Tag: The Cure (Page 5 of 5)

PAUL HARTNOLL 8:58

6 April 2015 /

8:58 is the newly christened name for the side project of ORBITAL’s Paul Hartnoll.

There are definitive threads running through this album which inevitably hark back to ORBITAL, the chronological theme of the title track and ‘The Clock’ recall the ‘Planet of Shapes’ from ‘The Brown Album’ which featured the “Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day” sample from ‘Withnail and I’.

The album opener and title track features ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ and ‘Peaky Blinders’ star Cillian Murphy intoning about how throughout our lives, we are slaves to the unstoppable ticking of time and the clock.

Murphy linked up with Hartnoll when the latter was commissioned to create the soundtrack for the BBC Gangland-based TV series along with PJ Harvey and the legendary Flood (who handles mixing duties here too). Murphy also appears in the accompanying promo video which features a ‘Mr. Benn’ shopkeeper-style cameo from Paul Hartnoll himself.

‘8:58’ itself starts off in pretty slow-burning and down-tempo fashion with vocal and bell textured synths, before the track ramps up significantly towards the end with bitcrushed drums bringing the piece to a more dramatic and heightened conclusion.

Up next is ‘Please’ which features more guests in the form of Robert Smith from THE CURE and Lianne Hall – in case you are getting a sense of de ja vu here, then you would be right, as the track originally appeared on Paul Hartnoll’s solo offering ‘The Ideal Condition’.

This time around though, the original version’s ‘Satellite Of Love’ chord progression has been given a supercharged dance-oriented / square wave bass production, featuring a stabbed synth break and portamento lead riff which couldn’t be more ORBITAL-esque if they tried… interestingly, the original 2007 mix of this song is conspicuously absent from YouTube, but a few remixes exist should you wish to make a comparison, or head over to Spotify to have a listen!

‘The Past Now’ is a far more original sounding proposition, guest folk vocalist Lisa Knapp’s heavily reverbed vocals sounding gorgeous against an initially ambient wash before the track builds over a FAD GADGET style rhythm track. The song builds dynamically throughout with more contemporary sounding eight beat stabbed chords – the lush sound of this track is a definite highlight here, the vocal textures recalling the wonderful Liz Fraser in places.

unthanksHartnoll is a self-confessed folk fanatic and again dips into vocalists from this genre by featuring THE UNTHANKS on a version of THE CURE’s classic ‘A Forest’. But he resists the temptation to up its tempo, going for a more funereal and understated feel instead.

The familiar intro and outro guitars are re-imagined on synths and the whole approach even outdoes the original atmosphere of the track to take it to a far darker place altogether.

The left and right panning on Rachel and Becky Unthanks’ vocals help to give the interpretation of the song a more claustrophobic / intimate feel throughout, yet complementing the electronic sheen of the production.

Purely instrumental tracks ‘Broken Up’ and ‘Nearly There’ help bring the album towards a close, the latter being the most up tempo and 4/4 oriented track on the album, a frenetic almost early psy-trance feel to the sequencing.

Final track on ‘8:58’ is the haunting ‘Cemetery’, again another vocal-led piece with lyrics from the 18 year old Holly AKA ‘Fable’. Vocal cut-ups and a mix of 4/4 and breakbeat drums recall ORBITAL again without being an out-and-out pastiche. Staccato percussive KRAFTWERK synths echo around the stereo field and another heavily reverbed vocal leads into a melancholic but euphoric chord progression as the track rounds off the album perfectly. The main vocal hook on the song is “We are made of symmetry”, but a play on words gives the song its conclusive final title.

Overall, the clean synthetic production and sound of ‘8:58’ is superb with Flood being the perfect choice to handle the mixdown.

The album certainly holds its own against the last ORBITAL product ‘Wonky’, but with the cancellation of the recently scheduled 8:58 tour, there surely must have been have been a few regrets that this didn’t become a full-on collaboration with brother Phil – this certainly would have guaranteed a higher profile and potentially higher tickets sales.

On the flipside, Paul Hartnoll should still be given credit for putting his all into this work, one which shares a perfect sonic space and parallels with the recent SUSANNE SUNDFØR release, which in places has a similar sound. Will the eventual outcome of this album lead to another ORBITAL reformation? Only time will tell…

‘8:58’ is released by ACP Recordings and available now in CD, 2CD, download, deluxe download and double vinyl formats via the usual retailers

http://www.eightfiftyeight.com/

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http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/eightfiftyeight

Text by Paul Boddy
6th April 2015

MACHINISTA Xenoglossy

29 April 2014 /

Sweden’s MACHINISTA’s debut album ‘Xenoglossy’ delivers on the promise the duo have already shown with their first EP ‘Arizona Lights’ and appearance at ‘An Evening With The Swedish Synth’ earlier this year.

While the pairing of John Lindqwister (ex-CAT RAPES DOG) and Richard Flow (ex-VISION TALK) have a rock’n’roll edge with in particular, Lindqwister’s fly-kicks and sub-Idol sneers a key part of their energetic stage act, MACHINISTA are synthpop with a capital ‘S’. Like THE CURE gone electronic, or ALPHAVILLE crossed with SUICIDE, ‘Xenoglossy’ is both catchy and danceable.

The ‘Arizona Lights’ EP acted as a fine taster before this main course and while three of its four original songs also appear on ‘Xenoglossy’, the eight new songs have much to offer. ‘Take Comfort In Being Sad’ is a great opener that sets the tone for the album.

The standard is highly consistent with the marvellously uptempo trio of ‘Arizona Lights’, ‘Molecules and Carbon’ and ‘Salvation’ combining the best elements of both ALPHAVILLE and THE CURE into an enjoyably well produced template of anthemic electro. One key highlight is the brilliant ‘Wasted’, a boy / girl duet featuring Toril Lindqvist of ALICE IN VIDEOLAND that combines the best of darkwave and Scandipop.

Despite this being pop music, this is not fluffy stuff. The haunting ‘Love And Hate Song’ for example takes on the spectre of THE CURE’s ‘Love Song’ under the guise of KRAFTWERK but steered by The Brothers Grimm. Then, there’s ‘The Blues And The Reds’ which exposes some ghostly overtones.

But best of all is the schaffel propelled ‘Pushing The Angels Astray’, supreme synthpop that discusses the spectre of immortality with a marvellous melodic line and fabulous chorus. Once again, the Nordic region is showing how electronic music is done and many could do a lot worse than to observe how MACHINISTA go about their craft.

‘Xenoglossy’ is not all uptempo and in-yer-face either; ‘Crash’ takes the pace down while ‘Summersault’ is a superb electronic Brechtian drama that could soundtrack a modern day adaptation of ‘Baal’. Of course David Bowie played the title role in ‘Baal’ for the BBC’s 1982 dramatisation and MACHINISTA’s cover of ‘Heroes’ will have tongues wagging.

Recorded originally as the duo’s calling card when they first formed, the synth pads recall those used on FURNITURE’s ‘Brilliant Mind’ while the electronic pulses combined with assorted textures amalgamate with Lindqwister’s spirited vocal for a respectable and yes, good reinterpretation to close the album.

In all, MACHINISTA’s ‘Xenoglossy’ is certainly a very impressive collection and could stand up as one of the best electronic debut albums of 2014. It’s funny to think after the outstanding nature of 2013, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK thought it was going to have a quiet year!

‘Xenoglossy’ is released on 20th May 2014

http://www.machinistamusic.com/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Daniel Roos
29th April 2014

Lost Albums: RACHEL STEVENS Come & Get It

24 February 2011 /

Released in October 2005 and boasting four Top 12 singles, the former SClubber’s vastly underrated electro-oriented album ‘Come & Get It’ peaked at No 28 in the UK which in manufactured pop terms, was deemed a total disaster.

Initially at the time, Rachel Stevens’ success seemed to be guaranteed; she was regularly in the media spotlight and also a popular lads mag pin-up.

So her second album, assembled by a team of top writers and producers including Richard X, Hannah Robinson, Xenomania, Pascal Gabriel, Paul Statham and Rob Davis (who co-wrote Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’) seemed a surefire way of cementing it.

But one thing a pretty face never guarantees is sales. Lads mag readers generally don’t buy music unless it is of the Mancunian monobrow rock variety while the G-A-Y audience are suspicious of any prospective pop divas who maybe have just had life a little bit too easy… Stevens’ middle class drama school roots probably reinforced that!

And generally, young women prefer boy bands and just don’t buy the records of other females if the artist is aesthetically more pleasing than themselves! The writers and producers, all experienced hands, probably foresaw that Stevens’ pop career was likely to flop so used their contributions to the album as an excuse to experiment and have fun. The end result is a collection of pop songs bursting with inventive, fun and risqué ideas.

The album’s launch single ‘I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)’ is a Rob Davis penned glam stomper with a touch of ‘Antmusic’. The provocative lyrics certainly wouldn’t have been allowed on CBBC: “I feel such a traitor – oh, I let you in my back door… rough love’s so deceiving – I said never again but here we are!” All highly amusing if you appreciate the saucier pleasures in life! Rob Davis also pays tribute to his MUD roots with his other offering, reprising that schaffel beat on UK bonus track ‘Every Little Thing’.

Richard X’s GOLDFRAPP-lite production on ‘Some Girls’ has Stevens playing a wannabe who ends up on pop’s casting couch: “Some girls always get what they wanna – all I seem to get is the other – this won’t last for long not forever – the champagne makes it taste so much better!”…

Co-written by X with Hannah Robinson apparently in response to having one of his GOLDFRAPP remixes rejected and based on some real music industry anecdotes, it was ‘Some Girls’ that first put the icy glam electro sound into the mainstream consciousness, so much so that many thought ‘Ooh La La’ was actually the follow-up to ‘Some Girls’, much to fury of Alison Goldfrapp! “I AM NOT RACHEL STEVENS!” she exclaimed!

The Richard X led ‘Crazy Boys’ is another Frapper’s delight featuring timpani coloured 6/8 time signatures and atmospheric electronics that recall Jean Michel Jarre’s ‘Oxygene Part II’… it could be BLACK BOX RECORDER with a Gallic twist although on ‘Je M’Appelle’, Ms Stevens actually gives the French language a go with an ‘Allo ‘Allo accent! Despite this, it does recall the comedic charm of SPARKS’ ‘Je M’Appelle Russell’!

‘So Good’ is brilliantly bouncy and tastefully engaged electro produced by Pascal Gabriel; and yes, it does sound like LADYHAWKE without the guitars. Meanwhile with his erstwhile partner Paul Statham from B-MOVIE, their heavenly co-write ‘I Will Be There’ features the sort of pulsing sequencers that drove NEW ORDER’s dancefloor exploits.

Post-punk influences continue in abundance with a sample from THE CURE’s ‘Lullaby’ forming the basis of ‘It’s All About Me’. A slice of wispy electro-soul a la Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’ comes in the shape of ‘Secret Garden’ while ‘Negotiate With Love’ is squelchy Scandinavian synthpop with added Simmons drum sounds. These two have hints of both Annie and Robyn. Xenomania chip in the lovely mid-paced ‘Nothing Good About This Goodbye’ but it is their main event closer ‘Funny How’ that shines brightest.

Apparently co-written by Stevens with the hit factory who later worked with PET SHOP BOYS, this is a perfect Princess Stephanie Eurodisco record in the vein of ‘I’m Not Scared’. The best track on the collection, ‘Funny How’ should have been covered by GIRLS ALOUD and turned into a massive hit.

The gorgeous synthpop gems ‘Love Is Pain’ and ‘Turn to Stone’ from Cole and co’s most recent album ‘Out of Control’ take their template from here.

‘Come And Get It’ is a superb album that can be appreciated on an intellectual level as well as a throwaway pop experience. Whether Miss Stevens is actually really singing is a moot point as each of the lead vocals on the album appear to be different; it could be any pretty poppet!

Rachel Stevens is the girl you should fancy but actually don’t! Is her look too flawless? Is it because she always appears too pleased with herself? It is rumoured THE STREETS’ ‘Fit But You Know It’ is actually about her! This aura may have actually hampered the potential of this album. Whatever, the craft and quality danceable electro on ‘Come & Get It’ delivered on the path paved by GOLDFRAPP and predicted what was to come with LADYHAWKE, LITTLE BOOTS and LA ROUX.

In its post-release reappraisal, All Music Guide said it was “a collection of thoroughly excellent electronic dance-pop songs” and “the definitive album of 2000s UK chart pop”. The Guardian placed it in their ‘1000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’ list. And LITTLE BOOTS later acknowledged ‘Come & Get It’ as an influence on her hit album ‘Hands’. Like it or not, ‘Come & Get It’ really was forward thinking pop music!

‘Come & Get It’ is still available as a CD or download via Polydor Records

https://www.rachelstevens.com/

https://twitter.com/MsRachelStevens

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
24th February 2011, updated 8th January 2017

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