| Artist |
| Escalator |
| Title |
| Antologia 1989-2009 |
| Format/Cat |
| CD ETD 017 CD |
| Label |
| Electric Tremor Dessau |
| Style |
| Analogue hard-edged Synthpop |
| Date of review |
| 1st November 2009 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7/10 |
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No, I've never heard of them either but the duo of 2RT+tb & Igor 404 have obviously been going for 20 years now & so could be called Hungary's No.1 synth band. That's mainly down to lack of competiton, of course, but this is a curious insight into a band that, while hardly setting the world on fire, deserve this wider recognition, even if only as a reward for sticking with it for so long! That they're signed to Electric Tremor pretty much tells you all you need to know about the music herein, yup, it's another dose of old-skool EBM but it does have a more individual edge to it, partly down to the analogue rhythms that gives the music an almost synthpop-like edge, along with the infectious elements that grace 'Andromeda' with its fine vocodered vox & the quirky 'M.V.K.V.' as well as the highlight that is 'Hvom A Multat'. A catchy little ditty with a simple but effective riff which any 80s synthpoppers would be proud to put their name to, it's obviously an old favourite as it appears in three difference versions! Of the three it's a toss-up I suppose whether you prefer the minimalist 'Archiv' version with its odd opening or the more polished later version; the live version sounds as if it were played in front of a small but enthusiastic audience & at least proves they had a following somewhere! Elsewhere 'Idozitett Bomba' benefits from some excellent chord works while the contrast that is provided by the abstract noisecore of 'Error' gives the album a slightly more unpredictable feel that makes most of their labelmates sound all too safe & obvious- a few could do worse than listen to this duo's sense of adventure & apply it to their own output. It just goes to show that no matter how much you think you know about music there will always be something obscure that you've missed & it's discoveries like this that keeps me excited about electro music. This duo's individual take on EBM deserves to be recognised & applauded by the fans & learned from by electro musicians.
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