The Queen continues her evolution with a dark electro track, remixed here by The Hacker. Lieber Hammer als Amboss.
Front 242 are saying goodbye to their European audiences. After a career that spanned four decades, which saw them topping bills on stages around the world, the Belgian band is switching off the synths and turning on the house lights.
The Black Out tour comes to London with a set of greatest hits locked and loaded. From the opening of “W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G.,” the crowd in the Electric Ballroom is ready to celebrate. There is jumping even in the slower bits – though there aren’t many of those, as the band keep the tempo and spirits high throughout. A Sunday curfew means there is little time between songs, and there is a lot of ground to cover.
The set includes “Body to Body,” “Moldavia”, “U. Men,” and “Red Team.” Crowd favourites, like “Welcome to Paradise,” get the security guards nervous at the level of dancing. The evening’s highlight is the rising chord of “Take One,” which tracks faithfully to the studio version. At the end, the crowd lose it for “Headhunter” – willing Jean-Luc de Meyer’s voice to last just a few stanzas more.
The band return to stand in profile in front of a video scrapbook of their career. It has been long and successful, and they are cheered into retirement by the loudest audience the Ballroom has seen in ages.
The evening began with Sweden’s Rein. The changeling has reinvented herself again, showing off a leaner set with even more angles and Numanesque asides. Backed by her coproducer, Djejotronic, Rein patrolled the stage, throwing shapes like Janet Jackson filtered through an MS20.
An energetic set, drawing in “Accelerate,” “Reincarnate,” and “Bodyhammer,” got the crowd in the mood for the evening’s party. It ended with a retooled version of her early track, “There Is No Authority But Yourself.” Rein, like the proverbial river, is never the same performer twice, but she does not disappoint.
The weekend forecast is for heavy-duty beats from REIN. The Swedish songstress is returning to London for her second headline show at Electrowerkz on Saturday, 6 April 2024.
REIN has toured with Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, and Front Line Assembly, winning over audiences with her fierce messages and hard-as-nails electronics. Her recent material goes to the next level with pop influences ranging from Janet Jackson to Robyn. The combination is intense.
Tickets for the show include free admission to the legendary Slimelight club night, where REIN’s co-producer, Djejotronic, will take the decks.
Facebook event: https://facebook.com/events/s/rein-live-includes-free-entry-/7165513900163294/
This has been a difficult year for parts of the music industry. Bandcamp, owned by Epic Games, turned on its workers in an attempt to break its union and reduce its size. Moog was sold to inMusic, the owners of Akai and M-Audio, and started its own programme of layoffs. Spotify announced that it would stop paying artists for 2/3 of the songs it makes available. Glume and Xylo announced that they had turned to sex work to compensate for the challenges of making a living in music. Merchandise sales – the life-blood of touring acts – came under taxation by many venues. At the same time, overall revenues continued to rise – data from 2022 showing new record levels of cash flowing towards the monopolies that control live performances, publishing, and recorded music catalogues. Independent labels and self-releasing artists were squeezed for every last drop, while the grabbing hands grabbed all they could. To quote a California millionaire who contributed to a top-selling album this year, it’s a competitive world.
The misfortune is that exceptional music gets drowned out between the cacophony of TikTok and the sanitised celebrities of the Superbowl half-time show. Challenging sounds and radical ideas are marginalised, even as alternative venues are bulldozed to make way for new developments (goodbye, Iklectik). So, what is to be done?
Part of the answer is greater public funding of the arts – and not just the opera. By supporting festivals and other live events, resources can be used to keep venues and performing artists on their feet. Bursaries for artists to be able to meet their bills while creating new works can be an alternative to sex work or other last-ditch measures. Setting fair royalties for streaming of creative works can help to make up for the declines in physical sales. Rules against union-busting can keep skilled workers engaged. Streaming services should be treated like broadcasters and subjected to royalty regulations. None of these should be controversial measures, but the neoliberal assault on public life has, over decades, eroded the foundation on which culture industries stand. Without action, only Live Nation/Ticketmaster, Sony, and Spotify will be left standing. Breaking up those monopolies would be no bad thing, either.
In that spirit, all of the artists in this year’s chart are on independent labels. We encourage you to buy their releases, rather than just stream them. Wear their merch. Go to their shows. Ignore events designed to suck all of the oxygen out of the scene, with “dynamic pricing” and £50 t-shirts sold by multinational corporations. You can do better, and these artists deserve it.
23. CAPPA – Hell of a Time
LA-based Carla Cappa has been working for years, knocking out dreamy pop music with to-the-minute touches. This track demonstrates CAPPA’s commercial sensibility and pop dynamics. One for the car or the dance floor.
22. Aux Animaux – Night
The long night has descended on Sweden, so it is a good time to highlight this track from Stockholm’s aux animaux, which appears on the new Body Horror album. It comes with a playful video and old-school gothic vibes that give a taste of Gözde Düzer’s style.
21. Elegiac – Meet My Stalker
The collaboration between Blurt’s Ted Milton and Wire’s Graham Lewis known as Elegiac first took shape in 2021, but their work was far from finished. This EP is their second release, pieced together by sound artist Sam Britton. It collects revised versions of three songs from the debut Elegiac album, married to this newly revealed piece.
20. Container 90 – Grand PrixXx
This collection of songs by Container 90 is the duo’s fourth album. It comes as a comic book, instead of a traditional insert, with each page reflecting one of the tracks. Old school EBM lives on through Container 90, and this set draws together their “Eurovision Song Protest,” “EBM Way of Life,” and “Roller Derby Love Affair.” Solid.
19. Sunroof – Electronic Music Improvisations Live in London and Frankfurt
The really fun thing about Sunroof is that two of the most accomplished producers of our time balance on a knife’s edge with unpredictable modules to generate sounds together. There are psychological studies that show band members develop a hive-mind when playing together, but neither Daniel Miller nor Gareth Jones consider themselves musicians. Still, their process of engagement with the sounds (and silences) of the other yields compelling and finessed results. There is a danger with improvisations that threads are lost or egos compete, but neither of these risks has arisen during their performances. The evidence is on this album, which captures shows in London and Frankfurt. The vital flow of electrons, mediated through the hands of the two friends, is something to behold.
18. Vince Clarke – Songs of Silence
Although Vince Clarke is best known for bouncy pop songs made on monophonic synthesisers, he has a long history of making music on the more experimental side. In particular, his collaborations with Martyn Ware as The Illustrious Company have dabbled in multidimensional sounscapes and material for installstions.
It shouldn’t have been such a surprise, therefore, that a break from Erasure work should have led to the development of Songs of Silence. Billed as Clarke’s first solo album, it is a collection of songs built from drones generated on the units incorporated into Clarke’s Eurorack modular system. It could be standard Cafe Oto/Wire Magazine fare, if it wasn’t for Clarke’s ear, which is tuned in an unusually sensitive way.
17. Lucy Gaffney – Daydream in Tokyo
From Belfast, Lucy Gaffney appeared with a style that recalls the much-missed Delays. Fusing guitar-based rhythms with touches of electronics and a very smooth vocal, Gaffney came up with several great songs this year, but this is our favourite.
16. NNHMN – Circle of Doom
The duo of Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg have worked out how to make dark electro tantalising. The current NNHMN album, Circle of Doom, is laden with elegant, charged and dynamic songs to keep the body moving.
15. Die Sexual – Tremble for Me
The US duo, Die Sexual, released a tremendous debut EP this year. Bound, I Rise is certain to make a number of year-end charts with its edgy grooves. We went for this later release, which goes to show that the EP wasn’t beginner’s luck.
14. Cosmic Garden Project – The Green Reverb
There are some artists who seem to be able to add magic to everything they touch. Dan Söderqvist, the Twice a Man singer, is one of those. This year, he has released two albums and still found time for the Cosmic Garden Project. Bringing together Söderqvist, Per Svensson and Pontus Torstensson, The Green Reverb is a poetic, enchanted journey through ancient forests to the sea. It has a psychedelic flow, but there is a reflective tone to the material, as it contemplates our connection to Mother Earth.
13. Lonelyklown – I Believe in Snow
The solo project of Dave Baker, Lonelyklown, was active this year with an album of remixes (Day Jar View), an ode to “All the Summers Gone,” and a pair of songs for the season. This is the last of them, and the proceeds go to support Care4Calais, a charity supporting refugees. It is a reminder that Baker’s songwriting talents and current fascination for the 70s can produce the most amazing gems.
12. John Foxx – The Arcades Project
Harold Budd’s The White Arcades is one of the best applications of reverb ever. John Foxx’s The Arcades Project calls that 1988 album to mind, and it certainly doesn’t stint on the processing. Inspired by a book by Walter Benjamin of the same name, it explores spaces and sights through ambience and presence. John Foxx is a national treasure, and this is an album that belongs in a gallery instead of the CD rack.
11. Strikkland – Enkelriktat
Representing Sweden’s West Coast, the body-pop fusion of Strikkland continues to charge ahead with its hard-edge rhythms. The duo have been picking up more live shows, and their style is like a set of shiny leather boots on the pavement of modern radio.
10. KUNT – Unleashed
The first album from Sweden’s KUNT is a blast. The duo of Paula Lè Boss and Rickard Rosendahl have created a powerful, in-your-face sound that strikes with sequenced blows. This track, remixed by Cryo, gives a good taste of the emphatic, no-nonsense attitude the band delivers.
9. Kite – Don’t Take the Light Away SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Produced together with the Swedish team, Aasthma (Pär Grindvik and Peder Mannerfelt), Kite released this track back in April – just in time for their first live shows in London. Need we say that they were storming demonstrations of the duo’s capability to write outstanding tunes? This track adds to the evidence.
8. Psyche – Live in Sweden
Psyche returned to Europe from a nightmarish year with a storming and emotional show at the famous Dickens pub in Helsingborg. It was quickly released as a live recording, which is excellent, as it captures Darrin Huss at his rawest. The set includes “Prisoner to Desire,” “Uncivilised,” “Misery,” and “The Outsider” – classic Psyche tracks that show a European soul in a Canadian body.
7. The Weathermen – 40 Years REISSUE OF THE YEAR
Take the keyboard player from Fad Gadget’s first live band. Add the visuals director from Tuxedomoon. Stir in politics, cynicism, and a fondness for the absurd. Bake in some hard, minimal electronics. That gives you The Weathermen – Belgium’s iconic electro-jesters.
The band had a string of hits that moved the alternative dancefloor in the late 80s and early 90s. This year, PIAS, their label, marked their 40th anniversary with an EP collecting several of them in one place on vinyl. The throb of Jean-Marc Lederman’s bass synth on “Poison” shakes the walls as Suzanna Stammer (Bruce Geduldig) threatens your Bruce Springsteen records. “Barbie and Ken” is a reminder that Margot Robbie wasn’t the first to satirise the impossibly perfect dolls. “Bang!” is just terrific fun. This is an essential collection of timeless dance music with a knowing glint in its eye.
6. Zanias – Chrysalis
Berlin-based Alison Lewis has honed her alter-ego project into something very special. As Zanias, she released Chrysalis this year; combining personal and political viewpoints into a statement of hope. You don’t mess with Zanias – and you don’t mess with Mother Earth.
5. Pieces of Juno – Atlantis
The last of the Pieces of Juno works expected from Norway’s Juno Jensen, Atlantis struck us with its naturalistic touches. There are also glints of Nick Cave’s, Tom Waits’ and PJ Harvey’s influences. This is the perfect album for Sunday night listening with the lights down. If it doesn’t leave you touched, you are a psychopath.
4. Lau Nau – Aphrilis
Finland’s Lau Nau was very active again this year. She released 5×4 as summer approached, and then this album came towards year-end. Her tenth album, Aphrilis is a figure of beauty and wonder. There are lullabies and songs for the planet, and the material flows with sensual tension. Not a foot is set wrong across the seven songs. Lau Nau and her collaborators have taken the space to create them with a sense of connection with the natural world, and the results are lush.
3. Lucifer’s Aid – Destruction
The new album from Calle Nilsson’s solo project, Lucifer’s Aid, is an exciting career highlight. The previous four studio albums have shown great workmanship, but the craft on Destruction is next level. It sits neatly alongside the best work by Front Line Assembly and label-mates Cryo. This is seriously good dance floor-filling material.
2. REIN – God Is a Woman
In 2023, Stockholm’s REIN criss-crossed North America with Front Line Assembly, and opened for Nitzer Ebb and Front 242, but her new album showed a side several steps removed from her EBM roots. With her coproducer, Djedjotronic, REIN fused elements of Robyn, Janet Jackson, Eurythmics, and The Prodigy to create a dynamic and forward-looking set of songs.
1. Page – En ny våg ALBUM OF THE YEAR
When Daniel Miller released a series of records as Silicon Teens, he showed the future to a young Eddie Bengtsson. The Swedish skateboarder sold his drums and bought two cheap synths. One went to Marina Schiptjenko, and the result was a pioneering band that took over where ABBA left off.
More than four decades later, Page are still making innovative and dynamic sounds with their equipment. Both have been updated for the times, but the spirit of 1979-1980 runs through them. En ny våg is the concentrated extract of Synth Britannia, as imagined by Bengtsson and processed through Moog keyboards. The material is as rich as anything the duo have made, and proceedings are enhanced by the appearance of Chris Payne and Rrussell Bell from Gary Numan’s touring band and Dramatis. It is a match made in Heaven (at least, before Branson bought it).
There is a danger that electronic music events are becoming conventions for men with bald heads and a passion for vintage equipment. Vince Clarke’s recent London performance brought out the shiny-domed gear-heads in large numbers – an audience in his own image. The fans who discovered synth sounds in the 1970s and 80s have competing demands on their time, and a night on the alternative dancefloor isn’t as easy to arrange as it once was. Those who make the journey out are drawn from an increasingly homogenous pool.
Swedish promoters, FutureRetro, tackle that issue head-on at their Weekender festival in Stockholm. Taking over the Slaktkyrkan venue (a converted abbatoir) for two nights, they balance the programme with established and upcoming artists. They also lean away from all-blokey staples; inviting many artists with strong feminine energy. As a result, fans can punch the air aggressively, if they like, but they can also dance without coked-up tanks clearing paths between the venue bar and the front of the stage. Dark wave and electro festivals typically attract decent crowds, but few are as recognisable as the Swedes for their decency. Vinyl skirts and cat-eye make-up don’t need to compete at the event with dad-bods and black t-shirts for space – both are easily accomodated.
Day 1
Proceedings begin with Emmon, a local and very well-regarded act fronted by Emma Nylén. Once the pop darlings of Wonderland Records, Emmon has been reinvented as an EBM-influenced show. Nylén has returned to her DJ roots, and the current material remains striking and catchy with elements of her record collection. There is a trace of Front 242 here, a reference to Goldfrapp there, a nod to Depeche Mode – and an original spine of rhythm and tension that builds excitement throughout the set.
The show begins with “Reconstruction” and ends with “Like a Drum” from the RECON album, written by Nylén and Jimmy Monell. Emanuel Åström of Agent Side Grinder joins Emmon on stage for another of the album’s stand-out tracks, “Purebloods” – a showcase for both sets of vocals. With songs like these, Emmon deserves to be better known outside of Sweden.
From Italy, Ash Code delivered a performance full of dark flourishes. The greatest number of the songs came from their debut album, Oblivion, but the set was also peppered with later crowd favourites like “Nite Rite” and “Posthuman.”
Zanias, the lead project and alter ego of Alison Lewis, takes things up a level with a set of dramatic and artful dark electro. Accompanied by her tour partner, Neu Romancer, on bass guitar, Zanias reaches deep for the energy to keep feet moving and heads bobbing on a night where the wind chill factor reaches Spinal Tap levels. As a carpet of snow grows outside, Zanias throws off sparks that catch hold throughout the “slaughter church.” Zanias’ songs often explore our relationship with nature, but they are as political as they are personal. Many of those in the set come from this year’s Chrysalis album, which has the intention to “weave hope from hopelessness.” In these times, Zanias’s voice is directed against decay and towards renewal. It is a powerful and moving one.
A more classic goth vibe takes over as Clan of Xymox occupy the stage. Singer Ronny Moorings steers the band through a set of old and new songs that resonate with the room. A nostalgic wave surges for two iconic tracks: “A Day” and “Muscovite Mosquito.” Xymox and their label, 4AD, had some kind of falling out involving master tapes once, but these songs helped to define the sound of the alternative Underground in the 1980s. It is the only act with an all-male line-up, but a third of the show include songs named after women or their common pronoun.
Sierra closes the night with a burst of sequenced pyrotechnics. The French artist released her first album this year, but she has been making dents in the scene in the US, UK and Europe in all the right places.
Day 2
The second day of the festival opens with Selofan and Lebanon Hanover. The Fabrika Records label-mates deliver the bass guitar and pained vocals that characterise most gothic rock these days. The result is a comforting familiarity rather than a raged disturbance.
Los Angeles-based Spike Hellis combine European and American influences in a way that wins them a new following. Launching their first European tour, the duo start with the industrial-glitch of “Crisis.” Fans of The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and Manufacture will find phrases to their taste, but songs like”Control (Rage)” and “Teardrops (Kisses)” demonstrate a range that also takes in flavours of Front Line Assembly and Clock DVA. The set ends with a cover of the Revolting Cocks track, “(Let’s Get) Physical” – an aerobics track for industrial people.
Berlin-based NNHMN have a line in classy electronics. Lee Margot moves like a snake, winding her way across the stage. Michal Laurag mans the machines that charm. The smoke machine belches clouds that conceal them. The crowd dances to “Der Unweise” and “Arabische Ritter.” There isn’t a better sounding dark wave act on the scene today, and NNHMN rise to the occasion.
Stockholm is clearly ramped up for REIN. After touring with Front Line Assembly and opening for Nitzer Ebb and Front 242, she is well-known to the EBM and hard electronics crowds. Tonight, however, she is on stage with her co-producer, Djedjotronic, and they are working solid pop angles with flashes of techno. REIN’s new album, God Is a Woman, gets a live work-out together with key cuts from her debut, Reincarnated. There is a crackle in the air as she fires up her set, looking like Janet Jackson reimagined by William Gibson. The beats explode like throwing caps as Rein demonstrates her versatility and captivates the hometown crowd.
REIN
Djedjotronic follows with a state-of-the-art DJ set that turns Slaktkyrkan into Mitte before the remaining crowd pulls on their toques and gloves to march into the frozen moonlight. They have one question on their lips: How do you pronounce Djedjotronic?
The spirit of resistance is strong with REIN. The Stockholm-based producer and songstress has fought to strike her own path in music, despite attempts to pigeon-hole her style. Like Björk, REIN has approached her art with a vision that she controls, and has grown with each new release.
REIN spent part of 2022 criss-crossing the United States with Front Line Assembly, and she has dates coming up with Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb in Sweden, but her electro/avant-pop style has never been confined to her EBM roots. Yes, she can construct beats from iron girders and hammer out bass lines with the ferocity of a Viking falling on a Saxon monastery; but, on Reincarnated, she showed a touch that was sensitive and tuneful enough for radio.
REIN’s new album, God Is a Woman, represents a new step in the evolution of her sound; levelling-up with influences from Robyn, Missy Elliot, Aaliyah, Eurythmics, The Prodigy, Depeche Mode, Christine and the Queens, Fever Ray, and Kraftwerk. With themes referencing biblical myths, Lennart Nilsson in utero photographs, and life in dystopia, REIN has collected her new material under a banner of empowerment:
I have always been fascinated by how powerful women are, that we can create life inside of our bodies. I am also fascinated by history and religion. Like why have we, as women, been so oppressed for such a long time
and still is to this day? I still can’t understand why. We should be the leaders of this world
The first track released from the album, “How’s It Gonna Be?”, is characteristically personal:
It’s about the experience of being together with a person that is hot and cold, and the conversations you have with yourself. You know that the relationship is going to end someday but you are still hopeful. I would also say ‘How’s It Gonna Be?’ is the twin of my older song ‘Bruises’, people like it when I sing soft and from the heart.
With rhythms inspired by Computer World and a lifting vocal line, the result is a cross-over that will work on your FM dial as easily as it does live. Full of hooks and stabs, and with long-term collaborator Djedjotronic joining proceedings, it is a prime candidate for the dancefloor.
The full album drops on 30 November 2023. It comes in two limited editions of black or pink vinyl, which can be ordered from REIN’s Bandcamp.
REIN has four confirmed dates around the new album and the coming single tracks:
- 2 November 2023: “Rockefeller” Oslo with Front 242 + Nitzer Ebb
- 3 November 2023: “Trädgårn” Gothenburg with Front 242 + Nitzer Ebb
- 25 November 2023: “Slaktkyrkan” FutureRetro Weekender Stockholm
- 9 December 2023: “Club Meet Factory” Prague
Rein has dropped the video for her current single, “Closer to Nature,” and it is an intense ride.
Made together with Fredric Posé, the clip shows Rein being bound, scanned and jacked into machines by a faceless system. The Swedish hard dance specialist breaks away, with soldiers in pursuit; presumably to rally fans to the dancefloor and complete the next stage of her development.
When Rein headlined TEC 006 in London, she showed some of the steps in her reinvention. What is emerging is an artist who can write exceptional songs and turn them into movies with clarity of vision rarely seen on the electronic music scene. Her fusion of pop and EBM influences avoids the predictability of both genres.
We would like to see Rein directed by Luc Besson next, but Rein has her own schedule: she appears at the sold out Resistanz Festival in Sheffield on 12 April 2020.
It is hard to put a label on Rein. The categories used by critics don’t stick readily to the Swedish producer.
She confounds and exceeds expectations; refusing to be put into anyone else’s box. Rein casts off her chains and takes new forms just as music writers start to close in.
When Rein played her debut London show, she demonstrated how she is constantly (re)creating herself. In the early days, she stormed onto the EBM scene, scaring the shouty men from the stage. More recently, she has been combining her trademark bass lines with melodies that cross over into poptronica territory.
“Closer to Reality,” her second single coproduced with Robyn-collaborator Carli Löf, is a subversive track; seemingly aimed at the commercial market but with a sting in the tail.
It comes on the heels of “Off the Grid,” which reasserted her rebel spirit. Hard is still her calling card, but Rein is adding new dimensions with each successive release.
“Taking back control!” The chant is one we should all join.
Rein plays in Stockholm on Monday, the 27th of January, with Nitzer Ebb. Although the Essex band inspired her, she has long moved beyond the restrictions of 16 step sequencers to make a noise all of her own.
[Photo: Aga Slobodzian]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Queen of EBM, Rein, has been announced as the headline artist for TEC 006.
The Swedish singer, songwriter and producer was named Cold War Night Life’s New Artist of the Year in 2015. Since then, she has stormed stages across Europe and been nominated for awards by Swedish television and the magazine GAFFA.
With a fierce attitude and heavy-duty beats, Rein’s releases have transformed the landscape for EBM. Shouty men have had to step aside to make room for her sophisticated and intelligent style, which makes no compromise in politics or energy. As we wrote of the track, “Can’t Handle Me”:
Tougher than tempered steel, Rein has the attitude and skill to hammer out energetic tracks, using the dancefloor as her anvil. There are a lot of fine details in her vocals, which are confident and muscular when they need to be.
As confident in the studio as she is on stage, Rein co-produces her music, designs her own sounds and programs her own thundering bass lines.
TEC 006 is a series of electronic events curated by The Electricity Club. Cold War Night Life and The Electricity Club are copresenting TEC 006 with Rein and special guests who will be announced.
TEC 006 kicks off at 7:30 pm on the 30th of November, 2019, at Electrowerkz on Torrens Street (closest Tube: Angel, Northern Line).
Tickets are on sale now![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
After the loss of so many artists in 2016, it was a pleasure to see some of the original synthpop heroes back on the release trail. OMD, Alison Moyet, Erasure and Blancmange were among those with new albums to perform, and they all stuck to what they do best.
Against that backdrop, Depeche Mode‘s effort, Spirit, seemed a tired and forced attempt at American blues-rock.
Depeche Mode used to sing about danger, but there was nothing particularly risky about Spirit. Against a backdrop of nuclear threats, environmental disaster and grinding poverty, the millionaires from Basildon put on beards and taunted their neighbours for letting them down (again?).
The album contained many of the band’s familiar sounds, but fans complained that it lacked the magic of earlier works. We probably won’t see another Depeche Mode album until 2021, so we can only hope that by then Trump will be gone and Martin Gore will have rediscovered the joys of moody electronic pop.
In contrast, this year’s list is packed with risk-takers. From industrial pioneers to Finnish librarians who dabble in experimental soundtracks; from middle-aged Swedish dark electro songwriters to Belgian conceptual artists – 2017 was the year in which those who dared won.
17. Throbbing Gristle – Second Annual Report
It’s a reissue, but Mute’s release of Throbbing Gristle’s first album is a reminder of how potent the capital-I Industrial quartet were in the second half of the 1970s.
In those days, entertainment for many English youths consisted of shooting fireworks at each other or gobbing on pub rock bands playing at high speed. Synthesizers were the devil’s handiwork, and anyone putting them on stage was a Rick Wakeman effigy waiting to be hung from the nearest faux-Tudor beams.
Throbbing Gristle didn’t care. They liked ABBA and built their own kit. The audience could throw all the chairs they liked – they were going to play on.
The unconventional, deconstructed sound of TG started riots, wound up the press and opened the doors to post-punk experimentation. Second Annual Report turned forty this year, but even in middle age it stands head and shoulders above anything in Pitchfork’s playlist.
Web site: Industrial Records
16. Pieces of Juno – Tacenda/Kalopsia
Norway’s Pieces of Juno released not one but two albums this year. Tacenda and Kalopsia each would have made our list on their own, but together they demonstrate the vitality of Norway’s most promising young artist.
We were treated first to Kalopsia, the “red” piece, which has been nominated for a national prize in Norway. Tacenda, the “blue” piece, followed later in the year. The songs on both albums had been written at the same time, but were sorted by Juno into different releases based upon their feel, setting up a duality that is reflected in their artwork and in Juno’s wigs.
In any event, both albums feel as smooth as stockings being drawn along shaven skin. Not that we would know anything about that, but Juno’s jazzy, trip-hopping sound is both sensual and seductive. The voice of Anana on a cover of Elysian Fields’ “Black Acres,” intoning, “I need to have this little death” – you know the French saying – just adds layers to this picture.
Juno calls her style “Northern Noir,” and it is as good a way as any to describe the sound coming from the speakers. Somewhere between Portishead and Nick Cave, with minor key images emerging from the darkness, with these releases Pieces of Juno has crafted a magical sonic diptych.
Web site: Pieces of Juno
15. Black Line – Treason, Sedition and Subversive Activities
An electronic super-group to rival The Traveling Wilburys, Black Line has a core team in Douglas J. McCarthy (Nitzer Ebb, Fixmer/McCarthy, DJM REX) and Cyrusrex (DJM/REX), and it draws in a long list of collaborators: Bon Harris (Nitzer Ebb), Jason Payne (Nitzer Ebb), Ken ‘hiwatt’ Marshall (Skinny Puppy, DJM/REX), Paul Barker (Ministry/Revolting Cocks), Jon Bates (Big Black Delta), Zack Meyers (Fear of Ghosts), Brad Apodaca (Fear of Ghosts), Anthony Baldino and Michael prophei Dietel (Annodalleb).
The first album from Black Line is completely funked up. “Shut It Down” provides a growling, groovy slice of EBM with McCarthy’s voice scraping like a strop razor over a stomping beat. It out-hammers Nine Inch Nails.
“Changed” comes as a mix from Venetian Snares, adding a touch of Prairie grit. There is plenty of experimental and industrial styling on Treason, Sedition and Subversive Activities, and it is great to hear McCarthy in a fighting mood again.
Black Line are opening for Depeche Mode on the next leg of the European Spirit tour.
Web site: Black Line
14. Parralox – Holiday ’17
Parralox‘s seasonal collections are always heavily anticipated, and the release of Holiday ’17 more than lives up to expectations.
John von Ahlen has a gifted ear for classic synth sounds, and his choice of material is always speaker candy for electronic music fans.
Holiday ’17 comes with covers of The Assembly’s “Stop/Start,” Human League’s “The Dignity of Labour” and Depeche Mode’s “Shine” and “Fools.” Even Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” gets a Parralox makeover.
The real treat is a subversive version of the traditional Christmas song, “O Tannenbaum,” with Katja Kassel guesting. Kassel’s breathy German vocals recall Marlene Dietrich, while von Ahlen’s electronics are playful; toying with the classic to emphasise Kassel’s poise.
Web site: Parralox
13. Goldfrapp – Silver Eye
Goldfrapp’s performance at Glastonbury was the kind of jaw dropping event that students discuss between classes the next day.
“Did you see…?”
“Yes! She was amazing!”
Alison Goldfrapp still has one of the best voices in Britain – up there with Jane Caley, for sure – and the show was a mad masterclass in stagecraft. If Madonna was watching, she would have bitten through her lower lip.
What Goldfrapp did live and on the new album, Silver Eye, was avoid the trap of rehashing Kraftwerk or early Human League styles that many synthpop heroes fell into. The results have been outstanding.
Web site: Goldfrapp
12. Anna Öberg – härsknar NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR!
One of the surprises of 2017 was the arrival of Sweden’s Anna Öberg. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Öberg stunned the electronic music scene with a cutting-edge release designer-made for alternative dancefloors.
Tracks like “Sin mamma” [EN: “Their Mother”] channeled the spirit of Danielle Dax, while “5 minuter” [EN: “5 Minutes”] and “Allt är ägt” [EN: “Everything Is Owned”] went in a harder direction.
“Härsknar” means “rancid” in Swedish, but this was an album with a fresh feel. Produced by Öberg with Charles Storm, it breathed some life back into dark wave in 2017.
Web site: Anna Öberg on Bandcamp
11. UUUU – UUUU
A sonic supergroup, formed from artists connected to Coil, Wire, Dome and Tomaga? Yes, please.
UUUU is the combination of Edvard Graham Lewis, Thighpaulsandra, Matthew Simms and Valentina Magaletti. Their self-titled debut album is a bonkers mixture of krautrock, experimentation, antipop and improvisation.
There must be a trend for songs over 15 minutes – see Frogmore, below – but we’re not arguing for stricter time limits when the material is as interesting as “Five Gates.” The piece we were really struck by, however, is “Verlagerung, Verlagerung, Verlagerung,” a track that could have been mapped out in Conny Plan’s kitchen.
UUUU have live shows coming up in 2018 and we can’t wait.
Web site: Editions Mego
10. Wire – Silver/Lead
Wire never fail to disappoint, and they opened the year with another compelling release.
Silver/Lead is Wire’s fifteenth studio album. In our review, we noted that it comes an adult lifetime after their initial outing:
Forty years later, Silver/Lead shows Wire emerging from the lab on the front foot, turning out the kind of material that the dream-pop set can only dream about. From the delightfully retro sleeve to the cleverer-than-a-chemist lyrics, Wire continue to hold their ground. Over their four decades as a combo, they haven’t blown with the trends of the times, nor have they been stopped by line-up changes, time apart and a near-fatal experiment with drum machines. The new album continues the pattern by drawing on the strands of psychedelia that were hinted at on last year’s Nocturnal Koreans mini-album and infusing them with a sense of groove.
Because Wire are at their most awesome live, we’ve dug out this clip from KEXP with some of the new material:
Web site: Pink Flag
9. Rico C – Frogmore
Frogmore didn’t get the attention it deserved, but we predict that the first solo album from Rico Conning will be a slow burner.
You will recognise Conning from his work as a producer and engineer at Guerilla Studios and for Mute Records (Martin Gore, Frank Tovey, Laibach – it’s a long list), but he knows how to make stunningly creative material of his own.
We were taken by songs like “Fluxus” and “Mercury” that were too long for commercial radio but we didn’t want to end. Frogmore is an album of dream-like grooves that carry you along with them like leaves in the current, and the journey is as interesting as the destination.
Web site: Rico's Reel (blog)
8. Jean-Marc Lederman – The Space Between Worlds
We didn’t finish our review of The Space Between Worlds earlier this year – sorry – but from the moment the boxed CD came through the letterbox it has been a regular feature at CWNL HQ.
When it comes on, there is always a moment of, “Who is that?” Rediscovering Jean-Marc Lederman’s latest album is a joy, because it sounds fresh every time. From the buzzing electronic arc of “Enter the Dragonette,” through the whimsical “Map of the World,” and on to the reverb-heavy touch of “A Darker Snare,” it is an album filled with an exciting experimental spirit.
The Space Between Worlds is Sunday night music: just right to listen to with a snifter and headphones while the world sits still.
Web site: Jean-Marc Lederman on Bandcamp
7. DAF – Das Ist DAF
The original EBM godfathers, DAF, reissued a selection of four albums in a deluxe format this year.
The set included Die Kleinen und die Bösen, Alles ist Gut, Gold und Liebe and Für Immer – all albums that a DAF fan already owns and adores. However, even if they have listened to “Kebabträume” and “Goldenes Spielzeug” a million times before, there is nothing bad about refreshing the vinyl and adding a slip mat to the collection.
The real treat, however, was a 12” of new mixes from Giorgio Moroder and Boys Noize and a 7″ single with unreleased tracks. They might not have change lives, but their arrival certainly lifted moods.
We spotted DAF’s Robert Görl in one of the year’s most interesting films – the biography of Conny Plank. The scenes he shot with the famous producer and engineer’s son were particularly poignant. This trailer has a short clip with Görl at 1:01 that fans will appreciate:
Web site: Groenland
6. Psyche – Youth of Tomorrow
A new Psyche release is always welcome, but we were very happy when “Youth of Tomorrow” landed. It was heralded by a video that played on a series of 1980s music and television tropes: double-breasted shirts, Michael Jackson gangs and Tony Scott lighting among them.
The 80s have become a cultural archive to be excavated by synthwave enthusiasts and Netflix thrillers. It is fitting, therefore, that one of the original dark wave artists should dig themselves out first.
“Youth of Tomorrow” is great fun, but the flip comes with a serious message. “Truth or Consequence” is about the surveillance state and its discontents. Take it from Darrin:
Your life is on trial
There’s a price on your head
You’re gonna have to pay
For all you’ve given away
The security is all in your mind
You know the safety in numbers
Is making us blind
Your life is on trial
Don’t stand a chance
Web site: Psyche
5. Rein – Freedoom
Rein announced that she is taking 2018 off, following a driving tour schedule to promote Freedoom.
We will miss the Stockholm-based chanteuse, because she has single-handedly reinvigorated the EBM genre.
The Freedoom EP won’t be matched by Rein’s contemporaries anytime soon. With tracks like “Missfit” and the chantable spelling song, “C.A.P.I.T.A.L.I.S.M.,” Rein gave us something to think about as well as dance to.
Come back soon, Rein – music needs your kick up the backside.
4. Black Needle Noise – Lost in Reflections
John Fryer relocated from Oslo to LA this year, but the move to a warmer climate didn’t interrupt the flow of excellent releases from his Black Needle Noise project.
Lost in Reflections, BNN’s most recent collection, continues the pattern of excellent and mind-bending collaborations between Fryer and a long list of accomplished vocalists.
We’ve said before that BNN is the spiritual successor to This Mortal Coil, and Fryer has consistently proven the point.
What makes BNN interesting is the spin that the singers bring to the project. Take the alternately soothing and soaring vocals of Kite Base’s Kendra Frost on “Warning Sign.” Frost’s voice is simply stunning, while Fryer’s instrumentation and production are both elegant and dynamic. Ivo might have retired to live in the desert, while 4AD has become just another hit-seeking label, but Fryer is keeping the true flame of This Mortal Coil alive by letting the human voice have a space of its own.
We love the contribution of Jennie Vee on “Heaven.” Vee recently joined The Eagles of Death Metal as their bassist, but she also has a history of making dreampop material of exceptional quality. “Heaven” finds her in a darker, very personal space, and the results are magnificent.
There are also contributions from Front Line Assembly’s Bill Leeb, Andrea Kerr, Delerium collaborator Mimi Page, Omniflux, Zialand, Ana Breton and Sivert Høyem. Each has its own, distinctive qualities, but the collection is held together by Fryer’s sublime production.
Web site: Black Needle Noise on Bandcamp
3. Kite Base – Latent Whispers
Kite Base is as close as you can get to the pulse of London’s alternative sound.
Throbbing basslines, rhythms that tense and release like muscles, vocals both sapphic and seraphic – this is music from the core. Pity the finger-snapping hipsters from the suburbs who are trying to impress each other with clones of Phoebe from Friends.
After seeing the band live, it was no surprise to find that Latent Whispers is a mighty debut album. Dueling bassists, a drum machine and one of the strongest vocalists we’ve heard combine to perform sturdy tracks with a deep sense of groove. It’s like indie-funk fuelled by Irn Bru.
Web site: Kite Base
2. Lau Nau – Poseidon
Finland’s Lau Nau is one of Europe’s most interesting artists. She crosses bridges between folk, experimentation and chamber music with ease, and her output is a dream for movie makers.
Poseidon is Lau Nau’s follow up to Hem. Någonstans, the soundtrack to the eponymous film. It’s an antipodean partner to that album, filled with sounds and feelings drawn from warmer days. We found that the best musical signposts were somewhere between Virginia Astley, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Sigur Rós, but Lau Nau’s sound is both original and daring.
We expect that this will end up in a Hollywood music consultant’s bag of surprises sooner rather than later.
Web site: Lau Nau
1. Page – Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Utt ALBUM OF THE YEAR!
Sweden’s poptronica pioneers started as a singles band, but after three decades of work have honed the album format to perfection.
Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld… is Page’s meisterwerk. Eddie Bengtsson’s compositions out-Numan Numan with Moog filters and angular phrasing, but the secret to the album’s success is its pop intentions.
“Tid För En Kyss” is knock-out poptronica. No one else is writing songs like “Lägger Av.” Page’s formula is one part integrity and two parts audacity, and the combination puts the band streets ahead of its competitors.
Known as Sweden’s Vince Clarke, Bengtsson is fearless in his pursuit of pure poptronica. There is no auto-tune on any of the vocals. No concessions are made to the demands of hit radio. All of the tracks are made with authentic Moogs. The sounds are crafted without presets and reach straight for your hips.
You don’t have to dance, but if you don’t then you’ll have missed all the fun.
Web site: Hot Stuff
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