Author: electricityclub (Page 82 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

NATION OF LANGUAGE A Way Forward

7 November 2021 /

NATION OF LANGUAGE released their debut album ‘Introduction, Presence’ in Spring 2020 just as the worldwide pandemic took hold.

Starting out as a post-punk act, lead singer and songwriter Ian Devaney became interested in using synths after hearing OMD’s ‘Electricity’ in his father’s car for the first time in years. Also featuring his wife Aidan Noell on keyboards and bassist Michael Sui-Poi, the Brooklyn-based trio adopted a “beginner’s mind” to electronic pop with songs such as ‘On Division St’ and ‘Friend Machine’ capturing a sharp synthy spirit alongside a notion of anguish.

A following standalone single ‘Deliver Me From Wondering Why’ explored the more experimental phase of OMD, but issued as a trailer for their appropriately titled second album ‘A Way Forward’, the catchy Motorik drive of ‘This Fractured Mind’ breathed new life into its retrospective references with sprightly synth tones and a danceable ethereal shudder. Dealing with the spectre of unrealised dreams and jealousy, any inferiority complex was countered with a hopeful and optimistic acceptance to move on.

That frantic Motorik beat reappears a few more times during ‘A Way Forward’, with a more direct NEU! approach on ‘Across That Fine Line’ using textural guitar with occasional pulses of synth before a chorus that bursts into an anxious post-punk thrash.

But on several occasions, NATION OF LANGUAGE eschew prominent percussion as on the album opener ‘In Manhattan’ which utilises a pulsing sequenced backdrop that recalls MIRRORS ‘Fear Of Drowning’, reflecting the tense anxieties of young manhood. Meanwhile, the sparse arpeggios of the haunting ‘Former Self’ conjure the feel of a lost East European folk song reimagined with an electronic treatment, although this perhaps is not surprising as it was composed on a nylon string guitar.

With the tick of a clock, ‘They’re Beckoning’ looks as though it will follow a similar route with minimal sweeping synths but a minute and a half in, it kicks with thumping electronic drums, sparking trancey blips and moody bass guitar to recall NEW ORDER like ‘Your Silent Face’ meeting ‘Temptation’ for an infectious brooding closer.

The influence of early OMD makes its presence felt on the atmospheric ‘Wounds of Love’ while the forlorn longing of ‘Miranda’ presents a slow waltz and a closing ivory segment that sounds as if it is about to morph into ‘Souvenir’. Meanwhile, like a drifting train ride, ‘A Word & A Wave’ throws in fits of white noise à la ‘Almost’ and DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Any Second Now’.

But exuding a KRAFTWERK inspired octave shifting template, ‘The Grey Commute’ ponders the daily routine of many with backing that could be MIRRORS with more guitar. And although it is less immediate the some of the other tracks, it carries depth and echoes the John Foxx fronted ULTRAVOX! with ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’ in its hypnotic mechanised rhythms.

‘Whatever You Want’ labours a little but overall, ‘A Way Forward’ does as its title suggests. Showing growth from the seed planted during ‘Introduction, Presence’, there is potential for even more and ‘A Way Forward’ confidently showcases to some of the more hipster factions in the music world that synths and drum machines are not dirty words and can be applied with a post-punk influence to an independent pop sound.

Dancing while a little down can be uplifting and the shifting emotions of ‘A Way Forward’ show that while it’s ok to not be ok, it’s also ok to take time to escape as well.

‘A Way Forward’ is available in CD and vinyl LP formats from https://www.nationoflanguage.com/

Download available from https://nationoflanguage.bandcamp.com/album/a-way-forward

NATION OF LANGUAGE EU + UK 2022 tour includes:

Copenhagen Ideal Bar (15th January), Stockholm Obaren (16th January), Oslo Bla (17th January), Berlin Kantine Am Berghain (19th January), Zurich Kater (20th January), Barcelona Laut (22nd January), Madrid Sala El Sol (23rd January), Paris Supersonic (25th January), Leeds Hyde Park Book Club (27th January), Glasgow Broadcast (28th January), Dublin Grand Social (29th January), Manchester YES Pink Room (30th January), London Lafayette (31st January)

https://www.facebook.com/nationoflanguage

https://twitter.com/notionofanguish

https://www.instagram.com/nationoflanguage/

https://open.spotify.com/album/2hPnsq6HZHcgkFlLclKrvv

Text by Chi Ming Lai
8th November 2021

HELIX Bad Dream

5 November 2021 /

Shakespeare posed the question “If music be the food of love…” and over the course of popular music numerous couples have released work. From Ike & Tina Turner to Chris & Cosey through EURYTHMICS and more recently our own VILE ELECTRODES and WITCH OF THE VALE, all have shown what can be achieved if partners do more than spend their evenings watching ‘Love Island’ (let’s not mention John and Yoko though…)

Another romantic pairing who have released music are Tom and Mari Shear under the name of HELIX. Their 2018 debut ‘Twin’ was one of the highlights of the year and they have now returned with a new EP, ‘Bad Dream’.

Tom of course is well known from his band ASSEMBLAGE 23 who have been leading lights on the EBM / Industrial scene for some 20 plus years and he brings the muscular instrumentation and production from that project to HELIX but with a number of twists that will raise a few eyebrows.

All of this underpins the new Mrs Shear’s frankly spectacular voice which has been heard across numerous collaborations from her new husband’s SURVEILLANCE release to guest vocals with, to name a few, COMADUSTER and IVARDENSPHERE. More on those vocal skills in a moment…

Opening with the energetic ‘Run’, which picks up from where the ‘Twin’ album left off, this acts as an excellent appetiser for what’s to come. A fine danceable pop infused number, this will no doubt go down a storm not only in a club setting but also in the set at the, currently, infrequent HELIX live outings. Mari easily harmonises with herself in the layered vocals on the chorus to wonderful effect.

One of the great things about any side project is it gives the opportunity to try new things musically and this is evidently the approach taken on the next few tracks by Tom himself. ‘Slip’ opens with a laid-back percussion track underpinning effected samples leading into verse which sensibly allows the vocal to carry the thrust of the track.

As previously stated, I think Mari has one of the best female voices on the scene and this is proven on this track which allows her to be heard without swamping with unnecessary processing.

‘Kill The Unknown’ further allows Mr Shear the scope to do new things musically. This moves into almost ‘indie’ territory with live drums and, gasp, guitars courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Elias Black. These add an expected texture and bite to the track and shifts HELIX in another direction entirely.

Closer ‘Bad Dream’ is a brooding slice of electronica with an almost metal chorus which drops in and out of the arrangement that hinges around a frantic drum track. The accompanying remix included on the EP by MESH frontman Mark Hockings is actually my preferred version, again the ‘dancier’ mix will go down a storm in a club and the mix further highlights Mari’s great vocal take.

Closing the tracklist out is a mix of ‘Run’ by ex-IRIS member Andrew Sega under his HALLOWED HEARTS moniker. This is an almost goth interpretation with chiming guitars and a straightforward 4/4 drum track. Again, this version underlines how well this song will go down in a club set.

In the second part of Shakespeare quote at the top of this article he asks that we “play on”. On the strength of both the earlier album and this all too short EP, we can but hope that Mr and Mrs Shear do just that, there is much here to feed even the hungriest of souls.

‘Bad Dream’ is available as a digital EP from https://helix.bandcamp.com/album/bad-dream

https://www.facebook.com/HelixElectronic

https://open.spotify.com/album/6Qth7TB3nPqWlvPIxgrnne

Text by Ian Ferguson
5th November 2021

DLINA VOLNY Dazed

3 November 2021 /

The political tensions in the former Soviet republic of Belarus have created a climate where artistic expression exudes a more prominent dystopian austere than in many other places.

Leading this are Minsk post-punk trio MOLCHAT DOMA but following not far behind are DLINA VOLNY; comprising of singer Masha Zinevitch, bass guitarist Vad Mikutski and Ales Shishlo on keyboards, unlike their bilingual debut ‘Mechty’ from 2018, their second album ‘Dazed’ is entirely in English. Released by their second album ‘Dazed’ and Italians Do It Better, it is a cinematic Autumnal statement that sounds as if The Cold War never ended.

The songs deal with the fragile reality of life and ‘Dazed’ opens with the title track, its icy cascading mood, served with the resigned contralto delivery of Zinevitch, possessing a sparkling textural quality worthy of the Italians Do It Better house sound. ‘I’m Not Allowed’ sounds bouncy in comparison, the bright synth arpeggio sounding odd but effective within a musical backdrop resembling WHITE LIES, while ‘Do It’ features an infectious swirl of electronics as well as a simple chanty chorus.

DLINA VOLNY’s reinterpretation of Madonna’s ‘Hollywood’, which appeared on their label’s recently issued tribute collection, alternates a detached deepness with an unexpected pop register that presents the song as a harsher warning to those seeking stardom.

Closer to home, the chilling darkwave of ‘Whatever Happens Next’ acts as protest song calling for solidarity and freedom. Exploring that haunting Eastern Bloc resilience further with a dance beat, ‘Bipolar’ is outstanding and asks “what is it like being on the border?”.

Despite its sinister overtones, the partly spoken ‘Redrum’ embraces a deviant sexiness like a song for the soundtrack of ‘Atomic Blonde’ where “the end is just another beginning… goodbye!”. The call for ‘Freedom’ sees stark bass guitar lines marked by harsh strums to shape a cavernous gothic grandeur.

Not a cover of their labelmate’s CHROMATICS best known song, ‘Shadow’ embraces THE CURE like a funereal paced ‘Fascination Street’ and certainly there is that air of disintegration. ‘Slowly’ is cut from a similar black cloth while the grim perspective presented on ‘Matte’ is only offset by shiny synths. Recalling ACTORS, ‘Tomorrow’ ends with the Minsk threesome’s own take on dysfunctional post-post-punk disco.

Mixed by David Lynch associate Dean Hurley, ‘Dazed’ is bleak and tense but most of the tracks have a cool appealing air of mystery. The murky atmosphere does not forsake melody or hooks and the second language expression provides a seductive allure as the anxious suffocation of the system is countered by a profound breath of hope.

Despite the collected feelings and situations, DLINA VOLNY are less jarring than MOLCHAT DOMA so may have a broader crossover potential… yes, maybe these Belarusians do it better.

‘Dazed’ is released by Italians Do It Better on 5th November 2021, available from https://dlinavolny.bandcamp.com/ or pre-save at https://idib.ffm.to/dazed

https://italiansdoitbetter.com/dlina-volny/

https://www.facebook.com/dlinavolny

https://twitter.com/volny_dlina

https://www.instagram.com/dlina_volny/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
3rd November 2021

Is SOFT CELL Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret the Best Album of 1981?

2 November 2021 /

“Well! Here we are again!” Sorry, that’s actually a lyric from another band touring on the 40th Anniversary of a classic 1981 album.

Despite saying hello and waving goodbye with a final show at London’s O2 Arena in 2018, SOFT CELL have not only got a new album ‘*Happiness Not Included’ slated for release in February 2022, but they will also perform their seminal debut album ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ in its entirety for the first time. But as SOFT CELL celebrate the legacy of ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ alongside their other hits, they will also be previewing tracks from ‘*Happiness Not Included’.

Although it has been four decades since the seedy personas of Marc Almond and Dave Ball, photographed by Peter Ashworth, adorned the front cover and hit the shelves of WH Smith, Boots, Littlewoods and Woolworths, the fact that ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ was available where your parents and grandparents shopped can now be seen as being one of the most subversive acts in popular culture.

Art students who met at Leeds Polytechnic, the album title came from one of the neon signs outside The Raymond Revue Bar in London’s Soho where Almond lived, an area that at the time was full of strip clubs, sex shops and entrances saying “model upstairs”.

While JAPAN glamourised Chinese Communism on ‘Tin Drum’ and THE HUMAN LEAGUE presented working class aspiration like a synthpop ABBA on ‘Dare’, SOFT CELL told of the grit that could come with glitter in musical tales about dirty old men, prostitutes, grooming, sexual deviance, personal grievance, tabloid sensationalism, middle class entitlement and living in squalor. Only the pair of tunes by OMD about the brutal execution of a teenage girl on ‘Architecture & Morality’ were historically darker than SOFT CELL’s gutter heart take on reality.

The recent Twitter listening party hosted by Tim Burgess highlighted the worldwide love and affection for ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’. With Marc Almond and Dave Ball on hand to provide insights and memories on the making of the record, a number of interesting points of trivia were provided.

While the duo were in New York to record and mix the album with producer Mike Thorne, ‘Tainted Love’ became a hit in Germany. So with Ball otherwise engaged in working the state-of-the-art NED Synclavier and the much more basic Roland Synthe-Bass SB100 which provided SOFT CELL with a very distinct sound, Almond was despatched to perform the song on TV show ‘Disco’ with a Dave Ball lookalike who ZDF tried to keep in shadow and out of shot, but failed!

Of ‘Entertain Me’, Marc Almond said “This is about people who are just never satisfied. The pop star world we found ourselves in after the success of ‘Tainted Love’”; but of this new world they were now part of, Dave Ball recalled “it was all a big adventure. Highlights were meeting Divine and Madonna in Danceteria then meeting Andy Warhol at The Factory”

‘Secret Life’ was revealed to be a preceding song to ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’ about a politician’s affair with a prostitute whose other secret is that he is also a cross dresser… with sex scandals still rife in Parliament, the songs on ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ are as relevant as ever.

‘Bedsitter’ is another case in point which despite its bittersweet ode to nightlife, on which the Roland TR808 Rhythm Composer was heard on a UK hit single for the first time, reflects on the poor quality accommodation offered by private landlords thanks to the selling off of affordable council housing in Britain; the effects of this Thatcherite policy are sadly still felt today.

Photo by Peter Ashworth

Although with a lyric originated by Dave Ball about his own father, the most sinister song when applied to the present is ‘Frustration’ which could be a narrative on incels or “involuntary celibates”, the deeply unpleasant right wing faction of males who are unable to get a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, but whose misguided and ignorant anger spills into misogyny and racism.

The most important aspect about ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ though is that it possessed catchy off-kilter tunes with great synth hooks and edgy lyrics over infectious machine beats. With its No1 single and a pair of Top 5s, SOFT CELL initially stole a march on DEPECHE MODE whose own debut ‘Speak & Spell’ paled in comparison. But while Almond and Ball first spilt in 1984, PET SHOP BOYS picked up their baton and although they smoothed the template out, proved that the technologically assisted pop duo format still had legs.

There is much to reasonably justify ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ as the Best Album of 1981, but if it isn’t, then it is certainly in the Top 5 alongside THE HUMAN LEAGUE, JAPAN, KRAFTWERK and OMD in what was a sensational year for electronic pop music.

SOFT CELL’s 2021 ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ 40th Anniversary live dates:

Glasgow O2 Academy (10th November), Manchester O2 Apollo (12th November), Leeds O2 Academy (13th November), London Hammersmith Apollo (15th November), London Hammersmith Apollo (16th November) – tickets available from https://myticket.co.uk/artists/soft-cell

The new album ‘*Happiness Not Included’’ is released on 25th February 2022 via BMG, the single ‘Bruises On My Illusions’ is available now on CD and 12″ vinyl formats from https://softcell.tmstor.es/

http://www.softcell.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/softcellband/

https://twitter.com/softcellhq

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

Text by Chi Ming Lai
2nd November 2021

FIAT LUX Twisted Culture

1 November 2021 /

Lost but found, before 2019, there were no FIAT LUX albums but there is now a third.

Reflecting the weightier matters of the world, ‘Twisted Culture’ is about “living life as best you can, no matter what is thrown at you” according to the nucleus of Steve Wright and David P Crickmore. Their only previously released body of work had been the six song ‘Hired History’ EP in 1984 on Polydor Records. The lack of a hit single saw their intended debut album ‘Ark Of Embers’ short-sightedly shelved by the label in 1985. However, Cherry Red came to the rescue and issued a double CD package containing both works in 2019.

This coincided with the release of ‘Saved Symmetry’, an album of completely new 21st Century material recorded after FIAT LUX reformed to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their formation. Despite the worldwide pandemic, FIAT LUX kept busy recording the follow-up, with Will Howard taking over as the third FIAT LUX member on sax and woodwinds from the sadly missed Ian Nelson who passed away in 2006.

The bittersweet ‘(How Will We Ever) Work This Way’ opens ‘Twisted Culture’ with some catchy grown-up new wave disco although lyrically, it captures the zeitgeist. Building towards a burst of slinky sax from Will Howard, ‘Cul De Sac’ uses a sparse arrangement for its colourful backdrop.

Unusually for FIAT LUX, ‘Basement City Living’ is something of a frantic avant dance adventure which swirls, wobbles and even features a drop! There’s unsettling pitch shifted voices lingering too but when Crickmore’s bass signature kicks in, despite the unorthodox backing and Wright’s spoken and screamed contribution, this can only be FIAT LUX.

As a possible relative of ‘Basement City Living’, ‘Tighter’ uses similar pacey electronic qualities although is more fully formed as a song, possessing both rock accents and trancey gothic moods. It’s odd but enjoyable for those who “only came here for fun”. At the other end of the spectrum with predominantly piano and clarinet, ‘The Night We Should Have Met’ is a classic Olde English FIAT LUX ballad with a wonderful Barber shop quartet round to finish.

With its pulsing bass, synth sweeps and E-Bow in the vein of one-time FIAT LUX producer Bill Nelson, ‘Hope’ is a glorious set-piece over seven minutes. Bubbling with vintage synth, ‘It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Now’ is another number in the classic FIAT LUX vein, all uptempo with a chorus reminiscent of Marc Almond and Frippish guitar solos, although all that tension is offset by bursts of slinky sax.

Sax led and adopting a steadfast drum machine backbone, ‘Breathe You In’ offers a sensitive love ballad before continuing at a similar pace, ‘This Is Your Lifetime’ sees acoustic guitar and Bansitar combine for a muzakal song of hope. With a warm harmony of voices, it ends the album on an encouraging note despite the ‘Twisted Culture’ of the past few years.

Those who enjoyed ‘Saved Symmetry’ will appreciate ‘Twisted Culture’. Meanwhile those who were less enticed by its emphasis on mood may find the more uptempo and experimental numbers that feature on its successor appealing enough to return to the distinctly different path of FIAT LUX. In many ways, ‘Twisted Culture’ is the stronger and more varied collection.

‘Twisted Culture’ is released by Splid Records through Proper Music Distribution on 5th November 2021 in CD and digital formats, pre-order from https://www.propermusic.com/

http://www.fiat-lux.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/Fiatluxofficial

https://twitter.com/fiatluxofficial

http://www.splidrecords.co.uk

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Andy Hollingworth
1st November 2021

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