Category: Reviews (Page 196 of 200)

LADYTRON Gravity The Seducer

28 August 2011 /

Warm, rich, evocative and quietly rebellious; ‘Gravity The Seducer’ could be the sound of Phil Spector in the 23rd Century and all this from a long player recorded in Chatham!

With more time to think musically about their next opus without the pressure of being out on the road, ‘Gravity The Seducer’ may well be LADYTRON’s most sedate album yet but it is also ambitious in its grandeur, described in Daniel Hunt’s own words as “baroque ‘n’ roll”.

Like the song from which they got their name, it could even be perceived as Eno-esque.

So LADYTRON have now entered their Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood phase, hardly surprising as the foursome used to walk on stage to the obscure magnificence of ‘Some Velvet Morning’. Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu, both sporting their hippified facial fuzz, could easily be Lee while the vampish glamour that Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo have been aspiring to, casts them obviously as Nancy.

This album could even be a synthetic take on LOVE’s ‘Forever Changes’; ‘Gravity The Seducer’ is both blissfully sun kissed and optimistic whereas much of their previous work possessed a haunting Cold War spectre that was distinctly more dystopian. With a deliciously cerebral flavour, this album is fantasy pop with the odd psychedelic overtone thrown in. Mira Aroyo said that the new material was “more atmospheric”.

Thus the opener ‘White Elephant’, so titled after the nickname for the vintage Moog Cordovox dual keyboard used on the album, is deeply melodic with some wonderfully shimmering strings, brass lines and harpsichord runs. A statement of intent, it is the complete antithesis of the bombastic attack of LADYTRON’s last album ‘Velocifero’.

The widescreen timbres of new single ‘Mirage’ complimented by woodwinds might confuse some fans of ‘Velocifero’, but this is a catchy tune in keeping with this album’s warmer outlook. And don’t forget, many of KRAFTWERK’s classic melodies were based around the aural structures of the flute.

With thoughtful dynamics and room to breathe, the quartet are given the chance to explore and they do that rather well. The mightily percussive ‘White Gold’ could be their own tribute to PROPAGANDA as thunderous drums enter a third of the way through over a simple drum box pattern to side chain alongside the gated rhythm pulses, muted guitar and ‘Ice Machine’ colours of deception.

‘Ace Of Hz’ isn’t that much different from the version that was released earlier this year on the ’00-10′ compilation, but it’s still dreamy and easy on the ear with Helen Marnie’s vibratoed vocals bathed in sophisticated electronics.

The fastest paced offering on the album, ‘Ritual’ is instrumental syncopated New Romantic disco in the manner of DURAN DURAN attempting ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’. It acts as a brash interlude before a bizarre mid-album lull; Mira Aroyo is strangely off-key trying to sing instead of snarling on the piano led ‘Moon Palace’ that follows.

A gentler monologue from Aroyo on ‘Altitude Blues’ however is much better with its hints of MOBY in the sweeping backing. But perhaps due to the less aggressive material that forms the majority of ‘Gravity The Seducer’, it is Aroyo’s two leads that are possibly the album’s disappointments. Whereas Aroyo was a dominant figure vocally on ‘Velocifero’. it is Helen Marnie’s sweeter tones that suit better the much less frantic template of ‘Gravity The Seducer’. If ‘Velocifero’ was Aroyo’s album, then ‘Gravity The Seducer’ is very much Marnie’s.

But it all snaps back with the beautiful masterpiece that is ‘Ambulances’. A fulsome epic drama that musically echoes SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES in their more orchestrated moments, Marnie’s voice takes on an unexpected angelic register over the delectable, spacious blend of acoustic and electronic instruments.

The magnificent crescendo is really something to be savoured. ‘Melting Ice’ is a fantastic James Bond theme in the making, full of tension and action packed cinematic energy; it is perhaps one of the more immediate tracks on the album. Sparkling with arpeggios and a range of squawky sounds, one can imagine the opening sequence for this movie with Marnie and Aroyo playing the role of highly seductive, ruthless assassins.

As the second of the instrumental interludes, ‘Transparent Days’ is a spacey hypnotic collage rising to a crest of rolling toms, buzzing vintage synths and crystalline vibes accompanied by some lovely choir girl stylings. It sounds like somthing you’d expect to accompany one of those wiggly arthouse animations they used to show on BBC2. The organic ’90 Degrees’ takes the pace right down and bridges into a discordant chorus despite the fairly conventional verse topline. The piercing string machines add to the unsettlement but the end result is strangely uplifting.

To finish the album, there’s ‘Aces High’, an alternate wordless variation of ‘Ace Of Hz’ that is akin to a groove laden jam performed by The Mysterons following a pounds, shillings and pence windfall! Can you imagine Captain Black (any relation to Miss Black & Her Friends?) experimenting with mind expansion? Marvellous!

Yes, ‘Gravity The Seducer’ IS different from all previous LADYTRON albums. It may primary be mid-paced and possibly underwhelming to some on first listen. But then again, there are heaps of fulfilment for those who are prepared to look above the instant gratification of loud drums and accelerated tempos.

Worthy investment is required on the part of the listener. This is a carefully crafted, lovingly arranged body of work. And it is an artistic journey; you might want to get off at the start because you’re not used to the ethereal and otherworldly soundscapes flying by. But if you can get used to the ride, it could be the one of the best neo-psychotropic trips you have ever been on in this particular vehicle!

Daniel Hunt says: “I feel it’s the most perfect work we’ve done“. While it is not perfect, ‘Gravity The Seducer’ is among LADYTRON’s best and admirably, is without doubt their most adventurous.

‘Gravity The Seducer’ is released on 12th September 2011 by Nettwerk Productions

With grateful thanks to Sarah Richardson at Anorak London

http://www.ladytron.com

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https://twitter.com/LadytronMusic

Text by Chi Ming Lai
28th August 2011

RUBICKS The Rise Of The Giddy

30 July 2011 /

Dites-Moi

RUBICKS return with their second album ‘The Rise Of The Giddy’ which develops further their new wave electronic flavoured sound as showcased on 2006’s ‘In Miniature’ album and 2009’s ‘Idiot Time’ EP.

At times coming over like a wilder LADYTRON fronted by a mezzo Siouxsie Sioux or a cynical Clare Grogan, Vanessa Anne Redd (vocals and guitar), Marc Makarov (bass), Anthony Johns (drums) and Vee Vimolmal (synthesizers) have combined post-punk attitude with some classic Synth Britannia accessibility.

Produced by Robert Harder who has worked previously with BRIAN ENO and DAVID BYRNE, ‘The Rise Of The Giddy’ has an air of kooky experimentation while confining it within a song format. After all, who will investigate if your potential listeners are scared off by it? Five years in the making, Redd and Makarov contribute some wily songwriting to proceedings with the end result sounding not unlike BJORK and POLLY SCATTERGOOD meeting THE PIXIES and GOLDFRAPP!

The 2010 single ‘Is This Love?’ opens with its chugging Henry Mancini inspired riff. It’s aggressively wispy BLONDIE that comes over very Dirty Harry while ‘Giddy Up’, as used in a recent monochromatic campaign by the Italian fashion house Valentino, follows and is coloured by detuned swirling synths. But the best of the singles ‘Worship’ is superbly danceable synthpop with a tremendously creepy electronic edge. “You can’t take it with you when you’re dead and gone” indeed!

The adventurous mix of alt-pop, new wave and electronics makes for an unusual listen. The short ‘Black and Blue’ is starkly driven by some distorted pizzicato samples and gated tremolo guitar as Redd sexily coos away but things take a more conventional rockier turn with tracks such as ‘Surrender’. However, ‘Glory of the Fall’ is almost angelic with its choir girl voices and layers of strings.

Throughout the body of work, unsettling rhythms and electronic throbs combine with attractively innocent tunes and catchy choruses. ‘Where You At?’ is a good example, with its wobbly synth portmento engine room accompanying Redd’s air of emotional frustration while ‘Jungle of You’ is a 6/8 glam stomp. The album mechanically climaxes with the brilliant bleep and squelch fest that is ‘Wonderland’, probably the collection’s stand-out.

In all, ‘The Rise Of The Giddy’ is a great crossover record that doesn’t get watered down despite having its feet in several genre camps. It’s fun, furious and best of all, alluringly quirky.

With thanks to Steve Malins at Random PR

‘The Rise Of The Giddy’ is released by Sharp Attack Records on 8th August 2011

www.rubicks.net

https://www.facebook.com/rubicksmusic/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
30th July 2011

HYPERBUBBLE Drastic Cinematic

27 June 2011 /

Soundtrack albums to imaginary films are nothing new. Brian Eno did two including ‘Music For Films’ and ‘Original Soundtracks’ with PASSENGERS aka U2 while Paul Haig had ‘Cinematique’.

But what HYPERBUBBLE have come up with is the Texan equivalent of Barry Adamson’s ‘Moss Side Story’ only it’s not actually very American at all. Dedicated to the films of Jean Luc-Goddard, HYPERBUBBLE have forsaken their cartoon bubblepunk as exemplified by their last album ‘Candy Apple Daydreams’, and recruited a number of willing collaborators including Aidan Casserly of EMPIRE STATE HUMAN and Manda Rin from BIS with her cat Akiko for a journey into the darker side of the Moog.

Saying that though, this isn’t witch house or industrial goth; ‘Drastic Cinematic’ is still very much HYPERBUBBLE. With no conventional lead vocals as such, Jess and Jeff Decuir have paid homage to the electronically derived soundtracks of Giorgio Moroder, Wendy Carlos, Ennio Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith and TANGERINE DREAM to accompany their own widescreen filmic adaptation of ‘The Avengers’; Jess as electro’s answer to Emma Peel and Jeff playing John Steed as an eccentric synthmeister.

The album does what is says on the tin and is a largely instrumental based celebration of monochromatic audio noir using synths, snippets of dialogue and the odd French horn. Starting moodily with the Middle-Eastern textured ‘Vox Noir’, the ambience is disrupted by the pulsing spy drama of ‘Midnight Cruiser’. The title track features drones of different timbres to a seemingly random beat before the ambient interlude ‘Rue Des Dames’. ‘Geometry’ is perhaps what one would expect as more typical of HYPERBUBBLE’s sound, very pop with Manda Rin paraphrasing a singular “Geometry” as a vocal point.

‘Blame It On The Bot’ is characteristically retro-futuristic Sci-Fi before the more John Carpenter influenced Explosive which could easily be a collaboration with ORBITAL. As ‘Quiet On The Set’ creepily stutters and claps, the Part 1 album take of ‘Welcome to Infinity’ is Vince Clarke-styled sequenced magic which then breaks down into Part 2, bookending the esoteric section of ‘Drastic Cinematic’ with some more textured ambience.

After the abstract first half hour, the three bonus tracks are more conventionally synthpop with remixes by I EUROPEAN, HABERDASHERY and MARKYMIX. As with HYBERBUBBLE’s other albums, the collection is short but sweet. However, this departure explores other synthetic depths and can be enjoyed at all levels.

‘Drastic Cinematic’ is released by Bubblegum Records (UK) and Pure Pop For Now People Records (Germany) on 1st July 2011

https://www.hyperbubble.net/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
27th June 2011

EMMON Nomme

9 June 2011 /

Now it is finally here, EMMON’s third album is entitled ‘Nomme’. As suggested by the great first single ‘Distance’, it is harder, darker and even more electronic than the last album.

Any traces of the flirtation with regular indie pop that was present in some of the songs on ‘Closet Wanderings’ can not be found anymore.

But EMMON’s sound and energy fortunately remains unchanged. You could say this record is the epitome of everything that EMMON stands for: sexy urban elegance, warm electronic coldness and hard ecstatically danceable synth-disco beats.

For those of us who have followed EMMON for a long time, there are two pleasant surprises. Originally two of the songs on this album appeared as hard-to-find demos only, released sometime in 2003-2004. Now ‘Body Jar ‘and my old time favourite ‘Love Track’ can be finally enjoyed on an official release. Great! Both songs have been sharpened up a lot since the demo stage, but without losing any of their original spirit. However, ‘Love Track’ has now mutated into featuring a singing style that is very similar to THE KNIFE’s Karin Dreijer-Andersson’s distorted male voice. I like that!

Other notable tracks are the brilliant second single ‘Ghost Dance’ and the totally awesome All Yours, both of which were premiered live last year. ‘All Yours’ is THE obvious choice as the next single in my mind. There are a lot of remix potential in that song! I for one would love to hear MARSHEAUX, REX THE DOG or even Mr Vince Clarke have a go at it.

Like on the last album, there are two instrumental tracks ‘Hammerville Heights’ and ‘Blacklight’, both of which have hypnotic and propulsive rhythms. I guess they should provide the perfect soundtrack in your car when speeding down a highway…

‘Slottet’ stands out with its slightly distorted soundscape that gives a feeling of claustrophobic confinement, while the atmospheres in the beautiful track ‘Oratory’ make me think of ALPHAVILLE’s song ‘Carol Masters from Afternoons in Utopia’ for some reason although there are no obvious similarities. Many of the songs are segued into each other to give a sense of coherence which helps bind the record together.

The album ends with ‘Hammerville Heights’ – a play on words, it is actually a direct translation of Hammarbyhùjden, a neighborhood in the south of Stockholm. This track leads me to recall bands like THE MOBILE HOMES, SAPPORO 72 and STATEMACHINES’s first album ‘Avalanche Breakdown’ ie other Stockholm based bands – I wonder if it’s the urban environment of Stockholm that gives it this typical sound? The feeling of riding the subway or commuter trains is significant, not least because of the sampled Stockholm subway stop announcement towards the end of the song.

In conclusion, EMMON returns in style with ‘Nomme’. This is an album that all her fans absolutely must have. There is NO reason to sit this one out. Go buy it – now!

‘Nomme’ is released by Wonderland Records

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Text by Johan Wejedal
9th June 2011

THE HORN THE HUNT Depressur Jolie

26 May 2011 /


Enigmatic Leeds duo THE HORN THE HUNT’s second album ‘Depressur Jolie’ is an intriguing listen.

Comprising of Clare Carter and Joseph Osborne, the pair have developed their own Nordic flavoured sound with added authenticity, courtesy of a quarter year spell of writing 600 miles north of the Arctic Circle on a tiny island next to the icecap.

Carter said of their sojourn: “Our time in Greenland was significant, artistically speaking. Being exposed to landscapes, the people and their history, their paganism. It made us realise why we had put ourselves in such an extreme environment”.

Writing in perpetual darkness has certainly had its effect on ‘Depressur Jolie’. Aurally disconcerting, the spectres of KATE BUSH, THE KNIFE and BJORK run throughout although industrial edges also permeate these musical pagan rituals.
The grandeur of ‘Raptor’ is simply tremendous; the sirens’ call provides a sonic chill while the brooding pitch shifting vocals take on several unsettling timbres.

‘Pleasureland’ is its more aggressive second cousin, further siren synths colouring the drumatics. Crossing FEVER RAY with NEW ORDER, ‘Henry’s Out’ is almost like tribal gothic disco while ‘Old Town Cow’ sees the synths all tuned to pentatonic scales while driven by the chattering sound of cowbells although HI-NRG this most certainly isnÍt!

The haunting title track features an interesting use of vocal samples for its booming heartbeat before the sequences kick in while ‘Harpoon’ could be the soundtrack to a Heathen ceremony. ‘Lava Dreams’ features sparse piano to drum machine accompaniment as Carter and Osborne pay homage to TALK TALK’s ‘Spirit Of Eden’ while the volcanic spectre of Karin Dreijer Andersson looms heavy.

The excellent ‘Follow You In There’ ends ‘Depressur Jolie’ on a comparatively optimistic note with exotic tones and strips of light poking through the Cimmerian shade.

Within all the inherent resignation though, there is ambition. “We wanted to make a big pop album… our ideal pop album… full of bold, aggressive songs that have no loyalty to any particular sound or style.” explains Carter. With guitars, drums and bass feeding the jagged dragon next to the futuristic sounds and beats, the downcast textures have a presence that will ultimately reward those who enjoy a challenging musical adventure.

Released on White Label Music which was co-founded by ADD N TO X’s Ann Shenton, ‘Depressur Jolie’ manages to be both mysterious and accessible.

Special Thanks to Alastair Neville at Charm Factory and Ann Shenton.

‘Depressur Jolie’ is released by White Label Music

THE HORN THE HUNT’s 2011 live dates include: Leeds Milo (Album Launch Party – 28th May), North Yorkshire Rough Beats Festival (10th June), Isle Of Man Laxey WMI (16th July), Isle Of Man Douglas Outback Bar (17th July), Skipton Beacons Festival (14th August), Lincolnshire Alchemy Festival (17th September), Winchester The Railway (7th October)

http://thehornthehunt.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th May 2011

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