Starring
Ben Lukas Boysen, Bolis Pupol, Deco, Karl D'Silva, Kasper Bjorke, Nala Sinephro, Rodion G.A.
The Front Runners
Puzzles : Kasper Bjorke
Here’s an album to revisit a 1970s disco. It’s authentic and cheesy - a work of love wearing a straight face.
They say that what goes around, comes around. This album sets out its stall from the start. ‘Corridor of Dreams’ is everything you’ve heard in your guiltiest pleasures. Kim Carnes meets obligatory sax on a yacht somewhere in the middle of the Med. You wonder if it’s for real, or if you’ve time travelled back in time overnight. That feeling continues with ‘Ugle (Dremmen On Mon)’. It’s great fun even as it moves towards something made for elevators.
Don’t try to be too cool when listening to this. The songs are yacht rock for the body and lava lamps for the soul. They’re the definition of electronic easy listening - smooth, suave and laid back Their saving grace is their sincerity and, in small 38 minute doses, they are highly enjoyable.
These songs are as far from Bjork (without an ‘e’) as it is possible to get. Bjorke (with an ‘e’) could be the resident DJ at your resort club, with the playlist that fills the air as the club opens but before it fills up. He’s perfected music that is the sound of holidays, friends and gentle good times.
His love of the genre, and his skill in reproducing it is unparalleled. Bmm chk beats are squarely four to the floor. This is warm hearted fun and ,in its way and commitment to an era, something completely different. Whether it’s the perfect disco pop of ‘Tears We Haven’t Cried’, the smooching soul of ‘Save Me’ or the unexpected cover of The Psychedelic Furs’ ‘Love My Way’ you’ll be listening with a smile on your face.
This is just what the doctor ordered for a mid January when the world is in turmoil.
Taster Track : Tears We Haven’t Cried
The Chasing Pack
Alta Ripa : Ben Lukas Boysen
German electronic composer, Ben Lukas Boysen, crafts some very listenable German electronica. Job done!
Boysen’s music can keep you waiting, as with the prolonged intro to ‘Ours’. Patience is a virtue though, because the pay off is well worth the wait. Once going, there’s no faltering. It will come to an end when, and only when, he flicks the switch. He’s in perfect control.
This machine like reliability is relentlessly efficient. That doesn’t mean that the songs are simple, far from it. ‘Quasar’ is just one example on the album of multiple approaches within one tune. His skill is to change sounds in mid track and still produce something unified and coherent, like ‘Nox’.
This is an album that doesn’t feel groundbreakingly new, but it sounds so good. It’s like one of those 1970s factories that was once an exciting new warehouse development but is now part of the landscape. It no longer stands out. That’s not a problem if you have a good thing going or subscribe to the maxim “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Not many people love an industrial unit though, and this can seem to keep itself at a distance, rather than engaging emotionally.
There are a couple of quieter moments, not quite downing tools more like taking a little time out. ‘Alta Ripa’ is beatless and soothing. ‘Vineta’ takes us closer to film score territory and ‘Mere’ slows us down to a steady finish. Against that, the inventive rhythms of ‘Fama’ should get any club crowd moving.
This isn’t exactly comfort listening but it is something I could listen to for long periods. Try it. You might agree.
Taster Track : Ours
Letter To Yu : Bolis Pupul
This journey into electronic sound embraces synth pop, club beats and Chinese heritage. It’s a bright and likeable mix.
Bolis Pupul was brought up in Belgium and saw little, if anything, of his Chinese mother. She was killed in a traffic accident in 2008, and this album is, effectively, an account of how he tried to learn more about her and his Chinese heritage.
So far, so earnest. But, aside from the opening track, which I’ll come to in a moment, this isn’t a heavy set of songs. Quite the opposite. It’s a collection that is light on its feet and brimming with life. It’s constantly interesting, surprising and accessible. For every song like ‘Frogs’ that is sung in Chinese, there’s another like ‘Completely Half’ which is European synth pop at its best.
This album is a form of cultural exchange programme. It’s fusion music as you’ll hear in ‘Goodnight Mr Yi’. Ambient soundscapes back bright and catchy synthpop. Indoor club beats dance alongside outdoor urban rhythms. European and Chinese musical influences shake hands across borders, quite happily.
There’s one track that stands out, not because it’s better than the rest but because it’s so completely different. ‘Letter To You’ is memorable for its slowed down, treated vocals. They’re raw, powerful and unforgettable and they sound harsh. They sound like his deepest, grieving thoughts given their own voice. They have an emotional punch that is wrapped in complete honesty.
You’re left with a sense that this album is a journey of discovery, both personally and musically. And they’re journeys that are well worth sharing.
Taster Track : Completely Half
Destination : I Don’t Know - Deco
This is a problem. I hated it. I’ve thought a lot about ignoring the record altogether, pretending that I hadn’t written anything, or even listened to it because I don’t want to hurt the feelings of this bubbly, well intentioned band. I’m going ahead though because self-censorship seems a less fair approach than an honest response to the music.
To be fair to the band, they’re incredibly hard working. They’ve released 24 singles before arriving at an album. It’s an 80s confection, with the gloss of ABC, the cheerfulness of early Kylie and the friendliness of the slightly later S Club 7. The songs have a safe but clear sound. It’s breezy and bright. Disliking this is like being cruel to a faithful and affectionate puppy. You hate yourself afterwards.
As a standalone single ‘ Temporary’ has sufficient catchiness to stretch above the rest, like a drowning man desperate to be pulled aboard a liferaft. ‘Mind Racing’ swims close to the surface too, thanks to the swaying sax that carries it along.
The issue I have is that it’s simply not good enough to carry the weight of the band’s hopes and ambitions. It’s inspired by the kind of cheesy, synth driven, vaguely dance oriented boy (and girl!) band material that provided the filler for countless pre-’Now’ compilations. They sound desperate for the 2025 equivalent of a Smash Hits front page cover or even a review.
As it turns out, it’s clear I’m not the target audience for these songs. They’re aimed at the Year 7 schoolgirl in your life. It’s music for young besties to practise their steps in front of the mirror and as substantial and enduring as the froth at a bubble party.
The band describe their sound as good mood music. If so, it fails on those terms as it is an album that left me in a bad mood, This is guilty pleasure music shorn of any pleasure.
Ordinarily, I’d publish an alternative review to off-set my negative impressions. I couldn’t find one, good or bad. If the band knows of an independent review and want to send me a link to it, I’ll happily include it here.
Taster Track : Temporary
Love Is A Flame In The Dark : Karl D’Silva
There are good pomp synth songs here, but they’re lost in a noisy maelstrom, too often dialled up to eleven.
There was a moment in the early 1980s, when synthesisers became capable of doing a lot more and synth pop changed from something with small scale clean sounds and attractive tunes to something bigger, more epic, more…… bombastic. Ultravox’s transition from ‘Vienna’ to ‘Rage In Eden’ is a prime example. Karl D’Silva seems inspired by the moment that happened.
At nearly two and a half minutes, the introductory tuning of ‘On The Outside’,takes its time to arrive at the proper song. It’s dramatic when it arrives thoug, rising epicly until it eventually fade to a single saxophone. Enjoy the moment. This album is about to get very busy, as D’Silva demonstrates that, quite often, more is less.
Perhaps the long intro is a way of increasing tension. Tension is undoubtedly one of the key emotions on this album. ‘Entropy’ is tense and agitated, full of squally over projection. The problem with tension is that it quickly turns into a headache.
It would have taken one hell of an explosion to create the scene on the album cover and, in some ways, it stands for the album as a whole. The noise. The chaos. The mess. ‘Wild Kiss’ is cacophonous and clattering, and it isn’t the only one.. ‘The Crucible’ makes a similar mark with quiet, protesting howls of anguish.
It’s a shame because stripped back there would be good songs with memorable choruses and intriguing lyrics. They’re blown away in the mix though. To give one example, there’s a four note hook in the midst of ‘Real Life’ that’s struggling to be heard. There’s even a touch of overblown Peter Gabriel in ‘Flowers Start to Cry’, and I’d have loved to hear that given the space to breathe.
As always when I haven’t taken to an album I like to offer a balancing view. Here’s one from The Quietus https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/karl-dsilva-love-is-a-flame-in-the-dark-review/
Taster Track : Real Life
Endlessness : Nala Sinephro
One of the leading lights in current jazz, Nala Sinephro’ music is embracing and comfortable, but the listener needs to play their part.
Robert Elms, music journalist and jazz lover says that you can only come to understand and love jazz if you put in the effort to study it carefully, learning how it works and where the performers come from. Fortunately for those of us lazier than that requires, jazz critic Ted Gioia says that you should simply let the music flow over and around you, allowing some of its impact to stick until the next time and slowly building your understanding and appreciation of the jazz art.
This is ideal music for the second approach. It’s proper jazz, and you’re never sure where its meanderings will take you. Like a kaleidoscopic screen saver it’s continually different and changing. Completely unhummable, it’s still extremely musical.
Her instrument of choice is the saxophone, but this is also an album overflowing with luscious strings. The music is smooth, fluid and sometimes breathtaking. Lie back, immerse yourself in it and trust in its embrace.
If you can do so, you’ll be transported on a journey through sun tinted pillow clouds with just a little, gentle turbulence in the mix. ‘Continuum 6’ suddenly breaks through the prevailing mode to introduce something jittery.
Sinephro’s sax is a quivering thing of beauty that adds personality to the mix. In the opening part of ‘Continuum 7’ the sax peeks through its musical fringe like a cheeky little girl daring you to stop her, before the music flows into something that is more of a grown up conversation.
I can only marvel at the skill required to compose such full and daydreaming pieces. I am fully qualified though to confirm that this is lovely music from beginning to end.
Taster Track : Continuum 7
From The Archives (1981 -2017) : Rodion G.A.
Telling you that this is a mash of punk, electronica and prog doesn’t begin to prepare you for the onslaught on your senses that awaits.
There’s a back story. Rodion G.A. were a Romanian band during the Ceausescu era, an era with one state record company. Rodion G.A. did not fit their artist profile. On the one hand that meant they were free to make whatever they wanted, free of corporate control. On the other hand, hardly anyone heard their music. This compilation is drawn from the years 1981 - 1987, with some later edits (I’m guessing - they certainly sound from a different time from the rest.)
Usually I like my music with some polish but, now and again, something raw and unvarnished is refreshing like a cold shower. That’s the case here.
This is punk electronica that’s rough, distorted, harsh and experimental. It’s also full of electric and irresistible energy. It’s like watching and hearing a building being blown up - both very loud and totally compelling
It sounds like an artefact from a lost age, rudimentary but evolving, the kind of music that might be made in a thousand years time when future generations stumble across 1980s equipment and make music without knowing its rules. As it stands it sounds like a prototype working towards becoming an early version of Cabaret Voltaire.
At times, it has to be said, it feels like a pounding headache that won’t go away. That’s OK when you understand the context in which it was made. How else could they be heard? ‘Stele Si Lumini’ is an aggressive burst of sound with a strutting melody that captures their swagger exactly.
What saves it from being pure sensation is that at the deep core of songs like ‘Tu Rea Ce Esti’, ‘Vine Larna’, ‘Balkan’ and ‘Intervale’ is some very good pop indeed.
This is music that refuses to be suppressed or to die. It’s a massive f**k you to the State.
Taster Track : Vine Larna
As ever this week's Taster Track playlists can be accessed at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/42qDXrw3nLMlCSg45kCnRy?si=4499207642034207 or via the Spotify link on the Home Page.
The link to the Youtube playlist is https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwV-OogHy7EjHZr5_M3m0Zn5LEu_F3fMm&si=OhQF-ZPaBjUn4VMT
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