Category: Reviews (Page 15 of 200)

NATION OF LANGUAGE Strange Disciple

12 September 2023 /

Steadily taking their notion of anguish to larger and larger audiences, the upward trajectory of Brooklyn based NATION OF LANGUAGE has been astounding in less than two years.

On the back of their second LP ‘A Way Forward’, they went from London’s modest Lafayette to the XOYO while in support their new album ‘Strange Disciple’, they will rise up to Heaven. It was in Spring 2020 that NATION OF LANGUAGE’s debut album ‘Introduction, Presence’ arrived in a Covid stricken world. But despite that and the anxiety captured within the music influenced to varying degrees, sometimes blatantly, by German kosmiche and British post-punk synth such as OMD’s ‘Electricity’ and NEW ORDER’s ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’, there were feelings of hope and honesty that rang home to those listening.

By the time of the second NATION OF LANGUAGE long player came along in Autumn 2021, songs with infectious synth hooks like the lead single ‘This Fractured Mind’ became instantly relatable as people re-emerged post-pandemic. Meanwhile, NATION OF LANGUAGE had developed into a compelling live act, Ian Devaney the anxious energetic front man with his wife Aidan Noell playing the sexy synth minx while their then- bassist Michael Sui-Poi played solidly as if he was in an alternative rock band at another gig.

Since then, Alex MacKay has taken over four string duties and continuing the momentum for this third record, Nick Millhiser of the acclaimed duo HOLY GHOST! and live band member of LCD SOUNDSYSTEM has been brought in as producer to steer the recording process into as many analogue techniques as possible.

Themed around “toxic infatuation”, the new album has been fittingly titled ‘Strange Disciple’ to explore the dark side of love and romance. Taking a sedate start despite the KRAFTWERK ‘Autobahn’ influence, Devaney reminds himself he’s in love and ‘Weak In Your Light’. But then it’s back to business with a more sophisticated sequencer sound than before on ‘Sole Obsession’, a song about “an overzealous devotee” augmented by live melodic bass, sparkling synths and electronic percussion in that chugging NEW ORDER fashion.

Over a subtle machine beat, ‘Surely I Can’t Wait’ captures a bewilderment over paradoxically sparkling keyboard patterns and synth sweeps that could be “just another love song” but Devaney seeks help to “show me I can live for another”. ‘Swimming In The Shallow Sea’ enters shoegaze territory as the most guitar-oriented track on the album although bursts of detuned synths make their presence felt.

With a lead synth line that recalls ULTRAVOX’s ‘Slow Motion’, ‘Too Much, Enough’ is hook laden with many layers while its hypnotic drum machine backbone is a delight. ‘Spare Me The Decision’ is rousing new wave pop, accessible yet eerie with howling sirens, a great bubbling synth solo and white noise percussion while ‘Sightseer’ takes a breather into the realm of THE CURE with a “come on kill me please” highlighting the despair and resignation.

‘Stumbling Still’ enters JOY DIVISION territory and ‘Isolation’ in particular in its crashing rhythmic construction but the process is given that characteristic NATION OF LANGUAGE spin. But starting simplistically and with restraint, ‘A New Goodbye’ then snaps into something much blippier and funkier in its final third and even throws in falsetto refrains to add a new dimension.

Photo by Dominik Friess

On the home stretch, ‘I Will Never Learn’ sums up life’s trials and tribulations in a wonderful example of why NATION OF LANGUAGE appeal so much in their glorious mix of synths, live bass, sequencers and electronic percussion while a girly falsetto howl is a haunting but beautiful touch.

For those who enjoyed ‘Introduction, Presence’ and ‘A Way Forward’, ‘Strange Disciple’ is more of the same if delivered at a less frantic, more thoughtful pace. This is a record that capitalises on past achievements, both of their own an others, with equal doses of heartbreak and hope. Those who are seeking a band who can be seen as spiritual successors to the much missed MIRRORS need look no further.

‘Strange Disciple’ is released on 15 September 2023 by PIAS in black or clear vinyl LP, CD + digital formats

NATION OF LANGUAGE UK 2022 tour includes:

London Heaven (27 September), Brighton Concorde 2 (28 September), Bristol Marble Factory (29 September), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (30 September), Manchester New Century Hall (4 October), Leeds University Stylus (5 October), Sheffield Foundry (6 October), Newcastle Boiler Shop (7 October),

https://www.nationoflanguage.com/

https://www.facebook.com/nationoflanguage

https://twitter.com/notionofanguish

https://www.instagram.com/nationoflanguage/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12 September 2023

OHNOTHING aNgelus

23 August 2023 /

Joining the roster of sister / brother electronic duos like THE KNIFE, SPRAY, LASTLINGS and MINIMAL SCHLAGER are Denmark’s OHNOTHING.

Comprising of Annika Baier on vocals + MicroKorg and Jesper Lund Rimmerhus Vesterager on just about everything else, the siblings have distinct and traditional duo roles in OHNOTHING with Baier at the front and Vesterager in the background.

Although their second long playing release, ‘aNgelus’ is their first album proper with their debut ‘H’ being more a collection of singles rather than having a cohesive focus towards a bigger picture. Described as “the lovechild of Kate Bush and KRAFTWERK”, that previous collection had much more of an alternative lo-fi indie template. But as sophomores, OHNOTHING take to synths and pop with much more aplomb.

Named after the painting by Jean-Francois Millet and produced at their home recording studio in Odense on the Danish island of Funen, ‘aNgelus’ begins with the distorted artpop of ‘You Don’t Need to Listen’, an emotive cocoon of synth and indie given an uplifting resonance by Annika Baier’s anguished tones. Even more afflicted in its vocal delivery, ‘Bones’ is an enjoyable musical hybrid of OMD and BIG COUNTRY given a Nordic twist.

The punchy ‘Static’ takes on the influence of guitar-spec NEW ORDER but then surprises with a pulsing middle synth section. ‘Mirror Mirror’ is much moodier while the eerie ‘Moon Man’ is more conventionally indie with a conscious lift off THE VELVET UNDERGROUND’s ‘Femme Fatale’.

The interlude piece ‘Hide’ heads into THE CURE ‘Plainsong’ territory although the droning bass motif is pure OMD but this sets the scene for the self-explanatory ‘Diskothek’; laced with octave shifts, chants and scratchy rhythm guitar, it is goth Italo offset by a coy sexiness. Cut from a similar discofied cloth but utilising big sampled drums, ‘Uncomfortable Amount of Time’ exudes Far Eastern overtones both synthetically and vocally.

Reminiscent of the mysterious cult band GIRL ONE & THE GREASE GUNS, ‘In Love With Melancholia’ does as it says on the tin, a ballad with an equal mix of six string and haunting synth as Baier wallows sweetly in her cacophony of sadness. But ending with the rousing single ‘Hey OK’, it percussively recalls Sweden’s KITE and provides a pumping anthem of positivity because “hey hey, it’s gonna be ok!”.

Crafting a more immediate electronic pop sound while retaining some indie elements but also dialling down the Bush-isms of ‘H’, OHNOTHING have inadvertently morphed into a Scandinavian version of the Berlin-based Argentine sister / brother MINIMAL SCHLAGER with whom they share a similarly playful sound.

Some synth enthusiasts who might not have taken to ‘H’ might find the shoegazed styled wall-of-sound on ‘aNgelus’ hard work on the ears, but with Baier finding much more of her own voice, it points to an upward trajectory for OHNOTHING with joy and tunes amongst the angst and melancholy in its art-inspired underground.

‘aNgelus’ is released by Celebration Records on the usual digital platforms via https://ohnothing.lnk.to/angelus

https://www.facebook.com/weareohnothing

https://www.instagram.com/ohnothingtheband

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23 August 2023

DURAN DURAN A Hollywood High

21 August 2023 /

Celebrating 40 years as recording artists, DURAN DURAN’s 15th studio album ‘Future Past’ was a live for the moment statement of how a something today can become a cherished memory in times to come.

It was to a large extent, a return to form and on two of the album’s best tracks ‘Beautiful Lies’ and ‘Tonight United’, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor connected up with one of their biggest influences Giorgio Moroder to deliver what was largely expected but that was no bad thing. There was also ‘Anniversary’ where the quartet wrote a song that specifically referenced earlier material such as ‘Wild Boys’, ‘Is There Something I Should Know?’ and ‘The Reflex’.

Nick Rhodes refers to ‘Future Past’ as having the strongest material from DURAN DURAN for quite some time, while Roger Taylor affirms the spirit of the album’s title, by having “one foot in the past, one in the future”.

Still enjoying just being DURAN DURAN, ‘A Hollywood High’ is a feature-length docu-concert film that acknowledges a four decade plus career. Recorded in March 2022 on an intimate rooftop set at The Aster in Los Angeles with the iconic Capitol Records building as a backdrop, this was their first post-pandemic US show. Encapsulating the band’s fascination with the city, the film also features new interviews with the band, as well as archive footage from their previous US tours which will largely be familiar to owners of ‘Sing Blue Silver’.

As it all starts, drummer Roger Taylor remembers “sunshine was in real short supply” as he reflected on his childhood in Birmingham. “New York was punk, but LA is rock n roll” added London-born Simon Le Bon while Nick Rhodes’ reaction to that first 1981 visit to LA was “I feel like I’m in a film noir”.

This was to be the last time that DURAN DURAN were largely unrecognised with John Taylor recollecting “it was a terrific learning experience… I really did enjoy those early tours” before musing that the Capitol building (also known as “the house that Frank built”) was round like the Rotunda in Birmingham!

Buoyed by their first American jaunt, the song ‘Rio’ was written on their return to UK, inspired by the lure of fame. Los Angeles was like a totally different country, even compared to New York where DURAN DURAN were also making waves. It was in 1982 that Capitol Records made the bold decision to commission FM radio friendly remixes for the US market by David Kershenbaum of ‘Rio’, ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’, ‘Hold Back The Rain’ and ‘My Own Way’ which as Nick Rhodes puts it, “ignited America”.

Opening with the 1985 James Bond theme ‘A View To A Kill’, over the pounding drums and orchestra stabs, Le Bon adopts a bizarre mockney accent in his delivery. Continuing with newer numbers from ‘Future Past’, ‘Invisible’ sounds more rounded than its harsher studio recording while ‘All Of You’ is a rousing declaration of desire.

‘Notorious’ is enjoyable with Le Bon’s characteristically strained vocal over the funk, although also in the set, the similarly Nile Rodgers connected ‘Pressure Off’ is the slightly less convincing cousin. Meanwhile backing singer Anna Ross soulfully duets on ‘Come Undone’ with Le Bon coping well by not exerting himself too much by abstaining from attempts to hold the any of the end notes.

The serene Scandipop of ‘Give It All Up’ was one of the nice surprises on ‘Future Past’ and with the Swedish songstress Tove Lo’s vocal taken by the very capable Erin Stevenson on ‘A Hollywood High’, this uplifting number is now a regular fixture in the current live sets. However, the less said about the cover of ‘White Lines (Don’t Do It)’, the better, as it has been an irritating waste of time at DURAN DURAN concerts since 1999. The matter is all the more frustrating as the band have superior songs of their own that deserve airing; ‘Anyone Out There’ and ‘New Moon On Monday’ being just two often overlooked examples.

Despite references to nuclear war in songs like ‘Is There Something I Should Know?’ and ‘Friends Of Mine’, DURAN DURAN have never been a political band, much to the chagrin of NME and Paul Weller, but they show support to Ukraine. As traders in entertainment, they incorporate concern into their escapist music and as darkness falls, ‘Ordinary World’ comes as a song of peace with the Capitol Building lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag as a poignant symbol.

A Moroder production with another worldwide clarion call but also classic DURAN DURAN in its throbbing electronic disco backbone, ‘Tonight United’ finds a place in ‘A Hollywood High’. Ending with 12 song set with ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’, bubbly synths and rocked up guitar from Dom Brown provide futurism and power in equal measures while Le Bon really hams it up for the yanks with even more mockney.

With high production values and superb sound, although ‘A Hollywood High’ does not boast a full concert setlist and omits a number of some of DURAN DURAN’s best known songs like ‘Planet Earth’, ‘Girls On Film’, ‘Save A Prayer’, ‘Rio’, ‘Wild Boys’ and ‘The Reflex’, it does provide a fitting souvenir of the ‘Future Past’ period and will delight Duranies. The smaller stage restricts Le Bon’s more outlandish moves but his polarising vocal style remains as honest an ever, while all the band are quite visibly enjoying the occasion from seeing the whites of the eyes of the audience.

On their recent UK arena tour, DURAN DURAN played their best shows since the 2004 reunion of the classic-line up. With four fifths of that band still together and playing album evergreens such as ‘Night Boat’, Friends Of Mine, ‘Last Chance On The Stairway’ and ‘Lonely In Your Nightmare’ alongside new material and the big hits, they showed were still great.

Now if they could finally kick ‘White Lies (Don’t Do It)’ into touch, the remainder of their current tour could be even greater.

‘A Hollywood High’ is released as a Bluray + DVD by Cherry Red Records, combined bundle with limited edition Flexi Disc companion piece available from https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/duran-duran-a-hollywood-high-dvd-blu-ray-flexi-disc-bundle/

http://www.duranduran.com/

https://www.facebook.com/duranduran/

https://twitter.com/duranduran

https://www.instagram.com/duranduran/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
21 August 2023

SOFT CELL *Happiness now completed

25 July 2023 /

2022’s ‘*Happiness not included’ was SOFT CELL’s first album of new material since ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ which hit the shops 20 years before.

Seeded by a reunion following their original 1984 disbandment, after a difficult album campaign for ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ which front man Marc Almond later described as “a terrible mistake”, he and instrumental partner Dave Ball became estranged for many years . That was until a 2018 reunion show at London’s O2 Arena; although this was intended to be a formal retirement party for the Northern electronic soul duo, their “synthesis of sunshine and shadow” could not be denied or resisted.

“Dave and I were transformed by each other” said Almond and like a chemical reaction, there was a second joyous recorded reunion. Although it stated clearly on the tin ‘*Happiness not included’, such was the rejuvenation that although 12 songs ended up on the album, there was enough unused songs, cover versions, bonuses, B-sides and extended mixes to compile two new collections for a ‘Happiness…’ trilogy.

Produced as with the parent album by Philip Larsen, ‘*Happiness now extended’ presents the original ‘*Happiness not included’ album as traditional 12” versions to encapsulate the early clubbing spirit and imperial phase of SOFT CELL. With many of the tracks conceived as longer works, the title song, ‘Nighthawks’ and ‘Tranquiliser’ particularly benefit from this treatment.

But ‘*Happiness now completed’ is effectively a new album, featuring a significant number of previously unreleased tracks as well as reworkings of several other recordings that did not feature in the main act. Among the best tracks are two cover versions , ‘First Hand Experience In Second Hand Love’ which was originally on Giorgio Moroder’s pioneering 1977 album ‘From Here To Eternity’ which spawned a Top 20 hit single of the same name and X RAY SPEX ‘The Day The World Turned Day-Glo’, a No23 UK hit in 1978.

With ‘Tainted Love’, ‘Where Did Our Love Go?’, ‘What’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, ‘Down In The Subway’ and ‘The Night’ in their portfolio already, SOFT CELL have a good track record with covers and ‘First Hand Experience In Second Hand Love’ locks into a fine spacious electronic groove, complete with vocoder to make a fine SOFT CELL dance track in its own right.

Meanwhile in a brilliant metronomic electro tribute to Poly Styrene, ‘The Day The World Turned Day-Glo’ takes a musical leaf out of ‘Sex Dwarf’ with Ball making his syndrums and synths sound so menacing yet accessible, while Almond delivers a vocal recalling the anguish of ‘Martin’ with sleazy sax passages from Gary Barnacle resonating with the dystopian lyrics.

‘Back To Nature’ is an improved version with a new vocal of the FAD GADGET cover that originally came from the ‘Magick Mutants’ bonus EP in the 2019 book, ‘To Show You I’ve Been There’. While it is a nice tribute “For Frank” Tovey who was a fellow art student at Leeds Polytechnic, it perhaps does not shine as brightly as ‘The Day The World Turned Day-Glo’ or ‘First Hand Experience In Second Hand Love’

Of the self-compositions, one of the highlights is ‘Murder Your Darlings’ where the minimal template of vintage chattering Roland drum machine and pulsating electronics allows the spirit of SOFT CELL to come across best. But in an unexpected twist, the windswept tones of ULTRAVOX add another icy dimension. ‘Jukebox Head’ also follows this sparser template although in a more frantic fashion as it buzzes and blips before amusingly threatening to drift into ‘Sometimes When We Touch’, the 1977 ballad hit by Dan Hill…

The ‘Bruises On All My Illusions’ B-side ‘Vapourise’ is a superb inclusion and really should have made it onto the parent album along with several other songs; ‘Quiet Rebellion’ comes over as an obvious outtake from the original ‘*Happiness not included’ album while the previously issued ‘Strange Kinda Dance’ does as it suggests in its dark electro-disco and heavier beats. More steadfast and filmic, ‘Defiant’ provides the drama.

Originally part of the 8 GB USB stick sold at the London O2 show in 2018, the nocturnal motorik YOLO thrill that is ‘Night & The City’ is updated for 2023 while in a similar energetic vein, ‘Gemini Lounge’ sees Dave Ball take a leaf out of the Vince Clarke book of sequencing as the rhythmic tension builds.

Born of desire, ‘You Kill Me’ offers a bouncy Gene Pitney flavour and a great line in “cyanide on a rollercoaster ride” as well as “sha-dup” backing vocals. Then in a re-recording of the song from ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ reworked with brass for that classic downtown pop feel, ‘Last Chance’ presents the follow-up to ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’ like Tony Hatch meeting SOFT CELL.

Various radio edits of songs such as ‘Nostalgia Machine’ and ‘Bruises On All My Illusions’ plus a take on ‘*Happiness not lncluded’ featuring Gary Barnacle on sax are also among the extras but Cellmates will be fascinated by the original SOFT CELL only version of ‘Purple Zone’ which is a far more restrained production than the more familiar PET SHOP BOYS kitchen sink rework.

Happiness gets completed with the “dirty disco” Chris & Cosey remix of ‘Nighthawks’ which Dave Ball recently declared his favourite third party remix of the current era of SOFT CELL; “it doesn’t bear much resemblance to the original” he said, “but it still sounds fantastic.”

‘*Happiness Now Completed’ is a worthy supplement that contains some excellent tracks to provide an appendix to this phase of SOFT CELL, but what next? “I’ve always said that I’m up for new Soft Cell music if Dave has the tunes” says Marc Almond. Meanwhile Dave Ball said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “I’ve been getting some new rough ideas for backing tracks for SOFT CELL, should there be another album. Marc seems to want to do another one and I do. I hope there may be another SOFT CELL album but you’re going to have to wait a while…”

It looks like they might well say hello again 😉

‘*Happiness now completed’ released on 28 July 2023 via BMG as a CD + download, available from https://www.softcell.co.uk/product/happiness-now-completed-cd

The companion limited edition black double vinyl album ‘*Happiness now extended’ with download key is also out on the same day, available from https://www.softcell.co.uk/product/happiness-now-extended-double-black-vinyl

http://www.softcell.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/softcellband/

https://twitter.com/softcellhq

https://www.instagram.com/softcellhq/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Andrew Whitton
25 July 2023

THE REMAINDER Evensong

7 July 2023 /

Another year and it’s another Neil Arthur side-project. Following on NEAR FUTURE, FADER and KINCAID comes THE REMAINDER.

As well as Neil Arthur, THE REMAINDER also comprises live BLANCMANGE percussionist Liam Hutton whose portfolio includes Neneh Cherry and Finlay Shakespeare, an artist in his own right who also builds synths and is another member of the BLANCMANGE performing family.

Initiated in 2015, the sound of THE REMAINDER is crisp yet hazy, with Arthur relinquishing total control and relishing in the altered dynamic coming from two younger and very capable collaborators. Additionally, Liam Hutton’s mother Jo, a radio audio recording engineer and composer provides sub-20 second ‘feedback and situation’ interludes slotted between the songs for a considered body of work.

Beginning with the excellent dance friendly ‘Broken Manhole Cover’, Neil Arthur deadpans about “eating immature peppers”, “calcium build-up” and other earthy observations and as a hypnotic synthy shine bursts through, it recalls LCD SOUNDSYSTEM. Taking on a more midtempo pace, ‘Hoarfrost’ is spacey electronic pop with engaging keyboard passages where Arthur exclaims “I don’t do nostalgia” as he ponders the passing of time.

The ‘Evensong’ title track is gloriously motorik and brings in live bass alongside a blippy backdrop before some ragged guitar joins in the second half in a celebration of the outsider. A cousin of ‘Hoarfrost’, like VISAGE and TALK TALK, THE REMAINDER have an eponymous song too and the use of digital claps provides a fitting upbeat.

More sombre and perhaps autobiographical, ‘Awake’ sees Arthur sounding particularly weary in the character of a “very very busy, a very busy person”. Of a similar tone and sounding not unlike THE CURE, the angsty ‘Dead Farmer’s Field’ makes subtle but effective use of synths on top of the driving rhythm section.

With more great synth lines and tongue-in-cheek references to the classic BBC comedy show ‘Are You Being Served?’, ‘Lift Music’ excels within a cavernous downtempo trip-hop setting. With eerie horror film vibes in a song about denial, ‘Forgotten’ sees Neil Arthur get more animated and angry before the closer ‘What Do You Want To Want’ recalls JOY DIVISION courtesy of its almost funereal mood as it asks existential questions inspired by the Yuval Noah Harris book, ‘Sapiens; A Brief History Of Mankind’.

This first album by THE REMAINDER is an immediately enjoyable affair that sits nicely alongside FADER and NEAR FUTURE as part of the wider Neil Arthur canon. But what is next? There’s the rumour of an as yet unnamed covers project with Benge and a certain Vince Clarke… versions of ‘Stuck In The Middle Of You’, ‘Goodbye To Love’ and ‘Rock On’ are said to be among the works-in-progress 😉

‘Evensong’ is released on 14 July 2023 by Blanc Check Ltd as a clear vinyl LP, CD + digital download, pre-order from https://theremainder.tmstor.es/

http://www.blancmange.co.uk/

https://www.liamhutton.co.uk/

http://finlayshakespeare.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
7 July 2023

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