SPAZ reviews HELEN LOVE's Day-Glo Dreams!

HELEN LOVE

DAY-GLO DREAMS

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OK, let's be honest here: I'm not going to pretend that I know everything that there is to know about Helen Love.  I've always been an admirer from a distance.  I've picked up their CDs over the years and I've listened to them quite a bit. I'm most certainly a fan, but I've managed to remain happily ignorant to WHO they are, what kinds of cars they drive, what their favorite TV shows are, etc.  Here is what I do know:

1. Helen Love is a band AND a person (but I will refer to them as a band)

2. They are Welsh

3. They adore Joey Ramone, Debbie Harry and quite a few other original Pop icons

2. They love all sorts of pop culture but especially music

1. They make great Pop records

Roughly 20 years ago, they released their debut single, "Formula One Racing Girls", a slab of lo-fi Twee pop that was blessed with more imagination than musical chops, but it was obvious they were destined for bigger things... especially with their blend of 8-bit video game samples, Punk guitar and Girl Pop melody.  Over the next two decades, they've perfected that formula while losing members, gaining members, turning up the guitars, adding Techno to the mix, turning down the guitars, etc.  As they've moved towards an Electronic-based sound, their songwriting style hasn't changed.  They are still very much influenced by The Ramones, Blondie, Glam Rock, Bubblegum Pop, Girl Pop and whatever else suits their fancy.  It's really kind of interesting just how many different things they've added and subtracted to the mix and yet they remain uniquely Helen Love.

When Elefant Records released the excellent It's My Party And I'll Play What I Want To album back in 2007, it was a groovy platter that referenced everything from the 1910 Fruitgum Company to the Macca & Wings single "Jet" to Rodney Bingenheimer's legendary nightclub Rodney's English Disco. Their lyrical focus was still firmly in the past, but their music kept moving forward. the songs had more depth, more shadows and more light. To some, it may have seemed as if they were playing the same old song over and over, but if that was the case, it was a pretty damn great song!

Now, six years later, Helen Love return with an album that continues their forward trajectory without sacrificing a bit of who they were.  In fact, if you couldn't tell by the album's title, Day-Glo Dreams, the band has finally embraced the '80s and added a lot of great references to that era in their lyrics. "Spin Those Records" namechecks Michael Jackson and Culture Club in the bridge and middle eight and chorus! However, they certainly haven't turned their backs on their roots. "Atomic" may or may not be titled after the Blondie song (it probably is). "We Are The Lo-Fi Kids" references their Indie beginnings, but they sound much bigger and bolder than their initial run of singles.  More electronic than guitar oriented, Helen Love are a Pop band right down to the core.  There are so many hooks on Day-Glo Dreams that it should be sold in a Bait & Tackle shop in every beach town up and down the coast! 

Helen Love may not change the world, but they probably don't want to.  Their simple yet catchy pop tunes might possibly change YOUR world.  This is an album that will enchant Indie Pop fans as well as Electropop and '80s fans.  Helen Love are definitely charming and their tunes are quite delicious. Beloved by those that have fallen under their spell, Day-Glo Dreams will hopefully rope in a new generation of fans and maybe encourage the band to come out with something a little quicker next time around!  Until then, this is pure audio bubblegum that will keep us Pop geeks quite happy for the next 100 spins or so!

Peace, love and Pop
Stephen SPAZ Schnee

An EXCLUSIVE interview with SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO!

The Evolution Revolution:

An EXCLUSIVE interview with
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO

By Stephen SPAZ Schnee

Over the last 20 years, the Electronic music scene has elevated the roles of DJs, remixers and producers to superstar status. From John Digweed and Armand Van Helden to Bob Sinclar and David Guetta, the gifted knob twiddlers have become the true stars of the Electronic scene and all of its sub-genres.

Originally ½ of the UK-based outfit Simian, James Ford and Jas Shaw broke away and became Simian Mobile Disco, one of the hottest DJ/Production duos in the world. From their early club DJ sets in 2005 to remixing other artists’ tracks, SMD made a name for themselves even before releasing a single note of their own music.

Now, with two great studio albums behind them (2007’s Attack Decay Sustain Release and Temporary Pleasure from 2009), the duo are concentrating on their own label, working on endless production and remix duties and gathering ideas for the next SMD studio album. In the meantime, they found time to create the brilliant Simian Mobile Disco Is Fixed mix CD, the first release in a new series of mixes celebrating New York City’s famed Fixed parties.

Spaz was able to track down the busy duo, who were more than happy to answer questions about Fixed and their career as DJs and artists…

SPAZ: Simian Mobile Disco has released two amazing studio albums plus loads of remixes along the way. How did the idea for the Fixed release come about?

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO: The Fixed parties have always been where we play when we come to DJ in New York. Josh and Dave, the guys behind Fixed, have become good friends. They mentioned to us that they were going to release some mix albums based on the Fixed nights and we jumped at the chance. For us, it's been a great opportunity to play the lumpier, odder Techno that we prefer when we DJ.

SPAZ: Did you treat Fixed with the same kid gloves that you would have treated a proper studio album. or did you have a bit more fun with it?

SMD: A mix CD is a very different thing to a studio album, for a start you don’t need to actually make any music! That said, we did end up using our studio desk and lots of the hissy old reverbs and delays that we love. In fact, we even got the 808 syncing so we threw some of that in there. I guess you could say that it was informed by our studio work and the way we do the live show but essentially it's a snapshot of what we would be likely to play at a Fixed party.

SPAZ: A good DJ set or mix is an art form, probably now more than ever. Wouldn't you agree with that?

SMD: A really good DJ set has always been more than just throwing together a bunch of records at the same speed. It's important that it's got a sense of structure to it, a direction but also that it's not pre-planned; otherwise you might as well just send them a mix CD. Even though there are lots of programs available that can beat-match for you, if you can't do it yourself the real nitty gritty of DJing remains, choosing the right tracks at the right time and, in doing so, creating a sense of movement over the course of the night.

SPAZ: For those of us on the listening end, what exactly goes into creating a mix such as Fixed? It's more than just picking songs and slapping them together…

SMD: It's similar to a DJ set in a club but more considered. People will hopefully listen to a CD mix many times so we try to make sure that the tracks mix in key and are more fussy about how they lock together. We spend a long time finding tracks that that really compliment each other.

SPAZ: Fixed was mixed live in the studio. Is the mixing process similar to recording an album in regards to making a mistake and having to start it over again? Wouldn't editing break up the mood of the whole piece?

SMD: Yeah, we did a lot of planning but then did the mix in one live take. It's a very different process to making an album where we work track by track over a long period gradually tweaking and editing as we go. I think the one we went with was take two, with one of two edits to go over bit that we really goosed. You can't spot the edit and no one wants to have to listen to us repeatedly train wrecking the same mix over and over do they?

SPAZ: How do you discover tunes that move you? Do you spend a lot of time in record shops or do you tend to discover new music online?

SMD: We find loads of new music online, it's fantastic. It's still something that takes time though. Whereas before you had trouble getting hold of stuff because you needed to get it on vinyl, now everything is easy to get but it needs excavating from massive torrent of crap or average stuff out there. In that sense, record shops are still relevant as having a place where you can get a filtered selection of what's out there at high resolution rather than massive zip files of hundreds of crappy mp3s is something worth paying for.

SPAZ: When you do a live DJ set, are you trying to create an atmosphere or work off of the general vibe of the room?

SMD: Both. The point of DJing as we see it is to respond to that particular place and time. It really doesn't make any sense to play the same tracks in the same order every night. The thrill is getting the crowd on your side so you can take them somewhere unexpected.

SPAZ: Are there ever any moments during a DJ set when the mood in the room changes and you think "Oh, dear. That wasn't supposed to happen!"

SMD: The hardest gigs are when you find it hard to read a crowd and tracks that are normally sure fire winners fall flat. Those gigs often turn out to be the best ones though, as you have to rethink your strategy and take it somewhere else.

SPAZ: With Fixed, are you satisfied with the way it turned out? And is it a true representation of an SMD DJ set?

SMD: The SMD DJ set is constantly changing and, of course, there are lots of tunes that we would change in the mix if we did it again now, but that's the point, I suppose. It's a great snapshot of a period of time.

SPAZ: What's next for Simian Mobile Disco?

SMD: We are concentrating on our Techno label Delicacies. We have lots of releases and events planned which will take us well into next year. We are also starting to formulate ideas for our next studio album too, as well as producing other people’s records.

SPAZ: What do you currently have spinning on your CD, DVD and record players?

SMD: As I write this I am listening to Oneohtrix’s ‘Point Never’, which I'm really enjoying at the moment.

Thanks to James Ford and Jas Shaw

Special thanks to Bradley Haering