Category: Reviews (Page 126 of 200)

CLOSED CIRCUITS Australian Alternative Electronic Music of the 70s & 80s, Volume 1

26 July 2017 /

‘Closed Circuits’ is a new compilation which brings together a set of post-punk / electronic tracks by some of the unsung artists from the Australian underground.

With the emergence of Antipodean electronic acts over the last 10 years including THE PRESETS, VAN SHE, LADYHAWKE, CUT COPY and GRAFTON PRIMARY, now is a prime time to have a body of work which charts the more experimental material which emerged before these artists gained commercial prominence. The compilation was put together by writer and historian David Nichols.

In his liner notes he adds: “This collection brings together a wide range of recordings really only united by one thing: people using technology to produce something fresh. These were not necessarily artists wedded to the idea of the ‘new wave’ or even hoping to wipe out old rock music; but what these tracks do represent is forward-thinking, inventive, progress…”

The title and artist name of the opening track ‘A Circuit Like Me’ by THE METRONOMES gives you a fair idea of what to expect from it, an utterly charming double monosynth, string machine and Roland CR78-driven song with detached female vocals. The song which features guest vocals from Talking Judy had become much sought after by collectors, so its appearance here will be welcomed by many.

‘Shout & Deliver’ by THE REELS was released in 1981 and narrowly missed the Aussie Top 40, peaking at No43; desperately catchy, it was let down by a slightly oddly panned sound mix. Despite being over 35 years old, the synths, vocal production and chord progressions here sound remarkably current and way ahead of their time.

Initially ‘Great X-1’ by INFORMATICS comes across like a THOMAS DOLBY B-side, mainly instrumental with a ‘One of Our Submarines’ style Moog bass. Halfway through, a slightly off-key vocal unexpectedly appears with the lyrics being a paean to the Bell X-1, an early rocket powered aircraft.

‘On’ by MODELS is a bass-driven DURAN DURAN-influenced synth rock track by an act which eventually went on to achieve decent success in their homeland, even gaining a No1 in 1985.

The band also got some prestigious support slots, accompanying DAVID BOWIE and THE POLICE at early points in their career. ‘On’ is punctuated by some slightly off-kilter synth riffs including one which sounds like FAD GADGET has joined the band, quirky, but entertaining nonetheless!

Talking of FAD GADGET, the intro to ‘Waiting Time’ by YA YA CHORAL is a cheeky re-write of ‘Ladyshave’, with pretty much the same drum machine and octave bassline. However, once the track progresses, the track changes direction with THE CURE-like guitar dominating and an indie female vocal.

Another collectable single making an appearance here is KAREN MARK’s ‘Cold Cafe’, reputably fetching $500 at one point, the song could be seen as an Aussie YAZOO, with emotional female vocals over a monosynth backing, again this is another lost treasure which shows that it wasn’t just the UK that was able to produce synthetic music with a quality vocal on top.

Space doesn’t permit to give mentions to all of the 20 tracks here, but there are some real gems; from DISTANT LOCUST’s slightly bonkers drum machine / fuzz guitar rework / rewrite of DONNA SUMMER’s iconic ‘I Feel Love’ through to rock / synth hybrid ‘Rock Rock Daddy’ by JULES and a lost work by ANNE CESSNA & ESSENDON AIRPORT from 1981.

In many ways this is a really valuable companion product to the UK Cherry Red compilation ‘Close To The Noise Floor’, itself a tying up of the formative years of early synth experiments this side of the pond. What is interesting though is that if anything, the quality of music production here is higher than many of its UK counterparts, especially from a vocal point of view.

Also of note is the high prominence of tracks which aren’t afraid to meld guitars and rock elements with synths, again something which sets many of these tracks apart from European artists. For those that have any interest in the evolution of electronic music (Australian or otherwise) this is a really fascinating compilation and fills in many of the historical gaps. Highly recommended.

‘Closed Circuits: Australian Alternative Electronic Music of the 70s & 80s, Volume 1’ is released a CD, digital download and limited edition 2LP set with four extra tracks on 28th July 2017 by Festival Records / Warner Music Australia

Further information at https://roughtrade.com/music/closed-circuits-australian-alternative-electronic-music-of-the-70s-and-80s-volume-1

Text by Paul Boddy
26th July 2017

I SPEAK MACHINE Zombies 1985

24 July 2017 /

I SPEAK MACHINE is the audio / visual collaboration between musician Tara Busch and filmmaker Maf Lewis, inspired by Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone who used to discuss score ideas while scripts were being written for the classic Spaghetti Westerns.

Having released the soundtrack to their horror short ‘The Silence’ in 2015, their latest offering is ‘Zombies 1985’, a musical collaboration with Benge of WRANGLER and JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS fame.

In Busch’s own words “What was meant to be a 3 song EP by Benge & I morphed into an 11 song brain chomping monster”.

The ‘Zombies 1985’ film itself tells the story of greed and self-obsession in Thatcher’s Britain as a businessman drives home, oblivious to the zombie apocalypse going on around him. It features GARY NUMAN’s three daughters Persia, Raven and Echo in cameo roles and was screened with the live score performed by Busch on a UK and US tour with Numan.

Fitting in with the film and album’s title, a conceptual rule of using only “1985 period equipment” was imposed including mixers and effects units. The end result is striking with the station idents, drones, percussive mantras and abstract electronic screeches forming the start of the album, supplemented by apocalyptic mutant pop songs influenced by the likes of CHRIS & COSEY and CABARET VOLTAIRE.

The hazy ‘Demon Days’ is the first of these songs and sounds like early GOLDFRAPP trapped aboard the starship Nostromo with Busch’s unsettling gothique and siren synths penetrating a distinct horror movie vibe.

The mysterious workshop electronica of ‘Blood From A Stone’ also evokes even more overtones of early GOLDFRAPP and while the superb track is perhaps nearer to Busch’s excellent solo ‘Rocket Wife’ EP from 2011, it is far less conventional as the pace picks up in a militaristic fashion with a vocoder harmony in tow.

The pacey ‘Hollywood Power’ is driven by fat sequences, with claustrophobic radio announcer samples and cold string machines capturing the tension as the airwaves get taken over by dark forces.

Meanwhile, the brilliant ‘Shame’ with its cascading synths and noise percussion is equal parts THROBBING GRISTLE, THE HUMAN LEAGUE and again GOLDFRAPP.

The robotic tech house of ‘Gone To LA’ leads to the crystalline arpeggios of ‘Trouble’ where a wholly synthetic reimagining of BRIAN ENO’s ‘No One Receiving’ is given an angel of death twist.

With a stuttering rhythmic passage and swimmy atmospherics, the deep bass driven ‘Petrified Mind’ sees Busch cross HEART with GAZELLE TWIN for the most American sounding track of the collection.

The deadpan ‘New Dawn (1986)’ has that air of finality about it, doomy and reminiscent of JOHN CARPENTER with rich synth tones that are complimented by Busch’s eerie vocal presence of spoken and sung phrases.

‘Zombies 1985’ is a wonderfully mutant mix of vintage synth collages and “Doris Day in outer space”, as JOHN FOXX once described Tara Busch and her delightfully odd electronic pop sound. And with the recent passing of George A Romero, the modern day Zombie film’s Godfather, this I SPEAK MACHINE album also now acts as a fitting tribute to his legacy with movies such as ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘Day Of the Dead’.

One of the best electronic albums of 2017? ‘Zombies 1985’ is definitely a contender and will satisfy the curiosity of those with a penchant for stranger things.

‘Zombies 1985’ is released by Lex Records on 18th August 2017 in CD, vinyl LP and digital formats, available from https://ispeakmachine1.bandcamp.com/album/zombies-1985

http://www.ispeakmachine.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ispeakmachine/

http://analogsuicide.com

https://twitter.com/tarabusch

https://www.instagram.com/ispeakmachine/

https://about.me/maf

http://lexprojects.com/i-speak-machine/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
24th July 2017

NINE INCH NAILS Add Violence EP

22 July 2017 /

Although on the surface, things have appeared to be relatively quiet in the NINE INCH NAILS camp, the core duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have over the last few years been busy working on soundtrack material.

This included providing a superb score for the Boston marathon bombing film ‘Patriots Day’ and the pair are currently working on music for the upcoming Ken Burns documentary ‘The Vietnam War’.  Since providing the Oscar winning soundtrack to the ‘The Social Network’, this sidestep into film music composition has been a lucrative and creative outlet for the band.

But all this has been at the expense of releasing material for their day job with NINE INCH NAILS. So now following the release of the ‘Not The Actual Events’ EP back at the cusp of 2017, Trent Reznor has followed through with his promise to deliver a trilogy of EP releases this year with the announcement of the second one ‘Add Violence’ and its lead-off track ‘Less Than’. Whereas the previous release was certainly dark and musically satisfying, it lacked a definitive stand-out track with the sort of killer chorus that Reznor had previously delivered with tracks such ‘The Hand That Feeds’ and ‘Only’.

Track number one of five, ‘Less Than’ is certainly one of the most commercial tracks that NIN has released in a while, accompanied by a hypnotic retro video game-inspired video, the song is a satisfying combination of analogue sequencers, a SISTERS OF MERCY inspired programmed drum pattern (see ‘Dominion’) and most importantly, a BIG hooky chorus.

Worthy of a mention is the urban legend surrounding the video game ‘Polybius’; featured in the NIN promo; in 1981 an arcade version of the game was supposedly produced by the US government as a tool to test reaction times for the potential recruitment of military personnel. More sinister are the accusations that the game itself could induce seizures and brain aneurysms after multiple plays, a backstory which neatly lends itself to the lyrical content of the NIN song.

‘Less Than’ comes across as a super-charged version of the kind of material found on 2013’s ‘Hesitation Marks’, to the point where there are lyrical and structural similarities with ‘Copy of A’ from that album. Long-term fans of the band will undoubtedly welcome ‘Less Than’ like a long lost friend and it certainly showcases Reznor’s continuing ability to still be able to construct more single-like material.

After the opening gambit of ‘Less Than’, second EP track ‘The Lovers’ throws in a considerable curveball by stripping things back with a glitchy rhythm track and an underpinning hypnotic analogue sequencer part. A slow burning piece, the song gradually bleeds into the consciousness after a radio EQ’d Reznor vocal acts as an unconventional verse segment. The soaring “take me into the arms of the lovers…” chorus provides a great hook for the track which could be best described musically as an ambient MASSIVE ATTACK.

‘This Isn’t The Place’ centres around a waltz-time analogue drum pattern, piano figure and synthetic drones; its opening two minutes or so fools you into thinking it’s going to be an experimental instrumental before an upfront Reznor vocal intones “And if you see, my friend. I thought I would again. A single thin straight line. I thought we had more time”. In some quarters this song has been interpreted as a eulogy to DAVID BOWIE (who Reznor worked with) and it showcases one of his most emotional and intimate vocal deliveries.

After the soft-ish verse part of fourth track ‘Not Anymore’, the chorus hits the listener with an abrasive wall of sound; akin to being caught in an audio firestorm, this is NIN at their most aggressive and will satisfy fans of their earlier work on confrontational albums such ‘The Downward Spiral’.

‘The Background World’ takes the listener on a trip over its eleven minutes, and is the most sequencer-driven and electronic track on the EP. The first five minutes are darkly melodic but the final six is built around a progressively degrading and deliberately out of time looped song section.

The climax of this EP could be seen as a metaphor for human existence, repeating certain things daily until the individual becomes worn down and ultimately broken. The outro to ‘The Background World’ is arguably one of the most extreme and post-apocalyptic endings to a piece of music; by the end of the eleven minute mark, there are barely tiny shards of the original loop audible and when it finishes there is an incredible sense of release.

There is a bit of everything in ‘Add Violence’ to satisfy most long-term NINE INCH NAILS fans, it back-references eras of their previous work, but at the same time still remains a fresh and challenging experience. Listeners seeking a melodic fix may find it hard to skip past opener ‘Less Than’, but those who wish to be taken out of their comfort zone should experience the EP as a whole.

Highly recommended.

‘Add Violence’ is available in various formats from https://store-uk.nin.com/collections/music

http://www.nin.com/

http://nineinchnails.tumblr.com/

Text by Paul Boddy
Photo by John Crawford
22nd July 2017

LAIBACH Also Sprach Zarathustra

21 July 2017 /

Midway through 2017 sees a veritable hive of activity for Slovenia’s LAIBACH, this includes the release of ‘Liberation Day’ which documents the group’s controversial 2015 tour of North Korea; and almost simultaneously ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’, the band’s version of music for the theatrical production of Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’.

In many respects, LAIBACH are the ideal act to soundtrack this piece of work, both the band and Nietzsche are / were confrontational in their own ways.

‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ provoked outrage upon its release by pondering the concept that “God is dead” and introduced the terms ‘Übermensch’ (Superman) and ‘Untermensch’ (Inferior being)…

As well causing a media storm with their well publicised visit to North Korea, LAIBACH themselves (like their contemporaries RAMMSTEIN) have flirted with imagery, symbolism and themes which are designed to provoke and are often deliberately left open to misinterpretation.

Whereas 2014’s album ‘Spectre’ could be a considered a fairly commercial release when compared with much of LAIBACH’s back catalogue, this piece of work comes across as a far more experimental and challenging proposition. Five out of the twelve tracks are instrumental and although being fairly stripped back in nature, they still remain faithful to the band’s sound and aesthetic.

Opening piece ‘Vor Sonnen-Untergang’ (‘Before The Downfall’) starts with a subtle burst of filtered white noise before a soaring string-driven orchestral overture sets the tone for the piece, a small fanfare of synthesized melody finishes the track, hinting at some of the more electronic elements to come. ‘Ein Untergang’ is bleak and uncompromising, underpinned by a retro analogue bass drum, clanging metallic percussion and Milan Fras’ stentorian vocal.

The German spoken word elements touch upon the themes from the book relating to the concept that man is in transition between ‘Untermensch’ and ‘Übermensch’ and that “the human being is a goal, a bridge”. ‘Die Unschuld I’ sees the first real synergy of synthetic and orchestral elements on the album, again full of percussive layers, the piece would have sat quite happily on the soundtrack to the LAIBACH-scored movie ‘Iron Sky’.

As the album progresses, certain sounds reappear, sounds of knives being sharpened and struck act as percussive layers; ‘Von Gipfel Zu Gipfel’ starts minimalistically before eventually building towards an emotional piano and cello-driven climax and then dissolving into a wall of orchestral strings. ‘Das Gluck’ (‘Happiness’) is a stop/start track full of found sounds (panting, eating and breathing) and ominous synth bass pulsations, not exactly easy listening but again well-suited as a soundtrack piece.

‘Vor Sonnen Aufgang’ is by far the most melodic piece here, featuring the vocals of Mina Špiler, it is a truly beautiful and haunting track with its “here comes the sun” lyric providing a welcome glimmer of hope in an unrelentingly dark album. Throughout ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ there is a signature piece of audio which is not unlike the leitmotif that HANS ZIMMER created for The Joker in ‘The Dark Knight’, the sound is that of a continually rising (and sometimes falling) bowed string. Because the note is never resolved, it creates a sense of dread and foreboding and in the context of this soundtrack works extremely well. This is especially effective on the climatic final piece ‘Von Den Drei Verwandlungen’ which is arguably the musical equivalent of someone dragging their nails down a blackboard!

The main issue with LAIBACH’s ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ is whether it can hope to function as a stand-alone work. To fully appreciate it, ideally one would need to a) have an awareness of Nietzsche’s story to appreciate the underlying content and b) understand the German language to gain an insight into the lyrical message of the vocal pieces here.

These factors aside, this is an undeniably impressive sounding body of work and there could not be a more perfect match in the combination of story and artist involved. LAIBACH, like NINE INCH NAILS, are now in an enviable position in that they can comfortably straddle both the industrial rock arena and the flipside of more artistic endeavours such as film soundtracks. The ability to do this must be a fantastic boon for the band and ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ is a challenging but worthy addition to the bands’ 30 year plus back catalogue.

‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ is available via Mute Artists in CD, vinyl and digital formats

http://www.laibach.org/

https://www.facebook.com/Laibach/

http://mute.com/artists/laibach

Text by Paul Boddy
Photo by Miro Majcen
21st July 2017

NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM Formative European Electronica 1974-1984

20 July 2017 /

Last year’s ‘Close To The Noise Floor’ was a Cherry Red Records compilation which collected together many of the formative roots of UK electronic music, with recognised artists like THE HUMAN LEAGUE, BLANCMANGE, BEF, OMD and THROBBING GRISTLE side-by-side with those that didn’t get the same level of recognition and/or commercial success.

Now from the same label comes ‘Noise Reduction System’…

Subtitled ‘Formative European Electronica 1974-1984’, this 4CD set spreads a wider net and encompasses artists from countries which have an established heritage in electronic music (eg Germany and Belgium) through to those that don’t (eg Spain and Latvia).

DAF are represented here with their track ‘Ich Will’ which follows their usual template of bass sequencer driven music with live drums and guttural vocals.

The early YELLO song here ‘Glue Head’ is barely recognisable as the act that latterly went onto success with fully synthetic / sampled tracks such as ‘The Race’ and ‘Oh Yeah’. Full of dense live instrumentation including drums and guitars (and very little synth), it almost sounds like a completely different band.

One of the gems here is ‘Caramel’ by CLUSTER, a nifty monosynth and drum machine driven synthpop track from the 1974 album ‘Zuckerzeit’ which has an ending which sounds like a town hall meeting of The Clangers.

‘Krematorien’ by UNIVERSALANSCHLUSS has a rather wonderful minimalist early Mute Records aesthetic; pretty well mixed for its age and combining lo-fi drum machine, sequencer patterns and punky female vocals. The intro to the track also features a couple of Romanian flutes being bashed together to add to the rhythm of the piece, but mostly this is primitive electronics all the way.

The Swiss duo SCHALTKREIS WASSERMANN provide one of the better produced tracks here, utilising a Prophet 5, ARP 2600, Roland System 100M and an MC4 Sequencer, the track has a tightly programmed Giorgio Moroder feel to it.

Originally released in 1982, the track featured on the album ‘Psychotron’ which went Top 10 in the Melody Maker’s electronic chart.

Another worthy inclusion is ‘Multitrack Suggestion’ by VANGELIS, taken from the 1980 album ‘See You Later’, it sees a very different VANGELIS sound to the lush polysynth driven one we are familiar with. Almost KRAFTWERK-ish in conception with a Roland CR5000 drum machine, the overdubbing of live percussion sounds hints at the sound that was to come and features a vocal by Peter Marsh.

Unsurprisingly, much of the material here is pretty uncompromising, from the 21 minute plus ‘Geld’ by Berlin’s MALARIA, the 24 minute ‘Love You Generator’ by VAN KAYE & IGNIT and the 26 minute long ‘Zitternde Luft’ by GIANCARLO TONIUTTI; all of which vary very little over their running times.

On CD3, KLAUS SCHULZE’s ‘1984’ only just provides some light relief from a selection of tracks which mostly bear comparison with the darker experimental side of THROBBING GRISTLE.

‘1984’ is a beat-less pad-driven instrumental with Mellotron textures that recall some of the work of mid Virgin-era TANGERINE DREAM, Schulze’s former band.

On the final CD, ‘Principles’ by Belgium’s FRONT 242 recalls an early monosynth-driven DEPECHE MODE but with added speech samples and improvised electronics and ‘Shai Hulud’ by BERNARD SZAJNER adds some welcome melody with a trippy/sequenced instrumental piece.

‘Noise Reduction System’ is at times a daunting but ultimately fascinating curio which pulls together a quiet revolution which simultaneously took place across Europe at a time when electronic music equipment started to become affordable.

The artists featured here adopted the DIY ethos of punk but channelled it into a far more experimental direction. So for that reason, those seeking melodic synthpop should really look elsewhere.

However, for fans of uncompromising lo-fi electronic music, this compilation proves to be a treasure trove of hard to find and genuinely obscure tracks, which when researching certain pieces even Google failed to bring forth much in the way of information on some of the artists featured!

If you have an interest in the early roots of European electronic music, then ‘Noise Reduction System’ is worth seeking out. But for most synthpop fans, most of the material here will be a little too impenetrable…

Special thanks to Matt Ingham at Cherry Red

‘Noise Reduction System’ is released by Cherry Red on 21st July 2017

Details of the full tracklisting can be viewed at: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/noise-reduction-system-formative-european-electronica-1974-1984/

https://www.facebook.com/closetothenoisefloor/

Text by Paul Boddy
20th July 2016

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