Audio Drums

A ballad set against synths, muted drums beats, guitars and pianos.  This just gets me pysched up to hear the new Depeche Mode album which is due to be released in April of 09.

About Mirror from cdbaby:

Cinematic, electronic pop music from the multi-media project MIRROR, featuring Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan, Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro, Bowie pianist Mike Garson, and introducing chanteuse Laure-Elaine and teen actress Frances Lawson.

Band Site

Myspace

Mirror - Nostalgia (ft Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode)

A rather dark pop track with a muted bassline that haunts.  Kinda reminds me of a cross between The Postal Service and Camouflage.  This track is taken from their 2006 release “Three”

From last.fm:

The project Phantom/Ghost was formed in a hotel bar by producer and musician Thies Mynther (Stella, Superpunk) and Tocotronic’s singer, songwriter and guitarist, Dirk von Lowtzow - both heroes of the music scene in Hamburg, Germany. The band’s first and self-titled album was released in 2001. The second one was called “To Damascus” and released in 2003. In 2006, Phantom/Ghost released their most recent album, “Three”.

Phantom/Ghost - Relax It’s Only A Ghost

Question of the Day:  What do you get when you cross Metro Area with the Junior Boys?
A: You get the latest album from Morgan Geist titled, “Double Night Time” of course, which has Jeremey Greenspan providing vocals on nearly all the tracks.

Below is my favorite track from this album called “The Shore”.

Tracklisting
01. Detroit
02. The Shore
03. Nocebo
04. Most Of All
05. Skyblue Pink
06. Ruthless City
07. Palace Life
08. City Of Smoke And Flame
09. Lullaby

review from Allmusic.com

At the outset, Double Night Time might be met with some degree of slight, partially greed-related aggravation. Morgan Geist’s first true solo album since 1997’s lost classic The Driving Memoirs, nearly half of it is made from previously released material, and its featured vocalist is Jeremy Greenspan, whose Junior Boys — more so than ever here — are stylistic peers. It could be speculated that, several years removed from peaking in notoriety with the Metro Area full-length, Geist wanted to make a Junior Boys album, yet the seed for this set was more likely planted with “Ghost Trains.” A darkly shimmering track Geist produced for Erlend Øye’s Unrest album, that song predated the JBs’ debut, indicating Geist’s shift from Metro Area’s modern post-disco/pre-house to winsome electronic pop with vocals.

Five years later, he finally explores the form to its full album-length extent. Ultimately a modest and compulsively listenable set of nocturnal electronic lullabies, Double Night Time’s use of two- and seven-year-old tracks is not unwarranted. Opener “Detroit” cleverly incorporates the zapping/prickling glow of 2001’s “24K,” while Greenspan, barely above a whisper, sets the album’s tone by romanticizing night drives to a vibrant motor city clubbing scene.

Both sides of the 2006 “Most of All” 12″ are tucked in the middle, like an old XTC reissue, but they slip snugly into the album’s fabric; in fact, the reprised A-side is as representative of Geist’s approach as anything else he has released, fitting several ideas into a direct and compact piece that could be heard as glum just as easily as giddy, and not without evidence of twisted humor. “Lullaby,” from the same Environ 12″ as “24K,” is Kraftwerk’s “Numbers” made florid (with surprisingly congruent trumpet), where Geist is at his most emotionally sweet. The new tracks are equally insidious and moving, with “The Shore” coming on like a more active version of “Ghost Trains” and “Ruthless City” a roguishly charming heartbreak ballad: “When I woke up the next day, bleeding on the sidewalk/It was then I knew, without a doubt/I had finally found a mate.”

Morgan Geist - The Shore (ft. Jeremy Greenspan of Junior Boys)

Things to look forward too…

It seems the boys are to have a press conference in Berlin on October 6th to discuss the upcoming tour and album.  For all those in Germany, now’s your chance to score some tickets to the event.  You can sign-up here.   Word on the net is that the album will drop March 2009 — let’s hope they drop a few singles before the end of 2008.

In the mean time, enjoy a classic track:

Depeche Mode - A Question of Time

PS. That’s a fan in the picture, not a new member of DM

From one of my all time favorite producers comes a great electronic remix.  For those who are unfamiliar with the name of Guy Sigsworth, I’m sure you’ve heard his work if your an avid listener to electronic music.  He’s probably best know as half of Frou Frou (other half of course being Imogen Heap), but here are just a few of the songs he’s produced and/or co-written:

Seal  - Carzy (1991)
Bjork - Isobel (1995)
Bjork - All is Full of Love (1997)
Madonna - What It Feels Like For A Girl (2000)
Lamb -  Gabriel (2001)
Frou Frou - [entire album:Details] (2002)
Kate Havnevik - Unlike Me (2006)
Temposhark - It’s Better To Have Loved (2007)
Alanis Morissette - [entire album: Flavors of Entanglement] (2008)

Mirah - La Familia (Guy Sigsworth Remix)

taken from Guy’s myspace page:

“”La Familia” is a song by Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, who lives in Oregon. I’ve been a fan of Mirah’s since hearing one of her songs late night on XFM about five years ago - and here I am remixing it specially for her forthcoming remix album”

Her remix album, Joyride: Remixes, was released back in 2006.

Related posts:
Mirah - Recommendation

Mirah - The Garden

All ways nice to hear new material from one of my early inspirations, in this case it’s Dave Ball of Soft Cell with his co-writer Richard Norris (aka The Grid). They have just released their fifth studio album this year called, “Doppelganger”. This particular track has hints of Dave Balls early work with Soft Cell. The entire album sees the duo returning to true form of their early 90’s “Grid” sound.

last.fm bio:

The Grid is an English group/production group for electronic music, that consists of Richard Norris and David Ball (mostly Dave Ball as a solo artist and formerly of Soft Cell).

Their 1994 single “Swamp Thing”, which featured elaborate banjo lines (played by Roger Dinsdale) over house beats was widely popular in the UK and Australia, reaching number forty-four on the 1994 Triple J Hottest 100. The Grid’s 1994 album Evolver, which contained the “Swamp Thing” single, reached number fourteen in the UK charts. “Swamp Thing” was also released in 1995 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 Volume 2 compilation. Other songs by The Grid include Texas Cowboys, Rollercoaster and Flotation.

After splitting up to pursue individual music interests in 1996, the duo re-formed in 2003. By 2006 the pair were reportedly to have been recording new studio tracks. In early 2006 the band began touring under the name GDM with female singer Misty Woods.

Dave Ball reunited with Marc Almond for a new Soft Cell album and tour in 2002-3.
Richard Norris is currently working with Erol Alkan under the moniker Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve, under which they released an album of acid rock re-edits called “Spring” in the summer of 2006.

The Grid - Closer

Listed below is both the original and the Dave Ball (of Soft Cell and The Grid fame) remix — more on Dave Ball tomorrow.

From George Demure’s site:

Scottish electro crooner George Demure is back with the latest single from his successful debut album “Boomtown Medallion”. This one is a cover of the Bowie classic “Sorrow”.

With a helping hand from talented producer Aidan Love (Maps & Goldfrapp) Demure weaves an 80’s inspired tapestry which blends the classic song with a accessible sound. As one half of Soft Cell, Dave Ball was one of those producers who laid down the blueprints for an entire category of synthesizer based music.

Bio:

Introducing George Demure…

…a suave and debonair gentleman hailing from Scotland, now living and working in London.

George Demure spent 10 years at the forefront of Scotland’s electronic music scene before moving to London in 2002. This move prompted a rediscovery of his love for guitars as well as discovering his sensational yet elegant singing voice.

Equally adept behind a bank of drum machines as he is with acoustic guitars and tambourines, George’s songs demonstrate an obsessive love of music, from Charlie Feathers to Lee Perry, Throbbing Gristle to Otis Redding - and his ability to weave a particular lyrical slant in his music owes much to his love of literature.

Since his live debut supporting Colder at London’s Bush Hall in 2005, he attracts growing numbers of devotees with his live performances. A host of gigs include Glastonbury (2005 and 2008’s The Guardian Lounge), performances throughout London, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, the Tank Magazine party at the ICA in 2006, Koko (Camden Palace), a show stopping performance at Output’s 2006 Sonar Party in Barcelona, not forgetting Batofar and Le Baron in Paris earlier this year.

George Demure was first featured on Output Recordings Channel 4 Compilation with the classic “New Confrontation”. A single, “The Main Attraction” was released in September 2006, one of the last ever releases on Output. Then, with Tirk, he released the New Confrontation EP, a critically acclaimed 5 tracker in December 2006. Now signed to Tirk Records offshoot August Day, his debut LP “Boomtown Medallion”, released in October 2007 to great applause, continues to win admirers. With three tracks produced with Maps producer Aidan Love and two produced with The Strokes producer Gordon Raphael, the seeds of collaboration had firmly taken root. The single “My Baby’s Gone”, was released with as superb and quirky video, this years’ follow up single, a cover of David Bowies ‘Sorrow’ sports a remix from Soft Cell’s Dave Ball. With his growing interest in multimedia performances and collaborations with new musicians, producers and directors alike, his monthly podcasts/videocasts are already the social insiders must see……. the world of George Demure just gets bigger and bigger.

“…borderline genius… possibly the best leftfield pop album of 2007” – iDJ

“..quite brilliant…” - One Week To Live

“…George Demure is ace!” - NME

“…is a delight…by turns darkly threatening and flooded with warm light..” - Time Out

“..moody, cool electro indie..” Mixmag

George Demure - Sorrow

George Demure - Sorrow (Dave Ball (of Soft Cell) Nightwreckers Radio Mix)