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

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

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

You can already check out a few tracks here.

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

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

“Resurgence” Tracklist

Cd 1

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

Cd 2

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

Cd 3

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

Cd 4

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

Cd 5

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

Cd 6

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

Cd 7

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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(Photo by Michel Bresson / Martin Dupont) Martin Dupont, a French new wave band from Marseille disbanded in 1987. But they are now making a come back with a concert on January 21st 2023 in Marseille’s Espace Julien together with Corpus Delicti. Tickets are available here.

Martin Dupont was formed in 1982 and (re)released material on the following labels: Facteurs d’Ambiance, Minimal Wave and Infrastition. The band consisted of Alain Seghir, Brigitte Balian, Catherine Loy and Beverley Jane Crew, the latter joined the band after the first album “Just because” released in 1984.

After Martin Dupont split up in 1987, the members started their own projects. Brigitte Balian collaborated with the composer Patrick Portella, Beverley Jane Crew became producer of the Contemporary music network in London, and Alain Seghir composed for the choreographer Josette Baïz and the stylists Geneviève Delrieux and Patrick Murru, before devoting herself to his career as a surgeon (ENT surgery). He also created – together with Dan Armandy – the Supermax card for the Yamaha DX7 which was considered the invention of the year by Jean-Michel Jarre.

Although the band laid dormant for decades, the interest never really faded. A music video for the song “It’s so” was produced in 2005 by the American label Minimal Wave, followed by a limited edition vinyl in 2008 namely the compilation “Lost & Late”. The material included songs published on the unreleased cassette “81-83” from 1985. Another compilation followed the same year, “Des jeunes gens mödernes”. In 2009 the albums were re-released as a 4CD boxset by the French label Infrastition. Included in this set were previously unreleased tracks.

In 2017 the French electropop label BOREDOMproduct released the tribute album “Broken memory”.

In December 2018 the New York based label Minimal Wave released a new boxset, “The complete collection 1980-1988” holding 5 vinyls with artwork by Peter Miles. A previously unreleased track, “Nice boy”, appeared on the compilation “Des jeunes gens modernes volume 3”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

H/P are the initials of Happiness Project. The French Electro-Pop project signed on BOREDOMproduct is already busy for years and this year released the first album as H/P. Driven by Christelle Fournioux, Cyrille Tuyeras and Fred Tuyeras the new work entitled  “Programma” moves on there where previous Happiness Project albums stopped. Pure Electro minimalism reminding legendary 80s formations but with a more explicit vintage sound on top. “Programma” is a fascinating and achieved production which might serve as a referential opus for H/P. I got in touch with all members for this interview.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What made you change the name into H/P and what are the main differences with Happiness Project?

Fred: That was something we had in mind for quite a long time, and that was an idea of our label, who wanted some change. But however, we have always named ourselves H/P, when we were talking about the band.

Cyrille: Our latest album before “Programma” was named “Mutation”, so it meant that something was expected to change after this album. When we started to record and produce “Programma” with BOERDOMproduct, we thought it was time to change and simplify our name which was not always easy to understand for people who didn’t know us and our music. We chose the initials of our name H/P to make understand that our music will become more minimalist and will go rapidly to its purpose. But the soul of H/P doesn’t not change at all, we’re still the same and I think one can hear this in our music.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the way “Programma” saw the daylight? How did this new work took shape and what kind of album did you want to accomplish?

Fred: “Programma” started with a very clear idea of the music we wanted to make. We wanted to sound much more minimal than the two previous albums. The reason was we wanted a big change. But from the original versions of the songs, to their final aspect, things took some time, because there were a lot of back and forth movements between the band and the label. This is usual work, I guess when you are in the production process?

Christelle: Simplicity was the idea for this album, and I think we reached this purpose with our label which made a great work of production to give to our music this minimalism which contains a true depth either. And we wanted to change the way to sing and the position of voices in our music. Voices are more present and maybe dark either and are in real harmony with our music. All this was the programma for our album !  

Q: What makes the 80s sound that special and how did you incorporate this influence into your own composition? Do you have 80s standards?

Fred: The 80’s are so meaningful to us! Especially, because that was when we were musically born! I mean there was so much going on and so many extraordinary bands. Of course, we have so many standards from the 80’s ! The most important ones to us are Joy Division, New Order, In The Nursery, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins… But we have also been influenced by bands from the 1970’s, too! Kraftwerk and Space, to name two of them!

Q: You invited Alain Seghir from the legendary formation Martin Dupont to play bass guitar on one of the songs. How did this meeting and collaboration happened? And are there international 80s artists you also would like to work with?

Fred: Well, of course, Martin Dupont! We could have mentioned them before!! That’s such a long story. As fans, we bought all their albums, as they were coming out. Then Cyrille got in touch with Alain Séghir, via Myspace, who obviously enjoyed some of our creations. Then, we met at a concert in 2019, in Cognac, France. That was such a good moment. And as artists, we made the cover of “Just Because” for BOREDOM’s tribute album “Broken Memories”. The idea of having him on one of our songs naturally came to Cyrille who had an idea for a bass-guitar melody. He took a chance, sent an email to Alain and it worked out! 

Cyrille: Martin Dupont is one of our big influence. We had all their albums at home and I am still listening to their albums now. It was a dream which came true when we covered their song “Just Because”. When this song was produced on the tribute album “Broken Memory” Alain Seghir sent us an email to tell us that he enjoyed a lot our version. We were so happy that we decided to make an unofficial video of the track, because this song means so much to us. And if you take a look of this video you will see in the latest seconds that we announce in a certain way the change of our band’s name! So to continue this wonderful adventure I decided to invite Alain Seghir to play bass on our track “Vicinities” because I have always loved the way this great singer plays bass too. And the result is so cool, we love it.

If we could create another track with another legend of the 80’s, personally I would enjoy to create something with In The Nursery, Brendan Perry or New Order.

Q: What did you try to express by the album title “Programma” and the lyrical themes of the album? Can you also tell us a bit more about the artwork of “Programma”?

Fred: As for the artwork, this picture was issued from a series of works, which question the human place in an expansive urban world. It was made by a friend of ours, Stéphane Coubret. With the title “Programma” we wanted something which could evoke a certain idea of technological advance. Therefore, a word which did not exist, this could be the name of a retro-futuristic place, like in the picture or the name of a computer program. As for the lyrics, they were all inspired by this idea and the situation, we were all living in: confinement! 

Q: I noticed the reviews you already got for “Programma” are very positive. That brings me to ask you about the importance and impact of reviews, magazines and journalists? And do you sometimes consider to do things a different way because of reviews you get? And how critical are you with your own work?

Fred: We have never created any album as a response to former press reviews… at least, not consciously. Of course, we are sensitive to feedback but we have always created our music as a continuing pathway… and our goal has always been to not make the same album twice. We are critical with our own work, because we often feel doubt, uncertainty, but also willingness throughout the creation process. We do question ourselves a lot.

Cyrille: We create music to be listened and each feedback is very important for us and meaningful. When we have good reviews, it does not make everything, but encourage us to continue the long story of H/P. It gives us the will to celebrate our twentieth anniversary in 2023.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Happiness Project changed their name into H/P. Previous singles “Ultraviolin” and “Black Tea” revealed a true metamorphosis. “Programma” features ten songs of vintage Electro-Pop.

Content: The album stands in the tradition of BOREDOMproduct; pure Electro-Pop with delicate bleeps and retro sound treatments. H/P moved a bit further composing their songs with analogue equipment which only reinforced the 80s feeling. The songs remind me of bands like Taxi Girl, Kraftwerk, Visage and even Elli & Jacno. So it’s not really a surprise they invited Alain Seghir from the 80s formation Martin Dupont to play bass guitar on the last song of the album.

+ + + : The 80s approach is not the most original format, but real analogue gear still have this magic effect on me. Unique sound treatments mixing coldness together with melodies create the soul of this work. And it’s a great album revealing multiple noticeable songs like the already known singles “Ultraviolin” and “Black Tea”, but also the excellent opener “I Prefer Two” which sounds as the offspring between Kraftwerk and Taxi Girl. Another great piece of music is “The Alarmist”. It’s pure nostalgia and especially the strings are magic. “Les Choses” is another cool song I want to mention. Last, but not least I also like the production of the vocals revealing different songs featuring male- and female vocal parts.

– – – : I don’t have real minus points about this album, but let’s say that the ‘softer’ cuts like “Hope In The Distance” and “Black Tea” aren’t my favorites.

Conclusion: H/P has achieved a great piece of music. The metamorphosis from Happiness Project into H/P sounds like a great sonic upgrade. 

Best songs: “Ultraviolin”, “I Prefer Two”, “The Alarmist”, “Les Choses”, “Programma”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/hp.programma

Label: www.boredomproduct.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

(Photo by Emmanuel Prevot) Out now is the 2-track digital single “Ultraviolin” by the French electronica / synthpop act h/p including the video edit and an extended version.

“Ultraviolin” acts as a teaser for “Programma”, a 10-track genuine analog record with the sound quality of today. The material has been produced with synths and effects from that very analog era, then converted into high resolution thanks to the current technologies.

Here’s the video for the single, and below the Spotify player for the 2-track out now.

With “Programma” the band pays a tribute to the sound of avant-garde electronic pop pioneers from the early 80s. You also get Martin Dupont’s Alain Seghir on bass on the final track of the album.

The album is now in pre-order via BOREDOMproduct as a CD digisleeve or as an ultra-limited edition 12″ LP.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: IDM, Minimal-Electro, Industrial, Ambient-Electro, Experimental.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Twenty seven tracks to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the French label M-Tronic. As the title indicates, it also is the fifth volume in the Compilation series “Table Of Elements” which started in 2004 with ten tracks.

Artists: C.H.District, Cathode Ray Tube, Alpturer, Amantra, An Hedonia, Plaster, Mono Peninsula, Valance Drakes, Nearfield, Syl Kougaï, Tineidae + Comforting Darkness, EKS Center, DEF, Obscure Formats, Snowbeasts, Martin Dupont & Philippe Petit, Xorcist, Flint Glass, Ermanspeed, Shizuka, Leitmotiv Rainbow, Lith, Cruise [ctrl], NSP.

Content: The impressive tracklist perfectly stands for the particular and minimal-driven sound of the M-Tronic roster. It’s an avant-garde vision of the Electronic underground scene featuring an intelligent, sophisticated and complex approach of Electronic music. Most bands are familiar names from the label roster although you’ll discover other bands as well.

+ + + : M-Tronic is a label I’ve always respected for its visionary approach. Electronic music is much more than artists repeating each other and music genres without innovation. M-Tronic brings visionary music and always have dared to sign unknown bands with an intelligent sound. But intelligent music often stands for a rather restricted number of fans. I however remain an adherent of this label and this compilation simply confirms the good taste of the French label. And when you realize the label also released albums of bands like Millimetric, Mlada Fronta, Ex_Tension, Displacer, Geomatic ao, which aren’t featured on this compilation, you only, but have to agree this label stands for high tech productions.

– – – : A few more explicit Experimental passages aren’t my favorites one, but you don’t hear me to complaining.

Conclusion: Electronic music with an uppercase E!

Best bands: Tineidae + Comforting Darkness, Ermanspeed, S.H.I.Z.U.K.A., Lith, C.H. District, Leitmotiv Rainbow.

Rate: 8½.

Label: www.m-tronic.com / www.facebook.com/mtroniclabel

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Happiness Project is the French trio Christelle Fournioux (vocals), Fred Tuyeras (vocals, machines) and Cyrille Tuyeras (machines, bass). After a first self-released album (cf. “Remove Or Disable”) released in 2008 they later on joined hands together with the French label BOREDOMproduct. They released a new album (cf. “9^th Heaven”) in 2012 and a few EP’s. They this year unleashed their third full length (cf. “Mutation”), which in a way marks the return of the French electro-pop trio dealing with this typical and easy recognizable BOREDOMproduct sound. This is what the band has to say about it.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Your new album “Mutation” is the first one in six years. When did you start the writing of the new songs and what did you keep in mind from the entire composition process?

HP: We started “Mutation” as soon as “9th Heaven” was released. We had already thought about our new album. We wanted to make it clear to ourselves, that “Mutation” would be darker, closer to our native audience and more in accordance with our musical background. However, we also wanted “Mutation” to be closer to our state of mind, our spirit and our way of making music: a deeper insight into our preoccupations, a world which is constantly changing and where things often remain incomplete.

Q: The work features the contribution of label mates ‘JB’ (Dekad) and ‘Member U-0176’ (Celluloide). What have been their real impact and what does it reveal about the ‘sound’ and ‘friendship’ between the BOREDOMproduct artists?

HP: Member U-0176’s, as well as JB Dekad’s contributions to our album came from Member U-0176 himself. He wanted “Mutation” to sound differently, especially as far as rhythms were concerned. He knows we particularly like JB Dekad’s work, in this sense. As BOREDOMproduct is a family of artists, we automatically agreed with this idea. It turned out to be quite effective and we like the work made by JB Dekad on our songs.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t reveal much about our relationships within the label, as we all live in different French cities, far from each other. But we all look for the same goal: a post-production quality which fits the label’s musical style and audience. Our relationship with the other groups of the label consists in listening to their music with a true interest and a great attention.

Q: I think “Mutation” reveals an interesting twist between harder and somewhat EBM-driven songs at one side and pure melancholic electro-pop songs at the other side. Where does this duality comes from and tell us a bit more about “Mutation”?

HP: The duality which is obvious in “Mutation” comes from the guidelines we had defined before starting. We wanted to express that nothing is permanent in this world and that things switch from one aspect to another. Change, duality, mutations are part of mankind, so what better way than expressing all this through various musical styles, ranging from harder tracks to more EBM-driven songs! This is what the world is made of: as we say in our song “Mutation” : ‘Nothing’s complete’!

Q: The lyrical content clearly has its importance. What did you try to express and what have been the main sources of inspiration?

HP: Sources of inspiration have been numerous: from Japanese mangas to Sci-Fi movies, from personal experiences to a more philosophical approach of life, from Tim Burton’s world to daily-life concerns. Our lyrics are meaningful because they carry out the perceptions of life we have. We do not really try to pass any message, but we simply want to share our ways to face reality, our concerns about the world. We wanted each song to be a chapter of a broader ‘Fairy Tale’, which would be about Humanity.

Q: You contributed to the ‘tribute’-compilations to Etienne Daho and Martin Dupont. How was it working on these cover versions and especially considering both artists are French ‘icons’?

HP: The songs we decided to cover “L’Adorer” by Etienne Daho and “Just Beacuse” by Martin Dupont were really chosen with a lot of care. Both are our favorite songs by these two French artists. But here too, we wanted them not to be just covers, but actual ‘re-creations’ of these two songs. The intention was: if we had created them, personally, what would they sound-like? So we tried to stick to their original tunes, as much as possible, but we also added musical features which were not in the original versions. Well, we assumed it worked pretty well, didn’t it? 😉

Q: Today most of the artists are releasing new work at regular basis while Happiness Project is the entire contrary. How comes and what are you doing in between 2 productions?

HP: We have been building up our musical world with accuracy and precision. In a sense, we are ‘slow music makers’. We do spend a lot of time thinking about each instrument (even if they directly derive from keyboards, except for the bass-guitar and some of the drums, performed by Christelle) and how we can make them all coincide with our lyrics.

Moreover, we live far from each other and the time dedicated to music is always tight, intense and spread out. Also, before releasing a new album we want to be sure that it will meet up with our first intentions. The thing we can assure you about our next album, is that it will come out, within the next two years! The recording hasn’t started yet, but a lot of new materials are ready and we should be starting soon!

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, electro-wave, EBM.

Background/Info: French label BOREDOMproduct last year released a surprising compilation/tribute to French pop icon Etienne Daho. They now strike back with a new tribute to one of France’s greatest and most legendary new-wave & electro band Martin Dupont. The band was active during the 80s and just as BOREDomproduct they were from Marseille. Notice by the way the album is available on different formats, from CD to vinyl to cassette and of course on digital platforms. It’s a fascinating tribute because next to some familiar label bands we also get other selected bands.

Bands: Celluloide, Happiness Project, Dekad, Neutral Lies, The Rorschach Garden, Cyborgdrive, Sweater With A Hood, TourdeForce, Auto-Immune, Müller Denscheidt, Makina Girgir.

Content: You don’t necessarily have to be that familiar with the work of Martin Dupont to enjoy this compilation. It’s a diversified work mixing different elements and I really appreciate the efforts of the selected bands to transpose the original versions into a very own adaptation. The least I can say is that Martin Dupont has inspired most of the selected formations.

+ + + : I already mentioned the diversity, but I also have to mention some great adaptations into EBM by Dekad, the typical bleeping electronics from Celluloide, another EBM approach by Auto-Immune (which was already featured on the Etienne Daho tribute), the electro-wave from Müller Denscheidt and Makina Girgir. There’s a fascinating twist between the different formations and their own interpretation of Martin Dupont.

– – – : Only the biggest fans of the band will maybe be disappointed. The original versions have this 80s magic you don’t necessarily find back on a tribute. But my only little regret is that a few bands didn’t really pay that much attention to the production of the vocals.

Conclusion: This tribute to Martin Dupont incited me to get back to the original songs I haven’t heard for years now. That’s also because I really enjoyed this tribute and I can only encourage BOREDOMproduct to move on… Kas Product could be an idea….

Best bands: Dekad, Müller Denscheidt, Makina Girgir, Celluloide, Neutral Lies.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.boredomproduct.online.fr / www.facebook.com/boredomproduct

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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Out now is a tribute to the pioneering Marseille based cult act Martin Dupont. “Broken Memory: a tribute to Martin Dupont” is out on vinyl too (including a version with a bonus audio cassette) and can be ordered right now from the BOREDOMproduct label.

The 11-track tribute to this pioneer electronic band from Marseille includes tracks from Dekad, Neutral Lies, Celluloide, Happiness Project, Auto-Immune, The Rorschach Garden, TourdeForce, Makina GirGir, Cyborgdrive, Müller Denscheidt and Sweater With A Hood.

The special LP edition is now available, as well as a a limited vintage pack edition with an 8-track bonus audio cassette including additional covers by Opera Multi Steel, Tiramist, Le Cliché, Solemn Meant Walks, Edw+Marika Divita, The Grilled Chicken Legs Brittanny Style, Oberkorn and Culcultura.

Here are some visuals which we received:

And we also got hold of brand new teasers!

Audio preview:

Audio preview of the bonus cassette:

The teaser itself for the album:

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Coming up in September is a tribute to the pioneering Marseille based cult act Martin Dupont. “Broken Memory: a tribute to Martin Dupont” will be out on vinyl too (including a version with a bonus audio cassette) and can be ordered right now from the BOREDOMproduct label.

The 11-track tribute to this pioneer electronic band from Marseille includes tracks from Dekad, Neutral Lies, Celluloide, Happiness Project, Auto-Immune, The Rorschach Garden, TourdeForce, Makina GirGir, Cyborgdrive, Müller Denscheidt and Sweater With A Hood.

The special LP edition is now available for preorder, as well as a a limited vintage pack edition with an 8-track bonus audio cassette including additional covers by Opera Multi Steel, Tiramist, Le Cliché, Solemn Meant Walks, Edw+Marika Divita, The Grilled Chicken Legs Brittanny Style, Oberkorn and Culcultura.

And we also got hold of a first teaser!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The fine people from BOREDOMproduct are preparing a brand new electronic tribute album, this time for Martin Dupont. Martin Dupont was a French new wave act active from 1982 to 1987. Founded in 1980 by Alain Seghir, Brigitte Balian and Catherine Loy, launched their first single in 1982: “Your passion”.

Here’s how this fine band sounded:

To appear on this new compilation, contact the label at martindupont@boredomproduct.fr or check facebook.com/boredomproduct and submit them a title proposal. Note that BOREDOMproduct does not wish to have duplicates on the compilation, so first come is first served! Keep in mind that the submitted covers should of course comply to the BOREDOMproduct electronic sound, but that goes without saying.

BOREDOMproduct will select their favourite covers for the final tracklist once they have received them all. Deadline: March 27th!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com