We follow up our review of the 808 Dot Pop album "FM 88.2" with a review of the second album released for the World Of Radio concept.
The companion album is called "AM 1350" and as with the FM album, it opens with a special signature tune and station ident in different languages.
The signature tune leads us into the track "AM/FM" which is a nice opener with some dreamy sequencer patterns, strong bass-line and beat, I really like the middle 8 section synth melody, a super track.
A nice bit of tuning into the short wave bands introduces "Sing", starts as an ambient sounding track, very minimal, a tinkling melody and synth lead, the pace quickens with the introduction of rhythm and bass, a vocal line floats into the song, then we have the gem that is "Distant Voices", a "Radio" version is featured on the "FM 88.2" album and on this album we get the longer version, it is a fantastic song and one of my favourite tracks across all the releases for this concept, it's melodic and catchy, love it!
"Syntonic Telegraphy" has a warm intro with pads, very lush, this is another song in the collection that has a hint of the "Mind The Gap" period, the song develops well with sequencers bobbing along and a solid bass-line, puncuated with little melodic moments, another fine track.
Then we have......"Marconi (On The Radio)", not much more I can say about this track other than what I said about the song in the "FM 88.2" review, one of the finest moments Passenger S has given us, on this album we have the "Radio" version, which was the first single to be released.
"Radio Waves" has a strong synth base with sequencer parts pushing through, I like the mellow mood of this track, the bass sounds are a delight too, the pace quickens as it develops, another excellent track.
"Jan Moedwil" is the next song, he was the voice of Radio Belgium during the second world war, and Passeneger S gives us a historic soundbyte from one of his broadcasts, after some synthetic melodies guide us to the broadcast, a super track, excellent use of the sound clip.
Another track I liked when hearing the early demo is "The Detector", it was one of the songs that really stood out, even in its early form and the completed version confirms this, it has an irresistible hook line, the main melody is to die for, again we have the vocal talents of Lis van den Akker singing on the track, fabulous use of voice samples too on this track, this for me is once again one of the best tracks Passenger S has written, it is electro pop perfection.
An acid style bass-line introduces "Schumann Resonanz", love that voice clip, a superb find, the acid overtones continue throughout the track, giving it a deeper soundscape. a good track.
"Crystal Radio" is brilliant, tells you all about what makes a crystal radio set, I like the voice used, fits perfectly, narrated over sequenced melodies and bass-line, very well put together this track, this morphs into "Germanium" a dark drone like ambient section, then we have "S.I.N.P.O", a track I worked on with Passenger S, a track about radio reception reports, a wonderful track with darker tones and menancing melody lines, synth sounds are devine and fit the mood of the track, defintely a highlight on this album, from a personal point of view I am very proud of this song.
The album closes with the closedown of the show and our presenter bidding us farewell.
This is another superbly executed album from start to finish, you don't have to be into the history of radio to appreciate it or its companion album "FM 88.2".
Passenger S has developed an outstanding knowledge of radio and put together 2 brilliant albums, as with "FM 88.2" this album rates as 10/10
The album is available on CD from the Alfa Matrix Store:
https://store.alfa-matrix-store.com/product/808-dot-pop-am1350-cd/
For those of you that like your digital downloads, there is a 3rd album "AM 720" which features tracks from both albums, that is available from Bandcamp here:
https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/mw720
Tune into a radio show special all about the world of wireless, which includes music from both 808 Dot Pop albums, a chat with Passenger S and some great chat about short Wave radio listening in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Tune in on Mixcloud here:
https://www.mixcloud.com/whitelionradio/808-dot-pop-the-world-of-wireless/
