French electropop act Celluloide is getting its first-ever vinyl pressing of “Bodypop E.P.”, 20 years after the mini-album’s original release. BOREDOMproduct has remastered the EP for a 10″ edition, with pre-orders open now.

“Bodypop E.P.” was released on March 10, 2006 on BOREDOMproduct, the band’s own Marseille-based label. The mini-album introduced EBM elements into Celluloide’s sound, a shift the band described at the time as its own “self-labelled Bodypop genre”, blending its earlier bleepy electropop with a more danceable, body-music-oriented direction. The original CD carried six tracks; the new 10″ vinyl remaster carries five, leaving off the bonus “Click New Wave” remix of “I Am Fine” by Ciëlo that closed the 2006 release.

Celluloide’s ‘Bodypop E.P.’ tracklist on the 2026 vinyl remaster

The 2026 vinyl remaster tracklist:

1. People Like Me
2. Audiotherapy
3. I Am Fine
4. Lose Control
5. Who Is The Angel?

The EP’s five original tracks were later remixed for the 2007 companion disc “Bodypop E.P. Clubmixes”, included with the limited editions of “Bodypop E.P.” and the following album “Passion & Excitements”, with contributions from 3 Cold Men, Communication Zero, E.D.P., Foretaste and Dekad. The 10″ vinyl edition is available to pre-order via BOREDOMproduct.

About Celluloide

Celluloide is a French electropop duo formed in Marseille around members U-0176 and Patryck Holdwem. The band’s debut album, “Naive Heart”, followed in 2002 with twelve synthpop tracks, released alongside a numbered limited edition featuring experimental versions of the same songs. During the sessions for its second album, the band recorded six covers of 1980s wave classics under the name “Naphtaline EP” in 2003, before releasing “Words Once Said” in 2004. The album was later reissued in Germany through Boytronic’s label Major Records, with a bonus track sung in German.

Celluloide returned to the studio in 2005, and delays pushed the planned “Bodypop EP” into a March 2006 release. The EP marked a turning point, folding EBM elements into the band’s electropop base and previewing the follow-up album “Passion & Excitements”, released in 2007 with the limited “Bodypop E.P. Clubmixes” bonus disc attached. In 2008, the band compiled its scattered covers, including the 2003 “Naphtaline” sessions and additional unreleased tracks, into the 13-track “Naphtaline LP”.

Further albums followed with “Hexagonal” (2010) and “Art Plastique” (2014), alongside the “Numériques” compilation series gathering rarities and exclusive versions. In 2015, the band’s Facebook page was removed without explanation, prompting a move to the since-discontinued platform tsū. Celluloide returned in 2020 with the album “Futur Antérieur” and a video for “La Cité Des Aveugles”, plus the “Translucide EP” the same year. The band released the album “Silences We Shared” in 2024, the same year an earlier Celluloide album was pulled from Spotify and other streaming platforms.

Twenty years after “Bodypop E.P.” first introduced the band’s EBM-leaning direction, Celluloide and BOREDOMproduct mark the anniversary with the EP’s first pressing on vinyl.

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!

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The Brussels-based Spleen+ label (a division of Alfa Matrix) has prepared a deluxe 7CD collector’s edition – “Resurgence” – which brings together 133 active bands from across the globe, spanning the diverse sub-genres born from post-punk’s iconic roots. You can order it now from the Alfa Matrix webstore and in digital download format from Bandcamp.

The release comes housed in a luxurious vinyl-sized box, and comes accompanied by a 28-page book. The book holds interviews from renowned producers like John Fryer and Jean-Marc Lederman, label managers, journalists, and iconic artists (including Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, William Faith, No More, Skeletal Family, Mona Mur, KaS Product, And Also The Trees, Clan Of Xymox, Attrition, Das Ich, Merciful Nuns, The Names, The Breath Of Life, etc).

Spanning 23 different nationalities, the music included is a genre-spanning mix of post-punk, cold wave, dark synth, ethereal, and minimal EBM with such bands like Boy Harsher, A Cloud Of Ravens, No More, Skeletal Family, Collection D’Arnell Andrea, Underviewer, Attrition, Merciful Nuns, Lederman/De Meyer, Local Suicide & Sekelesys, Star Industry, Ataraxia, Czarina, Helalyn Flowers, Ascii.Disko, Je T’Aime, The Ultimate Dreamers, Lycia, Opera Multi Steel, The Breath Of Life, Auger, The Names, Whispers In The Shadow, Lovelorn Dolls, Astari Nite, Chiasm, Saigon Blue Rain, Omnimar, Still Patient, Creux Lies, Golden Apes, and many more.

You can already check out a few tracks here.

Apart from the 7CD vinyl size deluxe carton box format, “Resurgence” will not be available on mainstream digital platforms, except exclusively via the label’s Bandcamp page.

There is also a special combi pack including the 7CD set plus Darkness On Demand’s “Panic In Reserve” CD and To Avoid’s “All Gods Are Gone” 2CD.

“Resurgence” Tracklist

Cd 1

1. Bestial Mouths . Hex (The Spell)
2. A Cloud Of Ravens . Parable
3. Boy Harsher . Give Me A Reason
4. Czarina . Wonderland
5. Collection D’arnell Andrea . Waiting For Meaulnes
6. Krystal System . La Lame Dans Ta Main
7. Je T’aime . Out Of Sight
8. Aeon Rings . Fully Operational
9. The Ultimate Dreamers . Polarized
10. Partikul . Nothing Good In Me
11. Cosmobrigade . Spacepit
12. Aeon Sable . From Witchcraft To Deviltry
13. Stereoskop . Deep Down
14. The Breath Of Life . Slowly Crushing
15. Faust Project . Rats Lullaby
16. Al . Mistake
17. N.E.L. & J.P . Desinteresse
18. Zeitgeist Zero . Scream
19. Voyna . Moulding Heart

Cd 2

1. Blackbook . You Are Strange
2. Auger . My Heart Is Glass
3. Dekad . A Deadly Show (Video Edit)
4. Love In Cage . A Logical Secret Collection
5. Helalyn Flowers . Halos
6. Soft Scent . No Wounds
7. Sweet Ermengarde . Sweet Sacrifice
8. Martin Dupont . Bent At The Window (2023)
9. The Names . Far From The Factories
10. Boxes Of Blow . Melting Faces
11. Mirror Of Haze Feat. Primitive Heart . Reckless
12. A Slice Of Life . Seven Days
13. Then Comes Silence . Pretty Creatures
14. Nite . Inside Of My Head
15. Astari Nite . Bowie In Daydreams
16. Korus . Złote Światło Pierwszego Zachodu
17. Lovelorn Dolls . A Heart Cries
18. Whispers In The Shadow . Revenants
19. Merciful Nuns . Oneironauts

Cd 3

1. Lederman – De Meyer . Heartbeat
2. Local Suicide & Skelesys . Surface Of The Sun (Radio Edit)
3. Punx Soundcheck Feat. Ascii.Disko & Princess Superstar . Gasoline
4. No More . Sleepers And Trains
5. Mitra Mitra . Memories For Company
6. A Copy For Collapse Feat. Simona Pietrucci . Faded
7. Alien Skin . Depress Me
8. White Mansion . Cancel The Sky
9. Apnoie . Splash Your Bile
10. Celluloide . Compte Les Ombres
11. Risk Risk . Streetwalk
12. Total Chroma . Northern Lights
13. Opera Multi Steel . À Nos Moments Perdus
14. Lycia . Simpler Times
15. Noemi Aurora . Blood As Lipstick
16. Novus . Ess
17. I Ya Toyah . Death’s Kiss
18. Katcross . Rest
19. Winter Severity Index . Speak To Me

Cd 4

1. Systeme Paradoxe . Comme Le Sable En Hiver
2. Aiboforcen . Break The Black Ice (Original Mix)
3. Chiasm . Cut Right Through (Emileigh Rohn Edit)
4. Saigon Blue Rain . Dolls Dresses
5. Her Own World . Mistrust
6. Still Patient Feat. Minu-Schirin Samimi . Blind Vision
7. Creux Lies . Playtime
8. Der Klinke . Curtains (Your Life On Hold Remix)
9. On The Floor . Crying On The Dancefloor
10. Numa Echos Feat. Red Zebra . Waisted Items
11. Factheory . The Day (Ok Lion! Mix – Short Version)
12. Antiflvx . Crystal
13. Flor Concreta . She’s Closer
14. Golden Apes . Ash Trees
15. Glis . Blue Sky Night
16. Ataraxia . The Source
17. Hanging Freud . Grooming
18. Ok Lion! . Get Away
19. Yuzna . Queen Of The Eels

Cd 5

1. The Breath Of Life Feat. Implant . The Last Record
2. The Halo Trees . Happy Man
3. Palm Ghosts . Tilt
4. Your Life On Hold . Imprisoned (Merciless Radio Edit)
5. Götterdämmerung . Common Existence
6. Jenni Sex . Sin Chimes
7. Denner . She Radiates Darkness
8. Imjudas . I Love You
9. Black Needle Noise . Dollhouse On Fire
10. Dead Souls Rising . Dysmorphobia
11. The Waning Moon . Annabel
12. Korinthians . Leader Of The Night
13. Elektrostaub Feat. Stefan Netschio . Mantis (Auger Remix)
14. Omnimar . The Matrix
15. Synapsyche Feat. Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost) . The Last Dying Flame
16. Dance My Darling . Criminal
17. First Aid 4 Souls Feat. Emke Of Black Nail Cabaret . Das Messer
18. Supernova 1006 . Tell Your Name (Mix)
19. Suicidal Romance . Runaways

Cd 6

1. Ascii.Disko . Loslassen
2. Vioflesh . Emotions
3. Dina Summer . Who Am I (Club Version)
4. Pleasure Victim . Rascheln
5. Pink Opake . Pronta
6. Thewalkingicon . The Trail (Radio Edit)
7. Psy’aviah Feat. Sorrow Stories . Healing
8. Seasurfer . Collapsing
9. Lakeside X . Fire In The Sky (Radio Version)
10. Darkness On Demand . Hang On (Winterhart Remix)
11. Star Industry . Selling Icons (The Dreamside Remix)
12. Alphavox . Dark Satellite
13. Yama Uba . Shapes
14. Lifeless Past . Anxiety
15. Pink Turns Blue . Not Gonna Take It
16. Social Union . Waiting For Red
17. Sine . Until (Clan Of Xymox Remix)
18. Sorry, Heels . She Burns (We Burn) Version
19. Lights A.M . Clouds

Cd 7

1. Useless/You . Echo
2. Attrition . The Great Derailer
3. Children Of Zeal . Taking Over
4. Octolab . Friend Or Foe
5. Vague Phonique . The Last Man
6. Midnight Poetry . Black Hole
7. The Overlookers . Undercover (Edit)
8. La Machine . Vamos A La Playa (Radiomix)
9. Die Sexual . House Of God
10. Carrellee . Morning Sun
11. Underviewer . Was Soll Ich Tun (Aiboforcen Remix)
12. Night In Athens . Words Unspoken
13. Neila Invo . Alienation
14. Skeletal Family . My Own Redemption
15. The Murder Mystery . A Girl Named Red
16. Princess Ugly . For A Moment I Forgot The Desolation
17. Instant Lake . Ivory Dreams
18. Vision Video . Balaclava Kiss
19. La Scaltra . Dancing On Debris

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!

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“Silences We Shared” is not an entirely new album from the French Electro-Pop trio Celluloide but rather a tribute to their second album, “Words Once Said,” released 20 years ago. Instead of opting for a simple re-release or remastered edition, the band chose to remix and rework nine tracks from the original album, using period-specific materials and techniques. The result is quintessential Celluloide: refined, ‘bleeping’ Electro-Pop that deserves a spot in the BOREDOMproduct showcase. While the sound may evoke the robotic precision of Kraftwerk, Celluloide has taken that influence and crafted it into something personal. The album delivers a refreshing blend of sweet Synth-Pop, punctuated by harder, more intense passages. (Rate:8).

Listen to “Two Fridays A Week – Tuesday Mix”:

About Celluloide

Celluloide is a French synth-pop group formed in 2000, releasing its first demo that year and its debut album, “Naive Heart”, in 2002. The lineup consists of Darkleti, Member u-0176 and Patryck Holdwem. The band’s work has been released through the French label BOREDOMproduct, including the albums “Art Plastique” and, in 2020, the eighth album “Futur Antérieur”, which the band discussed in a Side-Line interview.

“Silences We Shared” reworks nine tracks from Celluloide’s second album, “Words Once Said”, using period-specific equipment and techniques, twenty years after that album’s original release.

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

The French electronic band Celluloide ‘s latest album “Silences We Shared” has encountered an unforeseen hiccup ahead of its release this Friday. According to the band’s Marseille-based label BOREDOMproduct, all major digital streaming platforms have blocked the album’s release due to its cover art, which includes a graphic element resembling a barcode.

This issue arises just as the band prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their second album, “Words Once Said”. You can check the cover below. Intriguingly, the design of the new album pays homage to this earlier album, which also featured a similar barcode-like design on its original cover. Despite the original album’s long-standing availability on these same platforms, the new album’s cover has triggered content restrictions.

As of now, it appears that negotiations with the streaming services have not yielded any positive results. The album, which was anticipated to be an important release commemorating two decades of the band’s earlier work, may not be available for streaming if the issue remains unresolved.

The decision to block the album due to its cover art has been described by the label and band as “unreal” and “absurd”.

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

As we reported before, La Machine‘s first album “Contrôle Total” which was due this year had to be postponed to next year. But there is also good news as the BOREDOMproduct label will release a new 5-track EP and new videos in December completing their EP trilogy.

You can already pre-order your copy of the ultra-limited 10″ vinyl edition, on clear transparent vinyl, or the CD numbered edition, in a dedicated packaging, as you can see below.

Behind La Machine we find some habitués, namely Pierre Pi (Komplex, Position Parallèle, Communication Zéro…) and Éric U0 (Celluloide, Thee Hyphen, Signal~Bruit…). As far as inspiration goes, La Machine finds inspiration in fantasy films an B-Movies from the 50s as much as it recycles science fiction and horror movies.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: A few months after their excellent debut-EP “La Machine (Qui Ne Sert A Rien)” French duo Pierre Pi (Komplex, Position Parallèle, Communication Zéro) – Éric U0 (Celluloide, Thee Hyphen, Signal/Bruit) aka La Machine is back on track with a new EP.

Content: The title song is a surprising, minimalistic Electro cover version of the legendary “Vamos A La Playa”-hit from 1983 and originally performed by Righeira. Behind this funny hit was hidden a more serious theme about a nuclear disaster. That’s the main theme behind this EP which is also exposed on another track “Réacteur 4”. Both songs have been featured in different mixes. Last but not least La Machine also achieved another cover version of French Electro legend Jacno.

+ + + : It’s a damned crazy challenge covering such a famous commercial hit. I’ve to salute the way La Machine transposed it into their minimal approach by the use of analogue sound treatments. The minimalism is also coming back in the half-spoken way of singing. Luckily they didn’t take over the legendary ‘oh oho oho’ part of the chorus. No doubt it took them time and patience to achieve this version. And they even achieved another version with the Spanish lyrics translated and sung into French; totally hilarious and don’t ask me why but it reminds me of the legendary movies of Jacques Tati. The cover version of Jacno’s “Rectangle” is more fitting to the sound of La Machine. Both versions of “Réacteur 4” reveal the band at its best although it remains pretty minimal and Experimental-like.

– – – : I’ve been never a huge fan of “Vamos A La Playa” and even if La Machine totally reworked the song into a different style and approach it still can’t totally convince me. I think it could be fun playing this song live.

Conclusion: While awaiting the debut album of La Machine I’ve mixed feelings with this second EP. I hope they’ll be more inspired by the great debut EP instead of Righeira.

Best songs: “Vamos A La Playa – Edit”, “Rectangle”.  

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/LaMachine.BOREDOMproduct

Label: www.boredomproduct.fr  / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct Read the news on ‘Vamos A La Playa’.

Listen to “Vamos A La Playa E.P.”:

About La Machine

La Machine is the masked project of Pierre Pi and Eric U0, who perform as robotic personas and keep their identities hidden. The duo released their debut album, “Contrôle Total,” on BOREDOMproduct, delivering vintage-inspired Electro-Pop with several unexpected cover versions. La Machine later discussed the project’s retro-futuristic approach in a Side-Line interview, describing their sound as a deliberate anti-thesis to AI-assisted, modern electronic production.

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

A few months after their debut EP “La Machine Qui Ne Sert à Rien”, La Machine (a collaboration of members of the French electro acts Position Parallèle and Celluloide/Thee Hyphen) is back with a new 6 track EP, “Vamos a la Playa”, which you can order here.

To be released on June 23rd, the first track on the EP is a minimalist and mechanical cover of a song by the Italian Italo disco duo Righeira, released in 1983 as the second single from their debut studio album, Righeira (1983).

Also included on this 6-track EP is a cover of Jacno’s 1979 track “Rectangle”.

Here’s a short teaser for the new EP. Read the review of ‘Vamos A La Playa’.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: This is the debut work of French duo La Machine. Driven by Pierre Pi (Komplex, Position Parallèle, Communication Zéro) and Éric U0 (Celluloide, Thee Hyphen, Signal/Bruit) the band claims to be inspired by fantasy films and B-movies from the 50s. The physical formats of the work feature one extra song plus two remixes.

Content: This work brings us back to the analogue magic of 80s Electro-Pop. It sounds pure old-school revealing funny lyrics for the title track and a simple, but cool lyrics for the B-side cut. Both songs have been remixed as well while we also get a cover version of the legendary “Pop Corn”-song.

+ + + : Both songs, the title track and “F.F.P.2” are brilliant pieces bringing 80s Synth-Pop back to life. Great sound treatments and analogue effects with sterile French vocals reminding me of bands like Taxi Girl and co. Both remixes are pretty cool as they bring an extended format of the songs.

– – – : The “Pop Corn” cover version is for sure a great song to play live but I’m missing the magic of the original edit.

Conclusion: This debut sounds more than promising; I’m really wondering about the next step of this band bringing the 80s alive with style.

Best songs: “La Machine (Qui Ne Sert A Rien)”,  “La Machine (Qui Ne Sert A Rien) – Remix”, “F.F.P.2”, “F.F.P.2 – Remix”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/LaMachine.BOREDOMproduct

Label: www.boredomproduct.fr  / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct Read the news on ‘La Machine’.

About La Machine

La Machine is a French duo formed by Pierre Pi, also known for Komplex, Position Parallèle and Communication Zéro, and Éric U0, also known for Celluloide and Thee Hyphen. The debut single “La Machine (Qui Ne Sert À Rien)” is a minimal electro cover of a 1967 proto-punk track by French singer Dani, backed with the original song “F.F.P.2” and a cover of “Pop Corn”.

The duo went on to release the EP “Vamos A La Playa” in 2023 and their debut album “Contrôle Total” in 2025 via BOREDOMproduct, preceded by the videos for “Sutures” and “Sextape”.

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

Last year December, the French BOREDOMproduct label launched the debut single and video “La Machine Qui Ne Sert à Rien” for the all new minimal electro project La Machine. Behind La Machine we find some habitués, namely Pierre Pi (Komplex, Position Parallèle, Communication Zéro…) and Éric U0 (Celluloide, Thee Hyphen, Signal~Bruit…).

As far as inspiration goes, La Machine finds inspiration in fantasy films an B-Movies from the 50s as much as it recycles science fiction and horror movies.

A new video is out now for “FFP2”, the second track from the first EP “La Machine Qui Ne Sert à Rien” which the band describes as being “a genuine erotic-sanitary hymn, a plea for saliva exchange in a not quite imaginary hygienist world obsessed with the wearing of masks.”

Here’s the all new video single.

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 French BOREDOMproduct label has just launched the debut single and video “La Machine Qui Ne Sert à Rien” for the all new project La Machine. Behind La Machine we find some habitués, namely Pierre Pi (Komplex, Position Parallèle, Communication Zéro…) and Éric U0 (Celluloide, Thee Hyphen, Signal~Bruit…).

The track is actually a minimal electro cover of the 1967 proto-punk track by French model/singer Dani and comes with the extra track “FFP2”. Exclusive to the EP is also a dark and complex cover of the classic song “Pop Corn”. The tracklist for the EP is wrapped up with the extended versions of the first two tracks.

Inspired by fantasy films and B-Movies from the 50s, La Machine recycles science fiction and horror movies, and fits in a present where the absurd, the nuclear nightmare and the control of individuals are never very far away.

The debut single is available in several formats, a 5-track CD, a 10″ vinyl EP as well as a digital single out now and available via the BOREDOMproduct label shop.

Here is the video for “La Machine Qui Ne Sert à Rien”. Read the review of ‘La Machine’.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: This year the French band Celluloide celebrates the twentieth anniversary of their debut album “Naïve Heart”. The album has been remastered and re-released on vinyl format. This EP features four alternative versions that were originally accomplished in 2003 to play live. They now have been released as a four-track EP.

Content: “A Lie”, “Wounds Of Love”, “Sixth Sense” and “Seven And Forever” all were noticeable tracks featured on the album and reworked as alternative edits. It remains in the purest tradition of the band, “Wounds Of Love” with a little Depeche Mode on top and a refreshed edit of “Seven And Forever”.

+ + + : This EP is a nice addition to the re-release of “Naïve Heart” and an opportunity to discover alternative edits of 4 prominent songs of the album. The tracks have been seriously reworked although they remain pretty easy to recognize. My favorite one is “Seven And Forever”.

– – – : By the single exception of “Seven And Forever” I definitely prefer the original edits.

Conclusion: Definitely a cool gift and extra for the fans of Celluloide; alluring and personal Electro-Pop made in France.

Best songs: “Seven And Forever – 6W7L Version”, “Wounds Of Love – 6W7L Version”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.celluloide.online.fr / www.facebook.com/celluloide.official

Label: www.boredomproduct.fr  / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct

About Celluloide

Celluloide is a French synth-pop band set up in 2000, releasing its work through hometown label BOREDOMproduct. The band released its debut album, “Naïve Heart”, in 2002, followed over the years by “Words Once Said”, the “Bodypop” EP, “Hexagonal”, “Art Plastique”, and the eighth album “Futur Antérieur”. Members Darkleti, u-0176 and Patryck Holdwem have described the project’s sound as built from electro-minimalistic pop structures and typical bleeping sequences.

For “Naïve Heart”’s twentieth anniversary, BOREDOMproduct remastered and reissued the album on vinyl, paired with the limited edition reissue, while “Six Wounds / Seven Lies” collects four of its tracks in alternative versions first arranged for live sets in 2003. Celluloide later released the album “Silences We Shared” in 2024.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Set up in Marseille (France) in 2002 Celluloide has released seven studio albums plus one album with cover versions, two albums filled with remixes and multiple EP’s. It all started in 2002 with the debut album “Naïve Heart” which twenty years later has now been re-released on vinyl format. The songs have been remastered.

Content: Celluloide stands for pure Electro-Pop music which is characterized by robotic bleeps, catchy melody lines and the sensual timbre of voice of ‘Darkleti’. The vinyl features the 12 original versions of the album.

+ + + : Celluloide stands for the sound DNA of French label BOREDOmproduct; a kind of retro-like Electro-Pop characterized by a kind of ‘robotik-pop’ sound. The bleeping sequences mixed with the melodies and danceable cadence remained a red line throughout the band’s career. The album reminds us that time is going fast but that the ‘greatest’ songs from Celluloide were definitely released at “Naïve Heart” and that they didn’t lose their original splendor. This is an opportunity to (re)discover among others “A Lie”, “Pretty Girl” and “Missing Words”. I also have to mention “The Paradox Of The Mirror Girl” reminding me of Anne Clark for some of the sequences.

– – – : I regret there’s not one little extra- and/or bonus song featured here; kind of early, previously, unreleased material.

Conclusion: Celluloide remained a fascinating and talented Electro-Pop formation which according to me never got a wider international recognition.

Best songs: “A Lie”, “Missing Words”, “Pretty Girl”, “The Paradox Of The Mirror Girl”, “Wounds Of Love”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.celluloide/online/fr / www.facebook.com/celluloide.official 

Label: www.boredomproduct.fr  / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct

About Celluloide

Celluloide released its first demo in 2000, according to the band in a 2020 Side-Line interview, and issued its debut album, “Naïve Heart”, in 2002 through BOREDOMproduct. This review states the band was set up in Marseille in 2002; the two Side-Line sources give different founding years. Members Darkleti, u-0176 and Patryck Holdwem went on to release “Words Once Said”, the “Bodypop” EP, “Hexagonal”, “Art Plastique” and the eighth album “Futur Antérieur”.

For the twentieth anniversary of “Naïve Heart”, BOREDOMproduct remastered and reissued the album on vinyl, paired with the companion EP “Six Wounds / Seven Lies”, which collects four of its tracks in alternative live versions.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Experimental-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: After having re-released Thee Hyphen’s debut album “Incidental Tools Of Confusion”, we now get the second album. “Re.Sound” was originally released in 1996. Twenty five years later, the French project driven by ‘Member U-0176’ is back on track. The ten original songs have been cleaned up while there’s an extra bonus track featured.

Content: “RE.Sound” moves on where the debut album stopped. It remains a very minimal experience in Electro-Pop; sometimes reminding me of Depeche Mode, but without the melodies. Several songs are clearly revealing the later sound of Celluloide –and that’s not a coincidence as Member U-0176 went on with Celluloide. The vocals remain sweet, sometimes even fragile. And just as for the re-release of “Incidental Tools Of Confusion”, we get a remix of one song as a bonus cut.

+ + + : It’s amazing to see how contemporary and refreshing this work sounds today. The Depeche Mode influence is present, but Thee Hyphen sounds as an Experimental exposure of Electro-Pop. The magic of analogue sound treatments resulting in multiple effects and sweeps has something very personal. It’s not exactly ‘happy’ Electro-Pop, but definitely a sound from another dimension. There are several cool songs featured, but the more dancefloor driven remix of “Mind.Polluted” is absolutely cool.

– – – : Electro-Pop without explicit melody lines sounds maybe as Hard-Rock without a guitar solo… and that’s maybe one or the reasons this band remained rather unknown. 

Conclusion: I rediscover Thee Hyphen and their sound has an even greater impact on me today than when it was originally released.

Best songs: “Mind.Polluted Remix”, “Veiled.Words”, “Pink”, “Leaves.Me.In.The.Cold”, “Drink.In.Your.Mouth”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.theehyphen.online.fr / www.facebook.com/theehyphen

Label: www.boredomproduct.online.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct Read the news on ‘Re.Sound’.

About Thee Hyphen

Thee Hyphen is the solo project of the French electronic musician known as Member U-0176, who also plays keyboards in the synthpop band Celluloide. The project works with minimal analogue electronics and releases through the French label BOREDOMproduct.

Thee Hyphen emerged in the mid-1990s with “Incidental Tools Of Confusion” in 1994 and “Re.Sound” in 1996, followed by “Organique” in 1998 and “Consolidated Green” in 2004. The catalogue then went out of circulation for years.

BOREDOMproduct began reissuing the back catalogue in 2021 with remastered CD editions of “Incidental Tools Of Confusion” and the album reviewed here. The reissue programme continued with a remastered digipak CD of “Organique” in May 2025, carrying four bonus tracks recorded during abandoned 2002 sessions, and a five-track EP titled “Digital” in January 2025.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: BOREDOMproduct brings us back in time, to one of the label’s first releases. Thee Hyphen was the solo-project of Member U-0176 who got later on involved with Celluloide and Signal Bruit. This album was originally released in 1994 on cassette and CDR and has been now remastered and released on CD for the very first time.

Content: Thee Hyphen can be best defined as Electro-Pop, but clearly an atypical format for its particular bleeps (sometimes reminding me of Celluloide) and Experimental treatments. It sometimes makes me think of an ‘outer-space’ edit of Depeche Mode. Analogue effects and subtle, metallic sound treatments are running through the work with some string parts on top. The vocals have something sweet. The last song is a kind of ‘bonus’ remix of “Into Dirt”.

+ + + : If you consider this album is nearly 30 years old, it’s simply amazing to see how visionary this album was. The songs don’t suffer from any weight of time and still have a refreshing touch because of the bleeping sequences and refined metallic sound treatments. It has been a great work to clean up all the sound impurities of the original edit to get this professional result. 

– – – : I think some parts of the vocals could have been a bit more passionate.

Conclusion: I think it was a great idea to recover this album from dust, which is an amazing opportunity to rediscover this project.

Best songs: “Into Dirt – Remix”, “Into Dirt”, “Plea Of Grief”, “This Aching Kiss”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.theehyphen.online.fr / www.facebook.com/theehyphen

Label: www.boredomproduct.online.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct Read the news on ‘Incidental Tools Of Confusion’.

About Thee Hyphen

Thee Hyphen is the French electro-pop project of Member U-0176, who later co-founded Celluloide and is also active in Signal Bruit. The first album, “Incidental Tools Of Confusion”, was recorded in 1994 and released that year on cassette and CDr through Boredom Product. “Re.Sound” followed in 1996, “Organique” in 1998 and “Consolidated Green” in 2004, the last one on the BOREDOMproduct label.

The 2021 edition was restored from the original 4-track analog tapes and remastered, with the vocals stripped of their original effects, according to the label notes. BOREDOMproduct released it on CD and as a download; the label’s Bandcamp page dates the reissue to 25 May 2021, the artist’s own Bandcamp page to 25 June 2021. The ten tracks are “Into Dirt”, “Plea Of Grief”, “It’s Diseased”, “Obscenity”, “A Thousand Pieces”, “Purify”, “Dark Echo Elegy”, “Being Dead”, “This Aching Kiss” and the bonus “Into Dirt (remix)”. The label states that “This Aching Kiss” was later re-recorded for Celluloide.

The companion reissue of Re.Sound was reviewed on Side-Line in November 2021. BOREDOMproduct reissued Organique with four bonus tracks in December 2024, reviewed in January 2025, and Thee Hyphen followed with the five-track ‘Digital’ EP in January 2025. “Incidental Tools Of Confusion” is the earliest title in the catalogue.

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

The fine French electronic music label BOREDOMproduct has announced the reissue of 2 Thee Hyphen albums, the band’s debut album “Incidental Tools Of Confusion” (1994) and the second album “Re.Sound” (1996). Thee Hyphen is/was the solo project of Celluloide’s keyboardist aka Member U-0176.

Both released come in a remastered and restaured version and will be released on June 25. As far as the sound of these two cult releases, we have to agree with the label which says the sound was “too cold to be pop, too pop to be electro, too experimental to be EBM and too EBM to be darkwave.”

Regarding the reissue of “Incidental Tool of Confusion”, it holds material restored from the original 4-track analog tapes and aditionally the label got rid of the original vocal effects to gain more clarity. “Incidental Tool of Confusion” was originally released both on cassette and CD-R. You’ll also notice that “This Aching Kiss” would end up on Celluloide’s records a few years later.

You can pre-order both albums right now at a very special price via the label’s webstore. Warmly recommended!

Here’s a teaser for the reissues. Read the reviews of ‘Incidental Tools Of Confusion’ and ‘Re.Sound’.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: The previous Foretaste-album was released in 2016. The sixth album “Happy End!” got preceded by the EP “Lost: Run!” which let us discover three songs that are featured on this new opus. “Happy End!” has been composed and accomplished during the disastrous pandemic year of 2020.

Content: Does the title of this album reflect a positive plot of the pandemic? That’s at least what this album seems to indicate, but sound-wise it doesn’t sound at all as the most ‘happy’ work from the French formation. The songs are darker, sometimes even a bit Experimental while some sound treatments remind me of a ‘poppy version’ of Die Form. This is pure, retro-like Electro-Pop recovered by doom atmospheres, but created by delicate and sensitive sound treatments. Just a few songs are more danceable, the main part of the tracklist remaining more Experimental and filled with total minimalism. One track (cf. “Robotic blues”) sounds a bit Cinematographic and is mainly sung guest singer JB (Dekad) while the female vocals by Creature XX remain the lead.

+ + + : Foretaste didn’t repeat themselves although you still easily recognize the band’s typical sound. This is robotic-pop music, which is more into Minimalism and Experimentalism than ever before. I’m not surprised the best songs of the album are the ones, which are a little bit more danceable (cf. “Lost For Seven Years” and “Happy End!”). The main strength of the band is the very unique and intelligent composition. Foretaste is not exactly a band you can compare to another, but they clearly sound in the purest tradition of BOREDOMproduct and their label mates of Celluloide.

– – – : “Happy End!” is not what I would call the most accessible work from this formation. It’s more sophisticated and still into Experimentalism, which will maybe not catch the attention of a wider audience.

Conclusion: “Happy End!” is an album without compromise; it doesn’t sound happy at all and yet you are quickly going to like the dark Electronic moods of Foretaste.

Best songs: “Lost For Seven Years”, “Happy End!”, “Pure Madness”, “In My Game”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/foretastemusic

Label: www.boredomproduct.online.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct Read the news on ‘Happy End!’.

About Foretaste

Foretaste is a French synthpop duo of Sylvie Billy, who records as Creature XX (also known as Terrorist XX and Lover XX) on vocals, and Pierre Atoch, who records as Creature XY (also known as Terrorist XY and Lover XY) on programming. The duo releases through BOREDOMproduct. Foretaste released the album “Space Echo” in 2016. The EP “Lost: Run!” preceded “Happy End!”, the duo’s sixth studio album, released in 2021 on BOREDOMproduct.

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

Here’s a release which will interest the more eclectic readers. The ‘Novocibirsk’ project is the product of experiments conducted by Hervé Isar between 1982 and 1993 in his home studio, connecting a network of synthesizers and analog sequencers to test their communications or synchronize their messages and speed multiplication, testing multi-oscillators pads out of mono generators, trying octave distribution, voltage additions and substractions.

The result is artificial music inspired by pioneers of the 70’s and raw minimalism of the underground of the 80’s. Listening to the material you’ll inevitably will think of Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze. The whole is enriched with vocoder chants. Five of the tracks recorded back then are now being released on “Télévision 1945 (Volume II)”, the second series of Novocibirsk’s recordings that is being released on the productionB label.

“Télévision 1945 (volume II)” will be released on February 26. 2021, as digisleeve CD album and digital download and a 12″LP vinyl edition might be released later this year. Pre-orders are available here.

Here’s an edit of “Nuclear Propagation”.

About Novocibirsk

Hervé Isar, the brain behind the project, is actually a French law professor at the university of Aix-Marseille. Unlike other musicians Isar has always considered his ‘music’ to be a technical research rather than music. Nevertheless in 1997 his album “Excerpts And Experiments” was released on the newborn French label BOREDOMproduct (home to Celluloide, Dekad, Foretaste, …).

20 years later the French label launched a subdivision called productionB focusing more on minimal electronic works and decided to reactivate Novocibirsk, releasing ‘old’ songs for the very first time on CD. “Télévision 1945 (Volume I)” was released in 2019 with “Télévision 1945 (Volume II)” being released in 2020.

You can read an interview with Hervé Isar right here. Read the review of ‘Télévision 1945 Volume II’.

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

Behind the French solo-project SIGNAL~BRUIT is hiding the enigmatic ‘Member U-0176’. Electro-pop lovers for sure know the man from his involvement with Cellloïde and Thee Hyphen while he’s still running the label BOREDOMproduct and the sub-division productB. Four years ago now he unleashed the debut-album “Planisphère(s)” on Sevren Ni-Arb (X-Mark The Pedwalk) label Meshwork. The work clearly revealed a retro-electro approach reminding pioneers in the genre, but still a space-minded ambient/soundtrack style. The new album “Hyperborée” has been released on productionB and moves a step further, revealing a new concept and a more elaborated and intelligent sound creation. “Hyperborée” is a truly masterpiece I can only recommend.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You this year released the second album of Signal~Bruit, but can you tell us how this project saw the daylight?

U-0176: In between two albums of Celluloide, I’m always searching for ideas, experimenting sequences and creating sounds, testing new settings with synthesizers… which we keep in store for incorporating into Celluloide’s pop format later.

Sometimes I decide to record my improvisations when I feel it has an interesting mood, though it isn’t obviously made for Celluloide.

I was reading the book “Flatland” and I had the kind of feeling that the book left a mark on the ‘atmosphere’ of what I was creating when turning knobs and improvising notes and sequences. 

So I had the idea to keep these tracks to illustrate important parts of the book with sound atmospheres and melodies… like a soundtrack for a book.

Q: You’ve been –and still are, involved with different projects such as Thee Hyphen and of course Celluloïde so what brings this new project and music experience in your artistic career? Is there a kind of specific sonic identity or quest behind this new work?

U-0176: I think it’s very difficult to write songs… so it takes a lot of energy and time to write new songs for Celluloide or Thee Hyphen… maybe it’s too much demanding for me now.

So experimenting sounds, effects, patches is more like a recreational time for me. I have no other objective than ‘feel’ the sound change when I turn the knobs.

Then organizing all these experiments into something that makes a consistent piece is a completely different work than writing a song, and I like this a lot.

Q: Signal~Bruit clearly sounds as a wink to some electronic pioneers; the creation of sounds and especially atmospheres appear to be some essential elements in the process. Can you give us a bit more details about it all and also about the way of creating this music (and sounds)?

U-0176: Yes, I have always been influenced by lots of different electronic music and of course pioneers like Tangerine Dreams. I’ve always been fascinated by their albums of the Froese/Franke/Baumann era, and the solo works of Froese of the same period… But I’m also a huge fan of Lassigue Bendthaus or Clock DVA, and I like very much the experiments of Autechre… I just want to do something similar… not similar in sound but, trying to test new things, new ways.

Creation of sounds and effects is essential because it’s where it starts, when I have an interesting texture, I play with it and try to find the notes that work best with it. Tracks are constructed bit by bit until I get to something. It can be very long and requires a lot of post-recording rework…

Q: I noticed an important evolution in sound and production from the debut album “Planisphère(s)” and “Hyperborée”? How do you perceive this evolution and what have been the main changes/evolutions from the first album till “Hyperborée”?

U-0176: Evolution in sound is simply led by the story I’m trying to illustrate… These two albums illustrate very different stories, so they sound different.

So that’s the story beneath that influences the result. You cannot make a soundtrack for a Western film sound the same as a sci-fi movie, that’s just it.

Sound and productions are quite similar, but I probably used more digital synthesizers on “Hyperborée”, and a lot more effects, so it could have made a significant change.

Q: “Hyperborée” seems to be a conceptual album so can you tell us a bit more about it? Did this conceptual work need some kind of preparation and how did you finally achieve it?

U-0176: “Hyperborée” follows the journey of Pythéas from Massalia to the North Pole in 300 BC. This is a true story, but we lost the details from this expedition. We only know that he discovered the Northern seas, territories and people while he was trying to prove the earth is a sphere. I read several books on his story, and we’re not sure how he made it, but he did.

So I tried to imagine a possible path for this antic adventure that I see as thrilling as discovering space in the modern age.

Q: To me Signal~Bruit stands for intelligent electronic music, but unfortunately there’re less people interested in ‘intelligent’ music. What does it evoke to you and how do you as label owner look at bands with intelligent and sophisticated compositions?

U-0176: Yes, releasing albums for Signal~Bruit or Novocibirsk as we did with productionB is quite risky, but we’re not doing it for success.

I hope that we’ll find enough people to buy our records so that we can keep up the flag high as long as possible, that’s our objective.

As you can see, we stated it right from the start when launching productionB

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-ambient, experimental, minimal-electro.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Signal Bruit strikes back with a second album, which comes nearly four years after “Planisphère(s)” which was released on Meshwork Music. Member U-0176 –who’s also involved with the French electro-pop project Celluloide, now released this album on his own label –which is a subdivision of BOREDOMproduct. This album is a kind of conceptual work inspired from the Greek mythology and more specifically about the voyage of Pytheas.

Content: “Planisphère(s)” was a pleasant work, but this new work is clearly more elaborated. Inspired by synthesizer icons like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream ao this work is a fusion between pure retro electro-ambient music and a very own approach. The songs are instrumental edits, revealing the magic of vintage electro sound treatments. The work features 9 songs, which never stopped catching my attention. 

+ + + : Signal Bruit has seriously improved all aspects of the production. If the debut work revealed some real good ideas and cool songs, this album clearly moves several steps further. It’s a pretty sophisticated composition built up with ingenious sound treatments, great vintage sweeps and effects. I’ve been impressed by some of the deep, resonating bass lines and the minimal electro approach mixed with space like atmospheres. There are numerous outstanding tracks featured in this work, but “Baltique” and “Sirēnes” both are little sonic wonders. The slow rhythmic carrying the songs make the composition only more accessible and accomplished.

– – – : The major difficulty with intelligent electro compositions is to reach a wider audience. Therefore this kind of production remains a challenge… which I fully support!

Conclusion: Signal Bruit has released a truly masterpiece, which I highly recommend if you like intelligent, vintage electronics.

Best songs: “Baltique”, “Sirēnes”, Lacydon”, “Pentēcontēre II”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/signal.bruit

Label: www.production-b.fr / www.facebook.com/productionB.label

About Signal Bruit

Signal Bruit is the solo project of the French musician known as Member U-0176, who also records as one half of the electro-pop act Celluloide and runs the label BOREDOMproduct and its sub-division productB. Signal Bruit debuted with “Planisphère(s)” on Sevren Ni-Arb’s label Meshwork, before “Hyperborēe” followed on productionB in 2020, its concept built around the Greek mythology of Pytheas’s voyage. Side-Line spoke with the artist twice, in a 2016 Click Interview and again for the release of “Hyperborēe”.

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

Celluloide will release a super-limited 7″ EP, 4-track 33rpm signed clear vinyl edition in September 2020: Translucide”. You can order your copies here.

The EP will feature the single/video edit of the singles “La Cité Des Aveugles” and “Si Tu Renonces” (to be released on september 25), plus additional b-sides: “Air Conditionné” and “L’Europe Après La Pluie”.

“L’Europe Après La Pluie” is a cover of John Foxx’s 1981 single “Europe After The Rain” for which a video has been released as you can see below.

Each copy of the EP will be signed by Celluloide. A four-track digital download will be available with a code on the single.

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

Celluloide is a French synth-pop formation set up in 2000. Their work has been released by hometown  label BOREDOMproduct. They a few months ago released their eight full length album “Futur Antérieur”, which I experienced as their most intimate work to date. The sound remains driven by electro-minimalistic pop structures and typical bleeping sequences. Darkleti, Member u-0176 and Patryck Holdwem kindly answered a few questions about their newest sonic creation.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I noticed Celluloide this year celebrates its 20^th anniversary! That’s for sure a milestone in your career. What does all these years of involvement evoke to you? Are you planning something special and how do you see the future? 

Celluloide: Well, our first album “Naive Heart” was released in 2002, so we’re officially only 18… but we released our very first demo in 2000, so you are right it seems. It’s quite difficult to believe that so much time has passed, though this is a fear that we’ve expressed many time in our lyrics, nothing we can say or do will ever stop the time.

No, we didn’t think of a special thing to do, and didn’t plan anything… but now that you mention it, we’d love to see our first albums re-released as 12″ LP… that would be really a great gift for our 20’s.

Q: Let’s talk about the new album “Futur Antérieur”. The title has something intriguing while sound-wise it seems you tried to compose the songs with a different approach. What is it all about and where do you place this work in the band’s discography? 

Celluloide: Yes, this title is quite intriguing, and that’s why we like it. There’s probably one way to interpret what we really mean here… And well with such a name, the final position would be perfect in the discography.

We thought that our previous album “Art Plastique” was experimenting the limit between melodies and sound design, and wanted to take a more ‘pop’ and direct, let’s say ‘intuitive’ approach for “Futur Antérieur”. In a way we wanted to mix everything we’ve tested and developed on our previous albums over the years.

Q: I experienced “Futur Antérieur” as one of your most intimate releases to date. Is it something you recognize and what did you try to express lyrical wise? 

Celluloide: I think it’s an impression. Just like when changing a chord makes the melody sound different… Of course writing in French let us express more precisely what we have in mind, but lots of Celluloide lyrics have deeper meaning than what you think at first. I know that lots of people think that most of our lyrics are typical love songs or melancolic themes, but it might be completely something else actually… usually we hide some keys in the text to decode the real meaning of songs, just like we did for tracks like “Et Si…” or “Le Baiser Géométrique” on “Hexagonal” or “Art Plastique”. This time we decided not to give the keys…

At first we wanted to add a sticker on the album or the limited mini-album “Modulation De Fréquence”, as a joke, with written ‘unexplicit lyrics – not easy to understand’…

Q: I’ve always experienced Celluloide as a band with a particular sound-DNA, which is mainly created through the typical bleeping noises and sequences. In, which way and after all the years do you feel ‘imprisoned’ and/or ‘restricted’ through this sound? And did you ever consider doing something completely different? 

Celluloide: Well, actually we have always tried to evolve with each release, and work with new elements into each new album… and to us, we’ve always tried to move on.

I don’t think you can hear any EBM element in our two first albums, like “Words Once Said” for instance, but you can clearly hear them after the “Bodypop”-EP.

But you’re right, it’s true that we didn’t change everything at one step to do a completely different music, we evolved more gradually. Nevertheless I think we really try to reduce noises and bleeps on this new album, but I guess we can’t completely stop and we are what we are. We think that every artist is doing more ore less the same two of three songs again and again. We’re all just trying to make it not too obvious… some are managing to hide it better than others.

Q: Another typical element of the band is the artwork, which always had this styled and abstract, goniometric style. Tell us a bit more about the artwork and the link with the music and the lyrics? 

Celluloide: This abstract geometric style, strongly inspired by the early 20s century avant-garde like De Stijl, Futurism, Constructivism or Suprematism, is actually not linked to the lyrics, but to the music.

When we hear sounds, we see shapes, colors… everyone speaks about the ‘roundness’” of a bass sound or the ‘sharpness’ of a medium sequence… That’s exactly how we see our music… and these 20’s paintings are expressing it so well that we couldn’t do it better. We’ve explained all our influences and references about graphic design on our webpage: http://www.celluloide.online.fr/c-artwork.php

Q: I think you never got the international recognition you deserve! Do you think there’re particular reasons to explain this lack of international recognition? 

Celluloide: Thanks. of course when you write and record music, you want to reach the maximum amount of people, and you expect that they will like it. So we would have loved to be bigger. If we knew what to do for getting a bigger audience, we would have done it already.

Maybe French lyrics didn’t help us at some point… I don’t know. We have always tried to write and produce music, graphics and videos the best we can. That’s where our limits are. We probably can’t sell ourselves much better.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Five years have passed since the previous Celluoide-album (cf. “L’Amour Est Géométrique”). The French electro-pop formation introduced their eight full length album by the single “Quelque Chose S’Efface”, released by the end of 2019. Notice by the way there also is a limited edition of this album featuring an extra disc (EP).

Content: If you’re familiar with the electro-pop project Celluloide, you will immediately recognize their robotic sound treatments carried with dry kicks and snares. Singer ‘Darkleti’s sterile way of singing is another essential aspect of the band’s trademark. The songs are mobbing in between dreamy, astral-like electro-pop and a few harder cuts, which are more into the body-pop vein. Next to the already familiar “Quelque Chose S’efface” you’ll discover 9 more songs in the truest Celluloide-vein.

+ + + : What I especially appreciate and even admire in this band’s work is the very own sound-DNA they’ve created. Once you’ve heard Celluloide, you’ll always keep it in mind. The robotic electro –which some will probably link to Kraftwerk, together with the French vocals, are immediately recognizable. Sound-wise I once more got seduced by the typical bleeping arrangements revealing a vintage flavor. I’ve a preference for the ‘harder’ cuts carried by danceable, dry kicks. Both debut songs are worthy of examination, but I also have to mention the more poppy-sounding “Poème Mécanique” and the instrumental-driven “Modulation De Fréquence”. Last, but not least I also have to say a word about the artwork of this CD format, which looks sober (as usual), but still styled.

– – – : The band’s main strength also became the little disappointment about this work. It’s true that you immediately recognize the band, but the songs rapidly start to get predictable. The sound formula hasn’t changed over the years –and maybe they don’t have to change it, but the magic is a bit gone. I’m also missing a true hit!

Conclusion: Celluloide remains a great project, but this album is definitely not their best exposure in their discography. It however remains interesting electro-pop music.

Best songs: “Poème Mécanique”, “Si Tu Renonces”, “Boucle Infinie”, “Modulation De Fréquence”. 

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.celluloide.online.fr / www.facebook.com/celluloide.official

Label: www.boredomproduct.online.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct Read the news on ‘Futur Antérieur’.

About Celluloide

Celluloide is a French synth-pop project formed in 2000 by Darkleti, Member u-0176 and Patryck Holdwem, releasing its debut album “Naive Heart” in 2002 followed by “Words Once Said” in 2004. The band records for the Marseille label BOREDOMproduct. “Futur Antérieur”, the group’s eighth album, arrived in January 2020, and Celluloide returned in 2024 with “Silences We Shared”.

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.

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The new Celluloide album “Futur Antérieur” is out now and available on CD and on a 12″ vinyl LP, plus digital of course and all this on Bandcamp (with other platforms following soon).

The limited edition of the new album will include a bonus CD mini-album called “Modulation De Fréquence” adding an extra 6 tracks to the original 10-track album. The 6 bonus tracks include 4 remixes and 2 exclusive tracks. Below is the tracklist for the bonus CD.

• Quelque Chose S’Efface (translucide) – 5’52”
• Air Conditionné – 4’40”
• La Cité Des Aveugles (elliptique) – 6’08”
• Je Vis Encore – 3’17”
• Si Tu Renonces (déjà-vu) – 5’02”
• Quelque Chose S’Efface (VHS edit) – 3’06”

You can preview the complete album below.

Brand new video

Out now as well is “La Cité Des Aveugles” (The City Of The Blind) which is the brand new video by Celluloide. You can check it right below.

French touch of electronic pop

Celluloide is a French electronic pop band (based in Marseille) whose debut album “Naive Heart” was released in 2002 offering pure synthpop songs with delicate female vocals. During the recording sessions of their second album “Words Once Said” (2004), Celluloide records 6 covers of 80’s wave classics turned into Celluloide’s synthpop style for the “Naphtaline” EP.

Following the release of “Words Once Said” Celluloide signs with Boytronic’s label Major Records for a re-release of “Words Once Said” for the German market (including a track in German).

The “Bodypop” EP (originally announced for 2005) is released in 2006 and acts as a teaser for the new album to come: “Passion & Excitements”. In 2008 the band releases the “Naphtaline” LP, which holds all the covers the band previously released on several tribute compilation plus some unreleased tracks next to the reissue of the 2003 Naphtaline EP material.

In 2010 the band releases the “Hexagonal” album followed by “Art Plastique” 4 years later in 2014. Both albums keep on offering excellent female fronted electropop.

After a long silence following “Art Plastique”, Celluloide is finally back with new material. The first single and video “Quelque Chose S’Efface” was already a good indication of the new album “Futur Antérieur”, out today. A band to follow for sure. Read the review of ‘Futur Antérieur’.

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!

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Genre/Influences: Synth-pop.

Background/Info: Set up in 2012, Quieter Than Spiders is a Chinese-Anglo band unleashing their debut album. The songs have been composed and recorded in Shangai and London while mastered in Germany by   Stefan Bornhorst (The Silicon Scientist). Next to the CD format the album is also available as vinyl edition.

Content: Quieter Than Spiders clearly deals with synth-pop music. The songs reveal a truly vintage approach featuring multiple analogue sound treatments. It brings us back to the early years of synth-pop music although there also is something more contemporary on top. Quieter Than Spiders might be the ‘Chinese answer to Welle: Erdball and Celluloide’.

The album features 10 songs plus experimental intermezzos while the second disc features 10 remixes. Some remixes have been done by the band itself, but you also will find remixes by Delayscape, Jonteknik, Kevin Komoda, Micro Cheval, Vile Electrodes and The Silicon Scientist.

+ + + : This is music for 80s lovers and other synth-pop freaks with a taste for retro-music. It’s a soft expression of electro music, but which sometimes feels like a blessing. The songs have been composed with delicacy. The vocals are alternating male- and female parts. I’ve a preference for the graceful and yet sterile female vocals. There are several cool cuts features, but my favorite track is “The Statues” for the dreamy atmosphere and sexy vocals. Among the remixes I heard great contributions from Vile Electrodes and Kevin Komoda (Rational Youth).

– – – : The experimental intermezzos are easy to listen to, but not exactly adding a bonus. I don’t understand why artists are adding these kinds of short cuts in their work! The ‘real’ songs are cool, but this album is missing a potential hit or a kind of ‘club-mix’ among the remixes.

Conclusion: Quieter Than Spiders is an interesting name and also a cool ambassador from the Chinese electro scene. This is a band to keep an eye on!

Best songs: “The Statues”, “The Land Of Lost Content”, “Shangai Metro” + “Shangai Metro – Vile Electrodes Remix”, “Hibakusha – Kevin Komoda Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/QTSpiders

Label: www.facebook.com/annaloguerecords

About Quieter Than Spiders

Quieter Than Spiders pairs a Shanghai-based and a London-based member working with home-made electronic instruments played by hand. An early track, “Work Hard”, dates to 2014, and the duo appeared on the 2018 compilation “The Electricity Club” (Amour Records, Minos-EMI S.A., Undo Records) ahead of their debut album “Signs Of Life”, released on Anna Logue Records in 2019.

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

Released as a limited edition 7″ white vinyl, “Quelque Chose S’Efface” is the brand new Celluloide single. The release furthermore features “Poème Cinétique” as an exclusive B-side as well as a download code for both tracks plus a remixed version of the title track as bonus.

The new single announces the album “Futur Antérieur” which will be released in January.

Here’s the video:

“Quelque Chose S’Efface” is also available as a 2-track digital single download and is also available for streaming on the usual platforms. Below is an extra track you can listen to.

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!

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Electro-pop lovers know the French label BOREDOMproduct. This label is the host of bands such as Celluloide, Dekad, Foretaste… but do you remember the first ever released album on the label? It brings us back to 1997 and the album “Excerpts And Experiments” by Novocibirsk. It was a minimal-electro production inspired by the sound and especially the machines from Kraftwerk. It also remained the single CD-album ever released by Novocibirsk. More than 20 years later the French label launched a subdivision called productionB. The label seems to focalize on more minimal electronic works and decided to reactivate Novocibirsk, releasing ‘old’ songs for the very first time on CD. I’d a chat with Hervé Isar.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The album “Télévision 1945 Volume 1” takes us back from the early 80s till the early 90s. Can you remind us what incited you to set up Novocibirsk and what were the main sources of inspiration?

Hervé: My first source of inspiration is Kraftwerk and in particular “Radio-Activity”, since I bought the LP when it came out: In 1976 “Radio-Activity” (the single) was played on many radios. It was an unexpected success and a small report was broadcasted on TV. This is where I saw for the first time a synthesizer (Minimoog type if my memory is good and actually only a few seconds) and especially a kind of electronic drum (apparently handmade by the band), but of which came out percussive and metallic sounds that immediately captivated me. In addition, this repetitive music brought me a feeling of certainty and security that hypnotized me.

So I immediately went by bus down the Canebière where was, at the time, the ‘big’ record store from Marseille. I entered the store for the first time, and asked for the ‘Germans that are played on the radio’. They had it, I paid, and I rushed back home to listen to the record on my father’s record player once, twice… a hundred times! I still have this record that I keep as a kind of relic. Then it was Tangerine Dream, especially “Rubycon” and “Stratosfear” and finally a concert of Klaus Schulze related to the album “Mirage”. I do not remember the date, but, I think I was 13 years old or so. So, very young, and almost by accident I met this type of music, that I had no idea how it was made, as long as I did not see with my eyes this concert of Klaus Schulze, which took place in a cathedral. It was a complete hallucination. I had a cousin older than me, very into music, who offered me to go and see a concert of Klaus Schulze in Marseille. I had never been to a concert, I did not know what it was, and no idea who was Klaus Schulze then. The concert was held in the cathedral of Les Reformés at the top of the Canebière.

My parents dropped me there and went to the cinema, while we went to see the concert. And I went into a universe that I really did not know; I did not know what a modular looked like, for example… let alone a concert of junkies, because you had to see the wildlife that populated a concert of Klaus Schulze at that time, there was about a meter of smoke of canabis that covered the whole church, there are even people doing injections… it was still rather ‘particular’.

It was during this concert that I discovered, finally, what a synthesizer looked like -what I did not know, and that I decided to assign my first salary to it: I thought ‘the day you work, your first salary will be spent on the purchase of one of these machines’. I did not know how much it costs, or anything else, of course. Then I continued to listen a lot to this type of music, and then one day I had a first salary. I was 20 years old and I went for a synth… but it did not exist anymore. We were already entered a period the digital was making its appearance, we were at the beginning of digital, almost at the time of the appearance of the DX7 which would become the fashionable machine.

But I was not interested at all by a DX7, I wanted a Moog or a modular, which I had seen at Klaus Schulze’s concert. This is where I realized that it was not available anymore. So I did all the music stores in Marseille and the surrounding area, visiting their cellars and that’s how I started to build my collection, my ‘studio’, piece by piece, with synthesizers of collections that people no longer used, which nobody wanted. As a result, this machines often did not have a user manual, and for someone who did not know anything about it, without instructions for use, without knowing what a VCO or ADSR is… believe me, it took me quite some time to worked it out! That’s how it began.

Q: And so you set up Novocibirsk, but have you been involved with other projects and were you still in touch with the electronic underground scene?

Hervé: Absolutely not. I was never involved in one way or another in a group or linked to a scene… I spent my time experimenting in my apartment, without any other ambition.

Q: A lot of things have changed/evolved throughout the years; from the equipment (analogue towards digital) to the format (cassette and vinyl towards CD towards streaming) to recording techniques to the rise of social media etc. What do you think about all these evolutions? Pros and contras?

Hervé: I think that the technological evolution, both of the synthesizers and music diffusion, has increased tenfold -at least, the possibilities, but I do not have the feeling that the imagination in term of musical creation, the innovation in term of composition or experimentation has changed a lot.
The potentialities seem to me today much better than those I have known, but the imagination that could have accompanied these advances, I do not see it in the same proportions.

Q: How did the re-release of “Télévision 1945 Volume 1” happened and what’s your feeling about the final result –the songs having been re-arranged and re-mastered?

Hervé: These songs were absolutely not intended to be diffused and were only recorded for reasons of technical constraint to simply hear what I did.

But I met someone insane enough to be released in this kind of things, to whom I gave these cassettes, unsorted, in a plastic bag. He digitized them, sorted them, which gave names to the tracks and next followed a first confidential edition in CDr and cassette, very amateuristic way.

Then with this same person, and the creation of this new label (productionB) these pieces have been given an official release, CD, LP and streaming.

Q: I get the impression you were more focalized on the creation of sounds instead of writing a ‘classical’ song format (chorus – verse). What was it really all about and what can you say about the equipment you used?

Hervé: You’re absolutely right, the approach that was mine, was not to compose music, but to use electronic machinery to try to master it technically, to create sounds and sequences that I liked. And besides, the structure of the songs is systematically the same, it is a form of “Bolero”, with tracks (even if it is not really about tracks since at the time everything was live) which are layered on each other one by one. In fact, it’s simply because I increased the volumes of each synthesizer manually, and then when these volumes were almost where I wanted, I pressed keys to change the notes, mainly to keep the oscillators syntonized.

The objective was mainly associated with the production of sounds, the mixing of sounds, but not necessarily with the elaboration of a piece of music with a melodic structure, an organization in the time… I didn’t really think of it. In fact, these pieces are just technical tests.

Since these machines were relatively rare (and less expensive than today), I bought them when I found them. And I made new tracks, especially when I had a new synth, to test its abilities and make it communicate with the others. I did not feel any limitation, since I was always testing a new machine and networking with others, which was the second goal of my approach. I would say, it was both ‘tension’ and ‘trigger’. Things have been built over the constitution of the collection.

Q:  Are there some plans to re-release other ‘old’ Novocibirsk productions and do you’ve plans to release new material or getting back ‘into business’ again?

Hervé: Back to ‘business’, well, I’ve never really been into it, and it’s been a long time since I have unfortunately no time to control VCOs anymore… so I do not think so, no… even if I think that I would always have a great pleasure in playing with these machines.

I think I still kept a bag with several cassettes… it would have to be found somewhere in the cellar of my parents, but the most interesting things have certainly been digitized already. Of course, it’s the label that decides, and I think there’re plans for “Volume 2” and maybe another album. I’m already satisfied like that, but I will not oppose other releases, of course.  

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

The people at BOREDOMproduct have seduced us for years with great electropop releases from bands such as Foretaste, Dekad, Celluloide, Neutral Lies, Happiness Project or Thee Hyphen. But as it happens the people behind the label also love electronic sounds composed of sequences and tones. Minimal electronic you might say.

As a result they are now launching a sublabel, called productionB, to release this kind of music. As for the reason not to release it under the BOREDOMproduct umbrella the label says: “We think it’s unfair that some projects should remain unreleased simply because they could be more demanding… For this reason we are launching a second type of production, our production B.”

Here’s an idea of what to expect. A first release is currently being produced.

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!

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Happiness Project is the French trio Christelle Fournioux (vocals), Fred Tuyeras (vocals, machines) and Cyrille Tuyeras (machines, bass). After a first self-released album (cf. “Remove Or Disable”) released in 2008 they later on joined hands together with the French label BOREDOMproduct. They released a new album (cf. “9^th Heaven”) in 2012 and a few EP’s. They this year unleashed their third full length (cf. “Mutation”), which in a way marks the return of the French electro-pop trio dealing with this typical and easy recognizable BOREDOMproduct sound. This is what the band has to say about it.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Your new album “Mutation” is the first one in six years. When did you start the writing of the new songs and what did you keep in mind from the entire composition process?

HP: We started “Mutation” as soon as “9th Heaven” was released. We had already thought about our new album. We wanted to make it clear to ourselves, that “Mutation” would be darker, closer to our native audience and more in accordance with our musical background. However, we also wanted “Mutation” to be closer to our state of mind, our spirit and our way of making music: a deeper insight into our preoccupations, a world which is constantly changing and where things often remain incomplete.

Q: The work features the contribution of label mates ‘JB’ (Dekad) and ‘Member U-0176’ (Celluloide). What have been their real impact and what does it reveal about the ‘sound’ and ‘friendship’ between the BOREDOMproduct artists?

HP: Member U-0176’s, as well as JB Dekad’s contributions to our album came from Member U-0176 himself. He wanted “Mutation” to sound differently, especially as far as rhythms were concerned. He knows we particularly like JB Dekad’s work, in this sense. As BOREDOMproduct is a family of artists, we automatically agreed with this idea. It turned out to be quite effective and we like the work made by JB Dekad on our songs.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t reveal much about our relationships within the label, as we all live in different French cities, far from each other. But we all look for the same goal: a post-production quality which fits the label’s musical style and audience. Our relationship with the other groups of the label consists in listening to their music with a true interest and a great attention.

Q: I think “Mutation” reveals an interesting twist between harder and somewhat EBM-driven songs at one side and pure melancholic electro-pop songs at the other side. Where does this duality comes from and tell us a bit more about “Mutation”?

HP: The duality which is obvious in “Mutation” comes from the guidelines we had defined before starting. We wanted to express that nothing is permanent in this world and that things switch from one aspect to another. Change, duality, mutations are part of mankind, so what better way than expressing all this through various musical styles, ranging from harder tracks to more EBM-driven songs! This is what the world is made of: as we say in our song “Mutation” : ‘Nothing’s complete’!

Q: The lyrical content clearly has its importance. What did you try to express and what have been the main sources of inspiration?

HP: Sources of inspiration have been numerous: from Japanese mangas to Sci-Fi movies, from personal experiences to a more philosophical approach of life, from Tim Burton’s world to daily-life concerns. Our lyrics are meaningful because they carry out the perceptions of life we have. We do not really try to pass any message, but we simply want to share our ways to face reality, our concerns about the world. We wanted each song to be a chapter of a broader ‘Fairy Tale’, which would be about Humanity.

Q: You contributed to the ‘tribute’-compilations to Etienne Daho and Martin Dupont. How was it working on these cover versions and especially considering both artists are French ‘icons’?

HP: The songs we decided to cover “L’Adorer” by Etienne Daho and “Just Beacuse” by Martin Dupont were really chosen with a lot of care. Both are our favorite songs by these two French artists. But here too, we wanted them not to be just covers, but actual ‘re-creations’ of these two songs. The intention was: if we had created them, personally, what would they sound-like? So we tried to stick to their original tunes, as much as possible, but we also added musical features which were not in the original versions. Well, we assumed it worked pretty well, didn’t it? 😉

Q: Today most of the artists are releasing new work at regular basis while Happiness Project is the entire contrary. How comes and what are you doing in between 2 productions?

HP: We have been building up our musical world with accuracy and precision. In a sense, we are ‘slow music makers’. We do spend a lot of time thinking about each instrument (even if they directly derive from keyboards, except for the bass-guitar and some of the drums, performed by Christelle) and how we can make them all coincide with our lyrics.

Moreover, we live far from each other and the time dedicated to music is always tight, intense and spread out. Also, before releasing a new album we want to be sure that it will meet up with our first intentions. The thing we can assure you about our next album, is that it will come out, within the next two years! The recording hasn’t started yet, but a lot of new materials are ready and we should be starting soon!

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

About Happiness Project

Happiness Project is the French trio of Christelle Fournioux (vocals), Fred Tuyeras (vocals, machines) and Cyrille Tuyeras (machines, bass). The band self-released its debut album, “Remove Or Disable,” in 2008, before signing to BOREDOMproduct and releasing “9th Heaven” in 2012. “Mutation,” reviewed here, marked the trio's first album in six years and features contributions from labelmates JB of Dekad and Member U-0176 of Celluloide, as the band discussed in a Click Interview with Side-Line.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, electro-wave, EBM.

Background/Info: French label BOREDOMproduct last year released a surprising compilation/tribute to French pop icon Etienne Daho. They now strike back with a new tribute to one of France’s greatest and most legendary new-wave & electro band Martin Dupont. The band was active during the 80s and just as BOREDomproduct they were from Marseille. Notice by the way the album is available on different formats, from CD to vinyl to cassette and of course on digital platforms. It’s a fascinating tribute because next to some familiar label bands we also get other selected bands.

Bands: Celluloide, Happiness Project, Dekad, Neutral Lies, The Rorschach Garden, Cyborgdrive, Sweater With A Hood, TourdeForce, Auto-Immune, Müller Denscheidt, Makina Girgir.

Content: You don’t necessarily have to be that familiar with the work of Martin Dupont to enjoy this compilation. It’s a diversified work mixing different elements and I really appreciate the efforts of the selected bands to transpose the original versions into a very own adaptation. The least I can say is that Martin Dupont has inspired most of the selected formations.

+ + + : I already mentioned the diversity, but I also have to mention some great adaptations into EBM by Dekad, the typical bleeping electronics from Celluloide, another EBM approach by Auto-Immune (which was already featured on the Etienne Daho tribute), the electro-wave from Müller Denscheidt and Makina Girgir. There’s a fascinating twist between the different formations and their own interpretation of Martin Dupont.

– – – : Only the biggest fans of the band will maybe be disappointed. The original versions have this 80s magic you don’t necessarily find back on a tribute. But my only little regret is that a few bands didn’t really pay that much attention to the production of the vocals.

Conclusion: This tribute to Martin Dupont incited me to get back to the original songs I haven’t heard for years now. That’s also because I really enjoyed this tribute and I can only encourage BOREDOMproduct to move on… Kas Product could be an idea….

Best bands: Dekad, Müller Denscheidt, Makina Girgir, Celluloide, Neutral Lies.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.boredomproduct.online.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct

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

Out now is a tribute to the pioneering Marseille based cult act Martin Dupont. “Broken Memory: a tribute to Martin Dupont” is out on vinyl too (including a version with a bonus audio cassette) and can be ordered right now from the BOREDOMproduct label.

The 11-track tribute to this pioneer electronic band from Marseille includes tracks from Dekad, Neutral Lies, Celluloide, Happiness Project, Auto-Immune, The Rorschach Garden, TourdeForce, Makina GirGir, Cyborgdrive, Müller Denscheidt and Sweater With A Hood.

The special LP edition is now available, as well as a a limited vintage pack edition with an 8-track bonus audio cassette including additional covers by Opera Multi Steel, Tiramist, Le Cliché, Solemn Meant Walks, Edw+Marika Divita, The Grilled Chicken Legs Brittanny Style, Oberkorn and Culcultura.

Here are some visuals which we received:

And we also got hold of brand new teasers!

Audio preview:

Audio preview of the bonus cassette:

The teaser itself for the album:

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 of the blue the belgian Alfa Matrix label releases the 2nd volume in their massive ‘Electronic Body Matrix‘ series. The first volume of this compilation series (check the release here) got qualified by many as the ultimate anthology of the EBM / electro-industrial scene. The 2nd edition of the “Electronic Body Matrix” compilation box once again manages featuring a real “who is who” artist selection bringing all new, exclusive or rare tracks.

This 2nd edition presents some 76 bands across 4 CD’s plus an exclusive download link giving you access to another 40 additional bands for a total music play of 116 songs (over 70% rare or previously unreleased tracks), an astounding 10 hour sonic journey! Marketed as a deluxe carton box with an extensive 28-page booklet with band pictures and credits.

All together on one same compilation, the leaders of the electronic scene of yesterday and tomorrow come together and include: FRONT 242 (exclusive mix), NITZER EBB (exclusive mix), FIXMER/MC CARTHY, RHYS FULBER, DANIEL B. PROTHESE, DIVE, BRUDERSCHAFT, POUPPEE FABRIKK, ARMAGEDDON DILDOS, KOMOR KOMMANDO, ELEGANT MACHINERY, AYRIA, FUNKER VOGT, PLASTIC NOISE EXPERIENCE, NOISUF-X, NEUROTICFISH, AESTHETISCHE, THE PSYCHIC FORCE, IMPLANT, [SITD], ALIEN VAMPIRES, HOCICO, ORPHX, NÖVÖ, METROLAND, PITCH YAR OF MATTER, MONDTRÄUME, CULTURE KÜLTUR, TOLCHOK, DEUTSCHE BANK, AVARICE IN AUDIO, THE SEXORCIST, PSY’AVIAH, AIBOFORCEN, ELEKTROKLÄNGE, R.I.P. (ROPPONGI INC PROJECT), ENTRZELLE, and many more, without forgetting the impressive remix work contributions of bands like EISFABRIK, FADERHEAD, ORANGE SECTOR, NZ, ELM, etc.

Add to this all hardcore ambassadors of today’s pure EBM league in the likes of SPETSNAZ, ELM, NZ, AD:KEY, AUTODAFEH, AGREZZIOR, ORANGE SECTOR,KANT KINO, CELLULOIDE, LIGHTS OF EUPHORIA, DIFFUZION, PATENBRIGADE: WOLFF, ACCESSORY, CEPHALGY, AMORPHOUS, VENAL FLESH, PROTECTORATE, STOPPENBERG, CENTHRON, LLUMEN, CARDINAL NOIRE, MILDREDA, CRYTEK, KONER, etc.

The exclusive bonus download link included in this 4CD box also gives you access to some 40 additional songs from artists like MENTALLO & THE FIXER, ACYLUM, SERPENTS, ZOMBIE GIRL, AENGELDUST, EQUITANT, NETZ, STUDIO-X, SIVA SIX, NEIKKA RPM, ESSENCE OF MIND, DEKAD, INTERFACE, NEUTRAL LIES, CIRCUITO CERRADO, TRAGIC IMPULSE, WANT/ED, HELALYN FLOWERS, DIVERJE, SCHWARZBLUT, TOTEM OBSCURA, DIGITAL GEIST, KILMARTH, SIGNAL OPERATOR, ELECTRO SYNTHETIC REBELLION, DIGITAL GEIST, TECHNOID, DEN C.T. BUG, and many more!

The full track listing can be checked right 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

Allons enfants de la Patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé… chez the electropop label BOREDOMproduct home to such great electropop acts like Foretaste, Celluloide, Dekad, … !

The label’s yearly revolution will take place on July 14, that’s tomorrow. Just like every year since the label exists they will use the guillotine to cut off the head of the prices. Place to be tomorrow, the BOREDOMproduct label website!

On this special day all of the label’s catalogue will be available at a special price including 2CD limited sets, T-shirts and lots more, while supply last of course (and you can take that literally as there is only a very limited amount of some of these items!).

In short, it’s the occasion to complete your collection of some of the best bands on French soil.

Aux armes, citoyens…!

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

Coming up in September is a tribute to the pioneering Marseille based cult act Martin Dupont. “Broken Memory: a tribute to Martin Dupont” will be out on vinyl too (including a version with a bonus audio cassette) and can be ordered right now from the BOREDOMproduct label.

The 11-track tribute to this pioneer electronic band from Marseille includes tracks from Dekad, Neutral Lies, Celluloide, Happiness Project, Auto-Immune, The Rorschach Garden, TourdeForce, Makina GirGir, Cyborgdrive, Müller Denscheidt and Sweater With A Hood.

The special LP edition is now available for preorder, as well as a a limited vintage pack edition with an 8-track bonus audio cassette including additional covers by Opera Multi Steel, Tiramist, Le Cliché, Solemn Meant Walks, Edw+Marika Divita, The Grilled Chicken Legs Brittanny Style, Oberkorn and Culcultura.

And we also got hold of a first teaser!

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

“Planisphère(s)“ is the debut album from the brand-new French project Signal~Bruit. The full length has been released on the brand-new label Meshwork Music, which is driven by X Marks The Pedwalk member Sevren Ni-Arb. Behind Signal~Bruit is hiding ‘Member U-0176’ who’s running the label BOREDOMproduct. He’s also involved into Celluloide and once started under the Thee Hyphen moniker. Signal~Bruit is something totally different revealing a retro-electro style that might remember to electro pioneers like Jean-Michel Jarre, Clock DVA, Jacno ao.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What inspired and motivated you to set up Signal~Bruit?

S~B: I don’t know exactly… it just happened. Sometimes when I’m in the studio, I don’t feel like writing a song or recording something with a structure… I’m just in the mood of hearing the sequences running and so I let the sound grow… So that’s what I did, and I don’t know why, this time I started recording, with no specific idea in mind.

Q: This new project is quite different in sound compared with other bands you’ve been involved with like Thee Hyphen and Celluloide. Can you tell us a bit more about the sound properly speaking? 

S~B: It all started from the need of turning knobs and nothing more… just to feel the music with the hands like when you play guitar. it immediately affects the sound depending on your fingers position. I started this way: turning the knobs and pushing the faders until it has an hypnotic feel on me. I actually didn’t think of releasing anything at first, I was just trying to please myself.

Q: “Planisphère(s)“ makes me think of a ‘sonic bridge’ between early electro pioneers like Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk ao… and a more personal and contemporary electronic approach. How would you analyze this album and its influences?

S~B: I guess all my influences, are present at different levels. As I didn’t intend to make it public when I started, I guessed I didn’t try to show anything. I just let the music flow, and my mind float. So of course, electronic pioneers of the Berliner school like Tangerine Dream come into mind, but also the minimal electronics and melodies of Jacno, repetitive sequences of Clock DVA and sound textures of Duet Emmo. But I’m also listening to Atom TM or Autechre so it probably has an influence too.

Q: I noticed you’ve been inspired by the book “Flatland“, which you tried transpose into music. Tell us a bit more about this concept and the way you worked on it? 

S~B: The word “Planisphere(s)” is an attempt of translating and explaining at the same time the title and a key part of the book. While recording my electronic experimentations, I was reading this fabulous book of the XIX century by E.A. Abbot and I suddenly asked myself if I was unconsciously recording the feelings I had when reading the book… or the book gave me ideas on how structuring my electronic ‘divagations’ into something more constructed with a progression and an atmosphere. So I re-organized the recorded tracks into something more ‘logical’ with the story of the book in mind and make them take shape this way.

Q: You also produced videos of all songs on the album that can be watched by using 3D-glasses and, which totally fits to the concept of the “Flatland”-book. How did you get this idea and how did it happened?

S~B: “Planisphère(s)” is a very visual project. Images come to mind when I listen to the sounds, so I wanted to transpose these images all along the album. I finally produced automatically triggered geometric animations for all the tracks, which somehow illustrate the ‘story’ of the album, or at least the moving atmospheres. And it goes to 3D stereoscopic vision on the 4th track “Revelation”, because that’s what happens in the story. I don’t think I could explain it more clearly. It think this has to be seen not explained. I hope it will be released soon, but it has a different planning than the CD release so keep watching the Signal~Bruit youtube channel.

Q: I personally experienced your album as an antidote to the current electro-underground productions, which all sound similar and without a real creative spirit. What’s your perception as an artist and label-owner about the current scene? 

S~B: I have no real statement about that. I think we all try to do the best music we can. Some people can make brilliant things at the first try,  some don’t and never will and in the middle some have good ideas or miss the point. It happens to all of us when we try to create. That’s why for BOREDOMproduct we release a very few albums. We always try to work and rework the tracks with the bands. We’re not just releasing the demos as they are when they go out of the bands studio.

I think it’s important that a label plays a role of advising the bands, adding production when it’s necessary, re-organize tracks if needed. It’s an important help for the band, which I’m afraid most of labels don’t do anymore today because artists don’t accept critics and labels don’t have time and budget for this long work.

Q: An interesting aspect about this album is that it will be the first release ever on Meshwork Music while you’re still running your own label (BOREDOMproduct)! How did it happen and what do you expect from a new label like Meshwork Music? 

S~B: When I was about to complete the album I realized that BOREDOMproduct was not the label for this type of music. So I searched for a label that could understand what I was trying to do, and that could market it properly (I had no idea how). Then I read on Side-Line the announcement of a brand new label who ‘wants to push the boundaries of electronic music to a new level’. Not that I am pretentious enough to think I will push any boundaries at all, but at least the label was open minded enough to give a listen to the whole thing!

And indeed… I sent a rough version, with no proper mix and unfinished versions to André who was really enthusiast about it. Some critics replied a positive way as well and especially about the second track (“Chromatistès”) that had to be re-organized. The final album has been reworked and mixed the way I wanted.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

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

Genre/Influences: Electro, electro-ambient, minimal-electro.

Background/Info: “Planisphère(s)” from the French solo-project Signal Bruit is the first release on Meshwork Music. This new German label was set up by Sevren Ni-Arb (X Marks The Pedwalk) while behind Signal Bruit is hiding ‘Member U-0176’ who’s running the French electro-label BOREDOMproduct while he’s also involved in the band Celluloide.

Signal Bruit was inspired by the book “Flatland – A Romance Of Many Dimensions” originally released in 1884 and written by Edwin Abbott Abbott. The main idea of the book deals with ‘a two-dimensional world occupied by geometric figures, where women are simple line-segments, while men are portrayed as polygons whose social status is determined by their regularity and the number of their sides, with a circle considered ‘perfect’ shape’.

Content: I’m always fascinated by concepts and especially about the way they’ve been transposed into music. The sound universe of Signal Bruit evokes some electronic pioneers. There’s a similar passion for evasive electro-space atmospheres and refined bleeps. Some of these bleeps might remind me of Celluloide, but complexity of the composition might also evoke Clock DVA. The work is pretty minimal, but will ravish sound freaks by the resonating bass lines and the global vintage format of the work. Notice by the way all of the tracks remain instrumental.

+ + + : Signal Bruit has constructed an interesting sonic bridge between early electronic pioneers and a more contemporary and especially personal sound creation. It’s a kind of sonic architecture that has been progressively built up till reaching a climax entitled “Révélations”. I like the minimalism of the composition and its rather atypical sound formula.

– – – : This album is a well-crafted composition although not exactly the most accessible one. This is not the kind of music you’ll hear in clubs, but which needs a few attentive listening before you’ll really seize its substance. Conclusion: “Planishpère(s)” is an atypical and ambitious work revealing a creative composer who clearly avoids  composing cheap clichés. This is a ‘difficult’, but deeply artistic creation.

Best songs: “Révélations”, “Prométheé”, “Chromatistés”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/signal.bruit

Label: www.meshwork–music.com / www.facebook.com/meshwork.music

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

The final volume in the “Numériques” series by Celluloide is now announced (and also immediately available for preorder from the BOREDOMproduct label). Just like the previous “Numériques” volumes the CD version includes several singles and remixes but also exclusive material such as several unreleased tracks, new recordings and rarities.

“Numériques (3)” will be released at the end of November. You can already watch the YouTube trailer below.

Below is the tracklist of the CD version:

01 – Le (Très Long) Baiser Géométrique 02 – People Like Me (Consolation Mix) 03 – This Aching Kiss (Foretaste Remix) 04 – Translation Of Love (Vectoriel Mix) 05 – Make Things Last (Bodymix) 06 – Ordinosaure (U-Mix) 07 – Seven And Forever (8-Bit Instrumental) 08 – Cœur 8-Bit (Pixel Edit) 09 – La Guerre De Cent Ans (Early Instrumental) 10 – Imprévisible (Version Claire) 11 – L’Amour Est Clair (Originel) 12 – The Paradox Of The Mirror Girl (Autumn Mix)

+ CD bonus:

13 – This Aching Kiss (Foretaste Extended Remix, (previously unreleased version, from the Foretaste archives) 14 – Cœur 8-Bit (remixé par Page), from the Cœur 8-Bit digital single) 15 – A Lie (1999 demo) 16 – It needed And End (Instrumental, from the Seven And Forever digital single, remastered from the original demo)

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

Allons enfants de la Patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé… chez the electropop label BOREDOMproduct home to such great electropop acts like Foretaste, Celluloide, Dekad, … !

The label’s yearly revolution will take place on July 14, that’s tomorrow. Just like every year since the label exists they will use the guillotine to cut off the head of the prices. Place to be tomorrow, the BOREDOMproduct label website!

On this special day all of the label’s catalogue will be available at a special price including Foretaste’s latest limited edition single CD “Lost In Space” or the new edition of the label’s Daho tribute “Pistes Noires” and all of their limited edition CDs, while supply last of course (and you can take that literally as there is only a very limited amount of some of these items!).

In short, it’s the occasion to complete your collection of some of the best bands on French soil.

Aux armes, citoyens…!

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

One of France’s finest electropop acts Celluloide is fine-tuning a new volume of the “Numériques” compilation, gathering remixes from digital singles and rare or exclusive versions taken from their discography. Just in time for Xmas, “Numériques (3)” will be available completely for free for everyone with an access to the band’s members area at the band’s label BOREDOMproduct.

If you have purchased the recent “L’Amour Est Géométrique” limited edition CD from the BOREDOMproduct webstore, you already have access to the member’s area and this will also be applicable to each new purchase of this limited edition CD which will automatically grant access to the band’s members area with “Numériques (3)” plus a lot more additional material.

“Numériques (3)” will hold 12 tracks, including the extra-long 9 min version of latest single “Le Baiser Géométrique”, but also the Foretaste remix of “This Aching Kiss”, along with previously unreleased versions of “Seven and Forever”, “Make Things Last”, “The Paradox Of The Mirror Girl” or “Translation Of Love”, etc..

The very last copies of “Numériques (1)” and “Numériques (2)” are still available from the BOREDOMproduct webstore if you want to catch them.

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

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Content: Orange Sector is an EBM ‘veteran’ band, which does not need a big introduction. Back in the 90s they’ve been one of the hottest bands in the genre during their Zoth Ommog period. They next went into hibernation but reactivated again after the new millennium.

They have released several albums since then, but the earlier this year released “Nigth. Terrors” revealed Orange Sector to be in a great and inspiriting mood. It all remains pure old-school EBM, but it simply sounds irresistible.

“Monoton” is the 2nd EP taken from the new album and I have to warn you this will be a pure sonic shock! The German body masters remain faithful to their merciless and uncompromised body format, but they simply left me breathless by such impressive energy and higher level of EBM.

“Monoton” sounds like pure EBM and still was one of the funniest cuts of the album for its lyrical content, which was a wink to several earlier successful songs of the band.

The title song was remixed by 3 different artists and I have to say these remixes are absolutely phenomenal. NZ is one of the latest EBM sensations, which also is one of the best Nitzer Ebb emulations I’ve ever heard. They remixed “Monoton” with efficiency and extreme EBM-power.

Agrezzior is another great EBM band from the ‘newest’ generation and, which is finally back on track, having released a new album. They also did a wonderful job.

Celluloide is not exactly what I should call an EBM formation, but the French synth-pop combo simply added their Kraftwerk-ian, space bleeps to the power of “Monoton”, which in my opinion resulted in an outstanding remix.

The EP also features 3 new cuts and I here again have to warn you to put on your seatbelts. Orange Sector here excels as EBM architects and are even revealing new elements on “Es Ist So Wie Es Ist”. They here have used a pure EBM bass line, but, which is a not much different in sound that what we’ve been used to hear from this band. However, it creates a new dimension, which is accomplished by some extra great sound sculptures and studio effects. This is one of their best songs in years!

Two more great new songs are “Alles Ist Falsch”, which clearly sounds like early DAF and “Ich Bin Keine Maschine”, which is the softest song of the EP although still a great EBM cut with some extra effects on top of the vocal parts.

Conclusion: This EP took me by surprise and will be for sure hot stuff for DJ’s and clubbers.

Best songs: “Es Ist So Wie Es Ist”, “Alles Ist Falsch”, “Monoton – Celluloide Remix”, “Monoton – Agrezzior Remix”.

Rate: (DP:9)DP.

Band: www.orange-sector.de / www.facebook.com/OrangeSector

Label: www.infacted-recordings.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Infacted-Recordings/124099254321690

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

Last Summer Facebook decided to delete Celluloide’s page for so-called ‘security reasons’, in other words, for no reason at all because this french electropop act presents no security risk at all (perhaps in the eyes of Zuckerberg and co electropop is very dangerous).

As a result the band was forced to start up a brand new page and start from scratch since Facebook would not restore the original page nor its followers. Welcome to the weird incoherent policy of Facebook which allows hate groups and extremists set up pages and groups, but give the boot to innocent electropop bands.

The band has now decided, to set up a more secure camp base on the controversial social network tsū. To properly celebrate the launch they are now offering a complete free streaming of the album “Art Plastique” on their brand new tsū page.

If you haven’t yet signed up with tsū, the only social platform rewarding (read paying) their users for the content they post on the platform, then sign up right here (you need an invitation link, hence why).

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

Released last February, BOREDOMproduct’s latest compilation, a tribute to famous French pop singer Etienne Daho, sold out this summer. But the compilation sees a re-release this October and is available right now from the label’s webshop.

This re-release comes in a new packaging and holds an extra surprise for the fans, as Etienne Daho himself wrote a little message to thank the artists in the booklet. An audio preview of the compilation is available below.

Here are 2 extracts of the album by Celluloide (“Le Grand Sommeil”) and Foretaste (“Ouverture”).

After two previous label compilations (“Synthétique” and “Auto-Reverse”), “Pistes Noires (de préférence)” is an electronic pop tribute to famous french pop singer Etienne Daho. The CD holds no less than 17 tracks: 17 different bands giving their personal view on Etienne Daho’s song a backward trip from the 2014 hit single “En Surface” to his 1981′ debut “Mythomane”. You can buy it 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

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Content: Last year Celluloide released their album “Art Plastique”, which already featured a few outstanding electro-pop songs with this typical sound and effects making this band unique in the genre.
This new opus is a kind of revisited version of five songs originally released on the “Art Plastique”-album plus a few new cuts as well.

The work features 11 songs and the CD format is strictly limited to 300 copies. We were really pleased to get a promo copy of this album, which I can already reveal is worthy of examination.

The opening song is a new version of “L’Amour Est Clair”, which was one of the highlights of the last album. It’s a typical Celluloide track, which you can easily recognize by the bleeping treatments, the retro-like input, the warm synth lines and the sensual, magic vocals by Darkléti. There also is a remix of this song by Dekad, which sounds a little less hard and less evasive as well.

Another essential song of “Art Plastique” was “Le Baiser Géométrique”, which was reworked into an extended version. This song remains a great piece of body-pop music carried by an impressive bass line and refined by delicate bleeping treatments.

Label mates Foretaste were asked for a remix, which has been accomplished in a somewhat softer, but still alluring format.
The song “Art Plastique” was reworked/remixed by Missing Square into a pretty cool and somewhat Kraftwerk-inspired composition with some EBM influences on top. But the greatest and somewhat surprising song is the remix of “Gris” by Orange Sector. This version is a terrific and murderous EBM adaptation, which will set dancefloors on fire.

Last, but not least, Opéra Multi Steel is a somewhat surprising band on this album, which has remixed “La Guerre De Cent Ans” into a quiet and moody-like cut, which will bring you into a state of reverie.

Over now to the new songs and little surprises. “Intraveineuse” is absolutely magic for its originality. It’s a cover version of Bel Canto that was translated into French and sounded as if it was originally written by Celluloide. This is a great song, which sounds as pure robotic music.

Another noticeable song is the harder-like “Rêve Idéal”, which was originally written by Eric Ferrand and here again totally transposed into the particular electro universe of Célluloide. This song is one of the absolute highlights.

The two songs left are a kind of breaks, and I especially want to mention the adaptation of Eric Satie’s “Gnossienne N° 1”. This classical song has been reworked into a kind of cinematographic approach with some interesting, but experimental influences.

Conclusion: “L’Amour Est Géométrique” is a fully successful and original way to bring some familiar songs to life in a different version plus great new cuts. This work sounds as the ultimate robotic-music composition.

Best songs: “Gris – Virussé par Orange Sector”, “Art Plastique – Stylisé par Missing Square”, “Rêve Idéal”, “L’Amour Est Clair – Surexposé”, “Le (Long) Baiser Géométrique”.

Rate: (DP:8½)DP.

Band: www.celluloide.online.fr / www.facebook.com/celluloidemusic

Label: www.boredomproduct.online.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct

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

Read the news on ‘A Perfect Picture’.

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

Celluloide’s new single “Le Baiser Géométrique” (taken from the “Art Plastique” album), is out today with a brand new video clip. The digital single for “Le Baiser Géométrique” contains remixes by PolynomiQ, TourdeForce, Cyborgdrive and a special 9 minute extra long new version of the title track.

The band again shows that they are amongst some of the best female fronted electropop around today. Highly recommended!

Coming along with this new single is a hand-numbered 300-copy limited edition gathering the previous single “L’amour Est Clair” and “Le Baiser Géométrique”, called “L’Amour Est Géométrique”. This 11 track CD includes exclusive new versions, exclusive covers of Bel Canto, Résistance and Erik Satie, plus exclusive remixes by Orange Sector, Opéra Multi Steel and Missing Square.

Get the CD at special price directly from the label’s online shop today. Below is the new video!

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!

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Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, body-pop.

Content: Dekad is back on track and will soon launch their new album “A Perfect Picture”. The French synth-pop formation strikes back with their first album in 4 years and this EP will give you a real good idea about the new stuff.

The CD-format of “Poladroid Extended” is a strictly limited edition of 300 copies, and features 4 extra songs than the digital format.
The title song has been featured by 2 remixes. The “Remix” is a mind-blowing song driven by a hard-danceable kick and a strong bass line. It sounds pretty minimal and a little bit EBM-flavored as well. Notice by the way that the backing vocals have been sung by Foretatste’s XY. The “New Beat Mix” sounds even better and is a smasher. The big kick and body-pop vibes are absolutely irresistible while this version also reveals impressive sound treatments.

“Tied Up” is another song that has been remixed twice. This song features backing vocals by Darkleti (Celluloide). The “Remix” is a noticeable song for its vintage approach of body-pop music. This song again reveals great sound treatments and effects. The “Retro Mix” has been remixed by Celluloide’s member U-0176, but is a little less captivating.

New songs “Searching” and “Slowmotion” has been remixed as well. Both songs clearly are not the main attention grabbers although they confirm the genius minimalism of this electronic formation.

I have 2 more songs to mention, which possibly are exclusive songs featured at this EP. “Ta Vie” is a fascinating cut, which already carried by danceable, dry kick while some warm-like synth parts run throughout the composition. I also enjoyed the somewhat sexy vocals sung in French. “No Mystery” is the other song, which finds its apotheosis in the elevating chorus injecting a real boost to the track.

Conclusion: With such a great EP I can only, but be confident to welcome the 4th full length by Dekad. This band reveals a great vintage approach of electro-pop music, which is the main trademark of their label.

Best songs: “Poladroid – New Beat Mix”, “Poladroid – Remix”, “Tied Up – Remix”, “Ta Vie”.

Rate: (DP:8½)DP.

Band: www.dekad.online.fr / www.facebook.com/dekadmusic

Label: www.boredomproduct.online.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct

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.

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(By Eldrina Mich) The download 52-track compilation “Face The Beat: Session 2” (you can download it here) powered by Side-Line is doing very well. Since the free download was launched a few weeks ago, the compilation reached the number 1 spot on Bandcamp after a few days being the most downloaded release on the platform, it reached over 10.000 downloads as we speak and has created quite an online buzz. Compiler of the massive 52-track compilation is Bernard Van Isacker, chief editor of Side-Line. It wasn’t the first time he did this, in 2011 the first volume of “Face The Beat” attracted a whopping 24.000 downloads and got praises from allover the world. We decided to interview him for once.

SL: The compilation is quite unique in this scene. Where did the idea originate from?

Bernard: There are many compilations around, but hardly any of those focus on new (unsigned) bands from all kind of genres within the dark wave scene. The reason is that it is commercially speaking not interesting enough. Which is understandable. However, at Side-Line we have always wanted to support young bands, whether via news items or reviews and a download compilation was the only other way to promote these newcomers even further. So 4 years ago I started with the first volume which was primarily promoted via Facebook, hence the name “Face The Beat”. But anno 2015 “Face The Beat” is synonym for giving newbies a platform to showcase their work. Anyhow, Side-Line is a breeding ground for new talents since the early beginning although some people might not always realise this as we work a lot behind the scenes to push bands. Our chief reviewer Stephane Froidcoeur for instance is one of the most important headhunters for the “Endzeit Bunkertracks” series and I have been helping out a lot of starting bands to find a decent home for their releases plus I run the Official Side-Line Playlist on Spotify which has a lot of traction, probably because of the not so ‘mainstream’ track selection :).

SL: The first volume had quite an impact back in 2001!

Bernard: With over 24.000 downloads, that first volume was really a bomb unleashed on the internet and the scene. Several bands present on that compilation got a bigger recognition such as Electro Spectre who is now an established and recognised electro pop act. I’m kinda proud to have been one of the early boosters behind their career and I have been following what they have been up to ever since.

SL: Will you again reach the 24.000 milestone?

Bernard: It’s not really my target to be honest, but the new volume is doing pretty well so who knows. But most of all I’m very glad that it will enable us to finance our charity projects.

SL: I was surprised to learn that Side-Line has been supporting charity since it’s early start?

Bernard: That’s maybe for many a surprise because I have never communicated a lot about it. The charities Side-Line has funded since 1999 include Plan International (a great organisation doing outstanding work), mobile kitchens in Athens (Greece) for the poor and homeless people, social education programs for disabled people, and so on. Both Stephane and I have our daytime jobs and we have never been paid whatsoever to run Side-Line and are not interested in being paid anyhow. Side-Line is a fun project and if it generates cash, then we prefer giving it to people who need it. I have been too many times to countries where people live in poverty; it made me realise many of us, if not most, should be happy with the luxurious lives we have even when our neighbour maybe earns tenfold :). We have flat screens, a car, iPhones, Macs, Samsung Galaxies, and a roof above or head. Reason enough to give karma back to those who need it.

SL: The amount of submissions was enormous, over 5000 tracks. How on earth did you manage to listen to all these songs?

Bernard: Let’s say that it looked like seeking a needle in a haystack at first, in this case I needed to find 52 needles ;), fortunately I found a lot of those, 257 in total. I started with listening to around 50 tracks per day and that for a couple of weeks. After that I had 257 tracks which could have fit on the compilation – quite a nice catch I must say. But 250 would have been a bit too much, sure thing was that I needed to trim it down to around 50 tracks. So I replayed everything and chose those tracks that I thought delivered something extra or had potential. In the end I had selected 57 tracks, but 3 bands and 1 label never got back to me with a final unmastered version or a signed contract. A pity because there was one band in there which had lots of potential, in the style of let’s say the next Mesh. Perhaps they will change their mind the next time :). There was also a joined track by Junksista and Helalyn Flowers – a brilliant one – which originally had been recorded especially for “Face The Beat: Session 2”, but Alfa Matrix decided to release it themselves on a future Alfa Matrix compilation instead because it was so good.

SL: How did you get hold of the the dreDDup track “Etika” featuring Borghesia’s Dario Seraval?

Bernard: It was dreDDup who contacted me asking if I was interested. Since that track never has been released on an album before (the band’s latest record never had a label release), it was a God’s gift to put it mildly. The same happened when John Fryer, the legendary producer of NIN, Depeche Mode etc., told me during a diner at his place (Johny makes a delicious veggie lasagna) that he wanted to contribute a track to the compilation in order to help out. So that’s how the instrumental track “Mourningmorning 1c” ended up on “Face The Beat: Session 2”. Other early supporters included #366 A Life Lived, Bella Lune, Desireless & Operation Of The Sun Vs. Voice Of Ruin, Celluloide (via Boredomproduct who always have been big supporters of whatever we do), NoyceTM and so on.

SL: How did Erlend Eilertsen from the Norwegian band Essence Of Mind come into the picture to do the mastering?

Bernard: I wanted to master this second release. Since the bands do the effort to create a track, it’s only logical they should be offered a quality environment for it to be released. Hence why this time we also went for HQ downloads via Bandcamp. To get back to your initial question, I have known Erlend for years now, and although I also have a professional relation with him via Alfa Matrix, he has also become a good, very reliable, friend whom I always meet up with when I’m in Norway. It was written in the stars that we would work on something together for Side-Line one day and since he has been quietly mastering a lot of his own material, I thought the time was ready to give him a whole compilation to work on too. Which let it be clear is not an easy task, many other mastering professionals can testify this. On top this was a particularly difficult job for Erlend because not all the material we received was recorded in the best circumstances; some material we got was also over-edited, over-mixed, etc.. He did a great job though!

SL: So it’s not only a platform for starting bands but also a way for technicians to show what they can do mastering wise?

Bernard: Exactly. And for the next compilation I’ve already got another name in mind that I want to present. Again from Norway, let the guessing game start right now :)!

SL: What tracks have surprised you the most?

Bernard: In terms of ideas, I was particularly struck by what Nesim Celik did on “Atom Çağı”. This Turkish act mixes electronics with sufi-style instruments, all self played by the way! I hope to hear more from this act because this is an idea I have had for a few years: mixing electronics and sufi in an intelligent way. The same goes for 3jean’s “Nfn9” (2015 Edit), that track has quite some potential. It’s maybe not the most produced one, but the idea is there and that is why it is on this compilation. But on the whole every band present on the compilation offered something which I found interesting, hence their inclusion.

SL: What are the next plans?

Bernard: Stephane and I have been brainstorming quite a bit the past few months, especially after the site went down for 2 weeks – which honestly was a very stressful period, and we are still recovering from it. We are convinced that now, more than ever before, we can be a platform for labels and bands to showcase their work to a large select public. Whereas the other magazines focus on bigger bands, we have decided to nurture new talents and ideas. As a result the “Face The Beat” series will keep on focusing on new talents. But you may also expect a few more initiatives through which we will be pushing scene labels and their bands. There are also a few compilation ideas we have been thinking about that we would like to develop and now that the site is back operational we have time to do that. All these releases will be available for free with all donations going to charity and to keep the site servers up and running.

SL: Speaking of which, the site has been down for 2 weeks, I’m probably not the only one wondering what happened?

Bernard: You’re probably number 101 asking this. Basically we ran out of borrowed time on the old server. We knew we had to change servers, change CMS but as I pointed out, we all have very demanding daytime jobs and we really needed time to make the transfer. I guess that the server issues decided that the time was there, ha! I thought about killing Side-Line altogether, because you can’t imagine how frustrating it is to see the work of 16 years evaporate. Luckily our dear friend War-n (Hungry Lucy, …) has been spending all of his spare time (and he has very little believe me), to restore the old db in the current CMS. It’s currently running in a test environment. Once it’s debugged we’ll be switching it to the live site. After that we are going to match the old URLs in order to keep the external links to the site valid. Anyhow, during the downtime I worked on a couple of other sites I run.

SL: You run a lot of other sites?

Bernard: My daytime job involves about 20 other websites which I run in order to keep the daily bread arriving on my table. But those are all very business related and I doubt the Side-Line readers would be interested in that.

SL: There’s also the Bob De Moor website you run no?

Bernard: You’ve really been googling me I have the impression… I am an admirer of Bob De Moor (editor’s note: the right hand of Hergé, the famous father of Tintin & Snowy), since I was 8 years old actually and a few years ago I launched the Official Bob De Moor website. Unlike many of my ‘heroes’ he’s among the few which I’m sure I would have gotten along with pretty well. Unfortunately I was never able to meet him in person, but through his work and family I have gotten to learn a lot about him. Right now I’m digitising the De Moor family’s archives plus I’m traveling through Europe to look for previously unpublished material, originals etc. via all kinds of private collections. As a result I have even found some previously unpublished Tintin drawings Bob De Moor had made and which were never detailed in books before, let alone talked about. I also was able to ‘unmask’ a Tintin drawing sold for over 45.000 Euros as being a not so real Hergé item… much to the unhappiness of the buyer I must say :). And there is even a musical touch. De Moor was a huge jazz and blues fan, and since that is also a passion of me – you should now understand why Depeche Mode’s “Ultra” still is a very acceptable album to me – I have been diving into his private collection in order to verify musical references in his work. And there’s also a Side-Line link, because when I invited Side-Line readers to check out the website I noticed many familiar faces popping up on the site and it’s Facebook page. So as you can see, the world is such a small place :).

You can download “Face The Beat: Session 2” right here from Bandcamp.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

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