Review: NTTX – 'Of Beauty And Chaos'

NTTX
'Of Beauty And Chaos'
WTII RECORDS

Toronto-based musician Gord Clement, formerly of Atomzero, returns with his latest outing under his NTTX moniker in the form of the 'Of Beauty And Chaos' EP. The EP picks up where the last EP 'Objective' left off and further refines Clement's dance-friendly blending of synthpop, ebm, and industrial.

There is a noticeable jump in quality and the songs are relentlessly infectious with their old school ebm bass lines and subtle leads combine with steady dance beats and Clement's melodic vocal range. Tracks such as 'MoveDark', 'Prey', and 'True' are the best examples of this formula, while 'Earth' throws a curve-ball with it's use of electric guitar, delicate airy synths and completely shifted focus towards intimate listening that shows the true scope of NTTX and is easily one of the strongest songs so far.

The EP is rounded off with an able remix of 'Falls Beautiful' from Rotersand that ups the club appeal of an already infectious track even more, before finally closing with a fun but ultimately unnecessary ebm/synthpop cover of 'Eye Of The Tiger' that doesn't quite work.

The production feels a little more polished than the last EP. It still has that classic old school sound running through it, but the focus is always on dance appeal and it knows when to kick it up a notch for good measure. Overall the sound of the EP feels a lot more cohesive and balanced which lets the songs do what they need to do.

This is another great EP from NTTX. There are some great dance tracks here, and 'Earth' in particular shows a lot of depth to the formula. One major criticism of the last EP was the safe vocal performance and here Clement is definitely pushing himself further in terms of varying his delivery. It will be interesting to see what direction a full-length NTTX release could possibly go in the future.  

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Review: nTTx – 'Objective EP'

NTTX
'Objective EP'
WTII RECORDS

nTTx craft a classic blend of industrial-tinged ebm meats synthpop. The project is the work of Toronto-based musician Gord Clement formerly of Atomzero. With only a single in the form of 'Falls Beautiful', a compilation appearance and a handful of remixes for other artists nTTX's début 'Objective EP' has a lot of ground to cover in order to make its mark. But with a sound that melds the rhythmic expertise of Nitzer Ebb with the likes of Spetsnaz, Cryo, and Covenant it looks like a place on the dancefloor is pretty much guaranteed.

Musically the tracks sit around a pretty solid core of classic ebm augmented by nice synthpop melodies and harder more aggressive industrial elements added when things need kicking-up a notch. It's a solid formula perfectly crafted for the dancefloor and the four tracks here perfectly illustrate that.

'Falls Beautiful' takes the lead with a straightforward blend of steady dance beats, ebm bass, catchy leads and sing-a-long vocals that show why this was an obvious choice for a single. 'cRave' follows with a more industrial leaning feel while keeping that pure ebm core intact for another infectious cut. 'Bastion' feels harder still with the vocals getting a bit more distorted and some nasty guitar sounds cropping up in the mix. While 'We Kissed' pulls out all the feels for an emotional and melodic closer that rounds the original tracks off nicely.

The remixes included courtesy of Stars Crusaders, Caustic and Kiss Is Kill who all add their own take to the originals. But in particular its Caustics stripped-down 'Teknotronikon' mix and Kiss Is Kill's throbbing club mixes of 'cRave' and 'Bastion' respectively that really do something fun with the source tracks.

Production-wise the EP is really well-constructed. The album is true to its dance-friendly core throughout and particularly those who enjoy the old-school industrial and ebm hits of the 90s will be able to dig this with ease. It's punchy and fresh, has that nice classic edge without falling into the trap of trying to sound dated.

There are some great tracks here and a hell of a lot of potential. There are a couple of points where I feel Clement could push himself further though to make nTTX a really great act. One is in the vocals, which sound a bit safe and turn of the millennium and could be varied up in terms of delivery. The second point is illustrated by the remixes somewhat. The core ebm structure of the songs is again a bit safe and particularly the final two remixes just go to show how different they can sound if Clement were to get a bit more experimental. But on the whole this is a damn catchy bunch of songs that will undoubtedly get his foot in the door and it will be interesting to see how this translates into a full-length release.  

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Introducing... nTTx

"There is a lot of talk about 'the scene is dying' or 'musicians are losing out' with regards to file sharing, streaming services etc. I am much more excited about these times than 20 years ago. Back then I would never have had the opportunity as an independent artist to reach fans all over the world as I can now." 

Name of Band: nTTx

Year Formed: 2015

Location: Toronto, Canada

nTTx is the new solo project of Gord Clement who was the former singer/songwriter for the band Atomzero (AnalogueTrash Records). His new sound is described as 'EBM with synthpop and disco influences'. The songs feature a strong vocal delivery of intelligent lyrics.

A single 'Falls Beautiful' with a b-side (Depeche Mode cover) was released in May 2015.

It is available as a FREE download via nttx.bandcamp.com. It is also available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and most other streaming services.

This song is from his upcoming début EP to be released in the fall of 2015.

Live shows with custom programmed lighting will begin with the EP release.

Intravenous Magazine: Who are you and how did the band/project come to be formed?

nTTx is just myself, Gord Clement (occasionally my cat helps). Up until a few months ago I was the lead singer and song writing partner in the band Atomzero. My original intention with nTTx was to be a side project and do some fun cover songs and a few originals as an outlet for my own creativity aside from my main focus which was Atomzero. However, my partner and I had some unresolvable issues so I made the difficult decision to leave. nTTx then became my full time project.

IVM: How would you describe your sound/style, and how did you arrive at it?

This project is going to be more of an EBM theme with a little bit of synthpop and even disco elements! I don't like to pigeon-hole myself into one sound, so some songs may be more synthpop whereas others may be more aggressive EBM type stuff.  My vocals will also vary, as I like to do both soft/emotional runs along with some harder stuff. I really enjoy listening to albums that vary in style. I don't like when every song sounds the same. I'm also making a return to a more basic form of writing and production as I did back in the '80 when I wrote electronic music in my bedroom (because there were limits with gear back then). Recently, technology has allowed us to compose with unlimited tracks and effects, I've made the decision to keep nTTx as simple as possible, returning to the way I did things years ago. It's a more stripped back way of writing than what I've been doing in the last several years.

IVM: Who and what are your primary influences both musical and non-musical? 

The first time I heard Kraftwerk (a glow in the dark 12" of The Model, Trans Europe Express and Neonlights) I knew that this was my calling. My friends in the auto-industry blue collar town I was raised in would make fun of me for always talking about "synthesizers" when they talked about Camaros and dirtbikes and beer. I eventually was pulled into the punk scene as a drummer, but always retained my true robotic soul underneath it all. When I heard Der Mussolini and Alle Gegen Alle by DAF, I knew the future path I needed to take. Song writing inspiration strikes in so many different ways. Sometimes it's an update to any one of the many bits of software I use, learning a new feature... sometimes it's a bit of random chaos as I happen upon by absolute user error. Generally I let all things flow through and onto a recording and then later figure out how they need to sit together. Almost like channelling an unknown force that writes through me.

IVM: Do you perform live and if so where can we see you perform in the near future?

Performing live is what I look forward to the most. It's a major reason why I do this. I come from a family of performers and it's in my DNA (I have photos as a toddler performing in front of my family). I have my line-up set: keyboards will be Lance (The Grey Disorder) and Mike (previous live drummer for Atomzero). We are starting rehearsals soon and will start playing when the EP comes out this fall. I always put everything into my live shows and strive to give a stadium worthy show even if it's in a small club. I have my own lighting rigs which I've programmed to flow with the music.

IVM: What is your current release and where is it available from?

The first single 'Falls Beautiful' from my début EP is out now and available as a free download from nttx.bandcamp.com. It also includes a b-side cover of 'New Dress' by Depeche Mode. I've modernized the lyrics to reflect the current times. It's also available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and all the usual streaming services.

IVM: What have been the highlights of your career so far?

The highlights of my career so far have been playing Edgefest in Toronto (large outdoor music festival) with my previous band 'Riddle Me This'. It was a more alternative rock outfit in the mid '90s. Also, last year after releasing our debut album 'Symbiosis', Atomzero was signed within 3 months to Analogue Trash records out of the UK. We put a lot of work into that album and spent a lot of time doing promotion for it. It was nice to get the recognition for our work.

IVM: What are your plans for the future?

I'm presently finishing up the final tweaks and mixes for the upcoming debut EP which should be out this fall. I'm also doing some remix work for other artists which should be out soon as well.

IVM: Finally, is there anything that you would like to add?

There is a lot of talk about 'the scene is dying' or 'musicians are losing out' with regards to file sharing, streaming services etc. I am much more excited about these times than 20 years ago. Back then I would never have had the opportunity as an independent artist to reach fans all over the world as I can now. It's been very rewarding to get the feedback that someone in a far off place is enjoying my music. Unless you were a big name band back then, that wouldn't have happened. This is a great era we are in now, being able to reach a global audience on our own.

Links:

Website: nttxmusic.com

Bandcamp: nttx.bandcamp.com

Facebook: facebook.com/nttxmusic

Twitter: twitter.com/nttxmusic

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/nttxmusic

Youtube: youtube.com/c/nttxmusic

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