VILE ELECTRODES have been confirmed as OMD’s support for the German leg of the ‘English Electric’ tour.
The striking duo of Anais Neon and Martin Swan could be described as sounding like THE SMITHS reincarnated as CLIENT, a template best heard on ‘Play With Fire’, the lead track of their self titled EP. Just recently, they released the electro-waltz drama of ‘The Last Time’.
But one of their finest moments is the still to be formally issued ‘Deep Red’, a gorgeous seven and a half minute synth ballad that recalls the sweeping emotive overtones of OMD standards such as ‘Statues’, ‘Stanlow’ and ‘The Romance Of The Telescope’.
The band are currently in the process of finishing their debut album but announced via their Facebook: “We’ve just been confirmed as the support band for OMD’s tour of Germany in May. I don’t really have the right words to describe how overwhelmed we are”. Synthesist Martin Swan added: “It’s so beyond exciting. There was once a teenage boy whose first ever gig was watching OMD playing at the Hammersmith Odeon on ‘The Pacific Age’ tour – His life changed that day, and it changed for this moment…”
By pure coincidence, OMD’s Andy McCluskey spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK a few days ago and said: “I enjoy your website and I’ve discovered some very interesting bands actually… one of them is going to support us in Germany!”.
Vocalist Anais Neon herself was still in shock at the news and said: “I’m flabbergasted. We basically had an email last Thursday from their tour management team asking us to do it. I almost fainted”! Without the lovely folk that champion us, I doubt we’d be in this position, so thank you for all you do spreading the Vile word”.
VILE ELECTRODES continue a tradition of acts championed by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK such as MARSHEAUX, VILLA NAH and MIRRORS who have all now opened for OMD.
Anais had one more thing to say to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK though before getting dressed up to see KRAFTWERK at Tate Modern: “Just off to have a little cry now… I might be drunk later x”. It was quite a day!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its congratulations and best wishes to VILE ELECTRODES
OMD’s 2013 German tour with special guests VILE ELECTRODES includes:
Hamburg Docks (21 May), Bielefeld Ringlokschuppen (22 May), Berlin Tempodrom (24 May), Leipzig Haus Auensee (25 May), Kӧln E-Werk (27 May) – please visit www.omd.uk.com for further details
It was a year which saw classic and new stand side-by-side as comrades in arms for the synthesizer. In possibly the event of the year, April’s ‘Back To The Phuture - Tomorrow Is Today’ at London’s Troxy saw godfathers Gary Numan and John Foxx supported by the best new UK synthpop act for many years, MIRRORS.
The Brighton quartet reappeared in the summer over on the South Bank when the Vintage Festival Electronic Phuture Revue gave us a celebration of synthpop cool with performances by ONETWO, RECOIL, HEAVEN 17 and Thomas Dolby. Speaking of the latter, they premiered ‘The Luxury Gap’ at The Roundhouse in 3D sound no less while their production alter-ego BEF presented ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Live’.
Meanwhile, Mute Records celebrated their influential legacy with a weekender also at London’s Roundhouse featuring ERASURE, YAZOO and THE ASSEMBLY in the same set, plus acts such as RECOIL, NITZER EBB and LAIBACH. With an electro documentary weekend before Easter on the Sky Arts TV channel featuring Gary Numan, DURAN DURAN, NEW ORDER, Jean-Michel Jarre and the late Rorbert Moog electronic music’s cultural legacy was being recognised the world over.
Indeed, Gary Numan’s Inspiration Award from Mojo magazine finally acknowledged those trailblazing Synth Britannia years. There were complaints by one well-known blog however about wrinkly electropop but without these pioneers who changed music, where would we be today? As KRAFTWERK’s Ralf Hütter said: “From all over the world comes inspiration. We have been very lucky, because the music we envisioned, the ideas we had of The Man Machine and electro music, have become reality and technology has developed in our direction and electro is everywhere”.
Shouldn’t the imperial phase of Synth Britannia and its earlier Germanic influence therefore be celebrated in the way that senior blues musicians have been revered within the world of rock ‘n’ roll? Missing from the Mute evening’s proceedings as a collective were DEPECHE MODE who gave the world a U2 cover and a second instalment of their remix collection as part of their year’s work.
One rework that provoked enormous debate was Alan Wilder’s improved rework of 2009’s ‘In Chains’ which added speculation as to whether he would be rejoining the band. Certainly, it would induce some much needed creative tension that has mostly been missing from DEPECHE MODE since the start of the noughties.
But one act truly excelling in the darker side of electronic based music was IAMX who continued to conquer Europe while remaining largely ignored in the UK. Martin Gore could seriously learn from Chris Corner about how to make melodic, accessible music that doesn’t compromise artistically and retains a gritty edge. Meanwhile, Gore rekindled a working relationship with Vince Clarke on a techno project under the banner of VCMG.
Monday 21st March was an interesting day as it saw the release of albums by DURAN DURAN, THE HUMAN LEAGUE and John Foxx. As concert celberity Mr Normall amusingly recalled in his Facebook status “this is 2011, not 1981”! At least two of those albums were the best and most immediate bodies of work from those artists for many years. The bar has certainly been raised for acts such as ULTRAVOX and VISAGE who both announced forthcoming new albums. BLANCMANGE made their welcome return with Neil Arthur’s sense of humour as sharp as ever but sadly, he was unable to be joined for the live shows by his bandmate Stephen Luscombe due to illness. One hopes Stephen is making a good recovery.
MIRRORS showed their promise and delivered the superbly seamless long player ‘Lights & Offerings’. While the band themselves admitted it may have been a touch derivative, it was enjoyed by a small but loyal fanbase who embraced their whole intelligent pop noir aesthetic. However, just as they were about to make a breakthrough, a second high profile tour supporting OMD in Germany was cancelled along with an appearance at Bestival.
Then founder member Ally Young announced he was leaving the group. The situation has been likened by some observers to when Vince Clarke left DEPECHE MODE. Of course, the end result of that was both parties mutated into highly successful acts and ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is hopeful something similar may occur here. Certainly an excellent new darker tune called ‘Dust’ from the remaining trio indicates MIRRORS are not finished yet!
The similarly smartly attired HURTS continued their domination of Europe and while not as adored in the UK, they still did the business touring wise with sell-out shows at Somerset House and Brixton Academy with Kylie Minogue making a surprise guest appearance at the latter.
Of the ladies, Beth Ditto went superbly electronic with her debut solo EP while Claudia Brücken went jazz for the soundtrack of ‘LA Noire’, but not before celebrating the electronic part of her career with a fine retrospective Combined and a fantastic show at The Scala which saw a three quarters reunion of PROPAGANDA plus special guests ANDY BELL and HEAVEN 17.
Another acclaimed German chanteuse Billie Ray Martin returned with her new project THE OPIATES and an album ‘Hollywood Under The Knife’ while LADYTRON released a definitive Best Of ’00-10′ and a new album ‘Gravity The Seducer’. The latter was a glorious, lush masterpiece of aural subtlety which was not universally embraced by their fanbase but is likely to become a cult favourite in the future.
Meanwhile, the spectre of FEVER RAY’s Karin Drejer-Andersson lurked, both musically and politically, within several darker female fronted combos such as AUSTRA, THE HORN THE HUNT and GAZELLE TWIN. The brooding unsettlement of this Hauntronica (or witch house as it was sometimes referred) won favour with some while John Foxx named GAZELLE TWIN’s ‘The Entire City’ as his album of the year. However, this fairly uncompromising strain of electro wasn’t for everyone although it was definitely more preferable to dubstep, the trendy new dance form that even the usually club friendly Chris Lowe of PET SHOP BOYS was having trouble embracing!
But Nordic influences weren’t just about tonal gloom and witchery. Greek maidens MARSHEAUX adopted some FEVER RAY styled percussive moods on their only song of the year ‘Can You Stop Me?’ but remained synthpop while American duo NIGHTLIFE borrowed Sally Shapiro’s sweeter template.
Over at The Finland Station, producer Jori Hulkkonen’s PROCESSORY project delivered an 18 track electronic Sci-Fi concept album entitled ‘Change Is Gradual’. TIGER BABY from Denmark returned with the dreamy single ‘Landscapes’ while from Sweden, both THE GIRL & THE ROBOT and Emmon delivered enjoyable new material. There was also the mysteriously kooky IAMAMIWHOAMI but best of all from the region were THE SOUND OF ARROWS with the cinematic crystalline pop of their debut album ‘Voyage’.
At the pure pop end of the spectrum, Lady Gaga plotted her next move into world domination with new album ‘Born This Way’. With religious lyrical imagery were very much in evidence throughout, this was her ‘Like A Prayer’ with a Eurocentric sound being very much the dominant factor in the music. With her ear firmly on the inventive UK music scene, GOLDFRAPP, HURTS and MIRRORS were commissioned to deliver remixes of ‘Judas’.
LITTLE BOOTS returned with a bouncy house number called ‘Shake’ while SUNDAY GIRL had her album delayed again and didn’t appear to know whether she wanted to be a singer or a fashion designer. Her pop thunder has now potentially been stolen by the similar raspy timbres of Lana Del Rey whose pair of remixes by NIKONN became favourites with many electro enthusiasts. Embracing couture but with her head fully focussed on the music, QUEEN OF HEARTS brought some intelligent sparkle to electropop. With mentions in The Guardian and The Times, her superb EP ‘The Arrival’ realised the potential that was apparent in her earlier girl group days.
Several acts introduced by ELECTRICTYCLUB.CO.UK in 2010 gained prestigious supports slots as a sign of their steady progress. SHH were billed with former BLACK BOX RECORDER vocalist Sarah Nixey whileTHE VANITY CLAUSE opened for a solo Andy Bell performance and Electro Weimar songstress Katja von Kassel did the same at two of ERASURE’s shows in Germany.
VILLA NAH were due to play the biggest gig of their career with DURAN DURAN but Simon Le Bon’s illness, which also caused the postponement of the entire UK tour in May, unfortunately put paid to that. So it could be said that “Synthpop’s Alive” and this was exemplified by Essen based American act MAISON VAGUE who gave the world probably the best wholly independent release of the year.
Clark Stiefel’s wonderful cross of Gary Numan and DEVO was the work of a man brought up in the avant-classical world with hands-on experience of vintage Moog and Buchla modulars. Using the concept of “living in a dream since 1983”, despite the vintage influences, it was electronic music as imagined by the eccentricity of Oscar Wilde crossed with the thoughtful demeanour of late classical composer Franz Liszt.
Over the year, American based electronic acts were starting to come to the fore with XENO & OAKLANDER, SOFT METALS, HIGH PLACES, THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND and Tara Busch all gaining notable acclaim.
A question that has to be asked though is whether there is too much synth based music at the moment? Interestingly, Thomas Dolby and Sarah Nixey moved away from the electronic world and released new albums that had a more personal, organic quality. Some observers were complaining about “synthpop by numbers” and “Synth Britannia throwbacks”, but as OMD’s Andy McCluskey once said on that very programme, if there was a magic button for a hit single, he’d have pressed it more times than anyone else.
While improvements in technology have made it much easier for the public at large to make music and interesting noises, not everyone has the ability to write proper songs. Not only that but the iPod/notebook generation have been listening to compressed mp3s on tinny speakers for such a long time now that they have no grasp of dynamics. This has hampered many new acts who have taken to doing everything themselves and as a result, produced some average pieces of work.
There is nothing like a second opinion and creative tension to help a new piece of music along. And it is this willingness to understand the cores of songwriting, production and arrangement that ultimately separates the good from the bad, and ultimately the outstanding from the good.
ELECTRICTYCLUB.CO.UK Contributor Listings of 2011
MIKE COOPER
Best album: MUERAN HUMANOS Mueran Humanos
Best Song: VELVET CONDOM Rouge City
Best Gig: KRAFTWERK at Die Alte Kongresshalle, Munich
Best Video: LADYTRON Mirage
Most Promising New Act: MUERAN HUMANOS
STEVE GRAY
Best album: GARY NUMAN Dead Son Rising
Best Song: TENEK What Do You Want?
Best Gig: Back To The Phuture – Tomorrow Is Today at The Troxy, London
Best Video: DURAN DURAN Girl Panic!
Most Promising New Act: QUEEN OF HEARTS
CHI MING LAI
Best album: MIRRORS Lights & Offerings
Best Song: VILE ELECTRODES My Sanctuary
Best Gig: Back To The Phuture -Tomorrow Is Today at The Troxy, London
Best Video: TIGER BABY Landscapes
Most Promising New Act: QUEEN OF HEARTS
NIX LOWREY
Best Album: SANDWELL DISTRICT Feed Forward
Best Song: JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS Summerland
Best Gig: KRAFTWERK at Die Alte Kongresshalle, Munich
Best Video: LADYTRON Mirage
Most Promising New Act: MUERAN HUMANOS
RICHARD PRICE
Best album: MIRRORS Lights & Offerings
Best Song: JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS Shatterproof
Best Gig: HEAVEN17/BEF Weekender at The Roundhouse
Best Video: QUEEN OF HEARTS Shoot The Bullet
Most Promising New Act: QUEEN OF HEARTS
JOHAN WEJEDAL
Best album: AUSTRA Feel It Break
Best song: MIRRORS Into The Heart (Greek Girls Are Not Easy extended remix)
Best gig: AUSTRA at Stockholm Debaser Medis
Best video: EMMON Ghost Dance
Most promising new act: LOUISE (ex-THERMOSTATIC)
So what did ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK think was hot back in 2011?
It featured a day in March when THE HUMAN LEAGUE, DURAN DURAN and John Foxx all released new albums, while VILE ELECTRODES launched their debut EP. In a year when the synth pioneers were finally recognised for their valuable contribution to popular culture, here are our 30 favourite songs of 2011 presented in alphabetical order by artist…
AUSTRA Spellwork
Canadian trio AUSTRA deliver a stark, baroque form of electronica fuelled by sexual tension. Like a gothic opera which successfully blends light and darkness with fragility and power, Katie Stelmanis and friends borrow the tones of classic DEPECHE MODE and cross it with THE KNIFE for this, their most accessibly brilliant synthpop offering from their debut album. The B-side ‘Indentity’ is a worthy listen too.
Available on the CD ‘Feel It Break’ via Domino/Paper Bag Records
Fresh from opening for John Foxx, Tara Busch released a charity EP for The Bob Moog Foundation. If you’ve ever wanted to hear that bizarre sonic other worldiness of GOLDFRAPP’s first album ‘Felt Mountain’ again, it’s right here on ‘Rocket Wife’. With hints of the eerie classic Star Trek theme, this is really does sound like THE CARPENTERS in outer space! Calling occupants of interplanetary craft, across the universe…
Available on the download EP ‘Rocket Wife’ via The Bob Moog Foundation
With wonderful riffs and an uplifting chorus, this is delicious electronic pop from the cult Swedish trio of Paulinda Crescentini, Tommy Arell and Carl Hammar. Remixed by Athens synth maidens MARSHEAUX, this has the best of both worlds and could easily be mistaken for Sophie and Marianthi. However, PaulindaCrescentini’s Italo Nordic charm gives ‘It’s A Game’ a wonderfully distinct and alluring Mediterranean flavour.
Available on the download EP ‘It’s A Game’ via Graplur Records
BETH DITTO would probably be the Alison Moyet of modern electro if she didn’t prefer the funky punk of her band GOSSIP. ‘Do You Need Someone?’ sees Ms Ditto’s powerful and passionate yearning adding soul to the sparkling electronic dance groove. With production from SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, KRAFTWERK’s ‘Computer World’ tones towards the song’s coda are a marvellous touch. A future career as an alternative disco diva beckons.
Available on the CD EP ‘Beth Ditto’ via Deconstruction Records/Sony Music
While Dolby’s album return was largely organic with hints of bluegrass and Americana, its token synthpop offering was the wonderful ‘Spice Train’. Over its hypnotic, squelchy sequence and mechanised dance beat, it gets strangely humanised by a Mariachi horn section. With the kitchen sink and a host of exotic influences thrown in via Bollywood and the Middle East, ‘Spice Train’ does exactly what it says on the tin.
Available on the CD ‘A Map Of The Floating City’ via Lost Toy People.
‘All You Need Is Now’ saw DURAN DURAN cyclically return to the funk-led syncopated pop of their first two albums. ‘Being Followed’ is a superb sequencer assisted disco number with a tingling metallic edge, touches of THE CURE’s ‘A Forest’ and Nick Rhodes’ vintage string machine capture the tension of post 9/11 paranoia. Simon Le Bon gives it his all and while he is technically one of the most chronic singers of his generation, he is unique AND untouchable…
Available on the CD ‘All You Need Is Now’ via Tape Modern
NIKONN’s brand new album ‘Instamatic’ is suitably Mediterranean so add that instrumentation to the voice of raspy New Yorker Lana Del Rey and the end result is a glorious sun-kissed dancefloor moment. Somehow, you end up feeling much happier after dancing to, what is essentially in its original form, a quite stark, heartfelt minor key ballad. Now officially sanctioned, the remix brought the former Lizzie Grant to an electronic pop audience.
Originally issued as a free download but currently unavailable.
From her under rated album ‘Make A Scene’ which includes contributions from Richard X and Armand Van Buuren, the appropriately titled Synchronised is a synthpop tune with a distinct YAZOO flavour to it. All highly appropriate as she supported ERASURE during their forests tour this year. This superbly cements her electro kinship which has been apparent since ‘China Heart’ from her ‘Tripping The Light Fantastic’ in 2007.
Available on the CD ‘Make A Scene’ via Douglas Valentine Limited
The best track on the ‘Interplay’ album is a co-written duet with Mira Aroyo of LADYTRON. ‘Watching A Building On Fire’, with its chattering drum machine and accessible Trans- European melodies, oozes a synthetic smokiness. Aroyo’s counterpoint is almost playfully feline although Foxx’s inherent dystopianism gives it his stamp, making this a second cousin of ‘Burning Car’. The Andy Gray remix is also a worthy acquisition.
Available on the CD ‘Interplay’ via Metamatic Records
JOY DIVISION’s original on ‘Closer’ was one of the most fragile, funereal collages of beauty ever committed to vinyl but Elizabeth Walling has covered this cult classic and made it even more haunting! Replacing the piano motif with eerily chilling synth and holding it together within an echoing sonic cathedral, she pays due respect while adding her own understated operatic stylings… you should hear her version of ‘Louie Louie’!
Available on the download EP ‘I Am Shell I Am Bone’ via Anti-Ghost Moon Ray Records
Susanne Sulley does her best LITTLE BOOTS impression with this opener to ‘Credo’, the long awaited comeback album from THE HUMAN LEAGUE. Sounding like ‘Crash’ gone right or CLIENT gone funky, it is also auto-tuned to the hilt as Da League go all contemporary with this marvellous slice of electronic pop. Let’s hope it’s not another ten years before there’s new material!
‘Clump’ could be the sound of the drums on OMD’s ‘History Of Modern Part 1’ but it’s actually this kooky little number by IAMAMIWHOAMI aka Jonna Lee. A synthetically charged amalgam with vintage sounds and even a toy piano thrown in, this is a bit brighter than some her contemporaries if still delightfully odd and mysterious. It’s musically more Bjork than FEVER RAY although she does share the same management with the latter.
Available on the download single ‘Clump’ via iTunes and Amazon
IAMX have captured an electro Gothic aesthetic that combines the theatrics of Weimar Cabaret with themes of sex, alienation and dependency. Despite the lyrical and aural fervor, Corner’s songs are strongly melodic with an accessible grandeur. The superb lead single ‘Ghosts Of Utopia’ from new album ‘Volatile Times’ has instant appeal with its exhilarating mechanical drive and electrickery. His scream of “this is psychosis” is wholly believable! Dance in the dark!
Available on the CD ‘Volatile Times’ via Republic of Music/BMG
Flautist textures dominate the more sedate pace of ‘Mirage’ almost as a reaction to the loudness war of previous album ‘Velocifero’. Helen Marnie’s voice beautifully suits the synthetic atmospherics while the widescreen, spacious mix compliments a catchy tune that has hints of SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES. Although confusing some of their fans, given room to explore, ‘Gravity The Seducer’ is that under rated album which will be hailed as a classic in years to come.
Available on the CD ‘Gravity The Seducer’ via Nettwerk Productions
Living in a dream since 1983 and as a homage to ‘The Pleasure Principle’, MAISON VAGUE mainman Clark Stiefel responded musically to a YouTube video entitled ‘Synthpop Is Dead’. The opening salvo is brilliant and the lyric of “Everyone’s entitled to opinion, you have yours and well I have mine” hits home. But it’s the retort of “And though it seems that our opinions differ, you’ll agree in time!” that says it all as the sound of PLACEBO gone electro. This battlecry has heart, soul and humour.
Available on the download album ‘Synthpop’s Alive’ via Amazon
Closing MIRRORS’ outstanding ‘Lights & Offerings’ long player, ‘Secrets’ shifting phat bass riff across two octaves is pure Kling Klang, driven by an intense percussive march. An epic at over ten minutes in length and split into three movements, the ambient interlude of the second section consists of an aural sculpture that plays with the mind. It then suddenly reprises with a piercing military tattoo for its finale with unsettling voices for some added claustrophobic edge.
Available on the CD ‘Lights & Offerings’ via Skint Entertainment
Yes, Moby has settled into a formula but he does it well. One of the more immediate tracks from the excellent independently released ‘Destroyed’ album, ‘Be The One’ is full of rich layered synth strings with moody chordial sweeps over a motorik beat and textured vocoder. Despite the simplistic robotic couplet “I was the hell that you needed – I was the one when you needed love”, it strangely exudes warmth and emotion.
Available on the CD ‘Destroyed’ via Little Idiot Records
From their second EP Radio, with Caroline Myrick’s soft vocals attached to Darin Rajabian’s classic electro disco inspired backing, ‘On The Run’ could be described as Ellie Goulding gone right and is free of folkisms. : “I want back the soft quiet days of ever, when there was lemonade and sand, and rainy screen doors and sad movies; when the minutes were no one else’s but ours”.
Available on the download EP ‘Radio’ via their website
Anthemic gothic rock is what the former Gary Webb deals in these days but ‘The Fall’ is a lot less heavier and one-dimensional than the offerings on previous album ‘Jagged’. Co-written and co-produced by Ade Fenton as an interim project when work on the ‘Splinter’ album was put on hold, with a fair smattering of gritty synths, this achieves a much better sonic balance and Gary Numan’s most accessible number in years.
Available on the CD ‘Dead Son Rising’ via Mortal Records
THE OPIATES are former ELECTRIBE 101 chanteuse Billie Ray Martin and Norwegian DJ and producer Robert Solheim. They have been dubbed as The Carpenters of Electro. Several years in the making, the debut album contained ‘Anatomy Of A Plastic Girl’, a fine avant pop structure that told the tale of a young wannabe actress in Los Angeles who reflects on the facial surgery that has left her scarred…
Available on the CD ‘Hollywood Under The Knife’ via Disco Activisto Records
QUEEN OF HEARTS is Liz Morphew, formally of RED BLOODED WOMEN; this mysterious young royal with her assorted headgear and couture is modern electropop’s own Queen Amidala. From a galaxy far, far away and light years ahead of the poptastic competition, this moody, pulsing cover of indie rockers THE FOALS is transformed by a hypnotism textured with spacious synths to give our Queenie room for some sexy breathiness.
Best known for ‘Looking From A Hilltop’ in 1984, the song’s husband and wife vocalists Larry Cassidy and Jenny Ross have sadly since passed away. So it was highly appropriate that for SECTION 25’s recorded return, fronting the former punks would be Larry and Jenny’s daughter Bethany. She does a fine job with this danceable synth led ditty which captures that classic hedonistic Manchester vibe that recalls THE OTHER TWO’s ‘Tasty Fish’.
Available on the download EP ‘Invicta’ via Fac 51 The Hacienda
SOFT METALS are a newish electro duo comprising Patricia Hall and Ian Hicks. Now resident in Los Angeles, they have an accessibly minimal sound with Hall’s pretty vocals being a particular delight and reminiscent of Dot Allison’s flirtatious aura. ‘Eyes Closed’ is probably the highlight from their very promising self-titled debut album, elements of ORBITAL creeping into the danceable bleep fest.
Available on the CD ‘Soft Metals’ via Captured Tracks
Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand hail from Gavle in Sweden. Both filmic and musical elements are important factors in THE SOUND OF ARROWS. Produced by Richard X and featuring a sweet guest vocal from Sarah Nyberg Pergament aka action biker, the choral patches and the symphonic templates are just so reminiscent of OMD. Coupled to some fantastically optimistic ambition, ‘Longest Ever Dream’ is a panoramic joy!
Featuring mournful violin by Chris Payne from The Gary Numan Experience, ‘What Do You Want?’ is the first TENEK track that could be described as possessing a degree of beauty. The Brtish duo’s more rousing anthemic style takes a breather here and although this has more in common with their other ballad track ‘The Art Of Evasion’, the subtlety and strings add a new sonic dimension to the developing TENEK sound.
TIGER BABY are a Copehagen trio led by singer Pernille Pang with Benjamin Teglbjærg and Nikolaj Tarp Gregersen in synthetic support. They released their debut album ‘Noise Around Me’ in 2007. Stylistically, this has all the unmistakeable melodic sensibility that Scandinavian pop acts seem to naturally possess as pretty arpeggios and wispy vocals combine for some dream laden electro accompanied by a fabulous video.
Available on the CD ‘Open Windows Open Hills’ via Gunhero records
VILE ELECTRODES are a colourful beat combo who combine analogue synths with fetish fashion. Their sound could be described as THE SMITHS reincarnated as CLIENT but ‘My Sanctuary’, the closing track on their debut EP is a sweeping moody epic that recalls imperial phase OMD. Anais resigned melancholic vocal gives that ice maiden demeanour over glorious symphonic synth strings and deep sombre tones. It’s magnificence embroiled.
They’re the 21st Century equivalent of THE TEARDOP EXPLODES but with no brass. WHITE LIES however are much more bombastic with synths carrying melodies and assorted effects. Driven by a sweeping theme and deep bass thud before leading to a sense of urgency in the verse, a thoroughly anthemic chorus doesn’t appear until halfway to increase tension. This is possibly what TX could have sounded like if Julian Cope hadn’t gone to live under a tortoise shell!
Available on the CD ‘Ritual’ via Fiction/Polydor Records
Chugging arpeggios, clattering primitive drum machines and slightly unorthodox vocals, minimal duo XENO & OAKLANDER give a brilliantly vibrant offering of vintage futurism. ‘The Staircase’ is their most immediate offering yet. Based in Brooklyn, part of their authentic Europeanism comes from Liz Wendelbo’s wispy French / Norwegian charm. Writing with partner Sean McBride since 2004, they successfully supported JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS in 2011.
Available on the CD ‘Sets & Lights’ via Wierd Records
Those dark Nordic nights certainly have their effect as this cynical tune from this Finnish duo indicates. Comprising helpfully of two friends Tapio and Matti, ZEBRA & SNAKE fuse vintage electronics with a touch of ambient dexterity as an “artistic form of therapy”. ‘Empty Love Song’ is suitably bittersweet and sounds a bit like MGMT’s ‘Time To Pretend’ after six months in deep freeze! However, despite its lyrical stance, it possesses a grand anthemic quality.
VILE ELECTRODES combine an analogue synthesizer obsession with the imagery of alternative fetish fashion.
Led by the statuesque redhead Anais Neon, the colourful trio also feature Martin Swan who often loses himself behind his temple of synth, hidden by what looks like the European Union’s spaghetti mountain and Loz Tronic on keyboards / guitar. Drawn together by the desire to escape reality through dressing up, their club friendly songs ‘Present Danger’ and ‘Empire Of Wolves’ capture this electro-goth fantasy world.
Meanwhile their lively and catchy musical style at times sounds like THE SMITHS reincarnated as CLIENT as on the excellent ‘Play With Fire’ and ‘Proximity’. Their other standouts include the wonderful ‘Feed Your Addiction’ which comes over like a tribal ‘Fade To Grey’ while the sensational ‘Deep Red’ is an epic seven and a half minutes worth of classic ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK (as opposed to OMD) with rich, shimmering string layers punctuated in its second section by some solemn, funereal percussion.
Although some have considered their sexually deviant presentation as a distraction with one observer commenting: “Oh god no! They’re like CLIENT after a shopping spree in Ann Summers!”, VILE ELECTRODES’ dynamic synthpop sound comes over best in the concert environment with Anais and Loz in particular often playfully whipping percussion pads like a pair of dominatrixes.
Aiming to capture their live sound on record with their debut album, Anais and Martin chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about their history and future plans…
How did VILE ELECTRODES first come into being?
Anais: Martin and I met at work. At the time he was in another band, which gave him an air of cool mystique, this guy with strange coloured hair and strange clothes. After some prolonged wooing – mostly on my behalf! – we started dating. After a few nights out at grimy clubs he eventually invited me to his humble abode. I headed to his, full of anticipation… and he met me at the door in his dressing gown! He led me into his lounge, which was filled with rows of ‘plastic pianos’. I didn’t know what they were – my experience of keyboards extended to the ones you could get in the Argos catalogue. Of course, they were synthesizers and he proceeded to play them at me all night. I remember thinking “this guy’s a bit weird – not sure that this is going to go anywhere” *laughs*
I’d never been in a band before, but we starting dabbling and experimenting with music together. It was never intended to be too serious, because I was way too nervous, and I had absolutely no confidence as a performer. But then my mum died and it put the need to seize the day into total perspective. I thought “What the hell? What’s the worst that can happen? People might hate it! So what! Maybe I won’t actually like doing it!” – but at least I would know that I gave it a shot. No regrets!
Martin, impressing girls with synthesizers? That’s always been a difficult thing to do as it is! What brought that on?
Martin:I don’t remember it happening quite that way… I always knew that Anais was musical, even before she ever revealed to me that she could sing. We were in the car and she was singing quietly and I asked what it was. She said “oh, it’s a song that I wrote”.
After some arm-twisting I made her sing the song in full and it was a brilliant song. Music and creativity were a couple of the things that first brought us together – clubbing, dancing and dressing up. They were the first things that we had in common. For me, you can’t separate going out clubbing and to gigs etc from making music. They all go hand-in-hand and inspire each other. So my excuse for introducing Anais to my sordid world of synthesizers was that I recognised a kindred musical spirit.
Sarah Blackwood from CLIENT and DUBSTAR has told me she thinks VILE ELECTRODES is such a great name for a band. Where did it come from?
Anais: We formed bands with various names, RED STAR WINTER ORBIT, STRANGE FRUIT, SPITALFIENDS – none of which stuck. And then we wrote a song about being unable to tear yourself away from someone, even though they’re bad for you. It’s like they’ve got… “vile electrodes wired to your brain”! And, thus, VILE ELECTRODES were born.
How did Loz end up joining the group?
Anais: We started off as a two-piece, did some gigs and I was just terrified up there… like a rabbit in headlights, stood stock still on stage. People would say “Oooh, the aloofness really works. You’re like an ice maiden” and I never knew whether to fess up “that’s because I’m f***ing sh*t scared”! Martin and I talked about recruiting more people to the band, so there was more support for me on stage, strength in numbers against the audience! Some friends joined the line-up for a few gigs, but ultimately it wasn’t really for them and we ended up as a two-piece again.
I got to thinking about this girl I knew from MySpace called Loz Tronic. I’d randomly emailed her one day to tell her she was beautiful – if I recall correctly I said she was “compelling to behold”! Nothing like the direct approach, eh? I assumed she’d think I was the biggest weirdo and I never expected to hear back, but she replied, flattered and bemused, and we struck up an online friendship. It turned out she did music too, and we were both really into each other’s sounds.
About a year after meeting her online, I asked if she’d consider joining the band – and she jumped at the chance! Having her on board really helped us in terms of picking up momentum. She was just really cool and confident which allowed Martin and I to focus on what WE were doing. Loz was like “Yup, I’ll play whatever… Sing? Sure! Guitar? No problem”.
What were your individual favourite music tastes at the time?
Anais: Before Martin, I’d dated a guitarist for a long time and I’d gotten quite into jazz and blues off the back of that. To this day, one of my favourite bands is a blues band called THE HOAX. I liked cheesy danceable pop like BRITNEY and KYLIE, and I was really into OASIS and lots of Britpop stuff. Car journeys as a child with my mum had formed a lot of my musical tastes. I’m still a big LIONEL RICHIE and QUEEN fan. And KOOL AND THE GANG!
In reality there was very little electronic music on my radar… I do vividly remember pulling into work one day and hearing this song begin on the radio. I was already late but I had to stay in the car to listen to the whole song. I saw Martin a bit later and said “I heard this brilliant song on the radio. It’s by a band named ‘Fish Spoon’ called ‘Emerge’!”*everyone laughs*
Martin said “I’ve got their performance on Top Of The Pops on video” and we sat down and watched in the editing-studio at lunchtime, holding hands. Martin introduced me to the electroclash scene and a lot of stuff like PEACHES and MISS KITTIN, but FISCHERSPOONER was like my first independent find I suppose *laughs*
Martin:When we first met, Anais’ musical taste was “I like ALL music”… y’know how girls always say that don’t they? *everyone laughs*
But I can kind of understand that. Music inspires you and can totally enhance your mood and there’s good music within all genres. Whereas with guys, I think it becomes more of a tribal thing, and that you belong to a gang. That’s what gets most guys into a particular style of music, in my opinion.
Which synthpop gangs did you belong in then?
Martin: My very first synthpop gang – well it wasn’t really a gang at my school because it only really consisted of me – was GARY NUMAN! My first proper album, as opposed to a Top Of The Pops compilation album, was TUBEWAY ARMY’s ‘Replicas’. I still listen to it a lot and you can’t under-estimate the influence this has had on my life. Before that, I’d been into “ALL music” and then I heard this; it was dark but it had melodies and it had this amazing atmosphere. It was the sound of the future!
Anais: You were really kicking against what your friends were doing, weren’t you?
Martin: I was into Two Tone and things like that, so I was into what everyone else liked in the charts at the time, but Replicas was the first time I realised there’s was something far deeper here than a three minute pop song. So it all began there really! That was when I formed my first band – ILL TREATMENT! It was more of a punk band though…
So did you play guitars yourself at that time?
Martin: No, I was left-handed…
Anais: He still is *laughs*
Martin: … and left-handed people were still regarded as twisted freaks at my school. I found it really difficult to find someone to teach me how to play guitar. The guitar teacher at my school tried to get me to play right-handed and I just couldn’t do that, and I lost interest.
I started going down to Dixons on a Saturday afternoon to play all the little Casio keyboards, and annoy all the shop assistants!
After the NUMAN thing, I got into ADAM & THE ANTS and ULTRAVOX, and things like that. But then I discovered OMD – quite late compared to some people. I actually got into them around the time of ‘Junk Culture’, but then I revisited their back catalogue. That was in the day when you could find records by artists for £2.99 in Woolworths and I collected all of the OMD records. You could pick up all these 12 inch singles and I remember going to every Woolworths in all the bland satellite towns I grew up in – Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead – to look in the dusty bargain bins and finding the 12 inch of ‘Tesla Girls’, and the ‘alternate’ version that they only released a few of and I was like, “I’m having that”! I was buying Record Collector and getting into all of that. So I was seriously into OMD, and then when DEPECHE MODE released ‘Violator’, it just took me somewhere else completely.
When I first heard your stuff, the one that struck me was ‘Deep Red’ which sounds like CLIENT doing OMD. How did that come about?
Martin: Musically, if you listen to our songs, you can quite clearly hear the different geneses of the songs. Inevitably, with the music I’m into, there’s always an OMD, GARY NUMAN, JOHN FOXX, HUMAN LEAGUE kind of feeling to things. ‘Deep Red’ was written in the studio and started out with a really simple drum-beat and a little bassline arpeggio on the Roland Juno 6. I was playing this riff and Anais said “I like it” and …
Anais: Either I will go “I like it” and I’ll write some lyrics really quickly or say straight out “I’m never going to write a song to this one, I’m really sorry”. It drives Martin mad sometimes, but it’s just how it goes!
Martin: It was one of those classic songs where we wrote it in about the same length of time as the song lasts…it is a long song but it came together so quickly! But one of the things we’ve learnt is that our best songs come like that, without us trying really. ‘Deep Red’ is a bit of a reference to those OMD songs that only ever made it to be B-sides or albums tracks, but which I used to make endless compilations of – ‘Stanlow’, ‘Sealand’, ‘Romance Of The Telescope’, ‘Annex’ – stuff like that. Sweeping, atmospheric songs that just encompassed and explained everything about life and death and everything in between. Pop bands tend not to do that.
Lyrically, there’s a story behind that isn’t there?
Anais:Indeed there is. And I’m not ashamed to tell the truth about it… *pauses* I’d had my heart broken, plain and simple. Most songs out there are about love and heartbreak, so I know it’s not breaking any boundaries, but I wondered if I could find catharsis through writing a song about the experience, or whether I should just walk away. I chose the former.
For me, ‘Deep Red’ is one of the most significant VILE ELECTRODES songs because the reason it exists is so significant. And it’s the reason VILE ELECTRODES still exist! Maybe that’s why a lot of other people like it so much – because they recognise a genuine song about genuine heartbreak.
On the other end of the scale, you got these great indie pop songs with synths like THE SMITHS versus CLIENT of ‘Play With Fire’. Who takes the lead in a song like that?
Martin: That was all originally written on a laptop really quickly on the way to the studio, and then finished off in about 20 minutes – people often say the best songs are written that way.
Anais: We had quite an extensive back catalogue of songs before we wrote that track, but it was the first song that we went “this is a song!”
Martin:I think it’s interesting you mention THE SMITHS and the indie thing because I always think it sounds like an indie track and actually reminds me of THE KILLERS’ first album in that it sounds like a band trying to write a DURAN DURAN song with a big chorus and some strident synths. *everyone laughs*
Anais:We’re actually re-recording it at the moment, but it’s quite weird doing that because people really like it how it is. What if it loses something!?
Martin: The important thing for the song; at the time we wrote it, we weren’t really sure if we were a band that wanted to pretend we had real instruments, or whether we were a band who acknowledged using laptops and synths.
Anais: In the early days, we gigged with just a laptop and a couple of MIDI-keyboards.
Martin: The bass and the drums on it are my attempt at using Logic to make a more live sounding rhythm section; it has more of a ‘live’ feeling than some of our other songs which was a conscious decision. Since we’ve been playing it live these last couple of years, it’s evolved into something else much more VILE ELECTRODES. That idea of it being ‘live’ but actually all synths is important.
What I think you’ve got nailed is the live sound, but it’s quite different from listening to your stuff via Soundcloud. How are you going to capture that for the album?
Martin: I’ve replaced the virtual instruments on ‘Play With Fire’ with real synths, either physically played or where there’s a sequence, I’ve hooked old analogue synths up to the MIDI code and we trigger them live. We’ve done that but the other side is that I’ve recorded the live version of the song straight into a soundcard so it’s playing it in the studio as we would play it live, with all the random things that aren’t meant to happen – bits that clash and sound wrong. That’s one of the things you lose when you record solely on laptops in my opinion. But for me, the music that I love has always had a strong human element in it, even if it was made on electronic instruments.
Anais: When we wrote ‘Play With Fire’, I was still an incredibly nervous singer and I couldn’t even have Martin in the room when I was recording. What we’ve actually captured on the current Soundcloud version is a massive under-performance, lest Martin hear me from the other room! Now, when I sing, I enjoy it and that’s what we’re trying to capture. And it mustn’t be too clinical either! It’s the same with the live synths. Wholly laptop produced tunes may be zingy and clean but you lose that warmth and wobbly fragility that you get from real synths.
Which of the current crop of synthpop bands do you find inspirational as kindred spirits?
Martin: I think MIRRORS are really interesting and I like what they’re doing. I’m following them – I hope they can make the step up to the next level. The fact that they are seen as leaders of a bit of vanguard, you need to have bands doing that and I really respect what they’re doing and I also like what they’re saying about how they use technology.
Anais: We’ve become good friends with a lot of people off the back of seeing their bands play live. We try to support other bands as much as possible as we know how hard it is to be a gigging band! I really like KATSEN and wish they would gig more! And there’s FAKE TEAK, who are a really nice bunch of boys doing really cool analogue stuff.
Largely, though, I have to admit that I’ve always been quite a superficial music appreciator. Even more so since we’ve been making music together because I spend so much time working on our own stuff that I forget to raise my head above the parapet. And, as Martin mentioned earlier, I really do like pretty much like ALL music. If it has a bit of a beat and a bit of a tune, I tend to tap my foot to it and feel happy.
Martin: I have to name check XENO & OAKLANDER, they’re from Brooklyn and on the Wierd record label. They do cold wave stuff. We saw them last year and they absolutely blew me away. The songs are really good but they turned up with five SH101s and their entire set-up was being run from an old-school sequencer and they were doing it all live. What was really inspiring was that they were making the music they really wanted to make but not compromising with the technology, it must have taken them hours to set it all up and I really respect that.
Anais: LED ER EST supported them, and they’re pretty awesome too. There’s also MY ELASTIC EYE, I like them…
Martin: They’re club kids and getting loads of press. Felicity Hayward is the singer, she’s hot, she’s done modelling for several famous designers I think and…
Anais: She’s a gorgeous curvy bleached blonde bombshell basically…
Martin:When we saw them, we thought they would be aloof but they were really nice people, I’ve got a lot of time for them. And I have to mention LADYTRON. They’re not so new in a way, but they are consistently brilliant, and started doing synthpop when people laughed at the word. Respect, awe and thanks to them for keeping the faith when all around them doubted.
When can expect a VILE ELECTRODES album?
Anais: We’ve finished recording the EP and we’re working on the album now. We’ve all been so busy, though, and we’ve still not managed to record Loz’s parts yet!
Martin:What’s very important is that we capture that live thing and that’s what we’ve been working on. The plan is that we’ll release a three-track EP first and then we’ll start gigging again with the album depending on how quickly we can do it.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to VILE ELECTRODES
The extended version of the VILE ELECTRODES’ song ‘Proximity’ features on Electropop 6, a CD compilation released by Conzoom Records
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK came into being on 15th March 2010 following the HEAVEN 17 aftershow party at Sheffield Magna.
The year also saw the release of a new album by OMD in ‘History Of Modern’, their first since 1996 while there was a long awaited single by THE HUMAN LEAGUE. Meanwhile there was the emergence of new acts such as VILLA NAH, MIRRORS, THE SOUND OF ARROWS and HURTS.
At the end of 2009 when LITTLE BOOTS and LA ROUX heralded a renaissance in the sound of the synth, KRAFTWERK’s Ralf Hütter said to Mojo Magazine: “From all our work comes inspiration. We have been very lucky because the music we envisioned, the ideas we had of The Man-Machine and electro music, have become reality and technology has developed in our direction… and electro is everywhere!”
In a tremendous year for all things electro, here are our 30 songs of 2010 in alphabetical order by artist:
CHRISTINA AGUILERA & LADYTRON Birds Of Prey
In 2008, there was much talk of Christina Aguilera going electro and collaborating with LADYTRON. The two finished tracks ‘Birds Of Prey’ and ‘Little Dreamer’ were relegated to bonus track status on her album ‘Bionic’, with the latter only on iTunes. ‘Birds Of Prey’ softens the percussive noise that dominated ‘Velocifero’ with Ms Aguilera showing some great vocal restraint herself, with an almost hypnotic Middle Eastern feel.
Available on the album ‘Bionic (Deluxe Edition)’ via RCA
ARP is New Yorker Alexis Georgopoulos who crafts gorgeous contemporary kosmische musik for the 21st century. ‘The Soft Wave’ was a glorious work and from it, ‘High Life’ was a cute instrumental with beautiful synth strings dominated by the spectre of KRAFTWERK and CLUSTER. Minimal guitar adds texture to the pulsing accompaniment, recalling other German heroes such as Michael Rother and Manuel Göttsching.
Available on the album ‘The Soft Wave’ via Smalltown Supersound
AU REVOIR SIMONE Tell Me (Un Autre Monde Remix by MIRRORS)
Although AU REVOIR SIMONE have a wispy girls next door demeanour, this remix by MIRRORS recrafts the originally bare ‘Tell Me’ into a dense apocalyptic ditty which makes Erika Forster, Annie Hart and Heather D’Angelo sound almost suicidal! With its heavy synthetic percussive backbone, this is definitely dance music from another world! Like an alternative gothic disco soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s ‘The Virgin Suicides’!
Shimmering Emulator type strings, pulsing sequences and a rousing chorus make this a very immediate slice of synthesized pop. BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT mainman Rod Thomas reworks the template of ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ and gives it a bit of a sensitive new man outlook. ‘Love Part II’ is NEW ORDER’s disco music for lager louts taken back to its slightly camper Italo roots. Not one for those who wear football shirts to the pub!
Available on the single ‘Love Part II’ via Popjustice Hi-Fi
Assisted by I Monster’s Dean Honer who also co-produced THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s Night People, THE CHANTEUSE & THE CRIPPLED CLAW’s first single ‘Are You One?’ has Candie Payne’s very classic pop presence coupled with Adrian Flanagan’s eccentronic backing. It wonderfully sounds like Sandie Shaw being backed by a BBC Radiophonic Workshop collaboration with Lalo Schifrin!
Available on the single ‘Are You One?’ vai Arms Controller
Usually dealing in a brand of “8-bit Casiotone drone-disco” sounding like YEAH YEAH YEAHS with synths, CHEW LIPS look like OMD being led by Debbie Harry! And they take the OMD thing further here with their best track ‘Rising Tide’. The haunting piano, precise drum machine and bass with sparkling synth-harp runs and a spirited vocal come together nicely to build up to a rousing crescendo.
Available exclusively as a download on the album ‘Unicorn’ from iTunes.
Here are the young men of DELPHIC, continuing the electronic dance / rock fusion pioneered by the legend of Factory Records. The backing is pure NEW ORDER and reinforced by a great klanky guitar solo which would do Bernard Sumner proud. Now, if DELPHIC could just develop things into great pop songs like ‘Halcyon’ rather than some of the prolonged jams and grooves that dominate their debut album ‘Acolyte’.
With their melodic and glacial electronic disco, you’d think they were Scandinavian, but THE GOLDEN FILTER consist of an Aussie in Penelope Trappes and a Yank in Stephen Hindman. Penelope’s vocals have an uplifting quality on the chorus while still retaining a distant chill but the counter melodies compliment the danceable twists. A little I Feel Love creeps in during the chorus to give a wonderful dancefloor adrenalin rush.
Available on the album ‘Voluspa’ via Brille Records
As the title suggests, this is gorgeous and dreamy with a distinct European flavour from the enjoyable album ‘Head First’ which perhaps is more focused on mid-Atlantic AOR. Alison’s voice still resonates as one of the best in the business and back to being accompanied by primarily electronic instrumentation which is where it belongs. The pulsing sequences and string machine washes of ‘Dreaming’ make this perfect dancefloor material.
Available on the album ‘Head First’ via Mute Records
Mr Ferry has certainly been astute in recognising how much of an influence he’s been on younger musicians and accepting collaborative opportunities with modern dance luminaries such as HELL and GROOVE ARMADA. DJ HELL provides U Can Dance’ with some hard electronic backing, complimenting Ferry’s trademark vocals. Ferry recorded his own Roxy styled version for his solo album ‘Olympia’.
Available on the single ‘U Can Dance’ via International Deejay Gigolo Records
Hypnotic in the spirit of Giorgio Moroder crossed with Arthur Baker and featuring the guest vocals of Jerry Valuri who first collaborated with Jori Hulkkonen on his 2005 album ‘Lo-Fiction’, this dark club track’s spacey rolling sequences make this almost like a dancefloor take on THROBBING GRISTLE’s ‘Hot On The Heels Of Love’ before launching into a bit of New York electro disco in an unexpected middle section!
After Philip Oakey’s collaborations in 2009 with LITTLE BOOTS and PET SHOP BOYS, THE HUMAN LEAGUE returned with the lead track from their forthcoming album ‘Credo’ sounding very electronic and very modern. Punchy with an elastic bassline and chanting chorus, the lyrical couplet “leave your cornflakes in your freezers, leave your chocolates and your cheeses…” shows Mr Oakey hasn’t lost his touch for off-the-wall symbolism. So “Join us now my friends we hail you!”
Available on the single ‘Night People’ via Wall of Sound
HURTS have been certainly accused of style over substance. ‘Wonderful Life’ looked like being a one-off but luckily they have some other magnificent songs to back up their European art house film via the Weimar Republic persona. With ‘Stay’, the heartfelt intensity of the lush arrangement captures the understated but epic sophistication. With the symphonic grandeur of ULTRAVOX fronted by the melodic sensibilities of TAKE THAT, is this a ‘Vienna’ for the early 21st Century?
Available on the album ‘Happiness’ via Major Label
From the album of the same name, Texan duo HYPPERBUBBLE have an almost cartoon-like take on synthpop in the vein of that great lost combo VIC TWENTY who released only one single on Mute. ‘Candy Apple Daydreams’ is fun and quirky with Jess as the electro Emma Peel and Jeff as the obedient robotic version of John Steed.
Available on the album ‘Candy Apple Daydreams’ via Bubblegum Records
Electro Weimar Cabaret is the easiest way to describe the music of Katja von Kassel. Lies’ features strong traditional European influences like French accordions and ‘Vienna’ piano but also has hints of Grace Jones ‘I’ve Seen That Face Before’. Not entirely surprising as both songs are routed in the same dance… the tango. LADYHAWKE collaborator Alex Gray’s intricate production alongside Katja’s magnificently deep vocal presence is like the “1930’s meets the future”.
From what appears to be the only electronic based act that the real music purists positively fawn over, this is a superbly guitar free number that sounds like ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN mashed up with Gary Numan and early DEPECHE MODE. The wonderfully wobbly synths and steady drum machine beat take the lead in the poptastic style of Vince Clarke while James Murphy’s vocal hits a soaring falsetto after initiating a ‘Mac The Mouth’ tribute.
Available on the album ‘This Is Happening’ via DFA
LOLA DUTRONIC are a duo who adapt classic Anglo-Gallic pop with modern electronic arrangements. ‘Best Years Of Our Lives’ borrows from the more recent past with quite obvious references to OMD, ERASURE and even PULP. It’s cutesy pop, perhaps reminiscent of prime SAINT ETIENNE and Lola’s accent is just alluring!
Using a bit of Fe-Mael intuition, Marina Diamandis adds eccentricity to some catchy keyboard led pop helmed by the ubiquitous Greg Kurstin. “I have become my own self fulfilled prophecy” she proclaims before she screams up two operatic octaves taking a nod towards classic SPARKS while the coda turns into a Cossack dance! Frankly, this is brilliantly bonkers!
Available on the album ‘The Family Jewels’ via 679 Recordings
Aided by Stuart Price at the mixing helm, ‘All The Lovers’ was Ms Minogue’s best single since the KRAFTWERK-tinged ‘Slow’ is euphoric Euro-disco with some wonderful synthetic tones, especially on the solo. There’s something for everybody here in this fabulous pop song. But what a shame about the parent ‘Aphrodite’ album though.
MIRRORS hail from Brighton, the UK capital of hedonism but their intense and artful approach to dancing is very different to the ‘hands in the air’ culture of their home base. Synthetic chill and pulsing effects dominate this brilliantly uptempo electro number. Rhythmically this recalls TALKING HEADS ‘Crosseyed & Painless’ while the claustrophobic production is very post-punk, wonderfully dense but melodically dramatic. A brilliant introduction to The World of MIRRORS.
Available on the single ‘Ways To An End’ via Skint Entertainment
In the true innovating spirit of their classic era, the sparse percussive framework of ‘New Holy Ground’ is merely the sound of footsteps. This is the nearest they have come to the lost B-side and fan favourite ‘The Avenue’. The wonderful piano line and virtual choirs contribute to the beautiful melancholy that characterised OMD’s best work where Paul Humphreys concentrated on the musical backbone while Andy McCluskey provided the narrative focus.
Available on the album ‘History Of Modern’ via Blue Noise
WILLIAM ORBIT featuring SARAH BLACKWOOD White Night
In period which has seen a flurry of solo activity and the reformation of DUBSTAR, the lovely Sarah BLACKWOOD took time out to work with on a track from his album ‘My Oracle Lives Uptown’. Although a version without her ended up on the final tracklisting, her take was offered as a free download in 2010. More accessible than some of CLIENT’s recent offerings but more purely electronic than DUBSTAR, this was a priceless pop gem from our Sarah which lyrically was “full of pain”.
More bittersweet heartbreak from Ms Carlsson, this is driven by wonderful, edgy electronics while the simultaneous dancing and mourning reflects the vulnerability everyone experiences in the loss of love. Solemn synthetic disco at its best from the feisty, independently spirited Swede who is slowly turning into a modern day GINA X PERFORMANCE.
Available on the album ‘Body Talk’ via Konichiwa Records
Euphoric sensualism captured in three and a half minutes, the chunky pulsing sequences to a solid dance beat and a rousing chorus add a blissful optimism full of Latin spirit. ‘Wonderful Night’ is bouncy danceable electropop that does what it says on the tin. As their own mission statement announces, it’s “Electronic pop, Buenos Aires style!”
Available on the album ‘Gaucho Boy’ via Sin Dormir Records
Described as “the HURTS you can dance to” and “Disney meets Brokeback Mountain”, the opening lines “I’m going to work my way out of this town, I’m going to be someone and know who I am” of ‘Into the Clouds’ are quite a mission statement. THE SOUND OF ARROWS are a duo based in Stockholm presesnting dreamy widescreen synthpop, swathed in beautiful Nordic melancholy. Their musical subtlety is an essential and enlightening listen.
Aavailable on the single ‘Into The Clouds’ via Labrador Records
Following up SUNDAY GIRL’s previous two singles ‘Four Floors’ and her cover of ‘Self Control’, ‘Stop Hey!’ saw overdriven drum sounds and a piercing trebly riff dominate this piece of icy Eurocentric electro, sounding not unlike Ellie Goulding with a 20 cigarettes a day habit backed by MIRRORS and MGMT! This was kooky and stylish avant pop that hinted at something much darker going on in Jade Williams’ mind.
Available on the single ‘Stop Hey!’ via Geffen Records
No, this isn’t a misprint! The hidden track on the reunited Manchester boy band’s Stuart Price produced opus ‘Progress’ is an electronic gem. In a rare lead vocal for Jason Orange, he comes over all apologetic in the manner of Al Stewart over a dreamy backing track that possesses the glacial Scandinavian quality of ROYKSOPP with a sprinkling of Eno-esque textural ambience. Beginning with soothing vocoder before building to a percussive climax, this is simply quite beautiful!
TENEK have successfully smoothed off some of their more industrial edges to deliver their most immediate and accessible song yet. A rousing chorus and a structure not dissimilar to THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘The Things That Dreams Are Made Of’, there are further synth anthems galore on their album ‘On The Wire’ with nods to the MTV-era of TEARS FOR FEARS and A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS. “Heartbeat? Get down!” Synthetic dance rock at its best.
Available on the album ‘On The Wire’ via Toffeetones
VILE ELECTRODES are a colourful trio consisting of Anais Neon, Loz Tronic and Martin Swan who formed due to an unhealthy obsession with analogue synthesizers and fetish porn. ‘Deep Red’, a title inspired by Dario Argento’s ‘Profondo Rosso’, is a gorgeous seven and a half minute synth ballad that comes over like CLIENT fronting classic OMD… tremendously dramatic stuff in the vein of Statues and Stanlow!
Have you ever heard Gary Numan almost jaunty? The fantastic ‘Remains Of Love’ is the poppiest thing that the former Gary Webb never recorded. Juho Paalosmaa is next to crying in the wonderful chorus but it almost sounds like Numan on prozac over Tomi Hyyppä’s crystalline melodies. With that all important air synth factor, VILLA NAH took the important elements of classic electronic pop and connected it to sharp, complimentary dance rhythms.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
Follow Us!