Archive for the synthpop tag

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 too many people involved. We couldn't expect him to actually pack Douglas McCarthy, Toni Halliday, Moby, Maggie Estep, Siobhan Lynch, Nicole Blackman, Samantha Coerbell, Hildia Cambell, and Diamanda Galás 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 The Metro 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 Sensational Alex Harvey Band'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 plane-crash-as-concept-album thing...

official website
buy Bloodline on Amazon.com

*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.

Tiga: Love Don’t Dance Here Anymore

Oh to be Tiga. While most of us spent our grade school summers playing tag with our friends and looking for some cool water to swim in, Tiga spent his in India, hanging out at parties with his father, legendary Goa DJ Dr. Bobby.

And when you know that, everything about Tiga makes perfect sense.

Tiga started DJing and throwing parties back home in Montreal while he was still a teenager, followed by opening an electronic music record store and starting his own label. His own music is very very heavily influenced by the '80s synthpop, italo disco, industrial, and neue deutsche welle that his father played. Here, he channels a little Pet Shop Boys (and maybe George Michael) in this song from his second album Ciao!.

official website
Buy Ciao! on Amazon.com

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool: Dance The Way I Feel

About a week ago, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool's lead singer, Charlie Haddon, walked off the stage after his performance at the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium and jumped to his death from a telecommunications mast.

As the news hit the blogs, a whole lot of people asked not "what would make someone do such a sad thing?" but "who is Ou Est Le Swimming Pool?". Having released all of three singles, the British synthpop band has made something of a name for themselves touring for La Roux, but were still under most people's radars. The thing is, though, those three singles were really really good. And like so many bands before them, we're left wondering what might've become of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, and what great music we're now missing out on, as a result of one key band member's suicide amidst a swirl of depression that we can't understand.

R.I.P. Charlie Haddon, we hardly knew ye.

official website

Soviet: Circuit Love

I really can't help but love Soviet. I'm a sucker for bands who are suckers for vintage synths, and these guys are all over it, albeit they're using old instruments to make futuristic music. Similar to Solvent, this is pop music for robots and people who live in those super techy sky homes that we were supposed to have by now. I'm pretty sure the only reason Keith Ruggiero isn't in Valerie is that he hasn't moved to France yet.

"Circuit Love" is from the very synthpop 2001 album We Are Eyes We Are Builders, but there's actually a newer Soviet release out called Spies In The House of Love that's a little more rock, and sounds like something I'd expect to hear in a John Hughes movie.

official website
Buy Soviet on Amazon.com

Tiger Baby: Love Will Tear Us Apart

Since we're doing a tribute to Ian Curtis this week, I'm going to take this opportunity to post a song that I love but never play: Tiger Baby's excellent cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart". Done in their signature sweet-but-meloncholy style of synthpop, this is by far my favorite cover of this song that I've ever heard. As I mentioned in a post last month, this isn't their only great cover, either. If you like this, you'll find it's very representative of Tiger Baby's original material, which I highly recommend.

As for why I never play it:
Frankly, I don't have the balls. I'm afraid the crowd will lynch me if they hear anything but the original. Also it has this 30 second long beatless break in the middle--that's a long time on the dance floor. But Darrel keeps requesting it, so maybe someday...

Taken from their 2006 album Noise Around Me, available directly from the band's own online shop.
official website

Upstation: Get It On

Moscow-based new wave band Upstation is surprisingly good for an act that has existed for less than a year. Their analog synths are sprinkled with bits of disco, and not afraid to hang out with some guitars. Between these guys, Cut Copy, and the Valerie collective, I hereby stop even using the term "retro", as it is clearly pointless. 21st century pop music sounds like early '80s pop music. I'm ok with that.

From their self-titled EP, available to download for free on the Upstation official website

Andy Bell: Call On Me (Hey Champ remix)

Fellow Chicagoans Hey Champ just put out this remix of Andy Bell's new single "Call On Me" and I quite like it. Keeping the disco elements and most of the lyrics intact, they give it a slick makeover that makes the track even more danceable.

Bell's new solo work has had it's fair share of problems, so it's exciting to see it finally released. Feeling the album sounded too much like Erasure, he at one point ditched producer Stephen Hague and all the songs they'd recorded, and started all over again with Gabriel Pascal. Given that both of them have a long history with synthpop artists and have produced Erasure before, I'm not quite sure I see the point, but then I haven't heard what Hague did to it, either. I'd argue that the end product does not even sound that different than Erasure, but I'm pretty sure that only Andy Bell thinks that's a bad thing.

Buy Bell's new album non stop on Amazon.com
Andy Bell official website
Hey Champ official website

Null Device: Electrified

If you've never been to Madison, Wisconsin, you might have some preconceived ideas about it, possibly something involving cheese, football, and maybe beer. Sadly, you'd be missing out on Madison's real gem: their electronic music scene. It never ceases to amaze me just how much talent comes out of this one college town. They have loads of great bands, great venues, one of the best promoters I've ever met, and a friendly crowd of open-minded people attending events. Madison also has a weekend-long electronic music festival that I'm lucky enough to be involved in every year and highly recommend. And trust me, you'll see plenty of Chicagoans there that weekend.

Null Device is one of the bright stars of the Madison scene, an intelligent and interesting synthpop outfit that is as good on the stage as on the CD. Erics Oehler and Goedken get better and better with each release, and watching their fans frantically gobble up the latest offering at their shows, I get the impression that I'm not the only one who thinks so. Their 2007 album Excursions is still one of my favorites, aptly titled for its wanderings into styles that not only cross genres but the entire globe. Their 2010 contribution Suspending Belief comes out tomorrow (June 22) on Nilaihah Records.

Null Device is playing alongside fellow Madison talent Caustic and The Dark Clan at Darkroom on June 27 on their first US tour. It's a diverse lineup of long time friends and occasional collaborators that will definitely make for a fun show.

official website
Buy Null Device on bandcamp.com

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