Empire State Human — Live In Dublin (SA133)

1.[intro] Theme To Halloween
2.Shoot The Breeze
3.Little Alfie
4.Paradise
5.Swinging Pendulums
6.Film Star
7.Apollo
8.Hand On The Gun
9.Five Years
bonus tracks:
10.Sister Suffragette [extended mix]
11.Girl On A Train
12.The Chase

Irish Synthpop Band, Empire State Human, have been fine purveyors of electronic pop since first signing to the US record label Ninthwave Records in 2002. Whilst flirting with Electroclash for the debut ‘Pop Robot’ in 2002, that album was recently rated in the top 100 Electroclash albums of all time. 2002 was a pivotal year for the Dublin based band, with the two albums for Ninthwave Record (‘Pop Robot’ and ‘Alpha & Omega’ and also an EP for Mexican label Pur Zynth being released. Their cover of John Carpenter’s ‘Theme To Halloween’, reached #1 in the US iTunes dance charts in October, whilst the band debuted live in the US at the Batcave in New York. It was during this concert they also debuted their Sci Fi interpretation of David Bowie’s ‘Five Years’. In 2003, they headlined a concert appearance in Dublin, Ireland, performing an ambitious set, to a beloved audience. Both these covers aforementioned appear on ESH’s live album ‘Live In Dublin’, and the emotion in Aidan’s voice on ‘Five Years’ (notice the near breaking in tears at the end of the final note), really was a right pf passage into a world of new electronic possibilities and ambition. One of these was to work with an original member of Kraftwerk, which they realised with the single ‘Melancholic Afro’, a number of year later.
Listening to ESH’s ‘Live In Dublin’ from 2003, it’s a terrific snapshot of the band in that era and at that moment. The set is mostly based around tracks from the three releases they had put out in 12 months, but there’s many signs of their dynamic approach to electronic pop on show and also a pitch perfect vocal from Aidan.

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