Le Cliché is the revived brainchild of Irish born musician and Associate Professor of marketing and consumer behaviour Gerard Ryan and 'Consumer Behaviour' shall be his long awaited album debut. Originally established in 1984, Le Cliché is currently enjoying its second coming as it were, having been re-ignited in 2012, apparently motivated by a large influx of likeminded 1980's electro pop projects being rediscovered and rereleased. The music itself is highly influenced by classic 1980's synth bands á la OMD and Kraftwerk, with all tracks being of a very minimalistic nature, and might be best described as postmodernist electro pop with 'neo-consumerist themes'. Given Ryan's field of academia, it comes as no surprise that his lyrical themes are heavily based upon consumer behaviour and the 'consumption centred society in which we live'. Musically, this record is far from spectacular, most melodies are highly repetitive, pulsating synths occasionally combined with half decent lush synth strings and very basic drum beats. There is little variance in speed of the pieces and most only convey very few musical ideas, with most taking the same melody and synth string break and repeating it over and over for the rest of the song, occasionally throwing in a vocal sample of someone saying something relating to the title of the track. The best example of this would be 'Aquaphobia' where the phrases 'Aquaphobia' 'Fear of water' and 'I can't swim' are repeated several times. I was told that this track and 'Ventolin' deal with more 'personal and intimate topics', so one can only imagine that he has aquaphobia and how it is the bane of his life and that everyday must be an treacherous upward struggle against the dreaded H2O. I'll give it to you that these tracks are personal but are quite out of touch with intimacy, the delivery of the samples are plain and drab, with a few a slivers of emotion on display, which is disappointing more than anything. My favourite track on this record would have to be 'Ventolin', not because of the lyrics, not because of the 'intimate and personal' theme, but solely because this track appears like a lot more time has gone into its creation. The track is laden with emotive synth string leads which offers a refreshing change to the previous 25 minutes. This record focuses on the drab and the mundane aspects of everyday life, it focuses on the ironies of our consumer based society in which we live in, but in the effort to be critical, it becomes the very thing it's mocking. This album is as dull as the consumerist society it criticizes. The sound seems stuck on the fringe of electro pop in 1979 and isn't keen on leaving anytime soon. 'Consumer Behaviour' was released on December 25th and can be bought as a 180gram vinyl from Medical Records.

'State of Oppression' is the 2nd album released by French industrial duo 'PSYCHOSOMATIK', this release comes after an 11 year hiatus from music following their debut album released in 2003.The album presents us with a well crafted dark, industrial sound, mainly eerie in nature but sometimes evolving into more groovy, catchy rhythms that you could almost dance too like on 'No Time To Lose (Negociation of Peace)' Most synth rhythms on this album are undeniably catchy, and it is quite easy to see from the get go that this is their forte, as track after track the duo present us with infectious synth laden pieces. Drums are usually frantic, hard hitting and heavily distorted, sometimes a little bit simple but they consistently create a high tempo, pulsating beat that complements the synths and vocals brilliantly. Vocals are almost ghost like, sounding like a cold winter wind blew them straight to your ears. In some ways it can be said that the vocals complement the songs, however after sometime and notably in some of the more hard hitting songs, there becomes an apparent lack of substance and variation in the vocal department, the vocals sound almost too weak and are sometimes overpowered by the music behind them, which means PSYCHOMATIK are missing out on adding a much more powerful dimension to their music. They've shown that they're very proficient in eerie industrial but fail to deliver when they attempt to go for a more powerful, hard hitting approach. Lyrically, the end product is relatively solid, far from exceptional but equally as far from awful. Additionally, the band decided to include two remixes of 'No Time To Lose' the first of which being more dubstep in nature with the second following a similar style as to that used by PSYCHOMATIK. I quite liked the first remix and I really felt it added a whole other dimension to the album. The second didn't really add much to the overall album, instead it just felt like another repeat of 'No Time To Lose'. My favourite track on the album would have to be 'No Time To Lose (Negociation of Peace)' due to the impressive, eerie atmosphere created, catchy vocals and infections, dance worthy synths. State of Oppression is out now and is well worth checking out.

'Bilono' is the controversial debut album from Israeli producer/ singer Rona Geffen and has been described by the artist as 'the sound of day and night life in Tel-Aviv ' from its harsh politics, bombs, fire, useless loss of lives to that constant dripping of the neighbour's air-conditioner.' Aside from this, Rona has also released an electronic opera called 'Strike- No sex in the TL Village' as well as writing 'Wetting Party' for a group of Berlin based Choreographers. The record is driven by a strong pulsating tone of heavily distorted drums, dark bass lines and industrial influenced synth leads hybridised with a heavy Middle Eastern influenced sound, often incorporating classical instruments such as a clarinet on 'Hol Ba'eynayim' and strings heavily featuring on the second half of the album. The overall sound of this album ranges from the mysterious on 'Bitches' to the more uplifting and epic on 'East West', to the cataclysmic, disgusting wall of noise and the solemn following it on 'Requiem'. Vocals are often emotional, raw and heavily distorted, lyrics often divulging in topics such as sexuality and relationships. Though to be frankly honest, the lyrics (those of which I understand as some tracks are sung entirely in Hebrew) aren't Rona Geffen's strong point, more amateurish than transcendent, I found her songs exploring female sexuality contrived and uncomfortable to listen, does she shock the listener? Yes. Are her lyrics and vocals original? Yes. But is it enjoyable to listen to? No, not at all. Half of the tracks on this album are entirely instrumental and I feel this is where Ms. Geffen's talents truly lie. Instrumental tracks showed far more promise than those containing vocals, her musical arrangement in the more hybridised tracks was exceptional and were thoroughly enjoyable. The entirely electro driven tracks were also promising but eventually became repetitive and lost momentum. My favourite track on the album would be 'Requiem part 2' after the noisey, implosion on part 1, this piece is so well crafted, so beautifully arranged and conveys an overwhelming sense solemn. Bilono is released on the 15th of December on RGunlimited.

''...Or meet me at the crossroads of my nightmares ' watch us trading things we used to share'.
Poignant words from a very poignant record. Aritape is a solo project from Berlin based German producer Arik Hayut and 'Satellite Angel' shall be his 2nd release under this pseudonym following his release earlier this year 'The Sun Is Gone'. Since then Hayut has continued to evolve his sound to include vibraphones, bass to field recordings, all of which have helped him cultivate a completely unique sound. The overall theme of the 3 track EP is quite a poignant one, with lyrics focusing more on melancholic, thought provoking topics, from the existential and lost on 'Birthday' and 'Satellite Angel' to the deeply personal found on 'So Long'. Production wise the album is crisp, within seconds it is easy to see that percussion is Aritape's forte with all tracks featuring infectious grooves (it is also interesting to note that the percussion instruments are entirely self-constructed) which are wonderfully complemented by quaint melodies and lush strings which forms a perfect, melancholic atmosphere which just flows through the often blunt, reality sung by Hayut, who's dry vocals and eerie choruses just add another impressive layer atop this emotive cake of a record. My favourite track on this release would have to be 'So Long' not only for the beautifully crafted atmosphere, but because of the deeply personal aspect. I was told that '10 years ago, Hayut went through a severe health crisis, which had implicated his life' and through listening, the story becomes much clearer. 'Cancer-time- God's Perfect Crime' a dark conclusion to a very dark, emotive record. Satellite Angel is released on the 15th of December and is not one to be missed.