Finlay Shakespeare’s Electronic Pop

This is my favourite pop song of all time. I pulled this out of my parents’ record collection a lot as a kid – Mum and Dad had the 7″ of Holiday ’80 with this on the B side. On the surface, the subject matter is totally banal, but there are few songs I can think of that nail the tangled nature of family relationships quite as well as this. It’s perfect.

I’d gladly listen to a half-hour of this, if not more. Marc Almond’s barking vocals, Dave Ball’s disco riffs and Daniel Miller’s unbeatable 2600 kick drum; it’s killer. Pure energy, the true successor to I Feel Love in my book. I asked Daniel about his early-Mute-days drums whilst we discussed our first FSS / Mute modular collaborations – he played the kick down as “just a resonant filter”, but I’ve seen that thing split people in half.

Newcomers immediately think Severed Heads are some grizzly metal band or something, but for the majority of their back catalogue, this couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s hard to pick a single track of theirs for this, but 4WD won out. Pure pop sensibilities married to totally wonky melodies and harmonies.

I first came across this via Gescom’s “D1” – a pretty radical cut-up remix of No Way Back. Eventually hearing the original totally bridged the worlds of British and European “synth-pop” and Chicago (Acid) House in my head. Akin to Soft Cell’s “Memorabilia”, all the essential elements are present here, but synthesized into something totally unique and incredible.

I first heard Jessy Lanza supporting Caribou in Bristol – she absolutely blew me away. When her second LP came out, it was on constant rotation for months, and this track in particular stood out. There’s something about the groove on this that’s really addictive and I still can’t figure out exactly what’s going on there.

It was a revelation when I first heard Tujiko Noriko’s work – I was familiar with the more avant-garde end of Editions Mego, but hadn’t heard anything pop leaning from the label, or the earlier incarnation of Mego. Hearing Noriko bring together elements of the Third Viennese School, Japanese electronic music and her own songwriting always brings on the goosebumps. Her live performance is just as spellbinding as her recorded work too.

I started playing BOO’s debut incessantly through the first COVID lockdown, with Wish List and Tin Can Telephone being immediate favourites. There’s something about the melancholy of those tracks that suited the time perfectly. I have huge respect for what BOO do – they’re one of the UK’s hardest working and truly DIY bands. Electronic pop without any sign of retro throwback but with bucketloads of originality. It was an honour to put out a compilation of their work on GOTO recently.

It was an honour to support Neil Arthur and co. on the Wanderlust tour, and this track was always a stand-out from their set for me – it’s burned its way into my memory, that’s for sure. This track really comes to life on stage too – Liam Hutton’s drums turn it into this absolutely savage pop anthem. Like “Marianne”, the lyrical content is purely mundane at first glance, but to bring pop culture from 50 years ago into today’s world isn’t an easy task. However, it’s something Neil always manages with great ease.

The first few Empress Of releases bring together some really clever musical tricks whilst not coming across as pretentious or unnecessary in any way. This track showcases all of that so well – Lorely Rodriguez’ harmonies are killer and the way she plays with rhythm on this is fantastic. The call-and-response vocals towards the end are absolutely gorgeous. It’s all instant sunshine in a non-saccharine way – it’s geniune, heartfelt, perfect.

I’m unsure if there’s a more criminally overlooked British artist than Bill Nelson. People ought to be raving about him constantly, but I barely ever see his name mentioned. Everything he touches has a certain joy to it, and Flaming Desire is a perfect example of that. The electronic pop he wrote and recorded in the late 1970s and early 1980s is outstanding, and his ambient work is also top tier. If I ever stumble upon his records, they’re an instant buy, bank balance permitting.