Customer Reviews

Synthpop for a Darkened Room

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

 

 

...I absolutely love the track from Leiahdorus!...I was already familiar with certain tracks, from other A Different Drum compilations...Somegirl, Voice Industrie....which I also like....BUT, hearing the Leiahdorus, and Intuition tracks, has encouraged a purchase of both their full length efforts.

The Synthpop For A Darkened Room 2 and the Club compilations are also really good....as well as the Synthpop 5 disk sampler.

A fantastic album, it didn't leave my bedroom CD player for over a week. If I have a complaint with it, it's that I have many of these songs on other compilations, so it's only about 50% new to me (for example, I think I have the Monolithic track in about 5 other places). But even the stuff I already have is wonderful, and some of the new stuff just blows me away! Based on this compilation, I picked up Leiahdorus just last night, and am mulling over Intuition and Somegirl.

Not an album to play in a club, but the album to play after the club. Or over dinner, with a bottle of champagne . . . .

this is another great gem of a cd from the king of synthpop companies A Different Drum. ringing in at a whopping 78:51, this fully loaded cd makes time fly by. this is i think some of the more meaningful slower afterparty cool down tunes. although a few in particular get me going. the first standout track for me was "just love me" by intuition. WOW this is one fabulous track. i can't wait for their debut cd coming out soon on ADD. the leiahdorus is another gem for me. for those that have never heard them, they start with an almost melancholy piano then go into nice smooth synths.. a true synthpop gem. then of course Merge's version of "ocean rain" (originally done by Echo & the Bunnymen). that song again blows me away. and of course my hometown band Voice Industrie is included on this cd. they prove that the city of edmonton, alberta can put out some great stuff as well.

heck i could go on about each song. they are all gems. this ADD release ranks among the best in my book. come on people, pick this cd up and sink right into the tunes.

ken

New Clear Sky - Newer Clearer A Different Drum ADDCD1127

While many synthpop releases of late have relied on analogue gear to take the listener back to the 80s, the American duo of Roberts Dombrower (vocals) & Cotnoir (programming) pay no heed to such activities with a second album that is totally modern & very polished (though not in any way sterile) with no retro influences to speak of.That is, unless you count the 70s disco syndrum effects on their cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid".You may think I'm pulling your leg by claiming that a synthpop band would have the nerve to cover such a track (and then add such cheesy effects) but not only do New Clear Sky have the courage to go for it but, most amazingly, they make it work although I doubt many old metallers will appreciate it much!
Basically,this is solid electronic music for the modern thinking with a likeness to labelmates The Echoing Green during the up-tempo "Juice" & "Closer" while the cynical lyrics & musical style of "White Lies" brings to mind the well-respected US band Information Society.
Elsewhere the almost urban rhythms of "Joy & Sadness" see the duo looking around, picking & choosing the best parts of modern electronic music, although even these easily accessable pieces avoid any over indulgence in sweetness.The ethnic voice samples that crop up during the opening "Serenity" are another welcome addition to the band's musical armoury, adding a global touch to the very tight, highly polished backing & Dombrower's smooth tuneful vocals.The rhythmless "Fall" is the closest they get to a ballad & although the slightly punchy bass backing makes the piece slightly too 'busy' to really qualify as such the emotive interplay of heartfelt vocals, synths & accoustic guitar do perform pretty much the same role,ably tugging at the heart strings.
Almost inevitably the essentially modern dance influences raise their heads with "Solveig's Song" (which utilises the theme from Ibsen's "Peer Gynt Suite") blossoming into full bloom from it's dark & haunting beginnings while the stripped down trance style of the closing title track provides a late blast ideal for shadow dancers everywhere...

A Different Drum puts out the best compilation discs of anyone, and given the lack of synthpop out there, you need to buy them all. The Merge track is great, so is the Sweep track, but you have to love Just Love Me by Intuition. At this price, with almost 80 minutes of music, you can't go wrong.