VNV Nation – Beloved @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

I found this recently posted on YouTube. Enjoy!

Top 10 Futurepop Albums

I was listening to a bit of VNV Nation today, and so was inspired to put together a list of 10 popular albums by similar futurepop artists. Here’s the list:

• VNV Nation – Empires
• Assemblage 23 – Failure
• Covenant – Sequencer7
• Rotersand – Truth Is Fanatic
• Apoptygma Berzerk – Welcome To Earth
• Seabound – No Sleep Demon
• Bruderschaft – Forever
• Neuroticfish – Les Chansons Neurotiques
• Icon Of Coil – Serenity Is The Devil
• Pride & Fall – Nephesh

VNV Nation – The Great Divide EP

It looks like the release date for VNV Nation’s latest release, The Great Divide EP, is now just over a month away. Currently, the release date appears to be around early March (it had previously been set for February 12, 2010). The lead track, The Great Divide, originally appears on the last album, Of Faith, Power And Glory.

The EP will also include alternate versions and remixes by several other artists, of songs from the last album, as well as unreleased tracks. Michal Karcz has produced the artwork for the EP.

There is also  a promo video for the lead track, The Great Divide, that has  been put together by Crazy Clip TV, featuring footage filmed during the recent European Tour.

Keep your eyes out for other, extended and enhanced, re-releases including various extras and a new album in the pipeline for possible release in 2010.

Check out this real clear fan live footage of The Great Divide from Philadelphia 19/07/09.

VNV Nation Official Homepage –
http://www.vnvnation.com/

Assemblage 23 – Compass

Track listing:

1. Smoke
2. Collapse
3. Impermanence
4. How Can You Sleep
5. Spark
6. Leave This All Behind
7. Alive
8. Greed
9. Angels & Demons
10. The Cruelest Year

 

 

 

Limited Edition – Bonus CD Tracks:

1. Spark [Burikusu RMX]
2. Grind
3. Alone Again
4. Chosen
5. Greed [KMFDM RMX]

This album was released around October 2009, but my mind was on other things as I was in the thick of immigration stuff and I have only just become aware of it, this morning, while I was trawling through Spotify to see what ‘Futurepop’ albums I had missed towards the end of 2009.

I must confess to preferring Tom Shear’s darker sounding releases, however, over several listens to the album is most definitely growing on me. I definitely hear a heavy ‘old school’ Depeche Mode influence on several tracks off this album, a band who Tom Shear readily admits to be being influenced by. I suspect there are also a number of Depeche Mode fans out there who wish they were still making albums that sound like this. Actually, the synthesizer sounds on this album are very strong indeed  (I could see a number of Tanz-Metal bands getting rather envious of the ‘patches’) while Shear’s rich vocal lines rest perfectly in the mix. 

Reviewed at:

Softsynth –
http://softsynth.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/review-assemblage-23-compass/

Reflections Of Darkness –
http://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5975&Itemid=44

Release Magazine –
http://www.releasemagazine.net/Onrecord/orassemblage23compass.htm

Regenmag –
http://www.regenmag.com/Reviews-1979-Assemblage-23-Compass.html

Musicnonstop –
http://www.musicnonstop.co.uk/product-view.php?productid=22587

Fever Ray – Fever Ray

Track listing:

1. If I Had a Heart
2. When I Grow Up
3. Dry and Dusty
4. Seven
5. Triangle Walks
6. Concrete Walls
7. Now’s the Only Time I Know
8. I’m Not Done
9. Keep the Streets Empty for Me
10. Coconut

The creepy electronic tones on Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson’s debut, Fever Ray, makes me think of a Doom Metal band that’s gone synthpop. I hear all sorts of musical reference points in both the vocals and the music as I listen to this album. A smattering of Propaganda here, a bit of Depeche Mode there, some Björk, a pinch of Katatonia, and some Kate Bush to name a few. It also takes me back to an alternative universe ‘80s era of ZTT Records, you know, around the time of Art Of Noise et al. But, in slow motion. Excellent stuff.

Reviewed at:

The Guardian –
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/mar/27/fever-ray

The Onion (A.V. Club) –
http://www.avclub.com/articles/fever-ray-fever-ray,25935/

Delusions of Adequacy –
http://www.adequacy.net/2009/04/fever-ray-fever-ray/

Pop Matters –
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/71581-fever-ray-fever-ray/

Pitchfork –
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12845-fever-ray/

Drowned In Sound –
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14201/reviews/4136379

New Musical Express –
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14201/reviews/4136379

musicOHM –
http://www.musicomh.com/albums/fever-ray_0209.htm

Tiny Mix Tapes –
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/fever-ray-fever-ray

Slant Magazine –
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/fever-ray-fever-ray

All Music Guide –
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jnfrxzykld6e~T1

Dot Music –
http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/090401/33/220xz.html

Prefix Magazine –
http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/090401/33/220xz.html

Cokemachineglow –
http://www.cokemachineglow.com/record_review/4328/feverray-feverray-2009

Dusted Magazine –
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4859

Boston Globe –
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2009/04/13/fever_ray_fever_ray/

Blender –
http://www.blender.com/guide/new/77143/fever-ray.html

Spin –
http://www.spin.com/reviews/fever-ray-fever-ray-mute

Artists To Watch 2010: Ellie Goulding

 

Info:

• Singer-Songwriter, born in December 1986, Hereford, England.
• Writing songs since she was 14.
• Genre(s): Folktronica, Indie pop, Electropop, Synthpop.
• First live show: University talent show.
• Next gig: UK tour starts 25th March 2010 @ Thekla, Bristol.

 

Releases:

• “Wish I Stayed” demo, downloadable from website.
• “Under The Sheets” single 15 November 2009

1. Under The Sheets
2. Fighter Plane
3. Under The Sheets – Jakwob remix

 

 

 

Upcoming Releases

• The first single, “Starry Eyed”, from the debut album, Lights, is due for release on 22nd February 2010.
• The debut album, Lights, is due for release on 1st March 2010.

 

Links

• Website –
  http://elliegoulding.co.uk/
  
• Wikipedia –
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellie_Goulding
  
• BBC –
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8442389.stm
  
• The Guardian –
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/dec/02/ellie-goulding-review