Author: electricityclub (Page 133 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

A Short Conversation with RICHARD BARBIERI

15 February 2021 /

Photo by Debi Zornes

Richard Barbieri releases a new album ‘Under A Spell’, but despite beginning his recorded career in 1978 with JAPAN, it is only his fourth full-length solo offering.

Preferring a collaborative format, when JAPAN disbanded after five albums, Barbieri continued working with his former band mates David Sylvian, Steve Jansen and Mick Karn. It was while he was in JBK with the latter two that he met Steven Wilson of NO-MAN and PORCUPINE TREE who recorded and performed live with the trio.

This led to Barbieri joining PORCUPINE TREE and playing on nine of their albums. During this period, Barbieri also recorded an album with Tim Bowness of NO-MAN and two albums with Steve Hogarth of MARILLION.

His most recent release was the five part ‘Variants’ EP series that comprised of unreleased tracks, new material, live versions including his JAPAN composition ‘The Experience Of Swimming’ and the aural curio ‘1979 Rehearsal Room’ which was based around an atmospheric cassette recording made in rehearsals for the band with which he made his name.

Inspired by strange dreams that Barbieri was having triggered by the anxiety and isolation caused by the pandemic, sombre atmospherics are very much the dominant template for ‘Under A Spell’, capturing dark textures, introspective moods and cerebral downtempo rhythms over its nine tracks.

The unsettling demeanour of ‘Serpentine’ is a particular case in point, inspired by a nightmare that Barbieri had and aurally illustrated by sinister piano, jazzy vibes, schizophrenic cries and the fretless bass of Percy Jones.

While there are no conventional vocals, previous collaborators Rylander Love and Steve Hogarth have their voices manipulated and treated by Barbieri as if they were another instrument, with the phrase “Wake up, wake up, come back alive…” making its eerie presence felt on the album closer ‘Lucid’. Richard Barbieri had a quick chat about the making of ‘Under A Spell’ and the upcoming ‘Quiet Life’ deluxe boxed set.

Had the “clearing of the vaults” for the ‘Variants’ series helped with a direction for ‘Under A Spell’?

Not really. The ‘Variants’ series of EPs was a way of staying creative without having the pressure of making a follow-up to ‘Planets & Persona’. When I was finally ready to make another album, the Covid virus began to take hold in Italy and the UK. From that point on, I had to make a quite different album to the one I intended.

How does ‘Under A Spell’ differ from ‘Planets + Persona’ in terms of concept, sound design and additional musicians?

It’s more introspective and essentially a home recording, though it does feature a good amount of musical performances from the same group of musicians on my recent works. Some performances were recorded remotely and some I derived from past recording sessions and used them again, but in different contexts. The concept and working process of ‘Planets…’ was outward looking and expansive in nature. ‘Under A Spell’ is informed by vivid dreams and a strange and surreal exterior atmosphere due to the first strict lockdown in the UK.

Photo by Carl Glover

With everything going on outside, had this affected your approach to ‘Under A Spell’?

Definitely. It also changed the compositional process because I focused even more on the atmospheric and textural elements. I let things evolve and tried to make it a very immersive listening experience.

Is there more use of software this time around or are your vintage synths still very much present?

I use a bit of everything. For the first time, I have a dedicated work room / studio so I have all my gear to hand. I used the usual old analogues (Roland System 700 Lab series, Prophet 5, MicroMoog, Yamaha CS-01) and some newer analogues like the Dreadbox Medusa and NYX. Also the Roland SE-02 mono synth. I used some Arturia software instruments, especially the CS80 emulation.

What is your favourite track on ‘Under A Spell’ and how did it come together?

Although it’s probably the hardest listen, I managed to completely achieve the atmosphere I wanted on the opening title track. It has a full complement of performances, some improvised and some heavily processed and mangled. The basis hinged around a jazzy vibraphone progression that I had wanted to use for a long time, combined with muted acoustic guitars and trumpets and whispering voices. I think it sets the scene very well.

Photo by Fin Costello

JAPAN’s ‘Quiet Life’ album gets the deluxe boxed set treatment in March 2021, how does it stand up for you 41 years on and how do you look back on your own contributions?

I’ve heard the remaster of the album and it sounds wonderful. It’s my favourite JAPAN album and that particular period represents the happiest time for me as a musician. My contributions became an integral part of the band sound for the first time really.

I love the textural elements, the orchestrations and how the electronics blend with it all. It’s very much an album of that time but it stands up well and I think it has a beautiful organic quality. It’s a sophisticated work made by kids.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Richard Barbieri

‘Under A Spell’ is released on 26th February 2021 in CD, red or black vinyl and digital formats by Kscope, pre-order from https://burningshed.com/

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

https://www.instagram.com/richardbarbieri_music/

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

https://richardbarbieri.bandcamp.com/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
15th February 2021

SNS SENSATION Mirror Radio

12 February 2021 /

The third installation in the SNS SENSATION lockdown series, ‘Mirror Radio’ is a fuzzier, more aggressive synthpop number than its two predecessors, for whom the detuned bells toll.

Although not part of the trilogy, there was a hint of this upcoming change in mood on ‘Discoboom’, a throbbing dance metal hybrid from the ‘Trans-Global Excess Volume 1’ compilation recently issued by Specchio Uomo. While ‘Small World’ captured panic and ‘Your Door’ was swathed in sadness, ‘Mirror Radio’ channels anger with a harder industrial edge at the powers that be and their response to the pandemic.

Argentine-born Sebastian Muravchik is the man behind SNS SENSATION; he is best known as the front man of HEARTBREAK who shared stages with THE PRESETS, LA ROUX and LITTLE BOOTS. Some of HEARTBREAK’s horror electro-rock elements as heard on ‘Destroy All Power’ from their appropriately titled ‘Deceit’ EP have found their way into ‘Mirror Radio’.

Reflecting the new single’s fractured if surreal tone, the accompanying video, set in the world of the mind and reflecting it on a TV screen, takes inspiration from Samuel Beckett’s ‘Not I’ and ‘Quad’, Lucio Fulci’s ‘The House By The Cemetery’, and Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Winter Light’.

Sebastian Muravchik said: “The challenge with this song was to convey that industrial anger with 808 sounds as the starting point. Despite the electro funk element in rhythm terms on this song, I wanted the 808 to howl”.

As with many intuitive artists, laying down restrictions aided the production process. “What I seem to be doing is limiting my sound sources as a starting point and keeping an eye on where flow finds a deterritorializing avenue of some sort” he added, “There’s a time stamp, desaturated and blurred by the damage the years have done since the initial firm grip on the statement. This is where I see the ideological grounding of my sound production is rooted”.

Having captured the claustrophobic solitude of lockdown with ‘Small World’, Muravchik’s voice evokes a frustration that will no doubt gain further enhancement with a remix by the mysterious industrial electro personality of MANASYt whose career of nearly 20 years has produced music that described as “what exactly hostile aliens would listen to while attacking Earth”!

‘Mirror Radio’ is released as a download and cassette single, available direct from https://wearesns.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/wearesns/

https://twitter.com/sns_wave

https://www.instagram.com/sns_discopop_noir/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1pgg7obJpfQdaCvw_bwuXA

https://open.spotify.com/artist/77pgZLgAxmVYtNaJm96m7P

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th February 2021

Introducing LEAGUE OF LIGHTS

10 February 2021 /

Although LEAGUE OF LIGHTS are already veterans of two albums, the heavy rock band sound of their 2011 self-titled debut is not an indicator of where they are today.

The nucleus of vocalist Farrah West and keyboard player Richard West reconvened as a duo for 2019’s ‘In The In Between’ long player which showed more restraint on the rockier elements of their debut and made room for electronics, piano ballads and cinematic soundscapes.

For their new album ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’, LEAGUE OF LIGHTS have revealed a love for JOHN FOXX and LADYTRON while developing a pop sound akin to an artier DRAGONETTE. Recorded during lockdown, its more keyboard oriented approach looks to the synth pioneers of the past by limiting the pallet of sounds available in production and allowing the vocals room to shine.

Premiering this more focussed and accomplished direction is ‘Modern Living’, a slice of enjoyable goth disco that comes over like THE SMASHING PUMPKINS recent single ‘Cyr’ meeting ‘Hello’, DRAGONETTE’s 2010 collaboration with Martin Solveig. It comes accompanied by an anime video edited together from the romantic fantasies ‘Your Name’ (Kimi No Na Wa) and ‘Weathering With You (Tenki No Ko)’, both directed by Makoto Shinkai.

Cut from not an entirely dissimilar cloth to ‘Modern Living’, the spritely uptempo ‘Persephone’ exhibits crossover potential with an uplifting chorus; looking for “a light at the end of the tunnel”, ‘The Boys Of Summer’ and ‘Blinding Lights’ can be traced within its blueprint.

With great keyboard lines, ‘The Collector’ is more sombre in its verse but offers hope in the face of adversity, reflecting the mission statement of the parent album’s title, while the more guitar-assisted ‘Ghosts’ is a close relative.

Reflecting on the self-produced ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’, Farrah said: “it is about the past, the present and the future; about taking the best from all that you have been through, the pressures of modern life and keeping your dreams alive in dark times.”

‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’ is released on 12th March 2021 in CD and digital formats by Eightspace Records with a vinyl LP out on 23rd April 2021 via Plane Groovy

https://leagueoflights.com/

https://www.facebook.com/leagueoflightsofficial

https://twitter.com/leagueoflights

https://www.instagram.com/leagueoflights/

https://burningshed.com/tag/League+Of+Lights

Text by Chi Ming Lai
10th February 2021

ZIMBRU Interview

8 February 2021 /


Comprising of Teodora Retegan, Andrei Bobiș, Paul Bucovesan and Oana Pop, ZIMBRU are a synth assisted Romanian art pop quartet with a strong TALKING HEADS influence.

Their promising 2019 debut EP ‘Little Creatures’ offered haunting forlorn vocals, synthy hooks, art school sensibilities and intriguing rhythmic backdrops for the dancefloor.

‘Terejo’ with its rhythmical neo-funk motif imagined what TALKING HEADS might have sounded like as a more electronic band and perhaps unsurprisingly sounded like a female fronted LCD SOUNDSYSTEM.

Showcasing the varied musical facets of ZIMBRU, the ‘Little Creatures’ title song was moodier, constructed around a prominent off-beat and an incessant electronic drive. Their most recent single ‘The Ground’ released in August 2020 reflected the sadness many were feeling around the world in difficult times and acted as something of a cathartic release for the band.

Eager to play live again, ZIMBRU will perform at the Berlin Mixtape virtual concert on THURSDAY 11TH FEBRUARY 2021. Originally conceived as a single band event, it has since developed into a project where six Romanian singers will each a cover song that has a strong connection to the city of Berlin.

The songs were selected by LOLA Magazine based in Berlin while all the singers are managed by Cirkular in Romania. Teodora Retegan from ZIMBRU will be one of the singers while the instrumental parts for all of the songs have been produced by Andrei Bobiș who incidentally is a co-founder of Cirkular. Other featured singers include Sofia Zadar, Geo Aghinea and Adame Wolf among others.

In a break from preparations for their upcoming online event, Teodora Retegan and Andrei Bobiș from ZIMBRU talked about the band’s career to date.

How did ZIMBRU come into being, specifically as a band using electronics?

Andrei: ZIMBRU came into being over e-mail! Teo, Oana and I used to play in another band called LIGHTS OUT and about a year after that was wrapped up, I sent Teo this silly song idea and she recorded some cool vocals and then we realized we really missed each other and spent the next three years writing songs basically. Oana and Paul joined in 2018 and that’s when we started putting a live show together. I guess we liked a lot of artists that have cool arrangements featuring both electronic and acoustic stuff mashed together in interesting / peculiar ways.

The ‘Little Creatures’ EP title and that band name indicate that ZIMBRU have a strong TALKING HEADS influence?

Andrei: We definitely love TALKING HEADS and have danced to many TALKING HEADS records over the years, so I’m sure that plenty of that has subconsciously made it into our music. However the title is not a direct reference to the TALKING HEADS album. It was one of those placeholder titles (until we think of a better one, never actually thinking of one) that kind of started making more and more sense as our debut EP came together. Our latest single ‘The Ground’ has a strong TALKING HEADS influence, as a lot of it was written as I was reading Byrne’s book ‘How Music Works’ – especially the chapter on their work on ‘Speaking In Tongues’ and ‘Remain In Light’.


What other bands have inspired ZIMBRU?

Andrei: Uuh, tough one, a list feels like a weird thing to do so I’ll do the next best thing and point you towards some of the playlists we have curated over the past two years under the DJ BIVOL moniker which are available on our Spotify artist profile.

What was it like to grow up in Romania with the more artistic aspirations you had in your psyche? Was it easy being around people at school who might have preferred football or waiting to be called up for national service?

Teodora: Usually it’s not very desirable to explore this as a career (that goes for anything in the arts department) because there is a lot of poverty in Romania and of course parents would prefer their children having stability and picking a career that would ensure a monthly income. I think most humans have artistic potential, but it’s hard to express it under capitalism because if you can’t monetise it, you don’t stand a chance in doing it more than a hobby. That is very heartbreaking to me. I have been privileged enough to be supported by my family so here I am, trying.

‘Dog Heaven’ was your debut single, how do you look back on it now?

Andrei: Not a single per se, though, as it never had an actual release other than the live version. Uhm, it has been so long since we played it or listened to it that it’s like listening to another band really, but maybe time passing hasn’t really changed anything about it? I bet I’d still be pretty pumped to play it if playing music was still a thing.

How did you decide between singing in your own language and English?

Teodora: Honestly I don’t know how much of a conscious decision it was. Growing up in post revolution Romania, we had all these brands and music channels and fast food chains entering our country and for a while we thought all things western were Jesus Christ. You could hear English songs on the radio and you thought “ah this is so cool, can I do that?”. Romanian is beautiful though, I’ll try to write more in română.

Both ‘Terejo’ and ‘Dyo’ sound like an enigmatic female fronted LCD SOUNDSYSTEM? Have they been an inspiration to ZIMBRU, in particular with their use of electronics?

Andrei: Yeah, definitely an influence, we even used to do a cover of ‘I Can Change’ live, though probably more of an influence in their use of cowbells than their use of electronics.

The union between art and music is particularly prevalent in ZIMBRU’s video for ‘Divination’, how important is this ethos to you as a band?

Andrei: Well, we put our hearts into the songs and everything we make around the songs, be it videos, photos or anything else – and I guess that’s the highly relevant part, creating some sort of context for the music that means something and is truly genuine. However not taking ourselves too seriously is also a thing that matters, so you know, which art, what music?

Your most recent single ‘The Ground’ has been described as your saddest (which is quite fitting with the current situation) and it calls for kinship with Mother Nature, please describe the song’s genesis?

Teodora: My father was doing some gardening in lockdown and I joined him on this particularly windy day, I think we planted radishes and lots of onions. Here comes the cliché part *ah revelations* where after months of isolation, I start feeling connected to the soil, I shove my fingers in the ground like I never knew it was there all along. So I went into a permaculture spiralling spiritual phase and made everybody watch documentaries about the ground, probably annoyed them a bit, and after a while the song came to life. Maybe I did not annoy them that much, we’re nature loving hobbits…

The do-it-yourself video for ‘The Ground’ makes a strong visual statement, how did you come up with the concept?

Teodora: We wanted something simple and filled with love. We made it one afternoon in Oana’s garden and it’s probably one of my favourite days up to this point. There is something magic about seemingly mundane activities such as hanging out with friends outside. It’s a small treasure I don’t want to take for granted again.

Is ‘Slow Disco’ actually a metaphor as opposed to being about dancing?

Andrei: Actually it is quite a literal title, the early instrumental version sounded like a disco track that was slowed down. As with ‘Little Creatures’, it was a placeholder title that stuck and started to make a lot more sense as time went on. Looking through the studio computer, I actually found that before it was named ‘Slow Disco’, it had yet another placeholder title, ‘Indina’, can’t quite remember why.

What is the band’s format and ethos with presenting music live?

Teodora: I think we often laugh about how we want to be punk on stage. I am not sure it’s the energy we exude but we sure as hell want it to be. Maybe after more than half a year of not doing any shows we will be 100% punk!

ZIMBRU have a small back catalogue so far of several singles and an EP, what are your future plans for recording and releases?

Andrei: I don’t know what kind of plans you could possibly make given the context. We’d love to write new things and that’s about the only thing on our mind right now. We don’t really sit on our music so you’ll be hearing from us soonish (fingers crossed).


Does the increasing profile of MOLCHAT DOMA from Belarus give you any encouragement with regards alternative Eastern European acts making breakthroughs to Western audiences?

Andrei: I think a lot of music coming out of Eastern Europe is either sold as a token – like MOLCHAT DOMA – or as an exotic item to western audiences, like a lot of acts that play music with “oriental” influences, for example. Both are equally bad. Of course, I’m more than happy that these acts have found an audience, but it doesn’t mean much. The one thing that is exciting is that it feels that some of the gatekeeping events like showcase festivals have become increasingly accessible.

What are your hopes and fears as a band and as people as 2021 begins?

Teodora: My hope is that we’ll write more songs about nature and non-human animals and maybe do something more on the activist side of things. And my *personal* and kind of two years in the future dream is to start a queer commune and a sanctuary! I might never stop if I start talking about fears, so I’ll be nice and spare you!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to ZIMBRU

Special thanks to Ingo Tegge at Goethe-Zentrum Klausenburg

The ‘Little Creatures’ EP and ‘The Ground’ available from the usual digital platforms including https://zimbru.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/zimbrumusic/

https://www.instagram.com/zimbrumusic/

https://www.youtube.com/zimbrumusic

http://smarturl.it/SpotifyZimbru

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
8th February 2021

VEHLINGGO PRESENTS: 5 Years

6 February 2021 /


Originally released in November 2019, ‘Vehlinggo Presents: 5 Years’ collected together exclusive tracks from the world of synthwave and electronic pop.

Curated by Aaron Vehling, founder of Vehlinggo, the 17 tracks presented the musical ethos of the Brooklyn-based website, podcast and multimedia platform. Having been issued digitally, ‘Vehlinggo Presents: 5 Years’ is now available on CD with a slight adjustment in running order to reflect Vehling’s vision of an imaginary film soundtrack.

Any good compilation contains promising talents alongside established names and this is certainly the case here.

The reconfigured tracklisting begins in a cool stylish fashion with ANORAAK’s ‘Panarea’, a funky nu-disco instrumental. Retrospective references surface with Canada’s PARALLELS on ‘The Magic Hour’, an exquisite slice of synthesized new wave that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in a classic Brat Pack movie.

Remaining in Canada which has become the creative centrepoint for much of the best modern synth music, Ryan Gosling favourites FM ATTACK offer more of their trademark atmospheric electronic disco on ‘Paradise’.

The mood changes though with the appealing girly Italopop of New Yorkers BUNNY X and their ‘Revolving Doors’.

Now THE MIDNIGHT have become possibly the biggest synthwave crossover act with their sax assisted AOR but their appeal still baffles some observers; ‘Sometimes She Smiles’ does not change things and sounds not unlike busker balladeer PASSENGER but constructed using VSTs.

But with the pacey ‘Rage Of Honor’, proceedings are rocked up by LE MATOS although the backbone is still predominantly electronic. With a track entitled ‘Hi-NRG’, BETAMAXX begins proceedings with a cowbell frenzy but the speedy arpeggios soon join in for a Giorgio Moroder homage complete with digital chimes.

The shiny electro continues with the Sweden’s Johan Agebjörn and ‘Have You Ever Been In Love?’; using robotic vocal treatments like FM ATTACK, because this is a dub version of the track, the featured vocal of Tom Hooker, the voice behind many of the hits for famed Italo star Den Harrow, only comes in phrases which proves to be frustrating; the solution is to track down the original mix of the song from the ‘Videoman’ soundtrack.

 

MAETHELVIN cuts a solid funk groove on ‘Dance Through The Night’ aided by a LinnDrum derived pattern but maintains a chilly air, while from the Italians Do It Better stable, the previously unreleased Johnny Jewel produced ‘Gold’ by IN MIRRORS builds on some staccato tension.

The throbbing ‘Girl On Video’ from FORGOTTEN ILLUSIONS is loaded with hooks and big synthetic drum fills but while it is passable 4/4 synthwave fare, it is overlong and may have benefitted from being constructed around a 6/8 Schaffel to give it more bite.

A self-confessed “21st Century ’80s” artist, DIAMOND FIELD takes the delightful Dana Jean Phoenix into an interesting direction on ‘Freedom Pass’ by producing something that comes over like THE GO-GO’S gone synthpop. It recalls when Jane Wiedlin was working with PET SHOP BOYS producer Stephen Hague after the group first disbanded.

Beginning with some female prose en Français, DEADLY AVENGER‘s ‘Your Phone Is Off The Hook, But You’re Not’ is reminiscent of the quirky French underground from which cult acts such as MATHEMATIQUES MODERNES and RUTH emerged. Meanwhile, the wonderful MECHA MAIKO contributes the arty ‘Selfless’ which stands out with its screechy backdrop before settling into an avant pop concoction that makes hypnotic use of her repeated “It’s alright” phrasing!

‘She Sees A Future’ from Lakeshore Records signing VH X RR perhaps has the most nostalgic references like THE LOVER SPEAKS meeting ANIMOTION, but proceedings are taken down a notch by the filmic vocodered mood piece that is METAVARI’s ‘Be What You See’.

But the best is saved until last with HIGHWAY SUPERSTAR and the gorgeously dreamy ‘Slow Motion’; featuring a fabulous vocal by Zoe Polanski, the end result comes across a bit like ELECTRIC YOUTH.

‘Vehlinggo Presents: 5 Years’ does its job well of showcasing new and established international talent from an American perspective.

Coming from variants of electronic music that have been labelled as synthpop, Italo Disco, synthwave, nu-disco and French disco, what actually matters is whether the music is any good.

Considering this compilation contains largely of previously unreleased material with the baggage that can come with that knowledge, the majority of it is excellent. Listeners will of course have their own favourites, but there really is something for everyone who loves electronic pop with quality and substance.

‘Vehlinggo Presents: 5 Years’ is released as a limited edition CD in a packaged in a six-panel wallet with artists’ notes on 1st March 2021 while the digital album is available now direct from https://vehlinggopresents.com/album/vehlinggo-presents-5-years

https://vehlinggo.com/presents-liner-notes/

https://twitter.com/vehlinggo

https://www.instagram.com/vehlinggo/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
5th February 2021

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: theelectricityclub@googlemail.com
Privacy Policy

Up ↑