Breaking Point unmistakenly carries the Xymox-signature, without sounding overly dated. On the contrary, the new album is a perfect fusion of all their different elements.
Tennant/Lowe – Battleship Potemkin
October 22, 2005 by
Almost without noticing I seem to possess the near complete works of the Pet Shop Boys. I’m not an enormous fan, but I do have a weak spot for the cynical disco-pop of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Therefore a new album is always interesting. ‘Battleship Potemkin’ is no regular Pet Shop Boys album though…
Franz Ferdinand – You could have it so much better
October 22, 2005 by
To prepare myself for the new Franz Ferdinand-album, I decided to listen to the single ‘Do You Want To’ first. And I nearly fell backwards. With the single track itself was nothing wong: typically Franz Ferdinand with a high singalong factor…
Editors – The back room
August 19, 2005 by
I don’t know who emptied the barrel with retro-wave, but the hype is far from over. Meanwhile a real subgenre is starting to take shape, which is further proven by the young English formation Editors. The group was founded in 2003, they signed a contract with the small label Kitchenware at the end of 2004 and recently they released their debut ‘The Back Room’…
Vive la Fête – Grand Prix
August 19, 2005 by
Not so long ago I was pretty enthusiastic about ‘Nuit blanche’ by Vive la Fête. Therefore I decided to get the new album of Danny Mommens and Els Pynoo. ‘Grand Prix’ follows the same line as ‘Nuit blanche’, which means catchy, uptempo electro-pop, some guitar riffs now and then and the crooning in French by Pynoo…
Kraftwerk – Minimum – Maximum
July 28, 2005 by
Unbelievable, how flawless and crystal clear “Minimum – Maximum” sounds. If you didn’t hear some cheers of the audience now and then, you’d barely notice that this is a live registration. “Minimum – Maximum” contains 22 tracks that were recorded during the highly succesful world of Kraftwerk in 2004…
Bravery, The – S/T
July 28, 2005 by
The new wave-revival which was started a year or three ago, seems to be far from over. You don’t hear me complain, because I can’t get enough of this stuff. Especially if it results in groups like The Bravery from America. While for instance Franz Ferdinand and The Killers are rather guitar-oriented, this formation around singer Sam Endicott uses a more danceable approach…
Kaiser Chiefs – Employment
July 28, 2005 by
The Kaiser Chiefs (named after a South-African football club) is a young English group from Leeds. They ride along on the retro-80’s-wave bandwagon, but manage to give their own twist to the current musical fashion…
Vitalic – OK Cowboy
July 28, 2005 by
If I had a car, I would open the windows, put the debut album by Vitalic on repeat, turn up the volume and make a long drive. And then another one. Because ‘Ok Cowboy’ is such a good album. After the disappointing new album by Daft Punk, Vitalic (aka the 28-year old Pascal Arbez) puts France back on the dance map. Better said: the electroclash/techno map…
Qntal – IV: Ozymandias
May 30, 2005 by
Medieval electro, with a pinch of renaissance. That;s how you could describe the music of the German formation Qntal with a little fantasy. “Qntal IV – Ozymandias” is (as the title indicates) the fourth album of singer Syrah (Sigrid Hausen), multi-instrumentalist Michael Popp and sound magician / producer Philipp Groth…
Trobar de Morte – Fairydust
May 19, 2005 by
The Spanish act Trobar de Morte makes fairy-like music, which brings you in a pleasant dreamy state. Or, in their own words, they lead you to a world “where fairies exist, and beautiful, deep forests prompt a return to a non-existent medieval era…
