Out today is “Between Trees”, the newest single from Heiko Maile + Julian Demarre. The single is out on Bureau B and acts as a teaser for the album “Neostalgia” which will be in stores on September 6th. It’s the follow-up to the earlier released “Reflection (Dark Horses)”.

The band explains the single as follows: “Who doesn’t know the feeling? A certain place you fondly remember, perhaps even long to return to. Memories of a cherished spot that you once discovered, where you could linger and ponder, free from the distraction of everyday noise and commotion. A sanctuary you can recall in detail even after many years.

For us, such a place is a forest clearing, being surrounded by trees with the wind softly rustling through them, the ground covered with knee-high soft grass, evoking a sense of space and calm, far away from the constant noise of our cities. This was the image that repeatedly came to mind while we were creating the music for this track.”

Here’s the video that accompanies the single.

About Heiko Maile

Heiko Maile, born on January 12, 1966, in Sydney, Australia, is a German musician and composer best known for his role in the synth-pop band Camouflage. He grew up in Bietigheim-Bissingen and began his musical journey with classical guitar lessons at a young age. In 1983, Maile co-founded Camouflage, which gained popularity with hits like “The Great Commandment” and “Love Is a Shield”​.

Apart from his work with Camouflage, Maile has made contributions to film music. He composed scores for notable films such as “The Wave” and “We Are the Night”, receiving the Deutscher Fernsehpreis for best music in 2017. He also worked on the soundtrack for the “The Crocodiles” film series​.

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 Bureau B in October is the brand new Propaganda album, simply titled “Propaganda”. The new album will hold 8 tracks and will be out in 3 formats.

This self-titled set was co-written by Ralf Dörper and Michael Mertens. Recorded entirely in their native Düsseldorf it features guest appearances from Hauschka and Thunder Bae.

The album will be out on vinyl, CD and as a limited expanded digipak 2CD in a hand numbered edition of 1000 copies worldwide. The expanded version holds 5 exclusive bonus-tracks, namely “Not good for You”, “Solace in Sin”, “World out of Joint”, “I feel mysterious” and “The Calling”.

There will also be a double-vinyl edition. A first version on orange vinyl was already sold out on pre-order.

Below is the track “Purveyor of Pleasure“, the first of two single released already next to “They Call Me Nocebo“.

About Propaganda

Propaganda was formed by Ralf Dörper, former synthesist with electro-punks Die Krupps, and Andreas Thein in 1982, but it wasn’t until the addition of Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra percussionist Michael Mertens that the outfit emerged as the dark synth-pop powerhouse which would see chart success as part of the ZTT machine.

Upon signing with Trevor Horn’s imprint in 1983, Propaganda, now comprised of vocalists Claudia Bruecken and Susanne Freytag alongside Dörper and Mertens, delivered their classic debut LP “A Secret Wish” and a string of international hit singles, such as “Dr Mabuse”, “Duel” and “P Machinery”.

After a late 80s hiatus spent escaping their unfavourable contracts, during which the singers went their separate ways, the project returned on Virgin in 1990, with a new line-up, including Betsi Miller on vocals and former Simple Minds rhythm section Derek Forbes and Brian McGee. Working alongside producers Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes, the ensemble delivered “1234”, featuring collaborations with Howard Jones and David Gilmour.

After this album, Dörper resurrected Die Krupps and Mertens moved into TV and Film composition and provided a conduit for Düsseldorf’s experimental electronic scene via his Amontillado Music label.

It was a 2015 remix request from Zang Tumb Tuum chum and former Frankie Goes To Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson which finally prompted the pair to revamp the band. Still, it would take them another 9 years to announce a new studio album, their third.

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

Heiko Maile, known for his work with Camouflage, and Julian Demarre have released a new single, “Reflection (dark horses)”, from their upcoming album “Neostalgia”, set to debut on September 6, 2024. The track is available on the Bureau B label.

“Reflection (dark horses)” features dark, fatalist vocals and has a wave-like sound influenced by early Yellow Magic Orchestra, Laurie Anderson, and Kavinsky. This single evolved from sketches initially intended for their collaborative album but gained recognition after being featured in the American film “Killerman”, starring Liam Hemsworth.

The song, now reimagined with a new structure has vocals by director and performer Malik Bader, who depicts the internal struggle of a drone pilot on a mission, exploring a moral dilemma in a dystopian dreamscape.

The single can be streamed on YouTube and is available for download on various platforms.

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 Bureau B on February 9th is the all new Karl Bartos (former member Kraftwerk) soundtrack “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” which includes narrative film music and sound design for Robert Wiene’s classic 1920 psychological thriller. The film comes digitally restored in 4K by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation.

Musician and writer Karl Bartos has long been an admirer of Weimar-era culture. During his time in Kraftwerk, he helped create the stunning track ‘Metropolis’, directly inspired by a band viewing of the classic 1927 Fritz Lang film of the same name. The original orchestral music composed for “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” by Giuseppe Becce had long been lost and in 2005, after watching the film, Bartos imagined what it would be like, to create an entirely new one in the 21st Century in his home studios in Hamburg.

“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is his first piece of film music and sound design. The release is planned on double vinyl and digipak CD.

Now with crystal clear images, digitally restored by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation, the film is visually the best quality it has ever been, and now comes with Bartos’ soundtrack.

About Karl Bartos

Born in Germany in 1952, sound, music and culture have been a lifelong fascination for Karl. He studied at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf, played at the Deutsche Oper and was in several experimental bands before he joined Kraftwerk for their Autobahn tour of the US in 1975. He co-composed tracks and performed with the band until 1990 and is featured on the seminal albums “Radio-Activity” (1975), “Trans-Europe Express” (1977), “The Man-Machine” (1978), “Computer World” (1981), “Electric Café” (1986) and “The Mix” (1991).

After leaving Kraftwerk, he first formed the band Elektric Music (2 albums in 1993+1998), collaborated with Bernard Sumner (New Order), Johnny Marr (The Smiths) for their Electronic band project and with Andy McCluskey (OMD), and released two well-regarded solo albums (2003 & 2013).

In 2021, Karl Bartos was awarded the Early Influence Award / Kraftwerk as a member of the ‘classic line-up’ and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His autobiography “The Sound of the Machine – My Life in Kraftwerk and Beyond” was published in 2022 worldwide.

Below is the original film, albeit in less good quality for reference.

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

Bureau B is set to launch the compilation titled “KLAR! 80 – Kassettenlabel Düsseldorf 1980-1982” in both CD and LP formats on July 14th. The compilation is a much-needed initial exploration of the period from 1980 to 1982, a time when KLAR! 80 functioned as a cassette label. It also operated a store under the same name, exclusively specializing in cassette releases, located at Aachener Str. 115 in Düsseldorf, under the management of Rainer Rabowski.

Rabowski was also active in a few bands himself, such as Mentocome and Roter Stern Belgrad, and he also operated under the monikers Rara and Rara Düsseldorf.

KLAR!80 brought out 18 cassette releases of varying lengths along with a box set comprising three 12” vinyl EPs. This latest anthology delves deeper into the past than the previous compilation, “SAMMLUNG – Düsseldorfer Kassettenmusik 1982-1989” (2017), also curated by German musician and producer Stefan Schneider (Kreidler and To Rococo Rot), which highlighted the cassette scene in Düsseldorf during the mid-1980s.

The KLAR! 80 label ceased operations in October 1982, and all master tapes and artworks have since been lost. The recordings featured in this new compilation have been sourced from well-preserved cassettes in private collections, which have subsequently been restored and digitized.

Below is the tracklist for this new compilation.

1. Strafe für Rebellion – Blaue Mig
2. Roter Stern Belgrad – Ta Ku Sey
3. Und Piloten – Umsturz
4. Roter Stern Belgrad – alpha waves
5. Europa – Dein Zauber
6. Ralph & Ernie – Ralph & Ernie
7. Xao Seffcheque und der Rest – Mir fehlen die Worte
8. Rara, Axel & Ralph – Rara, Axel & Ralph
9. Eraserhead – OT
10. P.Projekta / G.Ranzz-M4
11. CHBB-Mau-Mau
12. Roter Stern Belgrad-Blas dein Knie ein
13. BLÄSSE-Taktlose Klapperschlangen

Below is the list of tapes released by the KLAR! 80 label (but rest assured, the tapes are extremely difficult to find, or at very expensive prices). You will see that the catalogue numbers are not chronological.

• Dilette – “Dilette” (Cassette, C10), Catalog Number: buhuu 1, Year: 1980
• Roter Stern Belgrad – “Session / Alpha-Waves” (Cassette, C-2), Catalog Number: buhuu 2, Year: 1980
• Various Artists – “Klar! 80 Sampler 2 – Sample And Hold” (Cassette, Compilation, C50), Catalog Number: buhuu 11, Year: 1980
• EKG (2) – “Ende / Japs Kommt” (Cassette), Catalog Number: buhuu 12, Year: 1980
• Die Zwei – “”Die Zwei” Und Das 3. Reich” (Cassette, C20), Catalog Number: buhuu13, Year: 1980
• Komödi Trakik – “Komödi Trakik” (Cassette, Album, C-1), Catalog Number: buhuu14, Year: 1980
• Eraserhead (5) – “Beside Our Heads Is A Forty-Five” (Cassette, MiniAlbum, C10), Catalog Number: buhuu 10, Year: 1980
• Herr Ickswo – “+-x” (Cassette, C10), Catalog Number: buhuu 3, Year: 1981
• Klang Da – “Klang Da” (Cassette, C20), Catalog Number: buhuu 4, Year: 1981
• Hans./S702/MC 100* – “Chlagér Nouveau” (Cassette, C10), Catalog Number: buhuu 5, Year: 1981
• Eraserhead (5) – “Dead End Street E.E.” (Cassette, C10), Catalog Number: buhuu 6, Year: 1981
• Various Artists – “Der Klar! 80 Sampler” (Compilation), Catalog Number: buhuu 7, Year: 1981
• Blässe – “Live” (Cassette, C30), Catalog Number: buhuu 8, Year: 1981
• Blässe / EKG (2) / Roter Stern Belgrad – “Massa” (3×12″, Album), Catalog Number: KLAR! I/1/2/3, Year: 1981
• Various Artists – “Klar! 80 Sampler Alles Oder Nichts” (Cassette, Compilation, C 6), Catalog Number: b/u 17, Year: 1982
• Various Artists – “Privat” (Cassette, Compilation, C 3), Catalog Number: b/u 18, Year: 1982
• Roter Stern Belgrad – “Wölkchen” (Cassette, MiniAlbum, C 3), Catalog Number: b/u 19, Year: 1982
• Roter Stern Belgrad – “Afars & Issas 2 & 3” (Cassette), Catalog Number: b/u 20, Year: 1982

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

(Photo by Saeko Killy) Out on CD and vinyl via Bureau B on March 24th is “Morphing Polaroids”, the debut album by Japanese born Saeko Okuchi alias Saeko Killy.

After moving to Berlin in 2018 Saeko Killy found herself in the orb of Club Sameheads, where she made herself known as a DJ and live performer.

After releasing her first EP “Dancing Pikapika” with the label Chill Mountain from Osaka in 2021, followed a jam session during the pandemic lockdown, resulting in the eleven titles collected together here for the album “Morphing Polaroids”. The whole was produced by Brussels based DJ soFa aka soFa Elsewhere.

The LP combines elements of dub, post-punk and kraut with electronic beats.

You can already check a first track below.

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

Under the name Areu Areu, the two Camouflage musicians Heiko Maile and Marcus Meyn released a 5-track EP in 1992, which is now being re-released in an extended version in a limited edition and for the first time on vinyl.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of this release, the complete work of Areu Areu now appears on a full length album for the first time, as a digipak and on vinyl. The release will be out via Bureau B on November 18th.

Here’s the tracklist and revised artwork:

1. Day Tripper
2. Mr. X / Modern Technology
3. Ricky’s Hand
4. I’m Your Money / Tora Tora Tora
5. Cold
6. Day Tripper (Instrumental)
7. Mr. X / Modern Technology (Instrumental)
8. Ricky’s Hand (Instrumental)
9. I’m Your Money / Tora Tora Tora (Instrumental)
10. Cold (Instrumental)

The genesis of Areu Areu

In 1991, a friend and companion of Heiko Maile and Marcus Meyn, the photographer Reiner Pfisterer, celebrated his 24th birthday. Instead of records or books, the two Camouflage founders planned to present the birthday child with a performance by a band formed especially for the occasion and launched Areu Areu.

After Camouflage had just released their rather acoustic sounding album “Meanwhile”, Maile and Meyn were more in the mood for purely electronic music, so this side project was just what they needed to play around with the electronic gear they had accumulated in their studio in the centre of the small town of Bietigheim in southern Germany.

The result were cover versions of songs that had always strongly influenced Maile and Meyn: “Day Tripper” (Beatles), “Cold” (The Cure), “Ricky’s Hand” (Fad Gadget) and a two-song medley of “I’m Your Money” (Heaven 17) and the Depeche Mode Classic “Tora! Tora! Tora!”. In addition, several versions of their legendary German-language song “Mr. X” were worked out. A few weeks after the party, Maile and Meyn told their A&R manager about the project, and in 1992 a limited 5-track EP was released on Metronome, in a small edition on CD.

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

Bureau B, the Hamburg based label which releases past and future classics unearthed from genres including (but not limited to) electronica, avant-garde, post-rock, neoclassical and (kraut)rock returns with an interesting compilation: “Eins, Zwei, Drei und Vier – Deutsche Experimentelle Popmusik 1980-1986” on CD, double vinyl and as download.

On the compilation you get the sound of Germany’s musical youth let loose on cheap synths and pawnshop guitars and who redefined German music in the first half of the 1980s. You’ll hear bands such as Der Plan, Die Partei, P!OFF?, Palais Schaumburg, Dunkelziffer, Populäre Mechanik, Andreas
Dorau, Pyrolator, Träneninvasion, Deutsche Wertarbeit, Asmus Tietchens, Die Fische, Conrad Schnitzler, Carambolage, Xao Seffcheque, Foyer des Arts, Die Zimmermänner, Östro, Die Radierer and Holger Hiller.

You can check out the tracks below.

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

Audioglobe sent us some interesting news about Faust. Who? Faust!

Faust are a German band which was formed in 1971 in Wümme by producer and former music journalist Uwe Nettelbeck. The band was originally composed of Werner “Zappi” Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with engineer Kurt Graupner. Their work was oriented around dissonance, improvisation, and experimental electronic approaches, and would influence subsequent ambient and industrial music.

As such they are considered a central act of West Germany’s 1970s krautrock movement which included acts like Can, Neu!, Amon Düül II, Faust, Harmonia, Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, Guru Guru, early Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and Cluster.

They secured a recording contract with Polydor and soon began recording their debut, “Faust”, which sold poorly. Meifert was sacked shortly afterwards because, as Peron wrote in 2004, “he discussed things, because he had flat buttocks and an absolutely beautiful girlfriend, because he practised every day, because he always kept his room neat and woke up every morning to first wet a cloth he’d put in front of his room to keep the dirt out, because he played such a hard 4/4th that we had to travel into the tongue, ready to drop, ding dong is handsome top.”

The band did have its loyal fans. “There is no group more mythical than Faust”, Julian Cope once said. And Stephen Morris (Joy Division/New Order) remembers: “The first Krautrock record which made a lasting impression on me was the debut album by Faust. The transparent disc looked spectacular and the music was mindblowing, not songs as such, it was something absolutely unique, the polar opposite of everything the Rolling Stones, Beatles and the like were doing. It was right up my street.”

To be released via Bureau B later on this month is the 7LP + 2×7”-boxset and the 8CD boxset “1971-1974”. This box is the first virtually complete collection of the band’s works from the years 1971-1974. In addition to the debut album it also includes the 1972 album “So Far”, the legendary 1973 Virgin UK release “The Faust Tapes”, “Faust IV” and, for the first time ever, the mythical, so-called ‘Munich album’ “Punkt”, which Faust recorded at Giorgio Moroder’s Musicland Studios in 1974. For one reason or another, this last album never saw the light of day – until now.

The bonus albums “Momentaufnahme I” and “Momentaufnahme II” also feature unreleased material. Two 7-inch singles round off the Faust 1971-1974 compendium: “Lieber Herr Deutschland” is the demo recording they sent to Polydor in 1971, The second 7-inch single in the box is a rerelease of “So far”, the first Faust single on Polydor, originally issued in 1972.

Mastered from the original tapes, Faust’s “1971-1974” is available as a limited edition vinyl set (2,000 copies) and 8CD-Box (1,000 copies).

Here’s an idea how the band sounded like in 1973.

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 Bureau B by the end of this month is a limited 30th anniversary edition (1500 copies) in 2CD digipak reissue of the Camouflage album “Meanwhile”. The bonus CD holds a wealth of rare and unreleased recordings.

Founded in the southern German city of Bietigheim-Bissingen by Heiko Maile, Oliver Kreyssig and Marcus Meyn in the year 1984, the band Camouflage scored an unexpected international hit with their debut album “Voices & Images” in 1988. Their sophomore album “Methods of Silence”, released just a year later, was an even bigger success with songs like “The Great Commandment” and “Love is a Shield” becoming synth pop classics.

For the production of their third album “Meanwhile” Heiko Maile and Marcus Meyn (Oliver Kreyssig had left the band by then) recorded the songs with a band lineup with real drums, bass, guitar and keyboards. This change brought some controversy, and Marcus later said that if they had been given advice against the change in style, things may have gone differently.

Two singles were released from “Meanwhile: “Heaven (I Want You)” and a double a-side of “This Day” and “Handsome”.

Tracks on the bonus CD:

1. Mother (Electronica Mix 2020)
2. Waiting (Demo)
3. Spellbound (Demo)
4. Seize your Day (Demo)
5. Bitter Sweet (Demo)
6. Who the Hell is David Butler? (Demo)
7. Riding with Lawrence (Demo)
8. Finally Writing (Demo)
9. Lonestar Karma (Demo)
10. Missing Mark (Demo)
11. Quest for a Cure (Demo)
12. Towers (Demo)
13. Heaven (Club Mix)
14. Heaven (Club Too Mix)
15. Handsome (Mosaic Remix)
16. Handsome (Psycho-Ray-Mix)
17. Handsome (Slow-Motion-Mix)
18. Handsome (Live 2000 preparation)

Here are the original video’s from the release.

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 on June 25th via Bureau B is the Heiko Maile CD/LP “Demo Tapes 1984-86”. These recordings actually present the beginnings of Camouflage if you check them out. Most of the tracks on this album were recorded with a basic stereo (2-track) cassette recorder. The studio set-up looked more or less like this: a drum computer (no Midi) and a sequencer were connected to each other and synchronized rhythmically.

For this reissue Heiko used the latest studio technology and audio restoration algorithms to get these tracks back into listenable shape. 15 tracks were selected to be included.

Here’s what Heiko says about the way he worked back in the early 80s: “Ideas, compositions, arrangements, sound and not least the technical question of the recording process – this was all completely new ground for me. Getting to grips with songwriting and studio engineering without any form of training or professional guidance involves a great deal of trial and error and, above all, plenty of time. Any spare minutes I had were spent with our synthesizers and recording equipment. Every demo, every attempt to imitate the sound of a favorite record or device rang true to the mantra of “learning by doing“… equipment with no memory function (please do not touch!!!), the constant humming of cheap wires and cables (soldering is a must-have skill!), rotten-sounding cassettes (which had been recorded over several times, of course), a healthy degree of overconfidence (who needs a Fairlight CMI?) or the frequently unpredictable vagaries of analog technology on a home studio budget – there were many lessons to be learned.”

As for recording the demo material presented here, Heiko reveals this: “I crafted melodic sequences and rhythms and usually transposed them to the desired pitch manually, using the keyboards. Other live instruments were played over the top. Then everything, the sum of all the sound sources, was put together in a kind of “live recording” with the aid of a mixing desk. Just a single mistake would mean having to start all over again. Reconfiguring many of the sounds once the controls had already been adjusted was a painstaking process. I ended up with heaps of cassettes, often featuring seemingly endless versions and variations of the same track.”

Tracklist:

1. Beat For Ikutaro (Tape 52)
2. Vega Drive (Tape 13)
3. Heizungskeller (Tape 66)
4. Ear Piercer (Tape 48)
5. Murky Water (Tape 02)
6. Floating Bottles (Tape 04)
7. Spoken Letter (Tape 75)
8. Wavy RX (Tape 57)
9. Nachtspaziergang (Tape 40)
10. Grandma’s Kitchen (Tape 29)
11. Steam Engine (Tape 40)
12. Bike Spokes (Tape 02)
13. Fernsprecher (Tape 75)
14. Submarines in Space (Tape 07)
15. Film Drei (Tape 09)

About Heiko Maile

Australia born Heiko Maile is a German musician and composer who is best known as a member of the band Camouflage and as the composer for the score of the films “The Wave” and “We Are the Night”.

Growing up in Bietigheim-Bissingen (Germany), his first musical steps were at a young age when he started taking classical guitar lessons. His career as a musician and producer began in 1983, as one of the founding members of the synthpop band Camouflage.

Camouflage consisted of lead singer Marcus Meyn, Heiko Maile and Oliver Kreyssig. Their only Billboard Hot 100 hit was “The Great Commandment”, which earned No. 59 place in 1988, and earned three weeks at No. 1 on the US dance chart. They also had two additional minor dance hits in 1989.

In the 1990s, Maile founded with Marcus Meyn the music publishing company, Areu Areu. During this time, he met the music producer Mathias Willvonseder. They formed a long-term partnership, resulting in numerous commercials and films, which were often awarded prizes at festivals.

He is also a member of the Composers’ Collective Gutleut, where he met composer and arranger Torsten Kamps, and the two began working closely together. During this time, Maile started to develop a desire to compose for films and approached producer Christian Becker. Maile finally began composing for films in 2006 when he did the music for a short film called “Basti”. Maile was then hired by Becker to create the score as well as a few original songs for the teen-thriller “The Wave”.

Maile went on to work with Christian Becker and “The Wave” director Dennis Gansel and composed the music for “We Are the Night”, which was nominated for German Film Prize (the German Oscars) in 2011.

Heiko Maile now lives and works in Stuttgart.

The last Camouflage album was “Greyscale”, their eighth studio album. The record was released on 6 March 2015 in Germany and on 27 March 2015 in the rest of the world via the Bureau B label. It was the band’s first studio album in nine years, following 2006’s “Relocated”.

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

To mark the 30th anniversary of the Camouflage album “Methods Of Silence” via Bureau B, the band opened up the archives to assemble a special bonus edition including a wealth of rare and unreleased recordings including demos, US 12″ mixes, rough mixes and extended versions. The release will be issued as a limited to 500 triple LP sets and 1,500 double CDs.

Founded in the southern German city of Bietigheim-Bissingen by Heiko Maile, Oliver Kreyssig and Marcus Meyn in the year 1984, the band Camouflage scored an unexpected international hit with their debut album “Voices & Images” in 1988. One of the tracks in particular, “The Great Commandment”, went on to become a classic of the synth pop genre.

Their sophomore album “Methods Of Silence”, released just a year later, was an even bigger success. The band produced the record in Brussels, working on the songs with Dan Lacksman (Telex).

Here’s what the band released for the 30th anniversary release of their debut album “Voices Images”:

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

The Electronic Sound magazine is celebrating its 50th issue with a special vinyl package when you sign up to the magazine’s Bundle Subscription: 2 Karl Bartos tracks, “Without A Trace Of Emotion” and “Vox Humana”, packaged in a gatefold sleeve with a free poster, featuring the single’s sleeve artwork together with the entire text of the interview Karl Bartos gave in 2013 when the magazine launched.

The 2 tracks are taken from the Karl Bartos album “Off the Record”, his second solo effort released on 15 March 2013, through Bureau B records. It featured Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner as guest contributors and was Bartos’ first solo album in ten years, though the material on Off the Record predates that on 2003’s “Communication”. Speaking of which, do you own this “Communication” fanbox?

Bartos left Kraftwerk in August 1990, reportedly frustrated at the band’s slow progress in their activities due to the increasingly perfectionist attitude of founding members Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider.

More info here.

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 on September 7 is the compilation “Auferstehung (Elektronische Musik aus Berlin 1983/1984)” by Lapre. Lapre is the duo consisting of electronic musician Rudolf Langer (Tyndall) and guitarist Peter Preuß who teamed up in 1983. Their output can best be described as a mix of repetitive sequencer patterns via synth pop all the way to atmospheric, hypnotic minor key expanses.

By 1984, Lapre had released two tapes and a 12-inch vinyl. This new compilation presents the most compelling tracks from these releases which are all appearing on CD for the very first time.

Below is a preview of the compilation:

https://soundcloud.com/bureau-1/lapre-auferstehung-album-preview-out-sep-9th-2018

Rudolf Langer began his musical career as one half of Tyndall. The duo released four albums on Sky Records between 1979 and 1983 (all recently reissued on Bureau B). By the time the two musicians reached the fourth album, they were barely on speaking terms, so each recorded one side of the LP on his own.

Preuß, a guitarist, then hooked up with Langer and they produced two tapes over the next two years (“Tedan” in 1983 and “Flokati” in 1984), each numbering 30-50 copies, intended for sale at concerts. A 12-inch single on their own label (“Oeso” followed later in 1984.

Although guitar features on every track, Lapre’s early recordings relate to the Berlin School, with their music, specifically their use of synthesizers, echoing the tradition of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze et al.

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

Dutch composer, sound and producer artist Michel Banabila (born 1961) has been releasing music since 1983. He uses found objects, electronica, field recordings, and shortwave/tv/film recordings to produce his work which has been used in musical scores for numerous films, documentaries, theatre plays and choreographies.

His work has been published by Steamin’ Soundworks, Bureau B, Staalplaat, Pork Recordings, Tone Casualties, Challenge Records/JJ Tracks and his own Tapu Records.

The album “Early works (Things popping up from the past)” collects 11 songs from his early years, released on tape, vinyl EPs or limited CD edition. You can expect minimal loop-based electronica, neoclassical pieces and ambient drone music. The album is available both on vinyl (available here) and CD (available here).

Here’s an idea how the work of Banabila sounds.

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