Electronically Yours

This debut single from Creep and new release from label Young Turks is just brilliance.

The Brooklyn based electro house duo have, unusually for a debut, chosen to collaborate with the XX front woman Romy for the track 'Days'.


Romy's vocals are so uniquely understated yet recognisable and coupled with some great instrumental sounding Depeche Mode-esque moments too.

It is dark yet catchy, clubby dance floor yet chilled...just perfect if you fancy something a bit different from the festive music currently being churned out and especially if you're a fan of Romy's distinctive voice mixed in with some synth noir and dark new wavy guitar.

I haven't been able to listen to much else this last week...and it comes with some pretty fab remixes. Do check out my personal favourite, the DeadBoy remix, which chills this track out even more.

Gorgeousness and definitely one of the best releases as 2010 closes....lovelovelove basically.

Related link:

Creep @ Myspace

And now for something a bit lighter but still kind of quirky and putting the icing on the whimsy pop of this year.





Listening to Oh Land, it is a mixed bag of electronically based pop songs fused with some classical influences. A little bit acapella eccentric on some tracks with some added beeping noises in places...I personally like all that leaping about though.

Nanna Fabricius is a classically trained ballet dancer, now retired and making some, 'peculiar in a good way' pop songs. 'White Nights' is one of my favourites and here's a pretty good live clip showing this new talent from yet another Nordic country. Oh Land are Florence, Bats and Lykke in a blender...so yum basically.

Sadly my absolute favourite 'Perfection' hasn't made it to the EP but do keep an eye out for this lovely Danish pop siren next year.

The Oh Land EP is out now on Fake Diamond Records.



Related link:

Oh Land @ Myspace

Hard to believe that Ladytron have reached ten consistently brilliant years of expert analogue knob twisting...but no real surprise to hear that this anniversary single confirms all that we love about them.




Released oh so quietly as a digital download last Monday, 'Ace of Hz' actually premiered on the soundtrack one of those bastard FIFA (boo hiss!) computer games where the tune has actually gone down quite well with footie fans.

'Ace of Hz' could've been lifted from 'Witching Hour' era Tron with echoey vox from the much underrated Helen Marnie and trademark Tron hooks that may not be too obvious on the first listen but they do eventually grab you.

Most delightful of all is the instrumental break that will have you dancing like a robot 2.05 seconds into this very impressive track and this is what it's all about really.

Our whole weekend has been dominated by 'Ace of Hz' and Pringles and how both have warmed out hearts during this dire cold snap here in the icy UK..

The new single will also feature on Tron's forthcoming singles compilation '00-10' that is set for release later this month though there is absolutely no mention of it on the band's official website oddly enough.






EY thinks that Tron need a decent PR company to raise their profile a bit - though preferably not the one currently assigned to 'look' after The Human League who incidentally have a new EP out today (minus our fave mix sadly - the Emperor Machine Extended Vocal but we expect this one is saved for the limited WOS vinyl release).

In other League news - a live version of the Moroderesque 'Electric Shock' can now be viewed over on YouTube. It reminds us a bit of Little Boots (remember her?) before it all went horribly wrong with 'New in Town'.
We don't think 'Electric Shock' is Credo's second single but you can give it a play by jumping here.

And finally...HUGE congratulations to the following EY Faves; Goldfrapp ('Rocket'), Robyn (Dancing on My Own') and La Roux ('In For The Kill') who were all nominated for a Grammy last week for 'Best Dance Recording'.

These electro girls are still managing to push all the right buttons and continue to dominate the analogue genre.


Let us all celebrate the news with this very impressive Tiesto single edit of Frapp stomper 'Rocket'.




Related links:

Download 'Ace of Hz' from Amazon
Ladytron @ Myspace
Ladytron's official site

Mute EMI are set to celebrate 30 years of Depeche Mode in 2011 with the release of a new remix compilation according to Modehead heaven website Home.


Inspired in part by the remix bonus CD of 2004's '81-04' (that featured stunning reworkings of Mode gems by the likes of Goldfrapp and Rex The Dog), Mute Emi have already reportedly lined-up some contemporary faves of EY HQ for this new release.
.








Inspirational New York act Yeah Yeah Yeahs - whose single 'Zero' was voted Single of The Year by NME readers in 2009 - are already linked to the new Mode project along with festival giants Arcade Fire (who admitted to one or two Mode nods on their recent long player 'The Suburbs').







Long term Mode admirer and frontman of The Killers... Brandon Flowers will also be lending a hand to one of the mixes.

Perhaps most exciting for all the EY Modeheads out there is the news that both Alan Wilder and Sir Vince Clarke will be doing some much welcome mixing for this latest Mode release.

Vince has already confirmed on Twitter that he has completed his remix of 1988's pumping 'Behind The Wheel' whilst Alan has given ' depth and fullness' to SOTU's 'In Chains'

The tracklisting and sleeve art for this 30th anniversary remix project are all likely to be confirmed very shortly.

The Home website also reports on recent comments from Fletch to a European newspaper whilst promoting the 'Tour Of The Universe: Live In Barcelona' Blu-ray DVD.
'We'll be back in the studio in a few months,' said Fletch and EY thinks that this news is better than Christmas.

Despite some oddly lukewarm reactions from some Mode fans towards 2009's 'Sounds of The Universe', we always thought it was a definite grower that got better with repeated plays.


The album also bucked the trend of declining CD sales by going on to sell over 2 million units worldwide whilst also receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album...not bad for a band who are fast approaching their 30th anniversary.





EY HQ now feels the need for a speaker thumping celebratory run of DM classics tonight.

Related links:

Home
Official Vince Clarke site

NME.com have confirmed the tracklisting for The Human League's forthcoming album 'Credo' along with the album's 'sleeve art' (pictured opposite).


The new album includes the current digital single 'Night People' and 'Electric Shock' that was performed live for the first time last night when the League opened their tour in Norwich.

'Credo' is produced by Sheffield knob twiddling I Monster and will be released on March 21st 2011.Pre-order your copy from Amazon.co.uk here and get the album for just over 7 squid!

The confirmed 'Credo' tracklisting is as follows:


Never Let Me Go
Night People
Sky
Into The Night
Egomaniac
Single Minded
Electric Shock
Get Together
Privilege
Breaking The Chains
When The Stars Start To Shine

Related links


NME.com
The Human League - Official site

An absolute favourite for EY at the moment and blowing off the radar any recent release are the discovery of this new Nordic 'clever clogs' pop trio.




Catchy and experimental with some strangely and beautifully choreographed videos, this is enlightened pop for those that like some serious knob twiddling and weirdly avant-garde loveliness.




Noting the interest in Niki & The Dove's current and second release 'Mother Protect' on EY last week, rewinding back a few months to highlight their debut 12" back in August seemed a must as it may have passed a few by.
This would be such a pity if you're a fan of The Knife's brand of electro as they certainly seem to be in the league if marginally more accessible.









It might seem too easy as they are Swedish and Malin Dahlstrom 's vocals sound so like Karin Dreijer Andersson's to compare them; I couldn't be a bigger fan of Fever Ray but I think Niki & The Dove have cleverly tapped this audience and hallmark electronica without sounding like a rip-off.









If 'Mother Protect' made you spine tingly, 'DJ, Ease My Mind' will no doubt do the same, enchantingly beatific without being sentimental, coupled with pulsating beats and layers of synth gorgeousness marrying a naive simplicity in the track as a whole. The acrobatic flare in the video cannot be watched without being wowed. You will be left looking for the invisible string they must have used to dalliance in mid air with such perfection in footage that looks like it was made around 30 years ago.







For the b-side of this debut 'Under The Bridges', you get around seven minutes of electro bonkersness drawing you in to the video with some some heavily choreographed footage from a Swedish dance company.

Again this reminded me of The Knife and their marriage of performance art and music with the genius of their Darwinist electro opera and 'The Colouring of Pigeons'...Niki & The Dove do it in a mildly more mainstream way unlike the fearless peculiarity of The Knife's projects which you just can't ignore and I mostly love.



The debut 12" was out on Moshi Moshi August 30th and the current gem 'Mother Protect' is out now...if you like some innovative pop and want to avoid the vacuous horridness of festive rubbish in the charts we are about to be subjected to (naughty boys HURTS) , you need to keep an eye out for Niki and The Dove...

Related links:

Niki & The Dove @ Myspace
Niki & The Dove official site

Penguin Prison - Golden Train

On a disco plane now, this infectious synth dancy electro from Penguin Prison aka Chris Glover, is in fluffy pop contrast but still importantly needs some coverage for its dance floor 'fillability'. A guilty pleasure or a passion for some, you can't help but wriggle around a bit to it with its drenched sing-along lyrics and pounding baseline.




It takes a while to start, sit it out and fill your every poppy musical nerve with some of that stuff that Chromeo seems to have pulled off lately, which is 'put stuff in a bag everyone kind of laughs at now, listen to it again and remember they were good once, Prince, Michael Jackson, Kool and the Gang' (kind of, cringes)...honestly it's good!

It's been remixed to super cool levels from the likes of Jakwob and Diskjokke, it's his first release under new label Wall of Sound and its electro poncy good...enjoy!



Related link:

Penguin Prison @ Myspace

I've managed to pop Orac's Human League 'happy bubble' for a moment with this electronic fusion from Hackney, Jagga.






It's a debut packed with immense vocals and a killer dance floor baseline, percussive crescendos and is just so infectiously clubby yet melodically memorable, you can't ignore it.


It was instant for me with the strongly influenced intro bigging up The Knife's 'Silent Shout' and if you remember Seal, he should have ditched the ballads following 1990's 'Killer' and sounded more like this.


Labels will be queuing up for Jagga who already has an impressive CV that includes working with the likes of Zinc, Starsmith and the dubstep darlings, Magnetic Man, the brainchild of La Roux's 'maker' Skream. Unsigned he's managed to get XFM's crown for track of the week (still no sign of Night Peeps on playlists though, sadly, so fingers crossed Eddy plugs the League's remixes)






Jagga's brand of electronic music may be too 'fusion' for some but he jumps successfully from pop to hip hop, through reggae, skims dubstep, flirts with rock and ultimately mixes up something to turn up and dance about to.

Definitely not one for the electropop purists but if you're kind of chilled and just want to hear a good electronic tune...turn this up!

This is a limited release from the 6th December on Pure Groove...give it a listen electroheads, in this momentous League week, you don't want to wear out 'Night People' just yet?

Related links:

Jagga @ Myspace
Jagga - Facebook page

Niki & The Dove - Mother Protect

Introducing another Nordic electro gem, the misleading name is actually a Swedish trio fronted by Malin Dahlstrom, they master an experimental poppy edge perhaps with a touch of Madonna (She keeps cropping up lately).


Niki & The Dove are in keeping with that nature centric fusing of experimental tech pop mixed up with the tribal beat of the landscape and pulse of mother earth.

It is so Fever Ray vocally and with the Nordic ancestral drumming merged with the futuristic bleeping, it does echo the magic of the Driejer-Andersson genius but with a more poppy accessibility, bagging them a session on Rob Da Bank's Radio 1 show recently.

They have already been NME Radar stars and with their icy and mysterious appeal, another track 'DJ, Ease My Mind' had been described by said pop press as 'about to give Robyn and Lykke sleepless nights'...and by Popjustice as 'The Knife at Eurovision.'

I think there's room for them all...but have a listen and see what you think!

Related links:

Niki & The Dove @ Myspace
Niki & The Dove official site






Orac Additional...



Robyn releases 'Body Talk Pt 3' on Monday 29th November and the album features two of our absolute fave singles from 2010 - 'Hang With Me' and 'Indestructible'.

NME are exclusively streaming the entire album online because they love her too so jump here and enjoy.








EY HQ is currently obsessed with the brilliance of E4's urban sci-fi thriller 'Misfits' - the only UK drama that can match the likes of US offerings such as 'Dexter', 'Fringe' & 'Mad Men'.


Catch up with 'Misfits' Season 2 on 4OD here..

The eagerly awaited promo video for 'Night People' made its worldwide debut this morning at 11am on The Human League's official website.






Looking a tiny bit like an episode of '24', various split screen effects show people preparing for a night of clubbing as the grab they make-up, wigs, blouses and trousers.

It's all beautifully shot like an advert for Vodafone or something and job well done to a point...except for the lack of any cameos from Philip, Susan & Joanne.
A background shot of The Holy Trinity would have worked brilliant much like Mode's blink-and-you'll-miss-them appearance in 2009's 'Wrong'.


Despite the minor video gripe, this remains a buzzy day for League fans across the globe with the digital release of 'Night People' on iTunes and Amazon.

Update: According to the Wall of Silence website, the remaining remixes and single edits will be released for download on December 6th followed by a lovely 12" vinyl on December 20th.


(With thanks to M Hinchcliffe)

You can grab the album version of 'Night People' for just 79 pence by jumping here.


At the time of posting this update at 18.50pm, EY has already attracted a record breaking 1,189 unique visits and we are well on course to having our busiest day in the 9 year history of this site.

(Update dedicated to Alan Adkins, & Mark Barton - who emailed with these kind comments; 'regarding EY - fantastic and very sleek while at the same time being informative and a joy to read and pass on to people.....THANKS'
)



Related link

The official Human League YouTube Channel

It has been nine long years and four months since the release of 'All I Ever Wanted'...

Following the online birth of Secrets-Online' in October 2001, this site has seen it's fair share of behind the scene wobbles, arguments and fall-outs and moments when we were close to closing down the site.

There were also many times when even EY HQ had doubts that we would ever get to see a new release from the band that changed UK pop for the better - The Human League.





A Human League release has always been something of an event (we purcheased both CD singles of 'Tell Me When' from the much missed music chain 'Our Price' at 9am on December 27th, rushed home and played it over and over and over).

Equal amounts of thrill power were generated when the single entered the UK chart a week later followed by multiple appearances on the BBC's Top of The Pops.

There was similar levels of excitement in July 2001 with the release of 'All I Ever Wanted' (though many of us struggled to find copies of the CD single in record shops across the UK).

The blinding quality of AIEW and the album 'Secrets' provided the inspiration that led to the creation of Secrets-Online/Electronically Yours.






Fast forward to 2010 and we are just hours away from the release of 'Night People' and the first ever digital download single for The Human League and the excitement is even greater today - perhaps because we never thought EY wouldn't still be online to see this day?.



There was some initial sadness when we heard that there would be no commercially avialble CD single but no one can really blame record lables for the demise of the shiny disc.
The format was wasn't cost effective and the loss of the Woolworth chain finally killed the CD single.
It was a real struggle for EY to remember the last time when we actually bought a CD single. After a long search through stacks of dusty CDs that haven't been played in years, we fianlly came across the final CD single purchased from HMV in 2006 - it was Depeche Mode's 'Suffer Well'.

Here at EY HQ, we are probably bigger fans of 'Reproduction' and 'Travelogue' than the combined albums of any over artist (and we love so many of them) . 'Night People' is so League MK1 in places that we loved it instantly. This is wonky League with daft lyrics, rallying calls and funny sounds.
'Night People' also contains one of the greatest vocal melodies from Joanne and Susan that will remind everyone why this band is still so loved - and why THL continue to evoke such passion from all those who had their brains re-wired by 'Reproduction', Travelogue' and 'Dare'.


The Human League - we salute you!


'Tell Me When' and 'All I Ever Wanted' where fine 'comeback' singles but they were both let down by some very frustratingly forgettable remixes. Wall of Sound have to be applauded for gathering together a collection of 'Night People' remixes that have been engineered by people who obviously love the band.
Remixes are often a sore point for some of the older fans who yearn for the good old 'Extended Remix', but we think there is something for everyone in these new 'Night People' mixes.....



'Night People' remixes
Words Babooshka

My initial response to reviewing this promo was 'Do I really have to write about the same track seven times?' On first listening, however, I was left eating, sleeping and dreaming 'Night People' as it is immediately evident that each remix does bring a uniqueness and new edge to this long awaited comeback.

Having only been won over to the remixing idea in the last couple of years, I had mostly found them either a pointless exercise of regurgitating or an irritating corruption of a great single. It does seem some knob twiddling and clever tweaking can personalise a good track for other artists and for the fans alternative listening preferences. This promo illustrates this exceptionally and I think for now my favourite is the Emperor Machine Extended Vocal. As is often the case, favourites change with more listens though.

Out of the originals, the album version is unparalleled in my opinion. Despite the unfathomable lyrics, Philip's penetrating and rich vocals that have barely changed in thirty years take you to an oceanic abyss amongst the synth starkness.


The single and radio edits obviously had to be condensed , however, the long intro of repetition with title lyrics 'Night People' is saved at the expense of fade out just as the track gets going which is a pity.

What the remixes seem to do is put the punch back in the track that was so evident in the live clip leaked a couple of weeks back whilst also making sure there is something for everybody in The Human League's fan base diversity.


The Cerrone Mix starts with a club feel, four to the floor drum beat adding more depth to the severity of the original with a spine tingling dance floor filling decadence. The backing is more fleshed out with some science fiction bleeping resulting in the poppiest and more commercial remix. It does the trick for a 'club night' but being more a stalker of the experimental early accomplishments such as 'Being Boiled' and 'Empire State Human', I do favour the other remixes which push a few more boundaries.






Pushing those boundaries straight off with a touch of Madonna's 'Lucky Star' the Mylo remix 'twinkles' up the austerity of the original culminating in a more glamorous interpretation.

There is a stuttering vocal that sits uncomfortably for me at one point and interrupts the track but this is made up by Philip's new rallying vocal melody which is used again in the Emperor Remix.





The Emperor Machine Extended Vocal kicks in with a hint of BBC Radiophonic Workshop then shifts effortlessly into some Donna Summer loveliness. Having first heard this on Eddy Temple Morris's show on XFM, I couldn't help but feel his infectious excitement as a genuine fan premiering his exclusive remix. The hypnotic, heavily sequenced pulsation in this works brilliantly and results in the quickest nine minutes of pure dance synth pleasure with the added treat of a percussion sample from 'Empire State Human' for its finale.



The Villa remix is oddly engaging and shows how much thought the chosen artists have given these remixes in a bid to avoid producing generic predictability. This track has the nostalgic feel of 90's rave mixed up with the sparkling synth led ambience with a touch The Orb....something to lovelovelove for everyone.





'Night People' tracklisting:

1: Night People (Single Version) - 03.45
2: Night People (Radio Edit) - 03.00
3: Night People (Album Version) - 05.29
4: Night People Cerrone Club Remix - 05.21
5: Night People Mylo Remix - 06.09
6: Night People Emperor Machine Extended Vocal - 09.07
7: Night People Villa Remix - 07.02

'Night People' T-Minus 1 day - 'Join-us-now-my-friends-we-hail-you!'

Loyal League fans who signed up to The Human League's official email list were today rewarded with a crispy audio stream of the 'Night People' album version which is a minute or so longer than the radio mix.






An email containing a link and password to the track was sent out this afternoon together with details of forthcoming radio plays for the various mixes.
XFM's Eddy Temple Morris (a huge Oue Est Le Swimming Pool/Human League fan) will play The Emperor Machine mix tonight from 10pm.


If you're up late tonight then you should catch the excellent Cerrones remix on Rob Da Bank's early morning R1 show.

The promo video for 'Night People' will appear on the official website at 10.00am Monday morning and 40 minutes later those tuning into 6Music will be able to hear Lauren Laverne interviewing Lord Oakey.

The official site will also no doubt have links where you can download this digital release.

A track where League MK1 meets League MK2, 'Night People' sounds like the missing link between 1981's 'Boys & Girls' and 'Sound of The Crowd' and it will certainly please most of the purists out there who like to have their analogue knobs seriously twisted.

I Monster may not have been the obvious choice when the likes of Stuart Price and Richard X were initially linked to the WOS League era, but the Sheffield production duo have helped to shift the League back to their experimental roots.


For EY, the real spine tingly moment of pop heaven is when Joanne and Susan take over the track with one of the finest League vocal melodies that we've ever heard.
EY was expecting something good after nine long years, but 'Night People' is so much more than we could've hoped for.
This new track is so wonderfully Human League with a sound that only they can really pull off.
Genius. Still.

To hear 'Night People' - join the League's official mailing list.




The Guardian's Dave Simpson is equally impressed with 'Night People' when writing about the track in the newspaper's weekly playlist section;

'You may want to check the date on this, because the Sheffield electronic legends' comeback single sounds like vintage 80s League. Stark synthesisers, an instantly memorable hookline and lyrics about nightclubbing make for their best track in more than 20 years'

The Guardian also has a brilliantly written article by Dorian Lynskey that we urge all of you to read.


Entitled 'Forgive us our synths - how 80s pop found favour again', Dorian explains why bands such as The Human League & Heaven 17 are now back in favour again with a younger generation.




WOS head honcho Mark Jones may well be blanking EY right now (and we probably won't be getting a Crimbo card from him), but he does provide one of the best quotes in this fascinating article;

'This generation of pop artists is the first to say it's not about the Stones and the Beatles, it's about the Human League and Heaven 17,' says Jones. 'This isn't about misty-eyed memories. It's about the relevance of what those people did to what artists are doing now'.

To read the full article, please click here.




The Future is finally back with us :)

EY would like to wish you all a very buzzy and exciting weekend. We love you all.




Discuss 'Night People' at the Secrets Forum - let's have a few more passionate League/EY followers in this forum :)

(With thanks to Babooshka)

'Night People' T-Minus 2 days - 'Join-us-now-my-friends-we-hail-you!'

It seems Elly Jackson, the voice of La Roux, isn't an electro deserter just yet listening to this really upbeat funky collaboration with New York/Montreal duo Chromeo.









Put early Prince and Madonna in the mix for this dance pop catchiness, add the distinctive guest vocals of Elly and you have a single release early in the New Year that will be something to dance about to, warming up the miserable month of January with a pop light treat.

The studio version isn't bad either but Elly certainly adds to the high energy of this track, there's even a cutie robot voice thrown in for some real retro feel.
Her vocals are a little softer for this one but still as unique and proving again and again, she will keep popping up even if the electro bad girl's vocal range gets knocked by some old sticklers.










It's a real belter basically so if you want a sneaky preview, naughty youtubers have added this rip of the '12 inch' mix.


Confirmed knob twiddlers for the Janurary 2011 remixes include La Roux and Canada's mighty Sir Tiga!

Related links:


Chromeo @ Myspace
La Roux @ Myspace
Popjustice
'Join-us-now-my-friends-we-hail-you!'

If you enjoy this site then please consider making a voluntary contribution via the PayPally button below.

We thank you for your support in advance.

Manchester indie-pop trio (We Are) Performance have confirmed the news on their official Myspace page that they have won the coveted support slot for the forthcoming 'Night People' UK tour.

Performance produce instantly likeable tunes that should appeal to fans of 'Hot Fuss' era The Killers (back in the day when they were very, very good) with the sharp pop presentation of Hurts.

'The Living' is the brand new single and is taken from their current album 'Red Brick Heart' that can be snapped up via the band's official website.

Orther acts reportedly considered for the 2010 League support slot included Fenech Soler (who provided some of the vox on one of our fave tunes of the year 'Paper Romance' by Groove Armada) and Brighton act Mirrors.



(We Are) Performance can be seen supporting The Human League on the following dates:


November:

Mon 29  Norwich, UEA

Tue 30  Halifax, Victoria Theatre


December:

Wed 1  Sheffield, City Hall

Fri 3  Bristol, Colston Hall

Sat 4  Wolverhampton, Civic Hall

Sun 5  St Albans, Alban Arena

Mon 6  Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall

Tue 7  Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall

Thu 9  Stoke, Victoria Hall

Fri 10  London, Royal Festival Hall

Sat 11  Cambridge, Corn Exchange

Mon 13  Gateshead, The Sage

Tue 14  Edinburgh, Picture House

Wed 15  Manchester, Academy

Fri 17  Lincoln, The Engine Shed

Sat 18  Leicester, De Montfort Hall

You can grab your tickets from this link.

Related link:


Performance @ Myspace
Secrets: The Human League forum


(With thanks to Barry Evans)

In other League news, it has been confirmed that the promo video for 'Night People' will appear on the official Human League website once the countdown ends on the morning of Monday 22nd November.

Pop Princess Joanne has given an online interview to an Austrian music site in which she talks about the new album 'Credo'; ' We wanted a decent album, not just two, three singles, and the rest as filler. It had to be consistent'

To read the full interview, please jump here.

There is also an excellent interview (and a 'headline' that'll make you groan) with League icon Susan for the Varsity website...

'At the end of the day, it's a Human League album: it just has to sound like us,' says Sulley, 'Joanne, Philip and I are still on vocals and everything we write is always song based because that's just what The Human League does, yet we're taking a modern approach to things. With the help of the new producers, we're experimenting somewhat, but we've not got loads of guitars in to replace the synths!'

You can read the full interview here.



Wall of Silence have also finally found a bit of pre-promotion 'sound' and updated their website with a League related press statement here.


(The Human League/Joanne images © Louise Constad 2010)





EY stats...



Electronically Yours has just enjoyed one of its busiest weeks with lots of you returning daily to watch the 'Night People' live performance on YouTube (still on repeat here at EY HQ).
Thursday was particularly busy with 1,014 unique visitors sampling the electro delights of the EY newspage and in the past 6 days, EY has been graced with 6,587 uniquely lovely electroheads with many of you coming to us from outside the UK.

We would like to thank you all for you continued support and kind messages :)



'Night People' T-Minus 7 days - 'Join-us-now-my-friends-we-hail-you!'

Grab those cornflakes from your freezers and begin your working day with three and a half minutes of the lovely electro pop from EY fave Robyn.






We raved about how perfect 'Indestructible' was in a previous update and we've just come across the official loved-up video via the PR company Bang On who are also representing The Mighty Human League.


'Credo' will be released in March 2011 according to an official Bang On press release whilst the new single 'Night People' will come with a remix from Mylo - 'I heard the rumours earlier in the year that Wall of Sound had The Human League's record and hassled them all summer to get the parts to 'Night People'. It's classic THL and Philip's voice hasn't changed at all'





Other remixes confirmed for the 'Night People' single include Emperor Machine 'The first time I ever attempted a remix as a teenager was 'Mirror Man', I did this using a pause button on an old tape deck' - Cerrone and Villa: 'We are so honoured to remix one of THE bands that inspire us...Tracks like 'Things That Dreams Are Made Of' or 'Being Boiled' are Villa classics! Night people we are...'



And finally before we head on off to the day job...huge & warm analogue love to the peps over at the official Human League website who added a link to EY along with with of our fave League fansites The Black Hit of Space and the Secrets forum.

Happy days :)

Related links:

Robyn @ Myspace
Behind the scenes photos from the recent Spiros Politis Human League photoshoot

'Night People' T-Minus 11 days - 'Join-us-now-my-friends-we-hail-you!'


Get your tickets for The Human League 2010 Night People Tour

Synth heavy pop material is coming from the debut from Maximum Balloon; a new direction and brainchild of Dave Sitek, jumping ship from alternative art rock to this new electronically focussed pop, he is the producer behind the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Foals, Scarlet Johannson and former member of TV on the Radio.










For this new project, he has full writing credits but has featured ten guest vocalists among who are Karen O, Aku, David Byrne, Yukimi Nagano and Theophilus London.


Sitek, famously a prickly character and quoted for citing his annoyance at bands for not opening up to new ideas, can't be all that bad to get this line up for his first solo album.

Having moved his studio from Brooklyn to L.A, maybe it has 'sunshined' up his music resulting in this collection of pop gems for his solo debut.









My favourite has to be 'If You Return' with Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon, the latest thing from Sweden, not that well known so far but already building up an impressive CV of collaborative contacts.

After covering the fabulous 'Blinking Pigs' only last week on EY, it was little reminder and prod to investigate 'If You Return' again, it has been around as a one and a half minute promo for a while but finally a full version is available on YouTube, no video as yet but hopefully the dancer from the promo will feature.




Have a listen to its synth pop loveliness, Yukimi's fantastic soulful vocals mixed up with some Vince Clarke style bleeping does have an exquisite Yazoo quality going on.

'Tiger' ft Aku just for its slight Prince feel and 'Communion' featuring the unmistakable voice of Karen O are must listens, and after being brought to the attention of EY by a reader, guest pop rapper Theophilus London on the track 'Groove Me' with this suitably 'groovy' video.

If not every track is to everyone's taste, it is refreshing to see a veteran who is prepared to work and support young and diverse acts in the bid to produce electro music with an edge.


(With thanks to Alin)



Related links:

Maximum Balloon @ Myspace
Little Dragon @ Myspace

Tying Tiffany - Lost Way







Italian electro vamp, Tying Tiffany has a varied musical history, however, with this year's 'Peoples Temple', the act seems to have found its niche, tagged here at EY as 'eyeliner- electro' it's all gone a bit goth especially after Robert Smith gracing the EY news page recently too.

Ditching the thrashy 'suicidegirl' look for a more stylish Ladytronesque video, Tiff is subtly sultry in a metallic dress. Looking a bit of a dominatrix in a harmless pop Alison Goldfrapp kind of way with her dancing girls, the track 'Lost Way', I think, shows a classier, more polished direction while keeping within the boundaries of darker electronic music.

The video is shot in cold sterling tones giving a space age futuristic feel so if you feel like a foray into the dark side of electronica, check out the crunchy synth heaviness of 'Lost Way'.

Related links:

Babooshka review of 'Peoples Temple'
Tying Tiffany @ Myspace
'Peoples Temple' @ musicnonstop

Shake Aletti - Dancefloor







In contrast now over to the bright light for the disco beep beep mainstream catchiness of Sheffield's Shake Aletti, currently on tour with glitter top donning Fenech Soler.

Definably a dancefloor filler, this track has synth echoes of poptart Calvin Harris, remember him? Shake Aletti could steal his throne as it's in need of some new blood. Maybe a bit Hot Chip on 'happy pills' with the nerdy goggles and matching stage outfits but thankfully, without the pseudo intellectual pretension.

If you like the glitter ball disco 'strike a pose' funky club electro or fancy a bit of high energy dance pop, this debut is certainly infectious; out on Moda music from 25th October, definitely one to ponce up your electro moves to...enjoy!

(With thanks to Matt at Alchemy PR)

Related link:


Shake Aletti @ Myspace

'Night People' T-Minus 12 days - 'Join-us-now-my-friends-we-hail-you!'

Christmas may be a good few weeks away but EY is full of seasonal electro cheer and we have three copies of the deluxe 'Penthouse & Pavement' boxset to give away.



Released on November 22nd by EMI, this lush boxset comes with Heaven 17's timeless debut remastered plus another CD full of recently unearthed demos and alternate versions of tracks including the spinetingly 'Decline Of The West' (one of the greatest analogue instrumentals ever recorded in our humble opinion).




'Penthouse & Pavement', 'Fascist Groove Thang', 'Play To Win', 'Soul Warfare' and 'I'm Your Money' b-side 'Are Everything' are all represented on this bonus disc by previously unheard 'first take' demos and the results are fascinating for lovers of this genre.

There are also plenty of other buzzy analogue moments on this bonus CD recorded just a few weeks after the split of League MK1 - so it's all historic pop defining stuff.

H17's career is brought right up to date with the acclaimed 2010 BBC documentary on DVD that captured the real sights and sounds of this electronic period far better than other recent efforts such as Synth Brtiannia.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy, simply send us your name and postal adress in an email with the header 'H17 comp' via this link.

(Competition closing date: 19th November 2010).


With thanks to Jack at EMI

Related links:

Heaven17.com
Pre-order the special edition of 'Penthouse & Pavement' from Amazon

Countdown to 'Night People' - T-Minus 14 days - 'Join-us-now-my-friends-we-hail-you!'

Synthlords The Human League premiered their brand new single last night during a live performance at the 2010 Electronic Beats festival in Berlin.

The new single 'Night People' was performed directly after 'Empire State Human' and EY is very happy to report that the first official League single since 2001's 'All I Ever Wanted' is wonderfully wonky pop with bonkers lyrics from Lord Oakey including this line 'leave your cornflakes in your freezers...'




EY will of course give huge fanfare to the official video when it's released soon but if you can't wait that long and want a fairly decent live taster of the single recorded by Holger Splanemann - jump here for a bit of lovely- modern-League-synth-action.




Holger has also written a review of last night's triumphant gig in Berlin especially for Electronically Yours readers.....

2010 has been a good year for electronic music in Berlin so far.

In autumn there was a perfect show by Heaven 17, cute little Robyn and yesterday my all time favorites The Human League.

Since I first heard 'Open Your Heart' on BFBS Radio in Berlin 1981 - I fell in love with their music.




The only show they had previously played in Berlin was back in 1982 with the 'Dare' Tour.
Unfortunately I was only 12... To get tickets for yesterday's show was not as easy as I thought.

The tickets sold out very quickly so I had to buy them on Ebay - 4 times higher than the original price...

The venue was called 'radialsystem' was a mixture a mixture of modern and old architecture with an audience of 800 people. The League started at 11.20 pm with my favorite 'Seconds' continued by a very well known setlist but now with 'Night People' right in the middle.








Phil entered the stage with dark sun glasses and a long coat. The girls were beautiful as every time. In the second row there were Neil and Nic on synths and drummer Rob Barton.


The crowd was singing and dancing along with their music.





The show ended after 15 brilliant tracks with 'Electric Dreams'. Without any chance to get an autograph we left the building to get the last train home....the younger party people - or better 'night people' - had the chance to party on with Roisin Murphy.

(With thanks to Holger)

'Night People' is released in just 16 days time.




Related links:

Sign up to the official Human League League Email List
Secrets: The Human League Forum
Electronic Beats Online






Video Of The Week - Crystal Castles 'Baptism'
Words: Babooshka






A few radio play lists later and crowned 'track of the week' in NME with 'Not in Love', it seems 'Baptism' is back in the news with a video, a real one with Alice in it...what is going on?





In 'Celestica' she floated in a glam noir trance around a graveyard, for this one she's the more recognizable Alice of madness and frenzied dance moves, however catchy the Robert Smith collaboration is, he's just not as interesting to watch really!
So check out this gem and if you haven't bought the album yet, shame on you, it's brilliant!







'Baptism' has the energy of 'Alice Practise' after the surprise of the melodic 'Celestica' and this single really will be a winner for any loyal Castles fans. The messed up vocals, 8-bit bleeps and chaotic lead synths as everyone throws around labels like 'nu-rave' and 'chiptune' just leave you with a band that cannot be pinned down; you either love it or hate it.

Crystal Castles are feeling a bit more 'commercial' with this second album and it seems the recording of a single with The Cure front man Robert Smith has been a very clever move along with the two videos released from the album that have been a little more polished, if slow coming out.








I think they will lightly brush the mainstream while keeping their signature erratic bleeping and bass lines, embracing distortion and melody as the quite bonkers and brilliant duo.

Maybe one day someone will get a decent interview out of the elusive pair...or perhaps they do just sit back and laugh at the press they get for just pleasing themselves?

Related links:


Crystal Castles @ Myspace
Babooshka reviews stomping new Lykke Li single 'Get Some'

Finally...some electro pop from down under that doesn't sound like 'Kylie trying to sound like Madonna' era.
This electronic duo, made up of Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers, are making some fine tunes in preparation for an album to be released in 2011, crossing over electronic music with indie, rock and deep breaths, folk.



Let's not get uptight and silly though, a good song speaks for itself and there's a whole load of 'knob fiddling' going in most of the tracks.








'Time to Wander' was released back in June, with a great video and with a cameo appearance from Art Malik dancing on the South Bank, it was always going to be a winner.


Funny dancing with metallic boxes on your head, along side a backdrop of London landmarks; yes, it has already been done but its formulaic success has graced many an electro music video.




Thinking it would get the EY mark of 'jingly jangly indie' disgrace; happily it has slipped in under the Orac 'radar', mostly because of this fabulous remix already out in cyber space and being played on XFM.







Listen to Italio-Belguim band Aeroplane's magical remix of the new single 'The Piper's Song', set to be released on December 13th.

Who can resist this tinkly synth interpretation which has an ever so slight hint of Nu Shooz with 'I Can't Wait', yes really...squeeeaaaaal as I go to grab 12 inch on vinyl, that's how cool I am!




These boys, at a tender 21 years, don't have much history to draw on other than the old usual lines, 'started making music in a garage', worked as DJ's in Melbourne, mutual love of French disco, pretty standard stuff that can go either way really. They are catchy 'poppits' though and making waves with live dates in London just last weekend at KOKO and Freeze Festival.


If you're a super relaxed electronica fan who doesn't short circuit over very slight boundary pushing, just give them a little listen...




Related links:


Gypsy & The Cat official site
Gypsy & The Cat @ Myspace
Aeroplane @ Myspace












It's crossover madness here today so moving swiftly onto electro soul Little Dragon, yet another Swedish gem.







I lovelove Yukimi Nagano's voice and first heard of Little Dragon through a collaboration with Maximum Balloon on 'If You Return' as well as her guest vocals with The Gorillaz on their current tour.





The track featured here is my personal favourite, 'Blinking Pigs' is just hauntingly melodic with a great bass line, strangely enchanting lyrics about 'phantom legs', coupled with a fantastical Bjork esque video, what more could you ask for?


Definitely ones to keep an eye on and do check out the track 'Twice' on their myspace which is just gorgeousness...enjoy!

This update is dedicated to the 'pop princess of bad press' over the last few days; bigup from EY to Elly Jackson of La Roux for not looking, sounding or saying anything merely to please the electro mafia.




Related Links:

Little Dragon @ Myspace





Coming up....a fabulous deluxe Heaven 17 giveaway!

The brand new official site from Synthlords The Mighty Human League has now been updated with a countdown clock that is currently 20 days away from the release of the brand new single 'Night People'.








A League mailing list has also been recently added and we urge all of you to head on over to the official site to sign up for the first interactive League feature since the official fan club way, way, way back in the early 80s.



This site is likely to the first place where you'll read/hear official teasers of the year's most anticipated single release including this tantalizing sound sample of Lord Oakey sounding remarkably like a very melodic Dalek; 'Night people, night, night people. No night people. Night, night people'.

We like it already (have played the sound sample a billion times) and want more.

In other League related news, Sheffield knob twiddlers I Monster have confirmed on their official Facebook site that they have produced the League's new studio album 'Credo'...



'Here's some news...Here's some news...Here's some news...I MONSTER have produced the new album by THE HUMAN LEAGUE. The album will be released on Wall Of Sound early next year. The first single will be released soon. More info soon!'







Ignore references to 'prog rock that litter the production team's official facebook page ...we're sure that it's a joke and that Rick Wakeman wasn't hanging round the League studio dressed as a wizard during the recording of 'Credo' muttering the words 'Can I have a go?'.




I Monster have worked with an impressive range of musical artists in the past decade including Jarvis Cocker, the muchly missed Moloko, the not so missed Moby and Britney Spears.
We could be wrong with the following pop fact but I Monster Dean Honer also produced Tony Christie's cover of the League's 1984 hit 'Louise' a few years back.

Adrian '1 man Gorrillaz on a giro' Flanagan of Kings Have Long Arms fame was in touch with EY over the weekend to tell us that I Monster Dean has also produced his new album for The
Chanteuse & The Crippled Claw which is due for release in Feb 2011.

The I Monster produced single 'Are You One' will be unleashed on November 29th.



Related links:
The Human League Official Site
The Chanteuse & The Crippled Claw @ Myspace
I Monster @ Myspace





EY Link of The Day....




An excellent 13 minute Paul Morley video interview with Heaven 17 appeared on The Guardian's website over the weekend.

The Synthetic BEF Masters talked about the hell of playing at Butlins and the heaven of recording one of the greatest debut albums of all time 'Penthouse & Pavement.





Related link:

The Guardian - Paul Morley interviews Heaven 17
Pre-order Heaven 17 - 'Penthouse & Pavement' Special Edition

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