| Artist |
| Munich Syndrome |
| Title |
| Electronic Ecstasy |
| Format/Cat |
| CD SS005 |
| Label |
| Syndrome Sounds |
| Style |
| Synthpop |
| Date of review |
| 6th June 2010 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7.5/10 |
|
|
 |
|
Munich Syndrome is US-based musician David B. Roundsley & this is his third release of retro-modern synthpop that resurrects the spirit of the late 70s (with Giorgio Moroder being a key influence, I'd guess) while still sounding totally up-to-date. The colourful cover ensures the album will catch your eye & make you curious as to what lies within & it's well worth satisfying that curiosity here with its 16 tracks (13 originals, 3 mixes) & a running time of well over 70 minutes ensuring it's a good value for money offering. The aforementioned Moroder influence is immediately felt during the opening seconds of the title track as those sequences kick in, being joined by the vocodered vocals that, well-used staple that they are, still sound so right. And it's just as well they do as they pop up throughout, proving their worth equally on the more assertive tracks such as 'Dream Sequence 3' & 'Dreams (Or Memories?) which also features some attention-grabbing lead synths & the decidedly infectious 'Watching You', as they do on the more restrained 'Anywhere (But Here) where some faux sax makes for a seriously loungey vibe & the decidedly wistful '2 Whom' where the combination of obviously synthetic vocals & emotive music is evocative of a machine that's experienced the negative side of human emotions (which I still think is cool!). The instrumental 'Metro' does push its luck a bit due to the slightly jazzy piano that has a whiff of Shakatak-style wine bar chic to it which is tolerable in this small dose as long as it doesn't become a habit although 'Random' provides a safer instrumental experience that leads into the remixes which add more elements to various tracks whilst retaining the essential feel of the album before 'Signals' closes the album on a more downbeat instrumental note. Overall, then, this is another fine release from an independent artist that is following very much his own musical path & the fact it is again a self-release from Syndrome Sounds is heartening in that there are still artists who still feel releasing bona fide CDs is still a worthwhile venture & are prepared to put in the hard work to make this happen so if you're looking for a unique synthpop sound that's surely got to be worth supporting, right?
|