CODE ELEKTRO - Live At The Radar Station
Review by KIZUNAUT
CODE ELEKTRO is the synthwave project of Martin Ahm from Denmark. From 2015 onwards he has managed to build a global fanbase as well as reach critical acclaim within his home country. Stylistically, Code Elektro has leaned on the more soundtrack-inspired side of synthwave, citing the soundtracks of movies such as Blade Runner and TRON: Legacy as an inspiration. Describing his music as “Dystopian science fiction atmospheres, neon Skylines and eternal cyberpunk nights with acid rain,” Code Elektro does indeed deliver in science fiction ambience. His albums seem to have certain theming to them: 2019’s Never Mind the Solar Wind had a decidedly space-oriented sci-fi sound to it, while 2017’s Triad had a kind of asian flavor to it.
As one can surmise from the title, Live at the Radar Station is however a live album, a rarity in the synthwave genre. Gigs in themselves are a rarity in the era of Covid lockdowns, so this album is a rare creature indeed. For the performance Martin put together a live band, with a guitarist and a drummer joining him onstage. The performance was recorded in Radar, a venue in Aarhus, Denmark, giving the album its name.
Performing and recording live music is wholly an art of its own, and the team involved with this effort has succeeded well in both. The tracks are mostly quite faithful to their album counterparts and represent Code Elektro’s four-album catalogue rather evenly. The biggest difference probably lies in the addition of guitar to tracks that didn’t have it before, sometimes playing leads or more drawn-out atmospheric passages, sometimes serving in the rhythm role. The drummer brings his own human touch and adds little flourishes to the songs. All musicians involved appear to be quite the seasoned pros at performing.
The recording side of things is executed with stellar success. I can only speculate whether this was recorded from the mixer or from the hall or perhaps both, but the occasional audience noises hint at their being at least some hall recording mixed in. Whatever the case, it sounds great. The largest difference production-wise between these live recording and the album versions is mostly that there seems to be a bit more “air” in the tracks, perhaps headroom, perhaps ambient reverb from the venue in them, but I find it actually quite fitting for Code Elektro’s soundtrack-ish style.
On the visual side of things, the album cover recycles the cool, kind of biomechanical dragon head design from the Triads album. While it’s a nice design, I feel like the album would have benefited from a visual identity of its own. I was also surprised to see that only one song from the performance has a video of it uploaded as of writing this review. Perhaps there is more coming, but if not, then it feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity.
The album begins with the ethereal pads and throbbing bass lines of Wolf, an apparent fan favorite from Code Elektro. A groovy hi-hat pattern comes, the bass lines modulates into a gnarly, throaty sound, and a brief silence leads to the main body of the track, with a vocal-like lead synth casting a melody that feels like a call to an adventure. The track strips itself down, offering a variation of the main lead before moving into a buildup towards a pretty sweet guitar solo. After the solo finishes, the track moves into a section dominated by the lead melody, leading into a brief outro with guitar taking the lead role once again. A great opener and one of my favorites from the set.
N3on begins with a curious-sounding, sharp synth sequence. The synth sequence slides into the background as the song opens up, with deep synth bass, distorted rhythm guitar and thin square synth melodies serving as the backbone. There is a somewhat melancholic, fateful sound to it all, the melancholia strengthened by the moderate tempo of the song. A brief interlude featuring remote synth strings and stabs of synthetic piano leads to the main body of the track repeating, this time with an extra synth lead that evolves into a wildly squirming, heavily modulated beast. Another interlude comes in, featuring a steady bass arp and distant choir synths before moving into one last repeat of the track’s main part.
Night Train opens with a slow, steady, heavy bass arp and high-pitched shifting modulated synth melody. They are soon joined by staccato rhythm guitar and a sharp arp. Drums come in while the lead keeps on playing and the track slowly layers atmospheric elements on top of the synths, drums and guitars. An interlude featuring a synth that recalls a hybrid of an electric piano and an organ comes in, other elements giving way for this brief passage before the lead and other elements come in again. Taken from the Triads album, it shares the vaguely asian atmosphere of the album.
A sharp bass arp kicks off Never Mind the Solar Wind. A filter sweep leads to the main body of the track, and the arp is joined by rhythm guitar and drums. Hollow synth melodies, needle-sharp synth staccatos, airy choir pads and heavily modulated samples talking about an “expedition” color the track. Towards the end there is a section with a heavily modulated synth lead. The track has a very sci-fi, kind of mysterious sound to it all.
Gnarly, swooshing synths, rhythm guitars, a toothy PWM bass line and a drum buildup kick off Driving On the Moon. The track is quite atmospheric, and relatively sparse, with low-key synth leads and occasional passes of very resonant synth stabs. An otherworldly interlude with distant voice samples leads into the main body of the track repeating again, this time with extra synth leads, including a whistling, almost theremin-like lead. It shares the spacey vibe of the previous track.
The live set explores further space themes with Cosmonaut’s Dream, which opens with deep synth basses, a melodic arp and a drum beat. Slow waves of distorted guitars and an almost organ-like, flanged synth lead give the track character. The track has a chorus with a very beautiful, resolute melody featuring a piano-like instrument as an extra element. A sparser section with a kind of hollow sounding synth and filter-sweeping passes of synth bass follows, before the main body of the track repeats, this time with some alterations to the melody. The chorus repeats, in extended form, slowly stripping itself down. One of my favorites from the set.
From Cosmonaut’s Dream we move to Cyber Dreams, which quickly builds itself into a satisfying mix of bouncing bass lines, resonant synth sweeps and choir-like and saw-synth leads taking turns casting atmosphere. Judging by the sound of it, these cyber dreams have their sinister side. There’s a drum solo over a low bass drone at the halfway point, leading to the main body of the track repeating, this time with alterations to the synth melodies.
Digitron opens with a low, modulating bass arp and almost distorted-sounding passes of synth melody. Heavier synth stabs backed by guitar come, as does a slow, intermittent bass line. Bell-like synths twinkle in the background and theremin-like synth wails come in. A stripped-down interlude featuring bell-like twinkles and a gnarly-synth sequence that has loomed in the background comes in. The main body repeats, leading to another interlude, and the main body repeating once more before the track ends.
A hollow synth pad and a flanging synth sequence serve as the intro buildup to Propulsion Drive. The track kicks into life, featuring staccato rhythm guitar, a deep bass line and splashes of sharp, remote synth lead. An ascending-descending lead comes in, building towards an interlude featuring cosmic swooshes and remote voice samples. The main body of the track repeats, this time with a brief pause where other instruments give way to the bass, before the ascending-descending synth pattern comes in again, this time with some extra flourishes. There’s a sense of motion fitting the name in this track.
Binary Prophecy begins with crystalline synth sweeps and swirls of percussion and arps. An unusual, distorted lead synth comes in and leads the track to a section dominated by a low PWM bass line that turns into an extended buildup. Guitars, arps, swirling percs come slowly in. The crystalline swirling synths come back in, joined by modulated, high-pitched synth leads. The bass grows in intensity, opening up. Further leads come in and the track crescendos in a swirling mass of synths before ending, and ending the album with it.
Overall, the album is a fantastic treat for longtime fans of Code Elektro and a good introduction to his work for those who have not yet heard of it. Code Elektro’s slower, more atmospheric, soundtrack-influenced style may not be for everyone, but those who enjoy a good fix of sci-fi ambience will enjoy this album and further journeys into Code Elektro’s discography. Judging by this album, Code Elektro has translated their sound into live environment with success, and I for one will gladly go see them play live if I ever get the chance.
For more Code Elektro, visit codelektro.com