Crazy Icelandic ElectroPop gang FM Belfast have a new single incoming. ‘DeLorean’ is taken from their ‘Don’t Want To Sleep’ album of last year and is typical of FM Belfast’s quirky, but funky, electronic sound.
There a video too, directed by Magnús Leifsson, it’s as madcap as the track, and just as Icelandic and the band themselves.
‘DeLorean’ is released 22nd June.
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Pilotpriest, an artist we were only vaguely familiar with, sent us an album with twenty five tracks on it. That kind of thing tends to make us shudder a little, but we had some stuff to do so we stuck it on. Two hours later we’d got nothing done, wondered where the time had flow off too, and were in love with Pilotpriest’s ‘Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’. Yes, you read that right, two hours! It’s a rare best that is that kind of length and at no point at all gets anywhere close to boring. I’m not overly sure how easy this album is going to be to review, it really is one of these records that has to be heard, I can imagine everyone taking something different from it and the overall work truly is an experience, one that has to be had, not read about. No writing I can do will do the experience of listening to this album Justice. It’s not just a collection of songs, it’s a narrative, it’s an artwork, and your relationship to it will be different to mine.
After a bit of digging around it turns out we were familiar with Pilotpriest! Do you remember ‘The Crash’? That ‘leaked’ track from from Daft Punk’s ‘Tron: Legacy’ soundtrack, that Kanye West raved about thatwas quickly proven to be a fake, but we said we liked it anyway? Well that was him. Whist the ‘leak’ was cheeky, Pilotpriest hides behind nothing on his new record, and he would have no need to, it’s an electronic masterpiece, a couple of hours of pure bliss for an fan of synthesizer music. ‘Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ is a collection of instrumental electronic peices, some leaning toward experimental Sci-Fi compositions, some Disco tinged dancefloor tunes, all of them named after ‘80’s movie titles. The albums opener ‘Body Double’ is a twelve minute opus that lays down the law in regard s to what to expect from the album. Layers and Layers of analog synths, intertwining melodies, emotionally resonant chord progressions and a nod toward Italo dancefloors via a driving beat and bassline. The thread here, on such a lengthy album, is Pilotpriest’s sound. Where as the individual tracks on the record play out like a movie, each one encapsulating a particular mood or a particular occurrence, they all weave together effortlessly under the umbrella of Pilotpriest’s own stylistic sonics. Drawing from ‘80’s movie soundtracks, a lot of the sounds of Italo dancefloors and electronic instrumentalists such as Jarre or Vangelis Pilotpriest creates an analog synthesizer soundscape that is as musically rich as it is damned funky. Of course, for someone who nearly out Daft Punked Daft Punk, there is also a fairly healthy injection of French Disco in here, but while at times you can hear a Daft Punk influence, it never sounds like he’s trying to emulate them when the album does veer into Disco territory. Mostly though it’s an amazing melting pot of atmospheres ranging from high-octane to quite and introspective, a true soundtrack to any moment in life. Pilotpriest’s musically it shines through in every corner of this record, lifting it high about his peers, this record isn’t a ‘production’, it;s a work of art. If you like soundtracks, you’ll love this album, if you like Disco, you’ll love this album, if you like Italo, you’ll love this album, if you like synth music, you’ll love this album. If fact, I can’t imagine anyone who reads this webzine not loving this album. Unsurprisingly, ‘Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ comes highly recommended. Did I mention that it’s 99¢ (that’s about 68p for us in the UK)?
♫ Pilotpriest – Risky Business
♫ Pilotpriest – Thief
♫ Pilotpriest – Rad (Radwoman)
♫ Pilotpriest – After Hours (Pleasure Glove)
Pilotpriest’s ‘Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ is out now.
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The final video from Swedish Avant-Pop queen iamamiwhoami’s series of tracks from her forthcoming ‘Kin’ album is here.
All the videos together definitely make up something larger than it’s individual parts, and that’s one of the great things about iamamiwhoami, there’s always a bigger picture. ‘Good’s sees one of the most retro Pop tracks from ‘Kin’ to date accompanied with the 9th clip from this particular iamamiwhoami cycle.
‘Kin’ is released 11th June.
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We first featured Purity Ring’s third single ‘Belispeak’ in august of last year. Now, with the imbuement release of their début album on (4AD no less!), they’ve put together a video for the track.
The 808 beats and warping synths mixed with Megan James’ epic vocal performance always needed is video with a large scale and this clip directed by BREWER, with some swampy cinematics has done the trick.
Purity Ring’s debut album ‘Shrines’ is in stores 24th July.
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The next video from Jonna Lee’s iamamiwhoami has been released. ‘Kill’ maybe the most impressive of the ‘second album’ tracks to date.
Both the video and the track start off in a familiar place, it’s a pulsating ElectroPop track with a panoramic video. At the track progresses the song becomes rapidly more fatalistic and the video descends darker and darker until, oh hello!, we’re back in the iamamiwhoami uncomfortable place.
The ‘Good Worker’, ‘Drops, ‘Server’, ‘Rascal’ and ‘Kill’ singles are out now.
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Goin’ Old School isn’t a trip down music memory lane, it’s a mugging in the dark alleyway of nostalgia:
We’re breaking the ‘Goin’ Old School’ rules a little today by featuring tracks we’ve featured before and tracks that aren’t strictly ‘80’s, but in celebration if the late, great, Bob Moog’s birthday, here’s some of our favourite Moog tracks. Starting with Kraftwerk’s ‘Autobahn’ from 1975.
And we had to feature New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ again, from 1983. Moog Source anyone?
DEVO 1980 hit ’ Whip It’ is covered in MiniMoogs!
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Slinky Belgian ElectroPop duo Soldout have just released their new single ‘Wazabi’. It’s a abrasive but catchy synthetic Pop track that was put together with some input from Richard 23, which kinda’ explains things.
Here’s the video, directed by Soldout, Amandine Klee and Frederic Lefevre, featuring distorted neon visuals. Distorted neon nicely sums up Soldout’s sound actually!
‘Wazabi’ is out now.
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So we know London based Dubby Dark Indie-ElectroPop duo Paper Crows have good taste in reMixers, you might remember their ‘Stand Alight’ single being reMixed by Monsieur Adi. Released this week was their ‘Changing Colours’ single featuring a new mix from none other than Grum. having been so quite for a while them three mixes released at once you have to wonder if someone is orchestrating things at castle Grum?
‘Changing Colours’ is a beautiful, Kate Bush-esque piano driven piece that the Scottish big room producer manages to keep the core feeling of, despite layering it think with his immense dancefloor sounds. There’s only so much happy that you can pour into a Gothtronica outfit so Grum rightly reins in his hands-in-the-air moments in favour for some deep, tribal, hypnotic dance grooves. As Grum’s leaning toward big classic Trance tracks continues, rolling tracks like this really do pick the best of what made those tunes great and works it for contemporary dancefloors.
♫ Paper Crows – Changing Colours (Grum reMix)
‘Changing Colours’ is taken from Paper Crow’s ‘Build EP’, out now.
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iamamiwhoami’s new video is out. I know you have questions. Is it icy Scandinavian experimental ElectroPop? Is the video pretty weird? Does it carry on from the last? Is it both musically and visually amazing? Do you know what’s going on in it?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No.
The ‘Good Worker’, ‘Drops, ‘Server’, and ‘Rascal’ singles are out now.
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Following last years ‘Tiger Dreams’ EP Karin Park has announced the release of her new album ‘Highwire Poetry’ next month, kicking things off with this lead-in, crazy good single ‘Restless’.
Her PR likes to call Karin ‘Electro-Goth’, really, take it from me, she’s not, not in the slightest, she is so far above that if she looked down she could barely see the tiny Electro-Goths running around like ants. What Karin actually is, is an incredible talented, interesting, unique ElectroPop artist who makes songs that are equally quirky, emotionally resonant and catchy. ‘Restless’ is one of those songs, a rousing, majestic slice of Icy Scandinavian analog Pop with an infections synth line and impassioned vocals. the single has been reMixes by Ladytron’s Reuben Wu, who apparently heard the track live and ran with it. Ruben delivers something surprisingly funky considering Ladytron’s recent work. recalling Ladytron of old, it’s a raw synth-fest that revels in Rubens electronic genius with layers and layers of sonic elements. Prefer the original though….
♫ Karin Park – Restless (Ladytron reMix)
♫ Karin Park – Restless (Radio Edit)
The ‘Restless’ single is out via State Of The Eye Recordings on 21st May with her début album ‘Highwire Poetry’ coming 28th May.
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electronic rumors 