Tag: Karin My (Page 3 of 3)

MACHINISTA Anthropocene

1 June 2019 /


Like a cross between THE CURE and ALPHAVILLE, Swedish duo MACHINISTA are back with their third full-length album ‘Anthropocene’.

Vocalist John Lindqwister and instrumentalist Richard Flow have taken their time with this record and it’s all the better with a refinement of their anthemic signature sound plus the addition of some conventionally flavoured twists. In the album’s opening statement, ‘Seconds Minutes Hours’ offers a Eurodance triplet beefed up with guitars by BRD for more of that synthpop with a rock n roll edge which MACHINISTA have always prided themselves in.

Featuring a guest vocal appearance from PROJECT PITCHFORK’s Scheuber, ‘Let Darkness In’ is brilliant, taking its leaf from the dark electronic pop of Norway’s APOPTYGMA BERZERK; their main man Stephan Groth happily remixed 2015’s ‘Dark Heart Of Me’ and the APOP force looms even stronger on the album’s glorious ‘Anthropocene’ title song which owes more than a debt to the haunting riff of ‘Burning Heretic’ in the ultimate sorcerer’s apprentice spell.

‘Angel’ takes things down to scarf waving pace and adds piano to the counter melodies but it suddenly speeds up, aesthetic reinforced by percussive six string for some chantalong gothic disco. ‘Black Tide’ continues the mood but with a solemn disposition as per the title with Lindqwister giving his all with the Robert Smith stakes.

Singing of “darkness, despairs” and a “child of the golden age”, the chilling orchestrated cinematics of ‘Astrid’ are authentically supported by Karin My on cello while on ‘Universe Is Here’, the aesthetics can’t but help recall ‘The Policy Of Truth’ from the days when DEPECHE MODE combined their darkness with tuneful instrumental elements.

A stark observation on the human condition, ‘Pain Of Every Day’ with its poignant lyrics like “dying is certain… we die the same death” is probably one of the most poetically unsettling if danceable tracks of recent years, a sentiment also expressed in ‘The Scare’.

Back in 2013, MACHINISTA opened their account with a rousing cover of Bowie’s “Heroes”; and it is back to the Thin White Duke with a cover of THE BEATLES ‘Across The Universe’ which was covered on the ‘Young Americans’ album for the closer; it does sound exactly how you might imagine, like ALPHAVILLE doing John Lennon.

On ‘Anthropocene’, MACHINISTA have successfully integrated more traditional elements like guitar, piano and cello without throwing away their gloomy but club-friendly template. Their past EPs and albums have always had terrific highlights, but ‘Anthropocene’ is their most consistent body of work to date.

Reflecting darker times, listeners will however need to choose which songs to hear carefully dependent on their moods as much of the personal expression on this album is very heavy if realistic.

‘Anthropocene’ is released by Infacted Recordings on 7th June 2019, pre-order CD from Poponaut at
http://www.poponaut.de/machinista-anthropocene-p-18504.html or download from Bandcamp at https://infactedrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/anthropocene

MACHINISTA open for HOCICO at London Electrowerkz on Saturday 3rd August 2019

http://www.machinistamusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/machinistamusic

https://twitter.com/machinistamusic

https://www.instagram.com/machinistamusic/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Jorg Seiche
1st June 2019

KARIN MY Time To Go + Voices In The Wall

24 March 2019 /

Rusty Egan is forever going on about “young synths”, but artists just need to be good, which brings us to the Swedish songstress Karin My.

Following hot on the heels of ‘The Silence’ which was the first truly great song of 2019, ‘Time To Go’ is another marvellous melancholic slice of Svenska synth with melodic points of access in the tradition of ABBA, dressed with sparkling electronics and featuring an eerie middle eight vocal ad-lib.

Continuing the harrowing story previously told in ‘The Silence’, the sad visual accompaniment for ‘Time To Go’ is again hauntingly directed by Millfield. Reflecting the trauma of personal loss and bereavement, the video is appended by a largely acoustic rework of ‘Voices In The Wall’ by electro-goth combo NEMO who Karin My was lead singer for and had herself initially released as a solo single in 2008.

In this version, she comes over like a Nordic Mary Hopkin, the one-time Mrs Tony Visconti who did backing vocals for Bowie’s ‘Sound & Vision’ and whose hit ‘Goodbye’ written by Paul McCartney was covered in fine synthpop style by fellow Swede COMPUTE.

An experienced self-taught musician, Karin My has largely remained in the background throughout most of her career, having provided backing vocals on three tracks for TWICE A MAN’s 2015 album ‘Presence’ and contributed to two covers on Cold War Night Life’s ‘Heresy: A Tribute To RATIONAL YOUTH’ compilation in 2016.

With her honest spirit in her traditionally derived songs, her synth driven inclinations coming from a love of LUSTANS LAKEJER, DEPECHE MODE, RATIONAL YOUTH, MESH and KITE exude a quality in modern electronic pop music that touches the heartstrings like Norway’s Susanne Sundfør.

There is more to come in 2019 from Karin My and ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK cannot wait.

‘Time To Go’ b/w ‘Voices In My Head (2019)’ is available on most digital platforms via Ad Inexplorata

http://www.karinmy.net/

https://www.instagram.com/karinmymusic/

http://www.explorata.net/

https://www.facebook.com/Ad-Inexplorata-361838160540139/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
24th March 2019

Introducing KARIN MY

19 January 2019 /

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK first spotted Swedish songstress Karin My singing with veteran combo TWICE A MAN on their 2015 poignant environmental catastrophe warning ‘High In The Clouds’.

Indeed, her dulcet tones made their ‘Presence’ felt on another pair of TWICE A MAN tracks from the same titled parent album.

Meanwhile she also contributed to two covers ‘The Man in Grey’ and ‘Just A Sound In The Night’ on Cold War Night Life’s ‘Heresy: A Tribute To RATIONAL YOUTH’ compendium in 2016.

But with ‘The Silence’, she releases the first truly great song of 2019. Swathed in beautiful synths and embroiled in that wonderful Nordic melancholy, her gorgeous vocals evoke a forlorn abandonment just as winter sets in and confronts the dilemma of whether to give up…

The eerie snow laden video directed by Millfield cleverly utilises a miniature set and has haunting echoes of ‘Den Lille Pige Med Svovlstikkerne’, the famous short story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. In it, our heroine embarks on a chilling journey which sadly has no happy ending.

With roots in the folk tradition like Vince Clarke, Karin My composes using an acoustic guitar, a fact exemplified by a 2008 solo single ‘Voice In The Wall’. But with a profound love of LUSTANS LAKEJER, DEPECHE MODE, RATIONAL YOUTH, MESH and KITE, her Korg MS20, Roland Juno 106 and Moog Little Phatty will usually find a way onto her productions.

Also adept at cello, percussion and dance, the multi-talented singer songwriter describes herself as having a “Strong body, weak heart in a constant radiant of love and tears”. ‘The Silence’ is the first of four songs by Karin My which are scheduled for release during the first half of 2019. With her honest heart in quality electronic pop music, she will be an artist to watch in the coming year.

‘The Silence’ is available on most digital platforms via Ad Inexplorata

http://www.karinmy.net/

https://www.instagram.com/karinmymusic/

http://www.explorata.net/

https://www.facebook.com/Ad-Inexplorata-361838160540139/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th January 2019

Heresy: A Tribute To RATIONAL YOUTH

20 August 2016 /

Montréal’s RATIONAL YOUTH were founded in 1980 by synth enthusiasts Tracy Howe and Bill Vorn.

Along with PSYCHE and MEN WITHOUT HATS, they were among the trailblazers for electronic music in Canada, a country that has more recently produced acclaimed acts such as GRIMES, PURITY RING, AUSTRA, TR/ST, ELECTRIC YOUTH and LOLA DUTRONIC. Vorn had a Roland System 100M while Howe used equations to programme sequencers. Later joined by Kevin Komoda, RATIONAL YOUTH quickly made an impression and supported OMD at Auditorium Le Plateau in March 1982.

Shortly after, the trio released ‘Cold War Night Life’, possibly the first ever Canadian synthpop album. A big seller in their home country despite being an independent release on YUL Records, it was later to be a cult favourite in Sweden where its influence was readily felt in their modern domestic electronic scene.

RATIONAL YOUTH

Photo by Kevin Komoda

Indeed, the 1997 RATIONAL YOUTH reunion concert with Howe and Vorn took place in Lund, Sweden.

Now Cold War Night Life, the online magazine of electronic music and culture, has curated ‘Heresy: A Tribute To RATIONAL YOUTH’, a collection of the Canadian synth pioneers’ best-known songs, interpreted by artists from the UK, Sweden, Australia, Norway, Germany and Canada.

Going against the trend of Spotify and downloads, the package is gathered on two vinyl LPs and a 12 inch EP, all contained in a trifold sleeve, plus two accompanying CDs mirroring the vinyl, reflecting Cold War Night Life’s philosophy that “albums are to be touched, read and heard”.

The 12 inch EP features a brand new track ‘This Side Of The Border’ from RATIONAL YOUTH themselves. Now comprising of Tracy Howe and his wife Gaenor, it is classic RY featuring Howe’s characteristically direct, overwrought lyricism but with added midlife angst. The track itself premiered earlier in the year on the comeback six song mini-album ‘Future Past Tense’ released by Artoffact Records.

Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the highlights from ‘Heresy’ is PSYCHE’s take on ‘Ring The Bells’ from the ‘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. It is also a recording that reflects the decades long kinship between RATIONAL YOUTH and PSYCHE.

Meanwhile on two further songs from ‘Cold War Night Life’, Sweden’s JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM acquits himself well with a blippy version of ‘Saturdays In Silesia’ in the vein of ERASURE while MACHINISTA don’t disappoint on a meaty ‘City of Night’, applying their enjoyable template of THE CURE gone synthpop with a rock ’n’ roll edge.

Speaking of rock, PROJECT GRUDGE do exactly as their moniker suggests on ‘Beware The Fly’, while ROSSETTI’S COMPASS expands on the JOY DIVISION doom pop of ‘Coboloid Race’ by adding a more prominent, metronomic beat in splendid ‘Isolation’.

KORD featuring the vocals of Annie Gylling provide some ADULT. entertainment while ‘Dancing On The Berlin Wall’, although the arrangement itself isn’t that radically different from RATIONAL YOUTH’s.

Although the collection is dominated by songs from ‘Cold War Night Life’, other tunes in RATIONAL YOUTH’s catalogue are represented. Swedish synth project DEN DÄR KILLEN offer a frantically paced ‘In Your Eyes’ from 1985’s ‘Heredity’, but the excellent arrangement is perhaps marred by some ambitious amateurism in the vocal department. TECHNOMANCER join forces with ANGST POP for ‘I’ve Got A Sister In The Navy’ which appropriately sounds very ‘Top Gun’, while PROCEDURE’s ‘Close To Nature (No TDM Mix)’ acts as a squelchy dystopian instrumental interlude.

However ‘Heresy: A Tribute To RATIONAL YOUTH’ does suffer from track duplication, with TOUCHING THE VOID doing ‘Ring The Bells’, CANDIDE also performing ‘City of Night’ and INDEPENDENT STATE attempting ‘Beware The Fly’; all are subsequently overshadowed by PYSCHE, MACHINISTA and PROJECT GRUDGE respectively and although RATIONAL YOUTH have a small catalogue, this repeating of songs is unnecessary in hindsight.

That aside, what this tribute album successfully does is reacquaint electronic music enthusiasts to the catalogue of RATIONAL YOUTH. Time has been kind to their work and it certainly deserves reappraisal. So, anyone fancy a ‘Holiday In Bangkok’?

‘Heresy: A Tribute To RATIONAL YOUTH’ is released by Cold War Night Life as a triple vinyl + double CD set, available from http://www.stormingthebase.com/various-heresy-a-tribute-to-rational-youth-3lp-vinyl-2cd/

http://www.coldwarnightlife.com

https://rational-youth.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
20th August 2016

TWICE A MAN High In The Clouds

26 January 2016 /

Released at the back end of 2015, ‘Presence’ by Swedish veterans TWICE A MAN is the follow-up album to 2010’s ‘Icicles’.

The band, founded by Dan Söderqvist and Karl Gasleben, released their debut long player ‘Music For Girls’ in 1982.

TWICE A MAN have maintained a steady presence over the years, using an primarily electronic template to construct their theatrical and atmospheric soundscapes.

They even composed an easy listening styled soundtrack for the PlayStation video game ‘Kula World’ in 1998. For ‘Presence’, the pair were joined by their long-time collaborator Jocke Söderqvist. The album’s highlight ‘High In The Clouds’ is a marvellous epic journey in pyschedelic synthesized melancholy.

Featuring the eerie backing vocals of Karin My, Dan Söderqvist’s broodingly dark lead vocals dominate a gliding backing track of sweeps, bells and textural guitar. Coupled with a subtle beat and a poignant environmental message, ‘High In The Clouds’ sits up there with great songs like OMD’s ‘Electricity’ and THE OSMONDS’ ‘Crazy Horses’ about the spectre of man made pollution.

With hints of classic COVENANT, ‘Presence’ also features more aggressive sounding numbers like ‘Here Comes The Rain’ and ‘Black’, while the moodier trance of ‘Lines’ at times sounds like a futuristic spy theme. The album’s steadfast title track even has echoes of SPARKS in their ‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’ phase.

The overall production of ‘Presence’ comes over as very cinematic with haunting chromatic overtones also permeating through. It proves once again why Sweden has it nailed as far as modern electronic pop music is concerned.

‘High In The Clouds’ is from the album ‘Presence’, released on CD and vinyl LP by Ad Inexplorata

http://www.twiceaman.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Twice-a-Man-140698385994037/

http://www.explorata.net/twiceaman

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th January 2016

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