Los Angeles’ BATTLE TAPES, who last year released their debut album ‘Polygon’, a sleek fusion of electronics and rock have just promo-ed a video for the album track ‘Solid Gold’.
Featuring the vocals of PARTY NAILS’ Elana Belle Carroll, the track itself hinges around a Bowie-esque ‘Fame’-inspired guitar lick with fizzing synths and a blinding middle eight which showcases some quite outstanding songwriting.
The video features Carroll being kidnapped and bundled into the back of van (which features a handy karaoke set-up) and proceeds to get driven around the streets whilst vocalling her own song. The band themselves have a cameo appearance with clips of them performing projected within the van along with karaoke-style song lyrics.
BATTLE TAPES’ vocalist Josh Boardman kindly told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “Part of the concept for the ‘Solid Gold’ video was a 90s style performance karaoke / music video. One of our favorite things about doing performances for videos is that we get to use the actual gear that we used on the record. If you blink you might miss it (photo from the Raw Hi-8 footage at top), but towards the end of the video you can see Riley (Keyboardist) rockin’ the Juno 60 (with… a JSQ-60 sequencer) and the Korg MS-20 which make up the bulk of the synths on the track. It’s always fun when you can get the older fellas out of the studio and into the spotlight!”
Over the last couple of years, BATTLE TAPES music has been featured in computer games ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ and ‘Need for Speed’ which has resulted in a wider exposure for the band.
‘Solid Gold’ is released as a 7 inch single by Battle Arts or a 4 track digital EP featuring remixes by THE BETA MACHINE and STORY OF THE RUNNING WOLF. The album ‘Polygon’ is still available through the usual online outlets
After many years of trials and tribulations, Rusty Egan finally presents ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’.
It’s a collection of thirteen songs that explore a varied range of topics, from the euphoria of clubland to the celebration of musical heroes to personal bereavement. This could have formed the basis of the fourth VISAGE album had Egan not been constructively ousted by the then-puppet masters of the late Steve Strange during its recording; sensing a quick buck on the back of ULTRAVOX’s ‘Brilliant’ but failing to understand anything about the music that made The Blitz Club collective a much loved act of the Synth Britannia-era, the end result was the very disappointing ‘Hearts & Knives’.
Indeed, several of the songs included on ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ started off as recordings for the rebooted VISAGE. Chris Payne who co-wrote ‘Fade To Grey’ had submitted several compositions, but these great songs remained on the cutting room floor… until now. Also key to this album being fully realised is Nick Bitzenis, best known as NIKONN and one half of FOTONOVELA, the production duo behind MARSHEAUX.
Contributing the album’s opening salvo is Peter Hook with ‘The Otherside’; comparisons with Hooky’s previous band are perhaps inevitable and the song’s melodic basslines again show how much his sound was a vital part of NEW ORDER. Hooky’s vocals are delivered passionately, but exude a vulnerability that will be loved by some and disliked by others.
Another artist firmly associated with his band is Tony Hadley; but the sublime ‘Lonely Highway’ sounds nothing like SPANDAU BALLET. A prime example of classic synthpop, it begs the question as to how the Islington quintet might have developed had they not been soul boys? The first of five Chris Payne co-writes, Tony Hadley’s booming vocals are perfect for this catchy little tune.
The superb ‘Hero’ featuring the voice of Andy Huntley sees Egan exploiting a dancier groove, but is just a great song featuring the sort of memorable melodies and counter-melodies that are absent from much of today’s music.
‘Love Is Coming My Way’ is a superb slice of machine pop while ‘Ballet Dancer’ is a vocodered eulogy to Egan’s late ex-wife, laced with the most beautiful Polymoog Vox Humana synth lines from Chris Payne. The air is taken down further with ‘Be The Man’ featuring the voice of Kira Porter; this serene orchestrated ballad with its spacey synth solo could easily have come from Midge Ure’s most recent long player ‘Fragile’.
The pace ups considerably and heads towards clubland with the ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ title track. Dynamically uplifting, it comes over like Giorgio Moroder meets DAFT PUNK via THE HUMAN LEAGUE with the track’s root being an interpolation of TENEK’s single ‘Blinded By You’ from their 2010 album ‘On The Wire’.
With a new topline was co-written by Egan with Gerard O’ Connell, The Blitz Club’s DJ said: “’Dancefloor’ is an example of how I have always worked. TENEK had an amazing bassline with synth stabs that grabbed me, but what I could hear was an electro style uplifting track and I wrote this on the roof of the villa in Ibiza … I just looked and thought ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor of THE WORLD’”
The slightly more rock flavoured ‘Evermore’ featuring NIGHT CLUB’s Emily Kavanaugh is another co-write with Chris Payne and features former ULTRAVOX guitarist Robin Simon. The end result comes over feisty and frisky.
The following ‘Dreamer’ is a track originally written and recorded by Arno Carstens. Appropriated by VISAGE for ‘Hearts & Knives’, the song was initially discovered by Egan while listening Carstens’ set at the Isle Of Wight Festival. But this improved reworking makes a misjudgement in keeping Carstens’ voice; grouchy singer/songwriters do not go well with synthpop! However, a newly composed bridge features Andy Huntley and based on this evidence, he really should have sung the whole song.
Photo by Tapio Normall
Chris Payne reunites with Midge Ure for ‘Glorious’ in a revisiting of the New European ethos that produced ‘Fade To Grey’. Attached to a triplet percussive mantra and Ure’s distinctive fret work, this is a seasoned anthem with gigantic choral pads and an honest vocal from the ULTRAVOX front man. To continue the mood, Anni Hogan contributes ‘Love Can Conquer All’ which includes a marvellously soulful vocal from Nicole Clarke and a cameo from Egan impersonating Dieter Meier from YELLO.
On the squelch fest of ‘Wonderwerke’, Egan reclaims some of his lost history. “I have re-recorded this fantastic electronica I first made in Germany on my trip to Zurich to meet YELLO. In 1982 I first discovered a sampler in the studios of Wonderwerke and away I went.” he said of the track that was appropriated by TIME ZONE as ‘The Wildstyle’, “Now without the samples or the Afrika Bambaataa rap, it’s a fantastic electro beat”. Featuring Egan’s voicing in robotic Deutsch with reprogrammed drums and electronics, the track serves a similar role to ‘Falling Down’ on Jean-Michel Jarre’s ‘Electronica2’.
Photo by Chi Mng Lai
The wonderful closer ‘Thank You’ uses some ‘Endless Endless’ vocodered stylings and does what it says on the tin. Over layers of sweeping ambience à la Moby and a gentle metronomic pulse, it is Egan’s list of musical heroes and associated beneficiaries in no particular order. Egan’s tone poem is a touching acknowledgement of that marvellous electronic music history. A simple yet highly effective idea, the beauty is in its realisation. Appropriately, it ends with a poignant “VISAGE… thank you”.
As Jean-Michel Jarre put it recently “Electronic music has a family, a legacy and a future…” and for anyone to think that new electronic acts pop-up out of nowhere without any link to the past is naïve and ignorant.
There are some outstanding songs on ‘Welcome To The Dance Floor’. But despite the title, this is NOT a dance record. To all intents and purposes, it is a SYNTHPOP album! Unfortunately the general public will not listen to electronic stuff unless it is labelled dance, so Egan probably feels this is the only way to sell his product. This is the situation that the club-focussed mainstream music media has sadly created.
But fans of classic synthpop need not worry. Even the album’s club courting title track has its core root in synthpop, thus proving how much the genre is owed by the sniffy dance obsessed electronic music press…
Photo by Chi Ming Lai
Rusty Egan has successfully united a range of talents to produce a highly enjoyable collection of work, like one of your favourite electronic music compilations, but curated with new(ish) songs. And in the veteran DJ / guest vocalist album stakes, ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ certainly beats GIORGIO MORODER’s 2015 effort ‘Déjà Vu’ hands down.
Yes, despite 38 years since The Blitz Club, synthpop still rules!
‘Welcome To The Dance Floor’ is released by Black Mosaic and available as a download from the usual digital retailers
THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND are Brooklyn based duo Vladimir Valette on vocals and Benedetto Socci on keyboards. Daniel Cousins joins them live to showcase the hereditary Big Apple’s electro disco genre, born out of the legends of like PET SHOP BOYS, DEPECHE MODE, KON KAN, INFORMATION SOCIETY and NEW ORDER.
Having started to write songs about “life, set to a dance beat”, the duo gained popularity within the New York live circuit, supporting the likes of A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS and FREEZEPOP along the way.
The self-professed “soundtrack of your trials and tribulations, injecting a generous dollop of drama along with extra helpings of synths and sass into an otherwise dreary and desolate musical landscape”, THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND have released a few EPs and now the long player ‘Protagonist’ is being aired to satisfy any self-respecting lover of Britpop, new wave, alternative dance and electronica.
The opening ‘Evelyn, You’ll Be The Death Of Me’, having previously featured on the ‘Dreamers & Lovers’ EP, sounds like a slowed down Eurotrack, bearing the hallmarks of a good club number; systematic and measured however. ‘War Of The Roses’ and ‘In The Waking Hour’ push the envelope, both being grown up electro dance tracks with a twist.
The feeling prevails that THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND open the door to something new entirely, while still respecting their musical roots.
The motto of “pop songs for the disenchanted, disillusioned and disenfranchised” can be heard in ERASURE-esque ‘Laughter Turns To Tears’, while the futuristic ‘Carry On, Young Men’ is a hypnotic anthem á la HEAVEN 17.
The liquid electronica sips through vocally superb ‘That’s How Rumours Start’; ‘A Future In Film’ however, takes on a very Europop approach. More subdued pieces are showcased in ‘Here In My House’, which although slower, is still very synth charged and poignantly moody. The tempo changes altogether with the PET SHOP BOYS’ style induced musical coma of ‘Those Evil Urges’ which vocally is rather reminiscent of Marc Almond.
The best has been left to last, where ‘Remember Me’ enters with its guitars reminiscent of NEW ORDER’s ‘Leave Me Alone’. The bass leads the melody in a manner which THE CURE wouldn’t be ashamed of and the reversed drums with string synth complete the sombre atmosphere of the track.
THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND claim they’re “looking to grab a foothold in the minds and hearts of listeners everywhere, (…) want to serve as a reminder that the term ‘pop music’ isn’t an obscenity. We write songs with something to say and aren’t afraid to push the envelope and have you singing along in the process”
With ‘Protagonist’, they’ve pretty much achieved just that.
With summer concerts accompanied by The Leeds College of Music Orchestra and Choir plus the recent release of his career spanning 10 CD box set ‘Trials Of Eyeliner: Anthology 1979-2016’, the last thing anyone expected from Marc Almond to close the year was an electronic pop album.
But this is exactly what has happened with ‘Silver City Ride’, a collection of ten songs recorded in collaboration with STARCLUSTER featuring Almond’s most synth laden body of work since SOFT CELL.
Flashback to 1981; following their appearance on the ‘Some Bizzare Album’ and a surprise No1 in a cover of the Northern Soul favourite ‘Tainted Love’, SOFT CELL were generally considered to have more artistic potential than DEPECHE MODE. But despite the success of the debut long player ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’, the duo imploded with Almond eventually going solo while musical partner Dave Ball formed THE GRID.
But while SOFT CELL ended after just three albums, they made an impact in the pop landscape. Their template was borrowed by PET SHOP BOYS, who softened it and made it less threatening to achieve great international success. So the notion that SOFT CELL could have been huge is not far-fetched. While electronic pop was how Marc Almond made his name, his solo career has been more traditional instrumentally with only the occasional foray into technological enhancement, most notably with his cover of ‘Jacky’ produced by Trevor Horn in 1991.
But in 2008, Almond recorded ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ with STARCLUSTER, an Anglo German production duo comprising of Roland Faber and Kai Ludeling. The song itself was an octave shifting dance anthem in the vein of Giorgio Moroder with a sweeping Vangelis rooted synth solo thrown in too; a beefed up remix of the track is included on ‘Silver City Ride’ and actually improves on the original.
The album begins with the joyous triplet driven experience of the title track. The wonderful ‘Pixelated’ is more mysterious and could even be seen as Almond’s tribute to John Foxx. The ivory shaped ‘Avatar’ takes on an introspective mood while the spritely drum machine jaunt of ‘The City Cries’ squelches marvellously, punctuated by sparking synth vibrato and Almond’s passionate energetics.
Haunting Almond yet again, it’s a great cover version that takes the limelight on ‘Silver City Ride’. ‘To Have & Have Not’ was written by Peter Godwin and his ‘Criminal World’ was famously covered by David Bowie in 1983. Originally recorded by androgynous New Romantic fashion icon Ronny, it retains the stern manner of the former Parisian model, while giving this slice of modern Weimar Cabaret a boost in profile, something that it has always deserved.
‘The Shallows’ is a sub-PET SHOP BOYS excursion, before the ‘Chase’ rendering atmospheres of ‘I Don’t Kiss’ take the pace down. But a reinterpretation of the contemporary choir boy ballad ‘Always With You’ takes Almond into Enya territory and is a curio likely to polarise listeners. Whatever, Faber and Ludeling do an excellent job in its construction.
The final track ‘Get Closer’ is another cover, this time of the cult Italo disco tune recorded by Valerie Dore. The pulsing backing track is pristine and while Almond’s voice is layered in treatments that may upset purists, it ultimately shows his willingness to experiment with a modern electronica aesthetic.
Dressed in its Metropolis inspired artwork designed by Emil Schult, while ‘Silver City Ride’ is a synthpop record with classic Eurocentric leanings, it is most certainly not a ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ tribute. The album is far too clean and smooth to be that and some might even say it lacks the grit and glitter of SOFT CELL.
But to hear Marc Almond’s voice again alongside vintage synthesizers is pure joy. And for that reason alone, ‘Silver City Ride’ is a welcome addition to the Almond catalogue that will delight fans of his more electronic based work.
‘Silver City Ride’ uses the following equipment: Minimoog, Moog MG1, Moog Voyager, Roland Jupiter 4, Roland Jupiter 8, Roland SH2, Roland System 100M, Roland SH101, Roland Juno 60, Roland JD800, Roland TR808, Roland CR78, Roland CR8000, Oberheim Matrix 1000, MFB Synth II, Roland MKS 30/50/70/80, Ensoniq ESQ1, ARP Odyssey, ARP Avatar, ARP Solina, Sequential Prophet 5, Sequential Pro-One, Korg Mono/Poly, Korg Poly 61, Korg Rhythm 55, Korg MS20, Linn Drum II, Eurorack Modular
“BLANCMANGE are probably the most under-rated electronic act of all time” said Moby recently.
The new ‘Red Shift’ EP is released to coincide with BLANCMANGE’s upcoming live dates with THE HUMAN LEAGUE features four vocals tracks from this year’s ‘Commuter 23’ album. All re-worked by Neil Arthur, the tracks also feature David Rhodes, BLANCMANGE’s long-time guitarist who can also count Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Grace Jones, JAPAN, TALK TALK and NEW ORDER among his long list of credits.
On the ‘Red Shift’ title track, Rhodes adds his impenetrable touch, but the track is also notable for Neil Arthur’s revoicing of the song, which harks back to the booming eccentric style he employed on earlier BLANCMANGE recordings like ‘Feel Me’ and ‘Blind Vision’. The brilliantly titled ‘Judge Mental’, one of the highlights from ‘Commuter 23’ is also included, while Rhodes’ enhanced guitar contributions on the avant reggae of ‘Jack Knife’ make it sound like it could have come from ENO’s ‘Taking Tiger Mountain (With Strategy)’ sessions.
A pulsing reconfigured ‘Last Night (I Dreamt I Had A Job)’ with new vocals closes the EP which provides a bite size insight into the current artistic mindset of Neil Arthur, who has been extremely prolific of late, having released the albums ‘Semi Detached’ and ‘Nil By Mouth’ in just 2015 alone.
2017 promises more new music from Neil Arthur including a collaboration with BERNHOLZ under the moniker of NEAR FUTURE who made their debut live performance at the Sensoria Festival in Sheffield last month.
The ‘Red Shift’ EP is released digitally by Blanc Check on 2nd December 2016 and available as a signed promo CD-R from https://blancmange.tmstor.es/
BLANCMANGE’s 2016 live shows with THE HUMAN LEAGUE: Bournemouth International Centre (25th November), Sheffield Arena (3rd December), Brighton Centre (9th December), Birmingham Barclaycard Arena (10th December)
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