If Hsilgne Nekorb Ni (aka HNN) has only released one single album in 2011 (La Forme Lente) titled ‘Pièce Radiophonique’, and also a split 12″ together with Philippe Laurent released on Electric Voice Records (featuring Jeff & Jane Hudson), mastermind Gregg Anthe is not a new comer. For proof, look at the tracklisting of the remixes album of ‘Pièce Radiophonique’ : In Aeternam Vale, ADN’Ckrystall, Das Ding, In Trance 95, Kas Product or Bonjour Tristesse.

The gratefulness of his peers. Since 1995, he is active in Morthem Vlade Art and In Broken English with Yannick Dangin Leconte. The man with the sharp dark look is single-minded and run his HNN project with Emmanuelle Desmonts-Roudgé on the path of a synth-pop influenced by Kraftwerk and also by the great French minimal synth tradition enmbodied by Jacno. Here is his 2nd album ‘L’Île Nue’ with artwork signed by Moonassi.

Listen and order here.

Makina Girgir, also known as AratkiLo, is a solo project from Toulouse, France. In 2007, the debut EP The Spell was released on Das Drehmoment and other tracks also appeared on various compilations like Dance With Us! and Synthesize Me in 2007, Circuit d’Actes 2 in 2011 and The Future Echo Tapes in 2012.

Faithful to the original spirit, every song is mixing cold and spacey sounds with warm and haunting melodies. Often urging you to dance, robotic rhythms and piercing synth riffs are contrasting in sweet and seducing harmonies. Mechanical sequences are arranged with deep and spacious soundscapes in a way that won’t leave anyone indifferent.

Female spoken words, processed through icy effects, are also making this record even more slick and sexy.

Definitely getting off the beaten paths, Torment has a modern edge that I found original and refreshing. Every listening got me totally absorbed with the head in the clouds, ironically taking me away from life’s torments…

Makina Girgir – Torment

The Swedish act is back on La Forme Lente with a first full-length album and 9 tracks of excellent synth-pop with Italo undercurrents, showing a sequencing mastery worth the likes of David Harrow or Vince Clarke. The atmosphere oscillates between dreamy neo-romantic and pulsating dance-floor efficiency.

The perfect music for a nightly drive along deserted suburbian streets…

HNN was Gregg Anthe’s solo project, until it was announced Martin Dupont joined to form a duo. The acronym stands for Hsilgne Nekorb Ni, which makes In Broken English if you read it backwards. This lead me to discover Gregg is also the singer of In Broken English, an interesting rock band with a nice touch of electronics.

Face A opens with Life X-Press, the most upbeat and pop song on the album. The rhythm then slows down with Renouveau Ordinaire, an instrumental song featuring a female vocalist humming over nice vocal pads and analog sequences, followed up by Mono, driven by an hooking bass line on top of warm strings and beautiful melodies.

Then face B starts with Iris, an instant classic and my favorite title, followed up with Exhibition, another pure instrumental synthpop tune and A Step Outside, that makes a big wink to Kraftwerk, proudly claiming its synthpop influences by borrowing the air of Computerlove.

Even if Piece Radiophonique, as its title stands, would be pretty enough to play on mainstream radios, it think it is rather dedicated for true synthpop lovers. The organic tone of the synthesizers and the elegant arrangements left me very impressed; these throbbing melodies, delightful sounds and the overall emotions are really speaking to me.

After delivering excellent pop songs, each side is nicely ending with ambient and experimental tracks, and I have a feeling the next release with Martin Dupont will be exploring new musical grounds…

You can still order Piece Monophonique on Discogs.

The selection contains 10 titles from  : codes (Belgium), Nihiltronix (France), Former Airline (UK), Makina Girgir (France) and Ssleeping desiresS (USA).  What makes this compilation so special is not only the selection quality, but also the fact that all of these artists never released much material before.

Both : codes songs are very cold and solemn, with industrial drums, heavy bass pads and catchy sequences. Shadow Coat has a man vocal while Nekra Fylla is sang by a female. I didn’t really know about : codes before getting this record and I am anxiously waiting for new recordings to get my hands on. This is definitely one of my favorite new project out there.

If I didn’t discover Ssleeping desiresS tracks through this release, I would have thought they are vintage recordings. This is typical synth wave, very cold,  haunting and danceable; just the way I like it. Worth mentioning, the lyrics are excellent; very intelligent and poetic.

As you might have read in this review, I was already fervent about Nihiltronix, but I got totally blown away by Hey Jesu. Blaspheming distorted and demented vocals with squealing noises over a kick ass bass and drum beat. Wow, this is really rock n’ roll! The other track is a little more quiet with a repetitive pattern, more weird noises and the same demented vocal, very far in the the background.

Then comes Makina Girgir that is another big revelation for me. Think of a dreamy atmosphere with beautiful analog sounds, addictive  melodies and a very sweet female vocal. I couldn’t ask for any better! Being more accessible, I think this project might reach a larger audience.

Both Former Airline tracks are quite different. Oktober is more electronic, with experimental sounds and abstract guitar melodies while Let’s Have a Party has more guitars and is a little more upbeat. I find they sound like a mix between Cheveu, The Fall and early Cabaret Voltaire. Both titles are kind of abstract, industrial and experimental, but nothing harsh with just enough weirdness.

Congratulation to La Forme Lente for this perfect compilation.  So far, this is sincerely my favorite release of the year. Hurry up while their is still a few copies left!