Tag: Richard Barbieri (Page 3 of 4)

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2017

11 December 2017 /

It was a year when the veterans re-established their standing within electronic pop.

That was not to that comparatively newer acts weren’t making a good impression, it was just that a fair number of established acts gave their all and were producing some of their best work since their imperial heyday. Great tracks by SPARKS, OUTERNATIONALE, SPACEPRODIGI, iEUROPEAN, PARALLELS, FEVER RAY, SOL FLARE, SOFTWAVE, KNIGHT$, 2RAUMWHONUNG, JORI HULKKONEN, FIFI RONG and KITE BASE made it onto the shortlist, but despite their quality, they did not make the final listing.

Also not included are songs from ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’, the debut album from Rusty Egan; although gaining a physical release this year, it was reviewed by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in the Autumn of last year when download versions of the long player were distributed to those who had purchased it in advance via Pledge Music. Meanwhile, its closing track ‘Thank You’ was included in our 30 Songs Of 2016.

So restricted to purchasable releases only and one song per artist moniker, here are ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 Songs Of 2017 in alphabetical order…

AESTHETIC PERFECTION Rhythm + Control – Electro Mix

Additionally featuring NYXX on vocals, ‘Rhythm + Control’ saw Daniel Graves take AESTHETIC PERFECTION’s industrial pop to the next level via his new singles only policy. The magnificent Electro Mix successfully realised this oddball blend of Darren Hayes, Britney Spears and Marilyn Manson. With a mightily elastic bassline, when asked whether The Electricity Club had gone crazy coming up with the comparison, Daniel Graves replied “God no. Spot on, guys!”

Available on the single ‘Rhythm + Control’ via aestheticperfection.bandcamp.com/

http://aesthetic-perfection.net/

RICHARD BARBIERI Solar Sea

From only the third solo album in the long career of Richard Barbieri, ‘Solar Sea’ was a sleazy rhythmic excursion into another world. With the one-time JAPAN sound designer using a Roland System 700 for its bassline, the track’s atonal jazz feel was augmented by the haunting voice manipulations of Lisen Rylander Löve through a vintage Soviet submarine microphone and warping noises offset by soothing brass inflections and live drums.

Available on the album ‘Planets + Persona’ via by Kscope

https://www.facebook.com/RichardBarbieriOfficial/

BATTLE TAPES Control

The American electronic rock quartet BATTLE TAPES continued to develop from their 2015 debut album ‘Polygon’ via their ‘Form’ EP. The best track ‘Control’ hinged around a syncopated filtered synth bass and a brilliantly catchy chorus sung by Josh Boardman, with enough guitars for power and texture without distracting from the overall electronic aesthetic, and even coming over like a heavier Stateside version of SIN COS TAN.

Available on the EP ‘Form’ via battletapes.bigcartel.com

http://battletapesband.com/

CLIENT LIAISON Feat TINA ARENA A Foreign Affair

“International in flavour, cosmopolitan in style” and sounding like a long lunch followed by a round of cocktails, Australian duo CLIENT LIAISON roped in one-time TV talent show star Tina Arena to duet on a lush slice of romantic pop that also rode on the current fashion for Synthwave. ‘A Foreign Affair’ could have easily been a Rat Pack movie song.

Available on the album ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ via Remote Control Records

http://www.clientliaison.com

DAILY PLANET featuring MAC AUSTIN Heaven Opened

Johan Baeckström made positive waves with his debut solo album ‘Like Before’ in 2015 but reunited with his musical partner Jarmo Ollila, producing an excellent third album with more tempo variation than their 2014 offering ‘Two’. Featuring the guest vocals of Mac Austin from cult synth trio WHITE DOOR who were one of the inspirations for DAILY PLANET, ‘Heaven Opened’ was an uncomplicated but wonderfully poignant slice of classic synthpop.

Available on the album ‘Play Rewind Repeat’ via Progress Productions

https://www.facebook.com/dailyplanetband/

ELECTRONIC CIRCUS The Trapeze

ELECTRONIC CIRCUS is the musical vehicle of Chris Payne, the one-time Numan band member who also co-wrote ‘Fade To Grey’. With a symphonic theme bursting with melody and musicality like ULTRAVOX galloping across the plains of Normandy, the brilliant neo-instrumental ’The Trapeze’ was given a wondrous tone of humanistic unity when Payne’s wife and daughter joined in on the final straight in Latin.

Available on the EP ‘Direct Lines 2017’ via https://www.electroniccircus.co.uk/store/

http://www.electroniccircus.co.uk/

FADER 3D Carpets

FADER are the synth superduo featuring BLANCMANGE’s Neil Arthur and Benge; ‘3D Carpets’ captured an independent post-punk intensity, like JOY DIVISION or THE CURE but realised with analogue electronics rather than guitars. While the pair worked on their parts separately, their creative dynamic produced a great debut album in ‘First Light’.

Available on the ‘First Light’ via Blanc Check Records

https://www.facebook.com/WeAreFader

ANI GLASS Geiriau

From the Welsh synth songstress’ first EP, the fabulous ‘Geiriau’ was a driving sequential drama that had more than a passing resemblance to the first part of SPARKS’ ‘No1 Song In Heaven’. Revolving around ANI GLASS’ experience of flying the nest and returning years later to reconnect with her Welsh and Cornish heritage, it was a spacey and futuristic soundtrack for a wonderfully uplifting homecoming.

Available on the EP ‘Ffrwydrad Tawel’ via aniglass.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/aniglasscymru/

THE GOLDEN FILTER Rivers

‘Volupsa’, the promising Nordic flavoured debut album from THE GOLDEN FILTER came out in 2010, but the Aussie American duo of vocalist Penelope Trappes and synth programmer Stephen Hindman took their time with the follow-up ‘Still//Alone’, having relocated to London after spending several years based in New York. The hypnotic pulse of ‘Rivers’ with its precise drum machine pointed to a female fronted OMD, complete with a catchy riff and synthy jabbing bassline.

Available on the album ‘Still // Alone’ via Optimo

http://www.thegoldenfilter.com/

GOLDFRAPP Systemagic

The immensely catchy ‘Systemagic’ was a prize electronic gem from the seventh GOLDFRAPP album ‘Silver Eye’, reminiscent of the lusty and beat laden electronic material from ‘Black Cherry’. But its riff asked the question as to whether you will always find Alison Goldfrapp in the kitchen at parties? In the event of Jona Lewie filing a lawsuit, the lucrative income from the song’s use in a BMW advert may ease any potential net payout.

Available on the album ‘Silver Eye’ via Mute Artists

http://goldfrapp.com/

IONNALEE Not Human

After three acclaimed albums as IAMAMIWHOAMI with producer Claes Björklund, Jonna Lee went solo in 2017 although it was actually difficult to hear the join on the glorious ‘Not Human’, so seamless was the transition; there were still the icy electronic soundscapes, spacey dance beats and uplifting Scandipop vocals while the delightfully odd visuals were all present and correct.

Available on the download single ‘Not Human’ via To Whom It May Concern

http://www.ionnalee.com

I SPEAK MACHINE Shame

I SPEAK MACHINE is the audio / visual collaboration between musician Tara Busch and filmmaker Maf Lewis. Soundtracking their film ‘Zombies 1985’, the story was one of greed and self-obsession in Thatcher’s Britain as a businessman drives home, oblivious to the zombie apocalypse going on around him. Co-written and co-produced with Benge, the brilliant ‘Shame’ with its cascading synths and noise percussion was a wonderful hybrid of THROBBING GRISTLE, THE HUMAN LEAGUE and GOLDFRAPP.

Available on the album ‘Zombies 1985’ via Lex Records

http://www.ispeakmachine.com/

KATJA VON KASSEL In Little Rooms (Show Me Love)

After a number of years gigging around London, Katja von Kassel finally unleashed released her electro Weimer Cabaret to the world. The pulsating ‘In Little Rooms (Show Me Love)’ captured an aesthetic which closely resembled that of Ronny, a former protégé of Rusty Egan. Attached to Alex Gray’s intricate filmic electronics, Fraulein von Kassel’s deep vocal detachment was art cool sexy.

Available on the EP ‘Katja von Kassel’ via katjavonkassel.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/katja.vonkassel

KITE Demons & Shame

Swedish duo KITE unleashed their darkest offering yet in ‘Demons & Shame’. Shaped by a ritualistic drum mantra and brooding bass drones, as the title suggested, the song confronted the despair that life occasionally throws up while pursuing visions and dreams. If Ennio Morricone composed music for Nordic Noir dramas, it would sound a bit like this. Vocalist Nicklas Stenemo literally screamed his frustration over an epic synthetic soundscape from Christian Berg, laced with nocturnal Arctic overtones and the spectre of THE KNIFE.

Available on the single ‘Demons & Shame’ is released by Progress Productions

https://www.facebook.com/KiteHQ

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM American Dream

James Murphy returned as LCD SOUNDSYSTEM after seven years with this widescreen musical statement reflecting on the political situation in the US. Glancing across the Atlantic and back to the Winter Of Discontent, this 3/4 synth laden tune that had more than a passing resemblance to THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Circus Of Death’. So did “The Clown” referred to in that song remind Murphy of someone in particular?

Available on the album ‘American Dream’ via DFA Records

https://lcdsoundsystem.com/

LIZETTE LIZETTE Rest

Having started out in a more rave inclined environment, Lizette Nordahl ventured into more synthy climes and her debut mini-album had the air of KITE is all over it, which was not entirely surprising as its co-producers were Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Berg from the acclaimed duo. ‘Rest’ with its swirling synth sounds and widescreen Nordic atmosphere had an optimistic air of acceptance despite the melancholic tone and majestic growls.

Available on the EP ‘Queerbody’ via lizettelizette.bandcamp.com/releases

http://lizettelizette.com/

LOST IN STARS Sky

Led by British born musician Dylan Willoughby, LOST IN STARS is a floating ensemble which also includes Elena Charbila aka KID MOXIE and producer/songwriter Darren Burgos. The latter takes the lead vocal on the spirited electronic pop of ‘Sky’; now if NEW ORDER were from Los Angeles instead of Manchester, they would have sounded like this.

Available on the album ‘Lost In Stars’ via lostinstars.bandcamp.com/

https://www.lostinstars.space/

MARNIE Bloom

After releasing her first solo album ‘Crystal World’ in 2013, Helen Marnie added more prominent choruses and guitar onto her second, resulting in a catchy Scandipop style. ‘Bloom’ was an optimistic burst of synth laden pleasure and while not totally dissimilar to LADYTRON, it was without their usual hardness or gothic gloom.

Available on the album ‘Strange Words & Weird Wars’ via Disco Piñata

http://www.helenmarnie.com/

ALISON MOYET Alive

Having worked successfully in 2013 with Guy Sigsworth on ‘the minutes’, an acclaimed album which saw Alison Moyet return to the synthesized music forms to compliment her powerful and self-assured voice, the follow-up ‘Other’ was a natural progression. The startling orchestrated electro-dub drama of ‘Alive’ gave Moyet’s two former classmates in DEPECHE MODE a stark lesson in how to actually fully realise electronic blues. Indeed, it was ‘In Chains’, the lame opener from ‘Sounds Of The Universe’ gone right…

Available on the album ‘Other’ via Cooking Vinyl

http://alisonmoyet.com/

GARY NUMAN When The World Comes Apart

With the narrative of ‘Savage’ provoked by Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the United States of America from the Paris Climate Accord, the mighty apocalyptic rock of ‘When The World Comes Apart’ was something of a revelation for Gary Numan. Using synths as the dominant instrument and having guitars less obviously prominent in the mix, with its richly anthemic chorus, this was the magnificent crossover song that both old and new Numanoids had been waiting for.

Available on the album ‘Savage (Songs From A Broken World)’ via BMG

https://garynuman.com/

MICHAEL OAKLEY Rabbit In The Headlights

Michael Oakley is a talented Glaswegian who describes his music as “Melancholic postcards from my heart wrapped up in synthesisers and drum machines”. The melodic ‘Rabbit In The Headlights’ came complete with Italo “woah-oh” chants and whether it was Synthwave, synthpop, electropop, Italo or whatever, it showcased Oakley’s fine songwriting abilities, regardless of genre.

Available on the EP ‘California’ via michaeloakleysynthwave.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/MichaelOakleySynthwave/

OMD One More Time

The excellent ‘One More Time’ was a classic bittersweet OMD stomper, where “everything you gave me didn’t last”. Using electronic percussion as opposed to drum machines, the enticing verse and uplifting bridge were set to a plethora of gorgeous textures and distorted synth to add a touch of enigmatic weirdness. While Andy McCluskey cried “you can break my heart just one more time”, the track’s star was Paul Humphreys with his crystalline synth sounds laced with some portamento bounce.

Available on the album ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ via 100% Records

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

HANNAH PEEL Goodbye Earth

As well as keyboards and violin, Hannah Peel can also play the trombone. Featuring an array of analogue synthesizers and a 29-piece colliery brass band, ‘Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia’ was her instrumental story about a fictional elderly musical stargazer. Beginning with the lift-off of ‘Goodbye Earth’, Miss Peel’s electronic arpeggios and synthetic noise built up to a crescendo of brass and timpani for a quite unusual combination of two very different musical worlds.

Available on the album ‘Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia’ via My Own Pleasure

http://www.hannahpeel.com

RAINLAND Rainland

From the ashes of ANALOG ANGEL came forth RAINLAND. Their self-titled calling card was a vibrant synthpop statement, embroiled in a musicality that provided a journey through the Grampian Mountains. Ian Ferguson had already proved himself a worthy vocalist in his previous combo with dulcet tones not dissimilar to a certain Midge Ure and this was allowed to reign free on ‘Rainland’. Meanwhile, the ivories of Derek MacDonald stylistically aped the symphonic overtones of ULTRAVOX’s Billy Currie.

Available on the EP ‘Touch’ via rainland.bandcamp.com/

https://www.rainland.co.uk/

RHEINGOLD Paradieshafen

Between 1980 to 1984, RHEINGOLD were at the forefront of Die Neue Deutsche Welle, releasing three albums and achieving their first domestic hit ‘3klangsdimensionen’ in 1981. Led by Bodo Staiger, ‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’ was their first album of new material for many years. The melodic synth of ‘Paradieshafen’ drove along a beautiful instrumental that came over like a dream collaboration between OMD and Michael Rother.

Available on the album ‘Im Lauf Der Zeit’ via Lucky Bob Records / Soulfood

https://www.facebook.com/Rheingold-156171354461006/

SARAH P. Who Am I

With hypnotising hints of Kate Bush and percolating Ryuichi Sakamoto style textures, ‘Who Am I’ by electropop goddess Sarah P. was an ode to “humanity, the world we live in and our importance (or unimportance) as individuals and/or as a whole”. And as the Greek-born songstress announced that “I don’t know where I come from… do you know my name?”, a metronomic beat kicked in to lead a dramatic house-laden climax.

Available on the album ‘Who Am I’ via EraseRestart Records

http://sarahpofficial.com/

SHELTER Karma

The normally flamboyant Welsh duo SHELTER surprised all with their darkest and most accomplished song yet in ‘Karma’. “What you want is what you’ll get…” sang Mark Bebb, “…you will get a lot more that you planned”. A vibrant but edgy production from Rob Bradley complimented the sentiment as the message was relayed loud and clear…

Available on the single ‘Karma’ via Ministry Of Pop

http://www.shelterofficial.com/

SOULWAX Conditions Of Shared Belief

From ‘From Deewee’, the first new SOULWAX album since 2004’s ‘Any Minute Now’, ‘Conditions Of A Shared Belief’ was a modular synth lover’s wet dream from the Dewaele brothers. With a retro-futuristic collage of detuned blippy sounds and a backbone of smashing white noise percussion recalling THE HUMAN LEAGUE in their Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh phase, it was complimented by some suitably abstractly pitched TALKING HEADS inspired vocals.

Available on the album ‘From Deewee’ via PIAS

http://www.soulwax.com

TINY MAGNETIC PETS Never Alone

TINY MAGNETIC PETS had their best year yet with a UK tour opening for OMD and to accompany it was their second album ‘Deluxe/Debris’. Featuring Wolfgang Flür, the album’s best song ‘Never Alone’ sounded appropriately like SAINT ETIENNE fronting KRAFTWERK. Paula Gilmer has one of the best voices in modern synthpop and her alluring tone no doubt added to the song’s breezy dreamlike state.

Available on the album ‘Deluxe/Debris’ via Happy Robots Records

https://www.facebook.com/Tiny-Magnetic-Pets-69597715797/

VANBOT Collide (Krasnoyarsk)

The adventurous third VANBOT album ‘Siberia’ was composed and recorded during a 17 day journey on the Trans-Siberian railway. The crystalline ‘Collide (Krasnoyarsk)’ though captured a more Nordic vibe with its gorgeous melodies, while the surrounding rhythmic pace of a train ride made its presence felt. An aural exploration of the relationship between time, location and emotion, ‘Siberia’ was a bold musical experiment.

Available on the single ‘Collide (Krasnoyarsk)’ via Lisch Recordings

http://www.vanbotmusic.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
11th December 2017

MR NORMALL Interview

3 October 2017 /


The Amazing Adventures Of Mr Normall have gained a loyal cult following within the post-punk and electronic music world.

With a handshake, big smile, good guy profile, the Finnish music fan’s charming photographs with members of SPARKS, JAPAN, ULTRAVOX, BLANCMANGE, HEAVEN 17, DEPECHE MODE, VISAGE and MARSHEAUX among many, have endeared visitors to his website chronicling his travels.

After appearances in a number of promo videos including Kim Wilde and BEF’s cover of ‘Every Time I See You I Go Wild’ , Mr Normall was more recently cast as the star of the silent art movie ‘Nuntius’.

The film with its live soundtrack by Jimi Tenor and Jori Hulkkonen has played to audiences around the world, with Mr Normall occasionally joining the musicians with on stage cameos at selected performances.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had the pleasure of catching up with Mr Normall for another chat about his continuing amazing adventures…


Since ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK last spoke to you in Spring 2011, your fame spread far and wide in some unexpected places. Richard Barbieri wanted his photo taken with you, what was the story here?

Oh yes… that was a surprise and very positive one. We had been friends on Facebook for some time, but I had no idea that he knew who I was or that he had paid any attention to me. Then last December – all of a sudden – he tags me and comments “it’s my ambition to have a photo with you”.

Of course it was humour, but I was very pleased nevertheless. JAPAN is my No 1 favourite band and to be sort of acknowledged by one of them was very cool. Mr Barbieri had his wish come true three months later in Birmingham where I went to see him play live. Richard Barbieri is a first-class artist and a very nice person.

You were also recognised by someone in 2014?

I did speak with Jonathan Ross at the SPARKS aftershow at the Union Chapel in December 2013 but he didn’t recognise me, I would have been really surprised if he did. The subject of our chat was ULTRAVOX. He prefers the John Foxx version of the band.

Do you think this recognition all escalated after Jori Hulkkonen asked you to appear in the ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ video for PROCESSORY?

In Finland, a few people did comment about the music video when meeting me but I don’t remember it happening anywhere else. However, I’m certain that ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ video made Mr Normall better known, even if I haven’t got much feedback about it.

The music video was done and released in spring 2011. I was really hoping to see it on TV back then, but it was just about that time when music videos disappeared from TV altogether.

The idea on me appearing on Jori Hulkkonen’s music video started actually almost a year before at the night when ULTRAVOX was playing live in Jori’s home town of Turku. After the gig was over, I and several other people – including Warren Cann – went to the unofficial ULTRAVOX after party at the club called Dynamo. There I told Jori, that if he’s interested to feature me on a music video in the future, I’m game. Few months later Jori contacted me about the subject and the result was ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ music video.

I must tell you this… after the ULTRAVOX gig in Turku when we arrived at the Dynamo club, I had a really good “Steve Strange moment”: The gig venue was quite far from city centre, so we took a big taxi to get the posse to the club. When we got to the Dynamo, I was walking in first and Warren Cann right behind me.

The DJ was playing ‘Fade To Grey’ by VISAGE and at that moment I felt just like that bit on the VISAGE music video tape where Steve Strange arrives a club in Paris and ‘Fade To Grey’ is playing in the background. That was THE way to enter to the club.


Of course after this, Jori and his musical partner Jimi Tenor asked you to appear in their film ‘Nuntius’, this had an interesting concept?

Jori Hulkkonen and Jimi Tenor had talked about making a film, but I suppose they didn’t have clear idea what it should be about. In July 2013 I met both of them at the Turku Modern festival and said that I would like to be in their film if they were interested.

The big idea was to make a silent film that would be shown only with live soundtrack by Tenor and Hulkkonen themselves. The film and its music would never be released in any format or be ever available online. Live performances only.

First days of filming ‘Nuntius’ were in May 2014. We started the car journey from Central Finland where I live and drove next to the Russian border in South-East Finland. The destination was an amazing place called Parikkalan Patsaspuisto (Parikkala sculpture park). We stopped to film where ever the scenery looked right. As far as I know, there wasn’t any actual plot ready when we started.

The only rough plot in the beginning was that “I’m being sent from one place to another to get something from there” and the genre is going to be Sci-Fi, perhaps something à la Tarkovsky.

What was filming like for you?

Those first two days of filming in May 2014 were the most fun and memorable for me. Maybe because it was a new situation and the realisation that this is really happening. Also the car journey itself with Jimi, Jori and Marjaana was fun.

There was three more filming days in 2014 and they were mainly done in an art studio in Helsinki. The studio is very high inside and it has a round platform which moves up and down, and also rotates. The studio was made in 1950s and it was made for the sculptor Kalervo Kallio, who was a son of Finland’s President Kyösti Kallio. The studio is the setting for the “other place” where Mr Normall is being sent somewhere else to get something. I would have never spent time at this special place if it wasn’t for ‘Nuntius’.

In May 2015, there were two days of filming in Helsinki for the second version of ‘Nuntius’. Those shoots were done at several locations. The latest shoots were just recently in July 2017 when we filmed around Estonia over three days.

It was much like the first shoots three years earlier because also this time we drove around the country and stopped where scenery was suitable to be filmed. There are strange ex-military places in Estonia that have been deserted after the Russian Army left them when Estonia got independent. Those were exciting days and I definitely wouldn’t had ever visited those places without ongoing ‘Nuntius’ production.

I don’t know yet what will become of all the new shots; will it be the third version of ‘Nuntius’ with a lot of new stuff or will they became a whole new entity à la ‘Nuntius – Part 2’ or something like that?


You made a new friend named Louis while riding a motorcycle?

Louis the dog was only one year old, but he was already a real pro. There was one shot with Louis which could have ended badly… I was driving a sidecar motorcycle in a tunnel in Helsinki and Louis was sitting in the sidecar. It was a public road and there was other traffic too. The shot had to be done several times and if Louis had jumped out of the sidecar, he might have been hit by a car.

He had a collar and a leash was around my arm, but I’m not sure what would have happened if Louis wanted to jump out of very loud old motorcycle. Luckily he was very cool all the time and it seemed like he knew what we were doing.

I saw Louis again last year and he wouldn’t stop barking at me. I’m not sure what he meant by that.

‘Nuntius’ has taken you around the world with you making cameos while Jori and Jimi are performing. Which locations or events have you found most interesting? Any funny stories?

I have attended several ‘Nuntius’ shows in Finland and also few abroad. Berlin was special because that day was also Jimi Tenor’s 50th birthday, so that evening at the Lido was also his birthday party.

The Sonar Festival 2015 in Barcelona: ‘Nuntius’ was on Saturday afternoon and DURAN DURAN played at the festival the same night. There was my big chance to meet them but it didn’t happen. Barcelona in June is hot even late in the evening and I was wearing a heavy 3-piece suit. Not the best possible choice when everyone else had T-shirt and shorts.

The most important ‘Nuntius’ performance for me has been the one in Düsseldorf in October 2016 where it was a part of the ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE. ‘Nuntius’ was the last item of the two day conference – or rather a festival of electronic music – and right before it, the stage was occupied by John Foxx and co for their ‘Evidence Of Time Travel’ performance.

What made this particular ‘Nuntius’ showing so special was that there was several of my favourite artists in the audience, as well as friends whom I have seen at gigs before. Jori summed it up very well: “The audience wasn’t big but it was a good quality audience”.

I have been watching John Foxx on my TV screen hundreds of times and now he was watching me on the big screen. Surreal.

One more special memory… my first – and so far only – visit to Berlin was in March 2015. After arriving to the city and finding my hotel, I went out to have my first ever walk in Berlin. Kreuzberg was only few minutes away so I went that way. Soon I saw some gig posters on a wall – not THE wall – and among them was the special ‘Nuntius’ poster made for the evening’s show. My first time in this big city and when I step out of my hotel there’s a poster featuring a photo of me. It was a unique and strange moment for a visitor from the Finnish countryside.

You’ve made a number of other appearances in videos and photoshoots, are there anymore in the offing?

We are likely to do more shots for ‘Nuntius’ later this year but that’s all. It would be nice to feature in a music video again, especially by an artist that I like. It would be great to experience that again.

Peter Hook had an amusingly and typically Mancunian response when you introduced yourself to him in Düsseldorf?

What was it that he said? I think his kind reply was “there’s nothing normal about you” when I introduced myself. I disagree, of course 😉

Tony Visconti has just about seen it all, so what was your encounter with him like?

I did meet him briefly a few times when HOLY HOLY played live in London and Sheffield during September 2014. I was also at the ICA to listen to Tony Visconti and Woody Woodmansey talk about making the album ‘The Man Who Sold The World’. Both of them were very friendly and didn’t mind signing a few Bowie CD sleeves for me. Getting records signed is a good excuse to approach an artist and it gives you a moment to have a brief chat.

MIRRORS were your favourite new synth act but sadly they are no more. Is there anyone you’ve listened to who you would you rate today?

I suppose you mean new or relatively new acts? Hannah Peel makes good music with often unusual and interesting arrangements. One new band that I like is TINY MAGNETIC PETS. I’ve been listening to their new album on Spotify quite a lot.


Your portfolio has grown over the last few years, but is there anyone left you would still like to meet and be photographed with?

I have met quite a few artists but there are still many of my “official favourites” that I haven’t met yet. With some it’s already too late, but for those still in this dimension I would say David Sylvian and DURAN DURAN are the most important not-yet-met-artists.

Then there’s several others like one ex-member of KRAFTWERK whom everyone else seems to have met but not me. I’m not done yet with these ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Mr Normall

http://www.mrnormall.net/

https://twitter.com/MrNormall

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos courtesy of Mr Normall
3rd October 2017

Vintage Synth Trumps with FICTION STUDIOS

18 August 2017 /

Fiction Studios is a boutique recording studio located right in the heart of London, fully equipped for recording, mixing and mastering while also available to hire for Voiceover and ADR recording.

The studio was set up by brothers Dominic and Nathan Cooper in 2016; Cooper is best known for his role in the film adaptation of ‘Mamma Mia’ while Nathan was a member of THE MODERN and today performs as KID KASIO.

Combining Dominic’s experience in the acting field and Nathan’s background in music production, the air conditioned studio caters for bands, musicians and voiceover artists. The studio also features an array of classic analogue gear which ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK decided would be a good reason to visit and challenge Nathan Cooper to a round of Vintage Synth Trumps…

First card today and it’s a Korg Mono/Poly…

I’ve got the plug-in! My friend’s got a Mono/Poly and he swears by it, we were in a band together when we were young…

…I thought you were young? 😉

Yeah! *coughs*

His name’s Gabriel Prokofiev, we both got into synths at primary school and we’ve both built up a collection over the years. I’m quite jealous of his collection, there’s a few he’s got that I haven’t and the Mono/Poly is one of them.

What was the first synth you owned?

It depends if you want the first good one or the first keyboard? My first keyboard was a Yamaha PSS-110, I found one again recently on eBay and thought I’d buy it on a whim… it’s awful! It’s got these samples of a dog bark and cat meow and what’s supposed to be a cuckoo! *laughs*

So it was more like a toy?

Yes, so I followed that up with a Casio SK1 when I was about 10-11 which had a sampling thing in it, so that you could burp into it and play ‘Happy Birthday’ out of burps! *laughs*

But my first proper synth was when I was 14, I begged my mum to buy me what I wanted, which was a Roland Juno 60. In those days, you went to ‘Loot’ magazine… this was at a time when they were really cheap because everyone wanted a Roland D50 or Korg M1.

I would say it’s the same one I own now, but it isn’t… sadly in the early 90s, I was recording in Ezee Studios with Toyah and MARILLION’s producer Nick Tauber. He told me to leave the synth there as we’d be back in a couple of weeks. But the session got put back and put back and we didn’t go back for nearly a year, so when I finally returned it was gone! I was heartbroken! A lot of people just stared blankly when I asked where it was, we couldn’t trace where it had gone. The one I replaced it with, I’ve had now for a fair amount of time.

The Juno 60 is a robust old thing isn’t it?

Every synth I have at Fiction Studios has at some point, needed to be completely refurbished, apart from the Juno. It never goes out of tune! The only thing that ever happened to it, was when I was touring with THE MODERN and I snapped one of the keys while I was loading it back onto the van. It was after a horrific gig at an indie venue called ‘Filthy McNasty’s’ which was where THE LIBERTINES were signed, so God knows what we were doing there! *laughs*

What I really wanted was an Oberheim or a Jupiter 8, but that was out of my range, so the Juno fitted in the budget for a birthday present. I know Howard Jones used one and it was analogue so that was it.

OK, next card!! What are the chances, it’s a Juno 60!!! *laughs*

When I set up Fiction Studios, I was lucky to be loaned some of my dream synths like the Oberheim OBXa. I also have the Prophet 5 which I saved up for ages for, but having said that, the go-to synth is still the Juno 60, it’s still used in my KID KASIO stuff more than anything else.

Maybe it’s because I know it so well and all the patches on it were programmed by me, but there’s something about the interface on it, it’s just so easy to manipulate, it does what you want it to do, to fit into the track. Having said that, you get less happy mistakes with it though. I guess because I know all the sounds on it so well, so it rarely does anything that truly surprises.

Now, here’s a monster on the next card, a Yamaha CS80!!

That’s the dream isn’t it? I’d love one! I have the Arturia softsynth version. I always think of VANGELIS, the ‘Blade Runner’ soundtrack and Stevie Wonder who used it a lot. It’s one of those synths that’s got a ‘sound’ to it with that ribbon controller.

The ribbon controller is an interesting point as the Polymoog had one too and I’m assuming that kind of controllability is very difficult to simulate using software?

Yeah, totally! It’s why I use as much hardware stuff as I can because when I’m using mod wheels, pitch bends and stuff, I’ll programme the part in MIDI and then have the part playing through the synth while tweaking it and then I’ll record the sound onto the computer, adding any kind of modulation manually. Because you’ve got that tiny bit of human touch to it, that is what people kind of connect to. Although it’s still synths, it’s got some human authenticity to it. You can use pitch bend and stuff with softsynths but you don’t get that same interaction. And I think that can make or break a sound sometimes.

I remember on one of my KID KASIO tracks ‘Full Moon Blue’, I was using a harmonica sound from a Yamaha DX7 but it wasn’t quite sounding right, and everyone said I needed to use a breath control; so you put this thing in your mouth and plug it into the back of the synth and it will change the sound as you blow. I love things being electronic and mechanical but sometimes if you add something like that, it adds that human element to it. There’s something about humans AND machines.

So why set up a studio when today, someone can grab hold of a laptop, get GarageBand and do everything there? Why does anyone out there need somewhere like Fiction Studios?

Good question… because many softsynths are now based on old analogue ones, it’s got people hankering after the authentic sound, even though softsynths do a really great job.

I think most people are aware the original sounds are better, but people can’t get their hands on them and they are expensive these days; a lot of people don’t have the room for them as well.

So in the current environment where synthpop is popular, there is a market for people coming in and wanting to play around with the old synths and run their ideas through some classic analogue flagship gear. It’s nice in that sense that people can do that. Some people often just want another pair of ears so if people want me to produce something, I can listen to what they’ve done and steer it in a certain direction.

Modern music has become very inward because of home recording…

Yes, it’s become very introspective. You can get something sounding good on GarageBand and get it up to a professional level but you always need someone else, that’s why all KID KASIO albums are mixed by Adrian Hall because I need that extra pair of ears, he can hear stuff that’s clogging up the track that I’ve been too entrenched in to notice.

So that’s why a studio with an in-house engineer or producer is great to make professional sounding tracks, or they can use the synths to produce their own stuff.

How did your most recent single ‘Drive (Some Kind Of Love)’ come about?

It was inspired by the film ‘Drive’ which came out in 2011; I’d just finished doing the ‘Tamara Drew’ soundtrack with Ben Todd and ‘Drive’ really blew us both away. We thought it would be great to write a song that could stylistically fit into the film. We performed it live and realised it went down pretty well. So that’s why I decided to release it.

When it was being mixed, I gave Adrian some reference points which were ‘The Boys Of Summer’ by Don Henley and ‘You’re The Voice’ by John Farnham. The track had this American vibe to it which a lot of my stuff doesn’t have, my sound is very Synth Britannia but for some reason, ‘Drive (Some Kind Of Love)’ just had this MISTER MISTER element to it!

I envisaged the video being filmed on an American highway in an open top car, but it ended up being done in London with me driving around in my Reliant Scimitar classic car and the video came out ok *laughs*

Looking at Fiction Studios, I’m amazed how spacious it is… what did you have in mind when you chose this location?

It is right in the heart of London, very few studios are now, normally you have to go to the East of London or the trendier parts, this is slap bang central. I was looking for a space with my brother and his accountants have got a firm on the fifth floor of this building. He mentioned to them he was looking for a location to set up a studio and they suggested their store room in the basement.

We came down to have a look and it was not what you would expect an accountancy firm’s store room to look… there were boxes of files but because this firm looked after actors, models and people in the entertainment industry, there was all this weird stuff there.

I was looking around and there were MTV and Nickelodean Awards for ONE DIRECTION!! The firm represented them! So there was a pile of their tour clothes and what was really sad was all their stuff that fans had given them was here! So there was this huge great portrait of Harry Styles staring at me that some fan had spent ages drawing! And it was down there gathering dust! *laughs*

Anyway, I noticed a library area that looked something out of Hogwarts from ‘Harry Potter’ and it was set up originally as a film set but never got round to being used. They offered to move it but I said not to as I could imagine bands hanging out in this bit because it had a really nice vibe.

The brickwork and features are all fake, but the 6000 old books are real! Occasionally you’ll pick a book out and it’ll be from the 1850s. So it’s great for inspiration, and what I’ve found I’ve done recently is I’ve been tidying up, looked up at the shelves and see the spine of a book that has the title of a song I’ve just written! It’s very weird!

And there’s no curfew or restrictions on the time of day an act can use the studio?

No, people have booked Fiction Studios until very late at night and it has 24 hour concierge so you can come and go when you please.

You have your synths but you are equipped to record acoustically as well, was this important in the viability of the studio?

Yes, the drum kit has been put near the library area. I would happily just set it up as a synth studio but I was looking into this as a business, so I didn’t want to close it off and make it accessible to everyone. And it’s worked the other way, I haven’t really had enough synth acts in here! I’ve had indie bands, opera singers and everything here so it’s been really interesting *laughs*

So, time for another card, an Oberheim 2 Voice…

I haven’t got a 2 Voice but I’ve been really lucky recently to accquire an OBXa, which was one of my dream wants because I’m a big fan of Richard Barbieri from JAPAN, where they used the similar OBX and Prophet 5. There’s just a sound about the OB series; since getting one I’ve actually come to really respect Richard Barbieri’s work because it’s not as easy as turning it on and having those sounds.

You can find them when you tweak but it’s hard, and makes me realise he was a bit of a genius when it came to that stuff. How I came to acquire it is one of those funny things, I was at a party and I got chatting to a guy called Ian Merrylees who is a TV Editor.

He said “I’ve got a few synths at home”. Now nine times out of ten with these types of conversations, it turns out the synth is a Casiotone… so I asked him what they were and he said “one’s an Oberheim” and I’m like “WHAT?”

It had been in his loft for fifteen years… so I went round to his house to have a look, and not only did he have an OBXa, but he had a Prophet T8 as well! He wanted to see them used, and he very kindly loaned them to Fiction Studios, although they needed loads of servicing… I needed about four people to carry the T8 into the car, it’s a real monster! *laughs*

What other synths do you have here at Fiction Studios?

As well at the Oberheim OBXa, Prophet 5 and Prophet T8, there’s a Crumar Performer which after the Juno 60 is my most used synth, the SH101, Yamaha DX7, Korg MS2000, Korg DS8 and a Korg Poly 800 which my band mate Chi in THE MODERN found in a skip!

My most recent addition to the synth armoury was from when Roland came down to the studio and were impressed with the look. So the deal is they will lend us anything if they can film in here every now and then, so I have been lent a Roland JDXa which Nick Rhodes of DURAN DURAN spearheads the campaign for. It has a really nice interface, it looks amazing.

It’s great for live because unlike the old analogues where you need a torch because you can’t see the controls, this has everything lit up really nicely and there are in-built effects so everything sounds nice straight out of the box.

You have two mixing desks here?

One is for bands to use when they rehearse in the live area, it’s an old Datum series made by Hill Audio who provided the desks for Live Aid.

I was keen on having an old analogue desk, so I got this Soundtracs IL36 32 channel mixer from a friend of mine who was downsizing. That’s the thing about these desks nowadays, no-one wants them, my friend just wanted it taken away, it took five people to lift it! But I love it because it’s got a great sound to the EQs, I run all my synths through it. I have a nice Focusrite pre-amp so that it sounds like those old Neve desks, it’s got a beautiful analogue sound.

I use Logic to record but if people want to use Pro-Tools, they can. I have a nice Neumann U87 microphone and an Avalon pre-amp so you can get a good vocal chain. The monitoring uses Genelec speakers so it’s all here for people if they want it.

Another card, an ARP Odyssey…

I was this close to getting the Korg remake last year and then the studio came up. So when there was the offer of these other synths and I was getting the studio set-up, I had to spend my money on other things. I’d like to get one because ULTRAVOX used it…

…you know Billy Currie’s just sold his?

Did he? Why would you sell it?

He did sell it for £8500!

Ah! That’s why you’d sell it! *laughs*

How much is the remake by Korg?

Don’t quote me on this, but I think it’s about £700 so it’s a lot cheaper than buying an old one and it’s got MIDI.

Now I see here you have a tape recorder AND a drum machine… *laughs*

The tape recorder is all rigged up and came into use recently. Dave Ball from SOFT CELL came in with some old ¼ inch tapes of demos recorded when he and Marc Almond were at Leeds Polytechnic. He wanted to find out what was on them in case there was any other stuff that hadn’t been heard before, and there was!

That was a great experience, he’s such a nice guy and one of my idols, so to sit there and go through this stuff first hand was amazing, This early stuff was almost punk and really out there lyrically, it was amazing how simplistic some of the synth lines were, that’s the beauty of them. The Oberheim DMX was kindly donated by a friend, I must give it back to him soon as I’ve had it for about ten years *laughs*

It’s got a brilliant kick drum, snare and clap sound which I use in almost everything I do but I tend to sample it rather than use it as a drum machine.

There are modern drum machines like the Roland TR8, but most people just use software, so is there a place for drum machines in recording today?

I think there probably is, but I still use loops quite a lot. Most people will use a programme in Logic for drum sounds called Battery where you can load up whatever vintage drum machine you want and play it on the keys of a synth, layering up the percussion framework into the computer.

I like the inspiration you can get from loops, I use a company that supplies them and you can pick one out by year. When you buy a particular year like say 1982, they send you a pack of a hundred loops played on the popular drum machines of that year in various tempos and stuff. So what I invariably do is use that as a basis and layer the sounds up with real ones from the DMX or a sample from a 12 inch single. The great thing about the DMX is that you can open it up and tune up each drum to the song via the dials inside.

When it comes to using a drum machine to programme, it’s quite fiddly and you end up recording it back into the computer anyway, so it’s a bit pointless. But it is nice to have it hands on.

Final card, it’s the Polymoog…

People say I haven’t got any Moogs in the studio but they’re one of those makes that I never got into. I want one, partly because Howard Jones had a Moog Prodigy but when I was young, I always associated Moog with the more proggy end of music and it sort of put me off *laughs*

It’s funny because Rodney Cromwell admits he’s “a Moog Snob”…

I guess it’s the difference between 1977-1980 which is more the lo-fi era of electronics where he comes from musically, while my stuff fits more into the more later end of synthpop 1982-1983…

Ah, the digitally stabilised analogue period…

Yeah, exactly *laughs*

Having said that, if anyone wants to donate a Moog synth? I do have all the Moog plug-ins but it’s just been one of those things.

So what are you up to at the moment musically?

Apart from producing an array of acts here at Fiction, I’m planning the video to the final release from my KID KASIO ‘Sit & Wait’ album. It’s going to be made up of old footage of me in bands from the 90s.

Also I’m putting the final touches to an EP of cover versions I’m releasing next year. And busy writing and recording for my third KID KASIO album.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Nathan Cooper and Fiction Studios

Fiction Studios is based at 22-24 Ely Place, London EC1N 6TE United Kingdom – for further information, please phone +44(0) 207 831 8177 or visit their website at http://www.fictionstudioslondon.com/

https://www.facebook.com/fictionstudioslondon/

https://twitter.com/fiction_studios

https://www.instagram.com/fictionstudios/

Vintage Synth Trumps is a card game by GForce that features 52 classic synthesizers

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
18th August 2017, updated 11th February 2021

Lost Albums: THE DOLPHIN BROTHERS Catch The Fall

19 June 2017 /


After JAPAN split at the end of 1982, vocalist / songwriter David Sylvian and bassist Mick Karn set to work collaborating with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Midge Ure respectively as well as preparing solo albums.

Meanwhile, drummer Steve Jansen and keyboardist Richard Barbieri partnered up for the JVC commissioned instrumental work ‘Worlds In A Small Room’ released in Spring 1985 to accompany a documentary on the Space Shuttle Challenger.

But for their song-based project, the more reserved pair named themselves THE DOLPHIN BROTHERS.

Gathering together an ensemble of noted guest musicians including Phil Palmer, David Rhodes, Danny Thompson, Matthew Seligman, Robert Bell and Martin Ditcham, they issued a long player entitled ‘Catch The Fall’ in Summer 1987 on Virgin Records.

The album was co-produced by Yoshifumi Iio who had worked with Yukihiro Takahashi of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA and in particular, the brilliant interim single ‘Stay Close’ with Jansen in Autumn 1986. It was this duet in which Jansen debuted as a vocalist, so it naturally fell to the young sticksman to undertake vocal duties for THE DOLPHIN BROTHERS.

With a Sylvian-esque brow raised, the atmospheric ‘Catch The Fall’ title song with complimentary double bass from Danny Thompson sounded like it could have been a collaboration between TALK TALK and JAPAN. With the sparse percussive textures never overwhelming the proceedings, Clive Bell’s khene and crumhorn successfully added a touch of ethnic mystery.

Resembling ‘Goodbye Is Forever’ by the Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes arty DURAN DURAN side project ARCADIA, ‘Shining’ with its slapped digital bass sounded a little forced, although Barbieri’s synths offered some aural familiarity to connect listeners to ‘Tin Drum’ as did Matthew Seligman’s fretless bass, coming together like JAPAN with an added pop sensibility.

The accessibly dynamic ‘Second Sight’ picked up on Jansen’s Takahashi influences and grooved like a good Ferry styled pop tune should with some fabulously produced drums. With the mellow mood of later era CHINA CRISIS, Jansen offered his best Sylvian impersonation on ‘Love That You Need’, a track that could have been mistaken for his brother if it wasn’t for Suzanne Murphy’s girly refrain. Barbieri’s synths aided the possible case for mistaken identity.

The directly upbeat ‘Real Life, Real Answers’ was an obvious cousin of ‘Stay Close’ and as pop as ‘Catch The Fall’ would get, capturing a combination of acts that had been influenced by JAPAN such as ICEHOUSE and LUSTANS LAKEJER who furthered the template in their own home territories of Australia and Sweden respectively.

With a wonderfully clean sound, this is a truly underrated jewel from the canon of Jansen and Barbieri. Taking things down, the laid back ‘Host To The Holy’ displayed eerie Barbieri synths with a lilting percussive mood from Jansen in the vein of TALK TALK’s ‘Happiness Is Easy’.

Comprising of primarily piano and vocals with only partial augmentation from synths and double bass, ‘My Winter’ was reminiscent of the more organic material on Sylvian’s ‘Secrets Of The Beehive’, but with less of a hazy demeanour. The closing ‘Pushing The River’ delivered Jansen’s best vocal of the set, while Barbieri’s gorgeous artful textures and synthetic brass helped the song come over like what a JAPAN track might have sounded had the band continued recording into 1983.

Compared with David Sylvian and Mick Karn’s solo work or the JAPAN comeback as RAIN TREE CROW in 1991, ‘Catch The Fall’ was pop music, but of the more sophisticated variety. However, in the compact disc era from which it emerged, the market was saturated with comparable acts such as TEARS FOR FEARS, TALK TALK, THE BLUE NILE and CHINA CRISIS.

While featuring good songs that were well played and programmed as well as cleanly produced, what ‘Catch The Fall’ perhaps lacked was some of the sound design and innovation found on ‘Tin Drum’ or subsequent records that Jansen and Barbieri would go on to record with each other and separately in later years. This could have been due to the prevalent preset trap with the digital technology of the time, or an effort to appease Virgin Records to produce a marketable, commercial record. However, the running order might not have helped the flow of the record while ‘Real Life, Real Answers’ would have made a better single than ‘Shining’ in the quest to attract potential purchasers.

Alas, ‘Catch The Fall’ did not sell, so Jansen and Barbieri departed from the label they had been with since 1980’s ‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’ and the songwriting world, to return to more independently minded experimental climes, most notably as JBK with Mick Karn via their own Medium Productions set-up. While THE DOLPHIN BROTHERS only made one album, ‘Catch The Fall’ has stood up well thirty years after its making.

For those JAPAN fans who may have found the improvisational nature RAIN TREE CROW something of a disappointment and may have given up on the various members’ solo projects after 1984, this album is worthy of investigation.

It may not be Jansen and Barbieri’s best work, but it is very good all the same.

‘Catch The Fall’ was released by Virgin Records and now available digitally via the usual outlets

http://www.stevejansen.com/

http://www.richardbarbieri.net/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Sheila Rock
19th June 2017, updated 13th July 2022

RICHARD BARBIERI Live at Hoxton Hall

30 March 2017 /


Supporting the release of his third solo album ‘Planets + Persona’, Richard Barbieri presented an intimate live show that covered many facets of his recording career from JAPAN to PORCUPINE TREE.

While Barbieri’s rig featured the expected all mod cons like a MacBook, controllers and a Roland V-Synth, the set-up also included his beloved Sequential Prophet 5 and Roland System 700 Lab Series.

Accompanied by the versatile Swedish musician Lisen Rylander Löve on saxophone, percussion and voice manipulations, the pair began sedately with ‘Night Of The Hunter – (3) Innocence Lost’ from ‘Planets & Persona’.

Utilising a wide cinematic spectrum of electronic and organic colours, the show started in earnest with the sleazy rhythmic adventure of ‘Solar Sea’. The track’s atonal jazz feel with its spacey momentum saw Löve screeching into a Cold War vintage Russian Army microphone, while drowning her eerie larynx with a variety of gadgets. With a warping System 700 bass, it was part avant techno and part ambient as Barbieri moved across his four keyboards to provide texture and atmosphere.

Löve left the stage for Barbieri to perform alone in the evening’s first big surprise. After a series of improvised sweeps and shimmers, the iconic metallic cascade of JAPAN’s ‘Ghosts’

Barbieri handled the familiar detuned percussive blips on his Prophet 5 before playing the haunting string tones on the V-Synth as a drum loop kicked in. “Oh, I didn’t expect that much applause!” responded the Catford boy after the crowd roared with approval at the end.

Next, the rumbling sub-bass squelches of ‘Medication Time’ from Barbieri’s debut solo long player ‘Things Buried’ shook the fittings of the venue which was built in 1863. As elements of TANGERINE DREAM filled the room, there was yet another surprise when the melancholic electric piano motif from the JAPAN cover of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO’s ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ appeared at various intervals.

Barbieri continued with the work of his former band by playing the gentle “dolphin music” of ‘The Experience Of Swimming’, the track he composed for the B-side of the ‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’ single. As the beautifully nautical ambience reached its coda, elements of ‘Nightporter’ were subtly segued in.

Löve returned for ‘Unholy’ with the widescreen vibe countered by unsettling Nordic voice samples, before being followed by the spacey avant jazz of ‘New Found Land’ which was originally written by Barbieri for PORCUPINE TREE.

During this sequence of music, Löve added a kalimba to her repertoire which enhanced the electro- acoustic balance with an authentic ethnic touch.

Closing the main part of the show with ‘Hypnotek’ from Barbieri’s second album ‘Stranger Inside’, the rolling bass sequences, spy drama piano and muted Fourth World tension came together with a musicality that was like a masterclass in instrumental music… MG, please take note!

To rapturous cheers, Barbieri returned for an encore and with the self-deprecating humour he had displayed throughout the evening, he joked: “I didn’t want to wait too long, in case it died down”.

He treated the appreciative crowd with a superb electronic adaptation of PORCUPINE TREE’s ‘Idiot Prayer’. With the new arrangement at times sounding like SIMPLE MINDS’ ‘Love Song’, it was a fabulously energetic conclusion to proceedings.

Unafraid to delve into his glorious history, RICHARD BARBIERI ably showed why he is one of the most inventive synthesizer technicians that the UK has ever produced.

His modest, down-to-earth demeanour with a willingness to stay in the background has perhaps stopped him from being better known, but the music he produces today is still wonderfully intriguing and deserves further investigation.

‘Planets & Persona’ is released in CD, double vinyl and digital formats by Kscope

https://www.facebook.com/RichardBarbieriOfficial/

http://www.kscopemusic.com/artists/richard-barbieri/

http://www.nightporter.co.uk/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price
30th March 2017

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