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 Read the news on ‘Rema/x’.

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 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”. Read the review of ‘Rema/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. 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

Released in collaboration with Other Voices records is the digipak (limited to 300 copies) “Under the radar” by Psyche. The Cd is a compilation of rare, out of print and unreleased tracks, including alternative versions of Psyche’s biggest hits such as “Unveilling the Secret”, “Uncivillized” or “Sanctuary”.

Orders for this rare gem can be placed right here.

All tracks have been remasterd for this special release. You’ll discover lots of highly sought-after tracks for the collector but also a good starting point for the new fan. It includes – among others – also the excellent The Human League cover of “Things that Dreams are made of”, featuring the lead vocalist of Elegenat Machinery and other cover-versions of songs by Joy Division, Depeche Mode and Visage, collaborations with Red Industrie and Luminance and more.

The complete tracklist can be viewed here.

This track with Luminance will also be on this release: “Left Out”.

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 Canadian online mail-orderStorming The Base has launched its Halloween sales on all Artefact releases (in a tongue-in-cheek way if you watch the above banner closely). As usual, there is plenty of goodness to be found in their offer at pretty low prices from plenty of artists (including a ton of CDs at not even 5 euro). There’s also plenty of vinyl available including material from Front Line Assembly, Psyche, Haujobb, Cevin Key & Ken Hiwatt, Apoptygma Berzerk and many many more. Go and have a look right here in the sales section.

We were informed that the label is also give a 10% discount on the releases from Artoffact.

Speaking of which, if you an EU citizen, Artoffact is now shipping vinyl from the EU too – which makes it cheaper for EU residents. Check what they have on offer right here in their new EU webstore.

They will be using a flat fee for shipping from their office in Helsinki, Finland. This means that there will be no extra taxes, fees, or customs charges (all taxes are included in the price), plus they’ll be using a flat-rate shipping of 17,50 Euro (free for Finnish residents), orders are dispatched the same week they arrive and FedEx shipping guarantees fast, trackable delivery.

Available for direct ordering are vinyl titles from Azar Swan, Cevin Key, Download, Front Line Assembly, Marsheaux, Mlada Fronta, Rational Youth, Psyche & Luminance, Saltillo, Seeming and Volt 9000. Available are also pre-orders for vinyl releases from Advanced Art. Darkhive, Cevin Key, Front Line Assembly, Land of Giants, Haujobb, Of Tanz Victims, Psyche and The Gruesomes. You can find all these vinyl releases 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. 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: Electro-pop, body-pop.

Content: This limited vinyl 7” is a meeting between a long time established and electro-pop icon and an upcoming and promising new artist.

Psyche needs no longer introduction with Darrin Huss being a kind of living legend in the electro-pop scene. Luminance is a Belgian project, which has released a couple of interesting releases since 2014. The debut album “Sans Visage” is actually out on the Belgian-based Die Blinden Records. So this is the meeting between different musical decades, but sharing the same fascination for electro-pop inspired music.

“Left Out” reminds me of good-old EBM for its typical vintage electronic style while the song is carried by a somewhat floating and elevating chorus. It totally matches with Darrin Huss’ charismatic timbre of voice.

“Passenger Seat” moves a step further in the retro-electro style. It’s a great body-pop constructed song built on mysterious sound atmospheres and driven by spooky vocals. This song reminds me of the great 80s decade of underground electronics and I can imagine it’s the kind of song Darrin Huss must have liked to sing on.

Conclusion: I can only hope both artists will have the good idea to renew their experience to create this vinyl and maybe unite for an entire album. There’s some magic inside this duo.

Best songs: “Passenger Seat”, “Left Out”.

Rate: (DP:7½)DP.

Bands: www.psyche-hq.de / www.facebook.com/Psyche / www.facebook.com/Luminance-314907865278384

Label: www.artoffact.com / www.facebook.com/artoffact

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 right now is the Psyche/Luminance collaborative single “Left Out / Passenger Seat”. The single is being released as a 7″ vinyl single in 2 colours. The Brussels-based Luminance already has several cassette releases on Wool-E Tapes, as well as an 7″ on the Weyrd Son label, plus they recently announced an upcoming release on Die Blinden Records.

The two tracks on this limited 7″ vinyl are written and produced by Luminance, and Darrin Huss from Psyche provides lyric and vocal contributions. The A Side “Left Out” is a hybrid between classic Belgian EBM and dance floor Electro while the B Side “Passenger Seat” adds some Italo-Disco blood to the whole.

100 copies are available now on kinda oozy green, 233 copies on less oozy grey.

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