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Spray - Living In Neon - 29-Dec-07 04:24 PM
Spray, 2/4ths of the UK pop group "Cuban Boys", consisting of the man behind the synthesizers, Ricardo Autobahn, and the woman behind the vocals, Jenny McLaren. "Living in Neon" is the first album released by the duo - and is certainly in my "Favourite Top 10" Synth-pop CD list.

Combining witty humour, what sounds like a vintage drum kit, and catchy, light hearted melodies, Spray have created an album that's British through and through - without being too in your face about it.

Personal favourites on this CD include "So Close", "She's a Brainiac" (a rare track where Ricardo sings for a few verses himself, along with a perfect blend of his and Jenny's voices for the chorus), "I Kill With My Car" (a song about the deadly combination of woman and an automobile) and "Spaced" (the catchiest track on the album - once you hear this, you'll have it in your mind for quite some time!).

"I Am Gothic" is the single that for this album. The song tells the tale of a spooky kid that's too deep for even phone calls. In fact, she feels special when people *don't* phone. I'm not sure if you can buy them still, but there was a time when Spray were selling "I Am Gothic" t-shirts. These shirts were black (obviously), with "I Am Gothic" written across the front in huge, capital yellow letters (probably not so obviously).

All in all, a brilliant effort, and I continue to look forward to what Spray have to offer in the future.

Faith Assembly - Shades Of Blue (Deluxe Edition) - 29-Dec-07 07:46 AM
Faith Assembly is possibly my favourite Synth-pop act ever to have released something on the US label, A Different Drum. I ordered this re-release after hearing the track "Denial" on a web radio, and haven’t regretted it since.

As this is a re-release of Mark Stacy’s (although known as "Mark Buss" back then, and credited as such on the album) first ever album, his style differs greatly from say, Ghosts I Have Been (2000). Throughout Shades of Blue, the same atmospheric, extremely 80s-vintage sounding Drum Machine pounds with its reverberated snare drum, giving the recording a very OMD/Depeche Mode-esque feel. Synthesizers (again, sounding as if they were straight from 10 years before this album was made) are used carefully to compliment the carefully layered female vocals, whilst contrasting with Mark’s powerful, emotional, New Wave styled singing.

My favourite song on the album has to be "Denial". On this re-release of the CD, there is also a video for this song. "Denial" begins with a chopped up sample from the 1980s film "Somewhere in Time", and sets the mood for the song quite well, "Forgive me. The man of my dreams is almost faded, now. Come back to me. The one I have created in my mind." The song slowly kicks in as Mark delivers the opening line, along with a great crashing Snare-Drum and beefy Synth-Bass. The song to me is extremely haunting. One of my favourite songs of all time.

Whilst I cannot fault *any* song on this album, ones to defiantly make a note of include "Redemption" (a particularly light hearted piece to begin the album), "Pool of Tears" (although I much prefer the "Bridgette Mix" version), "Darkness" and "Redemption".

To summarise, I would certainly recommend this CD to any Synth-pop fan… Either if you are a fan of the modern sounds of such as b! Machine, De/Vision or Iris, or a fan of ABC, Depeche Mode or OMD, or both, this CD will not disappoint.