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8.4.23

Electronic Sound - The Electronic Music Magazine - Issue 93 - 2022

Electronic Sound

The Electronic Music Magazine

Issue 93

2022

98 páginas

WELCOME TO ELECTRONIC SOUND

What a total treat it is to have Blancmange main man Neil Arthur on the cover of this month’s Electronic Sound, albeit a slightly dotty version of him. Can you see what we did there?

As one of the exemplar electronic duos of the early 1980s, Blancmange snuck cool and arty pop into charts thanks to Neil Arthur’s skewed lyrics, Stephen Luscombe’s memorable keyboard lines, and some fine record sleeves. The supremely catchy ‘Living On The Ceiling’ gave the pair their defining hit and was followed by a long string of UK Top 40 singles over the next two or three years. They departed gracefully in 1986 after just three albums, two of them certified as gold discs. And that, it seemed, was that.

Fast forward to 2011 and Blancmange were back. ‘Blanc Burn’, the title a play on Blackburn, a couple of miles along the road from Neil’s home town, marked the beginning of a new era so prolific that it´s been hard to keep up. In the last 11 years, there have been no less than 13 Blancmange albums, plus three more from Fader, Neil’s side project with synthmeister Benge, who is also now the other half of the main pudding. Stephen Luscombe have sadly stood aside due to an ongoing health issue. It’s a track record that threatens to put the Fall in the shade. In fact, you might even think of Neil as a benign synthpop Mark E Smith, a wordsmith whose inventive lyrics have long set the band apart.

The purple patch shows no sign of tailing off, with the group back on London Records, the label that paved the way to their initial success. Their new album, ‘Private View’, is a corker, a glorious example of left-field synthpop that’s up there with those early gold discs. It´s aas at home on a daytime radio as it is on the shelf of the most ardent Minimal Wave collector, but then that’s where Blancmange have always been. And as well as making great records, Neil Arthur gives fabulous interviews, skipping between subjects, telling endless anecdotes, offering interesting opinions, and all without missing a beat. He is as our writer Bob Fischer says, a master at joining the dots. Hence this month’s cover image.

We have loads more interviews this month – Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Unloved, Pye Corner Audio, Jockstrap, Paul Oakenfold, Laraaji and more – plus we also have some exciting news for those of you who enjoy a bit of digital entertainment as well as nice-smelling print magazines. We’ve just revamped our website, which will now feature a growing archive of articles from back issues of the mag and regular live sessions filmed and recorded exclusively by Electronic Sound. Get yourself over to electronicsound.co.uk and take a look.

Electronically yours,

Push and Mark

Cover Illustration: Joel Benjamin

Cover Design & Art Direction: Mark Hall

Contributors:

Jeremy Allen, Joe Banks, Ian Berriman, Scott Blixen, Joe Clay, Bethan Cole, Stephen Dalton, Flore Diamant, Bob Fischer, Ben Gilbert, Ian Gittins, Carl Griffin, Robert Harris, Jo Hutton, Jo Kendall, Andy Linehan, Neil Mason, Finlay Milligan, Ben Murphy, Kris Needs, Sharon O’Connell, Matt Parker, David Pollock, Chris Roberts, Fat Roland, Will Salmon, Joe Silva, Dave Simpson, Matt Smith, Anton Spice, William Stokes, David Stubbs, James Tornhill, Antonhy Thornton, Spenser Tomson, Ben Willmott

Type set in Univers

Printed on paper that originated from managed forests, recycled paper or a combination of both

Editor

Push

Deputy Editor

Mark Roland

Art Editor

Mark Hall

Features Editor

Velimir Ilic

Front Editor

Isaak Lewis-Smith