Electro Classic Jukebox: Wolfsheim.

Hailing from The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany, Wolfsheim were a rather brilliant synth-pop number who released a smattering of memorable "darkwave" tunes until their dissolution in 2005 due to disagreements as to what direction Wolfsheim's music was going to ultimately head toward. Comprised of neighborhood pals Marcus Reinhardt and Peter Heppner (who joined the band after Marcus' brother Oliver departed), they released seven albums throughout their career that, though bordering on the melancholic, still soared with a certain elegiac charm. No single of theirs is probably better known than the ground-breaking "The Sparrows And The Nightingales," off their 1992 debut album No Happy View, so of course I thought I'd share it today. Mein Gut, these are some mighty powerful synths at play here, and the lyrics are both epic and thought-provoking, providing one with an orchestral, majestic tone. 


Have you had your helping of Wolfsheim today? I have. So here's some for you and yours!

Gig Review: Cranes.

CRANES

27 MARCH 1997

TREES NIGHTCLUB

DALLAS, TEXAS

Every now and then I like to look back at old reviews I've written and, if the mood strikes me, re-post them and take a moment to muse on bands that have moved on, styles that may have changed, and memories that have lain dormant for years. Thisreview of a Cranes show was one that I remember vividly. It was a great evening, the venue was suitably seedy (in a good way), the band was on fire, and I had a chance to chat with them afterwards, finding them to be funny, endearing, and very talented. It's a shame Cranes are no longer a band; I found their wispy gothic string-inflected electronica incredibly appealing. Cheers, kids.


- TB

Dallas, TX -- Trees Nightclub in Deep Ellum, a renovated warehouse district in "the Big D"'s downtown area. A very spacious and well-laid-out venue to catch the Portsmouth, UK-based Cranes' intimate, intoxicating show. A sign hangs by the front door, informing visitors that "by order of state law, dancing is not allowed." The doorperson, I was pleasantly surprised to find, was helpful and polite. "Did you bring your camera?" she asked -- I don't know, I was somehow expecting to be given some flack.

Unfortunately, my roommate and I had left the flat just a little too late; as a result, we ended up missing the majority of Rasputina's set. As I entered the club, one of the three women on cellos (I never caught their names, alas) asked the audience, "What's another word for feces?", to which the crowd enthusiastically shouted, "SHIT!!!" Rasputina's last two numbers, which skillfully and gorgeously combined a trio of Cellos with a bassist and a drum-player into a lush aura of sound, made me promise myself to check out more of their work.

A brief intermission ensued; the Cranes' equipment was thoroughly checked, the crowd milled about and mingled peacefully, and then Alison and company took the stage with a gorgeously rendered version of "Everywhere". The night for me had officially begun, and I relished the hold the music on me. And, I hasten to add, on everybody else who was lucky enough to share the experience with me. "Reverie" and "Jewel", two other exquisite numbers, followed -- deeply impressing me, for I was expecting them to open withPopulation 4 material, and THEN segue into their earlier work.

Alison sported a multi-coloured frilly dress, Jim had his Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds T-shirt, Mark wore a puke-green Levelfive T, and Manu had his groovy holographic glasses (I know I couldn't play drums in those!). They played off of each other extraordinarily well, launching into their newer material with aplomb. The sound system was (from my perspective) flawless and professional, as their playing varied from soft and dreamlike ("To Be") to jazzed-up and energetic ("Breeze"). Somewhere in the midst, "E.G. Shining", a rare, earlier track, made an unexpected appearance, much to the delight of a scattered handful of concertgoers. The lighting (which was somewhat sparse, I thought) suddenly became more ethereal and psychadelic. And then -- the icing on the cake. "Sixth of May" followed by an incredible performance of "Far Away". As Mike Dare (the chief editor of the Cranes Fan Forum, for which I wrote the review) once wrote, they have definitely hit their stride on this tour.

They concluded their "pre-encore" set with "Adrift", which slowly built in intensity -- and then nearly brought the house down! The smile on Mark's face was the only proof needed that he was happy with his guitar playing -- then again, so was I. 

And then -- "l'encore", as Manu would say. Jim and Alison returned shortly with a beautiful, toned down (read: acoustic) version of "Tangled Up". It sounded, I must say, much more lush and pretty than the version on Pop4. Then Manu (who drummed with so much energy throughout the show, I was sure he would explode a la Spinal Tap) and Mark joined the Shaws for "Adoration", my personal favourite. Then, an absolute show-stopping performance of "Lilies", drawn out and extended, with the lighting synchronised with Manu's every thunderous drumbeat. The lights reached their crescendo with the intensity of the music, and then pow! the show was complete and the houselights came on.

Au revoir, mes amis, depuis la prochaine fois.

The band hung out with fans in front of the club, next to the tour bus, and Manu, when I asked him, seemed particularly pleased with the performance. "We love Dallas, we love the people of Dallas," he said, "unlike Austin -- the Austin experience wasn't so good." The Cranes were completely polite and gracious, signing autographs and taking pictures with people, chatting with anybody who so much as approached them. I personally cannot wait for them to return, to see them again -- a bit like old friends who didn't get to stay long enough.

setlist

everywhere

reverie

jewel

to be

e.g. shining

breeze

let go

on top of the world

brazil

angel bell

sixth of may

far away

drift

-----

tangled up

adoration

lilies

And now here, from their brilliant sophomore album, 1991's Wings of Joy, here are Cranes with the lush, and very, very gorgeous track "Adoration." Turn this one up, lovelies - it's fucking amazing.

cranes

"adoration"

wings of joy

Wax Trax!: A Split - Second.

Wax Trax! Week (but is it really a week? Let's not cage it to a specific time period, shall we?) continues, and it's back to Belgium as we check in on A Split - Second, who recorded two albums with our favorite Chicago-based (and extinct) dance label: 1988's A Split - Second (WAX 50) and ... From The Inside (WAX 062), and 1989's The Colosseum Crash. 


Marc Ickx and Peter Bonne (who recorded under the nom de stage Chrismar Chayell) bring back some fond memories of clubland in the late 80's and early 90's with their aggressive yet still glossy form of electronic body music (which the Belgians are certainly quite good at - in fact, I think they invented that particular genre of music, truth be told). I remember way back in 1989, when I'd sneak out of my house (even under grounding!) and be picked up a block away by my friend and his old beat-up Volkswagen Bug to be taken to a roaming club known as Club X. Needless to say, a good sized chunk of the Wax Trax! collective were played on those freewheeling evenings (even having the occasional beer, feeling quite rebellious!), and A Split - Second was no exception.


Such precision with their heavy beats and practically pushy synths! Very polished, but still sporting an aggro attitude that got sweaty flesh out on that dirty wooden dancefloor and fucking moving. Hell, I feel like dancing right now! Anyway, here's a remix of "Flesh" that I found (from A Split - Second's 1991 Flesh Remixes EP) - the official video seems to have been cut quite short ... like, only two and a half minutes long!

a split - second

"flesh"

a split - second ep

 

And, I'd also like to play for you today their remix of "The Colosseum Crash," which was the last single released by them on the venerable Wax Trax! Label. In 1991, Peter Bonne began a side-project called Wasteland and, finding it to be more artistically pleasurable than A Split Second, called it quits on Mr Ickx - who now helms A Split - Second as a solo project. But for those halcyon days of 1988-1991, when A Split - Second was under the Wax Trax! banner; oh, how brightly they shone! Here's "The Colosseum Crash." Enjoy, my good friends, and keep dancing!

a split - second

"the colosseum crash"

the colosseum crash ep

Happy Hump Day!

picture: bonobos.com

Well hello there, people. It's Wednesday, which means that it's officially Hump Day. Yep, we're officially past the half-way mark to the next weekend - so bully for us! We here at the Second Drawer Up corral would like to take a moment to celebrate this ridiculously named moment in time and honor it the only way we really know how - with electronic music, of course! And look - we brought some sexy! Get it? Hump; sex? Haha, we're clever little bonobos, and on this day of the Norse god Odin (also known as Woden or Woten), we're going to share with you a couple of songs you may or may not be aware of that have to do with ... you guessed it, sex.

Roll that beautiful sex footage!

First up in our day's roster is an interesting little piece called "People Are Still Having Sex," by LaTour. Recorded in 1991 by William "Bud" LaTour, a successful voice-over actor, electronica artist and parody musician from Lowell, Massachusetts, this clever and rather catchy number was essentially a call for sanity during a period of time where AIDS was being used as a political tool by conservative fuckwits who wanted to press an agenda of abstinence (sound familiar?). The message then was the same as it is now: Abstinence education doesn't work, people. But the song? Pretty damn clever. Favorite spoken-word lyric: "When you see them holding hands, they're making future plans to engage in the activity - do you understand?" And here it is:

Second on our scintillating list is "Mystery Babylon" from My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. Taken from the Chicago, Illinois industrial collective's 1991 album Sexplosion!, this is a sprawling and deviously subversive piece, with its lilting jazzy piano, horns, and a distinctive Zydeco-influenced vest frottoir running throughout whilst a singsong-y chorus with breathy female voices goes on about sexual providence and passion. The song is interwoven with a running spoken conversation between a horny john and a couple of hookers. Best exchange: "What goes for ten dollars?" "Well, whaddaya want for ten dollars?" "I want something different, I want something special." "Ah no, honey, not for ten bucks."

Last and thirdly on our triptych of hanky panky is a song that just about every human being on the planet has probably heard at least once - but man, what a great freaking song it is. I'm speaking, of course, of "Strangelove" by the one and only Depeche Mode. Martin Gore's synth anthem to BDSM after spending a huge amount of time in Berlin's leather clubs and bars is just as cheeky, playful, and brilliant now as it was back in 1987 when it was released as the first single of their monumental album Music For The Masses. Sadly, WMG are being fucking pricks and have disabled embedding on all their videos (the kick-ass Anton Corbijn version is what I would have liked to have shown you, but oh well), so here's Dave, Martin, Andrew, and Alan "performing" "Strangelove" on a German television show in 1987. Enjoy!

So there you have it, pleasant and loyal readers. Happy Hump Day - and may all your ups and downs take place in your bed of choice. Ciao!