Pom Pom Diary - Pom Pom Diary

Pom Pom Diary gladly sent me the Demo of their debut album which will be released the next time. The demo CD includes 9 tracks which represent simple knitted mid-speed electronic composition with additional 'New Order' styled guitar playing. The melodies are kept melancholy and unobtrusive. Pom Pom Diary attaches importance to simplicity and minimalism in their music. The low key vocals fit the music perfectly and effectively support the sobriety and starkness of the electronic compositions. My album favourites are 'Drag Boy', 'Thursday' and the last track 'Mantis' which bristle with clever minimalist compositions and effective guitar riffs. I appreciate the authenticity of these songs which give proof of the seriousness of this American duo who are part of the next generation of new wave styled music. I do miss the fact that there are no songs that are 'pushing' or catchy songs which would be a great alternative to the otherwise laidback songs.

Anyway, it's great having a band that cultivates new-wave music which was on the endangered species list thanks to the domination of techno / trance / house oriented FuturePoP / Industrial music. The Pom Pom Diary has a great chance to evolve into a pearl of neo-new wave music.

Lasgo - All Night Long (Maxi-CD)

First off, I have to say that I prefer listen to Synth and ElectroPoP music. But since the Belgian trio composed of Peter Luts, David McCullen and Evi Goffin produced the first-class DancePoP song 'Alone' in 2002, releases by LASGO are also part of my narrow choice of electronic music like releases by De/vision, Meletron, Mesh, etc.
'All Night Long' differs from other Lasgo songs, as Lasgo resorted to eighties synthesizer sounds and produced a very catchy 'retro-dance' number. There is also the Lasgo-typical melancholy singing of Evi which has not wonderfully 'grooved' this way so far. As a result this is a very contagious dance song where you can't sit still and have to shake a leg. The additional remixes by Peter Luts and David McCullen veer toward the more typical Lasgo style which consists of hard and full basses.

People, who also like danceable and groovy electronic music, should explicitly listen to this single, as this release deviates from ordinary techno / dance pop into something entirely fantastic.

After some demo (e.g. Promo 2003 / 3) releases, the German trio Head-Less make public of their debut E.P. 'Ship Of Agony'. 'Ship Of Agony' is a powerful FuturePop track based on punishing beats and a danceable rhythm. The E.P. includes five remixes; some made by well-known FuturePoP / Industrial Artists like Assemblage 23 and Rector Scanner.
The basic versions of the additional tracks 'Adore', 'Licht Im Grau' are very similar to the Demo versions on 'Promo 2003 /3'. 'Precursor' is an experimental instrumental track which shows the softer side of Head-Less. Colony 5 is also responsible for a remix of 'Licht Im Grau' which is the only song where Head-Less made use of German lyrics. As I mentioned in my previous review of the 'Promo 2003 / 3', I am sure that Head-Less will have the chance to be peers with FuturePop majors like Colony 5 but in more darker and less 'poppy' sense.

People who like Assemblage 23, VNV Nation or similar will appreciate this alternative.

Apart from an E.P. and a remix album this is the fifth full-length album by the German SynthPop artists Melotron. On 'Cliché' Melotron keep their German lyrics but composed more sensitive songs which departed from heavy beats and sterile electronic sounds of previous releases.
The music in 'Cliché' is therefore mostly based on mid-speed rhythms which carry many electronic melodies and effects. 'Menschenfresser' and 'Lebenslauf' are the most 'lusty' songs which also remind one of 'And One'. In this case, I have to say that Melotron, who are often described as a copy of 'And One', have outshone 'And One' with the release of 'Weltfrieden', in 2002. 'Cliché' is the result of a constant progressive development of Melotron's skills, even thought I prefer the powerful songs of the last album 'Sternenstaub'. It's the precise selection of sounds which when cleverly pasted into catchy melodies and with intelligent lyrics about the current German policies in 'Wenn Wir Wollten', protection of privacy in 'Gläserne Zeiten' and negative banner headlines in 'Propaganda' which are responsible for the evolution of Melotron as a musical act.

'Cliché' is simply great electronic music but with a conscience. It conveys an important message while giving the listener the opportunity to interpret the lyric as they want. The absence of high energy tracks has been balanced with well thought out SynthPoP songs. I hope that Melotron release a Maxi-CD of few album tracks which will hopefully support club and dance versions.