Ladytron appreciation topic
This is an appreciation topic about one of my all time favorite bands, Ladytron. Post here anything you find interesting about them (opinions, live videos, reviews, etc).
How did you discover them? What's your favorite album? Favorite song(s)? Favorite music video(s)? Have you ever seen them live? Have you ever met them? Similar artists? Disappointing albums/songs? Discuss.
Notes:
1. Haters not invited here. Thanks.
2. Never heard of them? Check Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladytron
- Relevant artist taggings:
- Ladytron »[x]
- The Moody Blues »[x]
- Depeche Mode »[x]
- Mira Aroyo »[x]
- Helen Marnie »[x]
- Reuben Wu »[x]
- Daniel Hunt »[x]
- Ladytron - Gravity the Seducer
- In Photos: Ladytron @ St. Georges Church, Liverpool
- Spotifriday #83: This Week as a Playlist ft. Battles, Tom Waits, Strokes, Pixies, Austra
- Ladytron - Best of Ladytron 00-10
- This Week's Singles: 14/03/11
- DiS meets Ladytron
- In Photos: Standon Calling 2009
- Ladytour: electro-poppers announce UK dates
Ladytron
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Brilliant band! one of my faves too
I saw them live last year here in Chile and it was great! the sound was a bit disappointing though, all the songs tended to sound way too similar, but the crowd was one of the craziest I've ever seen so it was a lot of fun! and my favorite album is either 604 or Witching Hour, depending on the mood I guess. Gravity the Seducer is fine but it obviously didn't reach the same heights their previous albums did. And favorite song hmmm... maybe Beauty*2, with Startup Chime coming in a close second.
The problem with Gravity the Seducer is that isn't as diverse as the previous albums. It feels like a concept album.
At first I was a bit disappointed but now I love it. Highlights for me are Mirage, White Gold, Ritual, Altitude Blues, Melting Ice, and Ninety Degrees.
Loved both of their first two records
Never saw them live or bought any latter output though. How did it compare?
quite different
at least to the extent that I don't really rate the first two albums. Witching Hour and Velocifero are their best, imo. They're more gutsier, I think, than the first two.
The next 3 albums are even better...
After their second album Ladytron improved their sound a lot almost "over night". Their sound became more complex, rockier and simply better.
Ladytron's third album, "Witching Hour" (2005), is considered their best by many fans (including me). I think it's a flawless masterpiece and the best electronic music album of '00s. The band was influenced especially by MBV's "Loveless" (the song "Soon" was previously included in their 2003 mix compilation "Softcore Jukebox").
Their fourth album, "Velocifero" (2008), is excellent but not quite as good as WH. In 2007 Ladytron were the opening act of some Nine Inch Nails and also remixed two Nine Inch Nails songs. Alessandro Cortini (NIN keyboardist) & Vicarious Bliss helped them to produce "Velocifero". That influenced the overall sound of this album, which is louder and faster.
"Gravity the Seducer" (2011) was their fifth album. I think this is the most underrated Ladytron record so far. Some fans were disappointed by the mellow sound of this album. GTS require a bit more patience because it's not as instant as any of the previous 4 albums.
So, I highly recommend you to check these 3 albums. If you will really like them, these are the kind of albums that you will play them a lot over the years.
Here's a list of singles released by Ladytron after "Light & Magic":
//Witching Hour
Sugar: http://vimeo.com/7302674
Destroy Everything You Touch: http://vimeo.com/7302469 (their signature song)
//Velocifero
Ghosts: http://vimeo.com/6748406
Runaway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHMynl9QX7g
Tomorrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_BSfkTFQ4M
//Gravity the Seducer
Ace of Hz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84_3CCqvljA
White Elephant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cKEy0BFfQw
Mirage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mSFL3h9Lgw
Enjoy!
Nice one, thanks fella
Will investigate. Appreciate the links too, always handy...
!
There are only 2 singles from "Witching Hour" because their label at the time didn't care about them. This album deserves extra attention, so here are 5 more songs (that worth a lot of listens):
High Rise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cthyuyJEvBI (Fantastic! It blew my mind when I first listened to it. Turn UP the volume)
International Dateline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaO3AXaiTIc (TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me" instrumental is almost the same)
Beauty*2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbhmjkp6gTc (incredible beautiful song)
Fighting in Built Up Areas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbZL8b9pl3c (an excellent driving song; vocals by Mira Aroyo)
Whitelightgenerator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSqH3x4BAtw (what a song!)
Actually I can post all songs from that album... :)
I've always been surprised...
...that they didn't become massive - their sound is certainly populist enough to and all of the band are easy on the eye. They seem to deliberately keep a relatively low profile, particularly between albums/their always short tours.
That said, I've seen them live about 10 times and they are always slightly disappointing. I guess that the power of the music mixed with the fragility of the vocal that they achieve on record is just too difficult to manage live.
It seems that the vocals are usually too low in the mix and instruments are too loud. And I think that Helen Marnie wasn't too confident on stage. But they improved a lot during the years.
Anyway they're the kind of band that sound better on record than live. But that's fine for me, because the albums are more important.
Just an example of recent live performance (HQ videos): http://www.mtviggy.com/videos/ladytron-white-gold-live/ & http://www.mtviggy.com/videos/ladytron-destroy-everything-you-touch-live/
I've a lot of love for Ladytron
especially Light And Magic, Witching Hour and Velocifero.
However, I am in the camp that thinks that they may have creatively shot their bolt and that they need to shake things up a bit. Gravity The Seducer is very blah and the last couple of tours have felt a bit by-the-numbers too.
The single version of 'Blue Jeans'
>than the album version by about a million %
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcMjJUpcxeA
Love 604
and am firmly of the opinion 'Playgirl' is about the most perfect song ever recorded. Have never really bothered with any of the albums after that though, i found the secondd album a little samey and too long which kind of killed my interest in them. Saw them live a few times around that time though and always enjoyed them.
Had a weird moment after i got into them though, back in the mid 90s i was seeing a girl, her brother was at uni in sheffield and used to run a club night up there, we went up for the weekend for the first one, went to a houseparty on the Friday night, the club on the Saturday. Her brothers mate that DJd the house party and was his partner in the club night was a fella called Reuben..
Destroy Everything You Touch
One of the great all time lost-singles. Should have been huge and I never fail to find it an incredibly exciting song.
Like most of their albums but Witching Hour is the best. Particularly for Destroy, beauty and All The Way. Which is why I found the last album disappointing, as I don't mind them doing mellow or low key, but they've done it better elsewhere.
Always enjoyed them live. Best time though was a very short set at the Popstarz club night just before Witching Hour came out. As ever, some of the best gigs are when you're standing among gay men off their heads trying to rush the stage. Even the band were smiling.
DEYT is a monster
an absolute monster.
The only problem with it is that it makes everything else Ladytron has done/will do seem a bit lightweight by comparison. Even Ghosts, which is probably the closest they've come to capturing the power of DEYT, left me a little disappointed when it first came out.
Na
High Rise, Weekend and Deep Blue are tunes.
Sure, they're all great songs
but they're all third or lower to DEYT (and Ghosts) nevertheless.
I actually prefer them of Destroy Everything You Touch
I find it a tad repetitive.
I agree with robluvsnic
DEYT and Ghosts make a lot of their other stuff feel distinctly inferior
DEYT is fantastic
But they have more songs on that level: High Rise, International Dateline, Beauty*2, Ghosts, Deep Blue, Seventeen, Playgirl. These songs (and few others) don't feel weaker compared to Destroy Everything You Touch.
they do to me
which, again, isn't to say that I don't think they're all fantastic tunes. I'm just saying that I find DEYT so fucking HUGE that it casts its shadow over everything else Ladytron has done.
Yeah I know what you're saying
I just think it's wrong. I think Deep Blue is just as massive as DEYT.
Maybe I'm selling Deep Blue (and Ghosts) short
Either way, I really want to listen to Velocifero again right now.
I really like them
witching hour is probably my favourite, but they're all good. bit miffed that they haven't bothered playing live in the uk since gravity the seducer came out though, would have liked to see how the songs work out live.
I love Ladytron.
Used to have a girlfiend that was the spit of Helen as well. That was good. Their best song is Fighting In Built Up Areas. Haven't a clue what she's on about in it but I enjoy singing along anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbZL8b9pl3c
Translation of the Bulgarian lyrics in "Fighting in Built Up Areas"
It's over
I'm not waiting for the spring
The bridge is closed
No smoke seen but the fire's burning
The sun is rising but nothing's lightened
No smoke seen but the fire's burning
No smoke seen but the fire's burning
The rails flow together
The road is disappearing again
No smoke seen but the fire's burning
It's over
What for, for what... it's over (x3)
You sat to have a dinner, but you don`t throw a world
No smoke seen but the fire's burning
It dawns, it shines again...you don`t throw...
No smoke seen but the fire's burning
You hide fingers in your pocket
No smoke seen but the fire's burning
You seek a shadow on the sun
You find the shadow
No smoke seen but the fire's burning
And the original lyrics: http://www.metrolyrics.com/fighting-in-built-up-areas-lyrics-ladytron.html
"Fighting in Built Up Areas" was one of the titles that Ladytron initially considered for "Witching Hour".
PS: Check also this cool video for Fighting in Built Up Areas made by fan using videos from NFS game: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/377300/ladytron_fighting_in_built_up_areas_nfsc_video/
You have a frightening obsession
with promoting Ladytron.
I'm one of their biggest fan, that's why
Also they seems quite ignored. The DiS forum is full of Radiohead & The Beatles topics and nobody say that people who post about them have "frightening obsession". Right?
Also...
Do you have a problem with that? Like or not, I can write whatever I want.
Not a problem
You just seem a bit fanboy/girl-ish. Sure there are mentions of The Beatles and Radiohead in other appreciative threads but you just seem infatuated with Ladytron in an over the top manner. There are other bands out there you know!
The dude edits their Wikipedia page
And possibly runs a fansite too. Deep Blue is a Ladytron song, obvs. Does seem a bit brand ambassador-y, but Ladytron are ace so it's OK.
LT is not the only band I like...
There are many. But as I said, LT seem a bit ignored. And I didn't open tons of topics about this band, just this one. A "poor" topic don't hurt anyone.
Also I'm not "a bit fanboy/girl-ish". I just like this band. If you're offended, ignore my posts and move on.
"Sure there are mentions of The Beatles and Radiohead in other appreciative threads"
There are tons of The Beatles and Radiohead topics since DiS forum opened (not counting the simple mentions in various topics). Go ahead, see for yourself.
Compare (incl. mentions):
Ladytron (18 results pages): http://drownedinsound.com/community/search?q=ladytron&commit=Search
Radiohead (256 results pages): http://drownedinsound.com/community/search?q=radiohead&commit=Search
The Beatles (132 results pages): http://drownedinsound.com/community/search?q=beatles&commit=Search
The difference is obvious.
Who the fuck said I was offended?
I'm offended now, so what? Why don't you move on and ignore my posts?
I have the right to post on this board... I'm a living symbol of entitlement!
Did you see the word "IF" in my previous post?
What the fuck is wrong with you?
Rant over.
You didn't really rant at me
It wasn't long enough.
Few months ago I noticed an interesting thing.
The album titles are usually hidden in the lyrics:
604 - "I'm With the Pilots" ("six-oh-four / Belgian teachers and the cosmonauts")
Light & Magic - "Light & Magic" ("Left on the lights, is there somebody home, light and magic")
Witching Hour - "Soft Power" ("Daylight is the enemy / Witching hour, soft power")
Velocifero - the only exception. But Reuben Wu said that they made a song "Velocifero" that was skipped from the album's final version. I bet that song included the word "velocifero" somewhere in the lyrics
Gravity the Seducer - "Ninety Degrees" ("I don't know where you've been, out on the sand with medusa,/ and not busy with fighting gravity, the seducer")
Also I did some research and I found the meanings of some song titles:
"Mu-Tron" - the name of Musitronics, often shortened to Mu-tron, that was a manufacturer of electronic musical effects active in the 1970s.
"CSKA Sofia" - a Bulgarian football club.
"Commodore Rock" - a reference to the 80s computer Commodore 64.
"Zmeyka" - in Slavic mythology, the word “zmey” and its cognates zmiy and zmaj, are used to describe a dragon.
"CMYK" - Cyan Magenta Yellow Black, a subtractive color model used in color printing.
"Soft Power" - a concept developed by Joseph Nye to describe the ability to attract and co-opt rather than coerce and rather than using force or money as a means of persuasion. Not 100% sure if Ladytron used "soft power" with this meaning.
"Kletva" - which means "oath" is a cover of a song from a solo album by Kiril Marichkov of Bulgarian rock band Shturtzite.
"Deep Blue" - the supercomputer that beat the chess master Garry Kasparov in 1997.
"Ace of Hz" - could mean "ace of hearts" or "ace of hertz" or both.
"White Elephant" - an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth.
Clever titles! :)
I recommend you check out Shturtzite (or otherwise spelt Shturcite)
Classic Bulgarian rock band - Beatles inspired, but with a rock heart
I was obsessed by them but am not so much anymore.
My personal zenith with them was 604 and Light and Magic both of which i listened to like a proper fanboy. I have enjoyed their later albums, but prefer individual songs more than the albums as a whole. I sort of preferred their electro sound than their gothy sound. Still think they are one of the best and most consistent British bands of the last decade. And as Robluvsnic pointed out, Destroy Everything You Touch is an absolute monster of a song! Thre cheeres for Ladytron! Hip Hip (etc.)
had to do a note for note remake
of the song AMTV for my Music Technology AS level coursework. it quickly became my least favourite song. horrific song. i hate Ladytron for that, and i guess i always will.
:)
Leave the hate behind! I suggest you to check their other songs. You might be surprised. Start here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ladytron
Daniel Hunt will produce Helen Marnie' solo album
"Just confirmed that I'll be producing Helen Marnie's solo album in August. We've chosen to record it in Iceland."
From http://twitter.com/Daniel_IV_/status/205741417044262912
Am I right in thinking that Gravity The Seducer has no songs in Bulgarian on it?
Boo, just as I was making a Bulgarian playlist:
Commodore Rock
True Mathematics
Nu-Horizons
Fighting In Built-Up Areas
Black Cat
Kletva
Bit of a short playlist, I'll admit
Add "Nothing to Hide" from Extended Play and "NuHorizons" from Light & Magic.
Also "Discotraxx" also contains some Bulgarian words.
Sorry
NuHorizons was already in the list.
Live DVD soon
Anyone interested?
"We're editing our live DVD today. Will be available for pre-order exclusively through our site. More news soon. XXXX"
(from their Facebook page)
I approve of the way...
...that you are almost single-handedly keeping this thread.
Not so sure that I approve of the live DVD so much though - see my earlier reservations about their live performances.
Well, I'm the biggest fan around here.
Regarding their live performances: they improved a lot during the years. Check some of their recent concerts on Youtube to see what I mean.
Saw them at The Forum last year...
...and thought that they had actually gone backwards in terms of performance. It's so frustrating as I love them on record so much.
Sorry to hear that
What thing you didn't like about their performance? Stage presence, sound quality, voices, instrumentals, how the songs sounded live, anything else?
I've always found that they struggle to balance...
...the delicacy of Helen's vocal with the power of the music. Was particularly disappointed by the stage presence/lack of interraction between the band members.
They're a bit like Kraftwerk
Ladytron have many dancey songs but they prefer to stay quite motionless (with the exception of Helen and sometimes of Mira). They always had been like that.
And regarding that balance you mentioned: I've heard that sometimes they had bad sound engineers that made bad mixing of their sound. Sometimes the instruments sounded a lot louder than vocals.
Kraftwerk improved a lot their quite boring show of a 4 static musicians on stage with a huge screen behind them with excellent visuals. I've seen them live in 2009 and they were incredible.
Ladytron definitely should use more visuals on their shows.
I love Kraftwerk live...
...although I'm not sure that there's anyone else that could pull off the visual effect of four elderly gentleman standing behind laptops. I agree that more visuals would be a boost for Ladytron live - maybe the problem is more with my expectation, if they are aiming for cool detachment on stage then they certainly achieve it.
I'm not sure how I discovered them
it might have been after watching the video to "Seventeen" but then I'm sure 604 was the first album I listened to so who knows.
My favourite song, is either "Destroy Everything You Touch" (bit obvious but it really is fantastic, great video too) or "Another Breakfast With You" (possibly one of the most perfect electro-pop songs I've heard). Never seen them live but, I kind of feel like they might suit a studio setting more, that said I've thought that about bands before and been pleasantly surprised.
Great band.
Which made it all the more painful to accept that I couldn't really get into last year's GtS.
Really felt they'd dropped the ball on that one.
They tried something different
If they succeeded or not, that's subjective.
I really enjoy to listen to GTS.
Never been able to fall in love with them during a long play, though they have singles that are awesome
Saw them a long time ago in a small dingy club in Cardiff (supporting Elbow during Asleep in the back era) and they were great
Ladytron - Playgirl has one of my favourite ever remixes
Felix da Housecat does a remix of this - the Felix Thee GrooveRetro remix is a great example of how a remix can take a song to a new level
"Playgirl" (Snap Ant remix) is another amazing remix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y89163HXjww
It sounds like a Global Communication remix.