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

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

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

You can already check out a few tracks here.

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

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

“Resurgence” Tracklist

Cd 1

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

Cd 2

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

Cd 3

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

Cd 4

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

Cd 5

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

Cd 6

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

Cd 7

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

“Black And Blue” is the fourth instalment between Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) and Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer, Lederman / De Meyer ao). “Black” brings a more danceable side of Electro/Industrial-Pop with the sensual vocals of Emileigh on top. There are also minimal passages and bombastic arrangements that you can hear in this original and atypical Electro-Pop style. “Blue” completely breaks with the danceable character of “Black” and brings an atmospheric, refined, and Cinematic approach with still sexy vocals. I personally prefer “Black” instead of “Blue”. (Rate: 7½).

Listen to “Faces Pretend”:

About Rohn – Lederman

Rohn-Lederman began in 2019, when Jean-Marc Lederman invited Emileigh Rohn of Chiasm to contribute vocals to his album “Letters To Gods And Fallen Angels.” The collaboration, encouraged further by the COVID-19 lockdowns, grew into the Belgian-American duo’s own project, releasing albums on Lederman’s own label, Les Disques De La Pantoufle, with “Black And Blue” continuing that partnership.

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

(Photos from the personal archives of Jean-Marc Lederman) This article draws from various updates posted by Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Kid Montana, Jules et Jim, Ghost & Writer, Lederman / De Meyer, Rohn-Lederman…) on his Facebook profile, which we’ve consolidated into a comprehensive piece. This compilation offers a profound understanding of the workings of the indie music industry during its ‘golden era’. Additionally, it provides specific insights into Mute Records, the label of Daniel Miller, as numerous individuals, including Fad Gadget, mentioned in this article have significant associations with the iconic UK label.

Digital Dance (1978-1979) / Daniel Miller

The year was 1979 and I had just quit, well I was sacked tbh, from Digital Dance , the first band I was in.

We were doing post punk/cold wave/new wave stuff and it was really exciting. I started doing bass with them on a..ARP 2600 whci I had bought working on building sites, yeah, far too much of an overkill I agree. We were rehearsing here and there but did a time at the famous Plan K where we supported Joy Division. Actually, that day I went to pick up Ian and Bernard Summers at the very seedy hotel they were in and I drove them to the gig.

They were laughing like kids, you know, young musicians being happy to play abroad. It was such a cold day, everyone was freezing and Ian even came close to Stefan Barbery (Digital Dance guitar player) who was close to an electric heater to tell him “Well, I guess this is why they call it Cold Wave…”

We also opened to Magazine and Fisher-Z and it was becoming too much of a routine for me: the Brussels band that does all the new wave support slots but hasn’t even got a decent recording contract…

Oh, we had one, and they made us record our very fast cover version of Kraftwerk’s “RadioActivity”. At the end of the session, they made me do some terrible sound effects, hoping to catch on the fad of the moment, and it just ruined the whole song. Tells you that if a thing sounds bad and contrived and cheesy on monday, still sounds the same the day after and 40 years later. Sorry Stefan, my fault.

Then Phil Wauquaire (whom I had met from Streets, the punk band he was in and I actually played with them live on a couple of songs with a…AKS, another overkill) joined us and I played synth with a Korg MS20 then with a Yamaha CS50M who weighted like half an olifant after a drinking binge.

Anyway, after a couple of gigs with Digital Dance at the Gibus in Paris, i was let go (which was fine, really). Two days later, I call Daniel Miller whom I had met in London a few months ago. Digital Dance had been foolish and crazy enough to believe that if you go to London you can pretty much be sure you’ll find a gig. All we did was rehearsing (below Beggar’s Banquet where I met Peter Kent from the future 4AD label) and waiting in our hotel off Kings Road. Anyway, we were trying to get Geoff Travis from Rough Trade to listen to our demo and he stopped it 20 seconds in and tell us: if you go to “Better Badges” now, you’ll see a man called Daniel Miller (from label MUTE RECORDS) and maybe he’ll like your stuff….

So, off we went to Better Badges and there we met Daniel, with a green basket full of The Normal badges.

Daniel and I hit directly like if it was an “International Conference Of Synths Fanatics”. I mean: synths weren’t as known or popular then as they were then. It was still a relatively rare sight on stage or in gigs or in bands that weren’t poppy or progrock. No, we’re talking new industrial scene in the UK: noisy and determined, not minimoogs played by long haired musos…

So, Daniel and I exchanged phone numbers and we traded letters and phone calls here and there. So, remember, I’m sacked from Digital Dance and I then realize that if I wanted to really go anywhere in music, Brussels isn’t the place to be and I must move to where things are happening. At that time, London was THE center of music in Europe and I decide that I want to try my luck and the two major chords I know there. I pick up the phone and call Daniel, asking him if he knew any musician that would be interested in moi ?

Yeah, I know someone, he’s on my label now, he’s looking for musicians, call him… His name is Frank Tovey….

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget #1 (part 1)

The audition was simple: we didn’t even play a note or try to do a song, we just sat and drank coffee and laughed a lot. But there was no try-out, no keyboard or synths tickering… And that’s how Philippe Wauquaire and I became members of Fad Gadget #1 for a few months in 1980: a simple coffee cup meeting and an unmistakable good chemical feeling between us. Frank had played a few gigs on his own but wanted musicians around him so he could concentrate a bit more on being a little bit less concentrated if you know what I mean.

There was Frank: clever, astute, open, funny, with a lot of wit doubled with a good dose of sarcasm: totally my alley. But he knew what he wanted musically, there was no doubt about what he wanted to sound like. The plan was: rehearse at my place in Brussels, a first gig here, then play a few gigs as support for Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft in Germany and going to tour the UK as support for The Monochrome Set.

So, we start rehearsing in my attic: Frank on vocals, Pearl Syncussion and distorted electric piano, Phil on Fender bass and Korg MS 20 and myself on handling the cassette player (each song had its drums/rhythmic parts on a single cassette and I would feed the machine with a new cassette every song) and my 4 notes polyphonic, Yamaha CS 50M. Again, an overkill.

After a few hours of rehearsals, we have our first gig: support-act for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. We are all extremely nervous but the gig goes well: Frank doesn’t go into the mad behaviours he’s known for yet but you can see he’s holding up something big inside, something is boiling there. After the gig, we proceed to the German border and sleep in a motel there. In the morning, I’m being handed an envelope with my per diem (every day allowance a musician gets when on tour): it is the first time someone hands me money for doing something I love doing: playing music. I couldn’t believe it and I took a second piece of bacon and refilled my coffee cup. We are about to go to Dusseldorf to play The Ratinger Off as support for Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft.

Something started to happen at the Ratinger Hof: maybe it was the roughness of the place, the German lager (naaaaah) or the history of the place but this thing Frank had inside him but it slightly came out at that gig. See, there was an animal inside Frank, and that animal was as extrovert as Frank was introvert: Frank was then frontal and loud and, yes, obnoxious but in a gentle and friendly way but he wasn’t the shy Frank. In response to Frank’s changing live attitudes, Phil and I started to play loser and noisier and wilder (and there were far more bump notes on my part) but the band started to make sense.

The crowd wasn’t there for us, they were there for what would later become DAF, but the reaction was good and people liked us. I recall Frank and I going out in front of the place and that guy comes out dressed as a mod, full parka mode with a patch “Remember Brighton” which made Frank laughed a lot, people were out there with their beer and… Omg what am I saying: IT JUST FELT GREAT.

Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft at the time was a five piece band and they were fun and chaotic. You couldn’t miss Chris Haas, the synth guy, who was classy and special. He had a very specific body language when playing live: he would stand back, have a smile and just come here and there to play a few notes…He is the real grandfather of EBM as he introduced the famous 1/16th bass line (Korg MS 20 and SQ 10 sequencer) that will be the bone of so many records later on.

The morning after, we went out to the next gig. Daniel, Phil, Chris and myself embarked in my mum’s yellow Civic and we went down the motorway, singing loudly “Fahn Fahn Fahn Auf Der Autobahn” laughing and laughing… I guess Chris must have done that thousand of times before but, for Daniel, Phil and I it meant something different: we were doing it. We were travelling in Kraftwerk’s motherland and going to play electronic music there: it was immense.

We only played one more gig in Germany and then the whole tour was somehow cancelled… Roland Beelen: I saw the animal in Frank I guess a few months later at the Paasfestival in Koninfshooikt (organized by my friend Guy Vanwoensel) I was a stagehand there. Frank smashed a crucifix that was hanging above stage in the hall (parochiezaal)with his magic stick. The whole village was in shock when the news spread the next morning. The vicar organized a special service the next day to please the smashed fallen Christ ! they say he resurrected a few weeks later! All end, good end !

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget 1980 (part 2)

Something had clicked in Frank after a few gigs: it’s like he had been showed by practice that it could work, that the songs were good, the voice was good but even more than that his FG personnae and ideas had an impact on the crowd. He would go out, do his thing, see people respond to his songs, lyrics and theatrics and then he would retrieve after the gig in the gentle and shy Frank Tovey. Phil and I were providing a background that wasn’t perfect but for Frank it was a great practice for FG future.

When we toured as support for The Monochrome Set, we were sometimes in fire and I could really feel people’s amazement at that born-to-be showman. He would play with the crowd and slowly take them into the show. Our sound might not have been very sophisticated but with Frank’s distorted piano, the CS50 brutal in and out sounds, Phil’s impeccable swirling bass, we were like The Stooges with synths and Frank was a perfect bionic Iggy Pop….I began to be very proud of us, we were quite something indeed and I was going on stage with a mission: to show people the songs and to let them fall in Frank’s performance.

I also remember that after the last show of the tour, possibly at the YMCA gig, one of the roadie came at the CS 50 and started to play some Bach’s prelude. I was stunned and shameful of the snobiness i may have shown the roadies on that tour, or before tbh. I learned a lesson that night and never again would I be feeling above anyone on a stage, or in studio, be them multiple charts success artists or simple roadie.

Something wild happened after our gig at the 100 club. Jock Mac Donalds (from the future Bollock Brothers) was very drunk and he started to look for a fight with us and being extremely aggressive, a bottle in his hand, waving it at us. Phil, FG’s bass player, was a karate black belt and he was looking very calm, coming closer to Jock inch by inch. Suddenly he jumped at Jock, put two fingers on his Adam’s apple and said with a slow voice: “OK, let’s kill”, his eyes deep into Mac Donald’s eyes.

The bottle instantly fell on the ground and the guy just ran out the club swearing loud and clear… Phil and I were sleeping at Daniel’s mom place for a few days and we were making music late at night. One of these nights, Daniel was on Phil’s MS 20, I was trying Daniel’s infamous Korg 700S (the one that was on TVOD and Warm Leatherette) and Phil was on the CS 50M but it was visibly too loud and too late as Daniel’s mum came down and asked us to PLEASE STOP !

Next gig to come was going to be the Clarendon, but we were told this would be our last gig with Frank as he wanted a full band behind him to totally free him from any other duties but vocals. I was devastated…

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget #1 (part 3)

So, we were invited to headline Stevo’s kinda festival at the Clarendon, on June 27 1980. Stevo was a very colourful character who will make himself known later when managing bands like Soft Cell and The The. The bill was very symptomatic of the time: DAF, Naked Lunch, B.Movie, Vice Versa, Clock DVA,…

So, Fad Gadget #1 had started touring as a relative unknown a few months ago and we were by now talk of the town and headline this festival. It felt good and it felt also important and I was nervous. Everybody was. Frank had a song by Georges Folmby playing before we would go on. Folmby was a Lancarshire working class comedian and he was famous for playing double entendre ukulélé songs. It was a known and safe thing for British people and Frank used it as contrast as chaos would start when we would cut Folmby and go straight into “State Of The Nation” and follow that with most of what is on the album Fireside Favourites.

• State Of The Nation
• Back To Nature
• The Box
• Fireside Favourite
• Newsreel
• Pedestrian
• Coitus Interruptus
• Ricky’s Hand
• Back To Nature

Yes, Frank wanted shock and chaos, and he got that except that at the Clarendon it went a bit further than expected. During one of the early songs, Fad had already taken over Frank, he smashed up his face with one of the two Syncussion drums and it started pouring blood. Phil and I looked at him and he made us understand it was fine and let’s continue…So we continued until someone took Frank off stage as it was just like a fountain of blood by now. The gig was stopped.

We went backstage and Frank was adamant he was fine but Babra (his wife) disinfected the wound and placed a cloth on it. We went back on stage.

The crowd went MAD. Frank was standing there, his white clothes with red blood all over it, singing to the public that was all won. It was an incredible sight, and being on stage, playing the songs with a singer that went beyond the call of duty was something unexplainable. After the gig, we had to take the 5 am ferry. I was sitting on the stairs of the Clarendon and, yes, I was crying, letting all the tension, the fears of the gig off my system but also the sadness I felt after having lived some incredible times with
Frank, as synth player in Fad Gadget. I saw Frank playing with Fad Gadget #2 a few months later and he invited me to play in the encore: we were cool.

Still, I wasn’t done with London and would come back later…

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘Sci-Fi Revisited’.

About Fad Gadget

Frank Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), an English electronic musician and performance artist, recorded as Fad Gadget, becoming the first artist signed to Daniel Miller’s Mute Records after the two met at the Rough Trade shop in London. His recorded work combined synthesizers with found-object sounds and dark, comic lyrics. Studio albums as Fad Gadget include “Fireside Favourites” (1980), “Incontinent” (1981), “Under the Flag” (1982) and “Gag” (1984), after which he continued recording under his own name, releasing six further albums on Mute between 1985 and 1992. He died of a heart attack at his London home in 2002.

Belgian musician Jean-Marc Lederman played with Fad Gadget in the band’s touring lineup during the early-to-mid 1980s and has recounted memories of touring with Tovey, Daniel Miller and DAF’s Chrislo Haas in interviews, describing Tovey as bringing something unheard in electronic music at the time. Lederman has credited Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget’s early-1980s touring band, including Chrislo Haas of DAF, as formative to his own career.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Out via COP International on March 5 is the Chiasm & John Fryer debut album “Missed The Noise” for which a new single has been released: “Intertwined”. The full-length – available here for pre-ordering – will include 11 tracks including the previously released singles “Away” and “Are You Okay?”.

“Missed The Noise” comes on the heels of a busy 2020 for Chiasm, which saw her release the “Away” EP in June and the “Are You Okay?” single and remix EP in August, which also featured John Fryer and contributions from label mates Stabbing Westward and Jean-Marc Lederman (Front 242, The Weathermen, Lederman / De Meyer) as well as Third Realm and Glass Apple Bonzai.

But for now check the new single “Intertwined”.

For more on John Fryer, see COP International Records announces signing of Stoneburner (aka… on Side-Line.

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

It has been a hectic year, also for Alfa Matrix, but luckily their bands took the time to work in their studio to record new material. Out now via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page is the label’s 10th edition in the “Matrix Downloaded” compilation series, again offering you a – free – insight in what the Belgian label is all about. You can discover 64 tracks right here on Bandcamp.

The download holds tracks from Cubic, Psy’Aviah, Aesthetische, Digital Factor, Reichsfeind, Llumen, Zombie Girl, Diffuzion, Matthew Creed, Circuito Cerrado, Circumpolar, Venal Flesh, Mentallo & The Fixer, Freakangel, Alien Vampires, I:Scintilla, Schwarzblut, Totem Obscura, Reactor7X, First Aid 4 Souls, Lederman / De Meyer, Implant, AD:keY, Kant Kino, Die Robo Sapiens, ELM, Pouppee Fabrikk, Armageddon Dildos, Plastic Noise Experience, Synapsyche, Avarice In Audio, Elektrostaub, Junksista, First Aid 4 Souls, Benestrophe, Mental Exile, Star Industry, Halo In Reverse, Lovelorn Dolls, Helalyn Flowers, Essence Of Mind, Rector Scanner, Elektroklänge, Metroland, Lights A.M, Cosmic Armchair, Aiboforcen, H.O.W., 808 DOT POP, Suicidal Romance, Entrzelle, Technoir, Neuroactive, Mondträume, The Psychic Force, Studio-X, Studio-X Vs Simon Carter, Neikka RPM, Komor Kommando, Siva Six, Aengeldust, Acylum, Dunkelwerk and Növö.

Exclusive face masks

Next to that you can also get the download together with a face mask, out in a very limited series. You can either buy them separately or get all 3 in one. Check the set of 3 Face Masks (Blue Matrix + Endzeit + Red EBM Alert) or the separate masks.

Note that EVERY face mask order comes with a free compilation CD on top: “Sounds from the matrix 022” with 20 extra tracks.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Cinematographic, experimental.

Background/Info: Belgian electro-veteran Jean-Marc Lederman has no limits when it comes to releasing new music. Mainly known for his early involvement with The Weathermen and during the past few years for being part of Ghost & Writer and Lederman/De Meyer, this new release is again something special. “Ode A La Pluie” (translated “Ode To The Rain”) originally is an exhibition created by Jean-Marc’s wife Erica Hinyot. The conceptual theme was about rain featuring texts, drawings and paintings. Lederman got the idea to compose music around the theme resulting in five pieces. This work is part of the label’s series “Belgian NeuMusik”.

Content: The tracks are simply numbered from one to five. Sound-wise this is a pure cinematographic composition, which is not the first experience in the genre for the artist. The ambient aspect comes directly through creating an impression of solitude, but still reminding me of passages of the legendary movie “Le Grand Bleu”. It’s an abyssal sensation composed by electronics, but where you often get the sensation real instruments (like a harp or a piano) have been used.

+ + + : The more time passes by,  the more Jean-Marc Lederman creates real intimate compositions. I already had this sensation on his brilliant “13 Ghost Stories”-album, but this work is even more intimate. It has strong visual passages, which you also have to discover by using headphones. The work is a marvelous and truly artistic symbiosis between different artistic formats while it also symbolizes the eclecticism of the musician. It’s definitely not the most accessible kind of music, but it’s a new genius exposure from this workaholic. I also have to say a word about the great and artistic box format of this release. 

– – – : The tracks are rather long during so there’re a few –and unavoidable, monotonous passages, but you don’t hear me complaining.

Conclusion: Jean-Marc Lederman never stops to take me by surprise and this conceptual work again is a totally accomplished and arty exposure of his talent.

Best songs: “Ode A La Pluie 2”,  “Ode A La Pluie 1”.  

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.jmlederman.com / www.facebook.com/jeanmarc.kollector / www.facebook.com/Music–composer–Jean–Marc–Lederman-1585277635023000

Label: www.wool–e–discs.be / www.facebook.com/woolediscs

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: Electronic, cinematographic, down-tempo.

Background/Info: If I say Jean-Marc Lederman you quite spontaneously will think about bands such as The Weathermen, Polyphonic Size, Fad Gadget, Ghost & Writer and more recently Lederman / De Meyer. And there were much more bands and projects this Belgian electro pioneer has been involved with. One of his latest projects took me by surprise, revealing a more ambient and experimental sound he released under his own name on Wool-E-Discs. I expected this new work in the continuation of this experimental exploration, but it already became something different. The artist started from the question what would you do if you came back to earth one day as ghost.

Content: This surreal project/question has been answered by guest singers and a real impressive list of great artists contributed to the work. In order of appearance you’ll recognize Christer Hermodsson (Biomekkanik, SPOCK..), Louise Fraser, Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Juliette Bosse (Arther, Rive), Jenna Fearon, Agi Taralas, Elena Alice Fossi (Kirlian Camera, Spectra*Paris), The Acapella Robotic Association, Yvette Winkler, Mark Hockings (Mesh), Natasha A Twentyone (Ambassador 21, Suicide Inside), Alice Gift (Liste Noire, Velvet Condom) and Christa Jérôme.

Jean-Marc Lederman has accomplished a surprising work, which are miles away from what we’re used to hearing from him. There’s a mix between down-tempo and sometimes trip-pop driven influences, but also a cinematographic approach with refined arrangements and other evasive sound atmospheres. There’s a heavenly fusion between at one side the composer who gives us the impression to have written each song for one specific singer and at the other side the vocalists who’re really into the project of the ‘ghost stories’.   

+ + + : Concepts are a quite familiar thing in music. At first sight this one is not that different from the others and yet, when you carefully pay attention you’ll notice the symbiosis between the musician and his singers. It has something fragile and poignant, refined and subtle, dreamy and sometimes funny. Jean-Marc Lederman also appears to be a real chameleon. It’s unbelievable to see him in less than two years moving back to the roots of EBM with Lederman / De Meyer, experimenting with sounds and noises on both Wool-E-Discs productions and now unleashing this “13 Ghost Stories”. I also have to say a word about some great vocals’ performances like the charismatic appearance of Christer Hermodsson, the angelic voice of Louise Fraser, the fragility shown by Juliette Bosse, the bewitching performance by Christa Jérôme and of course the excellence emerging from Mark Hockings.

Notice by the way the album is also available as double disc featuring extra singers Rascal (Rotersand), Julianne Regan (All about Eve), Darrin Huss (Psyche), Rexx Arkana, JP Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Louise Love (Parralox) and Nicola Testa.

– – – : This is of course more of an album for listening instead of dancing!

Conclusion: What I like in the work and career of Jean-Marc Lederman is that he never avoids any new –and sometimes crazy, challenge. If there’s one artist who never repeats himself, it for sure is Jean-Marc Lederman! On “13 Ghost Stories he has maybe accomplished one of his greatest productions in history!

Best songs: “Watch Them Dance”, “Nuages A L’Envers”, “The Dead Still Scream”, “Maybe”, “Ball And Chain”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: http://www.jmlederman.com /

www.facebook.com/jeanmarc.kollector

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘13 Ghost Stories’.

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

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Atoms In Fury’.

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

Lederman / De Meyer maybe doesn’t sound as the most ‘sexy’ band name, but when you realize this ‘new’ group features two pioneers from the EBM movement, you only, but can curious what those Belgian artists have achieved. The album “Eleven Grinding Songs” (released on Alfa Matrix) gives us the answer: a somewhat self-willed electronic sound mixing traditional EBM elements together with experimental- and more dark-pop orientated influences. It first of all is an open-minded and creative electronic work, on which both artists seem to have got a lot of fun.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You guys have been involved with numerous bands/projects so how did you get the idea to join hands and what did you try to exorcize you maybe never haven’t done before?

Jean-Marc: It actually started with an English label wanting to do a Fad Gadget covers album. They contacted me and I thought I should try this. I thought about a singer and it seemed to me Jean-Luc De Meyer would be great at that. We tried, had fun, went along and did more tracks…

Q: How was it working together and did you establish some guidelines lines regarding sounds, influences etc before you started the composition?

Jean-Marc: Guidelines? None that were really conscious except having fun and keeping it an easy going thing.

Jean-Luc: But I suppose that we also kept in mind a certain sense of a global balance all in all.

Q: I got the (subjective) feeling “Eleven Grinding Songs” is an album where you try to make understand young musicians they’ve to become more creative with their gear and instruments instead of copying each other. But what is it really all about and what’s your perception about the ‘new’ generation of electro artists?

Jean-Marc: Far from us the idea to educate anyone doing anything, we’re not that vain or patronizing lol. We just wanted to make a good, creative, interesting album. I’m personally invested in making a track sound convincing while different.

Jean-Luc: Right, we have no intent to educate anyone.

Jean-Marc: Electro is now a very large area where you do find a lot of smaller niches and styles. But if you mean ‘industrial’ new artists, there are some dealing with good stuff (like Empathy Test and some others), but one sees that it’s more ‘future-pop’ than EBM, it’s more sculpted into something easy on the ears.

Jean-Luc: I don’t have an opinion about the new generation as a whole, just about a few individual artists. I also like Empathy Test, and Blac Kolor, for example.

Q: The lyrical content of this album has something fascinating, but still pretty hilarious and I’m especially referring to one of the main songs of the album “Flowers And Birds And Bees”. Tell us a bit more about the lyrics and more especially about this song? What is it all about? Something personal I presume? Maybe a little less cynical? Or maybe you were in search of inspiration or… maybe drunk?

Jean-Luc: Drunk, not at all. I made a summary of comments that I often heard among my family members and friends who sometimes listen by curiosity to what I do while they are into totally different musical styles and don’t get it at all. And also from a lot of commentators who know much better than you what your artistically directions should be…

Q: I can imagine covering Fad Gadget remains something special and even a bit a kind of challenge. What did you try to accomplish?

Jean-Marc: See above for the genesis of the idea. We tried to cover it in a way that would respect the immense original making it tense and ready-to-jump at your throat.

Q: Is this a one-shot project or do you’ve further plans to work on new songs and maybe live performances?

Jean-Marc: We have started working on new songs for a second album, but keep it as we did for the first one: keeping it a fun and easy-going process.

Jean-Luc: This album is the first ever where I recorded my vocals without having in mind the fact that we might have to perform the songs live at some point. And I feel no real need right now to play them live. They fully exist on the album and don’t need a further extension. Playing them live will require a lot of time and work that I would personally prefer to invest in recording more new songs for a new CD.

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: EBM, body-pop, experimental.

Background/Info: Earlier this year we discover the surprising duo Jean-Marc Lederman – Jean-Luc De Meyer joining hands for this common project and the debut EP “A Tribe Of My Own”. Both electronic dyno’s belong to the history of EBM and I think it’s not that necessary to remind you of bands they were, or still are involved with like Front 242 and The Weathermen. But Lederman / De Meyer is their first common project.

Content: I wasn’t totally convinced by the EP, but this album gives a more explicit overview. Both artists mix pure EBM elements with some dark-pop elements. I also noticed heavy, orchestral arrangements, bombastic blasts and a real taste for experimentation.

I can’t say that the album is totally old-school like, but there’s an interesting and noticeable sound research, which was the essence of early electronic artists.

The bonus disc reveals an interesting twist between remixes and extra songs. After the already familiar cover version of Fad Gadget’s “Back To Nature” (released on the EP and regular CD edit) they here again covered Frank Tovey with the song “State Of The Nation”.

+ + + : Both artists didn’t really need a new challenge, but you can feel a real passion for music and maybe a way to incite young musicians to get more creative. This album is hardly comparable to other formations although it sounds electronic and sometimes even EBM-like. I like this approach and the diversity this album has been achieved by. The production is also interesting for its bombast and somewhat orchestral arrangements, which create a perfect twist with De Meyer’s growling timbre of voice. Among the new cuts I especially want to mention “Flowers And Birds And Bees” and “Dots, Circles And Lines”, which clearly are potential dancefloor pieces.

The bonus disc also reveals several interesting cuts. Next to a few outstanding remixes (and I here again have to mention the already familiar remix of Seb Komor), and also a great contribution by Peter Rainman and J. Wolf.

– – – : From a very personal point of view, “A Tribe Of My Own” wasn’t maybe the best song to introduce Lederman / De Meyer, but the album has much more exciting songs to reveal.

Conclusion: Lederman / De Meyer clearly appears to be a winning duo and I honestly didn’t expect something other, but I’m wondering if this album will remain a one-shot project or if they’ll renew the experience for a second opus.

Best songs: “Flowers And Birds And Bees”, “Dots, Circles And Lines”, “A Tribe Of My Own”, “I Wish We Could I Hope We Will” + “A Tribe Of My Own – Sebastian Komor Remix”, “Back To Nature – Peter Rainman vs. JML Remix”, “A Tribe Of My Own – J. Wolf Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Ledermandemeyer

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Read the review of ‘Atoms In Fury’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The recently released “Eleven Grinding Songs”, the debut album by Lederman / De Meyer (a new project between 2 electronic music legends Jean-Marc Lederman and Jean-Luc De Meyer) is one of the best EBM releases which have been released this year so far. “Eleven Grinding Songs” is released in 4 versions. Besides the regular CD album (available here), there is also the 2CD set (with an 11-track bonus disc with 4 exclusive additional songs plus 7 remixes or alternative versions) (available here) and a deluxe download (available here) plus also a black vinyl edition (including a carton sleeve CD edition with the same track-list) (available here).

Side-Line decided to go to the roots of the project together with Jean-Marc Lederman. In today’s article Jean-Marc Lederman gives us a few musical tips and composing advice. Jean-Marc: “We composers are always trying to better ourselves and make compositions that will excite us and, hopefully, excite others too. Here are a few tips and some advice. Take it or leave it, they work for me but they may not work for you.”

1. Start a new song with something unexpected.

Let say you usually start with a beat, or a bass line, or some chords or a simple melody: don’t do it now, begin your song from an angle you rarely use.

2. Don’t tunnel vision on a sound or a melody.

If you have been working that bass line for the last two hours and it’s not happening, chances are that the sound you’re using, or the melody it plays, just isn’t the right one. How do you know that ? If it bores you, it may very well bore the listener. So, scrap it or only use a part of it, the one you prefer.

3. Don’t expect your friends to know more than you do.

Doesn’t matter if your friends love or hate your new song, they are biased and probably far more lenient on a bland song that people you don’t know. Only consider your point of view to start with and introduce people to your song far later in the process.

4. Stop looking at synth pOrn and work, work, work.

Don’t procrastinate: you very, very probably have enough equipment to take you to sonic places you want and while the latest synth XYZ might be incredible please don’t wait for you to have it to work with what you already have. If you are bored with your equipment, use it in a different matter than usual and break your habits.

5. Don’t be stopped by what the other bands are doing.

Be responsible of your own musical development: it doesn’t matter what others are doing, what is important is how far you can take your own imagination.

6. Don’t ever think business when working on art.

First do the art, finish it, don’t think of the business side before the music is done. Don’t mix the two and don’t let commercial aspects enter the creative moments.

7. Don’t copy others, develop your own sound.

It really doesn’t matter what the others are doing: you can inspire yourself from a piece of work but being a replica of another band will just feel lame and boring. Go to the end of your own musical universe and own it to the world.

8. Be sincere.

It’s very tiring to be faking, go for the truth, always. Don’t pretend to be what you’re not but defend what you are, no matter how lonely you may think you are in your own genre. Always, always be true to what you really want in your music, whether it’s trendy or not, whether it’s today sound or yesterday sound or too modern to even fit anywhere.

9. Don’t spend weeks on a song.

You’re on that sorry song for one week and it still isn’t done ? The song is probably a turd. Give yourself deadlines and respect them. If you usually do a song in 4 days, use that as a benchmark to tell you if the song is happening or on the contrary goes nowhere.

10. Not a good day for composing ? Do something else !

It’s normal to be inspired some days and being not able to compose on others: don’t overdo it if it feels it’s not the right day. It doesn’t mean you’re done as a composer, inspiration will come back later.

For more on Jean-Marc Lederman, see How did Jean-Marc Lederman end up with The The at The The Marquee… on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The recently released “Eleven Grinding Songs”, the debut album by Lederman / De Meyer is one of the best EBM releases which have been released this year so far. Lederman / De Meyer is the brand new project between 2 electronic music legends Jean-Marc Lederman and Jean-Luc De Meyer.

“Eleven Grinding Songs” is released in 4 versions. Besides the regular CD album (available here), there is also the 2CD set (with an 11-track bonus disc with 4 exclusive additional songs plus 7 remixes or alternative versions) (available here) and a deluxe download (available here) plus also a black vinyl edition (including a carton sleeve CD edition with the same track-list) (available here).

Side-Line decided to go to the roots of the project together with Jean-Marc Lederman. In today’s article we talk with Jean-Marc Lederman about the synthesisers in the early days of EBM.

SL: Things were very different than they are now when one sees the equipment available for musicians back in the early 80’s.

JM: It’s very simple: most synths were monophonic and had no memories or presets back then if you exclude the more expensive synths like Oberheim or Prophets .

These machines couldn’t easily talk to each other unless you used techniques that one had to invent or try such was the infancy of electronic music. As an example, Daniel Miller used to lay on a track a slow square pulse that would later on trig the equipment: needless to say the results were on a on-by-one basis, some equipment not liking being triggered by outside machinery.

SL: The arrival of cheaper Japanese synthesizers…

JM: …would indeed provide a welcome alternative to musicians and alternative electronic music started to be happening round 1978/1979 by musicians embracing the punk attitude of DIY: Cabaret Voltaire, Human League, Throbbing Gristle, The Normal etc…were soon going to be the guiding lights of people into new sounds and new attitude towards music and art.

One decisive instrument was the Korg MS 20 (1978) who, under the genius hands of Chris Haas, was sculpting the sound of a band destined to start the entire EBM genre: Deutsch Amerikanischen Freundschaft, later called DAF.

SL: And in Belgium?

JM: In Belgium, Daniel Bressanutti, working in a music shop in Brussels, Hill’s Music, which was instrumental in the development of punk in Brussels, was already making musical experiments and Front 242 would release its first record in 1981.

1983 would see two very important stepping stones in electronic music as it was that year when MIDI ( a language linking synthesizers together) was released and it was also the release of the Yamaha DX7, a very powerful midi polyphonic synthesizers with strong dynamic possibilities) which would be like honey of the busy bees of EBM. The final icing on the electronic music scene would happen in 1985 with the availability of the Atari ST computer, bringing easier sequencing possibilities to the musicians.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The recently released “Eleven Grinding Songs”, the debut album by Lederman / De Meyer is one of the best EBM releases which have been released this year so far. Lederman / De Meyer is the brand new project between 2 electronic music legends Jean-Marc Lederman and Jean-Luc De Meyer.

“Eleven Grinding Songs” is released in 4 versions. Besides the regular CD album (available here), there is also the 2CD set (with an 11-track bonus disc with 4 exclusive additional songs plus 7 remixes or alternative versions) (available here) and a deluxe download (available here) plus also a black vinyl edition (including a carton sleeve CD edition with the same track-list) (available here).

Side-Line decided to go to the roots of the project together with Jean-Marc Lederman. In today’s article we talk with Jean-Marc Lederman how he got involved with Front 242 in the early 90’s.

Jean-Marc: “I was working at Play It Again Sam at the time (1990) and Front 242 approached me to become their office manager. They had set up their basis of operation in a villa in Aarschot, near Leuven, and needed someone to coordinate most non-creative things like handling communication with the label, acting as a smooth connecting rod with their touring agent and being a helping hand with whatever they were doing at the time.

Front 242 has always been very self-depending and they were doing a lot by themselves with Daniel handling most of the artwork with an Amiga or later on a (back then) very expensive Apple Quadra 800 for the covers of the Tyranny era.

Front 242 was signed on Sony USA at the time and things were very busy with the American label manager and the US representative of PIAS. Things were happening all the time and the pressure was strong (when you are successful, everyone wants a part of you) but the band was very focused.

One of the most ambitious thing we did at the time was the decor for the 1991 Tyranny Tour: it was going to be a large structure designed on two levels, a cross between a submarine deck and an industrial tower, painted by Jean-Luc De Meyer’s brother Marc. It wasn’t easy to transport but it was spectacular.

One of the aspect of the work was also to coordinate the remixes asked to outside bands and it was always a pleasure to get in touch with these remixers and hear them say how much they liked Front’s work: The Prodigy were especially enthusiast. One who wasn’t at all was William Orbit who refused several time to remix a track.

One moment was quite embarassing for me: Front was playing at Pukkelpop and Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) was going to play guitar on one song but somehow I didn’t know which song it would be and Tom was besides me on the side and was looking at me for the cue, cue that I couldn’t give to him as I didn’t know what song he had to play: that went on for quite a few songs and Tom started to be wary… Eventually Richard looked at us and gave Tom the signal to come on…”

And this is the decor as it was used.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The wait is finally over. Today Lederman / De Meyer, the brand new very promising project between 2 electronic music legends (Jean-Marc Lederman and Jean-Luc De Meyer) have launched their debut album “Eleven Grinding Songs” via the Belgian electronic music label Alfa Matrix.

“Eleven Grinding Songs” is released in 4 versions. Besides the regular CD album (available here), there is also the 2CD set (with an 11-track bonus disc with 4 exclusive additional songs plus 7 remixes or alternative versions) (available here) and a deluxe download (available here) plus – and this is something many fans asked for since the release of the project’s first EP “A Tribe Of My Own” – also a black vinyl edition (including a carton sleeve CD edition with the same track-list) (available here). Note that the vinyl version will be shipped from July 9th on while all other products are available now.

The black vinyl version is strictly limited to 300 copies worldwide, so make sure to place your order asap via the Alfa Matrix webstore before it’s too late.

You can stream the full album below.

In the next days Side-Line will be dedicating more articles on this release which the Side-Line team is now already considering to be one of the strongest albums released this year!

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

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘A Tribe Of My Own’.

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

(Photo by Diane Zillmer) Out next month is the debut album by Lederman / De Meyer. On that album (titled “Eleven grinding songs” – available here) but also on the band’s first release, the download EP “A tribe of my own” (available here), the band covered Fad Gadget’s “Back To Nature”.

Since Jean-Marc Lederman has been working with Fad Gadget in the past we decided to hail London and have a small chat with Daniel Miller, the Mute Record label boss himself, about Fad Gadget and Jean-Marc.

SL: How did you me​e​t Jean-Marc Lederman, Daniel?
​
DM: ​We met at Better Badges (a mall at Nothing Hill Gate which is a badges manufacture), where Geoff Travies from Rough Trade sent Jean-Marc as he thought we should meet: synths fans were few at the time. Jean-Marc gave me a Digital Dance 7″ and we have been in contact ever since.

SL: You worked with Frank Tovey as part of Fad Gadget early 1980. Was Frank an easy guy in the studio and on stage ?

DM: ​In studio, Frank had very clear ideas on what he wanted or didn’t want and my task was to help him achieve that. It wasn’t easy because we were both untrained musicians and we were learning as it went. On stage, Frank was a very different person: he was then completely transformed in the Fad Gadget character. He was a performance artist from his days at Art School.
​
SL: And how was Jean-Marc, Daniel?

DM: Jean-Marc was very easy to work with and a good add to the early days of the Fad Gadget band.

SL: “Back To Nature” is the trademark song of Fad Gadget. How do you look back on it ?

DM: ​It was my very first time in a studio so I was very inexperienced. Plus it was also my first time as a producer. The same for Frank: it was his first time in a studio. It took us a day to record and mix, it was in a small 8 tracks studio (RMS Studios) near Crystal Palace, a studio doing lots of punk bands.

The equipment used was very basic, electronics were rough at that time. We had a minipops rhythm machine, the Korg 700s I used on “Warm leatherette/TV OD”, a Roland SH1 and Frank’s piano and distortion fx pedal. Plus the ARP 2600 I just bought from Elton John’s live rig, I think it was the first time I was using it. I’m very proud of what we achieved. The B-side, “the box”, was actually recorded with Frank inside a box in the studio…

SL: What’s your take on Lederman De Meyer’s version of “Back To Nature” ?

DM: It’s very hard to do a cover version but the Lederman / De Meyer version is very good!

SL: You are also familiar with Front 242 since they toured with Depeche Mode. Never thought about getting them on the Mute roster back in the days ?

DM: ​I thought F242 was very interesting, but they were already on PIAS and I didn’t want to interfere with that. Plus we already had Nitzer Ebb on Mute.

SL: Jean-Marc is now also part of Mute Songs’ roster. What does this mean for an artist ?

DM: Mute Songs is a publisher company. they have Mute Records artists but not only. They are very pro-active, and have a creative and personal relationship with their artists.​

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

Lederman / De Meyer, the brand new very promising project between 2 electronic music legends (Jean-Marc Lederman and Jean-Luc De Meyer) have launched the pre-sales of their upcoming debut album “Eleven Grinding Songs”.

Released via the Belgian label Alfa Matrix “Eleven Grinding Songs” will be released in 4 versions. Besides the regular CD album (available here), there is also the 2CD set (with an 11-track bonus disc with 4 exclusive additional songs plus 7 remixes or alternative versions) (available here) and deluxe download (available here) plus – and this is something many fans asked for since the release of the project’s first EP “A Tribe Of My Own” – also a black vinyl edition (including a carton sleeve CD edition with the same track-list) (available here).

The black vinyl version is strictly limited to 300 copies worldwide, so make sure to place your order asap via the Alfa Matrix webstore.

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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Read the review of ‘A Tribe Of My Own’.

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 announcement of Die Krupp’s EBM-only side project Die Robo Sapiens wasn’t the only surprise on EBM-day this weekend. A few hours later the official Front 242 facebook page also saw a live videocast of the brand new project Lederman / De Meyer uniting the talents of musician and producer, Jean-Marc Lederman (Fad Gadget, Gene Loves Jezebel, Kid Montana, The Wheathermen, …) and Front 242’s very own Jean-Luc De Meyer.

The project can now be reached on Facebook.

The project announced not only a forthcoming EP and album (“Eleven Grinding Songs”) but also that they equally signed to the Belgian label Alfa Matrix, just like Die Robo Sapiens did. The new project will offer ‘eclectic and uncompromising song arrangements‘ matched with De Meyer’s trademark dense vocals. Darkwave with sensible lyrics, duly noted!

You can watch the video below, and also get a glimpse of a first preview of an album track.

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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