Artist: Metroland
Title: Mind the Gap
Genre: Synth-Pop
Release Date: 7th September 2012
Label: Alfa Matrix
Album Review
METROLAND is one of the newest names on Alfa Matrix and still one of the hottest newcomers in electro based music. Behind this new project encouraged by the gift of classic electronics and the love for Kraftwerk is hiding a known EBM project of Belgium. Despite of their efforts to keep their roots secret there are some pictures in the booklet and on the web revealing their faces. The artwork, the title of the songs and even field recordings are all devoted to some mysterious passion for the subway, or the tube as they say in London or simply the metro. A lot of sounds, arrangements and even the robotic vocals reminding me of Kraftwerk. The main difference -and that's precisely the strength of METROLAND is that even if it sounds like Kraftwerk you'll quickly recognize this is another band, this is METROLAND.
From the 13 songs of the regular album there's really nothing to pull away from. METROLAND has conceived a bridge to fill the gap between electro-minimalism and pure synth-pop with an aged flavour. ‘Enjoying The View’ opening the imaginary voyage throughout the international subways is a glorious opener. ‘Inner City Transport’ is the first real high light on which you could especially enjoy the melodic passages. ‘Moscow Main’ sounds fairly danceable. The absolute masterpiece hit is ‘The Passenger’. The influence of Kraftwerk has been carefully reversed into modern times. This song is already a success and will only increase the popularity of this project. But there is even more to come about this album. The following song ‘Interchange Station’ with some field recordings of the Antwerp subway maybe reveal something about the home place of METROLAND?
Another promising track which shows the sources of their inspiration is ‘Harry Beck’. Mr. Beck was the creator of the London tube and from now on still a pretty cool song of METROLAND. Within this track you could notice some clear and interesting new-beat sequences which form a new world. With this composition METROLAND shows a main difference to the sound of KRAFTWERK and this will make METROLAND more unique. But on the other side with tracks like ‘It’s More Fun To Commute’, METROLAND show their closeness to KRAFTWERK. The limited edition is featuring interesting remixes and alternative versions. There really is a lot to say about METROLAND, but one thing is sure, this band has accomplished a great and punctilious act. This is one of the best releases in synth-pop land in years!
Tracklist
01. Enjoying The View
02. Mind The Gap
03. Inner City Transport
04. M-E-T-R-O
05. Interchange Station
06. Theme For Metroland
07. Harry Beck
08. Travelling
09. Moscow Main
10. T.F.L
11. The Passenger
12. It’s More Fun To Commute
13. Much More Fun
Line-up
Passenger A
Passenger S
Website
www.METROLANDmusic.com
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10
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