I picked up the Speakeasy CD by dRachEmUsiK at the merch table at Electro-Music 2011 and it’s now in my favorites playlist.
dRachEmUsiK is the most recent project by international, award wining electronic musician, sound designer and producer Charles Shriner. I first met Charles last year at EM2010 and really enjoyed seeing his live performances and got to take part in a jam with him in 2010 as well. Here is a photo of one of one of dRachEmUsiK’s live performances at EM 2011.
Charles describes Speakeasy as “Studio versions of improvisations done at parties. Mid-tempo grooves with simple melodies and improvisation floating on top of of glitchy, swirling backdrop.”
Gary Numan has a new studio album called Dead Son Rising.
The new album developed out of a set of demos the singer had left from previous projects, but as he explains: ‘The original ideas that sparked off these songs are now barely visible. It’s grown into another animal, something more experimental.”
Produced and co-written by Ade Fenton ( Numan’s collaborator on 2006’s Jagged), the material ranges from the heavily anthemic ‘The Fall’ (written about ‘an old friendship gone bad’) to the Arabic and ghostly ‘We Are The Lost’ and one of the standout moments, the brooding ‘Dead Sun Rising’. The latter both contain elements from a sci-fi fantasy story Numan has been writing over the last few years. Meanwhile, troubled relationships are explored on ‘For The Rest Of My Life’ and Not The Love We Dream Of’, and there’s also room for two instrumentals (‘Resurrection’ and ‘Into Battle’), showcasing some of the ‘soundtrack-type’ material that Numan and Fenton have been working on recently. It all adds up to one of Numan’s most atmospheric albums – one for those who loved his B-side experiments in the past but also containing some very direct, streamlined electronic rock in the likes of ‘Big Noise Transmission’, ‘The Fall’ and ‘When The Sky Bleeds, He Will Come’.
Track Listing
1. Resurrection 2. Big Noise Transmission 3. Dead Sun Rising 4. When The Sky Bleeds He Will Come 5. For The Rest Of My Life 6. Not The Love We Dream Of 7. The Fall 8. We Are The Lost 9. For The Rest Of My Life (Reprise) 10. Into Battle 11. Not The Love We Dream Of (Piano Version)
Available Now
Dead Son Rising is available through Gary Numan’s Official Shop and now is also on iTunes.
STANDARD DIGI-PACK: £9.99 Dead Son Rising CD
DELUXE EDITION: £21.99 Dead Son Rising CD DVD with ‘The Fall’ promo video, interviews, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, gallery and slide show (I’m assuming this is PAL format so you might want to inquire about this before buying) 24 Page hardback booklet
SUPER DELUXE EDITION: £84.99 (This edition is delayed till end of September) Dead Son Rising CD DVD with ‘The Fall’ promo video, interviews, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, gallery and slide show. 48 Page ‘Art book’ Each copy is numbered Signed Gary Numan Print Gatefold Vinyl of Album Exclusive 12 inch single containing remixes of The Fall by Motor and South Central
Videos Containing New Album Material
Here is the super creepy and super awesome video promo for “The Fall" to give you taste for what you are in for.
Tour
Gary is going on tour to support the album – see http://www.numan.co.uk/tour/. I saw the Pleasure Principle tour last year and it’s one of the best shows of last year for me so you should definitely check it out. Here are my pics from Gary Numan’s Denver show in 2010.
Mark Mosher Electronic Music Artist, Boulder, CO Synthesist | Composer | Keyboardist | Performer
According to May Roosevelt - “IT IS TIME FOR THE DEAD TO HAVE A WORD WITH THE LIVING” and she delivers through her album Haunted. Her web site describes the album:
"Haunted": The Strange Musical Case of May Roosevelt
May Roosevelt's new album "Haunted" opens doors to phantoms of the past. The work's eight musical compositions are supernatural entities of modern technology that hover in the air, bursting open the chest of rustic tradition only to be transformed into rhythms of Greek dances.
Following "Panda, a story about love and fear", composer and thereminist May Roosevelt uncovers a dark and reclusive universe defined by motion and dance. "Haunted" starts with the zeibekiko dance rhythm in 'The Unicorn Died', which was composed and presented for the first time in London at the Red Bull Music Academy in February 2010. The original idea evolved through an intense speculation about the place held by traditional Greek rhythms in the canon of Greek electronic music. This exploration subsequently led to the creative transformation of eight different Greek dances presented in "Haunted".
The Theremin, a very complex instrument yet absolutely submissive to the hands of May Roosevelt, was used to create a plethora of curious sounds ranging from wind and stringed instruments to an imitation of human voice. The Theremin's unique sound also shifted from a bagpipe (in 'Oomph') to a Pontic Lyre (in 'Mass Extermination'), and from a clarinet (in 'Vow') into a violin (in 'Dark the Night'). Through the use of electronic beats to form each rhythm alongside synthesizers and vocals, May Roosevelt attempts to embed anew Greek musical idioms within contemporary music while retaining all their respectable characteristics.
The title "Haunted" - inspired by the idea of hauntology, introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida - defines the concept and underscores the character of the compositions: The phantoms of the past and the spirit of future, mingled, haunt the music of May Roosevelt.
Here is two videos from her Vimeo channel featuring songs from the album to give taste.
If you like instrumental electronic music and you love theremin you are sure to enjoy this excellent album! I’m on my third listen already! Haunted indeed.
