Synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan never quite gave up on his music or himself despite the decline in popularity from the mid-80s onwards.
Known for her eclectic blend of 80’s pop-rock, LA-based Lily McQueen announces her debut album Electric Love set for release on June 23rd via Concierge Records.
How Power of Pop founder, singer-songwriter Kevin Mathews re-discovered the joy of making music for himself.
When did alt-folk-rock singer-songwriter David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion fame) start writing synth-pop songs?
CREDIT: Raoul Ortega
We have always maintained that inside electronica lies the potential for pop music that embraces dramatic and emotional power within the context of dance and infection. Here’s an album that provides strong evidence for that assertion.
Ye faithful editor is back to regale you, dear PoPster, with his latest shenanigans in the world of popular (sic) music.
KayMac. Something new, something old. This is the moniker I will be using for the electronic art-pop instrumental music I will be making for the rest of my life. Somewhat distinct from the watchmen stuff, which will have lyrics and vocals. (more…)
Photo by: Anthony Pidgeon/Redferns
Background
The Slants are known as the first all-Asian American dance rock band in the world. The band was founded by Simon Young (also known as Simon Tam) in 2006 in Portland, Oregon.
Does life have to make sense? Does music need to feel complete? Or is it the inherent contradictions that make music the life-affirming force it can be?
Did anyone expect a new New Order album? Hooky out, Gillian back? In case you are not keeping score, Hooky (bassist Peter Hook) announced in 2007 that New Order was over and that he was leaving. Eight years later, Barney Summer and the rest of the gang (Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, Phil Cunningham & Tom Chapman) has somewhat taken up the challenge to prove Hooky wrong.
And whilst the end product is a sublime dance-rock album of the kind that the original New Order are considered the pioneers of, Music Complete is not really New Order, any more than Electronic or Bad Lieutenant were New Order. The name itself is meaningless – without Hooky’s bass, this is most definitely not New Order.
However, in the final analysis, it makes no fucking difference, does it? With all the electro-pop acts vying for attention in the modern rock wasteland, the old masters have come back from the dead to show the young upstarts how it’s done.
There’s no doubting Summer’s way with a melody (and dodgy lyrics) but it is in the rhythm and the beats that Music Complete excels – big beats, techno, house, disco all mashed up into a heady mixture. “Restless”, “Tutti Frutti” and “Stray Dog” (with Iggy Pop on vocals) all rise like cream to the top but it is in the final number “Superheated” that Music Complete well and truly soars with one of the finest New Order tracks since the glory days of the 80s. “Superheated” is five minutes of sheer electro-pop bliss. Close your eyes and it’s the mid-eighties again.
Gorgeous.
Last June, we did an interview with Annie Ko, frontperson of Korean indie electro-rock trio Love X Stereo. Well, the group is now a duo consisting of Annie and Toby Hwang and is ready for the new year with a new EP, consisting of new material and re-recorded favourites. Part 1 of the We Love, We Leave album is already out now and indie pop fans will enjoy the new viz. the dynamic synth-pop energy of the sultry title track and the throbbing dance-able “My Anywhere” and the ‘old’ viz. the exciting versions of “Soul City (Seoul City)” and “Chain Reaction”. We caught up with Annie again to get some insights of where the duo is right here, right now.
Five of the songs on the new EP are re-worked versions of previously released tracks, why?
We were selected for government support provided by KOCCA in order to make a new record. Before we go any further, we wanted to take a step back to rearrange/rerecord our previous tracks, because we always wanted to. Originally, we wanted to make a LP with mixtures of old & new, but we had a strict time restraint, and that’s why we ended up splitting into two EPs. First one represents “We Love”, and the next one represents “We Leave”.
A look back at classic albums from rock history, this time Depeche Mode with its debut album, Speak and Spell from 1981. Released by pioneering indie label Mute Records in the United Kingdom.
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