Category: Reviews (Page 84 of 206)

JULIAN & MARINA For Beautiful People Only

15 February 2020 /

’For Beautiful People Only’ is the second full-length album from JULIAN & MARINA, the follow-up to 2014’s ’Absence & Distance’.

Comprising of Julian Brandt and Marina Schiptjenko, the couple are both veterans of the Swedish pop scene. Brandt was a member of BOBBY and is the current bass incumbent in LUSTANS LAKEJER while Schiptjenko is best known for her instrumental roles in PAGE and BWO.

The concept of JULIAN & MARINA is what can only best be described as crooner electro. So imagine Matt Monro or Charles Aznavour over laid-back sophistipop backing utilising drum machines, synths and virtual orchestrations. Such are Julian Brandt’s loungey mannerisms, occasionally harmonised by Marina Schiptjenko’s larynx treatments, that the combination is strange and otherworldly yet ultimately romantic and classic.

It all begins with the ‘For Beautiful People Only’ title song, the song which is closest to being quite traditional sounding with its cinematic pomp and circumstance. ‘Someone To Cling To’ though recalls smooth PET SHOP BOYS ballads like ‘Liberation’ or even ‘Requiem in Denim & Leopardskin’ but with the orchestrated flavour of Percy Faith. Though ‘Vintage Wine’ follows a not entirely dissimilar feel, Brandt enunciates more like a Scandinavian Neil Hannon.

Heading to the South of France, ‘Destination Cannes’ is a great instrumental which captures exactly what it says on the tin while ‘Full Moon Over St Tropez’ conjures up that understated but catchy Gallic quality. The dashing ‘Hello Darling’ makes good use of synths and vocoders as well as adding a surprise rap from an alluring Schiptjenko.

But featuring a beautiful string line and a music box motif, ‘Girl In The Gallery’ could actually be about Schiptjenko herself, a playful celebration by Brandt of the enigmatic art curator with key changes to boot.

Brandt’s delivery recalls the late Liverpudlian crooner Michael Holliday on his hit ‘Starry Eyed’, a 1960 UK No1 co-written by Moog pioneer Mort Garson and later covered by CHINA CRISIS.

Despite its title, ‘Saddest Girl’ is enormously sunny and uplifting with hints of Hollywood Elvis, but ‘Love On A Summer Night’ offers a subtle disco duet which could be another PET SHOP BOYS collaboration with Patsy Kensit that also throws in a synthetic brass section for a more robotic style of ‘Domino Dancing’.

With a piano and soprano sax providing a twist in the electronic backdrop, ’Going To Nice’ closes the album with a happy optimistic vibe like all the good film romances should.

This is an enjoyable Eurocentric album with a sumptuous aural palette. If you can appreciate the guilty pleasures of classic easy listening, then on days like these , ‘For Beautiful People Only’ is the perfect escapist album for a trip along the Riviera.

Those wanting darkness, doom and edge though should turn away now…

‘For Beautiful People Only’ is available via the usual digital platforms

http://julianbrandt.com

https://www.facebook.com/JulianandMarina/

https://www.instagram.com/julianochmarina/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3BzeqZj5Gziti68PyLLr4J

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos  by Pierre Björk and Conny Fornbäck
15th February 2020

FIFI RONG Love Is A Lonely Thing

14 February 2020 /

Following on from her three part singular release ‘Red Moon Voyage’ for Halloween 2019, Fifi Rong turns her attention to Valentine’s Day 2020 with a bittersweet trilogy under the title of ‘Love Is A Lonely Thing’.

It is a three-chapter tragic romantic story with a cinematic sonic parallel to ‘Mood For Love’ by Wong Kar-Wai.

Despite a spirit of newly found independence, the Beijing born songstress enters a forlorn world inhabited by many, where all unrequited love desperately seeks a way to prove its own existence.

She said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “I channel my emotional pain through every heartbreak, and sing for those who can’t express their emotions through music”.

Accompanied by three videos directed by Zee Marla Osh, the mutant reggae of Part 1 states“How much I cry for your smile”, before being haunted by “A ritual that repeats” while Part 2 has more of a nocturnal anguish; when the realisation hits home when the love is not reciprocated, she asks in cut-up collage “don’t you wanna be the one?”

Part 3 takes on a smoky trip-hop stance and a sense of resignation with goodbye looming. With the surprise of dysfunctional electro-dub, Fifi Rong is intriguing as ever with her enigmatic whispers that “I still don’t believe in love”.

With her prolific artistic impulses now being the main driving force, The ‘Love Is A Lonely Thing’ trilogy is a result of Fifi Rong re-establishing control of her own artistic destiny over the last two years, releasing material of varying concepts as she sees fits to her loyal fan base.

While ‘Red Moon Voyage’ and ‘Love Is A Lonely Thing’ have been trilogy concepts, her currently being recorded new album is her most ambitious project yet, embarking on a cultural fusion that combines her native tongue of Mandarin with the universal pop language of English.

The ‘Love Is A Lonely Thing’ trilogy is available direct from https://fifirong.bandcamp.com/

http://www.fifirong.com/

https://www.facebook.com/fifirongmusic/

https://twitter.com/fifirong

https://www.instagram.com/fifirong/

https://open.spotify.com/album/6QZtsByiKYIICESBU0UhAh

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th February 2020

ROMAN ANGELOS Spacetronic Lunchbox

12 February 2020 /


Roman Angelos is the moniker of Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Rich Bennett.

Specialising in library electronica for this particular vehicle, Bennett has also spread his wings diverse group of musical projects including proto-punk band THE SHAGGS, dream-poppers MAHOGANY, and Brazilian funk group LIMONCELLO.

Released by Happy Robots Records, ‘Spacetronic Lunchbox’ is rather like a KPM library album.

It all harks back to the days when a temporary fault would interrupt a VHF TV broadcast and an announcement was made that there would be “some music” until it was all fixed. Rather like the ‘Spitting Image’ sketch on theme tune composer Ronnie Hazlehurst who was portrayed as someone that couldn’t write a tune longer than 20 seconds, ‘Spacetronic Lunchbox’ whizzes though 11 songs in 10 minutes for a spacey tea break exuding cheery sonic nostalgia.

Paying tribute to early electronica, muzak and video game music, ‘Spacetronic Lunchbox’ beginning with the longue bossa nova of ‘Please Hold The Elevator’, the portamento on the synthline being a particular delight. Moving on, the brilliantly titled ‘Himalayan Cats With AK47s’ swiftly captures some synths and vibes.

The quirky ‘I’m In Love With The Family Robot’ could be the label’s theme tune while the jazz swing of ‘Secret Secret’ is something of a toy pop jingle. With glorious synths and noise percussion, ‘Farewell To Love’ has the makings of a longer funkier romp while ‘The Clock Winder’ recalls the theme tune to ‘Robin’s Nest’.

‘Fall Off’ is far gloomier though with an element of dystopian Sci-Fi but this is offset by the wonderful synthpop overtones of ‘The Undercroft’ which comes over like a swift ULTRAVOX demo with hints of BLONDIE’s ‘Call Me’ as well! With tempo changes, ‘Highway Chase’ utilises a brilliantly tight synth bass pattern that varies to suit the pace, but the quite lo-fi ‘Electric Zone’ fades into oblivion before it really gets going.

The best comes last with the longest track at just under two minutes; ‘Why Am I Old’ has elements of electronic citypop and the air of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA but its potential is cut painfully short.

While Roman Angelos is a platform for Rich Bennett to explore his fascination with vintage library recordings, there is frustration in the listening process.

However, this is a fun escapist collection of music which might go well with a latte or cappuccino in the café of the Design Museum during a visit to the new Terence Conran exhibition.

‘Spacetronic Lunchbox’ is released on 13th March 2020 by Happy Robots Records, the limited edition lathe cut 12” clear vinyl limited to just 30 handmade copies, pre-order from their Botshop at https://www.happyrobots.co.uk/product-page/roman-angelos-spacetronic-lunchbox-bot19 or Bandcamp at https://happyrobotsrecords.bandcamp.com/

The album will be released digitally worldwide by Cargo Distribution via the usual platforms

https://www.happyrobots.co.uk/roman-angelos

https://twitter.com/acmehallrich

https://instagram.com/acmehallrich

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th February 2020

CERRONE DNA

10 February 2020 /

Marc Cerrone is best known for ‘Supernature’, a Top10 UK hit in 1978 which subsequently gained longevity thanks to its use as incidental music during the first series of ‘The Kenny Everett Video Show’.

Featuring lyrics by an uncredited Lene Lovich containing a warning about environmental catastrophe, ‘Supernature’ with its transfixing hook put Cerrone up with Giorgio Moroder in the European electronic disco stakes. The iconic tune was subsequently covered by ERASURE and inspired the title of the fourth GOLDFRAPP album.

Having influenced the likes of DAFT PUNK and remixed THE HUMAN LEAGUE, the diminutive French maestro returns with a new album ‘DNA’, his seventeenth. Made primarily using Arturia VSTs of the MiniMoog, ARP 2600, Prophet 5 and Solina, one hardware instrument that appears is a Behringer Odyssey copy, alongside a kit of Roland V-Drums.

Harking back to the theme of ‘Supernature’, the opening ‘DNA’ track ‘The Impact’ looks at the spectre of global warming 43 years on; it’s a epic start with sparkling arpeggios and deep synthbass before building to a thudding metronomic beat and a throbbing backbone equal of Moroder.

But before getting carried too away with the mood of the dance, an excerpt of a speech by the well-known primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall announces “Every single day we make some impact on the planet. We haven’t inherited this planet from our parents. We’ve borrowed it from our children. If we get together, then we can start to heal some of the scars that we’ve inflicted” to outline just how grave the earth’s situation is.

With the marvellously optimistic ‘Resolution’, Cerrone presents what that many have always wanted, a Jean-Michel Jarre disco track. With layers of string machine and pulsing electronics, the mechanical feel is offset by various live drum rolls, a trademark of Cerrone’s having begun his career as a sticksman.

‘Air Dreaming’ gives the disco a breather, being more in the vein of Vangelis at its start, but it picks up the rhythm with a great brassy spacey theme to offer as well. Meanwhile, the ‘DNA’ title track tips a hat to PINK FLOYD’s ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ and in particular, Richard Wright’s memorable keyboard passages. With some great hooks, ‘I’ve Got A Rocket’ feels it is about to launch into ‘I Feel Love’ but is much less rigid and adds some complimentary vocoder, while ‘Let Me Feel’ actually could be mistaken for Moroder with its groovier stance recalling aspects of ‘E=MC2’.

But after a run of great retro-futuristic disco numbers, ‘DNA’ loses momentum; ‘Close To The Sky’ sounds like a theme to a cruise ship documentary but ‘Experience’ is slightly better, being more dramatic and Sci-Fi led. However, with the proggy overtones of the closer ‘Prediction’, the album sadly runs out of puff altogether.

For its first six tracks, ‘DNA’ is an enjoyable uptempo electronic instrumental record. So it’s perhaps no coincidence that back in the day, the classic Cerrone albums had even less on them than that.

While many of the approaches are familiar, at its highs, ‘DNA’ is much better than Giorgio Moroder’s ‘Deja-Vu’ or Jean-Michel-Jarre’s recent ‘Oxygène’ and Equinoxe’ reboots.

‘DNA’ is released in CD, vinyl LP and digital formats by Because Music

http://www.cerrone.net/

https://www.facebook.com/cerronemarc/

https://twitter.com/Cerrone

https://www.instagram.com/cerroneofficial/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
10th February 2020

NICOLAS GODIN Concrete & Glass

4 February 2020 /


Any AIR-related side project can be guaranteed to not deviate too far from the band’s tried and tested template of downtempo atmospherics, retro synths, dry stripped-back PINK FLOYD style drumming and occasional vocoder flourishes.

Unsurprisingly, Nicolas Godin’s second solo album ‘Concrete & Glass’ features plenty of tracks which would seamlessly slot into an AIR album.

It is a concept-based work of sorts with each song being inspired by buildings and their architecture.

With there not seeming to be a hurry to release new material with long-term musical partner Jean-Benoît Dunckel, there is plenty here for long-term AIR fans to enjoy.

It is hard to downplay the significance of ‘Moon Safari’ when it arrived in 1998; a wonderfully retro-sounding but groundbreaking piece of work, it would go on to ultimately define AIR’s sound and influence many other acts including ZERO 7 along the way.

A couple of the high points of ‘Moon Safari’ were the vocal-based songs ‘All I Need’ and ‘You Make It Easy’ featuring Beth Hirsch, so Godin has followed a similar route with ‘Concrete & Glass’ which has contributions from HOT CHIP’s Alexis Taylor, Russian vocalist Kate NV, Kadhja Bonet, Cola Boyy and Kirin J Callinan.

Opener ‘Concrete & Glass’ is a blissful combination of rising and falling synths combined with Latin percussion and trademark vocoder work with Godin “…looking for a house, made of concrete and glass”.

Latterly Godin’s vocal has a call and response with his own live bass playing and the track instantly lowers the listener’s heart rate setting the scene for the rest of the album.

‘Back to Your Heart’ with Kate NV sets up the run of guest vocalist-featuring tracks and is beautifully produced with layers of CR78 percussion, synthetic brass and real strings. Unashamedly retro in sound and delivery, ‘Back to Your Heart’ evokes lounge icons THE CARPENTERS and leads into ‘We Forgot Love’ which features a cyclical descending synth figure throughout and yearning vocal by soul singer Kadhja Bonet. These two tracks are easily the strongest song-based works on ‘Concrete & Glass’…

‘The Foundation’ which features Californian Cola Boyy has more of a modular synth aesthetic and again would comfortably pass muster on an AIR album; conceptually based on Pierre Koenig’s groundbreaking ‘Case Study House #21’, the song features a neat sci-fi based promo video directed and shot on 16mm film by Greg Barnes. The highlight of the song is the outro which has some luxuriant vocoder and synth interplay which on the album version runs for an extra minute and could quite easily run for longer such is its beauty.

‘Time On My Hands’ which features Aussie vocalist Kiran J Callinan is a midpoint album lull, spending roughly 4 and a half minutes going nowhere whilst HOT CHIP’s Alexis Turner fares little better on the saccharine ‘Catch Yourself Falling’; arguably both of these tracks would have been more successful as instrumental workouts as their vocal contributors add little to the respective pieces.

The intro to ‘The Border’ evokes Clint Mansell’s wonderful theme to sci-fi doppelganger movie ‘Moon’ before taking more of a song-based direction with Godin’s vocodered vocals drifting through the remainder of the piece. Ambient pads and a sparse electric bass part underpin subtly building sequencer parts, the “take me to the border” line is possibly overused and makes the track feel unnecessarily repetitive, which is a shame as the song’s soundbed is wonderfully hypnotic and (again) beautifully produced.

‘Turn Right Turn Left’ is possibly one of the few songs primarily vocalled by a SatNav and features a soaring string arrangement whilst it’s left to album closer ‘Cité Radieuse’ to provide the only real radical departure in sound aesthetic on ‘Concrete & Glass’.

Initially sounding like a homage to Philip Glass, the first three minutes are comprised of concise Serial Music-style synth arpeggios with a melodic synth break thrown in.

The final minute and a half unexpectedly makes a U-turn into ambient jazz territory which recalls German act BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE, creators of funereal tempo music of this ilk with upright bass, sax and brushed drums.

‘Concrete & Glass’ certainly won’t disappoint fans of AIR, not all of it hits the heights of Godin’s main act, but there is more than enough substance here to make the album bear up to repeated listens.

The building-based concept is an intriguing one and something that KRAFTWERK could have kicked themselves for not pursuing at some point; however, Nicolas Godin has got there first and ‘Concrete & Glass’ neatly draws parallels between the worlds of music and architecture in one grand design…

‘Concrete & Glass’ is released by NCLS in vinyl LP, CD and digital formats

https://www.facebook.com/nicolasgodinmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/nicolasgodinmusic/

Text and Live Photos by Paul Boddy
4th February 2020

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