Demob Happy

FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT
At some point over the last decade David Holmes’ brand of retro mishmashery seemed to fade from the zeitgeist despite the fact that the Northern Irish producer was reaching a wider audience (and no doubt keeping his bank manager happy) with soundtrack work. His turn to the movie [...]

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First published at The Line of Best Fit.
If the words “German electronica” conjure images of austere-looking men standing motionless behind synths in mono-coloured suits, or the “nihilist” baddies in The Big Lebowski, To Rococo Rot might help you abandon the stereotype. Stefan Schneider and brothers Robert and Ronald Lippok are a Berlin-based electronica and post-rock trio who have been [...]

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I never thought it would happen to me but finally I’ve succumbed to external pressures and have been unable to update this blog with any regularity. Firstly, I’ve been concentrating efforts on a new English-language website for my new home town, Grenoble, in south-east France. Secondly, I’ve recently become a father for the first time. [...]

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Four Tet - Ringer EP
7.5/10
I was once quite seasonally adjusted when it came to music. Spring and summer inspired me to listen to more notionally natural textures - let’s say alt-country, Americana or folk - while the onset of winter used to find me needing something more machine-driven. In recent years I’ve been rather unfaithful [...]

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FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT
7/10
Synth pop is apparently making a big comeback in 2009, I say apparently because I don’t listen to the radio, watch TV or live in an English-speaking country, so it’s easy to shield myself from the probably excessive hype surrounding artists such as, say, Little Boots, Empire Of [...]

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FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT
Whiter than white
5.5/10
Norwegian producer Erlend Øye could pass as a modern day Arthur Russell. He may not play the violin but he does have the curious distinction of being at once a popular house and electronica artist/DJ and one half of Simon and Garfunkel-esque folk outfit Kings of [...]

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FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT
It’s not a shame about Fever Ray
8/10
I’d just finished mildly mocking Bon Iver’s Auto-Tune ballad ‘In the Woods’ from his recent ‘Blood Bank EP‘ when Fever Ray’s Vocoder-heavy debut album landed in my inbox with a mechanical clunk. Fever Ray is Karin Dreijer Andersson, one half of Sweden’s [...]

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Switched on
7/10
Fujiya & Miyagi - also known as the very un-Japanese and un-duo-like David Best, Steve Lewis and Matt Hainsby - are part of a indie/electronica scene, including the likes of Baikonour (aka Jean-Emmanuel Kreiger) and Imitation Electric Piano, that seem to share in Lee Adams a mercenary percussionist. Like Baikonour, Fujiya & Miyagi blend [...]

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Conversational skills
7.5/10
Saint Etienne have occupied a particular niche in British indie, long flirting with the mainstream but never quite breaking into it, while maintaining a certain fashionable credibility. Marrying a 60s (French) pop sensibility to post-acid house dance beats, Saint Etienne were committed to the ideal of the 3-minute ‘pure pop’ song. ‘London Conversations‘, their [...]

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Geek chic
7/10
If like I did you heard ‘Coming On Strong‘ after their second, break-through album ‘The Warning‘, you might be wondering where the big tunes are. There is nothing as stand-out here as 2006’s stunning double-wammy of singles ‘Boy From School’ and ‘Over and Over’.
Nevertheless, ‘Coming on Strong‘ sets the template for Hot [...]

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