Founded in 1984, The Strongroom is a music community hub in London’s Shoreditch comprising of studios, rehearsal spaces and bars.
It was the location hosting for a special book reading event with Robert Görl reading from his memoir ‘The Voice That Dwells Within’ with his co-author Hanna Rollmann, although this remained oblivious to the polite security lady when asked about where the room was within the complex. Musical luminaries in attendance included Sarah Blackwood, Jonathan Barnbrook, Anıl Aykan and James Knights.
Robert Görl, together with the late Gabi Delgado, formed DEUTSCH AMERIKANISCHE FREUNDSCHAFT after meeting at the iconic Düsseldorf punk club Ratinger Hof; the pair pioneered what became known as Electronic Body Music, influencing a whole generation of bands including FRONT 242 and NITZER EBB.
Although originally a five piece band that also included at various points Kurt Dahlke, Michael Kemner, Wolfgang Spelmans and Chrislo Haas, the classic DAF duo incarnation of Görl and Delgado become reality thanks to the advent of affordable synth and sequencer technology from Japan. Armed with Korg’s MS-20 patchable semi-modular monophonic synth and SQ-10 three channel 12 step CV / Gate control sequencer alongside Görl’s powerful drums and Delgado’s provocative snarl, the combination provided a unique barrage of sound without the use of guitars.
DAF’s ‘Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen’ in 1980 was the first album released on Mute Records and the duo would go on to issue a trilogy of acclaimed albums ‘Alles Ist Gut’, ‘Gold Und Liebe’ and ‘Für Immer’ on Virgin Records all produced by the legendary Conny Plank. DAF then spilt for the first time in 1983. Görl returned to Mute Records and recorded the cult hit ‘Mit Dir’ ahead of his debut solo album ‘Night Full of Tension’ in 1984. He would reunite with Delgado in 1986 for their only album in English, the disco-oriented ‘1st Step to Heaven’ but DAF would become an on-off affair until Delgado’s untimely passing in 2020.
‘The Voice That Dwells Within’ begins in 1989 when Görl was involved in a serious car accident near Munich on a very cold night. His body is literally in pieces but as he slowly recovers and learns to move again, he has time to reflect on his life and future motivations…
The publication of the authorised ‘Das Ist DAF’ book in 2017 meant that Görl’s own autobiography was temporarily interrupted. But interest returned with Dr Hanna Rollmann, whose PhD thesis discussed “existence and transcendence” in the work of Søren Kierkegaard and Franz Kafka, entering the fray to help make sense of all his little paper pieces before interviewing her subject to complete the book.
Robert Görl and Hanna Rollmann make a wonderful partnership, with the glamorous academic acting as moderator to the esteemed musical pioneer, steering the interview about his career, giving prompts to the readings and providing the voice to the dream sequences of the book.
Despite the heavy atmosphere during some parts of ‘The Voice That Dwells Within’ reading, there were lighter moments too as Görl remembered his departed DAF brother Gabi Delgado. Although DAF emerged from the German punk scene, Delgado hated guitars and dismissed other bands reliance on them which he considered to be creative nothing more than old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. There was also a recollection of Delgado appearing in one of his dreams as Elvis complete with iconic quiff!
On his return to the reunified Germany from his Buddhist studies in 1992, it was the once-divided city of Berlin that Görl chose to make his new home, thanks to the emergence of the now famous Love Parade as a symbol of freedom, inclusion, tolerance and acceptance. To conclude the book reading event, Robert Görl gave an intimate performance of two DAF songs ‘Der Räuber Und Der Prinz’ and ‘Verlier Nicht Den Kopf’ before a touching emotive rendition of his brilliant first solo single and signature tune ‘Mit Dir’.
‘The Voice That Dwells Within’ is not a standard chronological autobiography. Through its story of Görl’s recovery, it takes an almost surreal impressionistic approach, coming over like a journal, as personal details and reminiscences pop up at unexpected moments.
One of those recollections comes when prior to their 1984 collaboration ‘Darling Don’t Leave Me’, Annie Lennox recommends that our hero takes singing lessons with her vocal coach Tona De Brett whose other clients ranged from Elizabeth Fraser, Rick Astley and Paul Young to Edwyn Collins, Ari Up and John Lydon! Being made to repeat the phrase “red lorry, yellow lorry” for over an hour while practising octave changes and observing the vowel shapes in his mouth proves to be liberating. But it also provokes amusement that other less likely characters may have had to do the same thing…
The ultimate lesson from Robert Görl’s life story is that contentment and well-being is not from fame and fortune but from a wider sense of acceptance and salvation.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Robert Görl, Hanna Rollmann and Simon Helm of Cold War Night Life
Robert Görl co-founded DEUTSCH AMERIKANISCHE FREUNDSCHAFT with the late Gabi Delgado after meeting at the iconic Düsseldorf punk club Ratinger Hof.
With Görl’s powerful drums and electronics alongside Delgago’s provocative snarl, DAF became the Godfathers of Electronic Body Music. They were the first act to be released in full length album form on Mute Records with ‘Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen’ in 1980. Görl and Delgado would go on to sign to Virgin Records and issue a trilogy of acclaimed albums ‘Alles Ist Gut’, ‘Gold Und Liebe’ and ‘Für Immer’ all produced by the legendary Conny Plank.
When DAF spilt for the first time in 1983, Robert Görl returned to Mute Records and recorded the cult hit ‘Mit Dir’ ahead of his debut solo album ‘Night Full of Tension’ in 1984 which featured Annie Lennox on guest vocals. While the DAF ‘Brothers’ reunited to release their only album in English ‘1st Step to Heaven’ to showcase a new electronic disco direction in 1986, the duo would be on-off affair over the next 36 years, remaining together long enough to release ‘Fünfzehn Neue DAF-Lieder’ in 2003 which saw a return to EBM, albeit driven by drum machine rather than Görl’s drumming.
After a new single ‘Sprache Der Liebe’ b/w ‘Ich Bin Nicht Da’ in 2017, there had been plans for another DAF album but the unexpected and untimely passing of Gabi Delgado in 2020 has left Görl as the sole keeper of the DAF flame. Now stepping out to the front accompanied by producer Sylvie Marks, 2021 saw the release of ‘Nur Noch Einer’ as the final DAF album constructed Görl from unused sequences written decades earlier.
Electronic culture zine Cold War Night Life will be a hosting a very special evening in London which will see welcome Robert Görl reading extracts from his autobiography ‘The Voice That Dwells’ with his co-author, Hanna Rollmann. The first official account of DAF and beyond available in English, there will also be a signing session afterwards.
Mit Robert mit liebe, he had a quick chat with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about ‘The Voice That Dwells Within’…
How did you decide that now was the right time for an autobiography?
I just found out on Facebook that my first post about my autobiography was 9 years ago. Back then I took some time out in Thailand and wrote there. I wrote a lot on pieces of paper and it was still pretty disorganized. A few years later I spoke to Gabi Delgado about a DAF biography. Suddenly there was an inquiry and a publisher was also interested. I interrupted my work on my autobiography for this DAF biography. A few years after the publication of the DAF book, interest in my autobiography returned. I wanted Hanna Rollmann as an author, and that worked.
In what ways does ‘The Voice That Dwells Within’ differ from the ‘Das Ist DAF’ book?
The book ‘Das Ist DAF’ is a book about the DAF Story.
The book ‘The Voice That Dwells Within’ is a book about my personal story.
How was the partnership process with Hanna in writing the book?
I gave Hanna all my little paper pieces. The notes I made. And then Hanna interviewed me for a few weeks. In her writing process, she always had some more questions for me to answer.
Has Gabi’s passing made you rethink your life and artistic motivations?
I didn’t have to rethink my life. I’ve thought a lot about our long friendship. About all our ups and downs within our band process. I had no interest in looking for a Gabi replacement. I felt lonely, but I wanted to continue my lifelong project. During this time I met Sylvie Marks. She helped me with that. And I’ve been working with her ever since to continue DAF.
You had stared mortality in the face after your car accident in 1989 and you studied Buddhism afterwards. Has your faith continued to help you through all these difficult events over the last few years?
My serious car accident in 1989 threw me into my Buddha world that I value and care for very much. And that helps me in a wonderful way.
How do you look back on the recording and release of ‘Nur Noch Einer’ in tribute to Gabi?
I think it’s a very intense album. Our planned DAF album – yes, it was already planned by Gabi and me. Gabi died 6 weeks before we wanted to start recording. So I did it without Gabi. “NUR NOCH EINER” – very DAF, provocative. Co-produced by Sylvie Marks.
Photo by Krichan Wihlborg
You have been continuing the legacy of DAF with live shows, how has the reception been from fans?
I am doing DAF Shows now with Sylvie Marks. A female touch in DAF. I think Gabi likes that. And the audience like it very much, as you can see. Check it out – it’s great.
What is next for you?
New tracks and hopefully some more wonderful time on stage.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Robert Görl
‘The Voice That Dwells Within’ with Robert Görl and Hanna Rollmann takes place at The Strongroom, Curtain Road, London EC2A 3SQ on Saturday 27 January 2024 from 19:00, the event will include a special DJ set by Sarah Blackwood – Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/3532951690286906/
Berlin-based musician and DJ Luca Venezia, better known as CURSES, presents ‘Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX’, his second curated compilation exploring the darker side of club music though the decades. The first volume had been a lockdown inspired exploration of his own record collection.
Released by Eskimo Recordings and featuring 49 tracks, the music is split into three distinct chapters with more than half being previously unreleased; “Many of these songs come from friends close of mine, or artists I perform with and tour with a lot, whose music and craft I admire and champion.” Luca Venezia told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the set, “We are all making a very niche style of music, and everyone is approaching it in their own unique way, it is only natural we migrate to be friends and share the stage together… like a primal instinct.”
Conceived with his ideal night out in mind, compiling such an compilation was not without its headaches; “Fortunately with the help of Eskimo and N.E.W.S., the licensing team are an absolute powerhouse” recalled Venezia, “It wasn’t easy, especially the older material, like Malcolm McLaren’s ‘Madame Butterfly’… and yes, there was SO much music I wanted but couldn’t get the rights to. Not because the artists said no, but because it was impossible to find WHO owned the rights now. Members in bands split up, some pass away, some vanish… it’s a puzzle at times to license the 80s underground electronic gems”.
Chapter 1 contains the pioneering acts of the past that were occasionally signed to major labels and even flirted with the mainstream pop charts. The set opens with ‘Distant Dreams Pt 2’, a wonderful suitably obscure 1980 B-side from THROBBING GRISTLE, while another lesser known gem comes from BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE with ‘The Big V’, the instrumental variant of the 1986 single ‘V. Thirteen’.
The first name likely to be recalled when dark club music comes to mind, especially to Taylor Swift fans, are CABARET VOLTAIRE and they fit like a glove on this compendium with ‘Blue Heat’ from ‘Micro-Phonies’, as do Dutch band CLAN OF XYMOX with ‘Obsession’, an excellent example of classic electro-goth disco.
Of course, NITZER EBB are present and correct with ‘Hearts & Minds’ while DAF stand firm with their declaration as ‘Brothers’ in their appealing but less heralded English language disco phase.
Collecting superb tracks from various acclaimed cult acts, ‘The Murder Of Love’ by PROPAGANDA and the I Dream Of Jeanne Mix of ‘Modigliani (Lost In Your Eyes)’ by BOOK OF LOVE demonstrate how the developing digital technology enabled powerful sampled sounds effectively at the flick of a switch. However, best of all are former SOFT CELL backing singers VICIOUS PINK who really should have had a huge worldwide hit with the brilliant Tony Mansfield produced ‘Cccan’t You See’
Chapter 2 moves the night on starting with ‘Voloczny’, an unreleased song from back in day by BOYTRONIC towards the present with modern day electronic producers such as Jennifer Touch and Kris Baha. In a new 2023 version, THE KVB come over like THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN with synths on ‘Still Warm’ while YEARS OF DENIAL capture plenty of stark menace on ‘It Sucks.
Canadian wife-and-husband duo ESSAIE PAS provide enigmatic prose en Français over a cascade of pulsing synths on ‘Retox’ while Berlin-based trio DINA SUMMER update the gothic disco template on ‘Darkness’. Affirming the international cast of ‘Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX’, Spain’s DAME AREA go on a heavier industrial club excursion via ‘Buon Cittadino’ but on the opposite side of the coin and Atlantic, DESIRE offer enigmatic coyness on ‘Love Races On’ outside of their Italians Do It Better stable.
Chapter 3 is the part of the night you probably should go home but don’t… a wilder, harder and more aggressive energy is here if you so desire. There is naturally a Dark Remix of ‘Machina’ from BOY HARSHER with guest vocals by Mariana Saldaña. But utilising tense triplets and brassy melodramatic stabs, CURSES revamps J.W.B. HITS THE BEAT’s ‘Body On Body’. CURSES returns to remix NUOVO TESTAMENTO’s ‘Heartbeat’ and there is an enjoyable instrumental in ‘Non Fiction’ by SILENT SERVANT.
Two of the best tracks come via Australia; ‘Burning Eyes’ is a Hi-NRG romp with wispy voice ad-libs courtesy of NEU-ROMANCER and ZANIAS’ ‘Tryptamine Palace’ is a tremendous textural dance track. ANDI VS RANDOLPH & MORTIMER make their presence felt with big beats on ‘Formidable Truths’ while Michel Amato aka THE HACKER does not disappoint with the previously unreleased ‘Monopoly’. To end, Greek synth duo PARADOX OBSCUR make a beefy contribution in ‘Evo-Devo’ that recalls French art pop duo LES RITA MISOUKO.
On the spiritual and musical thread that helped make this cohesive collection, Luca Venezia surmised: “Every artist involved has their own personal and unique take on the timeless love affair between human and machine. All the music on ‘DEUX’ also embraces the punk and DIY raw energy of live music into electronic music; artists LIKE YEARS OF DENIAL, BOY HARSHER, NUOVO TESTAMENTO, NITZER EBB, BOYTRONIC and DINA SUMMER are all good examples of how the music is very personal, verse chorus verse song-based concert music, yet can also be DJ’d in a club at 4am in a dusty thriving warehouse rave.”
Music from the past and present can sit comfortably together in the same place and ‘Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX’ proves it.
With thanks to Luca Venezia and Mirren Thomson at Eclectica
While 1981 was the most important year in synth for its mainstream crossover, 1982 saw it consolidating its presence and finding itself intertwined into other genres.
A number of the school of 1981 such as OMD, KRAFTWERK and JAPAN were absent in album form during 1982 although they maintained a presence on the singles chart with KRAFTWERK getting a belated and well-deserved No1 for 1978’s ‘The Model’ while OMD scored the biggest single of the year in West Germany with ‘Maid Of Orleans’.
Meanwhile, JAPAN became chart regulars with re-issues from their previous label Ariola Hansa and their then-home Virgin Records, notching up a further six Top 40 singles including a pair of Top10s in ‘Ghosts’ and an understated 1980 cover of Smokey Robinson’s ‘I Second That Emotion’, but the band split by the end of the year after a world tour.
It was very much a year much of the past catching up with the present with THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s original 1978 Fast Version of ‘Being Boiled’ reaching No6 on the back of a reissue under licence to EMI while ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ reached No1 in America, just as a remix collection ‘Love & Dancing’ maintained the band’s profile back home.
Taking a leaf out of THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s book, SOFT CELL revealed what they had been doing while clubbing in New York with the remix EP ‘Non-Stop Ecstatic’ and although it didn’t hit the heights of the Sheffield combo, Marc Almond and Dave Ball continued propping up the Top3 of the UK singles chart with ‘Torch’ and ‘What’.
In their album chart absence came new acts like YAZOO, TALK TALK, BLANCMANGE, CHINA CRISIS, BERLIN and RATIONAL YOUTH as those who had made their wider breakthroughs in 1981 such as DURAN DURAN, ABC, ASSOCIATES and SIMPLE MINDS swooped in. Meanwhile as DEPECHE MODE were soldiering on, NEW ORDER found a new electronic direction on the standalone single ‘Temptation’.
Despite all this, signs of a synth backlash were coming to a head and there were those who didn’t consider the use of synthesizers as real music. Songwriters like Elvis Costello and Ian Dury publicly declared their dislike of acts who used synths while the Musicians Union tabled a motion in May 1982 to ban synthesizers from recording and live performance.
Tensions had been brewing for a while; when HEAVEN 17 performed on ‘Top Of the Pops’ for the first time in 1981 with ‘Play To Win’, singer Glenn Gregory remembered how the heavily unionised show, where MU membership was compulsory, refused to let Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh perform behind synths, insisting that they used a guitar and glockenspiel instead! There were plenty of misconceptions about the latest technology as Andy McCluskey of OMD said on ‘Synth Britannia’ in 2009: “The number of people who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you: ‘well anybody can do it with the equipment you’ve got!’ “F*** OFF!!”
But with the best selling UK single of 1982 being the more traditional ‘C’mon Eileen’ by DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS, the public were perhaps tiring of the sound of synth and with this in mind, things were never quite the same again. In alphabetical order with the restriction of one album per artist moniker, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK lists 20 albums that contributed to the electronic legacy of 1982.
ABC The Lexicon Of Love
ABC wanted to be a far more technically polished pop proposition so approached Trevor Horn to produce their debut album ‘The Lexicon Of Love’. The first fruit of labours was ‘Poison Arrow’ which was augmented by some dramatic piano passages from Anne Dudley who also added strings to the smooth electronic funk of ‘The Look Of Love’ and the ballad ‘All Of My Heart’. Meanwhile, Horn planted the seed of the FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD sound on ‘Date Stamp’.
ASSOCIATES were a majestic and outlandish new pop take on Weimar cabaret. Produced by Mike Hedges, ‘Sulk’ was a kaleidoscopic triumph. Featuring reworked versions of ‘Party Fears Two’ and ‘Club Country’, the chromatic overtures of ‘Skipping’ to the evocative drama of ‘No’, the music had the basis for being more accessible, but was still inventive with the brilliant ‘It’s Better This Way’ art and pop in perfect unison.
Inspired by ULTRAVOX and KRAFTWERK, BERLIN’s independent mini-LP ‘Pleasure Victim’ was one of the first occasions of an American pop act embracing the synthesizer which had changed the face of music in Europe, exemplified by brilliant songs such as ‘The Metro’ and ‘Masquerade’ with their motorik drum machines and Teutonic pulses. It led to a deal with Geffen Records and notoriety with the deviantly fuelled breakthrough single ‘Sex (I’m A…)’.
With blistering Linn Drum and elastic synth bass, the aggressive ‘I Can’t Explain’ opened ‘Happy Families’ and set the scene for an impressive debut album from BLANCMANGE. ‘Feel Me’ crossed TALKING HEADS and JOY DIVISION while the haunting melancholy of ‘I’ve Seen The Word’ fused the sombre lyricism of the latter with textures of OMD. Featuring tablas and sitar, breakthrough hit ‘Living On The Ceiling’ headed to towards mystical East.
CHINA CRISIS Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It’s Fun To Entertain
Of CHINA CRISIS’ debut, Gary Daly said: “I love all the songs, I love the way Ed and me from the off were not a ‘band’ and we made the most of every musician who contributed to our songs”. Making use of four producers, the songs ranged from the tribal mantras of ‘African & White’ to evocative ballads such as ‘Christian’, with catchy synthpop like ‘Some People I Know…’ and the ambient closer ‘Jean Walks In Fresh Fields’ part of a fine collection.
The last of the Conny Plank produced album trilogy, ‘Für Immer’ maintained the industrial standard of its predecessors and featured a re-recording of their 1980 Mute single ‘Kebab Träume’. Transformed into something much heavier, the controversial line “Deutschland, Deutschland, alles ist vorbei!” threw more wood onto the provocation bonfire. But despite the fame, all was not well within DAF with Gabi Delgado and Robert Görl falling out under a haze of sex, drugs and sequencer…
‘Für Immer’ is still available via Grönland Records
While Eric Radcliffe co-produced the first YAZOO album at Blackwing Studios on the night shift, during the day Daniel Miller worked with DEPECHE MODE on their second. With a catchy melodic theme, ‘Nothing To Fear’ made the most of Miller’s programming expertise to signal an optimistic future while ‘My Secret Garden’, ‘See You’ and ‘The Sun & The Rainfall’ utilised pretty ringing tones courtesy of the new PPG Wave 2. But ‘Leave In Silence’ pointed to darker climes.
For his intellectual approach to modern pop, Thomas Dolby adopted a boffin persona. ‘The Golden Age Of Wireless’ was a real ‘Boy’s Own’ adventure of an album featuring the singles ‘Airwaves’, ‘Radio Silence’ and the percussive ‘Europa & The Pirate Twins’ featuring XTC’s Andy Partridge on harmonica. The UK hit breakthrough came with the tremendous ‘Windpower’ which ended with a BBC shipping forecast from John Marsh.
On the Colin Thurston produced ‘Rio’ album with its iconic Patrick Nagel cover image, DURAN DURAN achieved the perfect balance between art and pop. “A dialogue between the ego and the alter-ego”, ‘New Religion’ captured a schizophrenic tension while ‘The Chauffeur’ threw in a drum machine, synths, treated piano and an ocarina alongside a closing monologue about insects. ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’, ‘Save A Prayer’ and the title song provided the hits… and no, ‘Rio’ is not about a girl!
Combining enough conventional rock guitar to have mainstream appeal with a spacey sheen from prominent synths, Liverpool’s A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS had winning formula to break America. Produced by Mike Howlett, their debut was a concept record about an alien invasion that featured ‘I Ran’, ‘Space Age Love Song’ and ‘Telecommunication’. Their greatest achievement was winning a Grammy for the album’s instrumental ‘DNA’.
“The most creative experience I’ve ever had in my life” was how THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s producer Martin Rushent described ‘Love & Dancing’, an album of remixes from ‘Dare’. Pre-sampling, the material was reworked using a multitude of effects with vocal stutters created by cutting up small portions of tape and splicing them together with the aid of his custom-made ruler. The dub laden barrage of ‘Do Or Die’ was a highlight, along with a largely instrumental ‘Don’t You Want Me’.
LUSTANS LAKEJER are the unga moderna trailblazers once described as Sweden’s answer to DURAN DURAN. Their third long player ‘En Plats I Solen’ was produced by Richard Barbieri of JAPAN while Mick Karn also played sax. One of the first pop albums is use an Emulator, it featured prominently on ‘Den Glöd Som Aldrig Dör’ and ‘Något Måste Brista’. An English version was later released as ‘A Place In The Sun’ with the band changing their name to VANITY FAIR.
After the downtempo nature of ‘Dance’, Gary Numan got more energetic again for ‘I Assassin’ but still under the spell of JAPAN, Numan brought in Pino Palladino to take over from Mick Karn on fretless bass which provided the dreamy focus next to crashing Linn Drum programming. Songs like ‘We Take Mystery’ (To Bed), ‘War Songs’ and ‘This Is My House’ were more rhythmical, signalling Numan’s desire to return to the live circuit having announced his retirement in 1981.
‘I Assassin’ is still available via Beggars Banquet
Montreal’s RATIONAL YOUTH comprised of Tracy Howe, Bill Vorn and Kevin Komoda; their debut album ‘Cold War Night Life’ captured the fraught tensions of two opposing ideologies and living under the spectre of Mutually Assured Destruction. A tense vision of young Poles in underground clubs under martial law was captured in ‘Saturdays In Silesia’, while observing “Checkpoint Charlie’s social climb”, there was the possibility of ‘Dancing On The Berlin Wall’.
Following ‘Sons & Fascination’, SIMPLE MINDS lost their intensity and recorded a magnificent album filled with pretty synthesized melodies, effected textural guitar and driving lead bass runs. The titles like ‘Someone Somewhere In Summertime’, ‘Colours Fly & Catherine Wheel’ and ‘Hunter & The Hunted’ made investigation essential and the luckily, the music reflected that. The vocals were fairly low down in the mix to produce a wonderful wash of sound.
Being the main vocalist for YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA did not necessarily mean Takahashi-san was a great singer and it had a Marmite effect. With his solo albums of course, his voice took centre stage although on his fourth offering ‘What Me Worry?’, ‘This Strange Obsession’ written by Zaine Griff featuring vocals from the Kiwi and Ronny provided a highlights. Featuring Bill Nelson’s blistering E-bow, the frantic ‘It’s Gonna Work Out’ signalled where YMO were heading.
‘The Party’s Over’ was an impressive synth flavoured collection devoid of guitar that very much captured the sound of the era with its thundering Simmons drums and fretless bass. While very much of its time, it still retains much of its charm. Despite being generally glossed over in TALK TALK history, the album is an excellent under rated jewel that has aged well, thanks to the quality of its songs such as ‘Today’, ‘Talk Talk’, ‘It’s So Serious’, ‘Have You Heard The News’ and its epic title track.
For ‘Quartet’, ULTRAVOX worked with George Martin. The sound was brighter, more structured and stripped of the density that had characterised the albums with Conny Plank, coinciding with the use of more digital hardware like the PPG Wave 2.2 and Emulator. The catchy ‘Reap The Wild Wind’ opened proceedings with an immediacy that was less angular than before although ‘Hymn’, ‘Visions In Blue’, ‘Mine For Life’ and ‘The Song (We Go)’ provided some neo-classical pomp.
‘The Anvil’ is an underrated album of the period. There was still neu romance in songs such as ‘The Damned Don’t Cry’ and ‘Again We Love’ but influenced by the New York club scene, the title song offered heavy metronomic beat sans hi-hats in a soundtrack to hedonism. But VISAGE got the funk on ‘Night Train’, resulting in Midge Ure and Rusty Egan falling out over the drummer’s insistence that John Luongo remixes were needed for the US market, with the Glaswegian bidding adieu…
‘The Anvil’ is still available via Rubellan Remasters
Disillusioned by the pop circus, Vince Clarke departed DEPECHE MODE in late 1981 and formed YAZOO with Alison Moyet. ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ was a perfect union of passionate bluesy vocals and pristinely programmed synthpop. Songs such as ‘Only You, ‘Don’t Go’, ‘Tuesday’, ‘Midnight’, ‘Goodbye 70s’ and ‘Winter Kills’ set a high standard but while Clarke and Moyet eventually parted ways, the pair’s talent was apparent.
FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY are a band that continues to fly the flag for Industrial / EBM music as they release their 18th studio album ‘Mechanical Soul’.
The album features guest appearances from Jean-Luc De Meyer of electronic music veterans FRONT 242 and guitarist Dino Cazares from FEAR FACTORY. The turn of events of last year appear to have provided some excellent source material for the band, with titles such as ‘Purge’ and ‘New World’ appearing amongst the tracklist alluding to a very different future for the world that we live in.
The main discussion point re: album opener ‘Purge’ is in its similarity to the 2013 GESAFFELSTEIN track ‘Pursuit’; both feature an almost identical riff, but with the former one transposed up a couple of semitones. The musical DNA of DAF plainly runs through a track too which doesn’t especially evolve during its five minute duration, although the effects used on Bill Leeb’s vocals (including pitch shifting and Auto-Tune) help to keep the listener engaged.
‘Glass & Leather’ is far more successful and features a dramatic intro which eventually reveals a hooky distorted 303-ish sequencer riff and although this is repeated throughout the track, it provides a hypnotic soundbed allowing Leeb’s vocals to weave in and out of the piece. A 909 kick drum and open hi-hat drive ‘Glass & Leather’ to a mid-point breakdown with cut-up vocals before kicking back into the main riff again.
‘Unknown’ (which was released last year) is an album highlight and far more song-oriented with a hooky vocoder-driven chorus which musically recalls the band’s earlier sound on their ‘Tactical Neural Implant’ and ‘Caustic Grip’ albums. Also worthy of mention is the rather nifty post-apocalyptic promo video which goes with the track; featuring clips from the short Sci-Fi films ‘Sentinel’ & ‘Detroit, 2029’, they provide a perfect visual accompaniment to the song.
‘New World’ provides an early welcome change of pace, with a LFO-modulated synth riff and another vocodered Leeb vocal. Probably as close as one is going to get to a ballad from the act, the song is another highlight and showcases another side to the band with some superb monophonic synth programming throughout.
‘Stifle’ featuring guitar from Dino Cazeres has more of an early NINE INCH NAILS aesthetic and could easily have appeared on ‘Pretty Hate Machine’, whilst ‘Barbarians’ features the immediately recognisable vocals of FRONT 242’s Jean-Luc de Meyer over a slightly glitchy re-programmed ‘When the Levee Breaks’ style drum break. The latter features an undeniably epic chorus, with synth pads and a PWM bass synth part underpinning de Meyer’s “hail the barbarians” hook; again, this is another track to return to for repeated listening…
‘Komm, Stirbt Mit Mir’ (wonderfully translated as ‘Come Die With Me’) is not unlike an EBM RAMMSTEIN remix and features some intricate little synth interjections and a doomy underpinning string part which evokes the intro to FAITHLESS’s ‘Insomnia’. The album concludes with an actual remix of ‘Hatevol’ provided by BLACK ASTEROID who feature producer Brian Black.
Black is best known for being one half of MOTOR who worked with Martin Gore, Gary Numan and Douglas McCarthy on the 2012 album ‘Man Made Machine’. ‘Hatevol’ comes across as a bit of a ‘bonus track’, not surprising as it originally featured on the last FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY album ‘Wake Up the Coma’.
Although Industrial / EBM style music is not every synth-lovers musical cup of tea, there is plenty to enjoy here for those not versed in the genre. It’s very easy to pigeonhole work like this as being overtly ‘shouty’ and lacking in melody, but ‘Mechanical Soul’ is a fine example of a band that has stuck to their principals and is continuing to deliver quality product… highly recommended.
‘Mechanical Soul’ features the following instruments: Elektron Analog Rytm Mk2, Studio Electronics Omega 8, Roland Alpha Juno 2, Mutable Instruments Shruthi, Waldorf Pulse+, Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas, Ormsby DC7, Moog Model 15 reissue, Mutable Instruments Clouds, Waldorf Q+, Doepfer A100
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