Category: Reviews (Page 195 of 200)

THE SOUND OF ARROWS Voyage

12 November 2011 / electricityclub

THE SOUND OF ARROWS are Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand, a duo said by the influential website Popjustice to be “the HURTS you can dance to”.

Their self made CGI assisted visual imagery has been described by Citylife as resembling “Disney meets Brokeback Mountain”! They hail from Gävle in Sweden, a town once named the most boring town in Sweden. Boredom can be an amazing motivator and ‘Into the Clouds’ opening lines “I’m going to work my way out of this town, I’m going to be someone and know who I am” are quite a mission statement.

Following the accolade of Popjustice Single of 2009 for ‘Into the Clouds’, things went a bit quiet with THE SOUND OF ARROWS as they disappeared into London to record their debut album. Although signed to LA ROUX’s management Big Life, a major reorganisation at Geffen Records minimised promotion of their 2011 singles ‘Nova’ and ‘Magic’.

Meanwhile the album was delayed even though promo copies had been sent to a select few. Anticipating further problems on the way, THE SOUND OF ARROWS have taken an honourable plunge of releasing the album themselves. Within a corporate pop industry that still does not seem to know quality from quantity, this has been the smart move.

Slightly remixed by Richard X, the evergreen ‘Into the Clouds’ is still dreamy widescreen synthpop swathed in that beautiful Nordic melancholy. Indeed, Richard X makes his presence felt on five of the album’s recordings. Also reworked by X is the poptimistic child-like chant of ‘Magic’, which was originally released on Stockholm indie label Labrador Records in 2008 and unexpectedly chosen by Geffen as a single.

However, it’s the new material that reinforces THE SOUND OF ARROWS much vaunted reputation.

So on the glorious ‘Wonders’, it sparkles with rave-like stabs and keeps a foot on the Pan-European dancefloor like while ‘My Shadow’ is a vibrant Gallic disco number with a beautiful melody that is exactly the type of killer song that was so absent from ERASURE’s recent album ‘Tomorrow’s World’.

‘Ruins Of Rome’ starts like ‘Vienna’ for one of the album’s more sensitive moments before a full fat Richard X production comes in with the magnificence of ‘Longest Ever Dream’. Featuring a sweet guest vocal by ACTION BIKER aka Sarah Nyberg Pergament, this is the kind of modern electropop tune Andy McCluskey could have written for ‘History Of Modern’ had he been more honest with himself; the choral patches and the melodic templates are just so reminiscent of OMD.

One thing that stands out about ‘Voyage’ is its overall aural concept. Gorgeous interludes segue many of the tracks together like a Northern Lights update of ‘Love Theme From Midnight Express’ touched with VANGELIS’ progressive sweeps. It’s clear that Oskar Gullstrand understands his synths with a Korg MS20, Minimoog, Yamaha SK20 and Roland Juno 60 among them. Throughout, Stefan Storm has a whimsical quality to his vocal which suits the boyish sense of adventure. It’s like PET SHOP BOYS fed with Fox’s Glacier Mints.

The palette of the more down tempo ‘Hurting All The Way’ is impressive with military tattoo drums complimenting the bubbling synths and autotune, but as seems to be a regular occurrence these days, there is a mid-album lull.

‘Conquest’ is perhaps too much stereotypical mid-paced Europop while ‘Nova’ is the disappointment of the bunch. Underwhelming when released as a single earlier this year, it pales in comparison with the other tracks on ‘Voyage’ as it tries to please the club crowd. It’s a shame that bearing this situation in mind, the more impressive After The Sun has been dropped.

‘There Is Still Hope’ kisses with more of those VANGELIS moves but adds deep drones to recall ENO’s ‘The Big Ship’ but at 121 BPM. Spread over eight minutes, as it builds, it even starts to turn into U2’s ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ with 100% extra electro free. Instrumental closer ‘Lost City’ is fittingly thematic, maybe a bit too ‘Top Gun’ with synths for some but THE SOUND OF ARROWS do have a knack for these wordless wonders.

‘Dark Sun’, a gorgeous composition in the ‘A Broken Frame’ Mode proves this. Originally a free download, it is now one of the bonuses in the iTunes version of the package. Speaking of extras, the deluxe CD edition comes in a double disc package with an instrumental version of the album. This superbly stands up on its own with all the complex musical elements given a chance to shine.

Each sound has its own voicing with great air synth possibilities opened up. Even ‘Nova’ has more listening potential in this form. And the lengthy treat ‘Longest Ever Dream’ shows THE SOUND OF ARROWS at their most ambient, music for dreams… but this won’t please the often impatient pop crowd.

Rather like with HURTS this time last year, THE SOUND OF ARROWS have shown that their musical subtlety and melodic textures are an essential and enlightening listen. But the elements with a slight pandering towards club culture are perhaps the less enjoyable parts of ‘Voyage’. With the bonus tracks and ‘After The Silence’ plus lovely esoteric B sides such as ‘And Beyond’ available in their catalogue, ‘Voyage’ could have been an even more complete album experience.

Storm and Gullstrand shouldn’t be afraid to exploit some of their more expansive soundtrack qualities rather than feeling the need to be pure pop. Over time and with experience, this intelligent electronic boy duo will learn and be able to refine their art further.

‘Voyage’ is available as a 2CD deluxe package including an instrumental version of the album and is released by Skies Above

www.thesoundofarrows.com

www.facebook.com/thesoundofarrows

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th November 2011

THE OPIATES Hollywood Under The Knife

7 November 2011 / electricityclub

THE OPIATES are former ELECTRIBE 101 chanteuse Billie Ray Martin and musician Robert Solheim.

They have been dubbed as The Carpenters of Electro. Despite great tracks such as ‘Talking with Myself’, ‘Tell Me When The Fever Ended’ and ‘You’re Walking’, ELECTRIBE 101 disbanded after their only album ‘Electribal Memories’. Billie Ray Martin went solo and had a worldwide hit ‘Your Loving Arms’ in 1994 produced by THE GRID, the dance duo featuring Dave Ball of SOFT CELL. An album ‘Deadline for My Memories’ followed and featured the excellent technopop of ‘Running Around Town’, although a few countrified excursions confused some fans.

Fast forward nearly 17 years and she has continued to release a variety of transient electronic fusions both in her own name and in collaboration with DJ HELL and SLAM with a forthcoming one due with MOTOR. Robert Solheim meanwhile has worked under the moniker of CURRENT on a variety of ambient and sound based projects.

Taking in the influences of Chicago house, Detroit techno and Kling Klang, THE OPIATES debut long player’Hollywood Under the Knife’ uses that melting pot to present a series of stark Weimar numbers with beats and bleeps to match.

One of the album’s standouts is ‘Anatomy Of A Plastic Girl’, first issued on an EP back in 2008 along with three other tracks from this album. This wonderfully fine, avant pop structure came with Billie Ray Martin’s distinct soulful edge. It tells the tale of a young wannabe actress in Los Angeles who reflects on the facial surgery that has left her scarred and punctured with holes inside and out.

It is these types of stories that so suit Billie Ray Martin’s torch diva demeanour. ‘I’m Not Simone Choule’ uses Roman Polanski’s film ‘The Tenant’as its sinister template, a suitable arthouse setting that is still wholly accessible as a song. And with ‘Rainy Days and Saturdays’ about Warhol Superstar transvestite Candy Darling, this really is electro CARPENTERS with the clue being in the title. Time has not diminished Billie Ray Martin’s abilities; her voice is as captivating as ever, Dietrich-like in its resonance with the added menace of Grace Jones.

The rest of ‘Hollywood Under The Knife’ is impressive, and comes together like a commentary on social exclusion and emotional breakdown. Titles such as ‘Oprah’s Book of the Month Club (Part Two)’ and ‘Reality TV’ reflect on the vacuous pressures of the modern celebrity obsessed society, cutting synths soundtracking the discomfort, alienation and sadness.

Meanwhile ‘Candy Coated Crime’ is superbly squelchy and looks at a woman’s strange sexual fantasies through watching CSI to keep the boredom of her life at bay. ‘Silent Comes the Nighttime (Again)’ captures the mood of insomnia.

Closing track ‘Dinah and the Beautiful Blue’ is a fittingly sedate number with a fake ending while preceding it, ‘Jalousies and Jealousies’ percolates with pulses and manipulated voice samples to compliment Billie Ray Martin’s fraught story telling. In all, despite the long gestation period, ‘Hollywood Under The Knife’ has been worth the wait.

As a musical narrative with artistic and emotional integrity, THE OPIATES’ collaborative chemistry is a success and will be enjoyed by those who prefer Billie Ray Martin as a pure electronic diva.

‘Hollywood Under The Knife’ is released by Disco Activisto Records and is available now as a CD, vinyl LP and download.

https://www.billieraymartin.com/

http://www.facebook.com/theopiates

Text by Chi Ming Lai
7th November 2011

GARY NUMAN Dead Son Rising

31 October 2011 / electricityclub

Gary Numan has returned with ‘Dead Son Rising’, his first studio album since 2006’s ‘Jagged’.

Produced and co-written and by Ade Fenton, the album started life as a set of discarded demos from previous projects, but quickly took on a life of its own.

As Numan explained, the original ideas that sparked off these songs are now barely visible. It’s grown into another animal, something more experimental. In his interview with ELECTRICTYCLUB.CO.UK, Gary Numan revealed that the first track to be completed on the album was ‘The Fall’.

The song is already familiar to most fans as it has been included in his live set since 2009’s ‘The Pleasure Principle’ tour. The studio version provides one of the album’s standout moments. This is 21st Century Numan at full tilt, wearing the NINE INCH NAILS influence proudly on his sleeve. Industrial beats and a blistering chorus combine to make ‘The Fall’ a modern Numan classic.

‘When The Sky Bleeds He Will Come’ begins on wistful note before guitars kick in and transform it into something much darker. There are reflective moments too; the largely instrumental refrain of ‘For The Rest Of My Life’, with its piano and acoustic guitar is evocative of early ‘Telekon’ B-sides.

Perhaps the most welcome surprise of all is ‘Not The Love We Dream Of’, a melancholy ballad featuring a superbly restrained vocal performance from Numan. A haunting piano reprise, played by Ade Fenton, provides the perfect album closer.

The Numan / Fenton partnership has clearly found its feet on this project; Ade Fenton’s production is solid throughout, whilst Numan’s voice has never sounded better. However, what really makes ‘Dead Son Rising’ is its diversity.

There is a variety of texture and tempo employed throughout the album, and as such it avoids the pitfall of its predecessor ‘Jagged’, which suffered from being rather one-paced. As a project that began its life on the cutting room floor, ‘Dead Son Rising’ exceeds all expectations and is Numan’s most rewarding album for many years. Numan is back with an album of which he can be justifiably proud. And with the long-awaited ‘Splinter’ release and tour planned for 2012, the future looks bright.

Special thanks to Steve Malins at Random PR

‘Dead Son Rising’ is released by Mortal Records and available now from a variety of retail and digital outlets.

The second leg of the ‘Dead Son Rising’ tour includes:

Leamington Spa Assembly Hall (7 December), Manchester Ritz (8 December), Southampton Guildhall (9 December), Nightmare Before Christmas ATP Festival hosted by BATTLES (10 December), Hatfield University The Forum (11 December)

www.numan.co.uk

Text by Steve Gray
Photo by Ed Fielding
31st October 2011

QUEEN OF HEARTS The Arrival

20 October 2011 / electricityclub

Following her bouncy recorded debut with the Johan Agebjörn collaboration ‘The Last Day Of Summer’, the lovely QUEEN OF HEARTS releases some catchy electropop of her own, courtesy of ‘The Arrival’ EP.

On it are her majesty’s two viral hits from earlier this year, ‘Freestyle’ and ‘Where Are You Now?’ The Guardian were one of the first of the mainstream inkies to champion her. Amongst all the journalistic excitement, The Times described ‘Where Are You Now?’ as “a luscious escapist electropop floorfiller of the future from the mysterious London based newcomer”. Meanwhile the hardly electro or pop friendly rag Q said “The upper reaches of the pop stratosphere beckon”.

‘Freestyle’ mesmerises with a hypnotic chill and attaches it to some propulsive backing in the manner of Giorgio Moroder. Thrusting itself to a galaxy far, far away, the young royal is steadily gravitating towards being pop’s answer to Queen Amidala in the ultimate revenge of the synth! The Force is strong on this one!

‘Where Are You Now?’ contains some great production in the vein of XENOMANIA, its lustre reminiscent of the hit machine’s work on the underrated RACHEL STEVENS album ‘Come & Get It’ and the more electronic antics of GIRLS ALOUD. The chimes here are a lovely touch alongside the pulsing synths and QUEEN OF HEARTS’ seductive cooing; this if nothing else will have every red blooded male shouting “I’m here!”

Starting ‘The Arrival’ however is a sizzling new collaboration with THE SOUND OF ARROWS called ‘Shoot the Bullet’. For those who are not aware, THE SOUND OF ARROWS are Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand, a hot new pop duo from Sweden said by Popjustice to be “the HURTS you can dance to”. Their CGI assisted visual presentation has been described by one blog as resembling “Disney meets Brokeback Mountain”!

‘Shoot the Bullet’ is a wonderfully buzzy pop cocktail, laden with crystalline melodies in the most wonderful of civil partnerships… think GOLDFRAPP’s lovely ‘Dreaming’ from ‘Head First’. Another a crown jewel is QUEEN OF HEARTS’ cover of THE FOALS’ ‘Spanish Sahara’; the gently throbbing sub-ERASURE bassline and sedate arpeggios melt marvellously into the consciousness, thanks to some subtle studio work by DREAMTRAK. Queenie’s voice is a spoonful of gorgeous, honey coated splendour.

And as a final treat for all of her loyal subjects, there’s the previously unheard ‘Black Star’ which is a co-write with Beatrice Hatherley who has worked with KYLIE MINOGUE and ZOOT WOMAN. It’s quite experimentally grimy although blog Like 1999 amusingly says: “she sounds like Russian faux-lesbian duo TATU raving inside a dubstep warehouse!”

Not featuring on this EP but a surefire glam stomper for the future is the lovely ‘Neon’ which magnificently manages to out Goldfrapp GOLDFRAPP. Then there’s also her MONARCHY collaboration ‘Perfect Mistake’ which has pots of dynamic glitterball sparkle.

With this pair and the excellent Stuart Price produced ‘Feel’ also in the can, ‘The Arrival’ should only be seen as the beginning. There is still MUCH more to come from QUEEN OF HEARTS.

She writes songs about the important things in life – love, loss, heartbreak, betrayal – and thinks that the best pop songs should make you dance and shed a tear or two. All you ever wanted, all you ever needed is here…

‘The Arrival’ takes place at a digital outlet near you now.

http://iamqueenofhearts.com/

https://www.facebook.com/QOHofficial/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
20th October 2011

THOMAS DOLBY A Map Of The Floating City

19 October 2011 / electricityclub

Thomas Dolby releases his first album in 20 years with ‘A Map Of The Floating City’.

Although retired from the music business since 1992, he has been busy in Silicon Valley with his tech company Beatnik Inc where among his achievements have been the integration of music into web media and the development of the polyphonic ringtone engine which is now encased in millions of mobile phones worldwide.

A few years ago, he returned to the UK with his family, back to his roots in East Anglia. Practicing what he preached back when he first appeared on Top Of The Pops with ‘Windpower’ in 1982, he built a renewable energy-powered studio on a 1930s lifeboat located in the garden of his beach house on Suffolk’s North Sea coast and began recording again.

In many ways, ‘A Map Of The Floating City’ is that life journey set to music. Split into three chapters, it is a travelogue across three imaginary continents. It starts with ‘Urbanoia’, a dark place which could be seen as a metaphor for the hustle and madness of city lifestyles in Northern California and Silicon Valley. ‘Amerikana’ then documents the Englishman’s fond farewell to the US and is a tribute to its rootsy musical forms. And finally with ‘Oceanea’, this sees the return to the countryside tranquillity of home on a windswept coastline.

Thomas Morgan Dolby Robertson’s early uses of technology in the studio and live arena with debut album ‘The Golden Age Of Wireless’ helped him achieve recognition and stardom with the MTV generation, particularly in America. However, despite the resurgence of the synthesizer in the last ten years, ‘A Map Of The Floating City’ is not TMDR’s return to electronica.

“I don’t feel like a pioneer anymore working in that area” Thomas Dolby said earlier this year when discussing the rapid developments that have now allowed electronic music to even be made on a budding musician’s iPhone. But he added: “On the other hand, what I’ve got that those ten thousand guys haven’t got is songwriting ability. So I’ve focussed a lot more on songs, the lyrics, the chords, the personality in the voice, the sounds and the production are secondary, they just serve to illustrate the songs for me”.

So opening this very song based album, ‘Nothing New Under The Sun’ tips its hat pleasantly to Dolby’s production past and could be Swoon era PREFAB SPROUT. Meanwhile those who do want some contemporary styled synthpop will totally love ‘Spice Train’. Over its hypnotic, squelchy sequence and mechanised dance beat, it gets strangely humanised by a Mariachi horn section. With the kitchen sink and a host of exotic influences thrown in via Bollywood and the Middle East, ‘Spice Train’ does exactly what it says on the tin.

Continuing the international flavour, kooky Russian-born songstress Regina Spektor features in a cameo cast as an East European waitress on ‘Evil Twin Brother’ which also has a smattering of electronics. But it’s onwards from here that the more naturalistic majority of this collection kicks in as brass and double bass form the basis of ‘A Jealous Thing Called Love’.

With memories of “the Dim Sum that we shared”, it captures a bittersweet feeling everyone can relate to. The following ‘Road To Reno’ also follows a brass led template but the line “And she liked Tears For Fears” will raise a perhaps inappropriate chuckle in this macabre tale of two hapless lovers, a jailbreak and a gun!

The amusing ‘The Toad Lickers’ with Imogen Heap could be seen as this album’s own ‘Hyperactive!’ or ‘She Blinded Me With Science’.The cheeky bluegrass interludes crossed with a visitor’s interpretation of the more Middle American way are filled with fun. All that’s missing is George Clooney and a scene from ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’

DIRE STRAITS’ Mark Knopfler adds some countrified twang to ’17 Hills’ alongside Natalie MacMaster’s fiddle, while some soothing piano holds together the ballad ‘Love Is A Loaded Pistol’.

The closing third features all the cinematic touches you would expect from Dolby’s more personal work. The beautifully ethereal ‘Oceanea’ sees FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION’s Eddi Reader join in alongside his own processed vocal for some emotive reflections on the bond between mother and son. “The song has a very strong presence of my mum who is from East Anglia and I think would be very pleased to see I’ve moved back and brought my family to the coast here” said Dolby, “So Eddi is really the voice of my mother, she’s a nurturing voice who kind of reiterates my own thoughts”.

Starting with some spooky theremin courtesy of Bruce Woolley, the bossa nova toned ‘Simone’ recalls ‘The Flat Earth’ and points to Dolby’s cover of Dan Hicks’ ‘I Scare Myself’. And to finish the album, ‘To The Lifeboats’ builds along in with the organic freeform feel of TALK TALK circa ‘Spirit of Eden’.

Anyone who has enjoyed Thomas Dolby’s songcraft and his productions for other artists through his career will find something to savour on this varied and well crafted album. Holding together very well artistically, ‘A Map Of The Floating City’ is a welcome return for The Lost Airman… is that your PBY Catalina parked on the waterway Sir?

With special thanks to Stuart Kirkham at 9PR

‘A Map Of The Floating City’ is released on 24 October 2011 by Lost Toy People. A 2CD deluxe edition featuring an instrumental version of the album plus bonus track ‘I’m Not Your Dog’ is also available.

THOMAS DOLBY’s 2011 UK Autumn tour includes:

Snape Maltings (4 November), London Shepherds Bush Empire (6 November), Hatfield The Forum (7 November), Bournemouth Academy (8 November), Leamington Spa Assembly (9 November), Isle of Man Gaiety Theatre (11 November), Liverpool, Stanley Theatre (12 November), Birmingham Academy (13 November), Oxford Academy (14 November), Glasgow ABC (16 November), Sheffield Academy (17 November), Holmfirth Picture Drome (18 November)

http://www.thomasdolby.com

https://www.facebook.com/officialthomasdolby

https://twitter.com/ThomasDolby

Text by Chi Ming Lai
19th October 2011