{"title":"Wrangler","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"la-spark","title":"LA Spark","description":"\u003cp\u003eOpening with a single repeated note beamed from an analogue basement studio in Shoreditch, London, Wrangler's debut album 'LA Spark' reclaims lost technology to make new themes for the modern world. Wrangler consists of Stephen Mallinder, best known for his pioneering work with Cabaret Voltaire, Phil Winter of Tunng and Lone Taxidermist, plus the founder of Memetune studios and synth obsessive Benge. His studio's synth-rammed walls have created an environment where sounds are ripped from a golden era of analogue electronic music to create forward-looking, new music. Wrangler formed in the wires of Memetune - a post-LCD, Factory Floor-ed electronic funk machine with VHS tape distortion in its eyes but also capable of sleekness and beauty in the stripped back beats. The tracks range from the satellite bleep and lonely synth melody of 'Theme From Wrangler' to the alien carnival rhythms of 'Modern World' and the ambient 'Peace And Love' (originally recorded for Tate Modern's Summer 2012 programme 'Tweet-Me-Up'). In between there's 'Lava Land' - all masked, half-gargoyle vocals and primitive drum machines; the gliding, noir and neon of the title-track 'La Spark' and urgent, pulsing floor-filler of 'Harder'. There are ghosts and echoes of Mallinder's previous work in Cabaret Voltaire in these songs, especially in the vocals and lyrics, which run like his own internal movie. But the Cabs era it recalls is the unfairly neglected 1983 - 1985, when they released the likes of The Crackdown and Micro-Phonies.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Memetune","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50492638101835,"sku":"374041","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e1595a5a-bab5-4f36-b0ff-617c82f0c712_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727692839"},{"product_id":"white-glue","title":"White Glue","description":"\u003cp\u003eWrangler's White Glue features new nine new tracks, recorded with the 3-D depth of analogue (the ancient synthesizers in Benge's MemeTune Studios have never sounded so good) but there's less geek and more funk; more Mod than Modular in the new album's tailored, minimalist design. Stephen Mallinder's vocals are a surreal joy, smeared with effects and electronics as they change, chant and shift around the jump-cut lyrics. The opening trio of 'Alpha Omega', 'Stupid' (Mallinder in a new mutant funk-falsetto) and 'Clockwork' (a nod to Kraftwerk who famously name-checked Cabaret Voltaire as 'brothers in popular electronic music') sets up White Glue with the crisp crack and thud of sequenced rhythms and lush synthesizers. 'Dirty' starts like something from Forbidden Planet, pauses for a moment and then slams into a compelling funk beat with a bristling guitar riff courtesy of Julie Campbell (LoneLady). Mallinder delivers one of the most memorable vocals of his career - venting, sliding and punching through the layers of noise with real urgency and bile. He employs his voice-instrument to more measured effect on 'Stop' but it's no less hypnotic - a feverish guilt-mantra of out-of-control consumerism: 'Stop spending money that you don't have\/Stop buying shit that you don't need.' As the synths wail like sirens, you can picture Winter and Benge swaying to the beats, heads-down, lost in the propulsive, (artificial) hand-clapping groove. The white-light-techno-rush, triggered synths and chopped-up, multi-layered vocals of 'Real Life'- surely deserving of its own 12 inch vinyl release at some point - is followed by 'Days' which slowly loops in and then flicks off the safety catch with heavy bass and moody synth lines. Mallinder offers another striking vocal which seems to self-describe his own writing methods - 'moving pictures come in flashes.' 'Superset' is a late highlight as the band coax the rhythm into life before hitting hard with a lovely, deep groove. 'Colliding' is the spacey Krautrock closer, a beautiful, nuanced semi-instrumental song which exits with dreamy, abstract vocoder sounds and ambient synths.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50494741250379,"sku":"405684","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/7ea4f022-ae95-4168-87d8-cd2c2f15645f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727707866"},{"product_id":"three-memes","title":"Three Memes","description":"\u003cp\u003eHot on the heels of their new \u003ci\u003eMr Dynamite\u003c\/i\u003e album with US singer John Grant as Creep Show, the electronic 3 piece Wrangler release a new EP. The lead remix is by Crooked Man (Richard Barratt aka Parrot) who started mixing drum machines and soul music in Sheffield 30-odd years when Stephen Mallinder was still in Cabaret Voltaire. He later became one half of Sweet Exorcist with Richard H Kirk - early pioneers of techno on Warp label - is a founding member of the band All Seeing I, works regularly with Roisin Murphy and is now creating forward looking house music for DFA Records. Another new, previously unreleased track for this EP is LoneLady’s remix of \u003ci\u003eSpace Ace\u003c\/i\u003e from Wrangler’s debut album, \u003ci\u003eLA Spark\u003c\/i\u003e. The guitar and vocals are instantly recognisable on this collaboration which is their third together, following LoneLady (Julie Campbell) contributing guitars on Wrangler’s \u003ci\u003eDirty\u003c\/i\u003e (from second album, \u003ci\u003eWhite Glue\u003c\/i\u003e) and Wrangler remixing LoneLady’s \u003ci\u003eBunkerpop\u003c\/i\u003e from Campbell’s album of the same name. The other remix on the EP is Daniel’s Miller’s fantastic take on \u003ci\u003eTheme From Wrangler\u003c\/i\u003e which has up to now only been available on the limited edition Wrangler album, \u003ci\u003eSparked\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Memetune","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50497647083851,"sku":"1030412","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/f55c58cc-7e09-4e26-98db-7a386c55a4c2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727729481"},{"product_id":"a-situation","title":"A Situation","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Wrangler first formed like Voltron a decade ago, they had a very simple modus operandi. The clue was in their name. Ben ‘Benge’ Edwards (The Maths), Stephen ‘Mal’ Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire) and Phil ‘Phil’ Winter (Tuung) would get together with a very select kit list of careworn analog synthesizers and vintage digital sequencers. Their task? To wrangle new music from the ancient equipment. These self-imposed restrictions helped produced two classic long players: \u003ci\u003eLA Spark\u003c\/i\u003e (2014) and \u003ci\u003eWhite Glue\u003c\/i\u003e (2016). However the times have changed and so have Wrangler. The coming decade, which looks set to be dubbed the Terrible Twenties, may be the last time that bands actually get to release albums. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEcological collapse, climate crisis, food shortages and the disintegration of the fabric of society will mean that the slow devolution of the music industry isn’t even one of the main things that musicians (or anyone else) should be worrying about. So the trio have thrown everything into their third (but hopefully not their last) album. The result - \u003ci\u003eA Situation\u003c\/i\u003e on Bella Union - is simultaneously their bleakest and funkiest release to date. This collection of warm, reverberant, amped up tracks, that land somewhere between future music, synth pop, industrial dance, classic techno and rigid electro, captures the ambiguities of the group perfectly. Just as they use the ageing outmoded equipment that other people once chose to throw away in order to make tomorrow’s music, they are the paranoid group who (just about) dare to hope that things still might turn out OK. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bella Union","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2","offer_id":50506974331211,"sku":"1082023","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50506974298443,"sku":"1082022","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0ab306b3-4941-40f9-b0cb-50ec7a924f86_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727835080"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/wrangler.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}