Korg mini MS-20

There's rumours doing the round about Korg being about to release new MS-20 with a micro keyboard at NAMM in a couple of weeks. Though it's about time for something new in their Monotron/-tribe range, this almost seems to good to be true. A full MS-20 in a case the size of the Legacy collection controller of a few years back. Projected cost at about 700 dollars would put it squarely in Minitaur/Minibrute territory competition-wise. Apparently it's a site at an Argentinian music store (Import Music) that's the source of the rumor. When trying to access the page now it seems to be removed. Still, I'm awaiting official word until I allow myself to get really excited about this. There has been a lot of fake rumours considering analogue Korgs before and doesn't it seem a bit odd if they would call it a Mini MS-20. It ought to be called a Micro MS-20, surely?

The Monofonen Top 20 albums of 2012

Well, here goes. My humble shot at a top 20 list of my favorite albums of 2012:

1. Ricardo Donoso – Assimilating The Shadow

The follow up to last years great Progress Chance from Ricardo Donoso turns mellowed down trance arpeggios into lush kosmische explorations. Donoso has taken his sound and ideas to a new level.

2. Nick Edwards – Plekzationz

It was a bit hard to pick which Nick Edwards/Ekoplekz/Ensemble Skalectrix release to place highest on this chart. But after a prolific year this debut under his own name feels like the most accomplished one.

Read full review of Plekzationz - Nick Edwards (Ekoplekz) on Boomkat.com ©

3. Carter Tutti Void – Transverse

Amazing live recording from a Roundhouse gig in 2011. Meditative and aggresive at the same time. One of the most refereshing albums of the year from a couple of legends in the industrial scene teamed up with a representative of the best of the new generation.

Read full review of Transverse - CARTER TUTTI VOID on Boomkat.com ©

4. Moon Wiring Club – Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets

Late in the year a new album from Ian Hodgson turned up from nowhere. Think of it as a double album where you have to get both the vinyl and cd. In my mind his greatest release so far.

Read full review of Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets (CD Version) - Moon Wiring Club on Boomkat.com ©

5. Cloudface – Wyre Drive

Cassette release that brings vintage Warp acts to mind. Muddy vintage electronics that never loose sight of that catchy melody or acidic riff.

Read full review of Wyre Drive - Cloudface on Boomkat.com ©

6. Vatican Shadow – Atta’s Apartment Slated for Demolition

If I had to choose only one VS release from 2012 it have to be this one. Arguably Ornamented Walls and Jordanian Descent are amazing as well but this is the one that got me really hooked.

Read full review of Atta\'s Apartment Slated For Demolition - Vatican Shadow on Boomkat.com ©

7. Panabrite – Soft Terminal

Last year the Jürgen Müller ”archival” release stunned me. This year the man behind that alias has captivated me with his Panabrite releases. This one is the best of the lot. Totally unmissable if you’ve got the slightest interest in neo-kosmishe library music.

8. No UFO’s – MPC Tracks Vol. 1

The second release from Nice Up Int’l in my top ten, along with Cloudface. This one is an amazing collection of chilled out rhythmic tracks all created on an Akai MPC.

Read full review of MPC Tracks Vol I - NO UFO\'s on Boomkat.com ©

9. Belbury Poly – Belbury Tales

Had quite high expectations on this one. Maybe not my favourite album from Belbury Poly ever, but a great record with some tracks that are some of the best he’s done. Stylish faux folk rumblings.

Read full review of The Belbury Tales - Belbury Poly on Boomkat.com ©

10. Bee Mask – When We Were Eating Unripe Pears

Bee Mask follow up last years Canzoni album with this fantastic sound journey. He also released the almost equally good Vaporware/Scanops this autumn.

Read full review of When We Were Eating Unripe Pears - Bee Mask on Boomkat.com © 

11. Outer Space – Akashic Record (Events: 1986-1990)

Outer Space is John Elliot from Emeralds, and after a bunch of more obscure releases finally put out not one but two proper albums this year. This is my favourite of the two, and in my mind the best album to come out of the Emeralds camp this year.

Read full review of Akashic Record (Events: 1986-1990) - OUTER SPACE (JOHN ELLIOTT) on Boomkat.com ©

12. M. Geddes Gengras – Test Leads

A late entry for my part this year, but it has gotten me really hooked. Neo-kosmische debut from Gengras under his own name, with a technoid feels thats adds urgency to the arpeggios and sequences.

Read full review of Test Leads - M. Geddes Gengras on Boomkat.com ©

13. Suum Cuique – Ascetic Ideals

Miles from Demdike Stare put out this collection of noise/drone-oriented tracks recorded during the Emelental sessions, and for me an even more essential listen than the nevertheless great Demdike album.

Read full review of Ascetic Ideals - SUUM CUIQUE (Demdike Stare) on Boomkat.com ©

14. Keith Fullerton Whitman – Occlusions

KFW puts jazz drums through his modular and turn out this absolutely stunning shocker. Noisy and arhythmic but highly enjoyable at the same time. An album that make’s you feel cleansed after listening to it.

Read full review of Occlusions - KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN on Boomkat.com ©

15. Pye Corner Audio – The Black Mill Tapes Vol. 3

PCA’s debut on Ghost Box is great, but it is this album that I have been listeing to the most. A truly unique voice in the hauntologic field

16. Ekoplekz – Skalectrikz

There just had to be a least two Nick Edwards albums on this list. It could have been Snuff Mill Tapes as well, but I think I have to chose this one, for it’s utter unwillingness to compromise. Beautiful improv.

Read full review of Skalectrikz - Ekoplekz on Boomkat.com ©

17. Motion Sickness Of Time Travel – Motion Sickness Of Time Travel

The prolific Rachel Evans releases her greatest work to date with this double album on Spectrum Spools. The epic quality on this one is second to none in the neo-kosmische field.

18. Lee Gamble – Diversions 1994-1996

This got quite a bit of hype when it was released in November. It made me a bit sceptical but then I gave in. And I’m glad I did. Gamble’s hauntological approach to rave chill outs is strangely fresh and rewarding.

Read full review of Diversions 1994-1996 - Lee Gamble on Boomkat.com ©

19. Howlround – The Ghosts Of Bush

Radiophonics has been a great influence on many electronic experimentalists over the last couple of years, but few have managed to make something as fresh and interesting of it as Robin the Fog did with this. Chilling and soothing at the same time.

20. Andy Stott – Luxury Problems

There’s quite a few artists from Modern Love on this chart. This competed with Vatican Shadow’s Ornamented Walls and Demdike Stare’s Elemental for the 20 spot, but since those artists have other representation on this chart I settled for this one.

Read full review of Luxury Problems - ANDY STOTT on Boomkat.com ©

As always it is kind of silly to make lists like these. As if a year constituted any kind of unit musicwise, as if anybody’s music experiences could be quantified thus. This chart is best regarded for what it is, a picture of myself trying to recollect my listening habits for the last year at the end of the year. Other artists I also highly enjoyed new releases from this year was X-TG, Demdike Stare, Raime, VCMG, Andrea Parker, Georges Vert, Head Boggle, Rob Lowe, Silent Servant, 1991, Sand Circles, Dungeon Acid, eMMplekz, Mordant Music etc. etc. etc. 

Bass Bot TT-303

I had the opportunity to listen to the new Cyclone Analogic Bass Bot TT-303 head to head with an original TB-303 today at Jam in Stockholm today. I must say the similarity was quite striking. Easily the best clone I've heard. And the damn thing looks exactly like the original. (The only slight quibble about the design is the rather preposterous company logo, but best forget about that one. Typography has never been a strong suit with synthesizer designers ...) Well, I know I want one. Wether I can afford it, and if it's the most sensible synth investment I could make if I could afford it, I don't know.

Youtube is already overflowing with demos and unboxings and whatnot. Here's a few:

Bee Mask

Chris Madak, aka Bee Mask, was responsible for one of last year's best electronic albums, the wonderfully varied affair that was "Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico". Madak mixes analogue and digital sounds to stunning effect in a way that clearly sets him apart from much of the neo-kosmische scene, and puts him somewhere between that genre and noisy electroacoustic sound experiments. Last year also saw the release of his retrospective double-LP "Elegy For Beach Friday".

The last couple of months have seen him return with not one but two new albums, albeit quite short ones as far as playing time goes. But what they lack in that department they make up for in quality and scope of vision.

The latest one, released on digital this week, is his return to John Elliot's Spectrum Spools. "When We Were Eating Unripe Pears" feels like the follow up proper to "Canzoni". It has that same ability to drift seamlessly from almost pure noise to blissful kosmische without any apparent effort. The sound world Madak paints is captivating. There is a nostalgic streak to the proceedings, but never merely for the sake of it. But I also find it hard to imagine a more contemporary sounding record. It's this duality that make it such an interesting and compelling listen. A worthy follow up to "Canzoni", indeed.

Read full review of When We Were Eating Unripe Pears - Bee Mask on Boomkat.com ©

Last month Bee Mask also released an LP on the label Room40 called "Vaporware/Scanops". It contains two sidelong tracks of roughly fifteen minutes each. This is a more toned down album than "Unripe Pears" and the kosmische leanings are much more apparent here. The general feel is not far removed from what Klaus Schulze managed to achieve in his heyday with albums such as "Timewind" and "Moondawn". Instead of quickly switching between different moods, that Madak does so well on "Canzoni" and "Unripe Pears", here he let's the sequences slowly develop over the whole tracks, and it makes for a thoroughly entrancing listen. Maybe not the most groundbreaking of his work, but an essential entry in his oeuvre never the less. Together with "Unripe Pears" this has convinced me that Bee Mask surely is one of the most interesting acts of the current synthwave/neo-kosmische/experimental electronic scene. Bee Mask manages to combine well crafted composition and cutting edge sound design in a way few manages to match.

Read full review of Vaporware / Scanops - Bee Mask on Boomkat.com ©

Space Wars, Vol. 1

Yesterday I released my latest album as AB Lundberg on bandcamp. It's a quite short thing of around 30 minutes of neo-kosmische arpeggios and pads in a soundtrack to an imaginary and slightly hazy, downbeat scifi movie. Not so much a Lucasian affair of blasting laser canons and giant space stations, more the extra terrestrial equivalent of a sunday afternoon with cream tea at some long abandoned sea side resort. Not like that place were Moz wished for the nuclear bombs to come, in this place it has already gone off, and nobody could care less. It's a place populated by all those old 70's and 80's post apocalyptic cliches, where the heroes of my youth's role playing games meet up with my childhood's futuristic toys and take on the evil empire of mainstream scifi blockbusters.

Vol. 1? Yes, it's part of a longer form idea. There's already stuff recorded for Vol. 2 but how it will turn out I have no idea. Didn't really know there was to be a Vol. 1 to begin with, but these 10 tracks just seemed to represent some kind of unity so here they are.

Vangelis at work in 1983

A Japanese look at Vangelis' work on the soundtrack for Antarctica in 1983. Will also try wearing sun glasses in the studio.

Ozzy vs. the ARP 2600

Apparently Ozzy Osborne had an ARP 2600 tucked away somewhere since the 70's as this clip from The Osbornes show. Wether he once knew how to play and program it (and the knowledge has went the same way as so much in that man's head) or he's always been as ignorant of it's functions as when he rediscovers it, we don't know. Lovely interaction between man and machine. Would love to see a similar video of how Ralf Hutter treats his machines ...

ARP 2500 and TR-808

A nice jam with an ARP 2500 an a Roland TR-808 by David Morley, dug up on Youtube. Pretty expensive gear for this kind of audio quality, though.

Suzanne Ciani - Seven Waves

The re-issue of Suzanne Ciani's debut album proper "Seven Waves" is out today on digital. It has been available for a while on iTunes in it's original 1982 glory, but this is the 30th anniversary edition released by Finders Keepers on vinyl. The cd version is coming any day now and as on the cd, the digital includes Ciani's entire 1970 private press album "Voices of Packaged Souls" (released as vinyl reissue earlier this year) as a bonus feature.

The combination of those two albums make for a pretty strange pairing. It could be seen as the framework of the tracks released on the "Lixivation" compilation this spring. The no compromise electronic experimentation on "Packaged Souls" and the new age scented arpeggios of "Seven Waves" seems a world apart, or indeed a "Lixivation" apart. Both are interesting additions to the picture of Ciani, but not quite as eye opening and stunning as the compilation. But if you want more of her work after "Lixivation" this is the most comprehensive set to go for. "Voices of Packaged Souls" is pure synthesizer experimentation while "Seven Waves" in it's new age glory somehow reminds me of the the Human League about the same time. There's just something about those shimmering, moving pads.


Read full review of Seven Waves - Suzanne Ciani on Boomkat.com ©

Subconscious studios

One of the most impressive synthesizer studios in the world must be Cevin Keys Subconscious studios in LA. Not least because Key has managed to produce quite a bit of impressive music there as well, especially the Download and Plateau releases. Here Phil Western, Keys long time musical collaborator, gives a tour of the facilities in 2010:



And here's a clip showing studio work taking place at Subconscious in the summer of 2012:



The following clip shows a much earlier incarnation of Subconscious studios in January of 1995, before it was relocated from Vancouver to LA. The clips feature among others Skinny Puppy and Download member Dwayne R. Goettel, who sadly passed away from a heroin overdose six months later. This clip is probably from the sessions that resulted in Downloads first album "Furnace".



I know I've seen another clip of Cevin Key giving a tour of the studio but can't seem to find it on Youtube at least. If you'r unfamiliar with Keys music and want to try out some of his stuff I would recommend that you start with Download's "Helicopter" and/or Plateau's "Gort Spacebar".

Peter Howell's Doctor Who theme

Period documentary on Peter Howell's update of the Doctor Who theme in the early eighties. Howell demonstrates the monstrous Yamaha CS-80 and the Arp Odyssey. "The bum ba bum-sound" indeed.

Delia Derbyshire documentary

A short documentary on Delia Derbyshire. Not the best piece of Radiophonic, but a nice appearance by Brian Hodgson. An what about those rediscovered Derbyshire tapes? When will we see a release of those, Manchester University? There's supposed to be 267 reel-to-reel tapes of material, and if the clip heard here is representative it seems to be some mind blowing stuff.

New old EP by Kradak

Last summer I spent some time at the house were I grew up in the south of Sweden, shortly before my parents sold it. During those weeks I recorded a couple of tracks late at night using Reason, the DSI Mopho and the Korg Monotron. Four of those tracks formed a kind of EP and had a common dubbed out feel to them. I wasn't quite sure in which of my projects they fitted in, and then I forgot all about them.

When I rediscovered them recently I thought they stood up quite well as a self contained mini-album, and I thought I could hear the kind of brooding feeling that leaving that house for the last time left me with. I felt I could hear traces of what that place meant to me in the music. It's really quite a private sense, but I feel they stand up well enough as a work. It's not in any way the work I'm most satisfied with or most proud of, but I thought the tracks deserved some kind of release and felt they fitted in with my current Kradak project, even if they're much less industrial than that project was supposed to be. The "Dubbed Monologues" is available as a free download on Bandcamp. And yes, that's a picture the back garden of the house on the cover.

Cloudface

I have been reading a lot of good about Cloudface's tape "Wyre Drive", but for some reason it has taken until now for me to buy the download. Anyway it seemed to fit the weather today, so I bought it from Boomkat, shoved it into my iPod Classic and went for a walk along the seafront outside of Stockholm.

Cloudface has made a short album of what could be described as slowed down acid techno with a murky analog tape sound, if that makes any sense. There are tracks that leans towards ambient as well, and some that are not as slowed down, but the general feel is somewhat dazed. It kind of reminds me of what Dungeon Acid did on his Bliss tape earlier this year, but this is a more varied output with shorter tracks. "Wyre Drive" has that murky sound and overdriven drum machine sound in common with Dungeon Acid. There's almost an industrial feel to it. On occasion I'm also reminded of early 90's Warp. Yet, somehow Cloudface manages to add a certain something to the tracks that make them feel unique. The hard edge is sometimes balanced by minimal but catchy melodies that turn up here and there. A very promising debut (and a great mini-album in it's own right), and I look forward to hearing more from this project.

Read full review of Wyre Drive - Cloudface on Boomkat.com ©

Elektron's new product

Swedish electronic music machine makers Elektron today released a new teaser for their upcoming product in the form of a video showing a record player with a flexi disc playing sounds from the product.

The message is clear: There is something RETRO about the product. In this business retro most often means analog, and judging from the sounds displayed here much points to that it's some type of new analog synth box they have been cooking up. It's nice with a little bit of teasing, but honestly, why don't just come right out and tell us what it is? Would that really seriously damage the impact this product will have on the market and the sale hype they're gonna achieve. Especially after the ridiculously hyped release of the Octatrack, which then took a very long time to turn up in stores and then even longer before it really was a stable product. If it's a cool and useful product they have, I'm sure everybody will love it, if not, no ad fueled hype in hell is gonna make it any better.

The Avengers

In these days of Marvel's The Avengers appropriating the name more and more, it's always a good idea to remind of the other Avengers, the slightly more dashing, and very much more british Avengers.

In these days of Bond hype I recently found myself rewatching one of my favorites in the 007 catalogue, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, starring none other than the wonderfully enigmatic Diana Rigg, aka Mrs Emma Peel of the Avengers.

So I feel it's well overdue to return to some golden age (that is the Peel Years, to me at least) of The Avengers. But before I start digging out the crate of temporarily stored away DVD sets in the wardrobe a quick trawl on Youtube turned up the first episode of Diana Rigg's tenure in the series, containing a fantastic scene of Mr Steed and Mrs Peel having tea on a train. I must say I enjoy the Peel character a lot more than the Contessa in OHMSS. (By the way, John Steed, Patrick McNee, would also later turn up in a bond movie, as Bond collaborator Sir Godfrey Tibbett in A View To A Kill.)

Danger Man

Apparently Patrick McGoohan was Ian Fleming's first choice to play 007 in the movies, but McGoohan turned the part down due to the promiscuity of the character. He was then offered the part of Simon Templar in The Saint and refused for much the same reason. In a sense he trumped both Connery and Moore and was the quintessential agent on tv in the early sixties. What either of those two series would have turned into with him as the lead is anybody's guess, but him turning them down did lead to an extended tenure as John Drake in Danger Man and eventually to the almost-sequel The Prisoner. In any case Danger Man remains one of the best tv series coming out of the ITC stable and one of the high points of sixties tv. Slightly more gritty than The Saint, The Baron and the rest of them, and slightly more believable (mostly). McGoohan barks his way through the series with an intensity that would put Daniel Craig to shame. The following clip is just a brief snippet of an episode, but go get the excellent box set from Network DVD if you want more. Start with the 1 hour episode and then go back to the first series of half hour episodes later.

Orbital live on radio

Really good quality video of Orbital performing live on radio. Some fantastic close ups of their gear. Almost worth a look even if you're not that into Orbital, just for the gear shots. And I love the fact that they wear their trademark headtorches even if the studio is brightly lit. I kind of want to think that they always wear them; on the train, in the supermarket, in bed. Great for black outs.

Andy Stott

After last year's duo of EP's Andy Stott is back with the full length album "Luxury Problems" on Modern Love. This time he uses a female guest vocalist on the majority of the tracks, something that adds a new dimension to the dubbed out, broken house beats he churns out. Sometimes the result reminds me a little of Portishead or even more so Massive Attack, and not in any bad way. It's a very coherent album with with a very high standard, and should be listened to as such. The only track I find myself skipping on occasions is the opener. Don't know why, but to me it seems less interesting than the rest of the album. The finishing "Leaving" is probably the most accessible track, and probably also my favorite of the bunch. Nevertheless it's a great album, and if you haven't checked out Stott before, now is surely the time.


Read full review of Luxury Problems - ANDY STOTT on Boomkat.com ©

Demdike Stare

Something for Halloween. Demdike Stare live at the Boiler Room.

Will Gregory and Adrian Utley

Will Gregory of Goldfrapp and Adrian Utley of Portishead talks studio favorites. A lot of talk about delays and SEM's. Apparently Gregory and Utley have a 2 voice each that was originally part of the same 4 voice. And Utley wishes he had more synths that sounded rubbish. Unmissable stuff, really.

Eliane Radigue

Fascinating short documentary on french electronic music pioneer Eliane Radigue. She talks extensively about her approach to composing on her Arp 2500 synthesizer. (There's some really good shots of the machine in there as well.)

Vintage Swedish EBM

My last post sent some shivers of nostalgia down my spine, so here's some other early acts of Swedish EBM. First out is Inside Treatment. I remember buying their cassette debut "An Introduction To A Mystery" in 1989, and their "Anaesthetic Age" 12" in 1991, but after that I didn't really keep up with their progress. Like so many other acts of this time they released their debut on Front Music Productions and then went on to Energy Rekords, after that label was formed by merging FMP with Electronic Beat Association and Energy. Here's a track from a live show in Köping in Sweden in 1990.



Another band that I was quite infatuated with at the time was Scapa Flow from Uppsala. I ran into one of the members at a party at a common acquaintance a couple of years ago. I remember him telling me about their total naivety to what they were doing and how to use their equipment. Since there wasn't really any Swedish scene when they started out, they were quite free to do what they felt like. Anyway, I bought their debut mini-LP "The Guide" when it came out in 1989 and remember running around in a  Scapa Flow t-shirt in the eighth grade, thinking it was the hippest thing to wear the name of a group nobody else at my school had heard about, like the annoying proto-hipster I was. I never got to see them live though, but here's a clip from a concert in Köping in 1990. (Filmed at the same occasion as the Inside Treatment gig above?)



And then there was Cat Rapes Dog. When I first heard that name, sometime in 1988 when I was thirteen, I remember thinking: Oh, shit, that has to be the coolest band name ever, and quickly ordered their cassette "Property Produces Bodily Injury", released the year before. I was gobsmacked when I listened to the tape and read the lyric sheet. Could you get much radical and cooler! I mean, a synth band that sang about perverted cowboys and acid rain ... When I saw them live just before Christmas in 1989 (I think, it was ..) it was a show that impressed me greatly, though I think that probably had more to do with fact that I was just starting to go to concerts properly and was pretty easily stunned.

At the time I thought very highly of Cat Rapes Dogs' releases and did follow them quite thoroughly, but in retrospect it's probably one of the acts that have aged less well. Except maybe for the tracks on their debut 12" "Columna Vertebralis". The following clip is supposed to be from a live show in 1990. It's pretty crap technically, but the earliest a quick trawl on Youtube turned up.



Another act that are worth a mention is Sepulchre Inc. who only ever released the great 7" "Celebration". I can't find any videos on Youtube, but Celebration is available to stream. And then there are Pouppe Fabrikk of course, from my last post. Probably the one of the bunch who has aged best.

Anyway, That's a brief snippet of the Swedish EBM scene of the late 80's and early 90's, a scene steeped in influences from the 80's industrial and EBM-scene with DAF, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy, Front 242, The Klinik, à;GRUMH... etc. The Swedish scene would evolve into something a bit more sophisticated a couple of years on, with Covenant at the forefront. A scene that produced music that was much more technically skilled, but not quite as much fun. At least, that's the way I like to remember it.

Pouppee Fabrikk live 1990

A classic Swedish EBM act performing a track from their second album in Stockholm in 1990. My personal favorite is otherwise the debut single "Die Jugend", that I still have lying around on vinyl somewhere along with the first album "Rage". Compared to a lot other Swedish electronic acts (there was quite a dark wave scene emerging in the late eighties) of the day, their early material has aged quite well.

Vatican Shadow at Fylkingen

A couple of weeks ago Dominick Fernow's Vatican Shadow headlined an event arranged by Ideal recordings and Konspirationen at the legendary electronic music venue Fylkingen in Stockholm. The VS gig was part of Fernow's current European and American tour. The other acts playing was Joachim Nordwall, Diskrepant and Dungeon Acid. I was supposed to spend the evening dressed in black tie at my father in laws rather fancy gentlemen's club, but that got cancelled in the last minute and I was able to head of to Fylkingen instead.

The first act out was Ideal owner Joachim Nordwall with a twenty minute barrage of analogue drones. The venue was pitch dark, only intermittently lit by a strobe set at a the lowest possible speed. Then Diskrepant presented a drone set of about the same length. While Nordwall seems to use synthesizers as the main sound source, Diskrepant works with contact microphones and effect boxes as his source material. The result is somewhat less confrontational, leaning more towards the meditative side of drone and dark ambient. Both sets were good, immersing affairs, making you feel slightly dazed afterwards.

The next act out was Jean-Louis Huhta's Dungeon Acid. I've seen DA live once before, at a similar event at Fylkingen in 2010. That was a good one, but this was even better. DA's music could be described as acid techno that blends industrial electronics with classic Detroit vibes. The set played this evening stretched for an hour of non stop beats, but never got boring. Huhta produces some of the most interesting stuff in this genre today. I picked up his latest cassette release "Bliss" at the show. Although a bit calmer and laidback than the music produced live it's well worth checking out.

Then it was finally time for Vatican Shadow. Visually Fernow presented a rather toned down affair, the only thing representing the religious war theme of the project was the American desert style military jacket he put on for the show. At the beginning of the gig Fernow looked much like the other acts, a man crouched over a table full of electronics, but as the music progressed and got more aggressive, so did his movements culminating in spasmatic convulsions, marching and shadow boxing, producing a spray of sweat a couple of meters around him.

The music presented at the 40 minute set brought Vatican Shadow releases such as "September Cell", "Operation Neptune Sword" and the Modern Love album "Ornamented Walls" (that includes ONS) to mind. In other words more distorted and aggressive than some other releases from the project, even though there were quieter parts of the show as well. When the gig finished I ran stunned to the underground to catch a train. Vatican Shadow is surely one of the most interesting projects in the dark techno post-industrial scene right now.

New from Depeche Mode

At a press conference today Depeche Mode announced the first leg of their coming tour following on from the release of their new album in the spring. The event was introduced by a video of a new DM track from the album along with a nice in studio video showing of Martin Gores (at least I presume the majority is his) vast synth collection. Apart from huge modulars (dot com/moog? and eurorack) a Synthi A is seen. And a bunch load of other stuff.

Great vid, ok song, but the disappointing part is that their only gig in Sweden will be at the Peace & Love festival in Borlänge. Not the appropriate setting for a Black Celebration in any sense of the word.

James Bond's screen debut

Well, the Bond fever seems to be on anticipating the Skyfall premiere this week. There's been a lot of specials in magazines and newspapers, cataloguing 007's many guises over the years. Not a few of them tend to ignore the very first screen appearance of the agent, though. In 1954 Barry Nelson starred as Bond in an american television production of Casino Royale. Quite a bit different than both the book and the later movie, this piece of 50's tv drama does introduce one feature of the franchise: the villain, here played by one of the greatest villain interpreters of all time, Peter Lorre. If you can see past the fact that they've made Bond american and calls him Jimmy, it's not a bad piece considering it was aired live, like most tv drama of it's day. Here's a snippet that can be found on Youtube:

Pye Corner Audio

Martin Jenkins' Pye Corner Audio is the latest artist to join the ever fascinating Ghost Box label. I first became aware of PCA after his collaboration with The Advisory Circle in the Ghost Box study series about a year ago, and I must say Jenkins manages to bring something new to the GB brand while still producing music that fits right in with their esthetics.

"Sleep Games", although PCA's debut on Ghost Box, should probably be considered his fourth album, after The Black Mill Tapes vol. 1-3, that Jenkins released as downloads on bandcamp and in various cassette issues. Vol. 1-2 was also released on vinyl earlier this year by Type.


Read full review of Sleep Games - Pye Corner Audio on Boomkat.com ©

The music of PCA contains the same blend of nostalgic retro-futurism that Belbury Poly and The Advisory Circle has made a name from. But PCA brings something else to the genre. Sonically it is a bit more murky sounding, like it really was recorded in some undefined past of a better future. Sometimes I'm almost reminded of the underwater quality of some of Wolfgang Voighs GAS output, especially when it comes to the bass drum. Musically there's a strain of techno and dance music that isn't as apparent with the other Ghost Box artists. Quite often PCA also feels a bit bleaker than the stable mates. All in all it makes for a fresh approach to a sound I've been heavily infatuated with for the last couple of years. If you have the least bit of interest in this type of music, be sure to check out "Sleep Games". And while you're at it stop by Jenkins bandcamp page and pick up volume 3 of the Black Mill Tapes as well.

And after you've given those two a couple of listens and still feel you need more, there's also this one:


Read full review of The Black Mill Tapes Volumes 1&2 - Pye Corner Audio on Boomkat.com ©

eMMplekz

This week Nick Edwards (aka Ekoplekz) and Ian Hicks (aka Mordant Music/Baron Mordant) released their first collaborative effort. The album "Izod Days" under the name eMMplekz was released on white vinyl and as download and contains 14 tracks of wonderfully murky industrial pop. Edwards has provided the music and Hicks contributes vocals and additional effects.

For anybody familiar with the previous output of the two the result isn't altogether unexpected, but pretty damn good nonetheless. The musical references is (as often with Ekoplekz) early industrial, especially Cabaret Voltaire, ca "The Voice of America". "Izod Days" at least shares the general mood with that record, even if there's no found tape voices here, but Hicks voice is sometimes treated as such. Some tracks also remind me of early Portion Control (not surprising considering Hicks history with that band)  and could almost be something left off from their "Progress Report" box set. The quirky pop presented here also brings to mind Conrad Schnitzlers early 80's output.

A particular highlight is "Bocanet". An exquisite piece of murky industrial pop, that manages to be both catchy and uplifting, without ever losing the albums general sense of bleakness and dread. "Izod Days" is very interesting and impressing album and a welcome return of Hicks voice. (That also makes me long for a new full length Mordant Music album proper.)


Read full review of IZOD Days - eMMplekz on Boomkat.com ©

Pauline Oliveros

Pauline Oliveros is one of the true pioneers of electronic music. Still going strong at 80 she have produced quite a massive catalogue during the years. Especially interesting is her work with electronics and tape music in the 60's and 70's. If you want to dip your toes and check out her output the Sub Rosa collection "Four Electronic Pieces 1959-1966" (for those so inclined it's also available on iTunes and Spotify) is a good starting point.


Read full review of Four Electronic Pieces 1959-1966 - PAULINE OLIVEROS on Boomkat.com ©

If you want to dig deeper there's also the massive 12 CD box set released by Important Records recently. Quite unusually they have produced a trailer for the box set. It's a rather proper and dignified affair.



Oliveros is also a a figurehead of improvisational music, and the following clip focuses on that aspect, but also contains a good basic overview of her development as an artist.

Kradak

Today I published my first release from my industrial project Kradak on bandcamp. It's a project I have been planning for a while, but this is the first time I've released anything. The tracks were all recorded to tape on my old Fostex X-77 portastudio and then transferred to Logic. Download for now but thinking of doing a very limited run on CD-r or cassette.

Suzanne Ciani and David Letterman

Suzanne Ciani got invited to talk about her methods and instruments on David Letterman's show. Somehow I find it hard to think of something like this occurring on tv today. Sadly.

The Human League live on TV 1979

The Human League performing "The Path of Least Resistance" from Reproduction on BBC in 1979. Marvelous!



And here's a clip of "Empire State Human" performed on Granada, also in 1979:

Mushroom Chapter

A couple of years ago after having given up on my old electropop/futurepop project Radical Tea Party (a name chosen way before the rise of the movement, and really just referring to the band members as a bunch of lazy sods who liked to drink tea and talk about the problems of the world, without ever really doing anything about it) I felt I needed a more melodic output for my music making, that had by then started to delve in to the less song oriented structures I mostly aim for today.

Anyway, born was Mushroom Chapter. The influences were obviously leaning towards the kind of industrial electronics produced by Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly and others of the same ilk, music that had managed to keep me interested since I first came in to contact with it in the late eighties. Inspiration struck and I quickly recorded seven tracks. Then I kind of forgot about it until a year later, when I recorded two more tracks and found myself with an albums worth of material. Why it took me until now to publish it on bandcamp I don't really know. But now "Brethren of the Fungi" is available to stream for free or download for pay what you want (including free):

Conrad Schnitzler live 1979

After a brisk Sunday walk today in the company of Conrad Schnitzler's amazing 1973 album Rot, I went on the prowl for interesting Con-related clips on youtube and quickly stumbled on this "Space Concert" from 1979. Astonishing as always from Schnitzler.

Ralph Lundsten

A look at the home and studio of legendary Swedish electronic music composer Ralph Lundsten. (It's of course in Swedish, but worth a look for the studio pictures anyway.) Lundsten is a bit of an eccentric and pretty full of himself sometimes, but undoubtedly one of the pioneers of synthesizer music. His Andromeda studio holds a couple of unique pieces, like the "Andromatic" synth, that Lundsten claims to be the worlds first polyphonic synth with a built in sequencer, which might be true (but the less well read presenter who introduces the interview of course gets it wrong and claims that it's the oldest synthesizer in the world...). Apart from the studio, Lundstens pink house Frankenburg also houses the "official" embassy of the Andromeda galaxy, and he issues visa for travel there ...

Lundsten has composed a few theme tunes in his days as well as his less commercial output. His opening theme for the 70's talk show "Kvällsöppet" was baldly going were few Swedish television themes had gone at the time, but less impressive compared to, say the output of the Radiophonic Workshop in the 70's. In this particual instance it's used to introduce an interview with Shirley MacLaine and then leader of the Swedish shadow cabinet, later prime minister Olof Palme.



Most of Lundstens later works fall somewhere between new age and kosmische, but his early works are actually quite good and definitely feels related to what other pioneering composers were doing in the 60's and 70's. The 4 cd box set "Electronic Music from the 60's and 70's by Ralph Lundsten" (whose cover also modestly claims "The king of synthesizer") is a good place to start if you want to investigate his oeuvre. The first two discs actually hold material that is surprisingly good. It's available to buy as download from Plugged records. It is also available on Spotify.

Do the Front 242

Quite an unusual one from Front 242 this one. A live (tv?) version of Commando Mix with some lyrics from Don't Crash thrown in for good measure. And the bullet proof vests. And the dancing. The dancing, the dancing.

Tod Dockstader

Mordant Music recently released a collection of Tod Dockstader's commercial music electronic library music from the late 70's. Whenever I see Dockstader's name on the credits of one of my son's Tom & Jerry movies it brings a smile to my face. He even wrote the script for 1962's "Mouse Into Space":

I haven't quite figured out the connection between Dockstader's Quatermass piece and the dear professor of rocket science of the tv and film series though. Anybody know more about this? Well, anyway don't miss out on the new Mordant Music collection:

Read full review of Electronic Vol. 1 - TOD DOCKSTADER on Boomkat.com ©

Novation Drumstation rescue

About two and a half years ago (I think) I bought a second hand Drumstation for 500 SEK, and was quite pleased with my bargain. But when I plugged it in it turned out the knobs didn't work on it. Well, except for the main volume one. Everything else seemed to be fine with it, it was just the editing part that wasn't there. I went back to the store where I bought it and managed to get them to lower the price to 300 SEK. At the time I was just beginning to set up a hardware studio again after years in the software realm, so I thought it at least would give me some basic drums until I could afford some better ones.

Fast forward to now, and I have two borrowed drum machines in my studio (a Sequential TOM and a Yamaha RX-5) but no easy editable ones. I have been pondering getting rid of the Drumstation for a while and was googling it out of pure chance tonight when I stumbled upon a thread in the Gearslutz forum. It was about people with Drumstation problems very similar to mine. The last entry, made very recently, got me intrigued. The user laitos had apparently the exact same problem as me and had managed to fix it by just changing one contact between the two PCB:s. Sounded to good to be true, but I thought what the heck, might just as well try it, since it isn't worth much half functioning anyway.

So I opened it up and located the the single green wire that was supposed to be the culprit. Indeed the contact seemed to be a bit oxidized. First I tried to clean it but that didn't make any change, so I simply cut it, peeled the wire (as laitos suggested) and wrapped it around the screw before fastening it again. I plugged in the Drumstation and, lo and behold, it's working perfectly. A ten minute repair job, with no new material needed, made my Drumstation, serial nr 107, as good as new.

The user laitos over at Gearslutz didn't provide any picture, and asked anybody else trying the procedure to take some, so I thought I'd put some up here to help others in the same situation locate the wire. The troublesome wire contact is located to the left of the Drumstation (looking at it from the rear) on the  PCB just behind the Congas section.

This is what the cut contact looks like:

It seems there are other varieties of the ailing knobs on the Drumstation and this will most likely not be a solution for everybody. In the thread over at Gearslutz there was some who had trouble with all of the pots, including the master volume one. So tread carefully, I take no responsibility whatsoever for this method. Anyway I got a bit excited about having a working Drumstation and quickly recorded this:

 Polesotechno by AB Lundberg