Tag: Hannah Peel (Page 1 of 8)

ANOTHER 25 SYNTHY COVERS 2015 & Beyond

26 April 2025 /

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has always preferred a cover version over a remix any day of the week…

But if you are going to do a cover in an electronic fashion, then try to be original! Don’t be bleeding obvious, retreading a Numan track unless something fresh can be offered or recording a Depeche song weeks after it is released as some did with ‘Ghosts Again’… maybe pick an obscure country, folk or soul number and make it your own with an otherworldly synth-laden treatment…

A follow-up to the 25 CLASSIC SYNTH COVERS and 25 21ST CENTURY SYNTH COVERS 2000 to 2014 articles, this listing features recordings made since 2015 up to the present day. So here selected by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK are ANOTHER 25 SYNTHY COVERS 2015 & BEYOND, with the list restricted to one song per artist moniker, presented in yearly and then alphabetical order …

MARSHEAUX Monument (2015)

The MARSHEAUX reworking of DEPECHE MODE’s second album ‘A Broken Frame’ shed new light on Martin Gore’s first long form adventure as songwriter and affirmed that ‘My Secret Garden’ and ‘The Sun & The Rainfall’ were just great songs. But ‘Monument’ was an example of a cover outstripping the original and given additional political resonance with the economic situation close to home that the Greek synth maidens found themselves living in at the time of its recording.

Available on the MARSHEAUX album ‘A Broken Frame’ via Undo Records

http://www.marsheaux.com/

METROLAND Close To Me (2015)

Needing to be heard to be believed, this rather inventive and charming cover of THE CURE’s ‘Close To Me’ by Belgium’s favourite passengers METROLAND utilised a selection of male and female computer voice generators to provide the lead vocal, in a move likely to upset the majority of real music purists. Meanwhile, the hidden melodies shone much more brightly than in the goth-laden original, thanks to its wonderful and clever electronic arrangement.

Available on the album ‘A Strange Play – An Alfa Matrix Tribute To The Cure’ (V/A) via https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/a-strange-play-an-alfa-matrix-tribute-to-the-cure

http://www.metrolandmusic.com/

PARALLELS Moonlight Desires (2015)

A song by mulleted Canadian rock musician Lawrence Gowan, ‘Moonlight Desires’ was first released by him in 1987 and featured Jon Anderson on backing vocals! Fellow Canadians PARALLELS fronted by Holly Dodson gave the hook-laden song a more nocturnal synthpop-oriented twist which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the soundtrack a Brat Pack movie.

Available on the PARALLELS album ‘XII’ via Marigold Productions Ltd

https://www.iloveparallels.com/

HANNAH PEEL Heaven How Long (2015)

Hannah Peel’s first release was ‘Rebox’, a covers EP using an antique music box as accompaniment. For her second instalment, she added analogue electronics to the musical palette with some original instrumentals accompanied the reworkings. ‘Heaven How Long’ was originally performed by EAST INDIA YOUTH, but Miss Peel’s version stripped down the arrangement to a music box and synth for a less frantic but more forlorn outcome.

Available on the HANNAH PEEL EP ‘Rebox2’ via My Own Pleasure

http://www.hannahpeel.com

TREGENZA The Partisan (2015)

Manchester-based Ross Tregenza is an experienced hand having co-written ‘Diaries Of A Madman’ with Dave Formula and Steve Strange when he was a member of VISAGE II in 2007. He surprised electronic music audiences with a Spartan cover of ‘The Partisan’, a song made famous by Leonard Cohen. While some may despair at the very mention of the droll Canadian, his work has strong parallels with Gothic veined musical forms, especially with this harrowing tale of La Résistance.

Available on the TREGENZA album ‘Into The Void’ via Tregenza Music

https://www.facebook.com/tregenzamusic

JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM Jerusalem (2016)

One of DAILY PLANET’s main inspirations was cult UK synth trio WHITE DOOR. So when their chief synthesist Johan Baeckström was needing tracks to include on his ‘Like Before’ EP, the almost choir boy overtures of ‘Jerusalem’ was a natural choice for a cover version. Of course, this was not the first time Baeckström had mined the WHITE DOOR back catalogue as the more halcyon ‘School Days’ adorned the flip of his debut solo single ‘Come With Me’.

Available on the JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM EP ‘Like Before EP’ via Progress Productions

https://www.facebook.com/bstrommusic/

PSYCHE Ring The Bells (2016)

From the Cold War Night Life curated ‘Heresy: A Tribute To Rational Youth’, one of the highlights from the collection was PSYCHE’s take on ‘Ring The Bells’ from appropriately, RATIONAL YOUTH’s ‘Cold War Night Life’ debut. The clattering 808 beat and elegantly haunting sweeps combined with Darrin Huss’ mournful vocal provide an atmospheric reworking that betters the original and reflects the decades long kinship between RATIONAL YOUTH and PSYCHE.

Originally on the album ‘Heresy: A Tribute To Rational Youth’ (V/A) via Cold War Night Life, currently unavailable

http://www.psyche-hq.de/

HEAVEN Lonesome Town (2017)

The mysterious HEAVEN first came to wider attention with the release of the ‘Lonesome Town’ EP. Caked in reverb and virtually unrecognisable, the funereal paced title song cover of the Ricky Nelson ballad captured the fragility of the broken heart as conveyed by the forlorn vocals of Aja Emma. Closer scrutiny revealed that HEAVEN was another project helmed by the ubiquitous musician and producer Johnny Jewel, best known a member of CHROMATICS.

Available on the HEAVEN EP ‘Lonesome Town’ via Italians Do It Better

https://www.facebook.com/ITALIANSDOITBETTER/

KALEIDA 99 Luftballons (2017)

Moody electronic duo KALEIDA first came to wider attention opening for Róisín Murphy in 2015. Covers have always been part of Christina Wood and Cicely Goulder’s repertoire with ‘A Forest’ and ‘Take Me To The River’ being among them. Their sparse rendition of ‘99 Luftballons’ by Nena earned kudos for being very different and included in the soundtrack of the Cold War spy drama ‘Atomic Blonde’, hauntingly highlighting the nuclear apocalypse warning in the lyric.

Available on the KALEIDA album ‘Tear The Roots’ via https://kaleida.bandcamp.com

http://kaleidamusic.com

UNIFY SEPARATE Mute (2017)

What happens when you cross anthemic Scottish indie with cinematic Swedish synth? You get US, now known as UNIFY SEPARATE. A cover of a 2001 song with an acoustic but modern flavour by Swedish singer-songwriter Stakka Bo aka Bo Johan Renck, this was perfect for Andrew Montgomery of GENEVA and Leo Josefsson of LOWE to showcase their different musical sensibilities in a more electronic setting as their debut single.

Available on the UNIFY SEPARATE album ‘First Contact’ via https://unifyseparate.bandcamp.com/album/first-contact

https://www.unifyseparate.com/

IONNALEE Mysteries Of Love (2019)

The biggest surprise on the second IONNALEEalbum ‘Remember The Future’ came with the cover of ‘Mysteries Of Love’, the iconic Angelo Badalamenti ‘Blue Velvet’ song with lyrics by David Lynch, originally performed by Julee Cruise. Co-produced by RÖYSKOPP, Jonna Lee stole the moment with her angelic voice while big synth leads and widescreen atmospheres were reminiscent of Vangelis.

Available on the IONNALEE album ‘Remember The Future’ via To Whom It May Concern

https://ionnalee.com

KID MOXIE Big In Japan (2020)

Unwittingly reflecting the Covid crisis, KID MOXIE soundtracked the film ‘Not To Be Unpleasant, But We Need to Have a Serious Talk’. The plot centred around a womanizer who finds out he is a carrier of an STD, lethal only to women! She said of ‘Big In Japan’: “It didn’t feel right to necessarily use drums because I did want to take a departure from the ALPHAVILLE original. There was already a strong rhythm element with the synth bass and it takes it to a different place by having a woman sing it.”

Available on the KID MOXIE album ‘The Covers’ via Minos EMI

http://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

NATION OF LANGUAGE Gouge Away (2020)

NATION OF LANGUAGE front man Ian Devaney was in an alternative rock band THE STATIC JACKS, but his interest in synths was sparked by hearing OMD’s ‘Electricity’ in his father’s car for the first time in years. In NATION OF LANGUAGE, he combined his past and future interests into an excellent electronic cover of PIXIES’ ‘Gouge Away’ which managed to maintain the frustration, aggression and menace of the original within a new blippy machine driven setting.

Available on the NATION OF LANGUAGE single ‘Gouge Away’ via https://nationoflanguage.bandcamp.com/track/gouge-away

https://www.nationoflanguage.com/

DIE ROBO SAPIENS FanFanFanatisch (2020)

More machine than metal, DIE ROBO SAPIENS is the more purely electronic sideline of Düsseldorf industrialists DIE KRUPPS. In honour of their home city which spawned KRAFTWERK, NEU! and DAF, they covered the less internationally well-known RHEINGOLD in tribute their late leader Bodo Staiger; Given the subject matter, his powerful DAF-influenced 1982 statement on toxic fandom ‘FanFanFanatisch’ was reworked into something where the body was strong.

Available on DIE ROBO SAPIENS ‘FanFanFanatisch – The Düsseldorf EP’ via https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/fanfanfanatisch-the-d-sseldorf-ep

https://www.diekrupps.com/

JORJA CHALMERS Rhapsody (2021)

Recorded for a SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES covers album, this superb take by Jorja Chalmers on ‘Rhapsody’ off their ninth album ‘Peepshow’, made use of an intriguing electronic warble within its stripped down arrangement; from its claustrophobic cocoon, Chalmers sounds trapped in an unsettling icy soundscape of synthetic strings and choirs. The album also included covers of THE DOORS ‘Riders On The Storm’ and Enya’s ‘Boadicea’.

Available on the JORJA CHALMERS album ‘Midnight Train’ via Italians Do it Better

https://www.instagram.com/jorjachalmers/

GEMMA CULLINGFORD Ode To Billie Joe (2021)

Making her name in the duo SINK YA TEETH, Norwich-based Gemma Cullingford made her debut as a solo artist with the ‘Let Me Speak’ album. Utilising a minimal programmed backdrop, a stark spoken word reading of Bobby Gentry’s ‘Ode To Billie Joe’ proved to be a highlight. “I loved the melody, the fact that it was quite a happy sounding song but the lyrics seemed quite dark” she said, “Then I read the lyrics and saw just how dark they are, and I kinda jokingly said I’d do a cover of it!”

Available on the GEMMA CULLINGFORD album ‘Let Me Speak’ via Outré Disque

https://www.gemmacullingford.co.uk/

DLINA VOLNY Hollywood (2021)

Italians Do it Better were named after a legend emblazoned on a T-shirt Madonna was wearing in the ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ video and would later release a tribute compilation featuring their roster of artists. Exiled from their homeland of Belarus, DLINA VOLNY alternated a detached deepness with an unexpected pop register on their take of ‘Hollywood’ that presented the song as a much harsher warning to those seeking stardom.

Available on the DLINA VOLNY album ‘Dazed’ via Italians Do it Better

https://www.facebook.com/dlinavolny/

PSY’AVIAH featuring MARI KATTMAN Monoculture (2022)

PSY’AVIAH is the electronic rock vehicle of Belgian Yves Schelpe and in a collaboration featuring Mari Kattman of HELIX on vocals, the B-side to their ‘Can We Make It Rhyme’ single was a cover of Monoculture’ which came from the first reunion of SOFT CELL in 2002. Her voice fitted perfectly to the heavier backdrop with the Marc Almond’s original commentary on the world’s cultural mediocrity as relevant as ever.

Available on the PSY’AVIAN featuring MARI KATTMAN maxi-single ‘Can We Make It Rhyme’ via Alfa Matrix

https://www.facebook.com/psyaviah/

https://www.facebook.com/MariKattman

SCANNER Alone Again Naturally (2022)

Not known for his vocal work as SCANNER, Robin Rimbaud recorded a covers EP of his late mother’s favourite songs as a tribute to her memory. Using vocoder and synths, his take on ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’, Gilbert O’Sullivan’s introspective hit song reflecting on loss and bereavement, was particularly poignant and perhaps unexpectedly given the robotic backdrop, emotional. The other songs featured were ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ and ‘When I Need You’.

Available on the SCANNER EP ‘Jayemme’ via https://scanner.bandcamp.com/album/jayemme

https://scannerdot.com/

DURAN DURAN Bury A Friend (2023)

With a vampiric intro recalling David Bowie’s ‘Cat People’, DURAN DURAN’s take on ‘Bury A Friend’ was much more direct and propulsive compared to the minimal Billie Eilish original. Swathed in jagged synth and guitar sounds as well as Simon Le Bon’s histrionic vocals, it more than fitted in with the Halloween theme of the ‘Danse Macabre’ album which was primarily made up of cover versions and darker re-recordings of Duran faves.

Available on the DURAN DURAN album ‘Danse Macabre’ via BMG / Tape Modern

https://duranduran.com/

SOFT CELL The World Turned Day-Glo (2023)

Always adept at doing covers having had hits with ‘Tainted Love’ and ‘What’, SOFT CELL presented a brilliant electro tribute to Poly Styrene with ‘The Day The World Turned Day-Glo’. Taking a musical leaf out of ‘Sex Dwarf’ with Dave Ball making his syndrums and synths sound so menacing yet accessible, while Marc Almond delivers a vocal recalling the anguish of ‘Martin’ with sleazy sax passages resonating with the dystopian lyrics.

Available on the SOFT CELL album ‘*Happiness now completed’ via BMG

http://www.softcell.co.uk

RICKY WILDE x NINA Lovers On A Beach (2023)

A fabulous cover of the Italo flavoured Kim Wilde B-side to ‘The Second Time’ from 1984, the throbbing ‘Lovers On A Beach’ saw NINA sounding sexier than ever before. Ricky Wilde said “I just thought there was a little bit more that it needed that I maybe wanted to add back in the day”. With sharp spikey edges boosting the trancey template, he provided a superb extended end section that paid homage to Giorgio Moroder in the best way possible.

Available on the RICKY WILDE X NINA album ‘Scala Hearts’ via New Retro Wave

https://twitter.com/Wildericky

https://www.iloveninamusic.com/

SALLY SHAPIRO Rent – NICOLAAS remix (2023)

Covered by acts as diverse CARTER THE UNSTOBBALE SEX MACHINE and Liza Minnelli, the latest interpretation of PET SHOP BOYS stark narrative of a kept woman came via this wispy account by Swedish duo SALLY SHAPIRO. Keeping the relationship dependency theme close to its heart but offering an icier Nordic vision from a female perspective, the sax of Steve Moore provided extra sleaze to the NICOLAAS remix.

Available on the SALLY SHAPIRO single ‘Rent’ via Italians Do It Better

https://www.facebook.com/shapirosally

NIGHT CLUB The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum (2024)

‘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 Ronald Reagan aka “The Cowboy” during The Cold War, the inclusion of a cover of ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)’ became even more sinister with the ultimate lunatic duo of Donald Trump and JD Vance now given control of the nuclear button…

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

https://www.facebook.com/nightclubband

PROPAGANDA Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte (2024)

Starting a new chapter of PROPAGANDA, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper recruited young German singer Thunder Bae. Her talent shined with a superbly enticing performance in a haunting cover of ‘Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte’, a Weimar-era song written by Friedrich Hollaender in 1930 that was made famous by Marlene Dietrich. The song had been also used for a controversial scene in the 1974 film ‘The Night Porter’.

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

https://propband.tilda.ws/

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s ‘A Fistful Of Electronic Covers’ playlist featuring reinterpretations through the ages can be heard via Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/12XFwF5iuLj3Jl7Tj2GTpE

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th April 2025

A SYNTH IS FOR LIFE & NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS…

2 December 2023 /

As the Yule Tide season gets into full swing, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK presents a collection of modern seasonal tunes with a more artful slant…

With a song to play on each of the 25 days in December until Christmas, some are covers with a modern approach while others gather their thoughts and emotions into original compositions. But each has their own take on the holiday period, whether happy or sad or both.

Synths at Christmas are not entirely new; ‘Last Christmas’ by WHAM! was primarily made with a Roland Juno 60 while BAND AID’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas? was dominated by PPG Wave 2.2 with a percussive sample taken from ‘Memories Fade’ by TEARS FOR FEARS also being key to the intro.

However the traditional nature of Christmas often dictates traditional instrumentation in its songs, which means that Christmas synth songs are comparatively uncommon and a more recent phenomenon.

Whatever your plans whether with the family or in the studio, please remember, a synth is for life and not just for Christmas… may it bring you lots of cheer! The 25 songs are presented in yearly then alphabetical order within…

BE MUSIC Rocking Carol (1982)

A Be Music production for a limited edition flexi-disc of 4400 given away at The Haçienda on Christmas Eve 1982, with the greeting “Merry Xmas From The Haçienda And Factory Records”, this was NEW ORDER covering the traditional Czech seasonal tune also known as ‘Jesus Sweetly Sleep’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ as a robotic electronic tone poem. The second track was a version of Ludwig van Beethoven’s ‘Ode To Joy’ in a similar style!

Available on the compilation album ‘Ghosts of Christmas Past (Remake)’ (V/A) via Les Disques du Crépuscule

https://www.neworder.com/

EURYTHMICS Winter Wonderland (1987)

Recorded as part of an album on behalf of Special Olympics that featured U2, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams and Alison Moyet among others, EURYTHMICS’ glistening electronic take on romance during the winter season was cited by ASCAP as now the most played version of the song which was made famous by Darlene Love on the classic 1963 album ‘A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector’.

Available on the compilation album ‘A Very Special Christmas’ (V/A) via Universal Music

https://www.eurythmics.com/

S.P.O.C.K White Christmas (1992)

Swedish electronic pop veterans S.P.O.C.K celebrated their 35th Anniversary in 2023; originally recorded for Energy Rekords’ ‘Virtual X-Mas 92’ EP and then a bonus song on their 1995 compilation ‘A Piece Of The Action’, this cover of the Irving Berlin standard made famous by Bing Crosby was suitably melodramatic as the holiday season was celebrated in The Neutral Zone while under threat of an alien attack.

Available on the compilation album ‘Virtual 2020 X-Mas’ (V/A) via Energy Rekords

https://www.facebook.com/StarPilotOnChannelK/

SAINT ETIENNE Featuring TIM BURGESS I Was Born On Christmas Day (1993)

Delightfully catchy with a house-laden bounce, ‘I Was Born on Christmas Day’ was written in acknowledgement of band member Bob Stanley’s birthday for an EP ‘Xmas 93’. Featuring a duet between Sarah Cracknell and special guest vocals by Tim Burgess from THE CHARLATANS, the joyful narrative saw the couple elope, confusing some fans and press who thought the press photos were for real.

Available on the SAINT ETIENNE album ’A Glimpse Of Stocking’ via PIAS

http://www.saintetienne.com/

DEAD OR ALIVE Blue Christmas (2000)

Originally recorded as a sparse ballad for the B-side of 1990 DEAD OR ALIVE single ‘Your Sweetness Is Your Weakness’, Pete Burns’ foray into the music for holiday season was given a dancier makeover in 2000 by band mate Steve Coy. In hindsight, now sounds like a stylistic blue print for PET SHOP BOYS ‘It Doesn’t Often Snow At Christmas’. The two would later work together on the excellent if menacing ‘Jack & Jill Party’ in 2004.

Available on the DEAD OR ALIVE album ‘Fragile’ via Demon Music Group

https://www.discogs.com/artist/46720-Dead-Or-Alive

SALLY SHAPIRO Anorak Christmas (2006)

With their naïve wispiness, understated cinematics and disco beats, if there act who are ably suited to Christmas pop music, it is Swedish duo SALLY SHAPIRO. A cover of a song by NiXON, the project of fellow Swede Roger Gunnarsson, the lines “The first time that I saw your face on a cold December night, it was a Tuesday on a gig with a band that we both liked” captured an innocent romance and the aural warmth of the named apparel.

Available on the SALLY SHAPIRO album ‘Disco Romance’ via Paper Bag Records

https://www.facebook.com/shapirosally

PET SHOP BOYS It Doesn’t Often Snow At Christmas (2009)

Originally recorded in 1997 for an exclusive fan club single but remixed in 2009, ‘It Doesn’t Often Snow At Christmas’ was a suitably cynical offering. Famous for keeping THE POGUES ‘Farytale Of New York’ off the 1987 UK Christmas No1 spot with their cover of ‘Always On My Mind’, while this didn’t hit those commercial heights, it provided a very PET SHOP BOYS take on the madness of the festive season.

Available on the PET SHOP BOYS EP ‘Christmas’ via EMI Records

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

CHEW LIPS When You Wake Up (2010)

With their last single having been released in 2012, CHEW LIPS might well have disbanded but in 2010, on the back of their only album ‘Unicorn’ and its subsequent tour, they were on a productive high. ‘When You Wake Up’ was a bonus tune recorded and given away as a Christmas gift to fans at the end of that very successful year. Delivered with lead singer Tigs’ usual feisty panache, listening back only highlights how much CHEW LIPS are missed.

Originally released as a free download via https://soundcloud.com/chewlips/when-you-wake-up

https://www.facebook.com/CHEWLiPS/

HURTS All I Want For Christmas Is New Year’s Day (2010)

With their TAKE THAT dressed as ULTRAVOX template, following the success of their debut album ‘Happiness’, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson turned their attentions to memories of “the worst Christmas of our lives”. In true Bros Go To Bavaria style, despite the mournful start, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is New Year’s Day’ transformed itself into a hopeful uplifting anthem with a big chorus and lashings of tubular bells.

Available on the HURTS album  ‘Happiness’ via Major Label / RCA

http://www.informationhurts.com/

LOLA DUTRONIC Another Christmas Without Snow (2010)

In the UK, a wet Christmas is always more likely,  but LOLA DUTRONIC’s ‘Another Christmas Without Snow’ resonated with its melancholic yet pretty demeanour. The project of Canadian producer Richard Citroen and using a flexible roster of wispy female vocalists, the tones of Lola Dee came over all dreamy like SAINT ETIENNE and conveyed the season’s mixed emotions. In 2014, they presented ‘The Christmas Disco’.

Available on LOLA DUTRONIC single ‘(Another) Christmas Without Snow’ via Lola Dutronic

https://www.facebook.com/LOLA-DUTRONIC-80232595392/

ERASURE Gaudete (2013)

Andy Bell and Vince Clarke’s version of this traditional Ecclesiastical Latin carol continued an ERASURE tradition that had first begun with ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ for the CD edition of the ‘Crackers International’ EP in 1988. With a precise electronic backbeat, ‘Gaudete’ was taken from its 16th Century origins and thrown into the new millennium with a cheeky ‘Ice Machine’ reference for good measure.

Available on the ERASURE album ‘Snow Globe’ via Mute Artists

http://www.erasureinfo.com/

HYPERBUBBLE A Synthesizer for Christmas (2013)

HYPERBUBBLE A Synthesizer for ChristmasWhether it was a Casio, Yamaha or Roland, everyone who ever loved synth music wanted ‘A Synthesizer For Christmas’. Texan synthesizer couple HYPERBUBBLE took that enduring memory and turned it into a delightful synthpop ditty that could resonate with electronic geeks from 8 to 80 the world over. Short but very sweet, it was another joyous “cartoon automaton symphony” from Jess and Jeff DeCuir.

Available on the HYPERBUBBLE single ‘A Synthesizer For Christmas’ via Socket Sounds

http://www.hyperbubble.net/

VILE ELECTRODES The Ghosts Of Christmas (2013)

VILE ELECTRODES The Ghosts Of ChristmasIf ‘Twin Peaks’ met ‘Leader Of The Pack’ under the mistletoe, it would probably sound like ‘The Ghosts Of Christmas’. Possibly the best Christmas tune of the last 15 years, VILE ELECTRODES’ harrowing tale of a departed loved one and three wise men dressed in blue with dreadful gifts to bear is strangely enticing, with the beautifully haunting echoes of Julee Cruise’s ‘The Nightingale’ lingering over the frozen lake.

Available on the VILE ELECTRODES EP ‘The Ghosts Of Christmas’ via Vile Electrodes

http://www.vileelectrodes.com/

HANNAH PEEL Find Peace (2014)

HANNAH PEEL Find Peace‘Find Peace’ was a Christmas song longing for the cold but merry winters of yesteryear under the modern day spectre of global warming, armed conflict and political tension. The off-kilter analogue buzzing and almost random sequences made for a striking listen as a frantic percussive death rattle and an emotive synth drone take hold to provide an appropriate backdrop for the eerie but beautiful voice of Hannah Peel.

Available on the HANNAH PEEL single ‘Find Peace’ via Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club

http://www.hannahpeel.com/

MARSHEAUX We Met Bernard Sumner At A Christmas Party Last Night (2015)

GHOSTS-OF-CHRISTMAS-PAST-twi158cd‘We Met Bernard Sumner At A Christmas Party Last Night’ was a wonderfully whispery synthpop number that capture that classic wispy MARSHEAUX vibe. The lyrics were constructed from the song and album titles of NEW ORDER to provide an imaginary narrative on Marianthi Melitsi and Sophie Sarigiannidou surreally bumping into the Manchester combo’s lead singer at a Yule Tide function.

Available on the compilation album ‘Ghost Of Christmas Past (Remake)’ (V/A) via Les Disques du Crépuscule

http://www.marsheaux.com

SPARKS Christmas Without A Prayer (2015)

On 1974’s ‘Kimono My House’ album, the Mael brothers recorded a song called ‘Thank God It’s Not Christmas’, a typically perverse SPARKS romp that had nothing to do as such with the holiday season. After their fruitful FFS collaboration with FRANZ FERDINAND, Russell and Ron ended the year with ‘Christmas Without A Prayer’, a fitting offering which also amusingly outlined that albums by WINGS were actually unwanted gifts.

Available on the SPARKS single ‘Christmas Without A Prayer’ via Lil’ Beethoven Records

http://www.allsparks.com/

VICE VERSA Little Drum Machine Boy (2015)

“A twisted cover of a cover of a cover”, this synthy reinterpretation of the tune based on a traditional Czech carol made famous by a bizarre but enjoyable version by David Bowie and Bing Crosby, saw former ABC stalwarts Mark White and Stephen Singleton reconvene as VICE VERSA to wax lyrical about 303s, 808s, 909s and a “shiny new Roland toy” in a combination of sleigh bells, squelching arpeggios and of course, drum machines…

Available as a free download via https://soundcloud.com/vice-versa-electrogenesis/little-drum-machine-boy

https://www.facebook.com/Vice-Versa-Electrogenesis-806726912703189/

ASSEMBLAGE 23 December (2016)

“Silent and alone, trying to make sense”, when you’ve had enough of Christmas shopping and the in-laws, there’s probably nothing better to let off steam than a bit of ASSEMBLAGE 23. While not exactly seasonal, Tom Shear’s Futurepop discoscape captured many of the mixed emotions endemic with the final month of the year, because in his determination to endure and to thrive, “when December ends, the pain will disappear…”

Available on the ASSEMBLAGE 23 album ‘Endure’ via Metropolis

https://www.assemblage23.com

SIN COS TAN Dead By X-Mas (2016)

A superb cover of Finnish metal glamsters HANOI ROCKS written by guitarist Andy McCoy predicticing where the band’s lifestyle could lead, this take on ‘Dead By X-Mas’ from the nocturnal synth duo SIN COS TAN came over a bit like Billy Idol gone electro, but with an elegiac twist. In 2006, the former William Broad himself issued his own collection of seasonal tunes entitled ‘Happy Holidays’ … it’s a nice day for a ‘White Christmas’!

Available as a free download via https://soundcloud.com/theofficialjorihulkkonen/sin-cos-tan-dead-by-x-mas

https://www.facebook.com/homeofsincostan/

FERAL FIVE I Want U (2017)

In a feminist call to reject the trash, with female empowerment lyrics like “I don’t need any money or a new handbag, I just need a kind of thing I’ve never had, who says you have to have some shabby gifts”, FERAL FIVE attacked tacky commercialism at Christmas in a sonic cacophony of crunchy bass guitar, big beats, sparkling electronics and chilling string machines for an alternative take on accepted practices during the seasonal festivities.

Available on the FERAL FIVE single ‘I Want U’ via Primitive Light Recordings

https://www.feralfive.com/

CIRCUIT3 I Believe In Father Christmas (2018)

Made famous by Greg Lake, CIRCUIT3 used analogue synths such as a Sequential Pro-One, Roland JX10, Korg Wavestation and Moog Sub37 to provide an eerie chill to the already cynical and  morbid 1975 song protesting at the commercialisation of Christmas. The lyricist was KING CRIMSON’s Peter Sinfield who later wrote the words to BUCKS FIZZ’s No1 ‘The Land Of Make Believe’ which warned against the evils of Thatcherism.

Available on the CIRCUIT 3 single ‘I Believe In Father Christmas’ via Diode Records

http://www.circuit3.com/

WAVESHAPER Walking In The Air (2020)

Written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film ‘The Snowman’ which later added a cameo intro by David Bowie, ‘Walking In The Air’ became a hit for Aled Jones although the original version was actually sung by choir boy Peter Auty. Tom Andersson is the Swedish synthesist and retro gamer known as WAVESHAPER and his symphonic instrumental synthwave cover was both respectful and beautiful.

Available as a free download via https://soundcloud.com/waveshaper-2/walking-in-the-air-waveshaper-synth-edit

https://www.facebook.com/Waveshaperofficial

RODNEY CROMWELL Cold Christmas (2022)

If Canadian post-punk quartet ACTORS did Christmas songs, then it would have probably sounded like this gothic motorik number from the ever cheerful Rodney Cromwell. Written for Cherryade Records’ ‘A Very Cherry Christmas’ compilation, its chilling ARP synth strings and driving bass guitar was in total antithesis to Cliff Richard with bleak observational lyrics “like ‘Eleanor Rigby’ turbo-charged for 2022”.

Available on the RODNEY CROMWELL single ‘Cold Christmas’ via Happy Robots Records

https://www.facebook.com/rodneycromwellartist

SOFTWAVE featuring BARNEY ASHTON-BULLOCK Will It Ever Be Christmas Again? (2022)

“Of the year behind that we survived and the future we’d wish to see”, ‘Will It Ever Be Christmas Again?’ was presented as “Probably the first synthpop Christmas song in Danish music history”, SOFTWAVE provided a hopeful message to hold back on overindulgence.  ‘Andy Bell Is Torsten’ writer Barney Ashton-Bullock made a Santa Claus cameo reminding everyone that “Self-service, doesn’t mean self, self, self…”

Available on the SOFTWAVE single ‘Will It Ever Be Christmas Again?’ via https://elasticstage.com/softwave/releases/will-it-ever-be-christmas-again-singleep

http://www.softwavemusic.com

GEMMA CULLINGFORD In The Bleak Midwinter (2023)

Something of a tradition having covered a variety of recent and traditional seasonal tunes like ‘Walking In The Air’, ‘Lonely This Christmas’ and ‘Deck The Halls’ in previous years, Norwich-based Gemma Cullingford took Christina Rossetti’s poem and Gustav Holst’s musical arrangement of ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ into darker and colder electro dance territory, reflecting today’s divided world in a cost of living crisis.

Available on the GEMMA CULLINGFORD single ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ via Elmo Records

https://www.gemmacullingford.co.uk/

A further varied collection of seasonal synth based tunes compiled by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK can be listened to at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7vIIjZkGd3cVOSarUPvX85

Text by Chi Ming Lai
2nd December 2023

JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS Howl

15 July 2020 /

One of the great scene debates runs as follows… what’s better? The John Foxx or Midge Ure era incarnations of ULTRAVOX?

This is as idiotic as the Fish versus Steve Hogarth debates that rage (and they do rage) amongst MARILLION fans or the similar GENESIS camps that exist around lead singers.

It’s akin to comparing apples to oranges and without the front man leaving these bands, we would have been denied spectacular bodies of work and long careers from all concerned which would potentially have been cut shorter. And yes I include Phil Collins in this, bite me…

There is however a “what might have been?” surrounding John Foxx and ULTRAVOX, with or without the exclamation mark. Had he stayed with the band beyond ‘Systems of Romance’, what would it have sounded like? A continuation of the ‘Systems’ sound or something more like the imperious ‘Metamatic’? With the release of ‘Howl’, the fifth album under the guise of JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS, we get an idea of what could have been.

The big news is that Foxx and his Maths collaborators Benge and Hannah Peel are joined by former ULTRAVOX guitarist Robin Simon. Simon appeared with The Maths at the Roundhouse in 2010 so this has been a while coming and it arrives in snarling upfront style with the opener ‘My Ghost’, with its stripped down punky intro morphing into a familiar Foxx effected vocal performance, all underpinned by an insistent rhythm track. On the playout, we get swooping synths under a simple but effective guitar solo.

One of the key contributions Simon brings to the table is what Foxx terms as “Demolition Intercision” and this is shown to its fullest on the title track ‘Howl’.

Recorded in one take which left everyone “standing on their chairs”, the tortured, swooping playing harks back to the songs like ‘Slow Motion’ and ‘Dislocation’ in the way it interplays with the synths and Foxx’s voice.

“Born in the middle of a storm” sings Foxx and this is appropriate as his guitarist whips up a hurricane of noise which at all times remains musical.  Hannah Peel is given room to shine on the next track, ‘Everything Is Happening At The Same Time’, a psychedelic electronic number that appears owes a more than a little to a certain BEATLES song. Given current events, the message of this track is all the more prescient. “we have to choose between the clowns and the fools…” bemoans the lyrics… quite…

‘Tarzan & Jane Regained’ (a contender for title of the year) and ‘The Dance’ tread familiar sonic territory for the Maths which is not to say they are not good songs, in fact ‘The Dance’ is in places a beautiful shimmering piece of electronica.

‘New York Times’ doesn’t outstay its welcome and features some great drum programming. As stated above these are not bad songs, it’s just these three central tracks are bookended by the sonically more interesting ‘stuff’.

‘Last Time I Saw You’ reintroduces Simon’s more upfront guitar work. In the press release, Foxx compares it to violence and it can be at times shocking but also “…a true delight”.

On this and the opening cuts, the almost visceral at times fretwork married to the electronics is not what one would expect from a band leader that is in his five decade as a performer.

This is however the key to John Foxx, he always does the unexpected and doesn’t allow himself to be pigeonholed. As happy to release an ambient work as he is a straightforward ‘pop’ album or indeed to walk away from music altogether, he really is someone that deserves wider recognition. That said, one feels the artist himself would be uncomfortable with that.

Keeping the best to last, closer ‘Strange Beauty’ is possibly the best thing JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS have ever done, an electronic ballad that puts the plodding attempts at similar by bigger bands to shame. Benge’s production on this really does merit his bandmate’s claim that he is this generation’s Conny Plank.

Across this release there is a musicality to the production that is missing from many modern electronic works. The shear fury in places of Robin Simon’s playing could have just been noise at the hands of a lesser, knowing producer but here it is given room to shine. As a closer, this track more than any other points towards that might have been.

Once again John Foxx has shown how to remain relevant in these modern times. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has never hidden its love of the man’s prodigious body of work and ‘Howl’ reinforces that further.

At a time when Moog are handing out ‘Innovator’ awards to artists as a purely marketing tool, we should be thankful that performers like John Foxx continue to push their own boundaries instead of playing it safe. I can’t wait to hear what he does next.

‘Howl’ is released by Metamatic Records on 24th July 2020 as a CD and yellow vinyl LP, pre-order from https://johnfoxx.tmstor.es/

http://www.metamatic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/johnfoxxandthemaths/

https://twitter.com/foxxmetamedia

https://www.instagram.com/johnfoxxofficial/

https://johnfoxx.bandcamp.com/

Text by Ian Ferguson
15th July 2020

JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS Interview

21 March 2020 /

‘Howl’ is the fifth studio album from JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS and sees the former ULTRAVOX! front man reuniting with his ‘Systems Of Romance’ guitarist Robin Simon.

Also featuring Chief Mathematician Benge along with live band member and regular collaborator Hannah Peel, ‘Howl’ does as its title suggests. Presenting eight tracks of fierce art rock, it sees guitars as very much part of the scenery in partnership with the electronics.

Recorded at Benge’s MemeTune studios in Cornwall , ‘Howl’ is the first JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS album since the instrumental score for a theatre production of EM Forster’s ‘The Machine Stops’, released as ‘The Machine’ in 2017. Before that, there was an extremely prolific period which saw three albums ‘Interplay’, The Shape Of Things’ and ‘Evidence’ issued between 2011-2013. And this was without Foxx’s other ambient and soundtrack outings.

John Foxx talked about the genesis of ‘Howl’ and drew on artistic parallels from working with Conny Plank back in 1978 for ‘Systems Of Romance’…

After the prolific release schedule of 2011-2017, you’ve kept a low profile over the last few years, what have you been doing to keep you busy?

There’s always loads to do -Writing lots of songs and throwing them away. Editing ‘The Quiet Man’ book and digging stuff out of notebooks. Learning to play primitive guitar again. Remembering who I am and for what. Enjoying other people’s gigs. Relishing out-of-control feedback and the sheer joy of being inhabited by very loud, bone-shattering music.

Photo by Ed Fielding

One of the high profile tracks towards the end of that period was ‘Talk (Are You Listening To Me?)’ with Gary Numan in 2016, how did it all come together?

Well, Gary and I had been mentioning we ought to do something together – for about thirty years, but never got around to it. Then Steve (my manager and a friend of Gary) was in LA with him and played the Maths version of ‘Talk’. Gary liked it, Benge got in touch and they began to swap recordings. We mixed a version, and that was it. About time.

Your most recent five album releases have been ambient or instrumental soundtracks, so what inspired you to start working on songs again with ‘Howl’?

Decided to have a listen to everything I’d made – which is something I’ve never actually done before. Bit of a shock. Felt there were a couple of important things I hadn’t properly got to.

One was recording with proper violence and growl. What Lois and I used to call ‘Radge’. I also wanted to get to the sort of cruel glam I really liked – nothing pretty, but a dark, writhing glamour that The Velvets or Iggy touched on – a sort of torn sequins and shades thing. A bit damaged and very urban.

At the same time, I realised I’d not done another of the things I most wanted to – which is work with Robin Simon properly again. Rob came out of that glam into Punk thing as well – and he can play the most violent guitar you’ve ever heard – so the time was absolutely right.

In terms of writing and doing demos, had these songs been conceived with guitars in mind from the very off?

Yes.

Lyrically, what was moving you with these ‘Howl’ songs?

Well there’s plenty to howl about at the moment. We’re all living in particularly fast-moving and downright weird times. ‘The Dance’, ‘Howl’, ‘Last Time I Saw You’, ‘Everything Is Happening At The Same Time’, in fact all the songs, are kicked off by that.

Robin Simon performed with you at The Roundhouse and Troxy gigs in 2010-2011, so it has taken a few years for you both to work together on this record, you rate him highly don’t you?

He’s the best guitarist ever. Doesn’t play clichés, invented modern guitar – everyone imagines guitars always sounded like they do today but they certainly didn’t before Rob.

In my book, there are four top guitarists – Rob Simon first, along with John McGeoch, Steve Jones, and Fripp. Rob combined the ferocity of Punk with overdriven synths and he was the first to work in that way, using effects as an integral part of the sound. Fripp did some marvellous things later with Bowie. McGeoch worked with MAGAZINE and created their sound, then I met up with him in my studio when he, then Robert, were working with SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES. Steve Jones did the most massive blazing chop and drone ever recorded. All these guys have completely unique properties

But for me, Rob combines all of that with the kind of finesse and bite that Mick Ronson had. It’s a broad spectrum, but one thing Rob never loses sight of is the basic animal aggression- and I love that. Agility and power. Marvellous.

Is ‘Howl’ sonically a record perhaps you’ve been itching to make since you left Cologne in 1978 after recording ‘Systems Of Romance’?

Oh yes – exactly. But I needed to exorcise a few things first – KRAFTWERK, for one.

You’d worked with Robin since that time on ‘The Garden’, ‘The Golden Section’ and ‘In Mysterious Ways’ but on ‘Howl’, you’ve given him more of a free hand, are you working like you did when you were both in ULTRAVOX!?

Absolutely. A few things have changed though – we don’t rehearse live all together, and I do miss that – We might correct that next time. It gives certain feel to the songs that I like. Sometimes Rob will give you three or four versions of a song each time he plays it. All good – and mostly better than you imagine. Sometimes so radical you catch your breath.

The thing is to try to absorb what he’s doing quickly enough to work with it. It’s the catching lightning in a bottle thing. You also have to get out of the way sometimes and concentrate on simply catching the take. You learn to live in the moment and the whole process becomes organic and alive – it’s real life actually happening.

You’ve often likened Benge to Conny Plank, so was there any moments of déjà vu when you, Robin and him were together in his countryside studio in Cornwall?

Many times – in fact most of the time. Surprises you in the same way. Never off balance. Always totally competent, but completely unpretentious. Always out for sonic adventure. Benge even looks like Conny Plank – especially when he’s thinking. Same sort of mannerisms. I swear there’s a stray gene knocking about.

It’s a fantastic piece of luck to come across two guys like that in a single lifetime.

The manner of the guitar driven start on ‘My Ghost’ will be something of a surprise to some?

I do hope so.

While the album has a distinct guitar focus, the synths have not disappeared, like on the title song which has a screeching first two thirds but a more electronic final section; it’s a monster in a scary kind of way, what was on your mind when you conceived that one?

We were simply reacting to what Rob delivered. We’d all found a sound that seemed alive, so of course Rob was straight in there wrestling with it. Luckily Benge recorded all that immediately. It was a single take. Rob played it all over another song – Completely demolished it, so I had to write another around what he’d delivered.

I’d also been thinking about the Allen Ginsberg poem ‘Howl’ and what Rob did fitted. A sort of telepathic coincidence, because I hadn’t mentioned that at all. The song isn’t about the same thing, though.

The track is very reminiscent of that ‘Systems Of Romance’ period…

I’d been pondering how to revisit and update a few impressive things from the past, but in a completely modern context, and here it all was.

Hannah’s busy conspiring too, with her wipeout feedback – especially at the end, and Benge did that great squelch synth to break into the end section – plus some nice and mucky but spare bass and drums, to give everyone enough space.

In short – a series of accidents and coincidences that delivered something alive into the room. That’s how recording should be. Couldn’t sleep properly for days after.

So Hannah Peel is there with her violin on the ‘Howl’ album, evoking even more parallels with ‘Systems Of Romance’?

Always liked what an amped up violin or viola can do. I need chaos. Cale was always an inspiration in the Velvets – it’s another living beast to wrestle with, and Hannah loves to let it howl too. She’s absolutely full spectrum, is Hannah – conducts an orchestra and equally capable of conducting total demolition via feedback and distortion levels that can wreck a sound system. Remains calm throughout.

‘Everything Is Happening At The Same Time’ and ‘New York Times’ both have something of a Metadelic vibe about them?

That’s always there. A sort of punk psychedelia – it’s a cornerstone for me. Always emerges. Goes back to ‘When You Walk through Me’ from 1978, then into ‘No One Driving’ and so on.

Can’t ever forget Rob first playing ‘When You Walk Through Me,’ when I brought it in to rehearsals. He understood it instantly and completely. Fantastic playing. Especially that and ‘Maximum Acceleration’. Totally bloody Marvellous!

‘Tarzan & Jane Regained’ comes over a bit like U2 covering ‘Quiet Men’ with all that echo-locked harmonic guitar?

Well, although I like some of the things they’ve done in the past, we’ve no wish to sound like them – U2 certainly pinched some of our early sound in the 1970s. Particularly Rob’s approach. Mind you, they weren’t alone. I think we were the most copped unit on the planet around ’78-79.

Photo by Ed Fielding

In ‘The Dance, there’s some echoes of ‘Goodbye Horses’ by Q LAZZARUS which was on the soundtrack of ‘Silence Of The Lambs’, any coincidence?

Completely. I’ve got no memory of that. I’ll check it out.

‘Last Time I Saw You’ art rocks like hell…

Great – Rob and Benge were saying recently that’s the starting point for the next album. I’m on the case.

Where did the gorgeous cinematic ballad ‘Strange Beauty’ emerge from? Is that a soaring ARP Odyssey solo or a violin?

It sort of descended all at once, one night, as the best things tend to. No memory at all of writing it. Simply played it to some exterior direction – and there it was. Had to check it wasn’t someone else’s tune.

The solo is Hannah integrating with synth as she does so perfectly. She did a lot of that on the record, as well as the wild stuff. Widens everything out somehow. After she’s worked on a track, it sounds twice as big, and you’re not sure how she did it. Benge also did massive things with the drums and more synths. Rob did his seemingly simple but essential structural work. Everyone really went for that one. It went tidal.

Is the prospect of JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS performing again as a group ever a possibility in the future?

We’re being offered USA and Mexico at the moment so I guess we’ve got to get down and review things asap, but it’s like knitting fog. Penalty of working with top people – Everyone’s suddenly off with their own career – Hannah in Ireland and increasingly global, there’s an international queue for Benge in Cornwall, Rob nipping between LA and Yorkshire.

We all want to do it, because it’s a real buzz blasting it out together, and Rob seems to have galvanised the whole thing – as he always does. But it’s got to be absolutely right for everyone to think of clearing the table.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to John Foxx

Special thanks to Steve Malins at Random Management

‘Howl’ is released by Metamatic Records on 24th July 2020 as a CD and yellow vinyl LP, pre-order from https://johnfoxx.tmstor.es/

http://www.metamatic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/johnfoxxandthemaths/

https://twitter.com/foxxmetamedia

https://www.instagram.com/johnfoxxofficial/

https://johnfoxx.bandcamp.com/

http://blog.thequietman.co.uk/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
21st March 2020

A Beginner’s Guide To BENGE

9 March 2020 /

Developing on a childhood fascination with electronic sound, after finishing art school, Ben Edwards set up a music studio in London and began acquiring discarded vintage synthesizers on sale for next to nothing to equip it.

Under his nickname of Benge, he released his debut album ‘Electro-Orgoustic Music’ in 1995 on his own Expanding Label. But in 2011, he became best known for his role as Chief Mathematician and collaborative partner in JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS.

By this time, what had now become Benge’s MemeTune Studios was housing one of the largest collections of working vintage synthesizers in the world and was the location for several interviews filmed for the BBC documentary ‘Synth Britannia’.

Amongst the equipment were modular systems from Moog, Serge, E-Mu, Formant and Buchla, the ARP 2500 and 2600, digital systems like the Synclavier and Fairlight CMI, drum machines including the Linn LM1, Roland TR808 and CR78 as well as classic polyphonic keyboards such as the Yamaha CS80, Polymoog, Oberheim 4-Voice, ARP Omni and the less celebrated EMS Polysynthi.

As a collaborator, John Foxx said Benge was “Really good – Intelligent, knowledgeable, technically blinding. He does remind me of Conny Plank. Same generosity and ability, same civilized manner – even looks similar.”

Benge left London and relocated MemeTune Studios to Cornwall in 2015, but with artists savouring this more remote setting near some of the most breathtaking coastal scenery in England, he is now busier than ever as his recent production portfolio has shown.

So by way of a Beginner’s Guide to Benge, here are eighteen examples of his work, subject to a limit of one track per artist moniker or combination, presented in yearly and then alphabetical order. As his own blog says “It’s full of stars”!

TENNIS Weakness Together (2001)

Benge’s instrumental duo with Douglas Benford, TENNIS released their second album ‘Europe On Horseback’ just as dub electronica seemed to be all the rage. Scratchy and weirdly hypnotic with hidden hooks at over eight and a half minutes, the metallic percussive notions of ‘Weakness Together’ with its metronomic rhythms and solemn Cold War synths came together for a great highlight.

Available on the TENNIS album ‘Europe On Horseback’ via BiP_Hop Records

https://instagram.com/memetunestudio

BENGE 1969 EMS VCS3 (2008)

Noted for his experimental solo albums, Benge’s most acclaimed was 2008’s ‘Twenty Systems’. Brian Eno described it as “A brilliant contribution to the archaeology of electronic music”. An insightful soundtrack exploring how electronic sound architecture evolved from using transistors to integrated circuits and from ladder filters to Fourier approximation, it was via this album that Benge came to the attention of John Foxx.

Available on the BENGE album ‘Twenty Systems’ via Expanding Records

https://twitter.com/zackdagoba

SERAFINA STEER How To Haunt A House Party (2010)

Legend has it that Serafina Steer’s union with Benge occurred when her harp was stolen and he made synths available to fill in for the intended harp parts. One of the more electronic tracks ‘How To Haunt A House Party’ added drum machine and the spacey accompaniment complimented the songstress’ quirky brand of kitchen sink introspection. introspection. ‘Change is Good, Change is Good’ got an endorsement from Jarvis Cocker.

Available on the SERAFINA STEER album ‘Change Is Good, Change Is Good’ via Static Caravan

http://www.serafinasteer.com/

JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS Watching A Building On Fire (2011)

Joining forces with Benge, John Foxx found the perfect creative foil to further his earlier analogue ambitions combined with a warmth that had not been apparent previously. The best track on their debut album ‘Interplay’ was a co-written duet with Mira Aroyo of LADYTRON entitled ‘Watching A Building On Fire’. With its chattering drum machine and accessible Trans-European melodies, it was a spiritual successor to ‘Burning Car’.

Available on the JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS album ‘Interplay’ via Metamatic Records

http://www.metamatic.com/

OMD Dresden – JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS remix (2013)

The first band that the young Ben Edwards ever saw live was OMD, thanks to them opening for Gary Numan in 1979. He presented a suitably harsh remix to suit the harrowing lyrical tone of ‘Dresden’. But Andy McCluskey of OMD said: “‘Dresden’ is a whopping great, unsubtle metaphor… it’s not about the bombing of Dresden in the same way as ‘Enola Gay’ was about the aeroplane that dropped the atom bomb.”

Available on the OMD single ‘Dresden’ via BMG

http://www.omd.uk.com/

GAZELLE TWIN Exorcise (2014)

The moniker of Elizabeth Bernholz, the second GAZELLE TWIN album ‘Unflesh’ had additional production and mixing by Benge. One of the highlights ‘Exorcise’ was an impressively aggressive cross between PINK FLOYD’s ‘One The Run’ and KRAFTWERK’s ‘Home Computer’ with its uneasy resonance allowing the Brighton-based songstress to extract her demons with some artistic violence.

Available on the GAZELLE TWIN album ‘Unflesh’ via Anti-Ghost Moon Ray

https://www.gazelletwin.com/

HANNAH PEEL & BENGE Find Peace (2014)

Hannah Peel later took over the studio space when Benge relocated. At the time her most overtly electronic song yet, she teamed up with Benge for a haunting modern day seasonal hymn. With a suitably poignant message, ‘Find Peace’ was a Christmas song longing for the cold but merry winters of yesteryear under the modern day spectre of global warming, armed conflict and political tension.

Available on the HANNAH PEEL single ‘Find Peace’ via My Own Pleasure

http://www.hannahpeel.com/

WRANGLER Lava Land (2014)

A trio featuring Benge, Stephen Mallinder ex-CABARET VOLTAIRE and of TUNNG’s Phill Winter, the WRANGLER manifesto was to harness “lost technology to make new themes for the modern world”. ‘Lava Land’ saw Mallinder’s voice manipulations ranging from demonic gargoyle to stern drowning robot. The twisted mood was distinctly unsettling and dystopian, especially when the screeching steam powered Logan string machine kicked in.

Available on the WRANGLER album ‘LA Spark’ via by Memetune Recordings

https://www.facebook.com/mallinderbengewinter/

GHOST HARMONIC Codex (2015)

GHOST HARMONIC was a project comprising of John Foxx and Benge alongside Japanese violinist Diana Yukawa. ‘Codex’ evolved over the space of a couple of years.  The result was a startling dynamic between Yukawa’s heavily treated violin and the looming electronics within a modern recording environment. Closing the album, the title track was a string and synth opus of soothing bliss.

Available on the GHOST HARMONIC ‘Codex’ via Metamatic Records

https://www.facebook.com/johnfoxxmetamatic/

JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS featuring GARY NUMAN Talk (2016)

‘Talk’ has been used by John Foxx to explore different approaches from a singular idea with other kindred spirits such as Tara Busch and Matthew Dear. ‘Talk (Are You Listening To Me?)’ finally saw Gary Numan working on a track with his long-time hero who he had admired since the ULTRAVOX! His take naturally screamed alienation, thanks to Benge’s use of a Polymoog and his effective application of its swooping ribbon controller.

Available on the JOHN FOXX album ’21st Century: A Man, A Woman & A City’ via Metamatic Records

http://garynuman.com/

FADER 3D Carpets (2017)

While BLANCMANGE’s ‘Unfurnished Rooms’ was the first time Benge and Neil Arthur worked together, their FADER duo project saw the former instigating the music as opposed to working on already written songs. Working on their parts separately with Benge coming up with the embryonic musical idea, ‘3D Carpets’ captured an independent post-punk intensity, like JOY DIVISION or THE CURE but realised with analogue electronics rather than guitars.

Available on the ‘First Light’ via Blanc Check Records

https://www.facebook.com/WeAreFader/

I SPEAK MACHINE Shame (2017)

“Benge and I had always wanted to write together” said Tara Busch of how he became involved in the soundtrack of I SPEAK MACHINE’s short film about greed and self-obsession in Thatcher’s Britain as a businessman drives home, oblivious to a zombie apocalypse going on around him. The brilliant ‘Shame’ was a wonderful hybrid of THROBBING GRISTLE, THE HUMAN LEAGUE and GOLDFRAPP.

Available on the album ‘Zombies 1985’ via Lex Records

https://www.ispeakmachine.com/

LONE TAXIDERMIST Home (2017)

LONE TAXIDERMIST is the vehicle of Cumbrian lass Natalie Sharp, a performance artist who believes “Your body is a sensory device”. With Phill Winter of TUNNG and WRANGLER among the collaborators, Benge acted as co-producer and released the album himself. Her debut album’s opening song ‘Home’ made her avant pop intentions clear with a catchy throbbing outline and a wonderfully wayward vocal style crossing Grace Jones with Ari Up.

Available on the LONE TAXIDERMIST album ‘Trifle’ via MemeTune Recordings

https://www.facebook.com/lonetaxidermist/

BLANCMANGE In Your Room (2018)

Working with Benge again on what was effectively their third album together, Neil Arthur has undoubtedly found comfort in their partnership. ‘Wanderlust’ was possibly BLANCMANGE’s best body of work in its 21st Century incarnation and from it, ‘In Your Room’ was a great slice of vintage robopop, with a vocoder aesthetic and an assortment of manipulated sounds at a reasonably uptempo pace. “Lyrically it was about being content with something quite simple” added Arthur.

Available on the BLANCMANGE album ‘Wanderlust’ via Blanc Check Records

http://www.blancmange.co.uk/

CREEP SHOW Safe & Sound (2018)

With John Grant joining forces with Stephen Mallinder, Benge and Phill Winter at MemeTune Studios, CREEP SHOW was something of an electronic meeting of minds. On the resultant album ‘Safe & Sound’, the quartet explored a spacious KRAFTWERK vs Moroder hybrid using dark analogue electronics, gradually revealing some wonderfully warm melodic synth textures to accompany Grant’s passionate lead croon.

Available on the CREEP SHOW album ‘Mr Dynamite’ via Bella Union

https://www.facebook.com/creepshowmusic/

JOHN GRANT He’s Got His Mother’s Hips (2018)

Following the CREEP SHOW collaboration, it was only natural that Benge would step up to produce John Grant’s fourth solo album ‘Love Is Magic’ to more allow the Icelandic-domiciled American to fully embrace his love of electronic music. Making use of a vintage synth brass line, the mutant crooner disco of ‘He’s Got His Mother’s Hips’ was driven by a delicious synthetic groove while not forgetting to include an uplifting chorus.

Available on the JOHN GRANT album ‘Love Is Magic’ via Bella Union

https://johngrantmusic.com/

LUMP Hand Hold Hero (2018)

Inspired by the emptiness of contemporary life, when British nu-folk queen Laura Marling teamed up with Mike Lindsay of TUNNG and Benge’s one-time partner-in-crime, it called for something out-of-the-box and came courtesy of Benge’s Moog Modulars. A hypnotic sequencer line provided the backbone to ‘Hand Hold Hero’ for an unusual slice of Sci-Fi Country ‘N’ Western that met ‘On the Run’ somewhere on the Virginia plains.

Available on the LUMP album ‘Lump’ via Dead Oceans

https://www.facebook.com/thisisLUMP/

OBLONG Echolocation (2019)

With the second OBLONG album ‘The Sea At Night’, the trio of Benge, Dave Nice and Sid Stronarch delivered a collection of rustic electro-acoustic organically farmed electronica! With mood and pace, ‘Echolocation’ was a classic synth instrumental with its crystalline textures and charming slightly off-key blips, aurally reflecting the remote moorland location in Cornwall where it was recorded.

Available on the OBLONG album ‘The Sea At Night’ via MemeTune Recordings

https://twitter.com/oblongtheband

Text by Chi Ming Lai
9th March 2020

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