Universal Music Group (UMG) has completed its acquisition of 100% of the independent music giant [PIAS], a deal met with mixed reactions from the independent sector as you will read below. UMG, the world’s largest music company, first acquired a 49% stake in [PIAS] in 2022, but as of October 15, 2024, it now holds full ownership.

Impala, a representative body for over 6,000 independent music companies across Europe, voiced its unease in a mail sent out earlier today. Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA, expressed concerns about UMG’s growing market dominance, noting that the acquisition leaves a “huge hole” in the independent sector.

With [PIAS] no longer classified as an independent company, the loss of one of the sector’s key players could limit options for both artists and labels seeking alternatives to the major label system. Smith also pointed out that UMG had previously been restricted from making major acquisitions by the European Commission following its 2012 purchase of EMI, a restriction that has since expired.

Smith expects regulators to investigate the acquisition “and answer the question the industry is asking about how it is possible for UMG to gain more market share after it was already considered too big. We would expect both physical and digital markets to be assessed including for distribution services, as well as the impact on competitors, digital services, artists and fans. A share deal is one thing, this is something else.”

Impala chair Dario Draštata added: “This type of creeping power is an issue across Europe. Apart from strengthening UMG in terms of market share, it eliminates a principal competitor and should be investigated. It also narrows options for artists and labels. It is not a question of an arithmetical increase of market share points by one major, but rather a sea change in the competitive dynamics of the music market, to the severe detriment of competitors and consumers. Sony has been doing the same and we see similar moves in Central and Eastern Europe with Warner Music Group buying stakes in several leading independent music companies across the region. The loss of such big players for the independent sector compounds the competitive impact and the risk is that this trend will continue. We have been signalling the problem of creeping dominance for many years and it’s time for a new competition approach to address this question.”

New strategies and finances for indie sector

Impala also points to ongoing work on innovative solutions on the finance side to provide independents with different options, as well as opportunities to develop new approaches.

Smith adds that Impala want to see more independent companies like [PIAS] not fewer. “We need a revamp of exit strategy options, new solutions to access finance, provide tax incentives and grow our market share. A review of whether competition is fit for purpose in today’s music market is also in order, and proper solutions for issues like the RAAP case. Above all, it’s about a combination of strategies that put diversity at the top of the pyramid. There are plenty of solutions and we urge the whole market to join us on this exercise. It is credit to Michel and Kenny that the [PIAS] example is the springboard to re-opening these discussions.” 

Despite the concerns, some also see potential opportunities. Kenny Gates, co-founder of [PIAS], reassured that while UMG now owns the company, [PIAS] will remain operationally autonomous, maintaining its independent ethos. Gates also referred to UMG’s resources and global reach, saying that the acquisition would help [PIAS] and its artists continue to grow on a global scale, without compromising their core values.

About Impala

Impala was established in 2000 and now represents over 6000 independent music companies in Europe. 99% of Europe’s music companies are small, micro and medium businesses and self-releasing artists who produce more than 80% of all new releases and account for 80% of the sector’s jobs.

Impala’s mission is to grow the independent music sector sustainably, return more value to artists, promote diversity and entrepreneurship, improve political access, inspire change, and increase access to finance.

Impala works on a range of key issues for its members, runs various award schemes and has a programme aimed at businesses who want to develop a strategic relationship with the European independent sector – Friends of IMPALA.

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 Cal McIntryre) The shoe gaze act Ride have announced a seventh studio album, “Interplay”, out 29th March via Wichita Recordings / PIAS. The new record is the Oxford four piece’s third since reforming in 2014. The announcement is accompanied by the album’s first single, “Peace Sign”, out now.

The album is the follow-up to 2017’s “Weather Diaries” and 2019’s “This Is Not A Safe Place”. The new album was produced by the band with Richie Kennedy and mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer inspired by 80’s pop bands like Tears For Fears, Talk Talk and early U2.

Thematically, it pairs classic Ride lyrical hallmarks such as escapism, dreams, and the dissatisfaction of modern life with a sense of resilience and perseverance that come from imploding, then reforming and finding a way forward to their second peak, as guitarist and singer Andy Bell explains: “This album has taken a long time to make, and has seen the band go through a lot of ups and downs; maybe the most of any Ride album. But it has seen us come through the process as a band in a good place, feeling able to shake off the past, and ready to celebrate the combined musical talents that brought us together in the first place.”

Speaking on the new “Peace Sign” single, Andy says: “‘Peace Sign’ started life as a jam recorded at Marks’ OX4 studio, in early 2021. We called it ‘Berlin’ and initially it featured Loz on drums, Steve on bass and myself on a prophet 5 synth. About six months later I got hold of the recording and wrestled it into song form. Lyrically I was inspired by a film called ‘The Alpinist’ about the visionary free climber Marc-André Leclerc. Soon after I’d finished working on the song I remember I was raving to my bandmates about Leclerc at OX4, and a good memory of that time was us all watching that film at Mark’s studio.”

Here’s a video for “Peace Sign” to check out.

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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Genre/Influences: Cold-Wave, Dark-Wave, Electro.

Format: Digital, Vinyl.

Background/Info: No need to introduce The Neon Judgement belonging to the collective memory of 80s Cold-Wave/EBM fans. Their biggest hits were released in the 80s. This album is a fine selection from tracks originally released in between 1995 and 2009. It features songs from three albums that were released on different labels during the post-Play It Again Sam (PIAS)-era. We get ten songs from the albums “At Devil’s Fork” (1995, Synthetic Symphony), “Dazsoo” (1998, KK Records) and “Smack” (2009, LC Music). These songs have been re-mastered and for the very first time released on vinyl format.

Content: This work is an opportunity to (re)-discover ‘late’ stuff from The Neon Judgement, the band having definitely taken some distance with their early, 80s, sound and becoming more open-minded, like experimenting with new genres and influences. But in the end that’s what the Belgian masters always did. The songs are still driven by icy synths but mixing Minimal-Electro together with Funky vibes, Dance tunes and Technoid influences and even Dubby elements.

+ + + : This selection of tracks aren’t the best exposure from this legendary formation although you easily recognize the Neon Judgement-touch in the icy leads/synths, the vocals and the open-minded style. It was really fun rediscovering “Serve” which evokes to me the Electronic version of Public Enemy but also the Dub vibes emerging at “Turki”. I also like “Shiny Happiness” and the more renowned “The Great Consumer” for the excellent synth lines.

– – – : “TV Treated” remains one of my all-time favorites from the band and 80s Electro-Wave music but the remix/edit from 1995 featured at this album is a true antithesis to the original version.

Conclusion: A cool record for the band’s die-hard fans.

Best songs: “Serve”, “The Great Consumer”, “Turki”, “Shiny Happiness”, “We Are Confused”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist:www.theneonjudgement.com / www.facebook.com/TheNeonJudgeMent

Label: www.facebook.com/JemenfishBE

Side-Line reported on “Blue Screens” when the compilation was announced in October 2023.

Listen to “Blue Screens”:

About The Neon Judgement

The Neon Judgement was founded in the early 1980s in Brussels by Dirk Timmermans, known as Dirk Da Davo, and Frank Vloeberghs, known as TB Frank. During the 1990s the duo changed labels several times, releasing “At Devil’s Fork” on Synthetic Symphony in 1995, “Dazsoo” on KK Records in 1998, and “Smack” on LC Music/Dancedelic-D in 2009. “Blue Screens 1995-2009” gathers ten remastered tracks from those three albums, released via Je M’en Fish Records on 5 November 2023 as a 180-gram vinyl edition in three colors. Earlier the same year, Dirk Da Davo released the solo album “Retrospective 1987-2023”, and Je M’en Fish reissued The Neon Judgement’s “PIAS 40” vinyl.

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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Former The Cure member Lol Tolhurst, former Siouxsie & The Banshees drummer Budgie, and producer Jacknife Lee have teamed up to create their debut album, “Los Angeles.” This 13-track album is out now through PIAS.

The trio describes the record as “a hard-hitting and compulsively exploratory 55-minute electronic mindscrew, founded on unrivalled rhythmic expertise, fleshed out with an armoury of synths, guitars (Jacknife’s forte) and supplementary percussion, often overlaid with elite-class strings and brass, then universally twisted, manipulated and quite masterfully sculpted by Lee, with his super-producer’s hat on.”

Joining forces with these music veterans are such artists as LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, U2’s The Edge, IDLES’ Mark Bowen, Lonnie Holley, Mary Lattimore, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, and Pan Amsterdam.

The debut single, “Los Angeles”, features James Murphy’s lead vocals. The single comes accompanied by a music video, directed by John Liwag.

The tracklist for the album is the following.

1. This Is What It Is (To Be Free) (with Bobby Gillespie)
2. Los Angeles (with James Murphy)
3. Uh Oh (with Arrow de Wilde and Mark Bowen)
4. Ghosted at Home (with Bobby Gillespie)
5. Train With No Station (with The Edge)
6. Bodies (with Lonnie Holley and Mary Lattimore)
7. Everything and Nothing
8. Travel Channel (with Pan Amsterdam)
9. Country of the Blind (with Bobby Gillespie)
10. The Past (Being Eaten)
11. We Got To Move (with Isaac Brock)
12. Noche Oscura (with The Edge)
13. Skins (with James Murphy)

In related news, Lol Tolhurst, co-founder of The Cure, is to release a new book titled “Goth: A History” on September 23rd. The book is a historical account of the genre and culture of goth music, building upon his first memoir, “Cured”.

In it Tolhurst identifies key players in the establishment of the genre, referring to them as the “Architects of Darkness”. This group includes Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, and The Cure. He further discusses a group of bands he labels as the “Spiritual Alchemists”, which includes Depeche Mode and Cocteau Twins, indicating their role in extending the reach of goth culture. The book also tracks the genre’s expansion from England to New York, Los Angeles, and other locations.

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘Paris’.

About Lol Tolhurst

Laurence “Lol” Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) co-founded the Cure in 1976 alongside childhood friend Robert Smith, originally on drums, later switching to keyboards. He played on the band’s early albums, including “Three Imaginary Boys,” “Seventeen Seconds,” “Faith” and “Pornography,” and departed in 1989 following the recording of “Disintegration.” He rejoined the Cure for a 2011 reunion tour and was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, and published the memoir “Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys” in 2016.

After leaving the Cure, Tolhurst moved to Los Angeles and formed the band Presence with singer Gary Biddles in 1990, releasing the album “Inside” (1993). In 2002 he and wife Cindy Levinson formed the electronica act Levinhurst, releasing “Perfect Life” (2004) and “House by the Sea” (2007).

Tolhurst’s most recent studio work is “Los Angeles,” a collaborative album with Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer Budgie (Peter Edward Clarke) and producer Jacknife Lee, released via PIAS Recordings on 3 November 2023. The album features guest contributions from James Murphy, the Edge, Bobby Gillespie and Isaac Brock. “Los Angeles” is billed as the first collaborative album between Tolhurst and Budgie, the longtime Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer.

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 2023, Dancedelicd collaborated with Brussels-based Je M’en Fish Records on three vinyl releases. Among these, The Neon Judgement’s compilation “Blue Screens” is scheduled for November 5th. This release will be on a 180-gram vinyl format and will come in three different colors.

In the early 1980s, Dirk Timmermans, also known as Dirk Da Davo, and Frank Vloeberghs, known as TB Frank, founded The Neon Judgement. They initially gained attention for their unique blend of stark industrial elements with intricate guitar and synthesizer work.

During the 1990s, the duo shifted their musical direction and also changed labels. They released Dazsoo under KK Records, known for artists like Bauhaus and Frontline Assembly; At Devil’s Fork with Synthetic Symphony, home to Die Krupps and Welle: Erdball; and Smack on LC Music/Dancedelic-D, Dirk Da Davo’s own label.

This 10-track compilation features a curated selection from these latter three albums, all of which have been fully remastered and are making their debut on vinyl.

Earlier this year Dirk Da Davo’s album “Retrospective 1987 – 2023” album was released in April. Additionally, June saw a reissue of The Neon Judgement’s “PIAS 40” vinyl, which includes several tracks from the 1980s.

A digital EP is planned for November 20th, involving Dirk’s side project DDDJMX and Jean-Marie Aerts (JMX). The EP is titled “23”.

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 Guilherme Pacheco) On April 21, Wim Mertens Music (WMM) and PIAS will release “Voice of the Living”, a new composition by Belgian composer Wim Mertens, commissioned as part of the centenary commemorations of the Great War (1914-1918). The premiere took place on October 28, 2014, at St. Martin’s Cathedral in Ypres, a city deeply affected by the conflict. Ypres is also the city where Side-Line’s office is now housed. At Mertens’ request, the performance was dedicated to Ypres’ residents.

In “Voice of the Living,” Mertens delves into the harrowing experiences of the ordinary soldier during the Great War. The work’s structure is influenced by the four traditional elements—earth, water, air, and fire—which represent various wartime situations. Mertens’ opus pays homage to the memories and experiences of all soldiers and victims of war. However, it is only in the musical performance that “Voice of the Living” becomes an ultimate tribute to all victims.

Ypres was the centre of intense fighting throughout the war and has since become a symbol of the devastation and loss caused by the conflict. By dedicating the performance to the residents of Ypres, Mertens acknowledges the city’s historical significance and honours the sacrifices made by its people.

The single “On the zephyrous peak” is available now.

About Wim Mertens

Wim Mertens is a Flemish Belgian composer, countertenor vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and musicologist.

In 1978, the composer began working as a producer at a major Belgian broadcasting corporation, now known as Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep. During this time, he produced concerts featuring renowned composers and musicians and hosted a radio program. He also collaborated with Gust De Meyer on the experimental album ” For Amusement Only”.

By the early 1980s, the composer became widely recognized, particularly for his pieces “Struggle for Pleasure” and “Maximizing the Audience”. The latter composition was created for a play that premiered in 1984 in Venice, Italy.

To date, the composer has released over 60 albums, primarily through Les Disques du Crépuscule from 1980 until 2004. In addition to his own work, he produced and consulted for the label on various releases, including those by contemporary composers such as Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, and Glenn Branca. He also curated a series of releases for a Crépuscule imprint that featured classical and contemporary jazz works.

In August 2007, the composer signed a contract with a major record label, which subsequently re-released his entire catalog starting in January 2008. The label also released his new works, including a 9-track album in September 2007 that featured an all-female orchestra consisting of 17 musicians. This was not the first collaboration between the composer and the label, as they had previously released the soundtrack to the film “Molokai: The Story of Father Damien” in 1999.

In addition to his extensive work in music, the composer is the author of a book examining the American school of repetitive music and the work of LaMonte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass.

Wim Mertens on Tour

• 22.05.23Zaragoza, Teatro Principal (SP)
• 23.05.23Madrid, Teatro La Latina(SP)
• 24.01.24 Stadsschouwburg, Brugge (BE)
• 24.02.24 CCha, Hasselt (BE)
• 25.02.24 Don Bosco kerk, Torhout (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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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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The market share of the four major record companies on Spotify continued to decline in 2022, due to the increasing number of independent tracks being added to the platform. The three major companies, Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music, as well as the independent collective Merlin, have collectively lost 12% of their market share on Spotify in the past five years. According to Spotify’s annual investor report, 75% of music tracks played on the platform last year were distributed by the major companies or Merlin members, with the remaining 25% being unaffiliated with either. These unaffiliated companies include TuneCore, Believe, UnitedMasters, and several other independent artist distribution platforms.

Merlin represents indie labels and distributors, including Beggars Group, Cinq Music Group, [PIAS], Mushroom, and DistroKid, and claims to represent around 15% of the global music market. The market share of the major companies plus Merlin was as high as 87% in 2017, as per previous Spotify fiscal reports. However, this figure has been gradually declining since then.

The increase in the number of releases on streaming services, with over 100,000 new tracks being uploaded to Spotify every 24 hours, has contributed to the dilution of market share for major record companies. This trend has impacted their share of revenue earned from the service, as Spotify and other streaming platforms have adopted the dominant “pro-rata” model of royalty payouts. The majors are aware of this trend and are eager to reverse its impact on their business.

Low quality ‘functional’ music

In 2022, Sony Music Group’s Chairman, Rob Stringer, discussed his company’s strategy to reduce the dilution of its distribution market share caused by the sheer volume of tracks released every day via DIY distribution companies. Stringer talked about Sony’s plan to bring a larger volume of independent music into its system via indie-facing operations like The Orchard and AWAL. He also criticised the low-quality “functional” music and 31-second tracks designed to game the pro-rata royalty model on Spotify and other services.

Similarly, Universal Music Group’s CEO and Chairman, Sir Lucian Grainge, announced last month that Universal had concluded that the current royalty model on services like Spotify was not providing equitable value to premium-level artists. Grainge noted that UMG was working on new royalty models on services like Spotify as a matter of global priority, objecting to streaming services promoting “lower-quality functional content” that, in some cases, “can barely pass for ‘music'”. Grainge specifically called out playlists on streaming services that are filled with 31-second tracks of ‘functional music’ whose brevity is deliberately designed to trigger a streaming royalty payment as many times in a row as possible.

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 Karolina Pajak, FSF) Karin Elisabeth Dreijer is a Swedish singer-songwriter and record producer. Dreijer was one half of the electronic music duo The Knife, formed with brother Olof Dreijer.

Dreijer released a debut solo album under the alias Fever Ray in January 2009. A second studio album, “Plunge”, was released under the same alias in October 2017.

Karin Dreijer now returns as Fever Ray with the new track “What They Call Us”, written and co-produced with brother Olof Dreijer. The video was written and directed by long-time collaborator Martin Falck.

“What They Call Us” is out now on Rabid Records / [PIAS], an album is in the making.

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 April 15 is the album “Industrial Ruination” by Seattle’s Black Agent (signed to Re:Mission Entertainment).

Their debut album, “Industrial Ruination”, combines 1980s sampling and analog synthesizer technology with modern modular synthesizers and production techniques. Influences include industrial pioneers Skinny Puppy and EBM classics from labels like Wax Trax and PIAS, with lyrical content ripped from today’s headlines.

The album will be out as download and on a limited edition CD which you can pre-order on Bandcamp. Check out already 2 tracks from the album below.

Formed in the Pacific Northwest in 2016, Black Agent began as the dark techno solo project of producer and synthesizer influencer Lawrence Kleinke (Computer Controlled: Urban Kickz Recordings, Subsonic, Acid Jack Recordings). In 2019, multi instrumentalist Neil Parker (MiDi, Optimus Prime, Space Kitty Studio, KBRR) and vocalist J Pit (polygraaf discoteq:RBR, Black Laser Kult:RBR, Lateral Tension:Doppler Effect Records, Bloop:Trax Records) joined Kleinke and Black Agent’s sound started to echo the dark industrial sounds of the late 1980s. Read the review of ‘Industrial Ruination’.

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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(Selfie by Vitalic) Vitalic is back and announces the release of his fifth album: “Dissodænce” which will be divided into two volumes. The first part will be released next Autumn 2021. Vitalic himself describes it as “a return to the roots of my sonic identity, a kind of reinterpretation of the rock energy of my early albums.”

Out now already is a first single: “Carbonized” which you can check out below.

About Vitalic

Vitalic is Pascal Arbez-Nicolas, a French electronic music producer. His first singles were released in 1996 and 1997, but were confined to the underground electronic music scene. However, he became good friends with techno producer The Hacker, whom he met in Le Rex Club, the “techno temple” of Laurent Garnier. The Hacker suggested he should send his new tracks to DJ Hell, head of International DeeJay Gigolo Records in Munich. A few months layer International DeeJay Gigolo Records released the well known “Poney” EP in 2001.

With the track “La Rock 01”, Vitalic created a club anthem which was a hit in the summer of 2001. It would take Vitalic 4 years before releasing his debut album, “OK Cowboy”, on Different/PIAS Recordings.

Vitalic’s second studio album “Flashmob” was released on 28 September 2009 and held quite some disco influences. Vitalic’s third studio album, “Rave Age”, was released on 5 November 2012. In late 2016, Vitalic began a new live tour across Europe ahead of the release of his fourth studio album, “Voyager”, which was released on 20 January 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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Genre/Influences: Rock-wave, dark-rock.

Background/Info: Dole is a French formation that was mainly active in between 1979 and 1987. They were signed to the legendary Play It Again Sam on, which they released a few singles and the album “The Speed Of Hope”. During the past few years they’re active again; mainly playing live performances, but a new single seems to be in the pipeline. “Live” brings ten songs of the band back to life. These songs have been recorded during three live shows in 2018.

Content: The album is an opportunity to (re)discover Dole. Even if they weren’t the most famous and successful formation from PIAS, their sound definitely belong to the 80s. Some songs remind me of Echo & The Bunnymen while other, softer cuts evoke the dark-romantic spirit of Lloyd Cole & The Commotions. One of the songs entitled “Johnny Don’t Cry” is a wink to the decade they’ve been active in; it features a passage of New Order’s “Blue Monday”, and also Frankie Goes To Hollywood ao. You’ll also discover a new song.

+ + + : This kind of production is first of all an interesting work to (re)discover an 80s band from the PIAS stable, but it’s also a gift for the fans of the band. They get some of the band’s early ‘hits’/singles. You clearly hear the sound is retro-like, but it still makes sense and it has been played by experienced musicians who clearly had some fun being on stage together. I like the saxophone part running through “Thirds Man”.

– – – : It’s maybe a bit tricky to release a live album after years of silence and I maybe would have preferred to get a ‘best of’ featuring remastered versions, but the fans will be pleased.

Conclusion: Dole is for sure a somewhat forgotten band from the 80s, which has been recovered from dust by “Live”.

Best songs: “A Day”, “The Dream”, “Rumroad”, “Third Man”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.dolemusic.com / www.facebook.com/doleband

Label: www.wool–e–discs.be / www.facebook.com/woolediscs

About Dole

Discogs lists Dole as a new wave band from Athus, Belgium, near the French border, formed in 1979 and among the first acts signed to Play It Again Sam (PIAS), which issued the album “The Speed Of Hope” in 1986. Dole reformed in 2008 and has performed live periodically since, releasing “Live” on Wool-E Discs in 2019.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

The recently released “Eleven Grinding Songs”, the debut album by Lederman / De Meyer is one of the best EBM releases which have been released this year so far. Lederman / De Meyer is the brand new project between 2 electronic music legends Jean-Marc Lederman and Jean-Luc De Meyer.

“Eleven Grinding Songs” is released in 4 versions. Besides the regular CD album (available here), there is also the 2CD set (with an 11-track bonus disc with 4 exclusive additional songs plus 7 remixes or alternative versions) (available here) and a deluxe download (available here) plus also a black vinyl edition (including a carton sleeve CD edition with the same track-list) (available here).

Side-Line decided to go to the roots of the project together with Jean-Marc Lederman. In today’s article we talk with Jean-Marc Lederman how he got involved with Front 242 in the early 90’s.

Jean-Marc: “I was working at Play It Again Sam at the time (1990) and Front 242 approached me to become their office manager. They had set up their basis of operation in a villa in Aarschot, near Leuven, and needed someone to coordinate most non-creative things like handling communication with the label, acting as a smooth connecting rod with their touring agent and being a helping hand with whatever they were doing at the time.

Front 242 has always been very self-depending and they were doing a lot by themselves with Daniel handling most of the artwork with an Amiga or later on a (back then) very expensive Apple Quadra 800 for the covers of the Tyranny era.

Front 242 was signed on Sony USA at the time and things were very busy with the American label manager and the US representative of PIAS. Things were happening all the time and the pressure was strong (when you are successful, everyone wants a part of you) but the band was very focused.

One of the most ambitious thing we did at the time was the decor for the 1991 Tyranny Tour: it was going to be a large structure designed on two levels, a cross between a submarine deck and an industrial tower, painted by Jean-Luc De Meyer’s brother Marc. It wasn’t easy to transport but it was spectacular.

One of the aspect of the work was also to coordinate the remixes asked to outside bands and it was always a pleasure to get in touch with these remixers and hear them say how much they liked Front’s work: The Prodigy were especially enthusiast. One who wasn’t at all was William Orbit who refused several time to remix a track.

One moment was quite embarassing for me: Front was playing at Pukkelpop and Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) was going to play guitar on one song but somehow I didn’t know which song it would be and Tom was besides me on the side and was looking at me for the cue, cue that I couldn’t give to him as I didn’t know what song he had to play: that went on for quite a few songs and Tom started to be wary… Eventually Richard looked at us and gave Tom the signal to come on…”

And this is the decor as it was used.

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 Diane Zillmer) Out next month is the debut album by Lederman / De Meyer. On that album (titled “Eleven grinding songs” – available here) but also on the band’s first release, the download EP “A tribe of my own” (available here), the band covered Fad Gadget’s “Back To Nature”.

Since Jean-Marc Lederman has been working with Fad Gadget in the past we decided to hail London and have a small chat with Daniel Miller, the Mute Record label boss himself, about Fad Gadget and Jean-Marc.

SL: How did you me​e​t Jean-Marc Lederman, Daniel?
​
DM: ​We met at Better Badges (a mall at Nothing Hill Gate which is a badges manufacture), where Geoff Travies from Rough Trade sent Jean-Marc as he thought we should meet: synths fans were few at the time. Jean-Marc gave me a Digital Dance 7″ and we have been in contact ever since.

SL: You worked with Frank Tovey as part of Fad Gadget early 1980. Was Frank an easy guy in the studio and on stage ?

DM: ​In studio, Frank had very clear ideas on what he wanted or didn’t want and my task was to help him achieve that. It wasn’t easy because we were both untrained musicians and we were learning as it went. On stage, Frank was a very different person: he was then completely transformed in the Fad Gadget character. He was a performance artist from his days at Art School.
​
SL: And how was Jean-Marc, Daniel?

DM: Jean-Marc was very easy to work with and a good add to the early days of the Fad Gadget band.

SL: “Back To Nature” is the trademark song of Fad Gadget. How do you look back on it ?

DM: ​It was my very first time in a studio so I was very inexperienced. Plus it was also my first time as a producer. The same for Frank: it was his first time in a studio. It took us a day to record and mix, it was in a small 8 tracks studio (RMS Studios) near Crystal Palace, a studio doing lots of punk bands.

The equipment used was very basic, electronics were rough at that time. We had a minipops rhythm machine, the Korg 700s I used on “Warm leatherette/TV OD”, a Roland SH1 and Frank’s piano and distortion fx pedal. Plus the ARP 2600 I just bought from Elton John’s live rig, I think it was the first time I was using it. I’m very proud of what we achieved. The B-side, “the box”, was actually recorded with Frank inside a box in the studio…

SL: What’s your take on Lederman De Meyer’s version of “Back To Nature” ?

DM: It’s very hard to do a cover version but the Lederman / De Meyer version is very good!

SL: You are also familiar with Front 242 since they toured with Depeche Mode. Never thought about getting them on the Mute roster back in the days ?

DM: ​I thought F242 was very interesting, but they were already on PIAS and I didn’t want to interfere with that. Plus we already had Nitzer Ebb on Mute.

SL: Jean-Marc is now also part of Mute Songs’ roster. What does this mean for an artist ?

DM: Mute Songs is a publisher company. they have Mute Records artists but not only. They are very pro-active, and have a creative and personal relationship with their artists.​

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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Jean-Marc Lederman posted a rather funny story on his Facebook profile relating some of the early story of his band The Weathermen. We were given his ok to make an article out of it.

After releasing “Ten Deadly Kisses”, things were looking good for The Weathermen. The band’s release schedule (a 12″ single every 4 of 5 months) since “Old Friend Sam” was paying off as both the band’s profile and their sales were picking up steadily. Not only that says Jean-Marc Lederman: “It was a rhythm that was perfect on an artistic point of view: quick enough so we would always have new stuff out to keep shops, the press and the fans excited and slow enough so we could go to the studio with fresh ears.”

Use whatever you find

The band didn’t have any equipment at the time, except a new Ensoniq ESQ-1 bought thanks to Jonas Van Espen, their manager at the time, and Herman van Laar (Jean-Marc’s publisher at Les Disques du Crepuscule as Kid Montana was still going on). Jean-Marc recalls: “We were dependent on going to the studio to record, something that was pleasing me a lot as the tactic was to use whatever we found there, especially if it was some new (to us) drum machine or synth.”

The studio was Ludo Camberlin’s, one of Belgium’s finest producer ever. Jean-Marc: “A man with great ears, not always easy to go along with, but so was/am I so it was a good fit. The place was in PIAS’ early Cureghem office, it was in the basement and pretty much a dump to be honest. But it felt good to be making music just below our record company as it made us feel part of a family with a common desire: making good music known.”

“As usual, we had nearly nothing when going into the studio,” Jean-Marc notes. “I had brought my Ensoniq and Bruce Geduldig a copy of The New York Times. We hooked up the Esq-1 to Ludo’s system (a Commodore sequencer driving a DX7) and Ludo made fun of the lone two midi slots in the american synth: ‘What?! No thru slot?!’.” You can hear it in Poison in the chorus brass sound and the bass drum, mainly. Jean-Marc also brought a 7″ to the studio, one that had made a great impression on him at the time: “Human”, by The Human League.

The track had a great drum beat and Lederman wanted to start from that: “Ludo programmed the sequencer which was driving an RX7 drum machine, I think. So, we got a drum beat going, of course it was weathermenized, and it had not a lot in common with what The Human League had. One can hear it in the toms playing in “Poison”, it’s the low drum hit that is going as a back beat. We hooked up the DX7 and worked out a real nasty bass sound starting from one Ludo had and then I played around for a while until we found a good groove which pleased us all. Once we had that, it was really fast, we sequenced a few ringing sounds and there was the skeleton of “Poison”. It was all written before the voice, as usual.”

Using the desk as an instrument and the arrival of Susanna

Ludo was also playing at the desk, using it as an instrument, not only as a mixing device. He would process lots of the channels through different effects, his favourite tool of the time being the Yamaha SPX90. Jean-Marc: “After a few hours of hard work and many, many laughs, we came up with a track that was ready for vocals. As usual, Bruce would open a carnet with bits and pieces of scribbling he had done and we were going through them. He wanted to tell a story about pollution, any kind of pollution, be it in the air or in the news or in human relationships, so it was very large. That is one part of the lyrics: the serious content embedded in a humorous song. The other part is, well, Susanna Stammer, Bruce’s alter ego and somehow the representation of a groupie going awol.”

Susanna was with the band since “Deep Down South”, it was the perfect Californian blonde in love with a bleek-and-far-too-serious electronic band. Jean-Marc: “She was dear to us and somehow fighting patriarchy and male clichés as much as showing how vain being in a band can be. Let’s not forget The Weathermen did came along a little bit because we found the electronic bands of the time so fucking grey and whining. She would also be our reality check meter, balancing our ideas and how we implemented them in the songs. Here, she found her way into the lyrics and into the track as she would appear as a pitched-up Bruce, switched on and off as explained below.”

As usual the band were trying to have a laugh and Susanna would in this song take the upper hand, making them look miserable and herself like a goddess-like creature that would go after the band members, after the drummer, after all the myths of being in a band, the groupies, etc.. Jean-Marc: “So, there you are: a very serious political stab at everything toxic in our life watered down by the story of Susanna. Finding the right vocal melody however wasn’t going to be easy, but eventually Bruce found something pleasing all of us. Now, you have to remember this was 1987 and Ludo had only an eight track tape machine and we had such need for all the effects that we had to “rehearse” all the mixes as all the effects had to be played “live” and be injected in the song in real time. It took us a long day to be able to coordinate it all and make no mistakes as the three of us were on the desk, switching channels on and off, going through the SPX90 as we prepared them. Ludo exercised more of his magic touch and there we were: on the second evening (I never work at night), “Poison” was on the tape.”

The release

Jean-Marc: “I recall going up to Kenny the day after and all excited I gave him the final tape. It was released a few weeks later and immediately rocketed up: people loved it, PIAS’ salesmen loved it, we loved it and there you go it started to sell real solid. It actually was doing so well that Kenny wanted it to be remixed, something I never liked, but we were ok with it. Finally, three 12″ came out, the original version, one version I remixed with Ludo and the Snap remix (Ancilloti remix).”

And this is the story of Poison, the song that walked by itself. The 8-track tape itself was lost and never to be found again.

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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Alexander Jarlev and Tomas Kulberg is an experienced Norwegian electronic duo. They already worked together in bands like Anstalt and Pogrom Synod. Atropine is another formation they set up during the late 90s and which got reactivated after a hiatus of several years. They recently released their newest opus “Assailant” on EK Product revealing an elaborated and sophisticated dark-electro sound, which still is one of the best albums in the genre of 2016.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: When did you get contaminated by the ‘electro-underground’ virus and what incited you to set up Atropine?

Atropine: In the late 80s discovering the Mute/PIAS/Zoth Ommog/Nettwerk/Volition labels (and countless others). After that there was no turning back. We’ve been a team since 1992, first as part of Anstalt, then from 1994/95 as Atropine.

Q: We clearly can speak about 2 periods in the band’s history: a first one around the late 90s till 2001 and second one, which saw you releasing the album “Recurring Nightmares” in 2014. How would you analyze both periods and do you see main changes/evolutions?

Atropine: During the first period from around 1996 to 2001 we recorded the tracks that became the “Master Raze”-album. Soon thereafter we went on an extended hiatus and didn’t really get back to recording as Atropine again until 2008. Most of the “Master Raze”-material was re-recorded from scratch to form “Recurring Nightmares”. A few years later EK Product approached us to release on their label. We thought the original album sounded very dated so we decided the best option was to just do it over with vastly improved gear. It was much more of a chore for us to record music early on when everything revolved around MIDI and a large degree of detailed programming was always required.

Things are a lot easier now and we have all, but abandoned the need for traditional sequencing after building a large modular synthesizer system.

Q: Late 2016, you released the album “Assailant”, which I consider as your most elaborated and best work to date. Tell us a bit more about the writing and sound of this album?

Atropine: “Assailant” is basically the result of around 20-25 studio sessions. Almost everything you hear was generated spontaneously within an eight hour time frame and subsequently edited as pure audio until we felt we could approve of it. There’s a strong element of improvisation permeating the whole album so bass-line tweaks, strings and percussion tracks were recorded live. Lyrics were typically written on the spot and the vocals recorded with minimal preparation. We do not go back and re-record stuff or do any sort of overdubbing.

Rather we accept the errors that creep in using this approach and use them as a challenge to improve our process and extend our range. Over the two year span after “Recurring Nightmares”, that has worked out rather well. We enjoy working under the added pressure. Things that are easy to do, usually merits nothing. But, most importantly we enjoy our recording sessions immensely. Copious amounts of beer and electronics – it can’t be beaten!

Q: “Assailant” reveals sophisticated sound treatments and a mix between haunting electro atmospheres and electro-industrial treatments, which remind me to bands like Skinny Puppy, Mortal Constraint ao. Do you feel related with the sound of other bands and what does it say about your sources of inspiration?

Atropine: We are not denying the fact that bands like Skinny Puppy are integral to what we do. But so are more than a thousand other artists. Around half-way through our sessions we stop screwing around and start building up for vocals and final assembly of the constituent parts of the track we’re working on. Our modular system is quite simply the most extreme tool an electronic musician can have. Anything else in the studio can be routed through it at any time. The options are quite frankly unlimited. You can have a complete track ready for mastering and less than ten tweaks on select controllers and you have a completely different track.

This would have taken several sessions to accomplish in the 90s but now can be done in under a minute. Our inspiration is drawn from so much music that it’s impossible to even begin listing it here. However, if you are truly interested in the vast number of artists that filter through Atropine you can begin by looking at this complete list of my listening habits since 2006:

http://www.last.fm/user/Cthulberg

Q: Next to the “Assailant”-album released on EK Product I noticed you also self-released the “Assailant::Remixed”-album on digital format. What have been your criteria to choose for these bands and do you have favorite remixes?

Atropine: Most of the artists on “Assailant::Remixed” are friends of ours going back years, while others are just really nice people we encountered along the way. We wanted a non-traditional remix album. Usually it’s a lot of beats and all remixes are of a couple of tracks from an album with more than ten individual tracks and quite often the remixers operate within roughly the same musical genre.

To counteract this, we gave our remixers complete access to everything we had recorded. It’s a lot of extra work, but it’s all about the end result. I (Cthulberg) have a couple of favorites, but I feel it unfair to name them because of the extreme variety in the remixes. For instance Kant Kino must have spent a considerable amount of time turning “Sewercide” into a pop-song, while Europ Europ latched on to the string on “See Through” and made a lo-fi funeral dirge. It’s impossible to rate these things, but we cherish every single contribution we received, but our reasons for that varied with the spirit in which it was recorded.

Q: What did you try to express in the clip of “Exterminism” and what’s the importance of a clip and a site like Youtube today?

Atropine: This is an impossible question for us to answer as we are for the most part a non-entity on social media sites. The concept in the video has only an extremely tenuous link to the concept behind the track itself and is based on an idea developed by director Christian Ryder which he had mulled over for a long time going back to his school days. We had little or nothing to do with its production and feature only very briefly at the start of the video. Our take on “Exterminism” is outlined in the cover artwork where it replaces the lyrics this time. Mainly this is because most of “Assailant” consists of songs that deal with humanity at its lowest, basest form and so reading that text will sum it up pretty well. The whole thing is too convoluted to try and explain here I think.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

This is the first article outside Holland and Flanders (Belgium) that talks about the Belgian electropop act Bazart. People who follow our Spotify playlist will know why we added them a few days ago: they offer great electropop music. And for the others, the reason why the name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because they chose to sing in Dutch only, which works wonderfully we must say.

So here’s an introduction to the non-Dutch speaking world of what will probably become the most successful dutch sung electropop act of all times. In the past years only Arbeid Adelt succeeded to pull this off back in the eighties (although they never had the mass appeal like Bazart has), while several later dutch sung electropop projects from Flancers failed, including for instance the excellent – but completely forgotten – Kolk, a female fronted trip pop project featuring Luc Gulinck, Gerry Vergult, Maud Verlynde.

Bazart was founded by singer Mathieu Terryn and singer/guitarist Simon Nuytten. They debuted with their self released EP “Meer Dan Ooit” in 2012 before being signed to PIAS, through which they released the eponymously titled EP “Bazart” in 2015. That EP was followed by the download singles “Tunnels” and “Goud” in 2015 (“Goud” being the band’s biggest hit so far) and “Chaos” earlier this year (this time on the Pias powered Debonair label). Note that “Chaos” is a re-recorded shorter version of the one which was released on the band’s debut EP a few years earlier. You can download all these releases (except for the debut EP) right here.

Today the band consists of Mathieu Terryn (singer), Simon Nuytten (singer, guitar), Oliver Symons (singer, synths, guitars), Daan Schepers (bass) and Robbe Vekeman (percussion).

Check the videos below to see what you are missing out on:

And this is the band’s one-hour long show live at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels on 13 May 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. 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

A brand-new track from the Pixies’ upcoming album “Head Carrier” (out September 30 via Pixiesmusic/Play It Again Sam/[PIAS]) has just been released. “Talent” features a cameo appearance by the late American actor and singer Jack Palance.

The track is available as an instant-grat track (together with that other track “Um Chagga Lagga” when pre-ordering the new album right here on iTunes.

Here’s the track “Talent”:

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

Very sad news reached us via Jean-Marc Lederman. Bruce Geduldig (aka Chuck B), singer of the Americano-Belgian cult act The Weathermen together with producer Jean-Marc Lederman (aka Jimmy-Joe Snark III), passed away in his Sacramento house on March7th, his 63rd birthday. Bruce, is the one on the left on the 1989 promo picture you can see above.

Apart from being known as the singer of The Weathermen, he was also a member of the San Francisco atc Tuxedomoon. Says an emotional Jean-Marc to Side-Line: “He’ll be remembered as a great fun guy, witty, clever, astute and very sharp. A swimmer too, he loved swimming. Godspeed Bruce.”

After The Weathermen were signed to Play It Again Sam (PIAS) Records the band recruited the assistance of Tuxedomoon’s visual specialist Bruce Geduldig who adopted the alias of Chuck B, a debauched playboy vocalist. He brought even more humour and satire to the already amused Weathermen. Later on the group slimmed down to Chuck B and Jimmy-Joe Snark III.

Singer and lyricist of The Weathermen, Geduldig penned the classic industrial songs “Poison”, “Bang” and “Punishment Park” which you can listen to below. For the non-dutch speaking readers, ‘geduldig’ stands for ‘patiently’. Which may also be the best description for this great artist.

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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