Tag: Andy Bell (Page 3 of 4)

2015 END OF YEAR REVIEW

16 December 2015 /

System100 Cake

There are no illegal connections…

The user manual for the Roland System 100 semi-modular synthesizer profoundly stated “there are no illegal connections…”

And in modern electronic music, that is still the case with the accomplished artists of today very much connected to the synth pioneers of yesteryear like KRAFTWERK, OMD, ULTRAVOX, JAPAN, DEPECHE MODE and THE HUMAN LEAGUE.

Belgian duo METROLAND would not exist without the tradition established at Klingklang, while EAST INDIA YOUTH’s interest in Brian Eno and Motorik beats curated a sound that has enabled parallels to be drawn with the artful template of the similarly influenced Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey. And although Susanne Sundfør was already an established singer / songwriter in her homeland of Norway, attention was not fully drawn on her new synth based direction until she performed a sympathetic cover of ‘Ice Machine’ with RÖYKSOPP in late 2012.

Even the exquisite lo-fi Welsh language electronica of Gwenno can be traced to Sheffield, thanks to the songstress’ previous pop excursions which involved working on an album with the late Martin Rushent. As Jean-Michel Jarre said: “Electronic music has a family, a legacy and a future…” so to deny the glorious heritage of electronic music when assessing new acts would be futile. Indeed, acknowledging history is very much part of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s style and it appears to have been appreciated, especially in regard to the feature ‘30 Favourite Albums 2010 – 2014’, one of a quintet of special articles to celebrate the site’s fifth birthday in March…

“Huge thanks to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK” said avid reader Hugh David, “A victory for well-written, artfully conveyed content curation once again… you knew exactly what to say to sell me on one artist or another. That rare ability of a reviewer to pinpoint the precise comparisons that enable me to decide to seek something out based on my own tastes is something lacking in so many other outlets; love that you’ve got that in spades”

Another reader David Sims added: “ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is a great way of discovering artists you might not otherwise be aware of. A bit like when a friend used to come round your house clutching an LP or C90 saying ‘I really love this, have a listen’, introducing you to new music that makes your neck hairs stand up in ovation”

2014 was a comparatively lean 12 months, but this year found many veterans returning to the fold. NEW ORDER released ‘Music Complete’, a much discussed comeback that was not only the Mancunians’ first album for Mute, but also without estranged bassist Peter Hook.

Marc Almond released ‘The Velvet Trail’, his first pop album for many years while ANDY BELL embarked on further solo adventures in support of ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’.

SPARKS joined forces with FRANZ FERDINAND as FFS while telling everyone to ‘P*ss Off’ and proved that collaborations do work. Electronic music legend Jean-Michel Jarre also went the collaborative root. His first album for several years ‘Electronica 1 – The Time Machine’ featured the likes of LITTLE BOOTS,  TANGERINE DREAM, AIR, GESAFFELSTEIN and MASSIVE ATTACK along with ArminVan Buuren, John Carpenter and Vince Clarke.

Another legend Giorgio Moroder made his statement of intent with ‘74 Is The New 24’ and released ‘Déjà Vu’, a disco pop record featuring the likes of Sia, Britney Spears, Foxes and Kylie Minogue. Meanwhile, his artier counterpart Zeus B Held gave us some ‘Logic of Coincidence’ and Wolfgang Flur made his solo debut with ‘Eloquence’, his first length album project since 1997.

Liverpool duo CHINA CRISIS delivered ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’, their first original material since 1994’s ‘Warped By Success’ while Howard Jones showed he could still innovate at 60 years of age when he launched ‘Engage’, “a highly interactive live experience designed to immerse audiences in an audio / visual feast”. A-HA came back after disbanding in 2010 with ‘Cast In Steel’ and DURAN DURAN recruited an all-star cast that included Nile Rodgers, John Frusciante, Kiesza and Lindsay Lohan for the rather disappointing EDM blow-out ‘Paper Gods’.

BLANCMANGE’s ‘Semi Detached’ was Neil Arthur’s first without long-time partner Stephen Luscombe and he even found time to release a wonderful instrumental collection entitled ‘Nil By Mouth’. Indeed, there were quite a few instrumental opuses in 2015, with GHOST HARMONIC’s wonderful ‘Codex’ featuring John Foxx and the electronic pioneer’s own glorious ‘London Overgrown’.

DEPECHE MODE’s Martin Gore released the tutorial for his new Eurorack modular system as the simply titled ‘MG’. 2015 saw the 25th anniversary of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Violator’ and to ignore its significance, as some DM fan related platforms did, would have been incredibly short sighted. However, there was none of that from premier DM tribute band SPEAK & SPELL who played their biggest UK gig yet with a splendid boutique showcase of that landmark album at London’s Islington Academy.

CAMOUFLAGE, a band who started off very much under the influence of the Basildon boys, issued the mature statement of ‘Greyscale’ while continuing the DEPECHE MODE album theme, Athens based synth maidens MARSHEAUX gave a worthy of re-assessment of ‘A Broken Frame’ and procured a number of interesting arrangements for some under rated songs. DIE KRUPPS got more metal than machine on their fifth opus ‘V – Metal Machine Music’.

Fellow Germans BEBORN BETON made up for a ten year absence with ‘A Worthy Compensation’ while SOLAR FAKE and SYNTHDECADE also got in on the action too.

CHVRCHES continued their quest for world domination with something that LITTLE BOOTS, LA ROUX, LADYHAWKE and HURTS never managed… a decent second album. But PURITY RING, the Canadian act whose template CHVRCHES borrowed, must have looked over with a touch of envy at the Glaswegian’s success so responded with ‘Another Eternity’.

HANNAH PEEL released an interim mini-album ‘Rebox 2’ which blended centuries of music technology while VILE ELECTRODES came up with the gorgeous ‘Captive In Symmetry’, possibly one of the songs of 2015. EURASIANEYES heeded all the guidance available to them to produce their most accomplished song yet in ‘Call Your God’ and ANALOG ANGEL went on a well-received tour supporting Swedish veterans COVENANT with a message to listeners of ‘Don’t Forget To Love’.

Elsewhere in the British Isles, CIRCUIT3, RODNEY CROMWELL and SUDDEN CREATION made their first excursions into the long player format just as KID KASIO and KOVAK each delivered album number two while Berlin based Brit EMIKA helpfully titled her third opus ‘Drei’.

“So, what’s so special about Sweden then?” someone once rather cluelessly asked TEC. Well, it is the modern hub of inventive, electronic pop. KARIN PARK offered her profanity laden fifth album ‘Apocalypse Pop’.

Meanwhile SAY LOU LOU finally gave the world their ‘Lucid Dreaming’. SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN offered to ‘Translate’ while TRAIN TO SPAIN told the world ‘What It’s All About’. And this was without feisty youngsters like ME THE TIGER and comparatively experienced hands such as PRESENCE OF MIND, DESTIN FRAGILE, CLUB 8, 047 and HILTIPOP all entering the equation too.

Still in Sweden, DAYBEHAVIOR went all female PET SHOP BOYS with the Italo flavoured ‘Cambiare’ and MACHINISTA followed up their debut ‘Xenoglossy’ with ‘Garmonbozia’. while there was also the unexpected return of alternative synthpopsters ASHBURY HEIGHTS.

But best of all were the mighty KITE; their ‘VI’ EP was a masterclass in epic, majestic electronic pop. In the rest of Europe, there was an influx of darker female fronted acts such as Hungary’s BLACK NAIL CABARET, Italy’s ELECTROGENIC, Greece’s SARAH P. and Germany’s NINA; the latter’s ‘My Mistake’ even ended up on a Mercedes TV advert. The male contingent did their bit too with Slovenia’s TORUL unleashing their second offering ‘The Measure’ while the prolific Finnish duo SIN COS TAN took things a little bit easier in their fourth year with just an EP ‘Smile, Tomorrow Will Be Worse’, having already released three albums since 2012.

Oslo based studio legend John Fryer returned with two new projects, SILVER GHOST SHIMMER and MURICIDAE featuring vocalists Pinky Turzo and Louise Fraser respectively. Both reminded listeners of his work with COCTEAU TWINS and THIS MORTAL COIL, but with an Americanised twist. The Icelandic domiciled Denver singer / songwriter JOHN GRANT added some funkier vibes to his continuing electronic direction while IAMX moved from Berlin to Los Angeles, and did no harm to his art with the brooding ‘Metanoia’ album.

On the brighter side of North America, PRIEST’s self-titled debut long player became reality following their dreamy ‘Samurai’ EP, while HYPERBUBBLE made available their wacky award winning soundtrack to the short film ‘Dee Dee Rocks The Galaxy’ and joyous 2014 London show. And GRIMES caught the music biz on the hop when she released a new album ‘Art Angels’, having scrapped an album’s worth of material in 2014.

But despite North America itself being one of the territories flying the flag for the synth with acts like NIGHT CLUB, BATTLE TAPES, AESTHETIC PERFECTION and RARE FACTURE all figuring, the worst single of 2015 actually came from the USA! Literally decades of synth heritage were eminently obliterated in five soul destroying minutes… was this really what the Electronic Revolution was fought for? This is cultural history and it needs to be protected.

Although the year had flashes of brilliance, it was generally less impressive overall for fledgling electronic artists, with a number forgetting that all important factor of a good tune! Eddie Bengtsson of SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN remarked last year that synthpop was becoming a dying art.

And in 2015, synthpop’s credibility was further tarnished with lazy use of the term by the mainstream press for acts like YEARS & YEARS; one could argue that Taylor Swift and her ‘1989’ opus is possibly more synthpop than YEARS & YEARS have ever been! In a market where EDM appears to be king and clubbers are happy to witness DJs miming their two hour sets, there is clearly something wrong. Things were not helped by certain media outlets insisting that dance music was the only way; it was as if electronic music had somehow managed to jump from KRAFTWERK to Detroit techno with nothing happening in between.

And then, there were those who had never particularly enjoyed music from that key Synth Britannia period, who were trying to dictate how modern electronic music was being presented and pretending it had popped out of thin air! Some bands were not doing themselves any favours either, showing little empathetic connection to the history of electronic music in their deluded optimism that they were crafting something completely new! As Jean-Michel Jarre amusingly quipped to Sound-On-Sound magazine: “Lots of people in America think that electronic music started with AVICII and it’s not exactly the truth…”

The lack of accuracy in a number of publications over the last 18 months was also shocking, particularly within magazines and online media that continued to employ writers with a history of not knowing their tape recorders from their drum machines. This simply proved the old adage that just because someone is employed as a professional writer, it doesn’t actually mean they are a good writer!

MYSADCAT2015

Photo @MYSADCAT

The domestic live scene had its challenges too with slow ticket sales and a number of events cancelled. But even when some true legends in electronic music were booked, ticket sales could not be guaranteed and efficient promotion was needed to maximise potential.

Some observers were bemoaning a lack of support for the scene, but if line-ups are not particularly appealing, then audiences cannot be expected to invest time and money to attend. A number of organisational infrastructures also lacked credibility; if a promoter doesn’t have at least some idea if they’re going to sell fifty tickets or five thousand, then they really shouldn’t be in the business!

The question that has to be asked then is, has anybody actually learnt from the Alt-Fest debacle of 2014? It really would appear not! While ‘A Secret Wish’ and SOS#2 were a couple of the year’s better UK events, Europe showed once again how things should be done. Electronic Summer in Gothenburg and the Electri_City_Conference in Düsseldorf were two of the most notable electronic music events of 2015.

The inherent knowledge and sense of understanding in both differed immensely to some British promoters. This perhaps could explain why electronic pop has generally flourished more in territories across the North Sea. Electronic pop needs to continue to develop, but quality control must be maintained to ensure the genre is not publically misrepresented. SOFT CELL once sang about ‘Monoculture’ while KID MOXIE declared how everyone was just content with ‘Medium Pleasure’.

If all that’s heard is the best of a bad bunch, then younger listeners (and therefore potential future synth oriented musicians) will not be inspired. That is why it is important that CHVRCHES and EAST INDIA YOUTH consolidate their positions as modern electronic pop’s representatives in the mainstream.

It is not good practice to support mediocre music just because it happens to be electronic. The finest examples need to be set so as to show what can be achieved; now if that means possibly referencing back to the golden age of synthpop, then so be it. Only then will the synth baton be able to taken up by a new generation who can then truly reinvigorate it.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK Contributor Listings 2015

PAUL BODDY

Best Album: EAST INDIA YOUTH Culture Of Volume
Best Song: NEW ORDER Restless
Best Gig: EAST INDIA YOUTH + HANNAH PEEL at London Village Underground
Best Video: BATTLE TAPES Valkyrie
Most Promising New Act: BATTLE TAPES

IAN FERGUSON

Best Album: EAST INDIA YOUTH Culture Of Volume
Best Song: KITE Count The Days
Best Gig: ASSEMBLAGE 23 at SOS#2 Festival
Best Video: VILE ELECTRODES Captive In Symmetry
Most Promising New Act: RODNEY CROMWELL

MONIKA IZABELA GOSS

Best Album: SILVER GHOST SHIMMER Soft Landing
Best Song: IAMX Happiness
Best Gig: IAMX at London Koko
Best Video: TORUL The Balance
Most Promising New Act: SYNTHDECADE

SIMON HELM

Best Album: LAU NAU Hem Någonstans
Best Song: ME THE TIGER As We Really Are
Best Gig: SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN at A Secret Wish
Best Video: JUNO Same To Me
Most Promising New Act: REIN

CHI MING LAI

Best Album: SUSANNE SUNDFØR Ten Love Songs
Best Song: KITE Up For Life
Best Gig: FFS at The Troxy
Best Video: VILE ELECTRODES Captive In Symmetry
Most Promising New Act: RODNEY CROMWELL

RICHARD PRICE

Best Album: EAST INDIA YOUTH Culture Of Volume
Best Song: NEW ORDER Plastic
Best Gig: EAST INDIA YOUTH + HANNAH PEEL at London Village Underground
Best Video: VILE ELECTRODES Captive In Symmetry
Most Promising New Act: KITE

Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th December 2015

ANDY BELL Interview

17 September 2015 /

It’s been 30 years since ERASURE emerged onto the UK synthpop scene. DEPECHE MODE co-founder Vince Clarke joined forces with Andy Bell and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Numerous albums later, the 1989 Brit Award winning duo have gone from strength to strength. Both have always been busy outside of ERASURE with their side projects.

There’s been Andy’s opera appearances, collaborations with IN VOX, BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION, various DJ and solo work. Meanwhile Vince has produced for other artists, co-written with old DM band mate Martin Gore as VCMG and much more; they continue to dedicate their time to ERASURE at clockwork intervals, turning out marvellous albums which are not just popular with the electronica fanatics.

The boy with heavenly voice, Andy Bell remains very demure, unassuming and laid back, ignoring the fact that he remains one of the best voices of any genre and that, to many, he is simply a god. Most recently, he has played an immortal polysexual in ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’, a role Andy himself has described as one of the biggest challenges of his career which has also since spawned ‘Variance – The Torsten The Bareback Saint Remixes’.

Having very successfully introduced audiences into the crazy, sad and wonderful life of Torsten, Andy Bell chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about life, Torsten, ERASURE and what is in store for the über talented man that he is…

Who came up with the concept for ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’?

I think it was Barney Ashton, he’s a poet and a bit of a playwright really, and I think he is just coming up with those ideas all the time, you know… I’m not really sure how long he had the character in mind for Torsten. He first came up to me about five years ago. I went to the Kerrang Awards in London, it was to give Daniel Miller a prize for Mute Records. Barney was at the same table and we did briefly meet each other before, but we started talking.

He said “oh, I have this idea for this character called Torsten and you would be ideal to play the character… is it something you’d be interested in?”, and I said “sure”. A couple of years later, he sent me a couple of songs for the first episode, ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ and I was really blown away with the songs. I think Barney is really a genius, he’s yet to be discovered, I think…

The song-cycle was first performed during two closed shows in July 2014, first for family and friends, and the second to ERASURE fans. Which one went down better?

To be honest, I can only remember the second one: lots of my mates were there, I was so nervous at the first one, I probably erased it out of my mind!

The second night went very well, I was more settled in, but it is quite nerve wrecking with your friends in the audience, people that you know. The venue was small and they were really close, and ERASURE fans expect ANDY BELL, but Torsten isn’t ANDY BELL… you can’t talk in between the songs or give them your cheeky grin or anything like that as you have to stay in character, so that was quite strange. It was like working in a library! I made more mistakes on the first night.

The full show ran for two weeks in Edinburgh during August 2014, how did that go? Was there a different feel for each performance?

Audiences weren’t that big, there were so many shows during the festival: four thousand shows, I think. So, it was quite hard, the acts were being rotated. Before us, there was a South African dance choir, and a play after us, so we had to get the stuff off very quickly. I think we made a mistake in the promotion material, as we chose to show the back of my head.

I think if we had shown my face, maybe more people would have come, even ERASURE fans didn’t know I was up there, many people didn’t know I was up there. It felt like a secret gig almost.

The most we had was about 25-30 people on one night, the best night. Otherwise we would have 5 people, so it was quite strange to be doing it to not that many people. It was really testing because it does take guts doing the show and even if it was empty, you’d still have to do it. You’d have to do it to an empty room, as that was the part of us being up there.

The context and content of the album, and the show are very brave, was the reception what you had expected?

I think some of the ERASURE fans were quite scared, because it’s very personal, and although it’s not me, it seems very personal. One guy came to see us from Manchester, as he was thinking of putting the show on in a theatre in Manchester; a gay guy, and he didn’t like it at all… I think it was because some of the references are so close to the bone, so truthful, that I think some people can’t cope with them. It’s not all happy clappy and saying the gay life is fabulous at all.

Is cabaret a style you had been previously well familiar with?

Cabaret is not a style I was familiar with, but I am a really big fan of Kurt Weill’s ‘The Threepenny Opera’, and that version of the cabaret I saw with Alan Cumming in New York. Cyndi Lauper was in there as well. I really like that leftfield, off-off Broadway kind of stuff, nothing that’s too commercial. I think ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ fits into that really well. To me, it reminds me of those British black and white movies that came out in the early 60s; very cutting edge, I think it was called ‘A Taste Of Honey’ with a girl getting pregnant… it was more like the original ‘Coronation Street’ before it all went glam.

The idea of polysexuality can be difficult for some to understand and / or accept. Do you think the show’s audience fully accepted the concept?

I don’t know, it is really a strange thing, I’m playing a character and because I’m gay myself, people think that maybe Torsten is only gay, and it is strange when I’m referring to having had female lovers. I have only had one girlfriend in my life, so there’s not really an awful lot that I can relate to. I have got transsexual friends, and they have a really tough life. I couldn’t really imagine what it must be like having a relationship with someone like that, as it must be really, really tough, and there are lots of psychological things going on. I think Torsten is quite complex, I don’t necessarily think we would get on, if I met him. As a gay man, I don’t think he would fancy me as he’s too complicated.

The idea of a song-cycle is certainly more suited for a soundtrack to a production, do you feel it helps the story more, rather than individual, unconnected songs would achieve?

I think the song-cycle was just the order in which the songs were recorded, that was the running order of the album really… it was changed for the show, but it’s something that came out organically, something that was in Barney’s mind. It’s the same with Part 2, ‘The Beautiful Libertine’, which for me is much more song oriented, and gives you much more of an insight into Torsten’s background, how his character was shaped, when he was growing up. The introduction to Torsten was quite sporadic, psychotic, quite confusing to people, as it was a little bit all over the place. With the second one, Barney has definitely found a rhythm.

Would you like to be Torsten?

He’s really brave, I really hope for the best for him. But he’s made some really terrible life choices with the people he’s met, and they put him through hell, which now is reflecting on him. I don’t think he really likes the fact that he is living forever, he’s 108 and not growing old, I don’t think he really likes that eternal youth idea. I think that’s quite torturous for him, and in the end he may be celibate or decide he doesn’t want to have any more partners, as it’s too painful for him to see them coming and going all the time.

Having songs written for you outside of ERASURE, how did it feel?

It was really lovely, very flattering… at first I was a bit weary, Barney said he’d heard this opera that I did with Peter Hammill called ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’, which was in about 1990… I just played a small part in that, he was called ‘Montresor’, and he was a very naive character, so it suited my personality. Barney had said that he had had me in mind while writing the ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ and sometimes you think “people may just be saying that”, but then when I heard the songs, read the material, I could see lots of parallels.

Probably things that happened to Barney in his life, I can really relate to, by being a gay man, and being on the gay scene early on in the mid-80s and that kind of feeling of when you get rejected quite a lot and you’re not very confident… you just hang around the periphery of the club, but you don’t really feel part of it.

The timing of the album and stage production nearly coincided with the release of ‘The Violet Flame’, weren’t you afraid your solo project may tread on ERASURE’s toes?

It’s quite tough to juggle these things, usually ERASURE takes precedence. We book out a period of a year and a half when we are planning for ERASURE, but I thought “I can’t keep doing that, I’d like to do things in tandem”. Just to be a creative person, you need to add different strings to your bow. It is really exhausting, but I really love the challenge. I do writing with other people like DJ Dave Aude, so it’s always tricky, but I’m not one of those people who plans things years in advance, I just do things as they come, whenever I can fit them in really….

Would the idea of immortality appeal to you, as you could fit in all those things?

Well, I suppose so. With finding out about being HIV positive, and when my long term partner died, even though we weren’t together anymore, it definitely makes you feel like you wanna cram all this stuff in, as…

Time is running out…

YES! Yes, yeah…

You described the project as the most challenging ever in your career? Having completed it, was it so?

It’s given me so much, and I’m so looking forward to doing part two, and we are doing a workshop on the last week of September and first week in October. I’m really, really looking forward to that, as I was kind of a half-baked actor when I was younger, in youth theatre and stuff like that, only like an outside school hobby… but it’s something that has always been on the periphery. It’s giving me so much. With the frustration in something like making music, and maybe not getting such a wide audience as you used to have, my satisfaction comes from doing things like ‘Torsten’.

On the subject of ERASURE, you have been band mates with Vince for a very long time, how do you keep things fresh?

By doing other things, working with other people… I’ve just finished 10 dates in South America on my own, trying to get a show going on my own, we have these two amazing drag queen dancers, live drummer and a keyboardist, and we do use some of Vince’s ERASURE backing tracks, because that is what people want to hear as well. We beef them up and I also have my solo stuff in there. But I think Vince really likes it as well, he’s always said he thinks I’m fearless. I don’t think he realises how much nerves I get, I just like doing these things and go and stand on the edge of precipice and see what happens.

Any plans with ERASURE in the near future, apart from the 30th anniversary releases?

I think we are going to write, there’s nothing yet, but we talked about it and had a meeting. I said to Vince that I’d love for him to do almost like a concert piece on his own, just do music on his own, like a symphony or something, and I can just listen to the music and see if it inspires me in any way. Just to add choirs and things like that.

Aren’t you missing your über cool costumes you used to wear during ERASURE’s live shows? Like for ‘The Tank, The Swan and The Balloon…’

Yeah, I loved wearing the Victorian lady’s outfit, top hat and stuff, but it’s one of those things you can’t do all the time… I find it a bit weary when you get those artists and they get a new look every week. It just depends on my mood, the tour and the vibe you want to give off. How surreal you want it to be, it’s not that I’ve stopped, it’s just… sometimes it’s just easy to wear jeans and T-shirt.

Did you achieve what you set out for ‘The Violet Flame’, say in comparison with ‘Tomorrow’s World’?

Vince and I think it could have been a bit more deeper, more housey, club style… it was still quite three minute pop songs, but we think it could have been a bit more experimental I suppose…

Vince reworked a lot of older classics for ‘The Violet Flame’ tour, which song did you enjoy performing the most?

I think maybe ‘Star’, it had this real tribal beats intro and we managed to get the flavour of being in a club. That was the vibe we were going for. In the beginning, we wanted to have a DJ booth above the stage, with me dancing underneath, but it would have been very expensive, so we stayed on the same surface.

Have you ever fancied bursting into ‘A Little Respect’ on the tube yourself?

No, I like being incognito, when nobody knows who I am. I prefer being not so well known… before, I used to yearn it, but I think you grow out of it. In 1992, after the ABBA thing, it went massive, I was walking in Hampstead, where we lived, and everybody was looking at me and I found it really embarrassing and thought “can you make it stop?”! Vince gets very embarrassed, he’s very not bothered, his ego is way beyond that.

Having conquered the Torsten challenge, what’s in store now for Andy Bell?

I think it’s just developing the character more and getting to know him, I don’t think I really know him that well yet. With the second part ‘The Beautiful Libertine’, I can get to know him a bit more and maybe like him a bit more. After that there’s part three, I hope it won’t end for Torsten. I’m looking forward to doing the shows, it’s going to be next March in London.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Andy Bell

Special thanks to Matt Ingham at Cherry Red Records

‘Variance – The Torsten The Bareback Saint Remixes’ and ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ are released by Cherry Red in CD and download formats, further information at http://www.cherryred.co.uk/

http://www.andybell.com/

https://www.facebook.com/officialandybell

http://www.erasureinfo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/erasureinfo

Text and Interview by Monika Izabela Goss
Live photos by Richard Price
16th September 2015

ANDY BELL Variance – The Torsten The Bareback Saint Remixes

6 August 2015 /

Andy Bell is… Torsten The Bareback Saint.

Andy Bell would sound divine performing a telephone directory or reading out the train schedule. The voice, second to none, has dominated UK synth and pop scene for years, thanks to his 30 year involvement with Vince Clarke under the ERASURE umbrella.

Having released solo projects before, starting with the exquisite 2005 ‘Electric Blue’, followed by ‘Non Stop’ and ‘iPop’, Bell came back in 2014 with über controversial ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’. The release of Bell’s solo project nearly coincided with ERASURE’s own release of their most recent, highly critically acclaimed ‘The Violet Flame’ in September 2014.

For Bell, ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ has been “the biggest challenge of (his) career so far”. After all, it is not just a straightforward album with catchy, poppy songs a-la his previous endeavours. All the songs were written for Bell by Barney Ashton (lyrics) and Christopher Frost / Simon Bayliss (music).

The whole concept was a soundtrack to a theatre show of the same name, where Bell was playing an age-defying polysexual. The show headlined at The Assembly during the 2014 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival for two weeks and proved extremely popular with the audiences. The production and its soundtrack is a highly dramaturgic song-cycle of memories from a life of hedonistic individual, whose semi-immortal being is filled with experiences of passing time.

The opening verse on the album can easily cause moral concern, of the so-called religious conmen. For the rest of us, it rings the tone of the production as being honest, open and not scared to shock. The album flows with amazing ERASURE-esque rhythms and cinematic productions, seeing Bell sing through Torsten’s history from his school years, through wanting to be a star while working at the local bingo, seeking his sexuality, trying out new things and being robbed, with his bike stolen by his female lover in ‘Fountain Of Youth’.

Next, he’s having his heart broken by a random gay partner “from a sauna” in ‘The Boy From The Sauna’ and experiencing romantic love on a weekend away in ‘Weston-Super-Mare’. There’s also witnessing the perverse behaviour of his alcoholic father and withdrawn, abused mother, being lovers with a boy from Brazil, contemplating the “gay thing” in ‘This Gay Thing Isn’t Working’, to considering suicide in ‘As I Prepare To Take My Life’, upon realisation that dreams cannot be achieved.

The songs flow beautifully and singularly would make no sense, with the exception of the opulent, magnificent ‘I Don’t Like’, which is showing off Bell’s massive vocal talent and stands out as a single material by itself. Twenty two sequential tracks fill the production which paints a beautiful, yet sad story of an individual desperate to be loved, one way or another, by whoever, no matter of what sex or background.

The ‘Variance’ remix album contains five versions of ‘Weston-Super-Mare’, re-fashioned purely for fun. Some vocals have been re-recorded with lyrics changed and the whole production has more of an ERASURE feel to it, which will appeal to the die-hard synth-pop fans of the duo. The last remix of the song, ‘Industrial Soundscape Mix’, appears to have elements of CABARET VOLTAIRE and EINSTURZENDE NEUBATEN built into it.


There’s also a poppy take on ‘Bingo Hall Baby’, a stunning Radio Remix of ‘I Don’t Like’ and ‘Fountain Of Youth’, as well as a promotional medley of ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’, giving the listener a taster of what the production is all about.

Love or hate ANDY BELL, it has to be admitted that the brave artist has an endless talent and has been, for years, the shining icon of the gay brotherhood for a reason. Outspoken, in your face and daring, Bell has taken on a challenge, which he has clearly excelled in. Haters will hate, but it has to be admitted that the artist has outdone himself once again.

‘Variance – The Torsten The Bareback Saint Remixes’ is released by Cherry Red on 4th September 2015 as a CD and download.

Pre-order at http://www.cherryred.co.uk/discography/andy-bell-variance-the-torsten-the-bareback-saint-remixes/

http://www.andybell.com/

https://www.facebook.com/officialandybell

https://twitter.com/AndyBell_info

Text by Monika Izabela Goss
6th August 2015

BEF Live At Shepherds Bush Empire

9 October 2013 /

BEF finally played the first of two special concerts featuring an impressive line-up of guest vocalists to celebrate the three volume high-tech covers series ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction’ and in particular, the latest release subtitled ‘Dark’.

Announced on stage by its musical director Martyn Ware as “the last ever BEF concerts”, the production company made its live debut as part of a dual weekender with its most successful subsidiary HEAVEN 17 in Autumn 2011.

Taking place at The Roundhouse in London, it was a gloriously ambitious outing which included the likes of Sandie Shaw, Boy George, Kim Wilde and Midge Ure. Tonight’s show was in the slightly more intimate confines of Shepherd’s Bush Empire. It provided an opportunity to showcase a number of songs that had not been aired at the last BEF show.

It is always to their credit that the BEF / HEAVEN 17 umbrella always give value for money to their loyal followers by varying setlists, something which other acts from the Synth Britannia era who still tour could learn from.

Naturally, Glenn Gregory opened proceedings with a song that could be seen as 2013’s electronic music scene theme tune ‘It Was a Very Good Year’. With its eerie HUMAN LEAGUE meets THE FUGEES breakbeat arrangement, it was a fine opening that reflected Martyn Ware’s electronic roots with his love of contemporary soul and classic songwriting. But there were surprises from the off…

First guest Andy Bell from ERASURE gave an emotive rendition of QUEEN’s ‘Love Of My Life’ in addition to his contribution to the impressively diverse ‘Dark’, Kate Bush’s ‘Breathing’.  Then one of the ‘Dark’ album’s best numbers ‘Don’t Wanna Know’ got its premiere courtesy of COMMUNARDS singer Sarah Jane-Morris.

The contrast of her deep blues with the blippy electronics came over like a darker gothic version of YAZOO. Slightly more laid back but no less dramatic, her version of ‘Family Affair’ also highlighted the funkier standpoints of the BEF sound.

HEAVEN 17’s contemporaries SCRITTI POLITTI’s Green Gartside and PROPAGANDA’s Claudia Brücken took their turns on the stage with Green reprising his raspy tones on ‘Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time’ and ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’. Meanwhile Claudia (who didn’t actually appear on the ‘Dark’ album as she was recording her own covers LP ‘The Lost Are Found’) gave a beautifully Germanic edged realisation of ‘The Look of Love’ that recalled ‘Felt Mountain’ era GOLDFRAPP and a finger-clickin’ good ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’.

But there were a trio of amazingly heartfelt performances; first Glenn Gregory performed ‘Party Fears Two’ which he first sung at this very same venue in 2007 for the Billy Mackenzie 50th Birthday Tribute Concert. It was a fitting remembrance of the late vocalist from THE ASSOCIATES who sang on Volumes 1 and 2.

Trained undertaker and singer/songwriter David J Roch gave his Moroder-esque spacey disco take of Bill Withers’ ‘Same Love’, one of the stand-out tracks on ‘Dark’. However, the biggest surprise of the evening came when regular HEAVEN 17 / BEF live band member Berenice Scott stepped out from behind her keyboards for a dazzling cinematic rendition of BLONDIE’s ‘Picture This’.

Endearingly sung by “possibly the sexiest lady ever to have got behind a synthesizer”, the crowd was aghast with her vocal abilities; it came as such a surprise that it almost stole the show. The extremely modest Miss Scott though had actually ventured back to her keys before the lengthy song’s conclusion, so didn’t quite feel the full weight of applause that acknowledged her performance.

On the final stretch, The Swiss Family Wilde took to the stage with Kim joined by her niece Scarlett and brother Ricky for a Motown triple tribute. Beginning with the magnificent but little known Stevie Wonder composition ‘Every Time I See You I Go Wild’, the spine tingling industrial backdrop suited Ms Wilde’s vampish demeanour. Then it was a pair of Hitsville classics that featured on the first volume of ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction’ series ‘There’s A Ghost in My House’ and ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ which Kim had a hit with herself back in 1986.

With Tamla influences very much dominating this section of the show, it was appropriate that to finish was an extended workout of ‘Temptation’. Centred around the band’s two backing vocalists Billie Godfrey and Kelly Barnes, the pair had already demonstrated their power particularly on their respective interpretations of ‘Smalltown Boy’ and ‘Just Walk In My Shoes’. The spectacle of the pair engaged in a battle of the disco lung smiths was a wondrous delight

This evening of fun and frolics was a marvellous achievement on the part of Martyn Ware and the BEF band Asa Bennett, Julian Crampton and Berenice Scott for their abilities and professionalism in learning and playing so many songs for effectively a one-off event. It is a shame that there will be no more BEF events such as these but they are an extremely big logistical undertaking. But then again, for anyone who attended this or the Sheffield Academy show, or The Roundhouse back in 2011, these will be special memories to be cherished for a long time.

Setlist:

It Was A Very Good Year (featuring Glenn Gregory)

Breathing (featuring Andy Bell)

Love Of My Life (featuring Andy Bell)

Don’t Want to Know (featuring Sarah Jane Morris)

Family Affair (featuring Sarah Jane Morris)

Smalltown Boy (featuring Billie Godfrey)

Free (featuring Billie Godfrey)

Co-Pilot The Pilot (featuring Kelly Barnes)

Walk In My Shoes (featuring Kelly Barnes)

Party Fears Two (featuring Glenn Gregory)

Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time (featuring Green Gartside)

I Don’t Know Why I Love You (featuring Green Gartside)

Picture This (featuring Berenice Scott)

The Look Of Love (featuring Claudia Brücken)

These Boots Were Made For Walking (featuring Claudia Brücken)

Every Time I See You Go Wild (featuring Kim Wilde)

There’s A Ghost In My House (featuring Kim Wilde)

You Keep Me Hanging On (featuring Kim Wilde)

Boys Keep Swinging (featuring Glenn Gregory)

Temptation (featuring Glenn Gregory, Billie Godfrey and Kelly Barnes)

‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 3 – Dark’ is released by Wall Of Sound and available as a CD and download

‘Martyn Ware Presents…’ takes place as part of the Virgin 40 celebrations at London’s Koko on Monday 11th November 2013.

Material spanning his entire career will be performed including HEAVEN 17 and from his time as a founder member of THE HUMAN LEAGUE. Please visit  http://www.koko.uk.com/listings/martyn-ware-presents-heaven-17-11-11-2013 and http://www.virgin40.com/ for more details

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http://www.heaven17.com/bef/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price
9th October 2013

BEF Music Of Quality & Distinction Vol3 – Dark

21 May 2013 /

The third volume in BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION’s ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction’ series has been long awaited.

Subtitled ‘Dark’, it was first announced back in 2007 and the majority of it was premiered at a special BEF weekend showcase at The Roundhouse in 2011. ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Vol1’ was issued in 1982 to great fanfare, a sophisticated K-Tel album recorded under the musical directorship of Martyn Ware, then recently departed from THE HUMAN LEAGUE and soon to find fame as part of HEAVEN 17.

Featuring vocalists such as Tina Turner, Sandie Shaw, Paul Jones and Billy Mackenzie, it was a critical if not a commercial success but effectively revived the career of the Soul Siren born Anna Mae Bullock as well as kickstarting Ware’s impressive production portfolio which later encompassed ASSOCIATES and ERASURE.

1991 saw the release of ‘Music of Quality & Distinction Vol2’ which had much more of a mainstream soul vibe; Tina Turner and Billy Mackenzie returned while other notable vocalists included Chaka Khan, Billy Preston, Green Gartside and Terence Trent D’Arby whose massive selling debut ‘Introducing The Hardline…’ was produced by Ware.

The concept of ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 3 – Dark’ though is dark interpretations of perceivably upbeat songs. The chilling, stark electronics and eerie soundtrack arrangements on several tracks have led to Ware producing some of his most distinctly industrialised work since his days with THE HUMAN LEAGUE. The tremendous opener ‘Every Time I See You I Go Wild’ is a case in point.

Using just a Roland System 100, instrumentally it could have come from ‘The Dignity Of Labour’ or ‘Reproduction’while Kim Wilde’s spirited vocal adds a human twist to what sounds like THE HUMAN LEAGUE meets DEPECHE MODE. There’s even a tongue-in-cheek reference to ‘Don’t You Want Me’ thrown into the metallic mix for good measure!

Another great fusion of soul mechanics is ‘Don’t Wanna Know’, a John Martyn cover voiced by former COMMUNARDS co-vocalist Sarah Jane Morris. Still sounding like a lower register Jimmy Sommerville, Morris’ bluesy tones contrast well with the synthesized backing. In a variation to the theme, Green Gartside adds his distinctive raspy touch on The Delfonics’ ‘Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time’ which absorbs the senses with its silky sonics and complimentary guitar textures.

Andy Bell provides one of the album’s standouts with his rendition of Kate Bush’s ‘Breathing’. A song that was never that upbeat in the first place, its narrative on the nuclear holocaust is given an even more disturbing counterpoint when Bell audibly recites scientific data on the effects of an attack.

While Bell’s distinctive timbre remains intact, on the orchestrated rock of ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, Boy George takes on a turn of deadpan and aggression that makes him almost unrecognisable! One of the stars of the BEF showcase at The Roundhouse, his onstage tale about going with Martyn Ware to see Gary Glitter in concert and getting the convicted felon’s autograph was priceless; “I don’t think it’s worth much money now” he quipped! That alone deserves a second track and appropriately enough, it is a near faithful ‘Make Up’ from Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer’. “We’re coming out…out of our closets” indeed!

Another thematic pairing comes with the return of the barefoot Queen of Pop, Sandie Shaw. After tackling ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’ on ‘Vol1’, she gives it some Northern Soul welly on ‘Just Walk In My Shoes’, a tune written by one-time Motown signings The Lewis Sisters.

Meanwhile the Bacharach and David cover duties on ‘Dark’ go to the kooky Polly Scattergood who delivers a lovely ‘Felt Mountain’ era Goldfrapp styled performance of ‘The Look of Love’. Trivia fact: ‘The Look Of Love’ (which featured in the original film version of ‘Casino Royale’) was beaten to the 1968 Oscar for Best Original Song by ‘Talk To The Animals’ from ‘Doctor Dolittle’!

‘Dark’ is a large collection of work, 16 songs in all and they appear to fall into three categories. As well as dark electronics, there are more contemporary dance assisted numbers and filmic ballads. Of the dancier numbers; melodramatic Sheffield newcomer David J Roch doing Bill Withers’ ‘Same Love’ is one of the big surprises with an emotive neo-acappella intro segueing into a meaty pulsing bassline, spacey whistles and haunting invader games.

HEAVEN 17 backing vocalist Billie Godfrey features on a similar but extended treatment of Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’ while Maxim aka Max Pokrovsky of the Moscow-based rock band Nogu Svelo! goes all campy Europop on an enjoyably over-the-top reading of ABBA’s ‘The Day Before You Came’; a virtual unknown before ‘Dark’… not anymore! The clarinet solo just sums up how gloriously loopy this rendition is!

The late Billy Mackenzie left this earth in 1997 and after his presence on the first two volumes, ‘Dark’ would not be complete without his legacy being represented. This comes in the shape of a sparse, slowed down waltz rendition of ‘Party Fears Two’ by Glenn Gregory which first appeared on HEAVEN 17’s 08 versions compilation ‘Naked As Advertised’. An unexpected inclusion, this is an important centrepiece that sits well with the other songs in the compendium.

And Gregory almost steals the show with Frank Sinatra’s ‘It Was a Very Good Year’. Held together by a sampled drum loop and dressed with Ware’s bubbling synths, Gregory makes a perfect crooner in the tradition of Scott Walker, with echoes of his ‘Always Coming Back To You’ in the delivery. The 60 year old song itself takes on a magnificent dimension that will please any early HEAVEN 17 fan.

However, ‘God Only Knows’ and ‘Picture This’ performed respectively by Shingai Shinowa from The Noisettes and Kate Jackson from The Long Blondes are, while sweetly performed, possibly the two least essential items to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s ears on this album. But, such are the strengths of Ware’s curation and production that they are highly likely to be appeal to others. And this is one of the important selling points of ‘Dark’… there really is something for everyone.

Ending with new HEAVEN 17 backing vocalist Kelly Barnes on Teena Marie’s ‘Co-pilot To Pilot’, this is maybe the most incongruous item on the set with the backing track having been originally recorded for ‘Music of Quality & Distinction Vol2’. Its Trans-Atlantic soul vintage is quite apparent, especially when belted out in that classic manner by the Macclesfield youngster.

Overall, ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 3 – Dark’ is a worthy adventure and Martyn Ware can pat himself on the back for realising his most challenging project to date. Whereas the first two volumes had record label support, ‘Dark’ has been self-funded, hence the time span of the work; Ware’s dedication, musical ear and co-ordinating abilities deserve recognition and reward.

‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 3 – Dark’ is released by Wall Of Sound on 27th May 2013 as a single CD, deluxe 2CD with bonus instrumental disc and download

http://britishelectricfoundation.com/

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http://www.heaven17.com/bef/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price and Chi Ming Lai
21st May 2013

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