10.000 mark reached last night
Last night this blog reached, at least in my mind, an amazing 10.000 level – meaning that this blog, since its start last spring, now has had more than 10.000 unique visitors.
Thanks for your great support and let us continue to inspire the electro community with good stuff during this year.
Shout!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j84mKxCp6vQ]
Have a great weekend!!
Synthmusic in commercials?
Synth music has a tendency to stick in the sub-cultures of the music scene, but once i a while you find some indications that things might ne changing, although I am still scepticle that it will ever be so. Remember the old synth pioneers Devo, well these guys arguably has done some work to put synth music on the map and recently saw this add where IT-giants Dell actually uses Devo for one of their commercials – although you have to watch the video for some time before you actually understands what the video is all about, LOL
DEVO wrote this song called “Watch Us Work It” and recorded it in Los Angeles, CA, and produced by Sweden’s famous Teddy Bears. DELL heard it because Paul Malmstrom and Linus Karlsson at the Mother agency in NYC played it for them as a possibility for a song for their TV campaign featuring a newly developed, high-end laptop computer. DELL liked it, and now you can of course enjoy it here too. I do not claim to give you some brand, hot news directly out of the press, the video is about 6 months old, but still…
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhtgw-tOj-o]
Want to know more about what is going on with Devo >>
In rememberance…
…of a great synth pop pioneer
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA_8nNNZqD4]
Have a great weekend
Yazoo will re-unite next year
At least rumours has it that Vince Clarc and Alison Moyet will go on tour next year. And perhaps I will have to chew my last entry about not watching performances by old 80’s bands. Yazoo would definately be worth seeing live – much rather them than the utterly boring Erasure band.
Most likely their will also be a re-issue of their old stuff – why anyone would want to buy them, since readers of this blog most likely have everything by Yazoo already, maybe one can hope for some unreleased tracks…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhQWt8GVQfM]
Chinese Synthpop – does it exist?
Maybe because I am based out of Sweden the only hits I get on Google searching for good chinese synthpop bands I end up getting hits for the local band Chinese Theater (which of course is a rather nice band, but that is not what I am looking for 
)
However I yesterday stumbled on these guys who make very nice traditional synthpop – melodic, athospheric and kind of like old Twins, Alpha Ville etc. They´re called IGO and based out of Shanghai – I certainly recommend checking them out:
Here are some background facts on the band:
When the Shanghai band IGO plays on stage, there is really not much to “see,” with one man standing still playing the keyboards and another singing without much gestures.
However, people who have seen IGO live will still recommend it to you and tell you where they play, so you can experience the infectious atmosphere there and witness how and why the audiences get delirious for their music.
The one-year-old band is a combination of Shanghai’s most active club DJ and the former front-man of a local post-punk band. The duo has a large fandom online and at local music venues. Their popularity may keep expanding as their music finally reaches the CD player.
The duo, featuring synthesizer talent B6 and singer-songwriter J Jay, is releasing their debut album, “Synth Love,” on September 21 under Modern Sky, China’s largest independent record label.
It’s a time when IGO is among the most frequent players at Shanghai’s nightclubs, where pogo dance usually heats up in front of the band’s performances. This album is a collection of IGO’s most played songs. It is for those who are yet to get a chance to visit Shanghai.
IGO is now offering previews of some of the songs on their Neocha page, a local-based music-sharing website B6 co-founded, similar to MySpace.
Twice a man – new album on its way
The old dolphines and whales sampling pioneers are due with a new album early next year. Their old album has always been a good source of inspiration. Their new album Clouds will be released on Jan 25th so make sure to check it out.
Clouds:
|
01: Opening 02: Novemberness 03: Solitude 04: Mars Is Still Around 05: Microhive 06: Skylark 07: Letters 08: Clouds 09: Conquerer 10: When September Shined 11: Shoe |
This is the first release from Twice a Man since Johnny Friberg joined founders Dan Söderqvist and Karl Gasleben as a permanent member. He hasn’t joined the band on stage yet though, but is responsible for a lot of the quite advanced rhythm programming. Shall be quite interesting to see what he can add.
Below one of my old favorites:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_BAbWNUAGk]
C=iao
De/Vision
It’s been some time since I listened to De/Vision, I still have some problems with their Depeche wanna-be style, but their latest album Noob has some qualities, at least as a background running a car home from a much fatter party….
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7440kGrPvk]
De/Vision have been among the leading representatives of the Electro / Synth-Pop genre for almost twenty years and their constant open-mindedness towards new influences and forms of expression is without doubt one of the fundamental factors for enduring success of this band. Last year’s “Best Of” album contained a wide range of exceptionally gifted pop anthems, including the exclusive “Love Will Find A Way”, recorded specifically for the compilation and Thomas and Steffen’s first real compositional collaboration with their production team Schumann & Bach. This new collaboration worked so well that “Noob” was recorded entirely by this tried and tested gang of four.
The pleasing result of this new working method is an album that sparkles with lightly shimmering Electro-Pop gems. Songs such as “Death Of Me”, “What You Deserve”, “Living Fast Dying Young”, the promo single “Flavour Of The Week’ or the new version of “Love Will Find A Way” flow with invigorating lightness, De/Vision immersing
themselves in melancholy dream worlds with “See What I See”, and above all this hovers a nostalgic retro feeling that brings to mind the band’s musical roots. “Noob” finds De/Vision embarking ( to some extent ) on a journey back to the 80’s, a time of busy experimentation in the resurrected Electro scene, meticulously merging pop, rock and ambient elements.
DATAMASKIN
