Tag: Dave Ball (Page 1 of 5)

2025 END OF YEAR REVIEW

14 December 2025 /

50 years from KRAFTWERK appearing on the BBC’s ‘Tomorrow’s World’ to perform ‘Autobahn’ and demonstrate the future of music, as Ralf Hütter remarked at the start of the 21st Century, “electro is everywhere” and can now be made on your mobile phone!

And while the KRAFTWERK brand continues to be fronted by the 79 year old Hütter with an extensive UK tour pencilled in next year, 2025 saw the sad passing of Synth Britannia heroes Dave Ball and Stephen Luscombe, while there was also the loss of COVENANT associate Andreas Catjar-Danielsson, NITZER EBB frontman Douglas J McCarthy and Gary Numan’s brother / former live band member John Webb. Outside of the genre, cult film director David Lynch, BLONDIE drummer Clem Burke, veteran diva Marianne Faithfull, The Prince Of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne and Head Beach Boy Brian Wilson were among those who left this mortal coil.

Musically in 2025, Mari Kattman became the alluring gothic club queen she always had the potential to be on her best album yet ‘Year Of The Katt’. She headed a strong feast of feisty releases from Ela Minus, Marie Davidson, Zanias, Jennifer Touch, Charly Haze, Ani Glass, Emmon, Minuit Machine and Compute alongside those by the female fronted DLINA VOLNY, CAUSEWAY, DINA SUMMER, AUSTRA, NNHMN and PARADOX OBSCUR.

Among the new talent making a good impression were Spike, Shears and Hannah Hu who is currently working on her first album with Dean Honer of I MONSTER. Having already released a couple of albums, on the ascendancy was self-styled Californian “retro electro artist” Sophie Grey who was joined by Trevor Horn during her live cover of ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ while supporting Sting at the London Forum.

On the gentler side of electronics, Patricia Wolf and Loula Yorke came up with their fabulous respective instrumental offerings ‘Hrafnamynd’ and ‘Time Is A Succession Of Such Shapes’. There was also the return of LADYTRON as well as Alison Goldfrapp, Claudia Brücken and Kim Wilde. Going back to glitzy electropop on her new record ‘Mayhem’, Lady Gaga did an impression of Taylor Swift doing YAZOO on one of its highlights ‘How Bad Do U Want Me?’; meanwhile Taylor herself appeared to have turned into Los Angeles trio CANNONS on ‘The Fate Of Ophelia’, the synthy opening song of her 12th album ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’.

Photo by Oliver Blair

Swedish producer Johan Agebjörn proved to have one of the most prolific years in his music career with not only collaborations with R.MISSING on ‘Fakesnow’ and NINA on ‘Hush Hush Baby’ but also a new SALLY SHAPIRO album ‘Ready To Live A Lie’ and a solo long player ‘Southern Forest’; all this while holding down his day job as a psychotherapist! Another releasing two albums in 2025 was Paul Statham although one was a collection of archive recordings for what could have been the intended 1982 debut album by B-MOVIE entitled ‘Lost Treasures’; the other was a second record from his dark country project THE DARK FLOWERS featuring Jim Kerr of SIMPLE MINDS whose most recent single ‘Your Name In Lights’ had been co-written by Statham.

Impressively, SPARKS got ‘MAD!’ and then ‘MADDER!’ while undertaking a huge world tour with Ron Mael still tap dancing at 80 years of age during the drum solo of ‘No1 Song In Heaven’ and Russell Mael able to hit many of those high notes at 77. As ERASURE made a tentative return with a series of special UK fan club shows to celebrate their 40th anniversary, Andy Bell toured his solo album ‘Ten Crowns’ with KNIGHT$ not doing himself any harm being the opening act on the German leg ahead of a new album ‘Supernatural Lover’ out in early 2026.

After a few years of recorded absence, former TANGERINE DREAM members released long awaited albums with Peter Baumann from the classic line-up issuing the esoteric ‘Nightfall’ while Jerome Froese, son of co-founder Edgar, came up with the guitartronica of ‘Sunsets In Stereo’. Playing with the atonal atmospheres of early TANGERINE DREAM in places, the dark cerebral concept of ‘The Ray Bradbury Chronicles’ by Levente was worthy of investigation.

With their keyboard player Christian Berg now something of a modern day Rick Wakeman, KITE established themselves as a major world force with a spectacular show on ice at Stockholm’s Avicii Arena which saw special guest Nina Persson of THE CARDIGANS skating with the Helsinki Rockettes while singing their mighty collaboration ‘Heartless Places’.

Tom Shear released one of his most impressive and on-point albums as ASSEMBLAGE 23 in ‘Null’ while UNIFY SEPARATE didn’t mince their words on their ‘Heavy Meta’ EP. While Tobias Bernstrup kept the dark Italo flame alive with ‘Shadow Dancer’, Berlin continued to remain a force in underground club culture with two of its leading exponents Franz Scala and Kalipo presenting well-received long players that worked on the home hi-fi as well as on dancefloors. On the more poptronica front, Eddie Bengtsson finally stopped trying to “Numanise” his sound and came up with ‘Inget Motstånd’, a record in the more classic PAGE vein.

While synthwave appeared to be dead (as the controversial blog Iron Skullet declared in 2019), the influx of generic darkwave was a major blight on electronic music in 2025. The major label supported Mareux and his second album ‘Nonstop Romance’ had any potential painfully ruined by overused deliberate distortion to make it sound like it was recorded down a drainpipe.

Meanwhile PORCELAIN DANCER seemed to be the Rob Newman parody of Robert Smith as seen on ‘The Mary Whitehouse Experience’ resurrected only several octaves lower; his live performance provoked unintentional laughter from those who arrived early to see KORINE in London!

DEPECHE MODE released 4 songs that were originally deemed not good enough to put on their 2023 album ‘Memento Bori’ to append the live album accompanying their Mexico City concert film ‘M’. But 2025 was notable for a number of figures in the British DM fan community who were coming out with particularly repugnant far right views, seemingly oblivious to the decades of lyrical messages from the two remaining mixed race band members!

But there was hope in the darker side of synth with A THOUSAND MAD THINGS; with his haunted demeanour while navigating young manhood as a tortured outsider, William Barradale’s doomed romantic delivery reminiscent of Billy MacKenzie and Trevor Herion made him undoubtedly the most promising UK act since MIRRORS; his debut 5 song EP ‘Cry & Dance’ was one of 2025’s best bodies of work. This more than made up for ‘Dance Called Memory’, the extremely dull fourth album from NATION OF LANGUAGE which was anything but memorable…

After looking back at 1981, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were pleased to be return to the variously compiled podcast ‘Back To NOW’ to discuss the ‘NOW 1982 Yearbook’ with genial host Iain McDermott and Ian Wade, author of ‘1984: The Year Pop Went Queer’. While general music and culture podcasts such as ‘Back To NOW’, ‘Word In Your Ear’, ‘The Rest Is Entertainment’, ‘The Rockonteurs’, ‘SoundPower’ and Miranda Sawyer’s new offering ‘Talk 90s To Me’ were highly engaging listens, specific broadcasts focussed on synth and electronic music were usually weak, suffering from poor hosting and ham-fisted background research. But when a professional presenter was involved, synth-oriented chats could be enlightening as the appearance of John Foxx on ‘The Adam Buxton Podcast’ proved, despite the annoying jingles that accompanied it.

Featuring commentary from PET SHOP BOYS’ Neil Tennant, the BBC’s retrospective look at the collapse of EMI called ‘Music Money & Mayhem’ showed once again that when those who know nothing about music get involved in the music business, it will end in tears. Looking at the story of the history of Beggars Banquet label in its first series and featuring Gary Numan in its opening episode, ‘States Of Independence’ documented how creative enthusiasm from the heart can actually thrive.

So where are the audiences for live electronic music these days? Certainly, if the full houses for Marie Davidson, Geneva Jacuzzi, Loscil and KITE in London’s club-sized venues were anything to go by, the crowds are out there. This was not the case for some other acts on the circuit at new, cult and one-hit wonder level who were struggling to get above half capacity or had downsized considerably since their perceived highest profile. However, new music night Release Me managed to get very good attendances for their evenings in 2025 with the premise that all acts must perform previously unreleased material; this focus on their events being about the music with announced requests to not talk during sets was a fresh and very welcome approach.

Photo by Tom Casey

Elsewhere, the retro business did prosper with reunions, exhibitions, summer hits shows, classic album tours, deluxe reissues of albums that were never that good in the first place and notable records re-released in yet another expanded set for the 5th or 6th time! There were those trying to exploit the fading nostalgia of those heady romantic times, writing memoirs that left out so many important facts omitted that there were grounds for inclusion in the “fiction” section.

Then there were others releasing overlong collections with an average track length of between 6-8 minutes that no-one asked for nor desired… filtering and editing is such an important aspect to producing music so there was no excuse for these veterans! Some even sent out unmastered music files to review outlets, blissfully unaware that the sound quality might actually be mentioned, only to get stupidly angry about it when highlighted due to their own numbskull promotional abilities; it’s a funny old entitled world…

The positive and negative of modern day music consumption is growth CAN happen organically in its own internet powered niche. But with the fragmentation of promotion with social media actually being a choice despite wider protestations, even the AXS newsletter listing the acts soon to be playing the 20,000 capacity O2 arena in London provoked cries of “WHO?”; but that is how it is now and it needs to be accepted. Why should a Boomer or Gen X-er know about the bright young thing headlining Glastonbury?

However, you CAN create your own musical universe today, not listen to radio, create your own playlists and exclude as appropriate. After all, as Nick Rhodes from DURAN DURAN once remarked: “Good taste is exclusive” –  nobody should have to like what you like and neither should what somebody else likes appeal to you… niche interests are fine.

There is no doubt fandom has become more tribal and is now akin to away game support for football teams. But as a result, it has therefore got more toxic, with some fans getting ridiculously angry on socials about old less-than-positive reviews that David Hepworth, Mark Ellen, Ian Cranna, Dave Rimmer, Tom Hibbert or Neil Tennant might have written for Smash Hits 43 YEARS AGO!! “Bet he regrets that…” someone will quip smugly but the reality is, if there is a review that a writer will regret, from the experience of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, it will usually be the one that is too gushing with praise!

The gist of Smash Hits during its imperial phase that coincided with Neil Tennant’s tenure as Assistant Editor was it was a magazine which treated “pop” as the most “important” thing in the world while simultaneously highlighting how “ridiculous” it was too, with references to “the dumper”, “summer colds” and the “tongue sarnie”… often dismissed as a “teen mag”, a good number of teenagers could see through the up-itself pretentions of the NME so relished the more amusing and knowing “scribblings” of the Smash Hits team!

The wider public forgets that it might likely have the benefit of 4 decades of hindsight as well as weekly if not daily plays of a record in the first few years of its possession. While it has always been associated with “free speech”, “opinion” or “freedom of expression”, one of the problems with social media is the narcissistic self-seeking of validation as part of the main character syndrome that afflicts many in this modern world…

With tours in 2026 for KRAFTWERK, OMD, PET SHOP BOYS, CHINA CRISIS, HEAVEN 17, THOMPSON TWINS’ Tom Bailey, BLANCMANGE and Midge Ure among many, there is certainly plenty to keep people busy. Just don’t think everyone else will necessarily share in your passion; as time goes on, there will be a lot more of those who won’t have a clue what you are going on about…

U2 once asked “how long must we sing this song?”; so to end a divisive year where evil men with racist views have been casually normalised, the message outlined in 1981 by a trio of philosophers from South Yorkshire must continue to be repeated loud and clear: WE DON’T NEED THIS FASCIST GROOVE THANG! #FuckFarage #FuckReformUK #FuckTommyRobinson #FuckFlagshaggers #FuckTrump

A Time Called Then: ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s Oh 2025 Playlist is at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xXptdmcHAvXnXni6hjVnA

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th December 2025

DAVE BALL 1959 – 2025

24 October 2025 /

SOFT CELL instrumentalist Dave Ball sadly passed away in his sleep on 22nd October 2025, he was 66.

While he had not been in good health for a number of years, he had completed work on a new SOFT CELL album ‘Danceteria’ to be released in 2026 and performed with band mate Marc Almond at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames back in August.

Ball began his adventure in music with a Fender Telecaster guitar, twin stylus Stylophone and second hand Akai reel-to-reel tape recorder but when he purchased a MiniKorg 800DV duophonic synthesizer, he never looked back. Enrolling on a Fine Art degree at Leeds Polytechnic, on his first day he asked for directions from a second year student wearing a leopard skin printed shirt and gold lame jeans; that student was Marc Almond and the pair were to make history as SOFT CELL…

The rise of SOFT CELL to have the second biggest UK selling single of 1981 in their cover of the Northern Soul favourite ‘Tainted Love’ is more than well documented and led to an imperial phase where the duo scored no less than five Top4 UK hit singles with ‘Bedsitter’, ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’, ‘Torch’ and ‘What’ following on in little more than 12 months.

The debut SOFT CELL album ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ produced by Mike Thorne was a triumph, but while it was the state-of-the-art NED Synclavier that dominated the aural template with the Roland TR808 providing the rhythmic backbone, it was Ball’s much more basic Roland Synthe-Bass SB100 which provided the record with a very distinct sound.

But Ball and Almond were art school boys and expressed their discomfort with being pop starts and tabloid fodder. Inevitably, the next two albums ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’ and ‘This Last Night In Sodom’ captured that implosion. Although SOFT CELL disbanded in 1984 with Almond going solo and Ball eventually finding solace in the burgeoning house scene, side projects had been part of SOFT CELL’s agenda from the start.

While Almond would have MARC & THE MAMBAS, Ball would produce VICIOUS PINK PHENOMENA and release a solo album ‘In Strict Tempo’ featuring guest vocalists Genesis P-Orridge of THROBBING GRISTLE and Gavin Friday of VIRGIN PRUNES, as well as providing keyboards and “Rhythm Assistance” on CABARET VOLTAIRE’s 1983 album ‘The Crackdown’.

The association with VIRGIN PRUNES would continue with production on 1986’s ‘The Moon Looked Down & Laughed’ but in 1988, he formed THE GRID with Richard Norris after the pair had worked with Genesis P-Orridge’s PSYCHIC TV on the ‘Jack the Tab – Acid Tablets Volume One’ album; THE GRID’s first album ‘Electric Head’ in 1989 featured the chill-out classic ‘Floatation’ and the more disco-oriented ‘A Beat Called Love’ which both in their remixed single forms entered the lower reaches of the charts.

During this time, there was also a reunion with Almond on his 1991 album ‘Tenement Symphony’ to co-write three of the album’s best songs ‘Meet Me In My Dreams’, ‘I’ve Never Seen Your Face’ and ‘My Hand Over My Heart’, planting seeds for an eventual first reunion.

Ball and Norris became in-demand remixes and collaborators with remixes for PET SHOP BOYS, ERASURE and SPARKS as well as productions for Vic Reeves, Kylie Minogue and Billie Ray Martin, the latter’s No6 hit ‘In Your Loving Arms’ being one which Ball later told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK was one of the 5 tracks he felt the most satisfaction from, along with ‘Baby Doll’, ‘Floatation’, ‘My Hand Over My Heart’ and ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’.

Further remixes would be commissioned for David Bowie, David Sylvian & Robert Fripp, Brian Eno, Neil Arthur, Boy George Sophie B. Hawkins while THE GRID themselves would have their day in the UK Top3 with the cowpunk techno of ‘Swamp Thing’ in 1994.

SOFT CELL officially got back together for the start of the 21st Century and two brand new songs for 2002’s ‘Very Best of’ collection along with the ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ album were duly delivered. But despite successfully playing festivals in Europe, an American tour did not go so well. There had been plans to do more shows and another record, but Almond had a motorcycle accident in 2004 which left him with very serious injuries. “That was it almost” said Ball to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in 2018, “we sort of lost touch and didn’t speak for about 15 years…”

While Ball did form a new band NITEWRECKAGE and was among the last people to work with producer Martin Rushent on their 2011 album ‘Take Your Money And Run’, the legacy of SOFT CELL kept looming and a reunion could not be resisted; a show at London’s O2 Arena took place in 2018.

While it was billed as being “One Night, One Final Time”, the chemistry between Ball and Almond was rekindled, tentatively at first with a single ‘Northern Lights’, a ‘Non- Stop Erotic Cabaret’ 40th anniversary tour in 2021 and then an album ‘*Happiness Not Included’ the year after; one of the highlights was ‘Nighthawks’, a track that began life as a Dave Ball instrumental issued as a single with the boxed set of his autobiography ‘Electronic Boy’ and would feature his deep growly voice alongside that of Almond.

But Ball’s health began to take its toll and he was unable to perform at SOFT CELL shows from 2022 until he returned in Summer 2023 for a show at Hampton Court Palace Festival, performing in a motorised wheelchair; he had joked to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “Once I’m on stage and I’m locked in, so long as I don’t start wheeling backwards, I’ll be fine!”

As well as SOFT CELL, Ball had been working on new tracks for THE GRID with Richard Norris while ‘Ecce Homo’, an album he produced for Gavin Friday had been released in 2024. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had the pleasure of meeting Dave Ball on several occasions over the years and interviewed him three times … he will be missed.

Marc Almond said in his tribute on the SOFT CELL website: “Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn’t be where I am without you” and it wouldn’t be unfair to say that without Dave Ball, PET SHOP BOYS probably wouldn’t be here either…

https://www.softcell.co.uk/dave-ball-tribute

Text by Chi Ming Lai
24th October 2025

25 FAVOURITE INTERVIEWS ON ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK

15 March 2025 /

Established on 15th March 2010, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK celebrates 15 years online.

Aiming to feature the best in new and classic electronic pop music, during that time it has conducted over 550 interviews from fledgling independent acts and veteran cult artists to established international stars.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK prides itself in asking interesting questions that are a bit different and seeded by knowledge of the subject. As a result, these interviews have been appreciated by those music enthusiasts who know their tape recorders from their drum machines.

As for the interviewees, the vast majority have been a joy to work with and luckily, boring or difficult interviews have been rare. However, the most disappointing situations arise when someone agrees to an interview and continues communications for several weeks but doesn’t come clean to say they are not actually interested in participating… it is the interviewing equivalent of being ghosted 😆

Photo by Rob Harris

While sending questions via email for an artist to answer in their own time is the modern way of conducting an interview and is convenient with artists who have day jobs, don’t speak English as a first language or are in a different time zone, it is not particularly interactive and lacks a conversational flow. A true interview is a two way live conversation conducted face-to-face, by phone or a conferencing platform where opinions, thoughts and recollections can be obtained through reactive questioning.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK lists its 25 favourite interviews from over the years. Reading like a ‘Who’s Who?’ of electronic pop, all the interviews were conducted in-person or via a live call, except those with Alan Wilder, Karl Bartos and Rob Dean which were done by email.

PAUL HUMPHREYS (2010)

This Paul Humphreys interview put ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK on the map. At his studio complex in London, he chatted about the past, present and future of OMD, hinting at the contents of the upcoming album ‘History Of Modern’. The interview proved popular and was later quoted by The Guardian in a feature about OMD. This was the first of five interviews, the most recent of which was for OMD’s 40th Anniversary in 2019.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/interview-paul-humphreys/

SARAH BLACKWOOD (2010)

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK bumped into Sarah Blackwood after a HEAVEN 17 concert in Cologne and so began a long lasting friendship. Conducted at a café in St Pancras, this interview captured an interesting interregnum with our heroine between the end of CLIENT and the start of the DUBSTAR reunion. This was to be the first of two Sarah solo chats while she would be interviewed with Chris Wilkie twice as DUBSTAR.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/sarah-blackwood-interview/

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN (2010)

Conducted in London to coincide with the reissue of her debut solo album ‘Love: And A Million Other Things’, Claudia Brücken talked about her time in PROPAGANDA, ACT and ONETWO while she also talked about plans for a compilation called ‘ComBined’ collecting highlights from throughout her career. Her most recent ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK interview was together with Susanne Freytag as xPROPAGANDA.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/claudia-brucken-interview/

ANDY McCLUSKEY (2011)

The majority of interviews are cordial affairs but this one with Andy McCluskey following the release of OMD’s comeback album ‘History Of Modern’ was a bit ‘Frost/Nixon’. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK echoed some of the fan disappointments about the record and to his credit, he was unrepentant and batted away criticisms with aplomb. A less confrontational interview followed in 2013 for ‘English Electric’.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/andy-mccluskey-interview/

STEPHEN MORRIS (2011)

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were surprised when a request to interview Stephen Morris was accepted, especially as NEW ORDER had seemingly disbanded. The conversion had The Human Drum Machine at his best with stories about JOY DIVISION as well. But why was this interview taking place, why was he doing a fashion shoot for ‘Arena Homme+’? It was all subtle profile rebuilding as NEW ORDER was relaunched months later!

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/stephen-morris-interview/

BLANCMANGE (2011)

With many discussion points covered, a thoroughly entertaining hour was spent chatting to Neil Arthur in his studio during a break from rehearsals for the first BLANCMANGE live shows since 1986 in support of a new album ‘Blanc Burn’. The artist who has been interviewed the most times by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, he has since been featured a further nine times including with his side projects FADER and NEAR FUTURE.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/blancmange-interview/

MIRRORS (2011)

The intelligent aesthetics of MIRRORS made them ideal for ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s first interview using the Vintage Synth Trumps format. Conducted in the dressing room of Cologne’s Gebaude9 prior to the first show of their headlining German tour, James New and Ally Young chatted about the synths used on their ’Lights & Offerings’ album. But tension was evident between the pair and it ultimately led to the sad end of the band.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/vintage-synth-trumps-with-mirrors/

ALAN WILDER (2011)

While often reluctant to talk about DEPECHE MODE, when Alan Wilder auctioned off a large collection of his studio equipment, vinyl and memorabilia, he was ready to talk about the band he left in 1995 again as well his own musical venture RECOIL. For the 25th Anniversary of the release of the ‘101’ live album and documentary film in 2014 , ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK was the only platform he granted an interview to.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/the-alan-wilder-interview/

HOWARD JONES (2011)

One of the nicest guys in the music business, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had the pleasure of chatting to Howard Jones about his then-upcoming tour performing his first two albums ‘Human’s Lib’ and ‘Dream Into Action’. Focussing on the period between 1983 to 85 when he became a household name and was many people’s entry point into the world of synthpop, the interview included lots of analogue and digital synth talk.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/howard-jones/

KARL BARTOS (2013)

A short conversation conducted remotely, Karl Bartos talked about his new album ‘Off The Record’ and recalled his collaborations with Andy McCluskey, Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr. When he performed at Cologne’s Live Music Hall on the same night that KRAFTWERK received a Lifetime Achievement Grammyin January 2014, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were granted an audience with the man himself.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/a-short-conversation-with-karl-bartos/

ALISON MOYET (2013)

The album ‘the minutes’ saw the return of Alison Moyet to electronica and this inevitably led to reminiscences about YAZOO in this delightful and sweary interview conducted face-to-face in Islington. She was frank and open about all aspects of her career, the misconception of her being a “jazz singer” and which two songs from the YAZOO portfolio she particularly hated! Can you guess without look at the transcript which ones they are?

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/alison-moyet-interview-2/

VILE ELECTRODES (2013)

VILE ELECTRODES remain the act that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has been proudest of featuring. Invited to support OMD on the German leg of their ‘English Electric’ tour following Andy McCluskey spotting the band while perusing ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, this informative interview was conducted in Anais Neon and Martin Swan’s synth-filled apartment and completed online to update it after the news was announced.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/vile-electrodes-re-emerge/

GARY NUMAN (2013)

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were literally given a few days notice that it was to interview Gary Numan at his home in Los Angeles by phone. Coinciding with the release of the ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’ album which had taken 7 years to complete, he was in buoyant mood after an artistic rejuvenation. Refreshingly honest, he admitted his original plan to make all the songs on ‘Splinter’ one-dimensional was “a sh*t idea”!

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/gary-numan-discusses-splinter/

RODNEY CROMWELL (2016)

One of the fun things about the Vintage Synth Trumps series of interviews is that there is a degree of jeopardy for both interviewer and artist. Taking time to gain acclaim and recognition, the first Rodney Cromwell album ‘Age Of Anxiety’ was perfect for mainman Adam Cresswell to talk about his love of synths and DIY recording as well as the influence of NEW ORDER and SECTION 25 on his music over a fish supper in London’s Soho.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/vintage-synth-trumps-with-rodney-cromwell/

RICHARD BARBIERI (2017)

It was known that Richard Barbieri is often not that keen on talking about JAPAN and ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK assumed all the chat over the phone would be about his new album ‘Planets + Persona’. But unprompted, he chatted about his MicroMoog which was used on a number of JAPAN albums. But the crowning glory of the interview was how he did the metallic intro of ‘Ghosts’ using his Roland System 700 Lab Series.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/richard-barbieri-interview/

ZEUS B HELD (2017)

While not as well-known as Giorgio Moroder or Conny Plank, producer Zeus B Held contacted ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK after it did a Beginner’s Guide feature on his career portfolio. A coffee meeting was arranged at Foyles bookshop in London and morphed into a full interview which saw the talkative German reflect back on working with GINA X PERFORMANCE, FASHION and DEAD OR ALIVE as well as John Foxx and Gary Numan.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/zeus-b-held-interview/

ROBERT GÖRL (2017)

When in Düsseldorf… despite the confrontational aspects of DAF, their drummer and sequencer programmer Robert Görl is something of a thoughtful and spiritual soul. This face-to-face interview was conducted before a performance of his ‘Glücksritter’ live only project and took in DAF, his wonderful solo debut long player ‘Night Full Of Tension’, working with Annie Lennox and the great standalone single ‘Mit Dir’.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/robert-gorl-interview/

SOFT CELL (2018)

Marc Almond and Dave Ball surprised all with a reunion for ‘One Night Only’ at London’s O2 Arena that has since become an ongoing world tour. But with it came a lavish boxed set, various books and new albums. In a London pub,  ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had an in-depth chat with Dave Ball focussed on the ups and downs of SOFT CELL. This was followed up with an entertaining game of Vintage Synth Trumps in 2023.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/soft-cell-interview/

MARTYN WARE (2019)

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has enjoyed seven interviews with Martyn Ware encompassing HEAVEN 17 and BEF, but this chat was about his time as a co-founder member of THE HUMAN LEAGUE to coincide with a live celebration of their first two albums ‘Reproduction’ and ‘Travelogue’. This was a fascinating insight into how THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s “vocals and synthesizers only” sound became the future of pop music.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/martyn-ware-the-reproduction-travelogue-interview/

ROB DEAN (2021)

Although he left JAPAN in 1980, guitarist Rob Dean gave an eye witness account to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK into the making of their third album ‘Quiet Life’ to coincide with a remastered boxset. JAPAN were in a state of transition from the growly glam funk of their first records to the mannered artful combo people remember them for today, so with him now residing in Costa Rica, this email Q&A provided some insightful commentary.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/rob-dean-the-quiet-life-interview/

MARK REEDER (2021)

While most of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s interviews with Our Man In Berlin have been conducted remotely at his convenience, apart from an onstage interview at a 2016 event in Düsseldorf, this Vintage Synth Trumps chat was a rare live outing on Skype. Among the topics were his remixes for NEW ORDER and YELLO while there was also mention of the Transcendent 2000 which Bernard Sumner had built from a kit and given to him.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/vintage-synth-trumps-with-mark-reeder/

BILLY CURRIE (2022)

With his noted dry humour, Billy Currie was on top form for probably the best interview in the Vintage Synth Trumps series so far. With insight into the workings of ULTRAVOX and VISAGE as well solo work and his brief time in the Gary Numan live band. Of the latter, Currie went into detail about the ARP Odyssey solo on ‘On Broadway’ while also shedding light on how ‘Touch & Go’ co-written with former band mate John Foxx became ‘Mr X’.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/vintage-synth-trumps-with-billy-currie/

TELEX (2023)

Some say that the Belgians don’t have a sense of humour, but that was proved wrong when surviving TELEX members Michel Moers and Dan Lacksman gave a laugh a minute interview to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in support of their self-titled boxed set released by Mute Records. The most hilarious moment was when the pair recalled their dismay when Portugal awarded them 10 points at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/telex-interview/

MIDGE URE (2023)

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has had the honour of interviewing Midge Ure on a number of occasions, the first time at the world famous Abbey Road Studios. But the most recent occasion was the best where he discussed a life in music ahead of his 70th birthday and a special show at the Royal Albert Hall. This was an extensive chat which included music technology such as the PPG Wave and the Roland GR700 guitar synthesizer.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/midge-ure-a-life-in-music/

JOHN FOXX (2024)

With ‘Metamatic’ about to celebrate its 45th Anniversary, it was a perfect time for ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK to chat to John Foxx about his close encounters with synthesizers over a game of Vintage Synth Trumps in Düsseldorf, the spiritual home of modern electronic pop. As well as talking about his seminal debut solo album, he recalled how ULTRAVOX came to utilise synths and drum machines in their music.

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/vintage-synth-trumps-with-john-foxx/

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s interviews can be viewed at https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/interviews/

Interviews from the Vintage Synth Trumps series are collected at https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/v-s-t/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
15th March 2025

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2024

13 December 2024 /

Streaming has made music more accessible to people than at any time previously in the music industry’s history.

With traction of new music now very dependent on social media, many artists are playing the algorithm with single songs rather than bodies of work such as EP and albums which are now almost an afterthought.

While ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has always done end of year summaries around songs rather than albums, as they can best represent an annual period, the release strategy adopted by some proved frustrating for listeners. As a result, with everything now democratised and so much choice available following seemingly random patterns, promising new acts found it much harder to get noticed than 10 years ago and simply fell into the cracks of the web.

In 2024, there were albums released where 90 to 100% of the content comprised of previously released material; while the albums made sense as a journey in most cases, during the build-up, what used to be considered traditional “album tracks” were being issued as underwhelming singles that may have disappointed when listened to out of context from the main programme. Whereas the rant in the past with the plethora of different remixes available might have been “JUST GIVE ME THE VERSION THEY GOT RIGHT!”, today it is more likely to be “JUST GIVE ME THE BLOODY ALBUM!”

Then there were artists who only seemed to release single tracks with no EP or album likely, so unless a consumer had the time or the inclination to become a dedicated follower, it could be quite difficult to follow what was going on. Yes, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK may be stuck in the past as it is often accused of doing, but it simply does not embrace this bitty fragmented approach!

A straightforward list to compile, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2024 gathers tracks available on the usual online retail platforms with a restriction of one song per artist moniker and placed in alphabetical order…

BRIGITTE BARDINI Crush

Hailing from Melbourne in Australia, Brigitte Bardini is another artist to embrace her dark side having begun as an acoustic singer songwriter. Her first venture into the dark side came with the shady gothic techno of 2023’s ‘Start A Fire’. But ‘Crush’ was more ethereal, a dreamy melancholic number expressing some bittersweet heartache where “I’ll forget about you, if you want me to”. But despite a desire to hold on, it really is all over…

Available on the BRIGITTE BARDINI single ‘Crush’ via https://brigittebardini.bandcamp.com/track/crush

https://www.facebook.com/BrigitteBardiniMusic

CHARLIE Let Go

Not to be confused with the classic 1984 Italo disco track ‘Spacer Woman’ but no doubt in homage, ‘Spacewoman’ was the new EP by Berlin-domiciled DJ, musician and producer Leona Jacewska, best known by her stage name CHARLIE. Its highlight was ‘Let Go’, a thumping strobe-lit slice of dark disco saw Chicago meeting Italy in hypnotic bliss. Tonally and rhythmically, it was a sexy and sweaty number that provided an exhilarating ride.

Available on the CHARLIE EP ‘Spacewoman’ via Wrong Era / Slow Motion

https://www.instagram.com/charlieszum/

CURSES Vanish

Berlin-based New Yorker Luca Venezia, better known as CURSES, joined the Italians Do It Better family in 2024. One of the highlights of the ‘Another Heaven’ album comes with the superb ‘Vanish’; this was CURSES’ own ‘Your Silent Face’ with its brightly bubbling sequencers and solemn demeanour. There was even a subtle ‘Heroes’ like quality about it as our hero declared to his love that he wanted to ”vanish with you”.

Available on the CURSES album ‘Another Heaven’ via Italians Do It Better

https://www.cursesforever.com/

MARIE DAVIDSON Sexy Clown

Embracing her inner clown, ‘Sexy Clown’ was a delightful slice of detached minimal synth disco from Montreal’s Marie Davidson. Off her new album ‘City of Clowns’ out in 2025 on SOULWAX’s label DeeWee, the song explored the conflicted feelings around her treatment as an outsider where vulnerability and mettle, candidness and humour struggled to co-exist in other people’s minds. But real life is all about contrasts!

Available on the MARIE DAVIDSON album ‘City Of Clowns’ via https://mariedavidson.bandcamp.com/album/city-of-clowns

https://www.facebook.com/mariedavidson.official

DIE SEXUAL Need To Sin

From out of the shadows to under the strobe lights, DIE SEXUAL are the erotically charged Los Angeles-based duo of Anton Floriano and his wife Ros. Their second EP ‘Inservio’ developed on the themes of domination and submission of their debut EP ‘Bound’. With their penetrating club-friendly sound, ‘Need To Sin’ was conceived as a tantalizing roleplay of our seemingly innocent subject submitting to their ultimate desires and hedonistic fantasies.

Available on the DIE SEXUAL album ‘Elektro Body Musique’ via https://diesexual.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/diesexualofficial/

DINA SUMMER Halkidiki

A product of Berlin, DINA SUMMER blend new wave, synthpop, dark disco, techno and Italo; although their EP ‘Hide & Seek’ embraced a cutting Mittel Europa edge, it was just a precursor to a new album ‘Girls Gang’ in 2025. Released ahead of it, ‘Halkidiki’ was an infectious electronic club tune made for sultry summery nights and named after the popular holidaying destination in Northern Greece known for its sandy beaches.

Available on the DINA SUMMER album ‘Girls Gang’ via https://dinasummer.bandcamp.com/album/girls-gang-idi021

https://dinasummer.berlin/

GAVIN FRIDAY Ecce Homo

With a long gestation period, the ‘Ecce Homo’ long player started as a collaboration between Gavin Friday and Dave Ball who had first produced his band VIRGIN PRUNES on the 1986 album ‘The Moon Looked Down & Laughed’. Combining elements of synth with post-punk, the title song itself was a wonderfully deathly slice of disco gothique that sounded like Ian McCulloch meeting SOFT CELL at Berghain given an extra chill by an opera soprano sample!

Available on the GAVIN FRIDAY album ‘Ecce Homo’ via BMG

https://www.gavinfriday.com/

HAUTE & FREDDY Anti-Superstar

North American glam glee duo Haute & Freddy have only had two songs released but they made an impression in 2024. While ‘Scantily Clad’ was an excellent debut, the best of the pair was ‘Anti-Superstar’, a superb slice of avant synthpop with a chunky driving electronic bass triplet. There was certainly a cool wonderment about their style, sound and theatrics, making them one of the most promising new acts of the year.

Available on the HAUTE & FREDDY single ‘Anti-Superstar’ via Even If

https://www.instagram.com/hauteandfreddy

HELIX Unimaginable Place

North America’s alternative music power couple Tom Shear of ASSEMBLAGE 23 and Mari Kattman returned as HELIX. Blessed with one of the most captivating voices in electronic music, Mari Kattman was on top form with ‘Unimaginable Place’, an infectious slice of electronic pop with sparkling hooks and groovy rhythmics. Tom Shear said “I prefer to make other people dance than to dance myself. If you’ve ever seen me perform live you know why! I can’t dance to save my life”

Available on the HELIX EP ‘Unimaginable Place’ via https://helix.bandcamp.com/https://helix.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HelixElectronic

GENEVA JACUZZI Dry

With a detached Eurocentric poise reminiscent of Gina X, Geneva Jacuzzi described her third album ‘Triple Fire’ “as a hit parade of wildcard synthpop and sly post-apocalyptic camp”. Brilliantly catchy, ‘Dry’ offered alluring danceable synthpop which went weirdly discordant halfway through. A commentary about dehumanisation, it highlighted the song’s lyrical gist about being ghosted following a date.

Available on the GENEVA JACUZZI album ‘Triple Fire’ via Dais Records

https://www.genevajacuzzi.com/

IONNALEE The End Of Every Song

Jonna Lee returned in 2024 as IONNALEE to the electronic sound she is best known for after 2022’s more organic IAMAMIWHOAMI record ‘Be Here Soon’. This third IONNALEE long player ‘Close Your Eyes’ had the twist of having a Swedish Language twin in ‘Blund’. ‘The End Of Every Song’ surprised with a thumping rhythm and a cacophony of chunky sequences and piercing electronics, the vocals sitting brilliantly like ABBA on helium in outer space!

Available on the IONNALEE album ‘Close Your Eyes’ via to whom it may concern

https://ionnalee.com/

ITALOCONNECTION Europa

In 2021, ITALOCONNECTION issued ‘Midnight Confessions Vol1’, a record themed around love. On ‘Vol2’, there was a twist; en Français using an AI generated female voice, ‘Europa’ paid homage to the art movements and machine music of the continent in a dramatic midtempo piece accompanied by synth passages that could be Jean-Michel Jarre. KRAFTWERK, TELEX, PET SHOP BOYS, PROPAGANDA and NEW ORDER were among those getting a name check.

Available on the ITALOCONNECTION album ‘Midnight Confessions Vol2’ via Bordello A Parigi

https://www.facebook.com/italoconnection

JAIN Nobody Knows

French singer Jeanne Louise Galice is more known for mixing pop with Afrobeat, but with an electronic energy and Moroder-esque throb, ‘Nobody Knows’ was very different from her previous work. With a similar lyrical disposition to Taylor Swift’s ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’, where “Nobody Knows, it’s just the way I’m feeling tonight, I’ll keep on dancing, but I feel heavy-hearted”, underneath the glitterball splendour was deep sadness.

Available on the JAIN single ‘Nobody Knows’ via Spookland / Sony Music

https://www.instagram.com/jainmusic/

JULIA-SOPHIE Numb

The long awaited debut long player from Julia-Sophie entitled ‘forgive too slow’ was a contemplative body of work as reflecting on past relationships. Lead single ‘numb’ was a marvellous avant pop set piece over a subtle rhythmic rumble with a stark haunted monologue. But then things took a frantic about turn as sung and spoken passages alternated with the growing intensity. A concluding barrage of unsettling cut-up voices highlighted her resigned state of mind.

Available on the JULIA-SOPHIE album ‘forgive too slow’ via Ba Da Bing Records

https://www.facebook.com/juliasophiex0x

KALEIDA Stranger

It looked as though KALEIDA would disband due to the pressures of parenting and the shifting patterns of life. But Christina Wood and Cicely Goulder made their long distance creative partnership work again and their reward was a third album ‘In Arms’. The glorious ‘Stranger’ sprung a surprise with 808 electro dance rhythms and a superb collage of staccato voice samples, punchy bass and great vocals that came over in a prayer-like chant.

Available on the KALEIDA album ‘In Arms’ via Embassy One

https://www.kaleidamusic.com/

KID MOXIE Ti Einai Afto Pou To Lene Agapi

The Greek love song ‘Ti Einai Afto Pou To Lene Agapi’ was made famous when Sophia Loren sung it with Tonis Maroudas in the 1957 film ‘Boy On A Dolphin’. For 2024, KID MOXIE gave the song an emotive electronic arrangement that was both sweet and haunting. It was included in the soundtrack of the new season of Netflix drama series ‘Maestro In Blue’ which had been the first Greek television series to be included on the platform.

Available on the KID MOXIE single ‘Ti Einai Afto Pou To Lene Agapi’ via Minos EMI

https://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie/

KITE Glassy Eyes

Releasing their first EP in 2008, KITE finally released their first full-length studio album on the American independent label Dais Records. As their seventh body of work and following on from the numbered series of EPs, the appropriately titled ‘VII’ contains music from their seven most recent singles released over the past seven years. Like a slice of Nordic gospel, ‘Glassy Eyes’ confronts the turmoil of existential anxiety.

Available on the KITE album ‘VII’ via Dais Records

https://www.facebook.com/KiteHQ

LEATHERS Daydream Trash

While ACTORS have been gaining increased worldwide recognition, their keyboardist Shannon Hemmett has developed her more synth focussed solo project LEATHERS in parallel. Her long awaited debut album ‘Ultraviolet’ contained romantic synthpop with sinister twists in that classic Lynchian fashion. However, ‘Daydream Trash’ was a wonderful outlier, a summer new wave tune that was “100 in the shade” and could have easily come off the soundtrack of a John Hughes film.

Available on the LEATHERS album ‘Ultraviolet’ via Artoffact Records

https://www.leatherstheband.com

LINEA ASPERA Mycelium

While Alison Lewis has focussed on her ZANIAS solo venture for the past few years, she was back playing live with Ryan Ambridge as LINEA ASPERA in the summer. The pair had quietly been writing and recording together with the absorbing ‘Mycelium’ being the first fruit of labour. Featuring Ambridge’s characteristic arpeggio-laden backdrop, Lewis turned to using the fuzzy mass growing on mouldy food as a metaphor for the state of a personal relationship.

Available on the LINEA ASPERA single ‘Mycelium’ via https://lineaaspera.bandcamp.com/track/mycelium

https://www.facebook.com/lineaaspera

MICHEL MOERS featuring CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Microwave

Best known as the front man of Belgian trailblazers TELEX, in 2024 Michel Moers released what was only his second solo studio album. Recorded primarily using Logic, the songs were developed over several years. While Moers continued with his distinctive cynical surrealism, the single ‘Microwaves’ featured Claudia Brücken on lead vocals for a more straightforward slice electronic pop with solid bass and icy synth lines that came over like PROPAGANDA meeting TELEX.

Available on the MICHEL MOERS album ‘As Is’ via Freaksville Records

https://www.instagram.com/michelmoers/

MINUIT MACHINE Hold Me

Now the solo project of Parisian producer and DJ Amandine Stioui, MINUIT MACHINE has been described as “disrupted, emotional, and terribly addictive”. But making a fresh restart with a clear sheet on her Instagram, ‘Hold Me’ showcased an optimistic lyrical gist and melodic drive on top of the thumping beats than had been heard in her work with previous MINUIT MACHINE creative partner Hélène De Thoury aka Hante.

Available on the MINUIT MACHINE single ‘Hold Me’ via https://minuitmachine.bandcamp.com/track/hold-me

https://www.facebook.com/minuitmachine/

MOLCHAT DOMA Kolesom

Now exiled from Belarus to LA, MOLCHAT DOMA brought in the dancier but still sombre sequenced pulses of classic NEW ORDER and DEPECHE MODE for their fourth album to create a more refined studio product. The magnificent ‘Kolesom’ was a glorious slice of apocalyptic electronic disco with an obvious NEW ORDER influence although Bernard Sumner never sounded this foreboding! The ominous baritone offered a commentary on the banality of modern life.

Available on the MOLCHAT DOMA album ‘Belaya Polosa’ via Sacred Bones

https://molchatdoma.com/

NIGHT CLUB The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)

‘Masochist’ was the highly appropriate title for the fourth NIGHT CLUB album, a dystopian prophecy that came true! Written by FUN BOY THREE in 1981 as a metaphor by to the dangerous posturing games played by “The Cowboy” Ronald Reagan during The Cold War, the inclusion of a cover of ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)’ with an even more sinister resonance was sadly relevant as the crazy orange monster was mindlessly voted back as the leader of the free world!

Available on the NIGHT CLUB album ‘Masochist’ via Gato Blanco

https://www.facebook.com/nightclubband

NINA & RADIO WOLF My Dark

Created, recorded, produced and mixed at home in Berlin, ‘My Dark’ encapsulated a dark romantic spirit between NINA and RADIO WOLF. “I knew we’d be creating a kind of revelatory anti-love song about the dark side of relationships” said RADIO WOLF while NINA added “we both felt like creating something quite heavy and I wanted to let out my inner femme-fatale… it’s very moving as a dance track yet provocative like a sex scene in a movie”.

Available on the NINA & RADIO WOLF single ‘My Dark’ via https://iloveninamusic.bandcamp.com/track/my-dark

https://www.iloveninamusic.com/

https://www.radiowolfmusic.com/

PROPAGANDA Wenn Ich Mir Was Wuenschen Duerfte

Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper starting a new chapter of PROPAGANDA young German singer-songwriter Thunder Bae was perhaps on not on anyone’s bingo card at the start of 2024. She gave a superbly enticing performance in a haunting cover of ‘Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte’ (translated into English as “If I had a wish”), a Weimar-era song written by Friedrich Hollaender in 1930 also featuring Oscar winning pianist Hauschka.

Available on the PROPAGANDA album ‘Propaganda’ via by Bureau B

https://propband.tilda.ws/

R. MISSING Sleep Will Darken It

Following a trail of sporadic singles with minimal promotional fanfare, R.MISSING have not been straightforward to follow. But with the enigmatic voice of the appropriately named Sharon Shy and the backing of Henry Frost, their alluring pop noir has been compelling when it hits the spot. Short and sharp with the air of a more electronic CHROMATICS, ‘Sleep Will Darken It’ came from their long awaited debut album.

Available on the R. MISSING album ‘Knife Shook Your Hand’ via Terminal Echo

https://www.instagram.com/r.missing/

MARIA UZOR What U Need

“I wrote this track on a social media break as an ode to reclaiming oneself from the grasps of Musk et al” said Maria Uzor, best known previously for being a member of SINK YA TEETH with Gemma Cullingford. Self-produced with a feisty twisted energy, ‘What U Need’ was a techno anthem celebrating detox from the online world that signalled another development in her fearsome beat-laden underground.

Available on the MARIA UZOR single ‘What U Need’ via https://mariauzor.bandcamp.com/track/what-u-need-single

https://mariauzor.com

PATRICIA WOLF The Secret Lives Of Birds

Combining modern and natural worlds, one key aspect in the music of Patricia Wolf is her use of field recordings and this shapes her new album ‘The Secret Lives of Birds’ into a soundtrack for an as-yet-unmade wildlife documentary. While the ambience is very beautiful at times, there are darker moments of angst and sadness driven by concern. Self-explanatory and with synthetic droplets simulating contact calls, ‘The Secret Lives of Birds’ title piece sets the scene.

Available on the PATRICIA WOLF album ‘The Secret Lives of Birds’ via Nite Hive

https://www.instagram.com/patriciawolf_music/

XENO & OAKLANDER Magic Of The Manifold

From their Connecticut laboratory bubble, the new XENO & OAKLANDER album sees a further refinement to their precise yet spirited productions. Past works have demonstrated and reinforced Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride’s talents as the Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg of synth. With an immediate rhythmic bounce, ‘Magic Of The Manifold’ is classic XENO & OAKLANDER with its squelchy bassline programming being a prominent feature.

Available on the XENO & OAKLANDER album ‘Via Negativa (in the doorway light)’ via Dais Records

https://www.facebook.com/xenoandoaklndr

YOTA & JOHAN AGEBJÖRN Universe In Flames

Yota is a Paris-based singer / songwriter hailing from Stockholm, while Johan Agebjörn is the Swedish producer who is best known as the instrumental half of SALLY SHAPIRO. Blending his melancholic electronic pop style to her sumptuous vocals, ‘Universe In Flames’ provides a telling global warning message. A fine mix of Scandipop, synthwave and rock with sinister twists, it showcased the best of both talents, combining classic synthpop styles with dance music.

Available on the YOTA & JOHAN AGEBJÖRN EP ‘Universe In Flames’ is released by Keytar Records

https://www.instagram.com/yota_official_artist/

https://www.instagram.com/johan.agebjorn/

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 2024 playlist ‘The Great Bleep Forward’ containing over 230 tracks from the year can be listened to on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4xMrAkCbeWvUmTfrN6i6Gu

Text by Chi Ming Lai
13th December 2024

2023 END OF YEAR REVIEW

18 December 2023 /

Photo by Jori Hulkkonen

Just as it looked like it would be safe to come out to play, there was uncertainty within the music industry again.

What had become the artists’ favourite platform thanks to its low commission and 0% Fridays, Bandcamp was taken over by Epic Games in 2022 but then following a move by employees to unionise, was sold to Songtradr who immediately dismissed half of its staff… in hindsight, despite its proclamation that this platform cared about the music, it looked like this had been yet another start-up by tech venture capitalists. Just as many acts dropped their own websites in favour of Facebook over a decade ago but were then trapped into sponsored posts to reach the majority of their own fanbase, online shops had been dropped for Bandcamp. So, things are back to square one as many consider a rebuild of their web presence.

Meanwhile, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino made a controversial declaration that concert ticket prices were generally too low and that artists could easily “charge a bit more”. While THE CURE notably refused to do this and capped their face value tickets at $20 for their US tour, the Live Nation sister outlet Ticketmaster applied excessive booking extras of more than $20 per ticket for a “service fee”, “facility charge” and “order processing”! With dynamic pricing in place at a number of high profile events and so-called VIP tickets on the rise (which didn’t actually include a meet ‘n’ greet but only a nearby bar and a lanyard), fans had their “FOMO” anxieties triggered and simply paid up!

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

Another artist who kept ticket prices low was Midge Ure who embarked on the successful ‘Voices & Visions’ tour after a year’s delay due to uncertainties over the Covid situation in 2022. Complimented by a straightforward but very effective light show and material from his second and third long players with ULTRAVOX ‘Rage In Eden’ and ‘Quartet’, it was a triumph. He was rewarded with a 70th birthday show celebrating his career at The Royal Albert Hall, which despite its plush surroundings was also kept affordable.

Who says an artist has no control over retail pricing? But one band who were shamelessly happy to charge more for concert tickets, more for merchandise and more for physical releases were DEPECHE MODE. For their first album and tour since the passing of co-founder Andy Fletcher in 2022, the remaining members played the death card with ‘Memento Bori’ and managed to plonk an even more underwhelming arena show into the stadiums of the world… at least the ‘Global Spirit’ tour featured risers!

With renowned UK venues such as Printworks and Moles closing down, as had already been highlighted by Juls Garat of US goth band PILGRIMS OF YEARNING via social media in 2022: “If you’re spending a kidney on DEPECHE MODE tickets and not attending a local show this weekend, I don’t wanna see you complaining that there’s no scene, local venues or new music anymore”. However, one seemingly oblivious Devotee said about the inflated ticket prices: “Really don’t know what the issue is. Happily paid £108.00 for a DM ticket. Would have paid more!!”. And therein lays the problem… DEPECHE MODE played a date at Stadion Wankdorf in Bern and that said it all! As the man who Devotees call a genius once wrote: “Some great reward will be coming my way…”

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

As The Devotees wallowed in their collective misery during 2023, the Stockholm Syndrome was stronger than ever. On the Bratislava leg at the National Football Stadium, one of The Black Swarm commented to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “I was there… I must admit, a bit disappointed… but I still love them!!!”. It was business as usual for DEPECHE MODE, with “business” being the operative word. It was reported that so much money had been sucked out of the European alternative music market in particular that a number of acts had to schedule their planned tours to 2024, while others who had made good albums worthy of attention in 2023 got lost in the sea of DM propaganda on the web.

Despite increased ticket prices at all levels, gig etiquette declined to the worst possible standards with the constant chatter and bad manners among some attendees. Surely if you have paid upwards of £30 or more for a show, you might want to pay more attention and enjoy it? ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has never seen it this bad in the 43 years it has been going to concerts, but this entitled arrogance to talk extremely loudly about total bollocks is a undoubted legacy of Brexit and Covid which in combination has normalised a lack of social graces in gathered environments… and when challenged, these total numbskulls become aggressive, pitifully unaware that they are ruining the evening of those around them.

Meanwhile, there was another undesirable element who only go to gigs to post selfies and badly distorted footage on their socials… these were often the sort of people who actually hated the band back in the day, but after 40+ years realised they like the song on the Vitality or Waitrose advert so are sudddenly giving it the big “I AM” about being a fan… but BECAUSE they are only there for one song, they then treat the rest of the gig like they were out with their mates in the pub! 🤬

Photo by Chi Ming Lai

The best live shows of the year came from PET SHOP BOYS and DURAN DURAN with their arena extravaganzas full of hits, classic fan favourites and great staging. Among the album celebrations, CHINA CRISIS ran through their second long player ‘Working With Fire & Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume 2’ on tour to celebrate its 40th anniversary and founder bassist Peter Hook took the first NEW ORDER compilation ‘Substance’ out on the road to coincide with its expanded 4CD reissue.

“Sweden’s best kept pop secret” KITE impressed with an imitate headliner for their debut London gig and later at Cologne’s Amphi Festival to a much larger crowd, while the return of Ollie Wride to the London stage at The Scala illustrated why he has potential to be the next synthwave artist to crossover into the mainstream.

Photo by Ed Miles

‘Time’s Arrow’, LADYTRON’s second album since their return from hiatus proved to be something of a disappointment while fairing slightly better with its anti-Brexit sentiments, ‘Bauhaus Staircase’ was touted as the final album from OMD; now kissing the strict machine, having previously been supportive of new electronic pop via ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK championed acts MIRRORS, VILLA NAH, VILE ELECTRODES, METROLAND, TINY MAGNETIC PETS and SOFTWAVE, their choice of art glam hipsters WALT DISCO as opening act on the UK leg of the 2024 tour was symbolic of the general poor state of modern synthpop ie pop music using synths, particularly within the narrow-mindset of Brexit Britain.

Although the UK was continuing to party like it was 1933, the incendiary language that Cruella Braverman was using was so extreme that she was even dismissed from fronting the Conservative Party new wave covers band A FLOCK OF SIEG HEILS… as a trio of poets from South Yorkshire once said: “BROTHERS! SISTERS! WE DON’T NEED THIS FASCIST GROOVE THANG!” ✊

Reflecting a wider issue, 2023 also saw ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK publish its fewest number of ‘Introducing…’ new artist articles since its inception in 2010 with only Brigitte Bardini and Madeleine Goldstein featured. There were a number of possible reasons…

Photo by Bella Salvatore

“The technology leads the art form and it always has” said veteran producer Steve Lillywhite on a recent Rockonteurs podcast, “if the technology allows you to reference other people’s records… you WILL do that!”. This was summed up by an Apple Mac advert featuring sample-based British pop singer PinkPantheress demonstrating how to have a hit by appropriating a topline from Kelly Rowland and plonking it into GarageBand before processing her voice through AutoTune and nabbing the intro of ‘Gold’ by SPANDAU BALLET… you said it yourself Miss Walker, IT SOUNDS LIKE GARBAGE!

While the accessibility, usability and sound quality of modern tech has totally democratised music making, as another veteran producer Stephen Hague put it to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK “it’s made it far too easy”, with the end result being familiarity and imitation rather than innovation. Now that an acceptable sound is able to be obtained fairly quickly on software such as GarageBand, the level of songwriting has generally declined in many genres. Artists abstain from putting in the hard work towards the actual songcraft because they think their track is already great, as it sounds like someone they’ve based it on!

However, the misuse of “synth” as a description reached a new nadir in 2023. There were those using “synth” or “synthwave” in their brand identity who proudly revealed via their Spotify Wrapped that their Top Genre was actually rock or made bizarre comments like “What I like most about synthwave is the guitar solos”. Meanwhile one artist declared they were synthpop because they had spent their youth “listening to too much Madonna”! But synth music as an enduring form is ultimately doomed when social media platforms using “Synthpop” in their idents think that guitar-based bands like BIG COUNTRY and COCTEAU TWINS are part of it, or compile acoustic playlists!! 🤦‍♂️

“Synth” has now somehow become is a general term for any retro-flavoured pop with an element of shiny artifice whether synthesizers have been used or not! These artists and “content creators” are now too young to understand what “synth” in music actually once meant and probably think the term is short for “synthetic” as in clothes and hair products, as opposed to “synthesizer”.

That said, 2023 was not all bad and there was a lot of excellent music. The song of the year was by the unlikely synth hero in glum rocker Lloyd Cole; while guitars made a more prominent but limited return on his album ‘On Pain’ following 2019’s electronically-dominated ‘Guesswork’, the standout song ‘The Idiot’ saw him provide a touching narrative on the relationship between David Bowie and Iggy Pop as they relocated to Berlin in 1976.

Swedish veterans PAGE took the Numanisation of their poptronica to its zenith by bringing in former imperial phase Numan band members Chris Payne and RRussell Bell on their new album ‘En Ny Våg’. Across the Öresund Bridge, Danish synthpop couple SOFTWAVE showed the world the ‘things we’ve done’.

Photo by George Tripodakis

Another music veteran Ricky Wilde teamed up with NINA to reveal their ‘Scala Hearts’; full of classic pop references and a modern sheen, this was the record Wilde had wanted to make for a few years but hadn’t been able to with his sister Kim. Its creative drive showed and this was also the best long player that NINA had been part of since she launched her solo career in 2011. In a busy year, NINA also found time to satisfy many a red blooded fantasy by collaborating with Kid Moxie on the ‘Lust’ EP released by Italians Do It Better.

The Finns were strong too, with Jaakko Eino Kalavi and Jori Hulkkonen producing two of the best albums of 2023. The former’s eclectic ‘Chaos Magic’ featured Alma Jodorowsky, Mr Silla and Jimi Tenor as special guests while the latter’s ‘There Is Light Hidden In These Shadows’ brought in John Grant, Ralf Dörper, Jake Shears, Jon Marsh, Juho Paalosmaa and Tiga.

While maintaining his front man role in MESH, Mark Hockings presented his solo project BLACKCARBURNING in long playing form and was ‘Watching Sleepers’. Also going it alone, Alison Goldfrapp squarely hit the dancefloor via ’The Love Invention’ with Kylie Minogue’s similarly glitzy ‘Tension’ as its companion. But with ACTORS still busy touring the world, the planned long playing debut from LEATHERS was yet to emerge but there were two new singles in the interim.

METROLAND and side project 808 DOT POP ambitiously released albums in five different formats with exclusive tracks on each between them simultaneously, in a move that had not been seen since 1978 when all four members of KISS released solo records on the same day. Much more discretely, ITALOCONNECTION came up with ‘Nordisko’ which comprised of Nordic pop disco covers. More ambient experiments were served by John Foxx, Vince Clarke, Patricia Wolf, Johan Agebjörn and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, while putting those ethereal textures into song was Hinako Omori with her appropriately named second album ‘stillness, softness…’

Germany’s BEBORN BETON offered bleak commentary on the state of the planet with ‘Darkness Falls Again’ but encouraged everyone to be dancers in the dark while Chinese band STOLEN highlighted this ‘Eroded Creation’. Within their ‘Circle Of Doom’, NNHMN had pressing matters closer to home while ZANIAS emerged from her ‘Chrysalis’. FERAL FIVE confronted and worked with AI to declare ‘Truth Is The New Gold’ and Finlay Shakespeare tapped into his ‘Illusion + Memory’.

Photo by Tim Darin

Among the promising emergent acts with debut EPs were NEU-ROMANCER and DIE SEXUAL while German solo artists Jennifer Touch and Laura Dre added to their long playing portfolios, as did OHNOTHING and BUNNY X. Fronted by respectively by John Grant and Neil Arthur, CREEP SHOW and THE REMAINDER outlined the benefits of collaboration while CAUSEWAY joined forces with R. MISSING for the single ‘Wear The Night Out’.

Despite having plied their trade for over 50 years, SPARKS continued to be as eccentric as ever and even had Cate Blanchett appear in the video for ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’. With ‘*Happiness now completed’ and Dave Ball returning to the live fold after a period of serious illness, SOFT CELL effectively issued another new album featuring a significant number of previously unreleased tracks including covers of Giorgio Moroder and X-RAY SPEX to provide a much more satisfying listening experience than the parent ‘*Happiness not included’ record. Then there was the unexpected recorded return of CLASSIX NOUVEAUX with their ‘Battle Cry’.

Veteran acts who ceased active operations many years ago got worthy boxed set treatments; TELEX provided ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK with the funniest interview of the year in support of their self-titled retrospective on Mute while LANDSCAPE were comprehensively catalogued by Cooking Vinyl. Not to be left out, the trusty Cherry Red via their Lemon imprint showcased how underrated NEW MUSIK and their leader Tony Mansfield were, especially with the latter’s sound clearly audible in today’s pop acts such as THE WEEKND.

Despite the return of Q, the jury was still out on whether music magazines are still desirable aside from their CD and vinyl artefacts. Meanwhile, music-based social media dumbed down its engagement to cut ‘n’ paste Wikipedia snippets accompanying archive photos or artwork, pointless 26th anniversary posts and non-significant birthday celebrations to attract likes. Comments from the public such as “My favourite album… I wish I still had it!” and saying “Happy Birthday” when the platform wasn’t even connected to the artist concerned only highlighted further the continuing inane nature of online interaction. And this was without those irritating “POV” reels and reaction videos on TikTok and Instagram which were unfortunately prevalent!

The less said about the right wing gammon infested sh*t show that Twitter has become, the better but on the new Threads platform intended to take it on, PENDULUM’s El Hornet remarked “omg threads is full of music industry self help w*nkers making lists about things nobody asked abort! ABORT!” 🤣

With such platforms also seemingly centred around the exposure of flesh with photos “just for fun” be the subject a golfer, gamer, painter, baker, comedian, hairdresser, photographer, psychologist, racing driver, book reviewer, poet, dating coach or Lego enthusiast, is it any wonder that several music artists resorted to setting up OnlyFans accounts to sell nude photos!

With pun totally intended, in this challenging climate for exposure, some acts simply got a bit too big for their boots and were unbearably conceited on their socials with their bragging and frivolous chatter to appease a needy flock who hung onto their every word, desperate to be seen to be “friends” of wannabe stars while crowdfunding towards their spa weekenders and vet bills for their cat… it was therefore ironic that one of these acts declared “Music isn’t a competition!” when it appeared that another band might be taking away some of their limelight! Well, stop acting like it’s a 24 hour edition of ‘The Apprentice’ then!!! 🙄

On the other side of the coin, one too cool for school band took a strange attitude to promotion by refusing to accept questions about their influences while trying to come over like total originals. Despite their inspirations being blatant and obvious to hear, they had a misguided self-belief that they were somehow speaking a new language! But everybody knows they started out by purchasing the sheet music to ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ from a New York thrift store! 😆

A few years ago, a lone British artist was complained about the lack of press attention for their new admittedly good album, but then proceeded not to answer emails containing interview pitches. Artists need to engage, no matter how much they say they hate doing promotion, they can’t have it both ways. The days of RADIOHEAD not doing interviews to promote a new album and letting the music speak for itself are long gone…

With the world now making up for lost time since 2020, it would be fair to say that 2023 has been something of a strange year!

Text by Chi Ming Lai
18th December 2023

« Older posts

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: theelectricityclub@googlemail.com
Privacy Policy

Up ↑