Electronically Yours

Electronically Yours was given a preview early last week of some new Cassette Electrik tracks, the first to be recorded since the band supported The Human League late last year and it sounds like that experience has fired Cassette to an even higher level of electro creativity.

Cassette's keyboard player and composer Oli Freke contacted us and was very excited about their new track '28 Days' which he described as 'A tale of desire and passion, lots of synths, multiple sections & double tracked vocals!'.
Oli sent us over 28 Days plus the band's cover of Depeche Mode's 'New Life' which has already become a live fave amongst CE devotees and both tracks have been mixed by Oli
Horton of Trademark fame.
Although EY was sent unmastered mixes, the production immediately impressed us.
'28 Days' is way, way up there with the quality of 'The Smartest Bomb' that we awarded 9/10 (and appears on the forthcoming 'EY Vol 1' CD) though we think that '28 Days' only takes just one listen just to fall in love with it.
We were intrigued about the bassline as it has a very unique sound and we had to find out from Ole where he got that sound from who replied; ' ...My secret weapon! The Access Virus B. Even though it's a digital emulation of analogue synthesis, there's still something about using hardware synths instead of soft-synths in Logic'.
This is also something we passionately believe in and the recent Noush recording sessions were built around ancient synths rather than Logic patches which was recommended by our producer Nick Blake.
'28 Days' immediately pulls you with Lucy's finest vocals to date and a bassline sound that could have come from Depeche Mode's 'A Broken Frame'.
With minimal hypnotizing electronics, Lucy glides through this tale of lust before an absolute radio friendly killer chorus kicks in that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Two minutes in and the track is buzzing with analogue layers and CE's catchiest chorus to date but our favourite part of the track is the glorious middle eighth. The middle eighth is something of a lost art these days but there were plenty of them around in 1982 and when we meet CE again, we may have to hug them for it.
EY wants dance mixes of this track, lots of them and we want you to head over to CE's myspace player right now because the track has gone live tonight. Head on over to this link.

2008 just got even better...

EY Rating 9/10

'28 Days' is expected to be released on an EP late April/early May.

Some great threads about these astonishingly good new bands including Oblique and Parralox have began to appear over in Marsheaux's forum so let us know what you think of the new CE track here.

EY spent three days over Easter in the company of Noush as she recorded four tracks for a forthcoming EY EP and the results have exceeded all of our expectations. With access to some very old analogue synths, some of the tracks have taken on a very strong Gary Numan replicant sound with New Order 'strings' and a few Yazoo elements thrown into the mix. A brand new track was also recorded entitled 'Tropic' and we are so excited by it here at EY as it matches the high standards set by all the other great tracks featured on EY so far this year.
All the tracks are currently being mixed and we hope to have them premier on Noush's myspace page later this week.
In the meantime, you can view some snaps taken during the recording sessions via this link.

Electronically Yours now has a facebook group where members will be notified of news such as confirmation of 'EY Vol 1's tracklisting and the line-up for our album launch on May 9th plus early details of tickets before it reaches this page.
You can join here.

(With thanks to Oli and Lucy)

EY has had such a fantastic week full of new music pumping through our Creative MP3 headphones as we walk past bland office blocks in Wokingham to work. This afternoon we saw the first prototype for the EY Vol 1 launch party poster with a subtle nod to Tony Wilson and Peter Saville. We want one on the wall of HQ Ascot.
For several days now, EY has been getting aquainted with Spanish Sensations Oblique.

When EY first reviewed Oblique last week, we knew very little about them but during the last seven days, EY has been doing a bit of research (most of it on their myspace page) and exchanging Facebook communication with lead singer Sonia who has helped us put titles to past tracks.
The 2007 electro gem 'Wonderful Opulence' was our primary focus last week but Oblique have now unleashed a new EP on iTunes called 'Acapulco' - a special edition that takes five of the choice tracks from Oblique's debut album that have been given a 2008 remix sheen that many EY devotees will fall in love with.
If we revealed to you the amount of mp3 plays that these tracks have already clocked up on our player than you might think we're obsessed by the spirit of electro...

'Acapulco' comes in five bit sized tracks and tonight (when most are out clubbing), we have them blasting out whilst we type these words.

The EP opens with a track simply called '80's'. For those who have already snapped up 'Wonderful Opulence' and got lost in it's technical wizardry, few will doubt that Sonia has an pure, beating heart full of electro. She lives and breaths it and dreams of clubs full of New Romantics and men dressed like Adam Ant and Philip Oakey.


On the first listen, '80's' is quite an unusual song but on the third listen, it clicked for us and has now become an EY choice track of 2008. With an enticing chorus led by lyrics such as 'De (the) 80's, are a good thing that I have in my life' and when the chorus repeats later in the song - it comes with really haunting synth chords before breaking into a dance instrumental. Oblique are full of subtle little analogue hooks which is just one of the reasons why EY rates them as highly as Marsheaux and Sonia's accent pulls us in every time. This is pretty much a perfect opener to this EP.

In recent days, this next track 'All We Want' has caused Orac something of a mini dilemma lately. EY is torn between this track and 'Wonderful Opulence' for the EY CD and we've probably caused UNDO a few headaches lately and this is pretty much a good indication of how important this track is to us.
'All We Want' probably takes a bit longer to get going than the title track of Oblique most recent album but the chorus is so heavenly and it's probably one of the best electro tracks that we've heard since 'Peek A Boo'.
The song is all about dancing, love and cool DJ's whilst the chorus is pure Pet Shop Boys at the top of their game, EY now has to pause to dance along to this track....
'All we want is to be glamorous' (but Sonia sings it so much better than us) - three minutes into the song and the bassline has even more bass and orac is nodding his head whilst trying to type.

'Living In My Head' has a blissed out chilled intro that isn't too far removed from the likes of The Orb or Orbital and again, it's about appreciating music, when you hear a track that you simply can't get out of your head. We think that Sonia could be thinking about a Human League track. Three minutes in and all the hooks hinted at earlier all come together to melt into a pop classic.
One of the things that EY loves about these European bands is that they've never been ashamed of electro. It has always been respected beyond the shores of the UK whilst many of the publications and chattering classes mocked the era in orac's homeland.
Oblique's next track actually name checks two bands that until recently, were never given the respect they fully deserved.

'My favourite Place' has Sonia returning to somewhere that is in tune with what EY and Secrets Online has always been about. It's a longing to take pop back to when it had a sense of adventure and purpose beyond the purchase of the 7" or album.
This tune has a cracking melody and some will swoon at Sonia and her Spanish vocals as she mentions in English bands such as Human League, Depeche Mode and Ladytron and these are not careless mentions - these acts are massively important to Oblique.
The track's bassline could be a homage to Tiga's 'You Gonna Want Me' from the 2006 album 'Sexor' but Oblique add so many catchy layers on top that it all becomes a celebration...and Miss Kitten gets a mention too.
The EP comes to a classy close with the amusingly titled 'Stinky Girl'. Whilst we await the next Marsheaux studio album, Oblique will do more than keep you entertained.
With so much going on 'backstage', EY is already trying to make plans that will lure Oblique away from the lovely landscapes and sun of Spain into the slightly colder streets of London.

Purchase 'Acapulco' on iTunes via this link.

EY rating 9/10

A while back, EY toyed with the idea of getting remix genius EMP to do a dance remix based around the main synth lead from the Human League's rather bleak but enchanting track 'Morale'. We believed that it could be sampled and manipulated to form a new dance track but we never did suggest it to EMP.
Whilst investigating Oblique, we discovered one of their earlier tracks on myspace - a video with Sonia in full Joanne Catherall mode, doing electro moves on a dance floor to a very minimal track called 'This Is My'.
Midway through this track, a synth lead very similar to what EY wanted with a remix of Morale (Oblique beat us to it), kicks in prior to a chorus where you can almost imagine Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory singing along to the catchy 'nation, nation' bit.
Click on the video and have a listen to another of our favourite tracks of this week.

Related links: Oblique @ myspace / official Oblique website



When we return on Monday, EY will have a Cassette Electrik exclusive plus more details of the EY Vol 1 launch party at Industry on May 9th plus Roisin and a stomping 'Ashes To Ashes' CD soundtrack.

EY had a very good electro feeling about 2008 and that was before we stumbled across Oblique and the Australian band that we are about to present to you this week.

If you like your early Gary Numan meshed with Human League inspired basslines and drum patterns brought right up to date with some Goldfrapp glam electro - the following songs could possibly save your life and convince you that this is indeed the best time for music since 1982.



Parralox are a duo featuring what looks like an Empire State Human Aussie girl with very long legs on vox (we are being invaded by female led electro at the moment and EY can't resist). Her name is Roxy and her remarkable voice is backed up by some very impressive production and knob twiddling from producer John Von Ahlen.

When we first came across Roxy a few weeks back, we had no idea that John was involved as he wasn't credited on the band's official myspace page. Regular readers to this site would have heard John's enviable production skills on recent EY remixes such as Heaven 17's 'We Live So Fast' and more recently for his amazing work on the remix of Yazoo's 'Nobody's Diary'.
Electro devotees with even a longer memory to the days before Secrets Online will know that John was a very authoritative figure in all things Human Leaguey.

So it is no surprise that his new band Parralox manages to extract all the best bits from the Martin Rushent era with all the care and attention that is expected of people who care deeply about this genre and it's enduring legacy.

Parralox formed as recently as February and when you listen to all of their stompers on offer over at Myspace, you'll be wondering why it took Roxy and John so long to find each other.



The first track we ever heard was 'Black Jeans' so we are rather fond of it here in Ascot. This saucy track about tight jeans and disco dancing immediately reminded us of The Fast Ood Rockers mash we featured on EY last December where Goldfrapp's 'Strict Machine' was blended in so perfectly with Ron Grainer & Delia Derbyshire's electro blueprint back in 1963 - the Dr Who theme (where would we be without it?)

The first thing that will impress you is Roxy's voice, it's easy on the ear but powerful at the same time especially when it comes to the euphoric chorus. 'Black Jeans' is quite honestly a sure fire worldwide radio hit with production that has all the clarity of Martin Rushent and Richard X.


'Black Jeans' doesn't steal from 'Strict Machine' like previous pop acts but it shows plenty of admiration towards Alison and Will and EY swears that it can hear a few notes of the Dr Who bassline before the chorus kicks in (EY could possibly be Timelord obsessed though especially as season 4 is about to begin here in the UK).
Another would-be single is the first track that Parralox ever recorded is 'I'm In Love With A Drum Machine' and whilst the title might shift you back towards Goldfrapp - this song is actually an early 80's pure pop gem from 1982 that somehow got lost but may have been played on The Futurist Show over on Radio Luxemburg - it is *that* good and Radio Luxemburg was an oasis for little orac when he listened to the likes of Yazoo for the first time on a small mono transistor radio late at night).


'X Minus One' get's into breakdancing mode with body popping electro drum pattern. 'Two Divided By Zero' (zero) equals Shannon's 'Let The Music Play' and this Parralox effort in 2008 is worthy of both those classic tracks. 'X Minus One' will be played at the EY Vol 1 album launch and we are very confident that most will dance along to this. We actually had to pause writing this review to blast the track out even louder just to make sure we had things right. We now think that this track will be short listed for 'EY Vol 2'.

The final track 'We Believe In Electric Love' is pure 'Love & Dancing' with Linn Drum and powered analogue synth buzzes from Rushent's extended and increasingly influential dub mix of 'The Things That Dreams Are Made Of'.
Despite all those nods to the past, it's Roxy's vocal arrangements and her voice that draws us in.

This is simply great pop music.

Parrolox impressed EY and Undo so much that they have been rushed on to the forthcoming 'ElectronIcally Yours Vol 1' CD. Full tracklsiting shall be confirmed here very shortly whilst the 'EY Vol 1' launch party shall take place on May 9th at London's rather good Industry.

EY Rating: 8.5/10

Related link: Parralox @ myspace


Happiness is Goldfrapp


'Seventh Tree' is a bit of a grower and takes a few listens but EY loves the next single 'Happiness', The track is up there with Alison and Will's finest. Another EY fave Rex The Dog recently submitted a full- on electro remix of the track to Mute but according to Popjustice, the mix was turned down because it 'sounded too much like 'Supernature'.

For EY, Mute died back when signed hopeless acoustic acts (music for dullards) but Rex has put together a very special video where he cooks dinner for Goldfrapp.
EY would very much like a copy of this mix.

Enjoy.




Coming up: Lost in Oblique - we unearth a few more classic from the Spanish Sensations plus Roisin Murphy live in Trafalgar Square - EY was there in arctic conditions....

Europe's coolest electro label UNDO and home to Marsheaux, yesterday confirmed to EY details of our very first compilation CD and we now have the all important catalogue number: CDUN11(and it makes us go all warm and fuzzy inside).

EMI in Athens are currently sending out contracts to all our talented artists and this CD will, we promise, contain some absolute stompers from the likes of Marsheaux and Client. There is much frantic running around behind the scenes but its all a lot of fun and the graphic designers behind the 'Peek A Boo' packaging are currently working on some lush EY graphics that will wrap round our CD of 17 nu-electro classics.

The final tracklisting will be confirmed right here in a matter of days but we can reveal that Oblique - who have created quite a buzz amongst EY readers - have now been added (a review of Oblique's new EP 'Special Acapulco' shall appear here next week).
Another band who will be the focus of next week's 'Introducing...' have also made it on to the final tracklisting after UNDO checked them out. Some of you are going to love them to bits.
In the next few days, UNDO and EY will focus on the running order to make sure all the tracks compliment each other and EY is really looking forward to sitting down and listening to the final CD before it all gets mastered next week in Athens.

Every week in the run up to the release date in April, EY will feature new Q&A sessions with all the bands featured on our Cosmoelectro CD and a launch party is currently being planned by Sarah Schmoof. We have a terrific venue in London and all will be revealed next week.

A few weeks back, Spanish band Oblique introduced themselves to EY via myspace (we have so much to thank Tom for).
With Spain being Orac's ancestral home (apparently 400 years ago, according to local historians - an armada of pirate baby Orac's broke away from the main invasion fleet to avoid fighting the English and instead ended up in Ireland to await the arrival of electro whilst occasionally distracted by Guinness and women).

Oblique are a three piece band from Barcelona, the home of the Sona Festival and EY was impressed enough with samples of their myspace player to request a copy of their new album.
Four days later, the CD fell through our letterbox at No. 2 Analogue Street in leafy Ascot.

Oblique cite a fine number of electro influences that include, Client (and it's fantastic to EY that so many European bands now cite Kate and Sarah when Client initially had such a rough ride here in the UK back in 2003), The Human League, Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Ladytron, Duran Duran, Tiga, Marsheaux, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, Peaches, NIN and many more - you'd expect healthy electro with a bit of a twist.
EY listened to Oblique's 'Wonderful Opulence' within seconds of surviving 80 mph winds and we were beaming. The first thing that struck us was the bass and production. No tinny sounds effects here - just squelchy analogue basslines and delicious European female vocals.


EY is the first to admit that we fall for this every time. We love accents on records to pumping analogue synths and sublime hooks and this album has all of that. One of the many things that pulls you deep into a Marsheaux track is those accents and the Greek into English pronunciations that are so sweet and heartfelt. Lead singer of Oblique Sonia with Joanne Catherall eyes has that same effect. The opening track is very Ladytron but a bit warmer with a few melodic guitar layers and this opening track is a pretty good representation of what Oblique are all about. - fine production and not a sound is wasted.
This isn't obvious pop but you can tell that they love the genre and are having masses of fun putting it all together. The attention to detail is probably the album's strongest point and its very impressive.


Track Two 'Alan Quatermain' (which has to be one of electro's oddest song title to date) harks back to the League's Reproduction with an intriguingly strange intro before it reverts to catchy Ladytron from the 'Light & Dark' era and its brilliant. This is music that demands to be played ultra loud and it passes the music-on-the-move test. With this blasting in your ears - you forget about the 9-5 grind ahead of you and end up longing to see this band hooking up in your living room to belt out a few tracks over a few glasses of wine
More deep basslines that verge on industrial but with warm fuzzy edges follow with track 3 'Different Faces' and it's all manic and gets your head bopping to the pounding bass. If any of you have rushed out to buy the very deserving remastered deluxe edition of The Thompson Twins 'Quick Step & Side Kick' - this album has the same clarity.

Nothing is drowned out - it is all crisp and precise and whoever mixed this album in Barcelona is a genius in our humble opinion. None of these tracks disappoint and they all click on the third listen (we've heard them several times now).
Track 5 'The Age Of Communication' has a killer chorus which is so typically European - it makes you want to go clubbing no matter what the time of day is and the lead synth that follows is lovely. This was probably a single in Spain and had we known about it earlier then we would have had it on 'Electronically Yours Vol. 1' (now the official title of our Undo compilation).
Track 7 'Louis' has a 'Crow & A Baby' bassline, thrashing indie Marr like guitars and it should be a club anthem with it's succession of analogue bleeps that lead into the main chorus that reminds us a bit of Nun's hidden classic 'Sunlight'.
Track 10 'Like A Cactus' is probably the biggest homage to Client and their Cicada remix of 'Here & Now' to date. If you loved that classic Client mix then you'll really warm to this track which is one of our highlights and can be heard over on the band's myspace player..
Title track 'Wonderful Opulence' is probably the star of the pack and should automatically be playlisted in *every* electro club across Europe - many bands would kill for a bassline as good as this with repeated lines of 'Girls' and a happy Ibiza induced analogue leads that lead into haunting synth chords - we want a 12 minute remix of this track.




Closing track 'Disgusting' is worthy of The Knife and we've included the animation video with a hard edged remix which we can't get enough of - it's a good indication of how good the production is on 'Wonderful Opulence'.

The vocal line 'I don't want to work' really strikes a chord at 8.30am on a Tuesday morning.


EY rating 8.5/10


Related links: Oblique @ myspace / official Oblique website

'Wonderful Opulence can be purchased on CD for 11 euros at Amazon.com via this link.
The album can also be downloaded on iTunes for just 7 squid.



Roisin Murphy live!



Whilst EY was being entertained by a slightly saucy Noush performance where we got to hear 'Enjo Kosai' live for the first time, EY reader Jonathan Dean was in London to see another EY fave Roisin Murphy and he promised us a review of the night and it just so happens that the lovely, eagerly awaited video for EY's top track of 2007 has just gone online...enjoy.

Roisin Murphy
Roundhouse, Camden, 8th March

The capacity crowd that came to see Roisin at the Roundhouse caught me by surprise. Having never been to the Roundhouse before, I was taken aback by its size. Roisin is evidently a good deal more popular than I had previously realised: judging by the rapturous reception that greets the songs from her new album, Overpowered, it seems her recent solo work has caused a stir well beyond the electro community!

There is no support act, and are a little subdued at the start, but Roisin soon segues into a slow version of 'The Time Is Now' before dramatically increasing the tempo for forthcoming single 'You Know Me Better.'
Whilst Roisin's voice perhaps lacks the power of Alison Goldfrapp, she puts on a sensational show and looks fantastic with costumes that are typically eccentric, and her enthusiasm is infectious. The show is beefed up further still by the inclusion of the electro staple of a big screen with an assortment of trippy, at times rather unsettling, imagery. Most memorable of these is 'Forever More' from the last Moloko album which is accompanied by a comic strip with the lyrics in speech bubbles.

From my slightly electro purist point of view, it was perhaps a pity that some sections of her more uptempo tracks are replaced with 'real' instrumentation, most notably 'Let Me Know' but also 'You Know Me Better'.
Indeed, the one track where the bleepy electronics are really piled on 'Overpowered' - is a definite highlight of the evening, as is the stomping Goldfrappish 'Movie Star'.

A few of the slower tracks fall a little flat, perhaps as they don't really lend themselves to such a big venue, but this is more than compensated for by the strength of the songs from the new album: 'Primitive' and 'Dear Miami' are both sensational.

Roisin is playing a free concert in Trafalgar Square this Sunday afternoon as part of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Go see her if you can!

(EY may just brave the cold and head on down to Trafalgar Square this Sunday)

The Human League have just been confrimed to play at a major festival in London along with the equally mighty Goldrapp - you can grab tickets for the Lovebox London Weekender in Victoria Park in July via this very special link.
The Human League will be playing 'Dare' in full at Bestival that takes place on the Isle Of Wight in September and other acts confirmed for this event include Gary Numan, CSS, and 808 State.

(With thanks to Andrew Burford and Sarah Schmoof)

EY now has a group on Facebook that can be updated as we while away the working hours together - come and join us by hitting this link.







LFC Heaven


Big night for orac and Gerrard and Torres ;)

Greek Goddesses of Electro - Marsheaux have responded to countless requests from fans eager to hear samples of the two new tracks that are due to be released on a luxurious UNDO 7".
The A-side 'Ghost' has now been uploaded to Marsheaux's official myspace player and the track pretty much continues the fine tradition set by EY's 2007 Album of The Year - 'Peek A Boo'.

Recorded last November in Athens, 'Ghost' has all the urgency of 'What Don't You Like', the sonic production touches of 'People's Mind' and a ridiculous number of hooks that will make many a EY reader get even more excited by the next Marsheaux album that could be released later this year.


After some initial delays in Germany where the vinyl is being pressed, UNDO are confident that this release (which is strictly limited to just 1000 copies - and most have now been reserved), should be ready to ship within the next few weeks.
'Ghost' also comes backed with another new track from the same recording sessions - 'Bizarre Love Duo' which has also just been uploaded onto Marsheaux's official Facebook page.. EY believes that 'Bizarre' has Marsheaux's finest, most spine tingly chorus to date.
The record sleeve also glows in the dark to ward off ghosts and other unwanted energies...genius!
EY was also deeply grateful to be one of the first to hear Marsheaux's forthcoming remix of Electrobelle's 'Mirrorball' earlier today.
One of the biggest buzzes about doing EY (even with a hangover), is being able to bring new music to whoever wants it. When we introduced Electrobelle last August, 'Mirrorball' immediately became a huge fave over at UNDO HQ in Athens who all admired it greatly.
Marsheaux added 'Mirrorball' to their DJ sets and people in Greece were already aware of the track and loving it.
Over the last few weeks Marsheaux have been busy remixing the track for the Electrobelle EP that will be released exclusively on Undo Records and we've probably had it on 8 times or more today. This is a fantastic mix that reminds us a bit of The Knife's 'Heartbeats' remixed by Rex The Dog with several little Marsheaux touches and with a running time of six and a half minutes - it seems so much shorter than that.

'Mirrorball' is full of lush vocal harmonies from Charlotte - who we view as one of the genre's most promising new vocalists - and the Marsheaux mix draws attention to just how clever and special this track is.

'Ghost' and the 'Mirrorball' remix both get a EY rating of 9/10.

Related links: Marsheaux @ myspace / Electrobelle @ myspace

Goldfrapp Live


With the 'Seventh Tree' currently riding high at number 2 in the UK albums charts, Alison and Will performed live at the Union Chapel in Islington performing tracks from the new album plus one or two classic from their back catalogue.
EY reader Alan Adkins, attended the show and even grabbed a few words with Will after the show....

'Good show at the Union Chapel in Islington tonight - what a beautiful venue - but maybe a little overpowering for tonight's audience who remained firmly routed to their seats for every song except the last. Goldfrapp - without any support or Will on stage - came on dressed completely in white except for Alison who was wearing a skimpy pink clowns blouse. A string
section, guitars, drummer and keyboards ploughed through Seventh Tree which sounded really good live - the new organic sounds suited a live work out and the acoustics in this auditorium are rightly famous.

A few oldies thrown in but not many - including Utopia but no Ooh La La for me - perhaps I had sinned in a previous reincarnation, and not much from
Supernature - an album which for me just gets better and better with each play. Long gaps between songs and a very shy Alison meant that the performance never really gained any momentum, but the quality of the songs shined through until eventually with the crowd on their feet Alison was skipping around on her feet and left the stage with a big smile.'

On the subject of Will, Alan wrote: 'really nice bloke - but he has not heard of EY. Shame on him!' :)

Alan also had some very kind words for our replicant Noush who is performing live for us at The Oakford in Reading tomorrow night; ' I heard Noush's songs on myspace this morning for the first time and I thought they were exceptionally good.'

Goldfrapp @ myspace

Update put together with the following playlist:
Reverend & The Makers - various tracks from 'The State Of Things', Thompson Twins 'Judy Do' - remastered, Marsheaux 'Ghost', 'Bizzare Love Duo'. 'Mirrorball' remix, Yazoo 'Nobody's Diary', Heaven 17 'We Live So Fast' - Tenth Stage remixes, Noush 'Enjo Kasai' & The Cardigans 'Erase/Rewind'

Whilst on a train into Waterloo last Autumn prior to Hoxton, it stopped at Egham (lovely place - where orac went to a 10th anniversary 'Blake's 7' convention back in 1988), and as passengers stepped on we noticed a billboard with the name Reverend And The Makers.
'Great name for a band!' we thought and after a few glasses of wine on the South Bank, we forgot all about it.

A few months later at a New Years Eve party, an old friend who now works for MI6 told us how much he was enjoying an album by a band called 'Reverend And The Makers'.
'Must check that out...' we thought.
A few more glasses of wine followed and we forgot all about it.

Last weekend, an EY reader called Simon Oliver (who used to live a few doors away from Sir Martyn Ware) contacted us with news that the Reverends had released a promo 12" that paid 'homage' to another Sheffield act and he kindly sent us a copy.
The Reverend's 'He Loved The Sound Of The Crowd' was then played on a continual loop here at EY HQ in Ascot and to our humble ears - it is the best League 'mash-up' since Richard X last put the League in the UK Top Ten with the Kelis fronted 'Finest Dreams' back in 2003.
Using the 'Love & Dancing' version of 'The Sound Of The Crowd', the Reverend's original single 'She 'He Said She Loves Me' fits so perfectly.
With lines like 'Mams with prams, twelve week scans, wish she weren't the story of the also rans' , the League's original and quite bleak soundscape fits perfectly with the Reverend's ground level social commentary about a problem that only seems to take place here in the UK.


The blinding part of this mash however is the female vocals that replaces Phil's 'Get around town' chant. EY was immediatley reminding of The Special's ultra special 'I Can't Stand It' - this is real kitchen sink, heartfelt drama.

If the Arctic Monkeys were to take up synths - they might sound half as good as this hidden little vinyl gem from Sheffield.
'He Loved The Sound Of The Crowd' is the best thing to come out of Sheffield since Pulp.

Incidently, EY played this track to a few close friends and three of them hated it - they simply couldn't get it at all but EY passionately loves this track and we went out and bought the Reverends album on Saturday for just 8 squid in HMC, Reading.
If you like Infadels mixed in with Kasabian & The Stone Roses plus the wry observations of Jarvis Cocker (and some blooming great drum machines and synths), then you may just enjoy the Reverend's debut 'The State Of The Things'.

You can hear a sample of this track via this link.

Related link: Reverend And The Makers @ myspace

The Human League will be playing 'Dare' in full at Bestival that takes place on the Isle Of Wight and if you missed the 'Dare' gigs last year than you really ought to try and make this one. Definitive replicant Gary Numan will also be playing and the whole event takes place between 5th-7th September.
Grab tickets here.

(Image: Richard Price - possibly one of his finest League shots...so far)

Coming up shortly - the newly remastered edition of The Thompson Twins 'Quick Step & Side Kick' has just fallen through our letterbox. We've read the sleeve notes and we have to salute eveyone involved in this release. EY have not heard the extended 'cassette' mixes since 1985 and as soon as this update is done, we shall be blasting them out.
A full review of this lovely delux edition shall appear on EY later this week.

Finally, we've found (or they have found us via myspace) two brilliant new electro bands - one of them is from Australia and the other is Spanish. We are very excited by both bands. Keep watching this page...

It is often strange how things work out. Back in early January we approached Australian producer JVA about the possibility of remixing a classic Yazoo track. At the time, we had no idea that Vince and Alison would do what most of us thought would never happen and reform one of the greatest electronic bands of all time - Yazoo.

Two days after we hinted about an exclusive new Yazoo mix, Mute confirmed the rumours of the first Yazoo gigs since 1982 - electro synchronicity - there was a lot of this back in 1982 which was quite honestly a magical time for all genres of music and EY feels that its all happening again.

With so much going on behind the scenes here at EY HQ in Ascot (the hunt is officially on for a London venue to host our 'UNDO_EY party which we hope to hold in late April/early May), this very ingenious mix was kept on the EY shelf for a while until JVA recently put together a video for youtube. Whilst 'Nobody's Diary' is as fresh now as it was back in 1983 (it is one of EY's most cherished electro tracks), the same can't be said of the promo video that features a huge diary prop and other blatant images triggered by the lyrics (this was very common back then) but all is saved by seeing Vince and Alison in action.

We rate The Tenth Stage remix of 'Nobody's Diary right, right up there with JVA's 2007 remix of Heaven 17's 'We Live So Fast' (which we desperately tried to re-record but Glenn's isolted vocals from 1998's Redux remix album but they didn't fit quite as well as the original version).
This new mix has a very clever intro made up of samples from the tracks unbeatable synth line that no doubt caused thousands of people around the world to purchase synths. It was one of the first hooks that Orac taught himself to play on a Casio CZ1000 back in 1986 .
JVA shows much respect to the original by sticking to the melodic structure and original hooks but he has added so much more in the background and we love the closing moments too.
Today over on Facebook, we asked John to provide us with some new production notes for you to read about this rather splendid mix....

'This has to be one of my favourite remixes. Such a pleasure to work on such a classic track. I can remember buying the 12" - how scary is that!! I always loved Yazoo for the same reasons that the rest of you do - luverly synth sounds combined with Alf's smoky vocals. What a winning combination.

If only they had lasted a little longer...

I kept this mix reasonably simple, I didn't want to clutter it with too many bleeps etc. I just stuck to two main synths for the remix - the Jupiter 8 and SH-101. I decided to do a remix using only hardware synths for sound creation - and with the exception of the choir sound in the chorus, which is mixed really low anyway - I've done just that. I created two similar bass sounds from scratch on both the Jupiter8 and SH101 and sampled them into Halion.

That gave me the best of both worlds - lovely analogue squelchiness with the precision of sampling.

The drums again were taken from MOS, and my assistant, Juan, helped out with the additional basslines. I kept the structure intact, with the addition of an extended intro and outro. I have also created a videoclip for this remix too, which uses the original Yazoo promo.I sometimes think that the vocals could be a bit louder, but you all know the song, so I figure that your brains would 'fill in the blanks' and let you enjoy the new instrumentation.

As with all my remixes, I like to include a few extra surprises in the mix and some of the samples I've used are blatantly obvious "Get ready for the show!!" whilst others are mixed with a little more subtlety.

Samples include :
Alphaville - The Jet Set
Depeche Mode - Ice Machine
Propaganda - Dream Within A Dream
New Order - Confusion
Yazoo - Situation
(take that sample spotters!!)

Get set! for more Yazz mixes in 2008

Update : I'll be going to UK in June to see Yazoo play LIVE!!! I'll be going to the Brighton & both London shows, so I hope to see you all there!'

Remixed by John Von Ahlen (The Tenth Stage)
Additional Programming by Juan del Toro
Recorded at Subterrane Recording Studio (Melbourne, Australia)

www.thetenthstage.com
www.subterrane.com.au
www.crashfrequency.com

The Tenth Stage remix of 'Nobody's Diary' can be downloaded via this link (right click - 'save location as').
NB: The copyright of this recording belongs to Mute/EMI and this unofficial mix should not be exchanged for profit.

With most of the UK live dates sold out, Yazoo have since added several more including an extra night in London plus some European dates. The band have just recently confirmed that they will be playing at the Sonar Festival on June 21st in Spain along with Roisin Murphy, Miss Kitten and Goldfrapp whilst dates in North America will be confirmed soon. Details of various electro(?) support bands are also expected to be revealed very shortly.


Yazoo: The Reconnected Tour 2008

May 2008

26 May - Denmark, Copenhagen

27 May - Denmark, Copenhagen

28 May - Germany, Hamburg

30 May - Germany, Berlin

June 2008

02 June - Ireland, Dublin

04 June - Scotland, Glasgow

07 June - England, Manchester

12 June - England, Wolverhampton

15 June - England, Brighton

16 June - England, Plymouth

18 June - England, London

Tickets for existing shows can be purchased via Ticketmaster & Live Nation.

Related links: Official Yazoo website / Yazoo @ myspace