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Neuropa - Plastique People (Expanded Version)


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I have found the band Neuropa really interesting. This Australian synthpop duo has been creating music for 15 years, however, I am ashamed to admit I have never come across any of their full-time albums before. The reason for this may be the fact that this group was – and, very likely, still is – more popular in the US and Australia than in Europe, despite its "European" name, inspired, as it turned out, by the song New Europeans by Ultravox.

At first I found it hard to believe that this music was recorded in the year 2011, and not in the deep 80’s. Of course, you can find here contemporary influences and quality too, but a lot of songs on this album sounds to me like a mixture of Ultravox and early Depeche Mode. The artists themselves say that they have also been inspired by music of Erasure, Human League, Yazoo, as well as And One and Covenant. "We can't help sounding 80's even when we try to sound modern, it’s part of who we are." – the musicians admitted in an interview a few years ago. You will find here nothing really unexpected or surprising, but yet songs by Neuropa put me in a good mood and I would like to dance to them at a synthpop party. This is really good "synthetic" music with catchy tunes and I will gladly check the previous albums by this band.

From the Plastique People album I would like to recommend a song, which, for Neuropa, sounds quite modern: Das Beat Industrialle (track 3) – it is really energetic and instantly appealing. There are more potential hits here, both those with a more contemporary sound to them (f.e. Nothing like you), as well as tracks, which sound as if they were taken straight from the 80’s (f.e. Darkness Remains, and the song with an intriguing title Modern Talking). To sum up, this album is really worth recommending to everyone who likes synthpop and the atmosphere of the 80’s.

Tracklist:

01. Plastique People
02. Renaissance
03. Das Beat Industrialle
04. Fashion War
05. Concrete Fields
06. Modern Talking
07. Darkness Remains
08. Chromakey
09. Save Us
10. Nothing Like You
11. The Futurist
12. You Feel The Same
13. In The Silence
Bonustracks:
14. Darkness Remains (Biosphere Mix)
15. Modern Talking (Extended mix)
16. Save Us (Infernal Mix)



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Translator: Fairycharlotte
Add date: 2012-07-22 / Music reviews


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