(Photo by Jürgen Sieckmeyer) Out on February 17 2023 on Mute is the reissue of Phew’s 1992 album, “Our Likeness” which was recorded at Conny Plank’s studio in Cologne. On this album avant-garde vocalist, electronics innovator and post-punk artist Phew was joined by Jaki Liebezeit, Alexander Hacke, Chrislo Haas and Thomas Stern.

Phew first came to the fore as the vocalist of Japanese post-punk group Aunt Sally (whose 1979 debut was reissued last year on Mesh-Key) before going on to record a solo single with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Her 1981 self-titled album, recorded with Liebezeit and Holger Czukay, was engineered by Conny Plank, and was followed by 1987’s “View”.

It was Chrislo Haas (D.A.F. / Liaisons Dangereuses / Der Plan), who had met Phew briefly when Plank engineered her debut solo album in 1981, who arranged for Alexander Hacke (guitar / Einstürzende Neubauten) and Thomas Stern (bass / Crime & the City Solution) to join. Can’s drummer Jaki Liebezeit also reunited with Phew to collaborate alongside this new generation of German experimental musicians. Chrislo Haas also introduced Phew to Daniel Miller, for the original release of “Our Likeness”.

Phew remembers: “When I was recording at Conny’s Studio in 1981, a young German man came to visit, sat quietly in the studio for a while and left without saying a word. His politeness was long remembered and can still be recalled. It was when he came to Japan that I discovered he was Chrislo Haas of D.A.F. At the end of the 1980s he visited me in Tokyo, then we decided to make something together, and a few months later we were recording at Conny’s Studio. Chrislo contacted the musicians who took part, Alex Hacke, Jaki Liebezeit and Thomas Stern, told Mute about the project and Our Likeness was released. I often wonder what kind of music Chrislo would have made if he had still been here on earth. Twenty-four years later, I met Alex Hacke again at a festival in Poland, where I got to play with hackedepicciotto. And now I am working with Danielle de Picciotto. More to come!”

You can check out the title track below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

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Behind Pyrolator we find Kurt Dahlke who not only is a member of Der Plan and Fehlfarben, but also a founding member of DAF (which he left in 1979) and co-founder of the label Ata Tak. Dahlke has also released a line of solo works since 1979 under the name Pyrolator. Several times he has been commissioned by the Goethe-Institut for workshops or concerts.

Out on July 29th is the new Pyrolator album “Niemandsland” which is a back to the roots story for Pyrolator in the musical sense. “Niemandsland” was created exclusively with modular synthesizers with the computer merely being a recording device. All of the tracks were played live and direct – neither storable nor replicable. This is the sixth album in Pyrolator’s ‘Land’ series.

About Pyrolator

In 1979 Dahlke released “Inland”, his first album as Pyrolator. The music was quite experimental, close to industrial music, incorporating field recordings and harsh electronica. On the follow-up “Ausland” (1981) he worked with a list of Ata Tak associated guests including his Der Plan colleagues and Holger Hiller. The songs ranged from experimental electronica to synth-pop. 1984 saw “Wunderland” being released with references to world music.

In 1985 Dahlke collaborated with Arnd Kai Klosowski for the album “Hometaping Is Killing Music” an early effort in popular music based entirely on sampling. 1987’s Pyrolator’s “Traumland” had Susan Brackeen on vocals and a whole range of guest musicians. It became the project’s most commercial and less experimental album. He then teamed up with Linda Sharrock and Frank Samba for “Every 2nd”, an album commissioned for the German Olympic pavilion at the 1988 Seoul Games.

With the singles “Ficcion Disco” and “City Space” from 1992/1993 he moved towards techno, which led to his productions for Antonelli Electr., the techno project of Stefan Schwander – another Ata Tak artist (with The I-Burnettes, 1990, and The Bad Examples, from 1996 on).

“Neuland” from 2011 was the first Pyrolator album not released on Ata Tak but on Bureau-B. It was followed by “Con-Struct” in 2015 with the help of with Conrad Schnitzler.

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.

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Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Ton Aus Strom” is the third album by German project Tension Control which is driven by Michael Schrader. This is also the first self-released opus.

Content: If you’re familiar with the band you exactly know what to expect. This is pure old-school EBM. No tricks nor complexity but just straight forwarded EBM with DAF as their ultimate reference and source of inspiration. Most of the songs are sung in German but you’ll also find a few sung in English. You’ll also find cover versions from Der Plan and Michael Matters.

+ + + : Tension Control stands for pure 100% old-school EBM. The songs are moving on where the previous album stopped, same sources of inspiration, same fascination for DAF. This is an album appealing for fans of Orange Sector, AD:Key, Armageddon Dildos ao. It’s not hard-core but simply powerful music featuring carrying choruses. The title song is a great piece of music but my personal favorite one is “kRaNK KrANk” driven by a great bass line.

– – – : Tension Control avoids any innovation but simply keeps the true EBM spirit alive. I was less convinced by the few English sung tracks but you don’t hear me complaining. I can’t understand why this band hasn’t been signed to a ‘big’ label.

Conclusion: Tension Control stands for pure EBM and is a band deserving more recognition.

Best songs: “kRaNK KrANk”, “Ton Aus Strom”, “Kraftwport”, “DAF Im Plattenbau”, “Deutschland, Bleiche Mutter”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/tension.control.ebm

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

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

You can check out the tracks below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

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Der Plan fans will be delighted to learn that the super limited Der Plan version of the album “Unkapitulierbar” will be released in a strictly limited to 300 copies only as a coloured vinyl + 7″ + CD set. The set is available now in pre-order right here. Note that the artwork was clearly created using the Prisma iPhone app.

The release itself is packaged as a deluxe gatefold sleeve, with vinyl-sized booklet, plus of course the coloured vinyl and an exclusive 7” single featuring the tracks “Achroma” and “Chroma”. And also the CD in this version contains 4 extra-tracks not included on the regular CD or vinyl: “Wellenstein”, “Primitiv”, “Gefährliche Clowns” (2016), “Franks Traum”.

You can order all 3 versions right now via this mail order. Be quick if you want the special deluxe version.

Der Plan is a German electronic music group from Düsseldorf, formed in the earlier months of 1979 by Moritz Reichelt (A.K.A. “Moritz R”), Kai Horn, and Frank Fenstermacher, originally under the name of Weltaufstandsplan. The band is considered the pioneer of Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave).

Here’s an idea how the band sounds with “Gummitwist”.

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.

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