MELOTRON - Sternenstaub (limited edition)

Approximately one year ago Melotron surprised us with the diverse album "Weltfrieden", which gave them a great reputation. With "Sternenstaub", Melotron exceed all expectations and define a new level of enhancement. The new release sounds mature and grown-up. In spite of the predominantly electronic melodies, "Sternenstaub" sounds pleasantly warm and more melodic than its predecessor. This is because of the fact that Melotron tried to avoid hard beats or decorated those beats with wonderful and catchy melodies. Melotron were able to pack their hard core in a smooth shell without surrendering danceability. I also like the improved singing which is less aggressive and perfectly fits with the compositions and intelligent German lyrics.
EBM elements aren't present anymore, but "Melotron" sometimes drifts into future pop (e.g. "Erwartungen", "Kein Problem"). Well, it isn't as diverse as "Weltfrieden", but still covers the range of ballads, classic SynthPoP, and futurepop. (e.g. "Erwartungen", "Kein Problem").

"Sternenstaub" is one of the highlights this autumn, and a release that demands you not skip a single track - far from it - the repeat button will be in constant use.

BRAVO Melotron!

PERFIDIOUS WORDS - Breaking The Silence (E.P.)

In the spring of 2002, Perfidious Word released their last album, "Spreading Silence". "Breaking the Silence" may be termed a belated bonus E.P. that comes with two new songs ("Somewhere Must Be Heaven", "All Is Full Of Love") and some remixes of previous album tracks.

During "Somewhere Must Be Heaven" I noticed that the singer loses power, as sporadically his voice sounds very pressed and thin. The vocals sit atop a massive but still danceable electronic foundation. In pale comparison to the tracks on "Spreading Silence", "Somewhere Must Be Heaven" and "All Is Full Of Love" are simply crafted with ordinary ingredients and don't really offer much innovation. They are well-done catchy/melancholy SynthPoP songs - but no more.

The additional 13 (!) remixes of songs like "Into My Arms", Spreading Silence", "Veil Of Secrecy", "Visionary", etc. are done by more or less well-known bands (e.g. "DJ RAM (Virtual Server), "Angels And Agony", "B!Machine", "Cyclone B"). I would say that remixing songs by "Perfidious Words" isn't an easy thing. But these remixes are rocking. All remixes keep the core character of the originals but place them into a new shell. Most of the remixes are more danceable than the originals or strengthen the primary expression ("Into My Arms (club mix)", "Our View Of Sharing (silent)", "Visionary (infekktion remix)".

"Breaking The Silence" is a welcome supplement to "Spreading Silence" which delivers two new songs and 13 high-quality remixes.

WOLFSHEIM - Find You're Here/Gone (limited edition)

Wolfsheim again surprise us with an interesting release. The limited edition of "Find You're Here" consists of two CDs packed into a paper box. The interesting thing is that the album track "Find You're Gone", which most of the listeners describe as the best track on the album, has been modified to become a truly new song. Only the well-known synth-melodies in the background betray that it is a variation of "Find Your'e Gone".

The best part of the package is the added two mpeg 2.0 videos. While an old apartment has been renovated and a beautiful girl enters the room in "Find You're Here", she is leaving it in "Find You're Gone" and the apartment changes via fast motion to a Chinese restaurant. In addition to the two single versions and the videos, this package includes instrumental versions of the songs and two live tracks, "Kein Zurück" and "Kuenstliche Welten". 

This realisation is fascinating and belongs in every CD collection. It's a must for all SynthPoP lovers.

COLOR THEORY - Color Theory presents depeche Mode

Color Theory, aka Brian Hazard, again surprises us with variations on 11 Depeche Mode songs, and his own song "Ponytail Girl", which was mistaken for a Depeche Mode track. His sixth CD comes in a luxury jewel case with a well-done layout. Covering songs isn't as easy as many think. The hardest part is finding the right balance between adding new ideas and retaining the original core. I think Brian Hazard did a good job of integrating his ideas into the songs. He remodelled all background elements and only kept the original vocal lines. Most songs are only recognizable by the singing. Concerning the remodelled backgrounds, I do not always agree with Brian's interpretations. Some songs lose warmth or intensity, or run the risk of drifting into minimalist "dingel-dongel" (= sounding like a simple carillon) melodies (e.p. I Want You Know, It Doesn't Matter, Sweetest Perfection, But Not Tonight).

On the other hand, he really shows good intuition by enhancing the original qualities of DM songs. His cover of "Sister Of Night" features a very fleet-footed and playful performance, "Here Is The House" is based on a robust but also light foundation, "World Full Of Nothing" sounds heavy and very melancholy, "One Caress" is marked by a massive bass-line, and last but not least, "Leave In Silence" represents the only danceable and really rocking song on this album. "Leave In Silence" is the best cover I've ever heard. It sounds up-to-date, built on driving melodies and smooth singing. Brian, I've known you for a long time, but my friend, why didn't you include more songs like "Leave In Silence"? You are really doing an excellent job of producing driving and danceable songs.

On the whole, this DM-tribute album represents 11 new views of DM songs and is able to set itself apart from previous tribute albums. I especially want to emphasize the elaborate background music variations and Brian's excellent singing.