Category: Reviews (Page 162 of 200)

DURAN DURAN Paper Gods

13 September 2015 / electricityclub

‘Paper Gods’ is the 14th album from New Romantic survivalists DURAN DURAN.

It ropes in an expansive line-up of featured artists and collaborators – from fellow Birmingham artist Mr. Hudson (who additionally takes on production duties) through to ‘The Reflex’ remixer Nile Rodgers and one of their previous producers Mark Ronson. Less predictable are the appearances by ex-RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS guitarist John Frusciante and Lindsay Lohan who contributes spoken word elements to ‘Danceophobia’.

The amount of collaborators here could be viewed in two ways, either to set off warning bells of a band potentially struggling to produce material as a self-contained unit or as a way to stay relevant and appeal to a wider demographic; but look on the positive side though, at least Pitbull and Akon aren’t featured…

The opening eponymous title track is certainly a statement of intent, clocking in at 7 minutes, ‘Paper Gods’ is a wildly adventurous piece which starts off as lo-fi gospel with counterpointed vocals before a drum machine and synth combo straight out of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Delta Machine’ takes the track in a completely different and unexpected direction. The addition of guitar and John Taylor’s bass give the track more of a DURAN-style feel but the electronic drums never quite propel the song to the heights required. A half-hearted dub-style middle section eventually leads back into what is undeniably a strong chorus, but one which would have fitted better into a shorter, more conventional song structure.

‘Last Night In The City’ showcases Kiesza’s vocals and ditches the live bass of John Taylor for more of an electronic EDM-style one, but the song itself comes across as a failed attempt to cross-fertilize current electronic elements into the DURAN DURAN sound.

‘You Kill With Me Silence’ is the first track to potentially get old school Duranies excited as its intro section alludes to elements of ‘The Chauffeur’ from ‘Rio’ with its synth-driven intro before morphing into a 10CC styled chorus with electric piano and layered vocals. Again this song feels like a wasted opportunity, a big melodic chorus wasted on a mismatched production style…

’Pressure Off’ brings a slice of funk with CHIC’s Nile Rodgers adding his trademark guitar sound and what is the most cohesive track on the album so far. But compared to, say, ‘Get Lucky’ or ‘Uptown Funk’, this is a second division effort. Just as the listener is getting ready to give up on the album, ‘What Are the Chances’ finally delivers what we know DURAN DURAN are capable of… more in the downtempo vein of ‘Come Undone’ or ‘Ordinary World’ and not trying overly hard to be down with the kids.

THIS is the direction that the band sound most comfortable with and is easily the strongest song and production on show here. Lyrically the track explores themes that recall the film ‘Sliding Doors’ where fate dictates the outcome of a relationship depending upon a person’s location at a certain time. The fact that out of all the songs here, this is the only one which is hooky enough to stay ingrained in the memory once the listener has walked away from the album, speaks volumes…

‘Sunset Garage’ with its urgent snare work has an uplifting Motown / pop feel about it, and with the autobiographical line “Whatever happens we’ll be ok!” showcases a sound (as on ‘What Are the Chances’) that feels more natural to the band. Of the remaining songs, ‘Change The Skyline’, ‘Butterfly Girl’ and ‘Only In Dreams’ scream FILLER! and it’s left to ‘The Universe Alone’ to end the album in emotional but downtempo fashion – at its climax, Frusciante’s guitar solo melting under a wall of track distortion.

‘Paper Gods’ showcases how important the right producer choice is – in comparison with Mark Ronson’s work on the revitalised ‘All You Need Is Now’ (which steered the band back into a more ‘Rio’-like sound), Josh Blair and Mr. Hudson’s work doesn’t seem to fit the band dynamic, songwriting and SOUND of DURAN DURAN.

Some credit must be given to the band for taking a risk and giving the album to a pair of relatively untested producers (Hudson is more known for his collaborative artist work than his production), but throughout, there is a lack of ‘band’ cohesion with drummer Roger Taylor and John Taylor’s signature bass sound both feeling under-utilised.

This album was two years in the making, but with its stream of featured artists feels paper thin and sadly far from God-like…

‘Paper Gods’ is available in a variety of formats internationally via Warner Music

http://www.duranduran.com/

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Text by Paul Boddy
13th September 2015

DESTIN FRAGILE Halfway To Nowhere

10 September 2015 / electricityclub

Some bands crop out of nowhere, quickly put together the material, not knowing what the real direction of the album they’re writing is, then place high hopes for a fast success.

Other musical creatures work for years to develop their sound and perfect their trade, while branching out into other projects, just to come up with a masterpiece. The formation of DESTIN FRAGILE dates back to 1993 when Swede Pontus Stålberg started collaborating with various musicians before joining forces with Daniel Malmöf and Stefan Nilsson for live performances.

Nilsson and Stålberg ran a side project, the EBM inclined SPETSNAZ, who released four albums and enjoyed fair amount of popularity. Malmöf returned to complete the DESTIN FRAGILE cycle, which has culminated in the release of ‘Halfway To Nowhere’ on Dark Dimensions.

Since it’s been a 20 year wait for the album, the expectations run high; ‘Run Away’, which opens the production, immediately brings to mind a mixture of vintage DEPECHE MODE and elements of Germany’s AND ONE with a clear vocal by Stålberg, that is quite different from what SPETSNAZ ‘s fans are used to hearing. Ethereal and gentler in tone, it somewhat resembles Mark Hockings of Bristol’s own UK electronica masters MESH.

Clever, heavier synth follows on ‘In Your Eyes’; burly, very AND ONE and decadent, it leads to ‘In the Frame’, which is characterised by CAMOUFLAGE-like landscape, off beat drum patterns and irregular keys. ‘Alive (It’s Up To You)’ opens with a recognisable Gahan influence, a definite gloomy love affair, bearing Doug McCarthy’s vocal stamp, with a filthy synth finish. The poppier and gentler title track floats in, with TEARS FOR FEARS meets ‘Ultra’ era DM qualities. Rather superb in its simplicity, it is roughly interrupted by the incoming ‘April Light’, which couldn’t be more AND ONE in its texture.

DESTIN FRAGILE The rhythmic ‘Change’ brings out qualities of SPETSNAZ at first, to transcend into the perfect synth pop tune, just before ‘Worlds Apart’ breaks the beat, followed by ‘In Plain Sight’.

Unsurprisingly, elements of FROZEN PLASMA are rather palpable; many a band this year has used their influence in their own creations. A dance tune at its best – fast, to the point, not over complicated with unnecessary filler sounds and simple enough to please.

‘Out Of The Darkness’ is delicious vocally and musically alike. The PET SHOP BOYS styled production is marked with eloquent formulation of synths from the lost era, combined with AND ONE’s ‘Virgin Superstar’ style of manufacture of a superior electronic track.

The closing bonus ’11’ is fabulously surprising, a vintage Merry- Go- Round, Victorian music box, horse cart and choir certainly aren’t a concoction one would expect as the culmination of this record. But that’s exactly what you get. Truly inspired and wonderfully wrapping this excellent album up.

To some, the obvious DEPECHE MODE and AND ONE characteristics, so often audible on this production, could be a turn off. It has to be said, however, that DESTIN FRAGILE have made those influences their own and the overall effect is highly pleasing.

Sweden certainly doesn’t cease to give birth to some excellent acts in the genre. Stålberg and friends have the aura of the weathered, grown up daddies of electronica about them, which differentiates them from many an act on the scene.

DESTIN FRAGILE recently showcased their material at Gothenburg’s Electronic Summer 2015 Festival at The Brewhouse with considerable success. Let’s hope they continue creating synthpop soundscapes worthy of the ever expanding electronic Swedish music scene.

‘Halfway To Nowhere’ is available as a CD or download via Dark Dimensions

https://www.facebook.com/destin.fragile.pop

Text by Monika Izabela Goss
10th September 2015

047 featuring DANIELLA KRUTH Follow Me Home

9 September 2015 / electricityclub

Forming in 2001, Swedish duo 047 began their chiptune experiments through a mutual appreciation of vintage video games.

After a couple of self-released albums, ‘Robopop (Vi Tar Cdn Dit Vi Kommer)’ was their first proper long player in 2006. But Peter Engström and Sebastian Rutgersson began to evolve from their minimalistic beginnings to incorporate melodic song based elements and even pop. Collaborating with other artists, 047 started to incorporate vocals into their music.

The end results led to the impressive debut album ‘Elva’; released in 2011 on the Gothenburg independent label Killing Music, it featured the YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA musical salute ‘Kanpai!’ and the rich Lisa Pedersen vocalled Scandipop of ‘Everything’s Fine’.

Combining blurry soundscapes and pulsing reality, Engström and Rutgersson are back with a new single ‘Follow Me Home’. Featuring Östersund born vocalist Daniella Kruth whose debut album ‘Kill It Slow’ was released in 2014 , it is a story about standing strong despite inherent vulnerabilities.

Encased with a syncopated pop structure, the whispering tones soon break out loud and clear with Kruth’s more indie inclined sensibilities adding a fresh slant to the electronically derived backbone. With further vocal based recordings on the horizon, all bodes well for 047’s follow-up to ‘Elva’.

‘Follow Me Home’ is released as a download via Killing Music

http://www.047.se/

https://www.facebook.com/047music

Text by Chi Ming Lai
9th September 2015

ME THE TIGER Vitriolic

7 September 2015 / electricityclub

Falun in Sweden is the hometown to yet another superb electronic act from this Nordic land.

Gabriella Åström (vocals synths), Tobias Andresson (synths / guitars) and Jonas Martinsson (drums / programming) are the trio who comprise ME THE TIGER. Given the fact that the band set out on their journey only in 2012, they can boast about such achievements as playing alongside none other than VINCE CLARKE, PANDA DA PANDA, KITE and many others. Their hometown awarded the band a diversity scholarship and their work has been nominated for a number of awards.

Having recently played at Electronic Summer 2015 in Gothenburg with great success, the band are already well established and popular with the synth fanatics. ‘Vitriolic’ opens with ‘As We Really Are’; delicate girly vocals gently ease the audience into a massive bridge and chorus, which is larger than life, with heavy drums and a powerful guitar. ‘Never Said I’ classifies as a perfect dance tune, depicting a complicated love story, while ‘What Promises Are Worth’, the first single from the production, hits with synthy scenery, another powerful chorus, instantly making the tune a dance anthem of the new era.

‘Control’ is a short, semi-instrumental track but lyrically full however. ‘Myheroine’ steps in with fast tempo, MESH-like synths and controversial lyrics, another larger than life but rounded tune. Starting with a Eurovision-esque sequence, ‘Heartbeats’ is a riven, energetic and spirited panorama of sound with a perfect danceability factor.

‘Headlines’ opens with a dirty, interesting synth, instantly making it the best song on the album. Gritty vocal over simple, yet sophisticated melody, resembling solo outings from Melanie Chisholm. The following ‘Apart’ sounds like a fresh take on the dance floor anthems of the gone by years, fully twinkling with fresh electronica and persevering drums, it is big and bold.

ME THE TIGER ‘We Sell For Free’ is marked by calmer synergy of gentle vocal and subdued resonance, while ‘Like Feathers’ comes back with faster, quirkier tonality.

‘Dreams’ calms the senses again for a short while, leading to ‘2013, It’s Finally Over’, which is the closing track of the album. Keeping it harmonious in unison of slower and gentler tone, the song perfectly rounds up the production.

ME THE TIGER have been described as “the next generation of electronic music”, and the “vitriolic wind of change in the deadlocked electronic music scene”. With strong lyrics, powerful choruses and anthemic tunes, they are likely to succeed in what they are aiming for, to “contaminate your ears and the dance floors”.

Driven and forward thinking, they represent a fresh approach to modern electronica, which is gutsy and in-your-face, yet melancholic and subdued at the same time. Best observed live, the band surely have many successes to come their way.

‘Vitriolic’ is released on CD and digital formats by Repo Records

http://methetiger.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MeTheTiger

Text by Monika Izabela Goss
7th September 2015

A-HA Cast In Steel

6 September 2015 / electricityclub

“We are not getting back to stay together. We’ve agreed to come back for a set period: one album, one tour. It’s a great opportunity and allows us to write another chapter”: MORTEN HARKET

A-HA’s ‘Cast In Steel’ is the Norwegian trio’s tenth studio album, and the first new material since the group disbanded after the success of their ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ long player in 2009. The album was a triumph with the title track being one of the highlights on the subsequent tour while ‘Nothing Is Keeping You Here’ captured the combination of heartfelt melancholy and emotive melodies that A-HA have always done best.

Having played what appeared to be their farewell concert at the Oslo Spektrum in December 2010, Morten Harket, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen embarked on a variety of separate activities. Harket’s own solo career, while moderately successful, had the identifiable ingredients of A-HA but lacked the unique songwriting panache of Waaktaar-Savoy and Furuholmen. Like many groups, the sum proved to be greater than the individual parts.

With no record deal in place, no pressures and no touring commitments, A-HA reunited in a relaxed manner that recalled their days as a fledgling band seeking fame and fortune. The new album sees trio reunited on a number of songs with Alan Tarney, the noted producer who produced many of their biggest hits including ‘Take On Me’, ‘The Sun Always Shines on TV’, ‘Cry Wolf’ and ‘Stay On These Roads’. Meanwhile, the ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ production team of Steve Osborne and Erik Ljunggren also return.

Set in stone, the ‘Cast In Steel’ title track is a classic string laden midtempo ballad written by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, a fine example of the sort of songs that have allowed A-HA to continue their career into the 21st Century. Following on, ‘Under The Makeup’ features those characteristic Bond Theme elements that have sat in A-HA’s work since ‘The Living Daylights’. It’s another soaring offering from Waaktaar-Savoy that signals the album’s artistic intentions; a maturer but still melodic A-HA playing to their strengths as an adult pop combo.

Morten Harket’s solo career has had mixed reactions and his songs on A-HA albums have sometimes gone down the way that a certain Richard Starkey’s used to. But ‘The Wake’ takes a leaf out of Waaktaar-Savoy’s songbook with a wonderful chorus supported by cinematic overtones and muted guitar. Meanwhile the faster paced pop of ‘Forest Fire’ will remind those who left behind A-HA after ‘Stay On The Roads’ why they should return to the fold and not to be left out, Magne Furuholmen’s ‘Objects In The Mirror’ is something of a beauty.

The first of the Alan Tarney productions comes with ‘Door Ajar’, buzzing with sequenced synths and driven by a drum machine while syncopated with choppy guitar. ‘Living At The End Of The World’ sees lighters (or rather smart phones) aloft; this is a swaying anthem with gently pulsing synths, sparring guitar and those Barry-esque orchestrations. It’s one of Morten Harket’s too, confirming his development as a songwriter.

But ‘Mythomania’ misfires and is a bit of a let-down, but it had to happen at some point. Predictably, this one is of a rockier disposition… ‘She’s Humming A Tune’ has hints of ‘Scoundrel Days’ in a lower key with sweeping synths, bottle neck six string and live drums moulding the chilling soundscape with that exquisite Nordic allure. A slight offbeat provides the backbone to ‘Shadow Endeavors’ while the catchy beat laden ‘Giving Up The Ghost’ soars with dramatic strings and synths as with many of the key tracks on this enjoyable album. The loose drum driven ‘Goodbye Thompson’ closes ‘Cast In Steel’ with subtle snatches of RADIOHEAD’s ‘No Surprises’ creeping in.

As is standard now with the modern album format, there are a number of bonus tracks which are interesting rather than essential, although the crystalline ‘The End Of The Affair’ should have been part of the main act of ‘Cast In Steel’ instead of ‘Mythomania’.

The other tracks have been culled from the early ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ sessions circa 2008-2009 and give an insight into how A-HA’s songs develop. Although often almost fully formed, they go up a level once rearrangements and synthetic enhancements away from conventional traditions are allowed to be nurtured. So ‘Mother Nature Goes To Heaven’ is merely a plodding rock ballad in its original form compared to a thumping DEPECHE MODE styled number it became.

Meanwhile the acoustic demo of ‘Nothing Is Keeping You Here’ here was turned into a pièce de résistance by Steve Osborne’s electronic reworking for the UK Radio Edit. A not particularly good Mark Saunders remix of ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ does the deluxe package few favours, but the customer has their choice at the end of the day.

‘Cast In Steel’, like ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ before it, is classic A-HA and not the threesome trying to be CROSBY, STILLS & NASH like on 2005’s Marmite offering ‘Analogue’. It balances between synthpop and filmic orchestrations, with Morten Harket’s trademark vocal taking centre stage. The only person who perhaps ever exceeded his capabilities is the late Billy Mackenzie and Harket’s crying falsetto makes its presence felt throughout ‘Cast In Steel’.

But while A-HA are inherently melancholic, like with all good Nordic pop, there’s that contrasting glorious optimism which gives the songs that vital all-embracing lift. If this is to be the last A-HA album, then ‘Cast In Steel’ is a worthy one.

‘Cast In Steel’ is released in CD, deluxe 2CD, metal fan box 2CD, vinyl and download formats by Universal Music

A-HA 2016 live dates include:

Manchester Arena (25 March), London O2 Arena (26 March), Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena (28 March), Birmingham Barclaycard Arena (29 March), Stuttgart Schleyerhalle (3 April), Zurich Hallenstadium (4 April), Munich Olympiahalle (4 April), Leipzig Arena (7 April), Nürnberger Versicherung (9 April), Vienna Stadthalle (10 April), Berlin O2 (13 April), Hamburg O2 World (14 April), Bremen ÖVB Arena (16 April), Hannover TUI Arena (17 April), Halle Gerry-Weber-Stadium (19 April), Oberhausen König Pilsener Arena (20 April), Mannheim SAP Arena (23 April), Frankfurt Festhalle (24 April), Cologne Lanxess Arena (26 April)

http://a-ha.com/

https://www.facebook.com/officialaha

Text by Chi Ming Lai
6th September 2015