Richie Hawtin Interview with Daniel Miller
Whoever came up with the idea for this is brilliant. Superstar techno dj and producer Richie Hawtin interviews Daniel Miller, founder of legendary UK label . They talk about the early days of the British electronic music scene, the trials of starting up a label, his signing of Fad Gadget and later Depeche Mode, synthesizers, Berlin, and the influences Mute has had on Hawtin's own Plus 8 label. Miller signed Hawtin to his sub-label Novamute in 1992 as his dark alter ego .
Posted: June 21st, 2011
at 8:44pm by qbot
Tagged with british, dancing, daniel miller, depeche mode, fad gadget, mute, new wave, plastikman, punk, richie hawtin, synthpop, techno
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Red This Ever: Selfless
Three years ago, Kamar and I were asked to play the Baltimore Music Conference. Aside from playing at Sonar (one of my favorite warehouse-style clubs), the highlight of our trip wasn't the conference at all. Our friend Michael stole us away for a night to take us to The Depot, a venue that, if you're from Chicago, I would describe as sort of a cross between Darkroom and Liar's Club. The bill included , kindred soul to our new wave/synthpop/industrial focus, and the fantastic . But the best part was the headliners; Red This Ever absolutely blew us away with their energetic guitar-fused synthpop. I have since kept a Red This Ever button on my purse, and Kamar and I never forgot them.
You can imagine how excited we were when Michael told us they were coming to town. We jumped on the chance to book them, and so this Sunday, Atomic takes its first leap into live music. I couldn't ask for a better lineup, and Kamar and I hope that when you see Red This Ever, either at the show in Chicago or , that you're as impressed as we were that night in Baltimore.
by
Recoil: Faith Healer
Tuesday. Tuesday...I never thought next Tuesday would ever happen. Way back in the wee days of the internet, I was on the Recoil official mailing list--back when that meant daily emails of conversing with other fans, and sometimes Alan Wilder himself, who is surprisingly approachable for someone who used to be a very key member in one of the most important electronic bands ever.
We begged, and begged, but he said it couldn't be done. Recoil could never tour, could never even do a live show... there were just involved. We couldn't expect him to actually pack , , , , , ,, , and all on a tour bus. Oh come on, we could dream, right?
I guess Alan changed his mind, because he's on tour, and he's coming to on Tuesday night with Gary Numan. After a LOT of digging around, I was able to discern that he actually accomplished this by bringing no vocalists at all; in their place is film, with imagery chosen specifically for each piece. It's not Diamanda Galás and Douglas McCarthy hanging out on a bus, but I'll take what I can get.
Though nearly impossible given all the options, I choose Recoil's first single and most well-known track, a cover of the 's "Faith Healer" featuring Douglas McCarthy (Nitzer Ebb) from Bloodline*. I can't say it's a good representation of Recoil, because each album and even each song is a work of art that stands on its own, ranging from vintage Bukka White placed over minimal electro and Maggie Estep's hilarious spoken words to Diamanda Galás screeching in tongues and Toni Halliday screaming hate over industrial like nothing you'd ever imagine listening to her spacerocky Curve albums. And I'm not even touching on the whole thing...
*trivia: Foetus also covered this song on Rife, ergo this track is often mistaken for a Foetus cover, not to say that Thirwell's version didn't influence this one.
Posted: October 23rd, 2010
at 1:38pm by qbot
Tagged with 1992, alan wilder, bloodline, british, bukka white, concerts, covers, curve, depeche mode, diamanda galas, douglas mccarthy, electro, foetus, goth, hepzibah sessa, hildia cambell, industrial, jim thirwell, liquid, maggie estep, moby, nicole blackman, nitzer ebb, plane crashes, recoil, samantha coerbell, sensational alex harvey band, siobhan lynch, speaking in tongues, synthpop, toni halliday
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Cph Jet: Just Can’t Get Enough
I hate "Just Can't Get Enough".*
There, I said it. It feels good to get that out there. It's not just that it's the one of the most overplayed cheesy chunks of pop I've ever had to push the play button on, it's that it's an overplayed cheesy chunk of pop from a band that has literally hundreds of other more interesting songs in their repertoire. For crying out loud, this is Depeche Mode we're talking about here, not some one-hit wonder outfit whose entire career rests on having one memorable single released in 1985 or something. We have so many other options, let's use them.
That said, when I heard this Cph Jet cover, suddenly it changed my whole opinion. Just as even the most bland food becomes delicious when battered and deep fried, I will swallow a chiptune version of practically anything. Anders Remmer replaces Dave Gahan's adolescent-sounding vocals with adolescent-sounding robots and Vince Clarke's cheesy '80s synths with cheesy '80s 8-bit video game synths. Is this awesome? Yes, yes it is.
From the exceptionally good but difficult to find Danish Depeche Mode tribute album DMDK, also containing a terrific cover of "Strangelove" by Tiger Baby; .
*Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this post do not represent the opinions of the rest of the Atomic bloggers, probably most of the Neo staff, and definitely not Kamar, who LOVES this song, no matter how many times he's heard it.
Posted: June 14th, 2010
at 4:23pm by qbot
Tagged with 2006, 8 bit, anders remmer, animotion, bleepy synths, cheese, chiptune, covers, cph jet, dave gahan, depeche mode, dmdk, just can't get enough, overplayed, robots, synthpop, tiger baby
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Atomic’s 2 year anniversary / Cut Copy: Sands of Time

Join us tonight to celebrate two years of the best new wave party in Chicago with special guests .
How time flies...
People ask me sometimes how we get so many people to come out to Neo on Thursday nights. There's a lot of factors involved (remnants of a built in crowd, people really like Depeche Mode, Neo's new wave-steeped history), but the short answer is that Kamar and I knew what we wanted to do; we had a good idea, we executed it, and it worked. We've never gotten a whiff of press coverage. We're more likely to pluck our guest djs off of our own dance floor than book a big name. At the end of the night, what brings people back every week is the energy of the music and the crowd, the feeling that everyone is welcome, and that anyone can be and dance how they want.
The first thing we decided, and the one thing we've very much stuck to our guns about, is that it's not an "'80s night". We've all been to '80s nights. There's nothing special about most of them and we've all heard more than enough cheesy pop for our lifetimes. It's not what Atomic is about. There is an astonishing number of current acts in the new wave/synthpop/new romantic genres, and the best way to keep the music -and the crowd- fresh week after week is to include that.
The one band that matches our style perfectly, hands down, is Cut Copy. Their New Order-reincarnate sound has been a staple every week for the last two years, right in there with all the Soft Cell and Human League where it belongs. Now if they would just get a little more prolific...

"Sands of Time" is unreleased;
Posted: April 8th, 2010
at 2:46pm by qbot
Tagged with 2 years, 2008, 80s, anniversary, atomic, australian, cut copy, dark wave disco, depeche mode, kamar, neo, new order, new wave, qbot, sands of time, synthpop
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Depeche Mode Tribute this Thursday!
Every year, we do a tribute to Depeche Mode, one of the most popular and influential electronic bands that ever was [I'd place them just under Kraftwerk]. There's hardly anything I can say about them that hasn't been said, but certainly this week we'll be playing some DM tracks that don't normally get a lot of attention, right next to plenty that do. The frustrating bit about doing these is that there's always about 5 songs that, at the end of the night, I'm kicking myself for not playing. Six hours isn't even enough time for a band who has been putting out consistently good work for 30 years.
The particularly amazing thing is how while their early stuff still holds up pretty well after all this time, they've progressed so far as to sound almost nothing like those first albums--and yet still sound like the same band. To illustrate this, I've chosen to post "Monument", from the 1982 release A Broken Frame, a new wave track so minimal it can barely be danced to, whispering of techno and covered in fantastic '80s bleepy synths. In contrast, their recent single "Wrong" is loud and in-your-face, and the synths, now joined by guitars, are darker and harsher. This version is a remix by dubstep master Caspa [who coincidentally is playing at Smartbar on the same night]. The genre-overlay is really well done, and I think it says as much about the versatility of Depeche Mode's songwriting as Caspa's production skills.
Download and dig in, we'll see you on Thursday with a whole lot more!
Posted: March 22nd, 2010
at 3:44pm by qbot
Tagged with 1982, 2009, a broken frame, alan wilder, atomic, bleepy synths, caspa, dave gahan, depeche mode, dubstep, insane sample libraries, kraftwerk, martin gore, minimalism, monument, new wave, smartbar, sounds of the universe, synthpop, tribute, vince clarke, wrong
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theSTART: Wartime! (It’s Time 2 Go Now)
Kissing their metal & art-rock bands goodbye in the late 90's, vocalist Aimee Echo () and swiss army knife multi-instrumentalist Jamie Miller () bonded over a mutual love for 80's New Wave, ranging from the Cure to Missing Persons to Depeche Mode. They formed a new band together in Los Angeles soon after, encouraging their fans to "rise up & dance to a different beat" on their debut album Shakedown!. The couple provided a soundtrack for the future with memories of the past - new wave for now people.
With three albums and an EP under their belts, theSTART's latest release Ciao, Baby was issued under . Echo's unique sprite-like delivery recalls the squeaks & squeals of a modern day Lene Lovich or Dale Bozzio, while in the next breath morphing into a howling Siouxsie Sioux or Exene Cervenka. Miller's guitar soundscapes are reminiscent of the early 4AD roster or bands like Bauhaus & the Chameleons. His lush keyboards shimmer, the perfect accent to Echo's pop melodies to create a sound of their own.
Featured here is Ciao, Baby's opening track "Wartime! (It's Time 2 Go Now)" as well as a cover of one of the band's favorite songs, "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie & the Banshees.
theSTART are still active & are currently focusing on a new experimental project . And no, my love for theSTART isn't simply because Echo & I share the same hair stylist & both know the Marilyn Monroe secret! Enjoy & dance. The circle is ever larger...
Posted: February 10th, 2010
at 7:42pm by Peroxide
Tagged with 2007, 4ad, aimee echo, american, bauhaus, ciao baby, covers, depeche mode, goth, human waste project, jamie miller, metropolis, missing persons, new wave, normandie, pop, siouxsie sioux, snot, the chameleons, the cure, thestart
Comments: 2 comments
Colder: To The Music
I'll complete our series of New Order tribute posts this week with a look towards the future and an artist I have been dying to write about since we started this blog. The work of Parisian graphic designer Marc Nguyen Tan, Colder bears some resemblance to the fashion industry he works in by day; dark minimalism comes across as stylish and sexy despite it's mechanical synthesized structure and disassociated vocals. Is this meant to be heard on a dance floor, or alone at home with the lights out?
"To The Music" is a particular favorite of mine, an anthem to the solitary dancer, lost in the music and oblivious to the gaze of bystanders. I can think of few songs more appropriate for Neo, where it seems all eyes are on the floor. It's taken from Heat, but if I were to recommend only one Colder album, I'd first choose 2003's solid Again. Though the influence of Joy Division couldn't be more obvious, it's an equally fine example of modern French new wave.
Without an official website (or even so much as a MySpace page) and a now-defunct label, it's difficult to know if/when there will be another Colder album out. In in 2005, he seems to indicate that making music is not a high priority, so we may be waiting a while. He also hints at a collaboration with Chris & Cosey. Yes, that Chris & Cosey.
Finally, no post on Colder would be complete without including Nguyen Tan's unbelievably good remix of Depeche Mode's "Clean". I feel like Depeche Mode doesn't get enough credit for how spot-on they are with choosing the most perfect and current producers to remix their stuff, and they really nailed it with this one. Do I dare say it? I like it better than the original.

Coincidentally, Marc Nguyen Tan released a new album just last week; it's a collaboration with his long time friend Guillaume Ollendorff, under the name Scratoa!. Called Live en San Antón, it was recorded in the barrio of the same name in Alicante, Spain two years ago. It's improvised noisy experimental sound is quite a departure from Colder, and will more likely appeal to Nurse With Wound fans.
Posted: February 3rd, 2010
at 6:17pm by qbot
Tagged with 2005, again, chris and cosey, clean, colder, dark, depeche mode, designer, french, guillaume ollendorff, heat, joy division, live en san anton, marc nguyen tan, minimalism, new order, new wave, nurse with wound, paris, post punk, remix, scratoa, to the music, tribute
Comments: 1 comment

