Category: Reviews (Page 141 of 206)

ANI GLASS Ffrwydrad Tawel

13 April 2017 /

Her 2016 single ‘Y Ddawns’ marked ANI GLASS out as a socially conscious, avant pop talent.

An experienced hand who has previously worked with Andy McCluskey and the late Martin Rushent, the Welsh synth songstress has now released her first EP ‘Ffrwydrad Tawel’. Meaning ‘Silent Explosions’, it is inspired by Welsh artist Ivor Davies and his exhibition of the same name which mixed the Welsh language, bleak colours and destruction to reflect society.

Included on this six song EP, ‘Y Ddawns’ (The Dance’) is a declaration of hope, a deeply voiced electronic adventure with a soaring uplifting chorus that acts as a rallying call for those seeking inspiration in music, dance, art and culture.

Then there’s the fabulous ‘Geiriau’ (‘Words’), a driving sequential drama that has more than a passing resemblance to the first part of SPARKS’ ‘No1 Song In Heaven’. The song revolves around ANI GLASS’ experience of flying the nest and returning years later to reconnect with her Welsh and Cornish heritage; spacey and futuristic, it’s a wonderfully uplifting homecoming song if ever there was one.

However, ‘Ffrwydrad Tawel’ begins more sedately with ‘Y Newid’ (‘Change’), an ethereal piece with the gorgeous ethnic resonance of FIFI RONG. It also features a vocal sample from socialist activist Ray Davies during his speech at the Yes Cymru rally in 2014. Meanwhile, the wispy layered falsetto of ‘Dal I Droi’ (Another Day) showcases ANI GLASS’ vocal range over a metronomic electronic backbone and deals with the heavy issue of mortality.

A droning interlude entitled ‘Mor Hapus’ (‘So Happy’) leads into the closer ‘Cariad Cudd’ (The City Sleeps). In a soundscape reminiscent of Dinsdisc-era OMD, the atmospheric twirl is charged and passionate, with our heroine making a pronounced statement about rebuilding bridges on her return. ANI GLASS says: “Through the echoes of lost industries, communities and language there is hope. Always hope”.

Moody and melancholic, ‘Ffrwydrad Tawel’ is also laced with optimism, while the use of the Welsh language provides an otherworldly beauty to savour in this cultured journey of self-discovery.

‘Ffrwydrad Tawel’ is released on 21st April 2017 via Recordiau Neb, available from https://aniglass.bandcamp.com/album/ffrwydrad-tawel

https://www.facebook.com/aniglasscymru/

https://twitter.com/Ani_Glass

https://soundcloud.com/aniglass

Text by Chi Ming Lai
13th April 2017

METROLAND Cube

10 April 2017 /

“A cube is also a square parallelepiped, an equilateral cuboid and a right rhombohedron. A cube has 6 faces, 12 edges, and 8 vertices”

Belgium’s favourite passengers METROLAND are back to celebrate their fifth anniversary with a lushly packed, supremely designed 4CD boxed artefact entitled ’12×12′. To launch it, the duo have released the ORBITAL-like spy drama technopop of ‘Cube’ as a single. Captive in symmetry, ‘Cube’ comes with a corresponding video which director Passenger N says is “about how it’s useless to look around everywhere, all you have to do is to think about who you are and you’ll find people like you that will help you to be yourself”

Of the upcoming ‘12×12’ set, Passenger S said: “We toyed with a ‘best of’ for some time, but compilations tend to be boring, adding not much interesting to people who already know you as a band. And so we exchanged ideas for 8 months and the result is the 4CD box ’12×12’”.

Each CD will follow a concept, with ’12×12’ collecting the duo’s 12 inch versions, ‘12+12’ featuring various B-sides or non-album songs and ‘12≠12’ compiling radio edits. However, the 4th CD with the title ‘x+≠’ will feature rarities such as demo versions, unreleased songs and unreleased remixes that will be available in physical format only. That said, the download version will include three exclusive mixes.

Passenger S concluded: “we wanted to do something more than just a ‘best of’, we wanted to tell a story. This is something for the true fans…”

The 5 track ‘Cube’ download bundle featuring the extended version, 2 remixes and an exclusive B-side ‘Led Me Think’ is available from https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/cube-ep

The ’12×12′ 4CD boxed set is released by Alfa Matrix on 26th May 2017

http://www.metrolandmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/metrolandmusic

https://twitter.com/MetrolandMusic

Text by Chi Ming Lai
10th April 2017

VANBOT Siberia

7 April 2017 /

Stockholm based singer / songwriter Ester Ideskog, otherwise known as VANBOT, has undoubtedly produced the most striking album of her career following the comparatively conventional offerings of ‘Vanbot’ and ‘Perfect Storm’.

‘Siberia’ is the result of a 17 day journey on the Trans-Siberian railway, recorded by Ideskog with collaborators Johannes Berglund and Petter Winnberg while cooped up in a small carriage compartment with just battery operated technology for company, out in the wilderness, largely away from civilisation…

The musical adventure captures extreme and expansive landscapes from Moscow to China via Mongolia with a roaming atmospheric ambience. Embracing the technological limitations, the threesome purposefully made no additional recordings upon their return to Sweden to the resultant album, naturally titled ‘Siberia’.

With constant motion and new locations looming throughout, most of the tracks have been subtitled according to the location of their conception. It begins with an incessant drum machine as the train departs for ‘Not That Kind (Moscow)’. Sparse and steadfast, haunting female and male voices chill across the airy soundscape. And with the dreamy percussive collage of ‘Stay With Me (Perm)’ that follows, it is evidence that ‘Siberia’ is not a straightforward pop album but one that is dictated by the mood of its surroundings.

‘Yekaterinburg’ is a beautiful instrumental recalling the work of Norwegian duo FROST with lo-fi organ sounds and processed voice samples, the gentle clattering symbolising the move into a new continent on the city’s Eurasian border. Meanwhile, ‘On the Fly (Omsk)’ takes the journey into South-Western Siberia where the mood is gloomier. Omsk is said to be one of the saddest places in Russia and the track’s sombre aura certainly reflects that.

The crystalline ‘Collide (Krasnoyarsk)’ sees a more obvious Nordic influence creeping into proceedings and compared to the tracks before, it is more song based as the pace picks up with some gorgeous melodies too.

‘Hard to Get Used To (Baikal)’ sees the rhythms take a breather as the sight of the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake brings in an early GOLDFRAPP influence; Ideskog filters her whispers ‘Felt Mountain’ style as a ukulele plucks away in the background.

The fabulous oddball percussive template of ‘Fiction (Listvyanka)’ is made even stranger by a cacophony of pitched up vocals and distorted bass synths for a wonderfully cerebral experience. ‘Louder (Ulan-Ude)’ featuring a duet with Petter Winnberg is close to being a conventional ballad as the train treads the rails towards the sparser landscapes of Mongolia.

‘On Wasted (Terelj)’ evokes the area’s vast rocky landscape with a breathy awe, while an unexpected uptempo mood change on ‘Close Enough (Ulan Bator)’ recalls IAMAMIWHOAMI as the train speeds up and trances towards the album’s conclusion as Ideskog repeatedly chants “I can’t get closer now”.

To close ‘Siberia’, the ambience of ‘Stuck In Between (Yak – Moscow Airport)’ reflects the frustration of the transfer to get home with acoustic guitar and a slow arpeggio. The haunting synth layers are gently hypnotic while bursts of hissy noise are used inventively as a backbone without being obtrusive.

An aural exploration of the relationship between time, location and emotion, ‘Siberia’ is a bold experiment in creativity, capturing otherworldliness on earth. Most importantly, ‘Siberia’ is accessible, an example of how experimentation doesn’t have to be wholly uncompromising and can include melody. Like I AM SNOW ANGEL from the shores of Lake Placid, VANBOT is quietly subversive.

Those who favour her previous ROBYN-esque sound will be surprised or even shocked, but for Ester Ideskog, the third VANBOT album will sow the seed to establish her as an artist of worth for the future.

‘Siberia’ is released by Lisch Recordings in vinyl LP and digital fomats

http://www.vanbotmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/vanbotmusic/

https://twitter.com/vanbotmusic

https://www.instagram.com/vanbotmusic/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
7th April 2017

SARAH P. Asks “Who Am I”

6 April 2017 /


As a trailer to her first lull length album ‘Who Am I’, SARAH P. has unveiled a striking video for the title track…

Having previewed the introspective synthpop of ‘Teach Me How To Love’ and the haunting ‘Berlin During Winter’ already, ‘Who Am I’ comes over as possibly her sparsest and most emotive number yet.

With hypnotising hints of KATE BUSH, percolating Sakamoto-like textures prevail as the Greek-born songstress announces “I don’t know where I come from… do you know my name?” before a metronomic beat kicks in to lead a dramatic house-laden climax. The song is an ode to “humanity, the world we live in and our importance (or unimportance) as individuals and / or as a whole” according to SARAH P.

The video by Italian director Oirot Buntot is a mini-arthouse movie filmed at the Teatro Rossi Aperto in Pisa and paints a moving picture of the philosophical question “Who am I and where I come from?”

Strangely perhaps, the film was actually conceived to another song. But as SARAH P. eloquently puts it: “Science may have proved that opposites attract each other – but that doesn’t always apply in life; like-minded people attract each other, too – perhaps more often than rarely. And since I’m a romantic, I like to think that a series of events brought Oirot Buntot and me together to magically intermix our artistic work and serve each other’s vision, while enhancing our own. How many chances for two independent artworks that were made at a different time, to find each other and become one thing?”

And it all comes together perfectly in this musical tale of modern day disorientation.

‘Who Am I’ is available now as a download single, the album of the same name out on 12th May 2017 via EraseRestart Records.

http://sarahpofficial.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sarahpofficial/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Christoph Neumann
6th April 2017

PAUL STATHAM Ephemeral + Installation Music 1

5 April 2017 /

Paul Statham has had a diverse music career if nothing else.

He first made his name as the guitarist of B-MOVIE who appeared on the ‘Some Bizzare Album’ alongside DEPECHE MODE, SOFT CELL, BLANCMANGE and THE THE. Following the band’s disbandment, he began a nine album songwriting partnership with Goth icon Peter Murphy of BAUHAUS fame.

With producer Pascal Gabriel and singer Lisa Lamb, Statham formed synthpop trio PEACH who released their only album ‘Audiopeach’ on Mute in 1997, a long player which also featured some of the last vocal recordings made by the late Billy MacKenzie and an American hit single in ‘On My Own’.

This helped Statham maintain a successful career co-writing and producing songs for a variety of diverse acts including DIDO, DOT ALLISON, KYLIE MINOGUE, RACHEL STEVENS, SARAH NIXEY, THE SATURDAYS and LOST BOY! aka Jim Kerr. While B-MOVIE reformed in 2004, Statham continues with projects outside the band like THE DARK FLOWERS which featured his previous collaborators Kerr, Murphy and Allison. And now he can add ambient and experimental instrumental music to his forte.

The first collection ‘Ephemeral’ consists of four lengthy pieces reminiscent of BRIAN ENO, the first of which ‘Ephemeral 1’ is a shimmering cross between ‘Neroli’ and ‘Thursday Afternoon’. With its sonic clusters of synth, it actually moves at a slightly faster pace than both, but that of course is all comparative. Whatever, it is a wonderful slice of thinking music.

‘Ephemeral 2’ takes the pace down further, droning rather than shimmering, its denser textures recalling those of ‘On Land’. The sound painting continues with ‘Chronology 1’ adding piano and acoustic guitar to the orchestrated structure, while ‘C2’ is more obscure with its sparse experimental jazz feel.

The second body of work ‘Installation Music 1’ is more fragmented and follow the lead of ‘Music For Films’, with its nine tracks mostly clocking in at less two minutes. Opener ‘Breaking Water’ takes waves and mechanical noises into a cavernous aural collage, while ‘Radio Dreaming’ does what it says on the tin, but is too short to lead anywhere.

The pretty rings of ‘Submerged’ are serene, it could easily develop into a longer ambient piece but sounds unfinished. However, the other tracks like ‘Particles’ and ‘The Deep World’ really do submerge into their own other worldliness. Overall, ‘Installation Music 1’ has some great ideas but comes over more as incidental accompaniment like its conceptual title suggests.

Both are now available as free downloads, with a third album on the way. This is music worthy of Brian Eno himself that can provoke feelings of relaxation. It’s gratis, so why not take the chance?

‘Ephemeral’ and ‘Installation Music 1’ are available as free downloads from https://paulstatham.bandcamp.com/

http://www.paulstatham.com/

https://www.facebook.com/paulstathammusic/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
5th April 2017

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