Author: electricityclub (Page 229 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

IAMX Alive In New Light

2 February 2018 /

Since moving to sunny Los Angeles, Chris Corner is surely continuing his “public therapy”. The music, which substitutes any drug, works wonders for the ex-shy and retiring member of SNEAKER PIMPS, come THE ALTERNATIVE ARTIST of today.

Corner debuted solo in 2004 and has since gained a faithful following within the fans of unusual synthpopia. Eccentric or not, the multi-talented musician has provided hungry audiences with offerings of unparalleled electronic wizardry, which come to life backed up by vivid visuals, elaborate costumes, and hauntingly unusual live performances.

‘Metanoia’ with its ‘Addendum’ marked the transition process IAMX underwent, moving from cold and gloomy Berlin in the search of inspirational metamorphosis to create a non-fuss record. The results shook both sides of the Atlantic, gaining the elusive Corner many fresh believers.

Following the success of both offerings, IAMX ventured into a popular trend of instrumental offerings, with his superb ‘Unfall’. As if he had anything else to prove, the Englishman in LA, showed how an album practically stripped of vocals, can work wonders amidst similar opuses from the likes of GAZELLE TWIN, APOPTYGMA BERZERK or BLANCMANGE.

Currently the sound manipulator is basking ‘Alive In New Light’. Continuing on the journey of self-rediscovery, IAMX is compelled to make music as “this album is about connecting, and it’s a pain in the ass to do it through an album. Each time I do this, I feel exhausted but it’s an impulse I can’t stop. If you write your pain out, there’s a venting. Happiness is a skill. I’m happiest activating skills that keep you balanced.”

The long player, which Corner decided to record in California desert because “The desert is white noise. You can lose yourself in the details of producing, mixing; it’s just silence”, sees multiple collaborations with LA’s celebrated artist slash tattooist Kat Von D, who provides vocal support on ‘Stalker’ amongst four out of nine tracks. The subject of love, seductive motifs and sexual obsession prevail, sung by both the master himself and the ink lady clad in red SM gear. The self-confessed “eternal fool” is enslaved with lust, he “will be your shadow, will follow you, never let you go”.

‘Stardust’, even though kicks off gently, it flowers into a fast paced extravaganza of the celebration of love with its forceful rhythm. It’s a perfect awakening and a suitable opener to what Corner utilises to shed his demons. The familiarity of the signature IAMX sound bursts through the album’s title track, which actually possesses musical elements resembling Martin Gore’s cover of ‘Stardust’ from ‘Counterfeit 2’.

‘Alive In New Light’ with its superb melodies, masterful vocals and the cleverest use of synths rises above most of Corner’s contemporaries. The drum and bass pointers, ambient bubble punctuations and ‘Stranger Things’-like arpeggios, alongside gripping jungle sequences create the atmosphere of hope, faith and belief. A belief that Corner’s “public therapy” has reached new levels entirely.

‘Break The Chain’, with its staccato rhythm, is a randomly urgent and immediate plea for freedom; it rushes through chasing the inevitable, it bewilders. Corner is far from happy here; he feels he’s “sinking with America (…), aching in the strangest places”, he will “never break the chain”, all engulfed in superb sounds, masterfully put together to create an effect of a heart aching appeal. ‘Body Politics’ hypnotises in its electro dance manner, bursting with obvious sexuality, while ‘Exit’ mechanically calms the atmosphere with seductive machines labouring away, heavily pushing forward, working in overdrive while utilising made sounds and voice manipulations.

If ‘Bernadette’ has come back, she’s with ‘Big Man’, if in filigree tonality only. The obvious political connotations presented over Victorian circus music, are we all on the carousel of madness? “It’s a miracle that we made it here”, with the curious “privileged prick got to make us his bitches, we lap it up”. What better way of summing up the ridiculousness of the world of today.

‘Mile Deep Hollow’ is a perfect dark love song. Featured in an episode of ‘How To Get Away With Murder’, aired last November, the alternative romance created a stir within Corner’s fans, who described it as a lighter version of the tracks from ‘Metanoia’. The hauntingly beautiful melody, twinned with lyrics full of emotion and affection (“thank you, you need to know that you dragged me out of a mile deep hollow, and I love you, you brought me home…”) create an unforgettable masterpiece.

The simple piano entry into ‘The Power And The Glory’, which resembles a prayer bursting into stunning arpeggiated synth, brings back the familiar melancholia, closing the offering with a mixed emotion. Nothing is simple with Chris Corner, he’s still in with the search of his elusive “guiding light”.

‘Alive In New Light’, although still suitably dark, is speckled with hope, gratitude and glimpses of true happiness and, while IAMX continues to transform and evolve, his exploration of musical intricacies is ever growing and awe inspiring. He’s already proven to be a masterfully capable producer, wonderfully versatile writer and quirky lyricist; now with the ever expanding visual aspects of his art and personal merchandise items, Chris Corner is truly “alive in new light”.

‘Alive In New Light’ is released by Caroline International in CD, vinyl and digital formats, available from https://www.musicglue.com/iamx/shop

IAMX 2018 European tour dates includes:

London Electric Ballroom (3rd March 2018), Paris La Machine (5th March), Munich Strom (15th March), Vienna WUK (16th March), Prague Meet Factory (17th March), Dresden Beatpol (19th March), Hamburg Mojo (20th March), Berlin Kesselhaus (21st March), Lviv Malevich (24th March), Kyiv Bel Etage Club (25th March), St Petersburg A2 (27th March), Moscow, RU – Izvestia Hall (29th March), Istanbul IF (31st March)

https://iamxmusic.com/

http://www.facebook.com/IAMXOFFICIAL

https://twitter.com/IAMX

https://www.instagram.com/iamx/

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
Photos by Gretchen Lanham
2nd February 2018

ARCTIC SUNRISE Interview

31 January 2018 /


Mönchengladbach is best known for the Borussia football team and F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

But the North Rhine-Westphalia city is also the base of electronic duo ARCTIC SUNRISE. Comprising of Torsten Verlinden on vocals and Steve Baltes on synths, the seasoned pairing cite DEPECHE MODE, ULTRAVOX, HEAVEN 17, VISAGE, BLANCMANGE and OMD among their influences.

Opening for DAF’s Robert Görl, ARCTIC SUNRISE performed at the 2017 Electri_City_Conference in Düsseldorf. The intuitive crowd warmed to their enjoyable brand of dark synthpop showcased on songs like ‘Tell The Truth’ and ‘When Traces End’ which recalled the overtones of fellow German acts such as DE/VISION and CAMOUFLAGE.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK caught up with Steve Baltes from the duo to chat about music, synths and stuff…

With two successful albums bagged, are you pleased with how you’ve been received in the synth circles?

We are actually quite overwhelmed by the extremely warm welcome in the scene, since we pretty much came out of nowhere, with quite different musical careers before ARCTIC SUNRISE. We were very surprised especially by the global reception, worldwide airplays and fantastic reviews – so, yes… we are way more than pleased!

You cite the influences from DEPECHE MODE, HEAVEN 17, ULTRAVOX, VISAGE and BLANCMANGE. All things British then?

Good call! There’s some kind of spiritual connection to cities like Sheffield and Manchester. Synthpop-wise, the UK is where it really started and the most amazing and for us most influential music came from. It’s the first thing which blows you away which will stay for you the whole life and that just was the sound of ULTRAVOX, VISAGE, NEW ORDER, HEAVEN 17, OMD and others…

Do you mind being compared to DE/VISION?

It’s not a bad thing to be compared to great bands, but to be honest we actually do not know too much of their material and are a bit surprised that we get compared quite often. We do think that they sound a bit more Depeche than us and vocal wise, we also sound quite different. If you do electronic pop music, you just share kind of the same DNA.

Germany mothers many a synth band. How would you say your sound differed from the rest?

We are not following this too closely, but we think that due to the way we work we might have developed our own sound. Part of that is to not use virtual instruments in the studio and the use of old drum machines in a contemporary way as well as making your own sounds. A lot of the bands use the same pool of sounds especially with drums or the more trancey preset lead hook sounds which we are not into too much and this makes a lot of projects sound quite similar. But there’s still much interesting stuff out there as well.


You like your vintage synths and drum machines. Any firm favourites?

If I have to name just one it’s probably the Linn Drum, this one really shaped a decade and gives you that warm feeling in your stomach by just switching it on 😉

I really love the fact that there is just one Kick and on Snare instead of gigabytes of Drum Libraries you carry on your computer. Synth-wise, it would be the Roland System 100M Modular Synthesizer, which we pretty much use on every song – pure synthpop bliss.

What selection of hardware did you predominantly use on ‘When Traces End’?

It’s quite a long list, to name a few… drum machines like the Linn and Oberheim DMX, Korg DDD-1, Kawai R100, the mighty Simmons SDSV, some weird soviet effects, drum boxes and synthesizers like the fantastic Aelita which is 90% of ‘Tell The Truth’.

More synths we used a lot are the Roland System 100M, Akai AX60, Polymoog Keyboard as well as newer analogue stuff from my favourite companies (and friends) like Dreadbox from Greece or Analogue Solutions from the UK, especially the Nyborg12.


How does the use of vintage synthesizers translate to live gigs?

For gigs we try to keep it quite simple, safe and not too heavy. Some sounds I play on stage, I recreated on virtual instruments like the U-He Zebra or Alchemy from Camel Phat inside of Ableton Live which also runs the drums and sequencer stuff.

For the analogue vibe, I play a quite rare Korg SB100 Synthesizer which I love a lot and mainly use for bass live. It’s small, built into a handy case and adds a really nice low end to the setup. It’s also built like a tank and even though it’s very old, it’s very reliable. Some of the other machines from the studio would be a bit scary on stage, since they have their own life sometimes.

Any plans to visit the UK Soon?

It would be fantastic to actually play in the UK since we feel very connected because of our musical heroes, but unfortunately nothing planned yet … we’ll see. From time to time, I go to the UK for some shows of bands like BLANCMANGE who are not playing in Germany since they became active again. Recently I also played with my ambient project BALTES & ERBE near Birmingham which was nice.

After two albums, is there a third one looming?

Yes, absolutely – we are working on it and have a couple of songs written, loads of ideas and so far around 3 songs completely finished. Since we were very pleased especially with the last album, we try really hard to take things even further, which we think we did with a couple of the new ones. We don’t have a roadmap for a release yet, but we think maybe around the end of 2018. We just want to make sure it’s as good as possible. So please be patient 😉

You mention the influences derived from the pinnacle years of synth, any contemporary artists that take your fancy?

I love the latest stuff by TRENTEMØLLER which has a nice 80s vibe without just being retro. Also I was blown away by the latest BJÖRK album, very innovative and strange in the best way. Also THE XX, WRANGLER and FADER… not sure if you could call this contemporary though 😉


How did the Electri_City_Conference gig come about and how do you think it went?

I’ve known Carsten Siewert, who was organising the Conference, loosely for about 30 years. Back then I was working in a Supermarket and he worked for a company who delivered CDs to the shop – back then we always had a nice chat mainly about DEPECHE MODE or electronic music.

We then met from time to time and I visited the Conference as well. At one point we were thinking about showing some gear at Electri_City as well and he mentioned ”hey, if you there for the gear anyway, you of course have to play with your band as well” which we of certainly couldn’t resist.

It was a great event and show, the people were very friendly. It was almost family like and the reception was fantastic. So we were more than happy to get the chance to play an event like this. Stage looked great, sound was great, we think we played quite good and people seem to like it … what more to ask for, we were VERY happy to be part of this!

The synth world is raving about the new Minimoog Model D, have you got yours yet?

Actually I finally ran out of space for more keyboards and only might be able to add some smaller stuff like drumboxes or Eurorack modules. Regardless I played the new Model D a few times and I must admit that I really like it a lot. Next to the Moog Sub 37, it’s the first of the newer Moogs I really loved. I used to have a Minimoog Voyager which I never really got along with too, well since it sounded a bit “static” in my opinion (sorry!) … so if I find some extra room or a larger space, or maybe bring some stuff to my repair guy I might finally join the party.

What album would you say you loved the most in 2017?

I think probably ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ by OMD, what a great return – it was a big surprise and still sounded fresh! Also the latest Gary Numan album – fantastic production!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to Steve Baltes

Both ARCTIC SUNRISE albums ‘A Smarter Enemy’ and ‘When Traces End’ are released by Echozone

https://www.facebook.com/wearearcticsunrise/

https://www.reverbnation.com/arcticsunrise4

http://www.echozone.de

Text and Interview by Monika Izabela Trigwell
31st January 2018

DANIEL GRAVES Interview

29 January 2018 /

One of the songs of 2017 was the ‘Electro Version’ of AESTHETIC PERFECTION’s ‘Rhythm + Control’.

Featuring the additional talents of NYXX and WILLIAM CONTROL, ‘Rhythm + Control’ furthered Daniel Graves’ vision of industrial pop, combining accessible melodies and catchy toplines with some danceable gothic fervour and fits of aggression.

Continuing his industrial pop philosophy, the new AESTHETIC PERFECTION single ‘Ebb & Flow’ touches on the highs and lows of the heart; a superb slice of percussive electronic disco with its reverberant synth bassline, ‘Ebb & Flow’ even utilises a Talk Box, an effect famously used by BON JOVI on ‘Living On A Prayer’ and PETER FRAMPTON on ‘Show Me The Way’.

However, the biggest surprise is the single’s B-side, a cover of NSYNC’s ‘Bye Bye Bye’ which affirms the suspicion that Daniel Graves is indeed the love child of Justin Timberlake and Marilyn Manson! Featuring Nikki Misery from alternative metallers NEW YEAR’S DAY on guitar, the tune is slowed down to stark ballad with Graves showcasing a natural emotive singing voice not that far off Darren Hayes from SAVAGE GARDEN.

Preparing for an upcoming tour of Germany and Russia, Daniel Graves kindly took time out to chat about how his singles only policy is progressing and working with other artists from its resultant artistic freedom…

A year on, your singles only policy appears to be working for you?

We’re about 18 months into my little experiment here. While I remain convinced that singles are the way of the future, and physical media a thing of the past, I’ve learned a lot that has humbled me to the ins and outs of the industry. In the past, I think I took the work of labels and managers too much for granted. I didn’t bear the burden of my own success enough. I believed my only job as an artist was to create, and it was the other guy’s job to make me successful.

When the band went 100% independent at the end of 2015, I learned very quickly that an artist’s success is almost entirely dependent on themselves. Labels and managers are there to provide funding and logistical support, but beyond that, everything is up to the artist. EVERYTHING. That gave me a new appreciation for the work my previous colleagues did on my behalf. I’m sure I made the right move, but having done the work myself, I appreciate those guys so much more than I ever did. That said, things are going great!

‘Rhythm + Control’ was a triumph and ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK particularly loved the ‘Electro Version’… a cross between Darren Hayes, Britney Spears and Marilyn Manson we said… what was the genesis of the song?

‘Rhythm + Control’ was really just an experiment that ended up working. The goal was to cram as many features into one song and have fun with it as possible. I think we succeeded in that respect. I go deep into the backstory on the episode of ‘Tone Deaf’ where I break down the song and show you how it was made. In short, though it was quickly written backstage in Germany with the intention of turning it into a WILLIAM CONTROL track. Will didn’t have the time to finish it himself, so I took the reins and made it what it is today!

Check out the ‘Tone Deaf’ episode for all the gory details.

Will guitars be featuring more prominently in AESTHETIC PERFECTION in future as they did on the single version of ‘Rhythm + Control’?

AESTHETIC PERFECTION will never go down the path that many industrial bands have where adding guitars is equated with evolution. Everyone’s done it, so I don’t need to. As I mentioned, ‘Rhythm + Control’ was all about utilizing as many other artists as possible to create something I never would have on my own. So no, it’s not likely that you will hear that kind of music from me in the future.

That said: I’ve always been open to using whatever tools get the job done. If you remember, ‘Showtime’ is a song driven by bass and acoustic guitar and the backbone of ‘Big Bad Wolf’ is also a bass… so I’m not afraid of using live instruments as long as they serve a purpose in the song.

At the moment I’m working on new music with a producer friend and we’re using a lot of guitars. How much of those guitars that make it to the final version is hard to say. How many of those songs that will see the light of day is also hard to say… time will tell!

NYXX is an up-and-coming star, she sang with you on ‘LAX’ and ‘Rhythm + Control’, how did you discover her and how do you assess her potential?

‘LAX’ was meant as a vehicle to introduce her to my fanbase. She’s not actually singing in the song, rather, she’s featured in the video and speaks the poem at the beginning. It’s great because lots of her fans click on the song expecting to hear her singing, and when they realize she isn’t, they write nasty comments about how I’m attempting to piggy back off her fame by using her as a prop in my video. It’s quite hilarious. It’s sort of true, but funny nonetheless.

Anyway, I met NYXX simply because she wrote me an email! She was looking for a new producer and, as fate would have it, I’d been actively looking for a female vocalist to produce. She had a showcase at The Viper Room that I attended and I saw something special in her. A killer look, a unique sound and a drive for success. To find all those qualities in one person is rare. I decided at that moment that we had to work together. I don’t actually believe in fate, but it was a lovely coincidence that worked out for the both of us.

What was your collaborative process on her new single ‘Voodoo’?

When NYXX and I work together, it’s a totally collaborative process. She usually brings me musical or lyrical ideas and once something clicks with me we immediately jump in and power through. The final result is almost never anything like what we started with, but that initial spark is necessary to get the ball rolling.

For ‘Voodoo’, NYXX wanted to keep with her evil seductress vibe, but I wanted to switch it up and show people the person that *I* know. Someone human. Someone good. So I crafted a narrative about an innocent woman mired by rumors and accusations. NYXX twisted that to tell a story that’s much more vague. We never know if the woman in the story is a witch or not, and I think that makes it very compelling and cool. It’s that creative back and forth that helps us refine our concepts into something truly special.

What inspired the AESTHETIC PERFECTION new single ‘Ebb & Flow’ and what was your approach to recording it?

Life is full of ups and downs. Highs and lows. Ebbs and flows. Sometimes when one aspect of your life is doing wonderfully, another is falling apart. This notion hits especially close to home right now, so I wrote a song about it. My approach was no different than it always is: The song comes first. The production second. I sit down with my guitar or in front of my keyboard and write out something that resonates with me emotionally and then I try putting it all together.

If that all works, then it goes into the computer to become a finished production. The most important thing, tho, is that it works even when you strip away all the studio magic.

You did a great New Year video ‘Top Ten Rules of the Road’ as part of your ‘Tone Deaf with Daniel Graves’ series… it hit the nail on the head and told some home truths, as did your ‘Ten Commandments for New Bands’ 😉

I get f*cking INUNDATED with requests from people asking me how to start a label, survive the road, make money, produce a song… whatever. I created ‘Tone Deaf’ as a way of sharing my knowledge with those people and, hopefully, helping them find their way.

Full disclosure: I’m not an expert. I’m not educated or qualified to be telling people what to do. My advice should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I *have* been in the game for a long time and feel like maybe some of my insights could be useful. When I started, no one was there to tell me this stuff and I think I made a ton of mistakes because of it. Maybe I can save a few people the embarrassment / headaches / stress I had to endure…

Art is only abandoned, never finished?

As true today as it ever was!

How is the rest of your new material coming together, there’s plenty going on worldwide to inspire you?

I tend to draw my influences from my own life as opposed to the world at large. It’s not to say that I exist in a vacuum, I certainly don’t, and what’s going on, on the geopolitical stage affects me deeply. However, I do my best to speak about the general nature of the human experience rather than specific world events. I prefer art that isn’t hindered by time or borders, if you catch my drift. That said, I have a ton of new material and I’m always pondering the best ways to unleash it upon the world. I promise you it’s not terrible and you’ll hear it one day.

Despite your singles only policy, are you still under any pressure to release this new material in traditional physical formats like vinyl?

I’m constantly at odds with my audience about my methods and artistic philosophies. I wouldn’t want my fans to agree with me all the time, anyways, because conflict is the spice of life. If they just ate up everything I said and did our relationship wouldn’t mean as much as it does. The fact that they push back against me and make me reflect on myself and my choices is something I appreciate. Some of them really want another album. Some of them really want physical media. Time will tell if they pushed me hard enough.

What’s next for AESTHETIC PERFECTION or your work with other artists?

Oh, you know me, I’ve always got somethin’ cookin’…

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Daniel Graves

‘Ebb & Flow’ is available to download as a three track bundle including ‘Bye Bye Bye’, along with all the previous singles from http://aestheticperfection.bandcamp.com/

http://www.aesthetic-perfection.net/

https://www.facebook.com/aestheticperfection

https://twitter.com/daniel_graves

https://www.instagram.com/danielxgraves/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
29th January 2018

Never Mind The Gap, Here’s METROLAND!

27 January 2018 /

Belgium’s favourite passengers METROLAND marked their fifth anniversary in 2017 with ‘12×12’, a lavish 4CD boxed set celebrating their career to date, with each disc following a distinct curative path.

The journey began when their mechanised synthpop impressed audiences via the debut long player ‘Mind The Gap’, a conceptual celebration of the London Underground.

Indeed, it impressed so much that unscrupulous Russians bootleggers attempted to pass off several tracks as new KRAFTWERK demos on eBay! This undoubtedly was a back-handed compliment, especially as METROLAND had fans who included Andy McCluskey and Rusty Egan. This led to remix commissions from both Synth Britannia pioneers.

Since that first album, the Mechelen duo have added two more works ‘Triadic Ballet’ and ‘Things Will Never Sound The Same Again’ to their catalogue, while a fourth is currently being recorded.

METROLAND kindly took time out from their studio for a chat about their new single ‘Man In A Frame’ and what they have planned for their first ever performance in the UK.

How do you think the ’12×12’ retrospective collection box has been received?

This 4-CD-compilation, a kind of best of or anthology, which ’12×12′ really is, was well thought over. We wanted to give something rare and new to the fans who have been following us since long, but also wanted to give a complete view of our trajectory so far for new fans. All in all, we did well and the reviews that we found online confirmed that.

METROLAND are prolific and amongst all the hits were the great B-sides and bonus tracks like ‘(We Need) Machines Without Romance’, ‘The Hindenburg Landing’ and ‘See You’, what do you get out of constructing these extras?

We are both musicians that were mainly inspired during the 80s, where a 7” single (on vinyl) would always contain an extra track, a so-called B-side. For us, any single that we release, downloadable or not, has to have this B-side which gives us an opportunity to experiment with other structures or sounds or use songs we believe are just not strong enough to appear on a full length. Knowing that we always work in concepts, it is also logical to us that both songs are entwined within the concept we’re working on. It is as logical as saying 1 + 1 equals 2.

One track that was missing from the collection was your brilliant “has to be heard to be believed” cover of ‘Close To Me’ originally recorded by THE CURE?

Thanks for the compliment. ‘Close To Me’ was fun or even a challenge to make it like we did, by not singing anything ourselves, but only using sampled voices to complete the lyrics. It was a completely unexpected appearance where we opted to make it a METROLAND interpretation rather than a cover version.

Truth be told, it was part of the demo-and-rarities CD within the ’12×12′ compilation, but our label wanted to keep this cover version exclusively for THE CURE ‘A Strange Play’ tribute CD that they released. We toyed with the idea for a while to make a new version, but that idea was discarded as we had plenty of other goodies to choose from.

Obviously, METROLAND’s output forms distinct concepts within each of their parent albums, but which five individual tracks would you recommend to people listening to METROLAND for the first time and why?

First of all, ‘The Passenger’ as the electronics used there, and the message within, sets the core idea of METROLAND: electronics with no boundaries and we are all Passengers (notice the capital letter).

Secondly, ‘Thalys’, our most epic, yet minimal track, up to date. It is clearly our ‘T.E.E’, but it also marks the moment where influences from Düsseldorf started to wither.

Thirdly, though not a single, would be ‘3 Directors’ from the ‘Triadic Ballet’ album. It gives clear insight in our musical vision to use both melodies and obvious more aggressive bass lines. It’s also a bliss to play on stage.

Fourthly, the album title track of ‘Things Will Never Sound The Same Again’, as our music can go from happy to darker moody tracks, and this song is the far end of unhappy.

And finally ‘Cube’, as despite being an atypical song, it shows that METROLAND now and then dares to touch and explore unfamiliar grounds.

Which of the METROLAND long players do you still get a lot of satisfaction from?

Passenger A likes ‘Triadic Ballet’, as it’s still the album that has the most punch and pure electronics.

Passenger S still fancies all we did and cannot pick out one release he is particularly fond of. After each release you want to do better than the previous ones. That is the satisfaction we get.

‘Man In A Frame’ is the new single from METROLAND, what is at the centre of its genesis?

The title of the new single was actually the starting trigger about 2 years ago, but due to the album ‘Things Will Never Sound The Same Again’ that we created to commemorate Louis Zachert, our close friend and sound engineer that died too soon, and the fact that we existed 5 years in 2017 and made ‘12×12’, including a new track and video clip, the complete single and album was shifted severely.

The main idea in short, is that as an unknown person, a spot that can be ignored, you can be part of a photograph without knowing or without consent on so many locations and occasions. You are solely “a man in a frame” that travels the world without knowing where you end up. That sole moment, that sole focus, that static view. We built upon that idea to make the new album, to be released later in 2018.

What direction is the new METROLAND album heading in, is there anything you can reveal?

So our fourth album is called ‘Men In A Frame’… please notice the subtle change in the title of the ‘Man In A Frame’ single, so watch your writing.The concept for the ‘Men In A Frame’ album is all about photography. The trigger was easy: a person never has a clue on how many occasions he ends up in a picture taken by someone else, getting framed (in the background by accidentally passing or being present) and ready to travel the world.

You should go and stand in your neighbourhood close to a monument and see for yourself how many times tourists take you home in that frame, thus the name of the album.

But the album is of course not just holding plain tourist pictures, like you might expect. For ‘Men In A Frame’, we co-operated with F-8, an art and photography collective of 5 professional photographers. They each provided us with 2 unique, arty pictures, gave each an apt title which we then used as inspirational trigger for our electronics. With some it was the picture itself, some the title or even sometimes it was the sentiment or interpretation of the artifact itself.

The result is an album with 10 tracks, that are, and to put it in the words of our label boss “epic and filmic”. As we were dealing with photography, we decided to extend the concept and asked each F-8 member to make promotional pictures of us, humble passengers, so we ended up being models in 5 totally different settings with a superb visual result.

During the creative process, we concluded that in fact we would be delivering 10 pictures that you can listen to. This triggered us to organize a vernissage with 2 goals: 1 is to bring the new album into the picture (pun intended), the other is to present all 10 album pictures in a highly qualitative medium, hanging on a wall, where the audience can use their smartphone to access the corresponding song that they can listen to with headphones.

So we will have an audience of listening viewers, which is unique, we think. This exposition will be called ‘Pictures To Listen To’. At his moment, we have already 1 expo like this planned, but we are conducting discussions with art exhibitionists to take this event to other big cities. That is on the art part.

Musically, we decided not to use any album track as a single, as it simply would not fit the concept of a song linked to a photograph anymore. Hence, we opted for a first single, called ‘Man In A Frame’, which was initially the first trigger for this concept altogether.

2017 has been a big year for electronic albums, so what are your thoughts on the year’s offerings by DEPECHE MODE, ERASURE, GOLDFRAPP, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, OMD, GARY NUMAN and BLANCMANGE?

For Passenger A, that is a difficult and very personal question, to be honest, as it comes down to personal taste. Only OMD was convincing enough with some very good tracks, although ‘English Electric’ was more impacting. ERASURE and GOLDFRAPP was not the first disappointment. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM and GARY NUMAN were never on the radar at all, and BLANCMANGE needs a first listen.

For Passenger S, it is a personal matter of taste indeed, because he feels as an artist himself, he is not to judge albums in interviews. Every release by a band has got a certain place and meaning in their history and it needs to be respected for that. There will always be people / fans that like or dislike a release.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to METROLAND

‘Man In A Frame’ is released by Alfa Matrix on 2nd February 2018, download bundles including the B-side ’F-8’ plus remixes by THE FRIXION and MASCHINE BRENNT available from https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/

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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
27th January 2018, updated 7th February 2018

STEVEN JONES & LOGAN SKY Hans und Lieselotte

25 January 2018 /

Steven Jones met Logan Sky through the legendary Steve Strange, both being mutual friends of the late singer.

Sky established himself as a familiar name in the electronic music circles, having tinkered with synths for VISAGE, working with Nick Rhodes while playing and DJ-ing alongside CLIENT, LADYTRON and HOT CHIP, to name a few. Jones, a multitalented individual, dividing his attention between love of vocal wizardry and teaching of yoga, has worked with Sky on many previous releases, including numerous EPs and the long player ‘Corrupt State’, which featured Strange before his untimely demise.

The pair take their inspiration from the usual suspects like DAVID BOWIE, ULTRAVOX, JAPAN and DEPECHE MODE. They create “music to evoke the restlessness and romance of international travel, cinematic loneliness of modern urban life and the deceptive seductiveness of the photographed image…”

The beginning of 2018 brings the follow-up to ‘Corrupt State’; ‘Hans und Lieselotte’. The album was recorded in one week and it represents “a new collection of shimmering electronics and the result of a dynamic musical experiment, an honouring of the random creative impulse.”

The title, taken from a German learning course, which features the daily life of a typical Deutsch family, The Schaudis, whose son Hans had a lady friend Lieselotte. Although rather superficial and totally absurd, the lessons taught perfect High German, even reaching cult status, with the grammatically correct, yet ridiculous sentences derived from it being quoted left, right and centre.

Indeed the opening ‘Lieselotte is not an Object’ could be one of them… Kraftwerkian style! ‘Girls Like It From Above’ brings to life the notion of vintage disco, rubbing shoulders with “chaotic creative channeling” as per AND ONE’s ‘Virgin Superstar’ in its style. The perfect arpeggios meet arty notions, performed with poise and passion. Do girls really “like it from above”? Do they “only crave this kind of love”? Perhaps, if it’s sung by Jones.

‘Syria’ features Eastern musical elements not too dissimilar from BLANCMANGE’s ‘Living On The Ceiling’; this time “desert fires (are) burning”. But the originality shines through the superb ‘Oysters Without You’, which could have been a starting point for THE HUMAN LEAGUE sans the girls on ‘Reproduction’ or ‘Travelogue’. A parodical tale of consuming oysters alone, rather than with a lover, the moral is “never eat your oysters alone”.

The faraway travel continues with the music stripped ‘Talk India’. As it says on the tin, here we are “talking India”. A rather hilarious narration of Jones’ visit to India, intertwined with Hindu music, telling the tale of drink, food, visiting of Taj Mahal, Jaypur, Rishikesh (renowned for meditation and yoga in its temples and ashrams), wrapped into a memento of a memorable journey.

Clearly the narrated pieces are of a liking for the duo, as ‘A Packet Of Something’ follows in that very notion. Here we see Jones “arising from the void of light”, boosted by sci-fi musical fixtures. The slower, rather JAPAN-like ‘Waiting for The Evening’ is a majestic combination of excellent synth and capable vocals. This is what synth arpeggios are supposed to sound like, boys and girls! ‘My Obscurity’ punctuates the record with its tribal meet nature feel, while ‘Logan Loves It’ is what Sky loves, the instrumental way with very vintage Depeche rhythms.

‘Peppersack’ marks the album’s end, if we take out the three remixes that follow, and it’s a tale of enigma with the atmosphere of uncertainty and pain, or perhaps not… additionally we are presented with two remixes of ‘Lieselotte Is Not An Object’, including a masterful version by Man Parrish and ‘Hans und Lise’, also by the Godfather Of Electro.

Another success? Definitely. Logan Sky’s love of experimental synth shines through ‘Hans und Lieselotte’. The classical trained pianist, turned keyboard player has always seen himself “as an inventor” and his graft is served here with a dose of melancholy, joy, laughter and nostalgia, creating a listen worthy record with a twist.

‘Hans und Lieselotte’ is released by Etrangers Musique, available as a CD or download from https://etrangersmusique.bandcamp.com/album/hans-und-lieselotte

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Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
25th January 2018

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