Author: electricityclub (Page 108 of 440)

“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE

“Good taste is exclusive”: NICK RHODES

DLINA VOLNY Dazed

3 November 2021 /

The political tensions in the former Soviet republic of Belarus have created a climate where artistic expression exudes a more prominent dystopian austere than in many other places.

Leading this are Minsk post-punk trio MOLCHAT DOMA but following not far behind are DLINA VOLNY; comprising of singer Masha Zinevitch, bass guitarist Vad Mikutski and Ales Shishlo on keyboards, unlike their bilingual debut ‘Mechty’ from 2018, their second album ‘Dazed’ is entirely in English. Released by their second album ‘Dazed’ and Italians Do It Better, it is a cinematic Autumnal statement that sounds as if The Cold War never ended.

The songs deal with the fragile reality of life and ‘Dazed’ opens with the title track, its icy cascading mood, served with the resigned contralto delivery of Zinevitch, possessing a sparkling textural quality worthy of the Italians Do It Better house sound. ‘I’m Not Allowed’ sounds bouncy in comparison, the bright synth arpeggio sounding odd but effective within a musical backdrop resembling WHITE LIES, while ‘Do It’ features an infectious swirl of electronics as well as a simple chanty chorus.

DLINA VOLNY’s reinterpretation of Madonna’s ‘Hollywood’, which appeared on their label’s recently issued tribute collection, alternates a detached deepness with an unexpected pop register that presents the song as a harsher warning to those seeking stardom.

Closer to home, the chilling darkwave of ‘Whatever Happens Next’ acts as protest song calling for solidarity and freedom. Exploring that haunting Eastern Bloc resilience further with a dance beat, ‘Bipolar’ is outstanding and asks “what is it like being on the border?”.

Despite its sinister overtones, the partly spoken ‘Redrum’ embraces a deviant sexiness like a song for the soundtrack of ‘Atomic Blonde’ where “the end is just another beginning… goodbye!”. The call for ‘Freedom’ sees stark bass guitar lines marked by harsh strums to shape a cavernous gothic grandeur.

Not a cover of their labelmate’s CHROMATICS best known song, ‘Shadow’ embraces THE CURE like a funereal paced ‘Fascination Street’ and certainly there is that air of disintegration. ‘Slowly’ is cut from a similar black cloth while the grim perspective presented on ‘Matte’ is only offset by shiny synths. Recalling ACTORS, ‘Tomorrow’ ends with the Minsk threesome’s own take on dysfunctional post-post-punk disco.

Mixed by David Lynch associate Dean Hurley, ‘Dazed’ is bleak and tense but most of the tracks have a cool appealing air of mystery. The murky atmosphere does not forsake melody or hooks and the second language expression provides a seductive allure as the anxious suffocation of the system is countered by a profound breath of hope.

Despite the collected feelings and situations, DLINA VOLNY are less jarring than MOLCHAT DOMA so may have a broader crossover potential… yes, maybe these Belarusians do it better.

‘Dazed’ is released by Italians Do It Better on 5th November 2021, available from https://dlinavolny.bandcamp.com/ or pre-save at https://idib.ffm.to/dazed

https://dlinavolny.com/

https://www.facebook.com/dlinavolny

https://twitter.com/volny_dlina

https://www.instagram.com/dlina_volny/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
3rd November 2021

Is SOFT CELL Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret the Best Album of 1981?

2 November 2021 /

“Well! Here we are again!” Sorry, that’s actually a lyric from another band touring on the 40th Anniversary of a classic 1981 album.

Despite saying hello and waving goodbye with a final show at London’s O2 Arena in 2018, SOFT CELL have not only got a new album ‘*Happiness Not Included’ slated for release in February 2022, but they will also perform their seminal debut album ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ in its entirety for the first time. But as SOFT CELL celebrate the legacy of ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ alongside their other hits, they will also be previewing tracks from ‘*Happiness Not Included’.

Although it has been four decades since the seedy personas of Marc Almond and Dave Ball, photographed by Peter Ashworth, adorned the front cover and hit the shelves of WH Smith, Boots, Littlewoods and Woolworths, the fact that ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ was available where your parents and grandparents shopped can now be seen as being one of the most subversive acts in popular culture.

Art students who met at Leeds Polytechnic, the album title came from one of the neon signs outside The Raymond Revue Bar in London’s Soho where Almond lived, an area that at the time was full of strip clubs, sex shops and entrances saying “model upstairs”.

While JAPAN glamourised Chinese Communism on ‘Tin Drum’ and THE HUMAN LEAGUE presented working class aspiration like a synthpop ABBA on ‘Dare’, SOFT CELL told of the grit that could come with glitter in musical tales about dirty old men, prostitutes, grooming, sexual deviance, personal grievance, tabloid sensationalism, middle class entitlement and living in squalor. Only the pair of tunes by OMD about the brutal execution of a teenage girl on ‘Architecture & Morality’ were historically darker than SOFT CELL’s gutter heart take on reality.

The recent Twitter listening party hosted by Tim Burgess highlighted the worldwide love and affection for ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’. With Marc Almond and Dave Ball on hand to provide insights and memories on the making of the record, a number of interesting points of trivia were provided.

While the duo were in New York to record and mix the album with producer Mike Thorne, ‘Tainted Love’ became a hit in Germany. So with Ball otherwise engaged in working the state-of-the-art NED Synclavier and the much more basic Roland Synthe-Bass SB100 which provided SOFT CELL with a very distinct sound, Almond was despatched to perform the song on TV show ‘Disco’ with a Dave Ball lookalike who ZDF tried to keep in shadow and out of shot, but failed!

Of ‘Entertain Me’, Marc Almond said “This is about people who are just never satisfied. The pop star world we found ourselves in after the success of ‘Tainted Love’”; but of this new world they were now part of, Dave Ball recalled “it was all a big adventure. Highlights were meeting Divine and Madonna in Danceteria then meeting Andy Warhol at The Factory”

‘Secret Life’ was revealed to be a preceding song to ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’ about a politician’s affair with a prostitute whose other secret is that he is also a cross dresser… with sex scandals still rife in Parliament, the songs on ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ are as relevant as ever.

‘Bedsitter’ is another case in point which despite its bittersweet ode to nightlife, on which the Roland TR808 Rhythm Composer was heard on a UK hit single for the first time, reflects on the poor quality accommodation offered by private landlords thanks to the selling off of affordable council housing in Britain; the effects of this Thatcherite policy are sadly still felt today.

Photo by Peter Ashworth

Although with a lyric originated by Dave Ball about his own father, the most sinister song when applied to the present is ‘Frustration’ which could be a narrative on incels or “involuntary celibates”, the deeply unpleasant right wing faction of males who are unable to get a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, but whose misguided and ignorant anger spills into misogyny and racism.

The most important aspect about ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ though is that it possessed catchy off-kilter tunes with great synth hooks and edgy lyrics over infectious machine beats. With its No1 single and a pair of Top 5s, SOFT CELL initially stole a march on DEPECHE MODE whose own debut ‘Speak & Spell’ paled in comparison. But while Almond and Ball first spilt in 1984, PET SHOP BOYS picked up their baton and although they smoothed the template out, proved that the technologically assisted pop duo format still had legs.

There is much to reasonably justify ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ as the Best Album of 1981, but if it isn’t, then it is certainly in the Top 5 alongside THE HUMAN LEAGUE, JAPAN, KRAFTWERK and OMD in what was a sensational year for electronic pop music.

SOFT CELL’s 2021 ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ 40th Anniversary live dates:

Glasgow O2 Academy (10th November), Manchester O2 Apollo (12th November), Leeds O2 Academy (13th November), London Hammersmith Apollo (15th November), London Hammersmith Apollo (16th November) – tickets available from https://myticket.co.uk/artists/soft-cell

The new album ‘*Happiness Not Included’’ is released on 25th February 2022 via BMG, the single ‘Bruises On My Illusions’ is available now on CD and 12″ vinyl formats from https://softcell.tmstor.es/

http://www.softcell.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/softcellband/

https://twitter.com/softcellhq

https://www.instagram.com/softcellhq/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
2nd November 2021

FIAT LUX Twisted Culture

1 November 2021 /

Lost but found, before 2019, there were no FIAT LUX albums but there is now a third.

Reflecting the weightier matters of the world, ‘Twisted Culture’ is about “living life as best you can, no matter what is thrown at you” according to the nucleus of Steve Wright and David P Crickmore. Their only previously released body of work had been the six song ‘Hired History’ EP in 1984 on Polydor Records. The lack of a hit single saw their intended debut album ‘Ark Of Embers’ short-sightedly shelved by the label in 1985. However, Cherry Red came to the rescue and issued a double CD package containing both works in 2019.

This coincided with the release of ‘Saved Symmetry’, an album of completely new 21st Century material recorded after FIAT LUX reformed to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their formation. Despite the worldwide pandemic, FIAT LUX kept busy recording the follow-up, with Will Howard taking over as the third FIAT LUX member on sax and woodwinds from the sadly missed Ian Nelson who passed away in 2006.

The bittersweet ‘(How Will We Ever) Work This Way’ opens ‘Twisted Culture’ with some catchy grown-up new wave disco although lyrically, it captures the zeitgeist. Building towards a burst of slinky sax from Will Howard, ‘Cul De Sac’ uses a sparse arrangement for its colourful backdrop.

Unusually for FIAT LUX, ‘Basement City Living’ is something of a frantic avant dance adventure which swirls, wobbles and even features a drop! There’s unsettling pitch shifted voices lingering too but when Crickmore’s bass signature kicks in, despite the unorthodox backing and Wright’s spoken and screamed contribution, this can only be FIAT LUX.

As a possible relative of ‘Basement City Living’, ‘Tighter’ uses similar pacey electronic qualities although is more fully formed as a song, possessing both rock accents and trancey gothic moods. It’s odd but enjoyable for those who “only came here for fun”. At the other end of the spectrum with predominantly piano and clarinet, ‘The Night We Should Have Met’ is a classic Olde English FIAT LUX ballad with a wonderful Barber shop quartet round to finish.

With its pulsing bass, synth sweeps and E-Bow in the vein of one-time FIAT LUX producer Bill Nelson, ‘Hope’ is a glorious set-piece over seven minutes. Bubbling with vintage synth, ‘It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Now’ is another number in the classic FIAT LUX vein, all uptempo with a chorus reminiscent of Marc Almond and Frippish guitar solos, although all that tension is offset by bursts of slinky sax.

Sax led and adopting a steadfast drum machine backbone, ‘Breathe You In’ offers a sensitive love ballad before continuing at a similar pace, ‘This Is Your Lifetime’ sees acoustic guitar and Bansitar combine for a muzakal song of hope. With a warm harmony of voices, it ends the album on an encouraging note despite the ‘Twisted Culture’ of the past few years.

Those who enjoyed ‘Saved Symmetry’ will appreciate ‘Twisted Culture’. Meanwhile those who were less enticed by its emphasis on mood may find the more uptempo and experimental numbers that feature on its successor appealing enough to return to the distinctly different path of FIAT LUX. In many ways, ‘Twisted Culture’ is the stronger and more varied collection.

‘Twisted Culture’ is released by Splid Records through Proper Music Distribution on 5th November 2021 in CD and digital formats, pre-order from https://www.propermusic.com/

http://www.fiat-lux.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/Fiatluxofficial

https://twitter.com/fiatluxofficial

http://www.splidrecords.co.uk

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Andy Hollingworth
1st November 2021

RODNEY CROMWELL + MOOD TAEG Live at The Hope & Anchor

30 October 2021 /

With Alice Hubble on DJ duties, the Hope & Anchor in Islington was the location for a Happy Robots Records family gathering that hosted the live return of label CEO Adam Cresswell in his Theatername of Rodney Cromwell and the debut gig of MOOD TAEG.

With his second Rodney Cromwell entitled ‘Memory Box’ now in the can and set to be unleased in Spring 2022, Cresswell and his band were keen to road test its contents in front of a receptive audience.

But for MOOD TAEG, it was a step into the unknown. The project comprising the enigmatic Düsseldorf pair of TDK and K’ko plus the absent Shanghai-based Lowell Freeman had never been conceived for live performance, but acclaim for the debut long player ‘Exophora’ and interest in its newly released follow-up ‘Anaphora’ has sparked demand.

However, nerves were undoubtedly kicking in, but after a few technical glitches were resolved, MOOD TAEG finally got the motorik on the move with ‘Deictics’ from ‘Exophora’ recalling the cosmic adventures of yore with a mind bending effect.

From ‘Anaphora’, ‘Happiness Fragment’ developed on its rhythmic groove with a pentatonic synthbass mantra although there were a few iffy moments on TDK’s borrowed guitar as it pierced the speakers on occasion. But for the HARMONIA inspired ‘Ohrwurm’, there was a move away from Apache beats with K’ko augmenting on violin.

Ending with an appropriate musical homage to Michael Rother, ‘2MR’ offered 10 minutes of Motorik Durch Technik as they say in Düsseldorf in the vein of NEU!

Understandably since last performing 2 years ago, Rodney Cromwell was a bit stage rusty with a few leads left unplugged, but tonight was about embracing the fear and exorcising the ‘Age Of Anxiety’. Cresswell took some joy in reminding the almost full venue that when JOY DIVISION played the Hope & Anchor in December 1978, only three people turned up!

Recalling ‘Tanzmusik’ from ‘KRAFTWERK’s ‘Ralf & Florian’ album, ‘Cloud Catalogue’ from ‘Memory Box’ opened the set. While this delightful instrumental was quite cheery, the new album looks at the social and political tribulations of the past few years. Intended as a soundtrack to a sadly post truth world, it is very different to the melancholic but upbeat synthpop sensibility of ‘Age Of Anxiety’.

In a month that has ironically seen some of those who have been moaning about fake news on mainstream media also celebrating the 40th Anniversary of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Speak & Spell’ album on the incorrect date of 5th October, the ‘Memory Box’ title song’s release as a single has been timely.

The hazy but appealing metronomic number reflects in Cresswell’s own words on “how do we believe anything in a world where truth and honesty are of so little worth?”.

There was a comparatively lighter moment with the pulsating fan favourite ‘Black Dog’ given the harmonics treatment by guitarist Richard Salt, but the grim moods of ‘Fluctuations’ were made more haunting by the spacey keyboard swirls of Martin J Langthorne.

But Cresswell brought his Stylophone, along with his best Bernard Sumner impression for the premiere of ‘Opus Three’, Rodney Cromwell’s very own ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ if ever there was one, although the tribute perhaps isn’t quite as blatant as NATION OF LANGUAGE’s ‘On Division Street’! To finish the main part of the set, Rodney Cromwell and his band of not-so-merry men formed a melodica orchestra for the sombre wordless newbie ‘Calculations’.

Remaining on stage, Cresswell shouted “Do you want an encore?” to acknowledge the pretence of that accepted walk off practice. As he got into this spirit of showmanship with some Citizen Smith cosplay, appropriately it was ‘Barry Was An Arms Dealer’ that was the oldie that got dusted off while the more recent vocodered ‘Comrades’ concluded the evening. While at times, both acts appeared a bit shaky and lost with long pauses between songs like on NEW ORDER’s ‘Taras Shevchenko’ live video, everyone including the audience just appeared to be happy be out mingling again.

Music was what got many through the last 18 months and as times are still uncertain, music in its live variant will help to get everyone through the next year and a half.

The new Rodney Cromwell album ‘Memory Box’ is released by Happy Robots Records on 18th March 2022, the single of the same name is available now as a download from https://happyrobotsrecords.bandcamp.com/

https://www.happyrobots.co.uk/rodney-cromwell

https://www.facebook.com/rodneycromwellartist/

https://twitter.com/robot_rocker

https://www.instagram.com/rodney_cromwell/

MOOD TAEG’s ‘Anaphora’ is released by Happy Robots Records in vinyl LP and digital formats, available now direct from https://www.happyrobots.co.uk/product-page/mood-taeg-anaphora-12-coloured-lp-bot24

https://www.happyrobots.co.uk/mood-taeg

https://www.facebook.com/MoodTag/

https://twitter.com/MoodTaeg

https://www.instagram.com/moodtaeg/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
30th October 2021

ALI RENAULT Nawce Blizzard

29 October 2021 /

Margate-based producer and DJ Ali Renault has been releasing music since 2003, but he is perhaps best known as being a member of the Italo-flavoured electronic pop duo HEARTBREAK with Sebastian Muravchik.

After HEARTBREAK went into hiatus in 2011, Ali Renault released his debut self-titled album and has since followed up with a variety of dance 12” singles and EPs including on his own Cyber Dance Records and Vivod imprint. With HEARTBREAK having reformed and set to release a second album in 2022, he releases ‘Nawce Blizzard’ in memory of the late Chester DJ Pete Mangalore with whom he co-founded the Human Shield Record Company.

On the opener ‘Northdown Acid’, a sinister bass pattern penetrates in sync with dirty phat beats within a grey-stoked backdrop. While faster paced, ‘Imminent Salad’ is less intense and exhibits more of a club groove with spacey strings providing atmosphere and texture. But with an elegiac ambience, ‘Peter Summoning’ is Ali Renault’s musical tribute to his late friend.

Deeper in mood, the lengthy ‘Forbidden Mind’ moves in slower motion but having played this 33RPM release at 45RPM by accident, it actually kicks quite well at the faster tempo like Lil’ Louis!!! Reverberating with a pulsing hypnotism, ‘Nawce Blizzard’ presents an electronic chill as the title suggests over stuttering rhythms, but the infinite motorbike engine in the run-off groove will catch listeners out… only it’s not a motorbike but a pitch shifted cat purr!!

Ali Renault said “It’s been an emotional ride getting this together and feels right to be drawing a line under it finally…”

An absorbing mini-album of IDM, ‘Nawce Blizzard’ is adorned with charming foggy windswept imagery that illustrates its contents, a respectful beat-driven reflection and remembrance of a departed friend.

‘Nawce Blizzard’ is released by Vivod as a 12” vinyl EP and download, available from https://www.phonicarecords.com/product/ali-renault-nawce-blizzard-ep-vivod/176708

Digital variant available at https://alirenault.bandcamp.com/album/nawce-blizzard

https://www.facebook.com/Ali-Renault-134906283231577

https://twitter.com/VivodAli

https://www.instagram.com/ali_renault/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
29th October 2021

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