Here’s your X-Mas Goin’ Old School. The Human League’s uber-hit, ‘Don’t You Want Me?’, performed on X-Mas 1981’s Top Of The Pops.
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Here’s your X-Mas Goin’ Old School. The Human League’s uber-hit, ‘Don’t You Want Me?’, performed on X-Mas 1981’s Top Of The Pops.
Buy The Human League’s music from:
HiEM (Bozzwell and Nicco Eastwood)’s ‘2am’ featuring the vocals of The Human League’s Phil Oakey has been knocking around for a couple of years now, but was been given a new lease of life when Toomy Disco & Fernando were asked to reMix the track.
Washing the ElectroPop original with broad strokes of Disco, Toomy Disco & Fernando lay down a severe bass and guitar lick Funk that just seem to roll under Sir Phil’s vocals. Some nice big synth chords finish off the musical job layering the track think, only to be spaced out again with some vocal echo. This is a late night groover, fact.
♫ HiEM (Feat. Phil Oakey) – 2am (Toomy Disco & Fernando reMix)
HiEM recently released their excellent ‘Escape From Division Street’ album.
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Follow @electronicrumorWe’ve actually already written about Plastic Plates reMix of The Human League ‘s forthcoming single, ‘Sky’, you can read what we wrote here. But in anticipation of the single’s release next week we can offer the track for you to download.
It’s one of my favourite reMixes of the track, taking The Human League to new laidback, funky, places. It’s not often you get to hear The League with such a Disco so, for me, this track is like a meeting of everything I love. The mix has a nice piano groove running throughout keeping the energy up while retro synth stabs and the most Disco of Disco beats handle the dancefloor. this track has already found it’s way onto a few mixtapes, expect more to come.
♫ The Human League – Sky (Plastic Plates reMix)
‘Sky’ is released 25th July, ‘Credo’ is out now.
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Follow @electronicrumorThe Human League next single, the fourth taken from their recent album ‘Credo’, will be ‘Sky’.
It’s a bit of an odd choice for a single release, I think there are tracks on the album that are better suited, but it’s pretty quintessential League. A classic ElectroPop bassline and Phil’s narrative vocals dominate the track. The single is backed up with reMixes from Plastic Plates, The Hacker, Fusty Delights and Martin Brodin. Plastic Plates bring some really nice synth Funk into play on his reMix, which is probably my favourite of the single, while Fusty Delights is a close second as he revels in a retro synth workout that boarders on ols school EBM at times with rapid fire arpeggios.
♫ The Human League – Sky (Radio Edit)
♫ The Human League – Sky (Plastic Plates reMix)
♫ The Human League – Sky (Fusty Delights reMix)
‘Sky’ is released 17th July, ‘Credo’ is out now.
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Follow @electronicrumorLegendary producer Martin Rushent passed away at the weekend aged 63. Marin was responsible for not only shaping the sound of SynthPop and ElectroPop but, with the The League Unlimited Orchestra’s ‘Love And Dancing’ was a pioneer of the reMix world. He also produced the greatest album of all time, The Human League’s ‘Dare’, in 1981. Here is ‘Love Action (I Believe In Love)’. The world is slightly worse off today.
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This coming Monday it’s finally here! The Human League’s ninth studio album, and the first since 2001’s ‘Secrets’, is released. It’s been a long time coming for League fans, and it’s been worth the wait.
In 1981 The Human League released ‘Dare’, the single greatest SynthPop album ever recorded, that was three decades ago. Three Decades! And in their generation spanning career, Phil, Susan & Joanne have never strayed from the path, never pandered to fashion (were they making Brit Pop album in the mid 90’s? No!), they are an ElectroPop act. They evolve as electronic music evolves, they can experiment with electronic music and songwriting, they can collaborate with contemporary artists, but they remain ambassadors for ElectroPop. While Depeche Mode were trying to be a Blues Rock band and Gary Numan was saying a prayer before every bedtime that he would wake up being Trent Reznor. The Human League stand proud as The Human League, the worlds greatest SynthPop band.
So, to ‘Credo’. The ElectroPop landscape is vastly different from the last time The League released an album, the last five years have been an amazing time to be an ElectroPop fan. From the explosion of Indie-Electro, the return of intelligent Electronic Pop to our charts to the awesomeness that is Dreamwave and the Minimal Synth scene growing and growing, there is so many talented ElectroPop artists pushing the boundaries of the genre these days how does ‘Credo’ compare?
Very well actually. ‘Credo, is probably the most ‘The Human League’ sounding album The Human League have made since the mid-80’s. Phil Oakey is as his droll finest. As with the best League tracks there are strong narratives that run throughout many of the tracks and, from a purely songwriting style point of view, this album is really close to ‘Dare’. But it’s not just in Oakey’s vocals that ‘Credo’ harkens back to THL of old, the synth sounds used over the whole eleven tracks conjure imaginations of early 80’s TOTP. The middle section of the album, tracks like ‘Into The Night’, ‘Egomaniac’, ‘Single Minded’ and ‘Electric Shock particularly have classic analog lead lines very reminiscant of the singles of The League’s pop explosion
♫ The Human League – Never Let Me Go
So, if the songwriting sounds like classic League and the sounds on the album are 1981 approved then does ‘Credo’ sound dated? Well, not really, and that’s down to the production, and the drums. Imagine The Human League of old with contemporary dance drums and modern, slick, production techniques and that’s pretty much ‘Credo’. To be honest I couldn’t ask for anything else from THL
♫ The Human League – Night People (Single Edit)
Highlights of the album, for me, include the new single ‘Never Let Me Go’, the closest The Human League are going to get to DiscoPop, which I think should have been the lead single over ‘Night People’. If ‘Egomaniac’ isn’t the next single I will eat my Pork Pie hat, it’s classic League, call and response vocals between Phil and the girls, a dry wit and a silky smooth sing-along chorus. ‘Electric Shock’ is another definite winner, pure Synthetic Pop that kicks into Acid craziness in the chorus.
If loved The Human League, but hated it when they tried to be R&B, or Trance, ‘Credo’ is 100% for you!
‘Credo’ is released 21st March on Wall Of Sound.
Here’s the video for The Human League forthcoming new single ‘Never Let Me Go’.
It’s mirror creepy, I warn you, if you find symmetry, and octopuses, creepy that is, which I do.
Defiantly one of the standout’s of the album (review incoming), personally I would have led with this single before ‘Night People’ and as with ‘Night People’ the last third is amazing.
‘Never Let Me Go’ is out now and the new album,‘Credo’’s release has been brought forward to next week.
Here it is, the reMix we’ve been waiting for. Nu-Disco pioneers Aeroplane’s reMix of the forthcoming The Human League single, ‘Never Let Me Go’.
The original version is a Robo-Pop stomper that sees The Human League sounding more contemporary than their pervious single ‘Night People’, but this reMix takes it to another level. All Vito Aeroplane’s trademark filtered Disco grooves are in there alongside Phil, Joanne and Susan. Massive chords in the chorus work expertly alongside 80’s riffs in the verses. All-in-all, worth the wait. We’ll probably be hammering this most of the summer!
♫ The Human League – Never Let Me Go (Aeroplane reMix)
The ‘Never Let Me Go’ single is released 21st March alongside the new album ‘Credo’ also on 21st March.
We told you it was coming, and now it’s here! The brand new video from SynthPop legends The Human League for their eagerly awaited new single ‘Night People’.
We’ve already let you know what we though of the single, we loved its combination of ‘Sound Of The Crowd’ style old League and an epic second half. The video does what it says on the tin, a voyeuristic look into the lives of some wildly different night people!
Still loving it when the song goes all impassioned toward the end!
As previously mentioned, amongst the reMix package is this little gem from Villa who layer the track with frantic strings and and Acid burbling to give the tune a new sense of nervous energy. If the Leagues original is the soundtrack to an amazing night out the Villa’s reMix is the soundtrack to a dark and dangerous evening!
♫ The Human League – Night People (Villa reMix)
Night people is taken from the (almost unbearable) anticipated new album ‘Credo’ is due out in March 2011 preceded by the ‘Night People’ single.