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ChainDLK.com

Synthpopalooza.com

Reviews of NukleoN’s debut CD:                                                                                                                                 ‘Earth Rising’

www.E-lectric.de (German synthpop site)

I do not want to operate here schleichwerbung or somewhat something similar, but from the house Cohaagen Music I heard so far still no bad publication to get. No miracle, the two label owners purged nevertheless unrettbar to the pure Synthipop. And so also newest release, Nukleon's album "Earth Rising" is, an absolute direct hit for all Synthipop lovers. Already the Opener "Mars" pleases by marvelously playful Synthisounds, very pleasant Vocals and an unbeatable melody. And with everyone the new ten Songperlen nucleon Mastermind Dan Burke sets still for one drauf - the chap has genuinly a feeling for melodies, harmonies and everything that bleept there and blonkt. Power-fully and dancable most TRACKS are despite all Spielereien by the way also still. With difficulty it there to designate a favorite "Homewrecker" belonged surely to it, "LINES" and "Lucky" also, but for me completely clearly in front is "Escort" (has its car besungen there?), its zweistimmige Vocal harmonies was taken over nearly 1:1 by Alphaville's "ton Germany With Love", although I cannot imagine that Mr. nucleon actually knows this Song. No matter, of me "Earth Rising" gets at least 9.5 of 10 possible points - so an Synthipop album must sound simple (at least one without Futurepop Attituede). But a picture makes for you! (AW)

Indispinzone.com

This garnered my interest because it was at least trying to be different than most of the other stuff I had gotten. (in other words it isn't obviously depeche mode) What it is is hard to peg as it varies quite a bit. Songs like Lucky sound to me to have a New Order synth line with some Alphaville influences or even Blancmange, teamed to a melodic line and singing style reminiscent of Holm. That changes on the next track Escort which has more of a quasi Erasure/Yazoo feeling to it. Diversity is certainly the watchword here, yet the album and his style in general does have a cohesive quality which brings it all together as a whole. The album has a Total Recall fixation as well, given the first track Mars (which features outtake vocals of Arnold from the movie) and the label name he chose, Cohaagen, who of course was the bad guy. I'm surprised there wasn't a track called Verhoeven. Perhaps his next LP will parody Starship Troopers. That would be fine with me were it as good as this one is. Brilliant? No, it isn't. Above average fare for the genre? Certainly. If you like this kind of thing I think you'll want to put this at the top of your list most likely.

HIP-OMETER RATING: 9.5
 

ADifferentDrum.com

I've watched for several years as Nukleon has been building an online presence, always participating in synthpop discussion groups, always working on music and sharing new MP3's, and staying involved with the scene. It's nice to see such a devoted musician and fan of synthpop improve so much over the years and now come out with a really solid debut album on Cohaagen Records. The song "Lucky" has had a lot of positive feedback from it's appearance on the "Electro Nouveau" compilation that has seen wide national distribution, and the rest of the album stays in the same mood, sort of combining a Morrissey (The Smiths) writing style with pure old-school synthpop, for catchy, often sarcastic, and memorable songs. Good work!

Todd Durrant

Danny King for Electrogarden.com

After a number of appearances on compilations like ‘Electricity’, ‘Evolution’ & ‘Electro Nouveau’ this is the debut release for Nukleon, signed to the Cohaagen label Nukleon produce a brand of purist Synth Pop that lies close to fellow label mates Gary Flanagan and least not Ganymede, the album itself has been mixed and mastered by Dave Friede from the band while at times the vocals are close to Marc Almond, in fact Nukleon could easily be described as an Americanised Soft Cell, but it would be all too easy to corner Nukleon with a label like that, listening to this album clearly shows a very promising solo artist with great potential.

The album itself features 10 tracks plus the addition of a ‘hidden track’ at the end of the album itself, also featured here are the previously released tracks ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Homewrecker’, both first appearing on the ‘Evolution’ & ‘Electricity’ compilations while a number of tracks have had various spoken samples added to them.

There are many excellent tracks here, but one of the more outstanding tracks featured is the final track ‘One More Day’, a superb mid-paced track with a mid-80s New Order edge to it, a perfect finish to the album itself. Also excellent is the perfect and opening track the up-tempo ‘Mars’ which features some great synth work, also the equally up-tempo ‘Lucky’, a track that seemly has generated a great deal of interest in Nukleon to the more mid-paced ‘Sometimes’ while the slower and mid-paced ‘Homewrecker’ is a more polished version of the original version that appeared on the ‘Electricity’ compilation, this version has a nice bright and occasional bouncy edge to the track itself also the harder edge of the impressive ‘Jane’ while the ‘hidden’ track is a fantastic and solid piece of up-tempo Synth Pop complete with some great early-80s style synth riffs and vocoder vocals listing a number of items including the words Nukleon and Synth Pop.

Other excellent tracks of note include the slow to mid-paced style of ‘Escort’ and the more up-tempo numbers ‘Infidel’ and ‘Reasons’ which features a good example of the vocal similarities with Marc Almond while both ‘Escort’ and ‘Infidel’ feature a sample of those interesting lyrics that feature through out the album itself.

This is a very impressive debut release from Nukleon with a great selection of tracks, excellent purist Synth Pop, strong and at times unique vocals complete with some interesting lyrics. At this early stage of the year we are already been treated to some excellent Synth Pop releases, ‘Earth Rising’ is clearly one of them and will easily be among one of the best Synth Pop albums you will hear this year.

RATING: 9

Written By: Danny King
Contact: syntheticvision@hotmail.com
 

Intellectos

In a genre inundated with acts that try to push themselves as 'ironic' as an excuse for their mediocrity as if there really is a way to excuse a lack of ideas and skill it gives me such warm fuzzies to hear someone who can actually sing. Dan Burke of Nukleon has one of the nicest voices I've heard in pop music in a long time. It has this very Bernard Sumner tone and quality of restraint at times but much smoother and with a wider range and diversity. It manages to capture emotion but keeping it in check at the same time. Very nice. And if I thought I was already getting spoiled the CD is filled with lovely melodies and some interesting lyrics (good lyrics being very hard to come by in the new electro scene.) The music as a whole is well produced and has a great warmth. It maintains a techno-pop feel and stays relatively upbeat even though it occasionally hovers towards the dark side. Thankfully this is also well kept in check and it never falls into any of the common retro traps and doesn't come across as dated or jokey. "Homewrecker" has the most pop dancefloor potential with it's extreme catchiness, chunky synth bass lines, and this great subtle sample of a woman laughing. It kind of reminds me of Soft Cell. The whole CD is a good listen but with most of the tracks going beyond 41/2 minutes the songs occasionally drag on a bit too long. "Earth Rising" excels at it's poppiest moments and remains interesting because of the mix of styles and tempos...and, of course, the vocals. Check out the Cohaagen Site.

Review By Jan Smoothie

RATING: 8 out of 10
Intellectos Website

 

Outburn Magazine (available at Tower Records, Hot Topic and other retailers)

NukleoN (aka Dan Burke) creates crisp and modern electronic pop music that is intelligent without being too self-serious. Opening with the Italo-disco tinged sci-fi tune, ‘Mars’, Burke sets the pace for a high energy aural odyssey more akin to Apoptygma Berzerk than Fischerspooner. ‘Lucky’, which was previously released on Moonthins’e ‘Electro Nouveau’ compilation, is the bittersweet story of an unloved girl sung in a voice with the transatlantic affectation that is so common in this genre. However, while this could have become a pretentious synthpop cliche, Burke’s style is rather endearing and complimented by the Euro dance feel of the melody. Burke then moves into ‘Escort’, a track that evokes early Erasure material in both its vocal styling and programming. Further along, ‘Infidel’ touches on a hard, industrial beat while ‘Homewrecker’ recalls New Order’s dancefloor classic, ‘Blue Monday’ and ‘Sometimes’ has the pensive mood and strong dance beat perfect for the goth/synthpop crossover crowd. Central to Nukleon’s debut is the lyrical content. Similar in technique to Marc Almond, Burke explores the darker side of life-the unloved girls, the ladies of the night, the home-wreckers. Burke has a tendency to go on lyrical tirades, which is refreshing in a time where songs ruled by one-liners are so prevalent. It is Burke’s knack for penning smart lines that raises this from a good album to a standout debut.

Review By Liz Ohanesian

RATING: 8 out of 10

Jason Baker, for Synthpop.net

This release was one I was very happy to see, as Nukleon was one of two artists I discovered on mp3.com and watched grow in popularity to the point they were signed to a label and released (well, Intervox's debut is still pending) a album.

This album, the debut for Nukleon on the Cohaagen label, features updated versions of several songs from his demo mp3.com cd, and a couple of totally new songs as well.

"Reasons", "Sometimes", "Homewrecker", and "Jane" were all originally on the "Near Earth Orbit" demo cd, but appear here in vastly updated versions. Also we have some tracks that weren't on that cd, but had appeared on compilations in earlier versions, such as "Lucky" and "Infidel", both outstanding tracks that appear here in slightly tweaked, but not majorly altered versions.

All that aside, this is a very solid debut album. The updated songs show a much more sharp, modern edge to them, with the recording cleared up a great deal and made to sound really, really professional. The new version of "Homewrecker" is my favorite of the updated songs, with a disco-esque beat added to the song to make it irresistable dance fodder.

"Mars", "One More Day" and "Lines" are the only totally new tracks to appear here (along with the hidden 11th track). Of the new tracks, I liked "One More Day" the most, with it's meaningful lyrics and bouncy bassline that hook me into the track while the thoughtful lyrics gave me pause and something to think about. The hidden track is a really cool synthy instrumental, with odd robotic vocals (what exactly is it saying?) every now and then saying something like "Say The Word...". "Mars" is a neat track, and I particularly liked the "Apollo 13" type vocal samples in the intro of this song.

The only song I really didn't care for all that much here was "Lines". It just seemed a little more uneven than the other tracks here, and the lyrics.. well, while they do have some insight to offer, they come off as more pretentious to me than insightful. Other than that one slight stumble, this is really a top-notch album. Highly recommended for any synthpop fan!

RATING: 4.5 of 5 stars

Written By: Jason Baker
Contact: Jason Baker

Re-Flexion.de (German synthpop site)

Nukleon is the project of Dan Burke and "Earth Rising" the title of the first album of this one-man project. Synthetically perfectly, and dancable, with restraint and balanced, beschwingend and provided with clear singing, it the ten pieces that understand to convince melodioes CD fully. It is this impudent and somehow also freshly working kind, with which Dan Burke presents the individual Songs of "Earth Rising", which lets the listener find directly and compromiseless to favours at them. The fundamental Beats is supplemented by suitable melodies and at the same time versuesst and by means of this mixture creates nucleon a very good condition for the integration of the singing... and evenly this mixture succeeded. Dan Burke surely presents no revolutionary debut album with "Earth Rising", but he creates it to obtain its Songs without seeing themselves suspended and than bare Nachmacher be dismissed equal the comparisons with other electrical volume. "Earth Rising" is a good album, which knows to please by its simple however successful kind. 

RATING: 80%

Written By: Ingo Moller
 

Synthpop for the Masses

"Earth Rising" is the debut-album of the one-man band NUKLEON (Dan Burke). The songs are built on propellent beats and analogous fm-synths which feature minimal sound-structures. The simple melodic backgrounds are enriched by excellent melodic singing that conveys all of Dan's
emotions. The songs are consistently danceable and catchy. My absolute favourite is "Reasons" because it shows Dan's skill to produce very danceable modern SynthPoP based on early 80s electronic sounds.
On the whole "Earth Rising" is an exciting release; because it delivers varied tracks of classic SynthPoP to FuturePoP and breaks the prejudice that music based on 80s sounds has to sound old-fashioned. This release is a must for people who like partying to danceable electronic music!

RATING: 75%

Review link

Hard Wired Synthpop

“Right from the word go it's obvious that Nukleon (AKA Dan Burke) owes a strong debt to the synthpop of the 80s, opting for a synthetic feel while still maintaining a warm & at times emotional feel. While the title, impressively realised cover & opening track "Mars" take space as their inspiration (the line "get your ass to Mars" proving a novel take on the subject!) the album as a whole stays very much down to earth with a smattering of wry humour here & there & in the case of "Infidel" a gung ho take on the current 'War On Terror', even going as far as featuring samples of our beloved (?) leaders Tony Blair & George Bush. Politics aside this is a good track although Burke's vocals bear a startling resemblance to those of Empire State Human's Aidan Casserly. This first happens during "Lucky" & such is the likeness in these cases I had to doublecheck the liner notes more than once to make sure Mr Casserly hadn't put in a guest appearance!!.The clubhit "Homewrecker", with it's slightly Mesh-like vocal phrasing is likely to lodge itself in your mind soon enough but, thanks to the strong & catchy melodics that are put to good use throughout this proves a pleasant easy on the ear experience although the new-wave inspired "Reasons" makes for a slightly more 'in yer face' offering. The opening moments of "Lines" sound as if they were inspired by John Carpenter's "Assault On Precinct 13" although as a whole, the sounds & effects used here are obviously inspired by a lot of mid-90s dance music & is the only obvious concession to (fairly) modern stylings.
With an album that is melodic without being twee & accessable without being bland, Nukleon gets the balance just right & proves another name to add to the ever-growing US synthpop list.”

RATING: 3/4

Written By: Carl Jenkinson
Review link

Storming the Base

“Bouncey synthpop with extremely melodic and catchy vocals, especially on the veritable hit "Lucky". For anyone who loves the american synthpop scene, bands like Fr/action, Ganymede, Neuropa, Wave In Head, this is the best of all of them!”

Review link

Sound Nova

"Earth Rising" is the debut-album of the one-man band NUKLEON (Dan Burke). The songs are built on propellent beats and analogous fm-synths which feature minimal sound-structures. The simple melodic backgrounds are enriched by excellent melodic singing that conveys all of Dan's
emotions. The songs are consistently danceable and catchy. My absolute favourite is "Reasons" because it shows Dan's skill to produce very danceable modern SynthPoP based on early 80s electronic sounds.
On the whole "Earth Rising" is an exciting release; because it delivers varied tracks of classic SynthPoP to FuturePoP and breaks the prejudice that music based on 80s sounds has to sound old-fashioned. This release is a must for people who like partying to danceable electronic music!

Date of Release: April 2003
www.soundnova.com

Sound Nova II

“Nukleon's debut album, "Earth Rising", recently saw its release through Cohaagen in early April of 2003. Catchy in its pulsing beats, this catchy electro synth pop album brings to life memories of that darn 80's dance era, reminiscent of Men Without Hats, among others, but with a modern-ized edge to it.

Dan Burke explores many amusing topics, including the track "Homewreckers", and the funny look at prostitution and sleeping your way to the top in "Escort". All the while, such as on the opening track "Mars", the album keeps a space age feel whether it be lyrically, the album art, or the space age beat the beckons you into a world in the outer reaches of the atmosphere.

While this album does not particularly do anything groundbreaking for a genre, its good for a few smirks and mesmorizing beats complimented by the smooth flowing vocals of Dan Burke.”

www.soundnova.com

Sandy Erickson

June 6, 2003

I have loved new wave music since I first heard it as a child. Throughout the 80’s, I danced to Depeche Mode, New Order, Alphaville, and Yaz at clubs, and I collected hundreds of CD’s by these artists and many others. With the 90’s came many other styles of electronic dance music. New wave had begun to sound outdated; and although I continued to listen to my old CD’s at home, I stopped going to clubs and started going to the new parties called “raves.”

Ten years later, in the year 2002, I learned that new wave was back; but it had a new name to go with the new millennium: “synthpop.” As technology had advanced over the last decade, so had my favorite music. In the 80’s I sometimes had to go to great lengths in order to obtain a rare, hard-to-find import. But now? Everything I want is right there on the internet.

I had a new favorite web site: Electrogarden.com, a site that gave fans a place to hear new synthpop, buy it, and talk about their favorite music with other fans. It was last summer, and the name of a new artist caught my eye: Nukleon. I thought it was very creative: there was a futuristic sound to it, yet it was easy to say and easy to remember. Since I already liked the name Nukleon, I knew I’d probably like his featured single, “Lucky.” What surprised me was exactly how much I liked this song. I never got tired of it. I played it over and over, and I only liked it more every time. “Lucky” was a beautiful song. It was well produced, it featured melodic keyboards, and his voice sounded like Morrissey. But my reasons for liking it were deeper than that. I had long since given up on the idea of my favorite music ever making a comeback, and now here it was. If someone were to take my favorite new wave songs and put them together, “Lucky” would be the result.

Then I understood why I never got tired of it: this song was perfect. For the past ten years, people got a good laugh whenever I mentioned new wave. I knew I couldn’t be the only one left who got it, but it seemed that way. But whoever this Nukleon person was, he also got it. It was my mission in life to let him know how much it meant to me, and it seemed too easy to simply send the guy an email. But that’s what I did, and at that point I officially became a fan.

“Earth Rising” is the title of Nukleon’s debut CD. (His real name, by the way, is Dan Burke.) He designed the cover artwork himself, and the album was mixed and mastered by Dave Friede of Ganymede. (Friede and bandmate Patrick Runkle own Cohaagen music, the label to which Nukleon is signed.) Before “Earth Rising,” Burke’s music could be heard on Mp3.com. A few of his songs had also recently appeared on the compilation CD’s “Electricity”, “Evolution” & “Electro Nouveau.”

What is synthpop?
Someone asked me this question recently, and I answered by popping “Earth Rising” into the cd player. I don’t think I could have given a better example of synthpop than the first track, “Mars.” Burke clearly has it nailed.

Throughout the album, I notice the influence of Vince Clarke, Alphaville, New Order, and others. The songs “Lucky,” “Infidel” and “Reasons” could all become club hits, and I hope I can buy a 12” extended dance single of at least one of them. “Homewrecker” has the most potential to become a pop hit. Another potential hit is “Escort,” a song with a very catchy melody and lyrics that illustrate the level of hypocrisy in our society.

“One More Day” has potential as both a pop hit and a club hit. The lyrics are optimistic and thought provoking, and the music is melodic and danceable.

It’s important to play “One More Day” all the way to the end, because the album contains a ‘hidden track.’ When I first heard it, the keyboard solos reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Vince Clarke songs: a lesser known Depeche Mode song called “Photographic.” The keyboards practically scream the words “new wave,” but the lighthearted vocal makes me think Burke was having a good time while he worked on it. The hidden track shows that although Burke is serious about his music, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. This track is a wonderful way to end a wonderful album.

All in all, “Earth Rising” is a very impressive debut release. I think it will appeal to anyone who likes electronic music, but it’s a must-listen for fans of 80’s new wave. We are out there, and Nukleon is exactly what we’ve been waiting for.

Written By: Sandy Erickson

Reviews of ‘Electro Nouveau’ compilation                                                                                             ‘Lucky’ on CD 2, track 4

DJMIXED.com

Call it what you will, electroclash, tech-pop, synth-pop, whatever, it’s here and now…and this compilation provides a nice discourse on who is making the scene today. There are a number of the more popular names—gus gus, Miss Kitten and Ladytron. But, the real gems, are buried deep in this two CD set. For example: “Popism” by the relatively unknown Giallo, formerly Count 2 Infinity. British mainstays Bis provide a sexy and almost trance version of their 2001 release “Robotic.” After surviving the pressure of being Britain’s flavor of the week in the mid nineties, it’s great to hear Manda finding her stride; her sexy voice is again featured on the comp’s final track, “The End Starts Today.” Added bonus: Nukleon’s great Cure impersonation on his biting homage to capitalism “Lucky.” (Louis Auguste) 

Reviews of ‘Evolution: The New Breed of Electronic Pop’ compilation                                                ‘Sometimes’, track 4

Maurizio Pustianaz of ChainDLK.com

Well, one thing is for sure, you bet you can find into this CD some of the best and original synthpop bands of the globe and if you love 80's sounds it's impossible you won't fall in love with Soviet's "Bank Holiday", Nukleon's "Sometimes", Gary Flanagan's "Summertime", Raindancer's "I Believe In You" just to name few. I don't care if this review is sounding too supportive but believe me, I lived the 80's and I enjoyed every electronic and new wave band of that period and I think to know what's worth to listen to! ;-)

Danny King for ElectroGarden.com

‘’Sometimes’ is seemly a re-recorded and new version of this track from the American solo artist Dan Burke, Dan is also involved in a Synth Pop project called Synthetik and is also signed to this label ‘Cohaagen Music’ with an album planned for release at the end of this year, ‘Sometimes’ is an excellent mid-paced 80s style Synth Pop track with an 90s edge, it builds well into a very good and catchy chorus.’

RATING – 9

Reviews of ‘Electricity: An Electropop Sampler’:                                                                                 ‘Homewrecker’ track 10

An Amazon.com customer writes:

‘I bought this sampler because I knew 2 songs on it from a sampler I received from my favorite record label, a Different Drum. I also read the other 2 reviews that were posted and they were right on target! This is a great selection of songs from bands you would not have heard of before, but will be glad you discovered them, just like me! These are songs that are catchy and danceable and very 80's sounding! If you like light synthpop, you'll love these songs. I want to buy albums from some of these bands if they have any! I really like "Nexterday" by NASA which is the song I already knew and this was early on in the cd, but if you get further along, the songs just keep getting better! " A Little Confession" is such a catchy song! Buy this and you'll be singing along. It's on in my car right now. Great music to drive to! I drove to Orlando, Florida from Chicago listening to synthpop from some of these artists all the way! It made the drive so great! ‘

Another Amazon.com customer from Newark, Ohio wrote:

I loved every track on this CD. Especially the Ganymede track and the Subversion song. Subversion has a great Human Legaue kind of sound. The NASA single is very good too, very light, breezy pop that plays on The Beatles "Yesterday" song. Nukleon is cool too, he has a really great voice- as does the guy in Plastic Orgasm People (although his voice takes a moment to get used too). The last track is a mind blowing 20 minute opus deluxe- more prog rock than synthpop, but very cool anyway. If you want a CD that will make you get up and dance around your house/car/where ever, this is the one to get. IMHO!

Reviews of ‘State of Synthpop’                                                                                                                   ‘Lucky’ Disc 5, track 11

Distributed by A Different Drum

‘Nukleon, another band I first encounter a few years ago on mp3.com, here feature a track from their Cohaagen debut album, "Lucky" (from the album "Earth Rising"). This track seamlessly blends social commentary with a ultra-catchy synthpop song, delivering a scathing condemnation of judging people by their surface appearance alone. Nukleon's music has only grown more refined and enjoyable with time, and I look forward to hearing more from this project’.

Written By: Jason Baker
Contact: Jason Baker