air of fragility.

Available on the album ‘Arrows’ via Mute Artists

http://www.pollyscattergood.com/

SIN COS TAN Moonstruck

The Finnish duo of Juho Paalosmaa and Jori Hulkkonen swiftly followed up their acclaimed eponymous debut of 2012 with ‘Afterlife’. Hulkkonen said back in 2011 that it was being a fan of PET SHOP BOYS that inspired him to make music. ‘Moonstruck’ is a fine melancholic beat ballad in the Tennant/Lowe tradition where Paalosmaa’s emotive lost boy demeanour blends wonderfully with the sweeping drifts and building swathes of synth strings. It is also possibly the best song of its type that Neil and Chris never recorded.

Available on the album ‘Afterlife’ via Solina Records

http://sincostan.net/

VILE ELECTRODES Damaged Software

Like ‘Twin Peaks’ meets ORBITAL, ‘Damaged Software’ was an enticing piece of electro from Anais Neon and Martin Swan which affirmed their status as Britain’s premiere independent synth duo. With a tour supporting OMD in Germany where they encountered the likes of Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flür backstage, their vile adventure of meeting former KRAFTWERK members continued when they shared the bill with Michael Rother at Elektrofest. Three years in the making, the parent album ‘The future through a lens’ was well worth the wait.

Available on the album ‘The future through a lens’ via https://vileelectrodes.bandcamp.com/album/the-future-through-a-lens

http://www.vileelectrodes.co.uk

WESTBAM feat RICHARD BUTLER You Need The Drugs

Techno DJ WESTBAM celebrated 30 years in the music business with an intriguing mature collection of songs under the title of ‘Götterstrasse’. While the theme of the album centred on the joy and euphoria of underground nightlife, the album’s magnificent launch single ‘You Need The Drugs’ was not actually a celebration of illicit substance use. Voiced brilliantly by THE PSYCHEDLIC FURS’ Richard Butler, WESTBAM himself said it was “the first explicit electronic appeal AGAINST the use of drugs with a clear message: drugs are a bore!”. From a brilliant album that also featured vocalists as diverse as Iggy Pop, Bernard Sumner, Brian Molko, Lil’ Wayne and Kanye West, ‘Götterstrasse’ was the surprise electronic release of the year.

Available on the album ‘Götterstrasse’ via Warner Music Germany

http://www.westbam.de/dt/en/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th December 2013

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