Electric Lady Lab – Europlop!

Electric Lady Lab feat. Sukker Lyn – Broken Mirrors

“A cracking bit of electropop.”

Tim: We’ve not written about these guys for quite a while, despite them putting out a couple of fairly good tracks last year; nevertheless, here’s this, which is new and out now.

Tim: First question: why is that break in the middle so ridiculously long?

Tom: To stop people just ripping it off YouTube. Welcome to the future.

Tim: We’re really still on that, in the age of lyric videos? Oh well.

Second, third and all other questions: how brilliant is the rest of it? The messed around sampled chorus bit, the way they’ve laid their own chorus lines on top of it, the wavy singing in the verses, and the wonderful “and this is where the chorus goes”.

Tom: It’s a cracking bit of electropop; I’m not sure about the rap bit, but it’s brief enough and surrounded by so much top-quality production that I don’t really mind it.

Tim: Speaking of the rap bit, quite why Sukker Lyn starts out and finishes with a shout-out to over-50s holiday and insurance group Saga is beyond me, but I suppose if they want to increase their audience then using that and a fairly obscure 1980s track in the chorus (Broken Heart by White Lion, if you’re interested) is the right way to go about it, and the more success these guys get the better, as far as I’m concerned.

Tom: I’m going to ignore that deliberate misunderstanding of yours —

Tim: Oh come on, it was HILARIOUS.

Tom: — but yes, you’re right, they’ve done a damn good job with it.

Tim: Maybe more acts should do that in future – perhaps ARTPOP could begin with a song dedicated to all the fans of Alan Titchmarsh. That’d be nice. And suitably weird, I suppose.

Saturday Flashback: Electric Lady Lab – You & Me

“Just anaemic.”

Tim: When we featured them only a few days ago, it seems I was shamed by not knowing there was heavy sampling involved. I wish to redeem myself by saying that I am entirely aware that this, another Electric Lady Lab track from last June, also has sampling involved. Two things:

No video, just several thousand still pictures.
They are the only band (I’m informed by the internet) to have been given permission to sample the track that they are sampling.

Tom: Okay, I think I get Electric Lady Lab’s shtick now. They sample old 80s tracks, add new vocals to them, and chuck them out as new songs.

Tim: Actually, most of it’s original – just a couple, really. (Oh, and PEDANT: this is from 1990).

Tom: Which, let me remind you, is 21 years ago. Feel old yet?

Tim: Not as old as you, Mr Two-years-older-than-me.

Tom: Anyway, as I said before, I like mashups – but the tracks they’re putting out are just anaemic. The old ones are better: mashups and samples should improve on the original and make something better, not just add a weak new vocal.

Tim: Here, I actualy agree with you – it takes away a lot of the focus from fact that it’s a new the new song, because every single moment that they’re not singing it sounds like Rhythm Is A Dancer, just because it’s so implanted into people’s head. The singing is excellent, when it’s there, and worthy of being in a great song – just not this well-known a song, because it just sounds like a mash-up.

Tom: Granted, it’s better than the travesty we had last week, but it’s still not good.

Tim: Bonus related fact: “I’m serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer” was once voted the worst lyric of all time.

Electric Lady Lab – Touch Me

“This finishes way too soon.”

Tim: This finishes way too soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVmIZIEJuLk

Tom: Oh my word. You know I like mashups, and it takes a lot for me to have my brain confused by one – but this certainly managed it. I was already singing “The Sun Always Shines On TV” by the first repeat of that sample, and then I just got completely sideswiped.

Tim: Starts with a ‘ooh, this sounds like it’ll be lovely’, and then goes in a completely different direction, but it stills keeps that lovely vibe going throughout and that’s not something that often happens.

Tom: Hang on. You’ve heard “The Sun Always Shines On TV”, right? You must have done.

Tim: Erm… well, er..

Tom: You can’t have been into europop for this long and not heard it. Seriously, aside from Take On Me, it’s a-ha’s most famous single. Everyone’s heard of that.

Tim: Take On Me? Wasn’t that by A1?*

* I’M JOKING. But seriously, how long ago does 2000 look now?

Tom: What worries me is that if you have a gap this large in your musical knowledge – what am I missing?

Tim: Well, I don’t know – I guess I’ve just never explored the older stuff. Tell you what – I’ll get hold of a couple of compilation CDs and listen to them, and we can move on. Deal?

The middle eight, for me at least, has a ‘hurry up and get to the good bit’ feel to it, but then unfortunately when it does get there it almost immediately stops with a crap fade-out. Part of me’s hoping they’ve deliberately cut this short for YouTube; can’t think why they would, though.

Tom: As a mashup with an existing song, it’d be listenable but nothing special; if this is the track they’re actually releasing, then it’s not a patch on the original. Morten Harket’s vocals stand up to this day, and this new version is just… forgettable.

Tim: Well, I disagree and think it’s great. Only out in Denmark right now, mind.

Tom: I’ll be honest: I hope that’s where it stays.

Electric Lady Lab – Wondering

Try sticking your head out of a car that’s going that fast.

Tim: This Danish duo cite as their influences a variety of artists including Daft Punk, Roxette, Depeche Mode and Kate Bush. Interested?

Tom: Bring it on.

Tom: She likes singing into wind, doesn’t she? Seriously, try sticking your head out of a car that’s going that fast sometime. You can barely breathe, let alone sing.

Tim: Well, it’s probably some sort of metaphor. As for the music, I think this is quality stuff. The end of the bridge is somewhat odd, especially as it kind of leads into a key change which never materialises.

Tom: It’s odd, but it really worked for me: it broke things up rather well, and it fits in a track as electronic as this one. Also, I’m not too fussed about a key change: I think if she went a semitone higher, she might only be audible to dogs.

Tim: A fair point. Thoughts about the bridge aside, though, the rest is rather good – the calm (yet somewhat intense) vocal of the verse goes nicely on top of the beat, and there’s a good chorus here, along a video which is suitably weird. It must be said that the lyrics are somewhat repetitive, and there’s not much depth to them, but I can definitely listen to this a few times.