Almost 8 years have passed since the release of "Nemesis". 8 long years of growth and insight, of reflecting silence and chaotic noise, of death and (re)birth.
Shaun Frandsen started recording new music again, but he has changed with time, he aged and started reflecting on the music from his youth. He went through a nostalgic period, listening to all of his old post-punk records, reliving the experience, drawing from its energy and somehow translating this in the studio.
“Phoenix” is what happened. The new GLIS studio album is clearly a very personal album for Shaun Frandsen, almost an autobiographical journey: "I wrote it as an ode for those who have inspired me the most. I didn’t hide my heart at all," he says. This album begins rough, dark and chaotic, sometimes sad. The music-style changes from track to track, but somehow manages to stay focused. It dwells in the dark, then finds peace, and comes back again with a new outlook from where i! t began.
On "Phoenix", GLIS took a bit of Bowie and Eno ("Keep The Memory", "Coldheart Tempo"), and a classic-era 4AD sound to create the ambiance and grabbed some inspiration from Nine Inch Nails, Underworld ("Insomniac", "Dead Set") and Joy Division for the body of the music. It's when female vocalist Lauren Krothe is introduced on the album that ushers in the transition from darkness to light, lo-fi darkwave with an ethereal hint to Cocteau Twins ("Take It This Far" or the beautiful "Blue Sky Night"). Then come the anthemic and hooky "Crush" and the instant hit "Stars In The Sea" which both end the journey on a hopeful positive outlook and loop with the opening and closing groovey track "Apocalypse Parties" that will remind you of the early WaxTrax electro/industrial sound with a touch of melodic modernity.
After releasing a small “taster” in the shape of an exclusive 3” CD together with the picture LP re-release of their 1996 album “Tanzpalast 2000”, now here’s the full version (German: “Vollversion”) of the EP “Computerklang”. At the same time, this EP release officially launches the WELLE: ERDBALL year 2013, filled with loads of highlights!
Coinciding with this year’s WAVE-GOTIK-TREFFEN (WGT) in Leipzig, Germany, the long-awaited Best-Of compilation “20 Jahre” (engl.: 20 years) will finally see the light of day.
And there are more shapes of things to come – the year’s second half will see the release of the new studio album “Tanzmusik für Roboter”! A feast for all fans of electronic dance music – not only for robots!
Having initially found fame as guitarist and ‘curator’ of all things music with The Smiths, the ever pragmatic and effortlessly cool Johnny Marr did not take long to find his feet post Smithsdom.
Having kick-started a (Britpop) generation of guitarists with his Rickenbackeresque fretwork in The Smiths, Johnny went on to find fame in super-group Electronic before eventually joining both Modest Mouse and The Cribs respectively as a semi-permanent member, performing on and touring at least one record with both acts.
Somewhere in between all of this, with a fleeting appearance as a member of The The, Marrs first foray into solo territory began – a debut record from Johnny Marr & The Healers. Now, 10 years on – and this time sans The Healers, Marr returns with his most accomplished work to date
Swedish producer, Hannes Norrvide has been inconspicuously hinting at his brighter side throughout his last couple of releases.
What began as a lo-fi, atonal, bedroom synth drone project in 2009 has slowly but surely been evolving into a full frontal synth-pop assault. Louis Pattison very aptly caught on to this natural breeding ground in his review of Growing Seeds for The Quiteus, “If you take the two musical genres of noise and synth pop and trace them back, back through Wolf Eyes and La Roux, all the way back to Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire and The Normal, you reach a point where the two lines wind together and fuse.
In the last few years, a number of groups have emerged who, whether by intention or not, are working to reconcile these two paths of noise and synth-pop.”
While Hannes’ head might still be in SPK, his heart is clearly yearning for the more transparent ideology of The Pet Shop Boys. On his new single, “Chasing the Light,” Norrvide comes out of the shadowy closet to reveal his most sun-drenched optimistic work to date; and the results are stunning.
This shimmering anthemic banger features additional production work and back up vocals from SB label-mate Loke Rahbek of Vår who’s label, Posh Isolation, was one of the first to release works from Norrvide.
The remix on side A is from NY producer and Four Tet collaborator Anthony Naples. Side B features a club edit of the track “Saluting Rome” which features additional percussion from Kristian Emdal (also of Vår). Hot on the heels of a select bi-coastal string of dates from last December, the duo will be doing a full US tour later this year.
How to Destroy Angels is a musical group featuring Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor, his wife Mariqueen Maandig and Atticus Ross. Rob Sheridan is the group’s art director. The group is named after a 1984 Coil single of the same name.
The band’s second EP, the An omen EP_ was released November 13, 2012. Since then, videos and song premiers have received rave reviews from Pitchfork and the like, all around the world. An ongoing flow of visual content will continue to be revealed by the band in the weeks leading up to album release on March 5.
The band’s first release was a self-titled 6 track EP, released for sale on June 1, 2010. That same 6 track EP is now available on the band’s website for free download in exchange for email address. The band released a track from the album, “A Drowning”, as a digital single, and a second song, “The Space in Between”, debuted as a video on Pitchfork on May 14, 2010, A third track, &ldq! uo;The Believers”, was made available through Wired magazine’s iPad application, along with a dissection and analysis of the song, and through a free digital download from the official website.
“The Believers” is also featured on the soundtrack of the 2011 film Limitless. The band recorded a cover of the Bryan Ferry song “Is Your Love Strong Enough?,” which was released December 9, 2011 on the soundtrack for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
