“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
Following the remarkable success of her latest album, the American songstress, who loves all things Russian, comes back with a few “additions” to the stunningly personal record that was ‘Okovi’.
Nika Roza Danilova, also known as Nicole Hummel, is the artist behind the ZOLA JESUS project. Known and adored for her darker fuller synth productions, the intensity of her vocals and the poignant subjects of her lyrics, Danilova brought back the frosty aura to her recent offering. Dealing with the pain of her closest, a friend’s suicide attempts, mental illness and cancer, gave ZOLA JESUS a challenging canvas upon her Wisconsin homecoming. Shackled in Slavic “okovi”, the artist channelled her strengths and weaknesses, stressing that her work wasn’t up for critical scrutiny, as it remains of a personal and fragile nature.
The ‘Additions’ offer further remixes of four tracks from ‘Okovi’, with ‘Ash To Bone’ featuring Johnny Jewel of CHROMATICS’ cinematic take on the melancholic masterpiece, as well as Katie Gately’s dark version of the stunning ‘Siphon’. The black metal band WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM take on ‘Exhumed’, turning it into a punchy industrial anthem while lastly, Joanne Pollock twists ‘Soak’ into a parallel reality of tomorrow.
But the real treat arrives with the four brand new tracks, extending ‘Okovi’ into an even more epic enterprise. Gleaming with powerful gritty synth, ‘Vacant’ hits where least expected, mutilating all senses and destroying all predictions. It’s tribal, harsh, pushy and well above board.
The single ‘Bound’ continues the utilisation of found sounds and marries dance elements with the uniqueness of Danilova’s musical interpretations. Hauntingly eerie, purposefully messy and freakishly fresh, ‘Bound’ rips apart the boundaries. The more classically sounding ‘Pilot Light’ irons out the creases with multiple vocal interplays, the gentleness of straightforward melody and the uncertainty of its ending.
‘Bitten Wool’ meanders through Japanese bells, a raw vocal and the pure genius of a non-complicated melody, fitting with the concept of ‘Okovi’ in a seamless manner. As Danilova puts it: “The songs on ‘Additions’ traverse a vast amount of sonic ground, but taken together, they cohere remarkably well as an album, all while serving to enrich the experience of Okovi”
Danilova follows IAMX’s idea, where his 2015 ‘Metanoia’ was followed with an ‘Addendum’; something a little bit extra to complete the album journey.
The four new songs were indeed to be part of ‘Okovi’: “Each of them represents a snapshot of my journey in making the record, and are just as precious to me as the songs that made it onto the final track listing. The remixes are beloved in their own way, as most were born from organic circumstances, and have drawn the original songs into completely new atmospheres”
Like PET SHOP BOYS, NEW ORDER collaborated with other artists from quite an early stage in their career, as well as later working on their own various projects during the band’s recurring hiatuses.
Even in the JOY DIVISION era, Ian Curtis, together with manager Rob Gretton produced ‘Knew Noise’ by SECTION 25 in 1979. Following the passing of the charismatic front man, NEW ORDER underwent a well-documented transformation.
Aided by the advancements in technology, while NEW ORDER began with electronic instruments such as the Doctor Rhythm DR-55 drum machine, ARP Quadra and Sequential Pro-One, their synth armoury would expand to a Moog Source, Emulator, several Prophet 5s and an Oberheim DMX.
Bernard Sumner in particular relished the opportunity to further his craft by recording with other artists. Although more naturally inclined to the live environment, Peter Hook did bring his experience into the studio as well, while Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert primarily found an outlet for their knowhow within television. The compilation boxed set ‘NEW ORDER Presents Be Music’ released on Factory Benelux gathered many of these works.
But there are still a significant number of tracks which featured the artistic input and involvement of a NEW ORDER member that are worthy of discovery and recognition. So here are 20 tracks which encapsulate the spirit of NEW ORDER through the medium of collaboration and joint working, restricted to one track per project and presented in chronological order.
MARTHA Light Years From Love (1983)
Martha Ladly had produced the paintings for the Peter Saville Associates artwork of ‘Temptation’ and the ‘1981-1982’ EP. Formally of MARTHA & THE MUFFINS, she teamed up with fellow Canadian Brett Wickens on this charming pop tune that echoed THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Open Your Heart’. Peter Hook provided his distinctive melodic six-string bass and dynamic production came from Steve Nye. The promo video was directed by Midge Ure and Chris Cross of ULTRAVOX.
Originally released as a single on Island Records, currently unavailable
While the trailblazing electro of ‘Cool As Ice’ was solely produced by Donald Johnson, Bernard Sumner contributed the synth basslines which were from a Moog Source run from a Powertran 1024 sequencer; it was to become the trademark feature on many of the NEW ORDER front man’s productions. The hybrid of authentic Manchester soul courtesy of Beverley McDonald’s vocals and New York urban influences was unsurprisingly a cult success across the Atlantic.
One of Bernard Sumner’s productions for with Donald Johnson, ‘Reach For Love’ featured the late Marcel King who was in SWEET SENSATION, a vocal group who won ‘New Faces’ and had a No1 with ‘Sad Sweet Dreamer’. With its distinctive Moog bassline programming, this was a vibrant electro disco tune. Shaun Ryder of HAPPY MONDAYS remarked that if this had been released on a label other than Factory Records, it would have been a hit!
Despite Peter Hook’s more rock inclined sympathies and productions for acts like STOCKHOLM MONSTERS and THE STONE ROSES, he showed that he knew his way around the dancefloor as well with this Moroder-esque offering by Hull combo NYAM NYAM which he produced. Featuring a Roland TR808 plus NEW ORDER’s Emulator and Prophet 5 amongst its instrumentation, ‘Fate/Hate’ deserves to be as lauded as SECTION 25’s ‘Looking From A Hilltop’.
SECTION 25 Looking From A Hilltop – Restructure (1984)
In a change of direction where founder member Larry Cassidy stated “you can’t be a punk all your life”, Factory Records stalwarts SECTION 25 recruited vocalist Jenny Ross and keyboardist Angela Cassidy to go electro. Produced by Bernard Sumner and Donald Johnson, the clattering drum machine accompanied by ominous synth lines and hypnotic sequenced modulations dominated what was to become a much revered cult club classic.
Available on the SECTION 25 album ‘From The Hip’ via Factory Benelux
Possibly the best NEW ORDER song that NEW ORDER never recorded, although ex-JOSEF K front man Paul Haig demoed the song to an almost complete standard, when as Haig told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “Bernard Sumner and Donald Johnson started adding more to it like extra guitar, bass and percussion. We spent a long time on the sound of the percussion”. ‘The Only Truth’ was like a brilliant cross between ‘Blue Monday’ and ‘Temptation’, and the 12 inch version was almost as long!
Available on the PAUL HAIG album ‘At Twilight’ via Les Disques Du Crepuscule
Mark Reeder moved from Manchester to Berlin in 1978 and was for a time Factory Records’ representative in Germany. Reeder often sent records to Bernard Sumner from the emerging electronic club scenes around the world. His own Deutsche musical journey started with DIE UNBEKANNTEN, who mutated into SHARK VEGAS; the sequencer heavy ‘You Hurt Me’ was produced by Sumner at Conny Plank’s studios near Cologne.
Available on the MARK REEDER album ‘Collaborator’ via Factory Benelux
The aptly named REVENGE was Peter Hook’s response to Bernard Sumner’s ELECTRONIC. Comprising of Hook, Dave Hicks and Chris Jones, the single ‘Seven Reasons’ backed with the edgy gothique of ‘Jesus I Love You’ got in the shops a few weeks before ‘Getting Away With It’. Coming over like early SISTERS OF MERCY with some extra raw power, it was a promising calling card. However, as things progressed, the output of REVENGE was not particularly well-received by the music press.
Miami duo THE BEAT CLUB were the husband and wife team of producer Ony Rodriguez and singer Mireya Valls. The Bernard Sumner remix of ‘Security’ was the first ever release on Rob’s Records, the imprint of Rob Gretton. Sumner’s creative additions saw an overhaul of the original version with the crucial addition of his own vocal contribution, giving it an unsurprisingly NEW ORDER-like feel along the lines of ‘State Of The Nation’.
808 STATE Spanish Heart featuring BERNARD SUMNER (1991)
Having been largely instrumental and sample based on their debut ‘90’, the Manchester dance collective used guest vocalists on their more melodic second long player ‘Ex:El’; while Björk contributed to ‘Ooops’, Bernard Sumner added his voice to the dreamy Balearic of ‘Spanish Heart. A less frantic cousin of ‘Mr Disco’ from ‘Technique’ with its holiday romance subject matter, ‘Spanish Heart’ had a blissful feel not too distantly related to ELECTRONIC’s ‘Some Distant Memory’.
Available on the 808 STATE album ‘Ex:El’ via ZTT Records
Frustrated with the conflicts within NEW ORDER, Bernard Sumner had planned a solo album. But on bumping into Johnny Marr who had just departed THE SMITHS, it was turned into a collaborative project with the occasional guests including Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe and later Karl Bartos. It was ELECTRONIC not just in name but also in nature. The beautiful closing section of ‘Some Distant Memory’ featuring the oboe of Helen Powell enhanced the string synth melancholy.
Available on the ELECTRONIC album ‘Electronic’ via EMI Records
Having done the music for the BBC shows including ‘Making Out’ and ‘Reportage’, Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris began turning their stockpile of unused material into songs when NEW ORDER went into hiatus. With Gilbert on lead vocals and amusingly titled after a fish and chip shop near Stockport, ‘Tasty Fish’ was a catchy electropop single that should have been a big hit.
Available on THE OTHER TWO album ‘And You’ via LTM Recordings
Smoother, tighter, speedier and dancier plus more ELECTRONIC in both name and nature, industrial funksters A CERTAIN RATIO reconfigured and re-recorded their 1980 signature cover which had come out on Factory Benelux with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr at the production controls. Originally a rare groove track by BANBARRA from 1975, this was part of a 1994 updates retrospective for Creation Records.
Available on the A CERTAIN RATIO album ‘Looking For…’ via Creation Records
With the demise of REVENGE and seemingly NEW ORDER, Peter Hook regrouped with guitarist David Potts to form MONACO, a combo very much in the mould of the latter. Proudly embracing his signature melodic bass sound, the first single ‘What Do You Want From Me?’ sounded like it could have come off ‘Technique’, with Hook’s Curtis-like baritone and Potts’ Sumner-esque refrain enabling a prompt audience acceptance for the duo.
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS featuring BERNARD SUMNER Out Of Control (1999)
‘Out Of Control’ was THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS’ sonic template actually fulfilling its potential within a song based format with Bernard Sumner as the willing conspirator. With echoes of NEW ORDER’s 12 inch only excursions like ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Confusion’ and ‘Thieves like Us’, ‘Out Of Control’ had everything from a bombastic backbeat, cerebral sequences and bizarre lyrics, especially when Sumner resigned to the fact that “Maybe my moustache is too much…”
Available on THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS album ‘Singles 93-03’ via Virgin Records
BLANK & JONES featuring BERNARD SUMNER Miracle Cure (2008)
Having worked with Robert Smith of THE CURE, German trance duo Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones had Bernard Sumner high on their list for their album ‘The Logic Of Pleasure’, which also featured Claudia Brücken. The track managed to fill the electronic dance gap that had opened up with NEW ORDER’s more rock focused albums ‘Get Ready’ and ‘Waiting For The Siren’s Call’, while the single release came with excellent remixes from Mark Reeder and Paul Humphreys from OMD.
FACTORY FLOOR A Wooden Box – STEPHEN MORRIS remix (2010)
Some say the music of FACTORY FLOOR is genius, others a load of repetitive bleeping to an incessant four-to-the-floor beat. Stephen Morris was a fan, hearing kindred spirits in their use of sequencers next to live drums and guitars, sometimes on the brink of post-industrial noise chaos. With his remix of ‘Wooden Box’, Morris brought out its more tuneful elements and added some vocoder processing. He continued to work with the band as the producer of 2011’s ‘(Real Love)’.
Available on the FACTORY FLOOR single ‘A Wooden Box’ via Blast First Petite
Techno DJ WESTBAM celebrated 30 years in the music business with an intriguing mature collection of songs under the title of ‘Götterstrasse’ which featured Iggy Pop, Brian Molko and Hugh Cornwall. ‘She Wants’ saw the return of Bernard Sumner on a new electronic recording. With the guitar driven BAD LIEUTENANT having been his main vehicle over the intervening years, it was great to hear him on something approaching the sound of synth-centred NEW ORDER again.
Available on the WESTBAM album ‘Götterstrasse’ via Vertigo Germany
NEW ORDER featuring BRANDON FLOWERS Superheated (2015)
Brandon Flowers named THE KILLERS after a fictional band in the ‘Crystal’ video while his own combo covered the JOY DIVISION standard ‘Shadowplay’ for the ‘Control’ film. So a collaboration was not totally unexpected in this union of the sorcerer and the apprentice. A Stuart Price production featuring Flowers on the chorus, ‘Superheated’ was a slice of supreme pop which despite the frantic drum ‘n’ bass elements, sounded more like THE KILLERS than it did NEW ORDER.
Available on the NEW ORDER album ‘Music Complete’ via Mute Artists
Simon Langford and Alex Sowyrda are the British-Canadian duo KOISHII & HUSH whose tracks have featured unusual vocalists ranging from DURAN DURAN’s John Taylor to actress Joanne Whalley. Gillian Gilbert lent her voice to ‘Lifetime’, sounding not unlike Sarah Blackwood who incidentally sang on their 2015 offering ‘Rules & Lies’. The remix from FM ATTACK aka Canadian synthwave exponent Shawn Ward added a serene crystalline quality to proceedings.
Available on the KOISHII & HUSH single ‘Lifetime’ via Grammaton Recordings
RUSTY EGAN featuring PETER HOOK The Other Side (2017)
With the opening salvo ‘The Otherside’ featuring Peter Hook on Rusty Egan’s debut solo album, sonic comparisons with NEW ORDER were inevitable and the song’s melodic basslines showed how much his sound was a vital part of the band. The Bass Viking’s vocals also exuded a vulnerability that listeners could empathise with. But with Hooky touring the JOY DIVISION and NEW ORDER back catalogue, new material has been rare.
FREEBASS You Don’t Know This About Me – Remix Instrumental (2017)
A Mancunian supergroup of three bassists Hooky, Mani and Andy Rourke that spent five years in gestation before imploding. Producer Derek Miller aka OUTERNATIONALE was a fan and told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “Really liked this song despite Hooky’s project falling apart on him! As you know, I’ve started and thought it deserved a proper release, albeit belatedly! So, I’ve been back in the studio with it and totally overhauled it sonically. There’s also a surprisingly punchy instrumental mix now”
From DEAD ASTRONAUTS, the lo-fi synth project of Jared Nickerson and Hayley Stewart, a new star is born.
With the name transcending Toronto based Stewart’s fascination with Japanese culture, cyber space and the love of vintage synthesis, MECHA MAIKO releases her debut album ‘Mad But Soft’.
The Geisha-like robot brings a much needed freshness and romance into the world of electronica, and she’s doing it with grace, sensuality and poise. Loaded with rhythmic tunes, ‘Mad But Soft’ ventures into the spheres of delicate femininity, girlishness and synthlicious electro pink, packaged in shiny wrapping and served with a big, glitter coated ribbon.
It’s not your naive, mindless, happy-go-lucky pop songs, however. With nonchalance, Stewart introduces the listener into her magical world of sound, as if the synth was born yesterday. From the title track, with its pulsating East meets West vibe, through the gems like ‘False Memories’, which could have been part of the ‘Stranger Things’ soundtrack, to the unselfishly grown-up ‘Electric Heat’ with its CHVRCHES similarities, Stewart proves she’s not only a capable songwriter but a slick vocalist too.
‘Cold Hard Ground’ opens the long player with a Grimes meets Zola Jesus sound far, far away in snow covered Japan, where they play with their manga inspired synth toys. The robot doesn’t stop there, as ‘Bike Night’ lets those filters open and the magic happen for the most perfect mechanical pop. ‘Tomodachi’ could have been a lost MADONNA tune, Stewart’s vocals resemble the pop princess’, as much as the voice layering and melody interplay.
Once the ‘Contract’ is signed, ‘Auto Fire’ steps in with endless arpeggios over heavily punctuated industrial pulses, smoothed by intricate delicacies of Stewart’s vocal. Before we ‘Fade To Black’, with its strikingly familiar tonality to MAJOR LAZER’s ‘Get Free’, Dana Jean Phoenix meets MECHA MAIKO on ‘Cold’; probably the most danceable synthwave track on the production. The song was partially inspired by WAVESHAPER’s ‘Radio Signal’ and Janet Jackson herself probably wouldn’t shy away if presented with this little gem.
Uncomplicated on the surface yet multi-layered, thought through and simply delicious, ‘Mad But Soft’ does exactly what it says on the tin. Easy listening synthpop, as if lifted out straight from the classic era, is flowing through its veins like mechanically instigated lava; the magma of amalgamation of electric melodies, capable synth and vocals with audible influences from Bjork, Madonna and Robin S. What a debut!
Named after a wonderfully eclectic song from the first ROXY MUSIC album, appropriately it was Brian Eno who said that LADYTRON were “the best of English pop music”.
Despite Eno’s description, one of the most distinctive aspects of LADYTRON is their diversity, with Bulgarian-born Mira Aroyo and Glaswegian Helen Marnie joining Liverpudlians Danny Hunt and Reuben Wu in Summer 1999.
It will be released via Pledge Music, the crowdfunding platform which was used by Helen Marnie to support the recording of her debut solo offering ‘Crystal World’.
The new LADYTRON album has been launched with ‘The Animals’, a dark electronic rock number in the vein of ‘High Rise’, ‘International Dateline’ and ‘Tomorrow’ which also comes with a Vince Clarke remix.
With all systems go in the LADYTRON camp, Danny Hunt kindly took time out from the studio to chat about the new album, his favourite synths and his own career highlights.
When did the genesis for the first LADYTRON album in 7 years begin? Was it a gradual process?
We knew we were going to do it eventually, but various things made it not come together as early as we imagined. Huge changes in our personal lives, and our locations – two of us moved across hemispheres. In mid-2016, we felt ready to move ahead and began writing and planning.
Was there any point where you personally thought there might not be another album?
That was never a possibility.
Helen did two solo albums, but what were the rest of you up to during the hiatus? You co-produced Helen’s first solo offering?
Yes, I produced and co-wrote some of Helen’s first one. Since then, I’ve worked with some other artists that I felt a creative connection with, for example last year I co-wrote and produced an EP ‘Lua Vermelha’ with a very special artist in Brazil called LIA PARIS. I also produced LUSH’s comeback EP ‘Blind Spot’, which I loved doing. Other than that, film scores and some other things that’ll see the light of day soon enough.
Reuben has been concentrating on his photography, he’s built a big reputation with that.
Mira has been working a lot with documentaries which was always a love of hers. We’re generally creative people, and were never solely focussed on one project.
The individual members all live in different parts of the world now, so in terms of writing, has there had to be a more remote approach by necessity?
As it always was, even with the first five records we never lived in the same city, or at times even country, there were only brief moments when more than two of us did. Eighty percent of the time we weren’t living in the same place. The method is the same regardless of distance; we work, collaborate remotely and then come together for a period to turn the work we’ve done individually and collaboratively into a record.
How would you describe the creative dynamic of LADYTRON and how it has evolved over the years?
These days everyone is pretty much self-contained. Technology has changed enormously after all, when we began it was a different world in so many ways. And we were basically children playing around with brand new methods.
‘The Animals’ is the first single and appears to be a return to the harder, more intense sound of ‘Witching Hour’ and ‘Velocifero’?
Perhaps, but it’s still too new to judge.
Vince Clarke has remixed ‘The Animals’, how did he become involved and are you pleased with his quite different and more rigid interpretation?
I love it. I always wanted us to collaborate in some way with him. It came about when I remixed the ERASURE single last year.
After the textural atmospherics of ‘Gravity The Seducer’, is ‘The Animals’ representative of the new album’s overall sound? If not, how would you describe it?
Well the album isn’t finished, the songs are there but it has a long way to go. To me, it is difficult to describe beyond simply that it sounds very much like a LADYTRON record.
How do you now look back on ‘Gravity The Seducer’?
Very proud of it. It was intentionally more sedate, which was exactly what we wanted, needed at that time. Some of the tunes on it, such as ‘White Gold’ and ‘Transparent Days’, are amongst my favourite things we’ve done. I’ve had people whom I really respect tell me that they didn’t get into any of our stuff until that record.
The way music is financed and consumed has changed considerably since 2011 with crowdfunding and streaming more prominent. What are your own thoughts on this?
I don’t have strong feelings on any of this. I am rather traditionalist in this respect.
You’ve opted to market the new album via Pledge Music, had the band been drawn to it from Helen’s positive experience of it?
In our case, it is an ideal way to make records independently.
Being on Pledge Music often involves providing fly-on-the-wall insights into the recording process and other benefits, like CHINA CRISIS offered an opportunity to see Liverpool FC match with a band member while GARY NUMAN sold his old gear. As a band who have generally not courted a personality based profile in the past, have you decided what types of updates you will do yet?
We don’t know yet.
You’re offering vinyl, CD and download versions of the new album, but also cassette! Have you got your head around why there’s a resurgence in this format, what are your own memories of using cassettes?
I’m of the generation for whom the cassette was the format of choice, I never accepted that it went away.
Isn’t there just a general longing for actual objects now that our digital lives can evaporate in a moment?
And is not just in the case of records, for example I now buy more actual books than I ever did. We need to leave the historians some physical record of our culture.
Have you added any more vintage synthesizers to your armoury for the new album or have you moved towards VSTs these days? Do you have a particular favourite synth?
We have all our old toys and a couple of new ones. I had to transport as much of my gear as I could halfway across the world to fit my studio out down here. Each time I returned home, I brought a few more things south with me. I love my Crumar Stratus, that and the SH-2 are my main instruments.
What do you think about these recreations like the Korg MS20 Mini, the Korg ARP Odyssey or the new Minimoog?
About 15 years ago, we begged Korg to make a new MS20. We insisted that if they were available, they’d become as ubiquitous in studios as a bass guitar.
So I’m all for this gear being available in a cheap, practical and reliable way. We sometimes used to burn through old analogue synths every couple of days on the road – rare gear we had collected over many years.
As LADYTRON’s guitarist, how do decide when it’s best to integrate the instrument into proceedings?
I’m a keyboardist, guitarist, bassist whatever. To me, through a chain of effects, it’s just another object that makes noise.
Are you self-producing the album or have you brought in an outsider for this?
We have people we trust and work with regularly. How we are going to approach this one is still being discussed.
Are you able to reveal any of your own personal highlights of the new album? What are your hopes and fears after 7 years away?
It’s early days to talk about highlights as there are still tracks being worked on. All I’d say is that we are already very happy with how it is progressing.
Do LADYTRON intend to tour the new album?
Yes, we will, but the most important thing for us is to make a new record. Once that is done we will think about everything else.
Which territories have generally been your strongest?
Besides the US, Canada, Spain and various countries in the EU, we always did well in South and Central America. But we’ve been all over. Australia. China. It is hard to say which is strongest because obviously everyone does more shows in the EU and North America, where we have always done well with our tours.
What’s your proudest achievement as a member of LADYTRON? Any particular songs, shows or tours?
Sydney Opera House for Brian Eno was special obviously. When something exceptional happens – like we played China when very few had, and in Colombia at a time when almost no artists would go there because of the civil war – those ones stick in the memory.
I’m simply proud that our work has reached people, that we’ve made five albums and we’re making another.
ELECTRICITY CLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Danny Hunt
With THE ART OF NOISE’s influential and innovative reputation, this live gig was never going to be an ordinary one.
The British Library is certainly not your run of the mill venue either and this show was part of ‘A Season of Sound’, a celebration of the Library’s extensive Sound Archive which hosts in excess of 6 millions recordings.
With their reputation as early pioneers of sampling and use of the Fairlight to grab found sounds alongside more conventional drums and synth textures, this reboot of THE ART OF NOISE made a perfect fit to help celebrate the Library’s own collection of audio.
Special mention must be given to the show’s sound system, a sonically stunning Bowers & Wilkins set-up which throughout the evening delivered audiophile quality live sound, something which you rarely get at gigs these days. The sound system, a cut-down version of the one used at Primavera Sound Festival, which was apparently worth close to a million Euros became a real draw for crowds there.
The PA system was put to good use prior to the band coming on stage, with the audience being treated to a superb ‘Blessed Are The Noisemakers’ mixtape by Kevin Foakes aka DJ Food, with different AON-related tracks like remixes of SCRITTI POLITTI and FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD plus snippets of 10CC in ‘Life is a Minestrone’ and ‘I’m Not In Love’ in honour of Lol Creme who was a member of both acts.
As the band walked on stage, the screen behind became a Fairlight boot-up page, with each musician being ‘initialised’ in a kind of homage to KRAFTWERK who apparently shelved their ‘Technopop’ album after hearing AON’s pioneering sampling work.
Sadly there were no actual Fairlights on stage, but each member had Mac screens with the iconic green on black text to reference the machine which was so pivotal to the band’s sound. From left to right the set-up was Anne Dudley on synths / digital piano / electronic percussion, Gary Langan on mixing duties / percussion and JJ Jeczalik on Arturia Matrixbrute synth / Roland electronic percussion.
Also present but via a couple of pre-recorded video clips was ex-member Paul Morley… this was a bit of a surprise as the ZTT split with AON was very acrimonious. Although billed as an ‘In Visible Silence’ gig, the show was still very much a greatest hits set, with a few choice cuts taken from the trio’s aforementioned second album.
After introductory track ‘Instruments Of Darkness’, there was an early airing of ‘Beatbox’ from the band’s debut EP ‘Into Battle With…’ followed by an all-too-short rendition of ‘Camille’, the band’s ‘Moments in Love’ Part Two.
‘Paranoimia’ featuring Max Headroom was next to appear with suitably appropriate graphics behind the band before the stunningly beautiful ‘Moments In Love’.
This was preceded by an introduction from JJ on the various uses of the track, from a Brylcreem advert through to its usage at MADONNA’s wedding to Sean Penn!
To keep the sample trainspotters happy, there was an interesting mid-set diversion when JJ explained the background behind some of the AON samples used. This included the rhythm track for ‘Eye Of A Needle’ which samples the sound from a squash game; the ball being hit, the squeak of a training shoe on the court and the start of a groan from the impact of someone being hit by the ball. Also included was a special mention for the cash register sound which also ended up on ABC’s ‘Date Stamp’ from ‘The Lexicon Of Love’.
One of the more experimental pieces from the bands’ back catalogue, the Steve Reich-inspired ‘Opus’ with its looped / cut-up vocals was up next, followed by AON’s breakthrough hit ‘Close (To The Edit’). Complete with an extended and very comical three-way car not starting sample-off; this track received the best reception on the night and the now iconic “Hey!” vocal additionally recalled THE PRODIGY’s ‘Firestarter’ which sampled it. After a short break, the band came back on for an encore of ‘Peter Gunn’ with its Rik Mayall promo video projected behind, as the trio left the stage to a rolling set of credits behind them.
This gig was a real bucket list moment for many, the band had supported THE HUMAN LEAGUE last year in Liverpool, but live shows by the ex-AON members have been few and far between.
The deservedly rapturous reception that Dudley, Jeczalik and Langan received for their British Library gig should hopefully spur them into doing more dates as they are an utterly engaging live act with a pioneering back catalogue that is more than worthy of being re-visited.
If you get a chance to see this line-up (especially with a B&W sound system), don’t hesitate, it’s a timely reminder of how incredibly influential AON were and helps to cement their position in electronic music history.
‘Influence’ is still available as a double CD via Union Square
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Nika Roza Danilova, also known as Nicole Hummel, is the artist behind the ZOLA JESUS project. Known and adored for her darker fuller synth productions, the intensity of her vocals and the poignant subjects of her lyrics, Danilova brought back the frosty aura to her recent offering. Dealing with the pain of her closest, a friend’s suicide attempts, mental illness and cancer, gave ZOLA JESUS a challenging canvas upon her Wisconsin homecoming. Shackled in Slavic “okovi”, the artist channelled her strengths and weaknesses, stressing that her work wasn’t up for critical scrutiny, as it remains of a personal and fragile nature.
The single ‘Bound’ continues the utilisation of found sounds and marries dance elements with the uniqueness of Danilova’s musical interpretations. Hauntingly eerie, purposefully messy and freakishly fresh, ‘Bound’ rips apart the boundaries. The more classically sounding ‘Pilot Light’ irons out the creases with multiple vocal interplays, the gentleness of straightforward melody and the uncertainty of its ending.
released on 
via Factory Benelux
via Les Disques Du Crepuscule
via Factory Benelux
via LTM Recordings
via ZTT Records
via EMI Records
via LTM Recordings
via Creation Records
via Polydor Records
via Virgin Records
via Soundcolours
via Blast First Petite 
via Vertigo Germany
via Mute Artists
via Grammaton Recordings
via Black Mosaic
via 5 Pin Din Recordings
ventures into the spheres of delicate femininity, girlishness and synthlicious electro pink, packaged in shiny wrapping and served with a big, glitter coated ribbon.
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under their belt, 
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gig, the show was still very much a greatest hits set, with a few choice cuts taken from the trio’s aforementioned second album.
is still available as a double CD via Union Square
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