Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

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Crushing Digits - Veto (RCA)

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 02:32 PM PDT

The 1980s continue to haunt the 21st century. Even in Denmark, apparently. Veto make big synth-pop, a slightly more rockist doppleganger for The Presets, without quite finding the huge hooks, but that could just be the parochialism talking.

Crushing Digits certainly has some high points, particularly around the centre pieces, ‘Crooks’ and ‘Digits’, when the live drums are bone dry and in your face, some of the synths get messed through distortion, and the guitar and bass piggy-back the two note synth riffs to anthemic effect. The album opens with the two lead singles (and catchiest tunes, naturally) and builds in intensity as it progresses, evoking images of thousands of pumping fists in stadiums, before rounding out with two tracks, ‘Spit It Out’ and ‘Duck, Hush And Be Still’, which take a more relaxed route. Singer Troels Abrahamsen has a big voice, sitting somewhere between early Robert Smith and contemporary emo.

Big sounds, big voice, big ambitions and, at least in Denmark, big public response are the hallmarks of Veto. They certainly achieve their goals on this album which may have the potential to launch them into the world’s mainstream (not just that of their homeland), while pleasing fans of darker synth-pop and anthemic industrial sounds.

Adrian Elmer

Telafonica – I Saw This And Thought Of You (4-4-2 Music)

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 02:37 PM PDT

Telafonica

The last three years have seen Sydney-based electronic collective Telafonica undergo a few substantial transitions that have delayed the arrival of this second album ‘I Saw This And Thought Of You.’ Following the release of 2005’s debut album ‘Morpheme’, founder members Marcella and David Hughes relocated to London at the beginning of last year, leaving it somewhat in doubt as to whether these seven partially-completed tracks would ever see release at all. While a few tracks have previously made their way out as downloadable e-singles and on compilations such as Feral Media’s ‘Super Shiny Sydney’, the tracks collected here were polished up with additional remixing earlier this year and were apparently chosen because they remain staples in Telafonica’s live sets. Opening track ‘Tape Noise’ provides a cleverly effective and also self-explanatory segue into the rest of this album, with the looped sound of a tape recording of vintage piano keys being rapidly rewound forming the rhythmic backbone around which dry, motorik drum machine beats and icy, forlorn synth pads slide.

‘Blending The Edges’ sees the subtle techno pulse that powers throughout most of this album moving further to the foreground as spidery, minimal beats and muted harmonic pads provide a bed for growling 303s and founder member Adrian Elmer’s weary-sounding, emotive vocals – the entire effect not being dissimilar to Richard Davis’ similarly melancholy outings with Swayzak. ‘Send Away’ meanwhile sees the bass presence becoming more tangible as electro-funk pads and tight, rattling tech-house rhythms lock into place around Marcella Hughes’ vocals, the bleak lyrics ("part of you is dying") nicely counterpointed by the sense of visceral groove generated by the backing production – indeed, it’s easily the most dancefloor-poised offering here. Elsewhere, closing track ‘Listening In For Static’ represents an extremely close contender for that position however, layering spring-loaded, off-centre house rhythms beneath yelled vocals that could equally be aimed at both ‘underground’ music purists ("I’ve never been hardcore / I’ve never been true to my roots") and the likes of the neo-rave fixated Modular crew…if it is in fact a riff on The Presets and their ilk, it’s certainly one of the funniest and most effective I’ve heard so far. An excellent second album from Telafonica that manages to be something of a tease at just seven tracks and 33 minutes long.

Extended Playlist 010609 - www.2ser.com 107.3FM

Posted: 01 Jun 2009 05:36 PM PDT

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Coming up Nextended - Monday 8 June 09
Special Guest: Roger Mills
Next week Roger Mills a/k/a Eartrumpet joins Extended Play to introduce his "Idea of South" project, a sound event featuring simultaneous broadcasts on two radio stations as well as the Internet on Sunday 14 June. More here: http://www.eartrumpet.org/ios/

More themes at your leisure, please, to extendedplay@2ser.com.
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Andreas Dorau - Tiere im Regen
("Ärger mit der Unsterblichkeit" - 1992, Ata Tak)

Hirasakana Oyogu - Fish Chant
("Hirasakana Oyogu" - 2009, Brother Sister)

Lali Puna - Contratempo
("Scary World Theory" - 2001, Morr Music)

Joachim Witt - Inflation im Paradies (Filmmusik)
("Edelweiss" - 1982, WEA)

Snakefinger - The Picture Makers vs. Children Of The Sea
("Greener Postures" - 1980, Ralph)

Gossip - Heavy Cross
("Heavy Cross" single - 2009, Sony)

Chicks on Speed - Globo Cop
("Cutting The Edge" 2xCD - 2009, Chicks On Speed)

Jon Hopkins - Wire
("Insides" - 2008, Domino)

NEBOYSHA - Timepass
("Timepass" - 2009, If?) #

Cleptoclectics - Freight Tube Boom Bap
("Open Tuned Occidentals" 3inch CD - 2009, hellosQuare) #

Mittageisen - Traum
("1981-1986 Remastered" 2xCD - 2008, mital-U) (original 1983)

Prefuse 73 - Whipcream Eyepatch
("Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian" - 2009, Warp)

Liaisons Dangereuses - Kess kill fé show
("Liaisons Dangereuses" - 2002, Hit Thing) (original 1981)

Bruno Spoerri - Cosmotoxology
("Voice Of Taurus" - 2009, inzec) (original 1978)

Robert Rooney - Duo 3
("Artefacts Of Australian Experimental Music 1930-1973" - 2007, Shame File) (recorded 1965) #

Roger Mills - Brightlands Avenue
("Antipodesia" - 2007, UnCatalogued Music) #

FSK - The Transatlantic Feedback
("The Sound Of Music" - 1993, Sub Up)

Tokyo Black Star - Powder Dreams
("Black Ships" - 2009, INNERVISIONS)

Pitch Black - Bird Soul (Fold vs Horace Remix)
("Rhythm, Sound And Movement" - 2009, Remote)

AABZU - Mystery Of Life
("Exploratory Music From Poland1" - 2009, AudioTONG)

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