808 Dot Pop – Pop Radio AM 1350 (Album – Alfa Matrix)
Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.
Format: CD.
Background/Info: Belgian ‘Passenger S’ has been very prolific the past few months. Next to a new Metroland-album plus different EP’s he also released a new album of his 808 Dot Pop project. The album is a kind of trilogy dealing about crystal radio and related themes. The album got the contribution from Kraftman and guest vocals by Lis Van Den Akker on a few songs.
Content: The format and approach remains the same. The songs are mixed like a broadcasting revealing the light and melodic, robotic, pop style of this artist. You’ll find similar songs with a few little nuances at the ‘AM frequency’ as on the previous ‘FM frequency’ but there’re also different songs. This work sounds a tiny darker but is perfectly recognizable and complementary to the previous opus.
+ + + : I refer to the “FM 88.2” album, the songs being similar although a bit darker -especially for the bass lines. I like the sound treatments but also the great writing skills of the artist. I got impressed by the elaboration and intelligence of “Sinpo” which is maybe one of the most sophisticated songs ever written by the
artist although Gary Hunter (Kraftman) contributed to the song. I personally prefer this album to the “FM-88.2” the ‘new’ songs being also the best ones.
– – – : Just as for the first album I’m not entirely convince by Lis Van Den Akker singing on 808 Dot Pop. I would have prefered another singer like Noemi Aurora who sung on the first album “The Colour Temperature”.
Conclusion: A different frequency but similar music which became a bit darker although still pretty retro-pop like.
Best songs: “Sinpo”, “Radio Waves”, “AM/FM”, “Jan Moedwil – Radio Belgie”, “Germanium”.
Rate: 8½.
Artist: https://808dotpop.com / www.facebook.com/808dotpop
Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix
About 808 DOT POP
808 DOT POP is the solo electro-pop side-project of Metroland’s Passenger S, signed to Alfa Matrix. The debut album, “The Colour Temperature”, followed three singles, “Blackbodies – pulsation”, “Blackbodies – variation” and “Jingle Pop”, and was released in 2020 on CD and via Bandcamp, with the download edition including an exclusive 20-minute megamix. Passenger S described the project as lighter and more playful than Metroland, built around the TR-808 drum machine, with Noemi Aurora on guest vocals for that first album. The crystal-radio-themed “Pop Radio” project followed, released on 25 March 2023 in three variants, “FM 88.2”, “AM 1350” and the download-only “MW720”, each featuring contributions from KRAFTman and guest vocals by Lis van den Akker. The project includes a cover of OMD’s “Radio Waves”, recorded with permission from Andy McCluskey.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
