Reviews

Cryo – In Your Eyes

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

A new release from Sweden’s Cryo is always keenly anticipated. Martin Rudefelt’s songwriting is one of Scandinavia’s best-kept secrets, but that should change with the release of In Your Eyes. The first single from the forthcoming Retropia album, In Your Eyes comes with a club mix that is a sure-fire hit. It’s not a Rational Youth cover, but an original alternative dancefloor-filling stormer, coming on like Portion Control crossed with The KLF at Front 242’s house.

Additional mixes by Haujobb and Leaether Strip give different spins to In Your Eyes, but the real gem on this release is The Portal, a powerful track that is no filler or b-side candidate. Cryo’s songcraft is exceptional; and, if Retropia can keep up this standard, then Rudefelt and partner in crime, Torny Gottberg, can rightly claim one of the year’s great releases in a vintage year for electronic music.

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Review: Flexivåg Compilation from Flexiwave

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

It used to be that tape cassettes were Enemy Number One for the music industry. People in their bedrooms, armed with Maxell C-60s and collections of sacred vinyl, were accused of killing music. Then the internet came along, and it seemed quaint to think that fans making mixtapes for their ghetto blasters were somehow responsible for pulling down the world’s cultural foundations. It took the arrival of CDs to kill off the cassette format, but the advent of P2P networking and MP3 compression finished it off for good. Music was saved!

The thing about the cassette, though, is that it had a saturated sound that could be warm and attractive. You could also take it apart and manufacture home-made tape-loops, using only a pair of scissors and some glue. Presumably, the attraction of the Stockholm-based recording label, Flexiwave, to the cassette format is based on the former consideration. After all, who would want to disassemble one of their fabulous, hand-made packages to cut up a C-20 cassette featuring some of Sweden’s finest electronic acts? You wouldn’t want to take the scissors to Video Look’s Avveckling (Liquidation), with its dark, brooding electro sounds, any more than you would want to mess with the sound of Komatrohn’s Ingen som vet (Nobody Knows). Kord are one of the best examples of the new minimal wave, so being able to play Ensam och het (Alone and Hot) through Dolby Noise Control holds more attraction than simple format-nostalgia. Colouroid’s own Baklängesvärlden (Backward’s World) wouldn’t sound the same without the saturation.

Then again, the C-20 pack comes with a download code, so that those without the hardware to play tapes can still hear the songs. In that case, a home-made tape-loop can be yours, but what could you record on it that would be any cooler? You music-killer, you.

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Review: Covenant – Leaving Babylon

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

You know what’s brave? Putting on a show in London and hiding the band members among dancers as a conceptual art project, so that no one can tell if they are even in the room. Like The Knife did. You know what else is brave? Including a 76 minute spoken word CD with your new album, featuring poet Helena Österlund intoning in Swedish over a Middle Earth soundtrack. Take a bow, Covenant – the Skånian hard-electronics band that is best known for its futurepop stylings. Breaking with conventions can be controversial and alienate fans who are set in their expectations; but, for those with an open mind, following a band on its journey can be an interesting and head-expanding experience.

Don’t worry – Covenant haven’t lost the plot. What they have done is expand the boundaries of their new album, Leaving Babylon, in new and unexpected directions. There are still intense sequencer patterns and thumping drums, but the album is book-ended by tracks at the experimental end of pop. Their name is Covenant, not Conventional, so it doesn’t hurt to indulge a little exploration – especially when the tracks at the core of Leaving Babylon are such high-quality, edgy material.

covenantleavingbabylonTake Prime Movers, which is a gothic aerobics instructor’s dream: dark, stabbing bass; a euphoric lead and a growling vocal. It brings the feeling of the album back into the normal fan’s comfort zone. There should be no complaints arising from tracks like Ignorance and Bliss, either, with sparkling pads and lush choirs draped like muslin over a pulsing bass and galloping rhythm track. Likewise, Auto Circulation is custom-designed to be dropped into a late-night mix – a heady concoction of filters and tension.

The stand-out song on the album is a more complex affair. For Our Time might be too dark for daytime radio, but don’t be surprised to hear it on a soundtrack in a cinema near you: it’s moody, elegant, and tailor-made for that spot when the hero realises he’s all alone in the world. This is Covenant’s sweet-spot, and they hit it so neatly that you can easily forget that you’ve still got a 76 minute spoken word CD to listen to.

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Review: Vile Electrodes – The Future Through a Lens

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

brighton-VE1Vile Electrodes are one of the hottest acts on the European electronic music scene. Fronted by Anais Neon (see what she did there?) and propelled by voltage-controlled music-man Martin Swan, the Vile ones have attracted attention with their brand of dirty electronics: they have already warmed up for OMD and John Foxx & The Maths to widespread acclaim. The duo is now ready to peel back the latex a little and show you their new album, The Future Through a Lens.

The Future… is the first proper Vile Electrodes album. It gathers many of the sounds that have done well on their live outings, including the front-of-stage favourite, Damaged Software. The surprise is how well Anais’ vocals match up to the synthesized tones squeezed from Swan’s patch cables – the slower songs, especially, are impressed with delicate pathos in both the voice and instrumental tracks. The closing track, Deep Red, belongs to that place of alienation and yearning that is also occupied by Yazoo’s Winter Kills or OMD’s Distance Fades Between Us.

brighton-VE3The pace isn’t as restrained in songs like Empire of Wolves or Tore Myself to Pieces, which beg to be unleashed on the dancefloor. The Vile ones have a great sense of song structure, which will make them a firm favourite with DJs. The best way to enjoy them is live, but owning your own copy of The Future… is a brilliant way to keep the hips moving between shows.

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Review: Page – Hemma

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

Page’s latest album is called Hemma (At Home), but make no mistake: this is not music for sofas. No, no no. Page’s follow-up to their 2010 relaunch is the soundtrack to a good night out. Laced with disco, glam rock and punk influences, the songs on Hemma are for getting ready, driving and dancing. Not to some retro school disco, either – these are grown-up, sophisticated pop tracks that nod to their roots but are right in the moment.

The lead track, Som en skal (Like a Shell), is also the first single, remixed and released on two ultra-limited edition 3″ CDs. The album version is stunning; a demonstration of singer and songwriter Eddie Bengtsson’s ability to forge sounds and melodies with maximum emotional impact. To get an idea of the sound, think of The House of Love’s Christine reimagined by Kraftwerk before Karl Bartos left. A bonus remix from producer Håkan Hultberg ramps up the glamour with a Giorgio Moroder feel.

With the last Page album, Nu (Now), Bengtsson confirmed his ability to write superlative pop, and Hemma proves that its quality and integrity was no lucky strike. There isn’t a single filler track on the album, even with twelve songs to choose from. Instead, there are little touches that point to Page’s influences more directly than previously: here, some toms that suggest the rhythm track on OMD’s Enola Gay; there, a radio dial that tunes into a snarling John Lydon. “Hey!” calls a looped voice, synced with a stomping rhythm line that fits the “glamtronica” theme of Bengtsson’s recent remixes and cover tunes. Page glide effortlessly between and among a range of styles from the 1970s and 80s, while keeping up the tempo and avoiding cliches.

Smakar som förr (Tastes Like Before), for example, occupies a space bounded by Cerrone’s Supernature, on one side, and Giorgio Moroder’s Chase, on the other. Through analogue alchemy and Moog filters, it pulses and purrs with energy. In the 70s, this kind of track would have been mixed into a 14 minute version and accompanied in clubs by live drummers. You can simulate that effect during your commute by putting the song on repeat and tapping along on your steering wheel.

Other stand-out tracks include Djur (Animal) and Lyssnade på min radio (Listened to My Radio), which prove again that Page are really peerless when it comes to melodic and stylish synthpop.

Page don’t “twerk” or wear meat dresses to get attention, so it is questionable whether commercial radio or music TV will make room for songs of this quality. The attitude of the mainstream media is that they can take it or leave it – but that’s their mistake. If you don’t bring Hemma into your home, then the loss will be entirely your own.

Hemma is out now on Wonderland Records

 

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One Man’s Meat: DAF Live in Sweden

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft
Gothenburg, Sweden
30 August 2013

He’s prowling the stage like a cornered panther, but Gabi Delgado has the whole city of Göteborg in his
hands. They’re all here tonight – at least those who dress in black and remember with nostalgia the prototechno punk of DAF from the early 1980s. A blonde girl at the front looks unsteady, but her boyfriend props her up and solicitous security guards constantly check up on her. When the fencing in front of her shows the slightest wobble, the show is stopped for health and safety reasons. The pierced and leather-armoured descendents of Vikings calmly step aside for repairs and the show recommences. This is punk, Swedish-style.

Delgado is quickly back in stride, tearing open his shirt and dousing himself with bottled mineral water (more expensive than petrol, but still invoking the Cat People theme). He charges his way through a heaving set of electro gems, with just Görl’s nanosecond-perfect drumming and monophonic sequencer backing for company. The atmosphere crackles with energy – more primal and complex than the atavistic aggression of the bands who have borrowed their template over more than three decades. “DAF is punk!” goes a slogan from one song (Du Bist DAF), but that isn’t the whole story: as the crowd knows, DAF is sex. Boy meets boy, boy meets girl (or is that Görl?) – Blur can list the combinations, but DAF can put them together. Intention is written into the sequencer patterns, but Delgado’s lyrics are often about the details of romantic desire: a lover’s red lips (Rote Lippen) or the flexing of limbs (Muskel).

Politics have always followed DAF around. During the Cold War, they threw barbs at both East and West. Der Mussolini, their most controversial track, has sometimes confounded critics with its invitation to “Dance the Mussolini”, but it is a rebuke to absolutist (and totemic) systems. Set to a driving sequencer loop and made for the alternative dancefloor, the song pulls no punches in its punk critique. It says, “I don’t buy what you are selling” to the conservative older generation in Germany – whichever side of the barbed war and tank traps they lived on. Their capacity to annoy the establishment is reinforced by the adoption of Baader-Meinhof graphics in their promotional material, but one thinks that it would be just as annoying to earnest 1970s radicals to be co-opted for music merchandise.

DAF don’t go along to get along, and for only a brief moment in their musical careers have they retreated to the safety of commercial dance music. Having proven that they could do it better than most, they left cover to pursue their independent path again. The warmongering of a certain cowboy President was highlighted in Der Sheriff, one of a new crop of songs rooted in DAF’s minimalist aesthetic and one of the stand-out tracks of the evening. Against earlier hits, like Ich und die Wirklichkeit or Verschwende Deine Jugend, which were also aired in Göteborg, the newer material stands shoulder-to-shoulder. Should we say, like brothers from different mothers? That would be a cheeky reminder of their commercial adventures, but provocation was (and is) core to DAF’s ethos.

DAF’s stage show was a master-class for the musicians lined up in the front rows of the audience, many from Sweden’s leading alternative acts. It is sometimes said that the star that burns twice as bright shines half as long. That might be true, but DAF live is still a nightclub supernova.

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Back to The Future: Robert Marlow Remixed

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

Robert Marlow sometimes suffers from being treated as a footnote in the Depeche Mode and Yazoo stories. Yes, he was in the Boys Brigade youth organisation with Andy Fletcher and Vincent Clarke. Yes, he used to play in The Vandals with Alison Moyet. Yes, he was in French Look with Martin Gore. Indeed, Vince Clarke did produce him and release his singles on Reset Records, his foray into the business end of the industry. But all of that was three decades ago, and of late he’s been working on his own brand of dynamic synthpop, both as a solo artist and one-half of Marlow. The latter partnership dissolved before The Future album was released, so Marlow is back to being just Robert Marlow.

His latest offering is an album of remixes, with nine different artists giving their own treatment to songs from The Future. In addition, there are two of former collaborator Gary Durant’s original mixes, as well as Vince Clarke’s 2001 remix of No Heart, a track that originally appeared as the B-side of 1983’s I Just Want to Dance single. Contributors include Diskodiktator, Eddie Bengtsson of Page, Cobalt 60 and KATElectric – a range of talents from the electronic scene, who bring their own styling to each track. The “Glamtronica” remix from Bengtsson, for example, infuses The Future with a classic glam rock feel, looping a stomping phrase for the song’s spine. All of the mixes play with the classic synthpop feel of the originals in spirited ways, and the collection is a welcome update to the (Robert) Marlow discography. A preview and ordering information are available here: http://www.poponaut.de/robert-marlow-future-remixes-p-12180.html?osCsid=9181df1e70ca8ba08516fd3efd9315d2

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Set sequencers to fun! S.P.O.C.K live

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

S.P.O.C.K at Babel, Malmö
24 May 2013

There aren’t many artists who could stretch an act conceived for a friend’s birthday party into a 25-year career in music. Still fewer could make the transition from a science fiction-themed novelty act into a credible synthpop legend, while dressing like a cosmonaut and writing lyrics based almost entirely upon Gene Rodenberry’s film and television legacy. Alexander Hofman’s success with Star Pilots on Channel K (you can call them S.P.O.C.K and him Android) is unique, but then so are the songs he sings: there aren’t many lyricists who have managed to distil the many protests of Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy (you know: “I’m not a magician, Spock, just an old country doctor.”) into a chorus.


The crowd that gathered in Malmö’s Babel club to celebrate S.P.O.C.K’s 25th birthday knew they were in for a special evening. The Eurovision Song Contest had finished the week before, and Sweden’s synthers were longing to hear their own music again. Finnish flags waved, Spanish and American fans arrived, and some die-hards wore their own Federation costumes. After a space-themed DJ set, the start of the show was signalled by a sound collage, compiled from different science fiction programmes. Then, three men in costumes took to the stage to sing the band’s early hit, E.T. Phone Home. The audience reacted warmly, having easily recognised the trio as former band members (and home-town synth heroes) Eddie Bengtsson, Johan Billing and Christer Hermodsson.

They were shooed from the stage by Hofman, who was joined by current members Val Solo and Johan Malmgren for a run-through of S.P.O.C.K’s greatest hits and a taste of their forthcoming album. S.P.O.C.K have had the advantage of superior songwriters and musicians over the years, including Bengtsson (who is best known for his Page and Sista Mannen på Jorden projects) and Hermodsson (latterly of Biomekkanik), so songs like Alien Attack and Reactivated continue to sound current. Although Hofman loves to clown around, on record and on stage, his ability to artfully carry a tune can be fully appreciated on songs like Speed of Light or Out There. His stage presence can be likened, at times, to that of a cheerful Dave Gahan or modest Bono.


At their roots, S.P.O.C.K are a party band, fuelled by ABV and MIDI in equal quantities. That said, the appeal of their songs goes beyond the energetic beats of Star Pilots on Channel K or dancefloor-friendly melody of Never Trust a Klingon. The reference to popular science fiction provides a recognisable aesthetic, but it is also a vehicle to explore themes of alienation and longing. Songs like Take Me to the Stars (“I want to leave this place, fly across the universe, never see this race.”) or Where Rockets Fly (“You’re not alone.”) are on a frequency also used to great effect by Depeche Mode. The emotive force of their songs is precisely what lifts S.P.O.C.K out of any novelty act pigeon-hole.

At the end of the evening, the grateful audience didn’t want to let S.P.O.C.K leave the stage. They were rejoined by Bengtsson, Billing and Hermodsson for a celebratory finale, performing some old-time S.P.O.C.K-and-Roll. Mera Brännvin was staged with a synthetic twist to the rockabilly style of Eddie Meduza. Surrounded by friends and fans, the one called Android looked as human as could be.

Update: Footage from Youtube

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