Category: Live Reports (Page 21 of 37)

The ELECTRI_CITY Show

4 July 2016 /

Photo by Markus Luigs

“Düsseldorf is the capital of electronic music” – that is the quintessence of ‘ELECTRI_CITY – Elektronische_Musik_Aus_Düsseldorf’.

In it, Rudi Esch gives an eyewitness account of how the Düsseldorf electronic scene developed from 1970 to 1986 and spawned acts like LA DÜSSELDORF, DIE KRUPPS, DER PLAN, LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, RIECHMANN, RHEINGOLD, PROPAGANDA, DAF, KRAFTWERK and NEU!

To tie in with the German language book, Düsseldorf paid homage to its electronic music history with the ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE, a three day event of lectures, discussions and live music. An impressive line-up was assembled and read like a ‘Who’s Who?’ of electronic music, with figures such as Gabi Delgado, Ralf Dörper, Rusty Egan, Harald Grosskopf, Peter Hook, Stephen Mallinder, Mark Reeder and Michael Rother all participating in various talks and discussions.

Known for his love of German music, OMD’s Andy McCluskey was interviewed by Rudi Esch for ‘ELECTRI_CITY – Elektronische_Musik_Aus_Düsseldorf’ to give his viewpoint on why die Düsseldorf Schule made such an impression on him as a teenager in The Wirral. With a version of the book in Englisch on the way retitled ‘ELECTRI_CITY – The Düsseldorf School Of Electronic Music’, it was appropriate that on the final day of the ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE, McCluskey and Esch presented what was billed as ‘The ELECTRI_CITY Show’.

Discussing a variety of records which Esch had brought along from his own personal collection, the pair indulged in some light hearted, but fanboy friendly banter…

Rudi: KRAFTWERK were something radical and new when they first appeared in the UK in 1975. What was the impression you had when you saw them at Liverpool Empire?

Andy: I was wearing my trenchcoat, long scarf, flared jeans and afro, and they walked out on stage in suits and ties… it was incredible. I’m on record as remembering it was September 11th and seat Q36. I remember it because it was the first day of the rest of my life! It was also the front row of the cheaper seats! This was something I had never seen and it was forty years ago! The amazing thing is, KRAFTWERK are still, NOW, more futuristic on stage than 99% of bands!

Rudi: Yes, it was so different at this time, to cut your hair and buy a suit…

Andy: … although it took Wolfgang Flür a long time to cut his hair, he had it longer for while than the rest of them *laughs*

Rudi: Yes, especially on the inside cover of ‘Radio-Activity’…

Andy: And his moustache lasted a bit too long *laughs*

Rudi: Wolfgang says that was his D’Artagnan look!

Andy: Yes, I can see that. I’m not gay but he was a sexy man, he was the Elvis of electronic music and still is!

Rudi: We often talk about the music, but let’s talk about the artwork of NEU!

Andy: I know Rusty Egan said the artwork didn’t really impress him but if you look at that, it is more contemporary now that if they had done something modernist or constructivist back in the 70s.

Rudi: The original cover to ‘Autobahn’ in the UK was very graphic…

Andy: But the cover I had was like a painting of a car going down the autobahn. That fantastic blue sleeve with the minimal sign image influenced Peter Saville.

Rudi: So you bought the German import?

Andy: That’s what I did! I would go to the shop on Saturday in Liverpool and go to the ‘German’ section and just see what they had that they didn’t have last week. If there was something there, it was the most exciting day of the week, and if there wasn’t, it would be like “NO! I’ve got nothing to listen to this weekend that’s new!”

Photo by Tom Steinseifer

Rudi: How did you discover LA DÜSSELDORF?

Andy: John Peel introduced me to LA DÜSSELDORF… I was sat in bed, but still had the radio on. On came this track and I was like “what the hell is that?”… so I’ve got ‘Silver Cloud’ minus the first fifteen seconds recorded on a cassette! It was incredible, but I didn’t realise that LA DÜSSELDORF were Klaus Dinger’s band after NEU! although when I spoke to Michael Rother, he dismissed LA DÜSSELDORF as pop! *laughs*

I was still kind of in the dark. You could buy these records, but nobody was writing about them in the press and there was no internet. So I would like the sleeve and then buy it to hear what it sounded like.

People always talk to us about KRAFTWERK, and obviously, they were hugely important. But there was another element from Düsseldorf that influenced us, and that was the organic side which was firstly NEU! and then LA DÜSSELDORF and Michael Rother’s solo records.

Rudi: But KRAFTWERK made a bigger overall impression?

Andy: KRAFTWERK’s ‘Radio-Activity’ is probably to this day, the album that influenced Paul Humphreys and I so much. It taught us you could make music with anything you wanted, because we had nothing.

They were definitely being the future, while dressed like the past. It’s interesting that to try not to look rock ‘n’ roll, the only place they could go was backwards with their look… it’s timeless really. They were trying not to be Anglo-American rock cliché and they achieved it. That for me was the exciting thing. When I was a teenager, I was looking for something different.

I became friends with Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos in the 90s, and was invited to Wolfgang’s flat for dinner; on the wall was a gold record for ‘Radio-Activity’ which was a hit single in France. I was telling them that ‘Radio-Activity’ was the song that most influenced OMD and told them ‘Electricity’ was just an English punk version of ‘Radio-Activity’. They replied “Yes, we know!”… it was that obvious! *laughs*

It’s like many teenagers now are frightened of the future and want to conform, but everything about me and people I knew were searching for something different. So when I found KRAFTWERK, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF, it was absolutely NOT the rock ‘n’ roll cliché that I was bored of.

Rudi: Although Wolfgang has a past in a beat band called THE BEATHOVENS…

Andy: But what people think of now as super distilled minimalism, the early records, you could see how KRAFTWERK came out of the more freeform, jazz music from playing with other people in Germany. But they slowly distilled their own style and sound, and moved away from that organic sound which was amazing, but also meant that we couldn’t go with them on that journey because we were kids with no money, so there was no point trying to be KRAFTWERK. So we just tried to do our thing, this strange hybrid of their ideas, emotional music and completely unconsciously, probably glam rock which we were watching when we were twelve.

Photo by Tom Steinseifer

Rudi: Musically, you did something unique with OMD because you did not use entirely electronic instruments and musically, I think you are closer to LA DÜSSELDORF?

Andy: Ralf Hütter is very busy curating the legacy of KRAFTWERK… that’s fine because they are the most important influential band from the last forty years in the history of pop music, they changed the world.

It is great that the city of Düsseldorf has woken up to the fact that KRAFTWERK and other musicians changed the world and cherishing them. Whilst KRAFTWERK cement their position in the pantheon of the museums and the books, LA DÜSSELDORF and NEU! were very important. They also did something that was beautiful and different. And OMD unconsciously were combining the two, the electronic sound with the organic…

Rudi: Talking about NEU! They were not an electronic band and there are no electronic sounds of that first record…

Andy: No, it was LA DÜSSELDORF where Klaus Dinger started to add some keyboards and got pop! *laughs*

Rudi: With LA DÜSSELDORF and their songs like ‘Düsseldorf’ and ‘La Düsseldorf’, there’s a lot of Düsseldorf for one band…

Andy: Thinking about LA DÜSSELDORF and NEU! – the biggest loss to the scene is Klaus Dinger.

Rudi: Yes, after his death, people were talking about the Motorik beat and how great NEU! were… even Michael Rother said before 2004, nobody cared about NEU! but now he can make a living again from the legacy of these old records…

Andy: It’s great that people are thinking about NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF, they should be up there with KRAFTWERK.

Rudi: People said Klaus Dinger was a difficult guy and not easy to get along with…

Andy: It’s the Van Gogh thing… you have to bloody die before people think you’re a genius!

Rudi: To me in Dusseldorf, there were like two generations, so the people in the 70s had the money to buy synthesizers and make music like LA DÜSSELDORF, and then from 1979, there was the second generation like DAF, DER PLAN and DIE KRUPPS who were in punk bands, but then got new technology like sequencers and used them in a punk rock way…

Andy: The early synth bands had the mentality of punk, but instead of playing one chord, they used one finger. To use technology was a much more interesting thing to do than just punk.

Rudi: My favourite KRAFTWERK song is ‘Showroom Dummies’, I like it because it goes on endlessly and more hypnotic, especially with the drums…

Andy: One of the things about KRAFTWERK is the drums are so tight and the sound is so rigid and hard. It was a drum sound that was completely new and alien. When OMD initially went into the studio, Paul Humphreys made an electronic kit, but it never worked very well.

So when we recorded, we had to use a real drum kit but we were so desperate to get that tight, really punchy sound, we didn’t want our drummer Malcolm Holmes to play the whole kit and have all that splashy ambient nonsense… so we made poor Malcolm play each drum individually, one at a time… that was our concession to be as tight and hard as KRAFTWERK.

So he had to put down four minutes of bass drum, then four minutes of snare, four minutes of hi-hat, but NO cymbals were allowed… that was far too rock ‘n’ roll! It led to some interesting moments because he screwed up the fill at the end of the middle eight of ‘Enola Gay’, playing it on the three, not the four!

Rudi: Do you have the luminous 12 inch of ‘Neon Lights’?

Andy: I have them all, but I don’t have a vinyl deck. ‘Neon Lights’ is possibly one of the nearest times KRAFTWERK came to combining the machine rhythm and the organic melancholic melody with vocals. It’s the closest Hütter gets to really singing, he’s not singing staccato. And that song is, after ‘Europe Endless’, my favourite song by KRAFTWERK of all time, precisely because it has that amazing juxtaposition of the contrast of the hard machinery and the beautiful melancholic melody; it makes it more romantic, because they shouldn’t fit together.

Rudi: Why didn’t you sing on OMD’s cover of ‘Neon Lights’ on ‘Sugar Tax’?

Andy: That was originally for a single that didn’t come out which I’d produced for a girl named Christine Mellor. I really liked it and wanted people to hear it. But in hindsight, it was a mistake and I should have sung it with maybe just her on the middle eight.

Rudi: KRAFTWERK have a concept and they stick to it, but don’t talk about their records…

Andy: The one thing I could not be, is that focussed, rigid and precise. I can’t stay in the intellectual moment. I like the intellectual pre-concept, but I get carried away in the emotion of it, so when I go on stage, I just lose all control… it’s a shameless madness. I just can’t stay still, I dance like a lunatic and I don’t care!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Rudi Esch and Andy McCluskey

ELECTRI_CITY The Dusseldorf School Of Electronic Music‘ELECTRI_CITY – The Düsseldorf School Of Electronic Music’ is published  by Omnibus Press on 10th August 2016

The companion ‘ELECTRI_CITY 2’ CD, double vinyl LP and download featuring many of the artists discussed in the book is released by Grönland Records on 12th August 2016

This year’s ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE takes place at Düsseldorf CCD on 14th – 15th October 2016

http://www.electricity-conference.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ELECTRICITY.Conference/

https://www.facebook.com/Electri.city.Esch/

Text and Interview transcription by Chi Ming Lai
4th July 2016

OMD Dazzle Ships + Architecture & Morality Live in Frankfurt

16 May 2016 /

OMD’s series of dates celebrating the legacy of ‘Architecture & Morality’ and ‘Dazzle Ships’ were the culmination of a rebuilt reputation after a critical mauling back in the day…

This journey began in 2007 when the classic line-up of Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper regrouped to perform ‘Architecture & Morality’ in full, on what eventually became an extensive European tour.

But back in the day following the melodic platitudes of their hit singles ‘Souvenir’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’, OMD returned to the experimental ethos of their VCL XI days, as a reaction to the success of ‘Architecture & Morality’. Thus the follow-up album ‘Dazzle Ships’ was also notable for a number of shorter, conceptual pieces inspired by KRAFTWERK’s ‘Radio-Activity’ long player.

Although ‘Dazzle Ships’ was savaged by critics on its release in April 1983 and ultimately reset OMD into a more directly commercial direction towards Hollywood, this fractured nautical adventure has now been reassessed by cultural observers such as The Quietus as a lost work of genius, almost along the same lines as ‘Kid A’ by RADIOHEAD.

While confusing audiences at the time, the speaking clock collage ‘Time Zones’ was an enlightening snapshot of the world over 118 seconds. Each of the announcers from France, Germany, Britain, Japan and North America were all carefully synchronised for an artistic simulcast that would have been impossible to appreciate under conventional circumstances. Its inclusion was naïve and while ‘Time Zones’ may have outstayed its welcome by 30 seconds, the intentions were imaginative and authentic.

Germany is OMD’s spiritual home and this evening at Frankfurt’s mighty Alte Oper was like a celebratory monument of remembrance to a bygone era; outside the city in Friedberg was a base for the US Army’s 3rd Armored Division and Elvis Presley was famously stationed there during his National Service.

At the rather unusual start time of 7.00pm, ‘Dazzle Ships (Parts II, III & VII)’ opened proceedings and provided a concrète reminder of those past Cold War tensions. Meanwhile through a megaphone, Andy McCluskey playfully reprised the enemy ident for ‘Radio Prague’.

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The four piece synchronised performance art flag waving of ‘ABC Auto-Industry’ brought back memories of the aghast audience reaction when OMD gave the piece a TV debut on ‘The Tube’; this time however, it was greeted as a welcome catch-phrase.

The live presentation began proper with a selection of recent media broadcasts appended onto the still shocking news report about “the former Somoza guards” on the start of ‘International’. Like ‘Maid Of Orleans’, ‘International’ was influenced by ENO’s ‘Back In Judy’s Jungle’ and the original McCluskey anger justly came over as his emotions set in. Sadly, the harrowing waltz’s observations on economic corruption, political hypocrisy and torture in captivity still resonate today.

The solemn but beautiful ‘Silent Running’ followed and provided a perfect metaphor for the current state of the nation. Echoing JOY DIVISION’s ‘Atmosphere, the song had not been played live since OMD’s 1983 shows when it was one of the encores.

Upping the pace, ‘This Is Helena’ saw McCluskey bring a guitar out to set the scene for ‘Genetic Engineering’, the fistful of coarse energy that took its lead from ‘China My China’, another track by ENO.

One of the most unusual chart singles ever, has there been another song about this subject? Well, apart from ‘Utopia’ by GOLDFRAPP, then probably not; McCluskey continued the momentum with the precise pop structure of ‘Telegraph’.

A coded attack on right-wing religious evangelism, taken in today’s context, the lyrics of ‘Telegraph’ could easily be applied to the campaign antics of a certain Donald Trump. Following on, accompanied by massed dancing in the aisles, the Motorik exuberance of ‘Radio Waves’ blasted through. Like with the recent domestic period drama ‘Deutschland 83’, it was a reminder that despite the spectre of The Bomb, there was time for escapism and even fun.

Sitting in for the popular sticksman Malcolm Holmes, Stuart Kershaw acquitted himself well on the drum stool, keeping the pulse ticking while adding his own groove and punch. Meanwhile, Paul Humphreys and Martin Cooper kept things melodically tight, but loose enough to prove on occasions that things were very definitely live, with all the original sounds reproduced supremely to cut through to the heart.

The live outing of ‘Time Zones’ was made easier to absorb for mass consumption by being reworked as a mash-up that threw in the Synthanorma sequence from ‘The Right Side?’ alongside speech bites from the various conceptual pieces of ‘English Electric’, the glorious 2013 opus which can now be seen as a direct descendent of ‘Dazzle Ships’.

With the most difficult track from the ‘Dazzle Ships’ opus now out of the way, all four band members headed to the front of the stage for an endearing, stripped down performance of ‘Of All The Things We’ve Made’ with Kershaw on a single snare, while Humphreys and Cooper stood holding tiny remote keyboards. Its single chord strum from McCluskey provided a wonderfully wistful moment for the occasion. Originally recorded as the last OMD song, it actually came from the 1981 ‘Architecture & Morality’ recording sessions.

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The airing of ‘Genetic Engineering’ B-side ‘4 Neu’, a duet between Humphreys and McCluskey, was highly felicitous in Frankfurt with Düsseldorf, the home city of NEU! only 150km away. Inspired by the track ‘Lebwohl’ as a tribute to the music of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger, the mournful piano motif provided a special connection so near to the city from which it mystically emerged and showed that it was not only KRAFTWERK who were instrumental in OMD’s genesis.

With ‘Dazzle Ships’ clocking in at only 32 minutes, McCluskey introduced a musical intermission with a trio of evergreens from the ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’ debut. Martin Cooper left his Roland Fantom X8 to strap on a bass guitar for the lively Latin spike of ‘Julia’s Song’, while ‘Almost’ and ‘Messages’ were reminders of how unrequited love and ending a relationship were much trickier situations to deal with in the days before the smart phone.

When ‘Architecture & Morality’ came out on Dindisc in November 1981, it was initially dismissed by critics as synth MOR, thanks to its three massive Top 5 UK singles. While it contained ‘Maid Of Orleans’, the biggest selling single of 1982 in West Germany, it has only been in the last ten years that the progressive depth of the title track and ‘Sealand’ have been truly recognised and appreciated. This respective pairing opened this second half of the evening, with the eerie oceanic overtures of ‘Sealand’ in particular looming gloomily as the seed to ‘Dazzle Ships’. Its strong melodies and emotive sweeps certainly countered the lazy argument that “synthesizers have no soul”.

But it all wasn’t just pastoral art, as the primitive aggression of ‘The New Stone Age’ and the moody rhythmics of ‘Georgia’ showed. After magnificent renditions of ‘Souvenir’, ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’ brought the opera house down, the choral beauty of the guitar sprung ‘The Beginning & the End’ closed the ‘Architecture & Morality’ segment, with the ever versatile Kershaw stepping forward on six string duties.

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To finish the evening, the band gave enthusiastic renditions of ‘Electricity’ and ‘Enola Gay’ to ensure that everyone could party like it was ‘Deutschland ‘83’, with the now traditional Teutonic chants of “ZUGABE” in metronomic unison with the latter’s iconic CR78 pattern at the close.

As a post-script, OMD returned for an encore and went off-piste with ‘Sailing On the Seven Seas’ and ‘Locomotion’; the latter was dedicated to a new wed couple who had made their way to the front, with McCluskey even posing for a photo with the bride mid-song! But following that moment of amusement, the ethos of the evening was put back on track with the tremendously emotive ‘The Romance Of The Telescope’, the only track from ‘Dazzle Ships’ left unplayed in earlier part of the programme.

It was a fine showcase of two of the most important albums in the history of Synth Britannia and for those who were able to tell their tape recorders from their drum machines, it was a perfect night with OMD on supreme form. Paul Humphreys said in the event brochure: “We feel it’s important to keep venturing forward as a band, having new ideas and creating new things, but sometimes it gives a unique perspective to return to former works…”

While ‘Architecture & Morality’ has more than earned its place in the pantheons of electronic pop, ‘Dazzle Ships’ has now been vindicated with a rightful place next to it. And with the triumph of ‘English Electric’ in 2013 too, the artistic circle has now been completed. With some brilliant performances of a collection of work that many hold dear, OMD have nothing more to prove.

But just as ‘Dazzle Ships’ was followed by less conceptually challenging hit singles such as ‘Talking Loud & Clear’, ‘So In Love’ and ‘If You Leave’, a North American tour supporting BARE NAKED LADIES and a sojourn at Butlins in Bognor Regis are next in OMD’s 2016 diary…

It seems funny to think OMD once felt insulted by Factory Records impresario Tony Wilson’s assessment that they were the future of pop music. Their Dindisc label boss Carol Wilson said that Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys “didn’t know whether they wanted to be JOY DIVISION or ABBA!” – of course, they wanted to be both. And that sums up OMD in an awkward, but ultimately rewarding avant pop nutshell.

‘Architecture & Morality / Dazzle Ships’ recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall is available as a 2CD or 3LP set and download

The studio versions of ‘Dazzle Ships’ + ‘Architecture & Morality’ are still available in CD and download formats via Virgin Records

http://www.omd.uk.com

https://www.facebook.com/omdofficial/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
16th May 2016

SECTION 25 Live in London

3 May 2016 /

SECTION 25 first came to wider attention with the Martin Hannett produced album ‘Always Now’ on Factory Records in 1981. That album recently ‘Hit’ the news when rapper Kanye West sampled that very song for his track ‘FML’.

It was belated but welcome recognition for the combo that originated from Blackpool. Founded by the Cassidy brothers Larry and Vin, SECTION 25 later became best known for the cult electro favourite ‘Looking from a Hilltop’ in 1984. Co-produced by NEW ORDER’s Bernard Sumner, it featured Larry’s wife Jenny on lead vocals.

Sadly Jenny passed away in 2004 and Larry in 2010. In an appropriate and respectful move, Vin recruited his niece Beth, daughter of the departed SECTION 25 couple to front the band. She had already featured on several SECTION 25 tracks previously and possessed a vocal style that was eerily reminiscent of her mother.

At the time of Larry Cassidy’s passing, work was almost finished on ‘Retrofit’, a collection of classic SECTION 25 tracks reconfigured for the 21st Century with father and daughter sharing leading vocals. Its eventual release was a fitting tribute. The band continued touring and recording, with their most recent album ‘Dark Light’ released on Factory Benelux in 2013.

SECTION 25 live-Simon Helm01

Now featuring guitarist Steve Stringer and Beth’s cousin Jo Cassidy on keyboards, percussion and backing vocals, The Islington was the venue for the London leg of SECTION 25’s short series of dates to promote their new live album ‘Alfresco’. Dubbed “The best old / new band in Britain” by The Guardian in 2013, it was an evening of songs from all periods of SECTION 25’s history.

Opening number ‘Beating Heart’ was one of the first songs back in the day to herald SECTION 25’s then new electronic direction, but unfortunately this aspect got lost in the live mix with the synthesized bottom end unable to be heard. Undeterred, the quartet soldiered on into the second song ‘Colour Movement Sex & Violence’, the danceable synth led ditty that was the first to emerge from the Beth fronted SECTION 25 in 2011. But again, the programmed elements were barely audible and on its conclusion, Beth politely asked the soundman for “some more backing track”.

Less reliant on sequencers, things improved with the serene atmospheres of ‘The Process’ and the more conventionally driven ‘Memento’. Meanwhile, the beautiful ’Desert’, originally part of 1984’s ‘From The Hip’ album but tonight played in its electronically driven ‘Retrofit’ guise, was the evening’s first stand-out. The sun-kissed ambience provided some relief for the end of a viciously cold April, while Beth provided an angelic vocal performance to suit.

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Crossing supreme pop with a post-punk sensibility, ‘My Outrage’ was the possibly the highlight of ‘Dark Light’ but tonight, Beth introduced a slower, stripped down rendition. It was a shame that the brilliant synth laden album version wasn’t aired, but it worked, thanks to the experience of the senior Cassidy and Stringer, while the down-to-earth charm and enthusiasm of the two Cassidy girls was a joy to witness.

Their fun-filled presence made itself even more apparent on the euphoric samba party of ‘Garageland’ and a feisty take on ‘Wretch’ where Jo particularly came into her element. With the sound fully fixed, the show was now truly gaining momentum.

And when the magnificent pulsing sonics of ‘Looking From A Hilltop’ emerged, spiced with frenetic guitar lines and syncopated percussion, it all fell into place. Beth’s embracement of her mother’s signature song was pure exuberance, aided by her spirited gyrations and a suitably wispy vocal. There was much dad dancing amongst the crowd and it brought smiles of approval from the Cassidy girls. Quite why this song still isn’t more widely known is one of life’s great mysteries. But perhaps that will now change? To finish, there was the ‘Always Now’ favourite ‘Dirty Disco’, a vintage 1981 composition updated with a delicious machine groove.

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Now, while SECTION 25 are obviously a different entity to the one that first made its name on Factory Records, its line of succession provides an authenticity that other rebooted acts, who feature only one original member, can’t claim.

Utilising live and computerised instrumentation coupled to a vibrant freshness from new blood, the spirit of SECTION 25 has evolved while literally retaining its core DNA. It has transformed itself into something almost as glossy and accessible as sister acts MARNIE and MARSHEAUX. Their defiant sense of optimism in the face of loss and sadness is an example to all.

SECTION 25 AlfrescoSECTION 25’s live album ‘Alfresco’ is available as an 8 track vinyl LP + 11 track CD set from Factory Benelux at
http://www.factorybenelux.com/alfresco_fbn124.html

http://www.section25.com

https://www.facebook.com/section25

https://twitter.com/section25

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Simon Helm and Chi Ming Lai
3rd May 2016

CHVRCHES Live at the Royal Albert Hall

2 April 2016 /

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The success of CHVRCHES is proof that there is still an international market for synthpop.

Successfully overcoming the second album syndrome that afflicted LITTLE BOOTS, LA ROUX, LADYHAWKE and HURTS, ‘Every Open Eye’ showcased a refined CHVRCHES and their knack for great songwriting. Now elevated to arena status, the gigs at the SSE Hydro in their hometown of Glasgow and tonight at London’s Royal Albert Hall are evidence of how far CHVRCHES have come.

It’s been an upward trajectory for Lauren Mayberry, Martin Doherty and Iain Cook since their debut album ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ in 2013. As well as selling half a million copies worldwide, Taylor Swift notably borrowed their sound for her song ‘Out Of The Woods’. However, the success had taken its toll on the group’s frontwoman, with online misogynistic attacks and criticisms of her static stage presence.

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This has been tough on her psyche but thinking positively, a change in approach has successfully allowed her to differentiate between her public and private personas. This attitude is reflected in Mayberry’s new found confidence on stage, while she still retains her charming, down-to-earth banter with the audience in the manner of a student who still can’t quite believe she has the best job in the world. Appropriately, the opening ‘Never Ending Circles’ is her fight back manifesto.

Known for practically standing still at CHVRCHES earlier shows, tonight she is back and forth, punching the air with aplomb, as the following ‘We Sink’ from ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ reinforces the mood. Aided by three screens displaying everything from pixelated images themed around the ‘Every Open Eye’ artwork, to the bars and triangles last seen on Gary Numan’s ‘The Touring Principle’ shows, CHVRCHES have indeed developed as a live act.

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The presence of frantic new numbers like ‘Keep You On My Side’, ‘Make Them Gold’ and ‘Empty Threat’ reflect the influence of their American success. With an air of controlled aggression, Mayberry therapeutically pounds an electronic percussion set on the latter and Cook even ventures out with his bass. These are more new wavey tracks that could have made the soundtrack of a classic Brat Pack movie from back in the day

Riding on the natural momentum of those songs, Mayberry and Doherty swap positions for the live debut of ‘High Enough To Carry You Over’. A big improvement on ‘Under The Tide’ and ‘You Caught The Light’ from their debut, it’s a credit to Doherty for taking singing lessons and delivering a fine slice of Trans-Atlantic pop.

The punchy ‘Playing Dead’ keeps things lively before the brilliantly hypnotic power of ‘Science/Visions’, complimented by a mad display of lighting. A sprightly ‘Gun’ continues the first album innocence until Mayberry drops to the floor. Remaining there for the first verse of ‘Bury It’, this is a slice of feisty machine pop that will become a girl anthem of the future.

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Doherty makes his return to the mic for the polarising ‘Under The Tide’; the CHVRCHES faithful lap it up, but the casuals sitting further back in the huge confines of the Royal Albert Hall take the opportunity for a comfort break. With his one-legged kick dancing, what can’t be denied though is The Dok’s enthusiasm and sense of fun. The sweet but solemn ‘Recover’ acts as a breather, before the momentum of the home stretch is raised with ‘Leave A Trace’.

A magnificent ‘Clearest Blue’ closes the main set, wonderfully held in a state of tension before the potent lift in the final third which sends the Royal Albert Hall crowd into a total frenzy. For the encore, ‘Afterglow’ with its angelic ambience sees Mayberry exposed and practically acapella; it is a beautiful moment which adds a new string to CHVRCHES’ bow. Finishing with ‘The Mother We Share’, this song of such quality that it really could be covered by Taylor Swift and sell millions!

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Tonight, CHVRCHES are at the height of their powers and even feel able to leave out their calling card ‘Lies’. Two albums on and several world tours later, CHVRCHES have proved themselves as the saviours of synthpop.

What this Glaswegian trio have managed to do is get youngsters listening to electronic music outside of the brainless EDM complex. As far as synthpop is concerned, this can only be a good thing for the future of the genre.

‘Every Open Eye’ is released by Virgin Records as a CD, deluxe CD with three bonus tracks, vinyl LP and download

http://chvrch.es/

https://www.facebook.com/CHVRCHES

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos from Brighton Dome concert by Richard Price
2nd April 2016

A-HA Live at London O2 Arena

30 March 2016 /

When it was announced in March 2015 that A-HA would be returning with their tenth studio album ‘Cast In Steel’, it was somewhat unexpected.

The Norwegian trio had made a high-profile statement that they were disbanding and played their farewell concert at the Oslo Spektrum in December 2010. It was a fitting end, following the artistic high of their 2009 long player ‘Foot Of The Mountain’.

But like many of their peers such as ULTRAVOX, DURAN DURAN and SPANDAU BALLET, the sum proved to be greater than the individual parts. So with no contractual pressures or touring commitments, Morten Harket, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen quietly reunited and recorded new material.

A-HA’s collective strength over the years has been to produce great melancholic pop in that classic Nordic tradition, but also add a contrasting glorious optimism for that vital all-embracing lift.

Although often tagged as a teenybopper band in the UK, A-HA always had a darker edge compared with DURAN DURAN and even their only British No1 ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’ was shaded in gloom. This demeanour was reflected in the opening numbers at the O2 Arena, ‘I’ve Been Losing You’ and ‘Cry Wolf’, the latter’s pop angst amusingly accompanied by an animation of a bopping wolf! The beautiful ‘Stay On The Roads’ got the evening’s first mobiles-in-the-air moment.

Meanwhile the first of only three songs from the new album came in the shape of the wonderful ‘Cast In Steel’ title track. The duet of ‘Crying In The Rain’ with backing singer Anneli Drecker provided another sensitive focal point, but the rhythmical DEPECHE MODE pulse of ‘Mother Nature Goes To Heaven’ and Waaktaar-Savoy’s rock out on ‘Sycamore Leaves’ provided some artistic diversity.

Morten Harket himself provided an interesting case study as a front man. Still blessed with great cheek bones and a fine voice, something had to be missing and it was his interaction (or rather the lack of it) with the audience. Indeed, it was Furuholmen who acted as Master of Ceremonies from behind his keyboards while Harket appeared to be like a lost teenager at Specsavers, unable to decide on his choice of eyewear, swapping between shades, standard specs and nothing at all!

And while Harket’s crying falsetto was present and correct, the muted sustain on some numbers was an indication that age was beginning to take its toll on his voice. As if to substantiate the point, after ‘We’re Looking For The Whales’, Harket walked off stage to leave Paul Waaktaar-Savoy to take the lead on ‘Velvet’; now while his vocal was good, Magne Furuholmen’s star turn on ‘Lifelines’ was less impressive, the keyboardist even coming clean on his capabilities during his introduction.

It was an interesting diversion and they might have gotten away with it on 2005’s ‘Analogue’ tour. But on a final tour with not much change from a hundred pounds for a ticket, this was an odd decision. To prompt even more head scratching, Anneli Drecker then took the lead vocal for a surprise rendition of ‘Here I Stand & Face the Rain’ from the ‘Hunting High & Low’ album. And while she gave a worthwhile performance, there was a feeling among those present that it was Morten Harket who they really wanted to sing it.

Harket did return and from the new album, he went straight into ‘She’s Humming A Tune’ which dropped hints of ‘Scoundrel Days’ in a lower key with bursts of bottle neck guitar from Waaktaar-Savoy. ‘Scoundrel Days’ itself appeared as a magnificent climax to the main section of the show following excellent, emotive performances of ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ and ‘Hunting High & Low’,

Beginning the encore with the marvellous U2 influencing ‘The Sun Always Shines On TV’, the creepy projection of violin playing mannequins added to the atmosphere before disappointingly, ‘Under The Makeup’ made its appearance, stripped of the Bond Theme elements that made the recorded version so enjoyable. But a powerful rendition of ‘The Living Daylights’ made up for it, before a rousing ‘Take On Me’ completed an enjoyable evening.

The performance affirmed why A-HA have been able continue their career into the 21st Century. But with cracks beginning to show, the time is maybe now right to finally call it a day. They have nothing more to prove and even now, they have more great songs on ‘Cast In Steel’ than many bands manage in an entire career.

‘Time & Again: The Ultimate A-HA’ is released by Universal Music Catalogue

http://a-ha.com/

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Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
30th March 2016

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