Tag: Hannah Peel (Page 4 of 8)

2016 END OF YEAR REVIEW

17 December 2016 / electricityclub

tec2016review-mopho

What In the World…

2016 will forever be remembered as the year when a significant number of cultural icons and popular musical figures left us; David Bowie, Prince, Isao Tomita, Pete Burns, Colin Verncombe, Keith Emerson, Don Buchla and Leonard Cohen were just some of the names who sadly departed.

But despite sadness that loomed, the year did produce some good music, particularly in the second half of the year.

GARY NUMAN launched an ambitious Pledge Music campaign and released some excellent collaborations with JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS, JEAN-MICHEL JARRE and TITÁN. But with his retrospective tour of material from his three most popular albums taking up much of his year, his new crowdfunded album did not meet its planned October release deadline.

Meanwhile Jean-Michel Jarre had an excess of material and issued the second volume of his ‘Electronica’ project which also featured YELLO and PET SHOP BOYS, plus a third instalment to his classic opus ‘Oxygène’.

YELLO and PET SHOP BOYS also released new albums to a positive reception, proving again that partnerships featuring personnel over the age of 60 can still create music that is fresh and relevant. Incidentally, one of YELLO’s young vocalists FIFI RONG continued to maintain her artistic profile with successful campaigns for her releases ‘Forbidden Desires’ and ‘Alone’.

2016 saw two concept albums emerge in ‘The Ship’ from Brian Eno, a solemn art piece with poignant anti-war messages and ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’, a very personal musical statement by Hannah Peel on the traumas of dementia. It was a busy year for Miss Peel with her also contributing her voice to BEYOND THE WIZARDS SLEEVE and JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS, as well as showcasing her own Mary Casio side project.

WRANGLER released a new album ‘White Glue’ which exuded a less rigid format compared to its predecessor ‘LA Spark’ and collaborated with Johm Grant at the Rough Trade 40 live celebrations, while the prolific Neil Arthur issued another new BLANCMANGE album in ‘Commuter 23’ while also launching a new side project NEAR FUTURE with BERNHOLZ.

The Manchester veteran Eric Random issued ‘Words Made Flesh’, the second album of his recent return to the music while Rusty Egan finally presented ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ which despite its title, was actually a collection of classic styled synthpop. After many years of trials and tribulations for the co-founder of VISAGE, the long player featuring Midge Ure, Tony Hadley and Chris Payne who co-wrote ‘Fade to Grey’ exceeded expectations.

Space travel and synths were just made to go together, so JØTA and VANGELIS conceived projects covering The Cold War space race and the more recent Rosetta probe respectively. Meanwhile, WHITE LIES again showed they are as synthy as they are guitary on their ‘Friends’ album, and even started to sound like A-HA!

Fellow blog Cold War Night Life released ‘Heresy: A Tribute to RATIONAL YOUTH’ which featured PSYCHE and MACHINISTA as well as the Canadian trailblazers themselves. Meanwhile Ireland staked its claim as a new territory for synthpop talent; CIRCUIT3 ‘siliconchipsuperstar’ and EMBRACE THE CRISIS ‘Black Heart’ were good examples of what was on offer from the Emerald Isle.

Over in the UK, VILE ELECTRODES, SPRAY and ANALOG ANGEL all released new albums while from Sweden came debut long players by Johan Baeckström and PRESENCE OF MIND.

So again, Sweden still proved it was special with SILENT WAVE exhibiting degrees of potential. But it was REIN in particular who was causing a stir within the ranks of EBM, while the country’s best kept secret KITE toured North America and Asia. However, neither of these two latter artists figured in the line-up of Gothenburg’s Electronic Summer 2016 festival.

The Nordic region saw the welcome return of VILLA NAH with the album ‘Ultima’ after a five year absence, while TRENTEMØLLER made the case again as to why he is still the perfect producer for DEPECHE MODE with his new long player ‘Fixion’. However, Norwegian acts APOPTYGMA BERZERK and ELECTRO SPECTRE ensured the Swedes, Finns and Danes did not have it all their own way.

Greece was still the word with LIEBE, KID MOXIE and MARSHEAUX all presenting brand new releases, while Sarah P. maintained her profile with a series of inventive promo videos highlighting the ongoing issues of equality for women within the music industry. Embracing the same issue on the other side of the Atlantic, I AM SNOW ANGEL immersed herself in setting up the FEMALE FREQUENCY collective while also releasing her own music.

2016 was a good year for female acts with EMIKA, KALEIDA, ANI GLASS, THE HEARING, KITE BASE, HOLOGRAM TEEN among those making a positive impression. There was also ‘SVIIB’, the final album from SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS and the emergence of CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS, while LADYHAWKE remembered what a good album sounded like with ‘Wild Things’.

Over in LA, NIGHT CLUB developed on the promise of their EP trilogy and got a bit heavier on their debut long player ‘Requiem For Romance’, ending up sounding not unlike Britney fronting NINE INCH NAILS in the process! After gestation periods of nearly six years, both EKKOES and THE MYSTIC UNDERGROUND finally released their debut albums.

Meanwhile the instrumental front, Texan couple HYPERBUBBLE provided some ‘Music To Color By’, Brussels duo METROLAND touchingly paid tribute to their late friend Louis Zachert with ‘Things Will Never Sound The Same Again’ and Ulrich Schnauss went ‘No Further Ahead Than Today’. And MOBY offered a gift to profound relaxation with his free ‘Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.’ download package.

PERTURBATOR’s ‘The Uncanny Valley’ became a flag bearer for the synthwave movement, along with the acclaimed soundtrack by SURVIVE members Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein for the absorbing Netflix drama ‘Stranger Things’. Less well-received though was ‘2Square’ by Vince Clarke & Paul Hartnoll with its banal experiments in electro swing. This was a supposed new dance sub-genre that in reality was just computerised jazz… nice! But one artist who did manage to pull off fusing synthpop and jazz successfully was DISQO VOLANTE.

New material from veterans MESH, AESTHETIC PERFECTION, ASSEMBLAGE 23, DE/VISION, IAMX, COVENANT and ROTERSAND kept the black clad European audiences happy, while Mari Kattman and BLACK NEEDLE NOISE added some trip-hop and rock edges respectively to their already dark templates. Expressing slightly less intensity were two surprise packages in Germany’s DAS BLAUE PALAIS with ‘Welt Am Draht’ and Canada’s DELERIUM with ‘Mythologie’.

But totally unexpected was ‘Silver City Ride’, a full length electro album from Marc Almond in collaboration with STARCLUSTER featuring his most synth laden body of work since SOFT CELL. The biggest surprise of 2016 was ‘Fly’ the soundtrack souvenir to ‘Eddie The Eagle’, the light hearted biopic of the bespectacled Olympic ski jumper; featuring new material by members of FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, SOFT CELL, SPANDAU BALLET, ULTRAVOX, ERASURE and OMD in collaboration with TAKE THAT’s Gary Barlow, this looked like a terrible idea on paper. But it was brilliantly executed and the resultant album was a largely enjoyable collection of retro flavoured pop.

Electronic acts actually got to headline the Glastonbury Festival in 2016, albeit on The Other Stage as opposed the main event; NEW ORDER and CHVRCHES wowed the crowds when they shared the bill on the Saturday night. There were rumours that KRAFTWERK and DEPECHE MODE might feature in 2017 but this was not to be, although both acts sent social media into overdrive when they announced major tours.

Among those accorded career spanning multi-disc boxed sets were ERASURE, MARC ALMOND, DEAD OR ALIVE and THE HUMAN LEAGUE. Somehow though, SIMPLE MINDS managed to milk a six disc variant of ‘New Gold Dream’ in the third of their classic album deluxe box editions; it was an amazing feat seeing as only ten songs were completed during the original sessions! The collection boasted no less than twelve takes of the aptly titled ‘Promised You A Miracle’; but the latest incarnation of the Glaswegians combo’ first big hit with KT TUNSTALL for their ‘Acoustic’ album proved to be one version too many.

Much better value for the money for the discerning music fan were the four ASSOCIATES double CD reissues, supervised by Alan Rankine and Michael Dempsey. Based around their first three albums and a ‘Very Best Of’ compilation, each additionally featured a plethora of rare and previously unreleased songs; they were a fitting tribute to the late Billy MacKenzie.

Nostalgia was very much a part of 2016, with HEAVEN 17, OMD and PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT all touring popular albums. And following the success in recent years of retro festivals such as ‘Rewind’ and the strangely named ‘Let’s Rock’, classic synthpop finally found itself part of the holiday camp circuit.

Part of the Butlins Music Weekender series, ‘Electric Dreams’ featuring OMD, HEAVEN 17, BLANCMANGE and Marc Almond almost went badly off-piste with the addition of GO WEST and THE ZOMBIES (!?!) to the programme. But the organisers pulled an unexpected surprise and booked modern synth acts like MARSHEAUX and AVEC SANS to support the bill.

Hardened retro festival goers are notorious for not embracing new music, but this ethos has to be welcomed and could provide an interesting new model for the future of event based entertainment. However, based on photographic evidence, the presence of inflatable pink flamingos and coloured wigs indicated the crowd atmosphere might have been no different to any of the usual nostalgia outings, but with a roof and central heating added!

Elsewhere, the second ELECTRI-CITY CONFERENCE in Düsseldorf boasted yet another impressive line-up that read like a ‘Who’s Who?’ of electronic music with John Foxx, Daniel Miller and Mark Reeder among those taking part in talks. One of the highlights of the weekend came with Mr Foxx chatting about working with the legendary Conny Plank.

And while MARSHEAUX, KID KASIO and RODNEY CROMWELL in Norwich was not in the same league, it was a fine showcase for the best in independent synthpop.

Both events proved again that the best electronic music events are those actually curated by electronic music enthusiasts, something that is not the case with several other events.

In all, 2016 was not a vintage year for electronic pop. If there was a lesson this year, it’s been to cherish and appreciate great life’s moments where possible, especially with the number of music figures that have been lost in the last 12 months.

Things cannot go on forever sadly…

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK Contributor Listings 2016

PAUL BODDY

Best Album: PERTURBATOR The Uncanny Valley
Best Song: SOULWAX Transient Program for Drums & Machinery
Best Gig: JEAN-MICHEL JARRE at London O2 Arena
Best Video: BATTLE TAPES featuring PARTY NAILS Solid Gold
Most Promising New Act: VOX LOW

IAN FERGUSON

Best Album: VILE ELECTRODES In The Shadows Of Monuments
Best Song: ASSEMBLAGE 23 Barren
Best Gig: ASSEMBLAGE 23 at Denver Oriental Theatre
Best Video: I AM SNOW ANGEL Losing Face
Most Promising New Act: VOX LOW

SIMON HELM

Best Album: ERIC RANDOM Words Made Flesh
Best Song: RATIONAL YOUTH This Side Of The Border
Best Gig: Troika! featuring KITE BASE, HANNAH PEEL + I SPEAK MACHINE at Shacklewell Arms
Best Video: I AM SNOW ANGEL Losing Face
Most Promising New Act: ZANIAS

CHI MING LAI

Best Album: VILLA NAH Ultima
Best Song: VILE ELECTRODES The Vanished Past
Best Gig: JEAN-MICHEL JARRE at London O2 Arena
Best Video: BEYOND THE WIZARD’S SLEEVE Diagram Girl
Most Promising New Act: ANI GLASS

STEPHEN ROPER

Best Album: MARSHEAUX Ath.Lon
Best Song: RODNEY CROMWELL Baby Robot
Best Gig: GARY NUMAN at Norwich UEA
Best Video: MARSHEAUX Like A Movie
Most Promising New Act: DISQO VOLANTE

MONIKA IZABELA TRIGWELL

Best Album: APOPTYGMA BERZERK Exit Popularity Contest
Best Song: KID KASIO Full Moon Blue
Best Gig: SPEAK & SPELL at Islington Academy
Best Video: BLACK NEEDLE NOISE featuring JENNIE VEE Heaven
Most Promising New Act: JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM

Text by Chi Ming Lai
17th December 2016

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2016

8 December 2016 / electricityclub

Overall, 2016 was not a vintage year…

But there were plenty of quality songs on offer throughout the year and a number were significantly outstanding.

Rounding down to a final 30 songs is always difficult and among the acts in the initial shortlist were ADAM IS A GIRL, DELERIUM, EMIKA, KALEIDA, LADYHAWKE, METROLAND, PRESENCE OF MIND, REIN, FIFI RONG, SPRAY, WHITE LIES and the now disbanded ANALOG ANGEL.

After much deliberation and with a restriction of one song per artist moniker, here are ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 Songs of 2016 in alphabetical order…

APOPTYGMA BERZERK Rhein Klang

Futurepop veteran Stephan Groth certainly put his head on the line releasing an instrumental Sci-Fi concept album as an APOPTYGMA BERZERK long player. But with influences like KRAFTWERK, TANGERINE DREAM and Jean-Michel Jarre, ‘Exit Popularity Contest’ was an artistic success. Full of Groth’s electronic lifeblood, ‘Rhein Klang’ was a wonderful oscillating slice of synth motorik in tribute to NEU!

Available on the album ‘Exit Popularity Contest’ via Hard: Drive

http://www.theapboffice.com/

JOHAN BAECKSTROM Like Before

Johan Baeckström first gained recognition as part of DAILY PLANET with vocalist Jarmo Ollila in 1994. His first album ‘Like Before’ in 2015 drew favourable comparisons to Vince Clarke. A competent vocalist himself, the long player’s title song got a stand-alone release in 2016 and instantly recalled the glory days of ERASURE with its precise, yet emotive synthpop with a message to “swim the oceans like before”.

Available on the album ‘Like Before’ via Progress Productions

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

BEYOND THE WIZARD’S SLEEVE Diagram Girl

BEYOND THE WIZARDS SLEEVE are Erol Alkan and Richard Norris, formally of THE GRID. Possibly one of the songs of 2016, ‘Diagram Girl’ featuring the unisex vocals of Hannah Peel, a deeper pitch shift provided a psychedelic out-of-this-world feel which bizarrely fitted in alongside the songstress’ dreamily breathy tones. Meanwhile the pulsing electronic soundtrack had surreal echoes of OMD and their minor hit ‘Secret’.

Available on the album ‘The Soft Bounce’ via Phantasy Sound

https://www.facebook.com/beyondthewizardssleeve/

BLACK NEEDLE NOISE featuring KENDRA FROST Warning Sign

It can be tricky keeping up with the prolific studio legend John Fryer. Following his projects MURICIDAE and SILVER GHOST SHIMMER, his BLACK NEEDLE NOISE project employed a flexible lead vocal policy and focussed on just single songs. Magically breathy, ‘Warning Sign’ employed the soaring vocals of Kendra Frost from KITE BASE against a spacious backdrop of synths, beats and guitars for a brooding sonic amalgam.

Available as a download single via https://blackneedlenoise.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BlackNeedleNoise/

https://www.facebook.com/kitebasemusic/

CIRCUIT3 Hundred Hands

With a mighty Linn Drum engine room that would make Martyn Ware proud and some rugged lead synth, ‘Hundred Hands’ was the best track on CIRCUIT3’s debut album. The work of Dublin-based Peter Fitzpatrick, he even dropped in hints of KRAFTWERK’s ‘Showroom Dummies’. The parent album ‘siliconchipsuperstar’ was classic styled synthpop made by someone weaned on classic synthpop.

Available on the album ‘siliconchipsuperstar’ via https://circuit3.bandcamp.com/

http://www.circuit3.com/

RUSTY EGAN PRESENTS Thank You

The elegiac ‘Thank You’ utilised some ‘Endless Endless’ vocodered stylings over layers of sweeping synthetic strings and a gentle metronomic pulse. A list of Rusty Egan’s musical heroes, this tone poem was a touching acknowledgement of electronic music’s marvellous history. A simple yet highly effective idea, the beauty is in its realisation. Appropriately, it ends with a touchingly poignant “VISAGE… thank you”.

Available on the album ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’ via Black Mosaic from
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/rusty-egan-welcome-to-the-dancefloor

http://rustyegan.net/

JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS A Man & A Woman

‘A Man & A Woman’ was a surprise in that it was less rigid than previous JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS recordings. Featuring some enchanting whispers from the seemingly ubiquitous Hannah Peel, it was an interesting departure that even featured some subtle acoustic guitar flourishes from Isobel MacDonald. Foxx’s work is still under-appreciated so ‘21st Century: A Man, A Woman And A City’ was a chance to catch up.

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

http://www.metamatic.com/

ANI GLASS Y Ddawns

Welsh songstress Ani Glass served her apprenticeship with girl groups GENIE QUEEN and THE PIPETTES and worked with Andy McCluskey and Martin Rushent respectively along the way. ‘Y Ddawns’ (‘The Dance’) was a wonderfully exhilarating pop art adventure. Swathed in synths and driven by a metronomic beat, it was a declaration of hope, deeply voiced in the verse with a gorgeous soaring resonance in the chorus, about “finding solace and meaning in music, dance, art and culture”.

‘Y Ddawns’ is available as a download single from https://aniglass.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/aniglasscymru/

THE HEARING Kabeldon

Helsinki-based Ringa Manner has been making crystalline sine waves as THE HEARING. Her second album ‘Adrian’ boasted the epic ‘Kabeldon’. A outstanding work with an affinity to Norwegian songstress Susanne Sundfør, there were also bows to David Bowie’s ‘I’m Deranged’ when the mad cascading piano kicked in alongside the frantic drum ‘n’ bass and steadily building cacophony of noise. Then, when it appeared all over, the song mutated into an eloquent Nordic dubstep ballad!

Available on the album ‘Adrian’ via Solina Records

https://www.facebook.com/Ringasofi/

I AM SNOW ANGEL Losing Face

The project of Julie Kathryn, the haunting tension of ‘Losing Face’ accentuates a variety of electronic and organic colours. A muted chop’ n’ chuck provides the percussive backbone while an eerie soundscape is steadily configured as Kathryn succumbs to lust. “You’re different when you’re on top of me… how I hate the state I’m in” she paradoxically reflects, as bubbling detuned synth swirls and acoustic guitar penetrate the foreboding atmosphere in the vein of ‘Felt Mountain’ era GOLDFRAPP.

Available on the EP ‘Desert’ via I Am Snow Angel

http://iamsnowangel.com/

JEAN-MICHEL JARRE & CYNDI LAUPER Swipe To The Right

After decades of composing lengthy synth symphonies, there must have been times when the French maestro must have just wanted to do a pop tune. This Jean-Michel Jarre managed in a quirky collaboration with Cyndi Lauper. No stranger to electronic forms, particularly with her ‘Bring Ya To The Brink’ album, ‘Swipe To The Right’ had big bass riffs galore for a great poptastic exploration, while reflecting on the use of Tinder in modern relationships.

Available on the album ‘Electronica 2: The Heart Of Noise’ via Columbia / Sony Music

http://jeanmicheljarre.com/

http://www.cyndilauper.com/

KID MOXIE Still High

KID MOXIE is Elena Charbila, the Greek born singer and actress who likes to make music with friends. Working best in collaboration, her album ‘1888’ showed she had blossomed and displayed an inventive maturity following the gutter pop of her early releases. From her best body of work yet in ‘Perfect Shadow’, the seductive ‘Still High’ was gloriously cinematic synthpop with a touch of maiden iciness that affirmed this artistic progression.

Available on the mini-album ‘Perfect Shadow’ is via West One Music Group

http://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

LIEBE The Box

LIEBE are the electro disco duo who could be considered the Greek PET SHOP BOYS. Sitting on that difficult bridge between pastiche and post-modern, their romantic disco friendly sound mines Europop while adding the vocal drawl of Jarvis Cocker. The magnificent Jean-Michel Jarre goes Italo disco of ’The Box’ was the highlight of their wonderfully escapist pop album ‘Revolution Of Love’.

Available on the album ‘Revolution Of Love’ via Emerald & Doreen Recordings

http://www.liebe.gr

MARSHEAUX Burning

A new approach saw MARSHEAUX’s trademark wispiness blended with a subtle tone of aggression. The opening song on ‘Ath.Lon’, the album title of which was derived from the cities of Athens and London it was recorded, ‘Burning’ was a harsh but sexy slice of synth expressionism. While clearly referencing darker electronica forms with its hypnotising percussive motif, it crucially maintained the essence of a good tune.

Available on the album ‘Ath.Lon’ via Undo Records

http://www.marsheaux.com/

MESH The Fixer

With their new album ‘Looking Skyward’, MESH alleviated any fears that they might not be able to sustain the artistic momentum seeded by 2013’s ‘Automation Baby’. Despite the lyrically negative nature of ‘The Fixer’, a driving bass triplet attached to a solid four-to-the-floor beat and an anthemic topline shed a light of optimism amongst the gloom. MESH have firmly carved their own niche and any disillusioned DEPECHE MODE fans should consider joining the fold immediately…

Available on the album ‘Looking Skyward’ via Dependent Records

http://www.mesh.co.uk/

METROLAND Man / Machine

In August 2015, METROLAND’s sound engineer and close friend Louis Zachert, aka Passenger L, passed away. The Brussels based duo recorded ‘Things Will Never Sound The Same Again’, a musical eulogy in homage. The uplifting ’Music / Machine’ with its Jarre-esque melodies started as a METROLAND remix of MUSICOCOON, a project involving Louis and his friend Philippe Malemprée. Kindly donated, its presence is in honour of Louis as the last piece of music he ever worked on.

Available on the album on the album ‘Things Will Never Sound The Same Again’ via Alfa Matrix

http://www.metrolandmusic.com/

NIGHT CLUB Pray

Buoyed by the acclaim of their EP trilogy and their power as a live act, NIGHT CLUB experimented with a more aggressive synth rock disco sound for their debut long player ‘Requiem For Romance’. Playing around with a range of unsettling vocal pitch shifts and religious imagery for the sinister overtones of ‘Pray’, Emily Kavanaugh and Mark Brooks have more than substantiated their position as one of North America’s best independent electronic pop duos.

Available on the album ‘Requiem For Romance’ via Gato Blanco from http://nightclubband.com/album/requiem-for-romance

http://nightclubband.com/

HANNAH PEEL All That Matters

It’s been a busy year for Hannah Peel; layered with staccato voice samples and uplifting bursts of symphonic strings, the driving arpeggio laden ‘All That Matters’ was her calling card, not just as her most synthpop offering yet but also as a mantra to live in the moment. The opening track of her second album ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’, her very personal musical journey themed around memory and the effects of dementia was a startling artistic triumph.

Available on the album ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ My Own Pleasure

http://www.hannahpeel.com

PET SHOP BOYS The Dictator Decides

Never mind their age, PET SHOP BOYS are still ‘The Pop Kids’ and ‘Twenty-something’ ones at that. But on the moodier ‘The Dictator Decides’, there comes one of those politically laced introspective numbers in the vein of ‘My October Symphony’ that the duo always do so well. As Neil Tennant deadpans “if you get rid of me, we can all be free”, the song provides an amusing surreal narrative of a tyrannical politician bored of his outright power and wanting to live a normal life.

Available on the album ‘Super’ via x2

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

PSYCHE Ring The Bells

From the Cold War Night Life curated ‘Heresy: A Tribute To Rational Youth’, one of the highlights from the collection is 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 reflects on the long kinship between RATIONAL YOUTH and PSYCHE.

Available on the album ‘Heresy: A Tribute To Rational Youth’ (V/A) via Cold War Night Life from http://www.stormingthebase.com/various-heresy-a-tribute-to-rational-youth-3lp-vinyl-2cd/

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

SARAH P. I’d Go

Greek electropop goddess Sarah P. started her music career as the frontwoman of KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS. With ‘I’d Go’ she said: “Most of the people do not get that this song is not as happy as it sounds at a first listen”. In her own words she confesses: “I’m a childish woman and nobody can stop me from being one” and adds “If there’s anything I stand for with all my heart is the ‘Go be you’ motto!” – her full length debut long player ‘Who Am I?’ is eagerly awaited.

Available on the mini-album ‘Free’ via EraseRestart

http://sarahpofficial.com/

SILENT WAVE War

Enigmatic Gothenburg electronic trio SILENT WAVE possess the hauntronica hallmarks of fellow Swedes THE KNIFE. ‘War’ is a reminder of how that sibling duo once combined tunes with their experimentation. With a suitably dark Nordic vibe, it could easily have come off ‘Silent Shout’ and while undoubtedly derivative, ‘War’ was well executed. But singer Tildeh Hjelm never felt comfortable, declining to appear at the band’s only London show.

Available on the download single ‘War’ via Silence Records

https://www.facebook.com/silentwaveofficial/

STARCLUSTER & MARC ALMOND To Have & Have Not

With his career spanning 10 CD box set ‘Trials Of Eyeliner: Anthology 1979-2016’, the last thing anyone expected from Marc Almond this year was an electronic pop album. Almond first recorded with Anglo German production duo STARCLUSTER in 2008. A great cover version, ‘To Have & Have Not’ was originally recorded by RONNY and retains the stern manner of the former Parisian model, while giving this slice of modern Weimar Cabaret a new lease of life.

Available on the album ‘Silver City Ride’ via Closing the Circle / Private Records

http://www.marcalmond.co.uk/

TINY MAGNETIC PETS Not Giving In

The 2015 ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE in Düsseldorf showcased TINY MAGNETIC PETS as an intriguing live act by winning over g=figures such as Rusty Egan and Andy McCluskey. The soulful ‘Not Giving In’ makes the most of Paula Gilmer’s enticingly wispy voice. With detuned pulses contrasting the digital chimes and staccato voice samples, an unusual stuttering reggae inflected beat enhances the atmosphere.

Available on the EP ‘The NATO Alphabet’ via https://tinymagneticpets.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Tiny-Magnetic-Pets-69597715797/

TRAIN TO SPAIN Believe In Love

Highly exuberant with a poptastic four chord progression, ‘Believe In Love’ was TRAIN TO SPAIN’s first recording to feature Lars Netzel as a new member. It developed on the promise of songs like ‘Passion’ from their debut ‘What it’s All About’ and significantly gave more space within Jonas Rasmusson’s classic synthpop framework for lead singer Helena Wigeborn to exude her charm. But it seems TRAIN TO SPAIN are back to a duo again…

Available on the download single ‘Believe In Love’ via Subculture Records

http://www.traintospain.se/

TRENTEMØLLER River In Me

‘River In Me’ was an unusual Trentemøller recording in that Jehnny Beth from SAVAGES came to his Copenhagen home studio to lay down her vocals. The end result possessed a Gothic intensity, yet was vibrant and melodic with Beth’s Siouxsie-like tones complimenting the hybrid synth laced soundscape. Not as dark as the Dane’s previous work, it was his most immediate offering yet with a fine balance of accessibility and mood.

Available on the album ‘Fixion’ via In My Room

http://www.anderstrentemoller.com/

VILE ELECTRODES The Vanished Past

It’s the avant pop approach reminiscent of early OMD that sets VILE ELECTRODES apart from and makes them so captivating. ‘The Vanished Past’ is a potent successor to the drama of ‘Deep Red’, complete with a mighty drum cacophony à la OMD’s ‘Navigation’. Bleak and wonderful, “not everything is as it seems” as a forlorn stranger joins in. As the seven minute adventure unfolds like a lost OMD epic, that stranger begins to sound like a certain George Andrew McCluskey!

Available on the album ‘In The Shadows Of Monuments’ via http://vileelectrodes.bigcartel.com/

http://www.vileelectrodes.com/

VILLA NAH Stranger

From their superb second album ‘Ultima’, ‘Stranger’ was a brilliant return for VILLA NAH after a five year absence. Front man Juho Paalosmaa said: “‘Stranger’ is a play on words; how somebody you’ve known can turn stranger over the span of time… and end up as a complete stranger in the process. I don’t think it’s a track I would’ve written as a 20 year old. It requires some years of age and experience to really understand how time can change people, including yourself.”

Available on the album ‘Ultima’ via Solina Records

https://www.facebook.com/villanah/

WRANGLER Stupid

If CABARET VOLTAIRE had hijacked Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas while TALKING HEADS were recording ‘Speaking In Tongues’, the end result might have ended up sounding a bit like this. ‘Stupid’ sees Stephen Mallinder in warped falsetto mode over a hypnotic sequence of menacing synths from Benge and Phil Winter. The track’s rhythmic heart creates an almost robotic, yet electro-funk feel for one of the undoubted highlights on WRANGLER‘s ‘White Glue’ album.

Available on the album ‘White Glue’ via MemeTune

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

YELLO Electrified II

Despite 37 years of making music together, the distinctive sound of YELLO remains intriguing and distinctly European and the new album ‘Toy’ delighted fans. On the superb ‘Electrified II’ (the original version appeared on Boris Blank’s boxed set of the same name), Dieter Meier has his mind blown by the velvet voice of Malia. As she exclaims “Life’s a bitch and I’m no witch”, this could be Shirley Bassey indulging in some seductive energetic electro-cabaret.

Available on the album ‘Toy’ via Polydor / Universal Music

http://yello.com

Text by Chi Ming Lai
8th December 2016

HANNAH PEEL Live at St Leonard’s Church

28 November 2016 / electricityclub

It was at “a meeting of minds on memory / art / music / literature / film” curated by Kirsteen McNish of Vine Collective in association with Alzheimer’s Research UK that Hannah Peel launched her acclaimed second album ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ with an emotional live presentation in the heart of London.

Only a stone’s throw from her basement studio where most of the album was recorded, St Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch was the setting for an event to raise awareness of the effects of memory loss and dementia.

It is said that one-in-three people will develop dementia. The charity Alzheimer’s Research UK aims to defeat dementia through studies in prevention, treatment and cure. The experiences of Hannah Peel with her own grandmother’s gradual decline into dementia inspired ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ and the event featured a number of artists from different fields, each with their own story to tell on the issue.

First up was poet, writer and filmmaker Lavinia Greenlaw and her short film ‘The Sea Is An Edge And An Ending’. At times deeply upsetting, it was indeed a moving “study of the impact of dementia on our sense of time and place”. To continue the theme, director and choreographer Shelly Love introduced her more surreal short film ‘Scratch’ where “A lone character inhabits a subterranean world. Stuck between worlds, she fails to move on…”

In between, music was provided by WRANGLER’s Stephen Mallinder and Phil Winter with a DJ set described by Mallinder on Twitter as “all kinda ‘tings with @disco_rdance visual magics”. Beginning sedately, as the evening progressed, the soundtrack got louder and more distorted. But whether this was a creative aspect to proceedings or the electrics at the church struggling to cope, it was difficult to tell.

A special guest took to the stage in the shape of one-time ‘Doctor Who’ Christopher Eccleston; the actor lost his own father to the dementia and has become a supporter of Alzheimer’s Research UK. He read two poems ‘Apart’ by Robin Robertson and ‘Straw Weight’ by Will Burns with his passionate charisma clearly projecting through and holding the attention of all present. Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Christmas campaign advert ‘Santa Forgot’ was also shown.

Produced by Aardman Animations and featuring a voice over by Stephen Fry with music composed by Hannah Peel, it imagines a world without Santa Claus; it touchingly ends with the little girl Freya whispering to Santa “I believe in you”.

Electronic pioneer John Foxx could be considered Hannah Peel’s mentor having brought her to wider attention via JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS, so it was highly fitting that he eloquently introduced her to the stage.

A short piano only intro of ‘All That Matters’ acted as an overture before the thrust of driving synth bass and sparkling arpeggios of the fully synthesized version filled the church hall. Meanwhile second song in, ‘Silk Road’ from her interim ‘Fabricstate’ EP was a surprise but welcome inclusion in a set based around the album ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’.

The poignant ‘Don’t Take It Out On Me’ highlighted the main theme of the evening before the spacey cocoon of the ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ title song showcased Peel’s progression as an artist, with its looming, hallucinogenic squeals. It was augmented by the complimentary percussive colours of Daisy Palmer, a fabulously intuitive drummer who only played what was required and avoided the excesses found with some better known electronic based combos.

The set was enhanced with films produced by Daniel Conway and By Emmaalouise Smith comprising of mind maps and Super 8 home footage to visualise the fracturing of memory and this was particularly striking on the haunting moods of ‘Tenderly’.

‘Standing On The Roof Of The World’ and ‘Hope Lasts’ added a few noisier textures as Miss Peel made effective use of her two Dave Smith Mopho x4 synths, one now specially customised with a new keyboard to suit her soloing technique.

But the crowd were in total silence for an impressively forlorn performance of Paul Buchanan’s ‘Cars In The Garden’ on music box. Joined by Erland Cooper, her producer and bandmate from THE MAGNETIC NORTH, on harmonies, the on-stage banter between the pair revealed a closeness that can only come from being locked in a studio together as Cooper joked about Peel’s white stage outfit resembling a lab coat.

The beautiful vocal melodies on ‘Invisible City’ continued the mood before the main segment of the show closed with the two-movement ‘Foreverest’. Mutating into a heavy Glam laden stomp with screeching violin, it provided a fitting off-kilter soundtrack to the futility of the rat race while forgetting the importance of loving relationships.

Returning for an encore, the heartfelt and very personal ‘Conversations’ provided an emotive focal point as to the evening’s aims. But not wanting to finish things on a downer, Peel’s encouraged the crowd to sing along to a ‘Rebox’ rendition of ‘Tainted Love’. Despite forgetting the words to the third verse and the dark lyrics, it provided the hopeful lift that was needed to ensure the evening’s message rang home.

While it was full of drama and tears, there was the optimism and hope that only art and music can provide. With Hannah Peel’s own story of how her grandmother was able to singalong to Christmas carols despite having suffered from memory loss for several years, it is said that “Researchers have found that playing music from someone’s young adult years, from around 18 to 25, is likely to provoke the strongest response. As patients enter late-stage dementia, music from their childhood may prove more powerful”.

With this information to hand, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is all for harking back and celebrating the past if it goes any way towards improving an individual’s quality of life.

‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ is released by My Own Pleasure in CD, vinyl and download formats and available direct from https://hannahpeel.tmstor.es/

http://www.hannahpeel.com

https://www.facebook.com/HannahPeelMusic

https://twitter.com/Hanpeel

https://www.instagram.com/hannahpeelmusic/

For information on the work of Alzheimer’s Research UK and how to donate, visit http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/

Laura Barton’s article for The Guardian ‘Awakenings: Hannah Peel on how she harnessed music’s power to cut through dementia’ can be read at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/23/awakenings-hannah-peel-on-how-she-harnessed-musics-power-to-cut-through-dementia

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
28th November 2016

HANNAH PEEL Awake But Always Dreaming

22 September 2016 / electricityclub

Since her debut album ‘The Broken Wave’ in early 2011, Hannah Peel has undergone something of a transformation.

Her collaborations with JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS and BEYOND THE WIZARDS SLEEVE have seen more electronic elements absorbed into her own traditional template where the piano, violin, trombone and music box have been her instruments of choice.

The title track of her interim EP ‘Fabricstate’ saw analogue synthesizers take an increasing role with a blistering solo amongst the organic instrumentation. But on her 2014 seasonal single ‘Find Peace’, Peel went the full hog with a dreamy cacophony of electronics and percussive mantras. ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ is Peel’s long awaited second album and it is an adventurous electronically textured experience, taking its lead from artists like THE BLUE NILE and Kate Bush while Delia and Daphne also linger in the background.

Themed around memory and the effects of dementia, the album’s opening gambit ‘All That Matters’ is marvellous slice of driving synthpop with sparkling arpeggios, staccato voice samples and uplifting bursts of symphonic strings. A mantra to live in the moment, Peel said the song was: “A constant reminder that no matter what life throws at you, to not forget about the ones who will always care, the ones who are standing waiting to welcome you back, the ones who will forever look after you and say simply, they love you. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters, caring and being cared for. Yet to love and not be loved is one of the saddest things of all.”

A spacey ambience provides the steadfast setting for ‘Standing On The Roof Of The World’ before whirring synths alter the mood. Meanwhile, on the LITTLE BOOTS styled electropop of ‘Hope Lasts’, our heroine plays around with some great counter-melodies for a sumptuous statement of faith.

A pretty piano introduces ‘Tenderly’ with a combination of exquisite strings and synthesized noises constituting the rhythmic passage. Continuing along a similar palette, a sparse percussive motif holds down the very personal ‘Don’t Take It Out On Me’ as drones and low slung bass build to add to the absorbing drama. Meanwhile, on the widescreen ballad ‘Invisible City’, tinkling ivories smothered in reverb provide the structure while the emergent orchestrations recall the blurry overtones of Brian Eno’s ‘Just Another Day’.

The second half signals the more experimental aspect of the album; in an interview with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, Hannah Peel said: “the running order is quite specific in terms of how it goes into the rabbit hole of the brain and the darker side. The instrumentals and tracks with no lyrics represent how people lose their speech and hallucinate, so with that second side which is more psychedelic and the repeating of lyrics, I made sure certain elements were brought out…”

‘Octavia’ is an abstract art piece that reflects aspects of Peel’s Mary Casio project with cascading woodwinds and brass combining with a buzzing barrage of electronics, not dissimilar in vein to GOLDFRAPP’s earlier material on ‘Felt Mountain’. Following a short burst of piano, more strident notions kick in and it all starts to sound like Philip Glass reinterpreting something off OMD’s ‘Dazzle Ships’! The experimentation continues with the comparatively song-based eight minute title track; a twisted electronic adventure with ‘Fourth World’ vocal textures, percussive bleep collages blend in with passages of synthphonic strings seemingly trapped in a nearby radio.

A mournful piano shapes ‘Conversations’, the most Bush-like offering on the collection, as the search for further memories goes on. Lonely and heartfelt, its sonic representation of loss sets the scene for the challenging expedition of ‘Foreverest’. Symbolism for life’s mountain to climb, it’s a delightfully odd fusing of unsettling swoops and windy soundscapes coupled to bursts of clattering offbeats. Linked by a claptrap, the second half of this sub-nine minute progressive epic develops into a salvo of mechanical noise while some Vangelis-derived interventions also drift in.

A beautiful music box assisted cover of Paul Buchanan’s ‘Cars In The Garden’ ends the album and confirms Hannah Peel’s affinity with THE BLUE NILE. A harmonic duet with Hayden Thorpe of WILD BEASTS whose song ‘Palace’ Peel covered on ‘Rebox2’, it makes for an emotive closer as gentle synths wallow in and out of the consciousness. With ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ being a record about memory, it poignantly captures “the luminous and beautiful formation of memories and the devastating loss or slow, insidious damage to the mind”.

Producer and collaborator Erland Cooper has done a masterful job of merging traditional instruments with the electronics on this artistically ambitious album. If Hannah Peel’s debut was ‘The Broken Wave’, then ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ could be considered ‘The Tenth Wave’; as Kate Bush described ‘The Ninth Wave’ concept on ‘The Hounds Of Love’ as a person’s “past, present and future coming to keep them awake”, the comparison is not unreasonable.

An impressive body of work that will startle even her new followers who have come on board via her work with John Foxx, ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ sees Hannah Peel at her most experimental yet. And it’s an achievement she can be very proud of.

‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ is released on 23rd September 2016 by My Own Pleasure on download, vinyl and CD, pre-order at http://hannahpeel.tmstor.es/cart/product.php?id=29367#sthash.lv0m8noE.dpuf

http://www.hannahpeel.com

https://www.facebook.com/HannahPeelMusic

https://twitter.com/hanpeel

Text by Chi Ming Lai
22nd September 2016

Troika! Live featuring KITE BASE, HANNAH PEEL + I SPEAK MACHINE

11 September 2016 / electricityclub

Troika from Russian: тройка “A group of three working together…”

Promising an evening of “triple synth sorcery”, the Troika! tour reached The Shacklewell Arms in London as the line-up of KITE BASE, I SPEAK MACHINE and Hannah Peel each presented their own variations on the expansive theme of electronic music.

As Hannah Peel said recently: “although the music from each act is different, it does feel similar in a way”. First up was I SPEAK MACHINE, an audio / visual collaboration between musician Tara Busch and filmmaker Maf Lewis. Producing brooding, unsettling soundtracks for various film projects, their approach has been inspired by Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone, who used to discuss score ideas for scenes while scripts were being written for the classic Spaghetti Westerns.

Armed with a Minimoog Voyager, Busch performed solo and showcased live soundtracks from a horror short ‘The Silence’, a digital book adventure ‘Strata’ and the soon-to-be-released, self-explanatory ‘Zombies 1985’; the latter is musical collaboration with Benge of WRANGLER who was in the audience with his bandmates Stephen Mallinder and Phil Winter. The film itself even features Gary Numan’s three daughters Persia, Raven and Echo in cameo roles! But it wasn’t just about weird, abstract collages set to arty cinema, there were songs too.

With her operatic soprano stylings, Busch treated the crowd to bizarre but enjoyable covers of ‘The Sound Of Silence’ and ‘Cars’. It came over like early GOLDFRAPP on acid, or “Doris Day in outer space” as JOHN FOXX once described her sound; Numanoids will either be fascinated or enraged when Busch opens for Gary Numan on his September 2016 tour.

Throwing caution to the wind with a set comprising only of material from her soon-to-be-released sophomore long player ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’, Hannah Peel offered some emotive numbers dealing with the spectre of memory loss and dementia. With a combination of piano-led, effects laced songs like ‘Invisible City’ and ‘Tenderly’ alongside more direct synthpop offerings such as ‘Hope Lasts’, she set the scene.

Augmented by drummer Daisy Palmer, a musician adept at a variety of percussive colours that complimented Peel’s hybrid sound, new single ‘All That Matters’ utilised live arpeggios and a bridging jam to add a looser element to the usual rigid electronic format.

The crowd were in total silence for an impressively forlorn performance of Paul Buchanan’s ‘Cars In the Garden’ on solo music box, but it was the progressive experimental overtures of ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ and ‘Foreverest’ that startled all those present; the latter mutated into a powerful violin versus Schaffel workout. “Hot, sweaty and emotional” was what Peel had to say on the conclusion of her evening’s work.

Following on, KITE BASE offered some gritty scissored bass action, accompanied by a DS Tempest drum machine and assorted programmed electronics. Lead vocalist Kendra Frost recently collaborated with John Fryer on ‘Warning Sign’ for his BLACK NEEDLE NOISE project, after the studio legend heard KITE BASE’s eerie cover of NINE INCH NAILS ‘Something I Can Never Have’, the original of which he co-produced.

KITE BASE started as a side project of SAVAGES bassist Ayşe Hassan and while that quartet’s sound is distinctly conventionally driven, their association with producer TRENTEMØLLER has seen the band’s various members experimenting with technologically derived textures.

Opening with their new single ‘Soothe’, Frost and Hassan offered plenty of feisty energy. On tracks like ‘Miracle Waves’, rhythmical stabs of NEW ORDER escaped while Frost’s dark, brooding vocals haunted in a similar fashion to Christina Wood from the more overtly electronic duo KALEIDA. Closing with their debut song ‘Dadum’, the cacophony of voices and noise fused into a cascading wall of sound.

Too often, multiple line-up events comprising of disparate acts from conflicting genres have been the norm in the independent music scene in an attempt to appeal to as many as possible, happy that a small rotating door audience will keep the bar in business. But presented with one of the most eye-catching poster images of recent years, Troika! was an enticing evening of music where the venue was packed from start to finish.

It ultimately proved how a thoughtfully curated bill, featuring acts with appropriate artistic connections, can work.

KITE BASE’s new single ‘Soothe’ b/w ‘Daum’ is released by Flashback London on 14th October 2016

Hannah Peel’s new album ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ is released by My Own Pleasure 23rd September 2016

I SPEAK MACHINE tours with Gary Numan throughout September, the ‘Zombies 1985’ soundtrack will be released by Lex Records sometime in 2017

http://kiteba.se/

http://www.hannahpeel.com

http://www.ispeakmachine.com/

Text and photos by Chi Ming Lai
Troika! Poster by Garry Hensey
11th September 2016

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