Tag: Computer Magic (Page 1 of 3)

DANZ CM Interview


DANZ CM, the artist formally known as COMPUTER MAGIC is New York-based Danz Johnson, a musician, producer and vocalist fascinated by everything ‘Synth History’ has to offer.

As a result, she has been able to overcome her shyness to produce her own music and engage with some of the biggest names in electronic music. “I outgrew COMPUTER MAGIC. I outgrew the shy bedroom pop girl a long time ago” when she announced DANZ CM and her first album under that name ‘The Absurdity Of Human Existence’.

As well as releasing a fistful of albums and EPs since 2012’s ‘Scientific Experience’ which made its release debut in Japan, she also started the ‘Synth History’ online platform which to date has interviewed Gary Numan, Vince Clarke, Rick Wakeman, Dave Smith, Suzanne Ciani, Pete Townsend and James Murphy amongst others, while a well-researched podcast on the career of Wendy Carlos attracted much acclaim.

Danz Johnson chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about her creative process, song inspirations, leaving behind COMPUTER MAGIC and ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’…

Why did electronic music become your choice of artistic expression as opposed to say indie rock, punk, R ‘n’ B, folk or country which many American kids can and do get into?

I started out with electronic music because that’s what I had. I didn’t even know I could make music before I downloaded Ableton one day and tried. Prior to that, I had been obsessed with listening to music. I had my own music blog when I was super young. I’d listen to music all day long, even throughout class. I could always hear music in my head even when I wasn’t listening to it – I’d fantasize about whole songs through – like a radio station in my brain.

Eventually, I just decided to try, and found out the ability of hearing music in my head translated to making music by ear. I still have never memorized notes or chords – but I could transpose a song just by listening to it. If I had picked up a guitar first, maybe I’d have started with rock.


The album title ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’ indicates you may have been going through an existential crisis, so is it a concept album of sorts?

It’s definitely somewhat of a concept album. I went through some difficult emotional realizations when I was writing it. I was dating someone who was really narcissistic.. it really messed me up. For some reason it felt like a last straw. I realized throughout my whole life, I was, for some reason, susceptible to people like that – like a target. A realization which finally broke me. Is everyone in the world out to get everyone else? Do people really only care about themselves? Is it me? Why do I feel guilty?

I always saw the world through rose colored glasses – that people generally have good intentions, but suddenly that view shifted… I saw flaws everywhere and also in me. But not in a bad way, in a very accepting way. That’s how the world is, after all. Everyone comes from a different place with a different upbringing with a different mind and yeah – bad things happen to good people all the time. And I think that was a big step in growing up. Despite the emotionality, I think it was something I needed to go through artistically and as a person.

How would you break down ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’?

I kind of see the album in different stages, albeit the tracklisting is loose. The beginning of a relationship gone south (‘Not Gonna Stand By’), realizing what’s going on, feeling bad about it and helpless (‘Domino’, ‘Idea of You’) – Trying not to let your low self-esteem get the best of you (‘My Other Self’) – Finally breaking (‘Breaking Point’, ‘Low’) – Picking yourself up, knowing that you’re capable (‘I Don’t Need a Hero’, ‘Something More’) – Falling in love again (‘Don’t Stop’) – And the last song is important (‘Human Existence’) because it encapsulates it all. Existence is absurd, emotions in themselves are as well, but as far as we know, you only live once so you might as well make the best of it.

I should point out that the idea of Absurdism really saved me when I hit my lowest during this period, which is when I wrote ‘Breaking Point’. That’s when I titled the album. Oftentimes as human beings with reactive emotions, we feel depressed when we’re not in control of our situation. Letting go and realizing that – the universe can be random and accepting it – helped immensely.

Was the pandemic crisis another trigger in your artistic psyche?

To be honest – I wrote, produced and recorded this entire album before the pandemic! Everything including the title was written and recorded beforehand. The only thing the pandemic did was delay the release. It did give me time to find a good mastering engineer – Joe LaPorta. He really did a great job.


You have already stated the reasons on your own social media as to why you decided to stop being COMPUTER MAGIC, but has the name change affected profile momentum or was it a smooth transition like when Gary Numan was no longer TUBEWAY ARMY even though he was TUBEWAY ARMY?

Looking back, I wish I had the money to hire PR. It would have been nice to get the word out via online publications in addition to my social media channels. I put out everything myself on my own label, Channel 9 Records. In turn, my PR budget runs parallel to what I can personally afford.

I don’t have a $20k budget for hiring PR being given to me by a label as an advance, or by my parents. I need to have that money saved up and ready before the release is set if I want to get written up in Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, etc. A reputable PR company costs upwards of $5-10k a month – that’s not even counting billboards and wild postings – posters you see on the streets of NYC and other major cities. But there is also the cost of pressing vinyls – which is important to me, mastering – which is important to me, and videos. It’s a lot of money and it all adds up if you want to release something properly.

I needed to figure out what I couldn’t live without – and that was the substance. The music, the tangible vinyls, the videos to coincide with the songs. People will eventually find out about the album. Maybe I’ll be dead and it’ll be in forty years, but I know it’s good and I put my all into it. Whatever happens afterwards is a bonus.

The name change has really just been word of mouth. One thing I didn’t take into consideration was all of CM’s Spotify followers. I had twenty thousand that weren’t notified of the release, and I had to start from scratch. But the name change needed to happen. It just felt right for me.

The difference between your pop-oriented debut ‘Davos’ album and the melancholic innocence of songs like ‘Lonely Like We Are’ from the ‘Obscure But Visible’ EP , to the darkness of the ‘Danz’ album are quite marked, so things already were heading in a new direction in your mind?

Yeah – I think so, but not on purpose, just subconsciously. I think the main factors that influence my work are the unfolding of my life, external inspirations and the increase in knowledge concerning music production. If you’re making art, it’s unhealthy to be stagnant and always have the same output.

On ‘Danz’, the widescreen other worldliness of ‘Nebraskaland’ seemed to spark your interest in the expansive spaces that are captured in the photos and videos for ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’?

I wrote ‘Nebraskaland’ on tour! When I play live, I hire a session drummer, the amazing Ignacio Rivas Bixio. We were driving and I think my friend Mo was tour managing. We were out in the middle of nowhere – all in our own zones in the tour van. I think Ignacio was playing ‘DOOM’ on his laptop, Mo was listening to the ‘Serial’ podcast and I was on my headphones working in Ableton. I saw a truck that said ‘Nebraskaland’ and it just stuck with me. The song is about the endless open road – one of my favorites. It goes with ‘Absurdity’ for sure.

‘Idea of You’ set the scene as your first DANZ CM single release, what was its genesis?

‘Idea of You’ is basically about falling in love with someone for all the wrong reasons, a complete facade. You want to feel “the feeling” of falling in love, so you ignore all the red flags when you should really be running in the opposite direction. It’s about feeling fooled, whilst simultaneously feeling stuck because in your heart you want it to work out. In the video we wanted to capture that. My boyfriend – Matthew James Reilly – is a director. During quarantine we couldn’t get a big crew, so we just flew to the middle of Death Valley the two of us and made the video. I think it really does the song justice. To me, the house represents the relationship that I’m slowly realizing isn’t real.

The almost title track ‘Human Existence’ is gorgeous, one of the best of 2021 so far, it’s like OMD been fronted by CHROMATICS, had there been any particular influences in its arrangement?

I just wanted to make something uplifting to portray the way I was feeling. To me, the song means acceptance of circumstance. I didn’t aim for any particular sound, it just came to be honest. I used the Prophet 6 – which is mostly analog except for the effects. I wanted epic pad sounds.

‘Breaking Point’ taps into that chilling arpeggio template that some would say is very ‘Stranger Things’, how did that come together?

Like I mentioned earlier – I really hit a low. It was after the departure of the toxic relationship. I was really questioning myself and who I was. I started taking a benzo type of drug, which I would not recommend to anybody dealing with depression. When that wore off, I went through the worst withdrawals. I was hallucinating when I would leave my apartment. I didn’t feel like I was a real person, like my existence was futile. I felt like everything was meaningless. Pretty dark stuff. And that is when I wrote ‘Breaking Point’.

Never in my life did I capture my emotions as vividly as in that song. So much so that it’s hard for me to listen to it even now without tearing up. Eventually, I started reading about Nihilism, Existentialism and Absurdism. The last one stuck with me, and I think saved me from that dark hole, which is what the album is named after.


Being DANZ CM appears to have freed you to explore different styles in your music, it appears THE CURE’s ‘Fascination Street’ is an inspiration on ‘I Don’t Need a Hero’?

I love THE CURE – particularly ‘Friday, I’m in Love’ and ‘Pictures of You’. I’m going to be honest – ‘Fascination Street’ is not a song I’m too familiar with. So if there is a familiar style there, it intrinsically comes from their other music.

There’s the surprise of the fragile disco feel of ‘Not Gonna Stand By’ and you rocking out a bit on ‘Something More, two songs with quite opposing feels?

So – ‘Not Gonna Stand By’ was the most challenging song to record off the record. I wanted to use all live, acoustic instruments, to stay true to 1970s disco. I initially composed everything in Ableton with software synths. Then I had my friends come over to re-record everything with the real thing. My friend Danny Meyer played sax, Emily Holden played violin – which I layered to sound like an orchestra, Owen Biddle played bass and I went into a studio to record Ignacio on drums. It really was a fantastic experience and gratifying to make. I never brought a bunch of people together to make a song like that before. Danny did some awesome improvisation on the sax parts. I mean – they were all amazing.

‘Something More’, I wanted to be like a 1970s old school rock anthem, mixed with a Devo vibe. I suck at guitar, but somehow made it work. I wanted very angular guitar parts. Luckily, since I play by ear, it’s easy to find singular notes on the guitar – but harder to play chords. There are a lot of singular guitar riffs, layered with other singular guitar riffs to make chords.

In terms of production for this album, what is your home studio set-up and what was the process for fine tuning it?

I write and record everything in my apartment. For mixing, I sent ‘Absurdity’ off to Claudius Mittendorfer in London. Then for mastering it went over to Joe LaPorta in New York. Writing, recording and producing are like second nature to me at this point. They all kind of coincide.

Making the record was a lot of hard work. I’d literally drive myself crazy working on songs up until I couldn’t stay awake anymore. It also took an emotional toll as you can imagine, getting all that stuff out. l was happy when it was complete.

The sound of your music, even on your earlier material like ‘Fuzz’ and ‘All Day’, is quite accomplished while maintaining a gritty edge. Is there any advice you would give to aspiring musicians recording on a limited budget, especially when recording vocals and drums?

Stay true to yourself. You are essentially what makes your music unique! There is no other you in the world. As for vocals, don’t be afraid to ask for privacy when recording. I almost never record vocals in front of anyone else because I’m self-conscious. For drums – get experimental. I always mix electronic with acoustic, which is why I tour with a drummer and record live drums on a lot of my tracks.


You’ve posted up photos of yourself using vintage gear like the ARP 2600 at The Synth Sanctuary, did that end up on any of ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’ or is that for another project?

I was interning there for a bit, dusting off synths. I didn’t record anything there except stuff for a potential upcoming podcast episode on ARP and some Minimoog. But that place is great, and Jay who owns it is an awesome dude and musician.

What are your own favourite synths? Is there a particular synth you covet?

Prophet 6, Moog Minitaur and Omnichord; they are my go-tos and have been for the past few years. I would like to someday own a CS-80!

You’ve immersed yourself in ‘Synth History’ with your online interview and podcast platform, what have been the most rewarding aspects of putting this together for you?

I think just meeting other people who want to nerd out about synths. I’m really happy I started it, it seems to bring a lot of people joy.

Who else would you’d like to interview or feature for ‘Synth History’?

Trent Reznor, Thom Yorke, Paul McCartney.

You run your own Channel 9 label, how do you see the future of music distribution and consumption?

I think it’s leaning towards artists thankfully. It’s easier to be in touch with fans directly.

Do you miss performing live or do you see DANZ CM being only a music and video entity?

I can’t wait to perform live as DANZ CM FKA COMPUTER MAGIC!

What’s next for you?

I have no idea. But I hope something fun.


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Danz Johnson

Additional thanks to Hal at Albedo PR

‘The Absurdity Of Human Existence’ released by Channel 9 Records as a cloudy blue vinyl LP available from https://channel9records.com/ or digitally via the usual outlets

The COMPUTER MAGIC back catalogue is available at https://computermagic.bandcamp.com/

https://www.zdanz.com/

https://www.facebook.com/zdanz

https://twitter.com/danz_cm

https://www.instagram.com/danz_cm/

https://www.synthhistory.com/

https://open.spotify.com/album/1oqWGdeaLx3Y6YgI4ibku4


Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
13th May 2021

DANZ CM The Absurdity of Human Existence


‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’ is the first album by DANZ CM, formally known as COMPUTER MAGIC.

New York based Danz Johnson is the synth girl behind both vehicles with a passion for the development of the electronic music.

Having started the ‘Synth History’ online platform which has to date interviewed Gary Numan, Vince Clarke, Rick Wakeman, Dave Smith, Suzanne Ciani, Pete Townsend and James Murphy amongst others, she also produced an acclaimed podcast on the career of electronic music pioneer Wendy Carlos.

Her first COMPUTER MAGIC album proper ‘Davos’ came out in 2015, but her most recent long playing offering ‘Danz’ released in 2018 was much darker than the enjoyably escapist ‘Obscure But Visible’ EP and its utterly charming highlight ‘Lonely Like We Are’ from 2016. So a compromise adaptation of her moniker was almost inevitable to reflect her artistic maturity.

Capturing a sombre disposition reflecting the album’s title, the enjoyable opening song and first single ‘Idea of You’ is a stark statement that she’s “Gotta step back to put things in perspective”. ‘Domino’ continues in the vein, Johnson’s afflicted vocals cascading while backed by a range of sweeping timbres over vintage drum machine as everything topples around her; “I wish that my love was enough” she despairs.

With schizophrenic overtones, ‘My Other Self’ is spacey and has and exudes a stark vulnerability while ‘Low’ makes good use of deep synth bass for a burst of hi-hat driven avant pop. Pacier with synth triggers concocting a kaleidoscopic sound, ‘Don’t Stop’ sees Danz wanting to take action and coming over like a girly John Grant as her f***ing mind is blown.

‘Breaking Point’ uses an icy variation on the ‘Stranger Things’ arpeggio with Johnson coming over rather forlorn, but far more boisterous and almost indie rock is ‘Something More although it does amusingly see Johnson exclaim “it doesn’t f***ing suit you”!

‘I Don’t Need a Hero’ is a homage to THE CURE’s ‘Fascination Street’ with added throbbing electronics and blistering stabs of synth while ‘Not Gonna Stand By’ takes a curveball and lightens the mood with disco bass and brass, but her honest vocal offsets any apparent cheerfulness although this contrast is precisely the song’s harm.

However, the best is saved until last with the total melancholic brilliance of ‘Human Existence’, a glorious string synth laden set piece in the manner of OMD meeting CHROMATICS where Johnson declares “you can’t save me, I can’t save you”.

“I outgrew COMPUTER MAGIC. I outgrew the shy bedroom pop girl a long time ago” said Danz Johnson when she announced the birth of DANZ CM and certainly the innocence of her previous work is certainly absent on ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’.

What is in its place is a more intense presence and a wider ambition exploring different music styles and timbres while still remaining at its core, the creation of a talented woman who has overcome her shyness and had the courage to engage with and learn from some of the biggest names in synth.


‘The Absurdity Of Human Existence’ released by Channel 9 Records in cloudy blue vinyl LP and digital formats, available from https://channel9records.com/collections/absurdity-collection

https://www.zdanz.com/

https://www.facebook.com/zdanz

https://twitter.com/danz_cm

https://www.instagram.com/danz_cm/

https://www.synthhistory.com/

https://open.spotify.com/album/1oqWGdeaLx3Y6YgI4ibku4


Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th March 2021

Introducing VIOLET CHOIR

Phoenix-based VIOLET CHOIR comprise of Mickey Louise and Jesse Pangburn who met at college while studying jazz.

Previously indie rock combo THE PROWLING KIND and dream popsters MRCH, the output from their previous guises appeared in the soundtracks of ‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘Search Party’, ‘13 Reasons Why’, ‘Shameless’ and’ The Vampire Diaries’.

On ‘Reactions’, their 2017 debut album as MRCH, the duo fully embraced a more electronic sound to the point that it was more or less fully sequenced.

Inspired by the likes of independent artists like COMPUTER MAGIC aka DANZ CM and the synthwave breakthrough, there came a change of style with a change of name. So VIOLET CHOIR was born. Their self-titled EP makes use of a Prophet 08, some Moog via the Matriarch and Minitaur, plus Ableton soft synths simulating DX7 bell sounds. Meanwhile a live kit and drum machines sit in tandem alongside occasional electric guitar and bass.

Moody and percussive without resorting to synthwave clichés, ‘Don’t Come Around’ recalls the feel of KLEERUP’s ‘Nothing Left To Die For’ with Jenny Wilson. Nurtured on jazz and rock, Mickey Louise’s voice comes over rich and airy over an appealing electronic pop song that doesn’t sound as long as its five and a half minutes length might suggest.

Although adopting more of a post-punk template with live bass and guitar, ‘Tonight’ still has plenty of synths to add texture including a surprising jazzier twirl and a particularly piercing but melodic sound reminiscent of the sparkly feminine new wave vibe of PARALLELS or CHROMATICS.

Meanwhile, the chunky fuzz and deeper treated vocal counterpoints on ‘Dream About It’ offer a slightly gothic dimension to a slice of precision disco lento, with its dynamic highs and lows projecting in the manner of THE GOLDEN FILTER.

Maintaining that “life is strange”, the sombre root note bass and strident keyboard arpeggio patterns make ‘Friend Song’ the most archetypical synthwave styled offering on the EP, with the breezily wispy vocals contributing to an enjoyable chorus uplift.

The electroclash-derived ‘Kids On Sunset’ adopts a dominant bass triplet for a galloping rhythmic sway that becomes more addictive as it approaches the dancefloor. The presence of the coy feline allure of COMPUTER MAGIC with her track ‘Fuzz’ in particular and the much missed Texan duo ELEVEN:ELEVEN are strong.

This debut EP is not your run-of-the-mill synthwave-by-numbers and by bringing their experience from other genres, VIOLET CHOIR have largely avoided the usual musical catchphrases that can haunt modern electronic pop. What stands out are the songs and the musicality. Time will see Mickey Louise and Jesse Pangburn fully realise the promise on show here.


‘Violet Choir’ EP released on 19th February 2021 by Fervor Records

http://www.violetchoir.com/

https://www.facebook.com/violetchoir/

https://twitter.com/violetchoir

https://www.instagram.com/violetchoir/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3l62JBwb5peXmTGwKh4DM3


Text by Chi Ming Lai
20th February 2021

DANZ CM Idea of You

She’s the artist formally known as COMPUTER MAGIC and ‘Idea of You’ is her first single under her new moniker of DANZ CM.

Behind the music is Danz Johnson whose first album proper ‘Davos’ came out under the name COMPUTER MAGIC in 2015. She said on social media: “In the beginning I didn’t know what to call myself. I was so uncomfortable in my own skin, was so sure no one would believe it was just one person making the music…”

New York-based producer added “I wanted to change it because I outgrew COMPUTER MAGIC. I outgrew the shy bedroom pop girl a long time ago. COMPUTER MAGIC might mean something different to you, but to me it represents a skin that I need to shed.”


Capturing a sombre electronic disposition, ‘Idea of You’ develops on the darkness that was apparent on the last COMPUTER MAGIC album ‘Danz’ with its self-referencing title a pointer of things to come. It is all quite distinct from the enjoyably escapist ‘Obscure but Visible’ EP and its utterly charming highlight ‘Lonely Like We Are’.

With her stark statement that she’s “Gotta step back to put things in perspective” summing things up, in the collaborative video for ‘Idea of You’, Danz Johnson and director Matthew James Reilly set off to the desolate location of Death Valley in Nevada to see our heroine take on the role of The Girl Who Fell To Earth.

While recording ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’, her upcoming first album as DANZ CM, Danz Johnson launched her ‘Synth History’ platform celebrating musicians who have embraced the sound of synthesizers in their work. To date she has interviewed Pete Townshend, Suzanne Ciani, James Murphy, Rick Wakeman, Vince Clarke, Dave Smith and many more.

She then began a crowdfunding campaign to expand ‘Synth History’ into a podcast series and the first acclaimed episode in Summer 2020 discussed the pioneering legacy of Wendy Carlos.


‘Idea of You’ is available now via digital platforms and is from the forthcoming album ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’ released on 12th March 2021 by Channel 9 Records

https://www.zdanz.com/

https://www.facebook.com/zdanz

https://twitter.com/danz_cm

https://www.instagram.com/danz_cm/

https://www.synthhistory.com/


Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th December 2020

2019 END OF YEAR REVIEW

2019 was a year of 40th Anniversaries, celebrating the synth becoming the sound of pop when ‘Are Friends Electric?’ reached No1 in the UK chart in 1979.

While GARY NUMAN opted for ‘(R)evolution’ and two of his former sidemen RRussell Bell and Chris Payne ventured solo for the first time, OMD offered a 7 disc ‘Souvenir’ featuring a whole album of quality unreleased material to accompany a concert tour to celebrate four decades in the business. That was contrary to DEPECHE MODE who merely plonked 14 albums into a boxed set in a move where the ‘Everything Counts’ lyric “the grabbing hands grab all they can” became more and more ironic… MIDGE URE partied like it was 1980 with the music of VISAGE and ULTRAVOX, while SIMPLE MINDS announced an arena tour for 2020 so that their audience could show Jim Kerr their hands again.

HEAVEN 17 announced some special showcases of the early material of THE HUMAN LEAGUE and got a particularly warm reception opening on tour for SQUEEZE as a trailer ahead of their own ‘Greatest Hits’ jaunt next year.

Celebrating 20 years in music, there was the welcome return of LADYTRON with a self-titled comeback album, while Swedish evergreens LUSTANS LAKEJER performed the ‘Åkersberga’ album for its 20th Anniversary and similarly GOLDFRAPP announced a series of shows in honour of their magnificent cinematic debut ‘Felt Mountain’.

Cult favourites FIAT LUX made their intimate live comeback in a church in Bradford and released their debut album ‘Saved Symmetry’ 37 years after their first single ‘Feels Like Winter Again’.

As a result, their fans were also treated to ‘Ark Of Embers’, the long player that Polydor Records shelved in 1985 when the band were on the cusp of a breakthrough but ended with a commercial breakdown.

Modern prog exponents Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson got back together as NO-MAN for their dual suite electronic concept record ‘Love You To Bits’, but an even more ambitious undertaking came from UNDERWORLD with their boxed set ‘Drift Series 1’.

Also making live returns were one-time PET SHOP BOYS protégé CICERO with a charity gig in his hometown of Livingston, WHITE DOOR with JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM at Synth Wave Live 3, ARTHUR & MARTHA and Mute Records veterans KOMPUTER.

After a short hiatus, the mighty KITE sold-out three gigs at Stockholm Slaktkyrkan and ended the year performing at an opera house, while GIORGIO MORODER embarked on his first ever concert tour where his songs were the stars.

Although their long-awaited-as-yet-untitled third album was still to materialise, VILE ELECTRODES went back on the road in Europe with APOPTYGMA BERZERK and THE INVINCIBLE SPIRIT. Meanwhile, Chinese techno-rock sextet STOLEN opened for NEW ORDER on their Autumn European tour and EMIKA performed in a series of Planetariums.

Despite the fall of The Berlin Wall 30 years ago, there were more evident swipes to the right than there had been for a long time, with the concept of Brexit Electro becoming a rather unpleasant reality. So in these more sinister times, the need for classic uplifting electronic pop was higher than ever.

To that end, three superb debut albums fitted the bill. While KNIGHT$ offered quality Britalo on ‘Dollars & Cents’, the suave presence of Ollie Wride took a more MTV friendly direction with ‘Thanks In Advance’. But for those wanting something more home produced, the eccentric Northern electronic pop of the brilliantly named INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS OF POP continued the artistic lineage of THE HUMAN LEAGUE.

QUIETER THAN SPIDERS finally released their wonderful debut album ‘Signs Of Life’ which was naturally more understated and Denmark had some worthy synthpop representation with SOFTWAVE producing an enjoyably catchy debut long player in ‘Game On’.

On the shadier side of electronic pop, BOY HARSHER achieved a wider breakthrough with their impressive ‘Careful’ long player but as a result, the duo acquired a contemporary hipster element to their fanbase who seemed to lack manners and self-awareness as they romped around gigs without a care for anyone around them. But with tongues-in-cheeks, SPRAY continued to amuse with their witty prankelectro on ‘Failure Is Inevitable’.

Photo by Johnny Jewel

Italians Do It Better kept things in house as CHROMATICS unexpectedly unleashed their first album for six years in ‘Closer To Grey’ and embarked on a world tour. Main support was DESIRE and accompanied on keyboards by HEAVEN singer Aja, the pair took things literally during their cover version of ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ with a girl-on-girl kiss in front of head honcho Johnny Jewel. Other ITIB acts on the tour dependent on territory included DOUBLE MIXTE, IN MIRRORS and KRAKÓW LOVES ADANA. But the best work to appear from the stable came from Jorja Chalmers who became ‘Human Again’.

There were a variety of inventive eclectic works from FAKE TEAK, MAPS, FINLAY SHAKESPEARE, ULTRAMARINE, TYCHO, THE GOLDEN FILTER, FRAGRANCE. and FADER. Meanwhile VON KONOW, SOMEONE WHO ISN’T ME and JAKUZI all explored themes of equality while BOYTRONIC preferred ‘The Robot Treatment’. But expressing themselves on the smoother side of proceedings, SHOOK who looked east towards the legend of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA.

Dark minimalism reigned in the work of FRAGILE SELF and WE ARE REPLICA while no less dark but not so aggressive, WITCH OF THE VALE cemented their position with a well-received opening slot at Infest. Dubliner CIRCUIT3 got political and discussed ‘The Price Of Nothing & The Value Of Everything’.

2019 was a year of electronic instrumental offerings galore from NEULAND, Ricardo Autobahn, EKKOES, M83, RELIEF, FEMMEPOP and OBLONG, although Eric Random’s dystopian offering ‘Wire Me Up’ added vocoder while Brian Eno celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing ‘For All Mankind’.

The King of Glum Rock LLloyd Cole surprised all with an electronic pop album called ‘Guesswork’ just as PET SHOP BOYS set an ‘Agenda’. HOWARD JONES released his most synthy work for years in ‘Transform’ and while CHINA CRISIS acted as his well-received support on the UK leg of his 35th Anniversary tour, their front man Gary Daly ventured solo with ‘Gone From Here’.

Among the year’s best new talents were IMI, Karin MyGretaGeiste and Alice Hubble with their beautifully crafted avant pop.

And with the media traction of artists such as GEORGIA, REIN, JENNIFER TOUCH, SUI ZHEN, THE HEARING, IONNALEE, PLASMIC, ZAMILSKA, IOANNA GIKA, SPELLLING, KANGA, FIFI RONG and I AM SNOW ANGEL, the profile of women in electronic music was stronger than ever in 2019.

Sweden continued to produce quality electronic pop with enjoyable releases from the likes of MACHINISTA, PAGE, COVENANT, OBSESSION OF TIME and LIZETTE LIZETTE. One of the most interesting acts to emerge from the region was US featuring the now Stockholm-domiciled Andrew Montgomery from GENEVA and Leo Josefsson of LOWE, with the catalyst of this unlikely union coming from a shared love of the late country legend Glen Campbell. Meanwhile, veteran trio DAYBEHAVIOR made the best album of their career ‘Based On A True Story’.

However, Canada again gave the Swedes a good run for their money as ELECTRIC YOUTH and FM ATTACK released new material while with more of a post-punk slant, ACTORS impressed audiences who preferred a post-post-punk edge alongside their synths.Dana Jean Phoenix though showed herself to be one of the best solo synth performers on the live circuit, but artistically the best of the lot was MECHA MAIKO who had two major releases ‘Okiya’ and ‘Let’s!’.

Despite making some good music in 2019 with their ‘Destroyer’ two-parter, the “too cool for school” demeanour of TR/ST might have impressed hipsters, but left a lot to be desired. A diva-ish attitude of entitlement was also noticed by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK to be disappointingly prevalent in several fledgling acts.

Synthwave increased its profile further with the film ‘The Rise Of The Synths’ narrated by none other than John Carpenter. MICHAEL OAKLEY released his debut album ‘Introspect’, BETAMAXX was ‘Lost In A Dreamworld’, COM TRUISE came up with a ‘Persuasion System’ and NEW ARCADES were ‘Returning Home’.

Scene veteran FUTURECOP! collaborated with PARALLELS, COMPUTER MAGIC and NINA prior to a hiatus for the foreseeable future, while there were promising new talents emerging in the shape of POLYCHROME, PRIZM, BUNNY X and RIDER. However, several of the sub-genre’s artists needed to rethink their live presentations which notably underwhelmed with their static motions and lack of engagement.

While promoters such as Outland developed on their solid foundations, others attempted to get too big too soon like the musical equivalent of a penis extension, leaving fans disappointed and artists unpaid. Attempting to turnover more than 10 acts during in a day with a quarter of an hour changeover has always been an odious task at best, but to try 15?!? One hopes the headliners were well paid despite having to go on at midnight when most of their supporters went home so as not to miss the last train…

Now at times, it was as if a major collective midlife crisis had hit independent electronic music in the UK during 2019. It was not unlike how “born again bikers” have become a major road safety risk, thanks to 40somethings who only managed Cycling Proficiency in Junior School suddenly jumping onto 500cc Honda CMX500 Rebel motorcycles, thinking they were Valentino Rossi.

Something similar was occurring in music as a variety of posturing delusional synth owners indulged in a remix frenzy and visions of grandeur, forgetting that ability and talent were paramount. This attitude led to a number of poorly attended events where attendees were able to be counted on one hand, thanks to clueless fans of said combos unwisely panning their video footage around the venue.

Playing at 3:15pm in an empty venue is NOT performing at a ‘major’ electronic festival… “I’ll be more selective with the gigs I agree to in the UK” one of these acts haplessly bemoaned, “I’ve played to too many empty rooms!” – well, could that have been because they are not very good?

Bands who had blown their chance by not showing willingness to open for name acts during holiday periods, while making unwise comments on their national TV debut about their lack of interest in registering for PRS, said they were going to split a year in advance, but not before releasing an EP and playing a farewell show in an attempt to finally get validation for their art. Was this a shining example of Schrodinger’s Band?

Of course, the worst culprits were those who had an internet radio show or put on gigs themselves so that they could actually perform, because otherwise external promotors were only interested in them opening at 6.15pm after a ticket deal buy on for a five band bill. Humility wouldn’t have gone amiss in all these cases.

It’s a funny old world, but as ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK comes up to concluding its tenth year as an influential platform that has written extensively about not one or two or three or four BUT five acts prior to them being selected to open on tour for OMD, luckily the gulf between good and bad music is more distinct than ever. It will be interesting to see if the high standard of electronic pop will be maintained or whether the influx of poor quality artists will contaminate the bloodline.

So ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK ends the decade with a complimentary comment by a punter after attending two of its live events: “You don’t put on sh*t do you…”

May the supreme talent rise and shine… you know who you are 😉


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK Contributor Listings of 2019

PAUL BODDY

Best Album: UNDERWORLD Drift Series 1
Best Song: MOLINA Venus
Best Gig: RAMMSTEIN at Milton Keynes MK Bowl
Best Video: SCALPING Chamber
Most Promising New Act: SCALPING


IAN FERGUSON

Best Album: NO-MAN Love You To Bits
Best Song: NO-MAN Love You To Shreds
Best Gig: RAMMSTEIN at Stadion Slaski Chorzow
Best Video: RAMMSTEIN Deutschland
Most Promising New Act: IMI


SIMON HELM

Best Album: PAGE Fakta För Alla
Best Song: PAGE Fakta För Alla
Best Gig: LAU NAU at London Cafe OTO
Best Video: LAU NAU Amphipoda on Buchla 200 at EMS Stockholm
Most Promising New Act: THE HIDDEN MAN


CHI MING LAI

Best Album: KNIGHT$ Dollar & Cents
Best Song: OMD Don’t Go
Best Gig: KITE at Stockholm Slaktkyrkan
Best Video: NIGHT CLUB Your Addiction
Most Promising New Act: IMI


RICHARD PRICE

Best Album: KNIGHT$ Dollar & Cents
Best Song: OMD Don’t Go
Best Gig: MIDGE URE at The London Palladium
Best Video: IMI Margins
Most Promising New Act: PLASMIC


MONIKA IZABELA TRIGWELL

Best Album: MECHA MAIKO Let’s
Best Song: KANGA Burn
Best Gig: DANA JEAN PHOENIX, KALAX + LEBROCK at London Zigfrid von Underbelly
Best Video: IONNALEE Open Sea
Most Promising New Act: PRIZM


Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Ian Ferguson
16th December 2019, updated 29th Janaury 2021

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