The Swedish synthpop band PAGE have a long history in making music and have a cult following at home in Sweden.
In parts of Europe, they are known for a particularly impressive version of OMD’s ‘Electricity’ for the 1995 synth covers tribute album ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’ that also featured ELEGANT MACHINERY and ATTRITION.
The two band members Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko first started playing together in 1980 and released their self titled debut album in 1991. But they have also been involved in other musical constellations
Bengtsson was in S.P.O.C.K. and SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN (Last Man On Earth) while Schiptjenko has been involved in BWO, VACUUM and more recently JULIAN & MARINA. They made a comeback with their last album ‘Nu'< (Now) in 2010 and are now back together again making new fresh tunes as PAGE. ‘Hemma’ contains of 11 songs and one remix. The sound is very much familiar and PAGE like but yet so fresh and up to date. There are also a lot of influences from schaffel to disco.
On ‘Hemma’ (At Home), they have worked with the producer Håkan Hultberg to enhance the sound. It is electrodisco, glam rock, synthpop and electronica all in a pleasant and genial mix! There are both songs with a darker side along with the happy sounding songs which that combine into a great mixture. Some of the songs have catchy tunes and choruses that really stick in a positive way. All the songs have been written by the singer Bengtsson and the first single ‘Som Ett Skal’ (Like a shell) is a naked and bare song with lots of emotions but yet simple in structure.
The songs are about reflections from daily life, thoughts about love, lust and how different things are these days compared from back when we were all young.
‘Lyssnade På Min Radio’ (Listened To My Radio) for example starts with a burst of THE SEX PISTOLS ‘Holidays In The Sun’ before it launches into something quite Vince Clarke! There’s also a song about a girl on a motorbike, ‘Motorcykel-Sussi’ (Motorcycle Susie) that features a lot of the traditional PAGE sound.
This is not a mainstream album at all and will not be played a lot on the radio but it is for sure, it is an album that their fans will keep on playing over and over again. A lot of the songs are destined to become classic live numbers. ‘Hemma’ will not disappoint old PAGE fans, that is a given success!
‘Hemma’ is released by Wonderland Records on CD and download
The Hip-Hop concept of the throne is an interesting one – the way in which there is a competitive fight to be sat on the seat of high power in that genre and remain in said position.
At present there seems to be a three-way fight between JAY-Z, KANYE WEST and EMINEM but that’s another story for another website… however, when it comes to new mainstream electronic music, if there was a throne, it has remained frustratingly empty for quite a long while.
Some acts which may have initially promised great things have disintegrated or vanished from view and your typical electronic music fan is left perpetually in a state of flux and on the look out for the great white hope or a band that could maybe, just maybe be mentioned in the same breath as OMD, KRAFTWERK, THE HUMAN LEAGUE or <insert your own name here>.
Over-hyped bands often have some listeners running in the opposite direction, the weight of expectation usually resulting in inevitable disappointment, and this is especially so in electronic music. There are several benchmarks that a new electronic artist needs to live up to before it can be championed as “the new Human League”!
Both LA ROUX and LITTLE BOOTS achieved considerable mainstream success by playing the synthpop card and dropping the right names. Several years down the line, one is touted as returning to real instruments on her much delayed follow-up album, whilst the other was last seen touting her new album at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, a gig which surely rates as THE Spinal Tap comedown moment in synthpop history.
Coming up to date and it’s CHVRCHES who have (in a relatively short period of time) built an enviable profile for an electronic pop act and have appeared on the radar as THE band to watch and potentially inherit the mantle of the aforementioned artists.
Wary of the amount of hype surrounding this Glasgow act, it would seem inevitable that for many, their first long player would fail to live up to expectations… but when it’s good, ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ is VERY good indeed.
The positives are that with the exception of occasional nods to ELLIE GOULDING (similar-style sampled vocal phrases appear throughout) and THE XX (more on those later), CHVRCHES’ debut isn’t a slave to fashion and steadfastly refuses the temptation to directly reference other forms of current electronic music, be it Dubstep or EDM. Many of the sounds on offer here have a DNA strain which link back to ‘Travelogue’ (there are plenty of overdriven, warm synth sounds which have become CHVRCHES calling card) and it’s this approach which isn’t either urban or dance oriented that has given the act plenty of welcome attention from fans of electronic music.
If you have been following the act, then you would have already heard the four singles ‘Lies’, ‘The Mother We Share’, ‘Recover’ and ‘Gun’ all slices of off-beat drum machine-driven, radio-friendly synth pop with Lauren Mayberry’s vocals dominating the proceedings.
Alongside the previously released singles, the two standout tracks are ‘We Sink’ and ‘Science/Visions’; the former ups the tempo, takes matters into 4/4 territory and has a brilliant sequencer/kick-driven momentum which is missed on some of the more mid-paced tracks. ‘Science/Visions’ also has a more experimental vibe and again provides some much needed differentiation. It starts with filtered vocals and sequencers before dramatic rolling drum fills give way to riffs which recall Australia’s finest THE PRESETS.
‘Tether’ is a bit of curveball, starting off sounding like the offspring of THE COCTEAU TWINS and THE XX, with Lauren’s vocals and accompanying guitar work drenched in long, atmospheric reverb before the track climaxes with some more familiar trance-like synths. The main overall strength here is the quality of the band’s songwriting, both musically and lyrically – the ambiguity of many of the lyrics leaving an air of mystery as to what the concept behind some of the songs are and this should help give the album more in the way of longevity… Trent Reznor take note!
So, so far so good, but there are flaws: with a bit of experimentation, synths are capable of producing a myriad of fantastic sounds and given the fact that CHVRCHES wear their influences/musical heritage clearly on their sleeves, the sonic pallet on offer is limited. Many of the sounds scream preset and with the exception of the sequencer work on ‘We Sink’, there is nothing sound-wise that we haven’t heard many times before.
However, the main miscalculation is the use of male lead vocals on a couple of the tracks. The attempt to go for an Oliver Sim of THE XX-style vibe using Martin Doherty as frontman on ‘You Caught The Light’ and ‘Under The Tide’ really misfires, sounding weak and demo-like in comparison to Mayberry’s crystal-clear and pitch-perfect vocals. This would be akin to leaving your star striker on the bench during the World Cup final and being brutal, a couple of instrumentals would have been preferable!
In summary, and with a few reservations, this is a fine debut album which delivers on many levels – great songwriting, strong synthetic production with superb vocals, but whether it will break the glass ceiling and take CHVRCHES into more mainstream territory remains to be seen. But that aside, it will certainly delight those who have followed their steady ascendancy so far. On the evidence here, CHVRCHES have the throne, but it’s tricky to predict how long for…
Geek production fact: With the exception of ‘Night Sky’, CHVRCHES’ album has a ‘no crash cymbal’ policy, a production approach which has been used in the past by PETER GABRIEL (Album III ‘Melt’), TEARS FOR FEARS and OMD, the idea being that by removing these high frequency sounds, the resulting tracks will have more space for other timbres and also a noticeable tension due to the lack of the release provided by these sounds.
THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Dare’ was another example, but rather than being a conscious decision by the band, that was down to the memory limitations of the Linn Drum LM-1! But a note of caution: If you are in a real band (ie without a drum machine) and you ask your drummer to adopt this technique, he or she will probably not be very happy – well, we all know how drummers like hitting things…
‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ is released by Virgin Records on 23rd September as a CD, standard download, iTunes deluxe download and vinyl LP
CHVRCHES UK live dates include:
Glasgow ABC (10th October), Sheffield Leadmill (12th October), Manchester Ritz (14th October), Bristol Anson Rooms (15th October), London Shepherd’s Bush Empire (17th October)
With production interrupted by the small matter of travelling around Germany supporting OMD on their English Electric tour, the debut album from VILE ELECTRODES, ‘The future through a lens’ has finally landed.
It is long overdue and long awaited, but any skilled craftsman will appreciate that sometimes deadlines come and go in order to deliver perfection.
From the moment you press play and hear the title track, an instrumental homage to John Carpenter, you know you are in for something really quite special.
Dedicated composer Martin Swan has devoted his life to mastering the abilities of analogue synthesizers and his skills coupled with some very fine vocals from Anais Neon have proved potent to all those fellow musicians in the modern day era desperately trying to follow in the footsteps of KRAFTWERK, DEPECHE MODE, OMD and the like.
The competition might very well be quaking in their boots, seriously considering unplugging their synthesizers and walking away from the studios when really, ‘The future through a lens’ should be their benchmark.
It’s difficult to choose a favourite when each of the twelve tracks has something very different to offer. You are instantly taken on a journey, swept away with the swelling and swirling waters of ‘Drowned Cities’ only to drift away with the ebb and flow of ‘After The Flood’; a chilling song particularly when you hear the words “flesh and blood and broken bones”, leaving you with thoughts of the devastation that could occur after a tsunami.
Animal instincts take over as suddenly you’re whisked on to terra firma, running with ‘The Leopard’ the rhythm of which beautifully mimics the predator as she runs and pauses for breath through the long dry grassy plains of Africa to chase her prey.
Anais has really experimented with her vocals throughout the album and this is particularly evident in ‘Tore Myself to Pieces’, a song in which she seems to replicate the tones of Jimmy Somerville, and even the tempo and sounds are reflective of THE COMMUNARDS, especially at the beginning.
‘Damaged Software’ however could be interpreted as how difficult life can be in the rat race. The lyrics speak of waking from a dream to face the reality, being swept away from comfort zones, having no safety net or knowledge how to evolve, and how many of us switch to auto pilot drifting aimlessly in order just to get through.
Yet it feels far from depressing as musically it’s actually quite uplifting and buoyant.
There have been many influences within this album and not just on a musical level. Authors Margaret Attwood and JG Ballard (‘After the Flood’ and ‘Drowned Cities’ respectively) have played their part but who would have thought the simple experience of a camping trip would trigger an album track? However, ‘Nothing’ is just that. It has a very deep, rich earthy sound to it, perfectly reflecting the open space and uninterrupted views that sometimes we all crave and then half way through it just stops. You could hear a pin drop and for a couple of seconds you can actually feel your heart beat through your chest.
The melody and vocals then pick back up with Anais calling repetitively for “oblivion, with reckless abandon”. The music continues and eventually fades and the very simple addition of an accordion right at very end makes you wonder if you are by the sea or somewhere in rural France. You choose. But apparently it’s there just “because” (says Swan). And it’s beautiful; genius.
VILE ELECTRODES have wisely chosen ‘Deep Red’ as the final track on the album. This is without doubt an outstanding work of art which should be listened to with your eyes closed. Listen to every word, listen to the melody, breath it all in. The when you’ve come back down to earth and all the goose bumps have retracted, check out the video. It will bring a completely different dimension to the composition, filling you with emotions you may never realised you ever had.
If OMD believe in VILE ELECTRODES then so should you. Buy it. Listen to it. Share it and listen to it again; over and over. Then buy yourself a ticket to see them live should they come to a town near you. You won’t be disappointed.
VILE ELECTRODES ‘The future through a lens’ is available as a digipak CD and a deluxe 2CD steel sleeve set from their online store at http://vileelectrodes.bigcartel.com/
Also still available are the 3 Track CD EPs ‘Play With Fire’, ‘The Last Time’ and ‘Re-Emerge’. The 9 tracks from this EP Trilogy are not featured on ‘The future through a lens’.
Love and violence, suicide and murder… just a normal day in the office for OMD and it always has been!
Having released their best album for 30 years with ‘English Electric’ in April, OMD continue the promotional campaign with one of its key tracks ‘Night Café’.
Originally demoed under the working title of ‘Hopper’ after the American realist painter Edward Hopper, the track lyrically references a number of his works in a song which despite its major key template and beautiful melody, resonates with some darker themes.
Reflecting this is the controversial accompanying video which takes a subversively macabre approach. Like Edward Hopper directing ‘South Park’, the adult themes which include casual sex, cross-species coitus, suicide, gang violence and murder have provoked a plethora of complaints. One comment just went “Rubbish video. Created by juveniles for juveniles”.
But paradoxically on its suitability for viewing by minors, one observer argued “when I sit down to watch South Park of an evening, I’m expecting a sick and tasteless cartoon. When I sit down to watch an OMD video with my 5 year old on a Friday morning, I’m not” while another said “Being an animation doesn’t make the content any less ‘disturbing’ (though I’d use the word tasteless instead) than live action. I guess it’s fine for people who think South Park, Beavis & Butthead, Keith Lemon etc are suitable for a mass audience including younger folk. I don’t find any of them funny, mainly because toilet humour isn’t clever. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a bit naff and not worthy of OMD”.
Many of these comments are surprising; OMD’s music has always explored the not necessarily pleasant side of the human condition. Indeed, on ‘International’ from 1983’s ‘Dazzle Ships’, the emotive track began with a news broadcast that announced: “The Youth Anti-Imperialist Tribune was also addressed by a young girl from Nicaragua whose hands had been cut off at the wrists by the former Somoza guards…”
Meanwhile, other lyrical gists in OMD songs between 1980-1993 have included the suicide of a charismatic musician, the suicide of a woman who worked as a stripper because she had no other means of supporting herself, the racially motivated massacre of five innocent demonstrators by the Ku Klux Klan, the death of over 100,000 people by nuclear attack and most notably on two hit singles, the brutal execution of a teenage girl!
In support of the video, VILE ELECTRODES’ Martin Swan said: “It reminds me of some of my favourite animations (ie Monkey Dust) and captures the darker undercurrent of the lyrics that some people seem to completely miss… ‘a voyeur in a high window…’, ‘dying like I used to do…’ etc”.
In response to the negative criticisms, Swan also retorted: “Fine, if you don’t like it, you’re entitled to your opinion, but some people seem to find it extremely disturbing because it’s an animation exploring adult themes. In what century do you live? Why are you complaining it’s not suitable for your kids? IT’S NOT MEANT FOR YOUR KIDS! It’s not f**king CBeebies!”.
Meanwhile, VILE ELECTRODES themselves have been the target of many a vented spleen, courtesy of their unsettling ‘B-Side The C-side’ reworking of ‘Night Café’.
A very alternative take on the song, it was inspired by OMD’s inventive experimental B-sides of the past such as ‘Navigation’, ‘Annex’ and ‘I Betray My Friends’.
VILE ELECTRODES were invited to support OMD on their German tour after Andy McCluskey spotted them on ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK; but the ‘Night Café’ remix roll of honour features not one, or even two but THREE acts that have been championed by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK
Finnish duo SIN COS TAN, who recorded one of the best songs of 2012 in ‘Trust’, have provided a Nordic electro disco reinterpretation of ‘Night Café’while fresh from the success of their ‘Metroland’ remix, the appropriately named Belgian duo METROLAND have been invited back to work their crisp mechanised magic on the Nighthawks Remix.
Also featuring on the EP are previously issued B-sides ‘The Great White Silence’ and ‘No Man’s Land’ which both premiere in physical CD format plus the unreleased McCluskey/Humphreys duet ‘Kill Me’.
All intended for ‘English Electric’ and structured in slow waltz time with particularly emotionally raw vocals by Andy McCluskey on ‘No Man’s Land’, their inclusion on the album would have almost certainly brought a halt to the seamless journey so painstakingly crafted by Paul Humphreys. This also would have made ‘English Electric’ far too long but despite pressure from within, Mr Humphreys stood his ground and told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK that in the end, “quality over quantity” won through.
More interesting though as bonuses are ‘Time Burns’ and ‘Frontline’ the former initially appeared on the limited edition ‘The Future Will Be Silent’ 10 inch picture disc, while the latter was from the flip of the ‘Our System’ 7 inch electric blue vinyl single included in the ‘English Electric’ luxury tin boxed set.
Musically, both are sample based collage experiments inspired by world events and very much in keeping with the ‘English Electric’ original vision of “what does the future sound like?”
But as the duo found with ‘Dazzle Ships’, too many abstract tracks on what, to all intents and purposes, is a pop record can confuse listeners. However, ‘Time Burns’ would have made a fitting alternative to ‘Decimal’ and the intense artistic soul searching that must have gone on when the final tracklisting was decided upon can only be imagined.
B-sides and bonus songs are always an interesting appendix to envisage the possible directions an album could have taken. It is a testament to Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey that while approaching their mid-50s, they both had the creative drive and emotional resolve to pool such an embarrassment of riches to fully realise ‘English Electric’.
The ‘Night Café’ 10 track EP featuring remixes by VILE ELECTRODES, METROLAND and SIN COS TAN plus the ‘English Electric’ B-sides is released on 16th September 2013 as a CD and download by BMG Records
Unlike some noted acts who seem to make the same record all the time and get lauded for it, GOLDFRAPP have virtually changed styles with every album.
In fact in their lineage of successive works, only the futuristic glam of ‘Black Cherry’ and the saucy Kylieof ‘Supernature’ between 2003-2005 have any natural progression. And as a reaction to the synth AOR of previous album ‘Head First’ comes the more organically textured and largely acoustic ‘Tales Of Us’.
There’s no filthy Teutonic schaffel or really any synths but the end result probably is more Liz Fraser, Kate Bush and even Alison Goldfrapp herself, as this is possibly Ms Goldfrapp’s most personal work to date, although much of the inspiration has came from various horror novels.
GOLDFRAPP’s more sedate, atmospheric numbers have always been one of their major strengths and comparisons with their previous less full-on works are inevitable. Debut long player ‘Felt Mountain’ was avant Weimar cabaret that showcased Alison Goldfrapp’s amazing vocal range from Callas to Bassey to Dietrich. Fourth album ‘Seventh Tree’ moved more towards folk and psychedelia but was less satisfactory.
Waiting in anticipation at the Deer Stop for some marvellous cinematic soundscapes, Frappers now have ‘Tales Of Us’ to savour. With the lush orchestrations that make this a very different kind of GOLDFRAPP record, silent partner Will Gregory has made his presence felt with his background in classical and soundtrack music. Thus ‘Tales Of Us’ could be seen as the duo’s own ‘Scott 4’.
‘Jo’ flaunts the album’s intentions with a drifting acoustic strum but it’s not until second number ‘Annabel’ that things really get into focus. A song made to be film theme if there ever was one, ‘Annabel’is a beautifully sparse classic. Calling card ‘Drew’ has a more haunting film noir quality. The romantic arrangements recall the work of soundtrack composer Michel Legrand and noted narrative songsmith Jimmy Webb. In it, Alison Goldfrapp’s voice is as exquisite as ever.
Sustained piano and a string quartet shape the start of ‘Ulla’ before a full orchestra and jangling guitar join in while ‘Alvar’ echoes ‘Let It Take You’ from ‘Supernature’ and even ‘Voicething’ from ‘Head First’ with its closing vocal cacophony. ‘Thea’ is the most overtly electronic song on ‘Tales Of Us’ but ‘Strict Machine’ it most certainly is not! Alison Goldfrapp’s vocal soars angelically surrounded by very subtle synthetic textures and a balanced 4/4 signature. While the beat is mechanical, the overall pace doesn’t throw in any incongruity to the album’s concept the way ‘I Feel Loved’ did on DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Exciter’.
More sparseness comes with ‘Simone’ but like ‘Jo’, does drift and needs several listens… ‘Stranger’however has a direct Morricone-esque quality with whistling permeating for that ‘Felt Mountain’ feel which is enhanced by a most lovely vocal refrain like ‘Deborah’s Theme’ from ‘Once Upon A Time In America’. The stark ‘Laurel’ is tinged with loneliness before the closing ‘Clay’sprites up with chopping cellos and percussion in possibly the liveliest song on the album.
‘Tales Of Us’ is a beautifully produced work with a sense of inner macabre but the enigmatic oddness that made ‘Felt Mountain’ so enticing is ultimately missing. But while perhaps not up there with ‘Felt Mountain’, ‘Tales Of Us’ is definitely a more satisfying listen than ‘Seventh Tree’.
‘Tales of Us’ is released by Mute Records on 9th September 2013 in CD, vinyl, download and boxed set formats
GOLDFRAPP Autumn 2013 tour dates include: Amsterdam Paradiso (21 October), Brussels Ancienne Belgique (22 October), Berlin Heimathafen Neukölln (23 October), Paris Le Trainon (25 October), Zürich Kaufleuten (26 October), London Hammersmith Apollo (1 November)
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is released by Virgin Records on 23rd September as a CD, standard download, iTunes deluxe download and vinyl LP
, the adult themes which include casual sex, cross-species coitus, suicide, gang violence and murder have provoked a plethora of complaints. One comment just went “Rubbish video. Created by juveniles for juveniles”.
10 track EP featuring remixes by VILE ELECTRODES, METROLAND and SIN COS TAN plus the ‘English Electric’ B-sides is released on 16th September 2013 as a CD and download by BMG Records
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