A kind of utopia. Just like the one found hidden away between the lines and pages of a few books, a few records that were born around the late sixties, early seventies. Those that spring in mind are by Terry Riley, Bridget Riley, Daniel Caux, Ariel Kalma. That sense of utopia which permeated their works is the one that was also found in the ideas and designs of the Bauhaus movement. Straight lines that, through a strange correspondance, are a reminder of the strong sound lines made by analog synthesizers. Those played by Model Alpha, aka Jonathan Fitoussi & Julie Freyri. Synth names full of wonders, like a sesame password to an unknown hidden world : Sequential Circuits Pro-One or Ems Synthi AKS, Philicorda or Ondioline, Roland TR-606, TR-707… Model Alpha makes them all vibrate, hiss, swirl, using them as they should (very clear sequences, straightforward percussions) but also as they shouldn’t.
Synth and drumboxes heard on this record act as if they were taking you on a psychedelic drift, making you feel that they are almost playing themselves, creating their own melodies out of their used circuitry. The great Anni Albers design used for the sleeve is another way of percceiving the duo’s electronic fluctuations : as straight hard lines that by sheer power of design and assemblage create illusions, make optic and audio nerves flutter away gently. Sound op art, in a subliminal way. Sometimes, Kraftwerk overshadows the whole music and one can only feel that the young French duo shares with their German model that same sense of making electronic music as modern ragas, nurtured by urban sounds and decays as well as an Indian sense of timing. Something for eternity, that goes on as long as electricity will be available.
As with the best techno, the best minimalist records, the best krautrock ventures, this first Model Alpha LP hints at a weird sense of time, not totally of the past, not totally of the future, not at all of the present. Something in between, a time travel machine that can take you on a random journey. Listening to those tracks is a bit like making time’s flow stop. Right now.
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Ambient guitar, minimalist rhythms and new wave voice, Love in Prague is an UFO somewhere between Interpol, And Also The Trees, Slowdive or Little Nemo. Since 2009, the band has given concerts in France in clubs and bigger halls, they have especially made the first part of the UK band Lebanon Hanover in 2015.Their new songs, still drawing on cold wave, dream pop + post-punk genre, moved on on a more electronic approach with the use of synthesizers creating an ethereal and gloomy atmosphere.
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After the release of their well-received ninth studio album, Terribly Well, and their successful month long European tour in 2013, Sightings did the unexpected and quietly disbanded without notice or explanation. More than 15 years in the trenches and making a mess throughout New York City, the band made more of a polarizing impact to formalized underground music that most of their peers. Sightings would have been a national treasure if the whole country was laid to waste in Armageddon.
During the sessions that birthed Terribly Well, a complimentary album was recorded in tandem which, while not intended to be their final statement, produced the jaded epilogue from the mouth of experimental rock’s most lasting monolith. Amusers and Puzzlers is the schizophrenic culmination of their brand of damaged rock. Isolated noise patterns shifted from Mark Morgan’s unorthodox guitar patterns sewn up from his nervous, scattered vocal phrasing. Richard Hoffman’s stampede-like momentum on bass slammed against Jon Lockie’s drum triggers made the past couple decades crash into itself.
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Detroit industrial influenced by Ministry, Alien Sex Fiend, Fad Gadget, Death in June, Boyd Rice, Skinny Puppy, Clan Of Xymox, WCM, ect…
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Inspired by the early 80′s Cold Wave and New Wave, a German trio consisting of Andreas “Andi” Koch (synthesisers, backing vocals), Joachim “Joa” Saleina (synthesisers, drum machines) and Götz Langenbruch (vocals) already started recording together in 1986, disbanded in 1989 and reformed in 2008 as EPIC DREAMS with the aim “to revive the flair and sound of the early 80s – Electronic New Wave Music”. Since then they’ve re-recorded many of the original recordings and recorded new material which found its way already onto various compilations and two 7″ single releases. Using wonderful analogue synths and drum machines such as the Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-110, Casio VL-Tone, Korg KR-55 / M-500 SP Micro-Preset / MS-10, Roland CR-68 / Jupiter-4 / SH-101, Yamaha CS-01 II, they’ve found their very own melancholic and romantic style.
This CD contains material compiled by the band members themselves and differs from the upcoming 2LP version in both track selection and song versions.
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