Genre Peak

Always Empty: 3-trk maxi-single release from US electro-pop act Genre Peak.
"Always Empty" (the title track) dives headlong into clinical groove bass & rhythms and swelling synths
, a polished avant electro-pop gem with clear vocals and burbling FX in the mix.
"Pleasure To Burn" is funkier, with slick guitars and Stick bass lines while the remix,
"Pleasure to Burn (arp mix)" ,kicks off with modulating electro-synths , the same diabolical drum track,
pulsing synth-bass and piano motif evolving into a dark, slow burning mid-paced track.
An edgey dark single respectively.
- Music Non Stop, U.K.

" Martin , thank you for your bands CD and support with Recoil, its always refreshing when musicians are being original..
I look forward to hearing more in the future.." - Alan Wilder, Recoil - Alan Wilder-ex-depeche mode, Recoil

"And just when you thought it was safe to get out your gladrags brooding synth trio Genre Peak turn up to wreck the party with some with eclectic digital soundscapery.
Standing in the corner on its own this 5 track offering picks up from somewhere between Violator era Depeche Mode and Omaha’s digital quintet The Faint.
Opener “Bring me the world” is basically trent reznor on ketamine aching to scream, with the bassline constricting the words "all the pains so sweet” to a whisper. The polish applied to the bleeps and whistles essentially make this sound like session musicians taking over the asylum.
What has started as multi textured, multi layered electronica has forgotten where it wants to stand.
There are glimpses of melodies, but like a petulant teenager it pulls back at the crucial point and says “I don’t want to” whilst sneaking back to its bedroom to enjoy a good sample or two." - Review by: Mark Briggs , Glasswerk U.K - Glasswerk,U.K.

"..(Genre Peak) really cool electronic groove music..."- Jason Roberts, Sacramento News & Review - Sacramento News & Review

"..It's a darker, more distressed-sounding Birke this time around ,less Depeche Mode and more Nine Inch Nails, but the same landscape, check out Genre Peak"
- Christian Kiefer, Sacramento News & Review - Sacramento News & Review

Out of the Studio: "Genre Peak,
the band, which features former Casualty Park singer Martin Birke on electronic percussion and lead vocals,
Daniel Panasenko on Chapman Stick with Stephen Sullivan on guitar-synths aims for an electronic sound
somewhere between Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, proudly declares "no keyboards."Well worth investigating!" - David Barton, The Sacramento Bee, - Sacramento Bee

By Jason Roberts

The corner of 18th Street and Capitol Avenue was unusually vibrant for a Wednesday night. A man in a nearby Ford Mustang convertible blasted Foreigner’s “Double Vision.” A black Hummer cruised slowly through the intersection, the hip-hop bass from its stereo reverberating in the air, while parking valets sprinted down the darkening corridors of 18th Street. Young women with designer purses tucked under their arms stood outside a restaurant bursting with customers, where a couple in the throes of some turmoil shared a gentle hug, and the musky scent of new yuppies saturated the air. Martin Birke watched the scene impassively, dressed rather anonymously in a black T-shirt and black pants. He wants this audience.

Birke lit a cigarette--what he called his “last bad habit”--adjusted his eyeglasses and sat back in his chair, clearly a veteran of the interview process. The 37-year-old electronic musician has spent 14 years bumping around the tumultuous music business as a songwriter. He’s had his share of betrayal and has flirted with success. Birke co-founded electro-pop group Casualty Park and co-wrote four albums with the electro-acoustic improvisational group Sandbox Trio. He’s also composed various single releases and collaborations, including some music for Joe Carnahan’s Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane. Most recently, Birke has been a recording artist on the Greek industrial-rock label Cyberdelia Records and with German company Frank Mark Arts, touring throughout Europe.

Since his return stateside, Birke has been baffled by the lack of attention given to electronic music in America, especially considering the genre’s popularity in Europe. “Electronic-based music is so much more absorbed over there,” Birke said. “They’re more liberal and less corporate.”

Although electronic music has remained largely underground in the United States, Birke hopes to change that with his new project, Genre Peak, also featuring Daniel Panasenko and Steve Sullivan. “I’d like to wake up at least the local area, if not America, [to the idea] that there’s really cool electronic groove music out there that’s not getting attention because of all these schlocky rock bands,” Birke said, citing Blink-182 as a particular irritant.

A polished self-promoter, Birke counts art-rock pioneers Genesis, Peter Gabriel and Yes among his early influences and adds that current influences, like Massive Attack, Recoil and Curve, “are signed to major labels, but you’ll rarely, if ever, hear them on American radio.”

“I admire bands like Massive Attack that are able to get onto Virgin Records,” he said. “They’re smart enough to get Sinead O’Connor and other famous people on their albums. But they’re doing very artistic, very abstract, arranged electronic music. And these are a handful of bands that are squeaking through and getting the attention of the major labels. And that’s where I want to be.”

Birke envisions his music as crossover, something that transcends the stereotype that genres like techno, trip-hop, trance and electronica appeal only to the DJ dance-club scene, where performance is irrelevant. Although Birke prefers the studio, he is thinking about live performances. “I have keyboard samplers, a body suit of samplers, a Chapman Stick player with an amazing rig,” Birke explained. “So, we’re trying to make electronic music more visual, almost like performance art--unlike someone like Kraftwerk behind their laptops. I’m definitely exploring up-tempo music [with Genre Peak].”

Birke’s Web site, at www.genrepeak.net, features links and forums about other electronic artists he hopes people will explore. “The stuff I’m into is reaching hundreds of thousands of people in Europe, and there’s obviously a fan base for it in America, but for some reason American major labels are scared to death to put out stuff like this.”

Lighting another cigarette, Birke paused to scan the bubbling crowd at the Midtown intersection. “To me, that’s the only point of doing music,” he concluded. “Unless you’re trying to do something new and different, why bother?”

- Sacramento News & Review

Genre Peak offers up a 3-track EP called "Always Empty" after the name of the first track.
The music has a euro-pop dance electronic simplicity to it that reminds us of artists Thomas Dolby & Depeche Mode.
Singing is infrequent, but when it arrives it is mixed and effective with inventiveness. The title track is a good example - as vocals move from compressed EQ statements to single-line/harmony-line to the special utterance of the word 'empty'.
The 2 and 4 snare moves from sound to sound as the music evolves and revolves. Cool. Tracks 2 and 3 are both the song "Pleasure to Burn" - each a different mix. The album mix uses a distorted/chorused feeding back guitar to paint a haunting musical passage .
With different perculating keyboard sounds and lyrics that say 'hello darkness my old friend' - anything but the sound of silence here and we look forward to more from this inventive trio.
- earbuzz.com

Genre Peak - Always Empty (mcd In-Code Music BMI) Reviewed by: Cedric on | Profile
"This is a quite acceptable synth-pop release featuring complex rhythms,
delicate piano-sounding arrangements and funky bass lines.
The vocals remind me of State Machine, which is a kind of reference.
Catchy elements and pounding beats, an enjoyable release
with “Pleasure to Burn” as my favorite cut!"


- SIDE-LINE Magazine