Technomancer – The Outsider (Sub Culture Records)

English:CD-review
  Van Muylem    9 september 2018

Technomancer (retro electronical/synth project from A. Digre) launched a new EP this summer: all covers of great songs with even greater collaborations! Due to holidays in the sun it took us some time before we could review it, so here we go:


The first track is the best one on this EP; Stephan Groth from Apoptygma Berzerk comes out to play and works together with Angst Pop (off course, next to A. Digre) to create a killer track: Puppets. Written by Vince Clarke, known from his work with Depeche ModePuppets is one of those tracks that requires a specific approach to make it great again. In my humble opinion they truly did so, case in point the old school synths combined with a catchy tune that provide a song that's being re-created in a 2018 style. It's clear that time can improve certain things. 

The next cover is Sister In The Navy from Rational Youth, that Canadian Synthpop band. Once again a collaboration with Angst Pop (Tracy Howe is the composer. The original is from 1985 and you'll notice that this is a catchy and cool 2018 reboot. Enter Sleepwalk from Midge ure (Ultravox), that song with they catchy whispering part. The whispering aspect stays but the song got an electronic treatment. The last track is Outsider, which is a nice tribute to Psyche. I enjoyed the extra guitars and gothic minded sounds in the vocals. 

Throughout this EP, Technomancer makes these songs their own by using their own typical synths and electronic drums, giving these songs a very personal touch. 

Weird that they do not get the right attention as most other webzine's don't review this. In my humble opinion, they do deserve getting noticed, even when the material on this EP isn't their own. They make it their own, and that's not easy to do.