Category: Reviews (Page 74 of 200)

PURITY RING Womb

5 April 2020 /

If CHVRCHES are like PURITY RING then PURITY RING are like CHVRCHES, except that PURITY RING were here first!

The duo consisting of Megan James on vocals and Corin Roddick in charge of synths, programming and multiple instruments, have been around since 2010, when their simplistic sparse sound heralded the arrival of special type of synthpopia.

Craftily, within couple of years, the Canadian pair were signed to the legendary 4AD and put out their first long player ‘Shrines’.

A true musical melting pot packed with inclusions of such wonders as 808 drums, monosynths and extravaganza of sampled vocals, the album was recorded in separate studios miles apart, one in Halifax and the other all the way in Vancouver, a fact rarely exercised back then, yet quite common nowadays, being enabled by various file sharing platforms.

The follower to ‘Shrines’, ‘Another Eternity’ saw the group honing on their sound, polishing it and refining the production, as well as audibly improving the vocal masterdom. The album was more commercially minded and one could say that is what CHVRCHES sound is all about.

Being far more ‘underground’ to CHVRCHES, who hit the commercial bubble beautifully, PURITY RING enjoy cult audiences, who often prefer “the real thing” to the newcomers. With that, this peculiar time introduces a peculiar album number three…

‘Womb’ is the intensification of its predecessor, it’s wholesome and polished, wavering the “music for the masses” aspect (no pun intended) for the more niche particulars, and the opening ‘Rubyinsides’ is a perfect example. Lyrically it is bizarre and worrisome, like listening to an audio horror show, juxtaposed with the sweetest of voices over gentle melody.

‘Pink Lighting’ with its coagulated male voice during opening, transferring to James’ delicate vocal floats over minimal base of dreamy electronica, while ‘Peacefall’ rings out with velvety qualities of a music box.

‘I Like The Devil’ rolls in with punctuated twisty synth, exposing further delicacies of the duo’s sound, transforming into minimal ‘Femia’, which nods towards their first album. The song was written after the tragic passing of the vocalist’s aunt, it’s a tale of passing life and the realisation that the fate leaves nobody standing. ‘Sinew’ continues with the nostalgic thoughtfulness, calmly melancholic and weirdly uplifting at the same time.

With ‘Vehemence’, the hope comes back, floating between gracefulness and luminosity, to ebb away on ‘Silkspun’, with its heavier synth qualities. Of course James’ voice softens it all, calming the angriest of seas, which is the case on ‘Almanac’ as well, with further vocal manipulations to suit any modern palate. The closing ‘Stardew’ recalls CHVRCHES the most, beautifully arpeggiated and very commercial, it’s just a perfect chill song.

If you like CHVRCHES and have never heard of the parents of the Scottish band’s sound, then give PURITY RING a go. Somehow the duo could appeal to you more so than the one who made it commercially.

More niche, much more experimental and far more endearing, Megan James and Corin Roddick created something greatly more extraordinary than CHVRCHES. Check for yourself.

‘Womb’ released as a CD, violet or black vinyl LP and download by 4AD Records

http://purityringthing.com/

https://www.facebook.com/purityringmusic/

https://twitter.com/PURITY_RING

https://www.instagram.com/purityring/

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
5th April 2020

MENTRIX My Enemy, My Love

1 April 2020 /

As ZOLA JESUS said recently, looking inwards is something she does a lot of, and in these unprecedented times, isolation and concentration on self, will be something that even the biggest extroverts will have to work on.

Not too dissimilar from Ms Jesus, Sufi inspired Iranian born, Berlin based artist MENTRIX, debuts with her long player ‘My Enemy, My Love’ in which she looks towards the core of her existence, intertwining her varied experiences with wonderfully unique musicality derived from Persian poetry and modern electronica.

Samar Rad moved to France when she was eight by the end of the Iran-Iraq war. Aged fourteen she moved back, and had to re-discover her Farsi mother tongue, going from learning Latin and French literature to Arabic and the Qu’ran. Later, Mentrix spent some time in Britain and now the Iranian desert rose lives in Berlin.

Drawing from her experience of an immigrant deserter, not really belonging and missing her home land, Rad says: “This album reflects my relationship with the contrasting worlds I lived in, with myself, and all my existential wanderings.”

‘My Enemy, My Love’ is being released on MENTRIX’s own label, House Of Strength. The name comes from the gathering place “Zoorkhaneh”, where warriors would train in secret during the Arab invasion of Persia in the Seventh Century. The men would gather there to fuel patriotic feelings. “Women for instance do not train in these places,” explains Rad, “this idea of solidarity must be revived, everywhere, yet the patriarchal aspect must still be fought.”

The long player unfolds in eight tracks, each one unique and derived from a different source within the artist’s psyche. The captivating ‘Nature’, with its enchanting video, filmed in the stunningly beautiful landscapes of Kavir-e-Lut, in eastern Iran, known to be one of the hottest places on earth, is as hypnotic as it is tantric. Played on Daf and Tombak, both traditional Iranian drums, with the inclusion of Sufi inspired lyrics, the track is electrifying.

‘Walk’ is packed with tribal qualities, almost devoid of any sound, except for the floating vocal and metallic shuffling until further instrumentation is introduced to create a very ZOLA JESUS-like landscape. ‘Dreams’ continues the trance twists with a numismatic concoction of swirling sounds à la THE KNIFE, while ‘Igneous Sun’ releases more reflective textures over sparkling synths.

The title track races towards its culmination with distinctive Iranian instruments such as the tombak, kamancheh, ney and daf, each sounding alien to the western ear but bring the artist a great deal of national pride.

The inclusion of marching drum on ‘Loyalty’ sustains the feeling of urgency, where Rad calls out for “patience”. Inspired by traditional Mooyeh mourning chant from Lorestan in Iran, ‘Longing’ brings raw quality to the recording, with sounds derived from desert sand and mountain winds.

“It is very important for me to associate my music with the landscape of Iran,” explains Rad, “I am forever attached to my birth place, and my identity and aspirations are very rooted in Iranian culture. Since the West so often portrays Iran in a questionable way, I feel obliged to share its diverse and positive faces to the world.”

‘If’, however, sounds perfectly western, perfectly synthy and perfectly soulful; it’s an urban ballad of uncertainty and thoughtfulness.

Deeply connected with her beloved homeland, MENTRIX re-defines women of Persia and women living all over the world.

This feminist theme stretches to the fact that featured on the record are primarily women, such as Claire Bay playing the ney, to multi-award winning legendary New York-based mastering engineer, Emily Lazar.

Previously, MENTRIX used to lend vocals on other people’s music. But on ‘My Enemy, My Love’, she ushers in the era of Rad, debuting with a unique sound, bridging eastern and western cultures. This isn’t your standard feminist stance, however, in the way the likes of REIN would approach the subject.

Her femininity and musical landscapes, paint the picture of maturity and grace, highlighting the strength and resilience to overcome all adversities. And now, more than ever, we need those attributes in order to survive this Armageddon.

‘My Enemy, My Love’ is released on 3rd April 2020 via House of Strength

http://www.mentrixmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/mentrixmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/mentrixmusic/

https://www.hosrecords.com/artist-mentrix

Text by Monika Izabela Trigwell
1st April 2020

CIRCUIT3 The Rain EP

30 March 2020 /


After the unexpected success of his 2016 CIRCUIT3 debut ‘siliconchipsuperstar’, Peter Fitzpatrick bought some more synths and followed up in 2019 with ‘The Value Of Everything & The Price Of Nothing’.

Like a dystopian Howard Jones album fashioned from the roots of Synth Britannia, Martyn Ware of HEAVEN 17 said: “The album sounds great! Glad current artists are keeping the faith with quality songwriting”

Indeed, the most Howie sounding of its tracks ‘The Rain’ has been issued a single, complete with a host of remixes.

Now while DEPECHE MODE play in the rain and so does Taylor Swift, CIRCUIT3 uses ‘The Rain’ as a metaphor to embrace all emotions in life so that the good times will come over even brighter. The original version was like ‘Don’t Always Look At The Rain’ from ‘Human’s Lib’ reimagined by Philp K Dick, a musical coping strategy with a touch of Guinness that the late Rutger Hauer would have been proud of for all sorts of reasons.

The GravitySlip Remix adds a synthetic percussion backbone which works well in more noisy environments like cars and pulls of the feat of not being too overbearing on the original song, even maybe enhancing it in an understated manner. Meanwhile Acko’s Remix begins in a rather funereal fashion before exploding into steadfast gothic rock halfway through and the CHON Dublin Remix adds a MASSIVE ATTACK vibe.

There is also instrumental dub version included which allows the more subtle elements of ‘The Rain’ to be heard more clearly; but speaking of instrumentals, the EP include three original previously unreleased instrumentals which will appeal enormously to fans of atmospheric synth B-sides from back in the day.

The best of these is ‘Overview Effect’, a classic synth number with fabulous textures, voicing and rhythmic effects, each part having its place like in all the great instrumentals.

The more atmospheric ‘Transmissions’ is punctuated by Jarre-like beeps and sweeps but perhaps more surprisingly, there’s a sharp burst of digitised slap bass.

Meanwhile, ‘Blinded By The Sun’ could be retitled ‘Blinded By the Odyssey’ with ARP derived sirens penetrating the Moog Sub37 bass, sparking Roland Jupiter 4 arpeggios and CP70 ivory foundations.

These three instrumentals are actually tasters for the third CIRCUIT3 album and with a planned lyric for ‘Blinded By The Sun’ going “count the lies from 1 to 45”, the midlife angst continues for Peter Fitzpatrick. Now that can only mean the potential for even more great synth music to emerge from CIRCUIT3.

‘The Rain’ EP is released by Diode Records on 3rd April 2020, pre-order as a CD or download from https://circuit3.bandcamp.com/

CIRCUIT3 presents an Online Live Streaming Synth Gig on Saturday 4th April 2020 at 2000 GMT, details on the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/218651819353562/

http://www.circuit3.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Circuit3music

https://twitter.com/Circuit3Music

https://www.instagram.com/circuit3music/

https://soundcloud.com/circuit3/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmo6IkKRlL718vAg6GpXsdQ

Text by Chi Ming Lai
28th March 2020

HEAVEN 17 Clouds Or Mountains?

28 March 2020 /


So what did HEAVEN 17 do on their first day of isolation?

Inspired by real life events happening right now, Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware have presented a video for a new song ‘Clouds Or Mountains?’. However, keen HEAVEN 17 fans may have noticed that it sounds familiar.

‘Clouds Or Mountains?’ was previewed alongside ‘Pray’, ‘Illumination’, ‘Unseen’ and ‘Captured’ as part of a work-in-progress sampler for the long awaited new HEAVEN 17 album ‘Not For Public Broadcast’, available only to subscribers of the now-discontinued Bowers & Wilkins ‘Society Of Sound’ in 2017.

Martyn Ware told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK recently: “The origins of this song started about three years ago as an instrumental I’d done – I sent it to Glenn sometime later, and he felt inspired to put a ‘scratch’ vocal to it – we both loved the result, so Glenn created a video for it last week for fun – and this is the result”.

Clocking in at nearly six and a half minutes, Ware’s sparse electronic soundscape provides an eerie backdrop for Glenn Gregory’s impassioned baritone with a delivery that Martyn Ware says is “Very Scott Walker / David Bowie”, concurring with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s assessment. And as the pace heightens, there are haunting echoes of ‘Boy Child’ by the man born Scott Engel and ‘Sunday’ from the former David Jones’ ‘Heathen’ album.

No stranger to the art of the crooner, Glenn Gregory had said previously in 2014: “The way I sing anyway, people always used to say I sounded a bit like a crooner, that baritone type thing… it’s good to have that sensibility. It’s pop, not rock. I was never into The Stones, I don’t really get them. I’d much rather listen to Scott Walker or Anthony Newley.”

In the meantime, a new boxed ‘Another Big Idea: 1996-2015’ has just been released with the lavish CD edition compiling HEAVEN 17’s two reunion albums to date ‘Bigger Than America’ and Before/After’ with an unreleased instrumental album ‘Space Age Space Music’ plus assorted remixes, re-recordings and live material.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to HEAVEN 17

‘Another Big Idea: 1996-2015’ is released as a 9CD or 4LP boxed set by Edsel/Demon Records

https://www.heaven17.com/

https://www.facebook.com/heaven17official/

https://twitter.com/heaven17bef

https://www.instagram.com/heaven17official/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
28th March 2020

ZACHERY ALLAN STARKEY featuring BERNARD SUMNER Force

26 March 2020 /

Despite his name, Zachery Allan Starkey is not the son of Ringo Starr but a New York based technopop artist with a love of NEW ORDER.

Indeed, he was invited to open for NEW ORDER during their ‘Music Complete’ tour in North America in 2016. With two albums ‘DIY’ and ‘Hard Power’ already under his belt, Starkey has been working on his new album ‘Fear City’.

‘Force’ is the third song to be previewed from ‘Fear City’ and is a powerful collaboration with Bernard Sumner of NEW ORDER featuring his signature Italo-influenced sequencing style. Starkey’s impassioned authentic vocals are a rallying call to the people with the daunting prospect of Donald Trump being re-elected on the horizon.

With a video reflecting on current world events, the jointly produced ‘Force’ is an uplifting electronic anthem reminding everyone to remain strong and brave in these dark and frightening times.

Hypnotically rhythmic with a danceable post-punk HI-NRG flavour, ‘Force’ follows ‘XXX‘ and ‘No Security’ as trailers for ‘Fear City’, an album which wears its rumbling techno and house flavours on its sleeve but does not overblow them, with the emphasis being on synth hooks and melodies while also being propulsive enough for the club environment. Sumner makes a second appearance on the ‘Fear City’ album, contributing to its title track.

Zachery Allan Starkey said: “’Fear City’ is about life in NYC in 2019/2020. It is about nightlife, darkness, the opiate epidemic, current political/economic fears, and uncertainties/anxiety caused by the rise of right wing politics around the world. It’s not an overtly political album, but it is a product of the current times. Hence the title Fear City, which is, as you might know, also an old name for New York City. With this album, I’ve tried to combine elements of Techno, Electro, Post-Punk, Coldwave, Minimal Synth, SynthPunk, Disco, and Trip Hop to hopefully create a unique musical backdrop.”

‘Force’ is released by Death Trip NYC and available now via the usual digital platforms including https://zasmusic.bandcamp.com/

https://www.zacheryallanstarkey.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ZASmusic/

https://twitter.com/ZacheryAStarkey

https://www.instagram.com/zacheryallanstarkey/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Stas Kravets Photography
26th March 2020

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