What's your take on the new new wave -Ladytron, The Faint, etc...

I like the album but I have to agree. I don't see the not knowing about Add N to X as a sign or anything, though. There's something to be said about isolation sometimes.

Now whatever happened to Romania, that's what I want to know.

Me, I love it all. Let me know when you and your sister are playing, Chaki. I'm sure I'll love that, too.

If it's the synth pop *image* that's going to be resurrected, I'd rather see it combined with a totally different musical approach. I'd love for there to be some ultra-icy synth pop supagroup who actually sounded like Kylie, for example. The straight revivalism of music and image simultaneously is a bit too easy to dismiss without hearing/seeing.

synth-pop = novelty music => novelty music = more important than other stuff hurrah

Because it's the HUMAN LEAGUE, and folks immediately disregard the work of "one-hit-wonders" reuniting to supposedly "cash in" on their "one-hit-wonder" status? Yeah, "quote" this. This doesn't mean that I agree with such discriminatory action, though.

Listen to Kraftwerk's "The Model" then LT's "He Took Her to a Movie". It's the exact same backing track, only shittier. Of course, *The Man Machine* came out in '78, so what do I know?

Sorry, I've had it in my head all day long, I just had to share it with someone.

I agree with the The Model comparison. Also, track 2 I think it is, the one with lots of foreign phrases, sounds like Fade To Grey.

I like the Faint, too. They're so earnest when they write about sex, I like their point of view.

I also find them to be quite pompous--somewhat sexy, though...Some days I like the album, others, I think it is the biggest Kraftwerk rip-off ever.

synth pop is not novelty music. playing music just using synthesizers was a new idea, but it wasn't like a kazoo orchestra or anything... people made serious music with synths! it seems odd to dismiss it so flippantly.

and yep, felix da housecat's album is quality. as previously said, it puts more of a contemporary spin on the idea than ladytron do and so probably is more relevant. something well worth listening to if you're interested is his breezeblock set from last year, incorporating his own singles, ladytron, adult, yoko ono and prince!... download it on audiogalaxy.

I've been calling this general tendency - one which, if you're imaginative, you can spot cropping up increasingly frequently just about everywhere - "The New Rigidity" in my head (also title of the article I'm writing) but that's a bit ungainly as a style. Any suggestions?

Ladytron themselves interest me, but I think they may have emphasised concept over music a bit too much. Although they apparently did a brilliant DJ set at Headcharge at Turnmills in London last Saturday.

That's obviously a joke or a mistake on the writers/your part as they're Add N to Xs friends! A sign.....hahahaha. Jeez.

That thing about the song being like the model, they said they added the model-esque bit after the song was written wish they hadn't, because it's all anyone focuses on. As for them talking about clothes and hair, maybe that's because that's what the lazy "journalists" asked them about?

this whole genre, Miss Kittin, Felix, Ladytron, the Faint, does not stand up to close scrutiny, what music does? it's not supposed to, its just a quick fix and it's fun, maybe not to the kind of losers who spend their whole lives on pointless messageboards like this............;)

Whatever, why shouldn't I defend them? because I like them?

I have observed the first question in several interviews be image related, i've also read them say "the reason we dressed like this was supposed to be an anti-image, so that people couldn't interpret it as 80s revival, or style over content, or focus on what we're wearing etc etc".

Which makes your comments rather ironic, no?

I always hope that the interviewer does not talk about the image or Kraftwerk or whatever, but as these interviews were all from a few years ago....99 onward, they seemed to get hit with a lot of questions that wouldn't be asked anymore....EVERYONE is now dressing identikit, and there's lots of people making electronic pop music. There wasn't so much even 2 years ago.....and don't talk about that Irony pit DMX Krew please.

I like their album, and i'll probably buy the next one, with you seemingly never liking them anyway, why would your opinion matter exactly?

So who in this "scene" isn't over? The scene is over!

Adult? They're the weakest of the lot as they have NO tunes. The sound of a 303, 808 and a monotone vocal is already very tiring, and they exist in a dreamy world of style magazine bullshit, where nobody outside east london or manhattan actually buys the records.

Fischerspooner, for example is PURE style over content. And they would probably think it was "delightful" to be regarded as so. One good song and the rest is hype. There was no 2 million pounds advance, that is the poorest basis for hype ever......it's sigue sigue sputnik all over again.....but at least THEY actually got the cash! It is the Rocky horror show in comparison to the others.

The Faint are actually good and are great live, something none of the others can argue, they will probably keep going with their own fanbase.

The only one of these artists not reliant on image is Felix, who, again drawing attention to the stupidity of your argument, himself enthuses about Ladytron in just about every interview he does, even going as far as to say they're his favourite producers.

I know you're on some little mission here, but you can't expect to make arrogant, factually inaccurate remarks and nobody challenge you.

or "Warm Leatherette" ...

i think i'd like the Faint more if it didn't sound like the singer was going "goth goth gothy mc gothola" all the time

Well sure. But that's also kinda what does it. These geeks are absolutely convinced it's 1987 ...

The Faint may be ridiculous, slavish, not to your tastees, but kitsch they ain't. (See Fischerspooner for this.)

Ladytron does not rock. It's OK, but it doesn't.

i think i'd like the Faint more if it didn't sound like the singer was going "goth goth gothy mc gothola" all the time

at some point esoj and I have to stop thinking alike. It'll be on the news.

Exactly how is this bad?

adult. fuckin rock

You know, what I heard of the new album didn't set me on fire. It was all right but I dunno.

...which is to be found on the 2ManyDJs compilation, if that's any help.

If there is such a thing as the New New Wave, and if I can be *sure* it doesn't involve either S*M*A*S*H or These Animal Men or Echobelly, then I'm all for it.

The Faint? Only heard "Agenda Suicide" but if all their shit's like that I'm *there*; Ladytron I've loved from the start, 604 is proper classic, tho the new album's a little bitty bitty. Komatrohn are worth looking out for, and how about those Dandy Warhols? ;-)

Is it time for Laptop to get some props yet? Yes...

I'm giving props to Client at the moment.

Probably think Agenda Suicide is best to date, but probably like Blank-Wave Arcade better at this point. Def. more 'variety' there. Also more fun.

If Brian legally changes his name to Gothy McGothola, I promise I'll change mine to S. Idea Vamp.

Hating their fans = perfectly logical.

As true now as in 87; the hardest part of the thankless task of liking the stuff.

[Cut to 'goth' club. Bored kid in stretch jeans, surrounded by pirouetting, frilly-cuffed 4AD/Cleopatra idiots, waits for DJ to play "Yu-Gung" (she won't).]

i also recently bought a milton babbitt cd which had some of his electronic music on it, including some with sometimes processed female vocals doing singing and speaking and [german word for speak/sing, that thing shoenburg pioneered, which some people believe the female singer from sonic youth does], but not the usual opera-like shrieking (thank goodness)

it reminded me of the song-writing technique that i alluded to here

but it was also a poem, as straight forward as poems are, a poem in sound, not just read, more semi-sung, with musical electronic noise as well -- boulez wanted a poem and his musical setting to fold in and out of each other -- well this was the effect here -- not screechy horid opera diva hysteria, more pleasantly audible and recognisable english -- the poetry floated

i found this babbit music easy to get into with the poetry providing a thread -- like one of those zany ee cummings poems, this was a seductive musical affair, and so i would recommend it -- and the instrumental babbitt music on the same cd made sense having listened to the poetry

the music really required a new way of listening (more than the effect of hearing most new bands for the first time) -- so summed up, that was a whole new experience, reminding me that it's so easy to listen to such much music in the same way, get used to it, take it for granted, ignore it or love it for the same old reasons -- here was music to love in a new way

it also sounded like it must have been whipped up on a high-powered computer with morphing/ vocoding as features -- but no, this was very early synth work, pieces from 1964-75 -- it was amazing just how much detail and variety had been packed into the space it had been, providing that very seductive oomph to the head that you get with good art

= Sprechstimme

boring, slavish revivalism that misses the importance of happy mistakes in creating anything avant = another can of worms

occurence of happy mistakes w/r/t ever-changing and -steepening technology curves = yet another can of worms

"A drum machine could never play like Jaki. Drum machines have a humanizing feature. Jaki had no humanizing feature." = Holgar C. in the Can documentary (say it with a bad German accent and the ironing just gets deliciouser)

learning whilst applying a mix of old and new heuristics seems important and these routine situations will often provide the only opportunity those mistakes would have had -- yes steepening tech curves wil provide some new opportunities, but will these be like presets, suggestions from a factory manual ? yet the following of a heurist in a slightly new tech situation might provide opportunities

i must admit to appreciating Can for their semi-ambient, the noises i take for granted that are not foreground when i listen --ok i guess Liebezeit contributed to that -- curious as to the use of synths in that band i wonder of other syncopated non-percussive keyboard-tech sequencing (since for me with Can their musical tibre superceded my engagement with Liebezeit and Czukay)

The Clears remind me of new wave and some form of children's cartoon music (well, not the song about bondage). One of their songs sets music to a Shel Silverstein poem ("if we were rock n' roll band").

Floraline are dreamy late night music. The song "Eighty One" makes me feel 13 again.

And I second the Laptop mention above.

Soviet may not rock in the traditional guitar-loving sense, but they sure do "rock" in the "my adolescent sonic dreams are actually coming true!" sort of manner.

Adult. has a better sound and the way the vocals/lyrics work with their visuals is clever and funny. I've got the compilation, never checked out their new album.

But this might well be a general criticism. It doesn't bother me if a crop of bands only rip-off a certain type of music - in fact I kinda like it, it's funny - but it does bother me when there is a pose about it. It's a little too smug. Please understand, this is more a criticism of (some of) the nu-synth-electro-mullet fans, or the way said bands are talked about, rather than the bands themselves.

NB: when Ladytron said they'd never heard of Add N to X, they were lying.