Swedish poptronica pioneers, Page, on stage in Stockholm in 1995? Sold! This is a treasure in multiple parts.
Europe’s most celebrated artisan label, Vinyl on Demand (VOD), has released a collection of Robert Marlow rarities as part of its 2014 run, as a split with Marlow’s home imprint, Electro Shock Records. The first side of The Blackwing Sessions – Demos 1982/1983 compiles demos recorded by Marlow with his Essex mate, Vince Clarke (yes, that one), and Eric Radcliffe. On the flip, an alternative rough mix of “No Heart,” rounds out the extended mixes from Marlow’s releases on Clarke’s Reset label, “The Face of Dorian Gray” and “I Just Want to Dance,” together with the aforementioned “No Heart.” Although the songs are all Marlow originals, the archivists interest is in the glimpses they reveal into Clarke’s evolving style – the Reset project was one of his creative outlets following his departure from Depeche Mode, handled from an office at Southwark’s Blackwing Studios.
The demo tracks were previously collected for the CD release of the album, but VOD’s version repackages them with the extended mixes on 180 gram heavy-duty vinyl for richer sound. VOD’s characteristic attention to detail is evident in the packaging. For Marlow fans, this format will be a great way to rehear familiar songs. The wider interest, however, will come from fans of Vince Clarke, who want to hear how the master produced his friend’s effort back in the day.
Half a century ago, Robert Moog presented a paper on Voltage-Controlled Electronic Music Modules and kicked off a musical revolution. Moog didn’t invent the synthesizer, but his approach put flexibility and power behind the concept, allowing musicians and composers to experiment and create in new ways. Back in the 1980s, the Musician’s Union in the UK passed a resolution opposing synthesizers, but by the time that conservative French horn and oboe players rallied to the cause, it was too late: technology had advanced, and so, too, had the imaginations of creative sound artists. While the first Moog synthesizers were expensive affairs, available only to the best-funded musicians of the 1960s and early 1970s, simpler keyboards quickly arrived that were easy to understand, affordable and capable of sonic magic that no French horn could match. From the ubiquitous Prodigy to the current Sub 37, Moog has had a lasting presence in studios and on stages around the world.
To mark the occasion and celebrate the Moog legacy, London-based artist and author, Mark Jenkins, organised Moog 50 at St. George’s Church, not far from where the Blitz Club (where many synthesizer masters and fans congregated) used to stand. The unusual setting, which seated attendees in pews before an altar fronted by modular gear, certainly gave the event a reverential feeling. With a masterful performance on the theremin by Lydia Kavina, who demonstrated both classical and modern works on the instrument that gave Moog his start, and a delightful set by Jenkins himself (accompanied by an interpretive dancer and vocalist specialising in medieval choral work), the evening traced Moog’s own history in stages. The climax was a performance by Vile Electrodes, who debuted Moog’s new Sub 37 keyboard and showed off their technical prowess, as well as several new songs.
The Moog sound is easily recognisable, even amongst the reflections of church walls, and each performance coloured in the picture of Robert Moog as a pioneer with a distinctive vision and legacy.
CWNL favourites, Parralox, have been chosen to open for Erasure at an upcoming London show. Erasure’s gig on 15 December 2014, at The Forum, will be an opportunity for the Anglo-Australian outfit to show off their smart, sophisticated poptronica. Riding a high following the release of “Crying on the Dancefloor,” Parralox are ready for the big time, and their selection is no accident.
In the run-up to the show, Parralox have remixed two songs from Erasure’s latest album, The Violet Flame (Mute). The Parralox remix of “Reason” appears on the double vinyl edition of the album, while “Under the Wave” is featured in the deluxe box set being offered to fans.
Machinista‘s first album is the one that the hipsters are going to say that they liked before you did. Throughout Xenoglossy (Juggernaut Music Group), the Swedish duo of John Lindqwister (Cate R—- Dog, Basswood Dollies, #366) and Richard Flow (Vision Talk) are channeling the spirits of Bowie, Marc Almond and Nico. It’s an inspired, uptempo set of pulsing and throbbing synths, pulled along by dancefloor-filling rhythms and sophisticated melodies. In the instrumentation, there are hints of Italo and echoes of Flow’s legendary Vision Talk project, but also traces of Alien Sex Fiend, Psyche and Suicide. On the vocal side, Lindqwister invests each line with depth and precision, as well as an emotional charge rarely heard in modern poptronica.
The album opens with “Take Comfort in Being Sad,” a popular track from Machinista’s live shows. A chugging bass-line drives proceedings, while Lindqwister explains that “We make way for someone else.” Who that might be is an open question: on “Arizona Lights,” the band’s interest in extraterrestrial life comes to the fore, underpinned by a dynamic, octave-jumping track.
There isn’t a Machinista manifesto, and their lyrics suggest that they are coming with more questions than answers: “Salvation” explores lyrical territory that their fellow Swede, Ingmar Bergman, would have felt agnostic affinity for, while “Pushing the Angels Astray” is the musical mirror of the knight’s questions in The Seventh Seal. All of this is set to driving beats, as they put into practice George Clinton’s maxim, “Free your ass and your mind will follow.”
Machinista’s version of Bowie’s “Heroes” deconstructs and rebuilds the song using classic poptronica sounds. Like Nico’s cover, there is a dark, lonely and sad undertone, balanced with a euphoric feeling, but the fragile tension is maintained throughout. There isn’t a Wall to look over any more, but in this version one gets the sense that there are walls between all of us that still need to be broken down. On the dancefloor, where they are best taken in, Machinista certainly make that happen. The proof is in this rare footage of the duo on stage at An Evening with the Swedish Synth, the CWNL-curated event held in London’s Shoreditch district in March 2014:
Compute is Sweden’s Ulrika Mild. The Gothenburg-based songstress makes lucid downtempo beats but can also sing like Alison Goldfrapp. This track shows off both elements to great effect.
Way back in the early 1980s, a trend arose for smashing pieces of metal and organising the resulting sound into ambient urban soundscapes or dance tracks. Berlin’s Einstürzende Neubauten arguably kicked it off, but in short order the availability of new-fangled sampling technology had Fad Gadget (“Collapsing New People”), Depeche Mode (“People Are People”), SPK (“Metal Dance”) and others incorporating post-industrial metal-bashing into their tracks. One of the originals was London’s Test Dept, who reversed the trend by starting as a hammer-wielding group and moving into dance music. This was their first single, released by Some Bizarre to an unsuspecting public in 1983.
The trio of Analog Angel make some intelligent darkwave sounds, and “Drive” is an exemplary, forceful track that warrants repeated listening. From 2014’s Trinity album, it’s dark poptronica in a similar vein to Covenant, matching great synth sounds with sleek, elegant vocals. Guest vocalist Tracy J Cox’s lines float behind John Brown’s, while tense, pulsing waveforms are sculpted by keyboardists Ian Ferguson and Derek MacDonald. Not to be missed.
For more great reading about Analog Angel, see this interview at The Electricity Club.
The Department haven’t released their own night serum yet, but a light application of their tester does more than firm and tone. On the evidence of this video, it gets under your skin with a foam of bubbling arpeggiators and some smooth bass, scented with just a hint of dominatrix.
The Anglo-Swedish group, composed of Rob Green and Magnus Lindström (Mr Jones Machine), have been around since 2013, but “As If Transformed” is their first commercial video for Hard Cell Records. Directed by Ed Robinson for OneRedEye, it uses the device of segmented characters, who are picked and mixed to humorous effect. Tearing up and reassembling the pages of Vogue could get you to a similar place, but then you’d miss out on the rotated mohawks and dance steps.
Musical inspirations: 80s sounds. Attitude: model’s own.
When Sista mannen på jorden (EN: The Last Man on Earth) released “Stadens alla ljus” (EN: “All the City Lights”), back in April, we were pretty excited. After concentrating on his Page project with Marina Schiptjenko for two albums, Eddie Bengtsson was returning to the science-fiction themes and spaced-out synths of SMPJ with real style. The two-track CD single showcased Bengtsson’s incomparable songwriting, melodic instinct and fearless vocals. We called it “a pulsating trip to the dancefloor, swept along by dream-like pads and bubbling filters.”
SMPJ have just doubled the fun by releasing “Stadens alla ljus” as a 12″ maxi-single with a new mix – on blue vinyl. To the CD’s B-side, “Vem gör det då” (EN: “Who Does It Then”), have been added two cover tracks: a stomping version of “Going Under” by Devo; and “Står kvar” (EN: “Staying”), a magnificant reworking of OMD’s “Stanlow.” The original version of “Going Under” appeared on Devo’s New Traditionalists album in 1981, and it receives a respectful reworking in Bengtsson’s hands. It’s still an up-tempo, quirky song with a rapid-fire lyric, and it’s a great revival of a classic sound.
The real revelation, however, is “Står kvar,” in which the OMD original acquires new layers of complexity. Bengtsson’s vocal style is very different from that of Andy McCluskey, and his adaptation of the song about an oil refinery near the River Mersey is tailored to fit. The post-industrial alienation of OMD’s track fused the beat of diesel pumps with dark pads and a vocal that drew out the parallel between the chimneys of the refinery and the spires of churches: the industrial site a source of care and cold-heartedness in the same breathe. Fuelled by the synthetic charge of 12th House’s Svein Welde, SMPJ’s version gets to the pulsating point rather more quickly, trading in some of the mournfulness and ambiguity of the original for a rhythmically solid presentation. It is a stunning rendition that lacks none of the emotional power of OMD’s effort after being transported to Sweden’s Baltic coast from the banks of the Mersey.
The maxi-single can be ordered from Synth4You.