Just in time for Valborg comes a love song written by Eivør on her new Prophet 5. Lifted from her forthcoming album, ENN, it has an 80s vibe. Romancing the machine, indeed.
If they followed the path of many 1970s peers, A Certain Ratio would be on the nostalgia trail, playing Rewind events alongside China Crisis and Howard Jones. Instead, they are churning out gritty new songs with exposed post-punk roots.
It All Comes Down to This is the band’s fifth album on Mute. Coming only a year after the brilliant 1982, ACR could have been forgiven for coasting a little bit. Instead, they have generated a short but compelling set that serves as a master class in industrial funk. The clarity of the sound is miles from the Tony Wilson-produced “Shack Up,” but the lineage is easily traced between the group’s indie hits and their current material. Jez Kerr’s vocals sound smoother than ever, but there is enough dirt in tracks like “Surfer Ticket” to recall that ACR were contemporaries of both Cabaret Voltaire and The Pixies.
What sets ACR apart from their peers is their sense of rhythm. Listening to “Out from Under,” the glow of the city is menacing but your hips move in response to the threat. Try not to nod to “Where You Coming From.” Your feet will shuffle to the groove of “God Knows,” which has a summer psychedelic feel like later XTC and Wire.
The title track is the one that will get all of the attention in the mainstream press, but the most glorious refrain is in “We All Need.” It’s like Superfly filmed in Moss Side.
If Portishead and DAF had a love child, this new track from Sweden’s Emmon might be the result. Conceived for the forthcoming EP, XCEPTION (out on 31 May 2024), the lyrics grew for two decades before being paired with the melody. Classy and compelling stuff.
(Via Mute)
Simon Fisher Turner has announced details of a new album for Mute, Instability of The Signal, out on 2 August 2024 on limited edition vinyl and digitally.
The composer, musician and Zelig-like artist who has worked and performed in groundbreaking and underground music, film and art scenes since the 1970s has created a lush, soothing and intimate album, a landmark in his ever-expanding catalogue of projects. The 13-track album features Fisher Turner singing for the first time in many years, accompanying compositions built from tiny snippets of sound along with piano, classical strings, a detuned Fender Telecaster, and his magpie-like collecting of field recording.
Instability of The Signal pulls together four strands of Fisher Turner’s sonic experimentation: Slivers, Sounds, Strings, and Singing. The ‘slivers’ are tiny snippets of audio he used as source material for the tracks, all created by Salford Electronics (aka David Padbury), and reworked by Fisher Turner into foundations for entire tracks. The ‘sounds’ that pepper these tracks are sourced from Fisher Turner’s relentless field recording, and include a rhythm created from the sound of a spinning bicycle wheel recorded in Berlin; the percussive sounds of objects on hard floors inspired by his collaboration with artist potter and writer Edmund de Waal; a hand-made mechanical pencil sharpener made by Tilda Swinton’s father (recorded while working on a film with Swinton and the Derek Jarman Lab), along with an extended index of guerrilla field recordings and sonic textures. The album’s ‘strings’ are recordings made with The Elysian Collective (who have recently been performing live with Pulp). Fisher Turner’s voice is the centrepiece of this album – it is the ‘singing’ that draws all these sounds together into a complete and distinctive album of songs. “I was making these tracks with Padbury’s slivers one day, and then the penny just dropped,” he explains. “I just knew I wanted to sing over them: to use my voice again.”
His lyrics scramble Burroughs cut-ups sourced from two of Harold Pinter’s poems; words from a book on the video work of Czech filmmakers Breda Beban and Hrvoje Horvatic, flashes of memories of riding buses in London, cycling topless in jeans around the city. The intimate, soft vocals feature his own memories, pulled extracts from diaries and other texts, some of which are political and subtly delivered the frustrations he felt at the beginning of the project. These lyrics, he says: “reflect how I feel without standing on a soapbox and screaming.”
The album is rooted in the intimate sound space of a small studio, where he recorded with producer Francine Perry. The intimacy is mirrored in the album’s artwork – a photo of his regular collaborator and long-time friend, the filmmaker Isao Yamada listening to the album for the first time. Film plays an important part in telling the visual story of the album, with several filmmakers, including the documentary filmmaker Sebastian Sharples (who previously collaborated with Simon Fisher Turner for Lana Lara Lata (Mute, 2005) invited to create short films to accompany tracks from the album.
Like Fisher Turner’s long and varied career, Instability of The Signal is an accumulation of experience, effervescent memories, sounds and textures. It contains hidden learnings. It is about how restorative singing of ourselves and to ourselves can be but is also a document of times and places delivered in beautifully impressionistic palettes of sounds and voices. It is also another document of Fisher Turner’s remarkable life and unshakeable curiosity about sound. “I’m now a 69-year-old man and by hook or by crook, and some good luck, this album has turned into something which really sounds like me,” he reflects. “I’m singing how I feel I truly sound; this time, I’m not hiding anything.”
From Berlin comes a new song by the duo, NNHMN. One of the best dark electro acts, at the moment, Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg seem to have a never-ending well filled with sensual melodies and intense rhythms.
From Anna Öberg‘s forthcoming album, SIN, comes this new single. With an Eastern vibe and rhythmic samples from field recordings made in Sweden and Germany, it has all of the charm of Öberg’s solo work.
It has been twenty years since Torny Gottberg started up Progress Productions. The Swedish label has released dozens of albums over that time – from box sets of Cosmic Overdose to limited edition Portion Control CDs. Artists like Xenturion Prime, Spark!, Daily Planet, Cryo, Kite, Agent Side Grinder, Lucifer’s Aid, Nattskiftet, Mr Jones Machine, White Birches, and Henric de la Cour have graced its roster.
We spoke to Gottberg about his experience running the label and his expectations for Progress Productions in its third decade.
What was the original idea behind Progress Productions?
The idea back then – and, actually, still the idea behind the label – was to build it like a strong collective. Like a family. I was very inspired by the labels, Cold Meat Industry and Ant-Zen, and the way they built their labels. This was something I really wanted to have as a platform for Progress.
We really started from nothing – with only a handful of bands that all drove each other forward. Each success was everyone’s success. I know it really sounds weird, maybe, but this was the idea of Progress Productions.
Also, I felt that a lot of labels were just releasing “safe cards” – and this does not work if you want the scene to grow. So, we started with only new, unsigned bands and built from there. I still think this is the most fun way to run the label. When I find a new, exciting band, it still really triggers me. I know we might not have built up as fast as if we would have signed “already known acts,” but I believe the foundation is stronger if you build from scratch.
That is the short version for Progress Productions. Also, I really want to point out that there have been several important persons behind the scenes who really have helped out a lot – our webmaster, our shop manager, distributors, and others. Without them, no Progress.
Fast forwarding 20 years, where do you expect to take the label?
Seeing how much the music industry has changed over the past two decades, I’m really not sure where we are heading. I think labels are a really good filter for music. It’s just way too easy to release whatever. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, but it’s really hard to filter if you are drowned in material. At least, I find it hard.
The change to digital from physical was a big step for the industry, overall; and, of course, a challenge in many ways. I think you need to think a little deeper as a label nowadays. Anyone can press a record. It’s easy: send it to a pressing plant. Anyone can release on Spotify: just pay one of those “pay to be on Spotify”-services. Anyone can set up a bandcamp. But it’s really everything else – the promotional work, even maybe helping with management and booking shows, etc. Stuff like this is much more important in 2024 than it was in 2004.
It’s really hard to say where we end up. For me, still doing physical is really important – and I like to keep it this way. But, well, I’m also older. On the other hand, I don’t see a growth in the audience among older people. So, we in the “scene” might end up as dinosaurs in a nursing home.
A lot of competitors and collaborators have come and gone over the past two decades. What are some of the key lessons for anyone else who wants to start a record label in 2024?
Don’t do it (hahahaha… )! It’s really my best advice. Unless you are insane. Nahh – you really need to understand how much time it takes. It’s not just “running a label” – there is really so much work behind it. The first 5-6 years is just building and making sure that everything runs. After that, there are always tasks to solve.
You won’t make any real money from doing it as a scene label. You need to have the drive and passion to do it. Money has never been something that’s driven me, at all. I have a job on the side, and that pays the bills. It’s because I love doing it. I still do. Even though you hit landmines and everyone thinks you drive a Lamborghini (in reality, a really old Volvo). But, if you really set your mind to doing something; set small reachable goals; don’t expect it to be a walk in the park (since it’s not)… You have to be a little crazy to do it.
On the other hand, never see other labels as competition – see them as coworkers. I mean, I can talk to Infacted, Dependent and others from time to time. We all really want the same thing – to keep the scene growing. Some labels have lost their focus and gone towards a more metal-based repertoire, which I can understand. If you need to live from this, then there’s the money. So, best advice: see it as a hobby; do it with passion.
You have performed with several bands, including Project-X and Cryo. What is it about performance (in the studio or live) that you find most interesting?
Well, to build things, I would say, in the studio. To have a blank piece of paper and draw something new. I think that probably applies for painters, etc., as well. To make a piece of art. It’s hard to describe it, really, but it’s like you give life to ideas. When you are done, you let it fly and see where it ends.
Live, I have always enjoyed the energy doing it – the direct connection with the audience. The tension that’s there. It’s something special.
Project-X and Cryo are very different. And, honestly, Project-X exists more on a “retro-basis,” at the moment. But, of course, I’m proud of the history behind it. We made a lot of amazing things together, and we still perform from time-to-time. Cryo is the main project, and I really enjoy performing with Martin [Rudefelt]. We have something special when we go on stage together that I really like – some kind of spark that goes off when the
concert starts. And, I guess, it’s that spark, that feeling, that makes it special. I’m sure it’s the same for most bands – or, at least, I hope so.
Over the years, formats for recordings have changed several times. Do you find that there is pressure to stick with physical formats?
Well, like I said, for me the physical format is important. We are a record label – not a multimedia/digital platform. I see digital/physical working together as a unit; but, honestly, I think all artists want to have a physical object. Something to hold on to. Something to grab. Something real. I really dont judge anyone, and there is not a right/wrong here; but, for me personally, I think that physical is a must.
However, I will point out I’m not a superfan of the vinyl hysteria – paying 30 euro for an album, or the tape thing. But that’s just my ten cents on it. Like I said, there is no right/wrong. I guess it’s old school thinking. Who knows, maybe we all will just release music via TikTok in the future. The digital side of the industry is here to stay, and there is no idea of trying to resist it. But the combination of the two is still what i find is most interesting.
EPs appear to have grown in popularity. Is the full-length album dead?
I’m not a super fan of the EP format, myself. I can see a point of releasing music in a quicker interval, of course, to always be relevant, as albums take a longer time to produce. On the other hand, for me, an album is a whole journey through an artist’s mind and I really enjoy that. With streaming, we went from albums to songs, but I really don’t think the full-length album is dead.
This really differs from genre to genre. For “hit-list-top-20,” sure. That younger generation listens in a different way, as they have grown up with songs rather than full-length albums. But, for me, an EP is just a taste of an album. I love listening from track 1 to 10 and enjoying the whole trip rather than just going from 1 to 4 and left feeling empty. Again, there is no right or wrong. As long as people enjoy music – that’s the most important thing.
What do you look for in an act?
Quick answer: that I like it and I like the people behind the music. Those things are equally important when I decide if we should or we should not work with a band/artist. I have no time for artists with too-big egos, who think they are so much better than the rest and you simply need to feed their twisted self-image (I’m 100% done with that).
If it is going to work, you need to be on the same level – otherwise, you will fail or it will end badly (and, trust me, you will encounter this running a label). But I normally go with my gut-feeling. If the music gives me something, then it’s really worth doing. There have been times when I really loved the music but met the people behind it and thought, “Hell no – this won’t work!” In these cases, I would always rather just support the artist when, hopefully, they are released on another label.
I also value loyalty highly. There are simply too many artists who think their record label is ripping them off but always forget what it costs to make an album. Mastering, adverts, videos, etc., etc. – it adds up quickly, and it’s hard to cover the costs nowdays. But if you work hard you will reach the goals. It’s a cooperation between the label and artist – nothing else. If this doesn’t feel right, I would rather leave it. And, no, I dont care if you have 15,000 likes on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or all your friends say you are better than sliced bread. I would rather that we build that together.
Are there any bands you wish you had signed when you had a chance?
Several, of course. But, on the other hand, I have had the chance to buy their records. And, trust me, I buy a lot of records from other labels. I really spend a lot of money doing it, since I know how much others fight in the scene to make things work.
I would say that maybe the Icelandic band Legend was one of those bands I should have signed. But, hey, why cry over something that did not happen? I still listen to their album a lot and enjoy it, so it really does not matter if it was on Progress Productions or not. So, it’s hard to say the word “regret”. Who knows, maybe they made it better on another label than if they were working with us.
Of course, I maybe felt, “Damn, that one would have been a cool challenge to see if it would have worked out” – but I’m really thankful for the bands we have today and the chances I have had to work with bands we don’t have anymore. I think I have reached a certain point that I understand the industry better. You build and work your ass off; and, at a certain point, the balance between a band and label is too big. Then, you need to let go.
It has become increasingly difficult for musicians at many levels to make a living from their art. What advice do you have for artists who wish to dedicate themselves more fully to creating music and reaching fans?
Don’t give up – and listen to the people around you. Have in mind that a label can help you with a lot with things you maybe did not expect. Building stuff takes time – sometimes, a really long time – and I can understand that it can feel really frustrating at times. It will pay off in the end.
Also, have an understanding of the scene you are in. The electronic/alternative/EBM scene is not a place where we build a new Beatles, Coldplay, etc., etc. Be thankful for the opportunities you do get. Look at E-tropolis, Amphi, etc. There are only 20-35 bands in the world that get on the line-up every year. Be grateful if you reach this level. I think, in 2024, it’s really also with a big portion of luck if it’s going to work. I hate saying it, but sometimes things can trend on TikTok, etc., and it shows in your popularity. So, hang in there, don’t be an asshole, build your teams – and stay good!
Founded in Hornchurch, Silicon Teens were the first of the Essex electronic groups that found their way to Daniel Miller’s Mute imprint at the beginning of the 1980s. Organised as a quartet, Darryl, Jacki, Diane, and Paul used only their first names and played only electronic instruments.
The Teens achieved global success with their “Hooked On…”-style covers of rock classics and synthesised originals. Seymour Stein – who went on to discover Madonna – released their only album on Sire in the US. Their producer, Larry Least, went on to work with Alex Fergusson from Alternative TV and Poppy & The Jezebels.
It has been quiet from the Silicon Teens camp for some time. Apart from a contribution to the Mute compilation, STUMM433, we haven’t heard from the band. Acid house, Britpop, and Garage seem to have passed them by. Now, however, we have an album by two of the children from the band’s original members.
I Hate You, Patriarch Fuck! is the first release on the new label, Les Disques de la Pantoufle. Founded by a former member of Fad Gadget’s touring band, it comes from Jackie and Diana, who have inherited not only similar names to their famous forebears but also their teen spirit. As Intrusive Pinky, the California-based duo have created a set of electro-punk tracks that owe less to their parents’ Music for Parties than Crispy Ambulance’s cover of “Something Came Over Me.”
We asked Intrusive Pinky some questions to help readers get familiar with them.
How did Intrusive Pinky get its name?
You don’t want to know the other choices…
The album title isn’t the most Zen. Are you angry?
Of course we are angry ! Wouldn’t you be?
What gets you most worked up?
Young macho men, stupid people and GOP voters.
Will you be doing any covers of your own?
Covers? Sure.
Which tracks?
We want to cover “Blue Bayou” and “I will Survive” but will probably end up doing “Warm Leatherette” played as dark mambo.
Do you have a favourite Silicon Teens song?
“Sun Flight.”
What made you go modular?
As Daniel Miller said, playing synth is more punk than playing the guitar! There’s no need to know three chords – just press a keyboard.
With a modular, you add little bits by little bits, and you choose which sound pallet you want. It can be the trashiest sound ever or the most delicate harmony ever.
But, for now, we want TRASH!
What is next for the band?
Buying more modules and having more songs out. Possibly, an album by fall time.
Right place, right time – a satisfying explanation for the careers of many engineers and producers. In the case of Ken Thomas, things are a little more complicated. The engineer and producer worked at a number of leading studios, including Trident and Advision, that exposed him to mainstream, radio-friendly artists like Queen and Rush; but, quite quickly, he became one of the favoured studio men for the industrial and experimental scenes.
Thomas worked with some of the biggest icons of the alternative music scene, including Martin Hannett and Martin Rushent, which didn’t hurt his credibility one bit. His roster of artists includes Wire, Moby, Modern English, Bush Tetras, Yann Tiersen, Maps, Psychic TV, Sigur Rós, Cocteau Twins, and Lemon Kittens. The link is his willingness to explore sounds outside of the normal commercial range. Record companies itching for hits might have sought out other producers, but artists found their way to Thomas when they could.
Thomas died in 2021, leaving behind a legacy of recordings that few can rival.
10. Ken Thomas – Beat the Light
Thomas only released one album of his own music. This 1980 set fit neatly into the evolving post-punk sound of the time. It combines traces of funk with reverb experiments in ways reminiscent of Cabaret Voltaire, along with the kind of sonic waterboarding that wouldn’t be out of place at a Throbbing Gristle show.
10. 23 Skidoo – The Gospel Comes to New Guinea
23 Skidoo were North London creative kids who made music when they weren’t skateboarding. They explored different sounds, from gamelan to electro, but the most striking of their recordings was the collection for Fetish called Seven Songs. Wrapped in a Neville Brody sleeve, it combined grooves and exotic instrumentation with industrial music techniques.
This track, which is the stand-out song from the album, was produced by Thomas together with Cabaret Voltaire, whose Western Works studio was used for the recording. Stephen Mallinder of CV recalls:
Cabaret Voltaire played quite a few shows with Skidoo and I’d personally gotten to know them well through Neville Brody and the TG collective prior to my going into the studio with them and Ken Thomas. They were capturing that moment better than any other band, a real collision of modern and tribal that somehow worked more effectively in the pre-digital period, more organic, everything cutting and folding, made for the 12 inch format. Everyone was breaking the anchors of analogue, using instruments and studio equipment pretty loosely, but they were very focused on what elements worked and what they wanted. It was a full contingent with pretty fluid roles for everyone. Ken was perfect for getting that across with structure but without diluting that live dynamic. I just remember they were always long sessions over a few days, much fun with brief breaks for a bit of sleep and breakfasts back at my old gothic house that seemed as anarchically organised as the studio sessions.
9. Test Dept/Brith Gof – Gododdin
There came a period in the history of Test Dept that the radical metal-bashers discovered The Spectacle. Together with the Welsh avant-garde theatre company, Brith Gof, they staged a piece in 1989 based on the destruction of a band of Celt warriors.
It was a politically-charged recording. As Test Dept explain in their own words:
Using the poem Y Gododdin as inspiration, the earliest poem in the Welsh language, it tells the fate of 300 Celtic warriors who set out to defend their homeland from 100,000 invading Angles around 600 A.D. They are only remembered through the survival of one epic poem. Defeat is never to be cherished but the glorious rendering of their account against an infinetely stronger enemy lessens the smugness of victory and lends dignity in retrospect to the vanquished. Culture then as now becomes a tool for survival. There is nothing marginal about the issues at stake. The right to self determination, the growth and celebration of native language, looking back further than ‘pop’culture; making huge visions concrete and breathing life back into characterswho, like so many were destroyed when a race first began to flex their colonial muscles. The intention of the performance was to reaffirm the energy, optimism, and dynamism of the last great flowering of Celtic Society.
8. Clock DVA – Uncertain
The first Clock DVA album, released at the opening of 1981, was a dark beast. Unlike the Futurists who were emerging at the time, they wore black leather jackets and dabbled in heroin. It took Dave Gahan (who tapped Thomas to work on his first solo album) a decade to get to the same place, but by then Clock DVA had been stripped back to Adi Newton and an alternative electro aesthetic. Thirst was made by a conventional rock band who didn’t want to make rock music. With Thomas’ help, they accomplished their goal.
7. Cocteau Twins – Aikea-Guinea
The Scottish band were looking for new directions after their self-produced album, Treasure. The Cocteaus were in great form, and almost bloody-minded in their disregard for the charts. Despite cracking the Top 40, Simon Raymonde described Treasure as the group’s “worst album by a mile.”
The band reconvened at Jacob’s Farm with Thomas on the desk. The result was an EP that represented progression while playing with song structures. It was a template that an Icelandic act were soon to show an interest in.
6. Psychic TV – Godstar
Genesis P-Orridge’s first post-Throbbing Gristle project brought him to Thomas for the recording of this signature song. Alex Fergusson from ATV wrote the instrumentation and Rose McDowall contributed, but P-Orridge’s lyrics hinting at the murder of Brian Jones were captivating.
Did the Rolling Stones spend much time worrying that Psychic TV had uncovered a grand conspiracy? We doubt it, but P-Orridge was given to fanciful tales: he claimed that ghostly traces of Jones appeared on the tapes for this track after he held a seance in the studio.
5. Sigur Rós – Hoppipolla
Thomas was introduced to Iceland’s answer to the Cocteau Twins by Thor Eldon from The Sugarcubes, whose first album he had mixed. Thomas saw the band live and pitched to work with them on their next recordings. He stayed for multiple albums – Agaetis Byrjun, (), Glósóli, and Takk – and helped them to realise their sound.
4. Malaria! – Gewissen
Founded by Gudrun Gut and Bettina Köster, Malaria! was one of a succession of M! bands that subverted expectations in German post-punk and pop. This early track was co-produced by Thomas and Mark Reeder.
3. Wire – I Should Have Known Better
There isn’t another band like Wire. There are hundreds of imitators, but the unique combination of personalities has given the band its own tension and tenacity. At the time that Thomas engineered the recording of this song, they were in their genius art-rock guise with Bruce Gilbert on guitar. It is one of the times that bassist Graham Lewis took vocal duties, in a swipe at an encounter with a narcissist. They are out there.
2. Maps – Built to Last
James Chapman’s Maps project involved Thomas as the mixing engineer, alone and with his son. This track from Vicissitude has a futuristic dynamism.
1. William Orbit and Polly Scattergood – Colours Colliding
For his comeback album, The Painter, William Orbit reached out to a number of artists to collaborate. Both Ken and Jolyon Thomas had roles on this track, which also features a production credit for Daniel Miller.
Kati Rán is back with a new song. “KÓLGA | 16” is lifted from her forthcoming album, SÁLA (out 24 May 2024). With lyrics in Norwegian and Icelandic singers, this track is cowritten with the Finnish artist, Jaani Peuhu. That’s a lot of Nordic bases covered.
For your inner Viking.