‘Hippopotamus’ is the 24th album from SPARKS and their first in 8 years, not including their long player in partnership with FRANZ FERDINAND in 2015.
That superb FFS album saw the apprentice meeting the sorcerer and proved that collaborations DO work, reinvigorating the creativity and stature of both acts. And now, Russell and Ron Mael are back waxing lyrical about amphibious mammals, flat pack furniture and presidential widows, assisted by sidemen Dean Menta on guitars and Steven Nistor on drums.
Recorded in Los Angeles, ‘Hippopotamus’ features a whopping 15 tracks ranging from the orchestrated rock eccentricity of ‘What The Hell Is It This Time?’, inspired by what Ron says is “an often uttered phrase when people listen to a new SPARKS song”, to the neo-voice collage of ‘Bummer’. Meanwhile, the album doesn’t disappoint in the song titles department with ‘So Tell Me Mrs. Lincoln Aside From That How Was The Play?’ and ‘Missionary Position’ among the album’s tracklisting.
The staccato madness of the ‘Hippopotamus’ title track where “a hippy is driving” alongside “a woman with an abacus” who “looks Chinese” gives an idea of the quirky eccentricity on the record, while the perky ‘I Wish You Were Fun’ could be yet another tune directed at their long-time Mancunian pal who recently was honoured with a biopic entitled ‘England Is Mine’.
The Mael brothers don’t sit still and certainly make their audience work with the full-on bonkers variant of SPARKS on display during ‘Giddy Giddy’ with mechanised electro beats and stabbing synths providing an album highlight, while ‘Unaware’ sees Russell adopting an unfamiliar cocooned vocal style.
The ELO aping ‘Scandinavian Design’ takes IKEA references and sweetens them with a beautiful piano passage, while ‘Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)’ sees SPARKS ploughing forward with no regrets as others “live fast and die young”. Continuing the Gallic theme, ‘When You’re A French Director’ featuring Leos Carax of ‘Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf’ fame is a wonderful slice of oddball Chanson drama that is a far better realised idea than ‘Tsui Hark’ from ‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’.
But the best is saved until last, with the frantic electronically assisted storm of ‘The Amazing Mr Repeat’ possibly being the best tune on ‘Hippopotamus’ before the cinematic, harpsichord laden closer ‘Life With The Macbeths’. Wonderfully poperatic, noted soprano Rebecca Sjöwall with her gold vocal ecstacy is a perfect companion to Russell Mael’s falsetto as Shakespeare’s Scottish play is cleverly used as a metaphor for America’s First Family.
Now into the fifth decade of their career and with their sense of humour intact, SPARKS show no signs of waning in their zest for idiosyncratic adventure in a period which has seen some of the bands that they helped inspire literally going backwards 😉
As the ‘Hippopotamus’ title suggests, it is zoo time again for SPARKS.
‘Hippopotamus’ is released by BMG in CD, double vinyl LP and digital formats
SPARKS 2017 live dates include:
Prague Lucerna Music Bar (11th September), Berlin Columbia Theatre (12th September), Den Haag Paard van Troje (14th September), Luxembourg Den Atelier(15th September), Brussels Ancienne Belgique (16th September), Norwich Waterfront (18th September), Newcastle The Boilershop (19th September), Edinburgh Queens Hall (20th September), Manchester O2 Ritz (22nd September), Nottingham Rock City (23rd September), Birmingham O2 Institute 1 (24th September), Bristol 02 Academy (26th September), London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (27th September – 28th September)
James Murphy has never been afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve. In the past, TALKING HEADS, JOY DIVISION, KRAFTWERK and DAFT PUNK have been mined for LCD SOUNDSYSTEM.
Seven years after the acclaimed album ‘This Is Happening’ which featured the wonderful ERASURE meets ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN electronic pop of ‘I Can Change’, the Brooklyn new romantic with an industrial edge continues his magpie ways with a new long player ‘American Dream’.
The title song previewed earlier this year is possibly a musical statement reflecting on the political situation in the US. But Murphy also glances across the Atlantic and back to the Winter Of Discontent and this widescreen 3/4 synth laden tune that has more than a passing resemblance to THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Circus Of Death’.
So did ‘The Clown’ referred to in that song remind Murphy of someone in particular? Older viewers will be half expecting London Weekend Television’s Peter Lewis to quip in with his “In just a few moments, we’re off to Hawaii to join Steve McGarrett and the team for tonight’s adventure…” introduction.
After a long gestation period and questions as to whether LCD SOUNDSYSTEM were actually out of hiatus, the fourth studio album is finally out with Murphy’s desire for the it to be available on vinyl on the same day as the digital format being one of the reasons stated for this delay. He said: “I insist that there is vinyl on the day it’s released (because… well… because I’m an old person)”
It’s this aged anxiety and a fraught midlife headspace that colours this whole album; “I promise you this; you’re getting older” he exclaims on ‘Tonite’ over a squiggly bassline laden tune that mixes NEW ORDER with John Grant, before adding ”You’ve lost your internet and we’ve lost our memory”. But it all begins with ‘Oh Baby’, a dreamy blip and buzz fest to an obscure offbeat and pretty synth shades, with echoes of Ian McCulloch in Murphy’s vocal phrasing before the album’s first highlight.
‘Other Voices’ borrows heavily from TALKING HEADS ‘Remain In Light’ opus as Murphy acts like a preacher chanting “You’re still like a baby” over some hypnotic rhythmic backing modulating around a single chord. With some brilliant infinite guitar soloing along for the ride, Nancy Whang counterpoints with an assured rap to finish this superb slice of cerebral art funk. Meanwhile ‘Change Yr Mind’ has as much talk as it does head although at a much steadier pace, with some choppy guitar as well as the spectre of Eno’s ‘No-One Receiving’ looming.
Taking things in a more post-punk direction, ‘I Used To’ is in the vein of THE CURE with the scratchy minimal guitar and resonant bass cocoon penetrated by lashings of icy synth. This mood continues via the 9 minute Gothic gloom of ‘How Do You Sleep?’; shaped by a brooding percussive mantra and aggressive synth wobbles, it explodes with a live drum track as the claustrophobic grandeur of PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED makes its presence felt with Murphy shouting to a newly crowned foe: “I remember when we were friends, I remember calling you friend…”
‘Call The Police’ also looks towards post-punk and although more guitar oriented, comes over like the lost NEW ORDER single ‘Procession’ gone Motorik. The frantic ‘Emotional Haircut’ is the most live of the all tracks, with full band thrash out JOY DIVISION style, complimented by some impressive drumming by Pat Mahoney.
Concluding with the very long and grief ridden ‘Black Screen’, it is almost like OMD with its detuned abstract melodies and mournful harmonic air of Eno. Murphy’s musical farewell to Bowie, he turned down the production role for ‘Blackstar’ and his sadness is expressed with a forlorn declaration that “I had fear in the room, so I stopped turning up but I should have tried more” – it beautifully progresses into a treated piano section reminiscent of appropriately ‘Lebwohl’ by NEU! to end on a solemn note.
Like OMD’s ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’, ‘American Dream’ is LCD SOUNDSYSTEM’s most electronic album yet. It will surprise some and disappoint others, but after the mixed promises of ‘Sound Of Silver’ and ‘This Is Happening’, James Murphy and his ensemble have finally delivered on that ‘synth heavy’ album that many have been longing for.
‘American Dream’ is released by Columbia Records / Sony Music in vinyl, CD and digital formats
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM UK 2017 live dates include:
Manchester Warehouse Project (16th-17th September), Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom (19th-20th September), London Alexandra Palace (22nd-23rd September)
Swedish synth duo TRAIN TO SPAIN return with their most optimistic statement yet in ‘I Follow You’.
Continuing the theme set by the 2016 single ‘Believe In Love’, this slice of vibrant Kylie-esque pop originated from a demo that singer Helena Wigeborn had: “It’s actually a really old song that I wrote in my teens when I was around 13-14 years old. It’s one of those love songs that just fills you with happiness and for me I guess I was dreaming about finding someone like that in my future. I normally sat with my guitar after school and wrote songs and dreamt about relationships.”
The promo video for ‘I Follow You’ is a London travelogue from when the pair last visited the city. Despite the cold temperatures in which it was filmed, the end result suits the positive mood of the song.
Of his role in the stomping accompaniment to ‘I Follow You’, synthesist Jonas Rasmusson simply added: “It´s one of Helena’s old songs so I just put my touch on it”
TRAIN TO SPAIN are currently recording the follow –up to their 2015 debut album ‘What it’s All About’, set for release in early 2018 while they will be playing in Germany this October at the Synthetic Orange event; the line-up also includes VILE ELECTRODES and fellow Swedes PRESENCE OF MIND.
TRAIN TO SPAIN play Synthetic Orange with VILE ELECTRODES, PRESENCE OF MIND, LIFE ON DEMAND + HELIOPHILE on Saturday 14th October 2017 at Karlsruhe Substage not far from Stuttgart, further information at http://www.synthetic-orange.net/
With ‘English Electric’ in 2013, OMD produced their finest album in thirty years with founder members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys successfully playing to their strengths.
Utilising McCluskey’s conceptual overview and cryptic lyricism covered in metaphor, coupled to Humphreys’ musical direction and melodic magic, the end result was a work of art to savour with songs like ‘Metroland’ and ‘Kissing The Machine’ fully exploiting their Synth-Werk seeds. Meanwhile, ‘Dresden’ and ‘Stay With Me’ were fine examples of their respective individual palettes adapted for the greater good of the band.
And this was without the magnificence of ‘Our System’, the pastel synthpop of ‘Night Café’ and the passionate glory of ‘Helen Of Troy’. ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ is OMD’s thirteenth long player and could be considered a natural progression from ‘English Electric’. The album takes its name from an 1891 painting by Giovanni Segantini.
The long player begins with the title track and a mighty electro rhythm section enhanced by a bright infectious melody, robot harmonies and incessant chants. Reflecting on the dilemma of first world problems and its incumbent joyless hedonism, it’s a fabulous opener that captures elements of KRAFTWERK, THE ART OF NOISE and THE PRODIGY.
Using more treated vocals and Vox Humana voice generators, ‘Isotype’ is a blip fest that embraces glitch and techno, with wild siren sounds fluctuating to provide a human counterpoint to their synthesised derivation. A commentary on how society has been going backwards in its communication via emojis, the inspiration comes from the international picture language conceived in 1924.
So far so good with the concepts and the tunes, but two tracks which spring a major surprise are ‘Robot Man’ and ‘Art Eats Art’. Both are fine examples of modern robotic pop which will delight fans of OMD’s more directly electronic work, but perhaps will dismay those hoping for sax solos and an update of ‘If You Leave’.
‘Robot Man’ starts as a tone poem before a huge machine rhythm emerges to shape an electro-funk rumble like a slowed down ‘Warm Leatherette’ reimagined by PRINCE… but then, there’s also more than a resemblance to ‘Fembot’ by ROBYN!
Much weirder, ‘Art Eats Art’ bubbles to a metronomic dance tempo with a chorus of vocoders over an aggressive octave shift. Recalling the work of former Kling Klang incumbent Karl Bartos, despite all the strange noises, this is frantic technopop offset by pretty melodies and shopping list lyrics. But it’s not like how OMD have sounded before, yet it is still retains the essence of their roots.
Taking a Synthanorma sequence set to a 6/8 rhythm and a melody inspired by ‘Forbidden Colours’, ‘What Have We Done’ sees a confident vocal from Paul Humphreys on some passionate Modernen Industrielle Volksmusik that could be seen as a passing observation on the current political climate.
A slow pulsing sequence and real bass guitar combine to form the interlude that is ‘Precision & Decay’, which “from luxury to landfill”, reflects on the disposable nature of the modern world and concludes “there is no such thing as labour saving machinery”.
‘As We Open, So We Close’ is an oddball experience to start with, as glitchy buzzes attach themselves to a disjointed rhythm of claps and backward kicks before everything grows into something more melodic, with a superlative vocal ring to “take me to your fragile place”.
Compared to the some of the other tracks on ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’, ‘Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang’ is almost conventional, but as this is OMD, there’s a twist! Like KRAFTWERK meeting Johan Strauss, the beautiful melodic vibes are interrupted by McCluskey’s scathing expletive laden attacks on Uncle Sam, Mao Tse Tung, Dr Spock and the current political climate; it’s a beautiful electronic lullaby that is a thematic successor to ‘International’.
The excellent ‘One More Time’ is a classic bittersweet OMD stomper, where “everything you gave me didn’t last”. Using electronic percussion as opposed to drum machines, the enticing verse and uplifting bridge are set to a plethora of gorgeous textures and distorted synth just to weird things out. While McCluskey announces “you can break my heart just one more time”, the star again is Humphreys with his crystalline synth sounds laced with portamento bounce.
The thought-provoking intermission of ‘La Mitrailleuse’ is a “grapeshot” collage with militaristic gunshots forming the rhythm track. The unsettling mantra of “bend your body to the will of the machine!” is inversed by a falsettoed cry from McCluskey. A mid-19th Century volley gun, the fact that a Mitrailleuse was difficult to manage, as well as being highly inaccurate, makes this a fine slice of clever social-political commentary.
On the final straight, ‘Ghost Star’ with its wildlife ambience and dramatic VANGELIS-like intro is a sub-six minute number that could be ‘Stanlow’ for the 24th Century. Lovely emotive synthphonic sweeps provide a pretty electronic cascade that is epically European with no pandering to the Yankee Dollar. Meanwhile, the almost nursery rhyme feel of ‘The View From Here’ is elegiac, with orchestrations and even some guitar sounds.
Mature and reflective with a spirited vocal from McCluskey, this is a classic OMD sad ballad in the vein of ‘All That Glittters’. However, these two closing numbers do not sit as easily with the frenetic statements on the majority of ‘The Punishment of Luxury’. So for that reason, although the album IS strides ahead of ‘History Of Modern’ from 2010, it is maybe not quite as complete as ‘English Electric’ was.
But swathed in detuned synths and attached to a rigid percussive lattice, ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ is an excellent OMD record with Germany still calling. The solos of Paul Humphreys are certainly something to savour while Andy McCluskey possibly delivers some of his best vocals, as the pair continue to push boundaries with their experimental but tuneful approach.
Compare that to the last three frankly dire DEPECHE MODE albums and OMD now take a two goal lead. Unlike the Basildon mob’s feeble fourteenth album, ‘The Punishment of Luxury’ actually HAS spirit and a sense of adventure, as well as a clever metaphoric narrative reflecting on issues that affect the human condition.
Nearly forty years on, OMD’s breadth of musicality, technological curiosity and lyrical wordplay is still something to be admired and lauded.
‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ is released by White Noise Ltd on 1st September 2017 in CD, CD+DVD, yellow vinyl LP, standard vinyl LP, cassette, digital and super-deluxe book formats from https://omd.pmstores.co/
OMD’s ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ 2017 tour, Ireland + UK dates with special guests TINY MAGNETIC PETS include:
Dublin Vicar Street (23rd October), Belfast Mandela Hall (24th October), Liverpool Empire (29th October), Bristol Colston Hall (30th October) , Southend Cliffs Pavillion (1st November), Ipswich Regent (2nd November), Cambridge Corn Exchange (3rd November), Leicester De Montfort Hall (5th November), Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (6th November), Sheffield City Hall (7th November), Reading Hexagon (9th November), Southampton Guild Hall (10th November), Guildford G Live (11th November), London Roundhouse (13th November), Bexhill Del La Warr Pavillion (15th November), Manchester Academy (17th November), York Barbican (18th November), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (19th November), Birmingham Symphony Hall (21st November), Gateshead Sage (22nd November)
European dates with special guests HOLYGRAM include:
Erfut Traum Hits Festival (25th November), Hamburg Grosse Freiheit (26th November), Berlin Huxleys (28th November), Leipzig Haus Auenesse (29th November), Munich Tonhalle (30th November), Offenbach Stadthalle (2nd December), Düsseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Hall (3rd December), Tilburg 013 (5th December), Antwerp De Roma (6th December), Lausanne Les Docks (8th December)
THE FALLOUT CLUB may have only released three singles in their brief existence, but have become one of those bands that have fallen into cult legend over the years.
Featuring singer Trevor Herion, drummer Paul Simon, bassist Matthew Seligman and a young synthesizer upstart named Thomas Dolby, the intensity of their best song ‘Dream Soliders’ from 1981 captured the anxiety and tribulations of young manhood in a manner not dissimilar to Northern English acts of the period such as THE WILD SWANS, HAMBI & THE DANCE, BOX OF TOYS, BLACK and FIAT LUX.
And now, Paul Simon has reissued six songs that originally appeared on THE FALLOUT CLUB’s three singles as ‘Dangerous Friends’, a mini-album bolstered by a number of remixes featuring the addition of his brother one-time ULTRAVOX member Robin Simon on guitar and vocalist Gina Watson.
Swathed in synths and attached to a precise militaristic beat, ‘Dream Soliders’ was produced by Thomas Dolby and saw Herion give a mournful majestic vocal which reflected a battle with depression that haunted him throughout his short life.
Meanwhile solely composed by Dolby, the B-side ‘Pedestrian Walkway’ utilised pulsing sequencers married to a stark electro-funk backdrop and some afflicted vocalisation from Herion.
But THE FALLOUT CLUB began in 1980 with just Herion and Simon on the debut single ‘The Falling Years’. It was a drum machine propelled cocoon of sound with vocals recalling Russell Mael of SPARKS. It was something that ‘Desert Song’, the slightly overwrought B-side of ‘Wonderlust’ also had lingering within it.
Their third single ‘Wonderlust’, co-written with Thomas Dolby, saw a big leap in sound quality thanks to Dolby’s production skills and came with a dramatic Spaghetti Western flavour, lushly sculpted using electronics.
Although THE FALLOUT CLUB disbanded, Dolby found success as an artist in his own right in 1982 and Trevor Herion secured a solo deal with Interdisc, a subsidiary of Island Records.
With CULTURE CLUB producer Steve Levine on board, the melodic promise shown in THE FALLOUT CLUB looked like it might be fully realised, but the album ‘Beauty Life’ released in 1983 was unable to gain traction due to a lack of hit singles, despite the rich quality of the Chanson influenced ‘Kiss Of No Return’ and the Ferry-esque ‘Love Chains’.
Eventually overcome with severe depression, Herion sadly took his own life in October 1988.
So in a fitting tribute, the new versions of ‘Dream Soldiers’ and ‘Pedestrian Walkway’ with extra guitar and female vocals add more eerie textures to the space freed up by the cleaned up mixes.
While ‘Dangerous Friends’ still sounds comparatively rough by 21st Century standards, the important thing is that these songs are readily available again to hear, especially the wondrous lost classic that is ‘Dream Soldiers’.
Dedicated to the memory of John Trevor Herion 1959 – 1988
‘Dangerous Friends’ is released by Stratotester Records and available digitally via the usual online outlets
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is released by Columbia Records / Sony Music in vinyl, CD and digital formats
is OMD’s thirteenth long player and could be considered a natural progression from ‘English Electric’. The album takes its name from an 1891 painting by Giovanni Segantini.
from 2010, it is maybe not quite as complete as 
was.
is released by Stratotester Records and available digitally via the usual online outlets
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