Marc Almond &#8211; SIDE-LINE

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!

Bronski Beat celebrates 40 years of ‘The Age of Consent’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 09:40:37 +0000

(Photo via London Records) London Records will mark the 40th anniversary of the iconic Bronski Beat debut album, “The Age of Consent”, with a series of deluxe reissues available on October 18, 2024. Fans can pre-order these reissues at bronskibeat.tmstor.es.

In conjunction with the reissue, London Records has released a new remix of “Smalltown Boy”’” by Planningtorock. This artist, known for queering sound and visual art, has previously collaborated with Lady Gaga, Robyn, and Christine and The Queens. The remix can be listened to below.

Jimmy Somerville, reflecting on the album, said, “When there is something we do in our life that can have such an impact on other peoples’ lives, and to be told this by others, it’s humbling. ‘The Age of Consent’ is, and always will be, such a special part of my life.”

Planningtorock shared their thoughts on the remix as well: “I first saw ‘Smalltown Boy’ on telly back in 1984 when I was twelve. I remember it having a big impact on me even then. Just loved how it told the story so directly like a mini documentary but as a music clip sharing a gay experience that was sad to watch but at the same time so empowering. Those early years as a queer trans kid were so lonely for me and Bronski Beat made me feel less alone showing me how music can help you translate a painful experience into something liberating.”

Released in 1984, “The Age of Consent” was a pioneering album addressing LGBTQ+ rights and struggles. The album remains relevant today, reflecting ongoing issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community. Its original release included a listing of ages of consent worldwide, symbolizing both the progress made and the challenges still ahead.

The 40th-anniversary reissue will be available in various formats, including a 5-Disc Deluxe Edition (4CD+DVD), a 2CD set with new reworks, a 2LP set, a yellow 1LP edition, and a Super Deluxe Edition exclusive Blu-Ray. The deluxe edition features essays, remixes, rarities, and restored promo videos.

Tracklisting for the 4CD+DVD Deluxe Edition

Disc One: The Age of Consent – The Album Plus

Why?
It Ain’t Necessarily So
Screaming
No More War
Love and Money
Smalltown Boy
Heatwave
Junk
Need a Man Blues
I Feel Love / Johnny Remember Me
Smalltown Boy (DJ 7” Edit) – Bonus track
Why? (Remix) – Bonus track
It Ain’t Necessarily So (7” Version) – Bonus track
I Feel Love (7” Version) with Marc Almond – Bonus track
Run from Love (Radio Version) – Bonus track
Hard Rain (NME 7” Version) – Bonus track

Disc Two: Hundreds & Thousands – The Remix Plus

Heatwave (Harvey Goldberg Remix)
Why (Harvey Goldberg Remix)
Run from Love (Dominic Maita Remix)
Hard Rain (Harvey Goldberg Remix)
Smalltown Boy (Harvey Goldberg Remix)
Junk (Harvey Goldberg Remix)
Love and Money (Hundreds & Thousands Remix) – Bonus track
Infatuation / Memories – Bonus track
Close to the Edge – Bonus track
I Feel Love (Cake Mix) with Marc Almond – Bonus track
Cadillac Car (Extended) – Bonus track

Disc Three: Consent Extended – The 12 Inches Plus

Smalltown Boy (12” Version)
Why? (12” Version)
It Ain’t Necessarily So (12” Version)
I Feel Love (12” Version) with Marc Almond
Run from Love (US Club Remix ‘85) – Bonus track
Smalltown Boy (US Club Remix ‘84) – Bonus track
Red Dance
The Potato Fields
Puit D’Amour
Signs (And Wonders)
I Feel Love (Fruit Mix)

Disc Four: Ignore at Your Peril – The Rarities Plus

Smalltown Boy (Capital Radio Session, May ‘84) – Bonus track
Heatwave (Capital Radio Session, May ‘84) – Bonus track
Hard Rain (Capital Radio Session, May ‘84) – Bonus track
Why? (Early Version, March ‘84) – Bonus track
Crazy Maraquitta (Studio Session) – Bonus track
It Ain’t Necessarily So (Early Version) – Bonus track
Upside Down (Studio Session) – Bonus track
Screaming (Early Version, March ‘84) – Bonus track
The Power of the Gold (Studio Session) – Bonus track
Love and Money (Early Version) – Bonus track
First Church (Feel Love) (Studio Session) – Bonus track
Junk (Early Version 2) – Bonus track
Walking (Studio Session) – Bonus track
No More War (Early Version) – Bonus track
Go (You & Me) (Studio Session) – Bonus track
Close to the Edge (Early Alternate Extended Mix) – Bonus track
Heatwave (Early Version) – Bonus track
The Other Side of the Tracks (Studio Session) – Bonus track
Smalltown Boy (Early Version, March ‘84) – Bonus track

Disc Five: The First Chapter – The Videos Plus [DVD]

Official Music Videos
- Smalltown Boy (Restored Promo)
- Why? (Restored Promo)
- It Ain’t Necessarily So (Restored Promo)
- I Feel Love (Restored Promo) with Marc Almond
Top of the Pops Performances
- Smalltown Boy (BBC ‘Top of the Pops’, June ‘84)
- Why? (BBC ‘Top of the Pops’, September ‘84)
- It Ain’t Necessarily So (BBC ‘Top of the Pops’, December ‘84)
- I Feel Love (BBC ‘Top of the Pops’, April ‘85) with Marc Almond
Original TV Adverts
- The Age of Consent – TV Advert #1 (December ‘84) – Bonus track
- The Age of Consent – TV Advert #2 (January ‘85) – Bonus track

About Bronski Beat

Formed in 1983 in London, Bronski Beat was an influential British synthpop trio known for their groundbreaking music and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. The original lineup included Steve Bronski (keyboards, percussion), Larry Steinbachek (keyboards, percussion), and Jimmy Somerville (vocals).

Their debut single, “Smalltown Boy”, released in 1984, became an instant hit. The song’s poignant narrative about a young gay man facing homophobia and isolation resonated deeply with listeners. It climbed the charts, reaching number three in the UK. Later in 1984, Bronski Beat released their debut album, “The Age of Consent”. The inner sleeve listed the ages of consent for homosexual acts worldwide. The album produced other hits like “Why?” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So”.

In 1985, lead vocalist Jimmy Somerville left Bronski Beat to form The Communards with Richard Coles. Despite his departure, Bronski Beat continued, recruiting John Foster (also known as Jon Jon) as their new lead singer. The band released the album “Truthdare Doubledare” in 1986, which included the hit single “Hit That Perfect Beat”.

Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bronski Beat underwent several lineup changes, with the late Steve Bronski remaining the constant member. They continued to release music, though with less commercial success than their early years. In the 2010s, Steve Bronski reformed the band with new members and continued to perform and release new music.

Genesis P-Orridge & Dave Ball OST ‘Imagining October’ to be released on vinyl

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Sun, 06 Feb 2022 13:31:00 +0000

Out on May 6th via Cold Spring is the Genesis P-Orridge & Dave Ball OST release “Imagining October”.

The official soundtrack to Derek Jarman’s 1984 short film “Imagining October”, with music recorded by Derek’s friend and collaborator Genesis P-Orridge (Psychic TV, Throbbing Gristle), and Dave Ball (Soft Cell, The Grid) will be released on limited edition 12″ vinyl. The material was recorded at the DJM recording studios in Theobalds Road, London.

The vinyl features an etched B-side and includes liner notes by James Mackay (Jarman’s producer, collaborator and archivist).

The track-listing is as follows:

Imagining October I
Imagining October II
Imagining October III
Imagining October IV

Derek Jarman put together a program of films for the London Film Festival, reﬂecting the cutting edge of the London avant-garde of the time. Recorded at the same time as “The Angelic Conversation”, “Imagining October” was filmed in the Eisenstein Museum in Moscow, Vladimir Mayakovsky’s grave at Novodevichy Cemetery, the GUM department store facing red square, and the fire temples of Baku in Azerbaijan. The painting sequences with a group of soldiers (Angus Cook, Stephen Thrower, Peter Doig and Keir Wahid) was filmed in London. Jarman considered it one of the best, if not the best, of his shorter works. It was intended as an agit-prop work.

About Derek Jarman

Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English film director, stage designer, author and gay rights activist. He was outspoken about his personal struggle with AIDS. On 22 December 1986, Jarman was diagnosed as HIV positive and discussed his condition in public. His illness prompted him to move to Prospect Cottage, Dungeness in Kent, near the nuclear power station. In 1994, he died of an AIDS-related illness in London, aged just 52.

Although he made a long list of feature films and short films, you will know him best for the the following videos he also directed: Read the review of ‘Imagining October’.

The Sex Pistols – “The Sex Pistols Number One” (1976)
Throbbing Gristle – “TG Psychic Rally in Heaven” (1981)
Marc Almond – “Tenderness Is a Weakness” (1984)
Bryan Ferry – “Windswept” (1985)
The Smiths – “The Queen Is Dead”, a short film incorporating the Smiths songs “The Queen Is Dead”, “Panic” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (1986). The “Panic” sequence from The Queen Is Dead was edited to form the video for that single (1986).
The Smiths – “Ask” (1986)
Pet Shop Boys – “It’s a Sin” (1987)
Pet Shop Boys – “Rent” (1987)
Pet Shop Boys – several concert projections (released as “Projections” in 1993)
Pet Shop Boys – “Violence” (1995)
Suede: “The Next Life” (1993)

30 Years Of Journalism – Celebration Interview with Bernard Van Isacker (Side-Line & Alfa Matrix): ‘Consider Us As An Incubator For Talents’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 18:00:00 +0000

Back in 1991 I started writing my first reviews for Side-Line magazine. I would have never thought to go on writing reviews and making interviews non-stop for 30 years. So 2021 is a special year to me, a kind of ‘celebration year’. I got the idea to celebrate this special event by interviewing people from the scene who all have a special meaning to me. The last interview in this series is one with Bernard Van Isacker. I definitely had to close the circle with this interview. Being active as Side-Line’s chief redactor and as one of the Alfa Matrix label owners, Bernard and I became close friends. We didn’t always agree on some topics, which finally brought me to leave Side-Line as staff member in 2016. We remained in touch and decided to move on working together, but in a different format. A lot of things have been said and written about Bernard -not always kind things – but I got the privilege and opportunity to see how he’s working and all what he’s doing. I can only, but deeply respect his involvement. Time to ask him some questions.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Lots of people from this scene know who you are, but how would you introduce yourself and how did you get in touch with the Electro/Industrial/Gothic scene?

Bernard: My name is Bernard Van Isacker, 47 years old, and I have 2 kids. Magnus, 4 years old, and Sebastian, 16 years old, from my first marriage. I work currently as a social media manager, web developer and CRM admin for a multinational. I also run 2 holiday houses, but for the past 2 years they have been empty due to the corona pandemic. That was a big blow to our budget, so I had to take extra work to keep on paying our bills. But we survive.

I sleep basically 5 hours per night, take a small breakfast and lots of coffee at 6 in the local Panos –both the owners Mario and Hannelore are sweethearts -before I start work at 7:30 until, 10, 11 at night. I’ll probably die working (laughs).

I first got introduced to the Dark-Wave scene when I was 14 years old and was sitting next to a guy in class who said he had heard a really sick tape. That was Nitzer Ebb’s “That Total Age”. But you have to know that I was already heavily into Depeche Mode and New-Beat (yes!) so the ‘move’ to more industrial sounds was not really a surprise. Anyhow, Nitzer Ebb had more or less the same BPM as new beat so that was easy (laughs). By the time I was fifteen I was listening to Cat Rapes Dog. Their “Maximum Overdrive” remains legendary as far as I am concerned. And after that I got hooked to Inside Treatment, Pouppée Fabrikk, and other bands from Scandinavia. I only started to listen to German acts when I went to university, and that included bands such as Fortification 55, Project Pitchfork, Psychic Force, Trial, etc..

As we speak I’m in the middle of compiling our newest volume in the “Face The Beat”-series for Side-Line. The 7^th so far. But shoot with the questions Stephane!

Q: I guess less people know you graduated in journalism so what did you try to add/change when joining Side-Line? And how did you happen to join Side-Line magazine?

Bernard: That’s correct, I graduated in journalism and worked at a couple of newspapers before diving into the startup world of ecommerce. That was pre-Google so SEO was still something very rudimentary and traffic was basically created via price comparison sites and massive mailings, you can call it pure spam (laughs).

But I worked for 4 years as a journalist, was able to write a lot of solid articles, but I got fed up with the easy way things were covered (while we all knew it were lies) and the easy way things were NOT covered (because some bishop threatened to sue the newspaper –and me, for defamation). I left that world disgusted. Add to that it is one of the worst paid jobs ever.

I got fed up with the easy way things were covered in the press

Anyhow, whilst studying one of my friends, Yves Van De Veken, told me there was this magazine that was going to be published with an attached CD compilation full of Dark-Wave music and that they would have the first issue with the sampler later that week in the Metrophone cellar, in Antwerp that is, where I studied. I got the magazine, which was in a very stylish layout, liked the CD sampler and was hooked on the review section to read about new bands. I was at that time already working part-time as journalist whilst studying, and I got access to bigger bands which I thought could fit Side-Line pretty well, so I sent a mail to Seba (who I thought was a girl) and told ‘her’ that I could arrange bigger interviews for them. Seba wanted to test the waters I guess, and I told that I could do Hooverphonic, but could also check with Dirk Da Davo in the next week to show what I was capable of. Apparently ‘she’ really liked what I wrote and asked for more. Paradise Lost, Marc Almond, Bel Canto, … the list of interviews I did for Side-Line grew by the day.

But I had never met any of the team. The first time I met someone from the Side-Line team back then was actually you, but I can’t recall where that was, I think it was in Brussels, but for what exactly?

A few weeks later I met Seba –who you told was NOT a girl, at a Die Form concert in Ghent I think. If I’m not wrong Cédric and Benoit were also there. Since then we were like a band of brothers who went to concerts, either together or with one or two others. Sweet times I must say, we were all very young, had not yet lived ‘real’ life with all its hurdles and accidents.

Q: Early 2008 was a turning point in the magazine’s history. Former chief-redactor Séba Dolimont decided to stop his involvement so you became the new chief-redactor. The printed magazine definitely stopped and Side-Line remained only active as online magazine. How do you look back at the loss of the printed magazine and how did the transition happen?

Bernard: I basically had always pushed to keep the magazine alive as a print magazine, but at the same time I had launched www.side-line.com in 1999 because the initial Side-Line website –on a different url, was basically just a page, looked bloody awful and served no purpose –no offense Ronan Harris. So when Seba told me that he had decided to stop with the printed magazine, my mental switch was fast and I decided to focus on the online magazine which by then was attracting a tenfold of the printed magazine anyhow. It was a no-brainer.

Going online only? It was a no-brainer.

With Seba stopping, we also lost most of the external contributors, which is logical since a print magazine has a more loose team whereas a news website has to work with a very productive small team, as Side-Line.com was by then already producing daily news updates. A small team is always easier to work with, and I had seen that with the print version of Side-Line I was already doing most of the interviews, delivering 99% of the news, while you already did most of the reviews. So, we had a winning team anyhow, why change that?

In short, yes, it had an emotional impact, but not a practical one. We had a good run, but the times were changing. And I for sure was not planning to miss the online train as you know.

Q: I think there’re significant differences between a printed magazine and an online page. Can you give us the pros and cons especially from your perspective?

Bernard: Yes, the differences are there for sure and I think you will agree with me, but tell me if you don’t! I will give you the pros and cons as far as online is concerned, the cons will largely cover the pros for print.

Pros:

Write, enter it in the CMS, add a picture and post. Simple. In short: it’s fast.
The news goes out instantly via a wide array of tools. One post on Side-Line reaches around 5000 people in the next few minutes via our different channels, above and under the hood. By the end of the day –when syndication and newsletters have kicked in, we have a 10.000 reach per item. This doesn’t mean people have read it, it means that they have at least seen the picture and title.
The articles can be as long or as short as you want.
We can add multimedia, which is a good way to add metadata to your articles. This was limited back in 1999 when we went online though.
A small team can move mountains.

Cons:

There is a strict daily deadline to maintain each day.
The rapidness also gives room to errors you might not have noticed or simply wrong info (although we only had a few incidents with that).
Getting decent daily news is sometimes difficult, other times you get inundated by news,
Some labels and bands have no clue how to write press texts and fill it with promo blabla. If there are no 4 lines of good solid facts, I usually do not publish it.
In our case I have to be technically savy, have seo skills and have IT skills. And I know how to write. That’s a lot if something goes wrong, and we have had times when it really went wrong.
Online income generation as a news website is not easy. Most of the labels still have no clue what online means and still think in an old school way.
A small team means problems when one leaves or falls sick.
A magazine accept slow reading, a website not.

Q: Do you’ve an idea who’s reading Side-Line and is there a kind of reader’s profile?

Bernard: Actually I do, thanks to a combination of datasets, which are limited as I hate being followed myself. The last dataset of November shows that 31% is female, 67% is male and 2% identifies not as male or female. Most readers come from the USA, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Poland, Holland, Greece and Denmark. We got data from 45 countries in total once we filtered out the accidental and spam traffic.

When it comes to the profiles, we have data of a survey that happened a few months ago on our website. 8200+ respondents later we see that half (51%) has an office job, 36% has an outside or factory job and 11% is unemployed and 2% is enjoying their pension.

The same survey also showed us info regarding age and it goes synchronically with the data from our Facebook page: 4% is between 18-24, 34% is between 25-34, 25% is between 35-44, 27% is between 45-54, 5% is between 56-64 and 3% is older than 64. That info again corresponds more or less with the survey we did.

It shows we have mostly a very active public between 25 and 54 years old.

Q: Back in time the Side-Line forum was quite ‘popular’, but unfortunately also a place for bullshit and conflicts. Did you expect this evolution and was it the main reason to stop the forum?

Bernard: The Side-Line forum was indeed very popular and at times had 20 to 50.000 visits a day. It was so popular that it had become a full time task to keep the spammers out, to keep things civilized, etc.. The discussion there were legendary. Some were in it for the fun, others to learn something new, and others just to anonymously troll. It was the graveyard of subtleness though (laughs).

The Side-Line forum was the graveyard of subtleness…

It ran its course, but I was so glad I could kill that baby. Just with one click: bye bye! By the end it had become uncontrollable and we had to delete 90% of all posts because the trolling really went overboard. No loss, it’s part of history, but I still have to laugh when I think of the silliness of it all.

Do you know that we once launched a T-shirt line where you could have your nickname printed on it? We sold a few hundred of those… really fun times!

Q: In the meantime, you also became one of the owners of Alfa Matrix, which became one of the leading labels of underground Electro music. What’s your input and impact in the label activities?

Bernard: I take care of the IT, web dev, communication and digital distribution. I leave the A&R to Seba, as we each have our own department. But we do have to agree all 3 for signing a band or not. I also often am abroad and try to hook up with the bands in real life.

Q: Let’s go on with a rather tricky question. I think it’s very confusing for a lot of people to understand you’re chief-editor of Side-Line and still one of the Alfa Matrix owners. That sounds pretty incestuous, don’t you think? How do you manage both activities without too much conflict of interest?

Bernard: Nothing tricky at all. I have never hidden the fact that I’m also behind Alfa Matrix and I am proud of it. Actually, I am not the only label guy behind a magazine, check Blabbermouth for instance, it is also successfully run by label people, possible because we have intel on both sides of the medal.

As far as conflict of interest is concerned: there is none. I don’t intervene in the reviews at all, and that’s where there could be a conflict of interest because reviews are subjective an sich. When it comes to news articles, Alfa Matrix gets as much attention as for instance Metropolis, and I bring it as dry as I do with all the other articles: facts, facts, facts and no promo speech.. Actually, sometimes Alfa Matrix bands complain because they have not gotten a good score on Side-Line. I then have to explain that reviews are completely out of my control to keep a healthy balance in the magazine.

I have a very clean conscience.

That other people claim otherwise on Facebook or so is their problem. I have a very clean conscience regarding this.

Q: It’s also interesting to see next to Alfa Matrix, Side-Line is actually releasing digital compilations; the magazine also became a kind of label! The “Face The Beat”-series became a real success story. What’s the main goal of this compilation series and how do you select the artists?

Bernard: Well, the move is not so strange I must say. In the early days there was Side-Line Records, some kind of precursor to Alfa Matrix. Then Side-Line produced compilations to go with the magazines. I just brought it to the 21^st century when I took over and compiled and launched the first “Face The Beat” as a Facebook compilation, hence the name, 10 years ago.

The main goal is reflected by what Side-Line has all been about even when Seba first launched it: get people to know music from established and new bands. It’s a vision I embraced since the start. I added an extra touch and that is that all revenue goes to charity.

The compilations are compiled like this: I do a call for submissions on all channels we have, there is one reminder and then I lock myself up for weeks with the material that I have received, usually thousands of demos and completed tracks. Once a first selection is made, I go through the material again that is selected and do an extra selection to make sure the best tracks are included. After that I send out the necessary paperwork and then usually almost everyone responds quickly. There are usually only 2 or 4 bands that are too late or never respond. It’s always a race to meet the deadline I have in my mind, but I usually make it on time. In the meantime, I usually have worked on the artwork and worked through the material with Erlend Eilertsen from Essence Of Mind and Lights A.M to make sure the tracks get the best possible sound on the compilation.

After that I launch it on Bandcamp basically and the platform does its work, with some help of me (laughs). It’s all a very intuitive process where clear communication is king.

A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce.

Q: You definitely were one of the first from this scene to have understood the impact streaming platforms would have. I remember you got a lot of hard reactions about it, but today you can tell to all of your critics you were right! How do you look back at this period and how do you expect things evolving during the next few years?

Bernard: Yes, I must say that the short sight of a lot of people in the record business was reflected in the harsh attacks I got in interviews, on radio programs and on social media. Some even went so far to send me mails accusing me of killing the industry, that I was a traitor. One of my biggest critics in the end contacted me back years later saying that he was wrong and that I was right. I still appreciate him till the day of today. Only great people can apologize and say they were wrong.

The thing is, it’s not that I like this or that evolution, it is that I just can see what is going to happen and where our music industry is heading towards. Some new techniques will never take off, but it is my job at Alfa Matrix to keep an eye on what is happening in the industry and what is going to happen and see if we should invest time and money in it.

My hunch that propriety was going to be over and done with except for a solid and loyal base has proven to be correct. The success of both Spotify and Bandcamp show that my theory on mixed digital music consumption was spot on and that my critics didn’t have a clue what was going to happen.

It’s actually not the first time that I have had a conflict with my colleagues in the music sector. Back when I worked at an ecommerce startup, some shop owners said that we were killing their business. But when I once worked together with such a critical shop owner annex distributor he was unable to deliver the goods… because we sold tenfold of what he was able to get (laughs). One of the biggest channels of sales for that ecommerce shop was actually Side-Line. To give you an idea, when Depeche Mode released their single boxes, Side-Line single handedly sold all, but literally all of the stock available in Belgium in just a few days. They had to restock with copies from all over Europe because they were in limited supply. The same for the Erasure single boxes. And as far as the Covenant boxset “Synergy: Live In Europe” is concerned. That is the release we sold 10 times what the Belgian distributor had promised he was able to get… (laughs). And still we were the bad guys (laughs even louder).

I have to thank Warren Harrison from Hungry Lucy for that way of forward thinking. He opened my eyes as far as digital music is concerned and taught me to dissociate my own wishes from that of a public’s wish, and to open my eyes for new technologies. I doubt he realizes the impact he had on me. Now he knows (smiles). A good guy he is, a pity we lost contact a bit.

And the future will continue, but more in the propriety field where things are moving rapidly, think of NFT’s. Len Lemeire planted that seed in my head actually. Add to that that we will sooner or later be faced with cryptocurrency payments on a larger scale. I have a few other new technologies in mind that might be big in the near future.

One thing though that will remain key, is data. A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce –namely that it is an opportunity to know who your fans are, and they are now again missing the boat as they have put all their money on Facebook and other platforms that lock their fans into their platform without offering you any way to communicate except via their own platform. Deadly on the long run.

There is a story to this actually. I was approached by at least 2 major Indie labels in the past few years asking if I would be willing to –listen well, sell all of Side-Line’s data in order to set up an own label of Electro-Pop music. And these are indies who have had BIG artists on their roster. But they have never ever gathered data, never had a decent newsletter, in short they were flying blind once things went sour.

Having said that, I also see bad evolutions, the platforms work more and more via AI to push releases to people in order to keep them as much as possible on their platforms. It unfortunately also leads to tracks, which are made to trigger these AI powered algorithms. The first automatically generated tracks are very ‘promising’ and they have been released for quite some time now. I personally am not happy with this evolution, as it removes the human genius from it, but like I said, we risk to see this more and more.

Q: It all looks like ‘younger’ people show less interest to write for a magazine. Why is it and how do you expect things evolving?

Bernard: If we look across the board, most print magazines from our scene are gone, and when we look to the online press, most online magazines from our scene are gone or are unable to keep up with the daily news pace like we do for instance. I often get requests from people if they can start writing for us, but their mail always ends with this question: ‘How much do you pay?’ Knowing that we have never received any money, it’s rather cynic that people who have never proven a thing think they can ask money… So I will repeat it again, THERE IS NO MONEY TO MAKE with an online magazine about Dark-Wave.

As far as contributors is concerned, I am happy with the team I work with now. I can count on you and Jan-Ronald, basically the main contributors next to me. You both have a very professional attitude and we are friends most and first of all.

The evolution will depend on the fact if there will be more people willing to invest money and time in these kind of projects like running a magazine. We all know that nowadays you will not earn a living from it, on the contrary, you need some financial backup to keep a website up and running, pay the licences for plugings, data storage, and so on. And that’s without the hours of unpaid work on top each day.

Q: I already had discussions with people –including label owners, who no longer belief in the real impact of magazines today because of streaming platforms and other channels like YouTube. What’s your point of view and do you think magazines are enough taking care to adapt and renew themselves?

Bernard: Well, this is not a problem for us honestly. Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands. And that’s mainly why people check Side-Line as we have the finger on the pulse to know what might become hot and what not. Remember Suicide Commando, Apoptygma Berzerk, etc..? They got pushed by Side-Line back in the days when they were largely unknown. Once we give these small bands an initial push they have to continue and work from their side as well and that’s when they get in the flow of things with the streaming platforms for instance nowadays.

Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands.

Take a magazine like Side-Line away and many small bands will never ever get a platform to develop. The same goes for our compilations, they serve to push smaller bands to a wider public. Consider us as an incubator for talents.

Know that I also regularly get contacted by the biggest bands in the scene directly with news, because they know we will publish it and they know we have a very good reach on a daily basis.

The AI used by streaming companies is a very big part in the music consumption and trying to trigger it is not something that is easily done especially with smaller bands on indie labels like I said earlier. The streaming Ais therefore still leave a lot of pearls untouched. Roughly 5 to 7 million songs on Spotify have never been played you know… That is HUGE.

That’s where magazines enter. Take me for instance, I basically have no time to start looking for new music, and I always look into our own review section for new material. So as a gatekeeper a magazine still has its purpose, at least from my point of view. I once did a test and played a few tracks and checked what the services would deliver as suggestions. They didn’t offer anything extra that interested me compared to what I got from your reviews, but instead offered a lot of junk extra so that I would have to weed out anyhow. It kinda proves that these Ais are still not capable of matching the human ear and feeling. Maybe that will happen in the future, I think so, or I would be really disappointed in our human genius (laughs).

That is of course as far as my own consumption goes.

Now, I talked about the gate keeping function which has been the purpose of a good magazine. It’s my belief that a niche magazine which has a steady output of well selected news and articles will keep that gatekeepers function intact. Let me explain, most music magazines have over the years changed their focus on more popular bands, new music styles, added games, clothes, TV and showbiz in their mix just to get traffic. Look at NME for instance that is now ruled by clickbait articles and rubbish content. It has nothing left that reminds of the good old NME. All of its roots have been removed for the sake of clicks.

Another example is Techcrunch. This online tech magazine was the best back in time, but then it got taken over, and suddenly they started to pour out tons of clickbait articles, which had nothing to do with what the magazine was about in its early days and that was: talking about startups. I used to be a daily reader, I stopped simply because I couldn’t keep up with all the extra news being posted that was way out of the scope they had in the past.

Less is often more, also for magazines.

It comes to this, stick to your roots and make sure you have a continuous and regular number of articles posted.

From a label’s point of view, I have always worked on both. Now, since I usually work with new bands, it’s not always easy to have them launched rapidly like we could in the past. It now takes time. And I also understand the labels when they no longer see clear. There are roughly 1500 journalists out there that claim to have a magazine that handles Dark-Wave. 80% of which basically has a blog that has 10 visitors a day. Good for them, but I don’t believe in them. Basically, and we have to be very honest, there are close to no magazines left in this scene with a wacky team like ours that is day in day out constantly working to get a certain number of articles online.

Those left still reach around 50.000 people daily on their websites and socials combined per day. And that’s a rough estimate but I’m very close, I think. Not exactly peanuts in a scene this small like ours. And quite a good crowd to for instance push smaller, unknown bands to.

In short, yes, I do believe in our future, as long as we stay loyal to our vision and mission. The numbers show it, we are reaching more people than ever, and not thanks to Facebook, but thanks to our daily newsletter, push notifications and all the other channels combined.

Q: Next to Side-Line and Alfa Matrix you’ve been also involved as organizer -and later as organizer ad hoc, of the now defunct famous Belgian underground festival ‘Eurorock’. A lot of things have been said about that festival. How do you look back at this event(s) with hindsight?

Bernard: A bit like SABENA, such a bad experience never again (laughs).

I’m still unable to talk about the first 2 editions I invested money in, due to some legal matters, but suffice to say you always have to look out who to trust. I lost a lot of money there, and evicted myself right on time from that very toxic situation. The 3^rd time, I was contracted – as I never wanted to be an investor again- but never got paid. In the end I had to solve most of the shit together with the stage managers who just like me were contracted and never paid. The shit thrown at us afterwards by people who have no clue is exemplary yet not exceptional in this or any other scene.

I made sure that every single band I had placed there was paid correctly. Most were grateful I made this happen, others cashed in and badmouthed me in public. So far for the thanks (grins). But I never forget… nor forgive (laughs).

Q: I know you prefer avoiding the question, but next to music you’re also politically engaged. What can you tell us about the subject?

Bernard: I’m not really trying to avoid it, I just think it’s not part of my work for Side-Line or Alfa Matrix, period. I always have tried to never mix it with both although some people are trying to frame me one way or another, usually because they don’t get my sarcasm. But now that you ask about it, yes I’m politically active in one of the biggest elected and ruling parties here in Flanders. That has been an excuse from extremists and activists to attack me in public, call my employer and frame me as ultra conservative, ultra catholic or even a pur-sang fascist. Well, sorry for those lunatics, but I’m as much a nationalist as any Norwegian hanging the Norwegian flag in their garden (that’s roughly every Norwegian with a garden) and as catholic as Macron. And as far as the other words used by ‘my’ critics, I don’t like the woke culture that is being pushed in our faces. Period.

For the rest I’m happily married with a Mexicana, one of my best friend is a Turkish Muslim, one of my closest friends is transgender, and in my scarce free time I help people with learning disabilities to learn social skills. That should say enough. For the rest, I keep politics out of Side-Line and far away from Alfa Matrix because it’s basically not music. I don’t ask our readers about their political ideas either and I frankly don’t care.

However, I must say that over the years we never had remarks from readers when we post reviews or news from hardcore communist bands, but that we always get harassed by a very tiny group when a more conservative band is being covered. That’s a pure fact. I never discriminate, but I see some others discriminating people because they don’t agree with the ideas of this or that band. Rather disturbing…

I have a very good story actually regarding this. I once got an email from a guy, who started a rant because we had posted a review of a certain band on Side-Line. He called them fascists, racists, etc, etc.. But when I went checking his Facebook profile, I immediately understood why he was specifically attacking that band. His Facebook was filled with anti-semitic and anti-Israel rants… and the band he talked shit about had a Jewish singer. Shocking, but reality.

The same for some BLM activists who have been attacking Side-Line in the past because we talk about –and I quote: ‘White men bands’. It is the same as attacking Motown Records because they have a black repertoire. Most of the criticism can be explained by checking who is saying what about whom.

I know 2 famous bands in this scene who have made anti-semitic rants behind closed doors, I was shocked and told them this was really not right. One band member –member himself of a communist party, has since then been talking shit about me whenever and wherever he can, I guess in order to cover himself in case I make his name and emails with rants public. I also know bands who are very homophobic, but for the sake of things pretend they are pro LGTB-rights. In short, if I would write a book about the dirty wash I have witnessed over the years I think I would have a bestseller (grins).

I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad.

Anyhow, I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad. I prefer doing good, under what political umbrella that may be. I also believe in taking responsibility for your own actions, and hard work. Locally I’m quite appreciated because I talk and listen to everyone, what their skin color, political belief or sexual orientation may be. And if they have a legitimate claim or need, I will try to help.

Q: Quite recently the Side-Line server crashed and you started a crowd funding to pay the costs. Your action was quite successful and Side-Line has been reactivated, which seems to prove Side-Line still means a lot to labels/artists and readers. How do you look back at this stressed period?

Bernard: I was like ‘NOT AGAIN!’ when I realized it was not just an issue of rebooting the server when the server didn’t fire up as planned. We already had lost our previous site years ago due to a server issue and lost years and years of data… so you can imagine I was kinda stressed (laughs). But luckily enough, I had been working with this software engineer (editor’s note: Martin Rosselle) in another IT project. He is working for some of the biggest companies I know and he literally has made a name as being somebody who solves problems, a Winston Wolf in the software sector as you wish. I contacted him and told him we really needed the site back operational pretty fast and if he could help out. He canceled all his freelance work he had planned and asked me to come over so I could follow closely and help with the work. The error we had, was even for the engineers at our hosting company quite a real conundrum. Hell, they even asked us to please keep them informed as to how we would solve it because they had run out of options.

I took a 5 days unpaid leave, jumped in my car at 5 in the morning and drove 3,5 hours to set up shop at Martin’s place. In the car I was thinking of how to finance this endeavor… I’m already pumping thousands of Euros into Side-Line each year, but corona made that a lot of my income had completely vaporized so an extra financial blow like this was just very, very difficult.

Then while I was having a coffee at a motorway restaurant, somebody sent me a WhatsApp message saying: ‘Hey Bernard, I saw your message that the site is down and that you guys are working on it. If you set up a crowdfund, I’ll gladly help!’ I was like, ‘really would people help out?’ So whilst doing the last hundred kilometers I was thinking ‘why not, if it gathers enough to pay half of the bill then that would already help a lot ‘.

But it turned out to be really overwhelming… I’m still emotional when I think of it really… I saw the donations pouring in, from readers, bands, small labels, small PR companies, artists. I was actually very positively surprised that it were the smaller labels and bands next to lots of readers that came forward to support this crowdfund. I haven’t heard a word from the big labels… One of the biggest label bosses in this scene did send me an email… asking when their news would be up… no help, no question, nothing. It strengthens me in my vision that we have to stay an incubator for new talents and new and smaller labels, as they are definitely more connected with us…

I did learn another lesson from this though, and that is that I need to delegate more. Jan-Ronald Stange has been helping with design, and I contracted Martin for our server maintenance and security so that we can intervene directly with the right people when needed.

Q: What have been the best and worst memories from all the years you’ve been involved with Side-Line?

Bernard: The worst: seeing others suffer. You know what I mean.

The best: it is wonderful to stay friends for all these years with people with such different characters inside the team. And Side-Line also opened the gate towards other people I respect, I got in contact with Jan-Ronald Stange thanks to a lunatic groupie, so that ended well (laughs). And I shouldn’t forget Anne-Laure, Erlend, Marianne, Leydi, Simon and so many other people who have become close and reliable friends thanks to Side-Line.

Basically, working at and with Side-Line is the proof for me that one doesn’t need to stay in his/her own echo chamber to respect and be respected. You know that as well, I have told you that in a recent text message remember?

Q: Are you sometimes thinking about the end of Side-Line and also the end of Alfa Matrix? What should be the best way to say goodbye?

Bernard: I have a pretty compulsive character, however, Side-Line has been a constant element in my life for the past 30 years. I always dedicate 2-3 hours per day to the magazine, writing articles, working on the site’s cms and machinery behind it, answering a ton of emails… It survived 2 marriages so far as well (laughs)! So no, it’s a part of me, and I haven’t really thought about stopping although there have been moments that I think, who the hell am I doing this for… But then you get a big thank you mail from a band or reader or label and that’s enough to kill off those negative feelings.

But if we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang (smiles). But so far so good.

If we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang.

The same goes for Alfa Matrix, as long as we can find good bands to push, we’ll continue.

Q: You and I have had some personal issues, but I think that thanks to Side-Line, we became and still are good friends. Any specific souvenir or anecdote you want to share?

Bernard: Ah yes, we have gone through some turmoil you and me. I guess that is just part of good friendships, it’s like a marriage I guess, either you make up or you go to a lawyer (laughs). I guess we both learned from our private wars and have learned to respect each other. And that is what counts, we learned to see what unites us, not what divides us. And we never had to hire a lawyer (laughs)!

But speaking about the special moments… Well, racing on a German motorway at 200 km/h in a BMW to get home in time to drop of some equipment and then realize we could have delivered it 2 days later as well…. That was quite a memorable and especially dangerous moment we shared (laughs). Honestly, it was completely irresponsible, and I would never do it again, whatever the reason. Had we crashed, a magazine would have disappeared, a label and a few bands would never have seen the light of day and my sons would for sure never have existed and most importantly this: some others could have been injured or killed. I never drive fast nowadays, if I’m too late for a meeting so be it, but usually I start on time, it also avoids unnecessary stress and gives me the option to also have a coffee underway.

I also remember some sectarian veggie restaurant somewhere in Brussels where we ended up via John Sellekaers I think? That was quite weird for me… the food was ok though, but I’m not really into sects (laughs). But aside from that, I kinda miss sitting in a restaurant with all of us, you, Seba, Benoit, Cedric, and a few others which are still part of my inner circle, but who I don’t see enough. Luckily at least you and me did a good restaurant now !

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.

Soft Cell release all new single, ‘Bruises On My Illusions’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 11:02:54 +0000

Out now is the brand new Soft Cell single “Bruises On My Illusions” which also announces the band’s first album in over 20 years for the duo consisting of Marc Almond and Dave Ball. The new album, “Happiness Not Included”, will be released on February 25, 2022.

The single “Bruises On My Illusions” is available in digital format, plus the CD along with the 12 inch vinyl singles.

Marc Almond explains: “‘Bruises On My Illusions’ is a Soft Cell film noir about a character disillusioned with everything and who still has hope for a better future, despite poor forecasts. A darker version of ‘Bedsitter’. Dave’s challenging and incisive backing vocals inspired this song.”

Dave Ball adds: “It’s one of our darkest cinematic moments with classic Marc Almond lyrics.”

Bonus tracks in the physical format of the single will include remixes of “Bruises On My Illusions” by Dave Ball’s other project, The Grid, as well as by Manhattan Clique. You furthermore get a remix of “Nighthawks” courtesy of Throbbing Gristle legends Chris & Cosey and extended versions of the albumtracks “Happiness Not Included’ and “Heart Like Chernobyl” in addition to the bonus track “Vapourise”.

Here’s the 2-track single for you to check out.

Northern Loner – The Blank Spot (EP – Northern Loner)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 22 May 2021 18:30:00 +0000

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

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Set up by Magnus Norr (also involved with Deadbeat, Le Volt), Northern Loner has already released a full length album and several EP’s. “The Blank Spot” is the newest work featuring five songs.

Content: “The Blank Spot” brings us back in time, awakening somewhere in the midst of the 80s Electro/Wave-Pop. There clearly is a vintage aspect running through the music; it’s all about melody lines and some typical effects from that time. The vocals are a bit androgenic and sometimes remind me of Marc Almond. You here and there also will notice some astral-like tones and atmospheres. The last cut is an instrumental edit.

+ + + : This is retro Wave-Pop music, but with a very own touch on top. The music has a ‘feel-good’ feeling. I like the catchy “The Nobles”, but also the last, instrumental song “Nightflight To Sardinia” revealing irresistible studio effects. The production of the vocals is another essential aspect of this project.

– – – : We get 5 different songs, but I can’t affirm to have heard a potential hit.

Conclusion: Northern Loner brings Wave-Pop to life with a unique approach.

Best songs: “The Nobles”, “Nightflight To Sardinia”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100019057216619

About Northern Loner

Northern Loner is the project of Magnus Norr, who has also been involved with Deadbeat and Le Volt. Following an earlier full-length album and several EPs, Northern Loner released “The Blank Spot” EP in 2021, followed by the “Utanför” EP later that year and the album “The Paper City Conspiracy” in 2022.

Dubstar interview: ‘I think my biggest problem will be re-adjusting, if and when the time comes’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 15:47:46 +0000

(Interview by Simon Helm) Dubstar first came to prominence in the 1990s with the kind of hummable dreampop songs that worked as well driving as in clubs.

Despite chart success, they went on hiatus at the end of the decade. Singer Sarah Blackwood joined Technique and went on tour with Depeche Mode, which led to the founding of Client, the first band on Andy Fletcher’s Toast Hawaii label. Collaborations followed with Martin Gore, Nitzer Ebb and Die Krupps, as the band rode the electro-clash wave.

Blackwood returned to the Dubstar fold and, in 2018, the act returned with a new album, One. Honed to the duo of Blackwood and musician Chris Wilkie, Dubstar’s sound maintained its classic resonance, but with updated and reinvigorated melodies.

The band’s latest release is “I Can See You Outside,” which comes with a video addressing themes like CCTV surveillance. Their previous single, “Hygiene Strip,” tackled the public health crisis. This is deeper material from a group that once got into trouble for using pictures of sexy pencil cases on their covers.

We spoke with Dubstar to find out more about creating under lockdown and their colourful history.

SL: Dubstar seems to be in a much better place as a duo. How do the two of you work together to create the new songs?

Sarah: We live a couple of hundred miles apart, so rely on WeTransfer and sending songs back and forth to each other. Chris will usually start with a template; and, if I like it and it feels and sounds good “sung,” we develop it. Sometimes the vocal suggests different areas to approach, like a key change or a word tweak, and sometimes they don’t need much development; they are almost fully formed and ready to send on to the mother ship, which is [producer Stephen Hague’s] studio.

Chris: Even the people at the end of my street seem a couple of hundred miles away nowadays. But yes, we already had a bit of practice at working “remotely” for geographical reasons. I can usually imagine what the songs will sound like with Sarah singing them, but often unforeseen ideas will emerge in response to what happens the first time she approaches it. Maybe because she hears something which I hadn’t, and her delivery suggests another layer of meaning.

SL: You have been working on new material with Stephen Hague. He seems to have collaborated with a lot of Northerners – New Order, Pet Shop Boys, OMD, Holly Johnson and Pete Shelley being just a few examples. How did you take to him, being from Yorkshire?

S: He’s very mild mannered and easy going. This time around, it was like picking up from where we left off. I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but I’ve known and worked with him, on and off, for 25 years.

He has seen me through drunken melodramas to sober neurosis; through Dubstar to Client and back again. He even helped me design my kitchen. He’s always tried to nurture and encourage me as a person, especially during the first album, when I was overwhelmed by just about everything. He was a welcome, quiet and calming, influence; and he used to lend me books he thought would be relevant and helpful. Stephen went out of his way to put me at ease, which I massively appreciated. In all the madness, his recording studio was always a place of calm and focus.

So, the Northerner in both myself and Chris is pretty direct. We don’t need pandering to, and hope what you see is what you get – which I think works well with Stephen’s laid-back calm, on both a productive and a personal level.

C: Perhaps it helps that he’s from Maine and is essentially a Northerner himself, in U.S. terms.

He brings a tranquility-of-mind to proceedings, which is something which me and Sarah have always struggled to achieve without assistance!

SL: The new material doesn’t shy away from confronting themes lifted from the headlines, including the pandemic. How have you been coping during the crisis?

S: I have significantly narrowed my horizons to stay sane, what with ever-changing restrictions. I can’t seem to keep up with which iterations are the most recent, so I just keep my head down, stay close to home, and go out only when it’s absolutely necessary.

I’m massively introverted, anyway, so I’ve quite enjoyed nesting and making unrealistic plans for my home environment, but some of my friends have found it very difficult and I worry for them. My WhatsApp groups with my friends and relatives have become lifelines, even if all we share is yet another banana bread recipe or the latest Donald Trump meme. I see more of my parents, via Zoom, than I ever did, so I think some good has come out of it.

I think my biggest problem will be re-adjusting, if and when the time comes. I haven’t used public transport or been into the centre of town since February. Two evenings out ended disastrously in anxiety attacks, so I think a gentle re-introduction is most definitely in order.

C: I haven’t coped well at all, but making the record has been a lifeline. I liken it to any recycling process: you can take fear and sorrow, and transform them into something less harmful, or even useful.

SL: Sarah, you have sung with Die Krupps. What was it like performing a Visage song with Germany’s legendary industrial act?

S: Well, I remember the recording of it vividly!!!! About three days before, in the middle of a tour, I was given a CD of “Der Amboss” with strict instructions to learn it – which really was mission impossible with absolutely no access to a CD player. Smartphones then were still a twinkle in the eye of Steve Jobs.

So, on our Saturday off, Ralf [Dörper] dutifully appeared at the hotel just after breakfast, bundled me into a car, and whisked me off to a recording studio in Düsseldorf. I had the journey time to listen to it, on repeat, and then he told me I had to sing it in German too! I have no aptitude for languages, whatsoever, although all my German friends love teaching me very bad things to say for their own amusement.

Honestly, trying to get my Yorkshire mouth and dialect around the song left us all in fits of laughter. I could see Ralf and Jürgen [Engler] doubled over in tears through the window of the control room, especially “habe spas mit mir”! It took a long, long time to record.

I had the absolute pleasure of singing it with them onstage in London a couple of times, but I think a lot of the fans were confused as to who I was and why I was there. They were very accepting, though, and gave me a nice cheer.

And then, post gig, I showed Die Krupps how to stretch out their hip flexors in the dressing room. That was an unforgettable image of them all doing the couch stretch. So game. Love them.

SL: Dubstar were managed, at one time, by the same man who had signed Test Department and Cabaret Voltaire to major labels. How did that come about?

S: Just like Marc Almond, our first encounter with Stevo [Pearce] was in Leeds. His first words were, “See that billboard? Your name will be on there one day, in lights!”

I wasn’t bowled over, to be honest. That sort of thing doesn’t really float my boat. In fact, it would be more likely to induce panic if it ever happened. He was one in a long line of potential managers we had seen. The record label were losing patience with us. We needed a manager – needed one the day before yesterday – and we were terrified of making the wrong choice, but were also so tired, physically and emotionally. We were at the stage where the last one we had seen was the best one – and he was the last one.

Also, his girlfriend was Cleo Rocos. Cleo was Stevo’s secret weapon. Both Chris and I wanted to be in Cleo’s orbit. She was just one of “those” people: warm, fun and genuinely caring. She became a bit of a rock for me at the time: encouraging me with writing and performing; buying me CDs of interesting artists, like Dory Previn; picking up false eyelashes for me on her travels; and, most wonderfully, she used to ring me when she knew I was scheduled to be on my own in a hotel room.

She was a big fan of watching C4 Friday night comedy, especially Frasier, and Chris and I continued that tradition long after Stevo had stopped managing us. We always sent a little thank you into the universe for Cleo.

To me, then, Stevo appeared quite bonkers. He also told me he was dyslexic, and the one thing I admired about him was that, every day, he would learn a new word and incorporate it into his vocabulary. He never saw limitations, only exciting possibilities – no matter how crazy. One of his more publishable ideas was to engineer a photo opportunity in front of the Selfridges Christmas tree, with him dressed as Santa bestowing us with our gold disc for Goodbye sales, whilst the EMI executives posed as elves. In the little green suits and curly toe shoes. It never happened.

C: I was aware of Stevo as a teenager, because he was often referenced in relation to The The or Soft Cell, and I used to find his notes of wisdom on the Some Bizzare record sleeves interesting. The one he put on Soul Mining always stuck in my head: “With every kick in the face and every hurdle you pass, the rewards get greater“.

It seemed very profound and benevolent, so I suggested that he put one on our Goodbye album. It wasn’t quite as snappy, but I appreciated the lineage.

We could probably fill an entire book with anecdotes just from the period where he was our manager. I was amused that he had a literal, free-flowing fountain of Dom Perignon in his office on New Bond Street to entertain visitors, until I realised who was paying for it.

SL: It seems like narcissists are everywhere in the music industry these days. Does that mean they are winning?

S: Ha, I’ve encountered a couple over the years. I don’t think I ever will again, now I’m a little older and hopefully wiser. I think narcissists have always been with us but social media has given them a platform to thrive, and we are becoming more able to spot them. It’s that thing: the more you look for them, the more you see. Maybe social media exaggerates those traits in people, too, like a virus, which is very sad. They start as entertaining and end up being toxic, which can stir up emotions – and sometimes that’s not a good thing.

We have never been more scrutinised as a society; nor judged as individuals, particularly in media and politics. I think having a profile comes with responsibility, which some don’t realise, and it’s time we all started to scrutinise how we communicate. It used to be something we all just took for granted, but maybe the negative aspects of social media have thrown up some things we can all learn from.

C: It’s unsurprising that narcissists would be attracted to the music business or any role in public life, because it affords them attention. They’re often good at it for a while, but it’s bound to end badly, because they lack the ability to perceive how others see them.

‘Click Interview’ with Anni Hogan: ‘It Was A Really Happy Album Setting Based On Love And Friendship’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 17:00:06 +0000

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!

Did you know that Soft Cell’s ‘Sex Dwarf’ video remains banned from UK tv airing?

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:57:49 +0000

Soft Cell video for “Sex Dwarf” is still banned from being shown on UK television and this 38 years after it was filmed. In 1981 Tim Pope directed the video featuring Soho brothel workers wielding chainsaws, a dwarf wearing a fetish outfit and piles of raw meat as Almond performs the song in a tiny codpiece.

In an interview with Yahoo Marc Almond says: “The video for ‘Sex Dwarf’ was ahead of its time, in the way we were using transgender people, or we would use people who were prostitutes that we found around Soho, people that were working in clubs. And then here was the dwarf himself, which really went against what you were supposed to do!”

Live Maggots !

Also included is Dave Ball reacting in horror as Tim Pope unexpectedly throws live maggots at them. You can see the uncesored version below.

The ban doesn’t bother Almond at all: “I’ve never wanted to release it publicly, officially, because it became such a legendary thing. We like the fact some people have seen it and created this urban myth about it. We like that it’s bootlegged and slightly seedy.”

And here’s that legendary banned video!

https://youtu.be/XIRhyaQO5X4

V/A Earthen (DCD Album – Cold Spring)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 19:30:20 +0000

Genre/Influences: Industrial, dark-ambient, death-industrial, ritual, experimental, drone.

Background/Info: Cold Spring Records is one of the ‘oldest’ and most recognized labels from the dark-underground scene. Dealing with styles such as industrial-, experimental, dark-ambient, ritual music and a few other related genres, the British label celebrates its 250^th release by a massive compilation featuring 29 bands and tracks.

Artists: Merzbow / Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Penny Rimbaud, Nytt Land, Psychic TV, Coil, MZ.412, Zeni Geva & Steve Albini, C.3.3., Coil + Zos Kia + Marc Almond, Tunnels Of Ah ao.

Content: This is the perfect compilation to get familiarized with the sound Cold Spring is dealing with. A sound that has been always extreme and this for being miles away from commercial standards and fashion trends. Cold Spring Records is a label with a truly spirit and that’s probably the reason why such an important number of talented-, visionary- and recognized artists have signed to Justin Mitchell’s record company.

“Earthen” brings you an impressive canvas of artists and styles, but is mainly a way to get familiar –or simply rediscovering, tracks taken from the latest releases on the label. There’s just one previously unreleased song and that’s one from Coil.

+ + + : When you simply have a look at the tracklist you can only, but admit Cold Spring feels like the sonic cave of Ali Baba. We all will have our favorites, but I recommend the dark-ambient format made by Mz.412, the industrial-ambient of She Spread Sorrow, the industrial/noise experiments of Merzbow / Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, the pagan-ritual style of Nytt Land, the apocalyptic rock of Jotunspor, the industrial work of C.3.3. and even the kind of heavenly final track by Barry Adamson + Pan Sonic + The Hafler Trio. And of course there’s this exclusive song (cf. “Spastische (Trumpo)” by Coil, which sounds as industrial-jazz.

– – – : You really have to be an ‘experienced’ listener of extreme music genres to like this kind of compilation. Speaking for myself I think it’s a great sampler, but I regret –and especially for a celebration release, it has been not something more special; like bands featuring exclusive tracks.

Conclusion: Cold Spring feels like a relief for music lovers who’re listening to music others have never heard of. “Earthen” sounds as sweet noise for extreme music lovers!

Best bands: Mz.412, Nytt Land, She Spread Sorrow, Tunnels Of Ah, Common Eider King Eider, C.3.3., Penny Rimbaud, Merzbow / Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.

Rate: (8).

Label: www .coldspring .co .uk / www .facebook .com /coldspringhq

About Cold Spring Records

Cold Spring is a UK label owned by Justin Mitchell, specializing in industrial, dark-ambient, neo-classical and power-electronics/noise releases. “Earthen” was issued to mark the label’s 250th catalogue release.

How did Jean-Marc Lederman end up with The The at The The Marquee gigs in 1982?

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:43:08 +0000

A few days ago Jean-Marc Lederman – the man who worked with numerous bands including Fad Gadget, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Front 242, Julianne Regan, Jacques Duvall and Alain Bashung – posted the above picture about him playing with The The. We asked Jean-Marc how that happened.

SL: How did Jean-Marc Lederman end up with The The at The The Marquee gigs in 1982?

JM: The year was 1982 and I was living in London, tired of the belgian music scene. I had moved there shortly after my service in the Belgian Army, gee talk about a waste of time (do you see me as good proctection against the Russians ? Case closed).

Matt had heard my EP “Statistics Mean Nothing When On The Wrong Plane” and he reached out to me through a mutual friend. He told me about the residencey gigs The The had planned 4 thurdays in a row at the Marquee, the legendary London club.

So, I went to a rehearsal and it was real anarchy: everybody banging on petrol tanks à la Einsturzende Neubauten. Jim Thirlwell was there, Zeke Manyaka was playing the drums and Thomas Leer was playing some synths. We both had a Roland Jupiter 4 so we ended up using his. I remember telling them to stop banging the drums and start working the songs…

SL: And how did the gigs itself go?

The gigs were well announced and The The was quite the talk in London so the place was really packed. I was very nervous, I hate playing live as this is definitively not one of my strong points, and waiting backstage was tense. We had a set cut in several parts with some guests. I was starting the show, we all head to wear balaclavas and an early version of “Giant” was the first song, if I recall correctly . Marc Almond was a guest on the first concert, and so was Richard Kirk from Cabaret Voltaire (or was it Malinder ? It’s so long ago…).

We had more or less the same set for the 4 thursday residency shows and it was a bit strange to have to come back to the same place but it was quite common in the UK for bands to have a serie of shows week in week out at the time apparently.

SL: So all in all, how would you describe it?

JM: A great experience. Next week, I’ll tell you how and when Matt and Johnny Marr beat me at soccer-table but I won a Depeche Mode silver disc in the process (laughs).

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘13 Ghost Stories’.

Coil + Zos Kia + Marc Almond – How To Destroy Angels / A Slow Fade To Total Transparency (CD Album – Cold Spring Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 19:30:12 +0000

Genre/Influences: Experimental, industrial. Background/Info: Cold Spring Records’ time machine brings us back to 1983 when John Balance (Coil), John Gosling (Zos Kia) and Marc Almond (Soft Cell) recorded “A Slow Fade To Total Transparency”. The live mix was done by Peter Christopherson (Throbbing Gristle, Coil). This work brings us back to the original recordings, which have been remastered. It’s a previously unreleased and therefore exclusive release featuring legendary pioneers of the experimental- and industrial movement. Content: The opening cut was recorded live at ‘The Air Gallery’ on August, 24^th, 1983. It’s a long and experimental piece (over the 23 minutes), which reflects the true spirit of early –and especially British, experimental music. It’s a kind of sonic documentary; an endless narration (which you also can call a raw-kind of poetry) joined by multiple noises mixed in the background. The last part features more explicit sounds of percussion, metallic noises, glasses ao. We next get a remix –and shorter cut, by Zos Kia, which appears to be an industrial collage. Last, but not least there’s also a live track from Zos Kia (composed together with John Balance) from 1983. + + + : This record is a part of the experimental- & industrial music history. It brings exceptional artists together who accomplished a truly experimental- and visionary work. The original version reflects the early spirit of this experimental movement while it also brings us back to the first hours of Coil. They later on released the 12” “How To Destroy Angels” (a version of 16”) and the debut album “Scatology”. Coil instantly entered into history and this work is what originally happened before their glorious days. I like the more industrial-like remix by Zos Kia while the live track by Zos Kia also is a noticeable cut. – – – : I think you really have to know what 80s experimental music was all about to fully enjoy this work. If you never heard of Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Z’ev, Non, Monte Cazazza, The Hafler Trio, Last Few Days and co you probably will find this album monotone and without a real interest. Conclusion: Cold Spring Records again had brought a truly sonic legacy and industrial treasure to life! An absolute must have! Best songs: “How To Destroy Angels”, “How To destroy Angels – Zos Kia Remix”. Rate: (8). Artist: www .facebook .com /MarcAlmondOfficial Label: www .coldspring .co .uk / www .facebook .com /coldspringhq

About Coil, Zos Kia & Marc Almond

Zos Kia was formed in London by John Gosling (also known as Mekon) and John Balance, who also led Coil, with guest contributions from Peter Christopherson of Throbbing Gristle. Zos Kia’s sole album, “Transparent”, was issued on cassette by the Austrian label Nekrophile in August 1983 and stands as the first released recording by both Zos Kia and Coil. Marc Almond, known for Soft Cell, joined Balance and Gosling for the 1983 live recording reissued here. Cold Spring later released the complete Zos Kia anthology “23” in 2017.

Soft Cell release first new song in 15 years: ‘Northern Lights’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 12:58:59 +0000

Soft Cell have just released their first new song in 15 years, the (rather delicious) electropop track “Northern Lights”. The release comes as the duo is preparing for a farewell concert at the O2 Arena, London, on 30 September. You can check out the song in a radio edit below.

“Northern Lights”, along with another new track, “Guilty (Cos I Say You Are)”, will be on the band’s compilation album, “The Singles – Keychains and Snowstorms” which will be released on 28 September.

Side-Line presents: 10 free tickets for W-Festival – Amougies (BE)

Filip Wildhoney — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 12:57:44 +0000

From 15th until 19th August 2018 the third edition of the W-Festival takes place at the festival-area in the Rue Couture d’Orroir in Amougies, Belgium. More than 60 new wave, EBM, industrial, post-punk, synth-pop and eighties bands are featured on 3 stages.

This year some of the confirmed artists are: Bauhaus (Peter Murphy 40 years of Bauhaus celebration feat. David J.), Anne Clark, DAF, Clan Of Xymox, DIE KRUPPS, Dive, Front Line Assembly, Suicide Commando, Covenant, Lords Of Acid, Vive La Fête, A Split Second, Project Pitchfork, Trisomie21, She Past Away, Chameleons Vox, Red Zebra, Kim Wilde, Paul Young, Marc Almond, Midge Ure, A Flock Of Seagulls, Heaven 17, ABC, …

Besides watching concerts you can also visit markets and merchandise shops, signing-sessions, afterparties and other exclusivities like the daily screening of “Industrial Accident – The story of Wax Trax ! Records” documentary (94 min.) from the 16th till the 19th of August at 10:30am.

Side-Line gives away 10 free tickets (for 4 days)! Just enter the contest below. We will choose the winners on June 18.

Information and tickets can be found here

Soft Cell call it quits – final show in September in London

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 19:00:23 +0000

The English synthpop duo Soft Cell, consisting of Marc Almond and Dave Ball, have announced a farewell reunion concert. The concert is their first in 15 years and will take place at London’s O2 on September 30.

The final show is marking their 40th anniversary as a duo. Marc Almond: “With Soft Cell I always felt something was unfinished. This last ever final show will be the best ever ending. It will be a real statement and send off, and thank you to every fan.”

Tickets can be ordered right here starting tomorrow morning, if you want to book a hotel in London, check now (tip: you’ll get 10% cash back via this Booking.com link)!

Rumour has it that the ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’ concert will also be filmed for a later video release.

Soft Cell was initiated during 1977 after Almond and Ball met at Leeds Polytechnic. The same year they releases a self-financed EP, “Mutant Moments”, which caught the interest of record labels such as Mute Records and Some Bizzare Records.

Not surprisingly Soft Cell’s next recording, “The Girl with the Patent Leather Face”, appeared as a contribution to the “Some Bizzare Album”, which featured then-unknown bands such as Depeche Mode, The The, and Blancmange. The duo ultimately signed to the Some Bizzare label, backed by Phonogram Records. And the rest is history!

Marsheaux launches new single ‘Like A Movie’ – watch the video right here!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 19:30:12 +0000

The Greek act Marsheaux has launched a new single taken from the album “Ath.Lon” (available here on vinyl, 2CD and various other formats) together with a video which you can watch below.

Marsheaux are a Greek female electro-pop duo (Marianthi Melitsi and Sophie Sarigiannidou). Originally from Thessaloniki, they moved to Athens and formed the group. Marianthi moved to London in 2015 and the girls commuted between Greece and the
UK to record the “Ath.Lon” album which was released August 2016.

Marsheaux will play at the Electric Dreams Weekender next Sunday (4th). The event takes place at the Butlins Bognor Regis Resort and also features sets from OMD, Heaven 17, Blancmange, Marc Almond and more.

Until Ben – The Ray (CD Album – Until Ben)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 19:03:06 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-experimental, electro-jazz, electro-pop.

Background/Info: Until Ben is a French producer who has compiled 8 songs on one album. It has been introduced as an EP, but I think it’s more appropriated to speak about an album –at least a mini-album.

Content: Some artists are hard to define when it comes to analyze their sound. Until Ben is a real special sound experience, which sounds a bit like mainly inspired by pop standards, but reworked with a kind of electronic-jazz style and other psychedelic passages. It definitely sounds minimal and experimental. The vocals, but also some parts of the album remind me of Marc Almond.

The vocals are rather clear-like, sometimes a bit half-spoken. The music makes me think to an imaginary soundtrack for an astral subject. There indeed is a real strong ‘space’-touch running through the work, which is only accentuated by the ‘psychedelic’ dimension of some passages.

+ + + : One thing is for sure, Until Ben is a rather unique experience in this genre, but the main question is to know what kind of music it’s all about. That’s for sure what makes the originality of this artist. I experienced it as the offspring between pop and jazz music composed with mainly electronics. I think it might appeal for the fans of Marc Almond.

– – – : As the music is quite minimal and experimental-like it also is not the most accessible sound. I can’t say it’s bad, but it’s not setting the world on fire. I’m maybe missing some more explicit pop elements to make it all more easier to listen to.

Conclusion: “The Ray” is an original experiment in sound, but not exactly the kind of sound getting me wild. The mix of jazz, pop and a kind of psychedelic influence is not the most efficient sound I’ve ever heard.

Best songs: “The Choice”, “Landing”.

Rate: (6).

Band: www .untilben .com / www .facebook .com /untilben

Parralox – Holiday ’15 (CD Album – Conzoom Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 20:10:57 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, cabaret-pop, cinematographic.

Background/Info: This is the 8^th full length released by Parralox, which remains driven by the creative mind of John Von Ahlen. The Australian band remains one of the most recognized synth-pop formations from Australia.

Content: The least I can say is that Parralox doesn’t repeat them and this album is something really apart from what they’ve done before although nothing new in history. The electro-pop approach and inspiration remains the main basis, but there also is a noticeable cabaret and cinematographic approach. This album is an ode to some of their favorite bands and that’s why it features cover versions of bands like Rational Youth, Psyche, Camouflage, Pet Shop Boys and Human League (5 covers).

“Holiday ‘15” sounds more minimal and that’s precisely the kind of cabaret-touch emerging from the composition, which also makes the originality of these covers. It has been mixed with some good-old ‘retro’ influences of the original versions. It reminds me sometimes of Marc Almond while there’s no cover of this artist. You now and then also will notice some funky arrangements and nu-disco effects adding a glitch touch to the work.

+ + + : This is an original and creative adaptation of some ‘classics’. I like the approach of the covers.

– – – : “Holiday ‘15” doesn’t exactly sound danceable and that’s maybe a pity when you have some original songs like “Being Boiled” and “Gods And Monsters” in mind.

Conclusion: The cover concept is an old formula that has been used and abused by numerous bands, but Parralox tries to achieve it with some refreshing ideas and totally reworked the original songs.

Best songs: “Gods And Monsters”, “Always On My Mind / In My House”, “I Want To See The light”, “Morale / You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www .parralox .com / www .facebook .com /parralox

Label: www .conzoomrecords .de / www .facebook .com /conzoomofficial

Nature And Organisation – Snow Leopard Messiah (DCD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 17:17:04 +0000

Genre/Influences: Neo-folk, industrial, experimental, neo-classic, cinematographic.

Content: Trisol takes us back in time, re-releasing 2 full length albums of Nature And Organisation. This project set up by British artist Michael Cashmore didn’t gain a similar recognition as other projects he was involved in although it has been a familiar and recognized formation for all neo-folk lovers.

Cashmore got involved in Current 93 (together with David Tibet) while he later on worked together with Marc Almond and Antony & The Johnsons. This artistic digipak features the albums “Beauty Reaps The Blood Of Solitude” originally released in 1994 and “Death In A Snow Leopard Winter” (1998).

Let’s start with the first album “Beauty Reaps The Blood Of Solitude” featuring the original tracklist of 11 songs plus 2 bonus tracks. This is an essential release for its musical eclecticism and the contribution of famous artists like David Tibet (Current 93, Psychic TV), Douglas P (Death In June), Rose McDowall (Strawberry Switchbalde) and a few more contributors. The involvement of different artists probably resulted in this quite diversified opus, which moves from pure soundtrack compositions to neo-folk passages to experimental- and industrial music to a kind of poignant chanson exposure. This album sometimes reminds me of Rome (one of the Trisol flagholders) for its artistic diversity mixing similar styles and building a sonic bridge between neo-folk, industrial and real ‘chanson’, but there also is a kind of fascination for Jacques Brel. This legendary artist has been recognized as one of Rome’s main sources of inspiration while Michael Cashmore made a personal adaptation of Jacques Brel (“To You”, which is one of the bonus tracks).

Nature And Organisation also revealed a meaningful and sensitive artistic creation, which has been accomplished with the playing of several different acoustic instruments like guitar, mandolin, flute, cello, bassoon and the violin. There’s a beautiful symbiosis between these instruments and the experimental touch.

The diversity of the work is also noticeable in the production of the vocals. David Tibet, Douglas P and the angelic timbre of voice of Rose McDowall plus Cashmore himself have sung on this album.

This work is an opportunity to (re)discover beautiful songs like “Tears For An Eastern Girl” revealing one of the most intimate parts of the work, but also the harder and more into industrial-sounding “Obsession Flowers As Torture” and melancholic-ballad sounding “Bonewithglory”. These songs once more reflect the diversity of the work.

Both bonus cuts are essential pieces as well. “A Dozen Winters Of Loneliness” is another poignant ballad-minded song revealing influences of neo-folk and even some pop approach while “To You” simply sounds like beautiful melancholia.

“Death In A Snow Leopard Winter” features the 12 original and untitled songs. This album seems to have been never fully finished and yet it was released. That’s rather strange, but the least I can say is that the result is simply remarkable although quite different from the other disc.

Cashmore again worked with several guest artists adding violin, viola and cello parts. The work is instrumental and leads the listener on a magic cinematographic voyage. This is the kind of work appealing for a visual performance on which you can simply dream away. It’s a beautiful work with a strong neo-classic approach (because of the instruments) creating a compact entity where every single composition appears to be a little piece of a great work. That’s maybe the reason why the songs remain untitled as none sounds more important than another. It also is quite difficult to give you favorite cuts because it’s the kind of work you’ve to listen to as a real entity. It makes me think about a real classical composition, on which each passage is essential.

Notice by the way that this album has been totally re-mastered by Andrew Liles (Nurse With Wound)

Conclusion: This is a real interesting work, which totally fits to the Trisol roster, and is an opportunity to rediscover a somewhat forgotten artist.

Best songs: “Tears For An Eastern Girl”, “Blood Of solitude 1”, “Obsession Flowers As Torture”, “A Dozen Winters Of Loneliness”, “To You”.

Rate: (Elise Din:8)Elise Din.
Band: www.facebook.com/Nature-And-Organisation-official-119264624829166

Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol-Music-Group/104166526285471