Author: electricityclub (Page 73 of 441)

“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

ITALOCONNECTION Nordisko

23 February 2023 /

2017’s ‘Metropoli’ was ITALOCONNECTION’s first album proper with their most recent long player ‘Midnight Confessions Vol1’ showcasing a collection of danceable widescreen European electronic pop at its best.

But for the new ITALOCONNECTION album comes a twist; ‘Nordisko’ pays tribute to the songwriting and style of the Nordic region via a collection of cover versions. The palette ranges from overtly pop focussed groups such as SECRET SERVICE, FAKE and ARMY OF LOVERS to modern day artists such as Jay-Jay Johanson and Jaakko Eino Kalevi.

“Vintage vibe – modern sound” is the mission statement of ITALOCONNECTION and ‘Nordisko’ certainly sees the duo of Fred Ventura and Paolo Gozzetti continuing that adventure. To put the album’s approach into context, while Italo Disco has generally seen in the UK as a much-maligned Mediterranean form, it was very popular with holidaying Northern Europeans as the music acted as their escapist soundtrack from the chills of home. Indeed it was the German label ZYX that actually coined the term “Italo” as an all-encompassing description of European electronic disco pop while Sweden produced home grown exponents such as Paul Rein and Annie Anner.

Fast forward to today and Italo still reigns strong with newer acts such as CARINO CAT from Stockholm. Meanwhile Danish remixer Flemming Dalum is a respected historian appearing on documentaries such as ‘Italo Disco Legacy’ and Finnish producer Jori Hulkkonen has always acknowledged the influence of Italo on his work.

A huge hit throughout Europe in 1981, SECRET SERVICE’s ‘Flash In The Night’ utilised the first LinnDrum Computer that arrived in Sweden and has since been covered by a number of acts including RATIONAL YOUTH.

Although more of a Euro synthrock crossover tune, ITALOCONNECTION provide an enticing homage as the opener with icy synths alongside an incessant backbone, highlighting the song’s melodic resonance.

Written and performed by Jay-Jay Johanson who also collaborated with THE KNIFE on the song ‘Marble House’, his marvellous 2002 tune ‘On The Radio’ is given an airy feminine disco flavoured makeover featuring Jaia Sowden on vocals. With absorbent sequences and glistening keys, it is a fine shape shift from the artpop original.

Of a more classic Italo bent with its octave shifts, CARINO CAT’s ‘Talk To The Hand’ possesses drive, but reinterpreting FAKE who were a Swedish band who recorded in Italy, ‘Donna Rouge’ is hypnotic avant disco with great hooks and marvellous counter-melodies as a well as a swirly synth solo. An ARMY OF LOVERS number which was produced by SECRET SERVICE in 1988, ‘When The Night Is Cold’ is presented with layers of chilling cinematics that exudes a Cold War menace that is also exhilarating.

‘Cairo C’ featuring another Italo veteran Francesco Rago is a tighter modern rework of Finnish combo DIGITAL DANCE who recorded just two singles back in their day and this resurrection of their material is a fitting platform for belated recognition. Remaining in Finland, Jaakko Eino Kalevi who released his first album ‘Dragon Quest’ in 2007 sees his ‘Flexible Heart’ from 2010 moved from the darker indie synth take on his ‘Modern Life’ to more club orientations with the longing of the lyrics twisted into something more hopeful.

With the airy voice of Saralunden on her own ‘Touch Me Now’ which was originally recorded in a New York electro style with another previous ITALOCONNECTION collaborator Tobias Bernstrup for their joint EP ‘Fat Boy’, Ventura and Gozzetti reshape it more for a European disco audience to conclude ‘Nordisko’.

While a cool melancholy naturally breathes over ‘Nordisko’, ITALOCONNECTION provide the elation while allowing the melodies to maintain an emotional centre that respects the songs’ original intent. As the cover illustrates, this is a mixtape of sorts and is just the tonic as Winter turns to Spring.

‘Nordisko’ is released by Mordisco / Blanco Y Negro in vinyl LP, CD and digital formats, available from https://shop.blancoynegro.com/es/inicio/3252-italoconnection-nordisko-vinyl.html

https://www.facebook.com/italoconnection

https://www.instagram.com/italoconnection/

https://italoconnection.bandcamp.com/

https://open.spotify.com/album/5P6tXtisb9M2OCuwXoGylV

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd February 2023

A Beginner’s Guide To MIKE THORNE

20 February 2023 /

Photo by JR Host

Born in Sunderland, Mike Thorne began learning to play piano at the age of 11.  

The lessons sparked a passion for music that led to him buying a tape recorder so that he could record songs off the radio. He then studied composition at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama. But despite later graduating with a physics degree from Oxford University, the music industry was where he wanted to be. His first jobs included tape op, journalist and then A&R at EMI looking after THE SEX PISTOLS during their short tenure at the label in 1976.

This led to becoming a house record producer at EMI and his first assignment involved recording 120 saxophones playing ‘The White Cliffs Of Dover’. After recording several live albums including ‘Live at The Roxy’, Thorne got his break producing French rock band TÉLÉPHONE whose eponymous debut album went gold.

New Yorkers THE SHIRTS and the Peter Godwin fronted METRO were among those followed, but it was his work on the first three albums by WIRE – a band he spotted and signed to PINK FLOYD’s label Harvest – that drew the most critical acclaim. The records demonstrated Thorne’s willingness to experiment in the studio, stripping down structures while adding electronic elements where appropriate.

Recognising that electronics and computers were the future of pop music and that a reinvention was likely by responding to new possibilities, Thorne had the foresight to purchase the first version of the NED Synclavier in 1979. A polyphonic digital sampling system and music workstation which used FM synthesis, it was to become his production mainstay and arrived in time for Colin Newman of WIRE’s first solo release and Scottish new wave quartet BERLIN BLONDES’ only long player.

Thorne moved to New York to become a freelance producer, working mostly at Media Sound Studio. But it was while in London working on the soundtrack to a Julie Christie film ‘Memoirs Of A Survivor’ that Thorne was commissioned by Phonogram Records to produce their new signing B-MOVIE. The deal had been brokered by Some Bizzare, an umbrella organisation that was more stable than label and part of the 2-for-1 arrangement was for him to work with a Northern synth duo called SOFT CELL. The rest, as they say, is history…

‘Tainted Love’, a cover of a song written by Ed Cobb and recorded by Gloria Jones, went to No1 and was the biggest selling UK single of 1981. It also spent a staggering 43 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100. During the recording of ‘Tainted Love’, Thorne conceived a new way of producing an extended dance mix… the 12” single would be arranged and recorded first, with the 7” single version edited from sections of the longer track. Phonogram boss Roger Ames felt the track was a little slow so it was varispeeded up slightly for release!

Meanwhile, SOFT CELL were to enter an imperial phase of five successive Top4 UK hit singles with Thorne at the production helm including ‘Bedsitter’, ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’, ‘Torch’ and ‘What’. However, with the overwhelming success of their debut long player ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’, tensions brewed during the recording of SOFT CELL’s appropriately titled second album ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’ leading to Thorne parting ways with the duo.

In 1984, Thorne was to produce one of the most important albums of his career when he was teamed up with BRONSKI BEAT for ‘The Age Of Consent’. The trio soon fragmented after its release, but Thorne followed their lead singer Jimmy Somerville to his new project THE COMMUNARDS with Richard Coles to achieve yet another No1 in a HI-NRG cover of ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’; it was also the best-selling UK single of 1986.

Thorne’s ethos was always “to make music I liked with people I liked”. As well as working with more esoteric clients such as Marianne Faithful, Nina Hagen and Laurie Anderson, he was appreciated for his crossover potential in the mainstream with Daryl Hall & John Oates commissioning him to construct an Extended Club Mix of ‘Maneater’ in 1984 which included a breakdown clearly influenced by the middle section of the ‘Tainted Love’/ Where Did Our Love Go’ 12” segue.

Although Thorne ceased working as a hired hand from 1995, he continued as a producer for artists signed to his label imprint The Stereo Society while he issued his first his solo record ‘The Contessa’s Party’ in 2005 featuring special guests Kit Hain, Lene Lovich and Sarah Jane Morris.

Despite achieving two best-selling UK singles of the year, Mike Thorne has often slipped under the radar in discussions about notable record producers who led the start of the digital era. Documenting a significant and trailblazing career, here are 20 tracks selected by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK which act a Beginner’s Guide to Mike Thorne, listed in yearly and then alphabetical order by artist moniker with a restriction of one track per album project.

WIRE I Am The Fly (1978)

Although WIRE’s debut ‘Pink Flag’ was minimalist post-punk rock, their sophomore offering, ‘Chairs Missing,’ adopted more song structure, art rock approaches and synthesizer textures brought in by Thorne. One of WIRE’s signature tracks, ‘I Am The Fly’ had menace and provocation, prompting audiences at gigs to start lying down, waving their limbs in the air like dying flies! Musically, its influence can be heard from TUBEWAY ARMY’s ‘My Shadow In Vain’ to ELASTICA’s ‘Lined Up’.

Available on the WIRE album ‘Chairs Missing’ via Pink Flag

http://www.pinkflag.com/

BERLIN BLONDES Framework (1980)

A meeting of synthesizers, art rock and obscure vocals, Glasgow’s BERLIN BLONDES exuded the detached European cool of David Bowie during his Mauerstadt exile and were unusual at the time for using a drum machine. The quartet only made one album produced by Thorne which was recorded at Gary Numan’s Rock City Studios, ‘Framework’ was syncopated futurist disco featuring crashing electronic beats and icy flashes of synth under the influence of SPARKS and MAGAZINE.

Available on the BERLIN BLONDES album ’The Complete Recordings 1980-81’ via Cherry Red Records

https://www.discogs.com/artist/512473-Berlin-Blondes

COLIN NEWMAN Order For Order (1980)

After three albums, WIRE split for the first time. Their lead vocalist Colin Newman released his first solo album, ‘A-Z’ in 1980, featuring songs created for the anticipated fourth WIRE album. It was produced by Thorne and could be considered a sonic companion to BERLIN BLONDES. ‘Order for Order’, explored the possibilities of new wave mainstream numbers and while some compared it to Gary Numan, it had more in common with MAGAZINE.

Available on the COLIN NEWMAN album ‘A–Z’ via Sentient Sonics

http://www.coldwarnightlife.com/features/shine-on-colin-newman/

B-MOVIE Remembrance Day (1981)

Despite being alongside DEPECHE MODE, SOFT CELL, BLANCMANGE and THE THE on the now iconic ‘Some Bizarre Album’, B-MOVIE were unable to secure a hit with the poignant magnificence of the Thorne produced ‘Remembrance Day’. The struggle for success and internal tensions led to the band fragmenting by 1983. But the song gained cult status and in 2004, American band THE FAINT presented a fine interpolation in ‘Southern Belles In London Sing’ .

Available on the compilation album ‘Dawn Of Electronica’ (V/A) via Demon Music Group

http://www.b-movie.co.uk/

KIT HAIN Spirits Walking Out (1981)

Kit Hain had an international hit ‘Dancing In The City’ with Julian Marshall in 1978 but after the duo split, Hain issued her debut solo album ‘Spirits Walking Out’ produced by Thorne. While ‘Danny’ was to be a minor single success, one of the album highlights was the synthesized cabaret noir of the dramatic title song. Hain was to have a role in the SOFT CELL story as it was her Roland CR78 Compurhythm which Thorne borrowed and used as the rhythmic backbone to ‘Tainted Love’.

Available on the KIT HAIN album ‘Spirits Walking Out’ via Renaissance Records

https://kittusmusic.com/

SOFT CELL Bedsitter – Early Morning Dance Side (1981)

With direction from Thorne, SOFT CELL often incorporated extra vocal sections into their 12” extended formats as on ‘Torch’, ‘Facility Girls’ and ‘Insecure Me’. So instead of purely instrumental breakdown extensions, ‘Bedsitter’ added a marvellous rap from Marc Almond where he asked “do you look a mess, do have a hangover?” before taking a little blusher. The literal kitchen sink drama to song concept saw tea leaves pushed down the drain as the night life started all over again.

Available on the SOFT CELL album ‘The Twelve Inch Singles’ via UMC

https://www.softcell.co.uk/

NINA HAGEN Tiatschi Tarot (1982)

Record in New York with Thorne, ‘NunSexMonkRock’ was the debut solo adventure by eccentric German singer Nina Hagen, as well as her first record with all her songs performed in English after disbanding her band after two acclaimed albums. While it was primarily a dissonant mix of punk, funk and reggae, ‘Taitschi-Tarot’ was a delightful oddball avant opera piece using piano and synths that covered the topics of Buddhism, reincarnation and yoga.

Available on the NINA HAGEN album ‘Nunsexmonkrock’ via Sony Music

https://ninahagendas.beepworld.de/

SOFT CELL Torch – 12” version (1982)

Thorne and Marc Almond agreed that ‘Torch’ was their finest moment of recording together. Punctuated by John Gatchell’s flugelhorn, ‘Torch’ came in the middle of SOFT CELL’s imperial pop phase and the 12” version was a pièce de résistance, fuelled by Almond and Dave Ball partying on the New York club scene where they met Cindy Ecstasy. In an amusing spoken middle section, her nonchalant off-key vocal counterpointed Almond’s fabulously forlorn romanticism.

Available on the SOFT CELL boxed set ‘Keychains & Snowstorms’ via UMC

https://www.facebook.com/softcell

THE THE Uncertain Smile (1982)

Still Matt Johnson’s finest five minutes as THE THE, ‘Uncertain Smile’ on its single release featured a wonderfully rigid TR808 pattern, lovely layers of synths and a variety of woodwinds including flute and sax. Produced by Mike Thorne, this fuller sounding and more emotive take far outstripped the bland and overly-long ‘Soul Mining’ album cut, which had been re-recorded by Thorne associate Paul Hardiman and included the extended boogie-woogie piano of Jools Holland…

Available on the THE THE album ’45 RPM – The Singles’ via Epic Records

https://www.thethe.com/

SEONA DANCING More To Lose (1983)

SEONA DANCING were the synthpop duo comprising of a young Ricky Gervais and his friend Bill McRae formed while they were students at University College London. With Gervais adopting a melodramatic Bowie-like persona as a doomed romantic, their first single ‘More To Lose’ produced by Mike Thorne was of its time. However, its incessant rhythms and tuneful keyboard inflections had appeal and the song became a surprise radio hit in The Philippines.

Available on the SEONA DANCING single ‘More To Lose’ via London Records

http://www.rickygervais.com/

SOFT CELL The Art Of Falling Apart (1983)

Whereas Mike Thorne had been a happy collaborator on their debut album ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’, during the making of the follow-up, he was viewed as a controller and spy for Phonogram. As former art school students, 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.

Available on the album ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’ via Mercury Records

https://www.instagram.com/softcellhq/

BRONSKI BEAT Smalltown Boy (1984)

When BRONSKI BEAT made their first ever TV appearance performing on BBC2’s ‘ORS’,  they were nothing short of startling, thanks to their look, their minimal synth sound and Somerville’s lonely earth shattering falsetto. The trio had sought to be more outspoken and political in their position as openly gay performers and the tale of the Mike Thorne produced ‘Smalltown Boy’ about a gay teenager fleeing his hometown made an important statement.

Available on the BRONSKI BEAT album ‘The Age Of Consent’ via London Records

https://www.jimmysomerville.co.uk/

THE COMMUNARDS Disenchanted (1986)

After leaving BRONSKI BEAT, Jimmy Somerville formed THE COMMUNARDS with future TV vicar Richard Coles and took Thorne with him to produce their self-titled debut. While more organic elements such as piano, brass and strings featured, there remained a HI-NRG electronic element. The brilliant ‘Disenchanted’ heavily recalled the sound of his previous band. Somerville never stuck around for long and his relationship with Coles was dissolved in 1987.

Available on THE COMMUNARDS album ‘Communards’ via London Records

https://www.facebook.com/officialjimmysomerville

HOLLYWOOD BEYOND Save Me (1987)

HOLLYWOOD BEYOND was the vehicle of flamboyant singer-songwriter Mark Rogers and he went Top10 with the Stephen Hague produced ‘What’s The Colour Of Money?’ in 1986. Mike Thorne was brought in to produce one track, ‘Save Me’, for the parent album ‘If’. Released as a single, it was an attempt to make a funkier version of BRONSKI BEAT and THE COMMUNARDS but Rogers lacked the vocal richness of Jimmy Somerville to pull it off.

Available on the HOLLYWOOD BEYOND album ‘If’ via Warner Music

https://www.discogs.com/artist/134514-Hollywood-Beyond

LAURIE ANDERSON The Day The Devil (1989)

Laurie Anderson’s fourth studio album ‘Strange Angels’ saw her attempt to move away from performance art into a more musical territory. Taking singing lessons and developing into a soprano, there was less of the spoken word that characterised her surprise No2 UK hit ‘O Superman’ and its parent album ‘Big Science’. Thorne produced four tracks on the album including ‘The Day the Devil’, a gothic art mini-opera with sinister diabolic overtones.

Available on the LAURIE ANDERSON album ‘Strange Angels’ via Warner Music

https://laurieanderson.com/

CHINA CRISIS Red Letter Day (1989)

While CHINA CRISIS had recorded their fifth album ‘Diary Of A Hollow Horse’ with STEELY DAN’s Walter Becker, Virgin Records had felt there were no potential hit singles. So the band were despatched to re-record three songs including ‘Red Letter Day’. Using a sharp piano figure reminiscent of Rupert Holmes’ one hit wonder ‘Escape (The Pina Colada Song)’ with more counterpoints, synths and vocal harmonies, the track was issued as the album’s second single but no hit was forthcoming.

Available on the CHINA CRISIS album ‘Diary Of A Hollow Horse’ via Virgin Records

https://www.facebook.com/chinacrisisofficial

BRONSKI BEAT I’m Gonna Run Away From You (1990)

Mike Thorne reunited with Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek when BRONSKI BEAT were rebooted in a new deal with Zomba Records subsidiary Zed Beat featuring a new vocalist Jonathan Hellyer who possessed a falsetto similar to Jimmy Somerville. The first track released was a frantic dance cover of ‘I’m Gonna Run Away From You’, a Northern Soul song made famous by Tami Lynn. Sadly, Larry Steinbachek passed away in 2017 and Steve Bronski in 2022.

Originally released as a single by Zed Beat, currently unavailable.

http://www.bronskibeat.co.uk/

INFORMATION SOCIETY Peace & Love, Inc (1992)

From Minneapolis, INFORMATION SOCIETY had their breakthrough ‘What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)’ in 1988. From the album of the same name on which Thorne produced 4 tracks, ‘Peace & Love, Inc’ was spikey and energetic social commentary with heavy rave influences with 808 STATE samples thrown in. Incidentally another album track ‘To Be Free’ was produced by Karl Bartos under his post-KRAFTWERK guise as ELEKTRIC MUSIC.

Available on the INFORMATION SOCIETY album ‘Peace & Love, Inc’ via Tommy Boy Records

https://www.facebook.com/informationsociety

PETER MURPHY Our Secret Garden (1992)

BAUHAUS front man Peter Murphy sought to capture the live feel of a band, having sampled musicians on his two previous works. But recording had not been straightforward and it was the longest time Thorne had worked on an album. the spacious and exotic ‘Our Secret Garden’ saw keyboards played by Murphy himself alongside the producer’s Synclavier. The ‘Holy Smoke’ album also reunited Thorne with B-MOVIE’s Paul Statham who was now acting as Murphy’s wingman.

Available on the PETER MURPHY album ‘Holy Smoke’ via Beggars Banquet Records

https://www.petermurphy.info/

MARC ALMOND We Need Jealousy (1996)

During Thorne’s reunion with Marc Almond in 1993, the singer was dismayed that the producer was still using his Synclavier. A change in record labels led to Thorne’s productions being remixed by THE BEATMASTERS and BIZARRE INC. Mixed by Gregg Jackman, ‘We Need Jealousy’ featured some great bassline programming augmented by ‘Motorbiking’ guitar by Chris Spedding. The experience drained Thorne, who withdrew from working as a hired hand.

Available on the MARC ALMOND album ‘Fantastic Star’ via Mercury Records

http://www.marcalmond.co.uk/

For personal commentary by Mike Thorne, archive articles and information on releases by The Stereo Society, please visit https://stereosociety.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Simon Helm
20th February 2023

JENNIFER TOUCH Midnight Proposals

16 February 2023 /

Jennifer Touch released her first album ‘Behind The Wall’ in 2020 as an autobiographical document of growing up in the DDR.

Having first released music in 2014, this Berlin-based daughter of flower-power children now issues her second full-length record ‘Midnight Proposals’, inspired by the John Steinbeck book ‘Grapes of Wrath’. The story of the migrant farmworkers during The Great Depression reminded Touch of her great grandparents’ own life and her own yearning for somewhere safe to settle. ‘Midnight Proposals’ is the mysterious yet hopeful manifesto that Jennifer Touch wants to present to the world.

Opening song ‘Summerchild’ has a stark intent, enigmatic while unsettling as a song born of frustration containing a narrative of powerlessness while seeking self-freedom. Inspired by Touch’s own childhood as were most of the tracks on Behind The Wall’, this acts as a bridge to ‘Midnight Proposals’ as it discards the shackles of adolescence.

The lo-fi avant-pop of ‘Rumor’ is accessible yet tinged with anguish and vulnerability. Buoyed by a new love, it is hazy happiness packed into a pop song although with the obligatory portion of darkness. ‘A Day’ utilises an expected jazz drum loop but with a randomised bleep n squelch collage, it is more abstract with a detached monologue about “unsaved legs, untouched lips” and “naked tits” while Duane Eddy inflections spring a surprise in the final section.

The sombre drone-laden ‘Prayer’ expresses different personalities within the same psyche, using a deep pitch shifts as another instrument, but the excellent ‘Sacred Type’ is like a synthpop Siouxsie while displaying a musical affinity with Berlin-based artist Zoe Zanias.

In a barrage of uneasy percussive noise, the deadpan ‘Gudrun’ pays tribute to Touch’s grandmother who was forced to abandon many of her own dreams while as the title suggests, ‘Twisted’ has this dissonance about it as elements fight against each other in disharmony and dislocation.

Recalling another Berlin-based act NNHMN, ‘Soft & Dark’ is another track that reflects its title with some icy pulsating Gothic disco manifestations. However the DIY austere of ‘Shot Shot’ is more obscure while ‘Already There’ offers an ambient guitar exercise with spoken word. With even more guitar, ‘Art’ echoes JOY DIVISION’s ‘Incubation’ but with vocals while with an ominous electronic squelch, ‘Sold Out’ is haunting, again recalling Zoe Zanias.

A counterpoint to the joy of the song ‘Rumors’, the closing number ‘Strings’ takes on the more melodic instincts of THE CURE and NIRVANA despite doomy bass inflections and although the Numan-esque synths are dreamlike, are they actually part of a nightmare?

Self-described as a “Post-Wave-Cold-Pop-Acid-Romance”, ‘Midnight Proposals’ packs a lot in although it perhaps tails off during the final third after a feisty engaging run off the starting blocks. However, it is a worthy accessible successor to ‘Behind The Wall’ and further establishes Jennifer Touch as an independently-minded artistic talent.

‘Midnight Proposals’ is released by FATCAT RECORDINGS in CD, red vinyl LP and digital formats, available from https://jennifertouch.bandcamp.com/

Jennifer Touch plays The Waiting Room in London’s Stoke Newington on Wednesday 8th March 2023

https://jennifertouch.com/

https://www.facebook.com/touch.jennifer/

https://www.instagram.com/jennifertouch/

https://soundcloud.com/jennifertouch

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Vinnie Liazza
16th February 2023

MUSIK MUSIC MUSIQUE 3.0 1982 | Synth Pop On The Air

13 February 2023 /

Cherry Red’s ‘Musik Music Musique’ series now reaches its third volume and 1982 when there was “Synth Pop On The Air”.

From the team behind the ’Close To The Noise Floor’ compendiums, the excellent ‘Electrical Language’ set but also the rather confused ‘Music For New Romantics’ box, this 3CD collection documents the year after SOFT CELL hit No1 with ‘Tainted Love’ in the summer of 1981 while THE HUMAN LEAGUE did likewise with ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ to bag that year’s Christmas topspot. 1982 began with KRAFTWERK belatedly reaching a No1 too with ‘The Model’, a track from 1978’s ‘The Man Machine’.

It was as if the world had caught up with the sound of the synth. The period was also notable for affordable silicon chip based polysynths such as the Roland Juno 6 and Korg Poly 6 entering the market. In tandem with the improvement in quality of cassette-based 4-track Portastudios, electronic music became more accessible with basic home studios now a hive of musical creativity.

While the big hitters such as SOFT CELL, OMD, BLANCMANGE, THE HUMAN LEAGUE and ULTRAVOX are represented by album tracks and B-sides alongside breakthrough singles by NEW ORDER, FASHIØN and HEAVEN 17, the curiosity value of ‘Musik Music Musique 3.0’ is boosted by a greater proportion of lesser known tracks and acts compared with the first two compendiums.

Often dismissed as an MOR act thanks to the Giorgio Moroder produced ‘Take My Breath Away’, BERLIN are provided a platform for the provocative and more classically Moroder-esque ‘Sex (I’m A….)’. Meanwhile with a not dissimilar throbbing template, DEAD OR ALIVE’s ‘What I Want’ in previously unreleased demo form captures the band in transition from proto-goth to HI-NRG disco and sounding like both simultaneously.

Wonderful lost synthpop jewels include the melodramatic ‘Juliet’ from PASSION POLKA and the bouncy SPANDAU BALLET inspired instrumental ‘Profile Dance’ by SERGEANT FROG, an early alias of PWL mixmaster Phil Harding. Echoing the slightly overblown vocal styles of the period, ‘Future Shock’ by COMMUNICATION falls under the spell of ASSOCIATES while both ‘Climb Down’ from THIRTEEN AT MIDNIGHT and ‘Instant Feeling’ by AERIAL FX are percussively anxious.

The two best rare highlights both come with links to Glasgow; fronted by David Rudden, ENDGAMES played with a brand polished synthpop funk of which ‘First Last For Everything’ is a good example. Meanwhile, LEISURE PROCESS were the duo comprising of Ross Middleton and Gary Barnacle whose small portfolio of singles were all produced by Martin Rushent; although the vocals were virtually unintelligible over the clattering Linn Drum, pulsing synths, squawky guitar and sax, ‘Love Cascade’ remains a cool dancefloor friendly number reflecting the decadent spirit of the times.

The underrated COLOURBOX are represented by the 1982 single version of ‘Breakdown’ while DRINKING ELECTRICITY’s ‘Good Times’ explores a synth art funk hybrid that threatens to turn into ‘The Locomotion’. An actual cover version, JULIE & THE JEMS take on ‘1-2-3’ is a reflection of how commercial pop had become synthed up, especially when it is learnt that front woman Julie Harris was part of the line-up of TIGHT FIT that got to No1 later in 1982 with ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’; incidentally that rework was produced by Tim Friese-Greene who later became Mark Hollis’s writing partner in TALK TALK who themselves are represented on ‘Musik Music Musique 3.0’ by their slightly underwhelming debut single ‘Mirror Man’.

There is a surprise in that Arthur Brown of ‘Fire’ fame with his synth experiment ‘Conversations’ and it is suitably crazy and enjoyable in the manner of early FALCO. The late Austrian himself is represented by ‘Maschine Brennt’ while German neighbours DIE KRUPPS’ ‘Goldfinger’ is a welcome inclusion that exposes their more DAF-like origins.

Adding a less confrontational continental tone, ‘Par Hasard’ by MIKADO is a slice of delightful electro-lounge, while Belgium’s TELEX bring swing into the mix with ‘Sigmund Freud’s Party’ and Switzerland’s YELLO exude their quirky playfulness on ‘Heavy Whispers’, albeit with a darker disposition.

It is interesting to look back at the lesser remembered Kim Wilde single ‘Child Come Away’ and Toyah’s 1982 re-recording of ‘Ieya’ which were both synth dominated but failed to crack the Top 40 despite the sound being ubiquitous on the airwaves. There was the beginning of a notable synth backlash after the triumph of 1981 and DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS fiddly ‘Come On Eileen’ becoming the best-selling UK single of 1982 was a surefire sign. And that was without the Musicians Union motion to ban synths from recording and live performance.

Cult acts of the period FAD GADGET, THE PASSAGE, FIAT LUX, SECTION 25 and POEME ELECTRONIQUE along with the two Thomases, Dolby and Lang don’t miss out on the party, but notably absent are bands who had been part of earlier sets such as NEW MUSIK and VISAGE whose 1982 albums have worthy material to mine.

Closing with OMEGA THEATRE and the quite bizarre but entertaining ‘Robots, Machines & Silicon Dreams’, its classic pop theatrics are not entirely surprising as its creator John Carter co-wrote the 1970 Eurovision runner-up ‘Knock, Knock Who’s There?’ for Mary Hopkin, ‘Let’s Go to San Francisco’ for THE FLOWER POT MEN and ‘Beach Baby’ for THE FIRST CLASS.

However, as before, there are minor quibbles; while the correct 1982 versions of NEW ORDER’s ‘Temptation’, TEARS FOR FEARS ‘Pale Shelter’ and Paul Haig’s ‘Justice’ feature, ‘European Son’ by JAPAN comes in the earlier John Punter B-side version rather the snappier 1982 Steve Nye single remix. And then having mentioned in the booklet that OMD’s ‘She’s Leaving’ was released as a slightly remixed 1982 single in Benelux territories, the compilation goes with the familiar 1981 ‘Architecture & Morality’ album cut. Meanwhile the inclusion of ‘Sex Dwarf’ from 1981’s ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’ is a head scratcher when the 1982 SOFT CELL B-sides ‘Insecure Me’, ‘….So’ or ‘It’s A Mug’s Game’ would have been more interesting.

Lessons have still not been learnt from previous booklets with photos of OMD from 1984 and DEAD OR ALIVE from 1985 appearing. Again, the booklet notes are a mixed bag; why bother to bang on about the John Foxx-era of ULTRAVOX with the limited word count when by 1982, the Midge Ure-led version were an established hit machine? Also, why does the story of JOY DIVISION need to be repeated ad nauseam in the context of NEW ORDER?

Meanwhile, DRAMATIS (who are represented by their best single ‘The Shame’) returned to being Gary Numan’s live backing band in 1983, not 1982! Then with the biggest gaff in the TEARS FOR FEARS section, Curt Smith played bass NOT guitar and vice versa for Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana to give his full name!

So full marks for the amount of lesser known material gathered on ‘Musik Music Musique 3.0’, but please get the accompanying booklet sorted out for ‘Musik Music Musique 4.0’ as there have been enough opportunities now to get that side of the operation right. Roll on 1983…

‘Musik Music Musique 3.0: 1982 – Synth Pop On The Air’ is released by Cherry Red on 17th February 2023 as a 3CD boxed set

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/musik-music-musique-3-0-1982-synthpop-on-the-air-3cd-box-set/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
13tn February 2023

BEBORN BETON Interview

10 February 2023 /

Stefan Netschio, Stefan Tillmann and Michael B Wagner released ‘Tybalt’, their first album proper as BEBORN BETON back in 1993.

The trio became a cult success on the alternative electronic circuit with a US tour opening for APOPTYGMA BERZERK in 2002 among their career highlights. But the sojourn across the Atlantic took its toll and BEBORN BETON went on an extended hiatus.

Returning in 2015, the comeback album  ‘A Worthy Compensation’ saw the band refreshed and present possibly their best collection of work to date.

Now 7 years on, a brand new long player ‘Darkness Falls Again’ is due in the Spring. Its first single ‘Dancer In The Dark’ makes an important statement on behalf of its parent album. With greedy capitalists and war mongering zealots hell bent on destroying the planet in order to satisfy their own fragile egos, the message to remain positive in the face of adversity. Without this hope, there is no will to resist and make the world better for all. The worse thing to do is to say nothing…

With a hypnotic second single ‘I Watch My Life On TV’ now public, BEBORN BETON front man Stefan Netschio chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the making of ‘Darkness Falls Again’, when to sing in German, how to choose a Johnny Cash cover and borrowing from DURAN DURAN…

‘Darkness Falls Again’ follows 7 years since your last album ‘A Worthy Compensation’, but it is nowhere near as long as the 13 year gap which preceded that. Is it healthier to have larger spaces between records? Can bands release “too much” music?

I have often found that with a high frequency of releases from the artists I follow, there comes a lower level of depth in the music. We in BEBORN BETON do not live off our music, we have the luxury to take as much time as we need to work on our songs and album and artwork concepts, to reflect on the things we need to say in our lyrics, the emotions we want to stir with the compositions.

And finally take as much time as we want to finalise our albums with our producer of choice. If we feel, after countless revisions, we are still deeply moved by the work we have created, then we are definitely onto something profound and lasting. There is probably some narcissism to it but there are times when I listen to our songs, especially from ‘A Worthy Compensation’ and ‘Darkness Falls Again’ and I start wondering “This is really us? How did we manage to create such beauty?”

‘A Worthy Compensation’ was your welcome return, how do you look back on its making?

We started working on the songs for ‘A Worthy Compensation’ about 20 years ago. I had quit my job and left my hometown to relocate to the city of Hamburg. We had just been touring the United States with our friends from APOPTYGMA BERZERK, so that was an exciting period in our lives with lots of things happening, meeting and working with interesting people. Being on the road for more than 2 weeks confined to a van and motel rooms, playing shows almost every night in mostly sold-out venues, touring the US brought us even closer together as a band and as friends.

And when we returned to Germany, even though we were living in different cities, hundreds of kilometres apart, we always found ways and time to make music together. So, every other weekend I went to visit Till and Michael to work on new material. After finishing some songs, we eventually met Olaf Wollschläger in 2005. We instantly clicked and so whenever we wrote something new, we went into the studio and did some production work. 10 years later we had put an album together that contained the essence of our lives of that past decade. Highs and lows, ups and downs; it is indeed a very emotional and personal album. So, we were relieved that it was so well received. It put us back on the map.

Was ‘A Worthy Compensation’ like getting back on a bicycle or horse? Are there any favourite tracks from it?

For us, it actually felt like we never really dismounted the horse in the first place. We always made music of some sorts. We had been in the studio many times and learned a lot about mixing and production.

We played festival shows in Germany and Europe every now and then, we did remixes for other artists and also collaborated with other bands. A lot of this probably went unnoticed by the public because we just hadn’t released a new album. Favourite tracks… well, when you are working on an album this long, it is like raising children and you become emotionally attached to each and every one of them. Especially when the stories are personal and heartfelt; ‘Last Day On Earth’ and ‘I Believe’ are definitely highlights, but for me personally the title track ‘A Worthy Compensation’ is a song that weighed heavy on my heart. It was cathartic. It was the last song that we finished with Olaf in the studio. And when we did, when the vocals were recorded, the moment when it all came together and took form, I knew that we had created something special. The story bears so much pain that it became a tearjerker for many years and years to come.

When first you started releasing music, did you ever feel an affinity with the other German bands like ALPHAVILLE, CAMOUFLAGE, WOLFSHEIM and DE/VISION?

When I grew up, ALPHAVILLE was a band to look up to. The first album was just “Wow”! I think every synthpop fan loved ALPHAVILLE one way or the other. And Marian Gold is a super nice guy and an exceptional performer. He has such a unique voice.

So has Peter Heppner; WOLFSHEIM had some killer songs and their success was more than well deserved. But affinity would be too strong a word. It was respect. CAMOUFLAGE had some major hits in the beginning and they released a couple of fairly successful albums, most of which escaped my radar. I was interested in different bands.

DE/VISION and BEBORN BETON did start about the same time and early on we did some touring together. At some point, their career took a different turn and they kept releasing album after album. Every now and then our paths cross when we are booked for the same festival. Fun times we had.

How does the creative dynamic within BEBORN BETON work with regards writing and instrumentation?

Usually it begins with a lyrical idea or with some chord progressions that are conceived on the piano. So we get together and we infect each other with more ideas to take the initial demo further. Sometimes we get quickly to a stage where the essence of the track is already laid out and ready for production. Sometimes it takes us several sessions over a period of weeks to get there. But there is nothing like these magical moments when we create some truly emotional pieces together. When the excitement kicks in while you’re writing, your judgement might be clouded, so we take breaks to give it a rest and let it sink in, then revisit songs to see if the initial spark is still there. Since we have no reason to rush, we give it all the time that it needs. It’s our QA.

You have worked with producer Olaf Wollschläger again on this album, what special qualities does he bring to your music?

Olaf Wollschläger knows where we are coming from musically. He breathes the exact musical air that we do. When we introduce him to a song, there is hardly ever much explaining to do. He is able to see the essence of our songs and enhance them. When you are working together for such a long time, you develop a friendship.

We’ve known him more than 15 years now. Some marriages don’t last that long. And we can still laugh about the same jokes and are fascinated by the same music. And when we meet with him to produce our songs together, we are fairly certain that the end result is not far from perfect.

So what is ‘My Monstrosity’? How does this track shape the tone of ‘Darkness Falls Again’?

We chose ‘My Monstrosity’ as the opening track because it kind of sets the mood for the whole album. This detuned piano sound right at the beginning of the song is derived from an actual piano that stood outside a garden centre, battered by wind and rain. And it is meant to tell you “You are about to hear things that are not going to be easy to digest”. It is a rather uncommon song for BEBORN BETON and that’s the beauty of it. Starting off with something people would not expect from us. I find it musically intense and pretty dark lyrically. I hope people will love it as much as we do.

The album title is mentioned in the first single ‘Dancer In The Dark’; with all the tensions in the world coming from the East and being Germans, has there been a feeling of “Déjà vu” at all?

No, not really. It was a different time back then. Or I was just too young to see the whole picture. Surely there had been Middle-East crises, but none of the countries had the resources to be much of a global threat.

And as far as I’m concerned, The Cold War was just two superpowers not getting along and bluffing each other. They all had these nuclear weapons, but the players themselves didn’t play out the supervillain act. There was no imminent danger. Except for one NATO manoeuvre simulating a nuclear strike that almost set the wheels in motion, a regrettable mistake that changed the course of history for the better. The leaders seemed to have that last bit of sense to not push the button because they were all too afraid they would get wiped from the face of earth.

For a reason, the last few years there have been fights on multiple fronts. There was that idiot that destabilised the US. Then there is the other one that has gone completely nuts, void of reason destabilising the world economy, and in-between all of Europe trying to de-escalate the situation, still they can’t just look away and leave the oppressed to themselves. And the even bigger crisis in the long run being the race against climate change.

We actually finished the songs, the album concept and title before there was a war in Europe, so we initially planned on painting a picture of a dystopian future. We did not expect reality to catch up this quickly.

‘Last Chance’ is interesting in that there are sections that are almost goth-metal?

I can see what you are getting at. When we are working on a song with Olaf, there are no boundaries and given the fact that our musical tastes are very diverse, anything can happen. Goth-metal is a strong categorization for a synthpop song and for people that have not heard it yet, it may be misleading.

The song incorporates some vocal parts that are treated with a vocoder and different levels of distortion and in conjunction with that bass synth line it has its Marilyn Manson-esque moments, but these moments are brief. I feel it is an embodiment of the protagonist’s anger and looking at the whole picture it is just an enrichment of the song’s sonic palette, so when the chorus kicks in, the subtle metal connotations are gone. Then again, I gotta hand it to you, the song has a bit of a rock attitude.

‘Burning Gasoline’ points to your environmental concerns?

I guess the title and the lyrics indicate as much… environmental concerns, mildly put. The exploitation of Earth’s natural resources and their processing, plus the use of fossil energy sources is destroying our planet, rendering it uninhabitable for generations to come. If we do not change our course of action our children and grandchildren will pay the price. The idiocracy regarding climate change and its origin is unspeakable and it gets my blood pressure through the roof.

 

‘I Watch My Life On TV’ features some wonderful synth soloing, what was that inspired by and what sort of VST or hardware have you used on this album to achieve the sound you desired?

These kinds of melodies are burned into the BEBORN BETON DNA. They are part of what we are. We have always been fond of those uplifting sequences that are reminiscent of 70s and 80s mystery and science fiction TV series and movies. Sound and instrument-wise, there are hardly any tools that are not at our disposal. It’s always a mix of vintage and modern hardware and software instruments.

So we have a couple of hardware synths in our arsenal. Our beloved Moogs, an ARP, some Korgs, a couple of Waldorfs, an Oberheim and a bunch of Roland synthesisers, plus a ton of boutique effect pedals and we also used Olaf’s Prophet and his tasteful collection of Eurorack modules. A friend of ours owns a small museum of vintage analogue synths and of course we paid him a visit to record some tracks with his old Jupiter 4, Jupiter 8, Roland System 100 and GRP A4. The GRP A4 is a rare and insanely beautiful sounding analogue boutique synth from Italy.

All these synthesisers have their distinct sound and above anything, we love the hands-on approach with these machines. When it comes to VSTs… you name it: Arturia, Native Instruments, UVI, u-he, Xfer, GeForce. Pretty much everything. When you put your mind to it you can get every imaginable sound and all these happy little accidents. Olaf and we are pretty much up-to-date on what’s happening in the music technology business.

‘Electricity’ rhythmically swings with a live drum feel and even throws in some timpani. Where do you stand on bands using live acoustic drums in a concert context when the original recording has more and sometimes exclusively programmed electronic percussion? 😉

As an artist you should be allowed to evolve and try out whatever tickles your fancy. When you are an aspiring single artist, most of the time you don’t have a drum kit or a drummer at your disposal, so you start programming beats. At a later stage in your career, your taste in music evolves and your status allows you to hire a drummer and you take a song to another level. Whether or not this results in an improvement is subjective. Sometimes it works, adds drive and energy to the track, sometimes it just kills the vibe that was the essence of the song to begin with. So, I am not totally against it, but I can understand that fans lose interest in a band that started as a purely electronic act and then turns into a rock band. Well, grow a pair. The number of new artists to explore is endless.

You primarily sing in English but like with ‘Was Immer’ on ‘A Worthy Compensation’, ‘Trockenfallen Lassen’ on this album is in Deutsch, so how do you decide what song is delivered in your own language, what factors do you take into account?

We chose English as our first artistic language because it is international and has a wider reach. It’s also fun to write in English because the language has so many options for wordplay and ambiguity and its melody is so great to sing. German lyrics are way harder to conceive, in my opinion. It can be very beautiful and whenever we find a song that presents itself as an opportunity for a German lyric we are happy to take it. When we perform in front of a German audience, as we usually do, singing in German hardly leaves anything to the imagination. To be authentic, you have to tell the truth and hit a nerve.

With ‘Trockenfallen Lassen’, we managed to write a strong lyric that leaves room for interpretation and we weaved it into an ambient soundscape with melancholic chord sequences and it became a beautiful gem. If you ask me, it is one of the strongest songs on the album. These are magical moments that just happen. You cannot plan for this.

The 2016 ‘She Cried’ single featured a cover of THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘The Black Hit Of Space’ while the deluxe edition of ‘A Worthy Compensation’ included a Johnny Cash song ‘Folsom Prison Blues’; are there any cover versions planned as future bonuses? Some DURAN DURAN maybe?  😉

The list is very long. Our musical taste is so diverse and we have heard so much great music in our lifetime.

And doing a cover is always fun. For example, on our second album we did a cover of ‘Being Boiled’ that we also performed on stage. ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ also has a story to it. Initially the idea sparked when in 2000 we toured Germany with our friends from ICON OF COIL. They told us that Stephan Groth had the idea of putting a compilation together with Johnny Cash cover versions and they told us which song they had chosen to do. Time passed, nothing happened. Then in 2002, we toured the US with APOPTYGMA BERZERK and the topic came up again. We browsed the works of Johnny Cash and finally decided which song it was going to be. Time passed, nothing happened.

So when we put together the bonus material for ‘A Worthy Compensation’, we remembered there was still that cover version to be made. And since that compilation didn’t happen, we recorded it exclusively for the Complete Edition of the album. Surely I can see us working on some DURAN DURAN in the future, but at the moment we are focusing on our own material. By the way there is that song on our last album that kind of pays homage to early DURAN DURAN. Not many people have noticed, but some have.

Oh yes! ‘24/7 Mystery’ has a ‘Girls On Film’ vibe… so ‘I Hope You’re Not Easily Scared’ closes what could be considered BEBORN BETON’s protest album, how do you hope ‘Darkness Falls Again’ will be received?

Every artist hopes that his new output will be received well, we are no different. We are aware that the political content of the album may throw off people, but that’s ok. There are plenty of other bands to explore.

Our albums have never been a quick fix. There is always a lot to discover, so many layers of sound to dive into. So much that you cannot grasp it with just a few listens. Our albums have always been growers. But if you give them time they will stay with you for life. Throughout our history, there have always been songs that had some bitter and melancholic references wrapped in a sweet melodic shell. These are the matters we like to address. The new album has an overall darker touch than for example ‘A Worthy Compensation’. We were and are still living in a time of a multi-level crisis. So the darker tone just came naturally. Still, we hope that people will feel the strong uplifting energy of the songs that is meant to drag peoples’ minds out of this misery and give them hope that things can change for the better.

What are your next plans as BEBORN BETON?

We have just lifted a second single off the album and there will be a third one that will be accompanied by a video before the album sees the light of day. I don’t want to go too much into detail, but we plan another release for later this year with one or two surprises.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to BEBORN BETON

Special thanks to Volker Maass at Operating//Generating

‘I Watch My Life On TV’ is available now without a countdown plonked into a countdown via the usual online platforms

‘Darkness Falls Again’ is released on 17th March 2023 by Dependent Records as a 48-page artbook with bonus CD, digisleeve CD, black vinyl LP and limited edition white vinyl LP as well as on the usual digital platforms, pre-order via http://lnk.spkr.media/beborn-beton-darkness

https://www.bebornbeton.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bebornbeton

https://www.instagram.com/bebornbeton/

https://en.dependent.de/en/Artists/Beborn-Beton/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1DsA0Dbq7WvsNkZZlrRZuz

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Chris Ruiz
10th February 2023

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