EQUATRONIC for Ender

Members:
Dirk Gerlach -keyboards, vocals
Oliver Thom -vocals, programming

Country:
Germany
Genre:
Electronic
Style:
Synth-pop

















SHADOWLAND (1997)

Credits:
Composed By - Christian Scherer (tracks: 11) , Oliver Thom/ Lyrics By - Christian Scherer (tracks: 2 to 5, 7, 8, 11 to 13) , Oliver Thom (tracks: 1, 5, 6, 9, 10)/ Producer -Equatronic
Producer, Mixed By, Recorded By - Frank Becker (tracks: 1 to 4, 6, 9 to 13) , Rolf Latz (tracks: 5, 7, 8)

Tracklist :

01 Nightmare (3:12)
02 Assistant Views (3:30)
03 Follow Your Mind (3:33)
04 Shadowland (4:18)
05 Late Night Show (3:22)
06 Silent Sea (3:34)
07 Close To You (3:25)
08 Searing Eyes (3:40)
09 Awake (3:56)
10 No Tomorrow (5:39)
11 Tango (2:55)
12 Blue (3:29)
13 Far Away (4:04)

Link to download:
http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=503c727eb83ba46d3c89091336b9fa9e


















MOTIVATION (1998)

Credits:
Composed By - Dorothea Brandt (tracks: 2, 4 to 6, 8, 9, 11, 12) , Oliver Thom/ Lyrics By - Christian Scherer (tracks: 4, 7, 8) , Dorothea Brandt (tracks: 2, 6, 9, 11) , Oliver Thom (tracks: 1 to 3, 5, 10 to 12)/ Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By, Mastered By - Equatronic , Frank Becker/
Vocals, Keyboards - Dorothea Brandt/ Vocals, Programmed By, Noises - Oliver Thom
Notes:
Tracks 13-16 are labeled as Bonus Tracks.

Tracklist :

01 The Queen Is Dead (3:48)
02 Shy (3:53)
03 Romance For The Broken Heart (3:53)
04 Paradise Eight (3:40)
05 Stay (3:58)
06 God's Army (3:36)
07 A Girl I Loved (3:00)
08 Time (3:52)
09 Light (3:50)
10 Xenophobia (3:39)
11 Always The Same (3:15)
12 The End (3:19)
13 Searing Eyes (Remix) (3:37)
14 Shame (3:49)
15 Moonspell (3:39)
16 Human Area (3:04)

Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/11826628/e-motivation.rar.html

"... and yes, I do consider this MOST delightful. This is light, poppy synth music, every bit in the tradition of Erasure. Most enjoyable from start to end.
As an introduction, Equatronic are a two-piece synth outfit from Germany, Oliver Thom and Dorothea Brandt. Their musical influences are very strongly with 80's synthpop, with a few unique twists.
I first heard of this duo when I found some mp3's on their website. I downloaded them, and was so impressed I felt I had to get their album. So here goes ...
Now for the album's highlights ... "Paradise Eight", is very original. The vocals are ethereal, almost spooky, the lyrics taking on a religious sense almost ("Angels gone asray in heaven, in the garden of delight"). Almost reminds me of some of Erasure's stuff off of "I Say, I Say, I Say". Dorothea's backing vocals border at times almost on the operatic.
"Light" ... easily the strongest track on the album. Again with the religious-themed lyrics a bit, this one has a chorus that is instantly rewarding and that you can sing along with. This one just makes you want to move, and it burns itself into your brain with just one listen ... VERY joyful.
"Romance for the broken heart" is a bittersweet ballad about the end of a romantic relationship, a sad resignation and acceptance of the inevitable. Sad love ballads have always appealed to me for some reason, probably due to personal experience.
"The End" is atypical, Dorothea takes over the lead vocals, and she effects a vocal performance that very much recalls the Cocteau Twins. We have here, an analogueish ballad, very ambient, and for good measure Dorothea even plays a flute.
At the end of the album are four "bonus tracks", which are themselves tracks originally from the band's 1993 release "Shadowland" which was never released in the USA.The production values on these are slightly lower, but these are quality tracks.
The whole album is just wonderful. I'm a fan of Erasure style pop music, and I very much recommend you give this a listen if your tastes are similar to mine. You will not be disappointed."

More review:
http://www.music-city.org/Equatronic/




















PLAS:TIQUE (2001)

Tracklist:

01 Eisberg (3:47)
02 Where (4:02)
03 Prayer (3:12)
04 Future (3:28)
05 Heart Of Stone (4:06)
06 Kiss My Feet (4:00)
07 Seven Spaces (3:32)
08 Shake It (3:10)
09 Blind Spot (3:26)
10 Summer Song (3:14)
11 Scar (3:27)
12 Startlight (3:44)

Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/11929359/e-plastique.rar.html

"If you told me the first four tracks off Equatronic's new LP, Plas:tique, were actually session outtakes from Erasure's 1991 album Chorus, I wouldn't doubt you for a minute. From the bouncy synthesizer arpeggios, to the chord progressions, to vocalist Oliver Thom's uncannily Bell-like vibrato, the resemblance is downright spooky (and, to Equatronic's credit, the recording quality is also up to Erasure's pristine specs). In fact, the only indication that this might not be an Erasure disc comes from the occasional, operatic hook sung by Equatronic co-vocalist Dorothea Brandt ("funny… I don't remember Erasure collaborating with a female vocalist…how odd…").Thankfully, Plas:tique begins to stray further and further from Erasure's domain on the following tracks, growing progressively more interesting in the process. "Heart of Stone" (for which a video - featuring a bald-headed, bug-eyed puppet - is included as an enhanced CD track) has a similar feel to the earlier songs, up until its decidedly un-Erasure-like chorus. "Kiss My Feet" is as amusing as it sounds, while the cut "Let's Shake It Again" is a ridiculously giddy New Wave bopper with goofy lyrics that suggest this German duo may have been absent the day they taught sexual innuendo in English class ("Let's shake it again / tomorrow night we won't be lovers"). "Seven Spaces" gives Dorothea a chance to show off on lead vocals, and "Summer Song" comes off like an evil Christmas carol with its Little-Drummer-Boy snare rolls, Hungarian violin drones, and We-Three-Kings minor-key chanting.Yet, despite these intriguing digressions, I still can't get over the fact that Plas:tique makes me think more about listening to Erasure in high school than it does about listening to Equatronic in the here and now. Hopefully, Equatronic will one day bring their own, submerged identity more to the fore, so that such will not be the case on future releases."
(http://www.pluginmusic.com/features/100unnatural.php?page=review_equatronic_1)

"This is the third full length album by the German SynthPoP band Equatronic that comes with 12 brand new tracks and 1 QuickTime Video for the song "Heart of Stone". The songs on Plas:tique are 'equatronic-like' very melodic and can't conceal a little Erasure-Influence. Equatronic gave more focus to the wonderful female soprano background singer who also has her own solo-song named "Seven Spaces". Maybe some people will find the female singing too mawkish but I think it goes well with the very joyful and amusing songs. Plas:tique is a very varied album that covers all styles of music from 'lollipop-styled' songs (Eisberg) to melancholic ballades (Future, Blind Spot) to danceable songs with hard beats (Prayer, Kiss My Feet) and demanding songs accompanied with violin and kettledrum (Summer Song, Scar)."





















TOO CLOSE, TOO FAR AND GONE - The Best Of Equatronic remixed (2004)

Tracklist :

01 shame (pearls of dew remix)
02 assistant views (polary remix)
03 light (poplib remix)
04 late night show (northern electric remix)
05 time (tristraum remix)
06 god's army (fearing christmas remix)
07 searing eyes (honeychurch remix)
08 always the same (sound tesselated remix)
09 close to you (wave in head remix)
10 paradise eight (liberté remix)
11 no tomorrow (dynamic masters remix)
12 far away (pleasures remain remix)

Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/11852351/e-too_close_to_far.rar.html

"After a ten years, Equatronic is able to look retrospectively on a successful musical career. Equatronic started in 1996 with their self-produced five track E.P. Shadowland which was re-released with additional tracks in 1997 by the independent label Zoth Ommog. In 1998 Equatronic were scaled back to a duo and produced their second longplayer "Motivation". In 2002 Equatronic, comprising of members Oliver Thom and Dorothea Brandt, released their so far "real" last album "plas:tique". During the last 10 years, mastermind Oliver Thom always held together Equatronic and now they are releasing the "Best of" album featuring 12 remixed versions of their best songs. The remixes are made by "Wave In Head", "Tristraum", "Liberté", "Pearls Of Dew", "Northern Electric", "Pleasures Remain" and other electro bands. "Too Close, Too Far And Gone" is features technically refreshing remixes which absolutely satisfy the requirements of modern music. In doing so the remixed versions never alter the typical Equatronic core, and therefore successfully retrain the feeling of each Equatronic song. Therefore, the songs still retain the gorgeously simple and very remarkable melodies. It is the simplicity of Equatronic's electronic compositions that is able to convey a great portion of melancholic emotions and warmth. A conspicuous characteristic of Equatronic is Oliver Thom's voice. And I am right to affirm, you either to love or hate it. Well, I have to admit that I got used to his exceptional singing and appreciate all the releases by Equatronic.
On the whole, this remixed album is delivers 12 well-done remixes of both danceable songs (e.g. Shame, Assistant Views, Light, Late Night Show) and melancholic ballads (Searing Eyes, Always The Same, No Tomorrow), which I have to recommend to people who like 'easygoing' and very melodic electronic music. " (http://www.synthpop.at/reviews/list04_9.htm)

More review:
http://www.side-line.com/reviews_comments.php?id=2261_0_17_0_C

















ALWAYS THE SAME (2005) Ep

Tarcklist :

01 Always The Same (Sound Tesselated Remix)
02 Always The Same (Dynamic Masters Remix)
03 Always The Same (Acoustic Version)
04 Somewhere

Link to download:
http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=58c5cd27e1aea0035f79e9bc53a14a7e

about the band :
As an introduction, Equatronic are a two-piece synth outfit from Germany, Oliver Thom and Dorothea Brandt. Their musical influences are very strongly with 80's synthpop, with a few unique twists.
Equatonic, a synth-pop band from Germany plays music in the vein of Erasure, Yaz, and Depeche Mode.

More info:
http://www.equatronic.de/ bio,photos,downloads...

http://www.myspace.com/equatronic