JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS have released their third album in 18 months entitled ‘Evidence’.
The 15 tracks include collaborations with Matthew Dear on a version of ‘Talk’ which previously appeared on ‘The Shape Of Things’, US duo XENO & OAKLANDER on ‘That Sudden Switch’ and TARA BUSCH with her own ‘I Speak Machine’ mix of ‘Talk’. Dubwisely surreal, the title track’s collaboration with North American post-apocalyptic trio THE SOFT MOON sees many of the starker, dystopian flavours that Foxx is best known for.
Following the enjoyable flirtation with synthpop on JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS’ debut album ‘Interplay’, this is much more post-punk psychedelia like Gary Numan meeting Syd Barrett! The album sees available for the first time in physical format, Foxx and Benge’s brilliant minimal electro cover of PINK FLOYD’s ‘Have A Cigar’ (where the infamous “which one’s Pink?” line is changed to “which one’s Maths?”) while also included are Brighton songstress GAZELLE TWIN’s chilling remix of ‘A Falling Star’ and JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS’ reworking of her wonderfully emotive but unsettling single ‘Changelings’.
Regular live band member Hannah Peel adds eerie violin to instrumental ‘Neon Vertigo’ and the more angrily percussive ‘My Town’ although overall, the album takes on an atmospheric pace around more downtempo rhythmic constructions smothered in echoes.
In a comparatively short period of existence, the living art of GAZELLE TWIN has made a worthy impression on the electronic music world.
Although originally inspired by the deep tonal experimentation of FEVER RAY, Elizabeth Walling, the lady behind GAZELLE TWIN, differs with her classical vocal training and manipulated soprano stylings providing a ‘Fourth World’ vibe of possible musics like a dark angel of dystopian menace.
With the haunting intensity and unsettling future primitive of debut long player ‘The Entire City’, admirers have included John Foxx and Gary Numan. As well as the spectre of Bjork and the enigma of COCTEAU TWINS, there has also been the influence of acts as diverse as Prince and JOY DIVISION whose songs have been covered on her various B-sides. The origin of the GAZELLE TWIN moniker is that it is an anagram of Elizabeth Walling, save a few letters. But also in an ancient Jewish text ‘Solomon’s Song’, there is a translation where “the twin fauns of a gazelle” are used as a metaphor for a woman’s breasts.
Themes of nature, science and technology exude in ‘The Entire City’ while integrity and a strong intellectual base form the uncompromising aural palette. Great tracks such as the Paganist intensity of ‘Men Like Gods’, the fragile beauty of ‘Changelings’ and the metaphysical idealism of ‘I Am Shell I Am Bone’ are swathed in a sonic cathedral of neo-religious overtones and Sci-Fi choral chants like an act of worship in the 23rd Century.
Conceived in part to be the imaginary soundtrack to JG Ballard novel ‘The Drowned World’, the mysterious sparse nature of the original compositions opened them to the possibilities of remixing. Thus, ‘The Entire City Remixed’ was born, an appendix to the parent album with contributors including ERAS, GHOST EYES, ZEBRA & SNAKE, SCANNER and ENORMOUS SHADOW as well as JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS whose remix of ‘Changelings’ also featured.
Both GAZELLE TWIN’s take on ‘A Falling Star’ and the remix of ‘Changelings’ are included on the new JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS album ‘Evidence’. But Elizabeth Walling’s most high profile collaboration to date is set to be unleashed with her reworking of Gary Numan’s ‘We Are The Lost’, scheduled to appear on his forthcoming remix album ‘Dead Moon Falling’.
In a period of frenetic activity, Elizabeth Walling took time out from completing her new EP ‘Mammal’ to chat to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK
What is your own artistic background and how has that shaped the concept of GAZELLE TWIN?
My creative sensibilities started very young, I was always creating, imagining and learning in my own space. I think I spent a lot of time alone as a child, or at least that’s what I remember. I had time and freedom to think and explore. I studied music formally in my late teens and early twenties, but ultimately I consider myself self-taught in everything, in most respects.
GAZELLE TWIN I think, has emerged from a gradual and very natural process of those basic childhood experiences, as well as long-held aesthetic attractions and desires which have emerged as I have grown.
I have always felt different, strange, and found costume very liberating to be free from those uncomfortable moments. That’s what is at the heart of GAZELLE TWIN. As I grow older, it seems to have become my survival kit for everyday life, not just an occasional retreat into a fantasy world.
It may sound intense, but really, this project, as it has grown, has helped me in so many ways with incorporating my own personal experiences (physical, emotional etc) into some sort of concrete entity that I can learn and strengthen from. Without it now, I would be a bit of a wreck.
The visual aura and live presentation of GAZELLE TWIN is very mysterious and enigmatic but there were a few earlier photos which revealed your true identity as it were. What made you settle on becoming more anonymous?
I found there were too many limitations on simply being myself in the context of quite an ambitious musical project and as an artist. Being female, having to wear certain clothes, make-up etc, ie all those routine things I do in everyday life to live as a regular female human… these things relate too closely to fashions, time periods and have so many preconceptions bound up in them. I wanted to eliminate that altogether as well as remove ‘myself’ from the project to allow it to grow and change into something larger than me, larger than the world around me. That is what I was doing with the music initially, it was boundless in terms of vision and scale and it needed a visual counterpart to really work.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK first became aware of you via your cover of JOY DIVISION’s ‘The Eternal’ which was the B-side to ‘I Am Shell I Am Bone’. They make quite an appropriate pairing. How daunting was it to record that bearing in mind the song’s history?
Very daunting indeed. I didn’t approach it lightly. There are some JOY DIVISION songs that should never be touched, let alone covered – ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is one of them. I would never touch a song like that. It’s too iconic, too well-known. I felt ‘The Eternal’ was perhaps less familiar to people and that it could withstand a new voice, so to speak.
As the second cover song I had ever recorded at the time, I tried to keep the arrangement simple, just focussing on the beat and the ‘atmosphere’. Curtis’ vocal melody is almost Gregorian in that song so I wanted to highlight that too, by removing most of the piano accompaniment. I wanted to be gentle, treating my version like a feint echo of the original rather than a completely new version.
At the other end of the spectrum, you’ve also covered Prince. Is there anyone else you would like to have a go at covering?
Yes, ‘I Wonder U was my first cover. I think the song is strange enough in the first place not to sound too stand-out alongside the rest of my music, so I was playing it safe with that one really. I found it fascinating to break the song down in order to re-record the parts, such as the bass. Actually that was part of the attraction of covering it in the first place… just to work out what the hell was going on there.
I prefer covering songs written or sung by men. Perhaps because it instantly allows me to create a new perspective on it. There are countless Bowie songs that my fiancée always recommends to me which I would love to try out one day. John Foxx’s work lures me constantly for covers and Scott Walker is very tempting also. I doubt it will be long before I do one of his actually.
I do have a new cover coming out on an EP called ‘Mammal’ around November time. It’s a song by WIRE – another legendary band, another iconic male vocalist… Colin Newman. This time I sought the permission and blessing from him directly. That made me feel better about it… he said nice things.
What attracted you to use synthesizers in your work and which artists were your biggest influences as far as ‘The Entire City’ was concerned?
I grew up with electronic music really. We had numerous keyboards and synthesizers in our house which I would always use to learn or write songs, or record on cassette players and so on. I would say they have always been part of my music-making since being a child.
There is a warmth and clarity with synthesizers (especially analogue) which can replicate the same essence and quality of nearly all acoustic instruments such as strings, brass and even reeds.
I experiment most with rhythm which is one of the most important elements of my creative process – so using electronics allows me to explore some really complex and unusual ideas quite easily. I love working to a mechanical pulse.
There are many influences on that first album; people often like to remind me of what seem to be the most obvious but actually the least strongest ones – The Knife, Fever Ray etc – but actually my influences go way back to early music, classical, early 20th century composers such as Varese and Stockhausen to contemporary artists such as Louis Andriessen and soundtrack composers of the 80s like Vangelis, Carpenter and Brad Fiedel. I’d say choral music has influenced me more than any other music in my life as I spent the largest part of my life so far listening solely to that.
I can hear elements of JON HASSELL’s avant textures in your music, is that a coincidence?
Yes it must be, because I have never heard of him until now. I will check him out.
The album has this other worldly atmosphere and is very unsettling in places, almost like music for horror movies… ‘Bell Tower’ was used in a viral video for ‘Prometheus’. Has cinema inspired you musically and have you had any offers of soundtrack work?
Yes. Film is the bedrock for many of my compositions in the past and now – although just as much in the thematic sense as the musical.
I grew up listening to plenty of film soundtracks by composers like Morricone, Williams, Goldsmith, Herrman etc who were all inspired by the Gods of Western music: Shostakovich, Beethoven, Wagner etc. That’s a good influence to have had, even if I hadn’t studied composition formally later on in life. It really stuck with me. I’d love to work on films and even video games one day, that was always my impetus for writing.
So far there have been no commisions, but the ‘Prometheus’ short film you mentioned (which I still haven’t actually seen yet) was a great thing for me, albeit very small scale. Eventually I hope to delve into film composition as my career develops. I’ll probably prefer to be a behind-the-scenes writer than a performer at some point anyway. I tire quite easily of all that already.
Some observers might consider your work difficult to listen to. How would you encourage them to persevere with it?
I wouldn’t try to encourage them. There would be no point. I don’t mean that to sound dismissive, but I’m not one to explain or justify my work to anyone, least of all try persuade someone to persevere with it if they don’t already have the desire to do so. Why should they? It should be a natural thing. There’s a lot of music I don’t give much of a chance to on first listen – I think gut reaction counts for a lot and of course that’s completely different for everyone.
‘The Entire City’ won quite a few notable admirers including John Foxx who you later supported. He and Benge reworked ‘Changelings’ while you did ‘A Falling Star’. What do you think has been brought to each others’ songs via your reciprocal treatments?
John and Benge have been wonderfully supportive to me, not just forthcoming with praise but actively involving me in their projects. I am very grateful for that kind of respect and time. It’s very rare to have that, I can tell you.
I loved working on the remix for ‘A Falling Star’, it’s already such a beautiful song with lots of space. I found it hard to approach initially. It was also my first ever remix so I put myself under a lot of pressure to take care with it. I decided to just highlight John’s voice which actually works amazingly well completely on its own. But I added my own vocal to replace some of the synths.
John and Benge’s remix of ‘Changelings’ was really delicate and elegant. It’s one of my favourites of all the remixes because it doesn’t alter the song much at all. I love the addition of John’s vocal in there too. It was perfectly suited. I am so flattered that they chose to put both of the remixes on the new ‘Evidence’ album. It’s really special for me.
You have remixed Gary Numan now too. On first impression, it would appear his rockier sound of today might have less in common with your music than with say John Foxx’s. So how did you respond to the challenge?
I would tend to agree generally, however not with the song I was asked to work on as it happened to suit me really well. It has a middle-Eastern melodic style that is not too far away from my own palette, particularly in ‘Men Like Gods’. I also loved the textures in the beat and was really excited to get working on bringing that to the forefront.
I wouldn’t say it’s the most radical remix I have done – sometimes a song is so right to be set in one style that it’s hard to take it further or add more, so really I just tried to strip it down and highlight what I liked most about it. I also added a few higher vocals to the mix to deliver a subtle feminine element.
Remixes are a major part of GAZELLE TWIN with the recent release of ‘The Entire City Remixed’ collection. What inspired that and which were your favourite reinterpretations on it?
It was primarily to give the original album a boost as well as open up a few opportunities to work and connect with other artists I admire such as John and Benge, Scanner and others. Some of the remixes were from requests out of the blue before I had even decided to do the album, so it was good to be able to offer them a place on an official release. My favourites on there are ‘Nest’ by FLINT KIDS, ‘Changelings’ by JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS and the BERNHOLZ remix of ‘Bell Tower’.
The neo-tribal remix of ‘Men Like Gods’ by GHOST EYES is quite superb…
Yes I really liked that remix too, especially when they took the time to attach it to a bizarre Betty Boop video which really works.
What next for GAZELLE TWIN? How is the new album shaping up and will you be pursuing any different musical avenues?
I’m working on making as much material as possible and putting as much out as I physically can over the next few years. I’ve been working on some other commissions and collaborations away from GAZELLE TWIN which is very enlightening and enjoyable, if only to get a break and some distance from my own work.
When I write an album it’s a bit like doing a thesis, there is a lot of research, learning, exploration and cataloguing of ideas and themes before I set about writing any music. I consider every experience and everything I come across as potentially relevant and useful to my work. That takes up quite a lot of my life.
Would an audio visual element like IAMAMIWHOAMI’s ‘Kin’ be of interest in your future artistic vision?
I am interested to see how far extreme abstractions like IAMAMIWHOAMI can survive in a pop context once they become better known… It’s hard to maintain anonymity and mystique for very long. This is something I am still figuring out too. I hope it can last.
The music side of that project is not quite as off-the-wall as the visual side which is a shame, but that’s just my own personal opinion.
I love Jonna Lee’s vision, her focus and defiance is strong. I’m envious that there is a budget and support behind it too – for those ideas to really be realised in full, cinematic glory and a vast viral campaign. I definitely wish I had some of that from time to time! I think most big ideas do require money, unfortunately.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Elizabeth Walling
GAZELLE TWIN ‘The Entire City’ and ‘The Entire City Remixed’ are released by Anti-Ghost Moon Ray Records. The ‘Mammal’ EP is scheduled for release in November.
JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS ‘Evidence’ CD which features GAZELLE TWIN on remixes of ‘A Falling Star’ and ‘Changelings’ is released by Metamatic records on 24th September 2012 and available exclusively at the John Foxx Store via Townsend Records
JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS release a 16 track single CD version of The Shape Of Things which was first available as a 2CD deluxe set on their most recent UK tour.
The collection features starker, reflective material that didn’t fit into the overall pop concept of ‘Interplay’ recorded by Mr Foxx and his erstwhile partner-in-crime Ben Edwards aka Benge. Lyrically, the subject matter centres around feelings of loss over opportunities and lovers missed. Artistically interluded by several instrumental collages with titles such as ‘Modreno’, ‘Psytron’, ‘Astoria’ and ‘Buddwing’, the album is cinematic but in an understated way.
Following the short HASSELL/ENO-esque Possible Musics of ‘Spirus’, ‘Rear-View Mirror’ sunbursts through, the pulsing synthetics of yesterday’s tomorrow combined with reverbed Linn Drum and a strong but swimmy riff. Meanwhile, ‘Talk’ is reminiscent of Benge’s own ‘Twenty Systems’, vaguely minimal with Foxx’s echoing breathy vocals dominating. Matthew Dear’s remix which comes as a bonus track, adds a more industrialised, extended treatment and a deeper, menacing drawl.
The lovely ‘September Town’, originally the B-side of the first JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS single ‘Destination’, sees the sequences and string machines making their mark despite the more stripped down feel. Benge’s intricate craft of working with the limitations of his vintage electronics shines through.
Photo by Ed Fielding
‘Falling Away’ is the big surprise featuring a distorted burst of guitar alongside the sparse rhythm machine accompaniment. ‘Unrecognised’ is perhaps one of the most immediate of the tracks with its pulsing hypnotics sweetened by some emotive synth and piano touches. With more abstract leanings, ‘Invisible Ray’ dovetails treated vocal washes and ambient sweeps while ‘Vapour Trails’ is lively, all subtle claptraps and Compurhythm building.
Fantastically motorik, ‘Tides’ is like an electronic NEU! while the main act closer ‘The Shadow Of His Former Self’ rolls with 6/8 rhythms punctuating the magical overtones of vibrato like a more dystopian take on DEPECHE MODE.
As a final treat, the final bonus track ‘Where You End & I Begin’ featuring kooky Moogstress TARA BUSCH captures the influence of GAZELLE TWIN’s ‘The Entire City’, Foxx’s own favourite album of 2011. Making her presence felt, Busch takes on more witchy tones rather than the Patti Page in space persona of her more recent ‘Rocket Wife’ as it leans to more sinister rumblings.
‘The Shape Of Things’ is very much a grower of an album; much more personal than any of JOHN FOXX’s previous work, it gets progressively satisfying with further, conscientious listens. For many of his followers, this could even turn out to become one of their favourite albums…
With thanks to Steve Malins at Random PR
JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS ‘The Shape Of Things’ is released as a single CD by Metamatic Records on 19th March 2012.
Those who arrived early for JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS’ shows last year will have noticed the kooky songstress with a laptop, flute and Moog Voyager as the opening act. That lady is TARA BUSCH, American musician, producer and score composer.
JOHN FOXX himself described his first encounter with her thus: “Karen Carpenter appeared, along with Nico and Doris Day. Then Bob Moog wandered in”. Since then TARA BUSCH has collaborated with JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS on the track ‘Where You End & I Begin’ from the new album ‘The Shape Of Things’, but she was already a seasoned hand before that as a member of DYNAMO DRESDEN who released the album Remember in 2004.
Going solo, she issued her debut album ‘Pilfershire Lane’ in 2009 while also undertaking remixes under her Analog Suicide brand for fellow enigmatic females such as ANNIE LENNOX, BAT FOR LASHES, POLLY SCATTERGOOD and the mysterious IAMAMIWHOAMI. She was then chosen by Michelle Moog to perform and participate in a workshop called ‘Modern Day Sound Sculpting’ at MoogFest 2010.
But it was her charity EP released in late summer of 2011 for The Bob Moog Foundation entitled ‘Rocket Wife’ that really put her on the map for synth enthusiasts. Ever wondered what happened to that other worldliness which was present on GOLDFRAPP’s monumental ‘Felt Mountain’ album? Well, it has now landed on Planet Busch.
With a combination of ‘Aqua Marina’ vocals and the Sci-Fi sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s Delia Derbyshire, ‘Rocket Wife’ is simply breathtaking, sounding like Patti Page in outer space.
Meanwhile, additional EP track ‘Calendura’ is a beautiful Alpen waltz with a touch of ‘Oompah Radar’ about it while the very short ‘Motor Crash’ is gorgeously neo-acappella with a smattering of bubbling squelch games.
Busch said of her EP: “This is a homage not only to Bob Moog and his legacy, but to the effect the synthesizer had on my music, creativity, and life. What Bob did, most famously with the Minimoog, was to make the groundbreaking world of synthesis available to everybody, not just for the privileged few.”
TARA BUSCH is also known for her enjoyable off-the-wall interpretations of songs such as MADNESS’ ‘Our House’ and THE CURE’s ‘Let’s Go To Bed’ which appeared on the ‘Perfect As Cats’ tribute album.They’re cover versions Jim, but not as we know it! So Busch’s Five Year Mission? To synthly go where no woman has gone before…
So what did ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK think was hot back in 2011?
It featured a day in March when THE HUMAN LEAGUE, DURAN DURAN and John Foxx all released new albums, while VILE ELECTRODES launched their debut EP. In a year when the synth pioneers were finally recognised for their valuable contribution to popular culture, here are our 30 favourite songs of 2011 presented in alphabetical order by artist…
AUSTRA Spellwork
Canadian trio AUSTRA deliver a stark, baroque form of electronica fuelled by sexual tension. Like a gothic opera which successfully blends light and darkness with fragility and power, Katie Stelmanis and friends borrow the tones of classic DEPECHE MODE and cross it with THE KNIFE for this, their most accessibly brilliant synthpop offering from their debut album. The B-side ‘Indentity’ is a worthy listen too.
Available on the CD ‘Feel It Break’ via Domino/Paper Bag Records
Fresh from opening for John Foxx, Tara Busch released a charity EP for The Bob Moog Foundation. If you’ve ever wanted to hear that bizarre sonic other worldiness of GOLDFRAPP’s first album ‘Felt Mountain’ again, it’s right here on ‘Rocket Wife’. With hints of the eerie classic Star Trek theme, this is really does sound like THE CARPENTERS in outer space! Calling occupants of interplanetary craft, across the universe…
Available on the download EP ‘Rocket Wife’ via The Bob Moog Foundation
With wonderful riffs and an uplifting chorus, this is delicious electronic pop from the cult Swedish trio of Paulinda Crescentini, Tommy Arell and Carl Hammar. Remixed by Athens synth maidens MARSHEAUX, this has the best of both worlds and could easily be mistaken for Sophie and Marianthi. However, PaulindaCrescentini’s Italo Nordic charm gives ‘It’s A Game’ a wonderfully distinct and alluring Mediterranean flavour.
Available on the download EP ‘It’s A Game’ via Graplur Records
BETH DITTO would probably be the Alison Moyet of modern electro if she didn’t prefer the funky punk of her band GOSSIP. ‘Do You Need Someone?’ sees Ms Ditto’s powerful and passionate yearning adding soul to the sparkling electronic dance groove. With production from SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, KRAFTWERK’s ‘Computer World’ tones towards the song’s coda are a marvellous touch. A future career as an alternative disco diva beckons.
Available on the CD EP ‘Beth Ditto’ via Deconstruction Records/Sony Music
While Dolby’s album return was largely organic with hints of bluegrass and Americana, its token synthpop offering was the wonderful ‘Spice Train’. Over its hypnotic, squelchy sequence and mechanised dance beat, it gets strangely humanised by a Mariachi horn section. With the kitchen sink and a host of exotic influences thrown in via Bollywood and the Middle East, ‘Spice Train’ does exactly what it says on the tin.
Available on the CD ‘A Map Of The Floating City’ via Lost Toy People.
‘All You Need Is Now’ saw DURAN DURAN cyclically return to the funk-led syncopated pop of their first two albums. ‘Being Followed’ is a superb sequencer assisted disco number with a tingling metallic edge, touches of THE CURE’s ‘A Forest’ and Nick Rhodes’ vintage string machine capture the tension of post 9/11 paranoia. Simon Le Bon gives it his all and while he is technically one of the most chronic singers of his generation, he is unique AND untouchable…
Available on the CD ‘All You Need Is Now’ via Tape Modern
NIKONN’s brand new album ‘Instamatic’ is suitably Mediterranean so add that instrumentation to the voice of raspy New Yorker Lana Del Rey and the end result is a glorious sun-kissed dancefloor moment. Somehow, you end up feeling much happier after dancing to, what is essentially in its original form, a quite stark, heartfelt minor key ballad. Now officially sanctioned, the remix brought the former Lizzie Grant to an electronic pop audience.
Originally issued as a free download but currently unavailable.
From her under rated album ‘Make A Scene’ which includes contributions from Richard X and Armand Van Buuren, the appropriately titled Synchronised is a synthpop tune with a distinct YAZOO flavour to it. All highly appropriate as she supported ERASURE during their forests tour this year. This superbly cements her electro kinship which has been apparent since ‘China Heart’ from her ‘Tripping The Light Fantastic’ in 2007.
Available on the CD ‘Make A Scene’ via Douglas Valentine Limited
The best track on the ‘Interplay’ album is a co-written duet with Mira Aroyo of LADYTRON. ‘Watching A Building On Fire’, with its chattering drum machine and accessible Trans- European melodies, oozes a synthetic smokiness. Aroyo’s counterpoint is almost playfully feline although Foxx’s inherent dystopianism gives it his stamp, making this a second cousin of ‘Burning Car’. The Andy Gray remix is also a worthy acquisition.
Available on the CD ‘Interplay’ via Metamatic Records
JOY DIVISION’s original on ‘Closer’ was one of the most fragile, funereal collages of beauty ever committed to vinyl but Elizabeth Walling has covered this cult classic and made it even more haunting! Replacing the piano motif with eerily chilling synth and holding it together within an echoing sonic cathedral, she pays due respect while adding her own understated operatic stylings… you should hear her version of ‘Louie Louie’!
Available on the download EP ‘I Am Shell I Am Bone’ via Anti-Ghost Moon Ray Records
Susanne Sulley does her best LITTLE BOOTS impression with this opener to ‘Credo’, the long awaited comeback album from THE HUMAN LEAGUE. Sounding like ‘Crash’ gone right or CLIENT gone funky, it is also auto-tuned to the hilt as Da League go all contemporary with this marvellous slice of electronic pop. Let’s hope it’s not another ten years before there’s new material!
‘Clump’ could be the sound of the drums on OMD’s ‘History Of Modern Part 1’ but it’s actually this kooky little number by IAMAMIWHOAMI aka Jonna Lee. A synthetically charged amalgam with vintage sounds and even a toy piano thrown in, this is a bit brighter than some her contemporaries if still delightfully odd and mysterious. It’s musically more Bjork than FEVER RAY although she does share the same management with the latter.
Available on the download single ‘Clump’ via iTunes and Amazon
IAMX have captured an electro Gothic aesthetic that combines the theatrics of Weimar Cabaret with themes of sex, alienation and dependency. Despite the lyrical and aural fervor, Corner’s songs are strongly melodic with an accessible grandeur. The superb lead single ‘Ghosts Of Utopia’ from new album ‘Volatile Times’ has instant appeal with its exhilarating mechanical drive and electrickery. His scream of “this is psychosis” is wholly believable! Dance in the dark!
Available on the CD ‘Volatile Times’ via Republic of Music/BMG
Flautist textures dominate the more sedate pace of ‘Mirage’ almost as a reaction to the loudness war of previous album ‘Velocifero’. Helen Marnie’s voice beautifully suits the synthetic atmospherics while the widescreen, spacious mix compliments a catchy tune that has hints of SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES. Although confusing some of their fans, given room to explore, ‘Gravity The Seducer’ is that under rated album which will be hailed as a classic in years to come.
Available on the CD ‘Gravity The Seducer’ via Nettwerk Productions
Living in a dream since 1983 and as a homage to ‘The Pleasure Principle’, MAISON VAGUE mainman Clark Stiefel responded musically to a YouTube video entitled ‘Synthpop Is Dead’. The opening salvo is brilliant and the lyric of “Everyone’s entitled to opinion, you have yours and well I have mine” hits home. But it’s the retort of “And though it seems that our opinions differ, you’ll agree in time!” that says it all as the sound of PLACEBO gone electro. This battlecry has heart, soul and humour.
Available on the download album ‘Synthpop’s Alive’ via Amazon
Closing MIRRORS’ outstanding ‘Lights & Offerings’ long player, ‘Secrets’ shifting phat bass riff across two octaves is pure Kling Klang, driven by an intense percussive march. An epic at over ten minutes in length and split into three movements, the ambient interlude of the second section consists of an aural sculpture that plays with the mind. It then suddenly reprises with a piercing military tattoo for its finale with unsettling voices for some added claustrophobic edge.
Available on the CD ‘Lights & Offerings’ via Skint Entertainment
Yes, Moby has settled into a formula but he does it well. One of the more immediate tracks from the excellent independently released ‘Destroyed’ album, ‘Be The One’ is full of rich layered synth strings with moody chordial sweeps over a motorik beat and textured vocoder. Despite the simplistic robotic couplet “I was the hell that you needed – I was the one when you needed love”, it strangely exudes warmth and emotion.
Available on the CD ‘Destroyed’ via Little Idiot Records
From their second EP Radio, with Caroline Myrick’s soft vocals attached to Darin Rajabian’s classic electro disco inspired backing, ‘On The Run’ could be described as Ellie Goulding gone right and is free of folkisms. : “I want back the soft quiet days of ever, when there was lemonade and sand, and rainy screen doors and sad movies; when the minutes were no one else’s but ours”.
Available on the download EP ‘Radio’ via their website
Anthemic gothic rock is what the former Gary Webb deals in these days but ‘The Fall’ is a lot less heavier and one-dimensional than the offerings on previous album ‘Jagged’. Co-written and co-produced by Ade Fenton as an interim project when work on the ‘Splinter’ album was put on hold, with a fair smattering of gritty synths, this achieves a much better sonic balance and Gary Numan’s most accessible number in years.
Available on the CD ‘Dead Son Rising’ via Mortal Records
THE OPIATES are former ELECTRIBE 101 chanteuse Billie Ray Martin and Norwegian DJ and producer Robert Solheim. They have been dubbed as The Carpenters of Electro. Several years in the making, the debut album contained ‘Anatomy Of A Plastic Girl’, a fine avant pop structure that told the tale of a young wannabe actress in Los Angeles who reflects on the facial surgery that has left her scarred…
Available on the CD ‘Hollywood Under The Knife’ via Disco Activisto Records
QUEEN OF HEARTS is Liz Morphew, formally of RED BLOODED WOMEN; this mysterious young royal with her assorted headgear and couture is modern electropop’s own Queen Amidala. From a galaxy far, far away and light years ahead of the poptastic competition, this moody, pulsing cover of indie rockers THE FOALS is transformed by a hypnotism textured with spacious synths to give our Queenie room for some sexy breathiness.
Best known for ‘Looking From A Hilltop’ in 1984, the song’s husband and wife vocalists Larry Cassidy and Jenny Ross have sadly since passed away. So it was highly appropriate that for SECTION 25’s recorded return, fronting the former punks would be Larry and Jenny’s daughter Bethany. She does a fine job with this danceable synth led ditty which captures that classic hedonistic Manchester vibe that recalls THE OTHER TWO’s ‘Tasty Fish’.
Available on the download EP ‘Invicta’ via Fac 51 The Hacienda
SOFT METALS are a newish electro duo comprising Patricia Hall and Ian Hicks. Now resident in Los Angeles, they have an accessibly minimal sound with Hall’s pretty vocals being a particular delight and reminiscent of Dot Allison’s flirtatious aura. ‘Eyes Closed’ is probably the highlight from their very promising self-titled debut album, elements of ORBITAL creeping into the danceable bleep fest.
Available on the CD ‘Soft Metals’ via Captured Tracks
Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand hail from Gavle in Sweden. Both filmic and musical elements are important factors in THE SOUND OF ARROWS. Produced by Richard X and featuring a sweet guest vocal from Sarah Nyberg Pergament aka action biker, the choral patches and the symphonic templates are just so reminiscent of OMD. Coupled to some fantastically optimistic ambition, ‘Longest Ever Dream’ is a panoramic joy!
Featuring mournful violin by Chris Payne from The Gary Numan Experience, ‘What Do You Want?’ is the first TENEK track that could be described as possessing a degree of beauty. The Brtish duo’s more rousing anthemic style takes a breather here and although this has more in common with their other ballad track ‘The Art Of Evasion’, the subtlety and strings add a new sonic dimension to the developing TENEK sound.
TIGER BABY are a Copehagen trio led by singer Pernille Pang with Benjamin Teglbjærg and Nikolaj Tarp Gregersen in synthetic support. They released their debut album ‘Noise Around Me’ in 2007. Stylistically, this has all the unmistakeable melodic sensibility that Scandinavian pop acts seem to naturally possess as pretty arpeggios and wispy vocals combine for some dream laden electro accompanied by a fabulous video.
Available on the CD ‘Open Windows Open Hills’ via Gunhero records
VILE ELECTRODES are a colourful beat combo who combine analogue synths with fetish fashion. Their sound could be described as THE SMITHS reincarnated as CLIENT but ‘My Sanctuary’, the closing track on their debut EP is a sweeping moody epic that recalls imperial phase OMD. Anais resigned melancholic vocal gives that ice maiden demeanour over glorious symphonic synth strings and deep sombre tones. It’s magnificence embroiled.
They’re the 21st Century equivalent of THE TEARDOP EXPLODES but with no brass. WHITE LIES however are much more bombastic with synths carrying melodies and assorted effects. Driven by a sweeping theme and deep bass thud before leading to a sense of urgency in the verse, a thoroughly anthemic chorus doesn’t appear until halfway to increase tension. This is possibly what TX could have sounded like if Julian Cope hadn’t gone to live under a tortoise shell!
Available on the CD ‘Ritual’ via Fiction/Polydor Records
Chugging arpeggios, clattering primitive drum machines and slightly unorthodox vocals, minimal duo XENO & OAKLANDER give a brilliantly vibrant offering of vintage futurism. ‘The Staircase’ is their most immediate offering yet. Based in Brooklyn, part of their authentic Europeanism comes from Liz Wendelbo’s wispy French / Norwegian charm. Writing with partner Sean McBride since 2004, they successfully supported JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS in 2011.
Available on the CD ‘Sets & Lights’ via Wierd Records
Those dark Nordic nights certainly have their effect as this cynical tune from this Finnish duo indicates. Comprising helpfully of two friends Tapio and Matti, ZEBRA & SNAKE fuse vintage electronics with a touch of ambient dexterity as an “artistic form of therapy”. ‘Empty Love Song’ is suitably bittersweet and sounds a bit like MGMT’s ‘Time To Pretend’ after six months in deep freeze! However, despite its lyrical stance, it possesses a grand anthemic quality.
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