Dave Barbarossa – Mudsharks

Some musicians have the most distinctive style and enterprise that it is easy to know who they are just from a burst of sound. When it comes to drummers for us here it is not so easy but one man has a touch and style to his rhythmic imagination that it is impossible not to recognise. That artist is Dave Barbarossa and he has just released a rather irresistible new EP as part of the Icon Series.

2013 saw the publishing of Dave’s excellent debut novel Mud Sharks and the new EP adds its apparent connection through its title. The Mudsharks EP provides three instrumentals uniting his trademark style with electronic intimation and endeavour; at times marrying the rhythmic sound which ignited so many musical journeys in the seventies with his just as potent exploits through more recent projects such as Cauldronated.

The EP opens with Buttercup Girl, a slice of tenacious dance music with summer fervour in its keys and melody and flirtatious incitement in its rhythms. Like a flight through spatial climes but with earth bound muscularity pulling at its exploration, the track has the body bouncing and imagination conjuring in no time.

It is a rousing start though one for us swiftly eclipsed by the following pair of tracks. First up is Keep Walking, a piece which strolls along with relentless tenacity through cosmopolitan air over a more defined urban landscape. Dave’s rhythms just shape the imagination; suspense and drama fuelled by his web of swings as a cinematic weave is cast by electronics and synths. Quickly addictive and more so by the listen, the song reveals itself a viral persuasion.

The closing arousal of the EP’s title track is the perfect union of nostalgia and new. MudSharks harkens back to the irresistible rhythmic exploits of Bow Wow Wow but incitement draped in thick electronic intimation and drama amidst the floating lures of vocal harmonies. As its predecessors, it masterfully lures thoughts into painting adventures whilst turning hips and feet into its puppet.

Dave Barbarossa has been integral in numerous major treats and now the Mudsharks EP can be added to the list.

The Mudsharks EP is out now on download and Ltd. Edition Cassette Tape via Icon Series.

https://www.facebook.com/dave.barbarossa   https://www.facebook.com/iconseriesrecords/

Pete RingMaster 13/08/2018

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Folie – Sorrow

Some songs make a swift persuasion, others creep up on you for similar success, and there are those which seize attention with a virulence which almost takes the breath away. Sorrow, the new single from Folie, inescapably belongs to the latter. It is a slice of imposingly danceable pop embracing an array of styles and flavours yet belonging to none tagging wise which has the body bouncing and spirit bounding within the  touch of its first bubbly beat and melodic shimmer.

Florida hailing, Folie is a collective of dedicated producers, performers, songwriters, and musicians uniting their own “unique approach to their artistry”. Earlier this year, the band released a well-received debut EP in the shape of Gorgeous, a release just as Sorrow which is taken from it, weaving a tapestry of pop, indie, electronic, hip hop, dance and a host of other ear grabbing flavours.

The single instantly whets the appetite with its fleet footed bass pulsing and crispy percussion, keys and guitar soon adding their colourful strokes to the blossoming encounter. Vocals bring a Libertines meets punk spicing to the growing mix whilst the funky animation of the song offers a dance/alternative rock enterprise with a touch of the Tom Tom Club to its swing.

It is a captivating web of sound and styles which only seems to increase its hold as frantic energies increase and infest the imagination. The fade out is annoying but that is the only thing, just down to personal tastes, to offer up as a ‘temper’ to a lustful recommendation of a track ensuring a lively summer is far from over.

The Gorgeous EP is available now @ https://folie1.bandcamp.com/album/gorgeous

https://www.facebook.com/Officialfoliee

Pete RingMaster 12/09/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Calling All Astronauts – Life As We Know It

With their second album still drawing wide acclaim, British electro punks Calling All Astronauts ensured 2016 left in fine style with Life As We Know It. Their ninth single and taken from Anti-Social Network, the song is more enticing evidence to the variety in the band’s sound and their ability to get the body grooving as eagerly as the spirit devours their rousing sounds.

Backed by three remixes of the single, the proposition is more an EP than single and a fine end to another increasingly successful year for the London based trio of vocalist/keyboardist/programmer David B, guitarist JJ Browning, and bassist Paul McCrudden. Earlier single Empire reached the No.2 spot on the Official European Indie Chart while the band twice hit top spot in the Hype Machine Twitter Chart, success capped by CAA headlining the Bandstand Stage on the final night of Beautiful Days Festival.

Released on Supersonic Media, Life As We Know It is an encounter hard for hips and the imagination to resist. It is a warmer, mellower affair compared to the band’s usually eclectic but attitude loaded sound; irresistibly catchy with a nostalgic air bringing thoughts of bands like The The and B-Movie whilst being distinctly CAA. Few bands create a sound truly unique to themselves but the threesome persistently achieves that while still pushing their creative boundaries. With suggestive melodies colluding with punchy beats and David B’s uniquely captivating tones, the song is an offensive of melodic charm and funk spiced basslines wrapped in tempting guitar and caressing keys, all fuelled by a contagion which as suggested has feet and bodies at its mercy; manna for any dance-floor.

The remixes bring bold new shades to the song with the Daak Sun Remix especially striking. Darker bordering on sinister as it rumbles in sound and atmosphere, the track is a far more physical proposal which if anything has the body and imagination even more frenetically involved.

Surrounding it the Naked Highway Remix is a fuzzy stroll under a spatial sky, its bassline earthily scuzzy as keys radiate a cosmic revelry while the Malandrino Remix is a seductive sunset, intimately exotic as keys dance evocatively through ears to the bouncy beat of the rhythms like a tropical Thompson Twins.

Together they all add up to another richly enjoyable outing with Calling All Astronauts with the original slice of Life As We Know It further evidence of a band deserving the keenest attention.

Life As We Know It is out now through Supersonic Media across most online stores.

http://www.callingallastronauts.com    https://www.facebook.com/CallingAllAstronauts/     https://twitter.com/CAA_Official    https://callingallastronauts1.bandcamp.com/

Pete RingMaster 11/01/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Eutopia – Satellite of Love EP

The Satellite of Love EP is the debut EP from the London based power-pop/electro-rock band Eutopia, a release which toys with the senses and thoughts to emerge as one vibrant and intriguing encounter. It is a proposition which does not exactly ignite raging fires within the passions but certainly one which keeps them entranced and riveted to its enterprising persuasion from start to finish.

Eutopia consists of Alexander Kotziamanis (music/lyrics /guitars/vocals) and Leah Lennick (keys/synths/vocals), the pair forming the band in 2011. Their first EP is a blend of classic and electro rock with plenty of pop and dance spawned tantalising. It offers a collection of four tracks which are individual in presence and in success but combined make for a magnetically calling piece of energetic revelry. The opening title track immediately tells you what Eutopia is all about, bold electro weaves flirting wantonly with the ear whilst guitars add a raw glaze to the atmosphere above snappy beats. It is an instantly intriguing premise given an extra drenching of tempting by the Russell Mael like vocals, their expressive devilry evolving into a more classic rock delivery further into its energetic flame the song ventures. There is a certain familiarity to the song which has an essence of the eighties in its classic rock and metal fusion and reminding of David J Caron at times, but equally there is a sizzling imagination which sets it in its own limelight.

The following City Lights continues the strong start arguably elevating its introduction to another step of satisfaction. The song again employs the same essences but has a broader snarl to its presence which adds a pleasing shadow and texture to the contagious exploits of song and sound. As with the first there is plenty of invention and energetic ideas going on within the electro classic rock bred conjuring which brings enough for those without an appetite for old school eighties rock and pop rock to chew over and contemplate.

Wave Goodbye and Life complete the EP, the first an emotively sculpted pacey ballad with a great guitar enticements and an almost folky whisper to the keys and melodies. At times the song feels like the band is merging two different songs into one landscape, the at times awkward union of electro and melodic rock seemingly coming from individual direction but then when the excellent chorus harmonies wash over the senses it is all forgotten and rich satisfaction sets its claws in. The closing track also takes a slower classic rock gait as its core wrapping it in electro beats and melancholic keys whilst shard of crystalline sonics tenderly shine upon the expressive narrative.

It is a strong end to Satellite Of Love, a release which leaves a healthy appetite for it and the band in its wake. The electro beats for personal tastes do not do some of the songs any favours, their mechanical touch too regimented for the flowing melodies elsewhere, and as mentioned you need a strong taste for eighties classic rock to fully appreciate the release one suspects, but for those of us without that palate Eutopia and Satellite Of Love are still a meeting you cannot pull away from and the promise they show very tempting.

www.facebook.com/eutopiamusic

7.5/10

Ring Master 18/09/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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Burning House – Walking Into A Burning House

 

Photo by Tim Deussen

Burning House is the coming together of beat-maker and one of the founding members of Bay Area Hip-hop collective Quannum Projects (Blackalicious, DJ Shadow, Latyrx), Chief Xcel and keyboardist/vocalist Hervé Salters (aka General Elektriks). It is a project that has been on the cards awaiting the time to be born since the pair met in San Francisco a few years ago where they realised a shared passion for funk infested things and irreverence when it comes to music. The union now offers an encounter in debut album Walking Into A Burning House, which takes the listener on a heady dance and ride through numerous exotic, exciting, and almost psychotic adventures.

The pair since their meeting has played on certain songs and releases of each other, whilst the French wizard of the keys Salters joined Blackalicious on their 2005 tour for The Craft album. Uniting again in Paris, the duo set about working on composing and creating music for the album, coming together a few months later in Berlin to finish the release and then later joining up in San Francisco again for its mixing. A fusion of dance, jazz, funk, pop, and plenty of more melodically enthused and varied temptations.

Released via French imprint Naïve Records, the album is an intriguing and riveting release if with niggling issues at times which rub against the grain slightly of the pleasure installed by the fourteen slices of warm and refreshing encounters. The main moan is that many of the tracks do not have an apparent ending, the tracks either drifting from view whilst seemingly in full flow or even worse at times they as good as just stop without warning or build up. Despite that irritant once in the arms of each enchantment it has to be said that persuasion is full and virulently infectious as shown by opener 28 Steps To…, the riveting track a stroll through a sinister noir clad scenario with floating glances of light within welcoming shadows. It is only brief but the perfect intro to a cinematic or TV fifties sci-fi/crime thriller, and to the album.

It is followed by the recently released single Turn Off The Robot, a track which did not exactly light our fires when making its debut but one easy to warm to; though under its balmy funk bred skies the urge to shout “Shaft” here and there is hard to resist. With appealing electro kisses to the flowing breeze of summery yet chilled jazzy sounds it is a more than decent stroll soon left in the shade of the likes of Post Party Stress Disorder and Tokyo Airport. The first of the pair immediately has a presence and vibrancy which reminds of Heaven 17, vocals and electro flames seducing the ear with harmonic finery whilst further tempting from the keys and the anthemic beats lure in thoughts of the Tom Tom Club. From its sizzling and drifting away climax the song passes the album over to its successor which instantly wraps excellent vocals and elegant mystique around thoughts to stir up another eager waltz of fiery melodies and feet hustling beats. With a definite sixties gait and seventies disco heart, the track is a welcome tease though with one of those messy endings.

Through tracks like The Nightbird and the bustling jam of Emergency Exit imagination is toyed with within the artists and the listener, even if the tracks fail to whip up the excitement of earlier songs. The good reactions they do breed though are soon lit up for greater results through songs like the sultry and mesmeric Copy That with its workman efficiency and eager seductive flourishes within a vibrant productive dance. It is matched in contagion by the agitated hive of hypnotic beats and bewitching pulses wrapped in jazz spawned eccentricity that is Scatterbrain and the absorbing Whispers In Your Headphones. The last of the trio is a song which merges shadows and light into an outstanding blaze of invention which is as equally menacing and sinister as it is poetically animated and lingeringly beautiful, coming with a loud whisper of Yello to its flourishes for extra tantalising.

Closing with the kinetically crafted romp Rhythm In The Machine and the electro rock based Boomerang, two more tracks which reinforce a heavy hunger for release and project which are brewed across the whole album and much against expectations to be honest going by personal preferences going into the encounter. Walking Into A Burning House is basically a scintillating collection of mini soundscapes and dance-floor provocateurs which leaves a long lasting and richly satisfying experience; just wish they had taken as much care on the ends of tracks as they did everywhere else, though maybe that was the intention all along to rile things up.

https://www.facebook.com/burninghouseofficial

8/10

RingMaster 15/09/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

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Eik: Undetected

In advance of their debut album Norwegian electronic band Eik described their sound as a combination of deep house, ambient textures and pop hooks, a description which did not exactly fire up great enthusiasm as one who is generally adverse to varied forms of dance music. Undetected soon proved to be much more than one imagined going in to it and though it will not retain a perpetual place in the ear here there is no escaping the album was thoroughly enjoyable and for fans of all forms of electronic music it is sure to be a deeply pleasurable treat.

Consisting of Per Kåre Limmesand (keyboards and effects) and Kristoffer Carlsen (drums), Eik have created a diverse and consistently elegant album whilst still making it a warm and welcoming infection for all melodic hearts. With a classical breath to much of Undetected alongside the eager pop veins and ambient heart, the release is a perpetually surprising and consistently fluttering warm kiss upon the ear. Using guest vocalists on many of the tracks, the duo create striking soundscapes and mesmeric weaves which sweep one up easily in to their expressive atmospheres.

All That You Said begins the pleasure with a female voice gently caressing the ear over electronic pulses and a brewing melodic synth mist. An intrusive hypnotic pulse throbs powerfully throughout the song whilst minimal yet expressive sounds and textures sway in and out and though it is a gentle start to the album, with the song soaring skies with impressive vocal harmonies and squeezing tight with that unavoidable pulse it is impossible not to be captivated.

The following duo of tracks Love Storm and Seems To Be Real bring an eighties electro infection which is delicious. The first reminds of early Human League with a blend of the sophistication of Depeche Mode and the pop of Blancmange. The male vocals are outstanding adding to the nostalgic feel and the track is not long in becoming a firm favourite even though the latter sky bound melodies take the song into areas reminding of Vangelis which is not as agreeable. The second of the two songs is a sea of sirenesque female vocals and addictive melodic pop caresses. It immediately excites with a Visage seeded pulsating start before the female vocals add their great energy and pop cream to the electronic dessert beneath. Her vocals actually remind of the pop stylings of Aqua but do not panic it all works perfectly and is a wonderful track.

The instrumental Background For Documentaries and the following techno/dance fuelled 74 did miss the mark quite easily but that is down to personal taste though the fact that the instrumental did not offer an experience and journey as impactful and imaginative as on other songs was disappointing. It failed to ignite imagery or emotions and was generally just underwhelming.

Things are soon on track again though with a pair of impressive songs. Thinking Of is a delightful piece of music with vocals dazzling the ear over minimal beats and restrained but glittering synth invention. The song is simple but fully effective and again mesmeric.  The best track on the album Utopia follows straight after and it is a real gem. With lively ripples of Middle Eastern Music teasing and weaving amongst again an eighties recalling electronic imagination the song is magnificent and destined to be the most revisited. Again the likes of Blancmange come to mind as well as Eik contemporaries Austerlitz, the combination especially with the rhythmic and voice only twist within the song glorious.

    Undetected is a great and very pleasing surprise for these ears and though maybe not an album we will be immersing within as often as others there are certainly tracks which demand and will receive a persistent invitation to entertain.  With the album Eik also suggest there are bigger and more imaginative things to come and we for one cannot wait. If electronic pop with a real essence and heart appeals Eik is a must, so go find and enjoy.

Ringmaster 10/06/2012

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