Martin Gore has taken time out from Depeche Mode to release solo recordings before, as well as an album of techno made with Vince Clarke, but the emphasis has been on covers of classics from other genres. From Mute comes the news that an album called MG is on the way, loaded with 16 electronic instrumentals. The first taste is “Europa Hymn,” which loops pads luxuriously and might be said to follow the template of the House of Illustrious recordings of Vince Clarke and Martyn Ware. The full album is out on 17 April 2015, just in time for A Secret Wish.
John Fryer, the legendary producer and engineer, has many balls in the air at the same time. We recently highlighted Silver Ghost Shimmer, a collaboration with Pinky Turzo that hit all of the right spots with throwback references to The Shangri-Las. This week sees Muricidae, a duo arrangement with LA-based Louise Fraser, springing “Away,” a track that gets back to Fryer’s roots.
The lineage connecting “Away” to This Mortal Coil and The Hope Blister is evident from the treated piano sounds that echo and stretch to envelop Fraser’s voice, which slips through their grasp like seawater through the holes of a net. Muricidae are commonly known as rock snails, and their shells can be complex things of incredible beauty. Like its namesake, this new project is an aesthetic wonder, but spun from air rather than minerals. An EP, Songs from a Silent Ocean, is expected in the spring.
John Fryer performs an exclusive 4AD/Mute DJ set at A Secret Wish in London on 19 April 2015.
Silver Ghost Shimmer, the project of legendary producer John Fryer and singer Pinky Turzo, has taken the veil off their second video release, “She Keeps Me Hoping.” Filmed in Prague, the video draws on classic burlesque imagery and street scenes, while the underlying pulse of the rhythm track sets a frame for the pads and guitars that crash and soar above it. It’s a great Valentine’s gift from the duo.
Art/pop stalwarts, Wire, have announced a new album. Simply called Wire, the first eponymous release and the thirteenth studio album from the band is expected on 13 April 2015. That event will launch the DRILL:LEXINGTON festival, which takes place at The Lexington in Islington from 14 through 18 April 2015. The line-up for the festival is still to be announced, but Wire will be headlining each night.
We don’t reprint press releases, as a rule, but all we have to go on about the album, at the moment, is a preview at Vice and the following information from the official pinkflag.com Web site:
Their 13th studio album – simply titled Wire – comprises material that was written with the album in mind, but toured extensively first, as well as songs that Newman introduced to the group in the studio just prior to recording. The idea was to get the most spontaneous reaction possible from the musicians, and far from the rough and ready results one might expect from such a tack, Wire is full of swooning pop melodies with a 60s tinge and an irresistible, near motorik rhythmic momentum. One can recognise certain melodic inflections, guitar and bass motifs, and drum rhythms from Wire’s idiosyncratic vocabulary but it has a remarkable freshness.
The basic tracks were recorded at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth, with overdubs added at Brighton Electric last December following the group’s DRILL : BRIGHTON Festival. The 11 tracks selected for release were the ones that came together most naturally.
From the outset Wire was an alliance between four very different characters and continues today with the addition, in 2012, of It Hugs Back guitarist Matthew Simms, who is around thirty years younger than the other group members. “With Matt there was a really new dynamic that had appeared in the group’s sound and that was something we wanted to capture, utilise and be creative with,” says Lewis.
Wire is the first album where Simms has been involved in formulating the material from the ground up, but when the group’s particular chemistry starts working he is now very much part of the process.
“With ‘Sleepwalking’, I don’t think we even ran all the way through it before we recorded it.” Newman says. “Wire do this thing so well and there’s instant atmosphere. There’s my rhythm guitar, Matt playing lap steel, Graham (Lewis) playing bass with effects – there’s as much effects as bass – and Rob’s tolling drumming. It was already almost sustainable for six minutes with just that.”
Lewis also provides most of the lyrics for the album, their subject matter encompassing love songs, cryptic narratives and coded messages. One time, Newman asked Lewis to send over some unfinished, unformatted text so he wouldn’t be bound by what to use for the chorus. This material spawned two songs written on the same day, ‘Split Your Ends’ and the droll ‘In Manchester’. The latter has one of the album’s loveliest melodies, but it’s no coded paean to the city in its Baggy heyday. Instead this process led to the disorientating and rather absurd situation of having “In Manchester” as a soaring chorus, when the song is not about Manchester beyond a single line in the lyric.
As the album progresses, some of the sunlit pop tunes become more shadowy and it ultimately plunges into the musical black hole of ‘Harpooned’, eight churning minutes of the group’s darkest, most abrasive music to date, and a favourite in live performances since 2013.
Big money offers have been made to Wire to become part of the Heritage Rock industry, to get the original line-up back together and play only 70s music. These have all been unequivocally turned down. Fun though that might be, why plant yourself firmly back in the past when you are making new music this potent with the promise of more in the future?
“The point where our personal narratives meet is all about change – moving on and keeping it interesting for ourselves,” says Newman. “We’re in it for the long haul and this is a one-way trip.”
We’d note in passing that A Secret Wish, the Cold War Night Life-curated alternative music event, happens at the same venue as DRILL:LEXINGTON just a day later. It features the legendary producer and engineer, John Fryer, who has worked with Graham Lewis of Wire.
Wire official site: pinkflag.com
DRILL:LEXINGTON: Tickets
Sweden’s Twice a Man have a new album on the way and plans for a unique “Warm Wave” event in May.
One of Europe’s most respected electronic bands, the duo of Dan Söderqvist and Karl Gasleben recently expanded to include former member Jocke Söderqvist for the thirtieth anniversary of their pioneering album, From a Northern Shore. They will be in Gothenburg to host “A Warm Wave Concert” on 29 May 2015. A Stockholm show will take place on the following day.
Featured artists for the event include Argentina’s Vólkova, Sweden’s Red Mecca and Alvar, and Keluar from Berlin, as well as the hosts. They explain the unifying theme for the evening:
The concept of Warm Wave was originally coined by César Canali (Vólkova) and Chris Inlaw in front of the release Not so Cold, “A Warm Wave Compilation”.
In the early 80´s when Twice a Man initiated their music style in Scandinavia, many critics and others, blamed the band for playing dark, depressive music and gave the name “Cold Wave” to their genre, picking on that synthesizers were not real instruments. “You just push buttons”. Obviously we have kept pushing those buttons, because we are passionate in what we do and have love for our music, so after all we are “Not so Cold”.
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/442650519216867/
Silver Ghost Shimmer have taken the wrapping off their first video for their debut release, “Soft Landing.” The project of legendary producer and engineer, John Fryer, and singer Pinky Turzo, Silver Ghost Shimmer hit the sweet spot with this track. Here’s what we said when we made “Soft Landing” our Track of the Day:
John Fryer has a long history making and shaping music. Look on the back of the sleeves of the most important releases from the Mute or 4AD stables from the 1980s and his name will probably pop up as an engineer or producer. Speak and Spell? He was there. Upstairs at Erics? Yep. Head Over Heels? Check. Pump Up the Volume? Mmm-hmm. Not to mention his work in This Mortal Coil and The Hope Blister, nor his role in putting Nine Inch Nails over the top. Fryer’s been at the coal face when musical history was made so many times that it’s of immense interest when he has a new project to share. In this case, it’s a shiny, dark number with Pinky Turzo on vocals, layering delicate and spiky sounds like the finest muslin draped over thistles. Silver Ghost Shimmer cite 1960s pop acts like The Shangri Las as influences, but they have a post-punk pedigree like no other.
Fryer is one of the featured guests at Cold War Night Life’s event, A Secret Wish, on 19 April 2015 for those in London.
You can find and follow Silver Ghost Shimmer on Bandcamp or Facebook.
“Alles ist vorbei!” The famous line from DAF’s classic single, “Kebabträume,” translates as “Everything is over!” At the moment, it certainly looks like the legendary German godfathers of EBM are going to close the book on their musical partnership. While fans keep their fingers crossed for a change of heart, DAF’s farewell tour dates have been announced:
31.01. NL-Amsterdam, Grauzone Festival
30.05. RUS-Moskau, PIPL Club
11.07. Berlin, Gretchen Club
25.07. Köln, Amphi Eventpark (Amphi 2015)
10.10. S-Malmö, Inkonst
16.10. Krefeld, Kulturfabrik
These could be your last chances to be sprayed with spring water by Gabi Delgado while Robert propels the rhythm of their timeless songs.
After the brilliance of “Reason,” Erasure’s Violet Flame provides more winter illumination with “Sacred.” The third single from their current album, it’s a spark of elegance, fanned into a trancetastic frenzy in this sample from Chris Cox’s remixing desk.
The single comes with the following remixes:
– Sacred (Single Mix)
– Sacred (Chris Cox Remix)
– Sacred (Vibora Park Remix)
– Sacred (Black Light Odyssey Remix)
– Sacred (Rich B & Phil Marriott Remix)
– Sacred (Chris Cox Dub Mix)
– Sacred (88Ninety’s StellarMix8 Vox Remix)
– Sacred (Blend Remix Competition Winner TBA)
– Sacred (Live Rehearsal Version)
For those who prefer physical product, note that Lexer will be the exclusive outlet. The release date is 16 March 2015, unless you are in North America, which gets access a day later.
We’re still hoping that DAF’s Facebook page has been hacked by disgruntled former Sony employees, so that the message there is incorrect, but singer Gabi Delgado certainly thinks it is for real. This post appeared on the DAF page today:
In response, Delgado posted the following (translation by Google):
AMIGOS FRIENDS FRIENDS … for your information … the page “German American Friendship” is not run by the two of us … but only by robert … it probably is the announcement of a DAF screen resolution to see … I can not view the page … am here recently “blocked” … so I personally have me yesterday? … Suitable robert on nothing … yet it is true that our relation has long been very bad and we have been thinking about stopping a break or even over a … I was hoping this theme with robert discuss in amsterdam and to arrive at a common position … but now the screen resolution has robert communicated in a single action … and this is now a good thing !!! all booked and concerts are been announced as part of a “goodbye” tour to take place !!! shame anyway … made me great fun with YOU and DAF !!! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING AMIGOS !!!
DAF have split and regrouped before, so our fingers are crossed.
Alt-electronics outfit Laibach are hitting the road soon for a Spring tour of Europe and North America. It kicks off on 13 February 2015, taking a path around Europe before crossing the Atlantic. With 2014’s Spectre album in their pocket, Laibach have announced not one but two new versions: the Spectre Digital Deluxe Album and Spectremix, a separate remix album, both come out on 30 March 2015 via Mute.
The Spectremix album comes with specimens by Diamond Version, iTurk, Torul, Konstantin Sibold and others. The Diamond Version edit of The Whistleblowers can be previewed here:
LAIBACH – WORLDWIDE TOUR DATES 2015
European Dates
13 Feb – Mannheim, Alte Seilerei – DE
14 Feb – Hamburg, Kampnagel / Krass Festival – DE
15 Feb – Bochum, Zeche – DE
12 March – Rostock, Mau Club – DE
13 March – Malmö, Moriska Paviljongen – SE
14 March – Stockholm, Debaser Medis – SE
16 March – Helsinki, Tavastia – FI
17 March – Talin, Rockcafe – EE
18 March – Tampere, Klubi – FI
22 March – Dresden, Beatpol – DE
24 March – Brno, Sono Centrum – CZ
25 March – Krakow, Fabryka – PL
26 March – Warsaw, Palladium – PL
27 March – Berlin, Astra / Out of Line Weekender – DE
28 March – Oberhausen, Turbinenhalle / E-tropolis Festival – DE
29 March – Breda, Mezz – NL
30 March – Brighton, Concorde 2 – UK
31 March – Glasgow, Classic Grand – UK
2 April – London, Electric Ballroom – UK
3 April – Manchester, Academy 2 – UK
4 April – Maastricht, Muziekgieterij – NL
5 April – Paris, Divan Du Monde – FR
8 April – Vienna, Arena – AT
9 April – Budapest, Barba Negra Music Club – HU
11 April – Munich, Residenztheater – DE (part of The Dark Ages production)
North American Dates
11 May – Washington DC, Black Cat – US
12 May – Philadelphia PA, Theatre Of The Living – US
13 May – New York NY, Irving Plaza, with Ministry – US
16 May – Toronto ON, Danforth Music Hall – CA
20 May – Chicago IL, Abbey Pub – US
23 May – Denver, CO, Summit Music Hall – US
26 May – Seattle WA, El Corazon – US
27 May – Vancouver BC, Rickshaw Theatre – CA
28 May – Portland OR, Wonder Ballroom – US
30 May – San Francisco CA, The Fillmore – US
1 June – Los Angeles CA, The Roxy Theatre – US