Genre/Influences: Dark-Wave, Post-Punk.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Varsovie is a French formation hailing from Grenoble and active since 2005. They already released several works and stroke back by the end of 2023 unleashing “Pression A Froid”.

Content: The main influences of this band are getting us back to the darkest hours of the 80s. One of the band’s main characteristics are the French vocals. The album sounds dark, sometimes a bit depressed but still dealing with sexy themes at other parts.

+ + + : Varsovie has a very personal sound -which is however not that new and original, but it has been adapted into a very own and even intimate style. The singer’s timbre of voice is reminding me to the great French artist Alain Bashung while the lyrics have something dark, sexy and poetic. One of the best and darkest cuts is the totally depressed sounding title song. I also salute the last song as a homage to the Ukrainian people. 

– – – : It’s a pity the work only features nine songs. The French language isn’t maybe accessible for a wider, international, audience although this album has a true potential.

Conclusion: Varsovie is a band you have to discover and this album is a great exposure of the French band.

Best songs: “Pression A Froid”, “Perspective Nevski”, “Pochodeň Číslo Jedna”, “Sous Les Radars”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/varsovie.propaganda

Label: www.facebook.com/icycoldrecords

About Varsovie

Varsovie is a post-punk band formed in 2005 in Grenoble, France, by Arnault Destal and Grégory Cathérina. The band sings in French and draws on early-1980s post-punk and dark-wave. “Pression A Froid” was released on 6 October 2023 through Icy Cold Records.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

(Photo by Erica Hinyot) COP International has announced the signing to their artist roster of Jean-Marc Lederman. COP International will release a full album with Emileigh Rohn (of the electronic-industrial project Chiasm). The two most recently worked together on a series of remixes for Chiasm’s “Away” EP as you could read here on Side-Line. Lederman will also be teaming up with opera singer Diva Marisa Winter for a series of genre-bending tracks. Information on both releases will be announced soon.

Says Lederman of the label signing: “It’s a pleasure to work with COP International and I really look forward to exciting releases and synergies.”

Says COP International founder Christian Petke: “I first noticed Jean-Marc’s work when he did remixes for our artist Chiasm. Our mastering guy put it perfectly: ‘Every note had its place and the sound was perfect.’ After doing a bit of research, I had come to realize he’s an electronic music bedrock and came highly recommended by our in-house producer John Fryer who had worked with him on The Weathermen. After having a series of long conversations about life and music, it became obvious that we needed to work together. COP International is not just looking for raw talent, but also people that understand and embrace the culture of community that we are creating with the label. Jean-Marc is a perfect fit for that and we are incredibly excited to have him on board. We decided that we will create a band around his skill and talents deeply rooted in electronic music with a cinematic and epic feel. We found an exceptional vocalist in Diva Marisa Winter who is equally comfortable on a stage in the world of opera as she is belting it out in the pit of the Thunderdome at Burning Man and Wasteland. The first demo is on the way and it sounds incredible. He will also write a new album with Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) that allows both of them to explore a more tender/fragile side of their respective music. The first tracks are fantastic and we anticipate a release next year.”

From Fad Gadget to Front 242

Best known for his work with iconic alternative and industrial bands such as The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, Fad Gadget and The Weathermen, as well as collaborations with Front 242 and French rocker Alain Bashung, Lederman’s storied career has also included lush sonic compositions for both film and video games. Lederman’s recent scoring work can be heard on the 2017 full feature movie “Doubleplusonegood” and he was also second composer to Ramin Djawadi (“Games of Thrones,” “Westworld”) on a full feature.

Lederman has also released exclusive double CD/artbooks under the name Jean-Marc Lederman Experience (and with artwork by Erica Hinyot) in which he gathers singers from all over the music worlds to contribute voices to a common musical theme—the most recent including 13 Ghost Stories in 2019 and Letters To Gods (And Fallen Angels) in 2020.

He also worked together with Jean-Luc De Meyer from Front 242 in the Ledermann / De Meyer project which released 2 EP’s and a full album “Eleven grinding songs” on vinyl and limited 2CD.

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘Textbooks for Tomorrow’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

A few days ago Jean-Marc Lederman – the man who worked with numerous bands including Fad Gadget, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Front 242, Julianne Regan, Jacques Duvall and Alain Bashung – posted the above picture about him playing with The The. We asked Jean-Marc how that happened.

SL: How did Jean-Marc Lederman end up with The The at The The Marquee gigs in 1982?

JM: The year was 1982 and I was living in London, tired of the belgian music scene. I had moved there shortly after my service in the Belgian Army, gee talk about a waste of time (do you see me as good proctection against the Russians ? Case closed).

Matt had heard my EP “Statistics Mean Nothing When On The Wrong Plane” and he reached out to me through a mutual friend. He told me about the residencey gigs The The had planned 4 thurdays in a row at the Marquee, the legendary London club.

So, I went to a rehearsal and it was real anarchy: everybody banging on petrol tanks à la Einsturzende Neubauten. Jim Thirlwell was there, Zeke Manyaka was playing the drums and Thomas Leer was playing some synths. We both had a Roland Jupiter 4 so we ended up using his. I remember telling them to stop banging the drums and start working the songs…

SL: And how did the gigs itself go?

The gigs were well announced and The The was quite the talk in London so the place was really packed. I was very nervous, I hate playing live as this is definitively not one of my strong points, and waiting backstage was tense. We had a set cut in several parts with some guests. I was starting the show, we all head to wear balaclavas and an early version of “Giant” was the first song, if I recall correctly . Marc Almond was a guest on the first concert, and so was Richard Kirk from Cabaret Voltaire (or was it Malinder ? It’s so long ago…).

We had more or less the same set for the 4 thursday residency shows and it was a bit strange to have to come back to the same place but it was quite common in the UK for bands to have a serie of shows week in week out at the time apparently.

SL: So all in all, how would you describe it?

JM: A great experience. Next week, I’ll tell you how and when Matt and Johnny Marr beat me at soccer-table but I won a Depeche Mode silver disc in the process (laughs).

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘13 Ghost Stories’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out via Wool-E Discs is the brand new album by Jean-Marc Lederman: “The Space Between Worlds Label”. This 14-track album is available now straight from Wool-E Discs as a nicely layouted box and is subject wise loosely based on a strange event Lederman experienced at the Wimbledon Common, back in the early 80’s, and no, it’s not his attempt to join Roxy Music.

Jean-Marc Lederman: “While I was relaxing, laying on the grass, I could hear a bird singing on my left, and another bird replying on the right. I somehow concentrated on that. After a few seconds, the “stereo signal” seemed to rush to the center, becoming one signal, and suddenly I heard a gigantic noise, like the world was opening and ready to plunge into something very different. It scared me and I forced myself to ‘wake up’. It was probably only self hypnosis but it still made quite an impression on me. This album kinda mimics that experience by offering hard, abrasive sounds alternating with lighter moments. See it as a kind of experiment where the listener bounces from heavy soundscapes to light repetitive ambiances.”

If you want to know what this experience resulted in sonically, then check out the album trailer below!

Jean-Marc Lederman has worked with numerous bands including Fad Gadget, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Belgian rock band Streets, and Front 242, and with other artists including Julianne Regan, Jacques Duvall and Alain Bashung.

For more on Jean-Marc Lederman, see 10 tips and composing advice from Jean-Marc Lederman (Lederman / De… on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com