In the Brave New World of the internet, things are very different than they used to be. De/Vision has apparently fully embraced the kickstarter patron funded model of releasing albums (and then, of course, they continue to sell them once they're released via iTunes and Amazon and stuff like that.) Because of this, they need to issue a fair number of teasers and other hooks that encourage potential patrons to take the plunge.
For the "song" I'm going to feature today, I'm doing something unusual, then—I'm linking to (well, actually embedding) the soundcloud file which is the instrumental teaser for their new album. It's not named yet, as near as I can tell, so I'm using the symbols on the cover as the de facto name of the album "plus equivalent".
Friday, January 29, 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Take Me Higher by Minerve
Minerve is, like many of those I follow these days, one of the new German synthpop bands that has a bit of trance, and electro, and classic retro-80s all mixed into their sound. The original mix of this song, "Take Me Higher" is actually considerably more trance-like than this one is (this "radio mix" is by Warp Acht, which means Rob Dust). Minerve have a couple of albums out now, and have also released a really nice (although maybe too faithful to be truly "interesting") cover version of the Eurythmics "Here Comes the Rain Again".
Monday, December 14, 2015
Genetic Engineering by OMD
1983's Dazzle Ships came on the heels of the most successful OMD album ever done, before or since. The boys of OMD wrote some great stuff on this album, but they also sprinkled it with a bunch of odd tape looping, musique concrète stuff that utilized some early samples of weird stuff (like radar pings from a ship, time stamps from Czechoslovakia, and even weirder stuff.
Some of that feels relatively harmless now; it's kinda smug, self-absorbed, artsy stuff that isn't necessarily very memorable to listen to very often, but it's not terrible. And what's occasionally forgotten is that there are actually some great tracks on Ships. The song "Genetic Engineering" is, unsurprisingly since I picked it here, one such.
The band stated that they've specifically mimicked some elements of Kraftwerk's "Computer World"—but I'll let you be the judge of how obvious that is. Personally, I don't see much...
Some of that feels relatively harmless now; it's kinda smug, self-absorbed, artsy stuff that isn't necessarily very memorable to listen to very often, but it's not terrible. And what's occasionally forgotten is that there are actually some great tracks on Ships. The song "Genetic Engineering" is, unsurprisingly since I picked it here, one such.
The band stated that they've specifically mimicked some elements of Kraftwerk's "Computer World"—but I'll let you be the judge of how obvious that is. Personally, I don't see much...
Monday, November 30, 2015
Parece un Martes 13 by el Signo
Another Argentine dance song; this time "Martes 13" by el Signo. There are other versions of this song (I have four in total) which aren't quite as dancy sounding, but this is clearly a synthpop New Wave song of the type that was popular in Europe and North America at the same time that this was being produced in South America (very early 90s.)
"Martes 13" means "Tuesday the 13th" in Spanish, but for whatever reason, Tuesday is their bad-luck day when paired with the 13th rather than Friday as it is in the English-speaking world. The lyrics, for those of you who don't speak Spanish, are all about worrying about bad luck and stuff with some vaguely creepy details here and there; they're nothing special. One of the interesting angles is the Argentine tango that makes up some of the backing rhythm.
In any case, The Sacados and el Signo were both primarily somewhat localized bands, so I doubt I'll revisit much of them in the future, but it's fun to see both a blast from my own past as well as a glimpse into what was going on in a section of the world that's normally a little removed from the pop music centers of Western Civilization.
"Martes 13" means "Tuesday the 13th" in Spanish, but for whatever reason, Tuesday is their bad-luck day when paired with the 13th rather than Friday as it is in the English-speaking world. The lyrics, for those of you who don't speak Spanish, are all about worrying about bad luck and stuff with some vaguely creepy details here and there; they're nothing special. One of the interesting angles is the Argentine tango that makes up some of the backing rhythm.
In any case, The Sacados and el Signo were both primarily somewhat localized bands, so I doubt I'll revisit much of them in the future, but it's fun to see both a blast from my own past as well as a glimpse into what was going on in a section of the world that's normally a little removed from the pop music centers of Western Civilization.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Lollipop—Dulce Nada by The Sacados
My brother asked me about this song recently, so I thought; what the heck, let's feature it. The Sacados. They're an Argentine group, and a lot of Argentine pop music fits the "Rock Argentino" style. A few groups were more electronic in nature, though: The Sacados are a kind of pop/house fusion, and El Signo were kind of a rock/synthpop fusion. I should put one of their songs up one of these days too, right?
Anyway, here's "Lollipop/Dulce Nada." I probably would prefer "Corre González" or "La Primavera" myself, but since my brother specifically asked about this one, here it is:
Anyway, here's "Lollipop/Dulce Nada." I probably would prefer "Corre González" or "La Primavera" myself, but since my brother specifically asked about this one, here it is:
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Das Omen by Mysterious Art
When the internet was still relatively new, and Youtube wasn't around yet, and getting mp3 files or used CDs of music wasn't something that you could log into Amazon or iTunes or whatever and just do, I was often led on a merry chase trying to find esoteric or obscure stuff.
One of the bands that I heard about in the early 90s as being a bit of a cult favorite in the late 80s was Mysterious Art. They never got, as far as I know, any North American release, so they were already very tricky to find by the mid to late 90s when I was looking for them. But they had a huge hit in Germany in 1989.
I did a post on a song of theirs earlier, but in my effort to not be too predictable, of course, I missed their most famous song. They weren't exactly a one-hit wonder, but missing "Das Omen" is kinda missing the point, in many ways.
One of the bands that I heard about in the early 90s as being a bit of a cult favorite in the late 80s was Mysterious Art. They never got, as far as I know, any North American release, so they were already very tricky to find by the mid to late 90s when I was looking for them. But they had a huge hit in Germany in 1989.
I did a post on a song of theirs earlier, but in my effort to not be too predictable, of course, I missed their most famous song. They weren't exactly a one-hit wonder, but missing "Das Omen" is kinda missing the point, in many ways.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Daisy Cutter by Beborn Beton
Throughout the 90s, a major player in the German synthpop movement was Beborn Beton. I highly recommend Tales from Another World, their "greatest hits" 2-cd Collection, which is available for free as an mp3 download if you're an Amazon Prime member, I just noticed (I actually bought it from Amazon earlier, but even if you're not a prime member, this is a good deal as a double album for only $8.99.) Some of their great tracks like "Another World," "Mantrap - The Seduction" and their best song ever (in my never humble opinion) "Mantrap - A Wish Come True" are just absolutely great dark, energetic synthpop. And check out that Ephemeral Rage remix of "Another World."
Anyway, Beborn Beton have gotten the band back together and have a new CD coming out a little later this year. You can hear "24/7 Mystery" on their Youtube channel, and the amazing song "Daisy Cutter" is on their Soundcloud. I think it sounds pretty much brilliant.
One challenge for bands who run for a long time, or who take a lengthy hiatus and then come back, is that they have to evolve their sound a bit, to not sound repetitive and deja vu to listeners, but they can't do so too radically, lest they alienate the fans of their prior material. Long-running bands and kings of the synthpop scene during the 80s Erasure and Depeche Mode are, in my opinion, victims of these problems respectively: Erasure albums all start to sound too much like each other, making the release of another one an item of little excitement or interest at this point, and Depeche Mode sounds like a totally different band that has only a few vague connections to the Depeche Mode I used to love (with the exception a few years ago of Playing the Angel, a brilliant album that recaptured much of the glory of their golden years.)
Anyway, I think Beborn Beton manages to straddle the line well; this should certainly appeal to fans of their earlier material without sounding like it's merely rehashing their earlier material over again.
Anyway, Beborn Beton have gotten the band back together and have a new CD coming out a little later this year. You can hear "24/7 Mystery" on their Youtube channel, and the amazing song "Daisy Cutter" is on their Soundcloud. I think it sounds pretty much brilliant.
One challenge for bands who run for a long time, or who take a lengthy hiatus and then come back, is that they have to evolve their sound a bit, to not sound repetitive and deja vu to listeners, but they can't do so too radically, lest they alienate the fans of their prior material. Long-running bands and kings of the synthpop scene during the 80s Erasure and Depeche Mode are, in my opinion, victims of these problems respectively: Erasure albums all start to sound too much like each other, making the release of another one an item of little excitement or interest at this point, and Depeche Mode sounds like a totally different band that has only a few vague connections to the Depeche Mode I used to love (with the exception a few years ago of Playing the Angel, a brilliant album that recaptured much of the glory of their golden years.)
Anyway, I think Beborn Beton manages to straddle the line well; this should certainly appeal to fans of their earlier material without sounding like it's merely rehashing their earlier material over again.
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