Archive for the ladytron tag

Nine Circles: Here Come I + Twinkling Stars

Lying somewhere between Joy Division and Fad Gadget and sounding far more French than they actually are is a Dutch duo I'll almost guarantee you've never heard of: Nine Circles. I can say this with some confidence because most of their catalog, though recorded in 1982, was never even released until 1996. No, I'm not making that up. I have no idea why they sat on it so long, because they probably would've been a big hit in some alternative dance clubs 28 years ago.

According to their MySpace page (sorry, it's all I have to go on), Lidia Fiala and Peter Van Garderen are actually doing concerts still. I doubt we will ever see them here in the States, but I can always hope they'll open on the next Ladytron tour...

Nine Circles on MySpace
Buy Nine Circles on Amazon.com

Deux: Game And Performance

A lot of people get really upset when I say this, but I swear it's true; most of what we play at Atomic isn't technically new wave. Depeche Mode? Synthpop. Duran Duran? New Romantic. Joy Division? Post Punk. I could go on and on, but we're not that picky, and most people would probably be bored to tears with a pure new wave night anyway. When I think of real new wave, I think of the simple electronic pop that could be defined in no other way. I think of M, or even Devo, but personally I lean towards the darker stuff. And no one, I mean no one, did this better than the French in the early '80s.

Deux is a great example of this.  The duo formed when Gérard Pelletier moved to Lyon and met art school student Cati Tete [her artwork is described as violent and grotesque, but sadly I couldn't dig any of it up online].  Their music is clearly heavily inspired by Kraftwerk and in current contexts is easily confused with Ladytron.  Though they seem to have done rather well in France and at one point had their own imprint, the label went under after only a few years. After an attempt at more mainstream singles in the early '90s, Deux ceased to release anything.  Too bad; I'd love to hear what they'd make now if they returned to the studio.

"Game and Performance" was their 1983 debut single, a pop song left naked, stripped of all but minimalist lyrics and melodies. Find it on their career-spanning 2006 compilation Agglomerat.

Available through the Deux official website.