Category: Reviews (Page 33 of 200)

SNS SENSATION Same River Twice

11 March 2022 / electricityclub

“Love not war, art not invasion, inspiration not fear” is the message of ‘Same River Twice’, the sixth single by SNS SENSATION, the ice cool minimal Italo-influenced project of Sebastian Muravchik who is best known as the charismatic front man of HEARTBREAK who have shared stages with THE PRESETS, LA ROUX, LITTLE BOOTS, ITALOCONNECTION and BLANCMANGE.

While rooted in synthpop and swathed in a monochromatic sepia, ‘Same River Twice’ takes a more baroque direction compared with previous SNS SENSATION releases, outlining how a relationship can embody the metaphysical questions of change and permanence.

Sebastian Muravchik chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.BO.UK about the more cerebral philosophical approach to the genesis of ‘Same River Twice’, both aurally and visually…

‘Same River Twice’ is a very on point phrase right now, but what had been your original intent with the song?

I can’t speak of intent, but I can say the process involved looking deeper into Parmenides (which is quoted in the lyrics), and looking a bit further into transcending the binary opposition between being and becoming (between Parmenides and Heraclitus, as it seems to be widely understood). I’m trying to work out the idea that everything is always changing and you cannot step into the same river twice (Heraclitus) and that at the same time there is no “twice” because time is an illusion and it’s all “being” (Parmenides).

The point that has been made before and I am building on is that we can look at the beauty of an idea and decide to take it on the basis of its beauty alone. So two beautiful ideas such as these two can be both true even if supposedly opposed. Beauty overrides exclusivist binarisms.

Of course looking into what beauty means is important here, and I suppose the best way to explain it is in relation to flow and freedom, which is not the same as excitement (neo fascists get excited about their ideas but these are not beautiful ideas; the excitement is the energy of trauma repressed in the subconscious and coming out as fresh repressive violence to try and control the repressive mandates that have oppressed the fascist himself as he was traumatised and then developed his sociopathy). Liberation is key here. That is, not the identification with the oppressor that imprisons so many people, but the awareness of our oppressor inside. When those repressive mandates are silenced, I believe the beauty available to you glows like nothing else in this life; but it is a long journey that many people choose not to undertake unfortunately. SNS SENSATION is all about that journey: music and art are as effective conduits to liberation and the ideal state of permanent flow as you’re going to get.

But as I was writing the song, a story of disappointment and alienation also filtered through. Time was already a key theme but now it was about time and distance, and how time destroys hope and connection between people (perhaps as much as it helps develop it, or that might be how it feels now, with the end of humanity looming on different fronts).

And yet in this story of increasing alienation and oblivion, I found a sense of infinity which I hear a lot in disco music but not as much in synthpop. That’s why the song fades out, because at that point in the song I believed it deserved to reach out to the infinite; this song did not need to end, it needed to merge into the silence of infinity (which incidentally befits both being and becoming).

I think this is one of my favourite songs of mine, it feels as if I’ve really found my fog. Infinite flow glows in this fog as it takes me with it wherever the wind may blow.

Was the video inspired by any particular artists or film directors?

I think late Beckett is usually important (‘Not I’ in particular, but also ‘Rockaby’). But also, interestingly, talented DJ and drone artist Xen Von Katz mentioned the music video for ERASURE’s ‘Blue Savannah’ – as a fellow ERASURE fan I was so pleased to discover that subconscious influence in this project.

The split face has a scary Impressionism, what the thinking behind this imagery?

I guess I have now reached the point where I get to see these images for what they are in themselves, their potential for meaning a mere aspect of their constitution – that is, seeing them as potential rather than as embodying a definitive intent. So in effect I know as much about the thinking of it as anyone else, and so the intent is multiplied.

Now that you ask, though, my interpretation of this might be that there has to be an element of that being-becoming dichotomy. But also, there’s an element of breaking, of breakdown, of crisis but also of liberation and multiplication somehow.

Like if you’re sad then you need to think about how you think about your sadness. Sadness in itself can be very beautiful, but it must be dealt with appropriately to avoid anxiety and panic. I wish this culture of ours focused less on money and power and fetiche, and more on the complexities of flow. In flow we can experience life as creation, and we are unburdened from notions of ownership. Like Moria Casán said “si queres llorar, llorá”.

We have been aided, multiplied, write Deleuze and Guattari on transcending the binary. I guess I hope this music video works as the cracked mirror inside of us, burning, splintering and synthesised in the same way the infinite and oblivion join forces in the ether of music, the only version of the absolute idea that seems to work for me.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Sebastian Muravchik

‘Same River Twice’ is released as a download single direct from https://wearesns.bandcamp.com/track/same-river-twice

https://www.facebook.com/wearesns/

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https://open.spotify.com/artist/77pgZLgAxmVYtNaJm96m7P

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
11th March 2022

VALERIE RENAY Christine

9 March 2022 / electricityclub

Valerie Renay, one-time frontwoman of NOBLESSE OBLIGE has recorded an icy synth laden cover of SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES’ ‘Christine’.

No stranger to drastically reworked covers, with NOBLESSE OBLIGE, Renay recorded a stark funereal cover of THE EAGLES’ ‘Hotel California’ in 2013 on their album ‘Affair Of The Heart’.

Laced with layers of string machine, her downtempo take on ‘Christine’ comes from an upcoming Siouxsie tribute album entitled ‘Icon’; the collection also features the brooding reinterpretation of ‘Rhapsody’ by Jorja Chalmers which was included on her ‘Midnight Train’, one of the best albums of 2021 and Jay-Jay Johanson’s trip-hop flavoured stamp on ‘Tattoo’. Additionally, Berlin-based duos PYSCHE and NNHMN respectively contribute heavy electronic versions of ‘Cities In Dust’ and ‘Happy House’ while Italian Combo HIDDEN PLACE points ‘Dazzle’ in a frantic industrial goth direction to highlight how under-rated the song is within the Banshees catalogue.

To accompany ‘Christine’, Valerie Renay has produced a low budget, lo-fi, DIY video featuring German underground musician and model Steve Morell in a cameo; she spoke to ELECTRICITY CLUB.CO.UK about the Strawberry Girl and the Banana Split Lady…

When you get invited to cover songs on these tribute albums, do you get to choose or are you told what to perform?

I was able to choose, but my first choice, which was ‘Israel’, had already been chosen by someone else. Luckily, ‘Christine’ was still free!

What was the inspiration behind your arrangement of ‘Christine’?

I started by playing the song on the piano and jam with Theo Taylor, who co-produced the track. I wanted to create something slow, moody, dreamy, and sensual to depict this descent into insanity that is the story of the real Christine. I tried to construct a spacious and sonically sparse sphere like a hall of mirrors, where it’s hard to tell reality from fantasy, and you just find yourself drifting aimlessly.

You made the video on a zero budget. What is the story and how did you get it made?

We made the video in my old flat in the middle of the lockdown at the end of 2020, while it was still kind of illegal to gather in the same room unless the windows and doors were open. Theo Taylor also shot and edited the video. I knew he was leaving for New Zealand shortly after, and it was our last chance to make a video together.

The lyrics of the song were inspired by the book ‘The Three Faces of Eve’ which tells the story of Christine Sizemore, a woman who suffers from multiple personality disorder. The names in the songs, Strawberry Girl, Turtle Lady, etc are actual names that Christine’s children gave to the different distinct personalities, of which there were 22 in all.

So, ideally I wanted 22 people to come into my flat and “be me”. In the end, I was happy to get hold of a handful of friends and get them to stand outside in the garden while we were shooting inside, one at a time, trying to respect the corona regulation as much as possible.

It was a very intimate affair. The atmosphere was relaxed, and we managed to have a lot of fun while shooting and drinking wine. I was honoured that Berlin living legend and supermodel Steve Morell was able to join us.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks

‘Christine’ features on the tribute album ‘Icon’ released on 18th April 2022 by Infrastition as a CD, pre-order from
http://www.infrastition.com/en/produit/icon-tribute-to-siouxsie-and-the-banshees/

https://www.facebook.com/valerierenaysolo/

https://twitter.com/FemmeFacade

https://www.instagram.com/val_renay/

https://valerierenay.bandcamp.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
9th March 2022

ZACHERY ALLAN STARKEY Solitaire

7 March 2022 / electricityclub

From his home in New York, Zachery Allan Starkey presented a gritty reality on his 2020 album ‘Fear City’ with observations on the Covid crisis and the rise of the extreme right around the world but in the USA in particular.

It was a product of the times and its title track in collaboration with Bernard Sumner of NEW ORDER captured an appropriate dystopian tension using hooky electronics and club-friendly beats. With an expanded physical edition of ‘Fear City’ on the way, Zachery Allan Starkey has released a new single ‘Solitaire’ to bring the narrative of the album into an equally uncertain 2022.

Despite the toppling of Donald Trump since its release and the availability of vaccines, ‘Fear City’ is still very relevant with Vladmir Putin now wanting to play at being Napoléon in Eastern Europe, partly thanks to the likes of veiled fascists such as the former 45th president of the USA, the Lord Haw-Haw of the 21st Century Nigel Farage, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and various political organisations having turned a blind eye to his dictatorial antics while tub thumping on his behalf in lieu of millions in rubles. All this as his cronies and oligarchs accquired interests in property, football clubs, F1 teams, newspapers, TV stations, tech companies and financial institutions!

But while ‘Fear City’ was observational from a wider perspective, ‘Solitaire’ is much more personal, dealing with the anxiety of isolation and solitude, accompanied by electro house rhythms and swirling symphonic synth. The nocturnal ‘Solitaire’ music video was directed by Steven Celestin and captures segments of Starkey trapped in his own dystopian hell around the Brooklyn community districts of Bushwick and Bedford–Stuyvesant.

Starkey said: “I’ve had a hard life, so I’ve become a very isolated, solitary person, and I wrote ‘Solitaire’ about embracing my feelings of isolation and solitude and being empowered by them, rather than saddened… I view it as a positive song, but I wrote ‘Solitaire’ as a way to deal with my own heavy feelings of isolation and depression, as well as my increasing difficulties with connecting to other people.”

With these deeper feelings, Starkey has taken a new approach to vocals. Having recovered from Covid himself, he experienced a dissociated haze of insomnia and depression, the fallout of which is now reflected visually in surreal images of enforced urban entrapment.

Meanwhile, director Celestin added: “Solitude is nothing and everything: sometimes restorative, sometimes destructive. The visual expression of this piece aims to convey both at the same time. At once one is hopeful and driven, at times one is distant and listless. These relatable emotions coalesce in the dreamlike expression of wander, or dérive.’Solitaire’ to me is an expression of dérive; to drift through the varied ambiance of urban society. The appearance of this is built on the backs of people much smarter than us, but is ultimately an acknowledgement. What is new is old.”

‘Solitaire’ is released by Death Trip NYC via the usual digital platforms including https://zasmusic.bandcamp.com/track/solitaire

The expanded physical edition of ‘Fear City’ is due later in 2022

https://www.zacheryallanstarkey.com/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
7th March 2020

WOLFGANG FLÜR Magazine 1

3 March 2022 / electricityclub

Wolfgang Flür is best known as one of the two electronic percussionists in the classic line-up of KRAFTWERK that gave the world ‘Radio-Activity, ‘Trans-Europe Express’, ‘The Man Machine’ and ‘Computer World’.

But despite what has been close to a five decade recording career, Wolfgang Flür releases what is only his second full-length collection under his own name. Flür’s first album on departing Kling Klang was ‘Time Pie’ issued in 1997 under the moniker of YAMO, but ‘Magazine 1’ follows up 2015’s ‘Eloquence’ which collected a range of solo tracks and collaborations recorded since 2002.

‘Magazine 1’ also does this to a lesser extent by featuring ‘Zukunftsmusik’ with U96 which first appeared on the dance combo’s 2018 ‘Reboot’ collection and reappeared in edited form on the collaborative album ‘Transhuman’ in 2020. This is an excellent track but here it is again in its third long playing incarnation. This Teutonic “future music” with Flür’s distinctive vocal remains equal to ‘Activity Of Sound’, his 2014 collaboration with Ireland’s iEUROPEAN.

However, things are not all up to the standard of ‘Zukunftsmusik’; using an array of robotic voice treatments, the opening ‘Magazine’ song featuring Ramón Amezcua is frankly a mess as it moves between its metronomic and shuffling beat sections. Again with U96 and Flür rapping, ‘Best Buy’ distorts its robotics in a KRAFTWERK vein and promises Kling Klang aesthetics, but things are more ‘Tour De France Soundtracks’ than even the best material on ‘Electric Café’ with the middle eight speech dialogue being particularly irritating as the track morphs into another mess.

Released in 2021 by BAND ELECTRONICA, the new electronically focussed project of Midge Ure, ‘Das Beat’ was a glorious slice of robopop in collaboration with Flür with “Beats through wires, beats through walls”. Unfortunately in his own ‘Magazine 1’ version, things that were good about the song like the blisteringly catchy synth hook in the classic KRAFTWERK tradition have been watered down into a mush with a new melody that is nowhere near as appealing. Meanwhile the icy motorik bossa nova inexplicably has incongruous sections of electro beats thrown in.

With cutting Numan-esque synth riffs and the cast involved, the pulsating ‘Birmingham’ featuring Claudia Brücken on lead vocals duetting with Flür’s vocodered presence and Peter Hook on his low-slung bass should have been a highlight, but disappoints due to its lack of structure. Also using similar Numan keyboard stylings, ‘Night Drive’ features Anushka who adds a soulful tone of voice to the strident electro backdrop, recalling the dancefloors of New York like The Danceteria with an enjoyable club friendly excursion although halfway through, it adopts a darker cutting tone.

‘Electric Sheep’ with Carl Cox and U96 possesses a childlike quality that will polarise listeners but ‘Billionaire (Symphony Of Might)’ with Juan Atkins is the sort of generic techno that Flür often plays in his DJ sets which he misleadingly passes off as concerts. Closing the album with ‘Say No!’, the lengthy MAPS collaboration points to where ‘Magazine 1’ could easily have gone, utilising a Flür anti-war monologue with choral and vocoder interventions over an absorbing midtempo electronic soundscape that evolves into a wonderful Germanic crescendo.

A true mixed bag of an album, two of the best tracks have already come out while several of the collaborations do not live up to their potential. But for KRAFTWERK fans seeking new material from members of the classic line-up, ‘Magazine 1’ will be welcomed, providing flashing reminders of a pioneering era that will act as an escape from the disorientations and uncertainties of the present day.

‘Magazine 1’ is released by Cherry Red Records on 4th March 2022 in CD + vinyl LP formats

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/artist/wolfgang-flur/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Markus Luigs
3rd March 2022

RODNEY CROMWELL Memory Box

1 March 2022 / electricityclub

Intended as a soundtrack to a sadly post truth world, Rodney Cromwell returns with his second album ‘Memory Box’.

Behind the persona of Rodney Cromwell is Adam Cresswell who said: “For most of my career I’ve been writing about our dystopian future, and then when it finally arrived, I really didn’t want to write about it. So rather than looking outward, on what was going on around us in the landscape of the pandemic, I looked inward; drawing on experiences and relationships from my past in order to look to the future. I essentially dug deep into my own creative memory box.”

A very different album to the melancholic but upbeat synthpop sensibility of 2015’s ‘Age Of Anxiety’, ‘Memory Box’ is a much hazier record presented with cerebral impressionistic qualities. It all begins with the motorik buzz ‘n’ bleep fest of ‘Intercom’ with vocoders that sound like ‘Trans’ era Neil Young if he had a more indie bent.

Then after years of imitating Peter Hook musically, ‘Opus Three’ sees Cresswell do his best Bernard Sumner impression in his very own ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ if ever there was one, although with its charming Stylophone solo, the homage is perhaps isn’t quite as blatant as NATION OF LANGUAGE’s ‘On Division Street’!

Meanwhile, the ‘Memory Box’ title song is an appealing metronomic number that reflects frustration and resignation about how truth and honesty are of so little worth in modern society, especially with the likes of Boris Johnson exploiting their posh boy privilege with blatant lies and being applauded for it!

Taking its lead from STEREOLAB, the grim moods of ‘Fluctuations’ are made more haunting by spacey keyboard swirls while the neo-acoustic ‘Waiting Room’ takes its lead from in ‘Kasparov’, one of Cresswell’s past musical adventures in ARTHUR & MARTHA.

The interlude ‘Butterflies In The Filing Cabinet’ utilises Mellotron-derived sounds for some uneasy psychedelic overtures but imagining ‘Tanzmusik’ from ‘KRAFTWERK’s ‘Ralf & Florian’ album meeting THE BEATLES ‘Flying’, the wonderful ‘Cloud Catalogue’ provides a catchy cosmic instrumental journey. Swung in 6/8 with catchy keyboard arpeggios, ‘The Department Of Public Tranquility’ also references ARTHUR & MARTHA with Theremin tones and sombre vocals encapsulating an aura of hopelessness.

Despite its electro-glam backbeat, ‘Wristwatch Television’ still fits with the tribulations of the ‘Memory Box’ concept, highlighting the wider public tunnel vision of not accepting the bigger picture when acquiring news from Martin on Facebook who has suddenly become an expert on vaccines and an authority on synthpop despite dissing THE HUMAN LEAGUE only four years before!

More stringy Mellotron-derived sounds come with the wordless ‘Calculations, but ‘The Winter Palace’ is a wonderful icy closer that is classic Rodders embracing motorik mechanisation within a hypnotic electronic backdrop and providing a glorious synth solo for a hopeful uplift to savour.

With the past two years seeing the circuit schematics of a Boss guitar pedal being viralled by anti-vax conspiracy theorists as the 5G chip sitting within the Covid vaccine and accepted as fact, where Devotees still think DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Speak & Spell was released on 5th October 1981 despite archive sales evidence to the contrary, where surreal distortion is starting to become reality, ‘Memory Box’ is a fine Kafkaesque concept album for exhausted souls to dance to as an imploding disaster awaits…

But what’s that No-Vacs Djokovic, you’re happy to forgo a few more Grand Slam titles at the height of your tennis career in order to maintain your stubborn stance? Don’t look up!

‘Memory Box’ is released as a yellow vinyl EP by Happy Robots Records on 18th March 2022, available from https://rodneycromwell.bandcamp.com/album/memory-box-2

RODNEY CROMWELL, SPRAY and CIRCUIT3 play The Cavendish Arms, 128 Hartington Rd, London SW8 2HJ on Saturday 19th March 2022 – tickets available in advance from https://www.happyrobots.co.uk/tickets

https://www.happyrobots.co.uk/rodney-cromwell

https://www.facebook.com/rodneycromwellartist/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Alison Ahern
1st March 2022