Tag: Outland (Page 3 of 3)

MORGAN WILLIS Dreamer

4 January 2020 /


French musician Morgan Willis is something of a synthwave veteran.

He’s been extremely prolific since his 2012 debut long playing release ‘Science Fiction’ and the 2015 electro-funk flavoured ‘Night Rider’ to become a respected exponent of the sub-genre.

His latest offering ‘Dreamer’ has been called a “synthpop fairy-tale” and certainly this primarily instrumental set has been bolstered by the sweet feminine magic of PARALLELS, NINA and KEL to continue a tradition that has been a key part of Morgan Willis releases since 2016 with JJ Mist on ‘Behind The Mask’.

One of the not undeserved criticisms of instrumental synthwave is that its hazy soundscapes emphasise texture and feel, rather than tunes and dynamics. So when ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s idea of a synth instrumental is ‘Theme For Great Cities’ by SIMPLE MINDS and ‘Astradyne’ by ULTRAVOX, then the comparison bar is always going to be set quite high.

‘Dreamer’ contains songs and these prove to be the highlights of the album. Best of all is ‘Rabbit Hole Chasing You’ featuring regular collaborator KEL who compliments the throbbing electronics with an airy lift, while a number of more sparkling upper octave sounds get to gently penetrate through the incumbent aural wash. ‘Back to the Start’ sees NINA making good use of her natural range of vocal capabilities. Her higher notes offset the musical middle ground inhabited by the bed of synths.

And this is why the deep male voiced ‘Invisible’ doesn’t make as much of an impression as it mushes in with the backdrop. However, the syncopated funky stance and whirring synths of the single ‘C.O.M.A’ with a similar deep male vocal is much more satisfying.

Holly Dodson of PARALLELS makes another of her synthwave guest vocal appearances on ‘Dark Before the Dream’ and with guitar-derived arpeggios at the start, the Canadian songstress provides an almost Country & Western demeanour before the electronic drums kick in for some of the classic new wave tinged synthpop that her own band is known for.

However, a couple of the instrumentals do the trick. The lengthy closer ‘Forever’ is a beautifully expanding epic with luscious melodic hooks and pulsing arpeggios, while ‘Teenager’ captures the energy and exuberance of youth with a hint of ‘St Elmo’s Fire’. But with slow fades and steady builds, the album and a few of its tracks are maybe too long.

Now while the point of many synthwave concepts is soundtracks for imaginary films, this can be challenging for some listeners to imagine amongst the aural hue without visuals, while also waiting for a vocal.

‘Dreamer’ probably requires an immersion of full relaxation for it to be effective and to that end, the title track and ‘Daydream’ do what they say on the tin. So if you are into the idea of a reconfigured soundtrack for a Brat Pack film coated in magenta pink, then ‘Dreamer’ will be for you.

‘Dreamer’ is released by Outland as a magenta pink double vinyl LP and download, available from https://morganwillisofficial.bandcamp.com/album/dreamer-2

https://www.facebook.com/morganwillis1982/

https://twitter.com/MorganWillis82

https://soundcloud.com/morgan-willis-1982

https://www.weloveoutland.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
4th January 2020

2019 END OF YEAR REVIEW

15 December 2019 /

2019 was a year of 40th Anniversaries, celebrating the synth becoming the sound of pop when ‘Are Friends Electric?’ reached No1 in the UK chart in 1979.

While GARY NUMAN opted for ‘(R)evolution’ and two of his former sidemen RRussell Bell and Chris Payne ventured solo for the first time, OMD offered a 7 disc ‘Souvenir’ featuring a whole album of quality unreleased material to accompany a concert tour to celebrate four decades in the business. That was contrary to DEPECHE MODE who merely plonked 14 albums into a boxed set in a move where the ‘Everything Counts’ lyric “the grabbing hands grab all they can” became more and more ironic… MIDGE URE partied like it was 1980 with the music of VISAGE and ULTRAVOX, while SIMPLE MINDS announced an arena tour for 2020 so that their audience could show Jim Kerr their hands again.

HEAVEN 17 announced some special showcases of the early material of THE HUMAN LEAGUE and got a particularly warm reception opening on tour for SQUEEZE as a trailer ahead of their own ‘Greatest Hits’ jaunt next year.

Celebrating 20 years in music, there was the welcome return of LADYTRON with a self-titled comeback album, while Swedish evergreens LUSTANS LAKEJER performed the ‘Åkersberga’ album for its 20th Anniversary and similarly GOLDFRAPP announced a series of shows in honour of their magnificent cinematic debut ‘Felt Mountain’.

Cult favourites FIAT LUX made their intimate live comeback in a church in Bradford and released their debut album ‘Saved Symmetry’ 37 years after their first single ‘Feels Like Winter Again’.

As a result, their fans were also treated to ‘Ark Of Embers’, the long player that Polydor Records shelved in 1985 when the band were on the cusp of a breakthrough but ended with a commercial breakdown.

Modern prog exponents Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson got back together as NO-MAN for their dual suite electronic concept record ‘Love You To Bits’, but an even more ambitious undertaking came from UNDERWORLD with their boxed set ‘Drift Series 1’.

Also making live returns were one-time PET SHOP BOYS protégé CICERO with a charity gig in his hometown of Livingston, WHITE DOOR with JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM at Synth Wave Live 3, ARTHUR & MARTHA and Mute Records veterans KOMPUTER.

After a short hiatus, the mighty KITE sold-out three gigs at Stockholm Slaktkyrkan and ended the year performing at an opera house, while GIORGIO MORODER embarked on his first ever concert tour where his songs were the stars.

Although their long-awaited-as-yet-untitled third album was still to materialise, VILE ELECTRODES went back on the road in Europe with APOPTYGMA BERZERK and THE INVINCIBLE SPIRIT. Meanwhile, Chinese techno-rock sextet STOLEN opened for NEW ORDER on their Autumn European tour and EMIKA performed in a series of Planetariums.

Despite the fall of The Berlin Wall 30 years ago, there were more evident swipes to the right than there had been for a long time, with the concept of Brexit Electro becoming a rather unpleasant reality. So in these more sinister times, the need for classic uplifting electronic pop was higher than ever.

To that end, three superb debut albums fitted the bill. While KNIGHT$ offered quality Britalo on ‘Dollars & Cents’, the suave presence of Ollie Wride took a more MTV friendly direction with ‘Thanks In Advance’. But for those wanting something more home produced, the eccentric Northern electronic pop of the brilliantly named INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS OF POP continued the artistic lineage of THE HUMAN LEAGUE.

QUIETER THAN SPIDERS finally released their wonderful debut album ‘Signs Of Life’ which was naturally more understated and Denmark had some worthy synthpop representation with SOFTWAVE producing an enjoyably catchy debut long player in ‘Game On’.

On the shadier side of electronic pop, BOY HARSHER achieved a wider breakthrough with their impressive ‘Careful’ long player but as a result, the duo acquired a contemporary hipster element to their fanbase who seemed to lack manners and self-awareness as they romped around gigs without a care for anyone around them. But with tongues-in-cheeks, SPRAY continued to amuse with their witty prankelectro on ‘Failure Is Inevitable’.

Photo by Johnny Jewel

Italians Do It Better kept things in house as CHROMATICS unexpectedly unleashed their first album for six years in ‘Closer To Grey’ and embarked on a world tour. Main support was DESIRE and accompanied on keyboards by HEAVEN singer Aja, the pair took things literally during their cover version of ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ with a girl-on-girl kiss in front of head honcho Johnny Jewel. Other ITIB acts on the tour dependent on territory included DOUBLE MIXTE, IN MIRRORS and KRAKÓW LOVES ADANA. But the best work to appear from the stable came from Jorja Chalmers who became ‘Human Again’.

There were a variety of inventive eclectic works from FAKE TEAK, MAPS, FINLAY SHAKESPEARE, ULTRAMARINE, TYCHO, THE GOLDEN FILTER, FRAGRANCE. and FADER. Meanwhile VON KONOW, SOMEONE WHO ISN’T ME and JAKUZI all explored themes of equality while BOYTRONIC preferred ‘The Robot Treatment’. But expressing themselves on the smoother side of proceedings, SHOOK who looked east towards the legend of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA.

Dark minimalism reigned in the work of FRAGILE SELF and WE ARE REPLICA while no less dark but not so aggressive, WITCH OF THE VALE cemented their position with a well-received opening slot at Infest. Dubliner CIRCUIT3 got political and discussed ‘The Price Of Nothing & The Value Of Everything’.

2019 was a year of electronic instrumental offerings galore from NEULAND, Ricardo Autobahn, EKKOES, M83, RELIEF, FEMMEPOP and OBLONG, although Eric Random’s dystopian offering ‘Wire Me Up’ added vocoder while Brian Eno celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing ‘For All Mankind’.

The King of Glum Rock LLloyd Cole surprised all with an electronic pop album called ‘Guesswork’ just as PET SHOP BOYS set an ‘Agenda’. HOWARD JONES released his most synthy work for years in ‘Transform’ and while CHINA CRISIS acted as his well-received support on the UK leg of his 35th Anniversary tour, their front man Gary Daly ventured solo with ‘Gone From Here’.

Among the year’s best new talents were IMI, Karin My, Greta,  Geiste and Alice Hubble with their beautifully crafted avant pop.

And with the media traction of artists such as GEORGIA, REIN, JENNIFER TOUCH, SUI ZHEN, THE HEARING, IONNALEE, PLASMIC, ZAMILSKA, IOANNA GIKA, SPELLLING, KANGA, FIFI RONG and I AM SNOW ANGEL, the profile of women in electronic music was stronger than ever in 2019.

Sweden continued to produce quality electronic pop with enjoyable releases from the likes of MACHINISTA, PAGE, COVENANT, OBSESSION OF TIME and LIZETTE LIZETTE. One of the most interesting acts to emerge from the region was US featuring the now Stockholm-domiciled Andrew Montgomery from GENEVA and Leo Josefsson of LOWE, with the catalyst of this unlikely union coming from a shared love of the late country legend Glen Campbell. Meanwhile, veteran trio DAYBEHAVIOR made the best album of their career ‘Based On A True Story’.

However, Canada again gave the Swedes a good run for their money as ELECTRIC YOUTH and FM ATTACK released new material while with more of a post-punk slant, ACTORS impressed audiences who preferred a post-post-punk edge alongside their synths.Dana Jean Phoenix though showed herself to be one of the best solo synth performers on the live circuit, but artistically the best of the lot was MECHA MAIKO who had two major releases ‘Okiya’ and ‘Let’s!’.

Despite making some good music in 2019 with their ‘Destroyer’ two-parter, the “too cool for school” demeanour of TR/ST might have impressed hipsters, but left a lot to be desired. A diva-ish attitude of entitlement was also noticed by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK to be disappointingly prevalent in several fledgling acts.

Synthwave increased its profile further with the film ‘The Rise Of The Synths’ narrated by none other than John Carpenter. MICHAEL OAKLEY released his debut album ‘Introspect’, BETAMAXX was ‘Lost In A Dreamworld’, COM TRUISE came up with a ‘Persuasion System’ and NEW ARCADES were ‘Returning Home’.

Scene veteran FUTURECOP! collaborated with PARALLELS, COMPUTER MAGIC and NINA prior to a hiatus for the foreseeable future, while there were promising new talents emerging in the shape of POLYCHROME, PRIZM, BUNNY X and RIDER. However, several of the sub-genre’s artists needed to rethink their live presentations which notably underwhelmed with their static motions and lack of engagement.

While promoters such as Outland developed on their solid foundations, others attempted to get too big too soon like the musical equivalent of a penis extension, leaving fans disappointed and artists unpaid. Attempting to turnover more than 10 acts during in a day with a quarter of an hour changeover has always been an odious task at best, but to try 15?!? One hopes the headliners were well paid despite having to go on at midnight when most of their supporters went home so as not to miss the last train…

Now at times, it was as if a major collective midlife crisis had hit independent electronic music in the UK during 2019. It was not unlike how “born again bikers” have become a major road safety risk, thanks to 40somethings who only managed Cycling Proficiency in Junior School suddenly jumping onto 500cc Honda CMX500 Rebel motorcycles, thinking they were Valentino Rossi.

Something similar was occurring in music as a variety of posturing delusional synth owners indulged in a remix frenzy and visions of grandeur, forgetting that ability and talent were paramount. This attitude led to a number of poorly attended events where attendees were able to be counted on one hand, thanks to clueless fans of said combos unwisely panning their video footage around the venue.

Playing at 3:15pm in an empty venue is NOT performing at a ‘major’ electronic festival… “I’ll be more selective with the gigs I agree to in the UK” one of these acts haplessly bemoaned, “I’ve played to too many empty rooms!” – well, could that have been because they are not very good?

Bands who had blown their chance by not showing willingness to open for name acts during holiday periods, while making unwise comments on their national TV debut about their lack of interest in registering for PRS, said they were going to split a year in advance, but not before releasing an EP and playing a farewell show in an attempt to finally get validation for their art. Was this a shining example of Schrodinger’s Band?

Of course, the worst culprits were those who had an internet radio show or put on gigs themselves so that they could actually perform, because otherwise external promotors were only interested in them opening at 6.15pm after a ticket deal buy on for a five band bill. Humility wouldn’t have gone amiss in all these cases.

It’s a funny old world, but as ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK comes up to concluding its tenth year as an influential platform that has written extensively about not one or two or three or four BUT five acts prior to them being selected to open on tour for OMD, luckily the gulf between good and bad music is more distinct than ever. It will be interesting to see if the high standard of electronic pop will be maintained or whether the influx of poor quality artists will contaminate the bloodline.

So ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK ends the decade with a complimentary comment by a punter after attending two of its live events: “You don’t put on sh*t do you…”

May the supreme talent rise and shine… you know who you are 😉

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK Contributor Listings of 2019

PAUL BODDY

Best Album: UNDERWORLD Drift Series 1
Best Song: MOLINA Venus
Best Gig: RAMMSTEIN at Milton Keynes MK Bowl
Best Video: SCALPING Chamber
Most Promising New Act: SCALPING

IAN FERGUSON

Best Album: NO-MAN Love You To Bits
Best Song: NO-MAN Love You To Shreds
Best Gig: RAMMSTEIN at Stadion Slaski Chorzow
Best Video: RAMMSTEIN Deutschland
Most Promising New Act: IMI

SIMON HELM

Best Album: PAGE Fakta För Alla
Best Song: PAGE Fakta För Alla
Best Gig: LAU NAU at London Cafe OTO
Best Video: LAU NAU Amphipoda on Buchla 200 at EMS Stockholm
Most Promising New Act: THE HIDDEN MAN

CHI MING LAI

Best Album: KNIGHT$ Dollar & Cents
Best Song: OMD Don’t Go
Best Gig: KITE at Stockholm Slaktkyrkan
Best Video: NIGHT CLUB Your Addiction
Most Promising New Act: IMI

RICHARD PRICE

Best Album: KNIGHT$ Dollar & Cents
Best Song: OMD Don’t Go
Best Gig: MIDGE URE at The London Palladium
Best Video: IMI Margins
Most Promising New Act: PLASMIC

MONIKA IZABELA TRIGWELL

Best Album: MECHA MAIKO Let’s
Best Song: KANGA Burn
Best Gig: DANA JEAN PHOENIX, KALAX + LEBROCK at London Zigfrid von Underbelly
Best Video: IONNALEE Open Sea
Most Promising New Act: PRIZM

Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Ian Ferguson
16th December 2019, updated 29th Janaury 2021

OLLIE WRIDE Live at Camden Assembly

29 November 2019 /


If Billy Idol was punk’s crossover success story into the international mainstream, then Ollie Wride could become synthwave’s…

Although best known as the voice for FM-84 and featuring on the acclaimed 2016 album ‘Atlas’, Wride’s recently released solo debut ‘Thanks In Advance’ co-produced by Michael Oakley proved that the suave Brightonian could cut it outside of the nest.

Channelling his inner Lindsey Buckingham with a dash of Kenny Loggins, ‘Thanks In Advance’ possessed swagger, style and most importantly of all, good tunes. Embracing that Trans-Atlantic friendly sound which was once the staple of MTV when it bothered to play music, OLLIE WRIDE unashamedly partied like it was 1985.

Indeed for his sold out debut solo show at London’s Camden Assembly, that era was effectively recreated and began in earnest with the feisty synth rock of ‘The Driver’. Coming over like a cross between Jim Kerr and Billy Idol, its groovy vibe brought to mind the productions of Keith Forsey who not only worked with SIMPLE MINDS, THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS and ICEHOUSE but also the man born William Michael Albert Broad.

Having also co-wrote ‘Flashdance… What A Feeling’, ‘The Never Ending Story’ and ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’, the former Giorgio Moroder apprentice and drummer could in some ways be seen something of an indirect muse in The World of Wride, such has been Forsey’s impact on the cultural landscape.

With a natural energetic on-stage charisma, Wride was effectively off the leash as he posed and strutted along the ‘Miracle Mile’. Following on, the rousing ‘Never Live Without You’ rocked with a fine balance of synths and guitar; backed on the latter by Josh Dally who played with Wride in FM-84, drum duties were conducted by another FM-84 cohort James Cross who did a superb job to compliment the electronically laden sound and crucially, did not overplay.

The TEARS FOR FEARS drive time shuffle of ‘Overcome’ kept the momentum going as Wride played the keytar man but for the gently percussive ballad ‘The Rising Tide’ with its hints of MR MISTER, he walked over to his M-Audio keyboard before settling down Richard Marx style for the appropriately moonlit ‘Luna’.

A nice surprise from the soon-to-be-issued deluxe edition of ‘Thanks In Advance’ came with ‘Stranger Love’, a new collaboration with SUNGLASSES KID which perhaps unsurprisingly sounded like a NINA track but with a male vocal.

However, this premier got trumped by an unexpected cover of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer’ with its classic art funk satisfying the enthusiastic crowd and perhaps summing up Ollie Wride’s ultimate ambitions. To close the main set, a hypnotising performance of the brilliant ‘I’m A Believer’ saw its synthy cascade point towards Hollywood but what everyone wanted now was an encore.

With chants from the audience of “ONE MORE SONG!”, Wride actually gave them two in the shape of the soulful pop of ‘Back To Life’ and ‘Running In The Night’, probably his best known song with FM-84. With an anthemic state of tension and urgency in the vein of ‘The Boys of Summer’, the response from all those present was nothing short of ecstatic with a mass communal singalong.

One thing that stood out tonight was Wride’s endearing stage craft which was not only engaging but also probably as good George Michael when he was in his live prime.

What Ollie Wride has managed to do is straddle a variety of musical styles and blend them into a melting pot of accessible pop. Some might consider it bland, but others call it entertaining and his aspirational persona is a refreshingly uplifting tonic in these darker times.

So don’t snooze and lose when he next performs somewhere near you. If there is any justice, he will be playing arenas within a few years and it won’t be so easy to get so close to one of the scene’s undoubted stars.

With thanks to Outland

‘Thanks In Advance’ is still available in various formats from https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/

https://olliewride.com/

https://www.facebook.com/olliewrideofficial/

https://twitter.com/OllieWride

https://www.instagram.com/olliewride/

https://www.weloveoutland.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Gina-Leigh Smith at Photo-G-Nic
29th November 2019

FM ATTACK + FUTURECOP! Live in London

28 October 2019 /

Outland presented an enticing synthwave double billing with Vancouver’s FM ATTACK and Manchester’s FUTURECOP! at Electrowerkz in London.

The London-based promoters have had a busy year where they undertook their most ambitious undertaking yet in Toronto during the summer featuring DANA JEAN PHOENIX, MECHA MAIKO, PARALLELS, MICHAEL OAKLEY, KALAX, TIMECOP1983 and FM ATTACK.

It was the success of FM ATTACK’s appearance at the event that led to mainman Shawn Ward’s visit to London and Dublin.

But to start proceedings in an already packed Electrowerkz was FUTURECOP! The musical vehicle of synthwave stalwart Manzur Iqbal, his most recent album ‘Voltrana’ featured the vocals of PARALLELS and COMPUTER MAGIC.

In a set more akin to a DJ styled experience and accompanied on stage by Will Cunningham on visuals, Iqbal presented pre-prepared song-based material wispily vocalised by the likes of Holly Dodson and Danz Johnson such as ‘Edge Of The Universe’, ‘We Belong’ and ‘Star’.

‘1988 Girls’ from ‘The Movie’ drew the biggest cheers while musically cut from a similar cloth, ‘Starworshipper’ showcased Iqual’s Sci-Fi mysticism.

As a show, FUTURECOP! did lack a live element, but the audience happily danced throughout and Iqbal did a good job of warming everyone up in anticipation of FM ATTACK. While there was no sign of the new NINA voiced single ‘Against the Tide’, there was a closing playback of the Giorgio Moroder-produced ‘Never Ending Story’ by Limahl, a song now being enjoyed by a new younger audience thanks to its inclusion in the final episode of ‘Stranger Things 3’.

Sporting a gold lame suit and with a Roland Juno 60 taking centre stage, Shawn Ward was grinning as he took his position to play his first London gig as FM ATTACK. With ‘Drive’ star Ryan Gosling a notable FM ATTACK admirer, Ward has concocted a unique hybrid electronic sound combining Gino Soccio and Giorgio Moroder with Italo disco, French house, new wave and post-punk.

From 2009’s ‘Dreamatic’ album although in instrumental form, the groovy electro-disco of ‘Yesterday’ opened up the gates, but the funkier ‘I Saw Her Dancing’ saw Ward delightfully take to vocoder. With some lovely synth keys and rhythmic fervour, ‘Dreamer’ kept up the neon-lit robotic pace while ‘A Million Miles Away’ added some mood to go with the dance.

Another number from ‘Dreamatic’, ‘Sleepless Nights’ did what it said on the tin, crossing arpeggios with octave lilts for an Italo flavoured romp before the comparatively recent bleep bop of ‘Little Angel’. ‘Shadows’ closed the main set with a gloriously filmic synth laden space journey, but Ward got a well-deserved encore and came back from ‘A Million Miles Away’ with a sparkling tune that was swathed in an enigmatic gothic allure, thanks to his obvious affection for THE CURE.

With regards FM ATTACK’s live presentation, Shawn Ward deserved full kudos for accepting his limitations as a one-man synth act and therefore, selecting material to suit the format. He could have so easily relied on playback to virtually recreate the presence of the numerous guest vocalists on his albums, but he chose not to and that must be applauded.

With another well-attended event under their belt, Outland are steadily building their community. Always exuding a warm friendly atmosphere, any serious synth enthusiast should pay them a visit, even if only out of curiosity.

Special thanks to Stuart McLaren at Outland

FM ATTACK ‘New World’ is released by Starfield Music in vinyl LP, cassette and digital formats, available from https://fmattack.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/fmattackmusic/

https://twitter.com/fmattack

FUTURECOP! ‘Voltrana’ is released by New Retro Wave Records as a download album, available from https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/voltrana

https://www.futurecop.info/

https://facebook.com/futurecopofficial/

https://twitter.com/futurecopx

The next Outland events feature OLLIE WRIDE at London Camden Assembly on Saturday 16th November 2019 and Glasgow Classic Grand on Friday 29th November 2019

https://www.weloveoutland.com/

https://www.facebook.com/outlandsynth/

https://twitter.com/OutlandSynth

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
28th October 2019

DANA JEAN PHOENIX, LEBROCK + KALAX Live in London

22 April 2019 /


London-based synthwave promoters Outland presented a rather happening triple bill for their second event of 2019 at Zigfrid von Underbelly.

Headlined by the undoubted Queen of Synthwave DANA JEAN PHOENIX and her feel good escapism with memories of youthful innocence, first loves and first disappointments, she was supported by rockwavers LEBROCK and neon synth kid KALAX.

On first impression, LEBROCK do rather look like natives of New Jersey but Shaun Phillips and Michael Medows are in fact from sunny Peterborough. LEBROCK are an interesting synthwave mutation, coming as a result of the subgenre’s flirtation with AOR and the rockier end of GIORGIO MORODER. They have even been affectionately referred to as the “FOO FIGHTERS of synthwave”!

As a live proposition, LEBROCK are a perfect warm-up act. Energetic and likeable with an undoubted ability in the vocal department in Phillips’ powerful growly presence, he was complimented by the guitar hero virtuosity of Medows.

Their musical style is not that far off John Parr, the English rocker who found fame with ‘St Elmo’s Fire’. Indeed, one of the new LEBROCK’s new songs ‘Inner Romance’ appeared to be cut from this exact cloth.

On their recorded output to date, LEBROCK have ably adapted to synthwave’s penchant for instrumentals but only once in their set did the duo relent on the magnificent ‘Galactic Smasher’. With Phillips taking to a mobile Akai MPK Mini synth, he was slightly out of sorts and not entirely sure whether to face his band mate or the crowd, while a slight computer glitch at the end provided an unexpected remix treatment.

However with dreams of cities and hearts, it was fist punching anthems like ‘Real Thing’ and ‘Call Me’ that the LEBROCK disciples wanted to hear. They delivered accordingly and when Phillips stepped towards the crowd, he was like a possessed man in motion.

While ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK prefers to dance to disco cos it don’t like rock, this was a highly enjoyable three quarters of an hour in the company of LEBROCK .

Following LEBROCK, DANA JEAN PHOENIX stole the audience’s hearts with an electric performance that had the crowd dancing from start to finish. As good things come in small packages, the stunning Canadian proved that being little means being big on stage. From the first notes of ‘Le Mirage‘, the Toronto based songstress made sure everyone was having a ball. Not only was she vocally spotless, she threw in some good moves and live sounds thanks to her pink lit keytar.

Unlike her LA based colleague PLASMIC, DJP wasn’t all pink; but her performance was glossy, sweet and very reminiscent of the classic synth years when electro could often meet funk across the Atlantic in the hands of Arthur Baker.

Talking of which, her dynamic cover version of FREEEZ’s ‘I.O.U.’ got the venue roaring with all the girls and boys singing to their hearts’ content.

Then came the fabulous ‘Losing The Connection’, which had everyone moving on their feet, reminding all present that DJP’s latest album ‘Pixeldust’ has some amazing tunes such as ‘Red Line’ and ‘Iron Fist’, which were also showcased towards the end of the set. If you thought DJP had you ‘Losing Your Grip’, you may have been right, but she couldn’t “tell you to stand still”.

Probing into faster beats, ‘Genesis’ and ‘Mesmerised’ rocked the crowd to oblivion, while ‘Synth City’ from the eponymous 2017 opus also found its way into the set, closing the hour with a gentler slower pace.

DANA JEAN PHOENIX’s performance was energising and uplifting, proving that synthwave is an sub-genre supplying pleasurable experiences to anyone present, whether you’re a lover of the synth category or not.

It was a tough call to come on after DANA JEAN PHOENIX and having just released his new album ‘iii’ in March, Liverpool based producer KALAX closed the evening’s live proceedings with a selection of moody cinematic instrumentals beginning with the triplet driven ‘Time Lapse’, probably his best known track.

Swathed in a pleasant backdrop of subdued purple lighting for attendees to mingle and relax, the performance would have perhaps benefitted from a more striking use of visuals to compensate for the static demeanour. But therein lies the ongoing challenge of presenting synthwave within a live context. However, while this section was comparatively anti-climactic, overall it contributed to a fabulous evening for everyone.

DANA JEAN PHOENIX has become something of a house act for Outland and she headlines their most ambitious event yet in Toronto this July with PARALLELS, MECHA MAIKO and MICHAEL OAKLEY all part of the supporting bill. Highly accomplished and at times mind-blowing, the lady may be small, but she’s got a great big stage personality with the uppermost levels of audience engagement.

Whether it is synthpop or synthwave, the likes of Moog, Oberheim, Roland, Korg and their offspring are not going to be disappearing just yet… the synth is not dead!

With grateful thanks to Outland

The next Outland event is their Sunset Neon Cruise II in London which takes place on Saturday 1st June 2019 featuring HIGHWAY SUPERSTAR, SUNGLASSES KID, MORGAN WILLIS + 80sSTALLONE – tickets available from https://www.wegottickets.com/event/460186

DANA JEAN PHOENIX + KALAX play Outland Toronto 2019 with PARALLELS, MECHA MAIKO, MICHAEL OAKLEY, TIMECOP1983 + FM ATTACK at the Mod Club Theatre on Saturday 6th July 2019 – tickets available from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/outland-toronto-2019-retrowave-festival-tickets-57180793292

https://www.danajphoenix.com/

https://www.facebook.com/danajeanphoenix/

https://twitter.com/danajeanphoenix

https://www.instagram.com/danajeanphoenix/

https://www.facebook.com/ListentoLeBrock/

https://twitter.com/listentolebrock

https://www.instagram.com/listentolebrock/

https://www.facebook.com/iamkalax/

https://www.iamkalax.com/

https://twitter.com/iamKalax

https://www.instagram.com/iamkalax/

https://www.facebook.com/outlandsynthwaveevents/

https://twitter.com/OutlandSynth

https://www.instagram.com/outlandsynth/

https://outlandsynthwave.bandcamp.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai and Monika Izabela Trigwell
Photos by Chi Ming Lai
22nd April 2019

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