“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
Formally of synth-tinged Portland band FRINGE CLASS, front woman Madeline Goldstein went solo in 2019 having discovered Ableton to free herself of the traditional band format.
Relocating to Los Angeles, her debut album ‘Forget This’ in early 2020 collected a variety of sonic electronic experiments with the vocal presence of Julee Cruise captured on ‘Dreams’,
While hazier impressionistic overtures emerged from the opening track ‘A Feeling’ and there were also the shimmering soundscapes of ‘Control’, 2021’s ‘Lost In Heaven’ let in some sparkle and acted as a stopgap single before 2022’s ‘One More Day’ signified a revitalised approach in more song-based structures. With brighter synth hooks amongst the dreampop and a deeper vocal register in a fabulously delivered performance recalling Mari Kattman or Megan Louise, it was undoubtedly a step forward.
Her best yet, Madeline Goldstein’s latest single ‘Seed Of Doubt’ is the first song from the soon-to-be-released ‘Other World’ EP that promises a narrative on “the restlessness of alienation and isolation, the longing to move, to feel power, and to flee”. It is a brooding slice of gothwave in a manner akin to LEATHERS, tinged with some ghostly allure thanks to a haunting soprano delivery.
Despite the sense of unease, like all good gothic-flavoured tunes, there’s a romance in the vulnerable uncertainty while chilling Numan-esque synth passages point towards visions of castles and forests as the song’s rhythmic lattice builds. This imagery is captured in the video put together by Goldstein and Chad Fjerstad which begins with grainy and nocturnal street footage in the intro before snapping into daylight and rock formations to portray isolation in nature. The visual accompaniment jumps around to show a forlorn Goldstein sitting in a hotel room while also containing grainy night vision footage.
The self-composed ‘Seed Of Doubt’ has been produced and mixed by Matia Simovich whose credits have included BOY HARSHER and BODY OF LIGHT, as well as one-time TANGERINE DREAM member Peter Baumann. Madeline Goldstein will soon be on the bill with Catherine Moan and Primer for a live gig at The Virgil in Los Angeles hosted by Das Bunker.
Madeline Goldstein, Catherine Moan + Primer play Das Bunker at The Virgil on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles on Friday 3rd February 2023 – tickets available from https://dasbunker.org/
Born in Dresden, Jennifer Touch presented her first recordings in 2014 although only released her first album ‘Behind The Wall’ in 2020.
But the now Berlin-based daughter of DDR flower-power children presents her second album ‘Midnight Proposals’ in February 2023. Unlike her autobiographical debut, Touch was inspired by John Steinbeck’s book ‘Grapes of Wrath’ when she started to work on a follow-up.
The album’s first taster was ‘Summerchild’, a song born of frustration containing a narrative of powerlessness while seeking self-freedom. Although this track was inspired by Touch’s own childhood as were most of the tracks on Behind The Wall’, it acts as a bridge to ‘Midnight Proposals’ as it discards the shackles of adolescence. Meanwhile the second minimal industrial taster ‘Gudrun’ pays tribute to Touch’s grandmother, a child of the Second World War who was forced to abandon many of her own dreams.
With the newly issued Zanias like single ‘Sacred Type’ and the imminent release of ‘Midnight Proposals’, Jennifer Touch spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about her career to date and the making of her “Post-Wave-Cold-Pop-Acid-Romance” opus…
Your 2020 debut album looked at your life ‘Behind The Wall’, how do you look back on the making of that record now?
It was a very important step for me as an artist to focus on selecting existing songs, and combining them with new ones. It was an intense and difficult project important to surrender to. I was searching for my very own artistic language that has started with the ‘Chemistry ‘EP, and I remember it being a time when I was stepping out of my normal social life to stay focussed and not influenced – for way too long. I was working so hard because I thought I had to give it all in order to reach the next level and to be a true artist. My album had to be done this way though. It was my idea of being an artist back then and it was authentic to me. Shortly after that, the pandemic happened, and as I had already spent months in isolation out of choice, I was just ready to get out again. Boom! You never know what’s happening tomorrow.
You were introduced to synthpop and new wave by your father, what artists inspired you?
There are always so many, across all the arts. Writing, painting, film and music, Elvis, Allen Ginsberg, Iggy Pop, Georgia O´Keeffe, Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, DAF, Cure, Madonna, Sonic Youth, Silvia Plath, Truman Capote, David Lynch, Anne Clark, Elastica, Cause for Alarm, Nirvana, Bikini Kill, old American Psychedelic Country and Folk Music, Gottfried Benn. And Lacrimosa. I was listening to them non-stop when I was 16, it was weird but so dark and romantic, perfect for my teenage heart. But I mixed it with punk rock and Siouxsie’s ‘Hong Kong Garden’. Mostly I´m inspired by a certain authenticity and a stoic but eclectic vibe that is definitely rare. People who just walk their path no matter what. That can also be normal people around me, people who I feel are artists, you know? The way they talk, look, create their own world. Today it’s so hard to stick to your authenticity with all this social media crap.
‘Chemistry’ could be considered your breakthrough song, what was that about?
This song is – surprise – about being in, and leaving an unhealthy relationship. I was sitting in my studio on a rainy Sunday when I wrote and recorded this song. It just happened, and there was a flow to it as if the sadness and anger were showing me the way. But I tried to keep the song as unemotional as possible, as to not just put my sh*t on to others. To keep a space for the listeners to sink into the song with their own thoughts and reflections. It’s interesting how people seem to love this song. I think it’s a nice one but not my best. But it’s a very honest piece of work, and people can always feel that.
You channelled good old Jim Osterberg in ‘Iggy’s Sight’?
I was messing with this bassline of ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, that he must have taken from another song originally too. I just wanted to play around with it, and imagined Iggy as a woman, then the lyrics came to me. He is one of my guides in the art world, and def a future vision of how to become older and remain cool and musically interesting. He inspires me and I have a huge portrait of him in my studio. He watches over my work like: Are you sure?
They say the first album documents a lifetime up to that point, while the second album captures a much shorter period. So what is the concept behind ‘Midnight Proposals’?
The pandemic changed the whole production process, especially doing a vinyl, now labels now had to wait almost 8 months to receive their test pressings. I had to be quick and efficient if I wanted to release something the next year. For months I was not feeling creative at all, still exhausted from the Pandemic struggles. That was until I realised if I changed my work process I could create something really good.
The concept was to approach a good art piece in a more efficient way of creating, and to surrender myself to a fixed amount of time. To deliver a blueprint, an essence that shows my artistic language at exactly that moment, honest and clear. The pandemic changed me. Time has a new meaning to me. It’s a huge treasure and comes in boxes – a box of isolation, a box of freedom, a box of creation, a box of touring, a box of reflection.
I had a period of 4 months to create something, after the endless and numb isolation times of the pandemic, followed by an intense and busy summer. I hadn’t a single song finished (just one set of lyrics) before I started, so it really was a blank page. I was full of impressions and had a vision, so I had to trust myself that the good stuff will come together. I was determined to use my creation time differently, and to be more disciplined and clear with my output. Artists don’t need to spend a year in a bubble to make a good record. A good artist can drift in their own universe, but work efficiently and enjoy a social life simultaneously. That is the fuel and support. It took me 1 month to research the perfect equipment to stick to over the whole time of creating the album.
I already had a topic and feeling in mind, and I couldn’t sleep some nights because I was thinking of the perfect synths and drum machines that were also affordable. Because everything was limited, including time and equipment, so I had to be very picky and disciplined. The whole process was incredibly healing, and I love to work like that. Quick without being sketchy. That is my most important rule: To give in the very best you have – and to embrace it as it is, to let it breathe.
2019’s ‘Seven’ EP released after the first version of ‘Chemistry’ was a more techno-based offering, so how did you decide you wanted to continue with songwriting?
Over the years, songwriting became my favourite challenge as a musician, I’m much more interested in creating a good song than a cool techno track. An album for me is song work, because I consider myself to follow that musical tradition, also called Pop. I try to recreate and evaluate. I’m not very good at making longer dance tracks yet, but I’m more and more keen on nailing down the essence of a composition. Songwriting is a big effort, but it can be so rewarding. Like doing maths with your feelings. Creating a more open and longer dance track requires another way of dramaturgy that I’m just not so drawn to. Who knows what happens next though.
Many recent albums have just had 8 tracks on but ‘Midnight Proposals’ has 13, did you have a lot on your mind that needed expressing?
Yes I did and there is much more. Ultimately if the songs were crap there would be less, but all 13 songs (12 on the vinyl) are part of the story I want to tell. And two of them are more like interludes. The label picked them all. And the listeners should be able to spend some time with it, because they pay money for this artwork.
How has your writing and production process changed between the two albums, do you have any favourite synths and tools?
Besides the shorter amount of production time, I also changed my tools and equipped my studio with new stuff. Again, I worked mostly with machines and not so many plug ins: Drawmer 1970 Compressor, a Vermona Reverb, Doepffer Dark Time and Dark Energy, lots of analogue Guitar Delays and Reverbs, Guitar, Bass, Percussions (like a triangle, claves, bells), some Drum Machines (DDD-1, Alesis SR16, Kawai R100, Emu Drumulator Plug in) and a Poly Korg and Waldorf Blofeld Keys Synthesizer.
I was happy to use different microphones I borrowed from a friend. As I had to produce the record in a pandemic winter, I had to be more independent with my mixing techniques, I had no other options. The first album was finished at Devon Analogue Studios, where I could add some sounds and effects I didn’t have in my studio. This album is recorded, mixed and engineered entirely with my own equipment. For the very final mix, I went to a friend’s studio next door. He has these awesome analogue compressors, so I was able to do the final frequency tweaks. It’s always good to go somewhere else for the final touch, where you can hear another sonic spectrum of your work.
‘Rumors’ is an interesting track in that is it quite avant-pop, accessible yet tinged with anguish, how did this come together?
That’s a nice description. I don’t really know how this came together, I sing about this Pop-music-moment of a new relationship or love, that we can’t enter from a totally neutral place. We all have our experiences and worries, and it’s sometimes hard to believe something healthy and nice can just happen to us. I think the excitement that something great is happening to you, mixed with hazy hope and still one foot in the door makes this song so full of different vibes. Happiness packed in a pop song with a small portion of darkness, as always.
You have mentioned the “different freedom boys seemed to have”, do you think that is the case in music?
It´s the case everywhere. If you want be a free woman (or an as female identifying person) you still pay a price. Also for queer people or for any diversity, it´s still such a tough path. I can only speak from my experiences in music business as a straight, Cis woman, but you are always judged and compared to other women, whether it is your look or your content. You are not as good as ABC, or you are better than XYZ, but you are too old, too young, too sexy, not sexy enough, too pretty, too weird… you know.
It never changes, and girls are raised with this competitive state of mind, where it becomes normal to question ourselves and others constantly. It’s just what we have to deal with. Why can’t we just do our thing and exist NEXT to each other, instead of ABOVE or BELOW. This sucks and has nothing to do with artistic development, trial and error. Society has to develop an eye for the little details, take a closer look and give us a break. Put in some effort. Question your boxes. Actually I made a song about this feeling called ‘A Day.’ It’s on ‘Midnight Proposals.’
You play with different vocal styles and tones on the album, from sung, spoken and shouted with ‘Prayer’ using a deep pitch shift?
Yeah, it was fun. I wanted all the different personalities that exist in my voice, and the different shades. After years of singing I feel more free to use my voice. It´s an instrument, influenced and inspired by so many great female vocalists.
‘Sacred Type’ is like synthpop Siouxsie but also shows a musical affinity with Berlin-based artist Zoe Zanias, do you feel any kinship with other female electronic artists in the city?
I feel a kinship with any woman out there, especially in music and the arts because it´s a tricky area as mentioned above.
My songs have been created in a very intimate and safe environment, but they will undoubtedly be compared to songs by other women. I just respect these women and celebrate them for what they achieved, because we all stand for any other woman out there. However, I rarely follow them as I try to do my thing.
‘Twisted’ has this great dissonance about it with these eerie harmonics?
Yes, totally, it’s a twisted song. The elements fight against each other but come together as well in a weird way. The synth sound bothered me, but after some struggles, it worked out so I kept it. It shows the theme of the song. It’s imperfect and there is disharmony. So it is human and I love that.
The closing track ‘Strings’, musically it’s like THE CURE meeting Gary Numan?
I feel it’s such a 90s ballad, more NIRVANA or something like that. I´m sure the guitar line is not new, but my focus was on my voice and recreating a song that probably never existed, but has been stuck in my head since I was a teenager. It’s the counterpoint to the song ‘Rumors’. The ending of the story that started with song 2.
Do you have any particular favourite tracks ‘Midnight Proposals’, if so, why?
I think ‘Prayer’ and ‘Gudrun’ are my favs atm but I really love every song.
Who do you hope that ‘Midnight Proposals’ will appeal to? How do your techno fans react to the song-based material?
I have no idea. I also don’t think I have techno fans at all. My music has always been something between a track and a song. I always tried to write songs, even when it was music for the club. The songs are what appealed to me in this moment, and I think this is my most authentic work to date. I´m very proud of this record, but also super nervous how it will be received. The songs are my babies and I want them to be enjoyed, accepted and seen without being judged or in comparison.
What is next for you?
I really hope that I can go on tour with this album, so at the moment I am working on my live set and some merch. I’m also dreaming of setting up a Jennifer Touch live band in the future, to go on tour together. And I would love to work with artists from other areas, like painters, writers, film makers, maybe in a residency in another part of the world.
Next to making music I’m also kind of a writer, and I often think about publishing a lyric book. But I try to keep the flow with things, I don’t want have too many fixed ideas of what’s coming next.
There has been a lot of disappointment over the last years, but I’m cool with it now. As an artist you are that creative part of a society that has to adapt quickly, showing reflection but still sticking to your core values. If you can harness this and realise your own worth, it can be a very exciting path to walk.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Jennifer Touch
In addition to albums, several standalone singles were to be key to 1983 for those with a preference for the synthesized form.
NEW ORDER’s ‘Blue Monday’ and KRAFTWERK’s ‘Tour De France’ became iconic works while the David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto collaboration ‘Forbidden Colours’ not only bravely tackled a topic during a period when gay pop stars and media personalities still felt unable to openly come out, but also reinforced the value of a movie tie-in.
Sampling was no longer the preserve of wealthy musicians and their Fairlights as the cheaper but still expensive Emulator became more widely available. Meanwhile the Roland Jupiter-6, Prophet 600, the Roland TR-909 and Roland MSQ-700 became the first instruments available with MIDI. Digital synthesis became affordable via the astonishingly affordable Yamaha DX7, although it proved to be a nightmare to programme. As a result, the music world fell into a preset trap overnight with the sound of simulated slap bass, flute and harmonica appearing on almost every pop record for the next few years…
But synthesizers and electronic sounds ceased being a desired texture as the huge success of David Bowie with his ‘Let’s Dance’ album meant every band would soon add a brass section to their line-up. SPANDAU BALLET, who perhaps may have triggered pop’s brass aspirations back in 1981 with ‘Chant No1’, went all smaltzy with ‘True’ and this coincided with the rise of pseudo-soul pop such as WHAM! and CULTURE CLUB. Meanwhile, in alternative circles, bands like THE SMITHS were spearheading the backlash with their frontman Morrissey declaring “there was nothing more repellent than the synthesizer…”
However, the old guard from Synth Britannia soldiered on and continued to experiment while acts who perhaps were not electronically-minded at their heart could see the benefits of embracing the developing technology, such as having more streamlined line-ups and dispensing with drummers.
However, a sign of the confusing artistic mindsets of the period came with Gary Numan’s ‘Warriors’ album and its dreadful artwork with our hero looking like Mad Max after a visit to the hair salon, but annoyed that his mulleted mane had been dyed the wrong colour. Things had looked promising for his return to the UK live stage after retiring in 1981, but he fell out with producer Bill Nelson during the recording sessions.
With the embracement of jazz funk influences and sax solos appearing whether they were really needed or not, the result was a well-played if confused record that was the beginning of a creative confidence crisis that would afflict Numan for at least another decade.
So here are 20 albums selected by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK as contributing to the electronic legacy of 1983. Listed in alphabetical order, there is a restriction of one album per artist moniker where beyond this place, the rains are falling hard…
CABARET VOLTAIRE The Crackdown
Richard H Kirk and Stephen Mallinder became seduced by the sequenced adventures of NEW ORDER and electronic dance music emerging from New York. Signing to Some Bizzare and licensed to Virgin Records, ‘The Crackdown’ was produced by Flood and featured contributions from Dave Ball of SOFT CELL on the title song and ‘Animation’. Meanwhile the stark single ‘Just Fascination’ helped the album become CABARET VOLTAIRE’s highest ever UK chart entry at No31.
CHINA CRISIS Working With Fire & Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume 2
Produced by Mike Howlett, ‘Working With Fire & Steel’ allowed CHINA CRISIS to deliver a more cohesive album following the four producers who steered their debut ‘Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms’! Best known for the brilliant ‘Wishful Thinking’, the album is much more with melancholic synth melodies and woodwind counterpoints, from feistier numbers such as ‘Animals In Jungles’ to more atmospheric set pieces like ‘Here Comes A Raincloud’ and ‘The Soul Awakening’.
‘Working With Fire & Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume 2’ is still available via Caroline International
The first album featuring Alan Wilder as a full member as well as Gareth Jones as Tonmeister, ‘Construction Time Again’ saw DEPECHE MODE experimenting with found object sampling. Mixed at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, it was a socially conscious record featuring Cold War paranoia on ‘Two Minute Warning’, environmental concerns on ’The Landscape Is Changing’ and the now ironic anti-capitalist statements ‘More Than A Party’, ‘Pipeline’ and ‘Everything Counts’!
DURAN DURAN may have yielded a 1984 No1 single in a Nile Rodgers remix of ‘The Reflex’ but overall, ‘Seven & The Ragged Tiger’ was an over produced disappointment. Recorded in France and Australia, tensions between the band and producer Ian Little led to the ubiquitous Alex Sadkin to be brought in. Despite this, highlights included the punchy ‘Shadows On Your Side’, the JAPAN inspired instrumental ‘Tiger Tiger’ and the forgotten single ‘New Moon On Monday’.
The success of ABC and HEAVEN 17 heralded a new age of technologically enhanced blue-eyed soul. One band with aspirations in that field were Glasgow’s ENDGAMES. ‘Universe Won’t Mind’, ‘Desire’ and ‘Waiting For Another Chance’ were among the standouts. Meanwhile ‘Love Cares’ was like a funky CHINA CRISIS walking into the recording sessions of ‘The Lexicon Of Love’ and by coincidence, singer David Rudden had a passing resemblance to Gary Daly!
‘Building Beauty’ was originally released on Virgin Records, currently unavailable
Recorded as a soundtrack to a documentary about the Apollo moon missions, Brian Eno wanted to convey the feelings of space travel and weightlessness as a reaction to the uptempo, manner of space travel presented by news reels of the day with their fast cuts and speeded up images. Although based around a Yamaha DX7, it was instrumentally varied featuring Daniel Lanois’ countrified guitar on its best known track ‘Deep Blue Day’, as well as ‘Silver Morning’ and ‘Weightless’.
The first of two EURYTHMICS albums in 1983, after their German-inspired debut ‘In The Garden’, Annie Lennox and David A Stewart explored the synthesizer and acquired a Movement Drum Computer. Recorded in their newly equipped 8 track home studio, ‘Love Is A Stranger’ was the breakthrough. Despite its hopeless nihilism, the title song went global but there were other notable songs such as ‘I Could Give You (A Mirror)’, ‘I’ve Got An Angel’ and the brilliant forgotten single ‘The Walk’.
John Foxx had envisioned ‘The Golden Section’ as “a roots check” with a psychedelic electronic rock flavour. This came to a head on a revised ‘Endlessy’ which captured an accessible uptempo euphoria. With folk laden overtones, ‘Ghosts On Water’ was a highlight along with the powerful opener ‘My Wild Love’. But away from these influences, ‘Twilight’s Last Gleaming’ was a glorious haunting closer. Foxx later remarked the album was a mistake as he tried to “fit too many favourite things together”.
Produced by Alex Sadkin, ‘Rhythm Of Life’ was the one and only attempt by Paul Haig to crack the pop mainstream away from the frantic guitar driven angst of his previous band JOSEF K. Highly percussive and lifted by some sub-ASSOCIATES rhythm guitar and big layered synth riffs, ‘Never Give Up (Party Party)’ showed great promise while ‘Heaven Sent’ was a superb reimagination of SIMPLE MINDS’ ‘I Travel’ for the New York dancefloor. A lack of hits failed to ignite wider interest in the album.
‘Rhythm Of Life’ is still available via Les Disques Du Crépuscule
After the success of ‘Penthouse & Pavement’, the second album ‘The Luxury Gap’ was HEAVEN 17 aiming to be incredibly popular. With a Roland MC4 Micro-composer and Linn Drum driving their System 100s and Jupiter 4, there were Top 5 hits in ‘Temptation’ and ‘Come Live With Me’. Still experimenting, ‘Lady Ice & Mr Hex’ was a surreal marriage of synthesizers with jazz while with the use of a Roland TB303 Bassline prominently on ‘Let Me Go’ pre-dated acid house.
Trying to follow-up ‘Dare’ proved to be a fractious experience with producer Martin Rushent leaving the sessions after creative conflicts with various members of THE HUMAN LEAGUE. The few completed tracks were issued on a North American mini-album. While included were the ‘Love Action’ B-side ‘Hard Times’, the catchy title single and the electro-Tamla of ‘Mirror Man’, they were topped by ‘You Remind Me Of Gold’ and Rushent’s mix of ‘I Love You too Much’.
Pete Byrne and Rob Fisher were NAKED EYES and while their Simmons heavy Bacharach & David cover of ‘Always Something There To Remind Me’ didn’t trouble the UK Top 40, it reached No8 in the US. Produced by Tony Mansfield of NEW MUSIK, the eponymous debut album used a Fairlight, Synclavier 2, PPG Wave 2.2, Emulator, OBX-a and Prophet 5. Not another Bacharach & David cover, a further US hit came with ‘Promises Promises’.
‘Burning Bridges’ is still available as ‘Naked Eyes’ via Chrysalis Records
Using sequencer-like effects on interim singles ‘Everything’s Gone Green’ and ‘Temptation’ had set NEW ORDER on a new path and while there were still guitar driven songs such as ‘Age Of Consent’ and ‘Leave Me Alone’, hybrids such as ‘The Village’ and ‘Ultraviolence’ utilised a pulsing electronic backbone. ‘Your Silent Face’, dubbed the “KRAFTWERK one”, was the ultimate romantic homage to Kling Klang but strangely, the track that seeded it all ‘586’ lost its menace in its album incarnation.
A brave sonic exploration of Cold War tensions and economic corruption, ‘Dazzle Ships’ was not what Virgin Records expected from OMD after three Top5 hits. Of its two singles, the jangly ‘Genetic Engineering’ was only a minor hit while the scathing attack on TV evangelism ‘Telegraph’ failed to get into the Top40. Although it featured some of the band’s best songs like ‘The Romance Of The Telescope’, ‘International’ and ‘Radio Waves’, ‘Dazzle Ships’ sold poorly on release but it has since been re-evaluated.
Pop stardom did not suit SOFT CELL so there was no option but for Marc Almond and Dave Ball to self-destruct. The imploding disposition of ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’ title song couldn’t have soundtracked a mental breakdown any better. Despite the sinister romp of ‘Baby Doll’ and the explicit ode to promiscuity ‘Numbers’, ‘Forever The Same’ and ‘Loving You Hating Me’ could have been a singles, while ‘Where The Heart Is’ and ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’ featured highly relatable domestic narratives.
With a magnificent combination of synth, preset rhythms and conventional instruments, ‘Mad World’ had set the scene for TEARS FOR FEARS’ debut album ‘The Hurting’. But it disappointed some, as it not only had all four singles to date been included but also two B-sides. But the majority had been reworked while the fraught tensions of the title song and ‘Memories Fade’ found favour amongst the new material. The re-recorded ‘Pale Shelter’ became a hit on second time of asking too.
‘The Hurting’ is still available via Mercury Records
Now down to a trio, the Alex Sadkin produced ‘Quick Step & Side Kick’ was the third THOMPSON TWINS album. Although ‘Love On Your Side’ was to be the breakthrough hit with the catchy but potentially annoying ‘We Are Detective’ following, the exotic funky non-hit ‘Lies’ deserved greater recognition while ‘Judy Do’ gloriously borrowed from Lou Reed’s ‘Satellite Of Love’. This was without the Grace Jones cameo on the bonkers ‘Watching’ and the rousing ‘If You Were There’.
WHITE DOOR formed from the ashes of prog rock combo GRACE. Led by the sensitive vocal presence of Mac Austin, he backed by the Davies brothers Harry and John on synths. Produced by a young Andy Richards, ‘Windows’ saw its title song get BBC Radio1 airplay. The beautiful choir boy synthpop of ‘Jerusalem’ was later covered by Swedish synthesist Johan Baeckström, along with another album track ‘School Days’. Baeckström wolud join the trio for their 2020 comeback.
‘Windows’ is still available as a CD from Cherry Red Records
Despite the success of ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’, all was not well in the YAZOO camp so by the time of ‘You & Me Both’, Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet were working in the studio separately. ‘Ode To Boy’ was rescued from B-side obscurity while ‘Nobody’s Diary’ was the mighty swansong single. The album contained Moyet’s poignant anti-war statement ‘Mr Blue’ but in the Vince Clarke voiced ‘Happy People’, he came up with his most polarising composition since ‘What’s Your Name?’.
As a reaction to the over-seriousness of their previous two albums, YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA lightened up considerably for ‘Naughty Boys’. The most commercial record of their career, this was highlighted by the joyous lead single ‘Kimi Ni Mune Kyun’. But while ‘Opened My Eyes’ could have been any Western synthpop act, ‘Lotus Love’ revealed some unexpected psychedelic overtones and ‘Kai-Koh’ showed that the trio had not lost their ear for exotic timbres.
Following one of the most traumatic years of her life, Alison Lewis is back as ZANIAS to present more of her emotional catharsis to music.
The first fruit of labours is the excellent ‘Simulation’ which is a bittersweet ode to the Australian’s adopted home of Berlin where she “landed here at twenty-three”.
“This city is a fable, nowhere else to go. This city has enabled us all and it’s breaking my soul” she sighs. But as her vulnerable soul is bared, she counters with the view that “in a world so f*cking awry, let’s talk about our favourite ways to get high…”
From the forthcoming album ‘Chrysalis’, out soon on Lewis’ own Fleisch Records, ‘Simulation’ itself while is typically introspective and moody in that ZANIAS vein with a hauntingly contralto vocal. However it is also eminently danceable and occasionally sparkles instrumentally in a manner that is more akin to Lewis’ other project LINEA ASPERA with Ryan Ambridge.
All these contrasting feelings are captured on the superb visual accompaniment directed by Janis Reichert who was found by ZANIAS live bandmate Laura Bailey aka NEU-ROMANCER on an Italo party boat!
Accurately capturing the feeling expressed that “In a broken reality, everything’s shattering”, the eerie slo-mo effect was achieved by all concerned filming to ‘Simulation’ being speeded up to 138BPM. The end result captures a joyful escapist euphoria with the rave angels at the Untertage club cast as extras.
Alison Lewis has said she has made more music in a single period that any other time of her life and as well as the ‘Chrysalis’ album, there will be ZANIAS live dates which will include Europe, the UK and Canada. “I have soooo much to share” she said on her social media, “this is just the beginning…”
‘Simulation’ is available as a digital single on the usual online platforms and direct from https://zanias.bandcamp.com/
ZANIAS 2023 UK live dates include:
Southampton 1865 (14th February), Liverpool Quarry (15th February), Glasgow Ivory Blacks (16th February), Manchester Rebellion Club (18th February), London Lexington (19th February), London Camden Assembly Hall (17th March) – further information on these and other shows at https://swampbooking.com/zanias/
Yukihiro Takahashi, the drummer and lead vocalist of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA has sadly passed away at the age of 70.
In 2020, Takahashi had a brain tumour removed and undergone a course of treatment following surgery but he eventually succumbed to his illness.
Born in Tokyo, Takahashi first came to prominence as the drummer of THE SADISTIC MIKA BAND, a prog fusion outfit who were signed to PINK FLOYD’s Harvest label and appeared on ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ in 1975.
He released his first solo album, the lounge-flavoured ‘Saravah!’ in 1978 which featured a cover of ‘Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)’. But that same year, he was invited by producer Haruomi Hosono to form a primarily instrumental disco band with Ryuichi Sakamoto which could have the potential to succeed internationally; that band was YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA. While Hosono was schooled in jazz and funk, the classically trained Sakamoto bought in the influence of KRAFTWERK while Takahashi was something of an Anglophile with a love of ROXY MUSIC having toured with them as part of THE SADISTIC MIKA BAND. The end result was a very Japanese approach of merging many different styles like a Bento box in a reliable, forward thinking fashion.
Released in 1978, YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA’s wonderful self-titled debut album captured a crisp exotic electronic pop sound. Its key track was ‘Firecracker’, a cover of a 1959 composition by Martin Denny which became a surprise UK Top 20 hit single in 1980 while also gaining traction in America where the band made a memorable appearance on the prestigious music show ‘Soul Train’. The rest of the album featured original material including the Takahashi-composed ‘La Femme Chinose’.
Released in 1979, the excellent second album ‘Solid State Survivor’ featured Takahashi’s masterpiece ‘Rydeen’ and saw him feature more prominently as a vocalist as YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA moved away from solely instrumental compositions. While the next two albums ‘BGM’ and ‘Technodelic’ were darker and more experimental, Takahashi maintained a successful solo career in his homeland where his Ferry-ish vocal delivery naturally took centre stage.
His solo albums ‘Neuromantic’, ‘What, Me Worry?’, ‘Time & Place’ and ‘Wild & Moody’ featured notable British musicians such as Steve Jansen, Bill Nelson, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, David Palmer and Tony Mansfield as well as Antiopdeans Zaine Griff and Iva Davies. Takahashi also got into production, notably working with the Franco-Japanese beauty Susan on the highly syncopated rhythmical number ‘I Only Come Out At Night’ which he also co-wrote.
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA went on to be the one of the most popular bands in South East Asia; their fifth full-length album ‘Naughty Boys’ in 1983 delivered their most commercial release to date, exemplified by the joyous lead single ‘Kimi Ni Mune Kyun’; the song was later the closing theme to the Anime series ‘Maria Holic’ sung by the cast while it was also reworked with new English lyrics and vocals by Phil Oakey for a YMO versus THE HUMAN LEAGUE EP. Takahashi was later to work on the soundtrack of another Anime series ‘Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water’.
With each member continuing their already established parallel solo careers, YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA went into hiatus in 1984. Teaming up with kindred spirit Steve Jansen who shared a similar sense of humour, the pair released a superb one-off joint single ‘Stay Close’ in 1986. With Jansen doing a very able impression of his older brother David Sylvian and Takahashi providing his usual mannered vocals, it remains a true lost classic as possibly the best song that JAPAN and YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA never recorded.
A short YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA reunion took place in 1993 for the ‘Technodon’ album although the band had to be known as YMO for legal reasons as their original record label Alfa Records owned the name. With Takahashi always one for an easy listening cover, it finished with a Japanese language interpretation of ‘Pocketful Of Rainbows’ made famous by Elvis Presley. While he continued with his prolific solo career and other business interests including fashion and publishing, there was no further group activity until 2007 when Hosono, Sakamoto and Takahashi reunited for a Kirin Lager advertising campaign.
Takahashi continued working with Hosono in SKETCH SHOW but when Sakamoto was invited to join, for recording purposes they combined names and became HASYMO. But in 2009, the trio finally performed again as YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA at the World Happiness festival in Japan. His final solo record of original material ‘Life Anew’ came in 2013 and featured James Iha of SMASHING PUMPKINS as a collaborator.
Last Autumn, two boxed sets ‘T.E.N.T Years Vinyl Box’ and ‘It’s Gonna Work Out ~ Live 82-84 ~’ were released while there was a special tribute show featuring Akiko Yano and Steve Jansen to celebrate his 50 years in music held at Tokyo’s NHK Hall, although the guest of honour was too ill to attend.
With his impeccably tight timing and a frenetic but controlled style of drumming with notable tone variation, Yukihiro Takahashi influenced the likes of David Palmer and Steve Jansen who in turn influenced top session players such as Gavin Harrison. A pioneer of electronic percussion and one of the first to use the Roland TR808 Rhythm Composer while also able to play guitar and keyboards, he challenged the perceived role of a drummer in pop music. And without YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, there would be no Citypop…
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’Seed Of Doubt’ is available as a digital single direct from https://madelinegoldstein.bandcamp.com/
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