Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, space-pop, experimental.

Background/Info: Lionhearts is a new music project set up by Frank M. Spinath (known from Seabound, Edge Of Dawn, Ghost & Writer) and produced by Ben Lukas Boysen (Hecq). The main particularity of this album is that Frank M. Spinath composed the music himself for the very first time.

Content: Spinath’s enigmatic and somewhat intriguing timbre of voice is easy recognizable and again one of the main characteristics of this self-titled album. Sound-wise he alternates between short, instrumental cuts and sung compositions. The sound remains faithful to the artist’s electro-pop direction, but the main difference is the evasive and truly astral dimension of the work.

It’s a relaxing sensation although sometimes dealing with serious subjects. There also is a very minimal and subtle touch supporting the songs and that’s maybe an aspect duo to the production skills of Hecq.

+ + + : Lionhearts took me by surprise. I thought to have already heard all different sides of this musician, but he surprised me unleashing a wafting and minimal-minded composition. I like the minimalism and even experimental format of the songs. Some passages and sound treatments are rawer, sometimes a bit like a contradiction with the artist’s warm timbre of voice. “To What I Don’t Know” definitely is one of the single ‘harder’ cuts of the album and maybe the right song to get released as EP/single title song. Lionhearts truly sounds as an intimate and artistic exorcism.

– – – : The minimal approach and experimental treatments maybe makes this new project as one of the less accessible from Frank M. Spinath. But on the other side this is not an artist who’s repeating himself. I just regret there are that much short instrumental cuts running through the tracklist. “Lionhearts” is a challenge so time will tell if the fans are going to love it or not.

Conclusion: It’s hard to say if this is my favorite project featuring Frank M. Spinath, but it for sure is the most different and even atypical one. I personally enjoyed this work.

Best songs: “To What I Don’t Know”, “The Ardent City”, “Cloud”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/fms.lionhearts

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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Out by early November – and available right here – is the limited full-length Snog album “The Clockwork Man” on transparent white vinyl. The release is derived from the late 2015 album “Compliance™” for which the tracks have been reworked and ‘retooled’ by Aesthetic Perfection, Velvet Acid Christ and other remixers.

The vinyl is comprised almost entirely of new vinyl exclusive remixes and limited to only 200 copies. Below is the teaser for this release.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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After the single “Sundays” which was released in 2015 on Erased Tapes, Ben Lukas Boysen (aka Hecq) now also sees his new album “Spells” released on this cult label. The album will be out on vinyl (available here – includes a fold-out poster) and CD (available here) from June 10th on.

For “Spells” Berlin-based composer, producer and sound designer Ben Lukas Boysen decided to merge programmed piano pieces with live instruments, combining the controllable technical world and the often unpredictable aspects of live improvisation. Fellow Erased Tapes artist Nils Frahm mixed and mastered the material.

Also collaborating on the album were drummer Achim Färber, cellist Anton Peisakhov and harpist Lara Somogyi. You can listen to a few works that will be present on this 9-track album. No need to say that this is topnotch material!

For those unfamiliar with Erased Tapes Records, it is a London-based independent record label focusing on releasing avant-garde music. The record company was established by Robert Raths in early 2007 in London, with the release of Ryan Lee West’s “Vemeer” EP under the Aparatec moniker. The label is sometimes mentioned for its strong sonic and visual aesthetic with a special focus on packaging and design, which has seen collaborations with FELD, Supermundane and Gregory Euclide.

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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Available from early March on but ready for pre-ordering here, is a reissue on 2LP vinyl of Hecq’s 2008 album “Night Falls”. This limited edition comes in a matte black heavy gatefold packaging with glossy black embossing. The 12 original album tracks come with a 13th track, namely Christoph Berg’s remix of the title track.

The whole has been remastered by Ben Lukas Boysen. This 180g double 12″ vinyl LP is now available right here and comes with a download code.. Highly recommended.

Below is the title track from the album, “Night Falls”.

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.

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, technoid, rhythmic-ambient.

Content: Tobias Lilja is a Swedish artist you might have discovered on a previous work released by n5MD. This musician remains a rather unknown name in the wider fields of electronic music, but I really hope that this album will get a great exposure, which might increase the popularity of Tobias Lilja.

This album is characterized by a real high degree of production. The mix is absolutely impressive revealing great artistic skills. But the writing is even more impressive. This musician is constantly merging styles with each other, which appears to be a trademark of Lilja. There’s a kind of chemistry between the genres. A big and somewhat technoid kick merges with industrial elements and haunting, ambient atmospheres. That’s the way this work takes off while the upcoming track sounds like a ballad rapidly moving towards a pure sonic explosion.

There’s a constant move from cinematographic passages towards a kind of rhythmic electro-ambient music, which sometimes becomes industrial as well. It moves from pure reverie to overwhelming sound vibes, which are sometimes joined by technoid grooves. The work has been accomplished by multiple sound effects and great treatments. “Medicine Sings Triptych” is an atypical album revealing an artist who clearly doesn’t want to get labeled in an established music genre.

Tobias Lilja belongs to that genius ‘race’ of sound makers who are exploring unknown sound paths. He’s using established influences to create an original melting pot. I’m not surprised this album ends with a remix by Hecq who’s a more renowned sound architect.

Conclusion: The magic of this work resulted from the hard labor of a musician who clearly strives for sound creativity.

Best songs: “Flaming Mouth”, “Frozen Lake”, “Medicine Sings”, “In The Dead Zone”, “There Is No Other”, “Sun-Eater”.

Rate: (DP:8½)DP.

Band: www.tobiaslilja.com / www.facebook.com/tobias.lilja

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