Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Soft Moon- Total Decay EP

The Soft Moon have released a follow-up to their self titled debut LP this week and as their previous record, the new EP was released on Halloween. The EP is entitled "Total Decay", features four brand new tracks and it is out Captured Tracks.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

WAW: Geneva Jacuzzi- Clothes on the Bed

We haven't had some Geneva Jacuzzi around for a while on our blog. Here is the video for the song "Clothes on the Bed" which was directed by Eric Fensler and produced by Hilary Olson and Jay Rajeck. The song is a first track on her album Lamaze which was released last year.

   

Friday, August 26, 2011

80's Duets: Bronski Beat & Marc Almond

Bronski Beat who had huge international success with "Smalltown Boy" in 1984 were joined by Marc Almond, a year later and released their own version of Donna Summer's classic "I Feel Love". The full version of the song also featured parts of "Love to Love You Baby" and John Leyton's "Johnny Remember Me". It was a success and reached #3 in the UK.

 

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Next Wave: Soft Metals

Soft Metal is a duo from Portland consisting of Patricia Hall and Ian Hicks who met at the audition for a band. Their mutual love is early 80's Synth-pop, EBM, Krautrock, Post punk, and the first wave of industrial music set the course. After a few sessions together the partnership proved to be exactly what they had both been searching for and Soft Metals was born in 2009.


Their collaboration eventually grew  into a passionate love affair and the first result is a self-titled album release with Captured Tracks. They explore fantastical soundscapes which conjure the dramatic cinematic worlds of Dario Argento, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, and the Czech New Wave. Sounds very close to early William Orbit's outfit Torch Song.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

80's Duets: David Sylvian & Sakamoto Ryuichi- Forbidden Colours

"Forbidden Colours" was the second collaborative single release for David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The song composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto with lyrics by David Sylvian was released in 1983 and it was the vocal version of the theme from the Nagisa Oshima's film "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence". Both artists have recorded several interpretations of the song, both instrumental and vocal and it appeared as a B-side to David Sylvian's release "Red Guitar".

Monday, June 6, 2011

Mirrors on '4Play'

Channel 4(4Play) will feature a special documentary on Brighton's synth pop band Mirrors. The show which will be premiered on Thursday, June 9th, 00:35am was directed and produced by Yemi Bamiro and Alex Walters.
"Look at Me" is officially confirmed new single out today with "Perfectly Still" as a b-side.
 


Friday, June 3, 2011

In Conversation: Petroleum by Product

The Vancouver based trio Petroleum by Product who were featured here on Burning Flame earlier this year have stopped by for an interview. Here is what Vanessa, Sally and Robin told us about their influences, their image, musical style and further plans in music.


Sunday, May 22, 2011

80's Duets: Sparks & Jane Wiedlin- Cool Places

As a big fan of Sparks in the early 80's Jane Wiedlin recorded a duet with Ron and Russel in 1983. The song "Cool Places" was taken form Sparks' album "In Outer Space" which remained their biggest hit in the USA. Wiedlin also helped promote the album on tour and appeared at a few gigs to perform the duets.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Next Wave: A Terrible Splendour

A Terrible Splendour are a New Romantic Synthesiser Cabaret outfit from London. Their songs weave tales of blackmail and despair, of cruelty and of heartbreak. They draw their inspiration from the drama of faded silver screen stars, imprisoned dissidents and espionage. Having built a following around their blood and cake stained live performance, ATS are set to release their debut single "The Russians" / "Slaves to the City" on June 17th, whilst continuing to work on their debut album 'An Evening in the Company of A Terrible Splendour'. 
Check out their Facebook band page to listen to their latest single. 

http://www.aterriblesplendour.com/


Friday, May 20, 2011

In Conversation: Sensual Harassment

 The Reptilian Humanoid alliance is back! The New York based trio Sensual Harassment have released their debut album in April and have stopped by for an interview in which they tell us more about their influences, live music, their future plans and how they developed their specific music style.  


Sensual Harassment Q-A

WAW: Blondie- Mother

Blondie have recorded an official video for the first single "Mother" from the album 'Panic of Girls'. Both, the single and the album are set to be released this month. The video for the song "Mother" was recorded by Laurent Rejto.

Friday, April 22, 2011

In Conversation: Clockwork Orchestra

Clockwork Orchestra is a quirky electronic band from Dublin led by Irish oddball Mango. His songs sound something like broken toys, miserable old men, vintage children’s TV shows, rotting fish, burning plastic and digital clown nightmares. Since August 2010, Clockwork Orchestra have released a series of songs accompanied by animated videos created by a variety of artists and plan to release their debut album later in 2011. In an Interview for Burning Flame Blog, he tells us more about his music, influences and his musical style. 


1. What is the origin of your band name, who is Clockwork Orchestra?
The name comes from the mechanical orchestra depicted in the 1971 film “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” which stars Vincent Price. It also relates to the nature of the music itself and my frequent use of orchestral sounds and samples.
Most of the music released so far was written and produced by me. After I record a song, my collaborator Paul O’Byrne and I drive around the streets of Dublin in the middle of the night mulling over the mixes and other musical ideas. In general I prefer to work alone but we are currently composing a song together for a change.

2. In what way is your music related to your art?
We’ve released a series of animated music videos to accompany the songs created by a variety of artists including two that I made myself. I had a frustrating time in art college which discouraged me from pursuing a career as a traditional artist. Instead, I try to work artistic elements into Clockwork Orchestra whenever possible. I have also created several illustrations to accompany some of the songs which can be found in the artwork section of the Clockwork Orchestra website.

3. Who do you consider as a major influence at the start of your musical career?
Many different things have influenced me from old children’s TV show theme tunes to early computer games. As for musicians, my greatest influences tend to be the new wave and no wave artists of the late 70s early 80s. The film/soundtrack “Urgh! A Music War” had a big impact on me as it introduced me to lots of interesting bands and artists such as Wall of Voodoo, Pere Ubu and Klaus Nomi.

4. What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Main themes and topics of your songs…
I try to avoid genre classification. As the music is largely electronic it tends to be referred to as electro or synthpop but in truth I don’t think that it fits in comfortably with these styles.
Some of my lyrical themes are fairly straightforward while others are more abstract. For instance, the song “Talking To The Flowers” deals with ageing and loneliness whereas a track like “Tragic Roundabout” hints at topics (in this case temptation and corruption) without expressing anything too directly.

5. How do you promote your live shows and your music?
So far we have not played live as Clockwork Orchestra but with our growing fan base it is gradually becoming an inevitability. Thankfully it is relatively easy to promote music online these days whereas in the past, playing live would have been essential. The downside of the popularity of the Internet is that it has become very difficult to make a living from music these days.

6. Who are you trying to address and entertain with your music?
Ideally I want to reach people who like to think about music as well as simply listen to it. My friends and I are what you might call outsiders and oddballs so maybe I’d like to appeal to people like that.


7. What do you miss in today’s music the most?
Personality. It seems to be a crucial element sorely lacking in much of the music being produced nowadays. A lot of the so called “quirky” bands of the last decade sound very forced in my opinion.

8. What is your all time favorite record, song, album?
This is extremely difficult to choose but it would probably be something by The Stranglers. I think the post-punk albums that they released between 1978 and 1983 contain some of the most interesting music ever recorded.

9. What do you listen to these days?
In terms of modern music, I have recently been listening to Dominique Leone (a former critic who started releasing his own music in 2007) and a highly unique band from Finland called Kompleksi.

10. Any further single releases in the near future, album plans?
I am currently working on several tracks that will appear on the first full length Clockwork Orchestra album which I hope will be completed by the end of 2011. In the meantime, there will be several animated music videos to accompany some of the existing songs that have already been released.

11. How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
The best way to hear the music or watch the videos is to visit the official site: www.clockworkorchestra.com
I also regularly post updates on the Clockwork Orchestra Facebook and Twitter pages and if anyone feels like parting with their money in exchange for songs they should search for Clockwork Orchestra on Bandcamp.   



Top 10 albums that inspired Clockwork Orchestra

1. The Stranglers - La Folie
2. Sparks - A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing
3. Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets
4. Yello - Claro Que Si
5. Wall Of Voodoo - Dark Continent
6. Suicide - The Second Album
7. Was (Not Was) - Was (Not Was)
8. Lars Hollmer - XII Sibiriska Cyklar
9. The Residents - The Commercial Album
10. The The - Soul Mining

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

80' Duets: The The & Sinead O'Connor- Kingdom of Rain

The English group The The was involved in many various musical projects and have recorded many duets during their existence. Collaborators and contributors list includes among others: Thomas Leer, Neneh Cherry, Marc Almond, Anna Domino, Lloyd Cole and many more. Their song "Kingdom of Rain" which features Sinead O' Connor on vocals was taken from the album 'Mind Bomb' and it was released in 1989.

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Nileism- The Strange Course of the Blue Nile

This year sees the 30th anniversary of The Blue Nile's first work together. Four albums - containing a total of just 33 songs - have followed since. For the first time Allan Brown, a fan from the time of the band's first album in 1983 and friend of the band's composer Paul Buchanan, gets behind the veil to analyse the band's agonisingly slow progress through personal memoir, critical study, access to unreleased recordings and encounters with those who have been central to the strange and elusive mythology of The Blue Nile.


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

February's Singles Round-Up

The Round up of February single releases includes: Cut Copy- "Need You Now", a pick of the month, Alphaville's second single "Song for No One", from the album 'Catching Rays on Giant' which was released last year. Lykke Li is back with  much anticipated new single "I Follow Rivers" which also announces a new album in March. Papercuts are also up for a new album release in March. Their fourth album is entitled 'Fading Parade' and "Do What You Will" is the first single to be taken from it. Yeasayer will release the fourth single from the album 'Odd Blood' called "I Remember" and Hurts are back with "Sunday" an iTunes Bundle released on February 26, 2011.And last but not least, our band of the month is releasing their first single "Drive Me" from the upcoming album 'Blanc Burn'.  


Monday, February 14, 2011

The Dears- Degeneration Street

The long awaited fifth studio album from Montreal based group the Dears is out tomorrow, February 15, 2010. 'Degeneration Street' marks the return of several band members who were absent from the band's previous album 'Missiles', including Patrick Krief, Rob Benvie and Roberto Arquila. The album features a sweeping collection of orchestral pop / rock that is at once enlightening, angst-ridden and mesmerizing. "Omega Dog" is currently the only single from the album which was released in October 2010.
http://www.thedears.org


Saturday, February 12, 2011

80's Duets: Bananarama & Fun Boy Three- "Really Saying Something"

During the 1982, early Bananarama and Fun Boy Three recorded two duets. The three women provided credited chorus vocals on the hit "T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" and the Fun Boy Three later sang on the Bananarama song "Really Saying Something". Both songs were released as singles during the same year and also appeared on both bands' albums.

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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Ladytron's Decade in Review

'The Best of Ladytron: 00-10' will be released on March 29, 2011 in the US through Nettwerk Records (March 28 in UK). The collection reflects on a decade highlighted by '604', 'Light & Magic', 'Witching Hour' and 'Velocifero' plus two new tracks; "Ace Of Hz" and "Little Black Angel." A two-disc deluxe version, featuring an additional 16 tracks & 80-page photo booklet, will also be available on March 29, 2011.

www.ladytron.com/

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Cut/Copy- Zonoscope

The Third album by the Australian electro pop group Cut Copy is in the shops. It was released on February 8, 2011 on the Modular Recordings label. Two singles were already released from the album, "Take Me Over" and "Need You Now". Zonoscope cover artwork features New York City engulfed in a waterfall, created by the late Japanese photo montage artist Tsunehisa Kimura.


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