AOTY #10. Timber timbre - Sincerely, Future Pollution

Written as the nadir of 2016 was coming into focus, it paints a somewhat dystopian vision of a society out of control and typifies the record’s tone of, in his own words, “utter chaos and confusion.” This is a good thing for ‘Sincerely, Future Pollution’, whose nine tracks have a deliciously inky, retro feel, like Nick Cave fronting a bitter ’80s Vegas house band. So what if it’s a little strange? Given the world we live in, we could do with more art that reflects such abnormal territory.

Mariah - 心臓の扉 (Shinzo No Tobira)

This is a mostly unknown early '80s record from Japan and has been absent for the past 30 years. When Mariah first got together in the late 1970s, their sound was largely indebted to the popular jazz fusion and synth pop of the time, but Utakata no Hibi seems to open the door to a wonderful dreamland where genres no longer exist. Sung half in Japanese and half in Armenian, the record melds East Asian and Middle Eastern tonalities, folklorish melodies with synthetic futurism, upbeat dance rhythms with meditative ambient textures, wonky New Wave, jazz structures and blissful pop ditties.

Lena Platonos

Lena Platonos is a Greek musician, pianist and music composer. One of the pioneers in the Greek electronic music scene of the 1980s, she remains active today.  She released 3 collaborative albums between 1981-1983 and her debut solo album in 1984. Her work is surreal, abstract, in places futuristic but always full of unpretentious honesty and tenderness. Through complex imagery, telegraphic lyrics, and analog synths accompanied by the Roland TR-808 drum machine, she paints an intergalactic and elusive soundscape capable of transforming punchy and haunting basslines into cryptic messages. Like the untranslated poetry of Platonos it makes sense beyond the usual; beyond it's own time, beyond words.

November Növelet

November Növelet is a side-project of Haus Arafna. The sounding of November Növelet is different from Haus Arafna's with the more feminine outlook of their works, as Ms. Arafna is in control by doing the lead vocals. The unique experiments with analogue sounds appropriate to the other Galakthorrö artists remain in their works. They developed over time and crystallized into an Angst Pop with a tendency to Electro New Wave and so Haus Arafna could carefully deal with the industrial origins of Angst Pop.

Krisma

Italian new wave duo, formed in 1976 by Maurizio Arcieri and his wife Christina Moser under the name "Chrisma" in Milan. The name was a combination of their initials. The very same year, the couple moved to London to record "U" and "Amore" with the producer Nico Papathanassiou and his brother, the famous Vangelis. By 1980 the name was changed into Krisma and the style shifted to synthpop.

Electronic System

Electronic System is a Belgian synthesizer group by Dan Lacksman, also known from Telex. A composer and sound engineer, artist and director of numerous acoustic albums, pop or jazz. One of the best tracks ever made in Belgium hands down. Quite futuristic even... wait a minute, why are my pants off? Last thing I remember was headphones, coffee and an egg sandwich.