2014 saw ERASURE celebrate yet another success with ‘The Violet Flame’, where according to Andy Bell, he and Vince Clarke “definitely found (their) mojo again with this record”.
Following their thirtieth anniversary, the synthpop kings now return with the seventeenth studio album entitled ‘World Be Gone’. This time, self-produced by ERASURE and mixed by Matty Green, the long player sees Vince and Andy in a more pensive mood.
Joining their electronic colleagues PET SHOP BOYS and DEPECHE MODE who have both released politically charged opuses, the band reflects on the current political situation. However, ERASURE do it with an expression of faith in the future, as Bell explains: “I think there’s an under swell of opinion, and people are slowly waking up. I’m hoping that people will take the album in a positive way, that they’ll use it as optimistic rabble-rousing music.”
‘Love You To The Sky’ heralds the ten track outing. While it’s a pleasant sounding melody with Andy’s angelic voice and a rather captivating verse, the track struggles to lift to the heights which ERASURE are celebrated for. The beautifulness of the verses disperses with the repetitive chorus, making ‘Elevation’ from ‘The Violet Flame’ the winner in the battle of the first singles hands down. Still, judging by the efforts by their contemporaries, ‘Love You To The Sky’ is a charming and well-written song.
The slower paced ‘Still It’s Not Over’ searches the soul with gentle sounding musicality and simple melody, conveying a hopeful message of the continuation of everyday fights, against all odds, even though we were “left (us) to the sheer attack, and still it’s not over”.
Where the quintessential ERASURE sound comes to play, is on ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’. This excellently led tune sublimely meanders itself around a plethora of Andy Bell’s vocals. The dreamy lyrics are challenging and endearing, and the whole song is just beautifully executed.
Following on, there ushers the album’s title track, which is equally peaceful and gracefully powerful. Reminiscent of the vintage ballads by Clarke, ‘World Be Gone’ ties together with the band’s history in a seamless manner.
‘A Bitter Parting’ tells the story of a failed relationship over African inspired choirs a la ‘The Kodo Song’ by KID KASIO, elegantly penetrated by marvellous synth and added nostalgia in the lyrical content.
‘Take Me Out Of Myself’ is a gentile plea for being treated with deserved consideration, like a demure version of Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’, while ‘Sweet Summer Loving’ introduces a change in tempo with a mid-paced love song.
‘Oh What A World’ superbly escorts a twist in ERASURE’s notion; different sounds, different feels to the vocals and altogether a rather big departure from what we have come to know and love the duo for, but this is where Vince Clarke proves, yet again, that he’s an unparalleled synth magician. It’s possibly the best piece from the Bell / Clarke stable in years.
‘Lousy Sum Of Nothing’ continues the delicate theme, leading to the closing ‘Just A Little Love’. Here is where the lovers of the dancier tracks get their money’s worth. It’s a rather unassuming, yet solid piece to wrap up this wonderfully gracious offering.
As set out, Bell and Clarke bring us more than hope. ‘World Be Gone’ will probably be as commercially successful as its predecessor, and unlikely to follow the fate of the very unloved and misunderstood ‘Tomorrow’s World’.
A few will wonder as to why the production wasn’t delegated out and some will criticise. But every now and then, an easy listening piece is needed to level out the vast material ERASURE have brought us over the years.
Is it their finest? It’s different, more grown-up and maturely executed; still, it will undoubtedly be one of the best things synthpop enthusiasts will hear this year.
‘World Be Gone’ is released by Mute Artists in a variety of formats including CD, vinyl LP, cassette and digital
ERASURE 2017 live dates include Glasgow O2 Academy (27th May), Manchester Albert Hall (28th May), London Roundhouse (29th May)
They also open for ROBBIE WILLIAMS in the UK and Europe throughout July and August, see press for details
Impressing recently at Synth Wave Live with a very engaging performance were Danish duo SOFTWAVE.
The Herlev couple of singer Catrine Christensen and music producer Jerry Olsen released their first EP ‘Together Alone’ in Summer 2016.
A six track collection of appealing Nordic synthpop, it includes their debut single ‘Follow You’ and the solid live favourite ‘Awake But Still Asleep’. With debut releases often being like dress rehearsals in public, SOFTWAVE have learnt very quickly.
A few months on, they have actually managed to improve on the EP’s best number ‘On & On & On’ with a throbbing alternate reworking by Olsen for a remix version of the EP. As the video illustrates, it is a hope filled electronic tune with the positivity mantra: “In a world of circles, she goes on and on and on…”
‘Together Alone – The Remixes’ features five of the original EP’s tracks over nine remixes and while these vary in accomplishment, ‘The Light Behind My Eyes’ in particular benefits from a remix courtesy of David Burdick which adds a chirpier paced Europop groove.
Like their Scandinavian neighbours TRAIN TO SPAIN who they could be most compared to, SOFTWAVE are greatly inspired by the sequenced superpop of Vince Clarke. Their optimistic outlook is to “make sense of today’s relationships, while exhibiting strength and patience when it comes to fighting for it and the one you love”.
As well as working on their debut album, SOFTWAVE will be featuring on ‘Electropop.12’ released by Conzoom Records and are planning to open for some bigger artists.
SOFTWAVE’s promising synth laden sound is another sign that in some parts of the music world, it’s like acid house never happened and for this, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is extremely grateful 😉
The switch to digital technology in the production of synthesizers caused a seismic shift not just in the way that music was produced, but also how analogue devices were perceived.
The advent of the Yamaha DX7 was the catalyst which caused many musicians to throw out/sell their old Moogs and Korgs with the viewpoint that these new devices could do everything sonically that they could plus more besides. The newly pioneered Frequency Modulation and Phase Distortion forms of synthesis meant that harmonically complex sounds such as bells and pianos could now be simulated and the warm, analogue sounds of synths such as the Roland Jupiter range began to sound immediately dated in comparison.
The trend was continued when both Korg and Roland introduced their PCM/sample-based M1 and D50 synths which added in new layers of complexity in sound creation which again would have been impossible to create using a voltage controlled oscillator-based device.
One only has to listen retrospectively to songs like ‘Human’ by THE HUMAN LEAGUE or albums such as ‘Provision’ by SCRITTI POLITTI to hear how the sawtooth-based electronic sounds of the past had almost overnight become replaced by shiny bell-like tones and THAT omnipresent rubbery ‘Lately’ DX bass sound.
However, hindsight is a wonderful thing and many producers/musicians were left with major egg on their faces when it eventually became apparent that digital synths weren’t the be all and end all, lacking the warmth and ease of programmability that their earlier analogue counterparts were able to provide.
Tales of vintage synths being sold for relative peanuts are now legendary and most keyboard players who experienced this era will have an appropriate sob story to tell relating to this!
The next wave of technology to have a significant impact was the birth of the digital sampler – now musicians were able to grab any sound and trigger it from a keyboard and again this had a huge effect on the sound of music production.
Ironically in 2016, everything has now come full circle; manufacturers are now frantically reissuing remakes of earlier analogue and digital products, while with the birth of the virtual synthesizer, packages such as the Arturia Collection V offer up software versions of the Prophet 5, Oberheim SEM and Minimoog at an affordable price.
The choice of digital synthesizers here is a fairly personal one and it isn’t intended to endorse a particular product. Some of the chosen synthesizers weren’t necessarily the highest specified ones either, but were adopted because a producer/musician managed to use it in such a way that belied their lower price point. The synths chosen are also from the first wave of digital synths and as such doesn’t include any of the current wave of digital-based products.
FAIRLIGHT CMI (1979)
The Rolls Royce of samplers and a fully integrated workstation that included a digital synth, sequencer and rhythm programmer, the Australian Fairlight CMI and its 28mb of memory (!) indelibly left its mark on music production. Costing as much as a decent sized house, the CMI helped transform the sound of artists such as JEAN-MICHEL JARRE who used it extensively on ‘Magnetic Fields’ and ‘Zoolook’. Its omnipresent ‘Orchestra 5’ “Whooomph!” patch was used and abused by everybody from PET SHOP BOYS, KLAUS SCHULZE and KATE BUSH to U2 and prog rockers YES…
Iconic example of use: PET SHOP BOYS ‘It’s A Sin’
NED SYNCLAVIER (1979)
The Synclavier was an all singing, all dancing sampling mega-workstation that was favoured by DEPECHE MODE, MICHAEL JACKSON and THE CURE. The cost of some of the versions of the Synclavier made the Fairlight seem affordable in comparison, with a top-spec system going for the outrageous price of $200,000 dollars! Like the CMI, the Synclavier was way ahead of its time and brought a higher quality of sampling and sequencing into a few privileged high end studios.
Iconic example of use: SOFT CELL ‘Tainted Love’
CON BRIO ADS200 (1980)
With only two units being produced, once seen, the Con Brio ADS200 can never be forgotten. Looking like something out of ‘Space 1999’, with a built-in display monitor and clad wall-to-wall in veneer, the ADS200 is probably the nearest the synth world came to an outlandish concept car; it looked incredible, but ultimately was doomed to remain a pipe dream. One belonged to BECK’s father David Campbell who reportedly paid £17,000 for it. The ADS200’s implementation of FM synthesis raised a few legal eyebrows at Yamaha although no action was taken.
Iconic example of use: Fittingly the Con Brio ADS100 got used for sound effects on the movie reboot of ‘Star Trek’
PPG WAVE 2 (1981)
The striking and very blue-looking PPG (Palm Products GmbH) Wave 2 synth became another popular digital synth. Its bell-like quality can be heard on DEPECHE MODE’s ‘A Broken Frame’. TANGERINE DREAM also toured with one extensively after assisting the company with the development many of their other products. Martin Gore had a Casio MT30 sat on his PPG Wave 2 with a ‘Fairlite’ name stuck on the back in what could be seen as a side swipe at Vince Clarke who had ploughed a large percentage of his royalties into a Fairlight purchase.
Iconic example of use: DEPECHE MODE ‘The Sun & The Rainfall’
YAMAHA GS1 (1981)
Despite its 19th Century appearance and looking for all intents and purposes like a grand piano, the GS1 was the first keyboard produced by Yamaha to feature the patented Frequency Modulation (FM) technology. Like the Fairlight, the GS1’s prohibitive price tag of $25,000 meant that it was out of reach for most musicians. The size and weight of the machine at nearly 90kg meant that it was never intended to be a touring machine; only a 100 units were manufactured too, but it still deserves its place in synthesizer history for kick-starting the FM revolution.
Iconic example of use: TOTO ‘Africa’
DIGITAL KEYBOARDS SYNERGY (1982)
The Synergy used additive synthesis to generate its sounds and its 74 note keyboard made it attractive to keyboard players like WENDY CARLOS who used the Synergy on ‘Digital Moonscapes’ and ‘Beauty In The Beast’. It was unusual in that it allowed the layering of four sounds and also possessed a four track in-built sequencer, but unfortunately lost its memory once the machine was powered down. Sadly, the DX7 signalled the death knell for the Synergy, costing three times less and being fully programmable…
Iconic example of use: WENDY CARLOS ‘Tron’ soundtrack
YAMAHA DX7 (1983)
Taking the technology first used in the GS1, the DX7 brought FM Synthesis to the masses and along the way transformed the sound of the charts between 1983-1989. The DX’s distinctive rubbery bass sound started to appear everywhere from A-HA’s ‘Take On Me’, HOWARD JONES’ ‘What is Love?’ through to LEVEL 42’s ‘Hot Water’. But unless you were a musical brainiac like BRIAN ENO, the DX7 was notoriously difficult to program and legend has it that most units which were returned back to Yamaha for any maintenance still had their preset sound banks left untouched!
Iconic example of use: BERLIN ‘Take My Breath Away’
YAMAHA DX1 (1983)
The DX1 could be considered as a connoisseur version of the DX7, every part of it is THAT more expensive looking from its fully weighted keyboard, deeper control panel through to its wooden end cheeks. The sound of the DX1 was much thicker than the often thin sounding DX7 because the user was able to layer two sounds together. If however you intend buying one of these, the secondary market is extremely limited as only 140 models were produced. Users included PET SHOP BOYS and DIRE STRAITS.
Iconic example of use: DIRE STRAITS ‘Money for Nothing’
CASIO CZ101 (1984)
The CASIO CZ101 and YAMAHA DX100 were almost like distantly related cousins; both had mini keys, utilised digital sound generating techniques and had guitar strap pegs which allowed them to be played in a keytar style. The 101 was adopted by Vince Clarke and was used extensively on the debut ERASURE album ‘Wonderland’. Despite being digital, the CZ range was still capable of some pretty rich analogue style sounds and patches like the Organ preset soon found themselves appearing on many a house track.
Iconic examples of use: BLANCMANGE ‘Believe You Me’ album
EMU EMULATOR II (1984)
Much beloved of DEPECHE MODE and NEW ORDER, the follow-up to the original Emulator was an 8 bit machine that had analogue filters. In contrast to the rack-mounted Akai range, the keyboard-based Emulator became a much more popular live machine, with sample storage being held on 5.5 inch floppy disks. The addition of MIDI compatibility, in-built sequencer and separate audio outputs made it a highly sought after sampler. PET SHOP BOYS’ Neil Tennant played one in the infamous Old Grey Whistle Test performance where he fluffs the string part in ‘Opportunities’.
Iconic example of use: DEPECHE MODE ‘Christmas Island’
ENSONIQ MIRAGE (1984)
The Mirage was a good value for money sampler/synthesizer, although the specifications these days look laughable with 8 bit, 333 note sequencing memory and 128kb of RAM. It featured analogue filters, a velocity sensitive keyboard and 8 note polyphony. Even now, players swear by the warmth that the filter can give to a sample, but the inscrutable programming method it utilised via hexadecimal-code manipulation meant that editing samples was only for the faint-hearted! Users included SKINNY PUPPY and JANET JACKSON on the ‘Control’ album.
Iconic example of use: SKINNY PUPPY ‘Jackhammer’
KORG DW8000 (1985)
The heart of the KORG DW8000’s sound was digitally generated from its DWGS (Digital Waveform Generator System). The DW8000 was a bit of a hybrid, half-way between a DX7 and an analogue synthesizer in that its waveforms were digital and its filter analogue. The synth gained a lot of fans because of its in-built arpeggiator and FX and although not as successful as the M1, it was still used by artists such as DEPECHE MODE and KEITH EMERSON.
Iconic example of use: EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL ‘Love Blind’
YAMAHA DX100 (1985)
The DX100 along with the FB01 sound module were the entry level points for those wishing to explore FM synthesis. Whilst not possessing the same amount of operators as its bigger DX brothers, the DX100 became popular with Detroit Techno producers like Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May and Juan Atkins because of its distinctive bass sound. If you also check out an equipment list from the ‘Electric Café’ era of KRAFTWERK, you will see that one surprisingly also found its way into the German electronic maestros synth armoury too.
Iconic example of use: RHYTHIM IS RHYTHIM ‘Nude Photo’
SEQUENTIAL CIRCUITS PROPHET VS (1986)
After their success with the Prophet 5, Prophet 10 and Pro One, the Prophet VS was a departure for Sequential Circuits and featured an innovative joystick which allowed the user to mix/program sounds. The VS was used on the soundtrack to ‘Tron’ and John Carpenter’s ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ with synthesist Alan Howarth using some of the synth’s more ‘eastern’ sounding presets to evoke the atmosphere needed for the film. This was another favourite synth for Vince Clarke and featured extensively on both ‘The Circus’ and ‘The Innocents’ albums.
Iconic example of use: ERASURE ‘It Doesn’t Have to Be’
BUCHLA 700 (1987)
Although generally known as Robert Moog’s competitor in the analogue modular synth stakes, Don Buchla actually produced a digital synth in the shape of the 700. Used by Alessandro Cortini of NINE INCH NAILS fame, it used a mixture of synthesis techniques (FM/Wavetable/Subtractive/Additive) and in true esoteric Buchla fashion, let the user create their own tunings with as many or as little notes per octave as wanted. Only six were made, but BENGE went on to create a mini-album using the 700 called ‘Chimeror’ produced as a result an hour’s improvisation with the machine.
Iconic example of use: BENGE ‘Chimeror’
ROLAND D50 (1987)
Utilising a combination of Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) and Linear Arithmetic (LA) synthesis, the D50 was another omnipresent synth. Its many famous users included ENYA, VANGELIS, JEAN-MICHEL JARRE and Nick Rhodes from DURAN DURAN. For some reason there was a bitter rivalry between M1 and D50 owners as to who had the ‘best’ synth, and to this day, debates still rage on in synth forums! Arguments aside, the D50 was certainly one of the ‘big three’ digital synths that transformed the sound libraries of most synth players in the period.
Iconic example of use: JEAN-MICHEL JARRE ‘Computer Weekend’
AKAI S1000 (1988)
Despite being a royal pain in the ar*e to program due to its small LED screen, the S1000 was THE digital sampler which found its way into the equipment list of every decent studio of the period. Bringing sampling to the masses it also featured a timestretch function which let samples be warped and became the de rigueur vocal effect on tracks such as JOSH WINK’s seminal acid track ‘Higher State of Consciousness’ and DOUBLE 99’s Speed Garage anthem ‘Ripgroove’.
Iconic example of use: PORTISHEAD ‘Dummy’ album
KORG M1 (1988)
Alongside the D50 and the DX7, the M1 was THE synth that was most likely to appear on ‘Top Of The Pops’ when a band featured a keyboard player. With a range of sounds from arguably the first decent ‘real’ piano sound through to some complex/atmospheric patches, the M1 was adopted by everybody from house producers using the organ bass like on ‘Show Me Love’ by ROBIN S through to your typical functions band of the day. OMD’s 1991 ‘Sugar Tax’ album is almost entirely Korg M1!
Iconic example of use: GARY NUMAN ‘Sacrifice’ album
ROLAND W30 (1989)
The W30 deserves its place if only for the way that Liam Howlett from THE PRODIGY was so devoted to it for nigh on 20 years. Despite being Roland’s 1st workstation synthesizer and featuring sampling technology, Howlett used the W30 primarily as a sequencer to drive sounds/loops from his Akai Sampler and would go onto use up until 2008. Howlett’s live use of the W30 was so extensive that he bought up the remaining keys from Roland Japan as he used to break them every other show…
Iconic example of use: THE PRODIGY ‘Everybody In The Place’
ROLAND JD800 (1991)
The JD800 signalled a return to the analogue-style design philosophy of its older machines with plenty of real-time control and sliders, but at the time wasn’t a terribly successful selling machine. The machine featured a keyboard with aftertouch which allowed extra control of its sounds, but if you manage to find a JD800 on the s/h market now, this was one of the things to fail on the machine as the glue used had a habit of melting. Famous users of the JD800 include: FAITHLESS, UNDERWORLD and DEPECHE MODE.
Iconic example of use: JEAN-MICHEL JARRE ‘Chronologie 4’
WALDORF WAVE (1993)
Although a digital synth (it was Wavetable based), the Wave had analogue filters which helped give it its warmth. Its users included HANS ZIMMER, LEFTFIELD, ANTHONY ROTHER, KLAUS SCHULZE and ULRICH SCHNAUSS who still has an orange model – it was also unusual in being expandable from 16 voices up to 48 voices. With only roughly 200 sold, the Wave pretty much put Waldorf out of business, losing money on each unit shipped. Due to its scarcity, the Wave is highly collectable with a price tag close to $10,000 for one.
Iconic example of use: BJÖRK ‘Violently Happy (Live Version)’
CLAVIA NORD LEAD (1994)
The original Clavia Nord Lead helped coin the term “virtual analog synthesis”. It was followed by a series of other machines all in a distinctive red livery and was adopted by many artists including NINE INCH NAILS, UNDERWORLD and FLUKE. The addition of several real-time controls plus the ability to mimic several retro analogue synths meant that the Lead became an extremely popular synth with a range that still endures today.
Iconic example of use: THE PRODIGY ‘Funky Sh*t’
KORG PROPHECY (1995)
The Prophecy was unusual in that it was a monophonic synth that used virtual modelling to emulate everything from blown and plucked sounds, through to thicker, more analogue textures. Probably most famous for providing one of the lead sounds on THE PRODIGY’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’, the Prophecy was also blessed with aftertouch and ribbon control on what was often affectionately referred to as a ‘sausage roll’ on the left hand edge of the synthesizer.
Iconic example of use: THE PRODIGY ‘Smack My Bitch Up’
KURZWEIL K2500 (1996)
The K2500 in its keyboard and rack version was popular as a workstation synth, featuring a synth engine, sequencer and sampling with the additional ability to load in Akai samples. It found favour as live machine for several years with PINK FLOYD and in the studio with NINE INCH NAILS. The rack version wasn’t the most user friendly machine to use due its over-reliance on its editing screen, but the machine had a lush warm sound to them and many users continue to swear by them.
Iconic example of use: PLASTIKMAN ‘Plasticine’
WALDORF MICROWAVE XT (1998)
With the rise of melodic trance, synths like the brightly coloured (or some might say ‘lairy’) Microwave XT from the Waldorf range help artists such as FERRY CORSTEN re-introduce some welcome digital-based analogue sounds back into the musical marketplace. The Microwave XT, although a baby brother to the HUGE Wave synth, was still an extremely fat sounding synth and coloured its most prominent control (the filter cut-off) in a fetching shade of red to differentiate it from the other controls on its orange front panel. NINE INCH NAILS also count amongst one its famous users.
Iconic example of use: THE ART OF NOISE ‘The Seduction of Claude Debussy’ album
Synthesist Johan Baeckström first came to prominence with DAILY PLANET.
A synthpop duo formed with vocalist Jarmo Ollila, their debut album ‘The Tide’ came out on the legendary Swedish electronic music label Energy Rekords in 1996. Despite positive reviews of ‘The Tide’, DAILY PLANET went on hiatus for 18 years before they unexpectedly returned in 2014.
Appropriately titled ‘Two’, their comeback long player was released on Progress Productions, home of the acclaimed duo KITE. However, during that long break, Baeckström had been preparing a solo record. Riding on the momentum accorded by the warm welcome back for DAILY PLANET, Baeckström completed his solo adventure, now titled ‘Like Before’.
Released in summer 2015, it was a classic synthpop jewel that recalled the tuneful prowess of a certain Vince Clarke at his finest. But the biggest surprise was Baeckström’s capability in the vocal department. Possessing timbre similarities to Andy Bell, there was certainly no danger of him coming over like Clarke did on YAZOO’s ‘Happy People’!
Now do the similarities to ERASURE on ‘Like Before’ matter? ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK says “no” and as James Nice of prestigious Belgian record label Les Disques du Crépuscule once put it: “I have no problem at all with something new being imitative, as long as it’s good”.
In a break from his more-than-well equipped studio in Örebro, JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM kindly took time out to chat to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about why the ‘Synth Is Not Dead’…
You are best known in independent Swedish music circles as a member of DAILY PLANET, what prompted you to undertake a solo project?
As you may know, DAILY PLANET was pretty much inactive after the first album ‘The Tide’ was released. In early 2013, however, I started re-building a studio and writing music again, but this time doing everything myself, including the vocals.
A bit later that same year, Jarmo and I decided to make another DAILY PLANET album, and I shifted my focus to that project instead. A few of the solo-ideas appeared on ‘Two’, but the idea of a solo album felt more and more appealing to me, so I finished it and had it released, after we did ‘Two’.
The single ‘Come With Me’ will please any fan of ‘The Innocents’ and appears to be about escape?
Correct, it’s about the everyday boredom, and the wish to just leave it all behind and go to some other place; I think we all feel from time to time.
One of the B-sides was a track called ‘Synth Is Not Dead’. ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK does its best to keep classic synthpop alive, as opposed to EDM, so what inspired this wonderful tune?
The synthpop genre is having difficulties these days – you have to actively look it up all by yourself, since no radio stations will play anything other than artists from the major labels. I guess I just wanted to reflect on the fact that there still IS a synthpop scene with some really great bands, both old and new. In another way, the song is sort of my “thank you” to some of the artists that inspired me for several decades – some of them are mentioned in the lyrics, but far from all of course.
‘Synth Is Not Dead’ is much less angry than the equally brilliant ‘Synthpop’s Alive’ by MAISON VAGUE? But there is a melancholic optimism in what you do, despite the expressions of self-doubt?
It’s good to see there’s more of us out there, singing the gospels of synthpop. I think you pretty much nail it with “melancholic optimism” by the way. I am a sucker for melancholy in music.
What is particularly striking about your album ‘Like Before’ is not so much that it is reminiscent of ERASURE, but the quality of the songwriting, particularly with the title track, ‘Great Unknown’ and ‘Running Away From Myself’. How would describe your writing process?
Thanks! The process actually varies quite a lot. ‘Running Away From Myself’ for example started off after programming a great bass sound on the Pro-One, that I just HAD to write a song for.
On ‘Talking In Your Sleep’, I started in a completely different way, sitting at the piano in my girlfriend’s house writing the intro/lead melody. Usually I start with the music, programming a simple draft arrangement. Mostly I have an idea about the vocal melodies already at that stage, but as the process moves forward, I tend to change it quite a lot from the original idea.
You own a fine collection of synthesizers of various vintages. What do you have and what are your favourites to use in your music?
Synthesizers are addictive, to say the least! The rig for the moment looks like this:
Roland Juno-106
Roland Jupiter 6
Roland SH-09
Korg Mono/Poly
Korg MS-20 mini
MicroKorg
Korg Volca Bass
ARP (Korg) Odyssey
Sequential Circuits Pro-One
Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08
Crumar Bit One
Arturia Minibrute
Akai AX-73
Waldorf Streichfett
Yamaha DX7
Moog Little Phatty
It’s very hard to pick favourites, since they’re all great in their own way. The ones I tend to use the most are probably the Pro-One, Jupiter 6, SH-09, Mono/Poly, Odyssey and MS-20. The DX7 and the MicroKorg – not so much. The Bit One needs to see a doctor, so it’s not used at all for the moment.
I have to bring up Vince Clarke…
Sure, I don’t mind the comparison at all.
How do you make this all sound so authentically VC?
In my book, the two YAZOO albums are the pinnacle of electronic pop. It can’t get any more perfect than that.
I can still remember exactly where I was when I first heard ‘Nobody’s Diary’, which was the song that opened a whole new world of synthpop for me. I think it’s only natural that this reflects in my own music and it is, by far, the most common comparison people make, which of course is flattering.
Has there ever been a synth that you purchased that you were disappointed with, that didn’t meet expectations?
Not really. I think I know pretty well on beforehand what instruments I buy, and why. The disappointments are more like when you find a vintage synth in good condition, and the damn thing breaks down after 2-3 weeks and you’ll have to spend even more money on it to get it fixed… part of the vintage charm, I keep telling myself.
Many artists which ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has spoken to who still use analogue synths, rarely use drum machines now. What’s your thoughts about how to get the best from the percussive elements of your music?
For kicks, snares and hi-hats, I most often use drum machine samples triggered from Groove Agent in Cubase. I also create a lot of my drums and percussion sounds on different synthesizers. I don’t have any hardware drum machines actually, but I’m considering getting one. I think it could be a great starter for new songs – to be able to quickly build a beat and start jamming along, basically. I used drum machines a lot in the 80s and 90s, and I sort of miss them from time to time.
As shown by the artwork on the ‘Like Before’ album, you obviously know your tape recorders from your drum machines. But how do you find integrating the analogue and digital worlds? Is it as simple as analogue for sounds, but digital for control and recording?
It’s indeed that simple. I use Cubase for MIDI-sequencing synthesizers, recording, FX and mixing. In a way, I would really like to go all the way and record on analogue tape too, but it wouldn’t work out for me, since I come back to each song multiple times, over several months. Without the convenience of total recall in the DAW environment, that would be impossible. For now, I just have to settle with a tape simulation plugin instead.
You recorded a cover of RATIONAL YOUTH’s ‘Saturdays In Silesia’. Why do you think this Canadian band was popular in Sweden, but seemingly nowhere else?
I’m not sure really why that is, but I remember from back in the 80s that a lot of people I knew were very actively searching for new music that no-one had heard, through magazines and mail orders from abroad.
Living in a country that only had 2 TV channels and 3-4 radio channels at the time, which all were uncommercial public service channels, I guess that having to find the music yourself, rather than having it served to you through commercial channels, may have resulted in people sometimes finding these “hidden gems”.
How is electronic pop being viewed in Sweden at the moment? Although there has been a vibrant domestic scene there during the last few years, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is sensing a bit of a backlash, even among people who are part of it. What do you think?
To be honest, I don’t have a very good overview of the scene. I think you’re right though – it’s certainly not a growing scene, but the fans that’s still out there are extremely devoted! Unfortunately there’s not very much re-growth, though. However – last time we played in Gothenburg with DAILY PLANET, I got to sign our CDs for two girls who were in the same age as my kids, which means they were like 2 years old when ‘The Tide’ was released! So maybe there’s SOME hope for the scene, after all? 😉
What have been the highlights of your career so far in your opinion, as part of DAILY PLANET, a solo artist and a remixer?
The highlight of it all is, without a doubt, all the love I get from people from all over the world! That’s the second biggest reason for me to keep doing this. The biggest reason is of course the pleasure I get from it myself, being creative with sounds and melodies.
You’ve been in the studio a lot recently, what’s next for you?
Yes, I’ve been working a lot here lately on a couple of different projects. I can’t really say much more at the moment, but there will be some news coming within not too long. Watch this space!
Finally I would like to thank you guys for the great job you do for the genre! Keep it up.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Johan Baeckström
When you have a collaborative project which sees the merging of two of the founding fathers of British Electronica and Synthpop, there is always going to be a huge weight of expectation attached to it.
For many, a joint work between Vince Clarke and one half of ORBITAL’s Paul Hartnoll would be akin to a guitar hook up between Eric Clapton and David Gilmour, such is the importance of both of the producers to the scene(s) that they helped define.
With that opening statement in mind, it is with trepidation that this album should be approached, will it live up to the legend that both Clarke and Hartnoll have created?
Lead single and opening track from ‘2Square’ is ‘Better Have a Drink to Think’, with its Casio calculator bleeps and bass pulse; everything is all very Kraftwerkian until the vocal hook takes the song into Electro Swing territory. There is a very fine line between catchy and annoying, and it’s hard at times to gauge as to which category this track falls into.
‘Zombie Blip’ which follows is a pretty perfunctory synth work-out with predictable stabs and a MAPS inspired breakdown. Probably the kindest thing to say about ‘Zombie Blip’ would be that it could possibly find a home on a computer game soundtrack somewhere. ‘Do-a Bong’ sounds like an ORBITAL pastiche, but with some very unwelcome horns and another irritating vocal. Of all tracks on ‘2Square’, ‘All Out’ has the most commercial possibilities. Very vocal-driven with an underpinning acidic 303, given a decent set of contemporary house remixes, this could conceivably chart…
What is a little unfathomable is why this album, along with the VCMG and MG projects yet again ventures down the faceless Techno route – admittedly ORBITAL were highly respected for their dance / rave anthems ‘Chime’, ‘Belfast’ and ‘The Box’, but they were successful because the tracks hinged around massive riffs and sounds which set them apart from their more Euro-centric peers. There are glimmers of quality here, but much of it comes across as throwaway, the vocals which have been recorded for the project sounding like generic / soul-less library samples.
There is nothing wrong with having splashes of humour in electronic music, both ERASURE with their ABBA tributes and ORBITAL with tracks such as ‘Style’ and live mash-ups of BON JOVI and BELINDA CARLISLE were welcome tongue-in-cheek elements in a genre that often took itself too seriously. However here, the use of brass and the vocals on the novelty Electro Swing tracks don’t seem to sit comfortably with both the ideologies of most of Clarke’s and Hartnoll’s former work.
There are sporadic moments of brilliance; ‘Single Function’ starts off like a ‘Speak & Spell’ era DEPECHE MODE track with ARP electronic percussion, before breaking down to a mournful Jarre-esque string pad and a cyclical Juno chord melody. The closing ‘Underwater’ is beautifully understated, combining a hypnotic TANGERINE DREAM sequencer melody and lead line which easily manages to sustain its five minutes track length.
The two recent JEAN-MICHEL JARRE projects have shown that primarily instrumental synth music can still have a market and ironically Clarke’s ‘Automatic Parts 1 + 2’ on ‘Electronica 1 – The Time Machine’ were head and shoulders above anything here. At least with the title of this project there is an allusion that this isn’t going to be a cutting edge album, but given the incredible skill set and equipment possessed by both contributors, this is a serious disappointment.
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in Summer 2016.
features five of the original EP’s tracks over nine remixes and while these vary in accomplishment, ‘The Light Behind My Eyes’ in particular benefits from a remix courtesy of David Burdick which adds a chirpier paced Europop groove.
came out on the legendary Swedish electronic music label Energy Rekords in 1996. Despite positive reviews of ‘The Tide’, 
, their comeback long player was released on Progress Productions, home of the acclaimed duo 
.
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