Tag: OMD (Page 14 of 23)

A Beginner’s Guide To CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN

30 July 2016 / electricityclub

Photo by Hege Saebjornsen

With her distinctive ice maiden delivery, Claudia Brücken is the undoubted queen of cinematic avant pop.

She first came to prominence with PROPAGANDA and the Trevor Horn produced film noir drama of ‘Dr Mabuse’. Together with Susanne Freytag, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper, the Düsseldorf based quartet released their acclaimed album ‘A Secret Wish’ on ZTT in 1985. But despite the album being a favourite of musical figures such as Quincy Jones, Martin Gore, John Taylor and Jim Kerr, PROPAGANDA split following business and creative tensions as a result of their deal with ZTT.

Remaining with ZTT, Brücken formed ACT with early electronic pioneer Thomas Leer and released an album ‘Laughter Tears & Rage’ in 1988 which featured an array of lush synthetic dynamics glossed with a touch of starlet glamour. Not one to rest on her laurels, her first solo album ‘Love: & A Million Other Things’ came in 1991 on Island Records before she took a career break.

There was a brief reunion of PROPAGANDA in 1998 with ‘Ignorance’, ‘No Return’, ‘To The Future’ and ‘Turn To The Sun’ among the songs demoed. Although a video for ‘No Return’ was produced, the title proved poignant so when that came to nought, Brücken spent much of the new millennium’s first decade working and touring with OMD’s Paul Humphreys in ONETWO, supporting ERASURE and THE HUMAN LEAGUE along the way.

Since then, she has released two further solo albums and more recently been spotted in the studio with Susanne Freytag and Stephen J Lipson, while a new collaborative project with Jerome Froese is also in progress.

Although her catalogue is wide and varied, Claudia Brücken is perhaps still very much regarded as a cult figure on the music scene. In 2011, she celebrated her career with a special show at The Scala in London with various friends and collaborators, all captured on the live DVD ‘This Happened’.

Certainly, she deserves greater recognition so with a restriction of one track per release of a very impressive collaborative portfolio, here is a 20 track Beginner’s Guide to her work…

TOPOLINOS Mustafa (1982)

Brücken and Freytag first met on the Düsseldorf scene based around Die Ratinger Straße. “There was this interaction between art and music happening and everyone kind of knew one another” she said. They formed TOPOLINOS, literally translated as ‘The Mickey Mouses’! Using a rhythm unit, budget organ lines and Middle Eastern flavoured vocal phrasing, ‘Mustafa’ appeared on ‘Partysnäks’, the soundtrack to ‘Die Tanzbeinsammler’.

Available on the compilation album Electri_City 2 (V/A) via Grönland Records

PROPAGANDA p: Machinery (1985)

At the suggestion of Freytag, Brücken was recruited into PROPAGANDA and they were marketed as “ABBA in Hell”! ‘p: Machinery’ captured their Teutonic edge and the charm of state-of-the-art technology. Produced by Stephen J Lipson, the song also had an unexpected contributor as Brücken recalled: “It was amazing when David Sylvian came in. On ‘p: Machinery there is this line he wrote on a little keyboard…”

Available on the PROPAGANDA album ‘A Secret Wish’ via Union Square

GLENN GREGORY & CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN When Your Heart Runs Out Of Time (1985)

Brücken and the HEAVEN 17 vocalist met during the video shoot for ‘Dr Mabuse’ as Gregory’s then-wife did the make-up. Written by Will Jennings, best known for ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from ‘Titanic’ and ‘Up Where We Belong’ from ‘An Officer & A Gentleman’, ‘When Your Heart Runs Out of Time’ was recorded for the film ‘Insignificance’ and produced by Midge Ure under the pseudonym of Otto Flake Junior.

Available on the compilation album ‘The Art Of The 12 Inch’ (V/A) via Union Square

ACT Absolutely Immune (1988)

After PROPAGANDA fragmented, Brücken formed ACT with Thomas Leer in 1987. Working again with Stephen J Lipson, alongside the technological marvels came a more playful, decadent glamour with some political flirtations. ‘Absolutely Immune’ was a commentary on the apathy of the nation at large with its “I’m alright Jack” selfishness, the sentiment lost on a British public still drowned in blue emotion.

Available on the ACT album ‘Love & Hate’ via Union Square

JIMMY SOMERVILLE Run From Love (1990)

The acclaim and respect that ‘A Secret Wish’ attained led to Brücken being offered many opportunities to collaborate. One of the first came from Jimmy Somerville. ‘Run From Love’ was a lesser known BRONSKI BEAT number reworked in a more house fashion by S’EXPRESS producer Pascal Gabriel for the diminutive Glaswegian’s greatest hits collection and Ms Brücken provided backing vocals in the chorus.

Available on the JIMMY SOMMERVILLE album ‘The Singles Collection 1984/1990’ via London Records

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Absolut[e] (1991)

Despite ACT ending, Brücken signed a deal with Island Records for her debut solo album produced by Pascal Gabriel. ‘Absolut[e]’ was very much dominated by Gabriel’s dancefloor instincts. But all was not well within. “The MD from Island suddenly left and all the people who worked on my album left as well” she remembered, “A new guy came in and already I could sense what would happen, so Pascal and I decided to get really experimental”.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘Love: & A Million Other Things’ via Cherry Red Records

CHROME SEDUCTION Light The Way (1993)

Brücken took a career break to bring up her daughter Maddy, emerging only occasionally to record the odd guest vocal. ‘Light The Way’ with CHROME SEDUCTION was a frantic club number that also saw a reunion with former partner-in-crime Susanne Freytag. The project of Magnus Fiennes, brother of actors Joseph and Ralph, it was independently released by Mother Alpha Delta.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘ComBined’ via Union Square

THE BRAIN I’ll Find A Way (1996)

The project of Düsseldorf based DJ Dietmar Andreas Maier, ‘I’ll Find A Way’ was typical of the frantically paced Euro-Trance of the period along the lines of fellow Germans COSMIC BABY and SNAP! Co-written with Michael Mertens, the seed of a PROPAGANDA reunion began with a number of songs demoed but Brücken later announced: “The reunion was worth a try, but did not work out.”

Available on THE BRAIN single ‘I’ll Find A Way’ via BMG

OCEANHEAD Eyemotion (1997)

Continuing to contribute the occasional guest vocal, ‘Eyemotion’ was a co-write with John Etkin-Bell which coupled a shuffling drum loop with some beautifully chilled out atmospheres. Brücken’s breathy whispers and a muted synthetic brass motif à la PET SHOP BOYS provided the colourful sonics on an elegant piece of downtempo electronica, blowing away the likes of ENIGMA and SACRED SPIRIT.

Available on the OCEANHEAD single ‘Eyemotion’ via Land Speed Records

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & PAUL RUTHERFORD This Is Not America (2000 – not released until 2011)

After the aborted reunion of PROPAGANDA, Brücken accepted an invitation in 2000 to join Paul Humphreys on his solo tour of the US, one of the first recorded fruits of their partnership was a cover of ‘This Is Not America’ featuring a duet with FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD’s Paul Rutherford A beautifully crafted synthesized tribute to David Bowie & Pat Metheny, it had been intended for a film soundtrack but shelved.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘ComBined’ via Union Square

APOPTYGMA BERZERK Unicorn – Duet Version (2002)

Europe maintained a vibrant industrial music scene and in a one-off collaboration with Norway’s cult electronic body merchants APOPTYGMA BERZERK, Brücken returned to the more Teutonic overtones evident in PROPAGANDA. In an electronic rework of the heavier guitar focussed original, the combo provided a suitably aggressive but accessible backing track for her to duet with frontman Stephan Groth on ‘Unicorn’.

Available on the APOPTYGMA BERZERK album ‘Harmonizer’ via WEA

ONETWO Cloud 9ine (2004)

Brücken formalised her musical partnership with Paul Humphreys and together they named themselves ONETWO. They dusted off a track that had been demoed during the aborted PROPAGANDA reunion. The song in question was ‘Cloud 9ine’, a co-write with Martin Gore which also featured the guitar of DEPECHE MODE’s main songwriter. It was the stand-out song on ONETWO’s debut EP ‘Item’.

Available on the ONETWO EP ‘Item’ via https://theremusic.bandcamp.com/

ANDY BELL with CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Delicious (2005)

Brücken joined ERASURE’s Andy Bell to sing on two tracks for his debut solo album ‘Electric Blue’. More club oriented than ERASURE, it was produced by THE MANHATTAN CLIQUE who were also part of the ONETWO live band. The call-and-response Hi-NRG stomp of ‘Delicious’ saw Brücken in her most playful mood since ACT and in rare poptastic glory, despite the bittersweet, reflective lyrical nature of the song.

Available on the ANDY BELL album ‘Electric Blue’ via Sanctuary Records

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & ANDREW POPPY Libertango (2005)

Brücken teamed up with former ZTT label mate Andrew Poppy to record a number of stripped back covers for her first long form release since 1991. The songs came from bands such as RADIOHEAD and ASSOCIATES, as well as divas like Marianne Faithfull and Kate Bush. One highlight was a dramatic take on ‘Libertango’, better known as ‘I’ve Seen That Face Before’ made famous by Grace Jones.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & ANDREW POPPY album ‘Another Language’ via http://theremusic.bandcamp.com/

ONETWO Anonymous (2007)

Humphreys and Brücken finally released an album as ONETWO in 2007 and from it was ‘Anonymous’, a song that began life as a demo from the aborted PROPAGANDA reunion that had been co-written with Andy McCluskey. The pretty ringing melodies and elegiac atmospheres were reminiscent of OMD. The collaboration had been unusual as at the time of conception as Humphreys had not yet rejoined his old band.

Available on the ONETWO album ‘Instead’ via https://theremusic.bandcamp.com/

BLANK & JONES Don’t Stop (2008)

In between the aborted PROPAGANDA reunion and ONETWO, Brücken guested with the popular German dance duo BLANK & JONES on ‘Unknown Treasure’, a most gorgeously shuffled electrobeat ballad. The parties reunited in 2008 but while ‘Unknown Treasure’ was in her words, “a real collaboration”, “’Don’t Stop’ was in reverse, they gave me all the music and then I did the words and sent it back to them”.

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

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & THE REAL TUESDAY WELD The Things I Love (2011)

Rockstar Games wanted a German singer for a new game called ‘LA Noire’ soundtracked by THE REAL TUESDAY WELD’s Stephen Coates who was known for producing jazzy cabaret-style music with subtle electronica influences. “I thought: why not?” said Brücken, “I heard the songs and thought they were so beautiful. I found it a really good challenge doing something I hadn’t done before”. ‘The Things I Love’ was the alluring highlight of three songs recorded.

Available on the soundtrack album ‘L.A. Noire’ (V/A) via Rockstar Games

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN One Summer Dream (2012)

The B-side to ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’, ‘One Summer Dream’ was the first song to emerge from Brücken’s reinterpretations project with producer Stephen Hague which also included songs by Julee Cruise and David Bowie as well as new versions of songs he’d originally worked on by PET SHOP BOYS and DUBSTAR. It built to a dreamy John Barry influenced ‘Felt Mountain’-era GOLDFRAPP string arrangement.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘The Lost Are Found’ via There (there)

OMD Kissing The Machine (2013)

Although this co-write by Andy McCluskey and Karl Bartos first appeared in 1993 on the ELEKTRIC MUSIC album ‘Esperanto’, Paul Humphreys completely reworked the backing track of ‘Kissing The Machine’from scratch for OMD. “Paul had the idea of asking Claudia to do the vocal in the middle eight” remembered McCluskey before thinking “y’know, could you ask Claudia to do it in German as well?”... the result was electronic magic.

Available on the OMD album ‘English Electric’ via BMG

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Time To Make Changes (2014)

The biggest surprise musically on Brücken’s third solo album was her adoption of the acoustic guitar. Working with producer John Owen Williams, the songs dealt with “emotion, beginnings, endings, past life and future hopes”. Like ABBA meeting THE SMITHS in a lush organic backdrop, ‘Time To Make Changes’ very much reflected her personal mindset following the end of her relationship with Paul Humphreys.

Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘Where Else…’ via Cherry Red Records

For further information on the upcoming projects of Claudia Brücken, please visit her official website and Facebook page

http://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaBruckenMusic

https://twitter.com/ClaudiaBrucken1

https://www.instagram.com/claudiabrucken/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
30th July 2016

OMD Dazzle Ships + Architecture & Morality Live in Frankfurt

16 May 2016 / electricityclub

OMD’s series of dates celebrating the legacy of ‘Architecture & Morality’ and ‘Dazzle Ships’ were the culmination of a rebuilt reputation after a critical mauling back in the day…

This journey began in 2007 when the classic line-up of Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper regrouped to perform ‘Architecture & Morality’ in full, on what eventually became an extensive European tour.

But back in the day following the melodic platitudes of their hit singles ‘Souvenir’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’, OMD returned to the experimental ethos of their VCL XI days, as a reaction to the success of ‘Architecture & Morality’. Thus the follow-up album ‘Dazzle Ships’ was also notable for a number of shorter, conceptual pieces inspired by KRAFTWERK’s ‘Radio-Activity’ long player.

Although ‘Dazzle Ships’ was savaged by critics on its release in April 1983 and ultimately reset OMD into a more directly commercial direction towards Hollywood, this fractured nautical adventure has now been reassessed by cultural observers such as The Quietus as a lost work of genius, almost along the same lines as ‘Kid A’ by RADIOHEAD.

While confusing audiences at the time, the speaking clock collage ‘Time Zones’ was an enlightening snapshot of the world over 118 seconds. Each of the announcers from France, Germany, Britain, Japan and North America were all carefully synchronised for an artistic simulcast that would have been impossible to appreciate under conventional circumstances. Its inclusion was naïve and while ‘Time Zones’ may have outstayed its welcome by 30 seconds, the intentions were imaginative and authentic.

Germany is OMD’s spiritual home and this evening at Frankfurt’s mighty Alte Oper was like a celebratory monument of remembrance to a bygone era; outside the city in Friedberg was a base for the US Army’s 3rd Armored Division and Elvis Presley was famously stationed there during his National Service.

At the rather unusual start time of 7.00pm, ‘Dazzle Ships (Parts II, III & VII)’ opened proceedings and provided a concrète reminder of those past Cold War tensions. Meanwhile through a megaphone, Andy McCluskey playfully reprised the enemy ident for ‘Radio Prague’.

The four piece synchronised performance art flag waving of ‘ABC Auto-Industry’ brought back memories of the aghast audience reaction when OMD gave the piece a TV debut on ‘The Tube’; this time however, it was greeted as a welcome catch-phrase.

The live presentation began proper with a selection of recent media broadcasts appended onto the still shocking news report about “the former Somoza guards” on the start of ‘International’. Like ‘Maid Of Orleans’, ‘International’ was influenced by ENO’s ‘Back In Judy’s Jungle’ and the original McCluskey anger justly came over as his emotions set in. Sadly, the harrowing waltz’s observations on economic corruption, political hypocrisy and torture in captivity still resonate today.

The solemn but beautiful ‘Silent Running’ followed and provided a perfect metaphor for the current state of the nation. Echoing JOY DIVISION’s ‘Atmosphere, the song had not been played live since OMD’s 1983 shows when it was one of the encores.

Upping the pace, ‘This Is Helena’ saw McCluskey bring a guitar out to set the scene for ‘Genetic Engineering’, the fistful of coarse energy that took its lead from ‘China My China’, another track by ENO.

One of the most unusual chart singles ever, has there been another song about this subject? Well, apart from ‘Utopia’ by GOLDFRAPP, then probably not; McCluskey continued the momentum with the precise pop structure of ‘Telegraph’.

A coded attack on right-wing religious evangelism, taken in today’s context, the lyrics of ‘Telegraph’ could easily be applied to the campaign antics of a certain Donald Trump. Following on, accompanied by massed dancing in the aisles, the Motorik exuberance of ‘Radio Waves’ blasted through. Like with the recent domestic period drama ‘Deutschland 83’, it was a reminder that despite the spectre of The Bomb, there was time for escapism and even fun.

Sitting in for the popular sticksman Malcolm Holmes, Stuart Kershaw acquitted himself well on the drum stool, keeping the pulse ticking while adding his own groove and punch. Meanwhile, Paul Humphreys and Martin Cooper kept things melodically tight, but loose enough to prove on occasions that things were very definitely live, with all the original sounds reproduced supremely to cut through to the heart.

The live outing of ‘Time Zones’ was made easier to absorb for mass consumption by being reworked as a mash-up that threw in the Synthanorma sequence from ‘The Right Side?’ alongside speech bites from the various conceptual pieces of ‘English Electric’, the glorious 2013 opus which can now be seen as a direct descendent of ‘Dazzle Ships’.

With the most difficult track from the ‘Dazzle Ships’ opus now out of the way, all four band members headed to the front of the stage for an endearing, stripped down performance of ‘Of All The Things We’ve Made’ with Kershaw on a single snare, while Humphreys and Cooper stood holding tiny remote keyboards. Its single chord strum from McCluskey provided a wonderfully wistful moment for the occasion. Originally recorded as the last OMD song, it actually came from the 1981 ‘Architecture & Morality’ recording sessions.

The airing of ‘Genetic Engineering’ B-side ‘4 Neu’, a duet between Humphreys and McCluskey, was highly felicitous in Frankfurt with Düsseldorf, the home city of NEU! only 150km away. Inspired by the track ‘Lebwohl’ as a tribute to the music of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger, the mournful piano motif provided a special connection so near to the city from which it mystically emerged and showed that it was not only KRAFTWERK who were instrumental in OMD’s genesis.

With ‘Dazzle Ships’ clocking in at only 32 minutes, McCluskey introduced a musical intermission with a trio of evergreens from the ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’ debut. Martin Cooper left his Roland Fantom X8 to strap on a bass guitar for the lively Latin spike of ‘Julia’s Song’, while ‘Almost’ and ‘Messages’ were reminders of how unrequited love and ending a relationship were much trickier situations to deal with in the days before the smart phone.

When ‘Architecture & Morality’ came out on Dindisc in November 1981, it was initially dismissed by critics as synth MOR, thanks to its three massive Top 5 UK singles. While it contained ‘Maid Of Orleans’, the biggest selling single of 1982 in West Germany, it has only been in the last ten years that the progressive depth of the title track and ‘Sealand’ have been truly recognised and appreciated. This respective pairing opened this second half of the evening, with the eerie oceanic overtures of ‘Sealand’ in particular looming gloomily as the seed to ‘Dazzle Ships’. Its strong melodies and emotive sweeps certainly countered the lazy argument that “synthesizers have no soul”.

But it all wasn’t just pastoral art, as the primitive aggression of ‘The New Stone Age’ and the moody rhythmics of ‘Georgia’ showed. After magnificent renditions of ‘Souvenir’, ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’ brought the opera house down, the choral beauty of the guitar sprung ‘The Beginning & the End’ closed the ‘Architecture & Morality’ segment, with the ever versatile Kershaw stepping forward on six string duties.

To finish the evening, the band gave enthusiastic renditions of ‘Electricity’ and ‘Enola Gay’ to ensure that everyone could party like it was ‘Deutschland ‘83’, with the now traditional Teutonic chants of “ZUGABE” in metronomic unison with the latter’s iconic CR78 pattern at the close.

As a post-script, OMD returned for an encore and went off-piste with ‘Sailing On the Seven Seas’ and ‘Locomotion’; the latter was dedicated to a new wed couple who had made their way to the front, with McCluskey even posing for a photo with the bride mid-song! But following that moment of amusement, the ethos of the evening was put back on track with the tremendously emotive ‘The Romance Of The Telescope’, the only track from ‘Dazzle Ships’ left unplayed in earlier part of the programme.

It was a fine showcase of two of the most important albums in the history of Synth Britannia and for those who were able to tell their tape recorders from their drum machines, it was a perfect night with OMD on supreme form. Paul Humphreys said in the event brochure: “We feel it’s important to keep venturing forward as a band, having new ideas and creating new things, but sometimes it gives a unique perspective to return to former works…”

While ‘Architecture & Morality’ has more than earned its place in the pantheons of electronic pop, ‘Dazzle Ships’ has now been vindicated with a rightful place next to it. And with the triumph of ‘English Electric’ in 2013 too, the artistic circle has now been completed. With some brilliant performances of a collection of work that many hold dear, OMD have nothing more to prove.

But just as ‘Dazzle Ships’ was followed by less conceptually challenging hit singles such as ‘Talking Loud & Clear’, ‘So In Love’ and ‘If You Leave’, a North American tour supporting BARE NAKED LADIES and a sojourn at Butlins in Bognor Regis are next in OMD’s 2016 diary…

It seems funny to think OMD once felt insulted by Factory Records impresario Tony Wilson’s assessment that they were the future of pop music. Their Dindisc label boss Carol Wilson said that Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys “didn’t know whether they wanted to be JOY DIVISION or ABBA!” – of course, they wanted to be both. And that sums up OMD in an awkward, but ultimately rewarding avant pop nutshell.

‘Architecture & Morality / Dazzle Ships’ recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall is available as a 2CD or 3LP set and download

The studio versions of ‘Dazzle Ships’ + ‘Architecture & Morality’ are still available in CD and download formats via Virgin Records

http://www.omd.uk.com

https://www.facebook.com/omdofficial/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
16th May 2016

JOHN FOXX 21st Century: A Man, A Woman & A City

5 May 2016 / electricityclub

“I always seem to write about a man, a woman and a city. It’s because I am an urban creature most of the time”: John Foxx

’21st Century: A Man, A Woman And A City’ is a new compilation that gathers John Foxx’s song based work from since the turn of the millennium. After a hiatus between 1986 to 1995, Foxx has since been extremely prolific, dividing his time between a number of pop-oriented, ambient and soundtrack projects. The first section of this collection is laid out chronologically, beginning with Foxx’s material recorded with Louis Gordon, his main collaborator on his comeback.

‘A Funny Thing’ from 2001’s ‘The Pleasures Of Electricity’ sounds particularly interesting in today’s context, with the jazzier, deep house inflections being quite different from how Foxx is now. But songs like 2005’s beautifully treated ‘Never Let Me Go’ confirmed that Foxx still had that inventive spark.

But it was when Foxx teamed up with synth collector extraordinaire Benge to form JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS that he became fully re-engaged in the electronic pop realm which he helped to pioneer. Using an array of vintage synthesizers, the feisty growl of ‘Catwalk’, the serenity of ‘Interplay’ and the electro-folk of ‘Evergreen’ all possessed a mechanised charm while simultaneously providing some vital correlative warmth. The parent album ‘Interplay’ was possibly Foxx’s most complete and accessible body of work since ‘Metamatic’.

Continuing with the mathematical solution, from the swift follow-up ‘The Shape Of Things’, the fantastically motorik ‘Tides’ came over like an electronic NEU! Meanwhile from the third Maths album ‘Evidence’, the title track in collaboration with THE SOFT MOON was a surreal slice of post-punk psychedelia, like Numan meeting Syd Barrett! But the most complete track Foxx produced in this period turned out to be the grainy, pastoral elegance of ‘Evangeline’ with Finnish producer Jori Hulkkonen.

The main act of ‘21st Century: A Man, A Woman And A City’ concludes with two previously unreleased songs by JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS; both are highly worthy inclusions. ‘A Many Splendoured Thing’ features pristine pulsing sonics with crisp percussive taps a la ‘The Man Machine’; it’s Foxx goes to Kling Klang.

But ‘A Man And A Woman’ throws in a less rigid formula with some loose, hand played electronic percussion and the enchanting voice of Hannah Peel. It’s an interesting departure that even features some subtle acoustic guitar flourishes by Isobel Malins. Continuing on the six string theme, ‘Estrellita’ from the ‘Mirrorball’ album with COCTEAU TWINS’ Robin Guthrie appropriately provides an esoteric musical interlude, before the compilation’s appendix of assorted collaborations and remixes.

Although not a song written by Foxx, his and Benge’s serene reinterpretation of GAZELLE TWIN’s ‘Changelings’ highlighted not only the synthesized magic of the partnership, but also how the influence of Foxx was interwoven seamlessly into the Brighton-based songstress’ art.

Following JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS’ rework of ‘Dresden’, the reciprocal arrangement delivers a previously unreleased OMD remix of ‘The Good Shadow’. Working around its shimmering arpeggio, Paul Humphreys adds more of the beautiful Synth-Werk that made OMD’s last album ‘English Electric’ such a return to form. Meanwhile, the ADULT. Remix of ‘The Shadow Of His Former Self’ naturally takes on a more punky, techno stance.

Originally a solo track from ‘The Shape Of Things’, ‘Talk’ has now become a collaborative platform for Foxx to explore different approaches from a singular idea with other kindred spirits; on ‘21st Century: A Man, A Woman And A City’, two of these are included.

The first is the previously released ‘Talk (Beneath My Dreams)’ version with Matthew Dear; Foxx provides the cascading bass laden intro before Dear adds a steadfast four-to-the floor beat and a deep sinister voiceover, which could be mistaken for a pitch-shifted Foxx.

But the second version is a brand new, long-awaited collaboration with Gary Numan. Numan’s take on the track is meaty. Retitled ‘Talk (Are You Listening To Me?)’, it predictably screams alienation and fully exploits his haunting trademark overtures, courtesy of some blistering Polymoog from Benge.

The end result is like a wonderful audio mutual appreciation society: “John Foxx has been a hero of mine for my entire adult life” said Numan, “It was a real honour to finally have the chance to contribute to one of his tracks… it was every bit as creative, unusual, demanding, and rewarding, as I always expected it to be”.

Foxx is currently in the studio working on new music. Like SPARKS, John Foxx has been so prolific over the years that it can be challenging to keep up with all his releases. But as much as some of his hardcore following have expressed dismay at countless reissues and compilations, Foxx’s work is still under-appreciated, even within the more general circles of electronic pop music.

So for many, ‘21st Century: A Man, A Woman & A City’ will be an opportunity to catch up with the more accessible side of his work from the last 16 years. For those still not entirely convinced of Foxx’s contribution to the synthesized music world, it acts an ideal entry point into some of his best electronically focused work since ‘Metamatic’.

’21st Century: A Man, A Woman & A City’ is released by Metamatic Records as a CD and download on 27th May 2016. A limited deluxe CD+DVD edition is also available and features 11 videos filmed in Tokyo by Macoto Tezka, featuring music by JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS

http://www.metamatic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/johnfoxxmetamatic/

https://twitter.com/foxxmetamedia

Text by Chi Ming Lai
4th May 2016

CLOSE TO THE NOISE FLOOR Formative UK Electronica 1975-1984

23 April 2016 / electricityclub

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Text by Paul Boddy
23rd April 2016

SYNTH.NU Interviews ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK

23 March 2016 / electricityclub

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!

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.

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

Tag: OMD (Page 14 of 23)

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SYNTH.NU Interviews ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK

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