Since Chris Corner aka IAMX has made sunny Los Angeles his home and has showcased his sixth studio album ‘Metanoia’ extensively throughout Europe and the US, his public therapy seems to be working extremely well.
The troubled artist, having suffered streaks of depression which accompanied him throughout his seven year love affair with Berlin, nearly said goodbye to music altogether.
Only later had he realised that “it wasn’t the music that was hurting me, it was just that I had to reprogram myself to approach things in a different way, and it became very clear to me that I still wanted to make music more than ever”.
‘Metanoia’ was a culmination of the act of bringing together many ideas to create a laid back, no pressure record and turned out to be an immense success on both sides of the Atlantic, gaining Corner many a new fan.
This month sees a further seven new tracks being released under the umbrella of ‘Everything Is Burning’, as an ‘Addendum’ to ‘Metanoia’, together with new remixes of songs featured on the original 2015 release.
The title track heralds the outing, with an outstanding metallic sound of non-conformist synth, buzzing guitar and that longing vocal, which never adjusts to the norm. The freshness, yet deepened nostalgia weaves itself through the peculiarity of the production, leading into ‘Dead In This House’. The surprising change of rhythm ushers a new era of IAMX’s rule; silky, smooth and ragged and rough at the same time.
Now enters ‘Triggers’, acting as Corner’s reflection on the reality of life. “You may lock your doors but you’ll never keep them out” offers a pessimistic outlook onto the everyday. The howling strings mark the entrance of ‘Scars’; a poignant autobiography with a tear jerking element to it, thanks to the filigree musical additions and honesty of the lyrics.
‘The Void’ continues the notion of melancholia, while ‘Eternity’ bears self-scars from Corner’s existence, where he begs to be completed. The closing ‘Turning Crimson’ sees the X ponder the modern world once more, all disguised as a gentle ballad, but the uncertainty and pain remains.
The rest of the production consists of remixes of few ‘Metanoia’ tracks, such as three mixes of ‘North Star’, triple dose of ‘Oh Cruel Darkness Embrace Me’, a ‘Marat Sad Remix’ of ‘Look Outside’ and two remixes of ‘Happiness’ including a take by Gary Numan.
Although IAMX claims to have become cleansed since living in America, his acute perception of reality and cutting observations of human psyche are still prevalent in the lyrical content if his works. Musically, he’s on top form, and his production towers above most. Although the “becoming X” is complete, Corner has far more to showcase and does so without remorse. It’s a superb addition to an already superb album.
Following the success of his last album ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’, Gary Numan is taking a different approach for his next long playing project.
Using Pledge Music, fans are able to pre-order the album in a variety of formats while also having access to news, recording updates and opportunities to purchase personalised memorabilia. These items range from hand written lyric sheets and signed event wrist bands to instruments that have been used on Numan’s previous recordings; a signed Gibson SG guitar has already been snapped-up.
Pledge Music was launched in 2009 and has been successfully used by a number of notable acts such as IAMX, ERASURE, OMD, MARNIE, CHINA CRISIS, DE/VISION and FIFI RONG to connect to their fanbase during the realisation of a new project. The campaign acts as both a crowdfunding platform and a guided promotional tool.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK spent an enjoyable hour chatting to Gary Numan about why he has chosen to go the Pledge Music route, what fans can expect if they choose to pledge and how the collaboration process has changed for musicians over the years…
Why use Pledge Music?
For me, it’s first of all trying to find an alternative way of releasing albums, at least in the early stages; secondly, it’s trying to involve the fans to connect to it a bit more. While I have been doing these Meet ‘N’ Greet things at the gigs, I’ve been talking to people about what they think and how they feel about records. It struck me was how fans, for all of their interest and knowledge, they’re not really aware of the emotional side and the struggles that you have to make an album. A lot of people think you go into a studio, write some songs and it’s not a big deal, some people do good ones while others are doing not so good ones.
There was a childish thing in me that went “I wish you knew how difficult I find this!”… you’re not sleeping for months because you’re worried about it and these rollercoasters of fighting your own demons and confidence issues! I wanted people to be a little bit more aware of that.
I went through the whole ‘Splinter’ process with distribution, label services and various things that you do as an independent artist and I’m trying to find better ways of doing that. It seemed to me, there are still a number of layers of business, even as an independent, between you and the fans.
Each layer takes a percentage, and before you know it, the record stores or Apple are still making the bulk of the money. I was thinking, with all this social media and new web technology, there must be a better way of doing this. With each layer, there’s always an amount of dilution going on along the route. So Pledge Music gives you a more direct connection with the fan, it’s cutting out all these people in the middle as much as you can. And if fans were more aware of what went on with the album, I am hoping when they stick it on, they will feel more connected to it and part of the process.
On the last album for example, ‘Here In The Black’ had 7 or 8 different choruses we tried, it wouldn’t work and we’d go back and start again until it became what it was… which strangely, was the first chorus we ever did for it! So I thought it would be great if fans could have seen that and the anguish we went through to get that song to work. For me as a fan of other people, I would love to be aware of all that.
Pledge Music has worked really well with your friend Chris Corner aka IAMX for two albums now…
Yes! Chris lived with us until he started the ‘Metanoia’ tour so every night, we’d be out in the garden talking about a thousand and one things, and one of those things was Pledge. It was Chris’ enthusiasm for it that really did swing me with Pledge rather than anybody else and to go that way at all.
IAMX have done it brilliantly and Chris was really helpful in things to avoid or be careful of, because it’s very easy to be caught up in the enthusiasm of it and proffering all kinds of things that in a year’s time, you’re going to wish you’d never done.
There’s a bit of a misunderstanding with Pledge Music, it’s seen by some people as crowdfunding, which it is partly, but there’s a lot of us who are using it for different purposes. I’m not crowdfunding as such, I can make an album without that.
I have to say Pledge themselves are amazing, you couldn’t wish to be dealing with a more efficient and professional company who are genuinely enthusiastic about music.
And also, they genuinely do care about the people who Pledge. It’s been a fantastic experience, I’ve got to say. It’s working very well for me.
I think the fans are loving it, but there’s always going to be a few… one person complained that I added something after it started…
…that’s what it’s all about isn’t it???
EXACTLY! He was moaning about the very thing it’s meant to be there for! But 99% are raving about it. It’s got a long way to go yet but hopefully, we can continue to run it in a way that the fans enjoy and it continues to work for me.
I guess Pledge allows you to target those who are interested during the recording, rather than having it hang wholly in that random fashion that traditional promotion dictates when the album is released?
Absolutely! You can spend a great deal of money taking up ads here, there and everywhere, and if 1 in 100 are even interested, you’re doing well. And if 1 in 100 of those actually bother to listen to the record, then you’re doing REALLY well! Your return for the amount of money you spend is very poor to be honest.
Even before Pledge and people like that came along, a lot of people were beginning to abandon conventional promotion and thinking of other ways of trying to go about it.
Social media has been amazing for that. But people like Pledge have seen a real need for targeted promotion, and it really does work. The amount of money I’ve spent on promoting Pledge is a tiny fraction of what I would have spent normally, and yet I’m getting perhaps one hundred times the return in terms of actually reaching the people who are interested, than what I would have done with conventional promotion.
What can those who have not yet Pledged, but are interested in doing so, expect if they come aboard?
I haven’t progressed it anywhere near what I should have done, so if they come into it now for example, they will see pretty much what everyone else will, as I haven’t got that far which is a bummer! *laughs*
The problem is I’ve been managing myself in the last 6-7 months, and it’s a huge amount of work to do. I’ve never done it before, so it’s been a very steep learning curve.
I’ve got a number of other things happening as well like a new live album and DVD coming out, a triple boxed set of stuff and some classic album shows, plus 5 or 6 collaboration projects that have happened in the last few months. The studio has been really busy, but only some of it has been with the new album. It’s the way life works out sometimes!
What I do is when I’m working in the studio, I have a Go-Pro camera set up and that runs for a few hours, then I download what I’ve filmed. Work in the studio as a spectator sport, is largely very boring… you sit there for 2 or 3 hours listening to snare drums! For me, it’s interesting but for someone else…
So I try to edit those moments when something IS happening, put that together with a little bit of talking to explain what’s going on and release that as a Pledge update. Sometimes they’re short, but sometimes they’re a bit longer. That side of it will get better once I can really get stuck in.
I want to do a decent length update once a week. I want people to see it isn’t easy and see me get upset, having a f***ing tantrum because it’s just not coming together, because it happens all the time! I want them to see me depressed because I haven’t had a good idea for 2 weeks and that I’m scared I might not find something.
This is part of every album I’ve made. I’m sure I behave in a very childish way when I’m in the studio. I hope as this year unfolds, all of these things will be there, the good bits, the bad bits, the childish bits and hopefully, clever bits and flashes of genius when you come up with something really good… because that happens once in a while *laughs*
The truth is, in the few clips that I’ve done, when you have something that you know isn’t good enough but is a building block along the way, when you have that and you’re going to put that out to people, that’s a bit weird and I’m finding that very uncomfortable. I do try to say “it probably won’t be like this” but people have still yet to fully grasp this, I have to say. You get people going “yeah, it’s not good enough”… I KNOW! They’re criticising you for something you’ve just said isn’t the finished thing! *laughs*
I’ve found over the years your fans do give you a hard time…
Yes, some of them can do! And then, the others start defending you and this thing which is meant to be an enjoyable process becomes this horrible fight. I’m really disappointed about that side of it. I really did hope, and it’s a childish hope, this would be nicer, but you just can’t get away from it. I swear blind, if you put something out to 5 of your best fans, one of them would kick up and the other 4 would start at them, and before you know it, you’re sitting on the corner listening to these 5 people arguing about you. That’s what this is like a bit!
I hope things flare-up very rarely, but I think it’s just a part of dealing with people.
There are fans out there who really do think they know what I should be doing, and really think they could have done it better. And there are others who think the sun shines out of my ar*e and nobody can say anything bad about me! I’d like to lose both ends of that if possible because they’re both wrong.
In the middle are your more rational people that simply enjoy listening to the process and think that I’m alright but not perfect… and I’m absolutely cool with all that, because that’s the truth of it. I hope that the people who are negative will drop out along the way, so those who are overly positive won’t need to say anything and we’ll have this more reasonable enjoyable process left in the middle.
Quite a few of your old synths and guitars have attracted interest from fans…
Oh, I got slagged for that, with people saying I was asking for too much money! No I’m not! These are very rare things for the simple fact that they’ve been used by me!
Some of them are just rare because they are! These are very important instruments as far as musical history is concerned. I had some bloke writing in saying “I could have got that much cheaper on eBay”! Really? Something signed by me that was used on ‘Replicas’? You can get that on eBay for £70? Well, go and do it then! *laughs*
People actually forget this is how I earn a living, from selling things to people that like what I do. Some fans seem to see that as the mark of Satan. I sell music, I sell tickets, I only sell things to people that want them and who are interested in them because of who I am. I have become a person of interest to a small number of people and that’s how I earn my living. It’s not mercenary or ruthless in any way at all. I do try to find things that I think fans would love. I do it from a very simple point of view… I am a fan of other people.
As a kid, I was a massive fan of T-REX and various people over the years, so if I could have MARC BOLAN’s jacket or his guitar strap or his watch, anything, I would have bent over backwards because I would have loved it.
My wife is a massive Marilyn Monroe fan and I was looking at trying to buy her a Marilyn Monroe autograph. You can get them, they’re a couple of grand but they’re out there and they’re verified. Now I don’t think £2000-£3000 for a Marilyn Monroe autograph is that big a deal when it would mean the world to my wife; if you are a fan of someone special like that, these things are worth a lot of money but they make people very happy. People want these things. All I’m doing is that, but at a much, much lower level.
I saw you had a Roland System 100 which I never knew you had and I remember this story about you buying all these synths, but never getting round to using half them…
Yeah, I have had so many synths over the years!
The thing that upsets me a little bit is there are people out there who would have loved to have had them. I got a mate to dump a load in a shop and I got like £500 for the lot.
I was silly, because I could have done a load better out of it personally and they then went out to people who didn’t know their history… I had famous people come round my house and play them! How mad is that? All these fans out there who’d have loved to have had these synths and they didn’t get the chance to have them. I gave them away which was stupid of me.
I found the System 100 and a Yamaha CS5 at my dad’s house because he had a clear out. He found all this stuff and I’d forgotten I’d had them, these must have been stuck up in his loft. These were really important synths.
Is there anything else being planned as part of the Pledge campaign?
I’m trying to think of things to make the campaign more exciting and offers things to the true hardcore fan. There’s a Quadrasynth that I might go with. There’s some outboard gear I’ve used as well like reverbs I’ve used on my vocals. I’ve got loads of clothes, I’ve even got some stuff from the very early days. I’ve got a blue jump suit that I wore at Wembley in 1981, and I thought my wife was going to divorce me, she went ballistic and said “YOU CAN’T SELL THAT!”
I’ve still got the little car I drove around in on the ‘Telekon’ tour, it sits in my dad’s drive. I said to my wife “I’m going to sell that”, it’s a serious bit of Numan memorabilia and she punched me! She went “DON’T YOU EVER F***ING SAY THAT AGAIN!”*laughs*
You’ve always had working titles for your albums, is there one you can reveal?
I always have a working title, ‘Splinter’ was a working title but it took me so long to make the album, it seemed crazy to call it anything else.
But it’s completely the opposite for this one, I went into it with no working title at all. Because I knew I was going to be doing the Pledge campaign, I really did keep everything as a blank canvas.
The result of that, which I hadn’t thought about is the time I would normally start an album, I would normally have done some preparation work. So I’m probably a couple of months behind if that makes any sense. I’m on the backfoot a little bit.
Have you decided a musical direction yet?
I haven’t decided but I think we’re looking ‘Splinter’-ish. I’m not going to be working with Ade Fenton on it, he’s done the last three albums with me but I do feel the need to move it slightly. But having said that, I want it to be heavy, I want it to be electronic, I want it to be dark and aggressive in places… so that’s just described ‘Splinter’! I do want that again but with a different feel to it somehow, either by doing it on my own or with someone else, I don’t know. By doing that, I’ll be able to evolve the sound.
Are these collaborations helping you get things out of your system or making you think out of the box at all?
Yes, I done John Foxx and Jean-Michel Jarre, a Mexican band called TITAN, I did a thing for VOWWS which is now out. There’s been a few and they’ve all sort of come at once. The John Foxx one was really interesting, that definitely challenged me.
You’ve been seen a lot with Jean-Michel Jarre, how is your collaboration coming along?
It’s all done, it sounds like a really cool Jean-Michel Jarre track with me singing; I did a bit more than that, I did a little bit to the music but it’s very much Jean-Michel’s thing. He is lovely, he is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my entire life. He’s really interesting, to just sit down and hear his fascinating and brilliantly funny anecdotes. He’s really charming and obsessed about music still. He’s very creative and up-to-speed about the latest technology, he knows everything about every band out there, new and old. He’s an amazing man.
I’m really proud to be part of his ‘Electronica’ project and so glad he got me involved. He wrote all these songs with people in mind and did a song he thought would be suitable for me. It’s an epic thing.
Is collaboration more straightforward these days than say, when you first did it with Robert Palmer or Bill Sharpe?
More recently, I’ve found I’m doing a lot more. I really enjoy them and they’re a good thing to do but it does get in the way of my own work, I don’t mean to be rude by saying that. I really do need to just concentrate on my own thing for a while. If you do too many, it’s a bit “what album are you going to pop up on this week?”, it’s no longer an event.
I’m not the most confident artist in the world, and my ability to contribute something meaningful to these tracks, I do worry about it and find it a bit stressful. The JOHN FOXX one, I was on that for a while before I could really get my head around what was going to work in my opinion. I was worried about letting him down. So all these other non-musical worries came to mind, although I do find them less stressful than I used to.
Does working remotely help these days bearing in mind how you said you felt awkward being with people when you were younger?
It is a bit better than having to sing in front of somebody or try to come up with something creative while they’re sitting right next to you. As I said before, work in the studio can be many, many hours of not getting it right, until you do get it right. If you’re sitting next to somebody, you don’t want all that failed experimentation to be witnessed. You want to do that in private and present your finished idea to them.
So that side of it is great, to be able to work at home in my own studio and make as many horrendous mistakes as you do, without anybody hearing them until you find something that you’re happy with is much better. But there does come a point where you then have to send the thing that you think is ok and see what they think about it. You’re laying yourself on the line. I did do one for a Dutch artist about 4-5 years ago and I never heard back… which is a sign! So it doesn’t always work! *laughs*
The line “Mr Webb, there is no way out” from ‘Listen to The Sirens’ on the ‘Tubeway Army’ album seems to have rung true as far as your early work is concerned. Have the recent three night residencies of ‘Replicas’, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Telekon’ finally helped you come to terms with your past?
It’s something I tried to keep buried or at arm’s length… I’ve had a very uneasy relationship with my back catalogue over the years. The thing that’s changed is when ‘Splinter’ came out, it had such a good reaction and most importantly, people started to talk about it as one of the best things I’d ever done. I felt with that, I’d come out of the shadow that my early success had created for me. I don’t think I’d ever felt I’d truly done that before. It was a massive thing for me and I think a lot of my resentment was me trying to find ways of coming out of that shadow.
I didn’t like doing much old stuff live, I would only rarely do anything that was remotely retro and only then because of the tremendous amount of pressure from fans. In a way, I panicked a little bit that I was beginning to lost too many people, because I wouldn’t play old stuff.
So in 2006, I begrudgingly did a tour of ‘Telekon’ just in Britain, nowhere else; that was my concession. I did a little bit more with ‘The Pleasure Principle’ in 2009 when it was the 30th anniversary and ended up doing that in America and Australia as well as Britain.
But the reaction to ‘Splinter’ made me feel different about the older stuff and at that point, I felt as if I was able to look back at that early stuff and actually enjoy the credibility that it has. The fact that people think of those albums as being classics and credit them as starting this whole electronic thing; I wrote them so realistically, I should be proud of them. I really should but I never had been, but I learnt to be proud of them and approach them with a different attitude because of ‘Splinter’.
Any thoughts about the sad passing of David Bowie?
It was a real shock, I was reading the BBC news app when it came on. I ran downstairs to my wife and I was out of breath, a proper shock. I think it takes time to sink in. I’ve been watching the outpouring of grief and commentary. It’s very touching to see how he was felt by people, but I think the reason it resonates so deeply is as much because he’s an icon of an era.
Whether you were a fan of him or not, he has been a part of your life… there are a few people like this. But there are certain people when they die, it resonates so deeply because it brings home to you you’re dying, we’re all dying. And there are some people that ram that home more than others and Bowie was certainly one of them.
It’s like a part of your own life dying and I don’t mean that in a sycophantic way, it makes you think “f***!” – I did… I thought “I’m 58 in March”, my own life is getting towards this and now there’s going to be more! Like Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD shortly before that, these are people that you’ve grown up with. And now they are beginning to die one after the other and your own mortality becomes scarily closer than it was the day before. It’s as much that as anything and you really feel some people more… 🙁
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to Gary Numan
In a far more productive year than 2014, many electronic music veterans returned to the fold in 2015 with their first new albums for many years. There were plenty of releases from independent acts too, with Nordic Europe being a particularly strong territory once again.
45 quality songs made the shortlist and were eventually whittled down to 30. So mention must be made of ALICE IN VIDEOLAND, ANALOG ANGEL, BEBORN BETON, BECKY BECKY, CAMOUFLAGE, CLUB 8, ELECTROGENIC, EURASIANEYES, ME THE TIGER, HANNAH PEEL and SIN COS TAN who all released recordings in 2015 that would have easily made the listing in less competitive years such as 2012 and 2014. Even DURAN DURAN’s disappointing ‘Paper Gods’ yielded one decent track in ‘Face For Today’, but one swallow doesn’t make a summer.
So the decision has been made; with a restriction of one song per artist moniker, this alphabetical list comprises tracks released in physical formats, or digitally as purchasable or free downloads during the calendar year. Here are ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2015…
A-HA She’s Humming A Tune
Having played what appeared to be their farewell concert at the Oslo Spektrum in December 2010, A-HA reunited in a relaxed manner that recalled their days as a fledgling band. On ‘She’s Humming A Tune’, there were hints of 1986’s ‘Scoundrel Days’ in a lower key with sweeping synths, bottle neck six string and live drums moulding the chilling soundscape with that exquisite Nordic allure. ‘Cast In Steel’ was the antithesis of the misguided EDM blow-out that DURAN DURAN attempted on ‘Paper Gods’
Available on the album ‘Cast In Steel’ via Universal Music
Feeling gloomy? Then take heed of the advice from BLACK NAIL CABARET and “Don’t be sad! Don’t be whiney!” – this brooding slice of Gothtronica was the lead single from the Hungarian duo’s second album ‘Harry Me, Marry Me, Bury Me’. Laden with a delicious synth bassline like DEPECHE MODE reimagined for a Weimar Cabaret set piece and topped with eerie string machine, ‘Satisfaction’ was the duo’s best individual offering to date. The pair also made a worthy impression opening for CAMOUFLAGE.
Available on the album ‘Harry Me, Marry Me, Bury Me’ via Basic Unit Productions
From Neil Arthur’s first BLANCMANGE album without long time bandmate Stephen Luscombe, ‘Useless’ was a brilliant hybrid of BRIAN ENO circa ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ with LCD SOUNDSYSTEM. “It’s about anyone who thinks they might be useless” said Arthur, “This song is about that whole idea that we’re all flawed and you’re ‘useless as you are’… there are just times when you think ‘f*cking hell, I couldn’t organise a p*ss up in a brewery’ or that whole thing about confidence”.
Available on the album ‘Semi Detached’ via Cherry Red Records
Although launch single ‘Shine’ indicated it was business as usual, as hinted at with the title, CAMOUFLAGE’s long awaited long player ‘Greyscale’ was their most mature artistic statement yet. The mellow and warm ‘Count On Me’ saw Marcus Meyn duet with Peter Heppner of WOLFSHEIM fame. The lush blend of vocals and atmospherics showcased two of Germany’s most highly regarded electronic acts at their best.
CHVRCHES stuck to the synthpop template of their debut and delivered what LITTLE BOOTS, LA ROUX, and LADYHAWKE and HURTS all failed to do… a decent second album! The propulsive four-to-the-floor action of ‘Clearest Blue’ shows how far CHVRCHES developed. Although not unlike an amalgam of ‘Gun’ and ‘Science / Visions’, ‘Clearest Blue’ is even more accomplished, wonderfully held in a state of tension before WHACK, there’s a dynamic surprise that recalls the classic overtures of Vince Clarke.
Available on the album ‘Every Open Eye’ via Virgin Records
RODNEY CROMWELL is Adam Cresswell, formally of ARTHUR & MARTHA. ‘Black Dog’ recalled the pulsing post-punk miserablism of SECTION 25 and was embellished some Hooky styled bass. Cresswell said: “It’s all broadly linked to experiences in my life over the last ten years; themes of love, loss, depression, redemption”. As with NEW ORDER’s ‘Temptation’, despite the inherent melancholy, there was light at the end of the tunnel that made ‘Black Dog’ a most joyous listening experience.
Available on the album ‘Age Of Anxiety’ via Happy Robots
Utilising her Italian heritage, DAYBEHAVIOR’s lead singer Paulinda Crescentini gave a suitably alluring performance on ‘Cambiare’, the B-side of the Swedish trio’s single ‘Change’. Remixed to poptastic effect, the joyous yet melancholic tune took the best elements of Italo disco with an expression of sorrow and happiness that recalled imperial phase PET SHOP BOYS. With a catchy chorus and seductive topline, Linguaphone language lessons were never this much fun…
An offshoot of Swedish EBM veterans SPETSNAZ, DESTIN FRAGILE are a very different animal with hints of CAMOUFLAGE and DEPECHE MODE in their sound. ‘Run Away’ opened their ‘Halfway To Nowhere’ opus, an album which some observers have hailed as one of the best of 2015. Featuring a fine vocal from Pontus Stålberg resembling MESH’s Mark Hockings, this is what modern synthpop should be like; pop music with synths and melody as well as dynamic synth solos.
Available on the album ‘Halfway To Nowhere’ via Dark Dimensions
EAST INDIA YOUTH’s debut ‘Total Strife’ pointed towards William Doyle’s potential to pen sublime pop, and with the follow-up ‘Culture Of Volume’, this was more than realised. But the album’s centrepiece was ‘Carousel’. Imagine the start of OMD’s ‘Stanlow’ reworked during BRIAN ENO’s sessions for ‘Apollo: Soundtracks & Atmospheres’. With no percussive elements and over six minutes in length, Doyle gave a dramatic vocal performance resonating in beautifully crystalline melancholy.
Available on the album ‘Culture of Volume’ via XL Recordings
Berlin-based EMIKA is one of the dark horses of the UK electronic scene. A combination of her classical training, Czech heritage and use of modern technology has made for a provoking, brooding sound that has attained critical acclaim over the last few years. From her third album, helpfully named ‘Drei’, ‘My Heart Bleeds Melody’ was its highlight, a concoction of intricate pulsing layers and solemn detachment that provided a captivating listening experience.
FFS proved collaborations do work. A total triumph, ‘P*ss Off’ was possibly the album’s most outstanding number. With the vibrancy of ‘Kimono My House’ and ‘Propaganda’ era SPARKS, there were plenty of jaunty ivories and camp vocal theatrics in the vein of classics like ‘Something For The Girl With Everything’ and ‘BC’. “It’s inexplicable” they all growled as the multi-track phrase of “HARMONISE” kicked in! A total joy, ‘P*ss Off’ was the ultimate two fingered art school pop anthem.
One of the highlights in Herr Flür’s DJ sets has been The Ninjaneer Mix of ‘Cover Girl’, a swirling synthpop track that the former KRAFTWERK percussionist has described as ‘The Model MkII’. He said: “Her story goes on and unfortunately shows her going downhill. She had bad experiences with drugs, alcohol and other things so had to dance in night clubs for earning money at least. A true story, a bad life… that’s sometimes the way how super models are knitting their career”
Available on the album ‘Eloquence’ via Cherry Red Records
JOHN GRANT’s adventure into a solemn electronic template on ‘Pale Green Ghosts’ not only won him a BRIT Award nomination too. Meanwhile his collaboration with HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR showed he understood the disco as well. ‘Disappointing’ combined the two approaches and added some funk for an enjoyable Bowie meets YAZOO styled workout. In a song full of surprises, not only was there the presence of slap bass, but there was the dulcet tones of EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL’s Tracey Thorn too.
Available on the album ‘Grey Tickles, Black Pressure’ via Bella Union
GWENNO’s Welsh and Cornish heritage has allowed her to develop a unique brand of lo-fi electronica. Her full-length Welsh language debut ‘Y Dydd Olaf’ came out on Peski Records in October 2014. Now reissued in 2015 by Heavenly Recordings, GWENNO has deservedly gained an increased profile for her music. With beautiful, traditionally derived melodies placed in a spacey yesterday’s tomorrow setting, the spacey ‘Calon Peiriant’ was one of the more immediate delights on offer from a wonderful album.
Available on the album ‘Y Dydd Olaf’ via Heavenly Recordings
Depression despite apparent material success has been an ongoing lyrical theme for Chris Corner as IAMX. And with ‘Happiness’, his craving for a mind to be free of bad news, negative influences and jealousy was countered with his line of “Everywhere hypocrisy!” as pulsing arpeggios kicked in for the final third’s gentle but drama laden climax. Highly poignant in the current economic and political climate, Corner’s move from Berlin to Los Angeles certainly did his music no harm.
Available on the album ‘Metanoia’ via Caroline International
JEAN-MICHEL JARRE & VINCE CLARKE Automatic Parts 1 + 2
The French synth maestro’s first album for since ‘Teo & Tea’ in 2007 was an opus entitled ‘Electronica 1 – The Time Machine’ featuring collaborations with TANGERINE DREAM, JOHN CARPENTER, LITTLE BOOTS, MASSIVE ATTACK among many. But the two part ‘Automatic’ with VINCE CLARKE was the highlight, taking in the best of the tune based elements of both artists while not letting one party dominate. VCJMJ was certainly a more artistically realised proposition than the polarising techno of VCMG!
Available on the album ‘Electronica 1: The Time Machine’ via Columbia Records
“Whether I release it in 2013 or 2016, it’s still going to sound like 1985!” said KID KASIO main man Nathan Cooper. A man whose is plainly honest about where his influences lie, his love of classic synthpop permeates throughout his work. Now imagine if DEPECHE MODE was fronted by Nik Kershaw instead of Dave Gahan? With ‘Full Moon Blue’, that musical fantasy became fully realised with a clever interpolation of ‘Two Minute Warning’, one of Alan Wilder’s songwriting contributions from ‘Construction Time Again’.
Despite having been around since 2008, Swedish synth duo KITE have tended to be overlooked internationally. But Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Berg’s wonderfully exuberant array of sounds and rugged, majestic vocals deserve a much larger audience. Issuing only EPs and never albums, KITE’s most recent release ‘VI’ opened with the magnificent progressive electronic epic ‘Up For Life’. The passionate and sublime first half mutated into a beautifully surreal journey of VANGELIS-like proportions for the second.
The syncopated electro disco feel of ‘The Bombs’, one of the highlights from MACHINISTA’s second album came almost by accident. Instrumentalist Richard Flow remembered: “Actually the first version of ‘The Bombs’ had a completely different rhythm in the drums. I actually did get stuck with this song and I wasn’t happy at all about the music. Once I did change the bass drum to a simple 4/4, I was back on track again. Most of the sounds from the original version I did keep, so perhaps a simple 4/4 bass drum mixed with the sounds for this original rhythm created this ‘disco’ feel…”
Available on the album ‘Garmonbozia’ via Analogue Trash Records
A worthy of re-assessment of DEPECHE MODE ‘A Broken Frame’ has been long overdue and MARSHEAUX have certainly given a number of its songs some interesting arrangements. Their version of ‘Monument’ borrowed its bassline from latter day DM B-side ‘Painkiller’. Combined with some wispily resigned vocals, it provided a tense soundtrack that could be seen as metaphoric commentary on the economic situation in Greece. It’s not often that cover versions are better than the originals, but this is one of them.
Available on the album ‘A Broken Frame’ via Undo Records
METROLAND’s second album ‘Triadic Ballet’ was a triumphant electronic celebration of the Bauhaus, art movement led by Walter Gropius. Gropius theorized about uniting art and technology and on the B-side of its launch single ‘Zeppelin’, METROLAND worked towards the 21st Century interpretation of that goal. Now imagine if GARY NUMAN had actually joined KRAFTWERK in 1979? Then the brilliantly uptempo ‘(We Need) Machines Without Romance’ would have surely been the result.
Studio legend John Fryer has been busy and the project that perhaps harks closest to THIS MORTAL COIL is MURICIDAE. Featuring the exquisite vocals of Louise Fraser, she and Fryer apparently “met on the beach searching for mermaids”… the sea is very much the visual theme for their music, with Fryer cultivating “sonic sculptures to musically embody the exquisite Muricidae Shell itself”. The tranquil beauty of ‘Away’ captures a shimmering soundscape that compliments Fraser’s plaintive lament.
Available on the EP ‘Tales From A Silent Ocean’ via Muricidae Music
After the guitar dominated proceedings of the last few NEW ORDER albums, Bernard Sumner promised a return to electronic music for the Mancunians’ first album of new material without estranged founder member and bassist Peter Hook. That was certainly delivered on with ‘Plastic’, a full-on throbbing seven minute electro number mixed by Richard X with blippy echoes of ‘Mr Disco’. Dealing with the issue of superficiality, it declares “this love is poison, but it’s like gold”… yes, beware of anything plastic and artificial!
Available on the album ‘Music Complete’ via Mute Artists
In 2015, the Norge domiciled Swedish songstress’ KARIN PARK finally released her fifth album, the profanity laden fifth ‘Apocalypse Pop’. While less harsh in sound to some of the other tracks on the long player, ‘Stick To The Lie’ was no less angry. The most overtly synthpop track on the collection, this accessible yet emotive song was one of the highlights on a collection that affirmed KARIN PARK’s place in modern electronic pop.
Available on the album ‘Apocalypse Pop’ via State Of The Eye
With CHVRCHES having borrowed PURITY RING’s electro template and pushed it into the mainstream, the direction taken on the Edmonton duo’s sophomore album ‘Another Eternity’ was going to be watched with interest. Certainly it was more focussed than its predecessor ‘Shrines’. Still utilising glitch techniques, booming bass drops and Corin Roddick’s rattling drum machine programming, the album’s best song ‘Begin Again’ made the most of Megan James’ sweet and dreamy voice.
Available on the album ‘Another Eternity’ via 4AD Records
Sweden’s SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN (translated as “The Last Man on Earth”) are led by Eddie Bengtsson, best known for his work with S.P.O.C.K and PAGE. The themes of space travel and Sci-Fi are regular lyrical gists and while all of SMPJ’s songs are voiced i Svenska, Bengtsson opened up his Vince Clarke influenced synthpop to the English language in 2015 with the ‘Translate’ EP. Brilliantly produced, ‘All The City Lights’ (a version of his 2014 single ‘Stadens Alla Ljus’) was its highly enjoyable opening gambit.
SUSANNE SUNDFØR and her acclaimed ‘Ten Love Songs’ album developed on the electronic focus of its predecessor ‘The Silicone Veil’. With an eerie, droning intro with echoes of THE WALKERS BROTHERS’ ‘The Electrician’, ‘Delirious’ thundered with some fierce electronics bolstered by dynamic orchestrations like THE KNIFE meeting DEPECHE MODE. It captured love as a reluctant battle of the emotions while our heroine announced with emotive resignation “I’m not the one holding the gun”.
Available on the album ‘Ten Love Songs’ via Sonnet Sound
TRAIN TO SPAIN’s developing brand of uptempo, energetic pop utilises classic synthesizer sounds in the vein of Vince Clarke coupled to a metronomic rhythm structure akin to the 1985 ‘Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder’ album. Coming over like LANA DEL REY fronting YAZOO, Wigeborg’s cooingly vulnerable vocals on ‘Passion’ let rip over a suitably complimentary electronic backbone from Rasmusson, while a superb remix by MACHINISTA added some beefy gothic disco goodness.
Available on the download single ‘Keep On Running’ via Sub Culture Records
Manchester based Ross Tregenza is an experienced hand having co-written ‘Diaries Of A Madman’ with Dave Formula and Steve Strange when he was a member of VISAGE II in 2007. He surprised electronic music audiences with a Spartan cover of ‘The Partisan’, a song made famous by LEONARD COHEN. While many may despair at the very mention of the droll Canadian, his work has strong parallels with many Gothic veined musical forms, especially with this harrowing tale of fighting for La Résistance.
Originally from the EP ‘Stolen Thunder’, alternate version available on the album ‘Into The Void’ via Tregenza Music
On VILE ELECTRODES’ mesmerising ‘Captive in Symmetry’, “Filmic” is indeed a very apt description with the booming synth bass motif possessing echoes of the ‘Twin Peaks’ theme tune ‘Falling’. As beautiful sequences, eerie strings and Anais Neon’s hauntingly alluring vocals take hold, it all comes over like a dreamboat collaboration between JULEE CRUISE and OMD that could easily be considered for use in the proposed revamp of the surreal North American drama.
Available on the EP ‘Captive In Symmetry’ via Vile Electrodes
Anyone, who descended onto Camden’s prime gig heaven, Koko on that very night, will. Koko, a historical venue, having been a theatre, cinema, The Music Machine, Camden Palace and refurbished in the noughties to house many an artist, suited the atmosphere of the night perfectly.
‘Metanoia’ is Chris Corner’s sixth studio album as IAMX, was his hardest to turn out.
Afraid of being “burnt out” and briefly considering leaving music altogether, following a streak of depression, the artist left his seven-year base of Berlin for sunny LA. The realisation that he could create something special by addressing his emotional problems pushed IAMX to give birth to his best work to date. Far more synthy than its predecessors, his “public therapy” has continued with a full on tour of ‘Metanoia’, seeing North America and Europe bowing in front of the frail frame in awe.
Having just done a gig in Paris on the previous night and crossed the English Channel on a morning ferry, Corner and co were ready to rock Koko with extraordinary power. A far cry from his beginnings in SNEAKER PIMPS, now a fully reincarnated X, he knows how to make the audience go into a frenzy. The limited stage space, crammed with his two girl keyboard players Janine Gezang and Sammi Doll, Jon Siren’s drum set and Corner ‘s central spot was a setting for something amazing.
The opening ‘I Come With Knives’, which also kicked off his 2013 ‘The Unified Field’ album, dazzled from the beginning with the strong female backing vocal, promising an exhilarating experience from the onset. ‘The Alternative’ followed, with strong, inspired beats, bursting with added energy from the vibrant keyboards and mesmerising the desirous audience. The familiar melody of the exquisite ‘Happiness’ from his latest production invited the crowd to shout out the “liars” line eagerly, while one had a feeling of being shown around an art gallery, but with music.
The natural, genuine and hardly pushed frail frame of a man and his side-kick Janine, with their mad vocal set pieces continued with ‘Mercy’, ‘No Maker Made Me’, ‘Volatile Times’, ‘Tear Garden’ and ‘Oh Cruel Darkness Embrace Me’. Then came his iconic and ultimate hit ‘Spit It Out’, a subject of many covers; this hysteric track has been given a modest makeover for ‘Metanoia’ tour, and appeared more mellow and subdued than its original version. Nevertheless, it created a stir in the audience, who by then, were ready to give Corner anything in exchange for another beautifully executed track.
The crowd asked for and the crowd got ‘Bernadette’; less cabaret in style compared with the ‘Volatile Times’ album version, with no guitars and just a minimal bass, it was hardly recognisable yet far better than the original. ‘Surrender’ and ‘After Every Party I Die’ came next, seeing the natural talent bare his pain in an atmosphere of systemic noise, telling the audience: “You f*ckers make this project alive” and creating an aura without the need to Elvis twerk or take his top off to impress.
‘Aphrodisiac’ followed with the weirdest video featuring eye ball licking activities (yes, DEPECHE MODE on ‘Tour Of The Universe’, that’s beaten your ‘Strangelove’ toe sucking visual!), before finishing off with ‘Your Joy Is My Low’.
The petite hooded creature of the darkness emerged one more time for the encore with the additional three mega tracks, ‘Bring Me Back A Dog’, the immense ‘Kiss + Swallow’ and ‘I Am Terrified’ before gently gliding back into the night. The audience, bewilderedly mesmerised and thrown into a dreamy mood floated out of the venue to the beats of ‘Warm Leatherette’ by THE NORMAL.
Corner sure puts on a show; even if it is on a tiny stage, he and his IAMX posse bring youth, vitality and energy onto the table, sounding vocally immaculate and musically just out of this world.
Many a weathered song writer, including those of major electronic bands, could take a leaf from his book, if only they were more honest with themselves.
It’s got to be said that the sound in Koko can be hit and miss; however on this night it was superb. Corner’s voice appeared impeccable as ever, with his range oh-so amazing, and sung to multiple microphones for the additional effect.
The drumming was adequately positioned to give canvas to the rest of the performance, but never overpowered, never took over and gently accented the electronic beats.
The scattered visuals with the weirdest of images at times, brought the production together into a hysteria. The feeling of watching a beautifully executed ballet or opera springs to mind; a theatrical experience with the little body diving into the audience at one point.
One thing is certain: Chris Corner creates a legitimate atmosphere that never turns into a limelight for him to step into. All is conceived and created, not contrived. HE IS THE X… HE’S BECOME THE ULTIMATE X NOW!
‘Metanoia’ is released by Caroline International in CD, vinyl LP and download formats
Artists express themselves using music all the time. However, only a true embodiment of a genuine performer can shock, move, enlighten and create consternation.
Chris Corner’s “public therapy” and “an excuse to play with who he is, exploring certain parts of his personality, which he doesn’t get to explore in everyday life” is what IAMX materialises.
The name of the project, I am X, was a continuation of SNEAKER PIMPS’ album ‘Becoming X’.
Notwithstanding, this time he had become the X. The X, who changes, evolves and becomes emancipated. Since his solo debut in 2004, Corner has produced and performed his eccentric act, enriched with artistic visuals, costumes and sets, gaining vast popularity in alternative electronic music circles.
‘Metanoia’ is the sixth studio album by IAMX, and one that proved the most difficult to turn out. The artist suffered a streak of depression, deepened by cold winters of his seven year base, Berlin. The isolation led him to consider leaving the music altogether, but Corner quickly realised that “it wasn’t the music that was hurting me, it was just that I had to reprogram myself to approach things in a different way, and it became very clear to me that I still wanted to make music more than ever”.
Freshly regained enthusiasm saw Corner moving to Los Angeles to create a laid back, no rush, no pressure record, very unlike ‘Kiss + Swallow’, ‘The Alternative’, ‘Kingdom of Welcome Addiction’, ‘Volatile Times’ and finally ‘The Unified Field’. This time, he wasn’t trying to make an album because he felt it was expected, or create a meaningless pop record, which always made him feel dirty. He realised that, by addressing his issues and stripping down to show his true self, with the mental challenges and emotional problems, he could create something special, which underlines the fundamental change in himself.
‘No Maker Made Me’ creates a religious controversy in the chorus from the onset, a powerful opener to this enriching production; “You f***ing sinner” being proudly executed over the uncaring, gritty synth.
The mood changes, however, with the oh-so-musical ‘Happiness’. A longing synth ballad, chasing the one, elusive element of human existence that’s worth living for. It fluctuates between the soft, harsh, loud and melodious.
‘North Star’ entices with excellent, gentle synth, which slowly becomes harsher, stronger and dirtier, bursting into a trance inspired dance of insanity. ‘Say Hello Melancholia’ tempts seductively, entraps into a powerful love affair of “paranoid dreams waiting in line”, a softer, slower tune; poignant lyrically and subdued mellifluously.
‘The Background Noise’ skilfully portraits the uneasiness of mind, where everything seems well on surface, in a normal life, but something bubbles underneath: something sinister, which “isn’t sitting right, something keeps me up at night… the background noise”. It’s a definitive IAMX tune, describing the thorny nature of Corner’s troubled mind. The theme continues with piano based ‘Insomnia’, a cry for healing to “save me from myself”.
‘Look Outside’ with its touching strings, ethereal melody and gentle drums cushions the blows of life. Corner raises the glass to his new Los Angeles home, which has embraced his madness to bathe him in the tranquility he’s been searching for.
‘Oh Cruel Darkness Embrace Me’ shifts the mood into a synth laden utopia, covering the subject of hypocrisy in the middle classes in the “f***ed up world”, while ‘Aphrodisiac’ bursts out with a high pitched vocal over uneasy electronica; it’s classic, arty IAMX. This heavy dance track requires serious head bopping and floor stomping, before it sharply cuts off into ‘Surrender’. This distinctive, lethargic and leisurely track, like a waltz, winds itself around the ballroom dance floor, lit with a million glass lights, sharply shining their luminous glow and calling to “surrender”.
The production is culminated with the piano laced ‘Wildest Wind’, an extravaganza of everything that’s best in a well written electronic song. This pining, yearning desire, excellently labelled with intricate sounds, is at times reminiscent of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Sibeling’.
Since Corner is “seeing things very clearly now”, seeing “the music nourishes me”, his musical purpose is stamped all over ‘Metanoia’, the regained purpose, which he had lost for a while, and what a comeback it is.
Turmoiled, lost, then reclaimed and strong, that’s what IAMX is, a different take of the X perhaps?
‘Metanoia’ is released by Caroline International in CD, vinyl LP and download formats
IAMX play London’s Koko on Monday 9th November 2015 as part of an extensive world tour
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Since Chris Corner aka IAMX has made sunny Los Angeles his home and has showcased his sixth studio album ‘Metanoia’ extensively throughout Europe and the US, his public therapy seems to be working extremely well.
Now enters ‘Triggers’, acting as Corner’s reflection on the reality of life. “You may lock your doors but you’ll never keep them out” offers a pessimistic outlook onto the everyday. The howling strings mark the entrance of ‘Scars’; a poignant autobiography with a tear jerking element to it, thanks to the filigree musical additions and honesty of the lyrics.
, his craving for a mind to be free of bad news, negative influences and jealousy was countered with his line of “Everywhere hypocrisy!” as pulsing arpeggios kicked in for the final third’s gentle but drama laden climax. Highly poignant in the current economic and political climate, Corner’s move from Berlin to Los Angeles certainly did his music no harm.
is released by Caroline International in CD, vinyl LP and download formats
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