It’s been a few years since French producer François-Xavier Michel—formerly known as Digital Blood—got his machines back in action. The result is a new EP featuring three original tracks and a remix of Back To The Wave.

Michel continues to prove himself a true sound wizard, blending solid basslines with explosive sonic treatments. The sound remains somewhat minimal, crafted with a refined touch and a taste for vintage textures. This is a strong Techno-Body release, offering three excellent tracks and a powerful remix.

Millimetric is exactly the kind of project this scene needs—it’s just a pity we don’t hear more from it. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “35286”:

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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Genre/Influences: Minimal-Electro, EBM.

Format: Digital, 2CD.

Background/Info: French-Spanish Pedro Peñas Robles is a renowned artist who has been involved with different sonic projects but he’s also a DJ, performer, author and label owner (Unknown Pleasures Records). This work is getting us back to his most ‘famous’ music project HIV+ featuring a fine selection of twenty nine songs he released all over the years with other artists.

Content: Robles collaborated with very famous artists like The hacker, Millimetric, Chris Shape, Blind Delon, Adriano Canzian, Maman Küsters ao. The album is featuring original songs, cover versions (from Liaisons Dangereuses, DAF and The Normal) and remixes (by bands like Absolute Body Control, Radical G, Equitant, Marc Hurtado, Cruise [CTRL] ao) but also songs from one of his side-projects Adan+Ilse. The work brings us back to Minimal-Electro/EBM on which Pedro added his vocals.

+ + + : I first of all salute the artwork of the CD-edit but next there’s the content. I think it totally stands for the EBM-style the artist has often revealed by different releases on his own label. Solid bass lines, danceable beats, and a few, harsh, Industrial elements, bringing 80s EBM alive. On top of it all there’s the powerful and sexy voice of Robles. The list of ‘friends’ he has worked with is impressive and often resulted in a great symbiosis between music and vocals.

– – – : I’m less convinced by the different cover versions (cf. “Warm Leatherette”, “Los Niños Del Parque” and “Der Mussolini”). It’s always tricky covering legendary songs which I think are more suited to live performances instead of an album.

Conclusion: This is a great opportunity to re-discover HIV+ (which seems to be no longer active) and his collaboration with great, Electronic, artists.

Best songs: The Hacker & HIV+ “Novö Diskö – Remix by Alek Drive”, Dave Inox & HIV+ “Miss Conceptual – Remix By Raul Parra”, Oliver & HIV+ “Neither Wise Nor”, Radikal Kuss & HIV+ “Ça Suffit!”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/havoc2027

Label: www.zoharum.com / www.facebook.com/zoharum

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: 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

The French label Unknown Pleasures Records, run by Pedro Peñas y Roble aka HIV+, stops its activities this summer. They are currently emptying their last stocks before closing for good. The label which started in 2013 was based in the south of France was dedicated to the production of material from the post-punk, minimal wave and EBM scene. Their final release is a Tribute to Death In June.

In the past the label has released albums of bands like Norma Loy, David Carretta, Blind Delon, Adan & Ilse, Hausfrau, Black Egg, European Ghost, Ono Scream, Antipole, Kill Shelter, Vogue Noir, Ohota, Wendy Bevan, Alek Drive, Art Kinder Industrie, Baroque, Maman Küsters, Japan Suicide, Follow Me Not, Der Himmel über Berlin, Dave Inox, Mr Nô, None, Velvet Kills, Selfishadows, Container 47, The Shyness Of Strangers, Secret Sight, La Main, Fluxus, Grand((Ø))Signal, Neon Electronics, Hardlab, Judith Juillerat, Monolog and Love In Prague.

The label has also worked and collaborated with several musicians such as Alan Vega, Gabi Delgado, Dirk Da Davo, Eric Van Wonterghem, Jurgen Engler, Richard 23, Patrick Codenys, Marc Hurtado, Arturo Lanz, The Hacker, Dirk Ivens, The Horrorist, Haujobb, Position Parallèle, John Lord Fonda, Dominique Nicolas, Marc Collin, Michaël Theis, Radical G, Növö, Millimetric, In Death It Ends, In Aeternam Vale, Sonic Area, Adriano Canzian, Alice Botte, Versari and many more.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

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Genre/Influences: Minimal-electro, techno-body.

Background/Info: French producer François-Xavier Michel better known under the Millimetric moniker is back on track (after a rather long studio silence) releasing his new work at the new label Nu Body Records (set up by Ethan Fawkes and Fabrice Torricella).

Content: “Deflection” takes off with the title track, which sounds in the truest tradition of Millimetric: minimal electronics mixed with good-old EBM bass lines, dry snare drums and a techno boost.

We next get remixes by Romance Disaster, Ethan Fawkes and Electrosexual. All remixes are following the electro-minimalism of the original edit.

+ + + : Millimetric is a project I’ve always supported for its unique blend of EBM and techno. The cool sound treatments, solid bass lines and vintage influences still have a real hypnotic feeling. Among the remixes I especially like the dark-technoid approach by Ethan Fawkes.

– – – : Some passages (remixes) are a little bit too techno-orientated, but it for sure all depends if you prefer EBM instead of techno music. I can’t say “Deflection” is the best song I’ve heard from Millimetric so in the end I expected a bit more from this ‘comeback’.

Conclusion: I’ll still move on tipping Millimetric as a reference when it comes to this type of music, but there are more ‘inspired’ and efficient productions from this great sound-guru.

Best songs: “Deflection – Ethan Fawkes Remix”, “Deflection”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.millimetric.com

Label: www.facebook.com/NuBodyRecords

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