It’s said that in order to really move forward we need to sometimes take a few steps back. That can good and bad, and in the case of this compilation, is absolutely fabulous darling. Here we’ve got a case of the Nu-New Wave flu that’s got us deliriously hypnotized by blasts from the past, New Order keyboard pulsations and modern rock of the eighties vocal styles.
Fisherspooner’s Invisible is a perfect example of this, where a sexy male whispers in your ear with electro beats pound with arty perfection. (There is No) Electricity by Memory Boy takes one down a synth pop memory lane when Berlin ruled the dancefloor, but is right in line with what has been coming out of Norway and Switzerland for the last five years or so.
Taking us back to those first days of music videos, Miss Kittin & The Hacker sing of Life on MTV, in that lovely drone and inattentive fashion, complete with a raw drum beat and haunting keyboard effect that I’ve loved for over 20 years. Where you really know in the millennium is when Peaches gets to the down and dirty on “AAXXX”, letting us know is no uncertain terms that she “likes the innocent type, deer in the headlights, rockin’ me all night, takin’ a bite out of the peach tonight.” A woman after my own heart – you go girl.
This not a rehash of late night, not available in stores Hits of the 80’s compilations. This is a year 2002 collection of classic synth pop that takes the best elements of our new wave past and brings them to the future of today.
