Out already for a few weeks is the brand new remix EP from the Dallas based darkwave act Dissonance. The “Slowburn” remix EP offers 7 remixes of the title track. Also released is a video for the “Smoke And Mirros” mix which you can see below.

Cat Hall says this about the remix EP: “I wrote this as I was considering the many all-consuming passions of my life. Passion to write. Passion for art. Passion for nature, for the planet. Passion for science. Passion for humanity. Passion for the individuals I love. Also, the painful realization that despite my intense feeling, actions and orchestrations, these things, places, people, and processes come to an end. I come to an end. My passions die with me.”

Slowburn is available on all digital platforms including Bandcamp.

And here’s the video for the “Smoke and Mirrors Mix” of the track.

About Dissonance

Dissonance began in the early 90s as part of the Texas synthpop scene mixing darkwave and electronica. The band caught the ear of Paul Robb (Information Society) who was forming his label Hakatak International, and the act was signed in 1996. The first self-titled release, was also produced by Paul Robb and came out in 1997. The second release came in 2000 with “Reincarnate”. Fast forward to 2015 when Cat revived Dissonance and began work on new material which resulted in “Void”, a much darker, more atmospheric album. That one was also released on Hakatak, in 2017.

“Sycamores”, a darkwave/atmospheric maxi single, with mixes by Paul Robb, Federico Balducci, and Jack Alberson was released on Hakatak in 2018. “Ascent” followed in 2019 and featured Kurt Larson of Information Society. Remix maxi singles of “Poison Kiss” and “Starstuff” were next that same year. 2020 saw collaborations with SINthetik Messiah for the “Split Damage” release in addition to three new maxi-singles.

The first release of 2021 was “Damage: 1st Assault”, co-written by Melodywhore. That maxi single was followed by a second release of mixes, “Damage: 2nd Assault”. The first release of 2022 is the “Slowburn” remix EP with remixes from Melodywhore, Glenn Kirchner, Joe Haze, Jon Von Herrmann, The Lonely Death, Steven OLaf and Ra Hen of Microchip League.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Out on August 6th is the 8th album by the synthpop cult act Information Society. “ODDfellows” is also the 1st album to be completely released in THXⓇ Spatial Audio. Via this technology, used in gaming platforms, you get audio that sounds like it’s coming from ‘outside your head’.

“We’ve always been a technically adventurous band, and I think this is just another example of that,” says founder/producer/synths Paul Robb about how the album simulates the 5.1 environment. “We like to play around the edges of what’s possible in recorded music, and so we are excited to provide our music to our fans with deeper immersion and a 360° soundscape experience provided by THX Spatial Audio!”

Note that the album will also be available in standard stereo.

Here’s already a preview with a video of the track “Nothing Prevails”.

“ODDfellows” will be released digitally for streaming and download on Hakatak International Records on August 6, 2021 and will be available physically on CD and vinyl via Negative Gain Records later this year.

About Information Society

Information Society (also known as InSoc) is an American synthpop band from Minneapolis–Saint Paul, initially active from 1982 to 1997, primarily consisting of Kurt Harland Larson, Paul Robb, and James Cassidy; the latter two reconvened the band in 2006, initially with Christopher Anton as lead vocalist, then with Harland rejoining them as lead vocalist by 2008.

The group’s breakout single was 1988’s “What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy)”. The track included a vocal sample of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) from Star Trek, saying “pure energy”. The audio samples from Star Trek were authorized for use partially thanks to the efforts of Adam Nimoy, fan of the band and son of Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy.

The current lineup of Information Society is actually the original incarnation with founding members Paul Robb on synths, Kurt Larson on vocals and bassist James Cassidy. Zeke Prebluda (aka Falcotronik), who has been performing live with the band since 2009 joined the band as the official fourth member in 2019.

Studio albums

• Information Society (1988)
• Hack (1990)
• Peace and Love, Inc. (1992)
• Don’t Be Afraid (1997)
• Synthesizer (2007)
• Hello World (2014)
• Orders of Magnitude (2016)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Cinematographic, experimental, ambient.

Content: Paul Robb is an American artist you might know from his involvement into the electro-pop formation Information Society while he also set up the label Hakatak International. He got involved in a few more bands while he’s also a producer.

On “Nocturnes” Robb reveals his hidden skills as an ambient compositor. The album has been announced as dark-ambient, which can’t be understood as the typical dark-ambient work that will give you this typical chilling sensation. This work is more into mysterious moods created by raw sound treatments.

It reveals a kind of raw organ (cf. “Nocturne #1”) for an imaginary dark mess whiles the upcoming cut (cf. “Nocturne #2) sounds more into sound exploration and experimentalism. You can hear a musician who transposes himself into a real sonic surgeon, composing and decomposing sounds with an imaginary scalpel.

We next move into a new dark requiem experience empowered by industrial noises while buzzing sound waves can be heard as well. Deep resonating sound waves are progressively coming over you like an abstract noise creation. Paul Robb seems to enjoy the experimental side of his creation, which definitely sounds miles away from Information Society. This music is an antidote to electro-pop, with sound emerging from a noise laboratory.

I like this experimental side, which totally emerges on “Nocturne #5”, which is one of the most mysterious pieces of the album. It’s a strange sonic creation, which confirms the great experimental skills of this composer. And this is not the ultimate surprise as “Nocturne #4” reveals a kind of whistling tone mixed with metallic, industrial sounds and a disturbing, low vibrating noise wave.

Conclusion: Paul Robb explores the hidden paths of ambient- and experimental music, which clearly appear to be a fascinating source of inspiration. This is nothing totally new although it sounds pretty visionary.

Best songs: “Nocturne #4”, “Nocturne #5”, “Nocturne #2”.

Rate: (DP:7½)DP.

Band: http://paulrobb.com / www.facebook.com/paul.robb.1238

Label: http://www.hakatak.com

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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Paul Robb, co-Founder of Synthpop/Electronic act Information Society, has released an instrumental solo album, “Nocturnes”. The 8-track album consists of ambient music. You can view a video below.

Robb has been doing TV, film, and commercial music in the past outside Information Society including MTV’s “The Real World”, “Road Rules” and the score for Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s first movie “Orgazmo”. He also remixed the theme for Parker and Stone’s long-running “South Park” series and was involved in the “Chef Aid” album as well.

An album was equally released on Bleep! Records under the name of “Luminous”, which turned out to be a renamed “Brother Sun Sister Moon”. A new Robb solo album under the name Bitcrusher never materialised when Bleep! Records folded in late 2002.

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.

side-line.com