MUSIC FOR THE MASSES - SOME NON DEPECHE MODE REVIEWS AND PREVIEWS

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll have noticed that the content has not been as varied as it might have been due to the mid life crisis that is The Global Spirit Tour Project. To find out what that is, click the link there to see. This is a non DM related post and it's going to stay that way.

The seemingly never ending Depeche tour has meant that, the odd review aside, this blog has focused entirely on one band since May last year. That'll remain the focus in a week's time when they kick off again so this is the ideal chance to talk about some other music that's been on heavy rotation in recent weeks. 

First up, Happy Robots Records, home of the superb Rodney Cromwell has put out a couple of superb releases in recent weeks. Sinosa's If U Must Dance is a curious but wonderful mix of electrpop and skewed disco with Kraftwerk lurking somewhere in the background. It's available on the label's Bandcamp page digitally and on striking clear vinyl 7".

Label boss Rodney Cromwell is also back. The superb Comrades takes off from where the still marvellous Age Of Anxiety left off. It's a prime slice of synthpop of a quality that is harder and harder to find. The song heads up the forthcoming e.p. Rodney's English Disco which adds three new tracks and 4 remixes and is available digitally and on 7" red vinyl from 25 May. As with all Rodney Cromwell releases, it's one you don't want to miss.

Seeing as we are talking about bands I've gone on a lot about on here before, the news that Apostille is back is a great thing. His new album Choose Life is out on the 8th of June and it is destined to be one of my records of the year. The first single from it, Feel Bad, came out in March and it's simply brilliant, as is its video.

Sticking with Glasgow and its seemingly endless supply of outstanding electronic artists, HQFU's new album For Inhumanity (reviewed here) is still proving hard to put down and is highly recommended. 

Graham Crossan, ex of Machines In Heaven, released two new pieces of music via his Bandcamp page in March with the dark electronics of Feel Everything (below) and earlier in the year in January with the superb GLVXGOW (Skip Ad) e.p. Graham's work with his new band Polis is also well 

Going back to the pop side of things, Priest returned in April with a new e.p. The Lost Lions which is available in all the usual digital places. As you'd expect, it's yet more synthpop goodness and features the superb Our Time Will Come which came out earlier this year.

Finally, three releases I'm looking forward to taking with me on the road to Berlin for the final two DM gigs of the year. The 25th of May sees the return of blood blood, Davey from Machines In Heaven's side project. Black Tarot promises to be another superb blood blood offering and the small sample available on Facebook certainly whets the appetite.

The new Your Silent Face release, The Fallen e.p., which is out this Thursday is a full on techno affair and from the Soundcloud preview (below), there's a lot to be excited about

Finally, Gus Harrower is back with a new single Wonder on the first of June. Gus' justified reputation as one of Scotland's best new singer songwriters has been enhanced by an ever increasing number of live shows and Wonder is only going to see his reputation grow and grow. You can find all his releases on his Soundcloud page (https://soundcloud.com/gusharrower) and on Spotify.

And that's that bar for a couple of things. Firstly, other than very occasional things like this, I'm going to step back from reviewing music on here. Unfortunately, the combination of further Depeche Mode projects on the way and real life mean I don't have the time to do bands justice and there's no point in providing half arsed reviews as that's not fair on the people that work so hard on their music. Thanks very much to everyone who has sent me so much music over the last few years. From it's start as the home of Depeche related geekery to what it became, running the review part of the blog has given me so much pleasure and introduced me to so many lovely people and bands. Thanks to everyone who's ever sent me things to review and sorry if I didn't get round to them.

Secondly, and not at all related to anything above, I just wanted to say how sad I was at the untimely passing of Scott Hutchison last week. He was a genius and Frightened Rabbit's The Midnight Organ Fight is proof of that alone. Like everyone else, my thoughts are with Scott's family and friends  - he will be much missed.

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, STADIO RENATO DALL'ARA, BOLOGNA, 29 JUNE 2017

Today's reviewer is Mike Cooper from Sandbach in England. Mike is not only a well known Depeche fan, but he's also a recording artist, releasing music as Your Silent Face. I'd certainly recommend that you check out Your Silent Face's range of electronic music which goes from techno to pop and anywhere in between - all info on the band's Facebook page here . Mike's been on his Depeche travels over the last few weeks and Bologna was the last stop on his tour for now. He's written a great review I know you'll love and provided some cool pictures as you can see below. Thanks Mike!

On a glorious summer evening in late June, myself and my wife Nic came to be in the lovely stadium of Bologna FC just outside the city centre of Bologna. Its red brick tower reflects the architecture of the city and we were pleased that it was relatively easy to get to and to get inside once we got there. The stadium is a traditional bowl shaped arena, mostly open to the sky, which was most pleasant under the sun and gentle breeze. The previous day had been cloudy with some showers and the odd rumble of thunder, but the evening of the gig was clear and warm in the evening sun.

We arrived at about 7pm, having got Prato tickets which were general admission to the field, but not the the area immediately by the stage. We managed to get a good position just to the left of centre (the Martin side of the stage) about 2 rows back from the barrier separating us from the Prato Gold area. Initally the stadium was relatively empty,  with the seating areas mostly unfilled at the time that Algiers came for their support slot. Personally, their stuff didn't quite hit the spot from me, but they got a decent reception from the Italian crowd who were getting more and more excited as time went by and the stadium filled up. There was a roar of excitement at about 8.40pm as the video screens were testd with the Global Spirit Tour test card! Then the final empty seats of the stadium filled rapidly as the Beatles' Revolution rang out over the PA system.

DM came onstage to a mighty roar at just a few minutes past 9pm and looked to be in fine form, Dave and Martin both grinning widely, Fletch doing his usual waving and making shapes :) and then, we were ready as Going Backwards kicked off proceedings. As with the other gigs prior to this, there isn't much to say about the setlist except to say that it pr​o​ceded exactly as previous shows through the first 35 minutes or so. 

The Italian crowd were very lively, singing their hearts out and up until the point of Martin's solo spot... then we were treated to an excellent surprise, the tour debut of Judas (instead of A Question of Lust), with Peter Gordeno on piano backing. Sung as a mid tempo 3/4 ballad, Martin injected plenty of feeling into it, and the crowd, and ourselves, loved it. The setlist then reverted back to type with Home, the crowd doing a particulalrly long sing-a-long of the closing melody, conducted by both Dave and Martin. No further surprises at this stage for anone who's seen the setlist or already been to a show up until the first encore, when again Martin threw us a nice surpise by changing Somebody for Strangelove again. Then, the encore setlist proceeded as it has in previous concerts.

Highlights for me were several - the crowd were really really lively, we had sing-a-longs after Home, Everything Counts, Stripped, Enjoy The Silence, Never Let Me Down Again, Walking In my Shoes and Personal Jesus. I really love the moment when the new remixed version of Everything Counts begins, because there are 3 stages to the crowd reaction now - those that know it's coming and cheer immediately, those that get it after the first 4 bars when the 'siren' sound comes in, and those that don't get it until the first melody line is played by Martin. It's a great track, cleverly re-enlivened for this tour. And of course the Conrfield Wave at the end of Never Let Me Down Again is a highlight for both us fans and for Dave, who was looking particularly pleased with himself after this one. Then there was of course "Heroes" - as a big Bowie fan who was affected greatly by his death, I still shed a tear every time I hear this song.

​Also, Dave was in a relativ​e​ly talkative mood, interacting with the crowd more than usual. And I was pleased that the Italian crowd was lively, friendly, happy, but not rude or pushy! :) 

​My only complaint? I'm not a fan of Poison Heart, I'd happily see this track switched for comething else from Spirit - Scum, You Move, or No More maybe?

At the end of the gig, we managed to meet up with quite a few Homies from the US, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, and Greece, which was lovely, proving yet again that DM are a force for bringing people together. Then, on seeing the state of the traffic jams around the stadium, we opted to walk back to our hotel, which proved to be a much better bet in the end than waiting for a bus despite the pained feet!

This was our 4th gig of the tour and I can definitely say - bring on more! The band are happy and energised, the setlist is great and works well, and, I am one happy DM fan!

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Thanks very much to Mike

YOUR SILENT FACE - RED RAIN EP

Manchester's Your Silent Face are back with Red Rain a new e.p. and the first on their own label Tethys Records. The e.p. is a feast of electro goodness and the title track is a collage of acid bass, pounding almost industrial percussion and precision techno that is quite wonderful. You hear bits of Kraftwerk, D.A.F, Nitzer Ebb and more throughout and, if any of those bands mean anything to you, you'll love this. What is cool about this release is the diversity of the tracks. Red Rain's 9 minute plus techno explosion gives way to the darker, more early electronics feel of Kleinian Transform which initially sounds a bit like Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder having a fight in an industrial club before they make up and start dancing. It should be said that that is a very, very good thing. Scorched Earth ends the release on a even darker note, with serious sounding walls of beautiful electronics part soothing you, part unsettling you. It's one of those electronic tracks that moves you despite the darkness and it's quite brilliant. Listen for yourself below

Red Rain e.p. is a treat for fans of any electronic genre from techno to ambient. Highly recommended.

Red Rain ep by Your Silent Face is out now and is available through their Bandcamp page, on Beatport and on limited edition 12" distributed by Rubabdub Records in Glasgow

Your Silent Face Facebook https://www.facebook.com/yoursilentfacemanchester/