Category: Reviews (Page 159 of 200)

CLUB 8 Pleasure

24 November 2015 /

 

Sweden consistently delivers in the field of electronica and 2015 has been truly won over by the Swedes. New, fledging bands have surfaced with a quality of material, which some weathered UK bands should be jealous of.

CLUB 8, however, have been around for a long while. Twenty years have passed since teenager Karolina Komstedt, a gifted young singer, founded the enterprise, joined by Johan Angergård.

The duo’s beginnings were more guitar pop, bossa nova style, than synthpop.

Signed to the Spanish Siesta label, their first trials were labelled as “anorak pop”, and the first album ‘Nouvelle’ received a warm welcome. The second production, ‘The Friend I Once Had’ landed the Komstedt-Angergård collaboration their first gig in New York.

More albums followed with their self-titled third long player, ‘Spring Came, Rain Fell’, ‘Strangely Beautiful’, ‘The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming’ and ‘The People’s Record’, before their “everything at once” record, ‘Above The City’ which featured the magnificent cult favourite ‘Stop Taking My Time’.

Collectively, CLUB 8’s albums have been released on over forty labels including territories in South East Asia. The band also prided themselves with the popularisation of indie pop genre in Indonesia, and starting up, what has become an extensive scene out there. ‘Pleasure’ is the ninth studio production from the duo, and Johan Angergård’s 21st record, conceived and executed in their ever-changing Summersound Studios. The themes are love, sex and jealousy, “a strong congruous effort”, as described as Karolina.

An unusually short album housing eight tracks only, it opens with the pessimistically titled ‘Love Dies’. This slinky, shiny and sophisticated ballad leads into a pensive mood, which isn’t representative of what the production is about. The mood swiftly changes with ‘Skin’, a dirtier, lustlier version of the following ‘Late Nights’. The crisp vocals by Komstedt are girly and fresh, digging deeper into the matter of decaying love.

Meanwhile ‘Kinky Love’, apart from its obvious sexual connotations, is a superbly executed, PET SHOP BOYS style serenade. She wants it “strange”, before ‘Jealousy Remains’ enters with a glossy and defined chorus, leading into ‘Hush’ which has ghostly echoes of ART GARFUNKEL’s ‘Bright Eyes’ gone electro…

‘Movement’ lyrically continues the theme of wanting “some action”, all heading in the direction of ‘Promises We Never Meant To Keep’. The closing track, possibly the best on the album, softly cushions love’s ups and downs, awakening the longing once more.

After twenty years of collaboration, five of which they spent as a couple, now describing their relationship as a “brother and sister love”, neither Komstedt nor Angergård feel like they’ve learnt anything about how to conduct themselves in a union that would last.

Unhappy in love, “wanting things to be something that it will not be”, “how love changes”, are the themes explored on the opus, described by the band themselves as a “shimmering electronic pop album”.

The erosion of love, which ultimately is a subject of this record, is a twisted form of “pleasure”, as observed by Karolina: “We humans tend to enjoy the things that hurt”.

What ABBA started, seems to continue. Sweden leads in the music field, whether it’s pop, indie or synth, and they do it with poise, grace, power and determination, which is second to none…

Pay attention UK, learn and copy accordingly.

‘Pleasure’ is released by Labrador Records

http://www.club-8.org/

https://www.facebook.com/Club8music/

Text by Monika Izabela Goss
24th November 2015

BLACK NAIL CABARET Steril EP

23 November 2015 /

BLACK NAIL CABARET’s debut London gig reinforced why European acts are ahead of the game with regards darker flavoured synthpop.

It was a fine, charismatic performance by singer Emese Illes-Arvai and keyboardist Sophie Tarr, accompanied by some beautiful and occasionally erotic arthouse visuals.

In a passionate set which comprised highlights from their second long player ‘Harry Me, Marry Me, Bury Me, Bite Me’ including ‘Hair’, ‘Blonde’ and ‘Lovely Girl’, it was evidence of how BLACK NAIL CABARET have made a sonic leap forward since their promising debut ‘Emerald City’ in 2012.

‘Satisfaction’ magnificently stole the show while proceedings were nicely rounded out with first album faves ‘Let Me In’ and ‘Veronica’, as well as a lively electronic rendition of STARSAILOR’s ‘Tell Me It’s Not Over’.

Having supported CAMOUFLAGE, COVENANT and DE/VISION, the confidence of BLACK NAIL CABARET is on such a high right now that the duo have just released a four track EP in their native Hungarian. Entitled ‘Steril’, the title track is a moodily percussive composition that adds further to their enigmatic demeanour, thanks to the unfamiliar language tone.

Of the other tracks on the EP, ‘Fekete’ adds some viola by Celine Righi to bring some rich Lisztian spirit into the equation while ‘Reggel’ uses harmonium textures to procure a sparse, haunting soundtrack. But ‘Mágia’ provides a more obvious synthpop template from which listeners who enjoyed ‘Harry Me, Marry Me, Bury Me, Bite Me’ can reference from.

With songstress Gwenno having had her Welsh language album ’Y Dydd Olaf’ recently reissued by Heavenly Recordings, electronic pop in something other than English is steadily gaining ground. But historically, this is nothing unusual as prior to the Synth Britannia dominance of the classic era, the UK first became enlightened to popular music of electronic origin thanks to ‘Autobahn’, a record that was of course, recorded in German! On Facebook, the duo said: “There are several reasons why we wrote these on our mother tongue, one of them was that the rhythm of the lyrics suited better in Hungarian, it was a lot easier to express these feelings which are partly about our home and being away from it”

With the general open mindedness of many electronic music fans, the ‘Steril’ EP is timely. It is also an indication of BLACK NAIL CABARET’s willingness to experiment and push artistic boundaries.

‘Steril’ is available as a download EP from
https://blacknailcabaret.bandcamp.com/album/steril

http://www.blacknailcabaret.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bncband/

https://twitter.com/Black_Nails

https://www.instagram.com/bncband/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price
23rd November 2015

HYPERBUBBLE Live In London

21 November 2015 /

When Bionic Bubblepunk duo HYPERBUBBLE made a rare visit to the UK in 2014 to play at HELEN LOVE’s ‘Does Your Heart Go Boom?’ all-dayer at The Lexington in London, there were a lot of smiles in the audience.

Now that performance has been released as album, titled appropriately ‘Live in London’.

It was their first gig in the capital and with the crowd convinced they were about to witness a mutant Country & Western duo, synthpop’s own CARTER & CASH launched into a 45 minute performance of quirky electro with hints of The B-52s.

“We definitely play upon that” said lead singer Jess to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “because we see ourselves as part-performance art, kitsch cabaret pop…”. Her partner-in-crime Jeff added: “With our stage clothes, we’re playing up to people’s expectations, then throwing in a paradox… looking like their pre-conceived idea of what a Texan is and then sounding nothing like it!”

‘Live in London’ is a highly quality recording featuring a set that could be regarded as HYPERBUBBLE’s greatest hits! Beginning with their calling card ‘Candy Apple Daydreams’, fun uptempo numbers such as ‘Synesthesia’, ‘Bionic Girl’, ‘Non-Biodegradable Hazardous Waste Disposal’ and ‘Chop Shop Cop’ also figure.

hyperbubble 2014live

But this is naturally audio only, so one can only imagine the onstage spanking that Jess gives Jeff during ‘Girl Boy Pop Toy’. However, his charming larger than life personality more that comes over on the recording, as does Jess’ Southern sweetness. This is Rayna and Deacon from ‘Nashville’, but in outer space! Despite having released five albums and several EPs, HYPERBUBBLE are still comparatively unknown in worldwide synthpop circles.

So ‘Live in London’ is a perfect starting point for those who are now curious.

‘Live in London’ is released in CD and download formats by Pure Pop For Now People Records on 22nd November 2015, available from https://hyperbubble.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-london

http://www.hyperbubble.net/

https://twitter.com/Hyperbubble

Text by Chi Ming Lai
21st November 2015

GRIMES Art Angels

7 November 2015 /


So, here it is, veiled in mystery for months, with an unclear release date and promises of a masterpiece – the fourth album by the Canadian songstress Claire Boucher aka GRIMES.

‘Art Angels’ is manna for the hungry fans of the extraordinary and self-sufficient Music Dame and a worthy follow-up to 2012’s ‘Visions’.

Boucher herself has stressed that this production “lyrically, it’s more political and less abstract than before, like, really trippy free association about nature and sh*t.”

GRIMES has always been inspired by what most would find random like: “There’s a song that’s from the perspective of a butterfly in the Amazon as people are cutting down trees; there’s a song that’s from the perspective of angels who are polluted, so they’re crying polluted tears. I feel like it’s more about the Earth. I think I was more in society when I was making it, so it feels more grounded.”

The self-confessed “super feminist” uses herself and herself only, to complete the albums. She despises the idea of a producer taking credit for her work, so the whole enterprise is a very DIY job, including the tarot cards inspired artwork accompanying the release.

The girl does what the girl has to do, and the opening ‘Laughing & Not Being Normal’ sums up the entire outing with an ‘Alice In Wonderland’ inspired intro, leading into the “Miley Cyrus in her good girl country and western stage”, ‘California’. The sweetly laced track lyrically hits the negative experiences the artist went through while on “writer camps”, shaping the next hits for the Billboard 100, where she realised nothing is about art, and that it was the complete opposite to what she wanted to do.

‘SCREAM’, with its guitar riffs inspired by Tarantino movies, is an innovative track where GRIMES collaborates with a Taiwanese female rapper ARISOPHANES. Odd, you may think; well, Boucher tried to use Soundcloud more randomly, exploring the musicians with the least number of followers. That’s how she came across the artist, who shares the feminist vision she thought perfect for this record.

Next comes the first single and the mesmerisingly superb ‘Flesh Without Blood’, a poppy American Dream track, which to many, could land the artist a decent chart position. In one of her recent interviews, she swiftly replies to that statement. “I hate that all music right now has to exist in the context of the Top 40. I just want to make music that’s good. Some good music is pop, some good music is not pop.”

‘Flesh Without Blood’ is pop, but it’s beyond the sweet and candied: it’s immense, grown up and arty, without the need of being labelled within the realms of any chart position out there.

‘Belly Of The Beat’ brings a light super girly accent to the record, acting as a coma between the single and the following ‘Kill Vs Maim’. The song was written from a perspective of Al Pacino in ‘The Godfather Part 2’, except that “he’s a vampire and can switch gender and travel through space”. This statement alone summarises the artist’s flaunting approach to making music.

‘Artangels’ is a mish-mash of the good old pop, electronica and features influences of many an artist, being ingenuously fresh at the same time, while ‘Easily’ starts off with a simple piano and mellow beats flowering into a sophisticated hip-hop ballad. Just like with the clothes Boucher wears, you couldn’t find a song crammed with more genres coagulated into one, seamless number.

‘Pin’ similarly acts like a catalyst of variety, and ‘REALiTi’, which had been previously released as a demo with great success, has its overhauled version on the album, showcasing quite how magnificent the song is. Marked with Berlin’s Love Parade elements, this mellow track is remarkably modern and demonstrates the talents of the Canadian man-hater quite visibly. Go back few years to the marvellous pop creations of MADONNA, spice them with added synth and techno elements, and you have got yourself a perfect GRIMES song; quite possibly the best on this production.

‘World Princess Pt II’ and ‘Venus Fly’, the latter featuring Janelle Monáe, a multiple Grammy nominee, are as unconventionally original as they get, while ‘Live In The Vivid Dream’, which formed the act two of the promotional video, together with ‘Flesh Without Blood’ is a punctuating shortie, leading onto ‘Butterfly’. The last track on the production shows off the perfectionist and the tendency to push boundaries, being of a socially vital lyrical content, yet sung from the perspective of a butterfly, seeing the Amazon rainforest being cut to nothing.

Claire Boucher has become a clear icon of today’s youth; no limits, rules, obligations and no feeling of “owing” anything to anyone. Coming from British Columbia’s strict Catholic school system, where the teaching of science was banned, the inquisitive girl was always in trouble for asking too many questions. She’s flourished into a woman, who knows what she wants and is not scared to get it.

The very woman, who on her last release used “a lot of drugs” and recorded the album using Garageband only, this time has stepped up to Ableton Live and learnt to play a dozen of instruments; collaborated with known and not-so known artists, and channelled everything she’s got, is definitely the pronounced artist of today. She’s proud to live in her own house, she’s buying her own equipment, she’s not relying on producers (on which she lashes out with her “diss” track), and doing what she wants and how she wants it.

It is truly HER record, and hers alone.

‘Art Angels’ is released by 4AD Records

http://www.grimesmusic.com

https://www.facebook.com/actuallygrimes/

Text by Monika Izabela Goss
7th November 2015

SOLAR FAKE Another Manic Episode

3 November 2015 /

solar fake_anothermanicepisodeBerlin’s SOLAR FAKE came into existence in 2007, creating an instant stir in the electronica circles, hungry for more anger and industrial laden beats.

Sven Friedrich, best known for his rockier enterprises ZERAPHINE and DREADFUL SHADOWS, joined André Feller and to date have released three albums, ‘Broken Grid’, ‘Frontiers’ and ‘Reasons To Kill’.

The latest ‘Another Manic Episode’ is described by the band themselves, as their best work to date, which immediately invites the challenge to verify the veracity of this claim.

Happily charging €25 a year for their fan club membership, the SOLAR FAKE boys seem awfully confident in their latest product. The deluxe edition harbours nineteen songs, including the ten core tracks, with additional remixes by AESTHETIC PERFECTION and PROJECT PITCHFORK among many, as well as further seven piano versions of selected numbers.

The opening ‘Not What I Wanted’ curiously welcomes into the heavy world of SOLAR FAKE with EBM beats and alluring sequences, in which the band stays true to their roots. Influences of various other German bands are clearly palpable, making the opening track an eclectic mixture of pretty much everything heard before. ‘Fake To Be Alive’ follows with a clear danceability factor interwoven within a melodic, yet heavy sequence of drum and bass, as if borrowed from ‘Automation Baby’ by Bristol’s MESH.

‘All The Things You Say’, also being the first single from the production, changes the mood into more of a gentler, sublime and intelligent synthpopia. Refined vocals, this time lacking the heavy rock base, are fuller and inviting. Very clear influence from their native FROZEN PLASMA, yet original in their own way.

‘Under Control’ as well as ‘Observer’ serve heavy boot stomping to their industrial beats, while ‘Until It’s Over’ returns to the temperate, placid electronica which Friedrich is a master of. ‘The Race Of The Rats’ reprises the theme with a substantial dose of EBM, followed with ‘If I Were You’; it’s a melancholic track, yet well suited to heavy head bob and dance craze of your life.

The slower, more defined ‘I Don’t Want You Here’, is a broken love affair, MINEVE style. A listener-friendly melody with gentle piano elements, this makes the track one of the best on this collection. The closing ‘Stay’ is perhaps the song which ought to mark the style of SOLAR FAKE, as this type of direction is what they do best. Delicate electronica with a refined vocal, it wraps the album skilfully, denoting the fact the band are capable of a decent ballad.

The second CD, apart from the remixes by big names, includes two tracks which are worth a mention. ‘Somebody Told Me’ rings the familiar sounds of THE KILLERS. It has become a kind of a given, that SOLAR FAKE will include a cover on each album. And this one is basically a version of the original, which has been beefed up with synth sounds, leaving it resonating not too dissimilar from the prototype. ‘You Need The Drugs’, another cover, this time of WESTBAM’s big hit, from ‘Götterstrasse’, is more palatable and assembled with apt knowledge of the blueprint.

SOLAR FAKE 2015Like with any SOLAR FAKE release, the feeling persists, that perhaps the band, with their strong performances, are more of a live act and are better appreciated when in front of audiences, having toured Europe extensively before the release of ‘Another Manic Episode’ with great success.

The album, being rather compelling, will probably suit younger, less expectant listener.

For the lovers of COMBICHRIST, this is a perfect alternative; angry, in your face and destructive at times, only seldom punctuated with softer, lighter synth.

Whether the claims that the album is their best work to date, are indeed accurate, is debatable; however, the continuing popularity of the group speaks for itself.

‘Another Manic Episode’ is released by Out Of Line Records

http://www.solarfake.de/en

https://www.facebook.com/SolarFake/

Text by Monika Izabela Goss
3rd November 2015

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