Madrid - What Are You Waiting For?

"What Are You Waiting For?" is the debut album by the New York band Madrid, released in February 2001 by Bam-Bam Records. Madrid genuinely understands how to compose melodic electronic tunes to a danceable beat. The album is filled with 80s influenced catchy songs that almost force the listener to dance and sing along. The use of familiar eighties sounds/synthetics, somewhat in the style of Erasure (songs like "Silence", "Losing Control", "Since Venus Came", "Tell Me A Reason"), seduce the listener back in time to re-experience the thrill of the New Wave sound. Madrid avoids melancholia and promotes cheerfulness with their compositions, as they "try to find the beauties of life!" The solid singing comes in two voices - lead vocal and upper vocal - which are cleverly combined with playful changes.

"What Are You Waiting For?, available on www.Amazon.com, is a lively album with an infectious Pop tendency, and one of those albums where the listener has no need or desire to push the fast-forward button. Simply GREAT!!!

HEAD-LESS - Friendship CDM

Head-Less entered the German SynthPoP scene in 2000 with their debut EP, Friendship.It comes with four remixes of "Friendship" and the two tracks "Liebe fuer Geld" and "Just One Time".Friendship is anything but "head-less" and consists of catchy Synthpop with minimalist melodies and dark deep singing. The sound comes through clearly, and the compositions create a strained atmosphere.It is absolutely suited for the dance floor. Unfortunately, the recording quality does not match the quality of the compositions. The balance between highs and lows is biased, as the highs are always at their peak and the bass sounds very thin and lacks bottom. Head-Less starts with auspicious Synthpop and I'm really looking forward to their first full-length album Transponder -- hopefully with a better mix and a polished final master.

PERFIDIOUS WORDS - Spreading Silence

Spreading Silence is the second full-length album by the German band Perfidious Words, who are well-known for intelligent emotional music. The compositions really correspond with the album title. Clear, transparent sometimes minimalist sound-structures paired with lots of effective synthetics and smooth singing form sophisticated pieces of SynthPoP.

The instrumental background sometimes sounds incoherent, which depends on not just sparing use of special effects and a renunciation of leading melodies. But the melodies and good singing compensate for these deficiencies creating a unique piece. Among some very demanding songs, the album only includes two real danceable tracks -- "Into my Arms" and "Visionary", a wonderful ballad -- "Away", and a blues number in the style of Depeche Mode's "Condemnation".

Listeners who are expecting danceable catchy tunes may be disappointed, but others who like music based on striking compositions combined with melodic singing will find lots to like.

WOLFSHEIM - Kompendium DVD

Since DVD technology obtained entry into most homes, more and more bands have released their live-recordings on DVD. Kompendium is the first DVD by Wolfsheim and consists of a live concert recorded on 06 March 1999 in Dresden, "Alter Schlachthof", all their videos, interviews, and a slideshow.

The concert is comprised of about 24 live-tracks and delivers the best of Wolfsheim. As is typical of Wolfsheim their performance isn't based on heavy beats and EBM, but comes through with a close atmosphere and dark sounds, paired with a reasonable dose of synthetic effects. Wolfsheim's stage show doesn't really shine as Peter Heppner is often motionless concentrating on his songs. Unfortunately you will notice in Peter Heppner's singing of "Kuenstliche Welten" that he was having problems with his in-ear-monitoring. Nonetheless, the audience was in a good mood and the atmosphere they created was excellent. The picture and sound-quality (Dolby Digital 2.0) are quite good and do not have any serious weaknesses.

On the whole, Kompendium supplies all that a Wolfsheim fan expects, and for others, it is an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with Wolfsheim's music and history.