16 posts tagged “synth”
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Black Eyes, his first album, was released in 2006 on the Nueva Forma label. Here's how Nueva Forma describes it:
This debut release from Gejius was created as a work of experimentation for open minds and ears. Jumping in at the beginning with Makkuro Kurosuke, the songs bounce from track to track giving the listener a fun yet introspective listening experience.
Other highlight tracks to watch out for are 'qpolaroidb', 'in Search of Moby Dick' and 'her Eyes on Horizon'. This engrossing 15-track full-length album is your perfect companion on any journey- roads or not. Or, better yet, as Dr. Brown [Emmett Brown, from the movie Back to the Future] put it, "Where we're going we don't need roads."
It's definitely an eclectic, eccentric, and engaging mix of instrumentals-- mingling in ambient and poppy sounds. I've said it before in other electronica reviews that active listening, preferrably through headphones, is ideal, but for something this varied and diverse, I can't repeat myself enough. (Unfortunately, I don't have a good set of headphones of my own at the moment. But trust me on this one.)
Black Eyes can be obtained at the Nueva Forma online shop.
Wet Set: The Toys of Synth is a self-released EP recorded a bit more recently in 2007. As of this writing, I was unable to procure a copy of the complete recording, but if "Slip 'N' Slide" is any indication (as well as some videos of live performances of other tracks), it's a lot more light hearted and fun. Three of the tracks were written for Sean Christensen's Girls With Synthesizers series.
Here's a music video for "Slip 'N' Slide", directed by Christensen:
Reminded me a lot of odd experiences I had working at convenience stores back in the day. Look carefully-- the cigarettes on the table have a mock logo with "Gejius". Definitely a guy with a broad sense of humor.
Links:
gejius.com
myspace.com/gejius
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Download Episode #29: Firefox AK and The Midway State (33 min)Download Episode #30: Meet Kate and Lara (41 min)Download excerpts of our shows at W♥M Excerpts.
I have to explain and apologize for some things: First of all, the phone Andrea was using came through really low and so the sound quality is not so hot. It also had a short delay (combined with low output) causing us to ask "what?" and pause a lot. Boo to the technical problems :(
The Midway State's interview was delayed by 30 minutes, plus the time zone thing kicked my ass! The problem with the delay was that I was on a tight schedule and could only record for fifteen minutes before having to export my audio and have the computer ready for another recording session in 10 minutes.
ALSO: talking to Kate and Lara ran nearly an hour, even after I threw away such spectacular questions such as "What's in your pocket?" and "I hear you collect comic books"; it still ran nearly 40 minutes. So I decided to make it into its own episode - consider this a bonus episode this week!
PART ONE: FIREFOX AK
firefoxak.com ♥ myspace.com/firefoxak
Please check out my previous article with Firefox AK. Spending her morning in New York to talk to us about:
- Her live shows descriptions
- Her exploration of New York and eating pancakes
- Working with Hello Saferide
- Tgr Lou
- Berlin
- Razzia Records and Minty Fresh Records
- Firefox AK Vs Laid
12/03/08 Uebel & Gefaehrlich Hamburg
12/04/08 Festsaal Kreuzberg Berlin
12/05/08 Forum - Visions Party Bielefeld
12/06/08 Live Station - Visions Party Dortmund
12/08/08 Schocken Stuttgart
12/09/08 Ampere München
12/10/08 Gare De Lyon Wil
12/11/08 ISC Bern
12/12/08 Schlachthof Wiesbaden
12/12/08 Projekt 7 Magdeburg
PART TWO: THE MIDWAY STATE
themidwaystate.com ♥ myspace.com/themidwaystate
Derek previously reviewed Holes by The Midway State, so I was more than happy to have Nathan on to talk to us briefly:
- Arlene's Grocery is not a grocery store
- Headlining tour throughout Canada
- Their funny Minneapolis story, trying to make it to a gig with Mika
- "Holes" to be released domestically in early 2009
- Touring with a piano
- Process of writing music (inspired by Beyonce haha)
14 Nov 2008 The Starlite Edmonton, Alberta
15 Nov 2008 Marquee Club Calgary, Alberta
16 Nov 2008 Amigos Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
17 Nov 2008 Royal Albert Hotel Winnipeg, Manitoba
19 Nov 2008 Cowboy’s Bar Guelph, Ontario
20 Nov 2008 Tattoo Toronto, Ontario
21 Nov 2008 Mavericks Ottawa, Ontario
22 Nov 2008 Le Studio Juste pur riere Montreal, Quebec
kate.weheartmusic.com ♥ lara.weheartmusic.com
LOLing through it all:
- The secret orgin of Kate & Lara
- Upcoming concerts: Ben Sollee, The Hopefuls
- "Wisconsin doesn't count as a state."
- Music venues we hate
- "Screw the Current."
- Living in New York
- Music we're listening to
- The three Bens: Ben Folds, Ben & Jason, and Ben & Jerry
- Chromeo
Special thanks goes to Jennie at Minty Fresh Records, Andrea from Firefox AK, Myles from Sneak Attack, Nathan from the Midway State, Kate, and Lara. Music used in the show includes: Firefox AK, Hello Saferide, Ben Folds Five, Ben & Jason, Alina Simone, The Midway State, Pavement, Chromeo, and more.
If you would like to appear on a future We Heart Music Radio show, please contact
. Thank you for listening.
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08/15/08 ABG’s Provo, UT
08/23/08 Falcon Bowl Denver, CO 08/28/08 X96 4-Play @ The Avalon Theater Salt lake City, UT 09/19/08 Green Desert Festival Eureka, UT 10/10/08 Kilby Court Salt Lake City, UT 10/11/08 Bender’s Tavern Denver, CO 11/01/08 Star Bar Park City, UT |
Salt Lake City's Newer-Wave titan Cavedoll (MySpace) has got to be the most prolific band I've ever heard of. No, really. Last year, they released thirteen albums. Thirteen. In one year. This year, they have ten albums planned, with No Vertigo being the latest addition to the ranks. Hell, for $29.95, though, you can even score a DVD of their entire musical catalogue in high-quality mp3 format. Sounds intimidating, doesn't it? I mean...they've put out more music in two years than most artists produce in a lifetime! Where the hell do you start?
In addition to being their most recent release, No Vertigo also serves as an excellent introduction to the band in that it accurately represents their entire broad range. Opening with lead single "Decoder," which National Public Radio has described as "infectious and explosive," No Vertigo explores elements of New Wave, indie-rock, brit-pop, glam, dream-pop, synthpop, and twenty or thirty other forms of *-pop while remaining remarkably focused. Led by vocalists Camden and Vanessa Chamberlain, backed up by Janet Marie and Ryan Peterson's punchy percussion and Allison Martin's assorted synths, Cavedoll is a Waring blender that frappés damnear every style of music that helped define the sound of the '80s post-punk underground and pours out a smooth, tasty concoction of avant-garde pop that will light up old New Wavers' hearts without sounding slavishly retro.
"No Vertigo" is a great single with a buzzy bassline and a dancefloor beat that will be familiar to fans of bands like De Novo Dahl and Infadels, but "Kings of the Clouds" and "Broken Eardrums" are bouncy numbers with such a pronounced brit-pop flavor that I really thought the band was British. "Taste Like a Hurricane" and "The Shadow," with their glitzy synth leads and rocking guitars, could very well be lost singles from The Killers--save that Camden Chamberlain has a much better voice than Brandon Flowers. "Soma E Coup" is a dark, electric jam that mixes a touch of the B-52s (the loopy female backing vocals) with a spooky little Middle Eastern melody, and "Now is Our Time" literally resurrects "the Beatles sound" so accurately you can practically see George Martin at the mixing board building the track's Wall of Sound.
The album also features two bonus tracks: covers of the Rolling Stones' seminal "Paint It Black" and David Bowie's "Heroes." Now, if I've heard one cover of "Paint It Black" and "Heroes" I've heard a million--but Cavedoll achieves an impressive feat by giving these covers a recognizable individual slant. The songs' melodies are both recognizable, but the orchestrations are all Cavedoll's own. In fact, you may be thinking that, based on the massive amounts of comparisons above, that Cavedoll's music is nothing more than a Frankensteinian mishmash of sounds and influences without a particular personal sound that makes them more than the sum of their parts. This is very far from the truth, as no matter how disparate the band's influences are they manage to blend all those different flavors of music together into a unique philtre that is entirely their own. In other words, you'll know a Cavedoll song when you hear it. And god knows, having produced over 170 songs in just under two years, there are plenty of them!
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05/07/08 ABBEY PUB (AA) Chicago, IL
05/07/08 ABBEY PUB Chicago, IL 05/08/08 MAGIC STICK Detroit,MI 05/09/08 THE PHOENIX Toronto, ON 05/10/08 Cabaret Musee Montreal, QB 05/12/08 PARADISE Boston, MA 05/13/08 STUDIO B Brooklyn, NY 05/14/08 Bowery Ballroom NY 05/15/08 BLACK CAT Washington DC 05/16/08 PURE Philadelphia, PA 05/17/08 SONAR - Baltimore, MD 05/19/08 ECHOPLEX Los Angeles, CA 06/05/08 Forum Melbourne, Victoria 06/06/08 Forum Melbourne, Victoria 06/07/08 WrestPoint Entertainment Centre Hobart, Tasmania 06/08/08 The Batman Fawkner Inn Launceston, Tasmania 06/12/08 HQ Complex Adelaide 06/13/08 The Capitol Perth 06/14/08 The Capitol Perth 06/18/08 The Great Northern Byron Bay, New South Wales 06/19/08 Coolangatta Hotel Gold Coast, Queensland 06/20/08 The Tivoli Brisbane, Queensland 06/21/08 The Enmore Theatre Sydney, New South Wales 06/26/08 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL - dance village Glastonbury 07/04/08 ARVIKA FESTIVAL Stockholm 07/05/08 WIRELESS FESTIVAL London 08/09/08 OYA FESTIVAL OSLO |
Cut/Copy are doing great on their tour throughout the US (selling out at most popular venues, adding additional dates due to demand), before making a triumph return to their hometown of Melbourne, Australia, to two, count 'em, two sold-out show at the Forum.
I was pretty impressed with their manufactured/pre-recorded 80s-techno new wave style beats, and they worked the very packed room of young hipsters and college frat boys to a frenzy with their demands of "dance, jump!"
I couldn't help but wondered what they would do without their beat box, as it seems they depend on it a lot. In fact, at some point, the bassist left the stage and the music just kept going without him.
Opening up for them was Black Kids and Mobius Band.
Both bands did a pretty short setlist, lasting about 30-40 minutes
each, which is understandable as having three bands can be too much if
they all did full sets.
The trio Mobius Band are from Brooklyn, New York, with a jerky and energetic Ben (?) pushing buttons and moving back and forth.
When he's not doing the buttons thing, he actually also plays guitars.
Check out the cute cardboard setlist from Black Kids, it lists 9 songs, but it felt like 6, really quick!
Singer Reggie Youngblood, sure sweat a lot. The whole band looked really cute with the two girls, Dawn & Ali, doing synchronizing singing. The crowd do love them, and I suspect many of them were there to see them - because many of them were wearing the $20 tour shirts that reads "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You".
 From Mobius Band to Infinity ♥ photo by vu |
 Black Kids Back Alright! ♥ photo by vu |
 Cut/Copy vs Micro/Phone ♥ photo by vu |
Links:
www.cutcopy.net
www.blackkidsmusic.com
www.mobiusband.com
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My favorite genre of music growing up as a teenager in the late 1970's and early 1980's was the stylistic New Romantic movement beginning primarily in the UK. Typical musical proponents of the New Romantic movement were Spandau Ballet, Visage, Japan, Ultravox, Landscape, Adam & The Ants, Culture Club, and Duran Duran - especially during the period from mid-1979 to mid-1983. Some other bands include (to some extent) Simple Minds, A Flock Of Seagulls, Kajagoogoo, Classix Nouveaux, Naked Eyes, and ABC.
The New Romantic movement was similar to that of the glam rock movement in the UK during the early 1970's, in that (male) New Romantics often dressed in caricaturally counter-sexual or androgynous clothing and wore cosmetics in the New Wave extension of (or reply to) punk fashion, with frilly "fop" shirts from the English Romantic period. David Bowie was an obvious influence and interestingly his 1980 single "Fashion" was influenced by and was simultaneously considered to be something of an anthem for the New Romantics, as were Brian Eno and Roxy Music.
The genre's genesis took place largely through clubs such as Billy's in London, which ran David Bowie and Roxy Music nights in the aftermath of punk. This evolved into the Blitz Club and later Hell, which were hosted by Steve Strange (the doorman) and Rusty Egan (the DJ) and in many ways defined the sound of the movement. Boy George was the cloakroom attendant who was fired by Steve Strange for stealing money.
Of the many differences from
glam, however, was that instead of guitar rock, the music was largely
synthesizer based electronic music. Now from my understanding as I
recall, the Danceteria in NYC was an early champion for spotting the
movement, and the Underground in NY had Spandau Ballet for a
performance in 1981. As I recall, this was the beginning of the
movement in America.
By 1983, California saw a slight shortening and "New Ro" (newro) became a trend among teens looking for synthetic medium between the surf and ska inspired "Mod", and the rougher guitar-based punk scene with the Dead Kennedys, the Adolescents, etc.
As with many trends in fashion and music, New Romantic was revived in England in the mid-1990's as a movement called Romo (romantic modern) in clubs such as Club Skinny. Orlando is generally seen to have been the most successful Romo group, and Electroclash, Fischerspooner and others were briefly popular. Personally, I am always looking for new ways and places to help keep the spirit of the music alive!
04/05/2008 09:38:46
todd
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
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03/16/08 Karlstad, Sweden
03/28/08 Stockholm Debaser , Sweden 04/05/08 Lund Mejeriet, Sweden 04/12/08 Gothenburg Sticky Fingers, Sweden 04/26/08 V-dala Nation, Uppsala, Sweden 05/29/08 Siesta Festival Hässleholm, Sweden
Discography
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The original Firefox is back with a new album, If I Were A Melody, to be released this month. I call her the original, because Andrea Kellerman was using that as her stage name before she was forced to add her initials to distinguish herself from the browser.
Firefox AK is from Stockholm, Sweden, and is signed to Razzia Records, the same company responsible for Hello Saferide[W♥M] (you may have remembered seeing Kellerman singing with Annika Norlin[W♥M] in the video for Long Lost Pen Pal.)
So, there's a few interesting thing about the lead single, "Winter Rose" from If I Were A Melody that I think you should know. It seems that Tgr Lou (or otherwise known as Tiger Lou) is actually Rasmus Kellerman, her husband. And if you like this Eurodisco-inspired song, you can download it for free on Razzia's website.
Anyway, I thought we should take a look at her debut album, Madame, Madame!. The first time I listened to this album, I didn't expect it to be so electropop. This is not a bad thing, I only mentioned this because I went in thinking this was going to be folky-acoustic type.
Although I can't speak for Kellerman, she leaves all interpretations of her lyrics up to the listener. I would like to suggest that these songs are really about AK's real-life experiences. For instance, the intro song is "City to City" which, seems to me, about travelling and meeting new people (possibly in a touring setting).
"Habibi" is like a pen pal letter, begging her (Habibi) to let her heart guides her, while "All Those People" is kind of commentary on "reality" television. Two points to AK for mentioning "Beauty and the Geek" in that song.
Curiously, the song "Zodiac" is not listed on her discography page. I'm sure this is just a mistake, but I took it as a sign to spotlight the song.
The song has a constant beat, which represent AK's styling of music. The best part is the way she sings "shut up" repeated over and over.
If you pick up Madame, Madame!, it also comes with two music videos (320x240 pixels). Both videos features crude animation (apologies to the artists and directors, it is the only word I can really describe it) and is a nice bonus to the 10 audio tracks.
Look for If I Were A Melody on February 27th. Check out her back catalogs on Razzia.
02/04/2008 00:11:26
vu
my♥posts
www.firefoxak.com
myspace.com
 | Minty Jim wrote: Feb 6, 2008 12:56 PM |
[this is good] Hi Voxers,
FYI, Firefox AK is available in the US on mintyfresh.
Best,
mf
| W♥M wrote: Feb 6, 2008 6:02 PM |
I have promoted your comment to the main article.
I've always really love Minty Fresh, and here's a few articles on Minty Fresh's bands: Bettie Serveert,Husky Rescue, Ivy, Protoypes, Sarah Shannon, and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names.
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The origin of Eat Sugar, a band based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, came from Chalk's breakup in 2005. Jim Reynolds and Greg Poneris decided to start a new band without singer Dave Rohs.
They recruited Aidan Bogosian, from The Reaction, and Erin Proctor, from Fairmount Girls, to complete the band.
The press material I have said that their debut EP will be out January 2008, but I think it was made available (at least electronically) earlier on their myspace page. If you buy it on Snocap it's $3 for four songs.
They suggested the title song, "I'm a Carrier", which I also thought was a strong song. It's kind of hard to make what what Bogosian is singing about, for instance the words "carrier" sounds like "carry you"... so I'm not sure what the song is about. In a concert setting, I don't think the words matter all that much. What matters is the contagious synth and clapping.
I also liked "Sixteen" which was made into a music video (I'll include it here as well). The song seems to be about an older woman who's pretending she's only sixteen.
Look for the Eat Sugar EP at their next gig is at The Gypsy Hut with Le Rug in Cincinnati on January 10th, 2008.
01/01/2008 16:12:56
vu
my♥posts
www.eatsugarmusic.com
Discography
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I, Synthesist is Chris Ianuzzi, a composer/mixer of electropop music. He's just released his second album Art of Survival on November 3rd.
His biography doesn't really give too much about his history and origin in music making, but I suppose that stuff isn't that exciting or important to people (although I like reading stuff like that).
For instance, I'm kind of curious where he's from because he doesn't sound American. Especially in the song "Paradise", where you can clearly hear his accent (he sounds like he's from Hungary or Germany?).
As his stage name suggest, his music is purely synthesized. Typically whenever I hear "synth", I always think they sound too much like new wave/80s style (which is not a bad thing), and it's a fair assumption for I, Synthesist. Besides from the synthesized music, he also seem to be a performance artist, complete with costume and that funky "sleepy hollow" glasses.
For evidence of this, check out his live performances on his youtube page.
So for the uninitiated, there are three types of synth producers: analog, digital and purely software. The types that Ianuzzi uses are both classic analog and new digital, combining the two tools.
My favorite song off Art of Survival is "Telepathy". It's quite dancy and has a great beat. Listening to it the first time, I thought he was saying "To be with me, celebrity" but I think he's really saying Telepathy since it's the title of the song.
12/06/2007 23:35:19
vu
my♥posts
www.isynthesist.net
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Tour
01/05/08 Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA 01/06/08 El Corazon - Seattle, WA 01/13/08 DNA Lounge - San Francisco, CA 01/18/08 Elysium - Austin, Texas Album Discography
Band Members
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I saw my sister over the Thanksgiving holiday and we were talking about the first CD we bought. We've previously were both buying and sharing cassettes album and, according to my sister, our first CD was going to be special. We pooled our money together and we bought Information Society's Hack. I don't even think we even had a CD Player back then (as those were quite expensive in 1991).
In this entry, I'll just be talking about Hack, as Information Society's history is both long and rich.
Most people know Information Society through their hit song "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" from their debut album (I say debut because Creatures of Influences seems more of a very long EP). That self-titled album sold very well, but my first album I bought was Hack on cassette, before replacing it with the CD version co-owned with my sister.
Hack remain one of my all-time favorite album. I know all the songs by heart and it was really the first album that introduced me to sampling and mashups. I can't even tell you how often I listened to this album non-stop throughout high school. I even spent hours reading and looking at the liner notes.
From the liner notes, I was able to tell that all the sampling and loop hack songs were by Think Tank. I've long thought that this was an independent DJ, but I found out that it's basically Paul Robb's alter ego.
Two singles were released from this album, Think and How Long - which I own both cassingles (I also have "Think" on Maxi-CD Single). "Now That I Have You" was considered for release, but only the 12" Promo exists. If you asked me, I would've chosen "Fire Tonight" or "Mirrorshade", as I felt these were stronger songs.
The entire album works as a gapless album, between each main song (usually written by Paul Robb) are Think Tank's samples. Kurt Harland did write about five songs on the album, but some of them seem to be more arranging and programming samples.
If you love 80s synth-pop songs, this is such a great album. It's pure pop, and closed with a wonderful instrumental called "Chemistry". For a long time, I ended most of my mixtapes with this song.
On the subject of the album being called Hack, here is an excerpt from Harland:
A great deal was made of the name, "HACK". We were using the name much more loosely than most people assumed. True, we were thinking of computer hacking, but we were also implying the idea of musical hacks, meaning, getting the job done efficiently and moving on. Or, as Jim liked to say, it meant that "we cut up meat!". Truth is, things like that rarely mean as much to the band as they do to reporters and fans.
Currently, Information Society are back together. They've just released Synthesizer in October and planning on some tour dates in 2008.
EDIT: From Patrick:
Kurt is back in the band and is doing all vocals on the live tour. He also did vocals for one song on Synthesizer and will do all vocals on future albums.
There's a tour information page here:
http://dancing-ferret.com/isjangig.htm
12/01/2007 00:32:33
vu
my♥posts
www.insoc.org
informationsociety.us
I'm just surprised that Danzig spent so much time unemployed and living in his parents' basement, instead of working for the New Jersey Tourism Board. There's more to NJ than shopping, folks -- Infection and possible death. Remember, biohazard is just a beach away. Just kidding. They picked up those syringes ages ago.
Now, ready yourselves for some really unscary tunes.
Well, not this one. This is a really frightening song -- if you're four years old. I don't know when or where I first heard it, but I've loved spelling the chorus forever.
Wade Denning was a composer and jingle writer. (He passed away this last September.) Kay Lande is an actress and singer who's worked on children's projects since the early 60s.
I snagged the album from Scar Stuff.
This endearing, little song won me over at first listen. I even like her sort of out-of-tune singing.
There's really not too much information about Lady Krishna's Peppermint Lounge, except for the little that appears on their MySpace page. Their fan club is riddled with pop-ups and white space.
As a fan of SynthPop and some Dark Wave, I always thought that I would like Japan. I tried a couple of times, but, for some reason, their moody electronics would not take.. till now. I'm all gooey for "Halloween", "Quiet Life", and "Fall in Love with Me".
Typical Aqua. Squeaky, silly, and great, braindead entertainment for the whole family. (That bald fool always makes me laugh.)
As of yesterday, they've reunited for a tour.
There's no Halloween without Helloween's screamy goodness. I must apologize for depriving you guys of the 13-minute version with its extra shrillness and more menacing atmosphere. I don't know about those lyrics, though.
In November, Helloween will be touring with Gamma Ray (former Helloween guitarist Kai Hansen's band).
Oozing with moodiness, Cristina
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