Category: Electronic

  • If you liked electronica, as everyone was calling it, back in the ’90’s then chances are you were a fan of Curve. If I had to describe the duo from London today I would call them electro-pop with an edgy slice of alt rock and a hint of industrial thrown in for good measure. In…

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  • Although they’re Berlin-based today, Aniaetleprogrammeur (pronounced: Ania et le programmeur) were formed in Paris in 2005. The trio consists of Hanrigabriel (direction/guitars/vox/synths), Tata Christiane (synths/machines) and Valquire Veljkovic (lights/synths/bass). (I recently reviewed Valquire Veljkovic’s fascinating side project Deer Howling.) They are a “multidisciplinary art collective” involved in music, fashion design (with the brand Tata Christiane),…

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  • Stars Dance is Selena Gomez’s highly anticipated fourth album. It’s also her solo debut, following three albums with her band The Scene. The album’s first single, “Come & Get It,” was released on April 8, 2013 and made it all the way to the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her most successful…

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  • Deer Howling is the “little secretive” side-project of Valquire Veljkovic of the obscure electro-pop band ANIAETLEPROGRAMMEUR. (You may have heard their remixes of songs by Velvet Condom and Noblesse Oblige. If not, check them out on their site: http://www.aniaetleprogrammeur.com/) Val tells us: “The roots of this project are in mid 90s acid techno scene, wandering…

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  • Daft Punk will undoubtedly be this year’s most successful electronic music duo (even if much of their latest album was produced with live instruments), but Australia’s Empire Of The Sun won’t be kept down under on the charts for much longer if there’s any justice in this world of pop. Just listen to “Alive,” the…

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  • Boards Of Canada have always put out fascinating music.  While much of it has been relatively mellow, many of their songs being downright ambient, there’s also been a sense of foreboding about many of their compositions.  Their long-awaited new album Tomorrow’s Harvest has all of these elements.  There are some fairly calm songs, but most…

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  • no·blesse o·blige [noh-bles oh-bleezh; French naw-bles aw-bleezh the moral obligation of those of high birth, powerful social position, etc., to act with honor, kindliness, generosity, etc. Origin:1830–40; < French: literally, nobility obliges   Noblesse Oblige is a duo consisting of French-Caribbean performer Valerie Renay and German producer Sebastian Lee Philipp. While they’re new to many…

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  • I don’t know why singer (and famous actor) Jared Leto and company decided to spell the word Thirty instead of simply using the number 30 this time around. Perhaps it’s an attempt to put some distance between this and their previous albums? But one wonders why they would do that when their last two albums…

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  • FACT released their self-titled major label debut in Japan in 2009 — a decade after they were formed in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture — and quickly gained a strong national and international following. They have since become one of Japan’s biggest and most-loved rock bands of the decade. In fact, their first two albums reached the…

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  • “We’re up all night to get lucky,” Pharrell Williams sings as the now famous Daft Punk single “Get Lucky” comes to an end, but chances are you will be up all night to listen to this record. The thing about Random Access Memories is, it’s such a seductive and enchanting album that once you start…

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  • Well, there are plenty of things you can say about The Flaming Lips but, love ’em or hate ’em, you have to admit that they’re prolific. Seems like every six months they’ve got an album for you (or whoever buys their records). One minute they’re covering Dark Side of the Moon, the next minute they’re…

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  • The Knife is a duo comprised of brother and sister Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson, the later of which has released some glorious electro-pop during recent years under the name Fever Ray. Shaking the Habitual is their first proper album of new material since 2006’s Silent Shout. It’s difficult to put my thoughts about…

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  • Kelli Ali is probably still most famous for being the singer on the late British trip-hop/electro group Sneaker Pimps’ first album, Becoming X, which was released in 1996 at the height of the electronica frenzy. Sneaker Pimps had a big hit with their single “6 Underground” and the single “Spin Spin Sugar” was hugely successful…

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  • I remember loving Cold Cave’s debut, Cherish The Light Years, but I don’t remember it having anything quite so upbeat. “God Made The World” is like a cross between Depeche Mode, The Smiths and The Cure. It packs a super fast, snappy beat and some gorgeous synth that calls to mind the synth on the…

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  • This Manchester duo’s 2010 debut album, Happiness, garnered them almost universal acclaim. I don’t think I ever read a single review of the album that wasn’t at least 90% positive. And so I was shocked when reviews of Exile, their just-released sophomore effort, started surfacing and were almost 90% negative. By the time I finally…

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