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All song excerpts (m3u playlist)
1. A New Frontier (intro)
2. Media Boy
3. Nürnberg Girl
4. Killing Me
5. Ritual
6. Kiss Me Quick
7. Crystal World
8. Dance of the Beauty
9. Recall
10. Luvrgrl
11. Awakening
12. A New Frontier
13. Planet One
14. Castles
15. Conformia
16. Falling
All songs written, arranged, performed and produced by Anders Wikholm.
(P) & © 2004 A Different Drum & Burning Car.
| "Swedish act Moulin Noir has been a flag-waver for the new wave / new romantic sounds initially created by the likes of John Foxx, Ultravox, Visage, and Gary Numan. This newest album takes Moulin Noir's music to a whole new level, blending those lush roots together with a modern edge, creating an album that crosses many tastes and electronic pop boundaries, from new wave, to synthpop, to darkwave, to gothic. It took Moulin Noir almost two years longer than initially anticipated to put together this album, because as the production progressed, the standards were set higher and higher, until a wonderful collection of 16 tracks were perfected." (Editorial, Amazon.com) |
Reviews
MOULIN NOIR - Boy In Darkness (CD A Different Drum) Despite his gothic appearance Anders Wilkhom is in fact one of the most talented synthpop artists around today, producing music that, despite its very obvious 80s influences doesn't actually sound 'retro'. This is largely down to his preference for more old-fashioned synths that produce solid chunky sounds that are unlike anything used by anyone else. It's a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that the influences on certain tracks are so explicit such as "Crystal World" which opens with a sample of the 'tinktinktink' sound that opened Ultravox's "Astradyne" " then impresses with it's mixture of scorching leads " solid thumping rhythm (the latter being used to good effect on many occasions here!). Likewise the vocal line of "Recall" has an unmistakable Numan influence, the sequencing on "Castles" sounds not unlike Ultravox's "The Thin Wall" " features some OMD-like melodics to boot while the analogue percussion that opens the melancholic "Ritual" will definitely cause any old-skool synthpop fans a feeling of déjà vu. For all that he's not merely a copyist, incorporating such influences into a rather unique style which is displayed more fully on tracks such as "Media Boy", "Nurnburg Girl" " "Kiss Me Quick" where his superb musicianship allow him to develop the melodic side of each track to a far greater extent than most of his peers are willing to do, a fact that serves equally well on the melancholic " delicate instrumental "Dance Of The Beauty". The high standard is maintained right to the very end (there are 16 tracks in all which proves he's been busy " obviously inspired of late!) where the closing "Falling" unexpectedly goes rather industrial, setting some isolated chords " Wilkhom's vocals against heavy abstract effects. This is just one reason this is such an essential purchase but there are 15 others, too. Wilkhom states in the sleeve notes that he considers this his best work to date " after hearing it I'm inclined to agree with him.(clj: 7/8) CLJ |