Jarboe has released a new video for “Francesca Sun”, taken from her latest album “Sightings”, which was released via Consouling Sounds on April 3, 2026. The American artist, whose work spans experimental rock, ambient, spoken word, and avant-garde composition, premieres the clip exclusively via Side-Line Magazine.

The video arrives a few weeks after the release of “Sightings”, her 36th solo album and 55th overall release. The record is built around electronic and organic instrumentation and a recurring natural-world motif centered on the vireo. Jarboe says of the album’s starting point: “The vireo is heard yet not easy to be seen as he blends into the green leaves. This is the heart of this project.” The release also features Thor Harris, Andrea Calderon, Brett Robinson, Chiara Lee, and Freddie Murphy, while Phil Puleo created the artwork.

“Sightings” is released as a black LP (200 copies), moss green LP (300 copies) and digipack CD (300 copies). Note that the moss green LP will be available at Jarboe’s live shows – but is sold out from the Consouling Sounds store.

Below are the CD and black vinyl versions.

Jarboe and Joy Von Spain UK/EU tour dates 2026

Jarboe will also head out on a May 2026 UK and European tour as a duo with Joy Von Spain of Eye of Nix after Thor Harris stepped down as we reported before. That format change was confirmed on April 17, after Thor Harris stepped down for personal reasons.

• 04/05/2026 (DK): Copenhagen – Rust
• 05/05/2026 (SE): Göteborg – Oceanen
• 07/05/2026 (EE): Tallinn – Hungr
• 08/05/2026 (LV): Riga – 1983
• 09/05/2026 (LT): Vilnius – SODAS 2123
• 10/05/2026 (PL): Warsaw – Niebo
• 12/05/2026 (PL): Poznań – Blue Note
• 13/05/2026 (CZ): Prague – MeetFactory
• 14/05/2026 (DE): Berlin – Genezarethkirche
• 15/05/2026 (NL): Tilburg – Hall of Fame
• 16/05/2026 (BE): Brussels – Obsidian Dust Festival
• 19/05/2026 (UK): Bristol – Strange Brew
• 20/05/2026 (UK): London – Café OTO
• 21/05/2026 (UK): Coventry – Just Dropped In
• 22/05/2026 (UK): Newcastle – The Star and Shadow
• 23/05/2026 (UK): Liverpool – Outer Waves Festival
• 25/05/2026 (BG): Sofia – Mixtape 5
• 27/05/2026 (GR): Athens – Temple

About Jarboe

Jarboe Devereaux is an American singer, composer, and visual artist. She was born in Mississippi and raised mainly in the American South. She debuted in the 1980s cassette underground with “Walls” in 1984. An excerpt later appeared on the “Dry Lungs” compilation in 1985.

She joined Swans in 1985 and remained one of the group’s central members until its first breakup in 1997. Across that period she contributed vocals and keyboards to releases including “Children of God”, “White Light from the Mouth of Infinity”, and “Soundtracks for the Blind”, while also working with Michael Gira in the parallel project World of Skin.

Her solo discography began with “Thirteen Masks” in 1991 and later expanded through releases such as “Sacrificial Cake”, “Anhedoniac”, and “Disburden Disciple”. Outside her solo catalog, she collaborated with Neurosis on the 2003 album “Neurosis & Jarboe”, and with Kris Force on “The Path” soundtrack in 2010.

In later years, Jarboe continued to self-produce work while also releasing material through labels including The Circle Music, Translation Loss Records, and Consouling Sounds. She also returned to the Swans orbit with guest contributions to “The Seer” in 2012. In 2026 she returned with “Sightings”, her 36th solo album and 55th overall release.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Jarboe’s UK and European tour 2026 will now go ahead as a duo. The avant-garde artist will perform the 19-date May run with Joy Von Spain of Eye of Nix after Thor Harris stepped down for personal reasons. Earlier announcements had presented the shows as a trio.

Jarboe says: “Joy Von Spain and I are interpreting songs from my catalogue alongside new material from ‘Sightings’ as a duo. Due to unforeseen personal circumstances, Thor Harris won’t be able to join our upcoming UK and European tour. While his presence and unique contribution will be missed, the tour will proceed with full energy. With an intimate experience in sound and feeling, unique to this tour, Joy and I look forward to seeing you in May.”

The tour supports “Sightings”, Jarboe’s current album for Consouling Sounds.

Jarboe UK and European tour dates 2026

• 04/05/2026 (DK): Copenhagen – Rust
• 05/05/2026 (SE): Göteborg – Oceanen
• 07/05/2026 (EE): Tallinn – Hungr
• 08/05/2026 (LV): Riga – 1983
• 09/05/2026 (LT): Vilnius – SODAS 2123
• 10/05/2026 (PL): Warsaw – Niebo
• 12/05/2026 (PL): Poznań – Blue Note
• 13/05/2026 (CZ): Prague – MeetFactory
• 14/05/2026 (DE): Berlin – Genezarethkirche
• 15/05/2026 (NL): Tilburg – Hall of Fame
• 16/05/2026 (BE): Brussels – Obsidian Dust Festival
• 17/05/2026 (UK): Folkestone – 20th Century Speedway
• 19/05/2026 (UK): Bristol – Strange Brew
• 20/05/2026 (UK): London – Café OTO
• 21/05/2026 (UK): Coventry – Just Dropped In
• 22/05/2026 (UK): Newcastle – The Star and Shadow
• 23/05/2026 (UK): Liverpool – Outer Waves Festival
• 25/05/2026 (BG): Sofia – Mixtape 5
• 27/05/2026 (GR): Athens – Temple

Tickets are available now.

About Jarboe

Jarboe Devereaux is an American singer, musician and multidisciplinary artist born in Mississippi and raised mainly in New Orleans and Atlanta. She joined Swans in 1985 after contacting Michael Gira and auditioning for the band. Between 1985 and 1997 she became one of Swans’ central members, handling vocals and keyboards across releases including “Children of God”, “The Burning World” and “Soundtracks for the Blind”. During that period she also formed World of Skin with Gira.

Her solo catalogue began with “Thirteen Masks” in 1991. It continued through releases including “Sacrificial Cake” in 1995 and “Disburden Disciple” in 2000, alongside a large number of collaborations. Jarboe later contributed guest vocals and voice collage to Swans’ 2012 album “The Seer”.

And now there is “Sightings”, accompanied by a revised May 2026 tour that will now be presented as a Jarboe and Joy Von Spain duo.

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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Experimental rock artist Jarboe (Swans) has released an official excerpt for “Vireo Serenade”, taken from her upcoming album “Sightings”, due on April 3, 2026 via Consouling Sounds. The release is tied to an expanded May 2026 European tour billed as Jarboe with Thor Harris and Joy Von Spain.

“Sightings” will be issued on black LP (200 copies), moss green LP (300 copies), and digipack CD (300 copies). The vinyl edition carries six tracks, while the CD and digital versions add “The Holy Waters (Sangha Mix)”. You can place your pre-orders now via Consouling Sounds.

Jarboe says that the album grew from field recordings and repeated encounters with a vireo: “The vireo is heard yet not easy to be seen as he blends into the green leaves. This is the heart of this project.” The album also features Thor Harris, Andrea Calderon, Brett Robinson, Chiara Lee, and Freddie Murphy, while Phil Puleo created the artwork.

The updated itinerary adds Sofia at Mixtape 5 on May 25 and Athens at Temple on May 27, while the Berlin date on May 14 is now confirmed for Genezarethkirche.

Jarboe 2026 tour dates with Thor Harris and Joy Von Spain

• 04/05/2026 (DK): Copenhagen – Rust
• 05/05/2026 (SWE): Goteborg – Oceanen
• 07/05/2026 (EE): Tallinn – Hungr
• 08/05/2026 (LV): Riga – 1983
• 09/05/2026 (LT): Vilnius – SODAS 2123
• 10/05/2026 (PL): Warsaw – Niebo
• 12/05/2026 (PL): Poznan – Blue Note
• 13/05/2026 (CZ): Prague – MeetFactory
• 14/05/2026 (DE): Berlin – Genezarethkirche
• 15/05/2026 (NL): Tilburg – Hall of Fame
• 16/05/2026 (BE): Brussels – Obsidian Dust Festival
• 17/05/2026 (UK): Folkestone – 20th Century Speedway
• 19/05/2026 (UK): Bristol – Strange Brew
• 20/05/2026 (UK): London – Cafè OTO
• 21/05/2026 (UK): Coventry – Just Dropped In
• 22/05/2026 (UK): Newcastle – The Star and Shadow
• 23/05/2026 (UK): Liverpool – Outer Waves Festival
• 25/05/2026 (BG): Sofia – Mixtape 5
• 27/05/2026: (GR): Athens – Temple

About Jarboe

Jarboe Devereaux is an American singer, composer, keyboardist, and visual artist whose recording history began with the cassette “Walls” in 1984. She joined Swans in 1985 and remained part of the group until its first breakup in 1997. During that period, she also launched her solo catalogue with “Thirteen Masks” in 1991, establishing a parallel body of work that moved across experimental rock, ambient, spoken word, and electronic music.

Her later solo releases include “Sacrificial Cake” (1995) and “Disburden Disciple” (2000), both of which were later revisited in vinyl reissues. She has also remained active through a long series of collaborations, including work with Black Needle Noise and other experimental projects. In 2026, Jarboe returns with “Sightings” via Consouling Sounds and a European tour alongside Thor Harris and Joy Von Spain.

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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Influential experimental artist Jarboe, known for her years in Swans, will release her new album “Sightings” on 3 April 2026 via the Belgian label Consouling Sounds and support it with a UK and European tour in May 2026 alongside Thor Harris (ex-Swans, Shearwater) and Joy Von Spain (Eye of Nix).

The concerts present a trio line-up of Jarboe, Harris and Von Spain, with a live set built from Jarboe’s catalogue of industrial, experimental and atmospheric work. The shows will also feature the live debut of two ambient pieces from “Sightings”. “Sightings” has the elusive vireo bird as a central motif. The album follows 2020’s “A Tulpa” and features cover artwork based on a painting by Swans drummer Phil Puleo,.

Thor Harris, an Austin-based multi-instrumentalist, joins the tour after his years as Swans’ percussionist between 2010 and 2016 and earlier work with Shearwater, Bill Callahan and many others. Joy Von Spain, currently based in the Netherlands, contributes vocals, keys and composition.

The May dates include club shows and festival appearances across Scandinavia, the Baltics, Central Europe and the UK, opening in Copenhagen and closing at Outer Waves Festival in Liverpool.

Jarboe tour dates 2026

• 04/05/2026 (DK): Copenhagen – Rust
• 05/05/2026 (SWE): Göteborg – Oceanen
• 07/05/2026 (EE): Tallinn – Hungr
• 08/05/2026 (LV): Riga – 1983
• 09/05/2026 (LT): Vilnius – SODAS 2123
• 10/05/2026 (PL): Warsaw – Niebo
• 12/05/2026 (PL): Poznań – Blue Note
• 13/05/2026 (CZ): Prague – MeetFactory
• 14/05/2026 (DE): Berlin – venue TBA
• 15/05/2026 (NL): Tilburg – Hall of Fame
• 16/05/2026 (BE): Brussels – Obsidian Dust Festival
• 17/05/2026 (UK): Folkestone – 20th Century Speedway
• 19/05/2026 (UK): Bristol – Strange Brew
• 20/05/2026 (UK): London – Café OTO
• 21/05/2026 (UK): Coventry – Just Dropped In
• 22/05/2026 (UK): Newcastle – The Star and Shadow
• 23/05/2026 (UK): Liverpool – Outer Waves Festival

About Jarboe

Jarboe Devereaux, known professionally as Jarboe or The Living Jarboe, is an American singer, musician and multidisciplinary artist born in Mississippi and raised in the US South, with roots in New Orleans and Atlanta. She joined Swans in 1985 after contacting founder Michael Gira, becoming a core member and contributing vocals, keyboards, arrangements and songwriting to albums including “Children of God” (1987), “The Burning World” (1989) and “Soundtracks for the Blind” (1996). Her presence helped shift the band from early noise rock towards more melodic industrial, folk and experimental material.

Her solo album catalogue begins with “Thirteen Masks”, released in 1991 on Sky / Hyperium on CD, cassette and vinyl. She followed this with “Sacrificial Cake” in 1995 on Alternative Tentacles, and “Anhedoniac” in 1998. The 2000s opened with “Disburden Disciple” in 2000, then a pair of Atavistic releases in 2005: “The Men Album” in October and “The Conduit” in November. “Mahakali” arrived in 2008 via The End Records, followed by “Alchemic” in 2010 on Twilight and “Indemnity” in 2011 on Burning World. The next phase of her work appears on her own imprint The Living Jarboe, starting with “The Sweet Meat Love and Holy Cult” in 2013, then “Wabi Sabi” and “Zen J Jazz” in March and April 2015, and “As Mind Dissolves as Song Begins” in 2017.

Since Swans’ original split in 1997, she has continued to release self-published and label-based albums, EPs and collaborations including “The Cut of the Warrior” in 2018 (Translation Loss in cooperation with The Living Jarboe), “Illusory” in April 2020 (co-released by Consouling Sounds and The Living Jarboe), and “A Tulpa” in November 2020 on The Living Jarboe. In February 2023 she issued the digital-only album “Procession” under The Living Jarboe banner.

Many of these titles have since been revisited through reissues and new editions.

Her work spans experimental rock, industrial, neoclassical and ambient forms, and extends into visual art, literature, theatre and soundtracks, including co-composing music for the 2009 psychological horror game “The Path”. “The Path”is the official soundtrack to the video game of the same name, co-created with Kris Force and issued via Twilight Records and digital platforms.

Alongside her solo work, she has released a series of full-length collaborative albums, for instance with John Fryer. In 1993 she recorded “Beautiful People Ltd” with Lary Seven. In 2003 she co-released the self-titled “Neurosis & Jarboe” album with the band Neurosis. Mid-2000s collaborations include “Knight of Swords / The Beggar” with Nic Le Ban, “The End” and later “Dark Consort” with Cedric Victor, and “Viscera” with Byla in 2007. In 2008 she worked with Justin Broadrick on the album “J²”. A later collaboration came in 2015 with “Jarboe & Helen Money”, recorded with cellist Helen Money. More recently, she released “The Embrace” in 2023 with Kris Force.

In parallel, she co-developed the “Connotations” trilogy with guitarist and composer Brian Castillo under the name Castillo + Jarboe. “Connotations (Chapter One)” appeared in 2023, followed by “Connotations (Chapter Two)” and “Connotations (Chapter Three)” in 2024, all issued digitally via their joint channels and The Living Jarboe.

She also co-founded the project Skin with Michael Gira, a collaboration that later appeared under the name The World of Skin. In this line-up, they released three albums: “Blood, Women, Roses” in 1987, “Shame, Humility, Revenge” in 1988 and “Ten Songs for Another World” in 1990, issued on Product Inc. and Young God in various formats.

And she is also one-third of Blackmouth, together with John Bergin and Brett Smith. Their work includes the album “Blackmouth”, released in May 2000 on Crowd Control Activities, and the expanded 2020 edition “Blackmouth, Volumes I and II”, which combines the original album with additional tracks on CD.

In the ritual-focused ensemble AEAEA, formed with Kris Force, Anni Hogan, Zoë Keating and Meredith Yayanos, Jarboe recorded the album “Drink the New Wine”. Twilight Records released it on 14 February 2014 as a limited digipak CD and as a digital edition, with Jarboe contributing vocals, lyrics and co-composition across several pieces.

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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Ex-Swans member Jarboe has announced a remastered vinyl version of “Disburden Disciple” via The Circle Music and a new video for “Bound”. The album, originally released independently in 2000, will be available on 25 April 2025 via The Circle Music for the first time on vinyl.

The vinyl release of “Disburden Disciple” has been fully remastered by George Emmanuel (Pentagram Studio) and features brand-new artwork. The remastered album will be available in double gatefold orange vinyl and double gatefold red vinyl. Pre-orders are available now via the record label’s webstore.

“Recorded in both Israel and the United States, the songs on ‘Disburden Disciple’ express themes of longing and romance as well as metaphorical dismemberment, scars, and resuscitation,” Jarboe comments. “The album explores the victim of passion, the dangerous love affair, the death bed of a lover, the death of a loved one from disease set to maniacal piano, the false accusation of a murder and the haunting of a spirit who calls from the deep, and the sounds of rolling tanks and drums as backdrop of the war of the heart. The album begins with a list of things in a stylistic groove that merges to 70s rock yet the chorus reaffirms not being free at all – from love.”

A new video for the 2025 remastered version of “Bound”, directed by Wampyrion, has also been released. The video captures Jarboe’s first NYC solo performance post-Swans in a packed Knitting Factory in 2000.

The Circle Music adds, “Our ambition to release as many albums as possible from Jarboe’s long catalogue on vinyl continues with ‘Disburden Disciple’, a very special, personal and experimental album that appeared 25 years ago and today we realise how ahead of its time it was. We don’t think we need to talk about Jarboe’s influence in the field of avant-garde, industrial, dark gothic or however one would like to describe her music. After all, Jarboe’s music goes beyond boundaries. It’s not just heard, it’s experienced.”

At the core of the album is Jarboeon vocals, Brian Castillo who contributed both guitar and bass – while also serving as a recording engineer, Cedric Victor and Michael Courter on bass, Chandler Rentz on drums and percussion, Gabriel, Hamdi, and Ibrahim Ahmad on rhythm sections, Eva Sabon on violin, Diana Obscura on cello and backing vocals, and Renee Nelson contributing both harp and backing vocals.

The lineup also included Nick Pagan on piano, Rico on vocals, and Yariv Malka, who played guitar and percussion while also engineering the track “Forbid”.

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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Out now via Discsalced Music is the brand new studio album by the legendary neofolk act Backworld and this over 7 years after the latest new recordings. The new album, “For the Life of the World”, holds 11 tracks.

Behind Backworld we find Joe Budenholzer who launched the project in the spirit of the World Serpent apocalyptic folk scene in London, combining traditional English folk, experimental and minimalist classical with fin-de-siecle mysticism.

Founder Joseph Budenholzer’s collaborators on this new album include David Tibet (Track 11), MAYa Hardinge (Track 8) and Laure Kyle (Track 1,2,7).

The American neofolk band Backworld was founded in 1993 by Joseph Budenholzer in New York’s East Village. Over the years, Joseph Budenholzer has collaborated with several artists, including David Tibet and Michael Cashmore (Current 93), Drew McDowall (Coil), Jarboe (Swans), Isobel Campbell (Belle & Sebastian), and Antony Hegarty (Anohni), among others. The band’s discography includes albums such as “Isles of the Blest”, “Anthems from the Pleasure Park”, and “The Fourth Wall”​.

The last album was 2016’s “The Hound Of Heaven – A Paraliturgical Opera In One Act”. Before that, there hadn’t been any new songs since 2011’s “Come The Bells”. 2020 had seen the release of “The Fourth Wall (Live at Bloomsbury Theater, London)”.

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

Object As Subject is premiering the video for “Temporary Bodies” on Side-Line. The track is taken from the new album “Heretic” which will be out on May 12th.

Object As Subject is the creative project of Paris Hurley, a classically trained violinist and songwriter. Hurley’s music is enriched by the contributions of Jherek Bischoff (from Dresden Dolls) on the synthesiser and Emily Hope Price on the cello. The resultant album is likely to be a hit with fans of The Living Jarboe, Lingua Ignota, Emma Ruth Rundle and others.

Between 2008 and 2016, Hurley played violin in the gypsy-punk band Kultur Shock, as well as performing with notable musicians like David Byrne, Amanda Palmer, and Angel Olsen, among others.

You can watch the “Temporary Bodies” video 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!

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As new addition to its list of programs, The Pit VOD platform presents “Where Does a Body End?”, a 2019 Canadian documentary directed by Marco Porsia about the American experimental act Swans. The film had its premiere on May 3, 2019, at the IndieLisboa Film Festival in Portugal and was released worldwide on September 11, 2020 before to land on the plaform in a two-parts version.

You can watch the official trailer of “Where Does a Body End?” right below.

“Where Does a Body End?” is an intimate portrait of the band Swans, from their roots as a brutal, confrontational post-punk band that emerged from the same early 1980s era NYC that gave us Sonic Youth and other acts. The biopic also includes the breakups and chaos (on and offstage), in short you get the full monty.

Swans was formed in 1982 by singer / songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. One of the few acts to emerge from the New York City-based no wave scene and stay intact into the next decade, Swans had an ever-changing sound, exploring genres such as noise rock, post-punk, industrial and post-rock. Initially, their music was known for its sonic brutality and misanthropic lyrics. Following the addition of singer, songwriter and keyboardist Jarboe in 1986, Swans began to incorporate melody and intricacy into their music. Jarboe remained the band’s only constant member except Gira and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg until their dissolution in 1997.

In 2010, Gira re-formed the band without Jarboe, establishing a stable lineup of musicians which has toured worldwide and released four albums. This iteration of the group performed its last shows in November 2017, ending the tour in support of its final album “The Glowing Man”. Since 2019, Gira has been touring and recording with Swans as “a revolving cast of contributors”. The band’s latest album, “The Beggar”, will be released on June 23, 2023.

Since 1990, all Swans records have been released through Gira’s own label, Young God Records.

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 industrial electro-punk ensemble Object As Subject presents their latest track, “Monsoon”, exclusively on Side-Line. This single is a part of their forthcoming album, “Heretic”, set to be released on May 12 through Lost Future Records.

Spearheaded by Paris Hurley, this LA-based feminist industrial electro-punk group delivers a remarkably mature and harmonious blend as you can hear from this first single. But we have already been able checking the full album, and it’s has actually quite a versatile album which departs from the band’s previous pure punk outings. Besides Hurley we find Jherek Bischoff (Dresden Dolls) on synth and Emily Hope Price on cello.

Hurley founded Object as Subject, a feminist art punk project, which released its debut album “Permission” in 2018. She also created “Dancing on Your Own”, a screen-free guided movement practice, and offers one-on-one “Permission Practice” sessions. To adapt to the digital music era, she initiated the “Monthly Moon Package”, a subscription-based music offering.

From 2008-2016, she was a violinist in the Balkan punk metal band Kultur Shock, contributing to the feminist conversation within the Balkans. Hurley has collaborated with Jherek Bischoff and the experimental dance theater collective Degenerate Art Ensemble, performing with renowned artists like David Byrne, Amanda Palmer, and Angel Olsen. As a director, her dance theater work was showcased in Seattle from 2009-2016 at numerous venues and events.

Fans of bands such as The Living Jarboe, Lingua Ignota, and Emma Ruth Rundle will undoubtedly find Object As Subject’s sound enthralling and engaging.

Here’s the video for the new single “Monsoon”,, the first single of the new album “Heretic”.

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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(Photo by J. Williams) The Greek label, The Circle Music, has announced the first-ever reissue of one of the most iconic releases of Jarboe, the album “Sacrificial Cake” on double vinyl.

The 16-track strong album was originally released in 1995 and came out four years after the solo album “Thirteen Masks”. Jarboe who was at the same time working in Swans, recorded the album “Sacrificial Cake” in New York’s East Village at the analog home-studio of multi-instrumentalist Lary Seven. Swans founder, Michael Gira simultaneously releases his album, “Drainland”.

The Circle Music label says this about the re-release: “We are proud to release this legendary album for the first time on vinyl – on its own – and with new mastering, new lay out, luxurious packaging and of course in the color of lavender dedicated to the ‘Lavender Girl’.”

Commenting on the upcoming release, Jarboe says: “‘Sacrificial Cake’ is one of my most popular albums. The song, ‘Lavender Girl’ on this album, is the song fans tell me is one of their favorite songs, ever. As this album was never available on its own, I am thrilled for The Circle Music to have it be available and especially on lavender vinyl in homage to the beloved song.”

The double vinyl reissue is coming out on November 18th and is limited to just 500 copies. Note that the material was newly mastering by George Emmanuel (Pentagram Studio) with all new lay out by Riccardo Isolabella.

You can pre-order the record here.

About Jarboe

Jarboe La Salle Devereaux, known as Jarboe, is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City experimental rock band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans, were the two constant members of the group until it broke up in 1997.

Although absent from the group’s lineup when the band reformed in 2010, Jarboe contributed background vocals and voice collage for the band’s 2012 album, “The Seer”. She has released numerous solo albums and collaborations, many of which have been self-published. She also co-composed the soundtrack of the 2009 psychological horror game “The Path”.

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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Out today via Re:Mission Entertainment is the second album, “—-X—-“, in an ongoing collaboration between Dead Voices on Air and Snowbeasts. For this release the two bands took a slightly different approach during the recording. Most of the songs were passed back and forth via file transfer until the songs felt finished. “This resulted in a more composed, or thematic feel to the album, which features more lyrical content”, so the label emphasizes.

The release is out as a download and as a limited CD digipak (100 copies) via Bandcamp (where you can order it. A special T-shirt is also available for ordering.

Spybey’s lyrical content continues to be preoccupied by the political challenges of our time, believing that we have entered a new era of autocracy. He believes that we are in danger of being seduced by the incessant barrage of lies, half-truths, trolling and allegations. That we are being wilfully misled by petty tyrants, upper class twits, the filthy rich, pathological liars and narcissists.

The duo says: “We are oppressed through the weaponisation of fear, in a vain attempt to obscure the political and strategic ineptness of our politicians. The enemy is anyone who dares to think or act differently, or who challenges the kind of beliefs that have plagued mankind: hatred of others, hatred of minorities, hatred of those who seek to instil hope and compassion into our societies.”

Spybey specifies even further: “I’m 60 and I’m still pissed off. Perhaps more pissed off than ever. I confess I find it ever so hard to believe that with all of the advances that humans have made during my lifetime, all of the wonderful things we have achieved, that our countries (the USA and the UK) have ended up electing, being led and represented by people like Trump and Johnson. I can’t believe that anyone could be stupid enough to believe that the world is a safer and better place because of their contribution, or lack of it to the maintenance of peace, stability and wellness. To all of you who say that musicians shouldn’t get involved in politics, I have this to say. I make music because I am able to do it. It’s my right to create and by doing so I am afforded a voice and a platform. It’s one of the many privileges of living in a ‘free society,’ (whatever that means). I make music because I want to and if I didn’t think that by doing so that I couldn’t reach out to people and to respectfully challenge the status quo, in an attempt to make some kind of meaningful contribution to society, I’d quit tomorrow, pack up and go away. For Trump and Johnson, you can easily add another dozen or so ‘world’ leaders names to the list by the way. Politicians are not all the same, and if you think that, then I’d like to respectfully suggest that you might want to do something about it. We deserve better. So yeah, when I started to write lyrics for this record, I really couldn’t avoid mining some of these feelings and I’m kind of unapologetic about it. I don’t like to offend people but enough is enough folks, we deserve better.”

Simon Paul, a well known graphic artist from Toronto, Canada provided the artwork, which plays on a number of themes from the album. The CD was mastered by another member of the Dead Voices on Air family, Anatoly Tokee Grinberg from Moscow.

Here’s the album itself.

About Snowbeasts

Snowbeasts is the duo of Robert Galbraith and Elizabeth Virosa. The project was formed in 2014 in Providence RI after a series of heavy snowstorms. Earlier releases were cinematic modular landscapes and droning dark ambient while later tracks can be more beat oriented.

Snowbeasts has numerous releases scattered across their own Component Recordings and Paris’s MTronic. They have also recently completed a trio of albums with beat oriented noise artist, Solypsis including two for Ohm Resistance.

Along with Snowbeasts, Virosa and Galbraith produce techno under the name Obscure Formats and electronic dance as Pattern Behavior.

About Dead Voices on Air

Spybey started his career in the North-East of England with Zoviet France in the late eighties before moving to Vancouver. It was here that Dead Voices On Air were formed. Spybey also worked under the name Propeller and was an original member of Download, who included members of Skinny Puppy. Spybey was the voice of their 1996 release, “The Eyes of Stanley Pain”.

After leaving Download he started a series of collaborations, appearing on over 50 albums in a five-year period. Perhaps his most significant collaboration was being asked to be part of CAN guitarist Michael Karoli’s band Sofortkontakt! and appearing at the CAN 30th anniversary shows in 1999. Spybey was a close friend of Michael Karoli prior to his death in 2001 and had toured with him as part of legendary CAN vocalist Damo Suzuki’s Network in 1998 in North America, appearing in the German TV film by Peter Braatz, “On the Air”.

Spybey has recorded, toured and played live with numerous collaborators including Faust, Michael Rother (Neu!) and Dieter Moebius (Cluster), members of The Legendary Pink Dots, Mick Harris (Scorn, Painkiller), Jarboe (Swans), Simon Fisher-Turner, Richard Sanderson, James Plotkin (Flux, Old, Scorn), Robert Hampson (Loop/Main), Jochen Arbeit (Einzturzende Neubaten), Darryl Neudorf and Sugarpill (Abintra), Not Breathing, Pigface and Martin Atkins.

He has worked with a number of record companies, including Kranky, Nettwerk, Invisible, Cold Spring, U.M.P and Soleilmoon. Spybey was part of the band Beehatch with the late Phil Western of Download, who released three albums and toured Europe. In 2004 he formed Reformed Faction, a duo with founding member of Zoviet France and Rapoon mainstay Robin Storey. The band have released a number of albums and have played live in both Europe and North America. He now resides in his native Yorkshire, in the UK.

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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Out on December 14th via Re:Mission Entertainment is the album “The Camel Corps and Other Stories” by the experimental / industrial duo Jochen Arbeit and Mark Spybey. You will know Jochen Arbeit from his work with Einstürzende Neubauten and Automat, while Mark Spybey has been active with Dead Voices On Air and Download. Among others that is.

Mark was introduced to Jochen via Robin Rimbaud of Scanner. Mark then invited Jochen to contribute to a collaborative project whereby he teamed with various friends to create a number of 7 inch singles. The single was never released but the pair enjoyed the experience enough to go on to record enough material for a full length album.

That was back in 2011. Ten years elapsed before they talked about releasing it.

Mark explains: “Ten years seems like a lot of time and I guess it is. I can recall that we felt that the best way of finishing the album was for me to either send Jochen the project files so that he might do some of the finished mixes or that, preferably, I go to Berlin to spend time with him finishing up the project. In the end I guess life and experiences just took over and we didn’t manage to get together. Earlier this year I listened to the mixes, which I really liked and sent them to Jochen with a suggestion that we release the album, as is. Thankfully he agreed!”

Most of the material on “The Camel Corps and Other Stories” was assembled from sounds that Jochen sent to Mark: fractured rhythms, and textured processed guitars.

You can pre-order it already on Bandcamp.

About Jochen Arbeit

Jochen Arbeit moved to Berlin in 1980 and became part of the arts collective Geniale Dilettanten. In 1983 he joined the
instrumental band Die Haut, and recorded and toured extensively.

In 1997 he joined Einzturzende Neubaten and is still an integral part of this legendary band. His other projects include Automat, The Jever Mountain Boys, Alert!, Abq, Martin Dean, Richard Ruin, Latin Lovers and the arts project Stupid Green. He has collaborated with people such as Scanner, TM Schneider and members of Larsen.

About Mark Spybey

Mark Spybey started his career briefly working with Zoviet:France, before forming Dead Voices on Air and joining Download with members of Skinny Puppy whilst living in Vancouver. He was a member of Can guitarist Michael Karoli’s band, Sofortkontakt!

Over the years he has collaborated extensively with a wide variety of artists such as Damo Suzuki, Martin Atkins, Jarboe and works with ex-Zoviet:France member Robin Storey, from the band Rapoon in the project Reformed Faction.

He now lives in the north of England.

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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Out in a little more than a week is the collaborative project between Nordic electropop diva Karin Park (Årabrot) and legendary electronic pioneer Lustmord. “Alter” is the pair’s first collaborative work and holds nine tracks.

You can already check out a first track “Hiraeth” right below. And for those unaware who these two excellent artists are, below we added some extra info.

About Karin Park

Karin Park made her debut in 2003 with the single “Superworldunknown”. After the release of her second album “Change Your Mind” (2006), the music developed in a new, darker and more synth-based direction. The third album, “Ashes To Gold” (2009), was produced by Fredrik Saroea, frontman of the Norwegian band Datarock.

Following this record, Karin has continued to develop a more experimental, beat-oriented sound. Karin Park is also a well known producer, who has done remixes for other bands and co-produced the latest Årabrot record “Who do you love” with her husband Kjetil Nernes, frontman in Årabrot.

Together with her brother David Park, Portsmouth based producer Barry Barnet and the Swedish producer Christoffer Berg (known for his work with The Knife, Fever Ray, Massive Attack and Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano), she made her fourth album, “Highwire Poetry” (2012). In 2015, she released her fifth studio album “Apocalypse Pop”.

Her new band project Pandora Drive is London based and released their first EP “Albino Heart” in 2018.

Aside from her musical career, Karin Park occasionally works as a model and an actress. She starred in the Norwegian horror film Hidden (2009) and her song “Out of the Cage” was the theme track to the film.

About Lustmord

Brian Williams is a Welsh industrial musician, sound designer and film score composer. He is often credited for creating the dark ambient genre with albums recorded under the name Lustmord.

Williams was raised in rural Wales, before relocating to London in his late teens where he befriended Throbbing Gristle members Cosey Fanni Tutti and Chris Carter, who urged him to make his own music. He started recording as Lustmord in 1980 before joining SPK in 1982.

Some of Lustmord’s most notable collaborations include Robert Rich on “Stalker”, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Monte Cazazza, Clock DVA, Chris & Cosey, Paul Haslinger, and Melvins on “Pigs of the Roman Empire”.

In short, an electronic music pioneer.

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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Producer John Fryer (known for his work with Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Cocteau Twins, Fad Gadget, and many others) has released new material for his dark electronic project Black Needle Noise. Since launching in 2016, Black Needle Noise has been centered around the spirit of collaborations with various musicians including Swans vocalist Jarboe, Front Line Assembly’s Bill Leeb, Mimi Page and many others.

The latest effort is a version of the lovely Louis Armstrong’s classic “What A Wonderful World” featuring vocalist Tom Berger.

Fryer explains the concept behind the single: “I have always loved the Louis Armstrong version of ‘What A Wonderful World’ from when I heard it as a child and it has stayed with me ever since. So I wanted to make a very different cinematic version, a very depressingly apocalyptic version with an uplifting feel. I thought of Tom Berger, my friend for many a year to sing it and I think he has done an amazing job to convey those haunting sentiments.”

Tom Berger had this to say about the collaboration: “For me it was a real challenge to sing the vocals of a classical piece of music. After John sent me the instrumental version I thought it wasn’t possible – How can I transform such a fragile and innocent melody into such a massive wall of sound? And that was the thing: I sang it like I’d never heard the 1967 original. The result is not just a cover – it’s something new – and I’m very proud of the final result.”

You can stream the single below in a directed by Christoph Vitt and Alex Makarov.

You can download the single right below from Bandcamp.

In further news, John Fryer has been readying a new Black Needle Noise album for 2021 called “These Mortal Covers” that will feature all-new versions of well-known songs including the recently released Black Crowes’ cover “She Talks To Angels”.

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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Fade Kainer (Batillus, Tombs, Jarboe) set up Statiqbloom in 2013 as a solo-project. He got joined in 2016 by NY, Denman C. Anderson. Based in Brooklyn, NY (USA) they recently released their new full length “Asphyxia”, which is their fourth full length to date, but the first one released by Metropolis Records. The album reveals a post-industrial sound which might appeal for lovers of Mentallo & The Fixer, early Revolting Cocks, but especially Yelworc for the dark and tormented atmosphere recovering the songs.

(Picture credits: Katrin Albert / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How did Statiqbloom saw the daylight and what were the initial music purposes?

Fade: I initially started Statiqbloom to write music for myself after the band I was in at the time called Batillus had dissolved. Then close friends encouraged me to share the music I was writing.

Q: Considering aspects such as influences, the composition process & production skills how would you analyze the evolution from the early work till “Asphyxia”?

Fade: I’m always trying to progress and evolve and try to create what I envision in my mind, a lot of it has to do with the feeling, the atmosphere I’m trying to capture. My intention is the evolution gets more focused and more provoking.

Q: “Asphyxia” has something retro-like, but still pretty contemporary with a very dark and sometimes tormented atmosphere on top! Tell us a bit more about this opus?

Fade: I’m proud of the lyrics on “Asphyxia”, and being able to capture a bit of claustrophobia with staying more minimal that previous releases. Every day is a struggle and a challenge when trying to create.

Q: The cover of “Asphyxia” has something pretty symbolic so what’s the link with the title and the global lyrical content?

Fade: Tthe Statiqbloom logo has an ouroboros around it, so the cover of Asphyxia has the serpent in motion it’s a visual play on the album title.

Q: I noticed you already released several official videos, which I think perfectly represent the dark and disturbing atmosphere of the Statiqbloom-sound. Tell us a bit more about these experiences?

Fade: The majority of the videos I worked with Katrin Albert and Gretchen Heinel. They are photographers & film makers. A lot of the video concepts we’re their interpretation of the music. There’re videos in the works for “Asphyxia”.

Q: For your newest album you’ve joined hands together with Metropolis Records. You also played several dates here in Europe including the famous WGT in Leipzig (Germany). What do you expect from a ‘bigger’ label and how did the European concerts happened, which have been for sure an opportunity to gain a wider recognition on the old continent?

Fade: Being on a bigger label helps with reaching more people and better distribution. WGT reaches out to us to play and we were excited to do so, and I reached out to Aufnahme + Weidergabe to do the Berlin show, and then were able to do more Euro dates with Spit Mask. Overall It was a great tour and the shows were amazing. A lot of people in Europe are familiar with the older content, but I’ll keep playing Europe & The States. I am grateful to have an audience and being able to watch this grow.

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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If you’re an ‘80s kid’ who listened to ‘dark’ music you for sure remember Anni Hogan! She started piano lessons and studied politics at the Leeds University. There she met Marc Almond and Dave Ball. We all know Anni Hogan as musician and pianist, but she got also active as record producer, composer and DJ. She worked a lot with Marc Almond, but also with other artists and bands. She went on tour with The Style Council, Nick Cave got featured as guest vocalist on one of her songs, she did an album together with Scanner etc. And this year Anni Hogan is back on track with the beautiful album “Lost In blue” released by Cold Spring Records. The work features eleven songs and sounds like a dark-jazzy-cabaret & chanson style. Anni Hogan invited numerous guest singers like Kid Congo Powers (ex-The Gun Club, ex-Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds…), Richard Strange (Doctors Of Madness), Wolfgang Flür (ex-Kraftwerk), Celine Hispiche, Lydia Lunch, Scarlet West, Gavin Friday (ex-Virgin Prunes) and John Fiddler. The works has something very intimate and has been produced by Dave Ball. Anni Hogan kindly accepted to answer a few questions.

(Picture credits: Peter Ashworth; interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: “Lost In Blue” appears to be a new sonic travel between you and some of your friends/mates featuring Dave Ball as producer. How did this album saw the daylight and tell us a bit more about the title, your ‘guests’ and the accomplishment of the songs?

Anni: The title went through a few conversions but “Lost In Blue” resonated with the album vibe, what I perceived as the ensuing darkness reflected in a cinematic jazz-cabaret infused compositional surround. I had a few songs written with Kid Congo, Richard Strange, Wolfgang Flur, Lydia Lunch, David Coulter and already had involved one of my favourite musicians & old friend, trumpet player Enrico Tomasso.  

Dave Ball and I met up a few times and talked through album choices including him suggesting the incredible Gavin Friday and John Peel’s Dandelion label signing, 70’s band Medicine Head’s John Fiddler who sang the title track on “Lost In Blue”.

I initially wrote the music for each track and sent everyone my versions to write their responses. Dave and his music partner Riccardo Mulhall finessed their musical attributes and together we 3 worked with the album main ‘band’ consisting of Enrico, saxophonist Al Nicholls, harpist Maria Christina Harper and recorder & zither from multi instrumentalist Joanna Neale.

Once we had arranged all the tracks and reached a kind of critical mass, then Dave and Riccardo focused their talents on the final intrinsic visionary production, in my opinion creating a beautifully crafted, sensitive and satisfying confluence of all the songs into the final album. 

Q: I’ve been touched by the intimate sphere recovering this work and the music influences moving from jazzy to cabaret to ‘chanson’. What kind of album did you want to accomplish and what has been the impact of Dave Ball?

Anni: I just wanted to make a great record of original songs and after meeting up with Dave in Soho this seemed like a genuine possibility. I have gone down on record many times as to my thoughts on Dave as a highly underrated but essential producer. I’ve known him since the Leeds early days and had total faith in his ability to create a holistic album ‘sound’ from all the musical elements involved. He has an immense knowledge of music history and despite his own history in electronic music, he has an innate knack for orchestral & jazz production techniques so we communicated very well and of course his musical partner Riccardo Mulhall is also amazing as sound engineer and co-producer. Plus we all got on great and we are all pretty funny so it was a really happy album setting based on love and friendship.

Q: You’ve done a lot with Marc Almond, who’s maybe the great absentee on “Lost In Blue”. Honestly I sometimes got the impression to hear him singing on a few songs. Are you still in touch with him and are there some other ‘guest’ artists you ever would like to work with?

Anni: The album is loaded with fabulous generous artists, everyone wrote their own stories in response to music I composed particularly for their voices and personas. I’ve not actually seen Marc for 30 years so I think we’d have needed a time machine (lol). “Lost In Blue” was my final work in that model so any future collaborations will be just that and not as ‘guests’.

Q: My favorite song from the album is without a shadow of a doubt “Ghosts Of Soho”. I feel a real passion emerging from the vocals while the lyrics make me think to Jacques Brel when he sings about Brussels… and I know Brel means a lot to you. Tell us a bit more about the song and Brel?

Anni: It is Celine Hispiche who delivers a ‘scream of consciousness’ vocal despairing the gentrification of Soho which Dave Ball & Riccardo Mulhall then edited down and half paced to allow the song to breathe more and allow the key musical elements piano, saxophone and trumpet to create a smokey jazz band dive-bar atmosphere. It could be that my previous piano/orchestral arrangements of Brel songs impacted my playing on this and possibly other songs on the album, but it was not a conscious thing, it’s part of  my  musical fabric shall we say.

I was told by Dave that theatrical writer and actress Celine could also be a little like Ian Dury in her performance technique so I wrote a sort of alternative cabaret style piano driven piece for her.  

Q: In 2016 you released an album together with Robin Rimbaud (Scanner). I didn’t exactly expect you working together with Scanner and “Scanni” is maybe one of your most surprising works to date. What did you keep in mind from that particular experience?

Anni: I found Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud an interesting artist,  he actually had my original “Kickabye”-12″. We met up a few times and became friends and as in all my projects, it just grew organically from sending a few files between us. I just wanted to try mixing my piano with Robin’s modular style production and I already had a few pieces that were ready for a new approach. It was a very easy experience musically between us, but I don’t think there was an audience for it particularly. Cherry Red did very little to promote it and so it remains a mixed feeling experience. 

I wish we had explored more instrumentally as our instrumental piece “Once Upon” is one of my delights on “Scanni”.

The Jarboe songs were my favourites, I adore her as an artist, she’s a long time friend since the 80’s and hopefully we will work together again. There are a few people I would like to work with, but I’m currently just enjoying spending some alone time with my beloved baby grand piano.

Q: You’re in the music ‘business’ since the early 80s and I think we might affirm ‘you’ve seen it all’. What do you consider as the greatest evolutions/changes all over the years and how do you see things evolving towards the coming years? 

Anni: Only technological advances have impacted any real change. In my opinion everything else has all been done before and I don’t hear anything new to be honest, myself included. People keep telling me ‘music is dead’ but I prefer to keep an open mind and await the next great evolution, but unless they invent a genuinely ‘new’ instrument… unlikely let’s face it,  then it’s going to be more technological changes that make any real difference. I’m waiting for the tech’ to enable me to just ‘think it’ and it’s done regarding the computer side to my work so I don’t need to physically use computer software with my hands, just to use my brain would be great, save my hands for the beautiful real instruments!

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

John Fryer’s project Black Needle Noise has a new song/video up for “That Which Watches”. The song features the vocals of Antic Clay which pairs up perfectly with the eerie, wild west themed video. “That Which Watches” follows his most recent video “La diosa y el hombre”, which featured Mexican vocalist Azzul Monra.

The song is part of the ongoing (splendid!) series of songs that Black Needle Noise is releasing consistently and regularly via Bandcamp.

John Fryer: “Like the 2016 single ‘Queen of Dust,’ I wanted ‘That Which Watches’ to have a kinda Alt-Country / Noir Americana feel to it so who best to get to sing it and add a bit of slide guitar, none other than Antic Clay. I originally got to hear about Antic Clay from (Swans vocalist) Jarboe who loves his voice and recommended I check him out. I liked what I heard and thought he could take the songs in the direction I was looking for and the rest is history.”

Here’s the track.

And here’s the video:

And this was the previous track, “La diosa y el hombre”, equally a pearl.

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: Experimental, industrial, ambient.

Background/Info: Behind Rasalasad is hiding Thisco label owner Fernando Cerqueira, a Portuguese artist who been into music for a long time. Next to his work under Rasalasad he also got involved in other music projects like Walt Thisney, Croniamental and Ras.Al.Ghul. “Thismorphia” is the third full length album by Rasalasad and the first one in 13 years.

Content: This work mixes dark-ambient influences characterized by dark, humming sound waves, industrial noises and minimal electronic treatments. The work is pretty experimental, but also diversified because of the great sonic arsenal that has been used.

But it also is an interesting work because of the involvement of multiple guests. Artists like Jarboe, Von Magnet and Merzbow contributed to this work by some spoken words or noise sources. You’ll discover other involved artists as well plus a remix by Shhh…

+ + + : Diversity definitely is the key and main element of this work. It rapidly becomes clear that Rasalasad likes to experiment with different sources of inspiration, but he also likes to work with guests. “Thismorphia” became an open-minded work, like a fusion between different genres and the symbiosis between rough sound treatments and artistic arrangements. I like the industrial element running through the work and whispering vocals emerging on different cuts. It creates a somewhat ghost-like effect, which accentuates the mystery of the ambient side.

– – – : “Thismorphia” is an album, which despite of its diversity, needs several listening before you really can get into it. The experimental side is not the most accessible one.

Conclusion: If you don’t know this band yet, or you simply have forgotten what the sound is all about, “Thismorphia” is an interesting although complex experimental work to get more familiar with the sound.

Best songs: “Night Walk”, “Deriva”, “This”, “Astellar”.

Rate: (7).

Band: http://rasalasad.tumblr.com

Label: www.thisco.net / www.facebook.com/thiscorecords

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 “Heaven” a brand new track for the John Fryer powered Black Needle Noise project, this time with Jennie Vee on vocals.

The track is a slow darkpop track with excellent lush guitarwork by John Fryer. It has 4AD written allover it, but with a much cleaner sound. This is outstanding work from the now Oslo based musician/producer. Add to this excellent vocals by Jennie Vee and you know this is a must-have!

Not yet convinced? Check the download below, available via Bandcamp.

In the past Fryer has worked with several more guestsingers for this project, which all got released as seperate single. “She Stands On A Storm” featured Andrea Kerr, “Warning Sign” had Kendra Frost, “Treasured Lies” was with ZiaLand, “Naughty Girl” with Spectra Paris, “Dead Star” with Betsy, “Behind The 4th Door” with Elena Alice Fossi, “Messages By Dreams” with Attasalina, “Human” with Jarboe, “Queen Of Dust” with Antic Clay, “Mourning Morning” with Andreas Elvenes, “3 Steps Backwards” with Ledfoot, “Vexation” again with Jarboe, “Wild Stone” also with ZiaLand and finally “Bang Bang” featured Dr Strangefryer on vocals. All tracks are available right here on Bandcamp as pay-what-you-want downloads.

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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