Colony 5 - Colonisation

"Colonisation" is the third full-length album by the Swedish band Colony 5 and represents a collection of out of print singles and rare versions. Colony 5 fans who expect new songs or new versions of songs will be disappointed. With "Colonisation" Colony 5 are offering a great opportunity to hear already unavailable songs and remixes - not more, and certainly not less.

Thanks to the deliberate selection of the songs Colony 5 were able to create a very harmonious album that seduces the listener to the world of pure FuturePoP. Punkt aus!

Slender Flame - Finally

Slender Flame are really old school'ers who are existing about 10 years. Nevertheless "Finally" is their first full-length album which represents their artistic enhancement and own musical style. It is hard finding any other band that is able to create such a melancholy and very soulful dark mood. The slow to mid speed melodies are revived by an accurate selection of less electronic sounds and effects supported by some acoustic instruments. Less is more, that's the way Slender Flame are perfectly putting forth their dark musical ideas.
I am really glad about the fact, that "Slender Flame" also make use of German lyrics that shows their German origin. Unfortunately the singer's voice isn't able to keep up with the musical qualities but also doesn't reduce the ensemble. Anyhow, it sometimes perfectly fits with the musical background and is able to strengthen their dark expression.

My favourites are still "Great on TV", "Walking Through The Dark" and "From Time To Time". The whole album is able to seduce the listeners to the world of melancholy and mythology with a short view back to reality.

Head-Less - Promo 2003 / III

Now it's time to introduce the new promo album by Head-Less. It includes the song off the forthcoming e.p. titled "Ship Of Agony", new demos and some songs which are already available on different compilations. The additional Disc 2 features exciting amateur live-videos of different gigs. With "Ship Of Agony", Head-Less are going to release a very danceable Future-PoP song without drifting into the commercial category too much. Striking electronic melodies are perfectly harmonizing with fast pushing beats and dark singing. The "extended" version really rocks - beware of losing your breath! The B-Side track "Adore" also keeps up with the qualities of "Ship Of Agony". It's not as poppy as "Ship Of Agony" but scores with a very dark singing, use of exceptional synth-effects that create a menacing atmosphere. The other songs that are still available on different compilations are more derivative of common electronic songs supported by dark and monotonous singing. The singer of Head-Less still has a small vocal range but they have done well in elegantly compensating for this weakness.

On the whole Head-Less are again showing their enhancements and their tendency towards FuturePoP. It's fine having the assurance of the existence of an excellent alternative to the music by Colony 5 J. The forthcoming e.p. "Ship Of Agony" is crying for the long expected commercial break-through.

After two releases (CD-"Maxi Olympus Mon" in 1994, E.P. "Promise" in 1996) and the presence on several compilations, the Swedish duo Vision System have finally presented their first full-length album called "Monochrome".

The music by Vision System is characterized by minimalist sounds based on mid speed tempo which are combined with guitar playing and smooth singing. Vision System proved their skill in producing sweet and melodic pure classic SynthPoP music. They relied on well-tried SynthPoP ingredients but also experimented with some alternative sounds and effects. Vision System cleverly covers the eighties influences, and with their new ideas were able to give the songs a very individual characteristic. Unfortunately the singing qualities do not match the excellent musical accompaniment. The singing sounds colorless and unsteady and only covers a small vocal range. Well this is the only thing I really have to criticize and I am sure that Vision System will improve their vocal skills.

Enough of criticisms.on the whole Vision System are surprising us with a pleasant melodic album with intelligent electronic compositions. Maybe it's not a masterpiece of SynthPoP music but rather a welcome new release from Sweden, where the best electronic bands are still producing great music.