Customer Reviews

Oscillator

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent little EP. The new songs Back in the Day and I Like the Way You Werk It are definitely inline with the Peace & Love, Inc. album. Good beats, great sampling and they get your body movin'. Christopher Anton definitely puts his mark on the songs. He takes the music to a somewhat familiar, yet unique place. Not exactly Kurt Harland like, but still very good. Great Big Disco World is also a catchy tune. It was recorded live in Japan in 2006. The real gems are Tracks 4 and 5. They just jump out at you and make you want to play them over and over! Very modern sound yet they have that old school electronica feel to them as well. I can't wait for the full album to come out!

This very solid EP proves that Information Society has still "got it" when it comes to catchy, perfectly crafted, danceable tunes. Easily earning 5-stars, this EP is delicious no matter how you slice it.

InSoc gets together after years apart and release a sweet little EP. It has some gnarly remixes, especially track number four which is a reworking of "Back In The Day" and sounds quite a bit like a Daft Punk-esque type track. If I had to describe the sound of the CD, it would be part classic Depeche Mode, part modern glitch subtones, and everything good about Information Society wrapped up in one tight little package. The ASCII art used for the CD's graphics are just the icing on the cake. It reminds me of the days upon days I spent logging on to BBS sites via my Amiga 500 while listening to them back in the day. I love this disc!

When I first heard InSoc was back but with a new singer, I was a bit bummed.
However upon first listen to the new music, all my fears were laid to rest. This *IS* Insoc, no matter who is singing and it is awesome music. Somehow they managed to recapture the magic of yesteryear all the while keeping it new and fresh.

All of the remixes here are good and the other new songs are definitely worthy of multiple plays.

I just wish Synthesizer would hurry up and come out because I cannot wait to hear the whole album!!!

If you're an old fan or just someone that loves great synthpop this is a must buy.

Information Society has returned. As a preview to their Synthesizer album, the group released the Oscillator EP. The EP was first released as a online download on March 19, 2007, through retailers such as iTunes. Then, a limited edition pressing of 500 CDs was issued on June 21, 2007. The CD contains three songs ("Back in the Day," "I Like The Way You Werk It," and "Great Big Disco World," as well as three remixes of "Back in the Day," one remix of "I Like The Way You Werk It," and a CD-Rom video for "I Like The Way You Werk It").

The disc starts off with "Back in the Day." Musically, this track is a major progression from the group's earlier material, and it definitely sounds like the kind of material you'd hear from the current underground synthpop scene. Although, there are some slight hints of earlier Information Society, which is most noticeable with the hi-hat sounds. At times on this song, new vocalist Christopher Anton sounds like Stefan Netschio from Beborn Beton. "Back in the Day" is definitely a danceable track, which is what one would expect from Information Society.

Next is "I Like the Way You Werk It," and musically, it sounds a little closer to what listeners would think of as the "Information Society sound"; however, it still has a more "modern" sound to it. This one would also fall into the danceable category. If I'm only half-listening to this song, there are times in the chorus that you think you're hearing Kurt Harland singing instead of Christopher Anton.

This is followed by "Great Big Disco World," a song that was recorded live in Japan and features a guest appearance by Colleen Fitzpatrick (aka Vitamin C). This is definitely the most "pop friendly" song on the disc, and is a fun, upbeat ditty. Musically, the song reminds me of "Fall in Line," one of Information Society's songs from the early 1980's.

There are three remixes of "Back in the Day" on the disc: the Electro Roots Mix, the Kasino/Maxpop Mix, and the Jr. Kain & Arvy Mix. To me, the Electro Roots mix was the best of the three; musically, it added a little more of a freestyle sound to the track, but incorporates a harder bassline than one would normally associate with freestyle. The Kasino/Maxpop Mix gives the music a "harder" sound, and the track isn't quite as dance friendly as the original version of the song. The Jr. Kain & Arvy Mix gives the song less of an underground synthpop sound and helps the song sound more like a mainstream dance track.

The disc also features the Jr. Kain & Arvy Mix of "I Like the Way You Werk It." Unfortunately, to me, this is the weakest track on the whole disc. The mix takes too long to get going, it isn't very dance friendly, and overall, it feels like it's nearly plodding. The mix is too long, and I found it to be rather boring.

The "I Like the Way You Werk It" video definitely looked like there wasn't much of a budget for it. While, yes, this is an underground synthpop video, and it isn't going to have much of a budget, the video definitely seemed to be screaming this fact loud and clear. Now, I understand that one of the lines in the chorus is, "You drive me crazy when you do the robot," but I think they took the robot motif a little too far. For most of the video, you're seeing dancing robots or footage of people trying to dance like robots. Right near the end, though there is a brief bit of performance footage of the band... but the key word here is "brief."

Overall, Oscillator is a pretty good disc (with the main exception being the remix of "I Like the Way You Werk It"). If you are actually able to track down a copy, either new or used, of this item, and like Information Society, I would definitely recommend picking it up.

Energetic pop stuff, which I dig; not so much with the slow stuff. INSOC assembles tech well, but it's not the standard banging and grinding and overly rhythmatic drums. The same effects would be misused in other hands -- it's a power-loss sounding spin downs, equipment juicing up, various digital and analog signal degradations, sometimes sharp but always part of the music. Even with the sharp and sudden transitions (which themselves form a pattern after a while and have their own groove), it has melody, not just rhythm.

INSOC didn't just deliver a new, more realistic, more interesting tech sound, they sang ballads to uncertain, altered modern existence. That wide-eyed passion for this unknown and incomprehensible place society is rapidly moving seems to be what's missing, if anything is. Anyone can sign about tech; INSOC sang about life with tech. Maybe the band needs to take in a DEFCON or two (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). The songs lack powerful themes that elicit the strong emotion to match the high energy music.

I'm eagerly looking forward to Synthesizer... which comes out... oh, two days ago.

I'm glad to have this -- thanks to everyone involved. This will go a long way towards being able to keep INSOC in my shuffle without wearing any one song out.

This is a solid effort from Info Soc. Nice to see Paul Robb back in the writing seat.... Looking forward to a full length CD from them. I like the dance sound of these singles but hopefully we'll get a little more depth like their previous work.

WOW !!!! I just bought this EP and have all of INSOC past albums but had thought that this would probably be a worthless attempt at a comeback. I was sooooooo wrong. This EP has the energy of all the previous albums and them some. Very catchy tunes and highly recommended. I can't wait for the full album to be released. I think the best part was that I did not even know they were working on an album until I stumbled across their new web site at http://informationsociety.us/ Oh by the way, the new vocalist Christopher is awesome. He has the same type of voice that Kurt had so it makes their new material really feel like genuine INSOC. It really is WORTHLESS for us to resist INSOC.

I've been a fan of this groundbreaking synth outfit for years, and it's a thrill that they're back with new material. It's great stuff, and highly recommended.

If I were getting married, I'd add this to my Wedding Registry. If I were having a baby, I'd add two copies to my Baby Registry. One for me and one for the baby. If I didn't already own it, I'd add it to my Wish List and pester all of my friends and family to buy it for me. If my friends and family could care less about my Wish List, I'd just buy it myself because I really need Oscillator to tide me over until Synthesizer is released!

Also, same thing Gavin S. Richmond and M. Kotila said about Oscillator. Those two took the words out of my mouth. :)