Mancunian producer Manzur Iqbal is the man behind FUTURECOP!
Since 2006, the project has grown in popularity, having gained audiences across the globe, sitting comfortably in the niche of synthwave and synth revival circles.
Iqbal, despite having had no previous musical experience, started experimenting with sound to bring back the charm of his youth and FUTURECOP! was born. Known for his collaborations, FUTURECOP! is back with his brand new album ‘Voltrana’, where more synthwave household names are present.
From ambient to spiritual, the album is full of surprises, all cinematically realigned to achieve a shiny retro gem which is bound to bring in the long awaited Spring.
Canada’s PARALLELS delight the album with Holly Dodson’s charming vocals and this opus welcomes back the synthwave princess copiously, starting with the sweet notions of ‘We Belong’. With a thoroughly modern approach interwoven with retro beats and scrumptious arpeggios, the track is a perfect intro to the colourful world of ‘Voltrana’.
Canada is followed the US with the clever changes of texture on ‘Star’, which welcomes COMPUTER MAGIC. New Yorker Danielle Johnson, the sole brains behind COMPUTER MAGIC has made it “big in Japan” thanks to her ethereal approach to vintage pop, often described as “cosmic”. And here, with FUTURECOP! she enters the realms of the otherworldly once again.
PARALLELS chase back again with the delicious ‘Leslie Cheung’, a tribute to the late much loved Cantopop star and actor. Dodson’s candied vocals bring an aura of childhood reminiscence over sugar coated melodies created as a fine example of modern dance music.
Going East, will Iqbal succeed in ‘Finding Shaolin’? Seemingly so, accompanied by heavier synth arpeggios and Moroder-esque templates, while ‘Breeze (Behind Waterfalls)’ eases the journey with the drum extravaganza leading the way further into the unknown.
PARALLELS return with the previously released single ‘Edge Of The Universe’.
“Inspired by a mix of 80s Japanese pop culture, eighties American Teen movies and Retro Space Adventure Japanese-Western cartoons” as described by Iqbal, the track is yet another easy listening beauty, inspiring peace and hope all the way “at the edge of the universe”.
Going back to the tender years of youth, ‘Forgotten Summer’ brings back the sounds and smells of the pivotal formative era, while Ayumi Sasaki joins FUTURECOP! on ‘Shinjinmei’; ‘信心銘’ is a sweet acoustic flavoured ballad, filled with nostalgic emotion that weaves in and out of J-Pop awareness.
Continuing the nod to eastern cultures ‘Zen 4040’, ‘Whispers of Tao’ and ‘Only From Mud (Can A Flower Bloom)’ enter the higher consciousness of pictorial qualities.
PARALLELS feature one more time on the delightful ‘This Moment Forever’, before the German princess of pop NINA finds herself as one of the family on ‘Fade Away’.
Grandiose arpeggios, “perfectly planned”, canvas the fresh sounding vocals from the alluring London-based songstress.
Comfortably at home alongside PARALLELS with whom she toured the US last year, NINA brings a calmer quality into the mix, not too dissimilar from the “mellow Magic” on Magic Radio.
The final collaboration comes from SIAMESE YOUTH, a synthwave duo from Berlin, also in form of a more demure offering, calming the senses and smoothing the rough with delicate melodies and soothing vocals.
The return of FUTURECOP! is a grand one. Twinning with the cream of synthwave artists from around the globe, this Eastern-inspired proposition helps to bring back the days of youth with charm, poise and melancholy.
Not all happy go lucky, yet uplifting and hopeful, ‘Voltrana’ is the perfect easy listening positive affirmation. Namaste.
New York based shinnichi Danz Johnson released her first COMPUTER MAGIC album ‘Scientific Experience’ as a Japanese only release in 2012.
While the enjoyably escapist ‘Obscure But Visible’ EP from 2016 was possibly one of her best bodies of work to date, her most recent long player simply titled ‘Danz’ is her possibly her darkest offering yet. The album’s best track is ‘Ordinary Life (Message From an A.I. Girlfriend)’.
Offering some bright synth passages over a classic Linn Drum derived template, it’s a twist to Philip K. Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ where Artificial Intelligence has allowed a robot to aspire to more than just being a love companion.
The song has now been accorded a jaw dropping video directed by Anise Mariko and produced by Ivan Wong, where our heroine explores feminism and finds empowerment in a symbolic transformation from house maid to belt bondage princess within a neon lit backdrop.
Danz Johnson took time out of her schedule to have a quick chat about the latest COMPUTER MAGIC audio visual presentation and how the world needs to dress up more…
What’s the concept behind ‘Ordinary Life (Message From an A.I. Girlfriend)’ as a song?
I was watching a bunch of TED talks about artificial intelligence, watched a little video on these new holographic girlfriends in Japan that live in a little tube. I thought – what if in the future, there are very human like robot girlfriends, that clean, cook, bake, do everything for their “master” without question or an individual thought of their own, like the girl in the tube – but life size and tangible! What if someday they become self-aware and start thinking for themselves. Like a robot girlfriend rebellion. But not in a terminator way, very more light-hearted than that; I think it’s shown in the lyrics. They are just yearning for more in life to experience.
Such a song cries out for a video, so how did you come up with the concept and the messages you wanted to convey, especially empowerment through bondage?
The director Anise and I came up with the concept together. I knew I wanted two strong parallels. I told her about what the song meant to me, the lyrics, and she came up with an amazing concept that really fits the song.
She knew the designer Creepy Yeeha and we got to use one of her outfits, which was such a dream. Creepy Yeeha has outfitted FKA TWIGS, RIHANNA, and CARDI B.
So yeah, I felt pretty invincible in that outfit, although, I still had to do tequila shots to get through the ‘sexy’ scenes, not my forte being used to oversized flight suits! my friend Maureen Goodman who makes handmade bags under Atomic Freedom made the classic maid outfit from scratch. We had a really great team.
Even though technically I am meant to be portraying a human-like robot girlfriend in rebellion, there are many parallels that can be drawn between this character and a human woman in general. Being rebellious and breaking free from the old school box woman are placed in will always be somewhat of a struggle.
There’s this inherent feeling that a woman must be dainty, have their makeup done perfectly, cook, tidy, be perfect mothers, be there for their husbands. Little girls are given Barbies, Baby Dolls and Easy Bake ovens and everything in pink. I can’t stand that. I grew up as a tomboy that played with frogs and had the Metal Moulder instead of the Easy Bake Oven.
Obviously this idea of what a woman needs to be has changed tremendously over the years, women are starting to get equal pay, they’re engineers, they’re astronauts. It’s coming along, though I still notice in conversation with men sometimes, especially men that don’t know what I’m capable of (producing, mixing, mastering all on my own), I’m talked down to. It’s frustrating of course.
The video has got a very 1950s vibe with a futuristic twist in my opinion and the topic is important. To make a long story short, sometimes you just want to rebel! And that’s what the bondage represents, to me anyway, rebelling!
With rope bondage like Kinbaku and Shibari considered art forms in Japan, did that influence your thinking at all?
Of course those art forms are beautiful to me. I wish we used more ropes! It’s a form of expression. That may have played a role in the direction of the video, and I’m sure that was maybe on the mood board, although Anise would probably be better to answer this question!
Costumes and outfits have been very much part of COMPUTER MAGIC from the start, should we loosen up in the West and cosplay more?
I love cosplay! I love wearing colorful wigs, dressing up for shows, being someone else. For Halloween a couple years ago, I was Chun-Li, that was so fun. I’m so self-conscious that it really helps for me to become someone else. More cosplay please!
‘Danz’ is a far darker album than its predecessor ‘Davos’, which appears to reflect the socio-political mood in the US at the moment?
It is a little darker, because of my state of mind at the time. I was dealing with a lot of self-esteem issues. ‘Amnesia’ and ‘Data’ specifically about not knowing who I was anymore, they all give me a good kind of melancholy feeling.
‘Perfect Game’ and ‘Ordinary Life’ are pretty upbeat, though. ‘Delirium’ was especially political, one of the lyrics goes “the president has lost his mind”, it’s about not following the masses, too.
Probably one of my most experimental records to date, I make a lot of strong statements here in ‘Danz’, it’s less pop than ‘Davos’.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to COMPUTER MAGIC
Additional thanks to mikineko productions
‘Danz’ is released by Channel 9 Records in digital formats worldwide, limited green vinyl LP edition is available from http://www.channel9records.com
“Background noise, breakquest, reverb, spending time, large hadron collider, warp drive, the empire”… that’s how New York based shinnichi Danz Johnson aka COMPUTER MAGIC describes her interests.
Johnson actually released her first album ‘Scientific Experience’ as a Japanese only release in 2012, while her first album proper ‘Davos’ emerged in 2015. There have been EPs and singles as well, with enjoyably escapist ‘Obscure But Visible” EP possibly her best body of work yet. But now at last comes another COMPUTER MAGIC simply titled ‘Danz’; however Johnson has declared that it is a far darker and more personal companion to ‘Davos’.
The bubbling spaciness of ‘Amnesia’ is an ideal dream pop opener but appears with a clouded tinge to Johnson’s voice. This is a statement that tunes like ‘Lonely Like We Are’ from her last EP will not be figuring. Seguing into ‘Nebraskaland’, while obviously using synths, Johnson shares Bruce Springsteen’s solemn 1982 musical picture of the region.
The mood lifts with ‘Ordinary Life (Message From an A.I. Girlfriend)’, but despite offering bright synth passages to classic Linn Drum sounds, it’s a twist to Philip K. Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ where Artificial Intelligence has allowed a robot to aspire to more than just being a love companion… meanwhile as a variation to the theme, the amusingly titled ‘Delirium (Don’t Follow The Sheep)’ sees rumbling bass drones over a drum loop with a suitably detached Johnson.
Photo by Randy Smith
The wonderful instrumental ‘Teegra’ adds some loungey vibes to proceedings echoing AIR when they were on their ‘Moon Safari, while borrowing from the same part of Western Europe, the nonchalant overtones of ‘Perfect Game’ come over like a less Gallic-centric STEREOLAB.
The sombre string synths and mechanised outlook of ‘Data’ see a shift eastwards to Deutschland for an album interlude before the very sparse and haunting ‘Space and Time / Pale Blue Dot’. Almost to the point of crying, Johnson’s forlorn demeanour offsets the track’s pretty arpeggios in a cacophony of light and shade.
Adopting a live percussive feel with sombre string synths for the introspective manner of PET SHOP BOYS, ‘Drift Away’ draws the curtains before the departing flight of ‘Clouds’; “Take me with you” she exclaims before cathartically admitting she is “lost again above the clouds”.
Those used to the appealingly kooky and cutesy manner of COMPUTER MAGIC from ‘Been Waiting’ will be surprised by ‘Danz’. But this is a mature and more thoughtful Danz Johnson in action here. Reflecting the mood across the Atlantic, she is among those who are prepared to do some thinking at a time when ignorance appears to be the leading philosophy.
‘Danz’ is released by Channel 9 Records in digital formats worldwide, limited green vinyl LP edition is available from http://www.channel9records.com
The world found itself in a rather antagonistic and divisive state this year, as if none of the lessons from the 20th Century’s noted conflicts and stand-offs had been learnt.
Subtle political messages came with several releases; honorary Berliner Mark Reeder used the former divided city as symbolism to warn of the dangers of isolationism on his collaborative album ‘Mauerstadt’. Meanwhile noted Francophile Chris Payne issued the ELECTRONIC CIRCUS EP ‘Direct Lines’ with its poignant warning of nuclear apocalypse in its title song. The message was to unite and through music as one of the best platforms.
After a slow start to 2017, there was a bumper crop of new music from a number of established artists. NINE INCH NAILS and Gary Numan refound their mojo with their respective ‘Add Violence’ and ‘Savage (Songs From A Broken World)’ releases, with the latter recording his best body of work since his imperial heyday.
But the first quarter of the year was hamstrung by the anticipation for the 14th DEPECHE MODE long player ‘Spirit’, with other labels and artists aware that much of their potential audience’s hard earned disposable income was being directed towards the Basildon combo’s impending album and world tour. Yet again, reaction levels seemed strangely muted as ‘Spirit’ was another creative disappointment, despite its angry politicised demeanour.
Rumours abounded that the band cut the album’s scheduled recording sessions by 4 weeks. This inherent “that’ll do” attitude continued on the ‘Global Spirit’ jaunt when the band insulted their loyal audience by doing nothing more than plonking an arena show into a stadium for the summer outdoor leg.
Despite protestations from some Devotees of their dissatisfaction with this open-air presentation, they were content to be short-changed again as they excitedly flocked to the second set of European arena dates with the generally expressed excuse that “it will be so much better indoors”.
By this Autumn sojourn, only three songs from ‘Spirit’ were left in the set, thus indicating that the dire record had no longevity and was something of a lemon. Suspicions were finally confirmed at the ‘Mute: A Visual Document’ Q&A featuring Daniel Miller and Anton Corbijn, when the esteemed photographer and visual director confessed he did not like the album which he did the artwork for… see, it’s not just ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK 😉
Devotees are quick to say all criticism of DEPECHE MODE is unfair, but the band can’t help but make themselves easy targets time and time again. But why should the band care? The cash is coming, the cash is coming…
Luckily, veteran acts such as OMD and Alison Moyet saved the day. The Wirral lads demonstrated what the word spirit actually meant on their opus ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’, while the former class mate of Messrs Gore and Fletcher demonstrated what a soulful, blues-influenced electronic record should sound like with ‘Other’.
As Tony Hadley departed SPANDAU BALLET and Midge Ure got all ‘Orchestrated’ in the wake of ULTRAVOX’s demise, the ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ album directed by Rusty Egan, to which they contributed, became a physical reality in 2017.
Now if DM plonked an arena show into the world’s stadiums, KRAFTWERK put a huge show into a theatre. The publicity stunt of 2012, when Tate Modern’s online ticket system broke down due to demand for their eight album live residency, did its job when the Kling Klang Quartett sold out an extensive UK tour for their 3D concert spectacular.
No less impressive, SOULWAX wowed audiences with their spectacular percussion heavy ‘From Deewee’ show and gave a big lesson to DEPECHE MODE as to how to actually use live drums correctly within an electronic context.
Mute Artists were busy with releases from ERASURE, LAIBACH and ADULT. but it was GOLDFRAPP’s ‘Silver Eye’ that stole the show from that stable. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM returned after seven years with their ‘American Dream’ and it was worth the wait, with the most consistent and electronic record that James Murphy’s ensemble has delivered in their career.
To say Neil Arthur was prolific in 2017 would be an understatement as he released albums with BLANCMANGE and FADER while Benge, a co-conspirator on both records, worked with I SPEAK MACHINE to produce ‘Zombies 1985’ which was one of the best electronic albums of the year; and that was without the JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS stage play soundtrack ‘The Machines’.
Despite JAPAN having disbanded in 1982, solo instrumental releases from Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri were particularly well-received, while David Sylvian made a return of sorts, guesting on ‘Life Life’ for ‘async’, the first album from Ryuichi Sakamoto since recovering from his illness. On the more esoteric front, Brian Eno presented the thoughtful ambience of ‘Reflection’, while THE RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP had ‘Burials In Several Earths’.
2017 was a year that saw acts who were part of the sine wave of Synth Britannia but unable to sustain or attain mainstream success like BLUE ZOO, B-MOVIE, FIAT LUX and WHITE DOOR welcomed back as heroes, with their talent belatedly recognised. Germany had something of a renaissance as veterans Zeus B Held and ex-TANGERINE DREAM member Steve Schroyder came together in DREAM CONTROL as another TD offshoot QUAESCHNING & SCHNAUSS offered up some impressive ‘Synthwaves’, while there actually was a new TANGERINE DREAM album, their first without late founder member Edgar Froese.
The Swedish synth community again delivered with DAILY PLANET, PAGE, REIN, VANBOT, ANNA ÖBERG, 047 and LIZETTE LIZETTE all delivering fine bodies of work, although KITE were missed, with their German tour cancelled and release of their ‘VII’ EP postponed due to vocalist Nicklas Stenemo’s illness; ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK wishes him all the best in his recovery.
Across the Baltic Sea, Finnish producer Jori Hulkkonen released his 20th album ‘Don’t Believe In Happiness’ while nearby in Russia, a duo named VEiiLA showcased an unusual hybrid of techno, opera and synthpop and ROSEMARY LOVES A BLACKBERRY offered a ‘❤’.
One of the year’s discussion points was whether Synthwave was just synthpop dressed with sunglasses and neon signs but whatever, Stateside based Scots but Michael Oakley and FM-84 made a good impression with their retro-flavoured electronic tunes. It wasn’t all about the expats and in a territory as big as North America, there came a number of up-and-coming home grown electronic artists with LOST IN STARS, PARALLELS, PATTERN LANGUAGE, SPACEPRODIGI, COMPUTER MAGIC and BATTLE TAPES all gaining traction.
Canada’s PURITY RING infuriated some of their fanbase by working with KATY PERRY on three tracks for her album ‘Witness’. AESTHETIC PERFECTION’s new singles only policy was paying dividends and the Electro Mix of ‘Rhythm + Control’, which featured the promising newcomer NYXX, was one of the best tracks of 2017.
Female solo artists had strong presence in 2017 as FEVER RAY made an unexpected return, ZOLA JESUS produced her best work to date in ‘Okovi’ and Hannah Peel embarked on an ambitious synth / brass ‘Journey to Cassiopeia’. Meanwhile, SARAH P. asked ‘Who Am I’ and MARNIE found ‘Strange Words & Weird Wars’ as ANI GLASS and NINA both continued on their promising developmental path.
Respectively, Ireland and Scotland did their bit, with TINY MAGNETIC PETS and their aural mix of SAINT ETIENNE and KRAFTWERK successfully touring with OMD in support of their excellent second album ‘Deluxe/Debris’, while formed out of the ashes of ANALOG ANGEL, RAINLAND wowed audiences opening for ASSEMBLAGE 23. Other new(ish) acts making a positive impression this year included KNIGHT$, MOLINA, ANNEKA, SOFTWAVE, THE FRIXION and KALEIDA.
Despite getting a positive response, both iEUROPEAN and SOL FLARE parted ways while on the opposite side of the coin, Belgian passengers METROLAND celebrated five years in the business with the lavish ‘12×12’ boxed set
Overall in 2017, it was artists of a more mature disposition who held their heads high and delivered, as some newer acts went out of their way to test the patience of audiences by drowning them in sleep while coming over like TRAVIS on VSTs.
With dominance of media by the three major labels, recognition was tricky with new quality traditional synthpop not generally be championed by the mainstream press. With Spotify now 20% owned by those three majors, casual listeners to the Swedish streaming platform were literally told what to like, as with commercial radio playlists.
It is without doubt that streaming and downloading has created a far less knowledgeable music audience than in previous eras, so Rusty Egan’s recent online petition to request platforms to display songwriting and production credits was timely; credit where credit is due as they say…
While ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK does not dismiss Spotify totally and sees it as another tool, it should not be considered the be all and end all, in the same way vinyl is not the saviour of the music industry and in physics terms, cannot handle the same dynamic range as CD. Music is not as emotionally valued as it was before… that’s not being old and nostalgic, that is reality. It can still be enjoyed with or without a physical purchase, but for artists to be motivated to produce work that can connect and be treasured, that is another matter entirely.
However, many acts proved that with Bandcamp, the record company middle man can be eliminated. It is therefore up to the listener to be more astute, to make more effort and to make informed choices. And maybe that listener has to seek out reliable independent media for guidance.
However, as with the shake-up within the music industry over the last ten years, that can only be a good thing for the true synthpop enthusiast. And as it comes close to completing its 8th year on the web, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK maintains its position of not actually promoting new acts or supporting any scene, but merely to write about the music it likes and occasionally stuff it doesn’t… people can make their own mind up about whether to invest money or time in albums or gigs.
Yes, things ARE harder for the listener and the musician, but the effort is worthwhile 😉
SHOOK is a composer, producer and musician based in The Netherlands.
Real name Jasper Wijnands, vintage keyboards within his studio set-up include a Polymoog, Siel Orchestra, Yamaha DX7 and Roland Juno 60, while there is also more modern hardware like the Dave Smith Prophet 12 and Nord Electro 4.
His electronically tinged work is influenced by jazz, funk and anime soundtracks; this led him to be commissioned to remix Ellie Goulding’s ‘Lights’ in 2011 and JAMIROQUAI’s ‘Lifeline’ in 2013. Despite this, SHOOK’s most recent album ‘Continuum’ has captured a more moody virtuoso ambience, recalling AIR and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘async’ long player which was released earlier this year.
A key track from the ‘Continuum’ album, ‘Tidal’ has been accorded its own visual presentation directed by Anise Mariko of mikineko productions, who was responsible for the ‘Been Waiting’ video for COMPUTER MAGIC. Filmed by Sony Ambassador Ivan Wong, it is a picturesque travelogue capturing the essence of Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York.
With a musical backdrop of gentle marimba-like textures and soothing synths, cityscapes, malls and markets are captured alongside more serene gardens, forests and cultural focal points.
Mariko said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “We explored rooftops and alleys around the world. Shook has been hospitalized for the past year and is a dear friend of ours – We wanted to dedicate the freedom and beauty of this video to him”.
Wijnands was diagnosed with Pancreatitis in 2016, but is determined to continue making music as he makes his recovery. ‘Tidal’ is a fine projection of his positive spirit in the face of adversity.
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Mancunian producer Manzur Iqbal is the man behind FUTURECOP!
Canada is followed the US with the clever changes of texture on ‘Star’, which welcomes COMPUTER MAGIC. New Yorker Danielle Johnson, the sole brains behind COMPUTER MAGIC has made it “big in Japan” thanks to her ethereal approach to vintage pop, often described as “cosmic”. And here, with FUTURECOP! she enters the realms of the otherworldly once again.
PARALLELS return with the previously released single ‘Edge Of The Universe’.
Grandiose arpeggios, “perfectly planned”, canvas the fresh sounding vocals from the alluring London-based songstress.
is her possibly her darkest offering yet. The album’s best track is ‘Ordinary Life (Message From an A.I. Girlfriend)’.
EP possibly her best body of work yet. But now at last comes another 
long player which was released earlier this year.
album, ‘Tidal’ has been accorded its own visual presentation directed by Anise Mariko of mikineko productions, who was responsible for the ‘Been Waiting’ video for COMPUTER MAGIC. Filmed by Sony Ambassador Ivan Wong, it is a picturesque travelogue capturing the essence of Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York.
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