Author: electricityclub (Page 121 of 420)

“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

NIGHT CLUB Die Die Lullaby

2 October 2020 /

From the ‘Scary World’ of 2018 to the ‘Die Die Lullaby’ of 2020, LA based duo NIGHT CLUB have put their enforced confinement in lockdown to good use and channelled their angst to produce a wonderful 35 minutes of existential dread.

Emily Kavanaugh and Mark Brooks opened their account in 2012 with a self-titled EP. The second EP ‘Love Casualty’ included their first universally great song in ‘Poisonous’. But it was their excellent third EP ‘Black Leather Heart’ in 2014 that managed to truly harness the potential of their Britney Spears meets NINE INCH NAILS template across five tracks.

Their debut full-length album ‘Requiem For Romance’ turned up their love of heavy rock to 11 but they cleverly achieved it without the use of guitars or live drums, confusion some but delighting others.

‘Scary World’ was an extension of that sound but while ‘Die Die Lullaby’ is undoubtedly a refinement of its predecessors, like with Gary Numan’s ‘Savage (Songs From A Broken World)’, the more metal elements have been turned down and in its place is a more vulnerable demeanour that emotively is no-less weighty in its attacks and observations.

Sonically, the album contains a typically NIGHT CLUB twist. Co-mixing with Brooks is Dave Rave Ogilvie, a former member of SKINNY PUPPY known for his work with NINE INCH NAILS and Marilyn Manson. But crucially, he also mixed Carly Rae Jepsen’s 2011 worldwide smash hit ‘Call Me Maybe’ so for ‘Die Die Lullaby’, NIGHT CLUB have found their perfect co-conspirator .

As they begin to ‘Go to Sleep’, ‘Die In The Disco’ sets the album off proper with a slice of throbbing HI-NRG disco, donning its hat to Giorgio Moroder and Bobby Orlando with Kavanaugh asking to “take me to a place I can dance” before a haunting request for life termination. And when an unsettling ghostly pitch-shifted voice exclaims that ”This is my party and I will die if I want to”, that die is cast.

Following on, ‘Sad Boy’ is classic NIGHT CLUB, up there with their best but more old school Goth than metal with hooks galore. ‘My Valentine’ though is heavier and here, the Kavanaugh / Brooks / Ogilvie combination achieves a fine balance of edge and pop while throwing in a few exotic flavours too.

Trapped in her own personal hell and under the spectre of IAMX’s ‘Spit It Out’, ‘Miss Negativity’ sees Kavanaugh capturing the zeitgeist, singing that “No, I don’t want to go out cos I won’t have any fun, I am sick and infected with pure pessimism…”

On ‘Gossip’, Kavanaugh tells someone to shut their dirty mouth as a chilling horror movie Theremin announces its presence. ‘Misery Go Round’ though will surprise some with its sparse but effective verse structure that gets overturned with a chorus pitch shift and vocoder ending while our heroine tells everyone that “I don’t feel so good right now”.

The haunting music box on ‘The Creepshow’ will remind some of Numan’s ‘It Will End Here’ and that’s not a bad thing, while ‘California Killed Me’ captures Kavanaugh in a cage of anxiety because ”I feel like crying” as “I’ve nowhere to run”. However, mated to all of this intensity is a mighty chorus and synth solo.

Closing with ‘Civil War’, Kavanaugh channels her existential dread, unhappy that “I’ve become someone I hate” as she battles her demons because she “can’t escape the pain in the war inside my brain”. A slice of dark DEPECHE MODE tinged pop that says “it will be over soon”, the words are worrying but on point, echoing how many feel in this strange world that was already becoming irrational and self-destructive even before the Covid crisis.

‘Die Die Lullaby’ sees the NIGHT CLUB motto of “Keep your friends close and your enemies in your songs” being maintained, but pragmatically looks within the psyche too. Reflecting the times the world is living in, this is uncomfortable but enjoyably cathartic. When commentators and historians look back in a few years for an audio document that captures the introspection and paranoia of 2020, then they will need to look no further than ‘Die Die Lullaby’.

‘Die Die Lullaby’ is released by Gato Blanco on 9th October 2020 as a CD, purple vinyl LP and download, pre-order from http://nightclubband.com/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
4th October 2020

ULTRAFLEX Interview

30 September 2020 /


ULTRAFLEX are the lush musical union of Kari Jahnsen and Katrín Helga Andrésdóttir.

Two artists living in Berlin who developed mutual artistic crushes on each other, they set on the road to produce a brand of optimistic electronic pop inspired by Soviet fitness videos and other eclectic interests.

Norwegian Kari Jahnsen usually works under the moniker of FARAO with two albums ‘Till It’s All Forgotten’ and ‘Pure-O’ to her name while she has also produced ‘Ardent Spring’, the recently released debut album by the Danish-based German songstress GRETA.

Meanwhile Katrín Helga Andrésdóttir was a member of the all-female Icelandic hip-hop band REYKJAVÍKURDÆTUR and dreampop trio KRIKI before evolving into the art pop alien known as SPECIAL K.

Occasionally self-referencing their name in their music, the duo’s debut album is called ‘Visions of ULTRAFLEX’. Their opportunity to collaborate came when they were commissioned to perform a live set of newly composed original material for the Scandinavian electronic music festivals ‘Insomnia’ and ‘Extreme Chill’ in 2019.

After writing sessions in the remote Westfjords of Iceland, the arctic cultural hub of in Tromsø and their beloved Berlin, Jahnsen and Andrésdóttir conceived a sound and an image, one that was beat laden and funky, sexy and mischievous but above all, light-hearted and fun. ULTRAFLEX chatted about their various visions.


Creatively as a duo, what are your similarities and contrasts, how do they work within ULTRAFLEX?

We are both workaholics who appreciate a good laugh and a lot of sarcasm. Kari is the beatmaker and synth master while Katrin delivers the poetic sass and visual excellence. Together we make the synthiverse and melodic framework. With our common goal being to have as much fun as possible, we’ve succeeded from day one.

ULTRAFLEX is joyous and optimistic, proof that you can have fun and show it while being artistic. Did you feel the need to do something a bit lighter after your most recent works as SPECIAL-K and FARAO?

Yes, we both felt the need to stop being miserable and do something fun for a change.

Was it important that ULTRAFLEX was conceived to be visual as well as musical?

Branding is everything. We felt like the music wasn’t complete without a visual universe surrounding it.

The ‘Olympic Sweat’ video did look like a Valentina Tereshkova exercise video if she had made one…

Thank you!

While you have mentioned a significant Soviet disco influence on the album, the sound of vintage US electro is very prominent as well, so it really is East Meets West?

Our mood board was quite varied, it stretched from legendary Norwegian teenage stars like STIFFI and FITTS FOR FIGHT, through a lot of US electro like MASTER C&J, INTERNATIONAL MUSIC SYSTEM and Larry Heard-related projects, we had a dip into Italo for example Antonio Arena and UK new age artist Clifford White for a bit of dreamy inspiration, all the way to power ballads by Celine Dion and Cher and much much more.

The first track on the album is called ‘Get Fit’, is that the message? What are your own favourite sports and exercises?

We like cross country skiing the most, it’s a sexy and triumphant sport – and the inspiration behind Olympic Sweat. The message is for you to interpret, is it a critique on the societal pressure to be fit – or a motivational anthem, or perhaps both?

On the ‘Never Forget My Baby’ video, you are pretty in pink but is it safe to balance your new Moog Grandmother synth on your bed while you are bouncing around? ?

Safety third.

‘Work Out Tonight’ is more song based with a funky groove, but the video concept was quite suggestive, do you enjoy being mischievous?

Of course, we are in our element when we know something you don’t, when we have a secret that we aren’t telling you. That way, laughter always bubbles underneath the surface and it keeps things exciting.


Were you both “hairbrushes as microphones” girls when you were younger? Who did you pretend to be?

Kari liked JANNICKE, FLAVA TO DA BONE, ADDIS BLACK WIDOW, SALT’N’PEPA, TLC, GINA G, you name it, she has been singing it all in front of her mirror.

Katrín used to imagine going on talk shows all the time. Still does actually. Whenever someone greatly influences her, she fantasises about what she would say about them in a thank you speech for an award or something. She’s done that as long as she can remember.

You throw in the surprise of a prominent saxophone in amongst the synths on ‘Papaya’ and ‘Man U Sheets’, where did the idea to include some jazzier flavours come from?

The question is, why didn’t we put MORE saxophone on there?

‘Full of Lust’ is like a cross between CONFIDENCE MAN and early MADONNA? How did this song come together?

We don’t know CONFIDENCE MAN but if it sounds like ‘Full of Lust’, it’s probably good. This song had the longest and most laborious birth. We changed the chorus melody and lyrics numerous times, and the attitude of the vocals went from punk to rap to overly seductive. The idea for this song actually started when we made an electro version of our favourite Norwegian children’s song ‘Sure Sivert’ by Maj Britt Andersen. With her permission, we were allowed to use the melody from the original song as a synth solo that now comes in at the end.


Do you each have a ‘Secret Lover’?

Only each other.

ULTRAFLEX began as a live project, so once things have become safe again, will it be your intention to take your vision out on the road again?

We came up with the idea to do synchronised aerobics on stage along with our visuals, to force exercise into our lives. With Covid, we’ve grown lazy and out of shape, so we can’t wait to get back on the road.

What is next for you, will ULTRAFLEX return for a second album?

Oh yes. We are actually making a new commissioned piece for a festival in Norway in February 2021 which will be the foundation for our second album. We are also going to Japan on a City Pop research trip, so expect some new flavours coming soon.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to ULTRAFLEX

Special thanks to Frankie Davison at Stereo Sanctity

‘Visions Of ULTRAFLEX’ is released by Street Pulse Records on 30th October 2020 in vinyl LP and digital formats, pre-order available direct from https://ultraflexband.bandcamp.com/album/visions-of-ultraflex

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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Celine Paradis
30th September 2020

RENARD Waking Up In A Different World

28 September 2020 /

The tale of WOLFSHEIM will be known to any self-respecting lover of darker electronica, although relatively alien to English listeners, unless one had European connections or sought after more unusual sounds outside Britain in the last two decades of the 20th Century.

The Hamburg based duo with the superb voice of Peter Heppner and hit producing magician Markus Reinhardt released numerous gems such as ‘Once In A Lifetime’ or ‘The Sparrows & The Nightingales’, turning out superb albums, with ‘Spectators’ or ‘Casting Shadows’ to name just a couple. But the good streak wasn’t to last, with the group disbanding into a monumental hiatus, seeing Heppner going solo or helping on other artist’s releases, with that ever haunting voice of his; Reinhardt stayed somewhat behind, only to return for what he calls “his reinvention”.

“The end of WOLFSHEIM motivated me to reinvent myself. A process that was urgently needed. With RENARD, I’m more with myself. My album combines the sound and mood of the 80s with the stylistic devices of today.”

Any sound manipulator needs a vocalist to showcase the uniqueness of their work and RENARD doesn’t settle on one. Why stick to the same voice when you are in a position to pick who you’d like to really bring variety and much needed diversity to your output? ‘Waking Up In A Different World’ is a debut, but it’s unlike any other debut, as in this case the debutant is not an inexperienced musician, promoting unknown vocalists.

So for the first single, Reinhardt chooses ‘Travel In Time’ with Pascal Finkenauer to take the reins of the vocals. A fellow German songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, Finkenauer’s melancholic voice sounds mistakenly like Heppner’s, bringing somewhat confusing connotations. In previous outings, Finkenauer can sound more or less like the original WOLFSHEIM boy, but one has to question the sense in this particular choice, especially with Reinhardt’s pledge to be more like himself on this record.

Nevertheless, this is a magnificent song, with a great dose of sorrow and longing. One cannot reject the obvious WOLFSHEIM connotations in the arrangement; it’s like the band have been resurrected for one tune. Well, if he can’t use the WOLFSHEIM name, then…

Joseh features on ‘Junkyards’, where guitar leads the SUEDE-esque intro, blossoming into an easy listening piece where the voice doesn’t sound like Heppner’s, but more natural and free flowing.

Joseh also guests on ‘The Meissen Figurine’, which combines a coalescence of modern elements with vintage components over a moderately unobtrusive tune, while Marietta Fafouti finds herself ‘Restless’. A prolific Greek composer, songwriter, and a well-known figure in her native land, Fafouti sings her soul away over a simplistic melody.

DUBSTAR’s Sarah Blackwood wrote the melody and lyrics to ‘Heresy’, which is commensurate with her own band’s output, both currently and back in the day. The song was written ten years ago and by Blackwood’s own admission containing words very personal to her. As always, it is superbly simplistic, cleverly put together and sung with the heart; the heart which “will have a speaking part, the first time in ages”.

Marian Gold of ALPHAVILLE joins the party on ‘Hotel’. With its NEW ORDER-like guitar presence, the song actually brings back the good old days when the German collective ruled with ‘Big In Japan’. Gold returns on ‘Damn Happy’ where he’s clearly “happy to be unhappy”, sadly in a quite forgettable manner. Interestingly enough, the production nods towards SUEDE again it its execution, although the song itself is missing the vital ingredient to make it worth replaying.

Thankfully, Eliza Hiscox of ROYALCHORD leads with the magnificent ‘My Heart’s Still Shaking’ which is not just magic in its vocal delivery but also in the symbiosis of the instrumentation and her voice. The closing ‘Intelligent Design’ ushers in a heavy plucked bass synth, progressing gently over eight bars of pure joy with yodelled voices, sculpting the ending beautifully.

Although altogether the album is a rather mixed bag, RENARD really is ‘Waking Up In A Different World’, bringing this multi-faceted, emotion laden production into life in the current climate of uncertainty, fear and new reality. May he achieve similar success to Peter Heppner with his solo ventures.

‘Waking Up In A Different World’ is released by Metropolis Records in CD, vinyl LP and digital formats on 9th October 2020, pre-order from https://renard.bandcamp.com/album/waking-up-in-a-different-world

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Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
28th September 2020

MANI NEUMEIER + ZEUS B HELD The Secret Lives

26 September 2020 /

‘The Secret Lives’ is the overdue union of two German cult legends, Mani Neumeier and Zeus B Held.

The pair met in 1973 at a festival in Frankfurt; Mani Neumeier was there as the drummer and leader of kosmische trailblazers GURU GURU while Zeus B Held was a newcomer joining progressive rockers BIRTH CONTROL on keyboards. They each went on to establish notable careers.

Zeus B Held moved on to becoming a solo artist and producer, with his breakthrough coming from working with GINA X PERFORMANCE in 1979 when the single ‘No GDM’ became an underground club favourite.

As a result, he worked with the likes of FASHION, DEAD OR ALIVE, DIE KRUPPS, ALPHAVILLE, SIMPLE MINDS and TRANSVISION VAMP as well as John Foxx and Gary Numan. Later, Held moved into jazz and World Music while more recently, he formed DREAM CONTROL with Steve Schroyder, a former member of TANGERINE DREAM.

Mani Neumeier has maintained a 50 year career in GURU GURU with over 30 albums while working on various side-projects with his notable German contemporaries.

He was the drummer on the second HARMONIA album ‘Deluxe’ while his popularity in Japan, which led to working with acts like psychedelic rock ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, saw a figure of him being made for a Tokyo waxwork museum.

Up there with CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit in technique, his drumming was so tight on ‘Speed Display’, a collaboration with Conny Plank and Dieter Moebius for the one-off long player ‘Zero Set’ in 1983, that observers cited the mad hyperactive collage of drums, bubbling electronics and treated robotic vocals as an example of proto-techno!

Spontaneous, colourful, lively and oddball, much of the recording of ‘The Secret Lives’ was done at the SynxsS-Studio in Offenbach with its distinguished proprietor Bernd-Michael Land contributing analogue sequencing from the vast array of modular equipment within his complex.

Tracks began with Neumeier tapping percussive moods on the Haken Continuum Fingerboard or using electronic drum pads while Held built chord structures and sequences before Neumeier overdubbed his acoustic drum kit at Freiburg KG Beat Studio. Opener ‘Fox Nr. 7’ is a good example of this approach with stark electronic keys offset by freeform percussion, punctuated with jabs of organ and a hallucinogenic monologue about foxes…

Meanwhile with a deep sequence of synth, ‘Drei Tage Funk’ sees Neumeier go on rhythmic bender augmented by Luigi Archetti on sustained guitar while Held does his Chick Corea impression. With chattering rimshot and syncopated keys, ‘Pfeif Drau’ takes an unusual cosmic ska influence…

There are more abstract adventures too with the collage of mind bending discordant noise forming ’The Secret Lives of Der Lurch’ being more sound sculpture than song, while ‘Ghost Ritual’ is a gong experiment. Then ‘Back 2 Nature’ recalls CLUSTER in its Morgenspaziergang ambience although the klanky guitar dressing adds some menace to the journey.

‘Volcano Dance’ uses an improvised jazz approach with all manner of instruments hovering simultaneously… all that’s missing is a Miles Davis trumpet. The self-explanatory ‘Sex Mit Siri’ though utilises passages of treated percussion with some amazing electronic sounds with one particularly whirring away via a Kaossilator like a dysfunctional Stylophone!

‘Threesome Railway’ is more spacey with drums used as much for colour as well as structure, but a vocoder is dug out for the moody PINK FLOYD inspired closer ‘Wish I Was There’ which also throws in some exotic tablas before some beautiful E-bow to end.

This is the sound of two veterans having rather a lot of fun. At times indulgent, occasionally quirky but with musicianship that cannot be faulted, ‘The Secret Lives’ won’t be for everyone.

But if you are into the idea of a couple of German septuagenarians jamming with a bit of wild jazz thrown into a kosmische and electronic amalgam, then this might just be for you.

‘The Secret Lives’ is released by Bellerophon Records, available from https://bellerophonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-secret-lives

http://mani-neumeier.de/

https://www.facebook.com/Mani.Neumeier1/

http://zeusbheld.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Zeus-B-Held-162448230492382

https://www.facebook.com/bellerophon.records

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th September 2020

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS Cyr

23 September 2020 /

Them SMASHING PUMPKINS have now added a “THE” to prefix their name and surprised many with a splendid synth friendly single entitled ‘Cyr’.

Not only does it have synths but ‘Cyr’ is also quite pop in an almost DURAN DURAN vein!

So THE SMASHING PUMPKINS go synthpop? Well, not quite because the conventional format of guitars and drums is still there, although the hooks are very much of an electronic bent, particularly the synthetic bass. There’s even some delicious backing vocals from Katie Cole and Sierra Swan to act as a counterpoint.

But despite all this, Billy Corgan and Co have not compromised; the music maintains a gothic austere and still sounds like a band, but no doubt computers have been at work. Meanwhile the front man still sounds like he could do with going outside to play some Frisbee with his bandmates as he declares that “Fragments form the mind, shadows hold the mist, fractured as this wish, shattered I resign, we’re on the verge”!

The hooks are very reminiscent of ‘Enjoy The Silence’ and with this point of familiar reference, the magnificence of ‘Cyr’ only highlights the hopelessness of the more recent material from DEPECHE MODE. ‘Cyr’ is the sort of song that Martin Gore is more than capable of writing if he put his mind to it… but he can’t be bothered, hence the lazy dire results of ‘Spirit’ and its “this will do” attitude. And when THE SMASHING PUMPKINS are making better DEPECHE MODE records than DEPECHE MODE, well…

Could THE SMASHING PUMPKINS be about to release their most accessible album in their history? The new material so far from the forthcoming double album has exhibited much more of a classic British post-punk sensibility but then again, Billy Corgan has always been a fan of bands such as DEPECHE MODE, NEW ORDER and THE CURE; ‘The Colour Of Love’, the single prior to ‘Cyr’ was a highly effective borrowing and reworking of ‘A Forest’.

Previously there was the cover of ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ for the DEPECHE MODE tribute album ‘For The Masses’ in 1998 while Corgan also duetted with NEW ORDER on ‘Turn My Way’, a song from the 2001 album ‘Get Ready’ while acting as a guest musician with Manchester’s finest on their US tour that same year.

More details of THE SMASHING PUMPKINS’ new album are still to be revealed but the website has a clock counting down the days and a button asking fans to “explore the ritual”. Looking like a computer game designed by Tim Burton, the plot thickens.

‘Cyr’ is released by Sumerian Records / Warner Music Group and available now via digital platforms, the double album of the same name is released on 27th November 2020

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd September 2020

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