Monday 26 October 2020
Listen! - SVDE - Entombed
Saturday 24 October 2020
Listen! - BAG - Skin Of The World
Listen! - Magic Spells - Crop Circles
Listen! - EJK & GVM - Blue Moon Frequency #2b [Fall Mix]
Watch! - Code - Light Years 2020
Watch! - mylittlebrother - howl
Sunday 18 October 2020
Review - Gareth Jones - Electrogenetic
Gareth Jones – Electrogenetic (Calm & Collect)
Cassette / CD / DL
Out Now
Legendary producer and noise maker releases his debut solo album.
In the world of music, the name Gareth Jones might not be instantly recognisable to many people. However, a cursory glance over the production credits on albums by the likes of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten and Erasure will reveal an ever present name. In these circles, Gareth Jones was/is an invaluable member.
Some forty years after his first foray into music production engineering Metamatic by John Foxx, Jones presents his highly emotive debut, Electrogenetic. You’ll hear ambience and hints of pop together with echoes and reverb which create an almost spiritual experience. Album opener, The Beginning takes lines from the Book of Genesis recited by Gareth in Wesley’s Chapel in Islington and instantly takes the listener on a near religious experience as Trinity involves choral voices and glides by beautifully.
It would be possible to compare Electrogentic to a modern day mix of Tubular Bells and The War of the Worlds but on a gentler, simpler scale. Recorded over a year-long period following the passing of his mother and mother-in-law, the album is about death, commemoration, celebration, separation and transition according to Jones. You can often hear sounds that could be taken from Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration – occasional piano highlights and build-up of basslines on stand-out track Mercury for instance.
Intended to be listened to as one complete piece, the nine tracks lead seamlessly into each other with the listener often not aware that the next track has begun. Taking time to listen to the full album in one sitting is a near magical experience. Always gently simmering, avoiding the urge to bubble over, it takes ambience to the next level as it introduces pattern and form to the underlying tone.
Says Jones: “I wanted to make something that was authentically me, something that was utterly personal yet whose themes would be relatable to everyone. I like to think that’s what I’ve achieved with this album” and, he has created something quite superb here, make no mistake. Think of Electrogenetic as a journey rather than an album. There are highs, lows and moments of pure ecstasy – it is, quite simply, perfect.
Saturday 17 October 2020
Review - BOO - Yesterday Tomorrow And You
BOO (Battery
Operated Orchestra) – Yesterday Tomorrow And You
CD / DL
Out Now
Indie electropop duo
return with their brand new album.
Sixteen tracks make
up Yesterday Tomorrow And You. You may
imagine that there would be filler, tracks shorter than a Boris Johnson promise
or, bizarre instrumentals – you’d be very wrong. What Battery Operated Orchestra have created
here is nothing short of the pinnacle of their career to date. To the uninitiated, it would almost sound
like a Greatest Hits collection such is the quality of content on display.
It’s over two years
since the release of their last album Snare (see review here), an album of the
year contender for many a synth pop fan.
It exposed the dangers of nostalgia and comfort all wrapped up in clever
pop parcels.
Written and recorded
before and during the first UK lockdown, Yesterday Tomorrow And You is a
triumph. Combining rock, Goth, glam and pop is no mean feat but Brigitte Rose
and Chris Black manage to knit them together into a marvelously cohesive end
product. New single Lady Megawatt is
pure pop, taking a lead from Goldfrapp (Ooh La La), it brings us moonstomp drumbeats
and deep basslines and more importantly, a pop song that is nothing short of
perfection. You are hereby challenged
not to tap your feet.
Brigitte’s vocals
sound more confident than ever – imagine Lene Lovich blurred into Kylie with a
hint of Alison Goldfrapp – and back Chris’ synth work which is a combination of
sharp percussion and vintage analogue sprinkled with a dusting of Vince Clarke
magic. Like Erasure, BOO have hit some
superb form with their new album which also boasts the singles The Getaway and
The Dissolve, which provided two quite diverse sides to their sound.
World Over sees
Black take over on lead vocals in a track that hints at A-ha’s Take On Me at
times – quite an accolade – it’s poppy pop-pop all the way as the relentlessly
high paced beat pounds from beginning to end before being joined by Rose as the
song closes.
Yesterday Tomorrow
And You ends with the albums lone instrumental the quite gorgeous Ima, with far
eastern touches and gentle swathes of sound.
It’s calming and stirring at the same time and acts as a beautiful
overture to a quite remarkable album.
Review - Erasure - The Neon
Erasure - The Neon (Mute Records)
Vinyl / CD / Cassette / DL
Out Now
In 1988, Erasure released their Crackers International EP led by the track Stop! It peaked at number 2 in the UK charts and became the latest in a long line of hits when Vince Clarke and Andy Bell could do no wrong. Why the mention of a thirty year old track? Well, it was undoubtedly, one of the catchiest hits of its time and one of the most perfect pop songs to have ever been released. Its success lay partly to a verse and chorus that were as memorable as the other. A constant three minute bombardment of high powered pop making the EP roar up the charts.
With The Neon, Erasure seem to have rekindled the Stop! formula perfectly. Ten new tracks which see Clarke dig out his analogue synths and create something that could have come from their heyday but with a modern twist. Album opener and first single Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling), is pop of the highest degree. On its day of release it was announced as the Radio 2 single of the week and immediately added to their A list for plays. Listen to the track and you’ll find yourself singing along to the verse instead of the chorus or, is it vice versa? It’s hard to tell because here Erasure have created something of a highpoint in their career.
The genius of Clarke is never in question. His techno wizardry and air of perfection is behind many hits that are instantly recognisable from the first few bars but, what is striking on The Neon is how Bell’s voice has become something quite superb. Maybe his solo ventures as semi-immortal polysexual St Torsten in the recent three album series has developed his voice beyond where it was previously. Whatever the reason he is on top form.
Current single, Nerves Of Steel could have fallen straight from 1987s The Innocents. A deep throbbing base and gentle synth swathes accompany Bell on his favourite track of the album. It pitches between slow love song and up-tempo pop with several electric guitar sounding riffs for good measure. Fallen Angel follows and a stranger to Erasure could be persuaded to believe that The Neon is their greatest hits collection as yet another song has the listener singing along within the first play.
The Neon is so relentless in an outpouring of superb tracks that it would be unfair to pick a highlight. Instead, the album is a collection of pop songs of the very highest order. It is refreshing and uplifting, it would challenge even the most stubborn pop opposer to not enjoy all ten tracks.
The final three tracks slow the pace slightly but not before Shot A Satellite and Diamond Lies zip from nowhere to everywhere at terrific speed. Kid You’re Not Alone closes the album as one of only two tracks that breaks the four minute mark. Simplicity is the key. Vocals and music accompany each other perfectly, in what is a fitting ending to a quite superb album.
The Neon is a triumph and certainly one of Erasure’s finest albums. For fans of pop, electro, 80s, it is essential listening. For everyone else, it is an album that deserves to be heard. If this was the band’s final album then it would be the perfect way to take a bow. However, when they are on this sort of form, why deny the public of such top drawer music?
Published on At The Barrier 21/08/20 - here