Michigan - Ultimate Sky

The Swedish trio Michigan released their debut album "Graceful And In Sin" in 2003 and surprised the SynthPoP scene with powerful but very melodic electronic music. Ultimate Sky is the logical continuation of "Graceful And In Sin" and represents striking enhancements. On "Ultimate Sky" Michigan were able to improve the singing to a high level and cleverly realized rich electronic arrangements supported by electric guitars.

Ultimate Sky is a varied album where mid-speed songs alternate between sensitive ballades, and remarkable songs like "Sad Queen" and "My Own Denial" impress the listener with a fast aggressive electronic core that become suspend by a very melodic refrain. The fourth track "Red Dawn" is also available in a Maxi CD format. The instrumental composition and especially the refrain of this song reminds me of "Walking In My Shoes" by Depeche Mode. Perhaps Michigan have rendered a homage to Depeche Mode's musical talents - who knows!?!

Ultimate Sky is a very harmonious album where each song has its right place and a sometimes 'scraggly' electronic background based on rich sounds is responsible for an unique trait that quickens interest in Michigan's SynthPoP music.
I love the music by Michigan and am very sorry about the fact that I discovered Michigan only now.

Nevarakka - Color vs. the Light

"Color vs. The Light" is the debut album by the Swedish one man studio producer named Phillip Jidbrant. Nevarakka have done some excellent remixes for "De/vision", "Daybehaviour", "Real Life", "The Dignity Of Labour", "Intuition" and many more. He always accurately added techno and trance elements to SynthPoP music and smashingly transformed these songs to propellant dance songs. So Nevarakka is a trade mark for excellent remixes.

"Color vs. The Light" includes about 13 brand new tracks. In order to not have just instrumental compositions, he receives vocal support from Zandra Lundmark, Casey from Wideband Network and Andreas Dudic. He made some great choices in these artists as all voices perfectly fit with the electronic core. We can enjoy Zandra Lundmarks soft and mellifluous voice which perfectly blends with the trance sounds on "I Am Trying", the techno melodies of "Love At First Sight" or the ballade "Alive". Also the alienated voice of Casey is perfectly embedded to the club sounds for the track "Secrets" which results in an exciting euro-dance style number.
On the instrumental tracks, Nevarakka's emphasizes on the deep and solid basses that get dissolved by rich melodies (e.g. "Something Wonderful", "Energized" and "Everyday"). He does a good job in producing club-capable electronic songs that range between techno and trance and should be a pleasure for each DJ.

On the whole Nevarakka is presents a very varied trance/techno album that also includes some 'synthpop-type' tracks or at least an alternative view to SynthPoP music.

This debut album by the German band Rename is one of the albums I have looked forward to for some time now. I know the music by Rename from the ADD Sampler and the single "You Don't Deserve My Love" and had great expectations for their debut.
Unfortunately Rename do not live up to my expectations. That is due to the selection of the songs for this album. The first four tracks complement one another, but from the fifth track, "Me Versus You" onward something goes awry. Rename suddenly try to combine club sounds with recitative and singing, the kind of music the Pet Shop Boys have perfected but unfortunately Rename fail at.
The following ballade "Heaven Forever" shows again the solid skill of Rename making wonderful ballades. Then another song based on club sounds à la Mr. Ozio (Fleat Beat) is destroying the harmonious atmosphere. Also the next song "Everyone You Talk To" has some dull club sounds which to make a long story short are boring. With "My Wonder" which is based on Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love", Rename abruptly turn in to classic SynthPoP music and continue with "Stay (Don't Tell Me You'll Leave Me)". The debut fades out with another unconvincing song named "When I Have The Blues" followed by the mid-speed song "Limelight" and the final wonderful ballad "In Different Things".

On the whole Culture isn't a bad album. It's just that it loses much of its qualities in an awkward selection of songs and a derivative use of club sounds for mid-speed tracks. But Rename again show their skill in making excellent melancholic SynthPoP music and very sensitive ballades.

In 2002 Backlash released their debut album, "Impetus" which attracted attention to the Swedish trio. The experimental sounds and rhythms in combination with the smooth female singing created a stunning audio scenery. It is always difficult to produce an equal sophomore follow-up. Moreover, between albums the band had to reform, and now consists of the original members with Erik Torstensson as lead singer. Maybe that is the reason that the "Heliotrope" is a much better album.
Backlash have accomplished a more basic structure and build in accessible melodies and more catchy refrains to reach a wider audience. Songs like "Pin Me Down" or "Splinter" are examples of Backlash"s efforts and also the best tracks off this second album. Also, the opener "Lodestar" is among the best this album has to offer. "Lodestar" strikes with hard and clear rhythms that are decorated with unusual sound combinations. That, and a melodic vocal structure pull this track together in an exceptional way.
With "Purity For A Sinner" Backlash also show how playfully commercial it is to experiment with different musical ingredients, even if the singing could be more vivid. Also the dark and sensitive ballads (e.g. "The Wrench Of Parting") are based on the distinctive rhythms of Backlash and have been perfectly embedded into "Heliotrope". Besides the eupeptic songs Backlash did not pass on heavy fare and provided us with "Hiatus3" and "Keep Throwing It Away" for sufficient experimental alternation.

The Swedish trio was able to loosen their experimental sound structures and now feature slight fare without being too commercial. Respect!