Stockholm’s Kaos! are the duo of Eva Kaxe and Kristian Oscarsson.
Their latest release is “Pursuit of Life,” which comes with a very nice video shot by Anastasia Karlova. The track itself is vintage poptronica to start the week on the right footing.
It might sound like a firm of accountants, or a story with a missing Lundström, but Andersson & Pettersson is actually the latest project of Mark Pettersson from My God Damn Territory.
The Stockholm-based photographer has teamed up with a new singer for a slice of poptronica served with an awesome stop-motion video.
Canadian electronic music doesn’t always come sweetened like maple syrup – sometimes it is hardened like hockey equipment.
The proof is this compelling new track from Xarah Dion, which tracks satellites and beats crossing the DEW line with pinpoint accuracy. The dark wave artist is on tour in Europe, and “Ethos Eros” is a taster of the album coming out on the first of June.
Xarah Dion appears in London at the Achtung! Achtung! festival on 25 May 2019.
John Fryer’s Black Needle Noise project is prolific, as the legendary studio man teams up with singers to create new material.
Fryer’s most recent collaboration is with a revolting cock. Well, Chris Connelly was a Revolting Cock, but he has also fronted Finitribe and worked with Ministry, PTP, Pigface, KMFDM, Acid Horse and others.
These days, Connelly is doing as turn as the successor to David Bowie; channelling the Thin White Duke. For “I’ll Give You Shape,” he has dialled down the Ziggy and taken a prompt from BNN’s previous turns
Fryer’s instrumentation is typically dark and heavy. Notes are drawn out for maximum tension, while guitars infused with Americana and machine-gun snare knocks create a sense of menace.
Originally performed by Berlin, “Take My Breath Away” was co-written by Giorgio Moroder and is the sonic embodiment of the 1980s.
Hafdis Huld, the former Gus Gus singer, has been charting her own course for more than two decades. With her new album, Variations, Huld has drawn on a selection of hits to cover in her own style.
The tracks selected include songs made famous by Dolly Parton, The Real Thing and Haddaway, among others.
In Huld’s hands, “Take My Breath Away” acquires a folk-like patina that is warm and inviting. It’s a simple and great love song even without the soaring synth pads that made it an essential part of the Top Gun soundtrack.
Fatherly advice for the Instagram generation comes from Blancmange. Set in a minor key with a heightened sense of pathos, Neil Arthur’s entreaty to be yourself is the antidote to the pressures of social media.
Arthur’s lyrics are typically didactic, but the simplicity of his lines works magically against instrumentation from the prolific hermit, Benge.
With vocals inspired by Cosey Fanni Tutti and pulsing electronics that fizz like the bubbles in melting ice, Boy Harsher have surprised with the release of “Come Closer.”
The song isn’t a million miles from “Hot on the Heels of Love” interpreted by Factory Floor, if you need a comparator.
The video has been made by Nedda Afsari (AKA Muted Fawn) and friends as Muted Widows. Asfari is a renowned photographer in California, who will be familiar to readers of Cold War Night Life for her work with Jennie Vee and Caroline Haydon. It features Sarah Cummings, the model with those freckles, and it’s as stylish as the song.
The Manchester scene that revolved around Factory Records didn’t completely spin apart after the label’s demise. New Order found their way to Mute Artists, replacing Depeche Mode as a marquee act, while A Certain Ratio took up their position as a respected but less commercial label-mate.
That assessment of ACR might be a little unfair, as this new release shows.
“Houses in Motion” is taken from a Martin Hannett recording session that was intended to draw in Grace Jones. In the end, the Amazonian goddess didn’t add her vocals, so the track was left on the shelf.
Unearthed from the archive, dusted off and reworked, it turns out to be a missing gem. It’s funky fun for all modern slaves to the rhythm.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]John Fryer’s Black Needle Noise project is back with a new track featuring singer Yvette Winkler. Unusually, it comes with a professionally produced video to illustrate the results of their collaboration.
“Gone” features the Dutch Gothic goddess purring and growling over Fryer’s trademark heavy duty beats. The video adds layers of gauze and mystery.
The track shows that Fryer’s cup of ideas is still brim-full. The surface tension keeps Winkler’s ethereal vocals defying gravity.
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Karin My is one of Sweden’s secret weapons.
The Gothenburg-based composer and multi-instrumentalist has worked with a number of the country’s leading artists, including Twice a Man and Robert Enforsen. She appeared on two of the tracks for Heresy, the Rational Youth tribute album produced by Cold War Night Life.
She has now revealed her new single. “The Silence” features the pulsing, filtered sounds of a Kord MS20 and a soaring vocal line. It is elegant and delicate, while thunderingly electronic when the MS20 pushes higher in the mix. Using the kind of tension heard in Madonna’s best work with William Orbit, “The Silence” is as complex as the Berman film with which it shares a title.
