Tag: Gary Numan (Page 14 of 20)

SYNTH.NU Interviews ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK

23 March 2016 /

synth.nu is a long established Swedish language web publication that covers a broad spectrum of electronic music.

Founded in March 2004, synth.nu follows an ethos that covers both new and established acts. With a team of contributors, their mission statement is “We make reviews, interviews and live reviews in synth / electronic music from all over the world” be it “synth, electronica, EBM, industrial, wave, darkwave and stuff that applies”.

With Sweden being the epicentre of modern electronic music, synth.nu are suitably positioned to report on what is an highly vibrant and creative scene. As kindred spirits following their passion for electronic music, it was only natural that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK and synth.nu would eventually get together and have rather a lot to talk about.

Following a first meeting at the Electronic Summer 2015 Festival in Gothenburg, Martin Brandhill from synth.nu chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK founder Chi Ming Lai for an interview feature that was originally published in the Swedish language at the synth.nu site on 16th March 2016…

When did you start to like electronic music and become fascinated by this music genre?

My very liberal and Bohemian junior school teacher played KRAFTWERK’s ‘Autobahn’ and the soundtrack of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ to us all in class and the sound of both was unusual, yet captivating. It wasn’t until later that I got into synthesizer music properly first through Gary Numan, then Jean-Michel Jarre and OMD before moving onto ULTRAVOX, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, JAPAN, SOFT CELL, DEPECHE MODE, HEAVEN 17,  SIMPLE MINDS and John Foxx

As I got older, I caught up with the influential acts of the past like Brian Eno, David Bowie, ROXY MUSIC, TANGERINE DREAM, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF.

How and why did you start the electronic music website ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK back in 2010? Were there not any electronic music websites prior to that, who supported the electronic music scene in UK?

The main motivation to do ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK came from my disgust at classic synthpop being lumped in with the so-called 80s revival.

I hated how OMD and DEPECHE MODE were being associated with T’PAU, SWING OUT SISTER and LIVING IN A BOX! Everyone wanted to remember the 80s whereas I didn’t, so there was a definite reaction to the nostalgia industry that was starting to build. “Synthpop NOT 80s!” was my mantra! There are still people who should know better that don’t understand the difference! Incidentally, the writers are banned from using the term “80s” to describe the music in their articles 😉

I’d been writing music reviews since college, progressing from student newspapers to fanzines and then online media. There were a number of websites featuring acts I liked, but many focussed on just the 80s or particular bands. And then there were others that were only about dance music or new artists exclusively…

I wanted to somehow combine coverage of new and classic synth based pop, but away from dance music which to be honest, is something I generally loathe.

When ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK launched in March 2010, LITTLE BOOTS, LA ROUX, LADYHAWKE and LADY GAGA had been hailed as the next big things. And with their synth dressed credentials, I embraced them… but it turned out to be a false dawn. Luckily though, just as The L-Word Foursome started disassociating themselves from the whole synthpop thing, MIRRORS, HURTS, VILLA NAH and VILE ELECTRODES emerged and sat nicely with classic acts such as VISAGE, OMD, HEAVEN 17, ULTRAVOX, THE ART OF NOISE and PROPAGANDA who ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK featured in that first year.

What is the main goal that you want to achieve with the website?

You could nickname it ‘Now That’s What Chi & Friends Call Music’ 😉

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is about electronic pop music with roots to Synth Britannia; that was a great BBC documentary about the post-punk UK synth movement. It featured GARY NUMAN, OMD, DEPECHE MODE, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, JOHN FOXX, NEW ORDER, PET SHOP BOYS, SOFT CELL, ULTRAVOX, YAZOO and CABARET VOLTAIRE.

However, the site was never just going to be about established acts, it was always the intention to feature newer ones. But the site launch didn’t take place until our interview with Paul Humphreys of OMD was completed, because having that was the best way to get people to look at the site. And it worked, because parts of the interview were later quoted in The Guardian newspaper in their article about OMD’s then new album ‘History Of Modern’.

So by attracting people who want to read about the acts they know and love, they might then stick around and have a look at the new artists featured who have been seeded from those same electronic pioneers. The act I have been most proud of featuring in the last five years has been VILE ELECTRODES.

Andy McCluskey read about them on the site and as a result, they ended up supporting OMD on their 2013 German tour and winning awards too. And they recently did a live session for BBC Introducing. It’s a great upward trajectory they are on right now. They’re a fine example as to what can be achieved by an independent synthesizer act in this day and age.

Which philosophy does the website follow with writing new reviews, interviews or articles in general?

The heart of the site is properly written features, not buzz blogging. I don’t like the whole “this is a song, now here’s another…” approach that other websites indulge in. People of a certain adult demographic just haven’t got the time or inclination to go through 10-15 new acts each week; they want to know which band you think is the best and why they should spend money or invest an hour of their time for them.

That is why the articles have easy-to-understand musical references, trivia and critique. It’s my style and always has been since I started writing about music as a student; I think you can tell if I am really into something when you read my text. It’s storytelling, rather than lecturing or trying to be cool. I’ve been told by friends in Europe that my style is easy to understand for people whose first language is not English.

If people connect with your ethos and enjoy what you write, then they will trust your opinion and return for more. But you need to maintain quality control. So ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has to be about what’s good, not what’s going on in The Scene. This is why the site doesn’t have many news bulletins. If people don’t like what the site features or its style of referencing, then that’s ok. They can always do their own blog as some have done. That’s great because then there’s another music platform. We have our choices.

What do I look for in a new act submission? A good song accompanied by a reasonable video with hopefully two or three other numbers of comparable quality. The video is important because it tests the commitment of the artist with regards their visual presentation, as well as their songwriting and production. I come from a generation where videos and sleeve artwork were important; so it’s not just about the music and bands need to be aware that.

I probably give a track about twenty seconds! I’m not after a song that I necessarily love on first hearing, it’s more about it being interesting enough to play on to the end and then, listen to again. People have sent me demos that go on for over eight minutes… that’s not a good idea even if it is your art!

The most clueless submission was a five song live gig video recorded at a kid’s birthday party and nothing happened for the first minute! I literally get hundreds of emails each month. There are complaints that we don’t reply or give feedback. But if we replied to each one, we would never get any articles done.

A fair few get deleted straight away, especially if the accompanying press release mentions “deep house”, “bangin’ techno”, “DJ”, “80s” or “shoegaze”, or the band photo has more than two members with a beard! I remember Neil Tennant once saying he knew THE KILLERS’ second album was never going to be as good as the first, because Brandon Flowers had grown a beard! *laughs*

Just because an act hasn’t been featured on ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK before, it doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future. The best example of that is Glasgow’s ANALOG ANGEL who I passed on in 2011. They were quite industrial back then, but changed direction and became more synthpop. So when they released ‘We Won’t Walk Away’ in 2013, I asked them for a video to feature on the site which they duly presented.

By the same token, just because an act has had coverage before doesn’t mean that their future releases will be featured. One artist demanded we remove a second video that we had on an article about them, so that it could be used for a future  review… hang on! There is a strange sense of entitlement from some artists which I find baffling. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is not a crowdfunded promotional service. *laughs*

Some people do take things rather personally if they’re not featured; one individual shouted abuse at me in a pub before a gig and stormed off, but he then proceeded to lie and tell everyone I was rude to THEM! It wasn’t as if ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had written a negative review… would they rather have that? Because there have been a few of those when appropriate as well!

But slagging ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK off on social media and to their friends is not the best way to gain favourable attention from us. The thing is, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is not the only platform covering electronic music… other blogs ARE available.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has existed now for over five years. Has it been lots of fun and an exciting journey when you are looking back at the development of the website and meeting lots of famous people in the electronic scene, since you started the website back in 2010?

It’s definitely been fun, it’s the reason why I am still doing it and would like to do it for a few more years yet 😉

Two interviews spring to mind as favourites and good examples of the site’s development. In 2011, I interviewed Stephen Morris from NEW ORDER. I was surprised ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s request was accepted, but we had a brilliant 70 minute chat. He said something about “Never say never” when it came to the future of NEW ORDER. Then a few months later, NEW ORDER announced they were returning, but without Hooky. So the site was inadvertently part of a subtle promotional campaign to rebuild the band’s profile before the news broke!

Our 2013 interview with GARY NUMAN was a significant one. In the past, we would lobby for a major interview, but probably end up NOT getting it, like DURAN DURAN or GRIMES. In 2011, we were only granted a short email Q&A with GARY NUMAN. But in 2013, the site had built up such a good reputation that Numan’s representatives got in touch and literally said “you’re interviewing GARY NUMAN at 6.00pm on Thursday!” – Numan was great and he wouldn’t stop talking, which was great for the eventual article!

Having been invited to meet both Karl Bartos and Wolfganng Flur, I’ve sort of got nowhere else to go now! It’s not every day you get to be photographed together with two KRAFTWERK legends. Is there anyone else I’d like to meet and interview? I guess Jean-Michel Jarre would be one. And I’ve never met or interviewed Vince Clarke either.

Has 2015 been a good or disappointing music year? Will we remember this year when we look back in a couple of years?

I think 2015 has been good, especially for veteran acts proving they can still do excellent music, be it JEAN-MICHEL JARRE, A-HA, JOHN FOXX or NEW ORDER. Age is not a barrier to creativity, although lack of motivation to challenge oneself artistically in later years might be… 2015 was certainly better than 2012, which I felt was a lacklustre year for electronic pop.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK appears to be very critical at times against synthpop legends DEPECHE MODE, why is that?

DEPECHE MODE can still do brilliant stuff, my favourite 21st Century songs are ‘Oh Well’, ‘I Feel Loved’, and the TRENTEMØLLER club mix of ‘Wrong’; I think from those three, you can work out how I prefer DEPECHE MODE to sound today. But personally, I am not keen on DEPECHE MODE’s modern day concert format which is more rock based and dominated by live drums; however, I need to clarify about why I’m so critical of them and in particular, Christian Eigner aka ‘The Drumhead’ 😉

Yes, Alan Wilder was a sticksman on the ‘Devotional’ tour but he wasn’t a drummer in a John Bonham sense, so he only played what was needed. Herr Eigner on the other hand is a traditional rock drummer, a role that has a very egocentric and bombastic mindset. So he fills every nook and cranny with drums, whether they really ought to be there or not, that’s the difference!

Now, did you know that THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Dare’ has no crash cymbals on it? That’s because the Linn LM1 Drum Computer used did not have enough chip memory to store such a sound. So the restrictions meant they had to be artistically inventive and think out of the box to nurture the dynamics of each song. The most recent example of a no crash cymbal policy has been CHVRCHES ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’.

The first five OMD albums have no crash cymbals either and I think you’ll find the majority of DEPECHE MODE recordings up to 1990 are the same. Do you see a pattern here? What I’m trying to say is, live drums and crash cymbals can be a bit of a rock ‘n’ roll cliché… the point about most good electronic pop music is that it is anti-rock ‘n’ roll *laughs*

The word is that it’s Dave Gahan who wants it everything to be overtly rockist, but I can’t think of anything more boring! He apparently refuses to sing over exclusively programmed rhythm tracks now.

Ironically though, it’s that rigid electronic percussion which helps give those truly great DEPECHE MODE songs that tension and soul.

It’s why the tribute band SPEAK & SPELL have their place on the live circuit as a recreation of that three synths and a tape machine era. The strange thing is that I’ve been accused of featuring and referencing DEPECHE MODE too often.

But on the opposite side of the coin, there are people who think I am very negative about DM… neither are true. But do I really enjoy DM gigs in the 21st Century? They have their moments on stage, but the last show I saw at Birmingham NEC in 2014 was terrible!

Are you not grateful for all the great music and achievements DEPECHE MODE has done for electronic music in the UK and for the genre in general?

To use an F1 analogy, DEPECHE MODE are Michael Schumacher from an achievement point of view. But personally, I find the gifted but flawed drivers like the late Ronnie Peterson who never became World Champion, or lively new talent such as Max Verstappen much more interesting. Well, that’s what I think, for what it’s worth 😉

I’m an armchair DEPECHE MODE fan from ‘Speak & Spell’ up to ‘Ultra’, as opposed to being a Devotee. My favourite album is ‘Violator’, while I have a lot of affection for ‘A Broken Frame’. I was in my early teens at the height of Synth Britannia, so when SOFT CELL, DEPECHE MODE and DURAN DURAN emerged, it was all very exciting.

But what you have to understand is that at the time, SOFT CELL were generally seen by people, including myself, as the better prospect. By the time DEPECHE MODE got darker on ‘Black Celebration’, I was at college and had started DJ-ing so was naturally inclined towards more danceable electronic acts like PET SHOP BOYS, NEW ORDER and ERASURE… in hindsight, you can see PSB are actually a smoothed out SOFT CELL! I was still keeping an eye on DM in 1987-1988, but effectively lost touch as I was doing my final examinations. So like many in the UK, when ‘101’ came out in 1989, I was like “what on earth has happened here?” *laughs*

I’ve been lucky enough to have interviewed Alan Wilder three times now and was honoured that the only interview he granted for the 25th anniversary of ‘101’ was with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. He’s always been very honest and forthright. I remember at the RECOIL film Q&A in London, one girl took exception to his answer to her question about BECK. “YOU ASKED ME FOR MY OPINION!” he retorted. Brilliant!

Like many, I still feel the missing artistic ingredient in today’s DEPECHE MODE is Mr Wilder. Yet, DM have got bigger in terms of their live audiences! So go figure *laughs*

In Sweden, there was a big discussion in many local synth / electronic music communities about the genre’s status. It started because of my discussion event ‘Är Synthen Död?’ (In English: Is The Synth Dead?) which I held in Gothenburg last December. The panel discussed if the genre was still vital and interesting to the youth of today and to old electronic music lovers here in Sweden; or more plainly dead, has no future and will become like Rockabilly music. What are your personal points of view on this subject, when you look at the UK scene?

There was a period in the UK when the dance scene and Britpop effectively killed off synthpop; this would have been 1994-1999. I never really liked acid house or club oriented music. Acts like LEFTFIELD, UNDERWORLD, THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS and ORBITAL did great singles, but they weren’t very song based and their albums left me underwhelmed, especially as the tracks often went on for far too long! And I wasn’t into the Industrial duff-duff shouting-in-German thing that was going on in Europe either!

But for me, there was a turning point for the synth in an avant pop context, and that came in 2000-2001 with LADYTRON, GOLDFRAPP and CLIENT. Because they had female vocalists, they also gave a fresh slant to the old Synth Britannia template. 

KYLIE MINOGUE’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ and SUGABABES ‘Freak Like Me’ were also significant; it’s fair to say quite a few people got into GARY NUMAN because of the latter! 

So synthpop effectively returned, if in a slightly different but still recognisable form. The period helped to shape the sort of music I enjoy listening to now, like MARSHEAUX, KID MOXIE, Hannah Peel and Gwenno. Unfortunately, although a lot of music is electronically based now, as PAGE’s Eddie Bengtsson said to me, classic synthpop appears to be a dying art.

A friend of mine, who is a video director, received a brief for a “contemporary electropop band”… but they were so contemporary, there was hardly any electropop in their music! The lines are getting too blurred and that’s not a good thing. Like this trio YEARS & YEARS that have been labelled a synthpop act by the mainstream press! Err, no! They are basically BROS with a housey beat!

CHVRCHES-2015-02

Luckily, the success of CHVRCHES has confirmed there is still an international market for synthpop. They have a broad appeal which connects with people who don’t necessarily know, or want to know, what a Minimoog Voyager is. Their songs could be covered by Taylor Swift and become massive hits. Acts like CHVRCHES are the key to younger musicians being influenced to make electronic pop music in the future.

Is the genre dead or alive in UK? Has it a bright future or will genre just have a few followers?

Things are quite strange in the UK… synth music is alive but slightly wounded in my opinion. There is also the weird phenomenon of promoters who don’t even really like electronic music, putting on electronic music events.

In my opinion, there’s big fish in a small pond syndrome going on, in that there’s a sub-culture of acts who just prop each other up and think just because they get a few plays on an internet radio station, they’re heading for the big time. But they are not as good as they like to think they are. Ok, everyone has to start somewhere and grow, but they need to show some humility and give themselves time to learn their craft.

It is important to support bands that are good, not just any band because they are electronic. The trouble is, the entry point to electronic music, podcasting and blogging is very low so if everything is of a mediocre standard, it misrepresents the genre and no-one actually has a quality bar they can work towards. Healthy competition is a good motivator.

mirrors

But when an act appears out of nowhere and has the potential to break into the mainstream like LA ROUX, MIRRORS or CHVRCHES, The Scene doesn’t like it and turns on them. The lack of recognition for MIRRORS still bothers me, I really miss them and it’s a shame that they didn’t stick together having delivered one brilliant album and a bunch of fabulous B-sides. People have caught onto them since retrospectively, but it’s a bit too late and now we’re stuck with average bands that go on and on and on!

As far as the UK is concerned, the most promising beacon of light for electronic pop is EAST INDIA YOUTH; he’s a bit like a one-man MIRRORS and it will be interesting to see how he progresses. There’s also Rodney Cromwell who is a bit more unorthodox and whose music I like very much. As they’re both solo acts, they can’t split up!

Photo by Madeleine Berg

Will we see more unusual electronic music countries or trends that will rise and get more attention, instead of the traditional electronic music countries like the UK and Germany? I was thinking about the rising profile over the past few years for electronic music coming from, for example Canada, Australia, South Africa and even from my native country Sweden?

My favourite new act at the moment is KITE from Sweden. They have a melancholic, majestic sound that I love. To me, Sweden is the modern hub of electronic pop and has been for several years. When I visited Gothenburg for the 2015 Electronic Summer Festival, I was very impressed by the Swedish passion for electronic music; it appeared a lot more honest than in the UK and I really felt at home. It’s not just Sweden though, the Nordic region has been producing electronic acts of a very high standard, particularly Norway and Finland. VILLA NAH came from Helsinki and although they appear to be no more, they have at least morphed into SIN COS TAN who are really good.

North America is proving to be one area of growth for electronic music, with Canada being the most creative with acts like TR/ST, AUSTRA, GRIMES, PURITY RING and ELECTRIC YOUTH; but don’t forget the country has a cult tradition dating back to RATIONAL YOUTH and PSYCHE. The USA has some great acts too like SOFT METALS, NIGHT CLUB, FEATHERS and HYPERBUBBLE.

Germany is making a return, although to my ears, much of the new music coming from there is derivative, although of a good standard. But the emergent nation in electronic music appears to be China with Fifi Rong and QUIETER THAN SPIDERS being two of its most notable acts. I am pleased that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK features acts from all around the world, and does not base itself around a single scene, city or country.

What are your expectations and hopes for electronic music in 2016?

I have learnt over the years to be quietly optimistic and not to have too many expectations… I always think it’s quite funny when bloggers announce that an album is “going to be brilliant” when they haven’t actually heard it yet, and then after its release, go “oh, actually, it’s not very good…” *laughs*

Obviously, I hope there is going to be lots of new high quality synthpop in 2016… if there isn’t, then the site will focus on being more retrospective, like with those career spanning Beginner’s Guides listings which we do and have become quite popular with readers. It’s a way of showcasing how good things have been in the past, so that new acts know what to aspire to.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK will not just feature sub-standard output just because it’s electronic. There’s a lot of new music out there, but it needs to stand the test of repeated listening; only time can tell if you were right or wrong… and we  got it wrong with a few acts that were featured in 2012 😉

People say to me the site should cover other forms of electronic music like dubstep and more leftfield sub-genres but frankly, I’m not interested… I know what I like and I’m happy to stand by it. When I was in Gothenburg, Alexander Hofman from S.P.O.C.K complimented me on the fact that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK focusses on pop. As OMD once sang “It’s my direction, it’s my proposal…”

Speaking of whom, OMD have a new album pencilled in. I remember there was great anticipation about the comeback album ‘History Of Modern’ back in 2010, yet it turned out to be a major disappointment. So when it came to ‘English Electric’ in 2013, I expected nothing, but it was their best album for 30 years! I would like there to be another great OMD album, but I will not be too upset if it doesn’t happen. I got the album I’d been waiting for since 1984 with ‘English Electric’, so as far as I am concerned now, OMD have nothing left to prove.

On the other hand, DEPECHE MODE have plenty to prove again; they really need to take a leaf out of OMD’s book and regain some of that artistic high ground. But the thing is, OMD brought back their Alan Wilder ie Paul Humphreys and let him take control of the production reins; the end result of ‘English Electric’ speaks for itself 😉

This interview was originally published in Swedish at http://synth.nu/

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Interview by Martin Brandhill with thanks to synth.nu
23rd March 2016

GARY NUMAN Interview

28 January 2016 /

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

Following the success of his last album ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’, Gary Numan is taking a different approach for his next long playing project.

Using Pledge Music, fans are able to pre-order the album in a variety of formats while also having access to news, recording updates and opportunities to purchase personalised memorabilia. These items range from hand written lyric sheets and signed event wrist bands to instruments that have been used on Numan’s previous recordings; a signed Gibson SG guitar has already been snapped-up.

Pledge Music was launched in 2009 and has been successfully used by a number of notable acts such as IAMX, ERASURE, OMD, CHINA CRISIS and DE/VISION to connect to their fanbase during the realisation of a new project. The campaign acts as both a crowdfunding platform and a guided promotional tool.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK spent an enjoyable hour chatting to Gary Numan about why he has chosen to go the Pledge Music route, what fans can expect if they choose to pledge and how the collaboration process has changed for musicians over the years…

Photo by Steve Gray

Why use Pledge Music?

For me, it’s first of all trying to find an alternative way of releasing albums, at least in the early stages; secondly, it’s trying to involve the fans to connect to it a bit more. While I have been doing these Meet ‘N’ Greet things at the gigs, I’ve been talking to people about what they think and how they feel about records. It struck me was how fans, for all of their interest and knowledge, they’re not really aware of the emotional side and the struggles that you have to make an album. A lot of people think you go into a studio, write some songs and it’s not a big deal, some people do good ones while others are doing not so good ones.

There was a childish thing in me that went “I wish you knew how difficult I find this!”… you’re not sleeping for months because you’re worried about it and these rollercoasters of fighting your own demons and confidence issues! I wanted people to be a little bit more aware of that.

I went through the whole ‘Splinter’ process with distribution, label services and various things that you do as an independent artist and I’m trying to find better ways of doing that. It seemed to me, there are still a number of layers of business, even as an independent, between you and the fans.

Each layer takes a percentage, and before you know it, the record stores or Apple are still making the bulk of the money. I was thinking, with all this social media and new web technology, there must be a better way of doing this. With each layer, there’s always an amount of dilution going on along the route. So Pledge Music gives you a more direct connection with the fan, it’s cutting out all these people in the middle as much as you can. And if fans were more aware of what went on with the album, I am hoping when they stick it on, they will feel more connected to it and part of the process.

On the last album for example, ‘Here In The Black’ had 7 or 8 different choruses we tried, it wouldn’t work and we’d go back and start again until it became what it was… which strangely, was the first chorus we ever did for it! So I thought it would be great if fans could have seen that and the anguish we went through to get that song to work. For me as a fan of other people, I would love to be aware of all that.

Pledge Music has worked really well with your friend Chris Corner aka IAMX for two albums now…

Yes! Chris lived with us until he started the ‘Metanoia’ tour so every night, we’d be out in the garden talking about a thousand and one things, and one of those things was Pledge. It was Chris’ enthusiasm for it that really did swing me with Pledge rather than anybody else and to go that way at all.

IAMX have done it brilliantly and Chris was really helpful in things to avoid or be careful of, because it’s very easy to be caught up in the enthusiasm of it and proffering all kinds of things that in a year’s time, you’re going to wish you’d never done. There’s a bit of a misunderstanding with Pledge Music, it’s seen by some people as crowdfunding, which it is partly, but there’s a lot of us who are using it for different purposes. I’m not crowdfunding as such, I can make an album without that.

I have to say Pledge themselves are amazing, you couldn’t wish to be dealing with a more efficient and professional company who are genuinely enthusiastic about music. And also, they genuinely do care about the people who Pledge. It’s been a fantastic experience, I’ve got to say. It’s working very well for me. I think the fans are loving it, but there’s always going to be a few… one person complained that I added something after it started…

…that’s what it’s all about isn’t it???

EXACTLY! He was moaning about the very thing it’s meant to be there for! But 99% are raving about it. It’s got a long way to go yet but hopefully, we can continue to run it in a way that the fans enjoy and it continues to work for me.

Photo by Steve Gray

I guess Pledge allows you to target those who are interested during the recording, rather than having it hang wholly in that random fashion that traditional promotion dictates when the album is released?

Absolutely! You can spend a great deal of money taking up ads here, there and everywhere, and if 1 in 100 are even interested, you’re doing well. And if 1 in 100 of those actually bother to listen to the record, then you’re doing REALLY well! Your return for the amount of money you spend is very poor to be honest.

Even before Pledge and people like that came along, a lot of people were beginning to abandon conventional promotion and thinking of other ways of trying to go about it.

Social media has been amazing for that. But people like Pledge have seen a real need for targeted promotion, and it really does work. The amount of money I’ve spent on promoting Pledge is a tiny fraction of what I would have spent normally, and yet I’m getting perhaps one hundred times the return in terms of actually reaching the people who are interested, than what I would have done with conventional promotion.

What can those who have not yet Pledged, but are interested in doing so, expect if they come aboard?

I haven’t progressed it anywhere near what I should have done, so if they come into it now for example, they will see pretty much what everyone else will, as I haven’t got that far which is a bummer! *laughs*

The problem is I’ve been managing myself in the last 6-7 months, and it’s a huge amount of work to do. I’ve never done it before, so it’s been a very steep learning curve. I’ve got a number of other things happening as well like a new live album and DVD coming out, a triple boxed set of stuff and some classic album shows, plus 5 or 6 collaboration projects that have happened in the last few months. The studio has been really busy, but only some of it has been with the new album. It’s the way life works out sometimes!

What I do is when I’m working in the studio, I have a Go-Pro camera set up and that runs for a few hours, then I download what I’ve filmed. Work in the studio as a spectator sport, is largely very boring… you sit there for 2 or 3 hours listening to snare drums! For me, it’s interesting but for someone else… so I try to edit those moments when something IS happening, put that together with a little bit of talking to explain what’s going on and release that as a Pledge update. Sometimes they’re short, but sometimes they’re a bit longer. That side of it will get better once I can really get stuck in.

I want to do a decent length update once a week. I want people to see it isn’t easy and see me get upset, having a f***ing tantrum because it’s just not coming together, because it happens all the time! I want them to see me depressed because I haven’t had a good idea for 2 weeks and that I’m scared I might not find something.

This is part of every album I’ve made. I’m sure I behave in a very childish way when I’m in the studio. I hope as this year unfolds, all of these things will be there, the good bits, the bad bits, the childish bits and hopefully, clever bits and flashes of genius when you come up with something really good… because that happens once in a while *laughs*

The truth is, in the few clips that I’ve done, when you have something that you know isn’t good enough but is a building block along the way, when you have that and you’re going to put that out to people, that’s a bit weird and I’m finding that very uncomfortable. I do try to say “it probably won’t be like this” but people have still yet to fully grasp this, I have to say. You get people going “yeah, it’s not good enough”… I KNOW! They’re criticising you for something you’ve just said isn’t the finished thing! *laughs*

Photo by Steve Gray

I’ve found over the years your fans do give you a hard time…

Yes, some of them can do! And then, the others start defending you and this thing which is meant to be an enjoyable process becomes this horrible fight. I’m really disappointed about that side of it. I really did hope, and it’s a childish hope, this would be nicer, but you just can’t get away from it. I swear blind, if you put something out to 5 of your best fans, one of them would kick up and the other 4 would start at them, and before you know it, you’re sitting on the corner listening to these 5 people arguing about you. That’s what this is like a bit!

I hope things flare-up very rarely, but I think it’s just a part of dealing with people. There are fans out there who really do think they know what I should be doing, and really think they could have done it better. And there are others who think the sun shines out of my ar*e and nobody can say anything bad about me! I’d like to lose both ends of that if possible because they’re both wrong.

In the middle are your more rational people that simply enjoy listening to the process and think that I’m alright but not perfect… and I’m absolutely cool with all that, because that’s the truth of it. I hope that the people who are negative will drop out along the way, so those who are overly positive won’t need to say anything and we’ll have this more reasonable enjoyable process left in the middle.

Quite a few of your old synths and guitars have attracted interest from fans…

Oh, I got slagged for that, with people saying I was asking for too much money! No I’m not! These are very rare things for the simple fact that they’ve been used by me! Some of them are just rare because they are! These are very important instruments as far as musical history is concerned. I had some bloke writing in saying “I could have got that much cheaper on eBay”! Really? Something signed by me that was used on ‘Replicas’? You can get that on eBay for £70? Well, go and do it then! *laughs*

People actually forget this is how I earn a living, from selling things to people that like what I do. Some fans seem to see that as the mark of Satan. I sell music, I sell tickets, I only sell things to people that want them and who are interested in them because of who I am. I have become a person of interest to a small number of people and that’s how I earn my living. It’s not mercenary or ruthless in any way at all. I do try to find things that I think fans would love. I do it from a very simple point of view… I am a fan of other people. As a kid, I was a massive fan of T-REX and various people over the years, so if I could have Marc Bolan’s jacket or his guitar strap or his watch, anything, I would have bent over backwards because I would have loved it.

My wife is a massive Marilyn Monroe fan and I was looking at trying to buy her a Marilyn Monroe autograph. You can get them, they’re a couple of grand but they’re out there and they’re verified. Now I don’t think £2000-£3000 for a Marilyn Monroe autograph is that big a deal when it would mean the world to my wife; if you are a fan of someone special like that, these things are worth a lot of money but they make people very happy. People want these things. All I’m doing is that, but at a much, much lower level.

Photo by Richard Price

I saw you had a Roland System 100 which I never knew you had and I remember this story about you buying all these synths, but never getting round to using half them…

Yeah, I have had so many synths over the years! The thing that upsets me a little bit is there are people out there who would have loved to have had them. I got a mate to dump a load in a shop and I got like £500 for the lot. I was silly, because I could have done a load better out of it personally and they then went out to people who didn’t know their history… I had famous people come round my house and play them! How mad is that? All these fans out there who’d have loved to have had these synths and they didn’t get the chance to have them. I gave them away which was stupid of me.

I found the System 100 and a Yamaha CS5 at my dad’s house because he had a clear out. He found all this stuff and I’d forgotten I’d had them, these must have been stuck up in his loft. These were really important synths.

Is there anything else being planned as part of the Pledge campaign?

I’m trying to think of things to make the campaign more exciting and offers things to the true hardcore fan. There’s a Quadrasynth that I might go with. There’s some outboard gear I’ve used as well like reverbs I’ve used on my vocals. I’ve got loads of clothes, I’ve even got some stuff from the very early days. I’ve got a blue jump suit that I wore at Wembley in 1981, and I thought my wife was going to divorce me, she went ballistic and said “YOU CAN’T SELL THAT!”

I’ve still got the little car I drove around in on the ‘Telekon’ tour, it sits in my dad’s drive. I said to my wife “I’m going to sell that”, it’s a serious bit of Numan memorabilia and she punched me! She went “DON’T YOU EVER F***ING SAY THAT AGAIN!” *laughs*

You’ve always had working titles for your albums, is there one you can reveal?

I always have a working title, ‘Splinter’ was a working title but it took me so long to make the album, it seemed crazy to call it anything else. But it’s completely the opposite for this one, I went into it with no working title at all. Because I knew I was going to be doing the Pledge campaign, I really did keep everything as a blank canvas. The result of that, which I hadn’t thought about is the time I would normally start an album, I would normally have done some preparation work. So I’m probably a couple of months behind if that makes any sense. I’m on the backfoot a little bit.

Have you decided a musical direction yet?

I haven’t decided but I think we’re looking ‘Splinter’-ish. I’m not going to be working with Ade Fenton on it, he’s done the last three albums with me but I do feel the need to move it slightly. But having said that, I want it to be heavy, I want it to be electronic, I want it to be dark and aggressive in places… so that’s just described ‘Splinter’! I do want that again but with a different feel to it somehow, either by doing it on my own or with someone else, I don’t know. By doing that, I’ll be able to evolve the sound.

Are these collaborations helping you get things out of your system or making you think out of the box at all?

Yes, I done John Foxx and Jean-Michel Jarre, a Mexican band called TITAN, I did a thing for VOWWS which is now out. There’s been a few and they’ve all sort of come at once. The John Foxx one was really interesting, that definitely challenged me.

You’ve been seen a lot with Jean-Michel Jarre, how is your collaboration coming along?

It’s all done, it sounds like a really cool Jean-Michel Jarre track with me singing; I did a bit more than that, I did a little bit to the music but it’s very much Jean-Michel’s thing. He is lovely, he is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my entire life. He’s really interesting, to just sit down and hear his fascinating and brilliantly funny anecdotes. He’s really charming and obsessed about music still.

He’s very creative and up-to-speed about the latest technology, he knows everything about every band out there, new and old. He’s an amazing man. I’m really proud to be part of his ‘Electronica’ project and so glad he got me involved. He wrote all these songs with people in mind and did a song he thought would be suitable for me. It’s an epic thing.

Is collaboration more straightforward these days than say, when you first did it with Robert Palmer or Bill Sharpe?

More recently, I’ve found I’m doing a lot more. I really enjoy them and they’re a good thing to do but it does get in the way of my own work, I don’t mean to be rude by saying that. I really do need to just concentrate on my own thing for a while. If you do too many, it’s a bit “what album are you going to pop up on this week?”, it’s no longer an event.

I’m not the most confident artist in the world, and my ability to contribute something meaningful to these tracks, I do worry about it and find it a bit stressful. The John Foxx one, I was on that for a while before I could really get my head around what was going to work in my opinion. I was worried about letting him down. So all these other non-musical worries came to mind, although I do find them less stressful than I used to.

Does working remotely help these days bearing in mind how you said you felt awkward being with people when you were younger?

It is a bit better than having to sing in front of somebody or try to come up with something creative while they’re sitting right next to you. As I said before, work in the studio can be many, many hours of not getting it right, until you do get it right. If you’re sitting next to somebody, you don’t want all that failed experimentation to be witnessed. You want to do that in private and present your finished idea to them.

So that side of it is great, to be able to work at home in my own studio and make as many horrendous mistakes as you do, without anybody hearing them until you find something that you’re happy with is much better. But there does come a point where you then have to send the thing that you think is ok and see what they think about it. You’re laying yourself on the line. I did do one for a Dutch artist about 4-5 years ago and I never heard back… which is a sign! So it doesn’t always work! *laughs*

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

The line “Mr Webb, there is no way out” from ‘Listen to The Sirens’ on the ‘Tubeway Army’ album seems to have rung true as far as your early work is concerned. Have the recent three night residencies of ‘Replicas’, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Telekon’ finally helped you come to terms with your past?

It’s something I tried to keep buried or at arm’s length… I’ve had a very uneasy relationship with my back catalogue over the years. The thing that’s changed is when ‘Splinter’ came out, it had such a good reaction and most importantly, people started to talk about it as one of the best things I’d ever done. I felt with that, I’d come out of the shadow that my early success had created for me. I don’t think I’d ever felt I’d truly done that before. It was a massive thing for me and I think a lot of my resentment was me trying to find ways of coming out of that shadow.

I didn’t like doing much old stuff live, I would only rarely do anything that was remotely retro and only then because of the tremendous amount of pressure from fans. In a way, I panicked a little bit that I was beginning to lost too many people, because I wouldn’t play old stuff. So in 2006, I begrudgingly did a tour of ‘Telekon’ just in Britain, nowhere else; that was my concession. I did a little bit more with ‘The Pleasure Principle’ in 2009 when it was the 30th anniversary and ended up doing that in America and Australia as well as Britain.

But the reaction to ‘Splinter’ made me feel different about the older stuff and at that point, I felt as if I was able to look back at that early stuff and actually enjoy the credibility that it has. The fact that people think of those albums as being classics and credit them as starting this whole electronic thing; I wrote them so realistically, I should be proud of them. I really should but I never had been, but I learnt to be proud of them and approach them with a different attitude because of ‘Splinter’.

Any thoughts about the sad passing of David Bowie?

It was a real shock, I was reading the BBC news app when it came on. I ran downstairs to my wife and I was out of breath, a proper shock. I think it takes time to sink in. I’ve been watching the outpouring of grief and commentary. It’s very touching to see how he was felt by people, but I think the reason it resonates so deeply is as much because he’s an icon of an era.

Whether you were a fan of him or not, he has been a part of your life… there are a few people like this. But there are certain people when they die, it resonates so deeply because it brings home to you you’re dying, we’re all dying. And there are some people that ram that home more than others and Bowie was certainly one of them.

It’s like a part of your own life dying and I don’t mean that in a sycophantic way, it makes you think “f***!” – I did… I thought “I’m 58 in March”, my own life is getting towards this and now there’s going to be more! Like Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD shortly before that, these are people that you’ve grown up with. And now they are beginning to die one after the other and your own mortality becomes scarily closer than it was the day before. It’s as much that as anything and you really feel some people more… 🙁

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to Gary Numan

Special thanks to Josh Cooper at 9PR

Further information on Gary Numan’s forthcoming album via Pledge Music can be found at http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/garynuman

http://www.numan.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/GaryNumanOfficial

https://twitter.com/numanofficial

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
27th January 2016

GARY NUMAN The Pleasure Principle Live at The Forum

23 October 2015 /

Fresh from receiving Q Magazine’s ‘Innovation In Sound’ award from previous recipient Jean-Michel Jarre last week, Gary Numan performed ‘The Pleasure Principle’ on the second night of a three day residency at The Forum in London which also revisited ‘Replicas’ and ‘Telekon’.

While ‘Are Friends Electric?’ was the breakthrough hit, for many ‘The Pleasure Principle’ is nominally the first Gary Numan album.

It introduced many listeners to synthesizers and the rather disturbing vision of a dystopian future at the height of The Cold War following ‘The Winter Of Discontent’. But for all the paranoid android imagery of Numan, the No1 single ‘Cars’ confirmed that electronics were now fully part of the pop mainstream. With no guitars, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ was a unique sounding album as the rock dynamics that would normally be expected from power chords and solos had to be achieved by necessity, using Polymoogs and Minimoogs. Despite all the incumbent machinery and ban on guitars,

‘The Pleasure Principle’ rocked with a flesh and blood rhythm section in shape of Paul Gardiner and Cedric Sharpley, both now sadly departed from this world. Without bassist Gardiner recognising Numan’s talent and being prepared to take a backseat in TUBEWAY ARMY to allow Numan to become singer and chief songwriter, the former Gary Webb may well have remained a van driver at WH Smith for a few years longer! Meanwhile Sharpley’s drum breaks on songs like ‘Films’ made a big impression on Urban America, particularly with Afrika Bambaataa who later collaborated with Numan.

The influence of Numan’s music on artists as diverse as NINE INCH NAILS, FOO FIGHTERS, SMASHING PUMPKINS, BASEMENT JAXX and SUGABABES has more than reinforced his artistic legacy. Meanwhile, the upcoming Jean-Michel Jarre collaboration on ‘Electronica 2’ is further proof of the respect his fellow musicians continue to show for him.

After the barrage of Goth metal that followed ‘The Pleasure Principle’ showcase on the 30th Anniversary tour in 2009, Numan made an announcement via social media that nothing from after 1980 would be played for these 2015 performances.

It made for an intriguing evening that revisited Numan’s imperial phase, a period in which he scored three No1 albums and won Best Male Singer at the British Rock & Pop Awards, the then-equivalent of The Brit Awards.

Although panned on its original release, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ has now been rightly hailed as a landmark album. The ‘Low’ inspired overture of ‘Asylum’ and the glaring instrumental ‘Airlane’ opened proceedings, but from the moment ‘Metal’ began, it was obvious that this was to be a rocked up interpretation of ‘The Pleasure Principle’ with guitarist Steve Harris taking a prominent role. And the format was repeated on heavier numbers such as ‘Films’, ‘M.E.’ and ‘Engineers’.

But when Gareth Thomas’ fine soft synth representation of that era’s classic Polymoog was allowed to reign unhindered, as on the buzzy octave laden ‘Observer’ and progressive futurism of ‘Conversation’, things did sound rather magnificent. The album’s two singles ‘Cars’ and ‘Complex’ were saved until last, the latter providing an esoteric close to ‘The Pleasure Principle’ section of the show.

The second half of the evening was a reminder as to why Numan was once the UK’s biggest alternative pop star in the UK, a pioneer who single-handedly flew the flag for the synthesizer worldwide. The evergreen singles ‘Down In The Park’, ‘We Are Glass’, ’Are Friends Electric?’ and ‘I Die: You Die’ were all present and correct. But representing the Sci-Fi angst of ‘Replicas’ and the lonesome paranoia of ‘Telekon’ were respectively, ‘Me! I Disconnect From You’ and ‘Remind Me To Smile’. Both cult electronic rock anthems that should have been singles, they drew some of the evening’s biggest cheers.

For the encore, there were two numbers from TUBEWAY ARMY’s electro-punk ‘Blue Album’ debut to finish. The ambiguous heavy metal of ‘Friends’ and the WIRE aping snarl of ‘My Shadow In Vain’ provided a fitting bookend. Overall, it was a rugged performance and despite the odd fluffed cue, it was an entertaining and enjoyable retrospective evening. Head banging like a trooper and smiling away to both the band and the audience, Numan appeared to be rather enjoying the occasion.

Although the Moogwave of ‘Listen To The Sirens’ was not aired, its lyric “Mr Webb, there is no way out” is strangely indicative of Numan’s current position; like it or not, no matter what he says about how he despises nostalgia, he will never truly be able to disassociate himself from his glorious past.

New coloured vinyl LP editions of ‘Replicas’, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Telekon’ are available now via Beggars Banquet

http://www.numan.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/GaryNumanOfficial

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd October 2015

25 FAVOURITE CLASSIC 12 INCH VERSIONS

5 October 2015 /

‘Is That The 12 Inch Mix?’ people used to ask…

“Sometimes you never knew what you were getting when you bought the 12 inch mix” says Rob Grillo, author of the same titled book tracing the history of the extended format, “Sometimes you got the 7 inch version and a bonus track, sometimes it was just the longer album mix, and sometimes you got the normal mix when the sleeve promised a ‘brand new mix’, occasionally there would be a gargantuan explosion of noise that heralded a completely new take on the song that would blow you mind away…”

ELECTRICITY CLUB.CO.UK itself has never been particularly big on remixes or 12 inch versions. They were on occasions, an unnecessary evil. Just because a song can be extended and reworked to submission doesn’t mean it has to be… FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD’s bassist Mark O’Toole snorted to International Musician & Recording World in 1986: “A punter walks into the shop, wants to buy a single – and there’s half a dozen mixes of it! It’s a pain in the ar*e!”

Comedian Lenny Henry summed things up best in a sketch where he entered a record shop to buy a single and was then offered a plethora of versions by the assistant… “I JUST WANT THE VERSION THEY GOT RIGHT!” he exclaimed.

In another stand-up routine, he commented that a 12 inch single could last longer than a marriage. But they could be tremendously passionate affairs as Rob Grillo remembers: “In essence, buying the 12 inch was more exciting than buying the 7 inch…”

With the restriction of tape, a razor blade and the mixing desk, the era often conspired to make more interesting, structured reworkings than the meaningless dance work-outs of today. When done well, the 12 inch extended version could totally surpass the original.

Each track on this list of classic variations was released as a 12 inch single with a corresponding original 7 inch release that was shorter (which thus excludes ‘Blue Monday’ by NEW ORDER); full length album versions that subsequently got issued as 12 inch singles are not included.

With a restriction one track per artist moniker going up to the period before remixes got a bit daft with the advent of rave culture, here are ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 25 choices in chronological and then alphabetical order…

SPARKS Beat The Clock – Long Version (1979)

SPARKS Beat The Clock 12The shorter album take of ‘Beat The Clock’ was more basic and less epic. But in this longer, more powerful and percussive 12 inch version, the star of this ace collaboration with Giorgio Moroder was the ever dependable Keith Forsey with his rumbling drumming syncopating off the precisely sequenced electronic production. Russell Mael was at his best in fully fledged falsetto mode, while Ron stood more motionless, safe in the knowledge than he didn’t even have to play anymore.

Available on the album ‘Real Extended: The 12 inch Mixes (1979 – 1984)’ via Repertoire Records

http://allsparks.com/

DURAN DURAN Girls On Film – Night Version (1981)

DURAN DURAN Girls On Film 12At the start of their career, rather than just simply extend a song by joining together sections of tape, DURAN DURAN actually took time to rearrange and re-record their 12 inch singles. This they did on ‘Planet Earth’ and ‘My Own Way’.  From its opening Compurhythm beat and first instrumental chorus set to Nick Rhodes’ swimmy Crumar Performer to Simon Le Bon’s closing verse ad-lib, the best of the early ‘Night Version’ trilogy was ‘Girls On Film’.

Available on the boxed set ‘The Singles 81-85’ via EMI Records

http://www.duranduran.com/

THE HUMAN LEAGUE Don’t You Want Me – Ext Dance Mix (1981)

Effectively an instrumental of the closing track on ‘Dare’, the quality of Martin Rushent’s production was fully showcased on this ‘Ext Dance Mix’. Each synth had its own voice and placed inside a precise lattice that formed a fabulous pop tapestry. It was also notable for featuring a guitar, albeit used obliquely by Jo Callis to trigger a Roland System 700. Even without its lead vocals, ‘Don’t You Want Me’ was a fine example of well-crafted, melodic electronic music.

Available on the album ‘Original Remixes & Rarities’ via Virgin Records

http://www.thehumanleague.co.uk/

SIMPLE MINDS The American – 12 inch Version (1981)

With the futuristic ‘Changeling’ and ‘I Travel’, SIMPLE MINDS had been heavily rotated in clubs. ‘The American’ was the Glaswegians’ first single for Virgin and sounded like Moroder merged with NEU! Metallic motorik drumming from Brian McGee sans hi-hats provided an interesting rhythm construction and challenged the band into finding inventive ways of making people dance. With Mick McNeil’s pulsing synths coupled with Derek Forbes’ bass engine, this was prime art disco.

Available on the boxed set ‘X5’ via Virgin Records

http://www.simpleminds.com/

SOFT CELL Bedsitter – Early Morning Dance Side (1981)

SOFT CELL were quite unique in their 12 inch extended formats by often incorporating extra vocal sections like on ‘Torch’, ‘Facility Girls’ and ‘Insecure Me’. So ‘Bedsitter’ added a marvellous rap from Marc Almond where he asked “do you look a mess, do have a hangover?” before taking a little blusher, pushing tea leaves down the drain and starting the night life over again. This literal kitchen sink drama to song concept won SOFT CELL many ardent followers.

Available on the deluxe album ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ via UMC

http://www.marcalmond.co.uk/

SPANDAU BALLET The Freeze – Special Mix (1981)

SPANDAU BALLET The Freeze 12While the single version of ‘The Freeze’ was a polite slice of guitar driven disco, the 12 inch ‘Special Mix’ of SPANDAU BALLET’s second single utilised their Yamaha CS10 with a pulsing octave barrage that could have been borrowed from VISAGE. A closing cacophony of electronically processed percussion came over like a funkier KRAFTWERK but with the overblown vocal histrionics of Tony ‘Foghorn’ Hadley, this could only have been the Islington quintet.

Available on the album ‘The Twelve Inch Mixes’ via Chrysalis Records

http://www.spandauballet.com/

B-MOVIE Nowhere Girl – Version (1982)

B-MOVIE were the band that Phonogram pursued to take on SPANDAU BALLET and DURAN DURAN. Managed by Some Bizzare’s Stevo Pearce, he stipulated that an unknown duo called SOFT CELL be part of any deal. Possibly the best single featuring the original line-up, the 12 inch version of ‘Nowhere Girl’ featured an extended intro with just a solid beat along with tinkling ivories that came over like ULTRAVOX in full flight before the pulsing bass and harp-like synths kicked in.

Available on the boxed set ’12” 80s Alternative’ (V/A) via UMTV

https://www.b-movie.org/

CLASSIX NOUVEAUX Is It A Dream? – 12 inch Version (1982)

CLASSIX NOUVEAUX Is It a Dream 12The best classic 12 inch versions often retained the musical structure of the song but cleverly used the technique of breakdown to achieve the dynamic highs and lows. The 12 inch version of ‘Is It A Dream?’ effectively tagged the instrumental version of the song onto the beginning which provided a build towards the main act as the recognisable elements of the tune steadily kicked it. A final coda of thumping Simmonds drums and brassy synth provided the piece de resistance.

Available on the album ‘The Very Best Of’ via EMI Gold

http://www.salsolo.com/Classix_Fans.html

NEW ORDER Temptation – 12 Inch Version (1982)

NEW ORDER Temptation 12A different version altogether from the 7 inch, however the 12 inch version was actually recorded in one massive 14 minute jam session with the shorter version preceding it. The recording itself was marvellously flawed, with Stephen Morris’ overdriven Simmons snare panned too far to the right while band members can also be heard calling instructions and tutting. The final closing refrains and the iconic “oooh-oo-ooh” vocal hook to the drum breakdown made ‘Temptation’ magical.

Available on the boxed set ‘Retro’ via Warner Music

http://www.neworder.com/

GARY NUMAN Music for Chameleons – Extended Version (1982)

In 7 inch form, GARY NUMAN’s ‘Music For Chameleons’ sounded incomplete. Lasting almost eight minutes, with the fluid fretless bass runs of Pino Palladino and the stuttering distorted clap of a Linn Drum providing the backbone to some classic vox humana Polymoogs, the 12 inch version’s highlight was the windy synth run in the long middle section. The effect of this was ruined on the ‘I Assassin’ album version which clumsily edited this section out!

Available on the album ‘Exposure: The Best of 1977-2002’ via Artful Records

http://www.numan.co.uk/

VISAGE Night Train – Dance Mix (1982)

Inspired by the burgeoning New York club scene, Rusty Egan brought in John Luongo to remix ‘Night Train’ much to Midge Ure’s dismay, leading him to end his tenure with VISAGE. But Luongo’s rework was sharper, pushing forward the female backing vocals to soulful effect in particular and replacing the clumpier snare sounds of the original album version with cleaner AMS samples. However, on this longer dance mix, Luongo isolated Rusty Egan’s drum break!

Available on the boxed set ’12″/80s/2′ (V/A) via UMTV

http://www.visage.cc/

BLANCMANGE Blind Vision – 12 Inch Version (1983)

BLANCMANGE Blind Vision 12Possibly BLANCMANGE’s most overt disco number, under the production supervision of New York club specialist John Luongo who had remixed ‘Feel Me’ to great rhythmical effect, ‘Blind Vision’ was punctuated by brass, extra percussion and slap bass as well as the trademark BLANCMANGE Linn Drum claps also thrown in. A steady build-up, vocal ad-libs from Neil Arthur and a prolonged coda extended the track to a hypnotic nine and a half minutes.

Available on the album ‘Mange Tout’ via Edsel Records

http://www.blancmange.co.uk/

DEAD OR ALIVE What I Want – Dance Mix (1983)

With an edgy production from Zeus B Held, ‘What I Want’ was a rewrite of ‘Blue Monday’ or even ‘Shake It Up’ by DIVINE, depending on your outlook. This HI-NRG / Goth hybrid was the last track Wayne Hussey would play on as a member of DEAD OF ALIVE before departing for THE SISTERS OF MERCY. “Listen blue eyes, shut up!” scowled Pete Burns showing that he was a top rather than a bottom in this salaciously pounding affair.

Available on the album ‘Sophisticated Boom Boom’ via Cherry Pop

http://www.deadoralive.net/

JOHN FOXX Endlessly – 12 Inch Version (1983)

After the mechanised dystopia of ‘Metamatic’ and the romantic thawing with ‘The Garden’, John Foxx started experimenting in psychedelic pop. With nods to ‘Sgt Pepper’, the original Linn Drum driven version of ‘Endlessy’ from 1982 had the makings of a good song, but was laboured in its arrangement. Reworked with Simmons drums, metronomic sequencers and grand vocal majestics, the Zeus B Held produced 1983 version was even more glorious in an extended 12 inch format.

Available on the boxed set ‘Metadelic’ via Edsel Records

http://www.metamatic.com/

HEAVEN 17 Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry – Extended Dance Version (1983)

HEAVEN 17 Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry 12Taking a leaf out of their old sparring partners THE HUMAN LEAGUE, HEAVEN 17 took off most of the vocals and played up the instrumental elements of ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’ with a restructured rhythmical backbone. With a punchy retuned bass drum attack and Roland Bassline programming pushed out to the front, sequences and guitar synth solos were phased in and out. The chanty chorus remained while John Wilson’s funky freeform bass solo closed.

Available on the boxed set ‘The Luxury Gap’ via Virgin Records

http://www.heaven17.com/

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Two Tribes – Annihilation (1984)

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD Two Tribes - Annihilation Mix 12Sounding like SIMPLE MINDS, ‘Two Tribes’ was influenced by ‘I Travel’, itself inspired by European right wing terrorism. While Holly Johnson’s original lyric referenced the dystopian drama ‘Mad Max’, it sat well within the Cold War tensions of the period. With Fairlight orchestra stabs and masterful PPG programming for the iconic synth bass, the first ‘Annihilation’ 12 inch featured the poignant authoritative voice of Patrick Allen, reprising his real life ‘Protect & Survive’ commentary…

Available on the album ‘Frankie Said’ via Union Square Music Ltd

http://www.frankiesay.com/

KRAFTWERK Tour De France – Remix (1984)

The original ‘Tour De France’ single in 1983 signalled the launch of a new KRAFTWERK album ‘Technopop’. Despite being given an EMI catalogue number, it was never released. However, ‘Tour De France’ took on a life of its own. This masterful remix by New York DJ Francois Kevorkian backed a key scene in the film ‘Breakdance’ which lead to a release of this rework. Much more percussive and less song based than the first version, it reinforced KRAFTWERK’s standing in US Hip-Hop.

Available on the single ‘Tour De France’ via EMI Records

http://www.kraftwerk.com/

GIORGIO MORODER & PHILIP OAKEY Together In Electric Dreams – Extended (1984)

GIORGIO MORODER & PHILIP OAKEY Together In Electric Dreams 12One of the best 12 inch versions ever, it not only retained the essence of the original song but added enough extra elements to make it quite different too. There was more rock guitar from Richie Zito and the false end after the guitar solo leading to a superb percussive breakdown that made the most of Arthur Barrow’s frantic Linn Drum programming. Of course, ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ wouldn’t have been any good without Moroder’s songcraft and Oakey’s deadpan lyricism.

Available on the album ‘Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder’ via Virgin Records

http://www.giorgiomoroder.com/

TALK TALK It’s My Life – US Mix (1984)

TALK TALK It's My Life US MixThe UK 12 inch extended version was a rather formless, dub excursion. However, taking a leaf out of DURAN DURAN’s specifically taylored remixes of songs from the ‘Rio’ album for America, EMI / Capitol commissioned Steve Thompson to construct a toughened up version of ‘It’s My Life’ to make it more MTV friendly. The song became an unexpected favourite in US clubs. One impressionable teenager who was no doubt listening was Gwen Stefani who covered the song in 2003.

Available on the boxed set ‘’12″/80s’ (V/A) via UMTV

http://spiritoftalktalk.com/

ULTRAVOX One Small Day – Special Remix Extra (1984)

One of ULTRAVOX’s more guitar driven numbers, there were eventually three different extended versions of ‘One Small Day’, the best of which was the ‘Special Remix Extra’ (also known as the ‘Extended Mix’) that was issued on the second of the 12 inch releases. With chopped up vocal phrases replacing a conventional vocal on this neo-dub mix, it allowed the instrumentation to come to the fore without Midge Ure’s shrill chorus acting as a distraction.

Available as the ‘Extended Mix’ on the album ‘Lament’ via EMI Gold

http://www.ultravox.org.uk/

A-HA The Sun Always Shines On TV – Extended Version (1985)

AHA Sun Always Shines on TV 12Despite being labelled a teenybop group, from the beginning A-HA were always so much more than just the catchy pop of ‘Take On Me’. ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’ revealed a lyrical darkness while the combination of synths and edgy guitar put them in the same league as ULTRAVOX and ASSOCIATES. This rarer first ‘Extended Version’ made the most of the powerful instrumentation and added more drama with a slow solemn piano intro. And just listen to that emotive string synth solo…

Available on the deluxe album ‘Hunting High & Low’ via Rhino Entertainment

http://a-ha.com/

PROPAGANDA Duel – Bitter Sweet (1985)

PROPAGANDA Duel – Bitter Sweet 12While ‘Dr. Mabuse’ was a Trevor Horn production, PROPAGANDA’s second single ‘Duel’ produced by Steve Lipson was based around the Synclavier, PPG and Roland Super Jupiter. To add some syncopation, Stewart Copeland from THE POLICE rhythmitised alongside the Linn Drum while the ‘Bitter Sweet’ extended mix broke down the instrumentation to reveal a highly intricate arrangement. The programmed piano solo is still one of the maddest bursts of music ever!

Available on the album ‘Outside World’ via Repertoire Records

https://www.facebook.com/Propaganda-Band-135375113199791/

OMD Forever Live & Die – Extended Mix (1986)

Not the better known but less fulfilled ‘Extended Remix’ by Tom Lord-Alge, John Potoker’s reworking did away with its daft skips and enhanced the song’s enjoyable instrumental elements. The wonderful end section with its wild rhythm guitar from Kamil Rastam and Malcolm Holmes’ reverbed drums also revealed that despite the song’s palatable Trans-Atlantic sound, OMD’s classic synthetic choirs reminiscent of KRAFTWERK’s ‘Radio-Activity’ still lingered.

Available on the boxed set ‘Maxi Singles 80 Vol 2’ (V/A) via Wagram Music

http://www.omd.uk.com/

PET SHOP BOYS Suburbia – The Full Horror (1986)

PET SHOP BOYS Suburbia 12‘Suburbia’ was a good if slightly underwhelming album track from ‘Please’ that got transformed into a more fully realised sub-nine minute epic. Produced in this new longer version by Sarm West graduate Julian Mendelson, it was effectively a two-parter. Complete with barking dogs, widescreen synths and thundering rhythms, the intro and middle sections saw a pitch shifted Neil Tennant monologuing about the evils of ‘Suburbia’ in a devilish ‘Meninblack’ tone.

Available on the album ‘Disco’ via EMI Records

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

DEPECHE MODE Never Let Me Down Again – Split Mix (1987)

A merging of the album version with the Wasp driven bass heavy ‘Aggro Mix’ (hence the ‘Split Mix’ title), this sub-ten minute take on one of DEPECHE MODE’s classic songs was perfection. Other DM 12 inch versions were tiresome like the ‘Slavery Whip Mix’ of ‘Master & Servant’, but ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ took into account that the best 12 inch mixes usually had the actual song and an instrumental middle section before a reprise of the main chorus hook.

Available on the album ‘Remixes 81-04’ via Mute Records

http://www.depechemode.com/

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s Classic 12 Inch Versions playlist can be heard on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1cKyepTy06g7I91JaV1row

Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Rob Grillo and Rob Harris
5th October 2015

25 FAVOURITE ARTIST COLLABORATIONS

25 May 2015 /

Artist collaborations can be seen in several ways.

They are either a chance to take the best elements of great bands to form an even greater supergroup, or as has happened in many cases, there is a watering down of prime concepts which results in a fragmented mess of little interest to anyone.

So here are 25 artist collaborations that actually worked; the list is restricted to one song per main act, defined as being the one who released the parent album.

That means PET SHOP BOYS, who have been among the most ubiquitous and willing of conspirators, get to appear as themselves and as guests of ELECTRONIC and David Bowie while NEW ORDER’s Bernard Sumner appears as part ELECTRONIC as well as also moonlighting for THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS and Philip Oakey of THE HUMAN LEAGUE gets in there twice as a guest.

Over more recent years, there appears to have much more freedom for artists to collaborate, notably with SPARKS recently unveiled collaboration with Glasgow based art rockers FRANZ FERDINAND, named rather straightforwardly FFS. And this is reflected by this list here which has a bias towards new millennium recordings, although ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is pleased to say, this is a Calvin Harris free zone 😉

SYLVIAN SAKAMOTO Bamboo Houses (1982)

David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto were making their artistic presence felt outside of JAPAN and YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, and having collaborated on ‘Taking Islands in Africa’, another project was always on the cards. ‘Bamboo Houses’ expanded on the electro-acoustic textures of ‘Tin Drum’ over a catchy percussive framework courtesy of Steve Jansen. Sylvian delivered his usual mournful vocal but Sakamoto’s monologue and marimba gave the track ethnic authenticity.

Available on the DAVID SYLVIAN compilation ‘A Victim of Stars 1982-2012’ via Virgin Records

http://www.davidsylvian.com/

http://sitesakamoto.com/

MIDGE URE & MICK KARN After A Fashion (1983)

‘After A Fashion’ was a blistering sonic salvo that crossed the best of JAPAN’s rhythmical art muzak with ULTRAVOX’s ‘The Thin Wall’. However, it stalled at No39 in the UK singles charts and sadly, there was to be no album. But Karn later played on Ure’s ‘Remembrance Day’ in 1988 and Ure briefly joined JBK, the band formally known as JAPAN sans David Sylvian for an aborted project in 1992 that resulted in two songs ‘Cry’ and ‘Get A Life’. Sadly Karn passed away in 2011.

Available on the MIDGE URE album ‘No Regrets’ via Music Club Deluxe

http://www.midgeure.co.uk/

http://mickkarn.net/

SHARPE & NUMAN Change Your Mind (1985)

Very much seen as the odd couple, the duo’s promotional photos captured the curly haired jazz funk aficionado with The Iceman! Bill Sharpe was pianist with jazz fusion group SHAKATAK. Together with their drummer Roger Odell, they had written a piece of computerised electrofunk that needed a vocal. Engineered by Nick Smith who had also been working with Gary Numan, he suggested that the former Mr Webb would be ideally suited to the futuristic backing.

Available on the SHARPE & NUMAN album ‘Automatic’ via Cherry Pop

http://www.numan.co.uk

http://www.billsharpe.com

LES RITA MITSOUKO & SPARKS Singing In The Shower (1990)

In France, LES RITA MITSOUKO became unlikely pop stars thanks to danceable hit singles such as ‘Marcia Baïla’ and ‘C’est Comme Ça’. Vivacious singer Catherine Ringer and oddball instrumentalist Fred Chichin were influenced by the eccentric overtures of SPARKS and with a moniker in a similar vein to their ‘Kimono My House’, an artistic union was inevitable. With the two duos “feeling dirty and feeling clean”, the catchy ‘Singing In The Shower’ was a hit in Europe.

Available on the LES RITA MITSOUKO album ‘Marc & Robert’ via Virgin France

http://www.catherineringer.com/

http://allsparks.com/

ELECTRONIC featuring PET SHOP BOYS The Patience Of A Saint (1991)

‘The Patience Of A Saint’ from ELECTRONIC’s debut was undoubtedly the highlight of that album. Featuring the involvement of both PET SHOP BOYS, the witty exchange between Bernard Sumner and Neil Tennant was accompanied by a gorgeous backing track of drum machine, swimmy string synth and minimal guitar. The song was premiered in front of 60,000 people when ELECTRONIC supported DEPECHE MODE at Dodger Stadium in August 1990.

Available on the ELECTRONIC album ‘Electronic’ via Warner Music

http://www.feeleverybeat.co.uk/

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

808 STATE featuring IAN McCULLOCH Moses (1993)

Following the departure of founder member Martin Price, ‘Gorgeous’ was 808 STATE’s first album as a three piece. Featuring early mash-up experiments based around UB40, THE JAM and JOY DIVISION, one of the wholly original compositions though was ‘Moses’, a rare electronically backed outing by ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN’s Ian McCulloch. Sounding like NEW ORDER with a Scouse snarl, the unusual but enjoyable partnership was the highlight of the album.

Available on the 808 STATE album ‘Gorgeous’ via ZTT Records

http://www.808state.com/

http://www.bunnymen.com/

ELEKTRIC MUSIC featuring ANDY McCLUSKEY Kissing The Machine (1993)

Recorded for his ELEKTRIC MUSIC project after leaving KRAFTWERK, Karl Bartos’ collaboration with OMD’s Andy McCluskey featured one of his best melodies synth melodies. Bartos said “He suggested we do something together and I was up for it… We picked some cassettes and finally I found the opening notes of ‘Kissing The Machine’”. With fabulously surreal lyrics about a love affair with a sexy robot, it became a cult favourite. OMD resurrected the song in 2013.

Available on the ELEKTRIC MUSIC album ‘Esperanto’ via SPV Records

http://www.karlbartos.com/

http://www.omd.uk.com/

LEFTFIELD LYDON Open Up (1993)

John Lydon had shown himself to be open to collaboration following 1984’s ‘World Destruction’ as TIME ZONE with electro rap pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. But ‘Open Up’ with the then relatively unknown dance duo LEFTFIELD came as something of a surprise. Lydon was suitably angry as he reflected on the tensions of his adopted home with a screaming “Burn Hollywood, burn!” over an intense electronic soundtrack.

Available on the LEFTFIELD album ‘A Final Hit’ via Sony Music

http://www.leftfieldmusic.com/

http://www.johnlydon.com/

DAVID BOWIE featuring PET SHOP BOYS Hallo Spaceboy (1996)

BLUR’s Alex James once remarked that having a PET SHOP BOYS remix was like having your dog being taken for a walk, but then, when it came back, it was a different dog! PET SHOP BOYS certainly re-produced this Bowie/Eno composition from ‘1.Outside’ into a much more commercial proposition, even utilising the cut-up technique to decide which words Neil Tennant would sing. Reaching No12, ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ became Da Dame’s biggest UK hit since ‘Jump They Say’ in 1990!

Available on the DAVID BOWIE album ‘Nothing Has Changed’ via EMI Music

http://www.davidbowie.com/

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS featuring BERNARD SUMNER Out Of Control (1999)

‘Out Of Control’ was THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS’ sonic template actually fulfilling its potential within a song based format with Bernard Sumner as the willing conspirator. ‘Out Of Control’ had everything from a bombastic backbeat and cerebral sequences to bizarre lyrics, especially when Sumner resigned that “maybe my moustache is too much…”. The association with Sumner continued when they produced NEW ORDER’s terrific ‘Here To Stay’.

Available on THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS album ‘Singles 93-03’ via Virgin Records

http://www.thechemicalbrothers.com/

http://www.neworder.com

SYSTEM F featuring MARC ALMOND Soul On Soul (2001)

Ferry Corsten had a huge international hit in 1999 with ‘Out Of The Blue’ under his SYSTEM F moniker. It highlighted the spiritual connection between synthpop and trance so to substantiate the link further, the Rotterdam based producer recruited Marc Almond to guest on the blinding ‘Soul On Soul’ for a spirited, club friendly workout. This all tied in nicely with SOFT CELL’s comeback album ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ in 2002.

Available on the album ‘Out Of The Blue’ via Tsunami Records

http://www.ferrycorsten.com/

http://www.marcalmond.co.uk/

X-PRESS2 featuring DAVID BYRNE Lazy (2002)

The Dumbarton born TALKING HEADS frontman was back in the mainstream limelight for the first time since the band disbanded in 1991 with this superb online collaboration with British DJ duo X-PRESS2. David Byrne gave his best afflicted ‘Psycho Killer’ meets ‘Once In A Lifetime’ warble for what became a No2 UK chart hit. He later reworked ‘Lazy’ with orchestral embellishments for his 2004 solo long player ‘Grown Backwards’.

Available on the X-PRESS2 album ‘Muzikizum’ via Skint Records

http://www.skintentertainment.com/artists/skint/x-press-2

http://davidbyrne.com/

JUNKIE XL featuring DAVE GAHAN Reload (2003)

‘Reload’ was a welcome relief after DEPECHE MODE’s paradoxically titled ‘Exciter’. The brief sojourn with Dutch producer Tom Holkenborg aka JUNKIE XL proved once and for all how well Dave Gahan’s voice worked on uptempo electronic dance tracks. He may be more interested in  MUMFORD & SONS these days, but frankly, over a lively synth laden backbone is where he sounds best. The ‘Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin’ album also featured Gary Numan!

Available on the JUNKIE XL album ‘Radio JXL: A Broadcast From the Computer Hell Cabin’ via EMI Music

http://www.junkiexl.com/

http://www.davegahan.com

ERASURE featuring CYNDI LAUPER (2007)

Ms Lauper was heading towards a career renaissance with her excellent ‘Bring Ya To The Brink’ album in 2008 so her collaboration with ERASURE in 2007 was quite timely. A soulful slice of Trans-Atlantic synthpop, ‘Early Bird’ was an enjoyable duet between her and Andy Bell that turned out to be the one of the more memorable tracks that emerged from ERASURE’s rather lukewarm ‘Light At The End Of The World’ sessions.

Available on the ERASURE EP ‘Storm Chaser’ via Mute Records

http://www.erasureinfo.com/

http://www.cyndilauper.com

LITTLE BOOTS featuring PHILIP OAKEY Symmetry (2009)

At the time ‘Symmetry’ was unveiled, THE HUMAN LEAGUE had not released any new material since 2001. With a fabulous chorus, this was the nearest thing to a new HUMAN LEAGUE track with Victoria Hesketh doing her best Susanne Sulley impression. So when it was Phil talking, it was magic. “Tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you all my fears” he announced, as they complimented each other in a way that had not really even been heard on a League record before.

Available on the LITTLE BOOTS album ‘Hands’ via 679 Recordings

http://www.littlebootsmusic.co.uk

http://www.thehumanleague.co.uk

MY ROBOT FRIEND featuring ALISON MOYET Waiting (2009)

MY ROBOT FRIEND aka Howard Rigberg created the song ‘We’re The Pet Shop Boys’ in honour of Messrs Tennant and Lowe, who subsequently covered it by way of a reverse compliment. Rigberg went recruited Alison Moyet for her first purely electronic adventure since the YAZOO days on ‘Waiting’. This welcome union with its off-kilter synth sounds alongside her voice no doubt helped ignite her interest in working within the genre again, the result of which was 2013’s ‘the minutes’.

Available on the MY ROBOT FRIEND album ‘Soft-Core’ via Double Feature/Worried Rainbow

http://www.myrobotfriend.com/

http://www.alisonmoyet.com/

PET SHOP BOYS featuring PHILIP OAKEY This Used To Be The Future (2009)

‘This Used To Be The Future’ was a dream trioet that featured Neil Tennant, Philip Oakey and Chris Lowe. With Lowe singing as opposed to just speaking, this triumphant celebration of yesterday’s tomorrow saw Oakey deadpan disappointedly that things didn’t quite turn out how Raymond Baxter predicted on ‘Tomorrow’s World’! He finally resigns himself and at grunts“AMEN!”.

Available on the PET SHOP BOYS album ‘Yes: Further Listening 2008-2010’ via EMI Music

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

http://www.thehumanleague.co.uk

RÖYKSOPP featuring ROBYN The Girl & The Robot (2009)

The centrepiece of RÖYKSOPP’s third album ‘The Girl & The Robot’ was perhaps the culmination of Robyn’s steady rise as a truly independent female artist. Despite having gained success in 1997 with the R’n’B tinged ‘Show Me Love’, her superiors at BMG reacted negatively to her new electropop aspirations inspired by THE KNIFE. Frustrated, she bought herself out of her contract and set up her own Konichiwa Records, giving her the freedom to work with whoever she wanted.

Available on the RÖYKSOPP album ‘Junior’ via Wall Of Sound / PIAS

http://royksopp.com/

http://robyn.com/

BLANK & JONES featuring CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Don’t Stop (2010)

The German dance duo had previously worked with Miss Brücken on ‘Unknown Treasure’, a most gorgeous electrobeat ballad from 2003. ‘Don’t Stop’ was a progression on that but with a wider texture pallet and more abstract electronic overtones. Despite being less song based and having been collaborated on seperately from Blank and Jones, vocally it is classic Claudia with its spoken verse and sexy ice maiden delivery in chorus.

Available on the BLANK & JONES album ‘The Logic Of Pleasure’ via Kontor Records

http://www.blankandjones.info

http://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk

CRYSTAL CASTLES featuring ROBERT SMITH Not In Love (2010)

Re-recorded for single release, Alice Beer took a breather to allow guest Robert Smith from THE CURE to take lead vocals on ‘Not In Love’, a dark but accessible number from CRYSTAL CASTLES’ second album. Smith more than fitted in with the Canadian duo’s aggressive and occasionally chaotic electronic template on this frantic uncovering of a song originally recorded by obscure Toronto new wave combo PLATINUM BLONDE.

Available on the CRYSTAL CASTLES featuring ROBERT SMITH single ‘Not In Love’ via Last Gang/Fiction Records

http://www.crystalcastles.com/

http://www.thecure.com

MOTOR featuring MARTIN L GORE Man Made Machine (2012)

MOTOR’s electro stomper ‘Man Made Machine’ featured vocals by DEPECHE MODE’s Martin Gore in a collaboration which came over a bit like a camp IGGY POP. Gore certainly sounded a touch nervous and uneasy, luring over the duo’s brand of harder edged schaffel techno which only enhanced its appeal. Incidentally, the same titled parent album also featured guests such as GARY NUMAN, BILLIE RAY MARTIN and NITZER EBB’s Douglas J McCarthy.

Available on the MOTOR album ‘Man Made Machine’ via CLR

http://www.wearemotor.com

http://www.martingore.com

FOTONOVELA featuring JAMES NEW Our Sorrow (2013)

Not content with producing MARSHEAUX and collaborating with OMD on ‘Helen Of Troy’, Greek duo FOTONOVELA released a more song based second album featuring a number of prominent international vocalists entitled ‘A Ton Of Love’. One of the numbers ‘Our Sorrow’ featured James New from the much missed MIRRORS. In the vein of classic OMD, New’s majestic vocal touching the heartstrings, the wonderful melancholy was perfect, soulful electronic pop.

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

http://www.facebook.com/undofotonovela

http://www.facebook.com/theworldofmirrors

JOHN FOXX & JORI HULKKONEN Evangeline (2013)

Foxx and Hulkkonen had worked together previously on various one-off songs like ‘Dislocated’ and ‘Never Been Here Before’ but had never before attempted a body of work with a conceptual theme. When the two found some collaborative time together, the result was ‘European Splendour’, an EP with a grainier downtempo template than before. The lead track ‘Evangeline’ was full of depth, coupled with an anthemic chorus.

Available on the JOHN FOXX & JORI HULKKONEN EP ‘European Splendour’ via Sugarcane Records

http://www.metamatic.com/

http://www.jorihulkkonen.com

SIN COS TAN featuring CASEY SPOONER Avant Garde (2013)

SIN COS TAN’s Jori Hulkkonen first found fame as part of TIGA & ZYNTHERIUS back in 2001 at the height of the Electroclash movement. ‘Avant Garde’ saw Casey Spooner from the scene’s flag bearers FISCHERSPOONER make a guest appearance on the duo’s second long player ‘Afterlife’. The track itself though was more like THE CURE produced by PET SHOP BOYS with Spooner providing a suitably cynical snarl to contrast Juho Paalosmaa’s impassioned lost boy cry.

Available on the SIN COS TAN album ‘Afterlife’ via Solina Records

http://sincostan.net/

http://www.fischerspooner.com

iEUROPEAN featuring WOLFGANG FLÜR Activity Of Sound (2014)

Although Wolfgang Flür’s last full album project was as YAMO with ‘Time Pie’ back in 1997, there was this marvellous electronic number entitled ‘Activity Of Sound’, recorded in collaboration with iEUROPEAN. The project of Dublin based artist Sean Barron, the additional female monologue  was provided by Barron’s wife, Izabella. The track sees Herr Flür quoting an archive interview with the late avant garde composer John Cage to a soundtrack of hypnotic synthetic bliss.

Available on the iEUROPEAN featuring WOLFGANG FLÜR download single ‘Activity Of Sound’ via Subculture Records

https://www.facebook.com/pages/iEuropean/149564838461817

http://www.musiksoldat.de

Text by Chi Ming Lai
25th May 2015

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