Machinista is a Swedish duo, formed by former members from two of the country’s best-known alternative groups: John Lindqwister (formerly of Cat R—- Dog) and Richard Flow (formerly of Vision Talk). This track is a remix by Krister from Vision Talk…
Television is a common reference point for electronic music. Mute Records’ Daniel Miller’s early projects often made critical points about its influence (for example, T.V.O.D. by The Normal or TV Playtime by Silicon Teens). Karlskrona’s Kord also have some thoughts, as revealed on this exemplary cold electronic track.
One of the risks of taking your name from an Anthony Burgess novel is that others have the same idea. There were several Heaven 17s, for example, and at least two Johnny Zhivagos. This Johnny Zhivago might have been the first: a new wave band from Canada that put out a four-track 7″ EP in the early 1980s. This video has been rescued from an old home recording, so the quality isn’t the greatest, but the songwriting and performance are both well worth a belated look.
Stockholm-based synth enthusiast Jonas Sjöström draws out excellent sounds from his collection of Prophets and has an enviable ear for pop melodies.
Dreamy, hook-laden pop from Julian & Marina, that would not be out of place on a Pet Shop Boys album. They’ll get tired of being told that; but, so long as the PSB are singing the newspapers instead of making elegant pop songs, this is the real deal.
Johan Tronestam lives on Åland, an autonomous group of islands in the Baltic Sea inhabited by a Swedish-speaking population but politically part of Finland. Perhaps the experience of living on a rock surrounded by a lot of space, with a great view of the stars, helps to explain why his music has such cosmic qualities. This track is from the Planet X album.
Three young guys from a small city in Canada got together in the early 1980s, inspired by their love of Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, The Normal and Fad Gadget, to create original synthpop. The results were amazing, but there are few recordings (and none made available commercially). This video is taken from a 1984 appearance on the Technomode television programme.
It means “sorry” in Swedish, but you won’t regret the time spent listening to the latest song from Gothenburg’s Planet R: Förlåt.
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