Absolution Fest announces it’s return. The festival takes place in Tampa (Ybor City), FL on October7th-9th and they have just announced the line-up.

The Absolution Fest features artists from the Post-Punk, Industrial, Darkwave, and Synthpop scenes. Headlining the festival this year will be the synthpop electro act Mr.Kitty, post-punkers Actors, and electropop duo Korine.

Absolution Fest also features the industrial/pop artist Kanga, and the industrial artist Curse Mackey. Additional artists playing include Rosegarden Funeral Party, Bellwether Syndicate, Astari Nite, The Kentucky Vampires, Kiss of the Whip, Hallows, Death Loves Veronica, SINE, Cold Medicine and Gulf Blvd.

Full day festival passes and single day tickets are available now 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.

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Genre/Influences: Electro-Wave, Electro-Pop, Gothic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info:  Swedish formation Agent Side Grinder last year struck back with their fifth album entitled “A/X” and featuring their new singer Emanuel Åström. In my opinion this album belongs to the best releases from 2019. While the band is actually working on a new full length, the album has been exposed to the remixing skills of other artists while there’s also one new song featured.  

Content: The 9 original songs from “A/X” have been remixed. The tracklist is a bit different while we also get 4 extra songs featuring the previously unreleased “The Archives”. Let’s start with this new song, which has something pretty Bowie-like and yet it also sounds in the eclectic style of Agent Side Grinder.

Remixes have been done by a much diversified selection of artists: Ash Code, Antipole feat. Paris Alexander, Adsol, Tobias Bernstrup, Delphine Coma, Siri Karlsson, Luminance, Hidden Operator and Buzz Kull. The remixes are pretty diversified, moving from pure Electro-Dance to melancholic to pure minimalism to Electro-Wave.

After the 9 remixes you get a little bonus taking off with the previously mentioned new song “The Archives” plus extra remixes from 2 album songs by She Pleasures Herself and Kiss Of The Whip. There also is the song “Döden På Lätt Svenska”, which is one I honestly don’t know and has been reworked by Diskoteket.

+ + + : Agent Side Grinder already is a band with an open-minded spectrum of influences and this remix-album only increases the diversity. According to me there’s one absolute highlight, which is the pretty danceable and  intelligent remix of “Allisin Sane (No.2)” by Adsol. Other noticeable remixes are the powerful “Inner Noises” remixed by Ash Code and the ultra Minimal-sounding “MM / CM” remixed by Hidden Operator. I’ll also mention the unavoidable “Doppelgänger” remixed by Luminance. The new song “The Archives” is a nice little bonus.

– – – : I can’t say that the remixes are adding a real bonus to the original edit of “A/X” by the exception of Adsol –a Greek EBM driven project I discovered by the EP “Endzeit”.

Conclusion: This kind of album will maybe please some fans to complete the growing Agent Side Discography while DJ’s will find some alternative edits to play.

Best songs: “Allisin Sane (No.2) – Adsol Remix”, “MM / CM – Hidden Operator’s Voodoo Dub Mix”, “Inner Noises – Ash Code Remix”, “The Archives”, “Decompression – Delphine Coma Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.agentsidegrinder.com / www.facebook.com/agentsidegrinder

Label: www.progress-productions.com / www.facebook.com/progresspro

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 via Progress Productions by mid-October is the Agent Side Grinder remix album “REMA/X”. The album holds remixes of the 2019 album “A/X”. For this remix album the Swedish act could chose from clubdriven remixes to Swedish electro-folk.

The album also holds a new track, “The Archives”, which was originally written during the “A/X” sessions. As for a complete new album, the band are working/writing brand new material.

Check out the new video for “MM/CM”.

Track-list:

1. Inner Noises – Ash Code Remix
2. In From The Cold – Antipole ft. Paris Alexander Remix
3. Allisin Sane (No.2) – Adsol Remix
4. Stripdown – Tobias Bernstrup Remix
5. Decompression – Delphine Coma Remix
6. Wounded Star – Siri Karlsson Remix
7. Doppelgänger – Luminance Remix
8. MM/CM – Hidden Operator´s Voodoo Dub Mix
9. The Great Collapse – Buzz Kull Remix
10. The Archives – Agent Side Grinder (A/X Outtake)
11. Döden På Lätt Svenska – Diskoteket (Wounded Star Alt. Version)
12. Stripdown – She Pleasures Herself Remix
13. Doppelgänger – Kiss Of The Whip Remix

Agent Side Grinder is an electronic band from Bromma, Stockholm, which was formed in 2005. The band has made four albums and toured extensively throughout Europe. After Kristoffer Grip, Henrik Sunbring and Thobias Eidevald decided to leave the band in 2017, Johan Lange and Peter Fristedt together with new singer Emanuel Åström returned in 2019 with their comeback album “A/X”.

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: Dark-wave, cold-wave, minimal-electro, post-punk.

Format: 2CD.

Background/Info: In a rather short lapse of time Cold Transmission Music has released an impressive number of qualitative bands and productions. The German label based near Frankfurt am Main released this label compilation as a double album featuring a total of twenty seven bands. The label is devoted to post-punk, cold-wave, shoegaze, new-wave and dark-wave.

Artists: SYZYGYX, ELZ And The Cult, Kiss Of The Whip, Hallows, Bedless Bones, La Mécanique, Dilk, Iamnoone, Icy Men, White Mansion, Iamtheshadow, Clone Culture, Control Room, The Gathering, Palais Ideal, Mark E Moon, Mary, The Bluebeard’s Castle, The Secret French Postcards, Vastron Vulture, Silent Runners, Pusu Button Press, Carlo Onda, Rosi, Monographic, Paradise Cove, Reconverb.

Content: “Spotlight” covers a rather diversified-, but related number of music styles. The main source of inspiration brings us the dark hours of the 80s music. This is an opportunity to discover young and upcoming talents in the genre while some other artists are composing a more contemporary- and personal sound, but still connected with new-wave music.

The album has a lot to offer and will therefore appeal to a wider audience; from minimal-electronics to pure post-punk and dark/cold-wave, “Spotlight” will for sure ravish all 80s lovers.

+ + + : A label compilation always is a kind of sonic window to discover the real potential and scope of a record company. I already discovered some talented artists on the German label (SYZYGYX, Mark E Moon, Bedless Bones ao), but this compilation also is an opportunity to discover some bands you maybe didn’t get the chance to hear before. The album’s diversity also is one of the main strengths. I especially want to mention the great opening, minimal-electro/wave cut by SYZYGYX and the more EBM-wave work of Bedless Bones –both confirming their potential. From the first disc I also recommend the powerful song by Elz And The Cult and the guitar-wave by Dilk. At the second disc I discovered great songs by Mark E Moon (also confirming to be one of the newest dark-wave sensations), the speed of Mary, the melancholia exposed by Push button Press and the brilliant cold-wave from Paradise Cove. Notice by the way that several songs are previously unreleased.

– – – : I don’t have any real minus points about this compilation, which perfectly illustrates the welfare of talented bands of this label.

Conclusion: I can only, but highly recommend buying this compilation, which will not disappoint you giving you the chance to discover a very international label roster!

Best bands: Paradise Cove, SYZYGYX, Mark E Moon, Bedless Bones, Mary, Dilk.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.coldtransmission.com / www.facebook.com/coldtransmissionmusic

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: Cold-wave, gothic.

Background/Info: Sven Rosenkötter and Mirco Rappsilber set up Rosi in 2014. A first album “Grey City Life” was self-released on vinyl back in 2016 and followed by another self-released full length “Hope” in 2018. In the meantime they signed a deal with Cold Transmission Music, which now has re-released the debut album as CD format featuring extra songs and remixes.

Content: This German formation perfectly matches with the sound of the Cold Transmission roster. Some of the tracks remind me a bit of Bauhaus. The tracks are driven by slow rhythms and supported by a spooky production with dominant atmospheres. The songs have been written by guitar and accomplished by electronic treatments. The songs have been sung in English, but you’ll also find a track sing in German.

Next to the 11 original songs from the album the CD brings you 6 bonus cuts featuring 4 remixes and 2 previously unreleased tracks.

+ + + : The power is hiding in the overwhelming dark, atmospheric part of the work. “Grey City Life” is more an album to listen to instead of a danceable production. It’s dark, depressed and even disturbing. These feelings are perfectly accentuated in one of the choruses ‘everybody has to die’ (taken from “Jeder”). Among the remixes I heard a great job done by Kiss Of The Whip and Run. The remix by Run has something old-school like and reminds me a bit of Fad Gadget. I also have to mention the previously unreleased song “Körper” feat. Joana, which is different from the rest of the album, but a real beautiful cut.

– – – : Rosi clearly has a personal approach, which is not always the most accessible one. It’s original, but not the stereotypical production in the genre… although I think that’s a rather positive aspect.

Conclusion: “Grey City Life” is an album you need to hear a few times before really getting into it, but there’s a personal sound identity making this band different from the rest.

Best songs: “Jeder”, “Schlaf feat. Joana & Tkalec”, “Körper feat. Joanna”, “Film”, “Verloren – Kiss Of The Whip Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/rosi.info

Label: www.facebook.com/coldtransmissionmusic

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