DAYS OF FATE - Home-Made Cake Of The Day

It took a long time for the German quartet from Dresden to present their second full-length album named "HOME-MADE CAKE OF THE DAY" after their debut release "GATES" in 1998. In between they have treated the listeners with the song "Open Sky", which is available on several SynthPoP-compilations, and the last CD-Maxi "Nervous Times". Well it seems that good things take time. This release sounds more melodic and demanding than "GATES" and the vocal qualities have improved. Whether or not you can feel the influence of typical 80s synth-sounds, it sounds unexpectedly up-to-date. The songs create impressive sceneries based upon full sounds, structured melodies and a powerful voice.
"HOME-MADE CAKE OF THE DAY" is one of a few albums, where the listener has no desire to push the fast-forward button to skip tracks - on the contrary it often forces you to put the songs on repeat. With this release "DAYS OF FATE" strengthens their position within the SynthPoP scene as one of the best German SynthPoP bands.
Without any doubts, this release receives the best rating - 4 globes!

HEAD-LESS - [transponder]

[transponder] is the debut album by the German band "Head-Less" from Lausitz. Head-Less's aim is to produce electronic pop-music based on danceable beats and modern electronic sounds. [transponder] consists of all these ingredients and certifies their knack for producing  FuturePoP! Fast propellent beats and aggressive melodies are supported by a powerfully deep voice. The songs create a menacing atmosphere of darkness and fear which is absolutely not suited for sensitive minds.
With [transponder] "Head-Less" fills the musical gap between the last releases by "VNV Nation" and "Colony 5" and represents a darker side of FuturePoP.

NUKLEON - Earth Rising

"Earth Rising" is the debut-album of the one-man band NUKLEON (Dan Burke). The songs are built on propellent beats and analogous fm-synths which feature minimal sound-structures. The simple melodic backgrounds are enriched by excellent melodic singing that conveys all of Dan's
emotions. The songs are consistently danceable and catchy. My absolute favourite is "Reasons" because it shows Dan's skill to produce very danceable modern SynthPoP based on early 80s electronic sounds.
On the whole "Earth Rising" is an exciting release; because it delivers varied tracks of classic SynthPoP to FuturePoP and breaks the prejudice that music based on 80s sounds has to sound old-fashioned. This release is a must for people who like partying to danceable electronic music!

I SATELLITE - Auto:Matic

Auto:Matic is the debut-album by the one-man band I SATELLITE (Rod MacQuarrie).
I SATELLITE represents a throwback to 70s Kraftwerk and very early 80s New Wave music. Rod MacQuarrie uses simple fm-sounding synths and composes minimal, streamlined sound-structures which are supported by calm singing. For example, the songs "I Want You" and "Automat" really reminds the listener of early songs by "Human League" or "Heaven 17". With his selection of synthetics he successfully creates authentic wave-music and his compositions are in keeping with the original feel of the beginnings of SynthPoP.
This album sounds old-fashioned and maybe comes 25 years too late, but I think that's exactly what I SATELLITE tried to obtain. It's a well-done homage to a time when electronic music was just starting to blossom - a little piece of SynthPoP nostalgia.