Electronically Yours

Australian Sensations Parralox are back with a new album 'State Of Decay' - a CD of shiny brilliance, lush packaging and career defining tracks.

2008's 'Electricity' was a tough collection of heavenly electro to follow but the second studio album has quickly become one of the album contenders of the year here at EY HQ.

With beautiful sonics and pumping basslines - tracks such as 'When The Walls Came Tumbling Down' and the wonderfully complex 'Time' combine to mark a slight change of direction for Parralox.



There are still the nods towards early Madonna and you can imagine a Gothed up Kylie singing some of these new tracks - but there is definitely a bit of a classic New Order vibe running through many of the tracks.

In order to fully appreciate this album, EY recommends that you snap up the limited German Edition that includes the 'bonus' track 'In The Night'.
Our only complaint is that 'In The Night' should really have been included in the main tracklisting.

Our analogue hearts are also warmed by the fact that new gem 'Time' is dedicated in the sleeve notes to the late great creator of 'Blake's 7' - Terry Nation.

To celebrate 'State Of Decay' - EY got Chi Ming Lai to question the Parralox knob fiddler John Von Ahlen on this latest release, the state of the music industry and the glorious pop songs of 2009 that have impressed him the most.....






Chi Ming Lai: Flashback to PARRALOX's debut gig at EY3 last November. Any immediate memories or thoughts come to mind? I thought your set was far too short.

JVA: I have many memories of that night. Firstly, I was amazed at the turnout and how many fans we got to meet in person. Quite a few had traveled from the continent and there was a group of guys who came from Ireland just to see us play.


The highlight was the encore of our set when we reprised the song 'Electricity' and the ENTIRE audience was singing along with us. It was the most poignant moment of my music career, knowing that so many people loved our music (*and knew the lyrics too - I was totally impressed).





I remember in early 2008 when I discussed with Orac the possibility of Parralox playing at EY3, and then having that made reality was extremely satisfying, knowing that we all made it happen ourselves, without relying on major labels.

I agree that our set was too short but we also played with Motorbikes in Tokyo and RBW, so we couldn't exactly do an hour each per set.

For the next EY gig we may play longer, as long as Orac says it's OK!






The mention which 'Sharper Than A Knife' got on the Perez Hilton blog was quite a coup. What effect did it have on PARRALOX ?

Quite a profound one really, both Amii and I suddenly became far too important to talk to mere mortals. Just kidding!
Seriously, we had all these people calling us from out of the blue, wanting to know us, and a few record deals were offered (all of which I rejected of course).




The Perez thing also exposed us to a whole new audience which has been great. The good thing about the music we make is that it is hopefully universal. That is, the songs can be enjoyed by many people, and not just lovers of electro.
The music is really for lovers of songs, and not just drum machine freaks (it's OK, I’m one of those too).

I remember the day it happened, all of a sudden I was getting an insane amount of text messages on my mobile phone, and heaps of emails. I called Amii and we were both speechless. We actually went out a few days later and celebrated quite heartily.
Our myspace page went berserk, over 15,000 plays in one day!

I emailed Perez to thank him, and he replied in person which was lovely. One of our fans in New York sent him then CD, which is how the whole thing happened, much to our amazement!  We will also go to USA (Baltimore) to shoot a film clip for one of our tracks that featured in the Life After Lisa series, so that's all a by-product of the Perez exposure.

Congratulations on the new record deal with Conzoom Records. They've done you a nice little page on their website. What are your hopes for new album 'State Of Decay' with this exciting international arrangement?





I had to think quite a bit about signing to Conzoom, as Parralox were doing perfectly well the way we were, liaising heavily with Electronically Yours. But producing/writing/engineering music is only a small part of the music business.


The other side is promotion, management, networking, marketing, distribution etc..and when Ingo (Conzoom) made his proposal it made sense to me.
All of a sudden I had a label (albeit a small one - which is great actually) who could take on many of the duties that I had been doing.
That means I have more time now to focus on the actual music making.
I'm also getting back into music video production, and we shoot our film clip for Hotter in 3 days actually, which I am directing and producing.

It was also important for me to retain 100% creative control and maintain the integrity of the music, something which could never happen if we signed to a major label.

Making good music is more important to me than commercial success.

I hope people enjoy 'State Of Decay' in the same way they enjoyed 'Electricity', and that they can rediscover the joys of good, pop song writing combined with good old fashioned synthesizers.
We also have Ian Burden (The Human League) on board giving us a hand with some basslines etc.
We are working on co-writing some songs as well, but that's still early days and will most likely appear on the third Parralox album, due mid 2010.

'Hotter' is your latest single and I understand it dates back to the 'Electricity' sessions.
Why was it not on that album and how have you managed to retain the essence of PARRALOX while still being able to move forward with your sound?





Well, I have to be diplomatic in how I answer this one. Here goes...'Hotter' was actually song number PLOX16 in production terms (FYI - 'End Of Summer' is PLOX17) I give all our songs production numbers as it makes computer filing much easier, and gives me a chronological order to all the songs too.





Anyway ...I wrote the song as an ironic and cynical commentary on the state of social networking sites, dating sites and the internet in general. I had personally observed how people have become statistics and dehumanised as a by-product of technological progress.


When I presented the song to Roxy she was concerned that people might attribute the song's content to her! After some discussion we agreed not to record that song at that time, and it turned out that we had plenty of tracks for the album anyway.


One week after I met Amii I got her in the studio and 'Hotter' was the first song we recorded (February 2009). Amii pretty much nailed it, and I knew then that I had struck gold (yet again!!). The original production for the track was a little clunky, so I updated it to bring it in line with the current Parralox sound. The demo version may appear at some stage.



I made a conscious decision when recording tracks for the new album that I would try and look forward as much as possible, and not borrow as heavily from the past as I had.



Obviously I love 80's music and I want to retain that element, but I don't want us to become a one-trick-pony or self repeating.

So it was a fine balance to blend in our influences while mixing in a small dose of future shock.

What can we expect with the new album? Will be a glorious dancefest or have you gone a bit darker?


The new album is much darker than the first by design. This is more apparent especially when you read the lyrics. The music is a combination of dance, electro, ballads and stadium electro (I just made that up) tracks.
Some tracks are darker sounding, while others are produced in typical Parralox fashion and sound upbeat. 'Beautiful World' is a clear example of the statement 'Make a sad song happy, and make a happy song sound sad'.

If I told you what the song was about you would be surprised. The subject matter for some of the new songs is quite morbid and serious, although I have hidden the content to a certain degree by the clever use of metaphor and cliche ;)






Also, only true Doctor Who fans will understand the album title reference (or anyone with access to google LOL!).

The title reflects the state of human affairs and emotions. While the first album was about the electric, this album is really about the organic.

Any particular tracks we should be looking out for on 'State Of Decay'?





I'm proud of 'Time', as I consider that to be a sibling track (in spirit) to Factory Friends, the lyrics are a little off beat and they deal with quite a cosmic topic. The song itself is very dreamy.

'Universe, I Love You' is another favourite, although it took me 6 months to write that chorus and I kid you not.

The rest of the UILY was written in my sleep in February 2009, the night after I dreamt of 'Footsteps'.
It's one of the most unashamed pop songs I've written and produced (Human League fans rejoice), but still a bit quirky.



'When The Walls Came Tumbling Down' was a turning point for us, in that we started to explore a different, darker direction while still maintaining the electro roots which keep our passion for this genre so strong.

Throughout the production of the entire album I was watching 'Eraserhead' and 'Twin Peaks', so I think some of this has had an influence, especially in songs like ' Footsteps' which is basically about Sarah Palmer. I've been reading nothing but Isaac Asimov for the last year, so this explains ' How Do You Break A Robot's Heart?'

To be honest, I love every single song on the album and it's difficult to isolate just one as more special than another. I'm sure will find that certain tracks appeal more than others, but both Amii and I are 100% proud of every single song on the album.

The EY special edition CD of 'Electricity' helped PARRALOX get noticed & established. But the landscape has changed even since it was released. Do you have any views about how music is marketed/distributed now and whether the physical format really has had its day?


As time marches on we find more and more artists using the internet to promote their music, and the major labels are shitting themselves with good reason. It is now possible to self fund, promote and sell your own product without the major labels.

Sure you won't reach the same audience or ever have the same distribution networks that Sony/EMI have, but you can at least compete in a small way and get yourself heard. All this means that your promotional AND distribution network is digital, and so therefore your content must also be transmissible via the same network.

Sadly, this means more mp3s and less CDs are being sold. The younger generation have no concept of vinyl records and they see CDs as an antiquated format. That might be true, given the nature of the digital world we live in, in which every man and his dog has an iPod.
I still believe in keeping the physical format alive though, as music is more than just vibrations in the air.

One of the agreements I have with our new label is that ALL of our releases must be made available on CD, even if they are only as Limited Edtions. I put too much work into my music to have it downgraded to a 5Meg file!

I know there are lots of people out there who still want to 'hold the music in their hands' and nothing will ever beat listening to a CD and reading the cover and admiring the artwork at the same time.

Seeing a thumbnail of the album cover while listening to an mp3 is not the same.
I've said it before, but bands like Parralox wouldn't be able to compete without the support of websites/blogs such as EY.
Even though we are still small (in the grand scheme of things) we still need to reach an audience, and without the traditional promotional pathways that record companies offer, we need to seek out alternative methods.
It's better for us to do it this way, as we deal directly with the people (such as yourself) who love the music , and not some corporate A&R person who doesn't understand us, or is only interested in us after someone ELSE shows some interest.

We can create our won way I think. There is still a place for the physical format of music (CD, Vinyl) even if it is shrinking every day. The only thing you need to know is that Parralox will always release it's music 'in the real world' as well as digital format.

Packaging is such an important part of pop music, and without a real CD in your hands, you lose some of that impact.

I saw a great sticker to advertise Hi-Fi which said ' BAD SOUND IS KILLING GOOD MUSIC'. It's funny but I've really got back to buying CDs again in a big way because I really miss that 'body' which music has when you play a properly mastered CD through a good system as opposed to an MP3. As a renowned 'studio boffin' with a drive for perfection, have you any views about the way music 'quality' is heading.

Is this maybe why people are still going to gigs in large numbers even if they're not buying music as much?






I know people are saying that CDs are dead, and it might be true, but I refuse to let it go. Bad sound is not only killing music, but it is misinforming the younger generation.

Music has always been an expression of individuality and statement of style, but to some people the actual sound quality is secondary to the delivery medium, and that's a shame as they are missing out on the chance to explore the fine details that high fidelity music has to offer.

I put so much work into my music, and the thought of having all these beautiful sounds crushed down to some shitty mp3 quality really saddens me. People really have forgotten (or the teenagers who just don't know any different) the joys of high fidelity audio.
To hear your favourite music in full bandwidth uncompressed sound (and glorious stereo) is how all music should be heard.

I myself listen to a lot of mp3s but I always come back to Vinyl, CDs or WAV files as I really want to hear every single detail in the music.

Why spend $100,000 recording an album and getting it mastered to perfection when the end result is compressed to a 128kbps mp3! It's like printing the Mona Lisa on a paper napkin and telling the world that this is a good painting. Yes, the original is a good painting, but the copy is just a cheap knock-off that you can't take seriously.


But, there is light at the end of the tunnel. As technology develops, you will find that soon it will be common for people to download WAV/AIF files that are uncompressed, in other words, you will be able to download CD quality audio files with no loss at all (forget about FLAC, I'm talking bit for bit copies of the original masters).

Only then will people be able to appreciate the music (as long as they don't ruin THAT experience by wearing tiny headphones LOL). I suspect that the audiophiles out there would have half decent sound set-ups anyway, and computer speakers are so much higher in quality now then ever before.




The real reason that people are going to gigs in large numbers is because the bands and record labels know the real way to make direct money is by putting on a live show (in relation to dwindling CD sales).

You can't download the experience of being in a crowd and seeing a band, and this is why bands are doing more gigs now that ever before. I laugh when I see some older bands re-appear and do what I call their 'retirement fund tour'.



We all know that people are illegally downloading music in greater numbers these days, so they only way to keep a band financially viable is to do lots of gigs. This also has the side-effect of promoting the band, which is what you want to do anyway.


If you don't doubt that CD sales are in decline then just compare how many music stores there are now, compared to 10 years ago.

All the lovely little independent, boutique vinyl stores are disappearing, sadly.



Will PARRALOX be doing gigs to promote 'State Of Decay'? When can we expect to see you in the UK and Europe?

Yes, we are coming to UK and Germany in early 2010 to promote our third single and soon to be released remix album. We had originally planned to come around at this time of the year, but we got caught up with finalising our album, plus the 2 singles that we are releasing this year as well as the three videoclips that we are recording as well!

Time just got the better of us and we had to decide what was more important, and clearly getting the album finished was the number one thing.

What are your favourite albums or songs from 2009 so far?



'Lady Gaga - Bad Romance'

I've NEVER been a Lady Gaga fan, but after I saw the video for this I changed my mind.

She is the world's biggest pop star at this point in time, and I'm sure Madonna and Marilyn Manson must be stewing in their juices wishing they had done a video half as good.

Note to Madonna - stop flashing your snatch to the world, we aren't interested! Take a leaf out of Lady G's book.


'Beyonce - Sweet Dreams'.

Yes I know you think I'm mad, but this is actually quite an electro track. The backing music is just one step away from 'Being Boiled', and had the Human League been starting out now, I'm sure they would sound exactly the same (Martyn Ware, please confirm!).


'Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow'.

No I'm not kidding. This song is pure electronics and Kraftwerk would approve, of that I have no doubt! In general I find R&B Rap to be boring and offensive, but the sheer futurist/retro vision of the track more than compensates for any loathing I have of gangsta rap (which this track isn't anyway).
If you listen to the instrumental version then you would be forgiven for thinking that Kraftwerk had a love child with Herbie Hancock.
'Royksopp - The Girl And The Robot' actually the album itself isn't too bad, but this track is a real standout.


'La Roux - In For The Kill'

Elly's voice is great, the song is amazing, but the original mix is awful. The Skream remix is the truest representation of that track as it really brings out the raw emotions.

Fever Ray's album is brilliant from start to finish.
Honestly, I wish Parralox had the same success that those guys (Fever Ray/The Knife) have. I'd love for us to have understated, but lengthy careers.

I have intentionally ignored Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys' new albums as I consider them both to be extremely disappointing. Both bands are capable of better song-writing IMHO, and as role models these guys have a certain standard to maintain.

We don't expect reinvention of genres, just good songs that we can fall in love with.

(JVA - thank you very much and see you in 2010!)


Parralox Release Schedule 2009

Available now
Hotter (Single) (Digital Download)
Hotter (Single) (Limited Edition CD)

I Am Human (Single) (Digital Download)
I Am Human (Single) (Limited Edition CD)

State Of Decay (Album) (Digital Download)
State Of Decay (Album) (Limited Edition CD)

Undo @ Sister Ray!



London's most famous record store - Sister Ray - a haven for pure electro in Soho, London is now stocking selected Undo goodies.

It is a big honour to us that a store that has been an oasis for the likes of Martin Gore in the past has sampled the likes of 'EY VOL 1' and Marsheaux's 'Lumineux Noir' and decided to stock both titles in their Soho store.



Both deluxe Greek versions of both titles retail at just under 14 squid whilst eager shoppers can also snap up copies of the extremely limited CD edition of Marsheaux's 'Breakthrough' CD single that contains the definitive Marshy Extended Remix (and one of the best remixes we've heard all year).

For more info on Sister Ray and why it is so important, please jump here.


(With huge thanks to Paul B)

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK's first original material in over 13 years was unleashed to the world this week as a free download via the Official OMD Website.
It's a taster of their forthcoming album 'The History Of Modern'.

Although the download is only a demo, the song 'Sister Marie Says' is brilliantly classic OMD and features all their memorable hallmarks.


Listen out for angelic choral samples, a melodic instrumental synth chorus, uptempo four chord progressions and a religiously themed lyrical focus.







The song was actually recorded for 1996's conventional sounding 'Universal' album but was left off the final tracklisting for sounding 'too OMD'! The musical origins go back even further back to 1981's landmark 'Architecture & Morality', rejected at the time for sounding too much like 'Enola Gay'. But is this a bad thing? Brookside's Simon O'Brien, as guest reviewer in 'Smash Hits', unimpressed with OMD's material from 'Crush' in 1985 exclaimed: 'Give us another 'Enola Gay' lads!!'

'Sister Marie Says' is indeed 'Enola Gay' crossed with 'Pandora's Box' but EY can think of far worse reference points. Andy McCluskey recently referred to having variations on a theme, something artists and classical composers do and have done again and again. 'Sister Marie Says' is very immediate but has provoked a mixture of reactions from fans.
Some have called it 'Euro Pop', by way of a put down.

Wasn't OMD's main influence KRAFTWERK, a group with a strong 'Mittel Europa' classical music tradition that was the complete antithesis of American blues which is the root DNA of rock'n'roll, R'n'B and country music? What OMD did was take KRAFTWERK's retro-futurist template and set it to pop songs...KRAFTWERK may have been innovative but they rarely wrote pop songs!
OMD are European and pop...therefore they are 'euro pop'!

And very good at it too!

What has to be remembered is on the odd occasion OMD have dabbled in blues scales, the results such as 'Bloc Bloc Bloc' or the 'Status Quo meets The Ronettes' mash-up that was 'Stand Above Me' have been awful!


EY says no to blues scales!!

The 'Sister Marie Says' demo is still obviously raw which begs the obvious question, how will it sound finished? If there was an OMD song made for a wonderful MARSHEAUX remix, this has to be the one...please Mr. McCluskey, make this happen!

Grab 'Sister Mary Says' here and listen for yourself.
Note that registration is required.


Much of Chi Ming Lai's EY6 DJ setlist has now been added to EY's Blip.fm page and you can blast it out by hitting this link.


Coming up: JVA of The Mighty Parralox talks to CML about the new Musicnonstop Number One album 'State of Decay'

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 Harkness agreed with us about the pure pop brilliance of Chi Ming Lai's DJ set at Scala...

Hi

Is there any chance you could tell me what the set list was that Chi Ming Lai played especially before Mikro came on as there was some fantastic songs that where new to me and i'd like to see if i can get them...


Orac: Chi played the following gems:

Autovia - Arthur & Martha
Dreamland -Emilie Simon
He's My Man - The Dreamers
Little Bit (CSS remix) - Lykke Li
Chequered Flag - Katsen
Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pearl's Dream - Bat For Lashes
I Am Not A Robot (Starsmith remix) - Marina & The Diamonds
The Girl & The Robot - Royksopp & Robyn
Songs Remind Me Of You - Annie
Halo - RBW
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Tigerlily - La Roux
Symmetry - Little Boots & Philip Oakey
Magic - Ladyhawke
Hot 'N' Cold (Marsheaux radio mix) - Katy Perry
Medium Pleasure (Marsheaux remix) - Kid Moxie
A Pain That I'm Used To (Marsheaux remix) - Depeche Mode
Wonderful Life - Hurts
October Love Song - Chris & Cosey

(DJ Chi image: Richard Price)

Paul then 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.

(Image: Chi Ming Lai)








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)

(Image: Richard Price)

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 the beautiful Elena Charbila, this single is the first cut to be lifted from the new album 'Selector' that contains one or tracks that could well be heading for 'EY VOL 2' (work begins on that in the new year).

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





This update has taken several hours but there is just time to say congratulations to EY faves Parralox whose new album 'State Of Decay' topped the Musicnonstop charts yesterday making it a hatrick in 2009 for EY acts following 'EY Vol 1' and Marsheaux's 'Lumineux Noir'.
Well done JVA and Amii :)

An interview with Parralox's JVA will be online on EY by the end of the week together with brand new promo pics of the dynamic electro duo.

Related link: Buy 'State Of Decay' from Musicnonstop

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.

Marsheaux's plane touched down at Heathrow today 13.00 hours after a two hour hour delay due to freakish high winds that have battered the South East today.

The Marshy girls and Undo crew then made their way to the London Underground to encounter yet more delays after the Piccadilly line was closed 'due to an accident at Earls Court'.




However, we are very happy to report that Marsheaux and Mikro have now safely reached their hotel near Kings Cross and are happily sipping cups of the finest English tea and relaxing before tomorrow's big event at Scala.

For those of you who are attending London's premier electro event of 2009 (with no Pre-Sets used on the night), here's the running order and times of performances:

7.30: Doors open
DJ Chi Ming Lai instantly begins to spin stompers old and new from the likes of Little Boots, La Roux, Lady Gaga, OMD. Depeche, Katsen and many, many more.
8.15: Ben presents Mikro live
One of the biggest pop acts in Greece Mikro perform a high voltage mix of electro songs old and new fronted by Ria (see our interview with Ria below)
8.50: DJ Chi Ming Lai continues with the 'L-Word' and acts to look out for in 2010 with Marina & The Diamonds and Hurts to name just a few.
9.15: Marsheaux live - back in the UK for the first time since Infest 2008 and two years on from their UK debut at EY1 in Hoxton. Expect lots of remixed tracks and extended gems.
10.30 DJ Chi Ming Lai
11.00: Doors close


Tickets can be booked over the phone to Scala's box office: 08444 771 000 (between 10am and 6pm) or you can grab your tickets at the door from 7.00pm onwards.





Confirmed! La Roux to perform with Heaven 17!



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.


Orac and EY will be back after the weekend with EY6 reports and Richard Price pics :)

Mikro will be performing exclusively for EY at Scala next week and singer Ria kindly took time out from a hectic rehearsal schedule to answer a few questions about our biggest live event to date, making it big in Greece, memories of supporting UK legend Morrissey and thoughts on the current wave of electronic music...



Orac: Delighted to have Mikro onboard for EY6 at Scala on November 19th - how is your setlist shaping up and what can we expect?

Ria: We are excited to be at Scala for EY6 and we can't wait to introduce our music!


Our setlist is very up tempo, electro and we will perform a few of our new songs, coming out of our latest album 'Upload' but we are also going to play the well known song 'Restart' and some tracks from our previous releases.

Expect to dance all the way watching video projections in sync with our music plus we have a surprise for you at the very end!

Mikro have been together now for ten years - how did it all begin for you?

It all started in Thessaloniki/Greece when we met and discovered that we had something
in common: Our passion for electronic music!
At the time in Greece there were mainly rock bands and rather dark approaches in the electronic scene. I think we brought an optimistic sound and a synth pop rhythm that you could sing and dance to.

Where you on other labels prior to Undo?

Yes...At first we signed up with Warner, afterwards with Klik Records and finally with Undo Records but we have also collaborated with Sony and now EMI distributes our new albums.

You've reached a level of success in Greece that few bands manage to achieve with prime time TV appearances and film soundtracks. Did this success come easily to you or was there many years of hard graft and gigging in small venues?

It wasn't that easy and we started like any other band, appearing in festivals and small venues and step by step we managed to gain more popularity.

We strongly believe that when an artist is focused on his work and makes good music the rest will follow!

Maybe it's a film soundtrack or a theatrical play or a TV appearance or a song in an advertisement, things that we have achieved.

Mikro appeared on orange juice advert campaign last year with your image on cartons - was it a surreal moment for you seeing these Mikro cartons in supermarkets?

Actually it was kind of strange and fun to see us printed on carton, but we soon got used to it.

What is the highlight of your career to date?

The best is yet to come but we felt really high when we appeared in Omonia square in Athens during the Olympic games in front of a cheering crowd and at the Nokia Festival concert
when we performed with other bands like Raveonettes, Rasmus and DJ Timo Maas. We also had great time during our show in Athens with Ladytron and Client.




You've supported some very big international acts in Greece. Do you have any backstage horror stories?

Everyone was really kind and friendly to us...Horror stories?
Let me think...Ok, it was Morrissey's strange behavior for not letting us eat meat and drink backstage and Chicks on Speed's weird musical instruments...a vacuum cleaner, a sewing machine...

We just couldn't stop wondering how they passed them through the airport!
Anyway we enjoyed both shows very much.

What are the five artists that have helped shaped you and Mikro?

I don't think we can name just five of them!
What shaped the sound of MIKRO I think is an amalgamation of four different approaches to music.
Each and every one of us have been inspired by some artists and shaped the way we are today
In a nutshell I would say first of all Kraftwerk.

I don't think there is an electronic band that doesn't pay respect to the founders of Electronica.



Secondly Depeche Mode and all the UK electronic scene, Joy Division, Human League, OMD, Gary Numan, New Order and all the artists that are presented on BBC's fantastic 'Synth Britannia' documentary.

The punk scene also is an inspiration to us with Sex Pistols, Clash, Jam, Stranglers. Duran Duran on the other hand have greatly affected our guitarist especially

We are also influenced by the breakbeat sound of Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Leftfield and others.

I started to listen at an early age bands like, The Cure, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Tuxedomoon and all the new wave scene.

My introduction to electronic music was definitely New Order.





Much inspiration came when just before MIKRO I had discovered the strange and crazy Japanese pop world of Bungalow Records, that brought an easy listening flavor into our first albums. Lately we are influenced by the French electro scene (Kitsune Records).

One of my favorite bands are Vive la Fete from Belgium.

Electronic music finally returned to the UK charts this year after many years in the wilderness thanks to Little Boots and La Roux. What do you think of the current music scene and female led electro in general. Who has impressed you the most in 2009?

I think it's really amazing that electro music came in the center again. Female fronted electro is what is appropriate for this return because a woman's voice is more sentimental, fragile and sensual but can also be more aggressive.

What impressed me the most this year was definitely La Roux.
Elly Jackson is a great performer, very talented and despite her young age she is very mature and has managed to have her personal look and sound.

I was also impressed by Ladyhawke that brought a much more dynamic sound to the electro era.

What was the last album you bought?

'Two', Miss Kittin & The Hacker and I especially like '1000 Dreams' and the remix of 'Suspicious Minds'.

Why do you think there is so little in the way of decent male electro other than Hurts who have just signed a major record deal with Sony?

In synth pop we are listening to more female voices because they are more suitable.
But when it comes to electro punk projects, like the ones of Kitsune I think you can listen to more male voices.

Your commercial success has helped Undo Records develope other acts like Marsheaux who are relatively unknown in their native country but have gained a following in the UK and Germany.
Do you see this as the next step for Mikro?

Breaking into UK and Germany as well as in other European countries would be the next desirable step for us.

We have gained our reputation in Greece but our fans always say to us 'You shouldn't have been born here' or 'your sound has nothing to be jealous of the one from abroad'.

Now we have an album that is called 'Upload' and all the songs are in English, so I think we have a challenge ahead of us and we hope we can expand our audience.

We included a very catchy track called 'Restart' on our 'Electronically Yours Vol 1' compilation - what did you think of our electro effort and what are the tracks that jumped out at you?

I think it was a very interesting and well organized electro compilation, that you can listen to repeatedly.

I enjoy it very much and my favourite tracks are those of Oblique, Katsen and Technologic.

Mikro have actually played live in the UK before a few years back. Tell us more about these events. Did you play with other acts and what did you think of London?

In March 2002 we gave a successful concert in London at the Cargo club in front of a welcoming audience. Following this response, we appeared in April 2004 once again in Great Britain with other acts (London: Notting Hill's Art Club, Coventry: Colosseum, Leicester: Sumo).
Our concerts were a big hit.
We were very glad when we visited London for the first time because it's a city that has offered so much to music and a lot of artists that we admire started here!




Your music is a cool mix of Groove Armada chilled beats such as 'The Sun In My Face' to full on electro pop - does the new album have a similar mix of styles and what are your personal choice tracks from 'Upload'? We are very impressed with 'My Friends'.

I think this time we don't mix so many music styles. We are still electro centered but we have our atmospheric moments too.
I can't really choose something out of this album, because I like to listen to it without using the skip button.

You've performed live with Marsheaux before and are all very close, do you play your new tracks to each and would there ever be a Mikro/Marsheaux collaboration sometime down the line?

Many times we listen to Marsheaux tracks and the girls listen to ours at an early stage and we exchange our opinions about the outcome.




Marsheaux have remixed a Mikro song for a Greek electro compilation, it is called 'Gefyra'.

We are certainly thinking of doing something together in the near future.

EY has a huge setlist wishlist - what tracks would you like to hear Marsheaux play at EY6?

Well, I don't have a wishlist because I know exactly their setlist and no I won't say a word!
You just have to wait and see ;)

Looking forward to meeting you at last and seeing you live at Scala :)

Can't wait for it too!

We are going to have a great time.


Related links:
Listen to the following new Mikro tracks from 'Upload' in full:
'My Friends' (EY's Choice Cut)
'Multiverse'
'Micro-People'

'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...

Just ten days to go till EY6 with live perfomances from Marsheaux and Mikro for what is our most ambitious live show to date!

Click on this fabulous EY6 countdown widget above to secure your tickets or head straight down to Scala on November 19th for some of the finest electro this decade.

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 ;) )

Bliptastic!



Electronically Yours is now on BLIP.fm - an addictive new social network where you have access to YouTube's extensive music archives of promo videos and live performances to create play lists and promote your fave bands.
Blip.fm is a version of Twitter for music loves where you 'blip' music videos to people with comments about the track. and you can set up an account within seconds.


There is huge potential on this platform for new bands who can come up with innovative and cheap videos like Katsen - and the potential audience is massive.
BLIP.fm is mostly a US phenomenon so there are a lot of people currently posting rock and R'n'B but this could all soon change.

Blip.fm has become our number one passion and is way ahead of Facebook, Myspace & Twitter.

Click on the Blip icon and turn up those speakers....

LITTLE BOOTS took her next step towards world domination with her current tour and a date at The Cambridge Junction. The notice on the door said it all: 'TONIGHT'S SHOW IS COMPLETELY SOLD OUT...THAT'S RIGHT - NOT EVEN 1 TICKET LEFT!'


Her Top 10 album 'Hands' was released in June, so what has happened since? Lady Victoria Hesketh (for it is she) has nurtured her live act playing the summer festival circuit including prestigious slots at Glastonbury and Reading.


One of the things that stood out was how she was able to connect with an audience.






Her quite obvious musical talent and down-to-earth Northern lass charm, coupled with a willingness to put on a futuristic show with electronic gadgets, glitzy costumes and flashing lights, has oozed a warm appeal that has been a pleasant surprise to those who were present or watching on TV.

As a result, there appears to be an increase in the younger audience, particularly girls, who are tonight standing alongside the usual hip-indie kids and 40-something 'Synth Britannia' period stalwarts.

In fact, there were a noticeable number of family groups and one can imagine the conversations were probably going on at home beforehand: 'Dad, if I've got to go see THE HUMAN LEAGUE, then you have come and see LITTLE BOOTS with me, I think you'll like her!'

Victoria's new found confidence has given her an opportunity to take a few risks with this revamped show and include some of 'Hands' more moodier numbers. So with Halloween themed stage props setting the scene nicely, the performance opens with 'Ghost', a sophisticated Argentine Tango that has Victoria sitting at a Yamaha electric piano accompanied by a double military drum tattoo.






It's quite dramatic, a good start. Following a passionate 'Earthquake', where she removed her cassock to reveal a sparkly new hotpanted outfit, came the wonderful 'Tune Into My Heart' with its defrosted NUMAN-esque backing.

With Victoria stood concentrating on her synths and giving only the odd glancing stare, the rumoured GARY NUMAN / LITTLE BOOTS collaboration does look appropriately apt.

The gorgeous 'Hearts Collide' is a welcome addition to the live set, its beefed up re-arrangement is a NEW ORDER homage giving the song an added edge that wasn't as obvious on the album version.
Beforehand though, she gleefully gave the crowd a demonstration of her second-hand Casio sampling mini-synth.






Going through an array of noises including dogs barking and funny voices, a moment of laughter ensued as she announced 'and this is me' and accidentally hit the 'woof-woof' sample again! 'No, that's NOT me!' she screamed, just a little embarrassed!

A brilliant solo 'Symmetry' saw Victoria strap on a Korg Remote Keyboard, her ironic rock posturing looking like a scene from 'Spinal Tap'!

One amusing story from that film is that actor Harry Shearer based the 'Derek Smalls' character on a real heavy metal bassist who only played open notes so that he could keep shaking his left hand up in a fist!!

There was a bit of pointing from Lady Victoria but the 'keytar' did look huge though next to her petite frame!

'Meddle', sounding as magnificent as ever, was positioned towards the end of the show with 'Mathematics' and 'Remedy' to keep the momentum up after the more esoteric beginning. This self-assurance about her own material meant that there was no room for her crowd pleasing cover of 'Love Kills' from her early gigs.

Sadly missed, Victoria however had something up her sleeve for the encore. Just as well as the crowd clearly wanted more and were chanting 'LITTLE BOOTS! LITTLE BOOTS! LITTLE BOOTS!'

Returning to the stage in a white bath robe, she took to the ol' Joanna again for a rendition of the 'Hands' title track. Amusing, kooky and brave, she followed it with new song 'Echoes', another stripped down number with a very strong KATE BUSH influence.
Victoria announced 'it's unfinished which is why it's just piano'.

'Echoes' has an immediately strong chorus although its familiarity could be explained by it having a slight passing resemblance to the 'Cadbury's Flake' song! But it will be interesting to see how this one develops, one imagines it could come accompanied by epic Anne Dudley-type orchestrations.

Although there are a lot of mini-me Katies at the moment (BAT FOR LASHES, MARINA & THE DIAMONDS, FLORENCE & THE MACHINE etc), the embracing of her legacy is not a bad thing.

After all, KATE BUSH was one of the first major names to embrace the possibilities of the Fairlight CMI and how it could manipulate sounds plus embraced the use of Korg rhythm boxes early on in her career. But most of all, Ms. Bush encapsulates the spirit of the truly independent female artist, someone whom LITTLE BOOTS can truly aspire to.

The audience were terrifically polite. Having been very appreciative of support acts ELLIE GOULDING and ERIK HASSLE, they remained quiet for these stark piano numbers until they were concluded. This was especially refreshing after experiencing the rude chattering that's often prominent at GOLDFRAPP concerts and the yobbish football hooligan behaviour observed at recent OMD, NUMAN and HUMAN LEAGUE gigs. It all bodes well with the next generation of music fans.

Continuing with the ivory tinkling theme, the riff to 'Stuck On Repeat' was greeted to rapturous roars of recognition despite appearing in unfamiliar form. After one verse and chorus cleverly raising expectation and tension, Victoria stood up to press 'play' on her ever faithful Tenorion and treated Cambridge to a full-on electro version of the LITTLE BOOTS signature tune!


The way the synths flam and wobble in the live version is just one of its many appealing factors. The rendition was energetic and above all, fun!

And Victoria was so happy and relaxed, she even managed a quick costume change and did the whole thing barefoot! Tremendous stuff!

It's been a grand year for Miss Hesketh, there's been some ups and downs but she has truly earned her spurs.
EY waits with baited breath for the next high-heeled steps in 'The Cult Of Boots'!

For Anne Lilia Berge Strand aka ANNIE, the last couple of years must have been a strange time. Her promising 2005 debut 'Annimal' on 679/Atlantic featured cracking tunes like 'The Greatest Hit', 'Chewing Gum' and the title track.

Despite willing and credible collaborators such as RICHARD X and ROYKSOPP, it was too early for the L-Word electro pop generation. Having been ahead of her time, the follow-up 'Don't Stop' is finally out after a year's delay due to a frustrating period with Island/Universal Records.





Although to the public it would appear ANNIE is jumping on the intelligent female pop bandwagon that Victoria and Elly have started, she is in many ways the proto LITTLE BOOTS and LA ROUX. Interestingly, having had first hand experience of the same corporations that our two heroines are currently on, 'Don't Stop' is now released on Oslo based indie label Smalltown Supersound.


Scandinavian musicians are usually really big on melodic structure and toplines. One of the reasons may be that although many are fluent in English and choose it as their narrative tool of expression, it is still a second language to them. But this allows them to deliver a more straightforward lyrical framework in their songwriting, so it's uncluttered with pretension but musically full of tactile melancholy.

From ABBA to A-HA, from Max Martin's masterpiece for Britney Spears 'Baby One More Time' to ROBYN's collaboration with THE KNIFE 'Who's That Girl?'; ROYKSOPP to ANNIE, pop is actually the real second language for these Norwegians and Swedes.


On the opener 'Hey Annie', the highly percussive soundtrack celebrates 'a new pulse' in her exciting future. The following 'My Love Is Better' is pure XENOMANIA. It's hardly surprising that it sounds like GIRLS ALOUD as they featured on the original before management intervention.

The XENOMANIA-assisted production machine also manages to kick on the excellent 'Bad Times' and 'Loco'.
One of the highlights though is 'I Don't Like Your Band'.

A potential muso suitor tries to impress ANNIE with the landfill-indie he's peddling...her reply is priceless and reads like an EY manifesto: 'Time to get your headphones on listening to some cosmic songs, some KRAFTWERK, BOBBY O and MORODER!'
She offers him help too: '1. Gotta ditch your influences; then 2. Start it all again; 3. Buy yourself a sequencer; and then 4. Let the games begin!'




Meanwhile, isn't it good to have RICHARD X back where he belongs?
He is strangely missed within the current crop of modern female-fronted electro pop, a bumper harvest he had helped plant the seeds for.



Producing and co-writing current single 'Songs Remind Me Of You', it is a fantastic number filled with high octane electronic dance flavours. 'How does it feel...to hear your songs on the radio?' she asks as an exquisite 'devenir a gris' chordial shift takes its place among the spikey rhythmical mix.

'Marie Cherie' is a very cool and lush attempt at an old fashioned John Barry 'Bond' theme. The eerie 'Aqua Marina' backing vocal is particularly haunting alongside the epic string arrangements by Yngve Saetre.
And 'The Breakfast Song' shows she can kook it up with the best of them! But the final two tracks 'When The Night' and 'Heaven and Hell' are a little disappointing. Despite being collaborations with XENOMANIA, the respective ballad and 60's influences don't sit well on an album of quality contemporary pop. And herein lays another story.

The last 12 months have allowed ANNIE time to re-jig the original 2008 track listing. New songs have been recorded and as a result, a couple of key tracks have ended up on the bonus EP 'All Night' which is a gift to early purchasers of 'Don't Stop'.

Her only Island release 'I Know Your Girlfriend Hates Me' takes its place here, along with the excellent RICHARD X assisted interim single 'Anthonio'. An affectionately ironic holiday romance Eurodisco tribute, a superb right of reply was recorded by the subject himself (actually rumoured to be Italo-styled duo HEARTBREAK) as part of the promotional campaign.

Meanwhile, one of the original album's tracks 'I Can't Let Go' (a duet with Fredrik Saroea of Datarock) sounds like an amusing Nordic take on New York synth punksters SUICIDE.

However, the cover of STACEY Q's 'Two Of Hearts' which was given away as a free download last year has been omitted altogther.

Hopefully this album will be a motivator for others to not be dragged down by the incompetences of major labels in marketing artists with interesting and unconventional aspirations.

'It's just difficult, when you first work with someone and you have a vision and an idea of what you want to do, and suddenly you're working with someone who doesn't care about anything at all!' she said after her split with Island. But she added: 'I'm an artist with lots of ideas, plans...so I'm gonna do things my own way from now on'.

The message is you can do this yourself, maintain your values and hopefully make a reasonable living out of it.

In this modern music age, independence is a virtue. Well done ANNIE.

EY Rating: 8 out of 10

Annie @ myspace
Purchase 'Don't Stop' on Amazon.co.uk

EY feedback

A few of you contacted us following Chi's '6 Reasons To Hate Spandau Ballet' article. First up is Joe Ahmed in the UK who was also full of praise for BBC-4's 'Synth Britannia'...


Hi Rob!


Just thought I'd send you some thoughts & feelings on recent postings on Electroncally Yours.




First off I'd like to thank you for publicising the Katsen album. I bought it the other week & think it's a great album & one deserving of being heard by a great many people.




I think the Synth Britannia programme lived up to it's promise as I had feared it would be little more than a New Romantic nostalgia piece, this was neatly sidestepped by including artists that inspired & provoked rather than just featuring 'Top of the Pop's' favourites.






As for Spandau Ballet I entirely agree with you on that score. I always despised their insipid white boy funk.I believe the first time a Simmonds kit featured on TV was Landscape (Richard Burgess's band) on Tomorrows World, although their drum pads were shaped as skulls/heads rather than the traditional hexagonal shape. A Simmonds prototype was also used in the recording of the first Visage album.


I have been waiting for your views on the La Roux gig at The Scala last month as I wondered if they accorded with my own impressions, but it seems you aren't going to post them. I must say the performance was a vast improvement to the one I witnessed back in February.
More confident & happy even!

Anyway keep up the good work!

Best wishes,

Joe.

(Orac: a nasty flue virus sidetracked our La Roux @ Scala review but we were hugely impressed by Elly and it was probably one the best gigs of the year for EY. Scala is made for electro and we couldn't have picked a better venue for the live return of Marsheaux on November 19th :))


Greg Puckett from VA USA also kindly sent us the following thoughts in defence of Gary Kemp & co...


Hi Orac & Chi Ming Lai,

I have spoken to you (Orac) before about all things Electro. My fave groups of all time are THE HUMAN LEAGUE & HEAVEN 17!!

We Americans (at least those with a love for all things British Pop/New Wave) can appreciate even the likes of Spandau Ballet over what was happening over here in the mid to late 80's-Poodle-Haired Metal Bands taking a firm grip on the charts (yuck!!)
Groups were a dime a dozen like Poison, Motley Crue, etc!!!

Spandau might not be the most innovative of groups, but don't hate them, ok? Or even Kajagoogoo & Level 42! They had a bit more flair than what we had, and have now in the US charts - Miley Cirus or Kayne West, anyone?
I didn't think so!

I love the 'new' synth bands like La Roux, Ladyhawke & Ladytron. Please Americans, if you read this, give these up and comers some airplay - they deserve it!

Also, any word on the progress of The League's new release - we need them soooo bad to return with new music!
Keep up the good work on EY!!

Cheers,

Greg Puckett, VA USA

And finally on the Spandau front (we promise never to mention them again), Lee Guest contacted Chi directly with these comments: 'Just read your Spandau article on EY... I couldn't agree more, nice one and well done for debunking these band wagoners!'




New EY desktop download



The design company behind the current EY logo and website template - Ambition - have recently been tweaking their original idea for a lavish full spread in the company's current brochure that showcases their distinctive portfolio.

Included here is a new re-working of the EY logo (originally designed by Gary Crane) that was initially envisaged for an EY4 event with Marsheaux.



Being the very busy creative people that they are, the Ambition team had no idea that there had been one or two EY events since since they last attended EY3 for the mighty Parralox and RBW back in November 2008.
Ambition reveal the thinking behind this design in their current brochure: 'The concept was based around the EY logo, a circle divided into quarters. This was inspired by the cult classic 80's electronic game 'Simon' - a hint to EY's retro roots'.

Although the concept of this new design is built around EY4, at EY HQ we think it looks stunning and very 'Babylon 5'-ish and Ambition have kindly given us the desktop image that you can grab and save by right clicking on the image above.

A PDF file of the new Ambition brochure that includes the EY4 logo can be requested via this email addy or by visiting the website www.ambitioncreative.co.uk




EY6

Marsheaux return to these shores for their first UK gig in over a year on November 19th at Scala in London with support from Mikro..

To grab your tickets for what will be the electro event of the year - please click on the EY flyer opposite.





Countdown to EY6 - T-Minus 23 days



Coming up - interviews with Mikro & JVA of Parralox!

Update constructed by orac to the soundtrack of Katsen 'It Hertz!', Annie 'Don't Stop' & Arcade Fire 'Neon Bible'.

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'.



RBW grab Popjustice Song Of The Day!



For the second time in the space of a week, another 'EY VOL 1' act has been awarded with the converted Popjustice Song Of The Day following Marsheaux's 'So Far' triumph.

RBW's new and monstrously catchy 'Halo' (premiered live this week in London -see the RBW update from Chi below) was today described by PJ as 'one of the band's brand new tunes', adding that it 'should open some new doors'.

You can here an all-too-short audio sample of 'Halo' over at PJ right here..
Future.Pop.Hit!

EY are honoured to be one of the first websites to have pics from RBW's brand new photo session which were first previewed on their revamped MySpace page.

Looking as gorgeous as ever, RBW look set to paint the town a deep red and tantalise the world with their own sexy take on electro pop.

Following Liz's chat with EY the other day, Katie Marquart and Candy Jacobs stopped by for a natter before their gig at The Water Rats last night...

KATIE

Ciao Katie, welcome to your first EY Q&A. How do you feel your first performance with RBW at EY4 went?

I have to say I absolutely adored the first gig at EY4, what a reception!!!
It was so exciting to unveil myself as the new member as quite literally no one knew there'd been a change around!
When I came on stage during our intro people started whispering to one another so it was great to introduce myself after the first song by saying 'Hi guys, I know I look a bit different, just had a long holiday!' which broke the ice...

How aware were you of RBW when you went along to the audition? What was that like?

I had heard some RBW stuff before I joined the band; Liz and I went to the same vocal school (at different times).
So I had heard bits and pieces. And when they sent me the tracks to learn for audition, I knew instantly I LOVED IT!





They were all so lovely at my audition, I have to say I was struggling a little from the night before, I wasn't hungover honest ;-) Note to all kids...alcohol is BAAD for you, always drink in moderation!!

What sort of female bonding have you been up with Liz and Candy since joining? ;)


Since joining RBW it's been a whirlwind of studio, rehearsals, stylist meetings etc. However, we have had time to do rather a lot of partying. We all get on so well so even after a massive day of dance rehearsals and styling meetings, we always manage to have a little drinkie after work, for relaxing purposes obviously ;-)

But it is fair to say there has been many a crazy night....singing at random strangers out of car windows, US? Haha! NEVER!!!

What are your favourite RBW songs so far?

Our new tracks are just amazing, I know I would say that but seriously guys if our dirty electro tracks don't excite you, trust me the outfits will...!

Look out for our new tracks; 'Halo' and 'Relax' will blow your socks off, beware!!!!

Things are looking good for RBW

We are so lucky to have such an amazing team of people around us with our choreographers, hair and make up artists, photographers etc all supporting what we do...and doing an amazing job their end, not to mention our families who are all 110% behind us.
I feel truly blessed!

Are you getting used to all this synthesizer lark? Can you robot dance and have you got any favourites from the current bunch of electro ladies?

I'm loving the whole synthesizer lark, it is much needed and I may add, my robot dance is pretty mean! Shame I'm the only one who thinks so!

Its so good to be involved in a genre of music that's doing so well at the moment, what with LITTLE BOOTS and LA ROUX doing their stuff, loving both those girls' work and there's been some great remixes of LA ROUX tracks....

CANDY

Hi Candy, nice to have you back on EY ;)

Hi gorgeous boy!

How's the album coming along? Can you tell us the title?

To be honest my lovelies, we have got so many incredible tracks, we have enough material for at least three albums!
It's safe to say they are all absolute corkers and we have picked the best and most addictive songs to put on the album. Recording the tunes has been great.
It's just brilliant to wake up, go to the studio, spend hours singing with my girls, then do it all over again the next day, and next day!

As far as the title? I have been fighting for the name of the album to be 'Randy Candy' but that went down like Monica Lewinsky!! Hahaha!

Have you had to do much rearranging of the songs to accommodate Katie's own style of vocals?


There's no re-arranging needed. Katie is A.MAZE.ING! Her vocals are second to none. And my god, can she reach some notes!!! Her voice fits pop, soul, funk, jazz and needless to say she sounds fantastic on the tracks of RBW too.
She fitted in instantly. Not just vocally, but with Liz and I too :)

You mentioned you were being mistaken for LADY GAGA last year. Has it got more frequent since she had a load of No1s?


LADY GAGA...not so much of recent! More (would you believe?) MADONNA! Which is crazy!!!
I was just recently holidaying in Tel Aviv and Madge was performing there. I was stopped in the middle of the Carmel Market 5 or 6 times because people thought I was her!
She was staying in the hotel next to me!

Female electro's gone quite mainstream since we last spoke. What do you think of LA ROUX, LITTLE BOOTS and LADYHAWKE etc?




Can I just say...LADYHAWKE is the girl for me!!! I absolutely love her! She is sheer brilliance.
I read an interview with her in Q Magazine and she said that her favourite film of all time was 'Labyrinth'!
'Labyrinth' is in fact, a clear winner for me too! (I'm obsessed with Fantasy Adventure!!!)

LA ROUX is fab too. Although, I'd love to stick a bit of lippy on her! She never looks glam enough for me!!
Her songs are brilliant, they remind me of all the music festivals I went to this year.

RBW have performed with LITTLE BOOTS and she's awesome too.
I like her fashion sense!

When can we see RBW out performing live again?

RBW will be performing a brand new live set at The Water Rats in Kings Cross! We are on at 8pm-ish....in brand new sexy outfits and singing all our new stuff!
Look out for our new MySpace page!

Love EY and love youuuuuuu xxxxxx

LIVE ELECTRIC FANTASY

EY is pleased to say that RBW were on top form at The Water Rats.

Fans will not be disappointed with the new material such as 'Relax' and 'Halo' (no, they aren't covers!) which have a contemporary uptempo electro sound that compliments the raunchier edge that Liz, Candy and Katie have applied to their revamped live presentation.






'Halo' particularly had an impressive poker faced swagger...one smells a big hit here! And 'Electric Fantasy', a track co-written and produced by Andy Hill of THE MYSTERIOU2 who were featured on EY last year, is a brilliant slice of SHANNON-esque Danceteria electro disco, complete with juicy Roland TR303 bassline and metaphoric mirrorball!

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.

Coming up...RBW part 2

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.

Marsheaux return to these shores for their first UK gig in over a year with Mikro and 'So Far' is bound to be played live plus countless other Marshy gems.

To grab your tickets for what will be the electro event of the year - please click on the EY flyer opposite.









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 .



Happy, happy days and up next....one of those most-own albums - Katsen's 'It Hertz'.

Despite maintaining a low profile since debuting with new member Katie Marquart at EY4 in May, RED BLOODED WOMEN have been very busy in the studio recording new material.


They return to showcase the spoils of their recent endeavours with a gig on MONDAY 12TH OCTOBER at London Monto Water Rats, a cool venue has almost become a second home to them.

EY are pleased to have RBW back so in a break between rehearsals, their resident 'ginger' Liz Morphew had a quick chat with Chi Ming Lai about 'EY Vol1', brand new song 'Electric Fantasy', LITTLE BOOTS and...Tony Hadley!?!









Chi: 'You Made Your Bed' was on the 'Electronically Yours Volume 1' compilation. How does it feel to be captured forever on CD alongside acts like CLIENT, MARSHEAUX and PARRALOX?

Liz: Pretty frickin' awesome!! Up until now, we have only released via iTunes, or limited edition vinyl, so to have a CD that I can show the kids in years to come is really cool.
As an unsigned act, it's a wonderful thing for someone to think we are worthy of a place on an electro 'mix tape' as it were!! Also, having had the pleasure of meeting and performing alongside the lovely PARRALOX, it's great to be CD buddies!! ;)

Thanks so much! x



You previewed 'Electric Fantasy', a superb slice of 80's NYC electro disco on one of the RBW DJ mix tapes. Tell us how this song came about and will this become a feature of your future live set?

OHHHHH Chi you have a way of predicting and yet sneaking out the truth, I love it!! Yes yes, we will be performing it live for the first time at Water Rats on the 12th October!

We have gone back to a strong electro feel for this new set, there will be some golden oldies, but less out right pop and more hardcore electro, which is what we do best!

This song was quite similar to 'Synthesizer', we wanted to express our love for electro, with a bit of sass and cheekiness, so we personified it, to become something we desired. So voila...'Electric Fantasy'.





You were into LITTLE BOOTS long before EY found her and we bumped into you at her gig at Heaven in June. How was it for you?


Ohhh Yes, we've been following her for quite a bit and have to admit a Geeky obsession with her!! It all started back in the day when she brought out that DIY video for 'Stuck On Repeat', really cool, and it went from there really.


I did love her brunette, but she rocks blonde too!!

AHHH yes, what are the chances of bumping into the EY boys?!! ;)



What a great night, wanted to catch her doing a small venue before she got too big and it's harder to enjoy the music in a sea of people. It was really intimate; 'Symmetry' was my highlight as well as 'Meddle'...genius pop songs.

I must admit though as a performer myself, I wish she'd given a bit more energy and let go a bit. She has incredible talent but it would be nice to see her 'go wild' on stage.

But then if you stuck me on stage with a Tenori-on, I'd probably start playing 'Pacman' on it!

So I guess I can't complain; the girl is one hell of a multi-tasker!!











Phil Oakey of THE HUMAN LEAGUE joined her on stage that night. Is there an 80's pop star you'd like to do a duet with?

I know, highlight of the night! And I must say still looking HOT!! I felt the urge to pull of my bra and fling it at him, but realized it wasn't the time or place haha!!

We always had THE HUMAN LEAGUE playing in the Morphew household so it was a real honour to see him in full swing!

OHHHH no...question! George Michael or Tony Hadley...my absolute 80's heroes, other than MJ himself!


As long as George wore his 'Club Tropicana' shorts! I know I'm not his type, but I can at least window shop! Haha!

Tony Hadley??? So have you got 'Musclebound' by SPANDAU BALLET?

HAHAH! Love Spandau! Mother Morphew, she loves a bit of Martin Kemp!
Would love to meet Tony Hadley. My dad wrote a song for him once but received a polite 'no'! Haha...was hand written though!!






Just to finish on the LITTLE BOOTS theme, your song 'Synthesizer' reminds me a bit of 'You're out' by her previous band DEAD DISCO.
Pure coincidence or a homage?


I have to be entirely honest here darling, I only discovered DEAD DISCO after getting into LITTLE BOOTS and someone mentioned her previously being in a girl band.

I'm a big fan of her solo stuff more than what I heard from DEAD DISCO, but it's great to get a comparison!! ;)




See, all good things come from being in a girl band ;) I wonder who will become the LITTLE BOOTS of RBW??? BIG SOCKS? Xxx

RED BLOODED WOMEN will be onstage at London Monto Water Rats on MONDAY 12TH OCTOBER at 7.45pm. Entry is five squid.
EY interviews with Katie and Candy will follow soon....




Coming up for the weekend...Ladyhawke's new video, some kind words from Mesh plus EY smitten with Katsen's debut 'It Hertz'....










EY6: Marsheaux & Mikro live!
2009's premier electro party at Scala in London!



Click on the official UNDO/EMI flyer to book your tickets.

Are the acts of today just shadows of our beloved heroes who celebrated 'Yesterday's Tomorrow'?


As the New Romantics and Futurists were preceded by New Wavers such as TALKING HEADS, XTC and BLONDIE, so the current crop of electro acts had a bunch of art-rockers like FRANZ FERDINAND, KAISER CHIEFS and THE KILLERS before them.






Despite having a guitar-based musical palette, they had a positive aspirational attitude that made it ok to wear intelligence on your sleeves and challenge convention. Following the brain dead nonsense of Oasis and R'n'B in the late 90s, it prepared the more discerning music audience for yet another change to help create the electro friendly landscape of today.

Pop music plays out just like Mother Nature intended and within time, everyone will take their place as the hierarchy develops. In a twist of true Darwinism, only the best and strongest survive. So here is a light hearted look at the DNA of the current electro generation and where could they end up...

THE SELF-OBSESSED PERFORMANCE ARTIST
LADY GAGA is MADONNA
Looks like: Roisin Murphy as impersonated by a Soho drag queen
Sounds like: The Pussycat Dolls captured by robotic stormtroopers

Try: 'Lovegame', 'Poker Face'
Most likely cover: 'Into The Groove'
Most likely to: publish an expensive art book containing 'tasteful' nudes while posing in a wheelchair

THE CATCHY POPULIST
LITTLE BOOTS is THE HUMAN LEAGUE

Looks like: Alison Goldfrapp's baby sister
Sounds like: Das Madchen Maschine, a fantasy Kylie / Giorgio Moroder collaboration
Try: 'Meddle', 'Symmetry'
Most likely to cover: '(Keep Feeling) Fascination'

Most likely to: morph into XENOMANIA and mastermind the rise of future manufactured girl groups

THE ROCK SYNTHESIST
LADYHAWKE is ULTRAVOX
Looks like: a Nintendo playing Stevie Nicks
Sounds like: Kim Wilde on a Polymoog
Try: 'Professional Suicide', 'Magic' (the next single)
Most likely to cover: 'All Stood Still'

Most likely to: play an acoustic set at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival

THE OUTSPOKEN ELECTRO FALSETTO
LA ROUX are BRONSKI BEAT

Looks like: The love child of Mike Score and Tilda Swinton
Sounds like: Jimmy Somerville produced by Vince Clarke
Try: 'I'm Not Your Toy', 'Tigerlily'
Most likely to cover: 'I Feel Love' with Alison Moyet


Most likely to: become Britain's second woman Prime Minister

THE RETRO-FUTURIST ARCHITECTS
MARSHEAUX are ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK
Look like: Baccara, restyled by Giorgio Armani for the 21st Century
Sound like: the kind of wistful synth melancholy that's loved by Germans
Try: 'Summer' (August 15th Remix)', 'Heaven'
Most likely to cover: 'She's Leaving' (already done!)

Most likely to: actually record an album of electropop cover versions

THE POP PERFECTIONISTS WITH A NEW YORK DANCEFLOOR TWIST
PARRALOX are PET SHOP BOYS featuring BERLIN
Look like: Client B on a blind date with Chris Lowe
Sound like: Martin Rushent being eaten by Arthur Baker
Try: 'X Minus One', 'Sharper Than A Knife'
Most likely to cover: 'Heart' mashed-up with 'Sex (I'm A...)
Most likely to: headline the 2011 New York Pride

THE PIONEERING CULT ACT LEFT BEHIND BY NEW KIDS IN TOWN
CLIENT are GARY NUMAN
Look like: Russian Defence Ministry Officers in the next Bond movie
Sound like: dead pan electro as approved by The Stasi.
Try: 'Overdrive', 'Client'
Most likely to cover: 'I Die: You Die'

Most likely to: be plotting to have Ladytron assassinated

THE SONIC INDUSTRIALISTS
LADYTRON are DEPECHE MODE
Look like: The Baader-Meinhoff gang
Sound like: former indie synth popsters discovering DAF and Einsturzende Neubauten
Try: 'Destroy Everything You Touch', 'Seventeen'
Most likely to cover: 'World In My Eyes'
Most likely to: be involved in major Korg MS10 abuse and a dirty East European synth trafficking racket

THE 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE...ITALO BE THY NAME!
HEARTBREAK are NEW ORDER
Look like: drug dealers in 'Miami Vice'
Sound like: accented Euro pop with heavy metal influences!
Try: 'We're Back', 'My Tears Electro'
Most likely to cover: 'Mr Disco'
Most likely to: have their own successful nightclub brand and artist protection racket

THE ODD COUPLE WITH THE DIFFICULT LEAD SINGER
THE KNIFE are EURYTHMICS
Look like: the result of a failed genetic experiment to make man fly!
Sound like: Bjork weaned on Kraftwerk
Try: 'Silent Shout, 'Pass This On'
Most likely To Cover: 'Paint A Rumour'
Most likely to: set up art trusts using money earned from 'evil' corporate sponsorship from Sony

THE GIRLS NEXT DOOR
RED BLOODED WOMEN are BANANARAMA
Look like: a prettier Atomic Kitten with clothes by Miss Selfridges
Sound like: Girls Aloud produced by Daniel Miller
Try: 'You Made Your Bed', 'Can't U See'
Most likely to cover: 'Robert De Niro's Waiting'
Most likely to: get their own TV makeover show

THE BANDWAGON JUMPING POSEUR
FRANKMUSIK is SPANDAU BALLET
Looks like: a teenage Moby with a mohican!
Sounds like: insipid blue-eyed pop R'n'B using a synthetic Trojan Horse!
Try: Ha! Ha!
Most likely to cover: 'Musclebound'

Most likely to: become a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother

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






'EY VOL 1' act Red Blooded Women have announced their first London show in over 9 months. The girls will be back at the wonderful Mondo Water Rats venue on October 12th to showcase new tracks from their forthcoming debut that promises to be very special indeed and full of top pop tunes.

The RBW crew were chased out of the rehearsal studio last night by a ghost but Liz later admitted that it may have been the cleaner...

For more details on the new RBW live date - please check this link.





Here's one or two emails that we've received this week whilst feeling poorly...




Glenn Austin and Howard Reeves have been in touch about the new single from Mesh that we have to check out shortly...




Hello Rob,

Have you heard the brilliant new single by mesh, 'Only Better'? I think all fans of electro music would like it, especially the Alien 6 mix.

Check it out on Amazon

To see my other reviews, including Marsheaux and Parralox

With best wishes

Glenn


Hiya,

Any chance of you doing a feature on the fact that Mesh have a new single out at the moment and a new album due out very soon ?

Just seen the good news about Marsheaux playing live in London.

Cheers
Howard

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...'

Squiffy hugs to you all and do click on the very important image below for a very special Greek flavoured electro party in November :)

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.




Parralox 'State Of Decay' now on Musicnonstop!


Following coverage of the 'Hotter 'video over on the newspage of the Mighty Popjustice - Europe's leading electro store Musicnonstop are now taking pre-orders for 'State Of Decay'.

To pre-order the strictly limited edition, please jump here.

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
.

Tickets for EY6 featuring live performances from The Mighty Marsheaux and Mikro have officially gone on sale today via Ticketweb.

Priced at just twelve pounds, tickets can be snapped up by jumping over to Scala via this link or purchased over the phone on 08444 771 000.


Tickets are also available from the Scala box office which is open from 10am and 6pm Monday to Friday. There is a booking fee of 1.85 for both UK and International mail whilst those wishing to print their tickets online using the 'ticketFast' option will be charged just 1.65.



Doors open at 7.30pm for EY6 at Scala on November 19th 2009 for what will be a very special night of live electronic music.

Scala boasts a superb PA that impressed us greatly during last week's La Roux performance so expect to hear spellbinding sonics from Marsheaux gems past & present.

Radial electro!

BBC-4 'Synth Britannia' transmission date!

News just in from Chi Ming Lai....
'According to 'Planet Sound' on C4 Teletext, BBC4's 'SYNTH BRITANNIA' will broadcast on Friday 16th October'.

Check out the excellent trailer opposite for this must-see documentary!

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