Lowe - Tenant

"Tenant" is the debut album by the Swedish newcomer LOWE who formed in 2002. Leo and Rickard of Lowe are also involved in Statemachine. Early before "Tenant" Lowe released the three singles "The Vanishing", "Hear Me Out" and "Ahead Of Our Time" which are available on "Tenant" and build its main pillar. The maxi CDs are absolutely recommendable and include excellent remixes that allow different interpretations of the music by LOWE. "Hear Me Out (basildon 1981 version) is my favourite of all remixes as LOWE resort to eighties sounds and create a journey back to the early eighties. Also some parallels to Depeche Mode are evident here.

Well, back to the album. Fist of all I have to say that "Tenant" is a very emotional album that that impresses us with dark melancholy and playfully catchy melodies. LOWE features a great singer who is able to convey all the emotions authentically and believably. This is one of the great qualities of LOWE where most other comparable bands fail. Also the clever use of acoustic instruments (acoustic guitar and bass) effectively embraces the cold technical sounds and enhances the warmness and clarity of the compositions.
The music is kept melancholic from the first to the last track but having little tendency towards a more darkened feel. In the moment where the music runs the risk of sliding into heaviness a very melodic refrain is saves the song and loosens the melody. The darkest and labored songs are the last two tracks "Gravitation" and "Down the Waterline". Beside the three single releases which are also the best album tracks, the songs "Simplicity", "Move Me", "Falling Star" and the ballad "Never Felt So Low" have hit qualities and are candidates for the fourth single which the listener can vote on www.lowe.st.

On the whole I am very happy about the fact, that I was exposed to the music by LOWE, especially under the circumstances that Lowe is only available in Scandinavia so far. Also "Tenant" is one of fewer releases where all tracks perfectly compliment each other and where I've never had the need to push the fast-forward button. This really matured debut album has to be recommended to everyone who likes melancholy and sometimes very danceable and melodic SynthPoP music.

Syrian - Kosmonauta

"Kosmonauta" is the second album from Syrian, who already released their debut album "De-Synchronized" in the USA in 2003. "Kosmonauta" has also been released for the European and USA market as well. As on "De-Synchronized" Syrian used proven techno and trance sounds and created fast and pulsating songs using high BPM (beats per minute). There are also some down-tempo songs/ballads featured on this album. The apparent deficit in singing is compensated in the distortion of the vocals.
The music by Syrian generally tends towards commercial techno and trance, as too simple are the melodies and too commercial are the sounds. "Future Storm", "Empire Of The Sands" and "Cosmic Gate" are those tracks that have a somewhat darker sound and mix in FuturePoP elements. "Cosmic Gate" also betrays the origin of the band, which is Italy.
My favourite ballad is "Navigation" because of the wonderful melancholic melody and the minimalist sounds the track portrays. I also like the instrumental track "Nova 4001" that was used to expand the duration of the album.

On the whole "Kosmonauta" will not be every listener"s favourite as people who expect FuturePoP will become bored by the commercial sounds. But those who wish for fast music for the dance-floor should be satisfied.

With "Waiting For The Sirens' Call" New Order have again succeeded in producing fine SynthPoP music made of approved and well-known sounds. In doing so the music leans towards excellent Brit-Pop exemplified by the genre's guitar riffs and partially long guitar solos.
During the first three album tracks New Order abstain from using synthesizers. Synthesizers are discreetly kept in the background and are only used for synthetic strings. From the single track "Krafty" the synthesizers are build a fluffily base for the guitars and the customary filigree singing of Bernard Sumner. It seems that New Order find the right dose of electronic sounds that are never obtrusive. Furthermore New Order kept their distinctive style - keep an ear on the guitars!
Any 80 influences !?! Definitely yes, or this would not be a New Order record! Seriously, what can modern sound structures and sounds do better than those which are 15-20 years old?
The songs on "Waiting For The Sirens' Call" are convincing with a kind of ebb and flow, and they are also surprisingly melodic and consistently suitable for the dance-floor. New Order are still supported by female background singers which enhance the songs (e.g. "Jetstream" and "Guilt Is Useless Emotion") with a certain sexy feminine quality.

This very melodic album includes lots of catchy songs and can qualify as the best New Order album so far - unadulterated PoP!!!

The CD-Maxi "Alone" is the precursor for the second album "Blinded" which should be released at the end of April. My most important questions is: "Do NNB deliver something new?" Not quite!
"Alone" consists of massive bases, melancholy and catchy melodies for sure. But the uninspired sounds that have already reached my satiation with the releases of "Distances" and "Expansion" will not win any creativity prize.
The two remixes ("Alone (extended mix) and "Moments (duet version feat. Endanger) deliver alternation in singing. But that is definitively not enough to convince the listener of a creative maturity. The additional calm instrumental track "Contaminated" shows the sensible face of NamNamBulu, unfortunately it sounds-technically "NNB-like" and becomes monotonous.

At this point NNB should focus on creating diversified sounds and work on new structures, otherwise NNB will soon bear the surname "Modern Talking of FuturePoP"!