Ultraviolet - A New Day

This is the debut album of the Spanish newcomer 'Ultraviolet' which is a one-man band featuring the talented artist Martin Balsa. Martin Balsa has done the song-writing, arrangements and also the production of this debut by himself. In his notices, which he done for each song, Martin Balsa wrote, that it is very difficult for him to do a track faster than 120 bmp. Therefore, 'A New Day' results in a tranquil album where the smooth singing dominates the songs and electronic sounds create a melancholy and tender backdrop which cautiously transports the vocals.
The fascinating thing about 'A New Day' is the sleaziness of the compositions which are minimalist, but astonishingly rich and got owed by a reasoned selection of modern electronic sounds. Martin Balsa has not made use of sterile synthetic elements which can destroy the well-done warm atmosphere created by his compositions. 'A New Day' is a pure romantic album where one ballad is followed by another, where no dark elements are used and melodic melancholy characterizes the music and never leads to depression. Also the elaborate lyrics are well suited to the singing.

'A New Day' can be described as a romantic Synth-pop pearl; electronic music I have missed the last years and perfectly lends itself to those days of fall and winter.

Raindancer - Audio

'Audio' is the debut album of the Swedish duo 'Raindancer'. 'Raindancer' commits themselves to fast pulsating electronic beats which always carry catchy melodies. The melodies are made up of conventionally frequent modulated synthesizer sounds, or similar which were common in the early eighties and therefore invites to a sunny journey back to where Synth-pop began. 'Raindancer' mainly rely on approved sound structures and elements and the compositions itself is minimalist and simple.
Well, 'Raindancer' do not really deliver any new ideas, which does not have to mean that their music does not amuse; quite the contrary the simple and catchy melodies, racy beats and the excellent vocal performance of Erik Skalin starts a fire. Standing still isn't possible, as the music permanently creates an impulse to get up on the dance floor. Also one catchy song follows the other. The best track and an absolute star attraction is track two 'I Will Get You'.

On the whole, the music by 'Raindancer' is upbeat and brings a smile to my face but adds a little bit of melancholy as well. With this album 'Raindancer' has released music I have missed the last while, music which pays homage of the early eighties Synth-pop songs and does so convincingly.

This is the third full length album by the German one man band 'Wave In Head'. In the past few years 'Wave In Head' has gained a reputation, especially in the USA for his romantic Synth-pop compositions based on classic as well experimental sound structures. On this album 'Wave In Head' still retains his unique style. No other band better understand how to combine melancholy melodies with industrial and experimental sounds without sounding bumpy (e.g. 'Because Of You', 'Little Things').

Consequently the compositions are minimalist; they are astoundingly clean and uncongested, appealing to the attention of the listener (e.g. 'Ich Denke Nicht'). On 'For A Special Moment' 'Wave In Head' shows his very romantic side without being too dark, always having the tendency toward catchy melodies. I still prefer catchy mid-speed track which are also present on this album (e.g. 'Als Ob', 'Little Things', 'For A Special Moment') and are welcome on this otherwise too one-sided ballad-based album.

The bonus disc of the limited edition includes some excellent remixes of album tracks. The 'F.O.D. remix' of 'Because Of You' changes this track into an exciting dance version having trance elements and a pushing beat. Also the 'Controlled Fusion - voice' mix introduces 'For A Special Moment' in a more poppy version being very club-capable and danceable. 'Headless' transformed 'Zeit Zu Leben' into a darker, nearly menacing track with a massive compressed bass line. Finally I have to mention the 'Wheel In Machine Mix' which increases the original speed and analogous playful synthesizers show to advantage without destroying the melancholy core of this great song.

Well, on the whole I have to say that 'Wave In Head's' increased his skills in producing high-demanding electronic music. Therefore this is 'Wave In Heads' best album so far. I implicitly recommend this album to people who like romantic electronic music where unusual sounds are cleverly integrated to a melodic backdrop.

This is the second single release from the debut album 'Culture' by the German band Rename. 'In Different Things' is the last album track and originally a melancholy ballad which got absolutely rework. The remix is named 'In Different Clubs' and perfectly describes this re-worked version of the original. The remixer replaced the low rhythms with an 'up-tempo' bass-line and club-capable electronic elements. Only the slow singing was left untouched; but was cleverly bound to the dance elements of the remix. As a result, the ballad has been changed to a pleasing dance number.
The single also includes three remixes of the album tracks 'Everyone You Talk On', 'Summer Breeze' and 'Limelight'.

With these remaining remixes 'Rename' again aim at clubs where their otherwise mid-speed or ballads would not be played. On the whole this single release is worth buying as it features well-done club-capable tracks which somebody may have missed on the debut album 'Culture'.