KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
Label: A Low Hum
Verdict: 80s beats and fun from digital pop master
Girls, there really is only one thing to do. Strap on that double belt and get down. And boys, make like Simon Le Bon, pull on that one leather glove, and join them.
And as Disasteradio (made up of Wellington's Luke Rowell and his computer) says, "I hope you are compatible with digital pop".
Yes, there are moments on Visions that conjure up Body Electric's Pulsing, and Believe In Yourself recalls Take On Me, but this is the sound of 80s fun without the lashings of cheese.
Rowell's secret? Ensuring he indulges his wild obsession with synth pop and new wave but teams it with the inventiveness and credibility of German humanoids Kraftwerk on stealth tracks like Marathon and Stairdancer. Plus, there's a humanness brought out by his tongue-in-cheek humour which shows there really is blood flowing through this computer-generated music. When he says, via a laidback vocoder vocal, "we're gonna have some fun, we're feeling awesome cause the day is young", you really do feel awesome.
Visions is more interesting and less irritating than the farts and bleeps Daft Punk have come up with. If anything, Disasteradio's sound may date but this is his sixth album and it's sounding better than ever.
