Friday 29 December 2017

White Lion Radio's End Of Year Awards 2017

We don't normally do an end of year round-up and awards, so this year, we have decided to do just that.

It isn't a complete overview, as we decide on the winners of the following categories, Best Product, Best Album, Best Single,  Biggest Surprise, Biggest Disappointment and Most Promising Band.


BEST PRODUCT: Metroland - 12X12

Metroland delivered their 4CD Anthology set "12X12" in May 2017, a well thought out collection and concept. The box set showcased their 12 inch singles released in the first 5 years as a band, gems like "Zeppelin", "Thalys", "Enjoying The View" and "Synthetic Sound" are all included. Their is also a disc for their 7 inch singles released and for the first time on CD, a disc of their B Sides. The collection is rounded off with a fantastic selection of rarities, remixes and demo's.

As is the case with all Metroland's releases, presentation is a key ingredient. The Box Set houses cards telling you the history of the tracks as well as other very interesting facts.

I am probably biased because I am a massive Metroland fan, but the "12X12" Box Set represents fantastic value and is an absolute joy to listen to.

The 4CD set is available from the Alfa Matrix store here

A Digital Edition featuring just the 12 Inch Singles is available here


BEST SINGLE: Empathy Test - Throwing Stones

Whilst this single was released in late 2014, I have only recently discovered this band, who are from the UK, "Throwing Stones" is a gem of a track, passionate, moody, atmospheric, are three words to describe this track. The Single is also backed up with a remixes EP which is also very strong with brilliant remixes by Minuit Machine and Lost Years, as well as a stunning remix of the track "Here Is The Place" by Thomas Datt.

On hearing this track for the first time I immediately did a lot of research on the band to find out more about them and of course listened to a lot more of their music. 2017 saw the band release, not one, but two debut albums!!


"Throwing Stones" is available as a Digital Download here

"Throwing Stones Remixed" is available as a Digital Download here

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Midge Ure - Orchestrated


This album took me completely by surprise, I didn't even know it was an album Midge was working on. Having heard "Hymn (Orchestrated)" I was impressed and so bought the album, to say I was blown away was an understatement. It is a beautifully executed orchestral album, a perfect balance between electronic and orchestral sounds. The one thing this album definitely shows, is how good the Ultravox and Midge Ure solo tracks are. Songs like "Vienna". "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", "The Voice" and "Reap The Wild Wind" have been taken to a new level and the voice of Midge Ure sounds as strong as ever, hard to believe he is 64!

The album has one new song on it and that is "Ordinary Man", which fits into the album perfectly.

Listening to this album is a real pleasure, it is brilliant from start to finish, if you haven't got the album, treat yourself, you won't be disappointed.

The album is available on Amazon here

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Depeche Mode - Spirit


Depeche Mode have slowly been losing the plot over the last few years, that said I did think "Delta Machine" was a good album. The same cannot be said of the album "Spirit", which, in my opinion is not only the worst album they have released but is possibly the worst album I have ever heard and I have been a music fan for more than 40 years. The album is a complete mess, devoid of anything that resembles a melody, the songs sound tired and the production is awful. It is very rare to listen to a whole album and not have a grain of interest in any of the tracks, this album succeeds in doing that.

This may well be their last album as I can't see how they can move on from this album, the songwriting just isn't there anymore, which is very sad. They can't complain though, as they have had a long and successful career but this album has finally seen me lose patience and interest in them.

If you want to hear how bad this album it is available from Amazon here


MOST PROMISING BAND: Empathy Test

How on earth I have only just discovered this band, I don't know, people that know me will know I search all over the world for new electronic/synthpop bands for my i-Select Shows and yet right under my nose in the UK are Empathy Test!!

They have very strong songwriting skills and a wonderful atmospheric tone in their music and they have been working damned hard to gain recognition and it is now paying off. They recent did crowd funding to help launch 2 debut albums, "Losing Touch" and "Safe From Harm".....they reached nearly 700% of their target and no wonder, as their output has been very impressive with quite a few EP's and Singles released and of course, In November of this year they released their 2 debut albums, both of which are packed with top quality songs that synthpop and electronic fans with drool over. They launched the albums with a sell out show in London to an appreciative audience, which brings me to another aspect of this band that I like, live they are just as good, vocalist Isaac Howlett is effortless in delivering his vocals and you will be hard pressed to spot a difference between his recorded and live vocals.

They are building quite a following in Germany and have quite a few live dates booked their and want to do a headline tour of their own in 2018.

This band have something about them, they have a special magical ingrediant, that surely, will see much bigger and better things around the corner for them. To think that they are not signed to a label is bordering on criminal, surely someone with take these lads under their wing, they deserve it.

They are tailor made for a label like Mute Records.

I will be following their progress that is for certain.

Empathy Test have their releases available on Bandcamp here

Visit The Official Empathy Test Facebook here

LOOKING FORWARD

.......We can look forward to new albums by Metroland, Eurotix and Machinista, three of our favourite independent Electronic and Synthpop bands!

Wednesday 27 December 2017

Datapop's album "Pop" Reviewed

Datapop are an Electronic duo comprising of Anders Wilhelm & Mikael Larsson who are from Sweden. The band have been featured on the Plonk Music Label compilations "We Are Machine Pop" and featured on several of our "Kraftwerk"themed shows.

I have been following their progress for some time now and love their music which is inspired by Kraftwerk, but I also think French duo Air's influence can also be heard in their music. Whilst their is the obvious nod towards Kraftwerk, they have also drawn on the influence of very early Kraftwerk (Kraftwerk 1, Kraftwerk 2 & Ralf & Florian albums) as well as the Kraftwerk sound we have enjoyed over the past 30 years or so.

Datapop have released a CD version of their album "Pop" which features eleven well produced tracks, including the brilliant "Unterwegs" and "Radioklang". The CD has been released on the Russian label Razgrom Music.


The album begins with "Human Music", which has a wonderful and simple main melody line combined with more intricate sequencer patterns, overlayed with vocoder, it sets the tone of the album perfectly. Following that we have, what in my opinion, is one of the greatest Kraftwerk influenced tracks, I have ever heard, "Unterwegs", a track I rate alongside the Metroland tracks "Enjoying The View", "Zeppelin" and "Utopia", as masterpieces created by independent electronic bands. I have raved over this track for some time and like it so much I created a "Radio Edit" of the track!

"Berlin" has a great "Bouncy" bassline and is a more uptempo track, again they keep things simple and melodic, I really like this track. "Machinepop Music" is another uplifting piece of electronica with English vocals, excellent use of sounds on this track, If I remember correctly this was one of the first songs by the band that I heard, which grabbed my attention immediately. "Hertz" is more atmospheric with another excellent bassline and perfect use of synth pads. Vocal samples are utilized very well in the song too.

"Europa-Stern" is actually a cover version of the Neon track "Eurostar" and it is a superb version and a worthy inclusion on this album. Neon, like Datapop, have had music released on the Plonk Music Label. "Electronic Music" is perhaps, one of the most "Kraftwerk" type tracks on the album, with it's vocoded vocal of the song title and driving bassline and rhythm. It's quite minimalistic in parts which works very well.

Next we have another Datapop gem, the track "Radioklang", absolutely superb this track and a nod of appreciation in the direction of Kraftwerk, the line "Radiokling and Radioklang" resonates with you immediately and is something you will be singing. The intro is so Kraftwerk, you could very easily think this was a track by Kraftwerk, it's upbeat, melodic and pure pop fun!

"Rhythmus" (Which is German for rhythm) follows, a track that makes fantastic use of electronic sounds, especially the "Zap" percussion sound, which drives the track, I also like the haunting pad/string sounds, a track that would not be out of place on Kraftwerk's "Computer World" album, some brilliant use of the vocoder and the track is more complex as well, sounds fantastic in headphones. "Komputer Music" is another Electronic Pop track that would fit perfectly on Kraftwerk's "Computer World" album, again some wonderful and interesting synth sounds are on display, I love the vocals they fit perfectly with the music, also excellent use of vocal samples, this is another superb track.......think "It's More Fun To Compute" and you will get the idea how this track sounds and develops.

The closing track on the album is "Waveforms", more minimal than the previous track, again it has a well executed bassline, which all the songs benefit from on this album. The melody parts and vocals add depth to the track and closes the album perfectly, to ensure you have a wonderful listening experience from start to finish with this album.

What a pleasure it is too hear this album on CD for the first time, it features more tracks than the digital edition, and is a comprehensive overview of the music of a very impressive band, it certainly showcases their songwriting talent.

If you are a fan of electronic music, especially the likes of Kraftwerk and Metroland you will love this album, a duo I am really looking forward to following closely, with interest, from 2018 onwards.

An album worthy of your investment 10/10

The album is available on CD from the Razgrom Music website here:

http://www.razgrom.com/shop/group/1172/2665/

The Digital edition of the album is available on Bandcamp here:

https://datapop1.bandcamp.com/album/pop

Datapop's official Homepage can be found here:

http://www.erwe.se/datapop/

Datapop's Facebook page can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/datapopmusic/

Monday 11 December 2017

The A.D. Music Chillout Mix #VII

We continue our mini series "The A.D. Music Chillout Mix", with the release of Edition VII


This show is a mix of chillout music by artists on the independant music record label A.D. Music, as well as a few bonus tracks from other artists.

Listen to the show on Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/whitelionradio/the-ad-music-chillout-mix-volume-vii/

The show is also available on Hearthis.at: https://hearthis.at/white-lion-radio-f7/the-ad-music-chillout-mix-vii-december-2017/

The Playlist:

Frank Borell - Piano Sky (Best Memories Mix)
Wunderfish - She Wanders Alone (Epilogue)
Sylvain Carel - Dance Of Flames
Ballademaker - Comfort Moment
Andy Pickford - Rise
Mike Oldfield - Sentinel (Single Restructure)
Frank Borell - Deep Moods (Yesterday Mix)
Lord Of The Ants - Exiled
Blue Chill - New Life (Secret Garden Piano Mix)
Glenn Main - Second Rendez-Vous
Sylvain Carel - Colours Of Light
Wunderfish - Through Painted Figures (Prologue) 2
Frank Borell - Beauty Lights (Sentimental Mix)

You can find out more about the artists featured on this show by visiting the official A.D. Music website:

https://www.admusicshop.com/

Friday 8 December 2017

The Music Of Glenn Main

White Lion Radio are proud to present a special show for you called "The Music Of Glenn Main".


Glenn Main is from Norway and was born in 1969. He started to play piano when he was just 4 years old. When he was 13 years old he held his first "electronic" concert at his scool, and ever since electronic music has been his favorite genre.

Glenn is influenced by legends like Jean Michel Jarre, Klaus Shulze, Vangelis and Kitaro. He recently released an entire album of Jean Michel Jarre cover versions, approved by Jean Michel himself.

Glenn has played in lots of bands and is currently in the band Argh and he started his own recording studio in Oslo when he was 23 years old.

This show features tracks from his Jean Michel Jarre covers album, his Christmas album "Christmatronic", music recorded as a solo artist, as well as tracks with his band Argh.
Sit back and enjoy the wonderful music of a truly talented musician.

Find out more about Glenn and his music here: facebook.com/glenntronics

Listen to the show on Mixcloud here

Listen to the show on Hearthis.at here

Playlist for the show:

Argh - Dream A Dream
Glenn Main - Oxygene (Part 2)
Glenn Main - Into The Blue
Glenn Main - Souvernir De Chine
Glenn Main - Silent Night
Glenn Main - Deck The Hall
Glenn Main Ft Iselin Main - Rise To The Occasion
Glenn Main - Good King Wenceslas
Glenn Main - We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Glenn Main - Magnetic Fields (Part 2)
Glenn Main - Deep Within
Glenn Main - Oxygene (Part 4)
Argh - Wonderful Life