Tag: Gazelle Twin (Page 7 of 9)

GAZELLE TWIN Discusses Unflesh

26 May 2014 /

GAZELLE TWIN premiered her new album ‘Unflesh’ with a special performance at Birthdays in London’s trendy Dalston district.

The live presentation showcased a heavier sound that has distinctly moved away from the cinematic hauntronica of debut album ‘The Entire City’ and interim EP ‘Mammal’.

The moniker of Elizabeth Bernholz, GAZELLE TWIN has acquired an impressive host of admirers and collaborators including John Foxx, Gary Numan and Clint Mansell. ‘Unflesh’ has with artistic violence allowed the Brighton based songstress to exorcise her demons.Indeed, the closing number of the evening is appropriately titled ‘Exorcise’; an impressively aggressive cross between PINK FLOYD’s ‘One The Run’ and KRAFTWERK’s ‘Home Computer’, it is accorded some extra uneasy resonance by Bernholz’s deadpan commentary.

Clothed in a school-blue goodie with a head stocking and brown wig replacing the mysteriously veiled Elephant Woman look of her shows supporting JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS in late 2011, GAZELLE TWIN’s new material has a more threatening intent, focussing on the more industrialised template introduced by ‘Belly Of The Beast’ and new single ‘Anti Body’.

The ‘Unflesh’ title track and ‘I Feel Blood’ are even barer but no less unsettling while ‘Guts’ follows a similar path but adds an almost PRINCE-like funk groove. Indeed, much of the material on ‘Unflesh’ is strangely danceable…

Elizabeth Bernholz kindly spoke with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK before her ‘Unflesh’ showcase to discuss her latest incarnation of expression.

How would you describe the differences in the way you’ve conceived ‘Unflesh’ compared with ‘The Entire City’ and the ‘Mammal’ EP?

The writing process has simplified. I restricted myself so that I ended up with a more direct and quite a lo-fi sound. There are connections with ‘The Entire City’, the first full length thing I ever wrote and produced, but the relationship with ‘Unflesh’ is minimal. It has been written very much with live performance in mind.

Titles such as ‘Unflesh’, ‘Belly Of The Beast’, ‘Guts’ and ‘Anti Body’ indicate you still have metaphysical concerns?

That’s something I can’t switch off. But I don’t want to. There are rarely moments where I’m not considering the wider meaning of all things, on a day to day basis. I’ll make a sandwich and think of the former life of all the ingredients, all these particles that are being slammed together to ultimately end up as my sh*t…

I like that sort of thought process. I’m hypersensitive to everything around me all the time. This is not always useful. I suffer from anxiety and have numerous phobias that mostly arose from childhood. I have overcome most of them through making music, and this record is very much a continuation of that process.

The ‘Unflesh’ project has been supported by a striking audio / visual component. The faceless girl in the school-blue sportswear… is the character in any way autobiographical?

100%. It’s from a memory of school, 16 years ago. I chose to confront a difficult experience from that time, by re-embodying it. The difference is that this time I’m in control. A pretty simple exercise in self-help when you think about it… people will continue to be baffled and weirded-out by it, but that’s OK. That’s the fun part of it. That makes me want to do it even more.

When we last spoke, you described recording an album as being “a bit like doing a thesis”. Has that still been the case with ‘Unflesh’?

I researched anatomy – more as a hobby than being very academic about it. I’m especially interested in disease and mutations in nature. I have always enjoyed finding rhymes in nature – in structures, behaviours, rhythms etc. I also researched a lot of artists and artworks that deal with similar themes. I find doing this really rewarding and enlightening. There is so much out there to absorb.

Since ‘The Entire City’ was released, THE KNIFE returned with the uncompromising ‘Shaking The Habitual’. What did you think of it and has it has any bearing on your own artistic directions for ‘Unflesh’?

I had pretty much finished writing most of ‘Unflesh’ by the time ‘Shaking The Habitual’ came out, but I love that album of course and proudly align myself with its stance on politics, including the politics of performance art and how gender is dealt with in popular culture. Uncompromising is the key. They are one of the best conceptual performance groups out there right now. I wish there were more.

Claire Boucher aka GRIMES fedback to you about the demo of ‘Anti Body’. I SPEAK MACHINE aka Tara Busch has also reworked ‘Anti Body’. Do you feel an affinity with any of the current crop of female artists in electronic music?

I am asked this a lot… I guess because I am openly challenging the gender issue in performance. In the end, my interest is only in ideas. I might feel a great affinity with a very aggressive, masculine, male performer like Stefan Burnett (DEATH GRIPS) as well as a female artist who is exploring similar territory.

I think it’s important not to make the distinction about gender being the reason behind it. Over emphasis can sometimes push the divide even further. I fully support other artists who are female of course, and I stand firmly behind the feminist and the LGBT debate which is very important to keep in the forefront of the mind.

GAZELLE TWIN, in its very essence, began as statement against a commercially driven world (and music industry), which constantly wants to remind me of my own sex and tell me what I’m supposed to do with it.

Your musical connections with JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS and the MemeTune collective have led to further collaborations with people such as Stephen Mallinder via the WRANGLER project. You’re building up quite an impressive CV of collaborators?

It’s insane… I was thinking about some of the people I’ve encountered or worked with over the last year and I’m incredibly lucky to have had introductions to legendary figures like John and Mal, and also GARY NUMAN. It’s heavily down to my manager Steve Malins who is the chief orchestrator of all these connections and is really talented at connecting people very naturally, from very quite different backgrounds. Robin Rimbaud (aka SCANNER) has also introduced me to some amazing people too, such as WIRE’s Colin Newman and Chris and Cosey of THROBBING GRISTLE. All of this is a privilege and I’m very grateful for that, but long may it continue.

I visited MemeTune a few months back and was strangely drawn to the Polymoog… was there a particular instrument or device that you saw out of the vast collection at MemeTune that particularly fascinated you?

Every time I go there, I notice something new and become lost in the awe of all these incredible instruments surrounding me. Of course I am impressed with the rare synths like the CS80 and the enormous wall of modulars, but the thing that blew me away most of all was actually the simplest… The Plate Reverb – which is just a huge wooden box containing one sheet of metal, an amp and a dampener, with one big metal dial on top to change the tension of the metal. You turn it on from downstairs in the studio and can hear everything going through it upstairs. It’s really, really incredible.

You’re known for experimenting with vocal processing in your music. Have there been any new techniques that you’ve discovered which have shaped this album and perhaps your approach to live work.

The majority of my new material is about spoken and often whispered lyrics rather than sung. There’s a certain skill to achieving that in a live setting because it requires a different kind of performance. In contrast, I have also included a lot of chest voice passages which feel great to perform. I have tried to emulate techniques from Bulgarian Folk singers for these elements, bending my voice into new shapes. There’s still a fair amount of processing going on in this record, but it’s more upfront than anything I have done before.

You’re playing live to showcase the album. How do you feel about live work? Is it something you want to do, or feel you have to do?

Performing live requires so much effort. Not just working the songs into a live format, then rehearsing over and over and over again (which I really hate), but to then have to get through the nerves, deal with the gamble of the sound being alright after soundcheck (it SO often isn’t), and then to recover quickly after all that stress and do it all over again… It’s a hard job, but I consider it a challenge. I do want to perform more and try to garner more satisfaction from the process.

What are your hopes and fears for the future?

Good Health / Bad Health (respectively)

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Elizabeth Bernholz

Special thanks also to Jeff Schofield at Type PR

‘Anti Body’ is released by Anti-Ghost Moon Ray / Last Gang as a digital download and limited 12″ vinyl. It features the exclusive track ‘Phobia’ plus remixes by WRANGLER and I SPEAK MACHINE

GAZELLE TWIN antibody‘Unflesh’ will be released later in 2014

Forthcoming GAZELLE TWIN 2014 live appearances include: St Gallen Grabenhalle (28 May – with PLANNINGTOROCK and BERNHOLZ), Hamburg Vogel Ball Festival (2nd August) and Glasgow Old Fruitmarket (3rd October – with WRANGLER and SCANNER)

http://www.gazelletwin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gazelletwin

http://www.antighostmoonray.com

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Esther Springett except live photo by Chi Ming Lai
26th May 2014

GAZELLE TWIN Belly Of The Beast

8 March 2014 /

Mysterious hauntronica artist GAZELLE TWIN has unleashed a fierce taster of her new sophomore album ‘Unflesh’ with the percussive ‘Belly Of The Beast’.

Continuing her metaphysical explorations in sound using synths and samples, Elizabeth Bernholz (née Walling) has moved away from the template of her avant cinematic debut ‘The Entire City’ to something more confrontational and industrialised. The lyrics talk of “I’ll take it like milk from a baby” over incessant Moog generated arpeggios and a squelchy rumblestrip. The powerfully enigmatic video directed by Bernholz and Esther May Springett features CCTV footage of an earthquake and somewhat surreally, but poignantly with some of the acts of God that have been happening around the UK, a milk flood!

Using the breadth of her talents, GAZELLE TWIN recognises the impact of a visual context to compliment her aural expression. In a 2012 interview with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, she said: “Film is the bedrock for many of my compositions in the past and now – although just as much in the thematic sense as the musical”.

Following the interim ‘Mammal’ EP issued in early 2012 which featured a remix of ‘This Is My Hand’ by acclaimed film score composer Clint Mansell and a striking cover of WIRE’s ‘Heartbeat’, ‘Belly Of The Beast’ sees GAZELLE TWIN back on the campaign trail. Performing live while veiled and often with minimal lighting, she evokes a Fourth World presence that represents a stark back-to-basics type of futurism. Her cover of ‘He’s A Liquid’ on the John Foxx curated ‘Exponentialism’ covers EP added a sexual tension not apparent in the original.

Having had her brooding music featured in a trailer for ‘Prometheus’ and endorsed by the likes of John Foxx, ‘Unflesh’ will be a key release for Bernholz that could potentially establish her alongside key experimentalists such as THE KNIFE.

‘Belly Of The Beast’ is released by Anti-Ghost Moon Ray Records

http://www.gazelletwin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gazelletwin

http://www.antighostmoonray.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Esther Springett
8th March 2014

Rhapsody and Exponentialism… The Art of JOHN FOXX Reinterpreted

14 May 2013 /
Featuring JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS, I SPEAK MACHINE and GAZELLE TWIN

JOHN FOXX has been highly prolific of late and this month sees the release of two tasteful artefacts which has the electronic pioneer revisiting his past while continuing to look forward simultaneously.

Both also showcase the platform he has given in particular to rising female musicians within a synth scene so notoriously noted in the past for its boys with their toys stance. But now, the girls are allowed to play with those toys too!

The first of these is ‘Rhapsody’, 10 tracks recorded live at London’s MemeTune Studios in late 2011 shortly after the JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS ‘Interplay’ tour. This series of shows was noted in particular for the addition of Hannah Peel’s screeching electric violin on material from Foxx’s ‘Metamatic’ and early ULTRAVOX! phases.

Featuring also Serafina Steer on bass and synths plus Foxx’s Mathematical sidekick Benge on electronic percussion and synths, the wide scope of the material is given a thematic core by this highly competent quartet, each bringing in their individual skills for a sum greater than its parts.

Foxx’s collaborations with Louis Gordon may have revitalised his musical aspirations, but what the Benge partnership did was provide a depth of humanity which perhaps had not shown itself in Foxx’s work since his ULTRAVOX! days. The addition of younger players such as Peel and Steer plus vital, energetic new material such as ‘Catwalk’ contributed to what was possibly Foxx’s best ever live show, not a bad achievement considering the former Dennis Leigh is now in his fourth decade in the music industry.

Like Foxx’s recording of ‘The Omnidelic Exotour’ from 1997, ‘Rhapsody’ is a closed set live recording with no audience. The beautiful instrumental take of ‘The Good Shadow’ with its pulsing sequences and eerie violin will have some recalling the intro of GARY NUMAN’s ‘Cry The Clock Said’.

Meanwhile the reworking of ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’ retains the serene quality of the original with elements such as the sax are replaced by synth and Benge compliments percussively with Simmons thuds. The highlights though inevitably are ‘The Shadow Of His Former Self’, ‘Just For A Moment’ and ‘He’s A Liquid’ where the violin of Hannah Peel wails to an enjoyable pitch bent frenzy!

Of course, a lot ‘Metamatic’ era material actually featured bass guitar so Steer’s fluid four string, while not quite putting the funk into proceedings, gives a closer representation of the period’s mechanised groove on songs like ‘Burning Car’. Peel and Steer’s elements combined with Benge’s synthetic drums interestingly beg the thought of how ULTRAVOX might have sounded had Messrs Foxx, Currie, Cross, Cann and Simon stayed together to record ‘Metamatic’? ‘Rhapsody’ is a great souvenir of the ‘Interplay’ tour although it could have done with being slightly longer; ‘Plaza’ and ‘Watching A Bulding On Fire’ would have been worthy inclusions but it’s probably best to have the audience wanting more.

Meanwhile, on the ‘Exponentialism’ EP, two songstresses, who have supported JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS’ live shows and contributed to latest album ‘Evidence’, are given an opportunity to glow in the darkness as I SPEAK MACHINE and GAZELLE TWIN premiere their vivid interpretations of Foxx’s back catalogue. Both hit soprano ranges in their vocal capability and that automatically allows them to put their own stamp on some iconic work. GAZELLE TWIN told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in 2012: “I prefer covering songs written or sung by men. Perhaps because it instantly allows me to create a new perspective on it.”

So with I SPEAK MACHINE, the new electronic vehicle for American musician Tara Busch, she assumes the role of predatory female and her aggressive take on ‘My Sex’ is the complete opposite to Foxx’s original detached tone of resignation. Unsettling and eerie, the new arrangement is tremendous. Meanwhile, ‘I Want To Be Machine’ is virtually rewritten by Busch with the Ballardian lyrics now accompanied by abstract synthetics and robotics that are well away from the early Bowie-esque folkisms of the ‘Ultravox!’ album’s longest track. It’s as if the roles in ‘Demon Seed’ have been reversed!

Hauntingly sedate, GAZELLE TWIN, the alias of Brighton based Elizabeth Walling, gives a stripped down rendition of ‘Never Let Me Go’ with a neo-acappella intro before it oozes into a collage of choral beauty reminiscent of Foxx’ own ‘Cathedral Oceans’ trilogy. Appropriately sounding like she’s drowning, GAZELLE TWIN’s choice of ‘He’s A Liquid’ as her second cover reflects the metaphysical fascinations of her own compositions like ‘I Am Shell I Am Bone’ and ‘I Turn My Arm’. Sung from the female perspective, it highlights an ambiguous sexual angle to one of the highlights from ‘Metamatic’.

There was once an ‘In The City’ fanzine special about the Foxx-led ULTRAVOX! entitled ‘Past, Present and Future’. Both ‘Rhapsody’ and ‘Exponentialism’ show that more than 30 years after that publication, JOHN FOXX still very much represents the past, present and future of independently minded electronic music.

‘Rhapsody’ and ‘Exponentialism’ are released by Metamatic Records and both available as CDs or downloads from http://johnfoxx.tmstor.es/

JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS play a headline show at Brighton’s Concorde 2 on 7th June 2013 with support from VILE ELECTRODES

http://www.johnfoxxandthemaths.com/

http://www.metamatic.com/

http://myblogitsfullofstars.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.hannahpeel.com/

http://www.serafinasteer.com/

http://analogsuicide.com/

http://www.gazelletwin.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th May 2013

GAZELLE TWIN Mammal EP

12 January 2013 /

GAZELLE TWIN releases her first new material since her acclaimed album ‘The Entire City’ in the Autumn of 2011.

The moniker of Brighton based songstress Elizabeth Walling, that debut LP and its appendix of remixes have gained her a number of prominent admirers including JOHN FOXX and GARY NUMAN whose respective songs ‘A Falling Star’ and ‘We Are The Lost’ she has since been invited to remix. But her highest profile patron has been top film director Ridley Scott who used her track ‘Bell Tower’ in a promotional film for ‘Prometheus’.

The ‘Mammal’ EP combines three new recordings inspired by Ennio Morricone’s score for the John Carpenter horror flick ‘The Thing’ with a quartet of remixes. Subtle but dark dubstep experiments plus more use of her natural voice as an instrument are the significant aural developments.

Recurring metaphysical concerns are the inspiration behind ‘Mammal’ and lead track ‘I Turn My Arm’ examines the phenomenon of the phantom limb with some heavy bass drama. Its B-side ‘This Is My Hand’ recounts “the fear and awe” Walling felt when it occurred to her that she was “a physical object”. As the lyrics highlight: “blood gushes within it…”. Intensely enigmatic, it makes for an eerie sonic experience. Both are cinematically unsettling but provoke the ears with paranormal drones and mysterious choralistic stylings.

Having previously covered PRINCE and JOY DIVISION and in keeping with the ‘Mammal’ EP’s thematic gist, GAZELLE TWIN applies her hauntronica treatment to ‘Heartbeat’, a track from WIRE’s 1978 album ‘Chairs Missing’.

Elizabeth Walling told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK last September: “I prefer covering songs written or sung by men. Perhaps because it instantly allows me to create a new perspective on it”. Of WIRE she added: “…another legendary band, another iconic male vocalist…Colin Newman. This time I sought the permission and blessing from him directly. That made me feel better about it… he said nice things”. The end result is, despite the darkness, a wonderfully accessible interpretation with echoing widescreen atmospherics.

Remixes are very much part and parcel of GAZELLE TWIN and they provide an eclectic variation of the theme. Renaissance Man provides an industrialised excursion for ‘I Turn My Arm’ that is almost Numan-esque. But the highlight is soundtrack composer Clint Mansell’s  take on ‘This Is My Hand’ which manipulates Walling’s vocal to a more melodic hook and adds primitive string machines in a cavernous cacophony of sound with percussive reverb brought to the fore. Kuedo’s remix spirals and layers compared with the original minimal arrangement of ‘I Turn My Arm’ with an almost incongruous brightness. However, the housed up version of ‘I Turn My Arm’ by Alixander III is the least essential on the EP, a diversion from the core values of GAZELLE TWIN.

Art imitating life and vice versa has always played its part providing solace and psychological well-being within social history. With more to look forward to from GAZELLE TWIN, this is just a taster of the future; a future that may be bleak but probably reflects the fears of many in the world right now. Uneasy listening it might be, but potentially rewarding for those prepared to invest their spirit.

GAZELLE TWIN ‘Mammal’ EP is released as a 12″ vinyl and download by Sugarcane Records on 29th January 2013

Her first UK show of 2013 takes place at The Roundhouse Studio Theatre in London on 21st February as part of the Anti-Ghost Moon Ray audio-visual, label showcase.

http://www.gazelletwin.com

http://iamshelliambone.wordpress.com/

https://soundcloud.com/sugarcane/gazelle-twin-mammal-ep-full

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th January 2013

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2012

12 December 2012 /

It was a weak year musically overall, but a number of acts with great potential emerged.

However, in stronger years, a fair number of these acts would not have been shortlisted, it has to be said.  So here are ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 Songs of 2012, listed in alphabetical order.

All have been released either in physical formats or digitally as purchasable or free downloads during the calendar year.

However, the list is limited to one song per artist. It also does not include tracks which are exclusive to streams and videos or DJs only promos like the remix of REPUBLICA’s ‘Christiana Obey’… so maybe next year perhaps?

AUTOMATIC WRITING Continuous

Consisting of the Merrick Brothers, AUTOMATIC WRITING are the angry OMD if you can imagine that! Their sombre, ENO influenced template is like Wirral’s finest have been given a contemporary anthemic facelift by having WHITE LIES Harry McVeigh recruited as lead vocalist! ‘Continuous’ whirs and spins while driven by mutant motorik beats and dysfunctional claustrophobia. The flip ‘Falling’ is a more mid-tempo cousin and is another worthy addition to the duo’s developing sound.

Available as a download single via http://automaticwriting.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/automaticwriting

BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT Immature

BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT is Welsh songwriter/producer Rod Thomas who adopted his ‘Gremlins’ referencing moniker to prevent being mistaken for an acoustic act which he clearly now is not, despite his folkie roots. As the opener to the long awaited album ‘Make Me Believe In Hope’, ‘Immature’ is a great start as it rhythmically percolates in the manner of THE POSTAL SERVICE before a terrific synth section unexpectedly lifts the whole piece several notches. This is a superbly emotive and sensitive piece of pop.

Available on the album ‘Make Me Believe in Hope’ via The Blue Team/Aztec Records

http://www.brightlightx2.com/

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN Everyone Says Hi

From ‘The Lost Are Found’ album produced by Stephen Hague which also features versions of songs originally by PET SHOP BOYS, DUBSTAR and STINA NORDENSTRAM among others, CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN’s lively reinterpretation of Bowie’s ‘Everyone Says Hi’ from ‘Heathen’ unveils a previously hidden heartfelt connection, a call for contact like Major Tom in ‘Space Oddity’. Dressed with catchy synth riffs and fuzzy shades, it combines ice maiden chill and organic warmth for an artful sound.

Available on the album ‘The Lost Are Found’ via There (there)

http://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk/

CHVRCHES Lies

ROBYN doing an electro cover of ‘The Whole Of The Moon’ may not sound immediately appealing in concept but that’s how this punchy number starts before elevating into a rousing, spirited synth anthem. CHVRCHES could become the next electro combo to shake up the mainstream pop world since LA ROUX. A great song with great melodies and weird noises, herein ‘Lies’ the bridge between leftfield and bubblegum pop. The follow-up ‘The Mothers We Share’  underlines this promising Glaswegian trio’s capability.

Available as a free download via Neon Gold

http://www.facebook.com/CHVRCHES

VINCE CLARKE Featuring ANE BRUN Fly On The Windscreen

Novelist Tonya Hurley commissioned her brother-in-law VINCE CLARKE to record a stark cover of his former band’s ‘Fly On The Windscreen’ with vocalist ANE BRUN as part of promotion for her literary trilogy ‘The Blessed’. While the guitar-like textures appear to have been borrowed from the original in an act of artistic continuity, the rest of the arrangement is quite different as the vulnerable feminine twist acts as the ‘Twilight’ Generation’s perfect introduction to DEPECHE MODE.

Available as a download single via iTunes and Amazon

http://www.vinceclarkemusic.com/

http://anebrun.com/

COMPUTE Light As A Feather

COMPUTE is Ulrika Mild, a Gothenburg girl who discovered synthpop via DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Speak and Spell’. ‘Light As a Feather’ is a bouncy but melancholic ditty which suggests a snow mountain of vulnerability. That is certainly apparent in Ulrika’s sweet, fragile voice. It’s beautifully sequenced with layers of eerie string machine for that distinctive Nordic chill.

Available on download album ‘The Distance’ via iTunes and Amazon

http://www.compute.se

CURXES Spectre

Roberta Fidora shows yet another fine turn of aggressive resignation like SIOUXSIE SIOUX in a padded cell while instrumentalist Macaulay Hopwood picks out his unsettling bass notes to full effect. While this CURXES tune is perhaps more guitar driven than what would normally be expected of most electronica, ‘Spectre’ is positively Spartan with symphonic synth stabs and industrial beat snaps…it’s the sound of the overground or Goth ‘n’ Bass…or even Gotham Bass; geddit? Simply exhilarating!

Available as a download single via Amazon and iTunes

http://www.curxes.com

DIVINE KNIGHTS Clouds (THE SANFERNANDO SOUND remix)

Goth laden PET SHOP BOYS from the theatrical Aussie duo dreamily remixed by THE SANFERNANDO SOUND. This is richly synthesized with lashings of atmosphere and accessible melancholy. The extrovertly camp pair have even subverted the realm of the talent show by getting into the semi-finals of ‘Australia’s Got Talent’. Dannii Minogue said: “I think DIVINE KNIGHTS are brave for coming on a show like this because not everybody is going to get them…but I really hope they do well!”

Available as a download single via Amazon and iTunes

http://www.divineknights.com.au/

http://www.facebook.com/thesanfernandosound

ELEVEN:ELEVEN No Words

Texan duo ELEVEN:ELEVEN comprise the feline vocals of Sicca with the instrumentation of Jake Childs and throw in a variety of influences including Italo Disco, Hi-NRG and Electroclash. ‘No Words’ recalls MISS KITTEN & THE HACKER, capturing a tense nightlife seediness. Short but sweet with a swirling middle section, who needs an extended dance mix when the point is made in two and a half minutes? ELEVEN:ELEVEN have proved danceable electronic pop music can be made that’s syncopated and subtle.

Available as a free download via http://weare1111.com/

GAZELLE TWIN Changelings (JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS remix)

Stark and mysterious, the living art of GAZELLE TWIN is the moniker of Elizabeth Walling, the Brighton based songstress whose brooding, unsettling Hauntronica has impressed in all the right circles. JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS’ version of one of her best tracks ‘Changelings’ sees Mr Foxx adding his own Cathedral Oceans sweeps to Benge’s Mathematical solutions. In an productive year profile wise, her music was used in the promotion for the film ‘Prometheus’.

Available on the album ‘The Entire City Remixed’ via Anti-Ghost Moon Ray Records

http://www.gazelletwin.com/

GRIMES Oblivion

GRIMES is the kooky Montreal sensation that is Clare Boucher and this LYKKE LI fronting KRAFTWERK tune is sumptuously infectious. Despite almost unintelligible vocals, ‘Oblivion’ is probably the most immediate track on the ‘Visions’ album although other tracks like ‘Genesis’ and ‘Be A Body’ explore similarly accessible synthesized avenues. ‘Oblivion’ is ideal for those looking for subtler percussive colours and synthesized tapestries in a leftfield lady meets pop princess fusion.

Available on the album ‘Visions’ via 4AD Records

http://www.grimesmusic.com

HUSKI Close To The Edge

HUSKI first came to public attention on the trendy Shoreditch electro scene back in 2007 with ‘Take Me Your Picture’.  The late lamented Word magazine described ‘Close To The Edge’ as sounding “not unlike how Clare Grogan might if she took a guest slot with THE HUMAN LEAGUE”. As both THE HUMAN LEAGUE and ALTERED IMAGES worked with the late Martin Rushent, that is not as peculiar as it first sounds and it brims with a cutesy allure.

Available on the album ‘H’ via Amazon and iTunes

http://www.huskimusic.com/

IAMAMIWHOAMI Drops

IAMAMIWHOIAMI is the enigmatic electronic multimedia project fronted by Jonna Lee. From her first full length album ‘Kin’, ‘Drops’ is uptempo but almost trancelike. The beats are subtle with just layers of ice and chill to compliment. The clattering fits of noise and metallic textures add to the hypnotism. Jonna Lee’s piercing larynx will polarise listeners but this is Nordic weirdness in all its wonderful glory.

Available on the album ‘Kin’ via To Whom It May Concern

http://www.towhomitmayconcern.cc/

INJE Kofein I CO2

Hailing from Belgrade and featuring the nucleus of vocalist Jelena Miletić and instrumentalist Jovan Vesić, INJE have had the pleasure of supporting HURTS and FAITHLESS in their home country. Their chromatic East European charge will almost certainly please followers of LADYTRON. The excellent ‘Kofein I CO2’ from their EP ‘Protok’ is sort of DUBSTAR in Serbo-Croat meets DAVID LYNCH soundtrack, possessing an aural magnetism that is gorgeously layered with an air of wispy innocence.

Available as a free download from http://inje.rs/

KOVAK Killer Boots

‘Killer Boots’ is cooing new wave electropop with an immediately catchy Italo vibe…think ‘Self Control’ or even ‘Touch Me’! Appropriately decadent and sexy, this catchy song is produced by GARY NUMAN collaborator Andy Gray. Colourful, energetic and glamourous, KOVAK are like BLONDIE meeting DRAGONETTE and GWEN STEFANI through a TUBEWAY ARMY voltage controlled filter.

Available as a download single via 74 Music

http://kovak.co.uk/

LITTLE JINDER Keep On Dreaming

Is it dubstep or is it electro? ‘Keep On Dreaming’ actually sounds more like the latter. When the half beat/two step influences kick in, luckily they do so without the irritating, skipping CD nightmares that devilishly plague most dubstep. But like with all crossover songs, it is the flavour rather than the full blown experience that often wins favour. Confused? Just enjoy… this number by young Stockholm songstress Josefine Jinder features lots of lovely synths!

Available as a download single via Trouble & Bass

http://www.facebook.com/littlejinder

LOVELIFE Brave Face

From the creative minds of former MIRRORS man Ally Young and Lee Newell from one-time indie darlings VIVA BROTHER, ‘Braveface’ is a chilling but uplifting piece of mood music which comes over like OMD fronted by HARD FI! With its Cool Britannia meets Synth Britannia fusion via the Big Apple, LOVELIFE’s genre blend may be confusing indie and electronic music fans alike but at least it’s different.

Available on the free download EP ‘El Regreso’ from http://www.lvlf.info/

https://www.facebook.com/LVLFinfo/

MIRRORS Between Four Walls

Since slimming down to a trio, MIRRORS have been heading for a sparser, textural direction which is perhaps less immediate than their debut album ‘Lights & Offerings’ but nevertheless rewarding with further listens. The beautifully stark drama of ‘Between Four Walls’ is sublime and full of post 3am drama. With echoes of OMD, CHINA CRISIS and THE BLUE NILE, it is high end atmospheric electronic balladry at its best. “Do you ever wonder how you’ll ever get there when you never turn back around?”

Available as a download single via http://mirrorsofficial.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/theworldofmirrors

MODOVAR Clearly

Comprising of Glen Wisbey on synths and the suave persona of Christopher Beecham on vocals, MODOVAR’s most immediate number is the emotively rousing ‘Clearly’. Beecham is a man with a self-confessed admiration of ALISON MOYET so ‘Clearly’ connects as a song of love in the first degree. It is just one of their “melodic, anthemic, chorus led songs, lyrically focused on the undercurrents of love and the human condition”. Also check out their cover of ROXY MUSIC’s ‘Same Old Scene’.

Available on the download EP ‘Clearly’ via Amazon and iTunes

http://modovar.com/

MOTOR featuring MARTIN L GORE Man Made Machine

MOTOR’s electro stomper ‘Man Made Machine’ features vocals by DEPECHE MODE’s Martin Gore in a collaboration that sounds not unlike a camp IGGY POP being backed by an angry GOLDFRAPP. In the absence of DM material in 2012, this has been a worthy substitute with Gore luring nervously over the duo’s brand of harder edged techno electro. Incidentally, the same titled parent album also features guest such as GARY NUMAN and NITZER EBB’s Douglas J McCarthy.

Available on the album ‘Man Made Machine’ via CLR

http://www.wearemotor.com/

THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND Remember Me

New York domiciled Anglophile duo THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND’s make “pop songs for the disenchanted, disillusioned and disenfranchised”. Featuring Vladimir Valette on vocals and Benedetto Socci on keyboards, their “life…set to a dance beat” touches a nerve and now more so than the NEW ORDER influenced ‘Remember Me’. An emotive guitar assisted number in the vein of ‘Leave Me Alone’, it is slightly mournful and despaired but melodically secure.

Available on the download EP ‘Dreamers & Lovers’ via Stereosonic Recordings

http://www.themysticunderground.com

KARIN PARK Thousand Loaded Guns

BJÖRK goes synthy via THE KNIFE on ‘Thousand Loaded Guns’, a danceable tune that provides a degree of accessibility into the world of darker Nordic climes. Hailing from the forests of Djura in Sweden, KARIN PARK is yet another child of Drejer-Andersson, straddling between electropop and artier aspirations. Her sound is sonically awkward, albeit in a liberating artistic way. Scandinavia is a great place to be musically at the moment.

Available on the album ‘Highwire Poetry’ via State Of The Eye Recordings

http://www.karinpark.com/

QUEEN OF HEARTS Neon

Following her Arrival in 2011, QUEEN OF HEARTS graced the music world with a glitzy slice of electro schaffel appropriately entitled ‘Neon’. On first hearing this live, The Electricity Club gleefully pronounced that this managed to out Goldfrapp GOLDFRAPP. While this had the obvious hallmarks of Lady Alison’s glam stomp, Queenie added her own cooing poptastic flavour, recalling RACHEL STEVENS’ under rated and great lost album ‘Come & Get It’.

Available on the download EP ‘Neon’ via All Things Go Records

http://www.iamqueenofhearts.com/

RITUALS James

Hailing from downtown Los Angeles, RITUALS comprise vocalist Neil Popkin and electronic producer Julian Denis. ‘James’ is rousing neo-NEW ORDER meets THE BRAVERY (remember them?) stomper which is only slightly short of being outstanding due to its demo-ish production…but the song resonates with an appealing doom. ‘Walk Away’ from their 2011 debut EP is another fine example of their potential.

Available as a free download via http://ritualsla.bandcamp.com/

http://ritualsla.com/

SIN COS TAN Trust
SIN COS TAN is the new mathematically charged project of ace producer Jori Hulkkonen and VILLA NAH’s Juho Paalosmaa, “a synthesized duo of great promise, broken dreams, and long nights”. They have certainly delivered with ‘Trust’, all draped in melancholy with emotive vocals haunted by the ghost of Billy Mackenzie. This is subtle, hypnotic dance music with layered strings, sampled cimbalom and Cold War dramatics, it is one of the songs of the year.

Available on the album ‘Sin Cos Tan’ via Solina (Europe) and Sugarcane Recordings (Rest of World)

http://www.facebook.com/homeofsincostan

SINESTAR Hurricane

Bristol’s SINESTAR are a full blown five-piece band with drums, bass and guitar as well as synths and their MESH derived synthesized rock has the potential to crossover into several electronic sub-genres. With a so far small but impressive body of work as showcased on the ‘I Am The Rain’ EP, the terrific ‘Hurricane’ is like FAITHLESS gone rock! Catchy, tuneful and anthemic, they just need to work on the production.

Available on the download EP ‘I Am The Rain’ via Dead Rat Recordings.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sinestar/310216912403126

STRANGERS Safe/Pain

STRANGERS have been perilously close to COLDPLAY territory on occasions. But on ‘Safe/Pain’, a moody slice of sweeping synth noir with a lonely piano intro, the big surprise comes when a series of rave stabs cut in for the ultimate euphoric lift, crossed with a bit of dubstep! The BBC loved ‘Safe/Pain’ and used it for a clip of Team GB’s immense cycling achievements at the end of the London 2012 Olympics, while they got support slots with BLANCMANGE and CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN under their belt.

Available as a download single via Beatwolf

http://strangers.co.uk

TITANS It’s Dark

‘It’s Dark’ could be RAMMSTEIN reincarnated as DEPECHE MODE with fewer the flame throwers! TITANS’ vocalist Dan Von Hoyel sounds like a lower register Dave Gahan winning a fight with a less Teutonic Till Lindemann. In an electronic sub-genre known for its shouting, ‘It’s Dark’ manages to sound menacing without forcing the aggression. The edgy electronic backing from Fredrik Mattsson and Jimmy Svensson blends marvellously with the band’s doompop manifesto.

Available on the download album ‘For The Long Gone’ via Progress Productions

http://www.facebook.com/TitansOfficial

ULTRAVOX Live

There were so many songs that could have been chosen but with this opener from their err… Brilliant comeback album was ULTRAVOX’s optimistic message of intent. Musically, ‘Live’ is ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’ without the imminent nuclear holocaust! The instrumental breakdown, which drops to a magnificent pulsing sequence, piano and lone bass drum before the climax, is pure LA DÜSSELDORF and really is something to be savoured.

Available on the album ‘Brilliant’ via Eden Recordings/EMI Records

http://www.ultravoxbrilliant.com/

SAORI YUKI Yoake No Scat (MARSHEAUX remix)

While recording their long awaited new album ‘Inhale’, MARSHEAUX added to their remix portfolio with a terrific reworking of a track dating back to 1969 by Japanese classic singer SAORI YUKI. Adding incessant beats, infectious pulsing synth and melancholic washes of sound to the more organic re-recording with PINK MARTINI from 2011, this brings Kayokyoku (a style of Japanese music thatabsorbs various Western styles) into the electro age with a Melody For a New Dawn.

Available as a download single via EMI Japan

http://ameblo.jp/saori-yuki

http://www.facebook.com/marsheaux

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th December 2012

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