The British synthpop duo, Erasure, consisting of vocalist Andy Bell and Vince Clarke, have announced the vinyl reissues of three albums: “Tomorrow’s World” (2011), “Snow Globe” (2013), and “The Violet Flame” (2014). These limited edition vinyl reissues, set for release on December 13, will be available via Mute Records.

Tomorrow’s World (2011) – Limited Edition Clear Vinyl

“Tomorrow’s World” marks Erasure’s return after a four-year hiatus. Released in 2011, the album showcased a duo deeply rooted in the synthpop scene yet embracing a more modern sound. Produced by Frankmusik (who has worked with artists such as Lady Gaga and Pet Shop Boys), the album was recorded across multiple locations, including Maine, London, and Los Angeles. It includes the singles “When I Start To (Break It All Down)”, “Be With You”, “A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot”, and “Fill Us With Fire”.

The album was well received. It followed a period where Andy Bell released his solo album “Don’t Stop”, and Vince Clarke briefly reunited with Alison Moyet for a Yazoo tour.

Snow Globe (2013) – Limited Edition Pink Vinyl

“Snow Globe” took Erasure in a stripped-back, often melancholic take on the festive genre. Departing from the more traditional, glitzy sounds of Christmas music, the album features eerie, minimalist arrangements.

Produced by Erasure, alongside Gareth Jones and Richard X, the album includes a modern rendition of the traditional Latin carol “Gaudete” and new versions of classics like “White Christmas” and “Silent Night”. The album’s lead single was “Make It Wonderful”.

The Violet Flame (2014) – Limited Edition White Vinyl

“The Violet Flame” came out in 2014, following the festive experiment of “Snow Globe”, and saw Erasure return to their electronic roots. The album was produced by Richard X (known for his work with Goldfrapp, SOPHIE, and Róisin Murphy).

Unlike their previous work, where songs traditionally began on guitar or piano, the tracks on “The Violet Flame” emerged directly from electronic dance grooves. This change in process resulted in standout singles such as “Elevation”, “Reason”, and the Halloween-themed “Dead of Night”.

With over 25 million albums sold worldwide and an impressive 18 studio albums under their belt, Erasure has cemented their place as one of the UK’s most successful synth-pop duos. Formed in 1985, they have consistently evolved while maintaining their signature synthpop sound. Their most recent releases include “The Neon” (2020) and its experimental follow-up “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” (2022), which reimagined the songs from “The Neon” with new arrangements and vocals.

The vinyl reissues will be available on December 13, 2024, via Mute Records, and pre-orders are currently open.

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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Slovenian avant-garde collective Laibach has just shared the “Opus Dei Revisited 2024” version of their iconic track “Leben heißt Leben”, an reinterpretation of Opus’ 1985 hit “Live is Life”. This new release is part of the band’s “Opus Dei Revisited” project, a year-long tribute to their groundbreaking 1987 album “Opus Dei”. Laibach is currently on tour across Europe, revisiting the themes and tracks of this influential work.

“Opus Dei Revisited”, set for release on December 13, 2024, will be available as a double LP, double CD, and digitally via Mute Records. The album features two distinct reimaginings of “Opus Dei”, offering a radical interrogation of the original material. The first disc presents a modernized reworking of the tracks by Laibach themselves, which has evolved throughout their ongoing Opus Dei Revisited Tour. The band was so impressed with the live versions that they immediately entered the studio to record the fresh takes.

The second disc sees the original album’s producer, Rico Conning (known for his work with Wire, Pere Ubu, and Swans), invited back to re-explore the 1987 master tapes.

Formed in the industrial town of Trbovlje, Slovenia (then Yugoslavia), Laibach has long been one of the most influential bands from the former Eastern Bloc.

In addition to their upcoming Opus Dei Revisited release, Laibach has also been working on a potential performance of their original symphonic work Alamut in Tehran, in collaboration with Iranian composers. This year also saw performances of their score for Saint Joan of the Stockyards in Italy and an academic course at the University of Salerno delving into Laibach’s cultural significance.

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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(Interview by Janos Janurik) Ever since I got into online music journalism, I’ve always been interested in the background characters around my favourite musicians’ releases that add something important to the product we, the fans end up with.

With this in mind, over the years I have interviewed personalities such as Anton Corbijn (photographer of Depeche Mode and many other music greats), Gareth Jones and Mark Saunders (producers and mixmasters of Depeche Mode and Erasure amongst others).

About eight years ago I had the honour of helping to promote Vince Clarke’s then newly founded mini-record label (VeryRecords) and his releases. In addition to the artists whose albums have been released there in recent years, I also got in contact with Mat Smith, who, like me, is a freelancer – readers of Electronic Sound and Clash know him well – and works as a publicist for VeryRecords as well as being commissioned by Erasure and Mute for a number of press pieces. He also wrote the sleevenotes in the booklet of the new “Cowboy” Deluxe-Edition.

In addition to his journalistic work, he also has his own project “Mortality Tables”, which has just released a new mini-album on cassette and as a digital download. Last November, at the premiere of Vince Clarke’s solo album in London, I had the pleasure of meeting Mat in person and we had a lively chat about our shared passion for music. Knowing how important this project is to him, I approached him and asked him a few questions about it. 

But then life, or rather death, intervened. I didn’t mean this as a cheap shot, but it was indeed a sad event that forced me to make changes to the interview I had with my friend and colleague almost three weeks ago. Now that the aforementioned label is going on holiday, and before I do the same, I would like to bring this exciting musical venture (“The Engineer”) to your attention – and this interview with the man behind it.

SL: Tell us briefly about how you became interested in music. Have you had any musical training, have you learnt to play any instruments? Do you remember the first record you bought?

I grew up in a house where music seemed to always be playing, either on the radio or on my parent’s stereo. My mother listened to a lot of ABBA. Nothing about that was exceptional, particularly. When I used to go to friends’ houses, they always seemed to have the TV switched on, which felt strange to me. My family chose music, and I’ve surrounded myself with it ever since. 

I tried to play the recorder, which was the instrument that most of us learned as kids. My parents gave me a blue one for Christmas one year. I couldn’t play a single note. I briefly learned the basics of notation at school but very quickly forgot all of it. In early high school music classes I was more interested in recording real-life sounds into the Casio keyboard and using those to make compositions. Not long after that, I started making sample-based electronic music on my Amiga 500.

The first album I owned was Nik Kershaw’s ‘Human Racing’. I was given for my birthday the year it was released, along with a Sanyo portable cassette player. I played that album constantly. I wore out the cassette player after two weeks but I still have the ‘Human Racing’ tape and it still sounds incredible to me. 

SL: When did you discover electronic music? And who was the first electronic artist who introduced you to the world of electronic music?

My father is responsible for switching me on to electronic music. There were three pivotal events, and they all relate to times I was with my father.

The first was one evening when my mother was at her restaurant job, and my father was looking after me. I was playing with Lego in the lounge and Gary Numan was performing ‘Cars’ on TV. That performance completely captivated me.

The next was driving around in my father’s car while he did his second job as a debt collector. A friend at work had recorded two tracks from OMD’s ‘Architecture & Morality’ album onto a cassette for him. The songs were ‘Joan Of Arc’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’, and we’d listen to them over and over.

The third was Soft Cell’s ‘Non-Stop Erotic Videotape’, which he brought home from work one day. That was pretty mind-blowing for a five-year old, and I can only imagine he didn’t realise what it was. It was definitely not suitable for a kid of my age, but, looking back, I don’t remember the imagery – I only recall the music. 

So I owe my father a huge debt for how he shaped my music tastes at a very early age. He was also the one who brought home a cassette copy of ‘The Innocents’ by Erasure and gave it to me. He had no idea quite what he started that day. 

SL: When did you start writing journalistic texts for Mute Records and its artists? What was your first article for Mute and about which artist, which release?

I began a blog called Documentary Evidence in 2003, which was focused on my personal Mute Records collection. I’d just write about the releases from a mostly non-musical perspective, explaining how they made me feel. I still write reviews like that today for Electronic Sound. I also got really interested in telling the stories of specific releases or artists, and that led me to interview people who released music through Mute, or were somehow connected to the label. I have a natural curiosity and inquisitiveness, and that seems to mean people like talking to me and opening up. 

From there I started writing for Clash, and then Electronic Sound and some other places. In 2017 I got asked to chair a panel discussion with Anton Corbijn, Daniel Miller, Paul A. Taylor and Steve Claydon (Add N To (X)) at Rough Trade East in London, about the visual identity of Mute. The first written Mute commission I got was to write a press biography for Chris Carter’s ‘Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1’. I couldn’t believe they asked me to do that, and I couldn’t believe I was being paid to write for the label I loved so much. The team at Mute liked what I did and I’ve been given a few more things to do since then, as well as with the team at BMG who look after the Erasure reissue programme, and Erasure themselves. 

SL: Did Vince Clarke’s VeryRecords label and the associated promotion give you any impetus for your own project, which you called “Mortality Tables”?

Indirectly, yes, but perhaps not in the way you might expect.

My task with VeryRecords was to assemble the press releases. It was the first time I’d worked behind the scenes of a release, where I’d often get involved before the album was even mastered, or before the artwork had even been considered. So I’d be talking to the artists – Reed & Caroline, Alka and Brook – at a very early stage, generally when Vince felt that the album was finished enough for me to listen and for me to start engaging the artists.

It took a while for me to realise this, but the process of working with the artists to write a press release became a collaboration – between all of us, and between my words and their music. I wasn’t just a writer but part of the collective effort to put this music out into the world. I did the same with Nick Hook’s Calm + Collect label, working on releases by Gareth Jones, Spiritual Friendship and others.

In 2019, when I began forming Mortality Tables, I envisaged it as a creative community of collaborators. You can definitely draw a line between that and the ideas that began to form as I worked with VeryRecords and its artists. I also took a lot of inspiration from Vince, who didn’t feel that he needed to only focus on the music that people would expect him to release. That sense of freedom, which Daniel Miller also brought to Mute, directly fed into what Mortality Tables has become. I wanted something where I could work with people making sound art as well as people making images. It had to have artistic breadth. 

I wanted Mortality Tables to be like a gallery, with a portfolio of artists in vastly different disciplines. That’s why Neil Coe deigned the first sleeve image to look like the description of an artwork on the wall of a gallery.

SL: The name of the project refers to the work of actuaries who measure the statistical probability of life insurance payouts. You do something like this in your everyday working life, don’t you?

That’s right. I work with insurance companies all around the world, and have done for over twenty years. I find lots of parallels between the worlds of insurance and electronic music, and the kinds of people I engage with in both of my jobs.

The story goes that I was meeting a friend in a café in Bloomsbury in London one morning. He runs a record label, which is another big inspiration for Mortality Tables. He wishes to remain anonymous, but he is actively involved, in the sense that he must approve anything we decide to do. I call him the Creative Consultant.

So I was meeting him and he had an LP of one of his releases to give me. He asked me if I had a bag to put it in, and I reached into rucksack and retrieved a tote bag. It was from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and had been given to me by an actuary a few years before. The Creative Consultant saw the bag with its logo and Latin inscription (‘e peritia ratio’ – ‘reason from experience’) and asked what it meant. I replied, “It’s all mortality tables and shit like that.” The name stuck.

We created our first Mortality Tables Product that morning. It’s called FORKTALK and is a conversation between two friends. We do not publish the details of our conversations. Its entry in the Mortality Tables Catalogue is MTP0.

SL: Dave Clarkson, who is mostly active in electronic and experimental music and Wonderful Beasts, a sound art/electronic music duo consisting of the anonymous Xqui and Carl Knott (boycalledcrow, Spacelab) were your first artists, right? How did you get in touch with them?

The release that moved Mortality Tables from something conceptual to something ‘real’ was ‘Two Meditations For Freya’ by Goodparley (whose name has now changed to Please Close Your Eyes). That was in 2022. It signalled what I wanted Mortality Tables to be: I would come up with ideas and hand them to someone to ‘respond’ to.

That concept has stayed consistent through the first two years of Mortality Tables. I’ll come up with an idea and pick someone to get involved. At the last count, there are at least fifty people who are collaborators. And it isn’t just sound projects – Mortality Tables encompasses sound, art, and words. And insurance. 

However, all rules in creativity are there to be broken, and I broke my own rules in 2023 with the release of Dave Clarkson’s ‘Ghosts Of Christmas Past (Music From Vintage Toys)’. I had nothing to do with the concept of that album, so I guess that’s a bit like Mortality Tables acting like a traditional record label, which is a description I never want to use. The same is true of Andrew Brenza and Alka’s ‘pod’ and boycalledcrow’s ‘Kullu’. However, all these releases only existed because of an earlier collaboration, and that’s how I got myself comfortable with releasing these projects. You’ll see a few more of those types of projects from Mortality Tables over the next few years. 

In answer to your question about how I find artist, it’s actually really straightforward. Anyone involved with Mortality Tables is someone whose music I’ve written about. As for how I choose an artist for a particular project, that’s mostly a case of matching a collaborator to an idea that feels aligned to what they would usually do. However, some of the most enjoyable projects are where the artist is working a long way outside of what they might normally do.

SL: After artists like Andrew Spackman, Rupert Lally, Simon Fisher Turner and Veryan, two years ago you released a strange and experimental piece called “On Mortality, Immortality & Charles Ives”. The piece is a spoken word piece in which you read out the Mortality Tables’ manifesto: “In life, our one true certainty is death.” This narration, recorded by Gareth Jones, was then sent to Vince Clarke who recorded a musical response to the text, which forms the soundtrack to the release. How did you come up with this, somewhat absurd, idea?

I had bought a copy of a book by Alex Danchev called ‘100 Artists’ Manifestos – From The Futurists To The Stuckists’ at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2021. I read each of the manifestos from groups like the Surrealists, Dadaists and Situationists as if they were short stories, and it became a really profound experience. On the back of ‘Two Meditations For Freya’, people had started to ask me what Mortality Tables was all about, so it seemed completely natural (and not absurd at all) to write a manifesto.

Mostly it was designed to help me understand why I was doing this, and then I decided to explain it to everyone else. That’s when I asked Gareth to record my narration. At the same time I approached Vince and an anonymous sound artist called venoztks to create sound pieces to accompany it.

The listener can judge whether it successfully explains what this is all about, or not. It does explain why the composer and actuary Charles Ives is so critical to the evolution of Mortality Tables. In fact, the second Mortality Tables Product to be made available was a postcard containing an illustration of Ives in front of a mortality table from 1874, the year of Ives’s birth. That piece was a collaboration with Savage Pencil who had illustrated a lot of the Blast First sleeves.

SL: Released on June 16th, the 40-copy limited edition cassette “The Engineer” is a charity project for Alzheimer’s disease featuring Vince Clarke, Penelope Trappes, Chris Illingworth, Barney Ashton-Bullock, Lara Jones, Simon Fisher Turner, Hattie Cooke, Gareth Jones, Veryan and others. The title character is your father, isn’t he? Is that why you chose Father’s Day as the release date? Tell us a bit about this project!

The title character, the engineer, is based on my father. This project dates back ten years, probably longer, a long time before Mortality Tables was an idea.

I wrote a short story that tried to deal with my feelings about my father as he approached retirement. He lived for work, had no hobbies or friends, and I envisaged him struggling to cope with the concept of stopping work. I was angry when I wrote it, but I was also scared for him. It’s fiction, but it’s rooted in his reality. His actual retirement was very different to what happens in the story. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018, and that’s why we’ll donate all profits from ‘The Engineer’ to the Alzheimer’s Society. Sadly he passed away shortly after ‘The Engineer’ was released. 

When I published the story on my blog, an electronic musician called Laica (Dave Fleet) offered to create some music inspired by the story. He composed a beautiful piece but the project never got completed. A few years later, I came up with a different idea, which involved someone narrating the story with a piece of music behind it. That version also never got off the ground at all, but I liked the idea of asking someone to narrate the story. That’s when I asked Barney Ashton-Bullock if he would do it. He has a brilliant speaking voice, and it was perfect for this story.

It was Gareth Jones who suggested the idea of having different artists respond to different sections of narration. He said it was a bit like the Surrealist game ‘Exquisite Corpse’. I think of Gareth as my spiritual guru. He has a way of unlocking ideas, and freeing you from obstacles that are only there because you’ve put them there. ‘The Engineer’ wouldn’t exist in this form if it wasn’t for Gareth. 

From there, it was a case of picking the collaborators and asking them to respond to a specific 30-second section of narration. No one heard the full story, and no one asked to hear the whole thing. The order the artists agreed to say yes determined which section they got. The only rule I gave them was that their sound response needed to last exactly thirty seconds. 

There are two editions of ‘The Engineer’. One is a digital file that combines the narration and sound responses. The other is a cassette that splits the narration and responses apart. That means the only place you can hear Vince Clarke’s sound response without Barney’s narration is on the cassette, which has now sold out. 

SL: Barney Ashton-Bullock (the creator of Andy Bell’s “Torsten” projects), Vince Clarke, as well as Reed Hays, Alka and Gareth Jones will be familiar to most of our readers, but who are the other contributors? 

Again, everyone involved is someone I’ve written about. When I came up with my collaborator list for this, it was important to me to achieve some sort of diversity. So a lot of the artists here are electronic, but you have artists covering everything from pop to sound art. That was deliberate.

I also wanted diversity of textures. That’s why I included Charlotte Keeffe, Chris Illingworth from GoGo Penguin and Luce Mawdsley. When you put all 29 sound responses together as a single piece, it sounds like a right fucking mess. As the responses were coming in over a 30-month period, I realised that the sprawling, messy quality was a lot like my father’s Alzheimer’s – ideas form, are quickly forgotten before they develop, and are then replaced by something else. That wasn’t planned, at all, but now I can see it was a subconscious idea that must have been there from the moment that Gareth suggested involving lots of artists. 

SL: What plans and ideas are currently circulating in your head? Will it be something journalistic or another Mortality Tables release?

I’m always writing, and I’ve got a few big things underway right now, including something for a label I’ve done a few pieces for before.

In terms of Mortality Tables, now that ‘The Engineer’ has been released, all activities will he paused until later in the summer. We’ve released a huge number of Products in just over two years and I need a break. We’ll return later in the summer with Season 03 of LIFEFILES, which is an ongoing project where artists respond to my really basic field recordings.

We’ll also release a single from Please Close Your Eyes, an album from Andrew Spackman and the full version of Andrew Brenza and Alka’s ‘pod’ collaboration. I’ve been working on one of several projects inspired by Charles Ives, ‘Central Park: A Picture-In-Sounds’, which will be issued as a ‘score’ in October, along with some additional performances of the piece. We’ll begin work on another large-scale collaboration called ‘The Impermanence Project’.

Other things will happen. Other things will not.

More information on Mortality Tables releases.

Use code janos for a 10% discount off anything in the Mortality Tables Catalogue. 

I would like to end this article with a personal message from Mat Smith, who asks the readers and the music listeners to support, if they can, the Alzheimer’s Society, which has received the proceeds of the tape release mentioned in the interview. If you feel able to, please donate to alzheimers.org.uk directly.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

Here’s an exclusive event we co-present with Cold War Night Life in London. Robert Görl (DAF) and Hanna Rollmann will read from their book, “The Voice That Dwells Within”, on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at The Strongroom in London (tickets available here). The duo will also sign copies of their book during this intimate event.

Robert Görl co-founded DAF (Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft) in 1978 — 45 years ago — with vocalist Gabi Delgado. The band started as a punk/experimental outfit, using a combination of conventional instruments and electronics, before relocating from Dusseldorf to London. After meeting Mute Records’ Daniel Miller, they released “Die Kleinen und die Bösen,” featuring production by Conny Plank. The group consolidated as the duo of Görl and Delgado, made the jump to Virgin Records, and released three albums that changed the face of German (electronic body) music. They formed the template for a line of bands, including Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb. They were working towards a new album at the time of Delgado’s sudden death in 2020, which Goerl completed alone as “Nur Noch Einer.”

In the spaces between DAF releases, Görl and Delgado each released separate material. Görl’s 1984 solo album, “Night Full of Tension,” featured an appearance by Annie Lennox of Eurythmics — returning the favor after Görl played drums on that band’s Conny Plank-produced debut, “In the Garden.”

“The Voice That Dwells Within” uses Görl’s memories to reconstruct stories from all these events. The book is centered around the 1989 car crash that almost killed Görl and led him to Buddhism.

The event will take place at The Strongroom, Curtain Road, London EC2A 3SQ, on Saturday, January 27, 2024. The starting time is 7 pm. Tickets are £15 in advance / £20 on the door.

Here’s a video trailer.

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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(Interview by János Janurik) Vince Clarke just released his first solo album “Songs Of Silence” in late autumn 2023. The fact that he has now recorded his first solo album after more than forty years in the pop business was long overdue. Our editor Janos Janurik contacted Vince Clarke and his partner in crime, Reed Hays, regarding this solo debut that opens up new listening perspectives into Vince Clarke’s previously unknown parallel universe, and a special concert in London.

Although the ingenious composer and sound wizard had several side projects alongside his main band Erasure – just think of the countless remixes, the collaborations with Martyn Ware, Paul Hartnoll and Martin Gore, and his label boss activities at Very Records, or the almost unknown album of instrumental compositions called “Deeptronica” – this is still the first time that he has released an LP under his own name. And on the parent label Mute Records. A feast for fans of electronic music!

Even the first appetiser was a shock for some fans: Vince ventured to the dark side, his solo track “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” sounding darker and sadder than ever before. The accompanying music video, shot in black and white, only reinforced the gloomy mood of the first pre-release track. This was anything but the dynamic electro-pop that Vince Clarke is known for.

The second pre-release single “White Rabbit” is already more similar to the typical musical style of the Erasure mastermind. Intelligent pop at its best, where hypnotising, shimmering electronic beats keep up the tempo with electric guitar sounds and thundering drums at the end. The visual backdrop this time is an animated film, with educational content about how we are “modern humans”. After the break since “The Neon” sound cosmos, fans of Vince Clarke’s music are eagerly awaiting their musical hero’s first solo LP.

„The joy for me has been the process of making the music… Everything else is a bonus.”

SL. When I heard and saw the track “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” for the first time, I was deeply touched by the experience. Although you mentioned to me in an earlier interview (around the time of the release of “2Square”) that you “still like to write “nobody understands me” songs”, you’ve waited so long to show this side of yourself. If there’s no pressure from the label, these songs might stay in the drawer. Is that really true? Did Daniel Miller persuade you to release these compositions as your first solo album on Mute?

Vince: The tracks I recorded during lockdown were never meant as an album. I was spending time in the studio just experimenting with sound and mood. I sent some of these ‘experiments’ to Daniel Miller, owner of Mute records and he suggested that perhaps this collection of soundscapes could be released as an album. Up to that point I was purely making the music for myself.

SL. As for the album title (“Songs Of Silence”), it wasn’t too hard to work out that it was some kind of homage to the legendary film score by Simon & Garfunkel. They were a big inspiration for you to compose music yourself, weren’t they? And what inspirations did you take this time? Or did everything follow your inner voice?

Vince: Yes, the title is a tiny homage to “The Sounds of Silence” and I’m a huge fan of Paul Simon. At the same time “Songs Of Silence” describe exactly what the album is about.

SL. The music of Vince Clarke lives without bombastic sound or glittery synth pop effects too, that was my first thought after listening to this album. What equipment did you use in your home studio this time?

Vince: For all the tracks I just used my Eurorack Modules. It was an opportunity to learn about the technology and really focus on the precise sounds I needed without being distracted by all the other sound sources in my studio.

SL. The opening track (“Cathedral”) already takes the listener out of the real world and frees them from the matrix. The whole thing has something religious and spiritual about it, in which the wholeness of the world is connected with one’s own existence. Such a process is necessary for mental health and for dealing with negative feelings. Was it the same for you?

Vince: I’m not religious but the word Cathedral suggested to me something huge and wondrous. I found the process of recording all these tracks to be cathartic and helpful to cope with the stresses I was experiencing at the time.

SL. One of my favourites is the track “Red Planet”. Relaxing ambient music with ethereal voices. I think a lot of fans – especially Depeche Mode fans – will say it’s their favourite track. Do you have your own favourite track from the album?

Vince: “Cathedral” is my favourite track and I’m also very fond of “Passage” which is all about a difficult/impossible journey.

SL. Not only “The Lamentations of Jeremiah”, but also “Scarper” has an acoustic touch – flamenco-like guitar. Once again a highlight of the album for me. Did you use samples here or did someone play the guitar live?

Vince: Reed Hays played cello on “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” and the guitar parts were played by my friend Steve Walsh.

SL. “Blackleg” is inspired by the traditional folk song “Blackleg Miner”. Your label mate, Frank Tovey, who died too soon, dedicated an entire album to workers’ songs in 1989 (“Tyranny And The Hired Hand”). Music and resistance was the main theme of this album. And what about you? What did you find inspiring about this folk song?

Vince: The song has a real raw edge to it. The lyrics are quite violent and paint a stark picture of the misery of the mining community during and after the Industrial Revolution. It was interesting to mix a very synthetic soundscape with something so organic.

SL. “Last Transmission” could also be related to the Erasure song “Turns The Love To Anger”, especially with the instrumental intro of its live version. It’s like a radio signal into space, with the hope that it will find a recipient with empathy. Do you still believe in the good in these difficult times?

Vince: No. I find it difficult to feel optimistic.

SL. You have always been known to be rather reluctant to appear in video clips. But for the first promo video, you had to stand alone in front of the camera. Where and how did the filming of “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” take place?

Vince: I wanted the video to convey a certain gravitas that reflected the sadness of “The Lamentations of Jeremiah”. It was shot in Brooklyn New York in a day.

SL. An animated video was made for “White Rabbit” – another favourite track of mine. You recently uploaded funny cartoons (“Günter Finn” and “Bacon And Eggs”) to the internet yourself. How did you find the cartoonist Daniele Arcuri for the second clip?

Vince: I saw his show reel on Fiverr and was instantly attracted to his irreverent and bonkers style of animation.

SL. At the special album release event in London the support band was the duo of Gareth Jones and Daniel Miller (called Sunroof), who play electro-improvisation music. Both of them have played a big role in your career. Was it natural for you to invite them to support you?

Vince: I was delighted that they agreed to do the show with us. I think the combination made for a really interesting evening.

SL. A month has passed since that concert in London. Your first solo album has received very good reviews, it’s also at the top of the album charts. Looking back on the whole process, what are your feelings now? Did you expect such positive feedback?

Vince: To be honest, I didn’t expect any feedback. The joy for me has been the process of making the music… Everything else is a bonus.

Reed Hays, the synthesiser specialist and master of the Buchla synthesiser, and long-time friend of Vince Clarke, also joins the conversation.

SL. Reed, you and Caroline were the first to sign a label contract with Vince’s Very Records. So far you’ve released two albums on his label and you then supported Erasure on their 2018 tour. Now you’ve played cello as a guest musician for Vince’s solo album. How did this invitation come about?

Reed: During the Reed & Caroline years Vince had me put together a couple instrumental tracks to promote Veryrecords on Soundcloud. One was called “Buchla and Cello” and the other was called “Cello and No Buchla”, so he was already familiar with my playing. While working on “Songs of Silence” he asked in his usual polite English manner, “Would you mind terribly if I sent you something, and maybe consider if it needs some sort of cello on it?” I purposely overplayed the part, thinking he would edit most of it out, but to my surprise he kept the whole thing!

SL. Were you there – as an expert advisor – for the entire creative period, or did you only hear the final result?

Reed: He played me some of the tracks while he was working on them, but I’m afraid I had no “expert advice” to give, because they already sounded amazing. I remember thinking only Vince Clarke could call something a “drone piece” but you’d still walk away from it with a catchy part in your head!

SL. Do you have your own favourite tracks from Vince’s solo album? If so, what are they and why?

Reed: Vince’s friend Steve does some great acoustic guitar work on “Scarper”. There’s a little blippy part on “Cathedral” that sounds Buchla-inspired, so of course it makes me smile every time I hear it. I love the sequencer in “White Rabbit” and of course his treatment of the “Blackleg Miner” song is wonderfully haunting.         

SL. On release day you shared the stage with Vince in London. What was your role at that concert?

Reed: In a very un-Vince reversal, nothing was rigidly synchronized. We were playing drones and triggering elements from the album by hand. The timing was totally based on the feel of the evening and the impressions of the visuals. And, of course, I had my cello with me. J

SL. For a while you had a joint radio show on a New York alternative radio station called “The Synthesizer Show”, which was very popular among fans of synthesiser music. Do you miss these radio shows? Do you talk to each other privately about what’s new in the genre?

Reed: It’s funny to think that for close to a decade “The Synthesizer Show” was an important anchor for both of us. It was a great way to break up the grinding tour schedule with Erasure, and during Covid it was the only activity either one of us had apart from family lockdown life. I’m sure we haven’t seen the end of “The Synthesizer Show” yet, but right now we have a couple ambient concerts to deal with!

SL. Do you currently have something in progress? Will there be another Reed & Caroline album?

Reed: I’ve been spending a lot of time with the Buchla 100, the earliest Buchla instrument. It’s also the rawest and most visceral of Mr. Buchla’s creations. I like to think of Reed & Caroline as a magical pre-Covid time capsule, but in a couple years her girls and my son will be out of high school, so never say never!

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

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

Digital Dance (1978-1979) / Daniel Miller

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget #1 (part 1)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget 1980 (part 2)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget #1 (part 3)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo by Paul Husband) A Certain Ratio, commonly abbreviated as ACR, is an influential English post-punk band that originated in Flixton, Greater Manchester, in 1977. The initial formation featured Peter Terrell (guitar, electronics) and Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet), with Jez Kerr (bass guitar, vocals), Martin Moscrop (trumpet, guitar), Donald Johnson (drums), and Martha Tilson (vocals) joining shortly thereafter. In 1979, the band had the distinction of being among the first acts to debut on Tony Wilson’s iconic Factory Records, with their single “All Night Party” produced by Martin Hannett. During their early years with Factory, ACR achieved impressive success, securing seven Top Ten UK independent releases—most notably “Flight” and “Waterline”—and they initiated their album collection with “The Graveyard and the Ballroom” (1980).

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band transitioned through phases with major label A&M and Rob Gretton’s independent label Robs Records. During these periods, ACR’s activity varied. They made a notable return with their ninth studio album, “Mind Made Up” (2008), and have remained active in performance since, with their extensive back catalogue being reissued through a partnership with Mute Records. In September 2020, they released “ACR Loco”, their first new studio album in twelve years, followed by three EPs titled “A”, “C”, and “R” in 2021. In 2023, they released their eleventh studio album, aptly named “1982”.

Today, A Certain Ratio has unveiled a new remix by Emperor Machine—a moniker for close friend and collaborator Andy Meecham—of their track “Constant Curve”. This track will be part of their forthcoming 4-track EP, set to be released both on limited edition 12” vinyl and digitally on 22 September 2023 via Mute.

This remix sees Meecham revisiting “Constant Curve”, a song from the 1982 album that he originally co-wrote and contributed keyboards and electronic percussion to.

Explaining the process, Meecham says: “After the success of our previous collaboration, Martin [Moscrop] asked if I would record some synths for a new track. I loved it on first listen, so obviously I said yes. While working and writing some synths, I thought this is a great track, but it’s too short—it needs a Pettibone-style extended Dub mix, a proper extended 12” version with Donald [Johnson]’s drums more upfront in the mix, dubbed out guitars, and new vocal edit sections. I suggested this idea to the band, and thankfully they gave me free rein.”

The track can be found below.

The EP follows their latest album “1982” (released in spring this year), and includes three newly commissioned remixes of tracks from the album – Emperor Machine’s reworking, Werkha mix of SAMO, and Manchester producer Jade Parker’s remix of “Waiting on a Train” (feat. Ellen Beth Abdi & Chunky), alongside a brand-new track “Day by Day”, written and recorded with Ellen Beth Abdi.

A Certain Ratio recently announced a tour that celebrates 45 years of the band’s career. The dates will see A Certain Ratio perform two separate sets each night: the first set will represent the early years of their career from their Factory releases and A&M. The band will then reconvene for a set representing ACR from the early to mid-‘90s to 2024 including unreleased forthcoming material.

• 10 November – London, Moth Club – SOLD OUT
• 11 November – Preston, The Ferret
• 12 November – Glasgow, Stereo
• 15 November – Gateshead, The Sage
• 16 November – Reading, Face Bar
• 18 November – York, The Crescent
• 25 November – Brugge (BE), Cactus
• 2 December – Liverpool, 24 Kitchen Street
• 10 December – Manchester, Band on the Wall

A Certain Ratio will also be appearing at the following festivals:

• 19 August – Luna Festival, Coimbra, Portugal
• 26 August – Shambala Festival, Northamptonshire
• 27 August – Wrexfest, Wrexham
• 19 November – Shiiine On Weekender, Minehead
• 24 November – BBMix, Paris (FR)

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

Swans have shared a new track from their sixteenth studio album, “The Beggar”, due for release on Mute / Young God Records (N America) on 23 June 2023. “The Beggar” will be released on double vinyl in a brown chipboard sleeve (with a download card for accessing an additional 44 minutes of music, also included on the album’s CD version), as a double CD in a brown chipboard digi-pack, and digitally.

Listen to “Los Angeles: City of Death” below.

The band’s extensive touring for 2023 started last week and continues through spring and summer with UK dates in August, and North American dates in September. In addition, Swans have confirmed a string of new dates across Europe in October and November – full details below.

“The Beggar” was recorded and mixed at Candy Bomber Studio, Berlin, engineered by Ingo Krauss and mastered by Doug Henderson at Micro-Moose, Berlin. The album was written and produced by Michael Gira and features contributions from recent and former Swans, members of Angels of Light, as well as guest Swan Ben Frost.

Michael Gira adds: “After numerous pandemic-induced cancellations of tours for the previous Swans album leaving meaning, and an apparent bottomless pit of waiting, waiting, waiting, and the strange disorientation that came with this sudden but interminable forced isolation I decided it was time to write songs for a new Swans album and forget about everything else. They came relatively easily, always informed by the suspicion that these could be my last. When I finally was able to travel, songs in hand, to Berlin to work with my friends recording this record, the feeling was akin to the moment in The Wizard of Oz when the film changes from Black and White to Color. Now I’m feeling quite optimistic. My favourite color is pink. I hope you enjoy the album.”

Primary contributors to “The Beggar” were Michael Gita, Kristof Hahn, Larry Mullins, Dana Schechter, Christopher Pravdica, Phil Puleo and Ben Frost. Backing vocals are provided by Jennifer Gira, Lucy Kruger and Laura Carbone.

Swans, an experimental rock band from America, was established in 1982 by Michael Gira, a multi-talented artist serving as singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. This band is one of the rare survivors from the no wave scene of New York City, successfully transitioning into the subsequent decade. They are renowned for their dynamic musical style, shifting and exploring across various genres including noise rock, post-punk, industrial, and post-rock.

Swans live dates

• 25 May – Zilina SK, New Synagogue
• 26 May – Ljubljana SL, Kino Siska
• 27 May – Innsbruck, AT, Heart of Noise Festival, Treibhaus
• 29 May – Bologna IT, Teatro Duse
• 31 May – Lyon FR, Transbordeur
• 2 June – Barcelona ES, Primavera Sound Festival
• 4 June – Lisbon PT, Culturgest – SOLD OUT
• 5 June – Lisbon PT, Culturgest
• 6 June – Faro PT, Teatro Das Figuras
• 9 June – Madrid ES, Primavera Sound Festival
• 11 June – Athens GR, Vraxon Theatre
• 13 June – Thessaloniki GR, Moni Lazariston
• 15 June – Antwerp BE, Bourlaschouwburg – SOLD OUT
• 16 June – Utrecht NL, Hertz Theatre – SOLD OUT
• 11 Aug – Brighton UK, St George’s
• 12 Aug – Manchester UK, Albert Hall
• 15 Aug – Newcastle UK, Boiler Shop
• 16 Aug – Glasgow UK, St Luke’s
• 18 Aug – Bristol UK, Arc Tangent Festival
• 19 Aug – Leeds UK, Belgrave Music Hall – SOLD OUT
• 21 Aug – Dublin IE, The Academy
• 23 Aug – Norwich UK, Waterfront
• 24 Aug – London UK, Troxy
• 26 Aug – La Tour-De-Peilz CH, Nox Orae Festival
• 2 Sep – Dallas TX, Granada Theater
• 3 Sep – Austin TX, Paramount Theatre
• 7 Sep – Phoenix AZ, Crescent Ballroom
• 8 Sep – Los Angeles CA, Lodge Room
• 9 Sep – Los Angeles CA, Lodge Room
• 12 Sep – San Francisco CA, Great American Music Hall
• 13 Sep – San Francisco CA, Great American Music Hall
• 15 Sep – Portland OR, Revolution Hall
• 16 Sep – Seattle WA, The Crocodile Showroom
• 19 Sep – Omaha NE, Waiting Room Showroom
• 20 Sep – Minneapolis MN, Fine Line Music Cafe
• 21 Sep – Chicago IL, Cabaret Metro
• 23 Sep – Detroit MI, Magic Bag
• 24 Sep – Cleveland OH, Beachland Ballroom
• 26 Sep – Toronto ON, Phoenix Concert Theater
• 27 Sep – Montreal QC, Theatre National
• 29 Sep – Brooklyn NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg
• 30 Sep – Brooklyn NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg
• 16 Oct – Hamburg DE, Kampnagel – NEW DATE
• 17 Oct – Copenhagen DK, Vega Store – NEW DATE
• 19 Oct – Oslo NO, Blå Residency – NEW DATE
• 20 Oct – Oslo NO, Blå Residency – NEW DATE
• 22 Oct – Stockholm SE, Slaktkyrkan – NEW DATE
• 24 Oct – Helsinki FI, Tavastia – NEW DATE
• 25 Oct – Tallinn EE, HALL – NEW DATE
• 27 Oct – Riga LV, Mežaparks Great Bandstand – NEW DATE
• 28 Oct – Vilnius LI, St John’s Church – NEW DATE
• 31 Oct – Warsaw PL, Progresja – NEW DATE
• 1 Nov – Praha CZ, Divadlo Hybernia – NEW DATE
• 3 Nov – Wien AT, Arena Wien – NEW DATE
• 4 Nov – Budapest HU, Akvarium – NEW DATE
• 7 Nov – Belgrade RS, Dom Omladine – NEW DATE
• 8 Nov – Zagreb HR, Kino Sc – NEW DATE
• 10 Nov – Foligno IT, Auditorium San Domenico – NEW DATE
• 11 Nov – Milano IT, Conservatorio di Milano – NEW DATE
• 13 Nov – Paris FR, Élysée Montmartre – NEW DATE
• 14 Nov – Metz FR, Les Trinitaires – NEW DATE
• 16 Nov – Brussels BE, Botanique – NEW DATE
• 18 Nov – Bochum DE, Christuskirche – NEW DATE
• 19 Nov – Den Haag NL, Amare – NEW DATE
• 21 Nov – Berlin DE, Admiralspalast – NEW DATE

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 previously unreleased 2006 documentary “Our Hobby Is Depeche Mode” by video/installation artist Jeremy Deller and psychotherapist/filmmaker Nick Abrahams is available now in the BBC Storyville series.

The documentary’s inception came about when Mute Records sought to create a film about Depeche Mode in conjunction with an anniversary ‘greatest hits’ compilation. Deller and Abrahams quickly resolved to focus their documentary on the band’s fans, inspired by the almost mythical tales they had heard about Depeche Mode’s Eastern European fanbase from the 1980s.

Deller and Abrahams embarked on a whirlwind tour lasting less than three weeks, visiting Mexico, the US, Germany, Romania, Brazil, and Canada. Upon their arrival in Russia, they were enthusiastically greeted by 60 fans who, in effect, ‘kidnapped’ them for two days, an event that Deller fondly recalls as a fantastic addition to the film. He further emphasised the immense influence of Depeche Mode in Eastern Europe during the 1980s, likening it to the Beatles’ impact on the UK in the 1960s.

Despite the compelling footage and narratives, the documentary was never released due to several reasons. Deller recalls a German family who, oddly enough, managed to secure tickets to album press launches and private meet-and-greets, and dressed their children as band members and characters from the band’s videos. This family’s access and eccentric behaviour was a source of resentment among many German fans. Additionally, the unscripted and unpredictable nature of the fans’ behaviours clashed with the meticulously crafted and managed image of the band. The fans’ appropriation of the band, their unique expressions of fandom, and their joyful, chaotic antics didn’t fit into the carefully controlled branding of Depeche Mode.

You can watch the documentary via the BBC’s iPlayer service in the UK. Or right below on Youtube.

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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Mark Stewart, a pioneering figure in post-punk and industrial hip-hop, passed away in the early hours of Friday, 21 April 2023. Born on 28 April 1960, Stewart was an English singer and founding member of The Pop Group.

Mute label boss Daniel Miller, a close friend of Stewart, shared his fond memories: “I’ve known Mark as a mate and fellow traveller for over 40 years since he was the lead singer of The Pop Group. I have countless brilliant memories of him – some odd, some outrageous, but always inspiring and somehow purposeful. His musical influence has been far greater than often recognised. He was always supportive of young artists, particularly those local to him in Bristol – many have gone on to become international stars. His warmth and kindness as a friend have always been incredibly important to me. We had so many laughs together, and he had such creative energy. The last time I saw Mark was a few months ago in Bristol, performing an improvised set with Lee Ranaldo. He was nothing short of hilarious, his piece essentially a stand-up routine, and after the show, we spent hours putting the world to rights, a fantastic memory. I’ll miss him dearly. Mark, I can’t imagine you being anything other than restless, but I hope you find your unique peace.”

Gareth Sager, founding member of The Pop Group adds: “Mark was the most brilliant mind of our generation, rest in peace.”

Adrian Sherwood, who collaborated with Stewart via his On-U Sound Records label, expressed his heartfelt appreciation: “Cheers, my brother. You were the most significant musical influence in my life, and our extended family will miss you dearly. Eternal love.”

Stewart formed The Pop Group in Bristol in 1977 as a teenager. Influenced by dub and reggae, driven by political conviction and sonic experimentation, the band released their debut album, “Y”, that same year – a defining album of its era. After The Pop Group disbanded following a final performance at a significant CND rally in 1980, Stewart continued working with CND and, inspired by the emerging hip-hop scene in New York, collaborated with dub pioneer Adrian Sherwood to create the 1983 album “Learning to Cope with Cowardice”. His solo discography continued with 1985’s “As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade” and spanned the next two decades, culminating with 2012’s “The Politics of Envy”.

In 2010, The Pop Group reformed, driven by renewed political disillusionment, and delivered a series of incendiary live performances, recording two new studio albums. Their last performance with Stewart took place in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, invited by Terry Hall for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021.

Stewart recorded for On-U Sound Records and Mute Records during his career. He leaves behind a unique and significant body of work, encompassing The Pop Group, his solo efforts, collaborations with artists such as Trent Reznor, Tricky, Massive Attack, Chicks on Speed, ADULT., and Primal Scream, and his conceptual art. Mark Stewart’s creative impact has been immense – as Nick Cave stated, he “changed everything” – and his influence will continue to resonate through the music, art, and political activism of generations of artists inspired by his creative work, energy, and spirit.

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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BXL Central and Pias are collaborating to host a special musical event that brings together Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers of the renowned Belgian synth-pop trio Telex, and Daniel Miller, the founder of Mute Records.

The event aims to provide an insight into Telex’s lasting impact on electronic pop music and their groundbreaking contributions. Olivier Monssens, a respected journalist and filmmaker, will be interviewing the artists during the discussion. The event is free to attend, however, reservations are required.

Event Details:

• Title: A Night with Telex & Daniel Miller
• Date: April 17
• Venue: BXL CENTRAL [CHEZ PIAS], Rue Saint-Laurent 36-38, 1000 Brussels

Schedule:

• 6:00 PM – Doors open
• 6:30 PM – Talk and interviews
• 8:00 PM – Event concludes

The event is free to attend; however, reservations are required.

Telex, consisting of Marc Moulin (1942-2008), Dan Lacksman, and Michel Moers, formed in 1978 in Brussels. As electronic pop pioneers, they played a key role in popularizing the genre. Their discography includes six albums, which Mute Records is reissuing in various formats on April 14, 2023.

Daniel Miller founded Mute Records in 1978 with his 7″ single ‘Warm Leatherette,’ released under the name The Normal. Mute has since evolved from a one-man label to a global group, with Miller remaining focused on the creative output. The label’s catalog features prominent artists such as Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Erasure, Goldfrapp, and Yann Tiersen.

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 Thomas Rabsch) Out on March 3rd via Rustblade is the all new album by FM Einheit. Released in a limited edition of 499 copies on grey marbled vinyl, it shows the co-founder and ex-percussionist of Einstürzende Neubauten mixing experimentation and metal percussions with art rock. You can expect a dissonant guitars mix with pianos, trumpets, and tightly wrapped rhythms with vocals by F.M. Einheit and Rica Blunk.

Rica Blunk is a German choreographer, dancer, singer and voice actress, and also the sister of that other musician Timo Blunk. And for the Depeche Mode fans, Blunk was the bassplayer in Palais Schaumburg, a new wave and post-punk band that gained some popularity in Germany in the early 80s. In 1981 the band signed with Daniel Miller’s Mute Records, after which they played support for Depeche Mode.

FM Einheit (real name Frank Martin Strauss) is a German musician and composer. He is best known as the former percussionist and “industrial” drummer for the influential German experimental rock band Einstürzende Neubauten. Einheit joined the band in 1981 and was a member for over a decade, during which time he played on some of their most celebrated albums, including “Halber Mensch” and “Tabula Rasa.”

In addition to his work with Einstürzende Neubauten, Einheit has also collaborated with a number of other musicians and artists, including Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, the German electronic musician Alva Noto, and the experimental filmmaker Heinz Emigholz. Einheit’s work often incorporates unconventional percussion instruments and found objects, and his music has been described as “industrial,” “experimental,” and “avant-garde.”

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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Out on January 20th via Mute Records is the all new EP from Laibach. The “Love is still alive” EP is a journey through our solar system to Mars after the destruction of Earth and the Moon.

The song is taken from the “Iron Sky – The Coming Race” film (2019), directed by Timo Vuorensola. The video was created by komposter in collaboration with Laibach in 2019 already.

You can watch the video for “Love Is Still Alive I (Moon, Euphoria)” right below. It is the first piece of an 8-track EP due out on CD and digitally on 20 January 2023, before Laibach embark on the 2nd part of The Coming Race tour.

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 Paul Husband) Out on 17 February 2023 via the Parallel Series of Mute is the all new Sunroof (Daniel Miller & Gareth Jones) album, “Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 2”. The album will be out on limited edition white vinyl and digitally. The album artwork is a watercolour painting by Gareth.

The new album is a set of eight improvised modular pieces recorded at the duo’s respective home studios following the release of their debut, “Electronic Music Improvisations Volume 1” (2021). This new album came together in a relatively short space of time.

“I suppose this is the difficult second album,” jokes Gareth, “it took 40 years to make the first album and just nine months to create this one!” Daniel expands, “We got on a roll and didn’t really stop recording once we had that momentum.”

Here’s already the video for “January #2”, created by Sunroof. The video imagery depicts manipulated sequences triggered by software connected to the audio – a technique that they introduced into their live performance during a short run of live shows after their first album was released.

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 Jürgen Sieckmeyer) Out on February 17 2023 on Mute is the reissue of Phew’s 1992 album, “Our Likeness” which was recorded at Conny Plank’s studio in Cologne. On this album avant-garde vocalist, electronics innovator and post-punk artist Phew was joined by Jaki Liebezeit, Alexander Hacke, Chrislo Haas and Thomas Stern.

Phew first came to the fore as the vocalist of Japanese post-punk group Aunt Sally (whose 1979 debut was reissued last year on Mesh-Key) before going on to record a solo single with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Her 1981 self-titled album, recorded with Liebezeit and Holger Czukay, was engineered by Conny Plank, and was followed by 1987’s “View”.

It was Chrislo Haas (D.A.F. / Liaisons Dangereuses / Der Plan), who had met Phew briefly when Plank engineered her debut solo album in 1981, who arranged for Alexander Hacke (guitar / Einstürzende Neubauten) and Thomas Stern (bass / Crime & the City Solution) to join. Can’s drummer Jaki Liebezeit also reunited with Phew to collaborate alongside this new generation of German experimental musicians. Chrislo Haas also introduced Phew to Daniel Miller, for the original release of “Our Likeness”.

Phew remembers: “When I was recording at Conny’s Studio in 1981, a young German man came to visit, sat quietly in the studio for a while and left without saying a word. His politeness was long remembered and can still be recalled. It was when he came to Japan that I discovered he was Chrislo Haas of D.A.F. At the end of the 1980s he visited me in Tokyo, then we decided to make something together, and a few months later we were recording at Conny’s Studio. Chrislo contacted the musicians who took part, Alex Hacke, Jaki Liebezeit and Thomas Stern, told Mute about the project and Our Likeness was released. I often wonder what kind of music Chrislo would have made if he had still been here on earth. Twenty-four years later, I met Alex Hacke again at a festival in Poland, where I got to play with hackedepicciotto. And now I am working with Danielle de Picciotto. More to come!”

You can check out the title track below.

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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Crime & the City Solution, who recently returned to the studio to record a cover of The Doors’ classic 1967 ode to alienation, “People Are Strange”, have just announced details of a series that will see their long out of print catalogue reissued on vinyl for the first time in decades via Mute Records.

The series begins in January 2023 with the reissue of the three albums that founder Simon Bonney considers the origin of his true voice and the definitive sound he sought for Crime & the City Solution: “Shine” (1988, set for release on limited gold vinyl), “The Bride Ship” (1989, available on limited white vinyl) and “Paradise Discotheque” (1990, out on limited orange vinyl).

Crime & the City Solution’s second album, “Shine”, heralds the arrival of the first Berlin incarnation, and sees Simon Bonney, Mick Harvey and Bronwyn Adams decamp from London to Berlin. With a more experimental sound, which drew less on Melbourne post punk scene roots and took a more explorative musical approach, this lineup featured Einstürzende Neubauten’s Alexander Hacke on guitar, ex-DAF/Liaisons Dangereuses electronicus Chrislo Haas on vintage Korg patchbay synth, and free jazz bassist Thomas Stern.

“The Bride Ship” soon followed and saw the Berlin line up return to Hansa Tonstudio in West Berlin, this time with Gareth Jones lending a hand with production. In 1990, following a move by Simon Bonney and Bronwyn Adams to Vienna, the now classic line up travelled to Conny Plank’s legendary studio to record “Paradise Discotheque”.

About Crime and the City Solution

Formed in Sydney by Simon Bonney at the age of 16, Crime & the City Solution’s early performances from 1977-1979 had a big impact on key figures of the early Melbourne art-punk/post punk scene. In 1984, Bad Seed Mick Harvey shipped Bonney to England to form the London based Crime with their friend ex-Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S Howard, with his brother Harry Howard on bass and Epic Soundtracks on drums. Two years on, having toured Europe, the UK and US and released several EPs and an album, this lineup reached its zenith at its finale in a historic swansong performance in Wim Wenders’ cinematic masterpiece “Wings of Desire”.

Following the Berlin incarnation, encapsulated in these three reissues and the live album, “The Adversary”, it would be 20 years before the band, then based in Detroit, would return with their fifth studio album, “American Twilight”.

Back now after a 10-year hiatus, Simon Bonney and Bronwyn Adams have been touring through Europe with a new Berlin based incarnation, their final date of the year will be at La Maroquinerie in Paris on 27 November.

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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In September we announced that the electronica artist Miss Grit – aka New York-based, Korean-American musicia Margaret Sohn – had signed to Mute. After a first single, “Like You”, for Mute we now received some info on the full album “Follow the Cyborg” out 24 February 2023 on Mute.

The title track of the release is also available now together with an accompanying video. On “Follow the Cyborg”, Sohn pursues the path of a non-human machine, as it moves from its helpless origin to awareness and liberation.

Interesting detail, “Follow the Cyborg” will appear twice on the album, in English as well as in Korean under the title “사이보그를 따라와”.

Watch the video for “Follow the Cyborg” below.

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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Pole – aka German electronic artist Stefan Betke – has launched the title track of his new album, “Tempus”, out on Mute on 18 November 2022 on vinyl, CD and digitally. “Tempus” is the follow-up album to 2020’s “Fading”.

You can check out “Tempus” right below.

And here are two more tracks.

The painting on the cover, by Wolfgang Betke titled “Großstadtwanderer”, links into the themes explored on the album. Betke explains: “I found the whole atmosphere in this totally weird confused head with these little shimmery eyes leaking through the colours to totally fit the idea of Tempus.”

About Pole

Born in Düsseldorf, Pole took his name from a Waldorf 4-Pole filter, which he accidentally dropped and broke in 1996. Though the filter was perhaps no longer appropriate for DJ work in its damaged state, Betke found the strange hissing and popping noises the filter now made interesting sounds. He then began using the broken filter to create music, launching his musical career.

Betke’s first four albums, titled “1”, “2”, “3”, and “R” (a trilogy of albums, followed by a collection of remixes of Pole’s 1998 debut EP “Raum”), were all based around this filter. In 2003 Betke departed from this style for the album “Pole” (a combination of tracks from two EPs, “45/45” and “90/90”), which utilized more traditionally electronics.

Pole has been distributed on several different labels, including Matador Records and Mute Records.

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 Frank Uyttenhove) Out now is “EP1” by Telex which acts as a teaser for a box set collecting their 6 studio albums. Out on Mute on 3 March 2023 the box set holds remastered reissues of their six studio albums, “Looking for Saint-Tropez” (1979), “Neurovision” (1980), “Sex” (1981), “Wonderful World” (1984), “Looney Tunes” (1988) and “How Do You Dance?” (2006).

The material was remastered and newly mixed from the original tapes by Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers. The release will be available as a limited edition vinyl and CD box set and digitally.

The boxset, simply titled “Telex”, is announced by an EP, called “EP1”, which holds the following careerspanning tracks:

1. ‘Rock Around The Clock’ (from Looking for Saint-Tropez)
2. ‘Réalité’ (from Neurovision)
3. ‘Sigmund Freud’s Party’ (from Sex)
4. ‘Wonderful World’ (from Wonderful World)
5. ‘Peanuts’ (from Looney Tunes)
6. ‘How Do You Dance?’ (from How Do You Dance?

The vinyl and CD Telex box set includes a 12-page booklet and audio download code.

The Belgian synthpop trio consisting of the late Marc Moulin (1942- 2008), Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers formed in Brussels in 1978, at a time when electronic pop was regarded as novelty, with suspicion, as a harbinger for future dystopia and alienation. Telex were concerned about the consequences of new technology for human communication, their name taken, ironically, from a now obsolete piece of communications technology, adding a retro-futurist air to their legend.

It was on their cover versions that they deliberately played up the disparity between the ice-cool electronic approach and the sweaty, fleshy, frenetic passion of pop. Their cover versions – from the Yé-yé of Les Chats Sauvages’ “Twist à Saint Tropez” to the psychedelic soul of “Dance to the Music” (Sly and the Family Stone) from the rock n roll of Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” and “La Bamba” to the disco of Sparks’ “The Number One Song in Heaven” and beyond – see Telex embrace a wide history of musical genre.

The band famously entered the Eurovision Song Contest, representing Belgium with “Euro-vision”. Moers says he regarded their entry as “very Situationist International, the worm in the apple.” and they resolved either to come first or last. They didn’t achieve that goal, but became part of the Eurovision saga. Moers saw Johnny Logan (who went on to win the contest twice for Ireland) and told him, “you’re going to win”, Logan replied “Yeah. But if I win it’s good for me. If you win, it’s good for music.”

Telex announced their retirement in 2008, following Moulin’s death, and in 2021 began a new partnership with Mute beginning with the release of “This Is Telex”, featuring two unreleased tracks.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Terence Fixmer has shared his brand new single, “Synthetic Mind”, the latest to be taken from his forthcoming album, “Shifting Signals” – set for release on double vinyl, CD and digitally on 2 December 2022.

Talking about the single, Fixmer, who cites John Carpenter’s scores as a source of inspiration for the track, explains: “I wanted give people a direct movie image in their head when they listen to it.”

Talking about “Shifting Signals”, the follow up to 2018’s album “Through the Cortex”, he says: “On each album I aim for something different but I retain the core sound, which is always there and often dark and melancholic. Sometimes the balance tips slightly and on this album, I’m striving to be freer and open myself up more to melody.”

Listen to “Synthetic Mind” below.

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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Out 11 November on Mute / BMG is Virgin Prunes’ 40th anniversary edition of “If I Die, I Die”.

The release comes in a remastered version and it will be available on vinyl for the first time since 82, and as a 2CD set with rarities. The vinyl comes in a transparent vinyl with a 16 page photobook and brand new sleevenotes by Dr Jonathan Wood.

Watch the brand new video for the previously unreleased “Baby Turns Blue (Colin Newman Remix 2004)”.

“If I Die, I Die” was recorded at the Windmill Studios in Dublin in the summer of 1982 and features one of the band’s best known songs, “Baby Turns Blue”, Produced by Wire’s Colin Newman the sides of the 1982 vinyl and album cover, designed by Steve Averill, were given brown and blue colors, signaling earth and sky respectively.

Here’s what you can expect from the extras (^ previously unreleased).

1. Baby Turns Blue (Colin Newman Remix 2004) (2022 Remaster)^
2. Chance of a Lifetime (UK 12″) (2022 Remaster)
3. Yeo (UK 12″) (2022 Remaster)
4. The Faculties of a Broken Heart (What Should We Do If Baby Turns Blue) (UK 12″) (2022 Remaster)
5. King of Junk (Instrumental) (Rough Mix) (2022 Remaster)^
6. Ballad of the Man (Rough Mix) (2022 Remaster)^
7. Fado (Rough Mix) (2022 Remaster)^
8. Bau-Dachong (Rough Mix) (2022 Remaster)^
9. Theme For Thought (Rough Mix) (2022 Remaster)^
10. Pagan Lovesong (Demo) (2022 Remaster)^
11. Pagan Lovesong (2022 Remaster)
12. Dave-Id Is Dead (2022 Remaster)
13. Pagan Lovesong (Vibeakimbo) (2022 Remaster)

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 Hoseon Sohn) New York-based, Korean-American musician Margaret Sohn aka Miss Grit, returns today with a new single “Like You”, and announces being signed to Mute. Miss Grit has released two EPs over the past three years, “Talk, Talk” and “Impostor”. The new single was produced and recorded by Sohn.

Talking about the recent signing to Mute, she says: “Mute is one of the labels I put on a pedestal in my mind, so the fact I was even on their radar was really flattering. And then to think they believed in my music enough to want to work together made me so happy.”

You can watch Miss Grit’s lyric video for “Like You” below.

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 Ben de Biel) Pole – aka German electronic artist Stefan Betke – has announced details of a new album, “Tempus”, due out November 18 via Mute on vinyl, CD and digital platforms. You can watch the video for “Grauer Sand” by Rainer Kohlberger – the first taste of what to expect from the album – below.

Stefan Betke explains the album as follows: “‘Tempus’ considers the connection between the past, present, and future. It is, a natural development to the last album. One which goes further and is even more complex.”

The painting on the cover, by Wolfgang Betke titled Großstadtwanderer, links into the themes explored on the album. Betke explains: “I found the whole atmosphere in this totally weird, confused head with these little shimmery eyes leaking through the colours to totally fit the idea of Tempus.”

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 Katja Ruge) Terence Fixmer has announced details of his debut album for Mute, “Shifting Signals”, out 2 December 2022. Out already is the first single, “Corne de Brume”. For Fixmer it’s a dream coming true as he has always been a big fan of the UK label which housed and still houses a lot of his favorite electronic acts.

“Shifting Signals” is the follow up to 2018’s album “Through the Cortex” and is conceptually based around a vivid sci-fi world where deep space stretches out infinitely and was sparked by a formative childhood viewing of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror classic Alien. “I was totally traumatized but at the same time fascinated by it,” he recalls. “I kept thinking about the images from the film while I was making this album.”

You can listen to “Corne de Brume” right below.

Fixmer has a few live dates coming up as well.

• 16 Sept – KM 25, Paris, FR
• 17 Sept – La Case á Chocs, Neuchâtel, CH
• 23 Sept – Hive, Zurich, CH
• 24 Sept – Futur, Paris, FR
• 10 Nov – C12, Brussels, BE

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 Joe Dilworth) Mute has announced details of a series of reissues from Recoil (Alan Wilder), starting with three long out of print albums “Unsound Methods”, “Liquid” and “subHuman” – due out on double coloured vinyl and CD on 7 October 2022. The first three albums, “1+2” (1986), “Hydrology” (1988) and “Bloodline” (1990) are currently being remastered for release at a later date.

The new editions of “Unsound Methods” (1997), “Liquid” (2000) and “subHuman” (2007) will be available in transparent green/clear, silver and curacao blue respectively.

In a reaction to Mute Alan Wilder recently said this: “Having not really listened in full to any of the Recoil albums for many years, the requirement to sit down and closely scrutinize the new test pressings meant that I was obliged to focus on everything once again. It was a surprising and pleasurable adventure to hear the work with fresh ears and I was able, perhaps properly for the first time, to experience all the detail which I had either forgotten about or hadn’t fully appreciated at the time.”

“Unsound Methods” was Wilder’s fourth album as Recoil, and his first release after announcing his departure from Depeche Mode in 1995. Recorded at his Sussex studio, “Unsound Methods” saw him working with four very different collaborators: Nitzer Ebb’s Douglas McCarthy, New York spoken-word artist Maggie Estep and vocalists Siobhan Lynch and Hildia Campbell.

“Liquid” followed in 2000 and the collaborations continued, this time working alongside Diamanda Galás, Nicole Blackman, Samantha Coerbell, Rosa Torras, The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet and more.

“subHuman” arrived after a seven-year break and saw Wilder working with vocalists Carla Trevaskis and Louisiana bluesman Joe Richardson, whose voice is complimented by guitar and harmonica performances.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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The third in the series of live CAN albums will be out on 14 October 2022. “Can Live in Cuxhaven, 1976” is the latest in the series which began in 2021 with “Can Live in Stuttgart 1975” and presents a shorter, more concise performance by Can over four sections. The new album is set for release on limited edition blue vinyl and CD.

The Can Live series has taken the best of Can’s bootlegged recordings – many of which were recorded by Andrew Hall, who died in April 2021 – and, overseen by founding member Irmin Schmidt and producer / engineer René Tinner.

You can listen to a snippet below.

The sleeve notes for this release were written by the French author Pascal Bussy, whose books include “The Can Story” (co-authored with Andy Hall, 1989) and “Kraftwerk: Man, Machine, and Music” (1993).

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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Following the 2021 physical release of Paul Kendall’s “Boundary Macro” album on Downward Records, Cat Werk Imprint have now announced the release as a high-quality digital download via Bandcamp. “Boundary Macro” is the fifth solo album from producer, engineer and electronic musician Paul Kendall.

The vinyl edition is available here, while the download is available here.

The foundations for Boundary Macro came through a remix completed for Downwards, the label run by Karl O’Connor (aka Regis). O’Connor was familiar with Kendall’s work as an in-house producer, engineer and mixer for Mute Records in the 1980s and 1990s, and sought him out for the remix of Veronica Vasicka’s “From Here” in 2018.

“Boundary Macro” was recorded after the COVID-19 pandemic had first emerged.

Paul: “I experienced a sort of creative paralysis from the start of March until the end of April due to early lockdown and an endless concern about food supplies (…) around May I started to experiment sound processing apps on my iPad – apps like Borderlands Granular, Tardigrain and Enso. I was astonished at the relative affordability of these apps in comparison to studio multi-effects units or computer plug-ins.”

Kendall began experimenting with recordings of his own voice and the Leaf Audio Soundbox instrument, capturing hours of improvised performances which were then edited, superimposed and processed to form eight of the tracks on the album. The album was completed by the addition of two older pieces created using completely different methods (“Distor ADIO” and “Are You In?”).

Check out the full album below.

Here are two videos from the release.

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 Angela Conway) Duet Emmo have shared a new track from the remastered reissue of Daniel Miller, Edvard Graham Lewis and B.C. Gilbert’s sole collaboration, “Or So It Seems”, which is out 19 August 2022. “Or So It Seems” has been remastered from the original analogue tapes by Stefan Betke.

Available on vinyl for the first time since its original release, the album has been expanded to double vinyl and is released on special edition white vinyl, as a limited edition of 400 on orange vinyl via Bleep (both with high-definition download), CD and digitally on 19 August 2022.

This is a true classic which should be in your collection without any doubt. You will also recognize where Alan Wilder sampled some of the material for his very first Recoil album “1+2” from 1986. A must-have, and that first Recoil album too.

“Heart Of Hearts (Or So It Seems)” is an 8-minute remix of the album’s title track, originally available on the b-side of the 12” of “Or So It Seems”. You can check the remastered version below.

About Duet Emmo

Duet Emmo was a notable collaboration formed in 1982, comprising Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis, both members of Wire and Dome, and Daniel Miller, the founder of Mute Records and a member of The Normal. The name “Duet Emmo” is an anagram of “Dome” and “Mute”, reflecting the origins of the members.

Their only album, “Or So It Seems”, was released in 1983 by Mute Records and featured a unique blend of the abstract, minimal textures of Gilbert and Lewis, and the rigid, song-based electronics of Miller. This combination promised an engaging hybrid of styles. The title track of the album was also released as a 12″ single, and its B-side, “Heart of Hearts”, was included as a bonus track in CD releases of 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!

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Erasure have announced details of their new release, “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)”, out on Mute on 12 August 2022 on fluorescent green vinyl, CD and digitally. “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” is an album of brand new tracks, each created using elements of “The Neon” universe resulting in a 10-track album.

Origins of this new album

Vince Clarke, finding himself with unscheduled time to spend in the studio, began manipulating files for tracks from “The Neon”, their 2020 album release. Vince explains: “With no agenda in mind, gradually a hidden landscape in the tracks began to emerge – one that revealed a track within a track, another world within ‘The Neon’.”

Clarke explored this further, progressing some of the techniques he was using until the tracks that make up “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” started to fall into place.

Andy Bell then took these tracks into the studio and, working with long-time collaborator Gareth Jones, began work on his parts. The final album bears little resemblance to the original source material – although echoes of “The Neon” can be heard from time to time. As a whole the album is an alternative look at Vince and Andy’s world.

Listen to the first chapter of “Day-Glo (Based on a True Story)” right below.

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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(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange) Trym Nævestad aka DJ 7trym had been working on an extensive Depeche Mode megamix to celebrate his 50^th birthday June 7^th. I got wind of this when he contacted me mid-April, asking if I had some DM remixes digitally available, and after searching my hard drives I found what he was looking for. After sharing the files I got a draft in return two days later – and as a DM fans since 1983 I’ve heard a LOT of mixes, but immediately rated this as a top 3 in my book! Feels updated with a great selection of songs and remixes, transitions that other remixers would envy, have some surprises and doesn’t get dull.

Then May 26^th happened… Andrew Fletcher died, the Depeche Mode fan base mourned, and Trym decided to release the mix in Fletch’ honor the day after. As the mix was prematurely published I’d wanted to wait a few weeks, let things settle down and have his birthday pass before follow up, so earlier this week we had a mail chat.

S-L: We read about what the mix were initially made for and that you released it earlier because of Fletch’ passing – tell us what thoughts went through your head those days that made you change the purpose of the mix? 

Trym: Like everyone else, I was in total shock when I got the news about Fletch. The mix was meant to be a celebration of me as a DM fanboy, but suddenly it became way more important than my little ego-trip. I had produced a lot of DJ sets scheduled around my anniversary, so I had to work quickly to find out what to do. The decision to release it ASAP was easy, even if it gave me a lot of extra work though.

S-L: What’s your process doing a mix like this?

Trym: Behind every one of my works, it’s hundreds of hours of getting to know every song by heart. That part is easy for me with DM since I’ve followed them since ’82. It’s actually way harder to find out which songs to exclude to keep the duration down to 2 hours. I have thousands of remixes to choose from. Most are bootlegs and fan made, so the quality is really varied. If I hear a good attempt but with obvious flaws or bad audio, I try to see if I can recreate it easily myself before I decide what to do with it. Software like the online service https://www.lalal.ai/ is just insanely powerful for dissecting tracks! When putting the set together, I focus on the right harmony when deciding the order to play the songs. I avoid breaking the rules of the Camelot wheel so my transitions are always in harmony. (https://mixedinkey.com/camelot-wheel/)

The final mix is done in Mixmeister, which do most of the work if you prepared well. It’s an old software and not developed anymore, but I still find it so powerful for programming DJ sets and easy access to plugins for EQ, compressors and so on. The mix is done quite quickly, but I tend to adjust knobs and filters, adding and removing beats for weeks after I really should be happy and just release it 😀

S-L: How many have heard the mix so far?

Trym: It’s passed 215 unique listeners on Mixcloud, but that’s kind of normal there. For me, the most important thing was to get it published so it can be played, used and inspire listeners for years to come.

(Editor’s note: At the moment of writing this article it’s 9th in the global vocal chart and 88th in the global electronica chart.)

S-L: How long have you been a fan of DM, and how have they impacted your life?

Trym: They came into my life in ‘82 as the older brother of my classmate was really into them then. Strange enough, my classmate was also named Trym and his older brother is Lars Holte, the man responsible for lots of the first raves in Norway and later breaking Tiësto. I just kind of fell straight into it all 😀

My first CD ever was ‘A Broken Frame’, and I was surprised because I thought I had bought ‘Speak and Spell’ when I asked the man in the record store for their album. It was probably in the summer of ‘83 because CDs were a totally new invention that year. I hunted down every vinyl edition of everything I could get hold of after that even if I didn’t have a decent record player and had spent most of my cash on that CD player.

In ‘87 I started working for a radio station, and that opened up more and more opportunities for me. I saw DM live for the first time with the ‘Music for the Masses’ tour and I started practicing as a club DJ. Radio hooked me up with Vince Clark and Andy Bell for an interview in Oslo. I only cared about Vince because of his work with DM. I remember Andy as quite offended since he wanted to be the star and I was told quite clearly that Vince was in Erasure now 😀

During the 90’s I worked hard day and night with morning shows in radios and club gigs at night. When ‘Ultra’ was released in ‘97, I attended a release party and ended up forcing the DJ out of his booth because he didn’t play DM “right”! I took over and the roof just flew off and the crowd went wild. That was the start of my long list of DM parties after that response.

The local label manager for Mute Records saw it too, took me in and used me for everything DM after that. That’s how I was placed backstage at their gigs in Scandinavia at the ‘Exciter’ tour, and on the stage of the official afterparties.

I almost missed their actual concert every time, and had to go to Vilnius in 2006 to finally see their full show as an ordinary member of the audience. It was not the plan to be more than a guest there, but even in Lithuania I ended up on the stage at the afterparty after “politely” removing the DJ that did not live up to my standards that time 😉

I was quite an active dude thinking waaaaay too high of myself at that time – hope I’m seen as more polite now. Anyway, it all worked out in the end!

There is little doubt that the internal life of DM has been rough on its members, and I’ve had the pleasure to meet and play with both Alan Wilder and Fletch when they toured away from DM. Wilder is a conundrum to understand, and Fletch was just the total opposite. Fletch talked freely and made everybody feel like we’d been friends forever. Truly an amazing man and very open about the alcohol problems both he and Martin struggled with. Maybe because I was quite troubled myself at that time so we found that as our common ground, both wanting a way out to a life that didn’t always start the days with hangovers.

S-L: Any other projects or mixes planned in the near future?

Trym: I decided to release a mix for cleaning my house the first Friday of every month, and share it willingly if it can help those mops to move 😀

I’m not playing live anywhere this year, but I’m thinking seriously about doing festival gigs again from 2023. I don’t know if I will do another DM party again though. It just feels strange now, but I hope that will change in time.

As a unique one off around my 50th anniversary, I’m releasing 7 unique DJ sets in different flavours. A new one every day to show off some of my different sides and inspire DJs to open their minds for new stuff.

It’s some high energy festival sets with bangers& mashups, a showcase of what a DJ can do with alternative rock, an Altern80s revisit, a Dark Wave set and a Sunday brunch soundscape. They can all be found on https://www.mixcloud.com/7rym

I hope people will enjoy them 🙂

PS! As a side note on how the DM community connects people, I can add that I first met Trym at a meet & greet before the ‘Exicter’ concert in Oslo, 2001, after winning a contest on Norwegian TV, with Trym being the judge. (sorry for the lousy quality, TV recording equipment on a PC wasn’t very good 21 years ago :/ )

Me and my friend Truls got tickets to the concert and the opportunity to meet the band backstage before the concert, and went out of there with an additional three new acquaintances in Trym, Lars and Frank, whom I still have occasional contact with, meet at concerts etc. 20 years later. DM for life!

Listen to the mix right here, and find other mixes by 7rym at his Mixcloud page:
https://www.mixcloud.com/7rym/

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

We have had our fair share of bad news in the past few years, also this year started with bad news, but this news will cause a shockwave in the electro pop music scene as Andy Fletcher, founding member of Depeche Mode, died this Thursday, May 26, at the age of 60. Fletcher leaves a wife and two children behind. No further details regarding the cause of death were given.

The news was confirmed on the band’s official profile on social media as you can see below. Our sincere condolences to the family.

Andy Fletcher, full name Andrew John Leonard Fletcher, was born on the 8th of July 1961. Often referred to as as Fletch, he and schoolmate Vince Clarke formed the short-lived band No Romance in China, in which Fletcher played bass guitar. In 1980, Fletcher met Martin Gore at the Van Gogh pub on Paycocke Road in Basildon and with Clarke, the trio, now all on synthesizer, formed another group called Composition of Sound. Clarke served as chief songwriter and also provided lead vocals until singer Dave Gahan was recruited into the band later that year, after which they adopted the name Depeche Mode at Gahan’s suggestion.

Clarke left the group in late 1981, shortly after the release of their debut album “Speak & Spell”.

Their 1982 follow-up album, “A Broken Frame”, was recorded as a trio, with Gore taking over primary songwriting duties. Musician and producer Alan Wilder joined the band in late 1982 and the group continued as a quartet until Wilder’s departure in 1995. From then on, the core trio of Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher remained active, up to the release of their 2017 album “Spirit” and ensuing world tour.

The role of Fletcher in Depeche Mode

Fletcher’s role within Depeche Mode was often a topic of speculation. In early incarnations of the band, he played (electric and later synth) bass but as the band evolved after Vince Clarke’s departure in 1981, Fletcher’s role changed as each of the band members took to the areas that suited them and benefited the band collectively. He was the only member of the band who did not receive a songwriting credit.

Fletcher handled many of the band’s business, legal, and other non-musical interests over the years. In later years, this included acting as the band’s “spokesperson”, with Fletcher often being the one to announce Depeche Mode news (such as record album and tour details).It apparently was also Fletcher who helped settling the dispute between Gahan and Gore following 2001’s “Exciter” album and tour over future songwriting duties within Depeche Mode.

His own label, Toast Hawaii

In 2002, Fletcher launched his own record label, a Mute Records imprint called Toast Hawaii (named after the dish) and signed the band CLIEИT. He coordinated the recording of their eponymous 2003 debut and 2004’s “City”, while also producing “extended remixes” for their subsequent singles “Price of Love”, “Rock and Roll Machine”, “Here and Now”, “In It for the Money”, “Radio” and “Pornography”. CLIEИT left the label in 2006 and no further activity with Toast Hawaii was held or announced.

Initially to support CLIEИT’s live shows, Fletcher began touring as a DJ. Whenever he was on hiatus from Depeche Mode, Fletcher played occasional festivals and club gigs in Europe, Asia, South America and so on. The sets included various exclusive Depeche remixes. In late 2015, Fletcher embarked on a small tour of European clubs.

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 Richard Dumas) Yann Tiersen has announced details of a new album, “11 5 18 2 5 18”, set for release June 10 via Mute on CD and digital platforms. A limited edition clear double vinyl format is scheduled for September 30.

This new release from Tiersen was born from experimentation in the studio ahead of a performance at Superbooth, Berlin’s modular and synthesizer festival. With more time than usual to prepare for his live set, Tiersen found himself in his Eskal Studio on the French island of Ushant completing the story he started with 2021’s “Kerber”. Using samples as his source, Tiersen has resampled, reprogrammed, and recomposed the pieces, creating entirely new tracks unrecognizable from their original versions.

To launch the new album, Tiersen has shared two tracks: “16 15 21 12 12” and “2 15 10 5 18”.

Yann Tiersen 2022 Tour

Yann Tiersen will also embark on an extensive tour this June in support of “11 5 18 2 5”. Planned dates include stops across The United States, Mexico, Canada, and Europe throughout the year. Full dates below.

• June 1 – Mexico City, Mexico – Auditorio Nacional
• June 2 – Queretaro, Mexico – Auditorio Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez
• June 3 – Guadalajara, Mexico – Teatro Diana
• June 4 – Monterrey, Mexico – Auditorio Pabellón M
• June 7 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
• June 8 – Berkeley, CA – UC Theatre
• June 9 – Portland, OR – McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom
• June 11 – Vancouver, BC– Vogue Theatre
• June 12 – Seattle, WA – Neptune
• June 15 – Chicago, IL – Metro
• June 16 – Detroit, MI – The Crofoot Ballroom
• June 17 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
• June 18 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
• June 20 – Quebec, QC – Palais Montcalm
• June 22 – Somerville, MA – Somerville Theatre
• June 24 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
• June 25 – Washington, DC – 930 Club
• July 9 – Vienne, France – Théâtre Antique
• July 10 – Milan, Italy – Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
• July 16 – Barcelona, Spain – Festival Jardins Pedralbes
• July 21 – Cascais, Portugal – Hipódromo Manuel Possolo
• July 24 – San Sebestián, Spain – Jazzaldia Festival
• September 4 – Geneva, Switzerland – Alhambra
• September 7 – Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royale
• September 8 – London, England – Roundhouse
• September 10 – Berlin, Germany – Tempodrom
• September 12 – Malmo, Sweden – Malmo Live Concert Hall
• September 13 – Gothenburg, Sweden – Pustervik (change of venue)
• September 15 – Stockholm, Sweden – Filadelfia
• September 18 – Paris, France – La Gaité Lyrique
• September 19 – Paris, France – La Gaité Lyrique
• September 21 – Roubaix, France – Le Colisée
• September 22 – Rouen, France – Le 106
• September 23 – Nancy, France – L’Autre Canal
• September 24 – Dijon, France – La Vapeur
• September 27 – La Rochelle, France – La Sirène
• September 28 – Bordeaux, France – Krakatoa
• September 29 – Toulouse, France – Le Bikini
• September 30 – Clermont Ferrand, France – La Coopérative de Mai
• October 1 – Marseille, France Le Moulin
• October 4 – Tours, France – Le Temps Machine (change of venue)
• October 5 – Grenoble, France – La Belle Electrique
• October 6 – Strasbourg, France – La Laiterie

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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I Start Counting have released a 3-track single, “Birmingham” / “Talk About The Weather”, taken from their forthcoming albums of unreleased tracks and demos from 1985 and 1986, “Re-fused” and “Ejected” out April 8 on CD and digital platforms.

Previously only available on (sold out) cassette for the 2021 Independent Label Market in London, the albums compile unreleased tracks and demos recorded in 1985 and 1986 for their albums “My Translucent Hands” (1986) and “Fused” (1988).

As you might have noticed, we say 3-track but it is being promoted as a 2-track although there is a third track, “Million Headed Monster”.

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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Out on 15 April 2022 via Mute / BMG are the reissues on coloured vinyl of the 2 Inspiral Carpets albums “Revenge of the Goldfish” and “Devil Hopping”. This is the first time that will be made available on vinyl since their initial release.

Celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year, “Revenge of the Goldfish” is the band’s third studio release and will be available on limited orange vinyl. Featuring the line-up of Tom Hingley, Clint Boon, Craig Gill, Martyn Walsh and Graham Lambert, the album saw four classic single releases: “Dragging Me Down”, “Bitches Brew”, “Generations” and “Two Worlds Collide”. “Devil Hopping” – available here on limited red vinyl – followed in March 1994 and included the singles “Saturn 5”, “Uniform” and “I Want You”.

Watch the HD video for “Saturn 5” below.

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 Valter Leban) Out on March 25 on Mute is an all new Laibach album, “Wir sind das Volk (Ein Musical aus Deutschland)”. The record will be available on digital platforms as well as a deluxe CD format with extensive sleeve notes. A double vinyl edition will follow on June 10.

The album collates music from the acclaimed theatrical production “Wir sind das Volk” (“We are the People”), which premiered at Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) theater in Berlin on February 8, 2020. Two more shows were performed before the production was halted due to the pandemic. In 2021 Laibach opened the Klagenfurt Festival with a Slovenian version of the same production and performed two more sold out shows at Ljubljana’s Kino Šiška.

Performances will resume in March 2022 at Berlin’s HAU with more confirmed for Zagreb, Ljubljana, Hamburg, Maribor and in the Cultural Capital of Europe, Novi Sad. Full details will be announced soon.

Here’s already the video for “Ich will ein Deutscher sein”.

About the “Wir sind das Volk” theatrical production

“Wir sind das Volk” is based upon the writings of Heiner Müller (1929-1995). Laibach’s own association with the theater began in 1984 when they composed music for Heiner Müller’s “Quartet”, a play that was presented at the Slovenian National Theatre in Ljubljana. The following year they met Müller in Berlin who suggested that they collaborate. Müller went on to use Laibach’s music in a production, but the collaboration never happened until the head of the International Heiner Müller Society, Anja Quickert, proposed a posthumous project based on Müller’s texts.

Laibach explain: “We followed Heiner Müller’s own strategy of cutting and rearranging the material, taking his text and putting it into another context, rebooting it with music, in order to drag the audience into it or alienate them from it. Music unlocks the emotions and is therefore a great manipulative tool and a powerful propagandistic weapon. And that’s why a combination of Heiner Müller, who saw theatre as a political institution, and Laibach, can be nothing else but a musical.”

Quickert goes on to say this: “This project finally brings together what should have happened a long time ago: Laibach and the German playwright and poet Heiner Müller together. The myth of the nation cannot be buried as long as ghosts undermine its foundation. ‘Dialogue with the dead must not be interrupted until it is revealed which part of the future was buried with them.’ Welcome to the abyss of the nation!”

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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I Start Counting announce the CD and digital release of two albums of rare tracks and demos from 1985 and 1986. “Re-fused” and “Ejected” will be out March 25 via Mute Records. Previously only available on (sold out) cassette for the 2021 Independent Label Market in London, the albums compile unreleased tracks and demos recorded in 1985 and 1986 for their albums “My Translucent Hands” (1986) and “Fused” (1988).

About I Start Counting

I Start Counting are David Baker and Simon Leonard. The duo formed in 1982 and signed to Mute in 1984, although their history with the label started much earlier when Simon Leonard jumped on stage in 1979 to break up a tussle between Daniel Miller and Robert Rental at a Paris performance of The Normal & Robert Rental.

I Start Counting’s first singles, “Letters to a Friend” and “Still Smiling”, were both produced by Miller and preceded two album releases, “My Translucent Hands” (1986) and “Fused” (1989). By the beginning of the ‘90s, Baker and Leonard had become Fortran 5 and released three albums for the label before reincarnating in 1996 as Komputer, the name they continue to record under.

Check out these two tracks from the releases, “Million Headed Monster” and “Talk About The Weather”.

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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Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. During the late 1970s bands such as the Human League, Kraftwerk, and later on Gary Numan, Soft Cell and John Foxx helped pioneer a new synth-pop style that drew more heavily from electronic music and emphasized primary usage of synthesizers. Developed in the late 1970s it has seen several revival periods up until now.

We picked out the best synthpop albums from the past 4 decades (!!!). Here’s our list.

The Human League – “Dare” (1981)

The Human League are ‘oldies’ when it comes to synthpop. Formed in Sheffield in 1977 and initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group attained widespread commercial success with their third album “Dare” in 1981. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit “Don’t You Want Me”. The band’s third studio album, it was recorded between March and September 1981 following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their prior avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey. A remix album based on “Dare”, “Love and Dancing”, was released in 1982.

Talk Talk – “It’s My Life” (1984)

Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles “Talk Talk” (1982), “It’s My Life”, and “Such a Shame” (both 1984) before moving towards a more experimental approach in the mid-1980s. Not surprisingly that our next pick is “It’s My Life”, the second studio album by Talk Talk, released in 1984. The album enjoyed an enormous succes thanks to the big international success of its singles (notably “Such a Shame”). We have a soft spot for the tracks “Dum Dum Girl”, “Such a Shame”, “Renée”, “It’s My Life” and “It’s You” although the entire album is just extremely enjoyable.

Alphaville – “Forever Young” (1984)

The German synth-pop band Alphaville, which formed in Münster in 1982, achieved chart success with the singles “Forever Young”, “Big in Japan”, “Sounds Like a Melody”. All these were taken from their 1984 debut album “Forever Young” which was produced by Colin Pearson, Wolfgang Loos and Andreas Budde. Despite the success of the album and its singles, the band did not tour as they felt more like ‘studio rats’. It remains the band’s best output to date.

a-ha – “Scoundrel Days” (1986)

The Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha was formed in Oslo in 1982 by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards and guitars), and Morten Harket (vocals). “Scoundrel Days” is the second studio album by the trio and offered a more mature sound compared to their debut “Hunting High and Low” (1985). “Scoundrel Days”, recorded in England in early 1986 and produced by Alan Tarney, sported such singles as “I’ve Been Losing You”, “Cry Wolf” and “Maybe, Maybe” which was released solely in Bolivia. “Manhattan Skyline” was the forth and final single released from the long-player.

Erasure – “Wonderland” (1986)

“Wonderland” is the debut studio album by the English synth-pop duo Erasure and was released in 1986. Although it was not an immediate success, the three singles released from it did become cult tracks overtime: “Who Needs Love Like That”, “Oh L’amour” and “Heavenly Action”. Although “Wonderland” was considered a failure, especially when comparing it to Clarke’s prior successes with Depeche Mode and Yazoo, the album became an all time favourite that laid the fundament of what was to follow in 1987 with the release of “The Circus”. The album was produced by Flood who would become a long-time collaborator.

Pet Shop Boys – “Actually” (1987)

Pet Shop Boys, the English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981, broke all records when they released “Actually”, their second studio album, in 1987. It was pushed forward by such great tracks as “One More Chance”, “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” (with Dusty Springfield), “Shopping”, “Rent”, “It Couldn’t Happen Here”, “It’s a Sin”, “Heart” and the majestic “King’s Cross”. In short an album filled with hits.

New Order – “Technique” (1989)

New Order was formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. The band formed after the demise of Joy Division, following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis and were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. Their experience of the early 1980s New York club scene saw them increasingly incorporate dance rhythms and electronic instrumentation into their work which resulted in their 1983 hit “Blue Monday” becoming and absolute monster hit. However, we picked out “Technique”, their fifth studio album. Released in 1989 by Factory Records, the album incorporates Balearic beat and acid house influences into the group’s dance-rock sound. “Technique” was the first New Order album to reach the number one spot on the UK charts and had such excellent singles as “Fine Time”, “Round and Round” and “Run 2”.

Depeche Mode – “Violator” (1990)

“Violator” is the seventh studio album by England’s Depeche Mode. It was first released on 19 March 1990 through Mute Records internationally, and through Sire and Reprise Records in the United States. Preceded by the singles “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy the Silence” (a top-10 entry in both the United Kingdom and the United States), the album propelled the band into international stardom, and also yielded the singles “Policy of Truth” and “World in My Eyes”. The album is generally considered as their most accomplisched electropop album before they encorporated more rock elements in the next album, “Songs of Faith and Devotion”. The role of Alan Wilder was crucial in “Violator”, you only have to compare the first and final version of “Enjoy The Silence” to notice the huge difference.

Bel Canto – “Birds of Passage” (1990)

Bel Canto is a Norwegian music duo, originally a trio, fronted by vocalist Anneli Drecker and musically powered by Geir Jenssen and Nils Johansen. Signed originally to Crammed Discs, their second album “Birds of Passage” is considered as an absolute pearl holding an excellent production (aided by Giles Martin) and a long list of guest musicians who added acoustic elements to the cold nordic synths Jenssen and multi-instrumentalist Johansen. It was also the last album featuring Geir Jenssen. It holds the hits “Intravenous”, “Birds of Passage”, “A Shoulder to the Wheel”, “Time Without End”, “Continuum” and “The Suffering”. The band remains an often well-hidden pearl in electropopland.

De/Vision – “Fairyland?” (1996)

De/Vision, a German synthpop act formed in 1988, was at the peak of its electropop stardom around the mid-nineties culiminating in the outstanding “Fairyland?” album which had such great tracks as “I Regret”, “Sweet Life”, “Today’s Life” or “Bleed Me White”. The band was fronting a new wave of electropop bands in Germany but was generally considered to be the most consistent one as far as quality and output. Sadly enough the release, and also the band’s earlier material, are no longer available on Spotify.

Wolfsheim – “Spectators” (1999)

Wolfsheim was a synthpop duo from Hamburg, Germany, that consisted of Markus Reinhardt and Peter Heppner. Their fourth studio album was “Spectators” (1999) preceeded by two ‘pre-release’ singles from the album. “Once in a Lifetime” was released on October 16, 1998 and “It’s Hurting For The First Time” followed on November 30th. The LP was produced by Wolfsheim and José Alvarez-Brill and held 11 new songs. To this day, “Spectators” is the best-selling album by Wolfsheim with over 250,000 copies sold. The third single, “Künstliche Welten”, was released in 1999.

Iris – “Disconnect” (2000)

“Disconnect” is the debut album by the electropop group Iris. Released in 2000 via the US label A Different Drum, the synthpop label by excellence, its success was guaranteed by the now cult synthpop jewels “Annie, Would I Lie to You?”, “Lose In Wanting” and “Danger Is The Shame”. Originally formed by Reagan Jones and Mat Morris in 1993, after the release of their first album “Disconnect”, Matthew Morris was replaced with Andrew Sega, who pushed the band’s sound in a more experimental electronic direction. Sadly enough the release, and also the band’s earlier material, are no longer available on Spotify.

Elegant Machinery – “A Soft Exchange” (2008)

The Swedish synthpop band Elegant Machinery defined the Swedish synthpop movement along with such bands as Page, S.P.O.C.K, Sista Mannen På Jorden and Kiethevez. Heavily influenced by acts like Yazoo, The Human League, Depeche Mode and Rational Youth, the trio Robert Enforsen, Richard Jomshof and Leslie Bayne started the band in 1988 under the name Pole Position. The band was very successful in Sweden, with a number of successful singles and various awards. But it is their 2008 album “A Soft Exchange” that earned them a place in our list. The album was extremely mature yet very melodic and features such pearls a “With Grace”, “Do You Know”, “Feel The Silence”, “Bleeding Words” and “Is This The Way”.

Electro Spectre – “Dangerous Game” (2012)

The Norwegian electronic music duo Electro Spectre fronts the 3rd electropop wave. Isak Rypdal (writer-producer) and Alexander Björneboe (writer-singer) debuted in 2009 with the album “Watch It All Turn” (which was later reproduced and re-released in 2010). The duo has secured us from a steady and consistent output ever since. In our list we picked the band’s 2012 release, which is their second studio album entitled “Dangerous Game”. Included are such pearls as “Love Thief”, “Dancing Girl”, “World Keeps Turning” and “Tokyo Shuffle”.

Mondträume – “Empty” (2014)

Mondträume is the creative outlet of 2 Spanish talented artists Pikotto Vond Mond and Damasius Venys. In only a few years, the duo rapidly caught the attention of concert organizers, released several songs on compilations, and secured a label contract with Belgium’s electronic label Alfa Matrix where they debuted with the album “Empty”. The hits “Life Is Short”, “Parasite” and especially the synth pop pearl “Far From Pain” showcase why this band became one of the strongholders in the 3rd electropop wave together with such bands as Electro Spectre, and more.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

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Chris Liebing – who recently released his latest album, “Another Day” on Mute – has announced details of his first NFT drop. The “Another Day” NFT Collection will be released on Friday 21 January, in collaboration with XLR8R.

The NFT will present the “Another Day” album as an exclusive visual created by Edith and Anna Bergfors from StudioBergfors, the artists who created the cover for the new album and worked on the accompanying videos. The visual album will be minted to the Polygon blockchain and is available in two editions. The Platinum Edition includes a guestlist to Chris Liebing performances for life, while the Gold Edition includes guestlist for one year.

If you wondered how much they cost, here is the pricing.

• $5000 for NFT 1 which includes the “Another Day” visual album (in 4K w/ uncompressed audio) plus the digital album, vinyl album and guest list for life.
• And $2000 for each of the three NFT 2‘s which include the “Another Day” visual album (in HD), plus the digital album, vinyl album and guest list for one year.

The NFT’s will be available tomorrow on Friday 21 January.

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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Coinciding with the reissue of “The Bridge” on 8 April 2022 is a Thomas Leer and Robert Rental ‘From The Port To The Bridge’ exhibition launch with Daniel Miller on 21 January. The exhibition takes place at the Horse Hospital in London from 21 January till 10 February.

Limited tickets are available – to attend, please book here – and are free, but a donation towards The Horse Hospital would be appreciated. Tickets to view the exhibition are available throughout the day, for tickets to the Private View Launch Event, book for 6pm.

On 21 January Simon Dell (music archivist and curator of ‘The Port To The Bridge’ exhibition) will host a talk and Q&A with Mute owner and founder Daniel Miller, discussing his friendship with Robert Rental, their work together and his recollections of the UK around the time of the recording and release of “The Bridge”. They’ll also discuss the legacy of these important works and their impact on electronic music in the current era. In addition, a new filmed interview with Thomas Leer is showing for the first time. The talk and Q&A is at 7pm.

Out via The Grey Area, the reissue of Thomas Leer and Robert Rental’s 1979 album, “The Bridge”, will be out on a limited edition white vinyl for the first time since its original release, and on CD for the first time since The Grey Area of Mute’s release 30 years ago. Recorded at Rental’s home over two intense weeks using equipment provided by Throbbing Gristle (with only rudimentary explanation of how to use it), their groundbreaking album was cited by a number of electronic musicians at the time as being of a big incluence, including John Foxx, Matt Johnson (The The) and ABC.

This is the opening track, “Attack Delay”.

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 Anouck Bertin) M83, the brainchild of musician Anthony Gonzalez, today launched a new video for “My Tears Are Becoming A Sea”. Taken from M83’s 2011 double album “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”, the video for “My Tears Are Becoming A Sea” is a prequel to the record’s video trilogy comprised of “Midnight City”, “Reunion” and “Wait.”

The initial trilogy chronicled the adventures of supernatural children on the run from forces wishing to capture them in order to study their powers. This new video is directed by Sacha Barbin and Ryan Doubiago and produced by Division.

You can watch the new video below.

Alongside today’s video launch, there will be a limited 10th anniversary transparent orange vinyl edition of “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”.

This new pressing showcases cover artwork captured once again by Anouck Bertin. The original cover models, Kimona and Cormac, return to a revamped imagining of the mise-en-scène but the abundant stuffed animals in the initial cover art have now been reduced in number and replaced by totems of one’s teenage years: sports memorabilia, vinyl records, and scientific models.

Here are the two covers, on the right the original one, on the left the 2021 version.

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 Chris Carter) Out on 28 January 2022 via The Grey Area (Mute) is the reissue of the 1979 album “The Bridge” by Thomas Leer And Robert Rental. This new reissue will be available on limited edition white vinyl and CD, both featuring new sleevenotes.

The reissue of Leer and Rental’s sole collaboration will coincide with “From The Port To The Bridge”, an exhibition detailing the duo’s work and legacy, due to run at The Horse Hospital in London from 21 January through to 10 February 2022.

Discovered by Throbbing Gristle

Thomas Leer and Robert Rental, both from Port Glasgow in Scotland, were at the vanguard of a DIY electronic scene that went on to influence and inform the 80s synth-pop movement. After self-releasing two solo 7” singles, they came to the attention of Throbbing Gristle and signed to their label, Industrial Records. Their one and only collaboration, “The Bridge”, was originally released in 1979, the first non-TG / associated release for the label.

Recorded at Rental’s home over two intense weeks using equipment provided by Throbbing Gristle (with only rudimentary explanation of how to use it), their album was cited by a number of electronic musicians at the time, including John Foxx, Matt Johnson (The The) and ABC.

Listen to “Monochrome Days”.

The late Robert Rental retired from the music industry

Robert Rental (who sadly died in 2000), went on to collaborate with The Normal – Daniel Miller and Rental’s live album, “Live at West Runton Pavilion, 6-3-79”, was released in 1980 by Rough Trade. Rental also released a single on Mute, “Double Heart” / “On Location” in 1980 and produced music for the Comic Strip’s “A Fistful of Traveller’s Cheques”, before retiring from the industry.

Thomas Leer continued to release music

Thomas Leer went on to release albums on Cherry Red and Arista, formed Act with Claudia Brücken (formerly of Propaganda) in the late 80s who released on Trevor Horn’s ZTT label. After a hiatus, he re-emerged with a series of releases from 2001, and currently lives in Greenock.

About The Grey Area

The Grey Area was founded in 1990 to restore and reissue albums by important and influential artists, initiated by catalogue deals between Mute and Throbbing Gristle, Can and Cabaret Voltaire.

The label went on to be the home for the catalogues of DAF, Virgin Prunes, SPK, Swell Maps, Dome, The Radiophonic Workshop and The Hafler Trio as well as key early works by Wire, Buzzcocks and Einstürzende Neubauten.

Dormant for a few years during the 2000s, The Grey Area emerged again quietly in 2013 with the re-release of Cabaret Voltaire’s Virgin period work, Richard H. Kirk’s solo work, the Sandoz catalogue and a new agreement with Throbbing Gristle.

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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Hackedepicciotto – Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten / Crime & the City Solution) and Danielle de Picciotto (co-founder of Love Parade / Crime & the City Solution) – have shared the video for their new track, “Kirchhain”, the latest to be taken from their forthcoming album, “The Silver Threshold”, coming out on Mute Records.

“The Silver Threshold” is the band’s 3rd album after “Menetekel” and “Joy” (with Eric Hubel and Vincent Signorelli) both released in 2018.

You can watch the video for “Kirchhain” below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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The short, mysterious career of the female French duo Deux Filles started and ended in tragedy. Gemini Forque and Claudine Coule met as teenagers at a holiday pilgrimage to Lourdes, during which Coule’s mother died of an incurable lung disease, and Forque’s mother was killed and her father paralyzed in an auto accident. The two teens bonded over their shared grief and worked through their bereavement with music. However, after recording two albums and playing throughout Europe and North America, Forque and Coule disappeared without a trace in North Africa in 1984 during a trip to visit Algiers.

This would be a terribly sad story… if a word of it were true. In reality, Deux Filles were Simon Fisher Turner, former child star/teen idol and future soundtrack composer, and his mate Colin Lloyd Tucker. Turner and Tucker left an early incarnation of The The in 1981 to pursue another musical direction.

Turner and Tucker strictly maintained the fiction throughout the duo’s career. Not only did they pose in drag for the album covers, the duo once even played live without the audience realizing that the tragic French girls on-stage were actually a pair of blokes from south London.

Deux Filles released two albums through Turner and Tucker’s Papier Mache label, 1982’s “Silence & Wisdom” and 1983’s “Double Happiness”. In 2016 Deux Filles reappeared with the album “Space & Time” and in 2021 it was followed by “Shadow Farming”.

Both first albums are included now in a re-release via Dark Entries records: “Silence & Wisdom / Double Happiness”. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley.

Check it out.

About Simon Fisher Turner

Simon Fisher Turner is an English musician, songwriter, composer, producer and actor.

After portraying Ned East in the 1971 BBC TV adaptation of “Tom Brown’s Schooldays” and roles in films such as “The Big Sleep” (1978), Turner rose to fame as a teenage star in Britain when his mentor, Jonathan King, released Turner’s eponymous first album on UK Records in 1973. For a period of two years Turner was a member of The Gadget and also joined The The. He has used several names as a recording artist, including Simon Fisher Turner, The King of Luxembourg, Deux Filles and Simon Turner. He continues to record albums for Mute Records as Simon Fisher Turner.

Turner was also a member of The Portsmouth Sinfonia Orchestra, and plays clarinet on the orchestra’s only live album recorded at The Albert Hall, London.

About Colin Lloyd Tucker…

Since his teenage years, working as an engineer for the De Wolfe music library from their Soho base in the 1970s he has been involved in all aspects of music production. Here he developed skills in the art of tape manipulation in those far off, pre-digital times, skills he would pass on to Matt Johnson and Simon Fisher Turner, both of whom he still works with today.

As a singer/musician he signed a management deal with Tony Calder in the mid 1980s. Ex-Immediate Records boss and co Stones manager Calder had been introduced to Colin’s work by model Linda Keith. A single was produced, “Head”, that obtained little commercial success.

Unhappy with Calder’s desire to turn him into a pop star Tucker walked away and began a journey along a much less commercial, though more independent route. Various discs with different independent companies were to follow. He also formed Papier Mache Records with Simon Turner and together they issued two well-regarded long players as Deux Filles.

The 1990s saw Colin sporadically issuing the odd solo album and cropping up as a guest vocalist on Kate Bush’s “Red Shoes” album (Tucker also appeared as a devil in the accompanying film). Before the decade was out he made the album “Skyscraping” with Paddy Bush under the group name Bushtucker.

In 2006 he formed his own Samphire Records as an outlet for his solo work producing a string of diverse releases.

A re-union with Matt Johnson cumulated in appearance in The The’s “Inertia Variations Film” and “Trilogy” box set with Tucker performing Johnson’s “Bugle Boy” (2017).

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 Spoon Records) Mute and Spoon Records have released details of the second in a series of Can live album releases. “Live in Brighton 1975” will be released December 3 on limited edition triple gold vinyl, double CD, and digital platforms.

Sleeve notes for the release were written by Can biographer, author, and editor Rob Young and British journalist Kris Needs. The latter was involved in several live Can shows at the Friars club in Aylesbury, England between 1973-1977.

The Can Live series has taken the best of the bootlegged recordings and – overseen by founding member Irmin Schmidt and producer / engineer Rene Tinner – run them through the wringer of 21st century technology to bring you these vital historical documents in the best quality versions possible.

Here’s an excerpt from what to expect.

About Can

Can was a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne in 1968 by the core quartet of Holger Czukay (bass, tape editing), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). The group cycled through several vocalists, most prominently the American-born Malcolm Mooney (1968–70) and the Japanese-born Damo Suzuki (1970–73), as well as various temporary members.

Coming from backgrounds in the avant-garde and jazz, the members of Can blended elements of psychedelic rock, funk, and noise on influential albums such as Tago Mago (1971), Ege Bamyasi (1972) and Future Days (1973).[7] Can also had occasional commercial success, with singles such as “Spoon” and “I Want More” reaching national singles charts. They have been widely hailed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene, and a considerable influence on subsequent rock, post-punk, ambient, and electronic music.

More interesting for many of our readers is that Jaki Liebezeit would go on to record with numerous musicians, such as Jah Wobble and Philip Jeck, with whom he produced an album for Jah Wobble’s 30 Hertz Records, and contributed drums and percussion to many albums as a guest musician over the years, such as the Depeche Mode album “Ultra” and Brian Eno’s album “Before and After Science”.

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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Shocking news reaches us from the Cabaret Voltaire headquarters. In an update on the band’s official Facebook page this afternoon the band and its label Mute records announce the sad news that Richard H. Kirk (born on 21 March 1956) is no more.

The news update reads like this: “It is with great sadness that we confirm our great and dear friend, Richard H. Kirk has passed away. Richard was a towering creative genius who led a singular and driven path throughout his life and musical career. We will miss him so much. We ask that his family are given space at this time.”

Richard H(arold) Kirk specialised in electronic music since the 1970s. He was best known as a member of the influential industrial music band Cabaret Voltaire, formed in 1973. His first release as a solo artist, Disposable Half-Truths, was released in 1980 and he maintained a career as a solo artist alongside Cabaret Voltaire until the band’s dissolution in 1994

He reformed the band in 2014 as the sole remaining member, performing sporadically with all-new material more akin to his solo work than the output of the original incarnation of Cabaret Voltaire.

During the 1990s his solo output increased considerably. Kirk’s works explored multiple types of electronic/dance music under many pseudonyms. His prolific work resulted in AllMusic calling him contemporary techno’s busiest man. He released projects under his own name and as part of various groups, including Sweet Exorcist. He used a ton of aliases including but not limited to Agents With False Memories, Al Jabr, Anarchia, Biochemical Dread, Blacworld, Chemical Agent, Citrus, Cold Warrior, Countzero, Dark Magus, Destructive Impact, Dr. Xavier, and so on and so on.

You can read an interview that Side-Line’s S. Froidcoeur had with him right here.

Rest In Peace Richard, our sincere condolences to friends and family.

About Cabaret Voltaire

Cabaret Voltaire were an English music group formed in Sheffield in 1973 and initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk, and Chris Watson. The group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, the Zürich nightclub that served as a centre for the early Dada movement.

The early work of Cabaret Voltaire consisted primarily of experimentation with DIY electronics and tape machines, as well as Dada-influenced performance art, helping to pioneer industrial music in the mid-1970s. Finding an audience during the post-punk era, they integrated their experimental sensibilities with dance and pop styles. They are often characterized as among the most innovative and influential electronic groups of their era.

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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Out soon via Grönland Records is the new release “Nur Noch Einer” by Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF).

On vocals we find Robert Görl, as Gabi Delgado died in March 2020 just when Görl and Delgado had reunited to record a new album aided by producer Sylvie Marks. Sound wise this album features a lot of the band’s unfinished 80s sequences which Görl found on old tapes and used for this release. After the death of Delgado, Görl started writing and recording the lyrics.

The album holds 15 tracks and will be released on November 26th on CD and vinyl.

Track listing

1. Erste DAF Probe
2. Im Schatten
3. Kunststoff
4. Wir Sind Wild
5. Das Pur Pur Rot
6. Gedanken Lesen
7. Du Bist So Zart
8. Ein Kind Aus Dem Ratinger Hof
9. Loslassen
10. Neue Welt
11. Kein Ausweg
12. Es Muss Ans Licht
13. Holland Road
14. Das Geschenk
15. Nur Noch Einer

About Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft or DAF, was an influential German electropunk/Neue Deutsche Welle band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 featuring Gabriel Delgado-López (vocals), Robert Görl (drums, percussion, electronic instruments), Kurt Dahlke (electronic instruments), Michael Kemner (bass-guitar) and Wolfgang Spelmans (guitar). Kurt Dahlke was replaced by Chrislo Haas (electronic instruments, bass guitar, saxophone) in 1979. Since 1981, the band has consisted of Delgado-López and Görl.

Their first album, “Ein Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft”, was released in 1979 on Dahlke’s Ata Tak label (then called Warning). The album was 22 improvised untitled instrumentals, Delgado having temporarily left the band at the time.

The band then moved to London, met Daniel Miller and signed to Mute Records. DAF recorded “Die Kleinen und die Bösen” for Mute, one side held studio material and most of the other side of the album were live recordings. DAF then shrank to just Delgado and Görl, and the duo signed to Virgin Records where they released “Alles ist gut” which became their breakthrough album.

The next two albums, “Gold und Liebe” and “Für Immer” followed by by then the band had reached its limits and they split during the recording of “Für immer”. Delgado and Görl reunited in 1985 to record “1st Step to Heaven”, their only album in English.

When DAF reformed for the 2003 album “Fünfzehn neue D.A.F.-Lieder” their style had shifted to a fusion of the classic Plank-produced DAF sound with elements taken from Robert’s techno work. The band prepared more music, but split before they could make another album. In 2010, the band returned with a new single “Du bist DAF”, limited to 2010 copies. The band announced its 5th split in January 2015, with another farewell tour.

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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Ahead of the release of “Electronic Ambient Remixes One and Three” – available for the first time on vinyl and streaming platforms and previously unavailable on CD for 15 years – Chris Carter today shares “Convicting People”. “Convicting People” is Carter’s unique take on “Convincing People” from Throbbing Gristle’s “20 Jazz Funk Greats” (1979).

As a founding member of Throbbing Gristle alongside Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Chris Carter has had a significant role in the development of electronic music – a journey which has continued through his releases as one half of Chris & Cosey and Carter Tutti and a third of Carter Tutti Void – as well as with his own solo and collaborative releases. Carter released “Chris Carter’s Chemistry Lessons Vol 1”, his first solo album in over 17 years, in 2018.

He is also credited with the invention and production of groundbreaking electronics – from the legendary Gristleizer self-built effects unit through to the Dirty Carter Experimental Sound Generating Instrument, the sold-out TG One Eurorack module (designed with Tiptop Audio) and the updated Future Sound Systems Gristleizer modules. Carter’s use of these modules can be heard during his recent series of live solo shows, including this Rough Trade event last year. Through these, Carter has created the means to make sounds as well as making the sounds themselves.

The Electronic Ambient Remixes releases are the continuation of a reissue campaign with Mute that started with his solo box set, “Miscellany” (2018).

Here’s Chris Carter with “Convicting People”, an excellent cut, which kinda sits between early Recoil and Brian Eno if you ask us.

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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Chris Liebing has shared yet another track from his forthcoming album, “Another Day”, set for release on Mute on 19 November 2021.

The new track, “Fault Line (feat. Miles Cooper Seaton)” features the former Akron/Family man’s rich baritone which was one of his last performances, due to his sad and untimely passing earlier this year.

Liebing: “I am still shocked and deeply saddened by Miles’ passing. He was such a fantastic human and artist, he took my music to another level. I will forever miss our late night conversations on the phone talking about music and life.”

Listen to the track below.

Akron/Family were an American folk-influenced experimental rock band active from 2002 to 2013. Akron/Family’s sixth and last studio album “Sub Verses” was released April 30, 2013 on Dead Oceans. After their 2013 tour, Akron/Family decided to quit to focus on personal side projects, leaving the door open for a possible reunion in the future. Meanwhile, front man Olinsky started his own band Cy Dune and co-created Lightning Records, Janssen started the band Dana Buoy and Seaton pursued a solo career under his own name.

Miles Seaton died at age 41 in February 2021.

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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(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange) “Fasan” by Norwegian Giants is released on their own label Norwegian Giants, established in 2015. Tarjei Krogh is the main producer, having his wingmen Joakim DenGode and Markus Storm by his side. Their goal is to gather all kinds of vocalists and instrumentalists all over the globe to create new types of music and exciting combinations and variations, their motto being: We don´t follow trends, only our hearts!

Tarjei told us more about the project via chat and e-mail.

Side-Line: There’s a lot of collaborations on this album – care to take us through song by song, telling it’s story and who participated?

Tarjei Krogh: ‘Hello Aloha’ is a collaboration with a great Norwegian sound designer and artist, Continental Fruit. He is very into modular electronic equipment,  which is easy to hear in his other releases available on various platforms. He tweaked one of our older tracks into something new and made it more refreshing.

‘Good God’ is a collaboration with Kim Castle and Lisa Rockfield, two vocalists and producers we will collaborate with more in the future. They have such open minds and have been producing rap songs, rock and lots of various electronica.

‘Mhmhm‘. Ten years ago I met this amazing young jazz singer/songwriter Renate Rubini. She had a significant voice reminding me of Janis Joplin, but a softer version of that. It took some years to make her like my electronic tracks, but we ended up recording lots of songs and are actually nearly ready with an album. You can find two of our earlier tracks on Spotify and two videos on YouTube if you look up “Cupid Rubini”.

‘You‘ is a collaboration with the brilliant talented Norwegian singer/songwriter Hanne Haugsand, also known as Tundra Mode and Psykosister. She has also been involved with Kant Kino and Anstalt, has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest and been on several big tv-shows in Norway. And the weird thing is, I have only met her two times. One of the times was when Nitzer Ebb and Skinny Puppy played live in Rockefeller, Oslo. Even took a picture of her and Ogre!

‘Shelter‘. Manuela Hofer is a digital artist and has a voice that stands out from the crowd. I was originally remixing a track with her ten years ago, and asked her to send me some vocals and ended up pasting her in on an older track . I met Isak Rypdal in my early 20’s and he was supposed to join our band Anstalt at that time, but we ended up being friends instead. I’ve been remixing his band Electro Spectre back in the days, and I just had to cut out some of their vocals to combine them with Manuela. I have never met Manuela in person, so thank God for the internet!

‘Here we go again‘. Some years ago I shared an office with the best rap managers in Norway. One of these guys had a girlfriend named Lisa who was very into electronic music, and we started sharing music online. This could have been a great collaboration, but we totally lost contact, telephone numbers and email. Luckily I got 4 vocals and just had to release the first one. Never met her either.

‘Move on‘. I met Elvebakk at a barbeque on our peninsula Nesodden, right outside of Oslo. We ended up discussing music and I was surprised he loved stuff like Thom Yorke, The Cure and Joy Division. A very kind being with a rich taste in music. He sent me some of his own stuff and I loved the characteristics in his voice. Strangely we ended up with a dance track. I hope to get him to participate in some downtempo stuff in the future.

‘Perpetual‘ is a dive into what always will be a big part of me, Electronic Body Music and Synth Pop. I tried many different vocalists on this track, but ended up keeping it almost instrumental. I used a lot of analog and some modular equipment on this one. It is one of my own favourites. I guess less is more sometimes.

S-L: What’s the connection between this album and all the Norwegian Beats releases on Spotify?

TK: Norwegian Beats was a way to inspire vocalists to contribute to our future releases. We have made 20 collections so far, but will in the future focus mainly on releasing our “real” albums. ‘Fasan’ is our first real album and the beats are up for grabs for anyone to contribute, so we can include new artists on our future releases. Norwegian Giants is supposed to be a mix of a label and a band – a big collective where anything is possible. Like if you combined Röyksopp, Gorillaz or Massive Attack with Mute Records and Ninja Tune. Maybe a bit outdated references, but these are the best examples that comes to mind when concerning brilliant work.

S-L: More releases ahead or other plans?

TK: We are doing things backwards, so we are now gonna make three EPs with remixes, radio versions and videos for three of the songs on the album ‘Fasan’. We also have a new album almost ready to be released early in 2022 named ‘1969’. We will also continue to search and find new artists to collaborate with in Norway and in Europe as well. And set sails like the vikings before us.

jrstange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(Photo by Sven Marquardt) Hackedepicciotto, the project of Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten / Crime & the City Solution) and Danielle de Picciotto (co-founder of Love Parade / Crime & the City Solution), have announced details of their first album for Mute, “The Silver Threshold”, expected to be out on 12 November.

Out now is the duo’s first song, “Evermore”, a lovesong. Watch the video, directed by Studio Bergfors, right below.

The album cover and press photographs were shot by Sven Marquardt – a Berlin photographer – who also happens to be the doorman at the infamous Berghain nightclub. Hacke explains: “It was a very formative aspect of this album. He only uses natural light and having our picture taken by him was a very special experience.”

“The Silver Threshold” is the band’s 3rd album after “Menetekel” and “Joy” (with Eric Hubel and Vincent Signorelli) both released in 2018.

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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