Review: Mondträume – 'Still Beating'

MONDTRÄUME
'Still Beating'
ALFA MATRIX
A year on from their first Alfa matrix outing with 'Life Is Short' the duo of Pikotto Vond Mond and Damasius Venys, AKA, Mondträume return with another track aimed squarely at alternative dance floors. The song, which deals with cancer as it's main subject, and is dedicated to all the victims and survivors of the disease, picks up where the band's début 'Empty' left off.

The lead track, 'Still Beating' opens the EP in a big way with an emotional dance friendly blend of synthpop and futurepop that keeps the hard beats central while overlapping it with some heart-tugging melodies.

The EP is rounded off with a selection of remixes from the last album. The already dance-friendly selections are given suitably ramped-up reworkings by Aesthetische, Rotersand, Avarice In Audio, and Quanten Selbstmord. In particular the hard euphoric dance of Aesthetische's remix of 'Far From Pain', and the luxurious versions of 'A Sea Of Distance' and 'Far From Pain' by Rotersand and Quanten Selbstmord give the EP more oomph.

'Still Beating', as you'd expect from and Alfa Matrix act, is crisp and modern in its production style. Perfectly poised and executed for any club dancefloor. While the remixes compliment the emotional angle of the lead track but preserve the particular style of each of the remixing acts.

'Still Beating' is a great club track that has a strong emotional side to it, which will undoubtedly prove it to be a highlight in the band's future lives sets. It's a well rounded slice of synthpop that builds nicely on what the band achieved with their début, and drops a hint of what is yet to come. 

Read More

Review: Mondträume – 'Life Is Short'

MONDTRÄUME 

'Life Is Short' 

ALFA MATRIX 

Spanish duo Mondträume are the latest addition to the impressive back catalogue of synthpop bands fostered by the Alfa Matrix roster. With their mix of downbeat vocals and huge dance inducing melodies they are akin to not only the household name bands such as Depeche Mode and The Pet Shop Boys, but also acts like Covenant, Melotron and Pride And Fall.

The début EP is a fine manifesto of melancholic vocals, hard dance beats and memorable melodies. The title track kicks things off with a pure synthpop approach that is half 'Enjoy The Silence' and half 'It's A Sin'. The b-side, 'Parasite', continues down a dancier path courtesy of a Terrolokaust remix. It 's harder and arguably likelier to get more club play than the title track which is a solid choice to close a live set.

The EP is then rounded out by two further remixes of the title track. The first comes courtesy of Cosmic Armchair who imbibe it with the same club appeal as the previous track. While Electro Spectre go down a much more laid back path for some more introverted listening.

'Life Is Short' is a fine first offerring from what will undoubtedly become a regular name on the synthpop circuit. However it remains to be seen whether Mondträume have the goods to pull away from their label mates and inject something fresh into the scene.

Read More