Electronically Yours

Warm thanks to everyone who has sent us feedback regarding the recent EY show featuring Marsheaux and Mikro.



Quite a few of you contacted EY with your thoughts about EY6 and we've spent a good few hours gathering and editing a selection of the absolute bestest comments sent via emal...

(Opposite: Scala, the lush home of EY6 - image: Richard Price)

A big thank you to all who attended...

Steve Gray was the first to contact us following EY6...



Hi Rob

Well it's the 'morning after', and I am feeling distinctly fuzzy headed. I could either put that down to the Scala's earth-shaking PA system, or maybe it was the Grolsch on tap :)

(Image: Richard Price)

Anyway, I had a great evening. It was my first time seeing Marsheaux live, and they certainly lived up to expectations. Crisp sound; cool projections and the girls looked uber stylish!




I bought a copy of 'Lumineux Noir' on the way out. I've already got the album as an I-Tunes download, but - like Marsheaux themselves - the packaging was irresistible!

Now where's that Alka Seltzer?

Steve




Promising new band The Vanity Clause and one's to watch out for in 2010 were also at our little event and band member David Woods sent us these kind words about Marsheaux and Mikro...

(Image: Richard Price)


Hi Rob

Thanks for a great night last night - I really enjoyed watching both Mikro and Marsheaux and it was fab to catch up with you guys and other like-minded electro enthusiasts!

I'm really impressed by the scope of what you took on - to bring artists over from Greece and to book the Scala (I mean, the SCALA! Blimey!) is no mean feat. It seemed very well attended to me, so I hope you didn't take too much of a hammering on it.

While I was pressing our copy of our most recent song into your hand, you told me how much you admired people when actually got on with something. After last night all I can say is right back at you, sir!

I hope you like the song, and I look forward to seeing you at the next EY. Thanks once again, and well done!

(The Vanity Clause with Katsen at EY6: image - Chi Ming Lai)

Regards
David
The Vanity Clause

Paul sent us this glowing review of EY6......





I thought the whole evening was fantastic, I'd never been to a EY event before and im kicking myself for missing the past ones but im certainly looking forward to the next.

I thought the whole event was fantastic, right from the start with the venue its self was great.

(Image: Richard Price)

I didn't really know much about Mikro and im still not sure of which track was what but i'll certainly be looking into them a lot more.

Mikro's tribute to some of the past electro greats was brilliant, everyone has their own fav but for me its Kraftwerk as they started it all off for me, anyway as i said everything was perfect, including the great DJing by Chi & as we've said some stomping tunes, it was especially funny to see Katsen dancing to their own tune (and quite right too, may i add).

As for the main event Marsheaux, we'll i wasn't disappointed, they started off with an extended musically intro of 'Sorrow', which is my fav off the album and then it all became a blur of pure electro greatness but i do remember 'Empire State Human' which again is a fav of mine.
I'm only sorry it ended so quickly.







It seems such a shame that they haven't been picked up by a more major label as Little Boots (whom i shall see in Dec) but then again, I think that groups can lose that smaller label spirit where they are allowed to do what they want.










Sometimes these so called supergroups only have to fart and everyone says how good they are (rather emperors new clothes syndrome for me!) but i digress, all i can say is i can't wait till next year and Parralox plus other surprises i hope.

Thank you for reading this and for a fantastic electro evening :-)

Paul








'Seen Numan and Marsheaux in the same week...and Marsheaux make Numan look and sound like an amateur!!!!

Great gig last night...thanks x


A-dam (posted on Marsheaux's Myspace page)

Alan Adkins also had a very good time to the live tunes of Marsheaux & Mikro...









Rob - congratulations - by far the best EY event to date - even eclipsed EY1 !


I thought Mikro were superb - I thought they would be good as they have been around a while and as I have all of their cd's I have liked their sound as well, but they also put on a great 'live band' performance that totally engaged the audience as well.


Even Greece's equivalent of Slash, complete with builders bum, fitted in nicely into the mix.

(Image: Richard Price)

And as for Marsheaux - wow ! After the first few songs, which were themselves excellent, nerves calmed and you could see the girls visibly relaxing into the songs and enjoying themselves.

It was great to hear their set without any technical gremlins (my one very slight criticism is that their vocals were slightly lost in the mix), at full pelt and with a crowd who were there to show their appreciation of the finest original synth music available in the last few years.

(Marianthi image: Richard Price)

George and the (very talented chap from Mikro) did sterling work backing up the girls.

Sorry we didn't get much chance to chat - I had to dash at the end and consequently missed the encore, but I was glad I was present at this event. Played the new Mikro cd on repeat driving home.


Looking forward to supporting EY in 2010.


Thanks for organising this - I hope the crowd numbers and enthusiasm made this one particularly worthwhile for you.


Alan

And finally we have Paul Anscomb who also has a special plea to the utterly adorable Katsen who were the EY6 Guests Of Honour....





Hi Electronically Yours

Just wanted to email and say a big thanks for EY6 last week.

Your excellent website has kept me in touch with the wonderful world of electronic music these last few years, and out of all the bands you've highlighted in that time, Marsheaux are the real deal.

(Image: Richard Price)

It's that whole early Depeche, Yazoo, Human League, thing but for 2009, with plenty of space in the music, so you can hear all their delightful synth lines, but then you
guys already know that...

It was an excellent venue and gig...

Having passed Katsen on the stairs during the gig, I felt inclined to email them the next day to ask if they were going to play at EY7 as for me they stand head and shoulders above the other current bands.

You've got to persuade them to play the next one, even if it's really a low-tech presentation, as I fear they might feel pressured to produce a 'Mikro' type performance.

(Image: Richard Price)

Songs should come first, and with Katsen they do, and part of their appeal to me is the sense they are making music with keyboards brought in Brighton charity shops! So next time don't take NO for an answer...









Another band whom remind me of Katsen are DKDENT from Germany, same kind of quickly, kitch pop orientated synth pop, check them out on myspace.

Having been in synth pop bands in the late 80's and through the 90's I was interested to see the gear in use at the Marsheaux gig, especially the mysterious little handheld yellow and white boxes in use by both bands - what were those?

(Katsen, Orac and Ria image: Chi Ming Lai)

Maybe I'm just really out of touch, but it might make an interesting feature on your site to highlight some of this gear, as I guess we'll all a little bit interested in the synths themselves in a Vince Clarke kind of way...

Cheers

Paul

P.S. Surely someone made a mixing desk audio recording of the gig, if so why don't you release it on your own label as a EY special....

(Orac: the audio was recorded for a possible UNDO DVD of the two live performances :))








With thanks to Richard Price for the glorious photos, Rob Rumbell for words of wisdon and kind support and Ben Cooke.

Image opposite: The EY Supergroup from left to right: Marianthi, Katsen's Chris & Donna, Sophia & Ria Mikro.
(Image: Chi Ming Lai)










Music to chill to....

After the day we've had whilst still trying to get back to normal after EY6 - here is the perfect tonic.
'Tsunami' is the chilled lo-fi electro single from 'EY VOL 1' artist Kid Moxie and we adore this.

Fronted by Elena Charbila, this single is the first cut to be lifted from the new album 'Selector'.

Like most other Undo releases, 'Selector' comes in beatiful Undo packaging - a gold digi pack full of transparent images of the beach and wild flamingos - amazing packaging infact.

We've also just noticed that 'Selector' comes with a Marsheaux remix of 'Medium Pleasure' (great title!) - so you all know what we shall be playing next before sitting down for the next eppy of 'Dexter'.....

Purchase 'Selector' from the Undo store

Keep it seriously electro...o r a c x

We've not long returned to EY HQ after a few very buzzy days in London and the biggest and best EY event so far at Scala in Kings Cross.






Mikro were very impressive, captivating and clever and broad range of songs including the excellent 'The Sun In My Face' played to a delightfully large and energetic audience that left Orac in awe and (almost) speechless for much of the night. We had an amazing turnout for two relatively 'unknown' bands.





Marsheaux then entered the stage in the finest costumes to take positions behind some ancient synths and from the opening track 'So Far' (full of thunderous bass and choppy basslines), Marianthi & Sophie's set seemed to rush past in a matter of minutes (though it was actually their longest set to date with a two song encore).


We will have more feedback on EY6 plus some amazing photos taken by Richard Price shortly - but in the mealtime, do enjoy this video clip of Marsheaux performing 'Dream Of A Disco' that captures the buzz of the entire event.


Our thanks to Gavin E Jones for uploading this great clip and also to all of you who attended our electro night.




EY7 for March 2010 - Australian sensations and one or two others - news coming soon.

The BBC have revealed details of an upcoming live session that will bring together La Roux together with that band that influenced them - BEF innovators Heaven 17.


The two acts will unite for a special 6 Music Live Combo, The BBC press release goes on to explain the unique format of the live show; ' Both artists perform three songs of their own, provide guest vocals on one of each other's tracks and then do a cover of someone else's song together'.





Human League founder Sir Martin Ware goes on to echo EY's thoughts on La Roux: 'We really like their attitude towards pop writing, and we're also fans of Elly's voice - we're sure that our writing and performance experience combined with La Roux's youthful energy and talent will create a unique and exciting collaboration'.

All of this just goes to prove EY's original belief that Elly would have been ideal for BEF's ground breaking 1981 album 'Music Of Quality & Distinction'.
Elly is now officially 'The girl from BEF'.

The La Roux/H17 show will be recorded at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale and is preceded by a similar show that will bring together Lady Victoria AKA Little Boots and the first UK artist to reach number one with Moogs - Gary Numan.

EY thinks that both shows are genius ideas and we salute the BBC for this (and the recent Dr Who special 'Waters Of Mars' which was a stunning hour of top TV).

To read the BBC press release in full with tentative broadcast dates, please click here.

Parralox 'State Of Decay' review




This week saw the release of the follow-up to 2008's 'Electricity from Parralox and EY reader Glenn Austin kindly gave us permission to publish his Amazon review for the shiny new Parralox album...




Well the decade ends with the most upbeat slice of Electropop of the noughties.



Following on from my album of 2008 'Electricity', Parralox have this time hit upon a winning formula for pure Electropop, with large refreshing splattering's of Electro disco thrown in for good measure.

In many ways, this is a more confident and assured album, with more level and less variety between the tracks.

Having said that, the level is impressively high with a good half a dozen potential single releases here in addition to the simultaneous releases of the excellent 'Hotter' and for me the more catchy and thought-provoking 'I Am Human'.



This time around, we are treated with the vocal talents of Amii (replacing Roxy), which begs the question, does Melbourne have a production-line of classy, powerful Madonna-esque singers?



Highlight tracks for me are 'When The Walls Came Tumbling Down', the singalongable 'Be Careful What You Wish For', 'How Do You Break a Robot's Heart?' and the superb 'Time' which sounds like an out-take from the Human League's under-rated last album 'Secrets', but with an added Depeche Mode 'Violator' period melody.
Fantastic stuff.


With bands like Parralox, Marsheaux and Electrobelle around, it looks like the next decade for Electro is in great hands.


(5 out of 5 stars)

Order the German edition of 'State Of Decay' via this link.

'Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
Roma-roma-mamaa!
Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!
Want your bad romance'...

Orac can often be found mumbling similar gibberish after a bottle or two of wine at the Ascot racecourse but the above words of wisdom are taken from the twisted imagination of Lady Gaga and the utterly bombastic intro to one of the best singles of 2009.

RedOne - the team behind the sonics of 'Poker Face' - are back on form after some oddly muted production work on Little Boots 'Hands' with this blinding slab of shiny hot pop from Gaga entitled 'Bad Romance'.

EY has admittedly been a bit indifferent to the charms of Lady Gaga and we had doubts about her electro credentials with most of her album seemingly pandering more to the R'n'B market over in the US.
We did however warm to Gaga after her splendid Glastonbury performance and her fabulous pyrotechnic bra.

Gaga has managed to create the perfect pop star persona that does evoke a sense of awe and curiosity - something we haven't really seen since Madonna first burst on the scene here in the UK back in 1983 at the Hacienda.






'Bad Romance' could be described as 'Poker Face' Part 2 (the two tracks could easily blend in to each other), but this new single has an even stronger euphoric chorus and we were hooked from the moment the track appeared on Blip.fm a while back.


Speaking of hooks, 'Bad Romance' is full of them from the opening playful nonsense of ' Roma-roma-mamaa' to the close your eyes and it could be early Madonna spoken vocal before the cleverly executed chorus blasts out and grabs you for life.


The off-tune strings also verge on genius and with this track Lady Gaga is now currently leading the ' L-Word' electro pack as the year draws to a memorable close.






The 'Bad Romance' video premiered online yesterday and it's equally stunning with futuristic imagery and a chorus of ' Can't Get You Out Of My Head' dancing girls in tight silver outfits.


Stick with the video to the very end for the closing sequence of Gaga in bed with her pyrotechnic bra firing sparks...and a burnt corpse.

With La Roux missing a trick by not releasing 'Cover My Eyes' - a track that was destined for the UK Xmas number One, EY would dearly like to see 'Bad Romance' grab the top slot ahead of the expected 'X-Factor' bollocks.

For a more eloquent assassination of the 'X-Factor' phenomenon that is sadly gripping my country, take a look at Sting's widely reported comments on the travesty of it all here.

'Bad Romance' EY Rating 9/10

Depeche Mode promo video for 'True Blood'!

Earlier this year, EY HQ shut down for an entire week as we were gripped by the phenomenal HBO vampire series 'True Blood' - a tale about a telepathic waitress called Sookie Stackhouse (beautifully played by Oscar winner Anna Paquin) who falls in love with Bill Compton a 400 year old vampire (a haunting performance from English actor Stephen Moyer).



Produced by Alan Ball of 'Six Feet Under', 'True Blood' is a stylish, multi-layered series where mythical beings are finally coming out of hiding to 'mix' it with the humans.

Described by one critic as 'soft porn but with vampires', 'True Blood' contain its fair share of lust and nudity and unlike ' Buffy', 'True Blood' doesn't shy away from graphic blood splattered scenes - the series is also totally free from political correctness (something that still blights most UK drama).

For EY, it's one of the first supernatural shows to match the script quality and visual execution of 'The Sopranos' and Showtime's 'Dexter' so we were delighted to find by chance over on Blip.fm an official Depeche Mode HBO promo for season 2 of 'True Blood'.





The track in question is 'Corrupt' from 'Sounds Of The Universe' that had something of a lukewarm reception from fans earlier this year though it's an album that we still very much enjoy here at EY HQ.

'Corrupt' is probably the finest album track on offer from Mode's latest studio album and the producers of 'True Blood' have put together a very clever promo video featuring sequences specially filmed that all fit so perfectly with the themes of the song and series.

Clever editing and moody themes make for one of the best Mode promos this decade and we really think that Mute should release this version as a single when season 2 comes to CH4 early next year.

Season one of 'True Blood' is currently airing on CH4 in the UK on Wednesday at 10pm and you can catch up with series here.

Ladytron announce plans for a 'Best Of' in 2010

The NME today revealed that EY faves one of the decades most consistent bands Ladytron will release a 'Best Of' in the Spring of 2010 to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

The Tron have just recently completed production work along with Goldfrapp on the soon to be released album from Christina Aguilera and Tron's Reuben Wu explained the thinking behind a singles compilation following four studio albums; ' Since we've been working with Christina, I think a lot of new audiences out there will want to know about us'.


Rueban also revealed that Tron have 'some ideas' about the follow-up to 2008's ' Velocifero' that was one of our choice albums last year though new material is unlikey to surface until 2011 but the 'Best Of' is likely to come with a new single.

Related link: NME

Coming tomorrow - Mikro's Ria talks to EY about the forthcoming EY6 live event at Scala, working hard and her admiration for La Roux...

Premier electro innovators Heaven 17 have today announced a major tour for 2010 over on their official website that is set to be re launched shortly.



Human League founder Martyn Ware and BEF crooner Glenn Gregory will be performing tracks from their legendary 1981 album 'Penthouse & Pavement' which was featured in some depth on BBC-4's famed 'Synth Britannia' documentary.









An album famed for 'all killer, no filler', this will be the very first time that most of these tracks have been performed live and this tour is already shaping up to be the biggest of the band's career to date with venues in mainland Europe that includes Berlin.











A press release reveals the personal who'll be working on this show including the amazing vox of Billie Godrey who was one of the star performers at last year's Steel City tour - but the omission of League/H17 legend Ian Craig Marsh suggests that he has left the stage for good having last appeared with H17 live at Scala back in 2005.


H17.com goes on to say: ' This will be a unique opportunity for the audience to immerse themselves in Heaven 17 and BEF's futuristic musical vision of the period, using today's technologies and sensibilities - this is no nostalgia show...

.....We're going to live for a very long time...'






For the full press release please go to the official H17 website via this link.

(H17 live images: Richard Price)





Tour dates confirmed so far include:

UK
March 2 Leamington Assembly
March 4 London Matter O2
March 6 Sheffield Magna Centre
August 14 Goodwood Vintage Goodwood Festival

Europe
March 20 NL-Amsterdam - Paradiso
21 Hannover - Capitol
23 Hamburg - Fabrik
24 DK-Aarhus - Train
25 DK-Copenhagen - Amager Bio
26 Berlin - Postbahnhof
27 München - Freiheiz
29 Dresden - Alter Schlachthof
30 Aschaffenburg - Colos-Saal
31 Koln - Gloria Theater

Thanks to those who contacted us regarding this news including Alan Paterson and Michael A. Jones in the US who also emailed EY with these kind words:




'I wanted to thank you for all the work you do on your site. It has introduced me to many new acts: La Roux, Little Boots, Katsen... that I may not have heard about. La Roux is a good example.

I wasn't thrilled with 'Quicksand' or 'In for the Kill' on first listens. But, I found that the album, along with Northern Kind, has become my fav of the year.'

Feedback from Chi Ming Lai's '6 reasons to hate Spandau Ballet' continue to reach us including this from Ray Walsh in Dublin:

'Thanks for the piece by Chi Ming Lai exposing Spandau for the talentless bunch they are - and always were. Having been brought up in Birmingham I knew the real thing in Duran, but what I could never understand (and therefore could never forgive) is how True could keep (Keep Feeling) Fascination off the number one spot. And now we have to suffer even more from the newly-rotund EastEnd wannabes from Islington.
Enough already!

(Orac: And that really is the last time we mention Spandau ;) )

BBC4's 'Synth Britannia' finally gave recognition to the music that EY loves and lives by.

In a triumphant year for the synthesizer which has included among other things, the reformation of ULTRAVOX, one reunion which EY will certainly not be celebrating is that of SPANDAU BALLET.

EY would not usually waste valuable bandwidth giving such them coverage but following an interview with Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Radio5 Live this week in support of their tour and 'new' album, this mob from Islington reminded us why they will never hold any affection with true lovers of music.

1. They Claim To Have Invented 'Synth Pop'!!

Spandau leader Gary Kemp's exact words were that on this reunion tour, their fans would able to hear 'synth pop music as we invented it!'
Well, KRAFTWERK, GARY NUMAN, OMD, HUMAN LEAGUE, ULTRAVOX and JOHN FOXX might have something to say about that! And to make things more laughable, drummer John Keeble even added THE KILLERS and FRANZ FERDINAND owe a debt to Spandau!!!

'Are you telling me that they've never heard a Spandau record in their life?' he barked!

The only real 'synth pop' record to come rooted in that hedonistic Blitz / New Romantic scene was VISAGE's eponymous debut. Spandau Ballet did use a synth on their first album 'Journeys To Glory' but that appeared to be an afterthought.

They were just a bunch of posers, wide boy opportunists who jumped on the synth-pop bandwagon and went jazz funk at the earliest opportunity as soon as they realised DURAN DURAN were 200 times better at new wave electro-disco pop.

But they even had to give up the jazz funk when LEVEL 42 came along!

Spandau Ballet are 80s, not 'synth pop'!!

No wonder Andy McCluskey was outraged when the music press were lumping in OMD with them!!

2. They Also Claim To Have Invented The Warehouse Party & Clubbing In Ibiza!

Journalist Robert Elms' booklet notes to their 'best of' CD 'Gold' have to seen to be believed as he lists all of Spandau's alleged popular culture contributions.

Elms of course, named the band. Taking in the fashionable Fascist chic of the time (Spandau Prison was where Hitler's second-in-command Rudolf Hess was held after the war) and adding the obligatory new romance, he went even further with the sleeve notes of their debut: 'Picture angular glimpse of sharp youth cutting strident shapes through the curling of 3am. Hear the soaring joy of immaculate rhythms, the sublime glow of music for heroes driving straight to the heart of the dance. Follow the stirring vision and the rousing sound on the path towards journeys to glory'!!

He may as well have just stood up on the dancefloor of 'La Beat Route' dressed as Prince Harry and sang 'Tomorrow Belongs To Me' from 'Cabaret'!



3. They Really Were Electro Posers

True (no pun intended), Spandau Ballet were the first band to appear on TV with the Simmons SDS-V Electronic Drum Kit, courtesy of their producer Richard James Burgess who had designed it and originally coined the term 'New Romantic'!

But the thing never actually appeared on their so-called 'synth pop' album 'Journeys To Glory'. So it was all pure pose, just for show!
Yes, those iconic hexagonal pads were later used in the studio from 'Chant No1' but even the most hardened Spandau fan couldn't argue that was 'synth pop'!

'Spandau Ballet records aren't that electronic' declared Burgess to Radio 1's David Jensen in September 1981.

4. They Had No Real Passion For Music!

Gary Kemp in NME, August 1981: 'The problems with the electronic music at The Blitz was that people were beginning to worship it solely for the music...none of us were great music buyers, we were more into the lifestyle!'

For all the criticisms of DURAN DURAN, at least they loved music, especially Nick Rhodes and John Taylor who were DJ-ing at The Rum Runner Club .





And it shows with their songs...just compare 'Planet Earth' with 'To Cut A Long Story Short'; 'Rio' with 'Gold'; 'Save A Prayer' with 'True', 'Notorious' with 'Chant No1'; or even 'Reach Up For The Sunrise' with 'Once More'.

No contest!

5. Their So Called 'New' Album

Their new re-recorded greatest hits album 'Once More' is so middle of the road, it actually needs to be pulled over for dangerous driving!
It really does need its own road safety video!!

Even their better songs like 'She Loved Like Diamond' have been transformed into drippy, insipid ballads for grandmas. They were probably the mums who originally got into schmaltz like 'True' and the sickly 'Through The Barricades' in the first place!!

UGH!!!

6. They Are Really Not As Good As People Seem To Think

Despite their massive sales, Spandau were quite limited in talent themselves so other bands that they were often compared with had little trouble eclipsing them artistically: definitely Duran Duran, ABC and A-Ha; maybe even Culture Club and Wham!

Still, Spandau Ballet were at least better than Blue Rondo A La Turk (featuring their mate Chris Sullivan; surely the most miserable man in music history!), Animal Nightlife (their other mates!), Kajagoogoo and Modern Romance!!

'You wouldn't be treating us like this if we were Spandau Ballet!' a hapless member of one of these bands was once overheard moaning, unhappy at some of their pre-gig arrangements...oh dear!



Chi Ming Lai will be the DJ for EY6 - London's premier electro event with live performances from the mighty Marsheaux and Mikro! Grab your tickets via Ticketweb






Vanity Clause live!

David Woods of the highly promising boy/girl band Vanity Clause contacted Orac earlier this week with details of an electro event happening in Essex this week.

We would have got this online a lot earlier had it not been for Dreamweaver crashing and wipping out an entire update that led to Orac putting a size 9 dent in his deskstop PC at EY HQ.

Essextronica takes place tomorrow Chinnerys in Southend and door entry is just 3 squid for a night full of analogue hooks and classic pop with acts including Relation (who had a Popjustice Song Of The Day with 'Your Tiny Mind'), Basic ('in the Soft Cell mould') and Vanity Clause - ' perveyors of Fast, energetic beats fat analogue Synth pop sounds and catchy girl/boy vocals'.


Vanity Clause are fronted by Ladyhawke Pip Brown lookalike Louisa Strachan - they are also playing at the Zenith Bar in Angel London on October 30th and will also be popping down to EY6 on November 19th to catch Marsheaux live.

VC have recently featured on the legendary Tom Robinson show on BBC 6 music and we think you should treat your ears to some pleasing waves of programmed sonics via this link.



Katja live!



Katja Von Kassel will be appearing at 'Halloween Electro Bedtime Stories' (Katja reliably informs EY that there will be a bed on stage!).


The event takes place on Friday 30th October at the Equivoca, El Paso, 350-354 Old Street, EC1V 9NQ

Time:8:30PM Friday (free before 10pm, five squid after).

For Katja's latest tunes - please click here.






Coming up next....a lovely brand spanking new EY screensaver!

BBC4's marvellous 'Synth Britannia' celebrated the rise of the synthesizer and how it changed popular music forever, particularly in the UK.
Superbly produced and directed by Ben Whalley with interlinking cultural commentary provided by 'Rip It Up And Start Again' author Simon Reynolds, it was an empathetic documentary that captured the spirit of a golden era in pop.






The contributors to the programme read like a 'Who's Who?' of electronic music: Wolfgang Flur; Daniel Miller; Richard H Kirk; John Foxx; Gary Numan; Phil Oakey; Martyn Ware; Andy McCluskey; Paul Humphreys, Martin Gore; Vince Clarke; Andy Fletcher; Midge Ure; Dave Ball; Alison Moyet; Susanne Sulley; Joanne Catherall; Bernard Sumner; Neil Tennant; Chris Lowe.





They were to become the heroes of the revolution, rebels with a cause, poster boys and girls of the VCO! Although there were a few errors, especially with regards dates like when OMD signed to Factory and the single of ULTRAVOX's 'Vienna' was released, this was an entertaining 90 minutes.

The new attitude brought about by punk in 1977 was still a bit too rock'n'roll for some like the young Daniel Miller...learning three chords was still three too many!

But armed with newly affordable silicon-chipped technology by Korg and Roland from Japan, the true DIY spirit encouraged by the new wave would be fully exploited.







Wonderful and weird sounds could be made using just one finger, knob twiddling would become the new art! Daniel Miller and Martyn Ware gleefully tell of their first synth purchase, in both cases it was the Korg 700S. The accessibility of the budget priced synthesizer offered the ultimate challenge to musical convention.


It was electric dreams over acoustic nightmares!

Like some on this programme, my first introduction to the sound of the synthesizer came via KRAFTWERK and WALTER (now Wendy!) CARLOS.
In the summer of 1976, my junior school teacher was the young and pretty Miss Neilson.
She'd already shown her Bohemian colours by naming our pet guinea pig 'Bilbo'!! But one day in PE, she made Class4 interpret 'movement' to 'Autobahn and the soundtrack to 'A Clockwork Orange'!!!





Although too young to really appreciate what was going on, my aural palette was being shaped by this fantastic cacophony of electronics. Novelty instrumental hits like JEAN MICHEL JARRE's 'Oxygene Part IV' and SPACE's 'Magic Fly' soon followed and caught my pre-teen futuristic mind as I eagerly waited for the next episode of 'Space 1999'!




The importance of science fiction in the development and imagination of electronic music cannot be underestimated with 'Dr Who' and the writings of JG Ballard being particularly important influences.

DONNA SUMMER's 'I Feel Love' may have been 'Year Zero' for modern electronic pop music as we know it.





Producer GIORGIO MORODER's throbbing sequencers and dance beats were 'the future of the future' but GARY NUMAN's first appearance in May 1979 on 'Top Of The Pops' was for many including myself, their 'Ziggy Stardust' moment in the birth of 'synth pop'.
'Are 'Friends' Electric?' was cold and detached, the discordant Moog machinery and the haunted vocal sneer connected with many during this gloomy period in Britain.


It seems unbelievable now but it was the talk of school the following morning.
Electronic music had just found its first pop star!

Unemployment in the UK was at an all time high. Margaret Thatcher was now in power while across the Atlantic, Ronald Reagan was 'President Elect'!
With fascist gods in motion, the Cold War had heightened to the point where no-one's future on this earth could be guaranteed. Whilst OMD's 'Enola Gay' related to the nuclear holocaust paranoia of the time via some incongruous melodic warmth, there were a number of other pop-orientated bands around just around the corner.

The new Mk2 version of THE HUMAN LEAGUE, SOFT CELL and DEPECHE MODE all possessed a defiant spirit of optimism in the face of adversity because ultimately 'everybody needs love and affection'!
The music was emotive and avant, all at the same time! 'We never wanted to be KRAFTWERK' says Phil Oakey, 'we wanted to be a pop band!'

The use of synthesizers was a statement of intent, like an act of artistic subversion. But as Marc Almond once said, you can only truly subvert when you have access to the mainstream.
How can you change the world if no-one hears you?


Musically, the best way to achieve this was going to be through pop songs. Whilst owing a debt to KRAFTWERK and taking advantage of the door opened by GARY NUMAN, these acts managed to appeal to people who didn't necessarily know what a Linn Drum Computer was! Joanne Catherall and Susanne Sulley amusingly recall when the UK's first Linn LM-1 was delivered to Martin Rushent's Genetic Studios for the making of 'Dare': 'They were all very excited...OK boys!'
Although the Linn gave access to a variety of digitised drum samples for the first time, the original LM-1 did not have enough memory for a cymbal crash preset which is why those songs featuring it have a fairly unique rhythmical feel! Inventive programming was required
to achieve those percussive highs and lows.

There are several technology driven insights like Paul Humphreys playing 'Enola Gay' on the Korg Micro-Preset, John Foxx demonstrating the ARP Odyssey and Daniel Miller operating the ARP 2600 Sequencer which was used on all the early DEPECHE MODE albums.
There were often misconceptions about how this stuff worked though. 'The number of people who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you:: 'well anybody can do it with the equipment you've got!'' remembers Andy McCluskey, '...FUCK OFF!!'

'You've got to remember it was the first time ever that someone could sit and make a record on their own' says Midge Ure, stating the recording of EURYTHMICS 'Sweet Dreams' in a basement on an 8 track tape machine as an example!

But as the success of synthesizer continued, the backlash set in. Numan was particularly the victim of some venomous media attacks...not only was he doing electronic music but he had none of the anti-hero stance of punk, he wanted to be a popstar.
'I don't speak for the people because I don't know them!' he exclaimed!
Andy Fletcher tells of the 'Battle Royale' that DEPECHE MODE were always having with the press. People insisted it wasn't 'proper music'. The Musicians Union even tried to ban the use of synths in studios and live performance!

I remember fellow classmates unceremoniously smashed up and burned a copy of 'Cars'...AND THEN, presented me with the remains! If I wasn't already feeling isolated, then this sort of intimidation was certainly going to seal it!
Martin Gore quotes a disgruntled rock journalist who described the genre as being for 'alienated youth everywhere, and Germans!'




As an outsider with a typical post-war 'Boys Own' fascination for Airfix kits and Messerschmitts, this music would define me! What did these narrow-minded hooligans know?
Worshipping America was not what I wanted! To me, soul and jazz funk (much like R'n'B today) was the horrid soundtrack of the school bully! 'SYNTH POP' and its Middle Europa romanticism appealed to my sense of elitism. I could wear my intelligence on my sleeve...it would become my badge of honour!
Pretentious...MOI?

The move towards today's electronic based dance music as pioneered by GIORGIO MORODER is symbolised by the success of NEW ORDER and PET SHOP BOYS.
Legend has it that KRAFTWERK were so impressed by the sound of 'Blue Monday', they sent an engineer down to Britannia Row Studios to check out the equipment only to find out it was comparatively unsophisticated!







But 'Synth Britannia' actually goes on to suggest that the success of the third generation acts like HOWARD JONES and THOMPSON TWINS was the death of this fantastic period.

'There was too much synth pop around...it was all very well being on a synth but actually the melodies and how some of the songs were structured was quite traditional and trite....'sighs Simon Reynolds, ' ...it wasn't that inventive as electronic music!'

Unfortunately by the mid-80s, most of our heroes had given up the fight and went conventional. 'We were all a bit lost by then' says Phil Oakey, '...like we didn't have anything to prove!'
After declaring in 1980 that 'Travelogue'contained ' synthesizers and vocals only', THE HUMAN LEAGUE had by the disappointing 'Hysteria' credited Jo Callis with 'guitars, keyboards, vocals' - sadly in that order!

Meanwhile OMD went from listing all their equipment on their 'Dazzle Ships' and 'Junk Culture' albums to Paul Humphreys simply being on 'vocals, electronic keyboards, piano' for 'Crush'!
The lure of dollars to water down the synthesized sound for 'synthobic' America just couldn't be resisted anymore!
This classic era of quality 'synth pop' was sadly now over!




However, while the others fragmented, DEPECHE MODE got darker and stuck to their electronic blueprint, eventually achieving massive success in the US from 1988.

So it would seem these pioneering acts' original Eurocentric electronic manifestos had been right after all. Their legacy is evident today: LA ROUX and LITTLE BOOTS are in the Top 10; rock band MUSE credit 'synths and programming' on their new album while featuring a song that sounds like 'Vienna'; and 'Just Can't Get Enough' is the 'Comic Relief' charity single!

Meanwhile, the 'synth pop' era's big international No1s 'Don't You Want Me?' and 'Tainted Love' are still being played at weddings and night clubs...ironically, often being sung along to by the same bully boys who were setting fire to GARY NUMAN records years earlier!!
'It was exciting to be part of a musical movement that had never been done before...it was a fine time' smiles Vince Clarke.

'Synth Britannia' ends appropriately enough with 'Together in Electric Dreams' and this final quote from Andy McCluskey: ' We were trying to do something new, that is specifically why we chose electronics...we wanted to sweep away all of the rock cliches! And then what happens towards the end of the 80s and even worse, the mid 90s? Everybody decides guitars are back, synthesizers are somehow old fashioned AND...we get Oasis!!'

McCluskey holds his hand to his head in despair but today in 2009, most of the acts featured in 'Synth Britannia' are still playing to packed audiences around the world.
What was originally an electric dream is now a full blown reality.

JUSTICE and a job well done.

Now That's What I Call Synth Pop, Not 80s!

After 'Synth Britannia', some magnificent footage from the BBC archives was aired under the title of 'Synth Britannia At The BBC'.
With Moogs turned up to 11, this made a perfect history lesson.
The track listing was well thought out and would have made a brilliant compilation album.

And thankfully, it was a Spandau Ballet and Kajagoogoo free zone...unlike some of those 'I Love The 80s' type programmes!

Roxy Music - Do the Strand
Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric?
Sparks - Beat the Clock
The Human League - The Path of Least Resistance
OMD - Messages
Ultravox - Vienna
Depeche Mode - New Life
New Order - Temptation
Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
Japan - Ghosts
Yazoo - Don't Go
Tears for Fears - Mad World
Eurythmics - Love is a Stranger
Heaven 17 - Temptation
Howard Jones - What Is Love?
Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities




Readers in the UK can catch up with 'Synth Britannia' on the BBC iPlayer via this link.

Just time for us to rush on the gorgeous new video from Little Boots before we settle down to a few glasses of South African white wine, Pringles and BBC-4's 'Synth Britannia' in a little over three hours time.


Released on November 16th, 'Earthquake' is one of our original Lady Victoria faves and it's the follow-up to the recent Top 10 hit 'Remedy'.

The video premiered on YouTube this afternoon and all hearts will flutter and skip a beat when you see the radiant Lady Victoria playing a dinky little synth on her lap in the new promo video - all to a glittering backdrop of Universal Hubble imagery.
Perfect.

This video is lovely and the 'New In Town' travesty is all but a distant memory. . .

Undo Records have today unveiled the first official Marsheaux promo video since 2007's 'Hanging On'.







Featuring the crispy clean ' Marsheauxxx Remixxx' single edit of 'Breakthrough' with a new synth lead over the chorus that we really rather like here at EY HQ, this latest 'Luminuex Noir' video also comes with 'instruction manual' animation Tomas Nilsson based around 'Little Red Riding Hood'.

Grandma still gets eaten in this modern version so be warned.





Marsheaux are currently busy rehearsing away and preparing for their headlining slot for what will be London's premier electro night at Scala for EY6.
A very special setlist is being planned by Marsheaux to mark their first live gig here in the UK since Infest back in August 2007 where the girls played to over 800 people at 4.30pm.


To be sure of securing a ticket on the night, please head on over to Ticketweb.

The stylish UNDO flyers for EY6 can also be picked up from the famous Sister Ray record store in Soho, London.


EY6: Marsheaux & Mikro live - T-minus 34 days





Counting down to 'Synth Britannia'

After weeks and weeks of waiting, the most definitive documantary ever to be made on all things dear to EY will finally air tomorrow night on BBC-4 at 9.00pm.







EY rarely watches the 'idiot box' these days (except for 'Fringe' & 'Dexter') but BBC-4 have dedicated their peak time schedule to an evening of classic UK electro that also includes archive Old Grey Whistle Test appearences from the likes of Soft Cell (yay!), Pet Shop Boys (yay!), Heaven 17 (double yah!) and The Human League MK1 performing 'Path Of Least Resistence' (wibbly wobbly innovative synth brilliance!).

Infact, 'Synth At The BBC' is the most perfect line-up you will ever see with bands and songs that went on to change the world.


The 90 minute 'Synth Britannia' explores the creation of UK synthpop and how the sound of Kraftwerk was mutated and turned into oure pop gold by the likes of The Human League, OMD, Yazoo, Pet Shop Boys, New Order and Depeche Mode.




The documantary features a host of other big players in the electro genre including Gary Numan who recently told The Times that he was planning a collobaration with Lady Victoria that could be very interesting...

'Of the new breed of synth pop artists, I've heard Little Boots and I think she's really good. I'm supposed to be recording a live session with her for 6Music but we're still trying to sort out dates because her career is exploding all over the place so it's pretty hard to pin her down'.


Last Sunday saw quite a few glowing articles in the UK broadsheets about the forthcoming synth celebration on BBC-4.
Simon Reynolds wrote a piece for The Guardian entitled 'One Nation Under A Moog' that contained this nifty quote: 'With the future-shock aspect depleted, what comes through now is the pop in synth pop: OMD's pretty tunes, the aching plaintiveness of Numan...& The Human League. Oddly, what's made this music last are the same things that made The Beatles & Motown immortal: melody & emotion!'

To read the article in full, please jump here.

The Telegraph also ran with an electro special in an article entitled 'Synth Britannia: mapping the future of pop'.
Featuring quotes from OMD's Andy McCluskey, Gary Numan and this rather amusing observation from League founder Martyn Ware regarding a recent concert by legends Kraftwerk who said it 'was like watching four old guys checking their email'.

Killer Hertz!



EY has lost count of the sheer number of glowing reviews that Katsen have received on passionate blogs and msuic sites across the planet in the past few weeks.

Most of them have have mentioned '8-bit' and the usual early 80's references whilst tuning in to multi-layered delights of 'It's Hertz'' but we think that some of the influences go way beyond that.


EY resisted the mp3 link provided by their label. We are still in love with the physical format and EY HQ has been trapped within the wonderful world of Katsen ever since the CD dropped through our letterbox.




A montage of cats - some riding a Casio VL-Tone - are all mixed in with 50's imagery for the beautifully printed gatefold sleeve.
It's the Sheffield Photographic Corporation's 9th release and they have struck gold with one of the most inventive electronic albums of 2009.









Katsen are no strangers to long term readers of EY. Last summer, we delayed the release of 'EY VOL 1' in order to squeeze on their track 'Where Nobody Can Find Us' - a track that EY & Undo fell in love with - convinced that it could someday be a future pop hit.

We delayed the compilation again to accommodate a special extended remix from Katsen that the band sent us in closing moments of 2008.

One year on and 'Where Nobody Can Find Us' is receiving radio plays on the BBC and Steve Lamacq names 'It Hertz' as his 'Alternative Album Of The Week' on Radio One.












'It Hertz' kicks off with futuristic sci-fi bleeps and effects that the BBC Radiophonic workshop would have used during the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor as he faced an army of six Sea Devil's off the coast of Portsmouth back in 1972.

A few seconds into 'Let's Build A City' and a buzzy fat bass sound clicks this frantic track into gear and it's the bassline and stark percussion that is a glowing homage to League Mk 1 and 1979's 'Reproduction'.




Given that EY was created purely out of love for 'Reproduction' & 'Travelogue', space age 'Blake's 7' sound effects and BBC Radiophonics, 'It Hertz!' puts us into a trance whenever we put it on and there are always new sounds to discover with every spin of the CD.




Donna and Chris share the vocal duties on this album opener and they work amazingly well together throughout the entire album and 1.57 seconds into 'Let's Build A City', there is a lovely warm synth lead during the chorus that never drowns out all the other tasty sonics bits.

The second track is Single Contender Number One. 'Chequered Flag' is sadly one of the few tracks on this album that hasn't had a special Katsen kitchen performance video made for it which is a bit of a shame as it's possibly one of the best tracks we've heard this year.
But you can hear it in glorious sterea via that band's myspace player.




Kicking off with trippy percussion much like BEF/H17's 'Let's All Make A Bomb', an off mic cough by Donna is preserved before an intro full of bleeps leads us to a brilliant verse.

Much has been made about comparisons with early 80's synth idols but we actually think that this track owes more to the modern sonic assault electro of Canadian electro stars Crystal Castles (particularly 'Alice Practice' and 'Crimewave' ).

(Alice image: © jeremy cave 2009 and used by kind permission )



Like Crystal Castles, Katsen also use a succession of quick firing 'arcade' bleeps to beef up the percussion and drive of the track.









Whilst Donna delivers the verses on this indie electro gem, Chris does the honours over a very catchy chorus to a beloved arpeggiated bassline before Donna returns with alternate lyrics and some great vocal interaction with Chris for a rousing finale.
'Chequered Flag' is probably the best example of Chris's intricate programming and ear for great sounds though it's pretty much evident across 'It Hertz!'.

A good few years in the making with many laboured nights in Brighton twisting knobs on ancient banks of unstable synths, the passion and love that has gone into this album shines through from the very first listen.

More is revealed with repeated listens before it all magically clicks into place.





Perhaps the least successful track on 'It Hertz!' is 'Cactus', presented here without the Katsen layers of previous tracks. It's a rather sparse cover of Pixies track with obsessive lyrics. We probably would have preferred Katsen's recent cover of The Cure's 'Play For Today' that has more of a melody to play around with.



Single Contender Number Three is a track that always brings a smile to our face and one can imagine Donna & Chris laughing in the corner of studio during the playback of Donna's treated vocal line of 'Your not weeeell'.

'I'm A Doctor' is a trans-dimensional glam rock stomp, more League Mk1 and KLF than Goldfrapp about a doctor needing to treat a very sick town.



Lyrically twisted and slightly nightmarish, it has little to do with Doctor Who though the bassline does seem to borrow heavily from Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire's original theme tune from 1963.




It all makes us want to laugh and dance at the same time with it's random randomiser beats and Type 40 sequencing. It's only a question of time before this track turns up in a Dr Who documentary.







'Island In A Island' is pure .....bonkers but it's so endearing. Donna's perfectly posh English accent is like something out of the 60's spy drama The Avengers.
Steed would have loved Donna and taken her on missions to destroy countless screaming Cybernauts.

A minute into the track and wonky Radiophonic synths cut in to give it all a vibrant edge as Donna's 'Island in a island' mantra becomes ever so slightly manic towards the end.

Chris delivers the vocals on one of our featured tracks 'What You Want' that has an air of new wave plus a few brief punky guitar chords before changing direction completely into a lovely little electro instrumental part that is pure Soft Cell from the 'Non Stop Erotic Cabaret' era.

Up next is 'Drax' that reminds us very much of Orbital's 1996 album 'In Sides' (the best electronic album of that decade in our humble opinion bar Leftfield's debut a year or so earlier).
For the most part it's a glorious instrumental full of clever sonic invention much like the League's 'Dignity Of Labour' EP though the focus here is pretty much on the space age melody. In the final third, Donna and Chris once again combine so perfectly for the vocals.
Heavens to Betsy that these two met and that Donna left the circus to help Chris build analogue synths.


Things slow down a bit for a very faithful cover of Passions classic 'German Film Star'. You can't really mess around too much with a classic single of this nature but Katsen actually managed to produce a version that is far more atmospheric than the recent Pet Shop Boys collaboration with performance artist Sam Wood.

Title track 'It Hertz!' is the album's only instrumental and again it takes us back to Orbital's masterful 'In Sides. It's a pleasant three minute musical interlude before the final big three stompers. 'Constellation' could have been sung by Captain Sensible inbetween 1982's 'Brenda' and 1984's 'Glad It's All Over'.
Warm and fuzzy and typical of the entire album.






Perennial future hit 'Where Nobody Can Find Us' is one of EY's fave tracks in recent years, sublime pop, once heard ...never forgotten but our most treasured Katsen track (so far) is album finale 'Florian'.

A former EY Single Of The Week and a contender of EY Song Of The Year, it was a real delight to hear the finished version of 'Florian' on CD having played the live you tube performance to death.
It's a lovely Kraftwerky melodic number with a resonating bassline and spine tingly melodies.

This is Single Contender Number 4, a track we can't stop humming or daydreaming to and it's the best album finale since Marsheaux's 'Heaven' on 'Peek A Boo'.

If EY was a band then we would pretty much sound like Katsen.....


EY Rating: 9/10



Support great new electro and grab a copy of 'It Hertz!' on CD via this link.
You can also download the entire album over at Amazon for under a fiver! Just jump here.
Katsen's 'virtual gig' - catch selected 'It Hertz' tracks performed live here.

EY6 headliners The Mighty Marsheaux have today been awarded the prestigious Popjustice Song Of The Day for 'Luminuex Noir' gem and pure EY fave 'So Far'.


Often name checked by the BBC and the all new 'electro friendly' NME where Popjustice featured higher than Twitter in their Future 50 list of musical innovators, PJ is the UK's most influential music site.


Describing 'So Far' as 'warm and lovely electronic pop from Greece', Popjustice go on to describe 'Luminuex Noir' as 'a bit of a treat' and there were plenty of cheers and clicking of wine glasses at EY HQ with the news that 'So Far' had grabbed the first PJ Song Of The Week for Marshy since 'Dream Of A Disco' back in early 2007.






In the unlikely event that there are any EY readers who have yet to snap up a copy of 'Lumineux Noir', PJ has a sample of 'So Far' over at this link.

'So Far' is a perfect reminder of how this band have dominated EY over the past two years and why they still remain two steps ahead of the electro pack.






Could it be.... 'Magic'?





It might possibly be 12 months too late but Island have finally confirmed the release of one of EY's top tracks of 2008.






'Magic' is the song that led us to the wonderous pop debut from Pip Browne AKA Ladyhawke who spearheaded the charge of the L-Word that has dominated UK music and got people talking about pop again (hurrah!).


Pip's debut later became EY's album of the year followed by Popjustice and whilst the album was a slow burner to begin with, it has since sold over 300,000 copies in the UK without producing a major hit single.





'Magic' is released on October 26th and it comes with the animated video opposite that again calls upon the artistic flare of Pip's album artist Sarah Larnach.
It all looks a bit like a bonkers musical interlude from an episode of The Mighty Boosh.

XFM DJ Richard Skinner has already seen sense and made Magic - a glorious Mode-esque electro stomp from the 'Music For Masses' era - his Record Of The Week.



We can't wait to hear the official 'Magic' mixes here at EY HQ especially if there is a lovely 'old skool' extended mix...pretty please Island?

Mesh feedback...

It is always very flattering to us when anyone spends precious time reading our electro waffle and this week we heard from Rich Silverthorn of Mesh who sent us an email to say that he was 'an avid reader' of EY.

Rich also updated us on the progress of the new single ' Only Better' - 'currently in the German Trend Charts (which is their main charts) and at number 2 in the DAC'.





Mesh are set to release their first album in over three years ' A Perfect Solution' in Europe on October 23rd and comes in special deluxe edition on the Dependent label.





Both versions of the album are currently riding high in the Musicnonstop bestsellers chart ahead of the official release date with the standard release hitting number one earlier today.

In the Sideline video above, the band talk about forthcoming tour dates plus the new album before playing the catchy new single ' Only Better' that has a nice 'orchestral' synthy lead bit half way through.

Rich signed off with these kind comments about EY; ' read the site on a regular basis as it's a great source of info and nicely laid out, top site.'

Related links:
Mesh @ myspace plus 2009 tour dates
Pre-order 'A Perfect Solution' at Musicnonstop

A timely reminder from the BBC.....

Many of our regular readers won't need reminding about BBC-4's must-see documentary 'Synth Britannia' that airs on October 16th at 9pm - but BBC publicist Leanne Williams kindly got in touch with us with details of other electro related programming due to air on BBC-4 and 6 Music.



Following 'Synth Britannia' that tells ' the electric story of a generation of post-punk musicians who took the synthesiser from the fringes of musical experimentation to the centre of the pop stage', BBC-4 will also air a documentary entitled 'Krautrock - the Rebirth of Germany' on October 23rd.


Perhaps most interesting to EY readers is the 6 Music show 'Synth at the BBC' directly after 'Synth Britannia' that is billed as ' an hour of Synth performances from the BBC archives including Roxy Music, Human League, Ultravox and Eurythmics'.





Another fascinating show full of EY spirit is 'Back to the Phuture' with Gary Numan and record label boss Mark Jones who set out to link the electro innovators of the past with the shiny 21st century pop of La Roux and Little Boots (see...we are not the only ones banging on about all this stuff ;)).



And finally during the week of Tuesday 20 - Friday 23 October from midnight, Human League fan Andrew Collins presents ' The Great Bleep Forward' - a four part documentary exploring the development of electronic music .

EY HQ has this week been struck down by a nasty virus - lots of sleeping at odd hours - but we received through the post a perfect electro package from Casio Brighton lovelies Katsen that perked us up this morning.

After one listen and we adore their new long player 'It Hertz' which is lovingly packaged (up to Undo standards in fact) and every track is charming and crisp.

More on the album when we fully recover...

Katsen's 'Where Nobody Can Find Us' this week made it to the playlist of Clare McDonnell over on the nation's coolest radio station BBC 6Music and the playlist for that show is rather good with tracks that includes La Roux stomper Tigerlily (one of the EY tracks of 2009),


To have a look at the playlist - jump here.


To celebrate more national radio plays for Katsen - we've added their exclusive 'EY VOL 1' remix of 'Where Nobody Can Find Us' to the EY myspace player. Have a listen to the full mix here.
It is brilliant.

Pre-order 'It Hertz' from: www.katsen.com

We also heard from an exec producer of a promising new sci-fi comedy who has just enlisted the help of League MK1 genius Jo Callis for an electro soundtrack.....


Hi,

I'm the exec producer of The Cabonauts - an upcoming web-based sci-fi comedy musical series starring Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols, and I wanted to pass along a bit of Human League-sized news for your fans. We've just officially signed Jo Callis to remix the tracks!

Each episode, set in a space cab with passengers played by iconic actors/actresses from the world of SciFi (John Barrowman is set to appear; the pilot features Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse) and James C. Leary (Buffy)) also comes with an original synthpop song/dance.

The entire cast participates with both singing and dancing, and we'll be selling remixes of each of those tracks done by big 80's names (and 90s and 00s) on iTunes.

Jo is the first 80's name to officially come on board (we're in talks with a bunch of others) and we couldn't be happier.

The website is http://www.thecabonauts.com and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Cheers
Hayden Black


And this promising electro tip from Craig Conley...


Hi,

In case you haven't seen this three-girl synth band The Rubies singing 'I Feel Electric'.

cheers,

Craig

And finally, a lovely email from Emile Dekker in Amsterdam who will soon be receiving the deluxe 'EY VOL 1' plus a few other Marsheaux/Client goodies....

My compliments for your site.
Your advice for listening to the other bands are really great.
I love already Parralox, Northern Kind, Little Boots and Marsheaux.
I have also bought La Roux.
I have seen Marsheaux in Krefeld and have also bought tickets for Little Boots in Amsterdam.

Thanks
Emile




Jon Von Ahlen of Parralox received his copy of 'EY VOL 1 earlier this week and sent us these kinds words:

'The EY packaging is simply stunning.....I'm not surprised it was No1 at MNS for so long....it's the best packaging in a CD Ive seen in quite a while....the Marhseaux CD looks fantastic too and I am wrapped that it was signed by the girls too....

OK now Im going to listen to the whole lot in glorious stereo...'

Music festivals are often fairly barren places for those in search of a healthy dose of electronic music.

However, this year's Bestival, on the Isle of Wight and now in its sixth year, had much to offer the discerning synthpopper.

Following on from last year's muddy deluge, 2009 saw bright sunshine, a rearrangement of the festival site layout and a substantial increase in the number of attendees which - according to some Bestival veterans - prompted a shift away from its early 'boutique' feel.




In spite of this, the event felt far removed from a regular festival; its 'outer space' dressing up theme meaning that those present were a (quite literally) glittering array of daleks, astronauts, robots, aliens and characters from sci-fi shows (from Futurama to Blake's 7).

Musically, my attention was first grabbed by upcoming alt-pop act Marina and the Diamonds, whose wonderful single 'I am Not a Robot' (the anti-Kraftwerk, so to speak) sounded strangely like a plea for a return to humanity amidst all the futuristic tomfoolery.



However, the first act likely to be of interest to EY readers were Passion Pit, who took to the main stage mid afternoon on the Friday.
Unfortunately, as with the other acts performing on the main stage that day (notably Florence and the Machine and Massive Attack), their set was blighted by terrible sound quality and significant sound bleed from adjacent stages.

Even though they put on a good show, I couldn't help feeling that their big synth-wooshes and elaborate middle-8s were a distraction from their lack of genuinely catchy tunes.




A DJ set from the irrepressible Little Boots was also a little underwhelming, and Victoria's half-hearted hand waving seemed to belie a hectic summer schedule. Despite this, her main stage performance the following day was a requisite dose of musical Prozac.

Dressed as Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds, Boots powered through an uproarious set which saw an at first slightly sedate crowd entirely won over by 'Remedy' ' 'New in Town' and 'Symmetry', the former alas not featuring Mr Oakey.

Other acts performing at the festival and potentially of interest to EY readers included emerging all male electro-rock act Delphic and the horrendously named Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, as well as the ever glorious Natasha Khan, aka Bat for Lashes.
Sadly, though, Heartbreak (long time collaborators with Little Boots) were nowhere to be seen on the programme, despite appearing on the website line-up.




But all these were rather overshadowed by Saturday headliners Kraftwerk, who I had never seen live before. With the main stage sound now much improved, they didn't disappoint, putting on perhaps the best festival performance I have ever seen.

It's hard to say anything about Kraftwerk that hasn't been said before, and all their live quirks were present and correct: the dummies coming on and 'performing' 'The Robots', the environmentalist re-working of 'Radioactivity', the finale of 'Music Non-stop' replete with 'solos' performed by each band member before exiting the stage, and the expected absence of interaction with the audience (bar a parting 'goodnight, auf wiedersehen' from Ralf Hutter).

Despite the deliberately conflicting indications about its 'liveness' or otherwise, I was struck by a pleasing unevenness running through the music, with all the tracks music sounding less mechanical and structured live than on record.

Their performance could scarcely have provided a better soundtrack to an evening dominated by robots and spacepeople.

However, no sooner had Hutter bid us farewell than I - along with a hapless army of electro-nerds - was legging it to the 'Big Top' tent where La Roux was just taking the stage.


I've never been entirely won over by Elly Jackson, and her strangely low key performance failed to allay these doubts...although I do concede that this may be partly because amidst the post-Kraftwerk mayhem I had to view her performance from outside, through an entrance to the tent.
And whilst admittedly 'Bulletproof' made for a top notch sing-along finale, on this occasion the new generation of electropop acts were just a little overshadowed by their sexagenarian predecessors.

Electrokooky and ever so slightly wonky, 'Dreamland' is the new single from France's leading electro lady Emilie Simon.






Seperated at birth from Kate Bush with similar vocals that verge on Gothic opera, Simon also spookilly looks abit like our Kate in the new promo video for 'Dreamland' that is released in France on September 21st.




The electronic backing all sounds a bit like a twisted Goldfrapp from the 'Supernature' era before all the folk nonsense kicked in and there are some very intriguing chord changes that veers 'Dreamland' away from your standard three minute pop song and into something rather special.

There's even a third act where 'Dreamland' goes a bit Muse with ambitious vocal shifts and strange notes - Emilie however pulls it off better than those Queen wanabies (and this song is addictive with both Chi and EY playing the video five times in a row).

if you find yourself dipping into a bit of Bats For Lashes, Lykke Li & Florence & The Machine from time to time then 'Dreamland' is likely to flick your switch.

J'' adore Emilie! (nice video too)

EY Rating: 8.5/10


Related Link: Emilie Facebook page


orac
.

Here's the first ever video exclusive for EY and it's a lavish David Lynch inspired promo clip for one of our personal faves of 2009 here at EY HQ.





Australian Sensations Parralox have just completed the video to the Shannon inspired 'Hotter' that provides the screen debut of Amii who struts around a very stylish hotel in search of the perfect male.


Speed dating fails to impress and in the end Amii finds her ideal mate but we won't reveal who that is as we want you all to turn up your speakers and play the video opposite.
There is also a very nice instrumental to accompany the credits that we rather like.



Directed and edited by the multi skilled JVA (who even finds time to animate the EY banners you see above the newspage!), this lovely promo clip was only completed within the last few days and we had to have it all to ourselves.


'Hotter' is available now as a digital single whilst a strictly limited CD is due for release on October 9th.




Parralox will be returning to the UK early next year for a special live date in London.


Related links:
Hotter (Single) (Digital Download)

Available - October 9th 2009
Hotter (Single) (Limited Edition CD)




EY6 - Marsheaux Mikro live at Scala!




We will shortly be announcing ticket details for our biggest live event yet at Scala with Marsheaux and Mikro. This will be real tickets that will mostly be available online via the Scala website and we should have all that info for you by the end of this week.

Lots of smiles here at EY HQ when we read the official OMD website who have kindly mentioned EY6 and the live return of the Mighty Marsheaux.


To have a look at how they've covered this news, please jump here.


(With thanks to Paul B and Chi Ming Lai)


Coming up - thoughts on La Roux live at Scala - and Chi Ming Lai looks at how the current crop of electro artists compare to those old faves of the early 80's

orac

EY is delighted to announce the welcome return of Greek Sensations Marsheaux who will headline EY6 at London's famous Scala venue on November 19th 2009.



Marianthi & Sophie will be performing choice tracks from their new album 'Lumineux Noir' that has become a bestseller for German label Out Of Line, spending over a week at Number One on the Musicnonstop Top 10 back in August.





Marsheaux made their UK live debut at EY1 two years ago drawing the biggest EY audience at Hoxton even though the girls were relatively unknown at that time. Marsheaux's most recent live appearance was at alternative Amphi Festival this summer where Marianthi & Sophie performed to a capacity crowd in Cologne.


Since signing to label Out Of Line in 2007, Marsheaux's irresistible mix of classic pop hooks and analogue knob twiddling have seen them stretch their exotic appeal where they have even picked up a devoted Goth following across the land that created electro - Germany.

The Marshy girls are also famed for their production/remix work and recently had a remix released to radio in Europe for Katy Perry's 'Hot n Cold' where the single was given a Krafty electronic twist for the clubs - a mix that got the thumbs-up from Perry herself when she first heard it.

EY6 will be Marsheaux's first UK date since playing a stunning set at last year's Infest Festival in Bradford. Expect gems from all three Marsheaux albums at Scala in November plus the odd remix and cover version and some very nifty stage projections.

EY is also very pleased to have UNDO/EMI's Mikro opening the night who are making a rare visit to UK shores.

Mikro have a very successful career in Greece performing on national prime time TV as well as featuring on a recent high profile ad campaign.

In between albums, Mikro have provided a film soundtrack whilst band member Nikonn had a song included on the massively popular US crime series CSI.



Along with Marsheaux, Mikro were also included on 'Electronically Yours Vol 1' with the extremely catchy 'Restart' - a track that was recently praised over at Worrapolava

An EY interview with Mikro will follow shortly....




Scala in Kings Cross has played host to many genre faves over the years including a rare Heaven 17 gig back in 2005 and tomorrow sees EY fave La Roux who will be playing there to a sold-out crowd (EY report also to follow).

This lush venue will be the perfect home for the next Marsheaux concert and we look forward to seeing all you lovely people there!

For a virtual tour of Scala - please click on this link.

Tickets for this event will go on sale very shortly ad we will bring you more details of this event including ticket prices etc later this week.

Katsen 'Alternative Album Of The Week' on Radio One!

Heartfelt joy all round this week at EY HQ with the news that 'EY VOL 1' act Katsen whose new debut 'It Hertz' had been awarded 'Alternative Album Of The Week' by Steve Lamacq resulting in a national airing of EY fave 'Where Nobody Can Find Us'.

This is a tremendous achievement for any new band and we are chuffed to bits for Donna & Chris who are probably still celebrating in style on Brighton beach.



A few weeks ago, we named one of their new tracks 'Florian' as Song Of The Week and for those who missed it the first time - here's the video again.

Related links:
Steve Lamacq's Radio One playlist
Katsen @ Myspace
Buy 'It Hertz'

orac

Winter is approaching...but there are still one or two upcoming electro gems including 'State Of Decay' from Parralox - Australia's premier electronic band.

Since the release of 'Electricity' as a strictly limited 'EY Special Edition' twelve months ago, Parralox have reached out and touched electro hearts and landed themselves with a German record contract.



The new Parralox single 'Hotter' is special (we have an early studio version on the EY myspace player) and to celebrate it's digi/CD single release, Chi Ming Lai wired some essential questions down under to Parralox front woman Amii and supreme analogue knob twiddler Jon Von Ahlen.

EY's Parralox week begins with the first ever interview with Amii together with exclusive photos from the forthcoming video of 'Hotter' that could possibly be inspired by the Human Leagues's 'One Man In My Heart' promo back in 1995....




Chi Ming Lai: Hello Amii, welcome to EY and the world of electro goodness


Amii: Thank you for having me...

I was chatting with a barman from Melbourne in London the other week and he'd heard of PARRALOX.
How does it feel to be joining an established act that's has been getting a lot of positive press?

That's great to hear...my uncle lives in Glasgow and he told me a similar story, he was at a music festival and mentioned to a girl he meet that his niece in Australia was in a group called Parralox and she had heard of us, its good to know that we are getting our music out there and people all over the world are liking what we are doing...its just the beginning.



What's your own musical background and what kind of music do you like to listen to?




I think all artists are influenced and inspired by others especially growing up there is always a sound that grabs you from a young age and sticks, for me it has always been pop/dance I think its easy to hear in my vocals who I am influenced by.

I am one of the biggest Madonna fans you'll ever meet I have grown up listening to her music. I was given her first album as a six year old and have been obsessed ever since, but I must say she really has lost it lately, her last album was really bad, as a life long fan I was very disappointed.


I love all types of music I surround my self with all genres of electronic music as long as it has substance, I don't like anything too fast and banging! Although I love going out for a dance every now and then.
Other artists I follow are Goldfrapp. Roison Murphy, LCD sound system, Simian Mobile Disco, Hot Chip, Den Haan and anything 80s.

How are you settling into being in the studio accompanied by all this synthesized sound? Have you learnt how to robot dance yet?

Well the good news is I am a robot dancer from way back! I must say I love keyboards I wish I could play one...but I could never sit still for long enough to learn, I was too busy tap dancing and roller skating.




I am loving your striking neo-gothic vamp image, how did this visual concept come about?




It's funny because in everyday life I am so far removed from that look, my friends would never describe me as neo-goth, more like Pricilla queen of the disco. But the great thing about pop is that you can play with different looks, I love it when my favourite artists surprise me with a look I haven't seen before.

Our latest promo shots are very different yet again, I think that as long as we have a good strong image that people are drawn to...

But is this look practical to perform in on stage? How do you see PARRALOX developing possibly as a live act in the future?


I think any look given enough make-up and hair spray is practical.
About developing Parrralox, I hope to establish ourselves as a very professional world class act, I am planning on getting a designer on board to help me with costumes.
I have lots of ideas and I can't wait to start touring, but I wont give too much away...you'll have to wait and see.


The new single is 'Hotter' and is a narrative about a girl with very shallow tendencies.
How did you feel about the lyrics and getting into character to sing them?


Hotter is my favourite song on the album, it was actually the first one John and I recorded together. I am very cheeky by nature so I think I can get away with singing this song without making it too shallow, in some strange way there is something sad about this song, I think it would be sad to be that superficial, but you are just playing a part to tell a story.

I've heard the demo of 'When The Walls Come Tumbling Down' which a great mix of MADONNA and NEW ORDER. What are your favourite songs from 'State Of Decay'?




As I said 'Hotter' is my favourite, but I can honestly say I am happy with all of the tracks. But if I had to pick...'When The Walls Came Tumbling Down' is also a favourite, it just has emotion that runs from start to finish.

Also 'How Do You Break A Robots Heart'. And I love our cover of New Order's 'Touched By The Hand Of God', it has been a long dream of mine to do a version of this track and John's synths work a treat on it!



What are your own future ambitions, whether with it's with PARRALOX or for yourself?


At this point in time I just want to focus on Parralox, I think we are on to a good thing, it has taken me a lifetime to find a producer like John and I am very happy to be working with him. I am looking forward to what the future holds, as I said this is only the beginning.

(With thanks to Amii)




Parralox Release Schedule 2009

Available now
Hotter (Single) (Digital Download)

Available - October 9th 2009
Hotter (Single) (Limited Edition CD)
I Am Human (Single) (Digital Download )
I Am Human (Single) (Limited Edition CD)

Pre-Order now. Item available - November 13th 2009
State Of Decay (Album) (Digital Download)
State Of Decay (Album) (Limited Edition CD)
All CD preorders will have the buyer's name printed in the Limited Edition CD's booklet!
Order now to secure your name in the booklet.



More 'EY VOL 1' feedback


Top pop blog Worrapolava today posted a lovely review about our recent Undo/EMI compilation 'Electronically Yours Vol 1'.
The review kicks off with Chris Lowe's legendary quote from 'Paninaro'...
'I don't like country and western, I don't like rock music' - inspirational words to Orac back in 1986 when 'stadium rock' was all the rage after the Live Aid concert the previous year.

Worrapolova goes on to single out EYVOL 1 act Mikro for special praise; 'Mikro have a long and illustrious career in their home country, Greece, but they were new to me. They are also a total delight with their pulsating slice of electropop Restart'.

The most time consuming EY update since 2001 was 'The Insider's Guide To EY Vol 1' that took close to five days to cobble together so we loved these PSB related words: 'The 'insider's guide' reads like sleeve notes for a Pet Shop Boys CD: comprehensive, detailed and entertaining. For a site to support music and bands like this is vare special and should only be encouraged.'

To read this glorious Worrapolava review in full , please jump here.



June - August EY news archive