Former member of the primordial Einsturzede Neubaten line up, founder of the seminal female band Malaria!, milestone of German post-punk scene, label manager of the appreciated Monika Enterprises, whose musicians have often been a finishing line whenever reviewers used to speak about the so-called forlktronica, club promoter, voice and selector of the weekly radio show Oceanclub together with Thomas Fehlmann, Gudrun Gut has been justifiably considered one of the so pioneering key figure of Berlin scene that she could be likened to an historical monument of that huge creative smithy. That's why the fact she decided to move out of Berlin - she entirely recorded "Wildlife" in Uckermark, a countryside town, sited not so far from German capital city - in order to get inspired for her new album and her temporary transplanting and seclusion in a rural environment could sound a little bit strange for a character who sounded so accustomed to an urban aesthetics. Although such a "coming back to nature" could be considered a return to the source - she grew up on the Lunenburg Heath - or ascribed to the general rediscovery of a natural dimension as a follow-on from the crisis of individualism, the marrow of her sound still linger on electronic structures, which oscillates between primeval new wave and industrial dance aesthetics and contemporary dub-techno, but her sonic language looks like pierced by "orgonic" and organic energies: therefore whenever her synths secretes sticky sounds (like in the dub-driven "How Can I Move" or in the darker "Tiger"), it seems she just echoes the secretion of resin as well as some percussive elements sounds like coming from tree hollows. While listening the album, you could almost feel that natural environment gradually hugging Gudrun's sensitivity, which looks like going native in many moments of the album, such as in the blissful feeling of con/fusion and annihilation of "Little Nothing", in the daydreaming abandon of the lovely "Slow Snow", in the progressive detachment from social roles and scripts (as it seems to be suggested by "Erinnerung"), in the contemplative mood of the enraptured "Leaves Are Falling", in the immersive experiencing of freedom of "Frei Sein" as well as when she looks like singing about a moment when she develops an awareness of physical human finitude by means of an eloquent and allusive revision of Bonnie Tyler's "The Best" - the most known cover is undoubtedly the one sung by Tina Turner -, whose almost recitative interpretation could remind Romy Haag or Amanda Lear singing styles.

Anticipated in 2010 by the digital single "It's A Game" and the last year by the "Silent Dawn" digital single, on September 2012 Daybehavior released their newest and third album "Follow That Car!". Tommy, Paulinda and Carl since their reunion worked hard to make strong synthpop tunes to be able to pack a great album and to be sure to have everything in control, they decided to release it for their label Graplur. The album opens with "Come To Bed With Me", an instant hit that was downloadable for free on their Soundcloud page months ago. "City Lights", which was also on Soundcloud, comes after and confirms the atmosphere that the band chose for the album: an upbeat synthpop focused on catchy melodies and on seducing atmospheres created by Paulinda's vocals. "So Shut Your Eyes" is another strong melodic mid tempo which prepare the audience for the intriguing atmospheres of "Silent Dawn" where Paulinda sings on the refrain "Come into my world, make me be that girl, a fool, will always dream of love". This one could be a radio heavy rotation over the world, hands down. "This Blue Film" it's a dark tune which, thanks to Paulinda, recalls me a synthpop version of Portishead. Also "A Train To Moscow" and "GodSpeed" are someway moving slowly between pop and dark atmospheres playing also with cinematic orchestral arrangements. With "It's A Game" the upbeat rhythms are back, but we already knew this song because of the single. On "For A Thousand Years" we have a passionate romantic duet with Paulinda and Julian Brandt. Julian released an album for Graplur on 2009 and now he's about to come back with the debut EP of Julian And Marina titled "Absence". "No More Minutes" it's a bit dancey and upbeat and it would work great also remixed. With "Where The Trees Never Sleep" melancholy and a bit of darkness are back and after that we have a surprise: a seven minutes long track "The Second Citizen" which is a particular kind of synthpop because it has a substrate of bouncing drum bass beats with alternation of synth noises, orchestrations and pop vocal atmospheres. "Follow That Car!" is a good album, the band did a great production work but I question myself how could have it been if they would have risked to experiment a bit more with sounds'¦

As it is often the case, whenever a music scene/movement gains popularity, there's always the 'danger', of it getting saturated, soon, with people jumping on the bandwagon or just repeating the same thing over and over. The dreamwave scene's popularity is rising rapidly, and for a music lover - like me - this marks the beginning of a search for originality, talent and 'character' in the music, that will put things in perspective.
Well, look no further. The first 80s Stallone 12 track album 'HOTLINE', has just been released and it is a milestone and a point of reference for the genre. 80s Stallone, is one of the elusive godfathers of the dreamwave scene, with his very own, unique and instantly recognizable sound, a blueprint for those who follow, having released 2 singles and 1 e.p., and having done some of the best remixes. If you have already heard his music, you know what i'm talking about. If not, now it is a very good time to start listening.
With 'HOTLINE', 80s Stallone, presents a 'whole' package, covering every base, offering sides of his music, never shown before. There is a of variety of styles and moods on the album, some are faster electro disco tracks, some moodier and slower, with the majority of the sounds, provided by his hardware synths and drum machines, spicing things up, with some added vocoded vocals. His addictive arpeggiated analogue basslines, combined with his natural talent for melody, his trademark synth chords and disco beat patterns put together, provide a magnificent sonic result, which is pure joy for the listener.
Expertly mixed and mastered with punchy beats, deep low end and crisp and clear synths, the overall sound is warm and transparent.
For me, 'HOTLINE', is the dreamwave album of the year, VERY highly recommended.

Always co-produced by Enfant Terrible and Verbascripta, "Cheminement De L'Extase" is the second and last release by La Mort De L'Hippocampe. Recorded before "Symphonie Neuronale", this album has been released after that, following the wish of its creator Jerome Fontan, who passed by on June 2011. Best known for the electro project Porn.Darsteller, Jerome on this album created, as for the first one, two long suites which musically are different from what proposed on "Symphonie Neuronale". On the A side we have "Cheminement Surreel", which contains a mix of experimental, synth industrial and classical sounds (violin, piano, etc.) that function as a soundtrack to a metaphysic poem. In eighteen minutes, this track changes many times and it's a particular catchy one thanks to its atmosphere which passes from industrial synth noises to melancholic organ/violin duets in a natural way. On side B we have the main title which is mostly based on texts from Hildegard von Bingen read by Jerome and Isabelle Toro, who also collaborated on the first release. This suite is mostly based on old school industrial synth sound but mixed with medieval instruments like "vielle a roue" and the "bombarde bretonne". If you loved the first record you won't miss this one and you have to act fast, because it is already sold out at the label's shop but Verbascripta (www.verbascripta.net) has still some left.

Well, i have listened to - and i own, quite a few 80s' compilations, and right from the start i have to say that the double CD: 'V.A. - Disco Pop Volume 2', (from the '80's Revolution Series'), is the best i've had the pleasure of listening to, in years! Mainly for three reasons.
First of all, all the tracks have been remastered (32 bit), and they sound fantastic! the sound is fuller, everything is crystal clear and they show off the warmth of the analogue recording process of the 80's! THAT fact alone, for me, is enough, to buy the album!
Secondly, choosing tracks for an '80s disco pop compilation' is not really an easy task, due to the plethora of brilliant hits of that decade. There must have been a lot of thought behind the song selection for the final tracklisting and it is obvious from the satisfying listening result from start to finish! The label managed to gather not only some of the biggest hits of the genre (from BROTHER BEYOND and JERMAINE STEWART to ERASURE and O.M.D, PEBBLES and HAZELL DEAN), but also some of the best 'songs', from a songwriting/composition point of you, as well. It's not just all 'No1's', and that is a choice that does make a difference. I believe the goal was to present the full spectrum of the genre's sound, and if that was the case, they surely succeeded!
The third reason, that makes this compilation special, is that all of the songs are presented here, in their original remixed form (like they used to do it, in the 80's) and many of them are rare and hard to find - even more so - remastered. Some of the remixes, have never before, appeared on CD!
This double CD, is a high quality production, form a 'technical', as well as, a 'musical' point of view. There is a lot of time, effort and evidently - love, behind this project, and the result is highly entertaining and highly recommended!