Propaganda will release the remix album “Remix Encounters” on September 19, 2025 via Bureau B. The album follows the Düsseldorf band’s 2024 self-titled comeback and features contributions from Moby, Tangerine Dream, Rhys Fulber, Schiller, Metroland, Jori Hulkkonen, and others. It will be available as a double black vinyl edition and on digipak CD.

The remix project was initiated after Finnish producer Jori Hulkkonen invited Propaganda’s Ralf Dörper to contribute to his own release. In turn, Dörper encouraged Hulkkonen and other artists to reinterpret tracks from the 2024 Propaganda album, leading to a diverse international collaboration.

The vinyl version of “Remix Encounters” includes 12 tracks with a bonus vinyl-only remix by Thunder Bae of the track “Vicious Circle.” The CD version features 11 tracks, omitting the Thunder Bae mix.

2LP Tracklist:

• A1: “Purveyor of Pleasure” (Moby Remix)
• A2: “Distant” (Schiller Remix)
• A3: “Dystopian” (Steingen & Mertens Remix)
• B1: “They call Me Nocebo” (Rhys Fulber Remix)
• B2: “They call Me Nocebo” (Metroland Remix)
• B3: “They call Me Nocebo” (Tangerine Dream Remix)
• C1: “Tipping Point” (Jori Hulkkonen Remix)
• C2: “Love:Craft” (Cult With No Name Remix)
• C3: “Vicious Circle” (Jimi Tenor Remix)
• D1: “Distant” (Gewalt Remix)
• D2: “Love:Craft” (Pyrolator Remix)
• D3: “Vicious Circle” (Thunder Bae Remix) Vinyl exclusive

CD Tracklist:

1. “They call Me Nocebo” (Rhys Fulber Remix)
2. “Distant” (Schiller Remix)
3. “Purveyor of Pleasure” (Moby Remix)
4. “Tipping Point” (Jori Hulkkonen Remix)
5. “Love:Craft” (Pyrolator Remix)
6. “Vicious Circle” (Jimi Tenor Remix)
7. “They call Me Nocebo” (Tangerine Dream Remix)
8. “Distant” (Gewalt Remix)
9. “Dystopian” (Steingen & Mertens Remix)
10. “Love:Craft” (Cult With No Name Remix)
11. “They call Me Nocebo” (Metroland Remix)

About Propaganda

Formed in Düsseldorf in 1982 by Ralf Dörper, Andreas Thein, and Susanne Freytag, Propaganda rose to prominence with the release of “A Secret Wish” in 1985 on ZTT Records. The album’s experimental blend of synthpop and industrial textures was followed by the remix LP “Wishful Thinking”.

Claudia Brücken, who had joined early on, left the group in 1986. Following changes in the lineup and a switch to Virgin Records, the band released “1234” in 1990 before entering a long hiatus.

After more than three decades, Propaganda returned with a self-titled album in October 2024 via Bureau B. That release marked the return of founding member Ralf Dörper alongside Michael Mertens and new collaborators.

Claudia Brücken, formerly of Propaganda, also remains active with solo material under ZTT and other imprints .

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 now is the brand new video “El fin de la humanidad” (The end of humanity) by the Colombian electro-industrial producer Hypervuur. The video was directed by David Carrizales.

Hypervuur mixes influences of 1990’s rave and horror movies in his electro-industrial work. So far Hypervuur released 7 albums. “El fin de la humanidad” is the first single of his “Realpolitik” album. “The song mocks how Western culture is influenced by Christianity in such a way that we’re not only looking for our savior to come, but also for the apocalypse that will end us once and for all, be it through war, a pandemic, AIDS, or the Y2K bug.”

About the video Hypervuur says: “This music video follows an experimental approach that began without any clue of where it would take us. As if wandering through a thick jungle where you can only see what’s 10 cm in front of you as you hack your way through with a machete. A desire to let go of all plans and instead let the process guide us through on a psychedelic, expressive and tactile trip. Following the leitmotiv of the song, we portrayed Hypervuur as humanity himself, showing him chained, blindfolded, or wrapped in a straitjacket to visualize the effects of this relentless propaganda machine. We added layers and layers of visual noise that underlined the lyrics and stressed the general discomfort, from motion graphics to traditional animation to VHS effects. Everything was permitted.”

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 Chicago-based duo [melter], comprised of Jax Allos and Robert Hyman, has unveiled its latest video, “Catwalk”, a visual representation of personal torment. The release follows their July single, “blacklist”, and marks the continuation of a busy year that includes a recent tour with Hemlock for Socrates and the launch of their “Imperfect Waves Remix” EP.

[melter] is now preparing for the upcoming Imperfect Waves Tour across the US East Coast.

Initially, vocalist and lyricist Jax Allos hadn’t intended to address the heavy subject of suicide in “Catwalk” publicly. However, with the release coinciding with National Suicide Prevention Month, Jax decided to share more about the song’s origins: “What really helped me in that moment was writing down my thoughts and feelings, and eventually I crafted those into lyrics. [melter] entered my life at a pivotal time. ‘Catwalk’ was the first [melter] song I wrote lyrics for, and what started as a very difficult, challenging subject ultimately became a positive experience.[melter] made me feel welcome and really helped me find my voice. It has allowed me to reconnect with those aspects of my life that I needed so badly and, in its way, it saved my life.”

Known for blending industrial, dark alternative rock, punk, and noise, [melter] shifts their sound in “Catwalk” towards a moodier, post-punk style, reminiscent of The Cure’s albums “Pornography” and “Disintegration”. Drummer and multi-instrumentalist Rob Hyman from his side says this: “highlights the unique musical approach, describing the track as ambient, driven by piano sounds and a heavy, rumbling rhythm.“Within our repertoire, ‘Catwalk’ has an ambient feel – it’s dreamier and more abstract. The music for ‘Catwalk’ excited me. The rhythmic track is built off of piano sounds, believe it or not, and it has this overwhelming rumble to it that I really wanted to hear blasted over a PA at high volume.”

The video for “Catwalk” was entirely self-produced by the duo during a break between tours. Hyman envisions the visuals as a slow, introspective experience with blurred faces and deliberate movement. Jax Allos echoed these sentiments, adding that the intense color scheme was designed to reflect the internal struggle portrayed in the lyrics: “It’s an uncomfortable subject, and I hope the video conveys those feelings of desolation and resilience.”

[melter] Imperfect Waves Tour 2024 Dates

• 20 Sept: Lake Worth Beach, FL – Nights in Necropolis @ Propaganda
• 21 Sept: Tampa, FL – New World Brewery
• 23 Sept: Ypsilanti, MI – Ziggy’s
• 24 Sept: Pittsburgh, PA – Poetry Lounge
• 26 Sept: Philadelphia, PA – Sanctorium @ The Fire
• 27 Sept: Providence, RI – Fete Music Hall
• 28 Sept: Harrisburg, PA – JB Lovedraft’s Micropub
• 29 Sept: Richmond, VA – Fallout RVA

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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Data Void emerged from the collaborative efforts of Don Gordon (Numb, Halo_Gen) and James Mendez (Jihad ao). This year, they released their debut album, “Strategies Of Dissent,” on Metropolis Records. The songs feature a Dark-Electro and EBM sound, yet there’s an overwhelming Cinematic vibe running through the work. It is a remarkable opus, and I had the opportunity to connect with Don and James, who revealed many details about their work and album. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The two of you have been in the music industry for a long time, but what has brought you together, and what has led to the origins of Data Void?”?

JM: The very beginnings of the project initially began back in June of 2020, where I initiated the idea of collaborating on a song to see how things would progress. In response, Don shared some early ideas that which evolved into the track “Seven Seconds”. The idea of collaborating on music together was something that came up after many different discussions we had (both music / non-music related) throughout the approximate year and half we remained in contact since meeting up in Southeast Asia where I met Don for dinner in Ho Chi Minh City where he was living at that time. From there, it wasn’t something we both knew we were going to pursue and continued working on more ideas/material which sort of played out organically throughout the entire process up to what you hear on the finished album.

DG: While there wasn’t an initial plan to release anything we realized quite quickly that there was something quite unique coming together out of the experiments. This led to discussion about possibly releasing some of the material as an EP which over time expanded into an album. The conceptual framework for the album emerged after the first couple of songs were finished. The name of the project was suggested by the alignment between themes we were exploring lyrically and articles that I was reading concerned with information data voids and misinformation/propaganda.

Q: I can imagine that such a new project must be very exciting. Did it feel that way for you throughout the entire writing and production process? How did the songs on the album come together?

DG: The album was developed through the online exchange of audio and MIDI files and lots of discussion. This meant that there wasn’t a lot of real-time interaction during the writing phase. The process would start with one of us sending a sketch of a groove or harmonic progression to the other person who would use this as a creative jumping off point. The first couple of exchanges usually led to quite marked departures and evolutions from the original source idea. This iterative back and forth allowed for unexpected ideas to be introduced and a more reflective approach to development of ideas. After structuring the primary instrumental components of a song, I would write lyrics and record a version of the vocals. These were forwarded to James who would then record an alternate variation. The most interesting elements from these different versions were then used as the basis for a song’s vocals. This resulted in some songs in which the main vocal part would alternate between James and myself in the verses and chorus (i.e. “Crash, Burn & Resurrect”), other songs where both vocal approaches were integrated throughout, and in some there would only be a single vocalist (i.e. “A Failure Of Language”, “This Night Goes On Forever”). While I executed the final mixes, these too would undergo revision based on discussion.

JM: I was really exciting to see how the ideas we started out with would evolve as they developed into full-length songs, and in turn how this would lead to a complete album. It was quite interesting to see how we both approached the song writing process, along with all technical aspects (i.e., sounds, textures, percussion, mixing elements, etc.).

Regarding how the songs came about on the album; one of us would start out by sending the other a short clip (~45s – 1m) that would entail several different sequences  that represented the beginnings of an idea where the other would then add additional parts to compliment where the other left off. Going back and forth in this fashion until we completed the outline of what felt like the song should be. We would complete a rough draft of each song and then repeat the process again, starting out with more ideas until we eventually completed the next song and so on. As we continued working on each song, we would also discuss all of the details via email, chats, and video calls when things became a bit more complex, as this would save a lot of time in conveying our thought process.

We both use different DAWs (Logic Pro and Ableton Live) when writing music but also use several of the same virtual instruments / effects which helped make things a little easier when sharing files back and forth. We would share a combination of audio files, MIDI, VST patches, screenshots, configuration files, etc. so we could essentially mirror all of the individual sequenced tracks and song structures on both of our DAWs respectively as we continued to complete each song.

After we finished each song, Don would write lyrics and share them along with a rough sketch as to how they may be structured. The vocal structure would also undergo the same iterative approach going back and forth until we were content with the final outcome. After finishing three songs, we both reevaluated what we were going to do as far as a release was concerned and decided to continue working on more music until we felt we had enough songs to complete an entire album.

Q: The title of the album, “Strategies Of Dissent”, sounds intriguing and particularly relevant in the context of world politics. What is the album all about, and what inspired the lyrics?

DG: Lyrically and conceptually the album explores the themes of power, control and resistance to it, and the attraction for many to ‘lost causes’. Each song takes a different perspective, a different strategy if you will, to engaging with these themes. Not surprisingly, information spaces, misinformation, conspiracies, and technology figure into this with most of the songs having their basis in contemporary events and social/political currents. That being said, the lyrics were constructed so as not to come across as didactic, but instead to present these ideas at a more personal level.

“Nothing Changes” is intended as a ‘call to arms’ in response to the deception and erosion of individual control being exercised by big tech, corporations/banks and governments. The dilemma is that this is not some unified grand conspiracy but rather the outcome of a number of overlapping and competing self-motivated agendas.
“A Failure Of Language” and to a degree “What’s Left Unsaid” question the current collapse of language, the appeal of conspiracy theories and skepticism, and the increasing failure of our ability to communicate meaningfully and where this leads. A new Babel?

“Echoes Of Ritualised Performance”, while an instrumental track, was inspired by our need to repeat inherently negative social behaviors/tropes of the past and a seeming inability to learn from these… each echo a further degraded/distorted version of an initializing event from the past.

“This Night Goes On Forever” was conceived of as a reflection on the individual consequences for those who found themselves supporting and surviving a major conflict started for the wrong reasons, and the resultant aftermath of physical, psychological traumas and guilt that extend far past the event.

The 2020 Hong Kong protests and the 2021 coup in Myanmar resonated strongly with me after having lived in Southeast Asia for 20 years. So “Alien” was inspired by photos, reportage and interviews about these events and was an attempt to try and put yourself into the head of a person who has found their world suddenly and radically changed and themselves unexpectedly at the center of violence and/or as a symbol of resistance.
“The Goal Of Seven Seconds” was to evoke an anthemic quality while presenting a scathing critique of those who ‘sell dogma and deceit’ in order to incite an ill-conceived end of days for their own personal gain.

The tracks “Crash, Burn And Resurrect” and “Control” were written as a comment on the rise of extremist rhetoric and behavior.

Q: You’ve explained how this collaboration took shape, but can you tell us more about the chemistry between you?

DG: My sense is that the chemistry comes from our overlapping but distinct musical reference points and different approaches to our creative processes. It was the embrace of these differences that provided the creative dynamic that led to many of the interesting ideas as we developed over album.

JM: It was quite interesting for me to reconnect with Don 22 years after first meeting him in 1996 Austin, TX when Numb was on tour with FLA and Die Krupps. It became clear that we share some common perspectives and ideas about different things, which also happens to carry over into music. And because of our similar yet different musical preferences and approaches in our writing styles, this played a significant part into how the album turned out. As part of the musical journey when collaborating on the album, one thing I can appreciate is being challenged in a way that I would constantly be conscious of the writing style and mood I would contribute, to deliberately not write in the same fashion I am typically accustomed to and comfortable with. It certainly helped me take a different approach to writing for this project and in general.

Q: “As experienced musicians, do you still have certain influences or references when making and finishing a song? Also, how would you describe the album “Strategies Of Dissent”?

DG: In many ways you never outgrow your early influences as they are a baseline to which you add, refine and push-back against over the years. While I’m always listening to new artists and across genres, I find those early influences still subtly find their way into my more recent work.

“Strategies Of Dissent” is an album in the ‘old-school’ sense, a series of thematically connected songs that have been ordered in a manner so as to present the listener with a loosely structured narrative rather than just a collection of songs. I feel this provides a more interesting experience for the listener and allows them to get a better sense of where the project is coming from.

JM: Having been exposed to so many different kinds of music styles, genres, and artists over the years (to include the discovery of new bands regularly), there are many references I feel that have made their way (subconsciously) into music I’ve written years ago including some of the more recent work I’ve done. I think it’s inevitable.

With “Strategies Of Dissent” we set out to capture the intensity of early Electro-Industrial and integrate this into more contemporary Electronic music sound. The album as a whole, in my opinion, is homogeneous in that each song works well independently and thematically throughout the entire album.

Q: What does the future hold after this album? Do you have any concrete plans at the moment?

DG: We’ve been thinking about a follow-up release (EP?) with a combination of new material and dub versions of some tracks from “Strategies Of Dissent”. We’re also exploring the possibility for a version of Data Void to do some live European shows.

JM: We have discussed in passing the idea of working on some new material, whether that would be a new single/EP or possibly a new album at some point to also include some alternate versions of existing tracks. We’re also considering live alternate versions of the songs for some shows in Europe later this year and next.

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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(The visual is AI generated) In July 2024, German composer, musician and producer of electronic music Uwe H. Schmidt (aka Lassigue Bendthaus, Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut) headlined the Russian Outline festival, which returned after its last edition in 2016, and this amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

Run by the team behind Moscow club Mutabor, the house, techno and experimental festival took place last week (18-24 July) in Taldom, a small town on the outskirts of the capital. Playing were international acts like Atom™, Margaret Dygas and Le Syndicat Electronique who joined local DJs and live acts including Tim Aminov, Denis Kaznacheev and Sofia Rodina.

Present at the festival also was a military recruitment tent and vehicles marked with the letter “Z”, symbols associated with the Russian military effort against Ukraine.

Moscow region July 2023. Outline festival. I pointed out that u should remember those artists in the lineup. Can we tell now that they are officially support genocide of Ukrainians and act as an entertainment at the points of recruiting (mobilization) of russians for the war? pic.twitter.com/gxi5G6SgJf

— Maya Baklanova (@mayabaklanova) July 7, 2023

It didn’t take long before critics, such as Ukrainian activist Maya Baklanova, said that Western artists performing in Russia were normalizing the war and supporting the Russian regime by their participation.

Schmidt responded to the criticism by calling it a “smear campaign” against him. He defended his performance, implying that the accusations were unfounded and intended to damage his reputation. And he added: “It is also painful that at this point in my career I have, for the first time, to make a non-musical public statement of that sort, yet it seems that times require this to be done. (…) I consider myself a profoundly non- or rather trans-political person. Many years ago I had decided to take the path of making true human bonds through music. Unlike politics, which is the mode of separation, I had chosen music, which is the mode of connection.”

Surprisingly Schmidt’s recent performance in Russia was backed by an official support letter, issued by the German Embassy in St. Petersburg.

Liebe deutsche Techno-Community, um @Atom_TM_news, liebes deutsches Generalkonsulat in Sankt Petersburg @germania_online, habt ihr sie noch alle? Im kriegführenden russland die kriegsbejahende Masse mit deutschen Techno-Acts belohnen und damit diesen Terrorstaat normalisieren? pic.twitter.com/8BdGFjA7z8

— Ukrainki_UA (@Ukrainki_UA) July 28, 2024

This letter was accompanied by a meeting with the general consul Mr. Schimandl of which an official post was made on VK by the German Embassy itself. We took a screenshot of said post below.

Criticism continues as for instance even Russian techno producer Pavel Milyakov (aka Buttechno) accused the artists at the festival of attracting people to a war effort, stating that their performances indirectly supported the military budget used for the invasion of Ukraine.

Und wie wird sich versucht rauszureden? @Atom_TM_news will Verbindungen schaffen. Ich bezweifle, dass auf dem Festival Ukrainer sind. Zwischen wem werden also diese Verbindungen geschaffen? Zahlenden Kunden und einem deutschen DJ…? pic.twitter.com/9rfXdDRLaC

— Ukrainki_UA (@Ukrainki_UA) July 28, 2024

His official statements contains some disturbing clues, such as, “this link may be blocked in your free, democratic country,” “this situation, the one of being forced into political obedience,” and “(it) has poisoned music and other arts as it enslaves them to ideology.” He seems to suggest that condemning Russian aggression equates to political obedience.

And that is when, regrettably, we recognize a kind of responses that are typical among artists who support Russia, like for instance Simone Salvatori (Spiritual Front). It’s clear now that Uwe H. Schmidt decided to follow the Russian propaganda narrative instead of using is name and fame to condemn the Russian invasion. His defensive line as if music should be non-political is hereby completely destroyed. Rumor has it also that the DJs playing at the fest received exceptionally high fees.

Sad to see this happening from an artist we used to admire. Not anymore after this.

About Uwe H. Schmidt

Uwe H. Schmidt, born on August 27, 1968, in Frankfurt, Germany, began his musical journey in the early 1980s. Initially playing drums, he soon transitioned to programming a drum computer inspired by the sounds of the Linn Drum. In 1986, Schmidt co-founded the cassette label N.G. Medien, releasing works by international artists, including Frontline Assembly, and his own project Lassigue Bendthaus with “The Engineer’s Love”. His first official Lassigue Bendthaus album, “Matter”, was recorded over four years and released in 1991, establishing his early career.

Living in Frankfurt, Schmidt was influenced by the burgeoning house and acid house scenes. He adopted the alias Atom Heart and released several dance-oriented 12-inch vinyl records under various project names. In 1992, he produced tracks for DJs Pascal F.E.O.S., Ata, and Heiko M/S/O, contributing to the early trance movement. Collaborations with Tetsu Inoue led to the formation of the Datacide project in 1993. Despite challenges with record labels, Schmidt continued to innovate, founding his own label, Rather Interesting, in 1994 to explore diverse musical ideas.

In the mid-1990s, Schmidt collaborated with artists like Bill Laswell and Haruomi Hosono, producing albums under multiple aliases. He met Chilean musician Dandy Jack, and in 1997, they relocated to Santiago, Chile, where Schmidt completed the first Señor Coconut album, “El Gran Baile”. This period marked the creation of his “electrolatino” style, blending traditional Latin music with electronic elements. He continued to release a monthly album on Rather Interesting.

Schmidt’s last Lassigue Bendthaus album, “Pop Artificielle”, released in 1999 under the name LB included electronic cover versions of famous pop songs. His next major project, “El Baile Alemán” by Señor Coconut, featured cha-cha-cha versions of Kraftwerk songs and received approval from Kraftwerk themselves. The album’s success led to international tours, including Europe and an intended U.S. tour. During this time, Schmidt also released innovative works like Geeez ‘n’ Gosh and collaborated with Bernd Friedmann on the Flanger project.

Schmidt continued to remix prominent artists, including Depeche Mode and Air, while touring extensively with his 9-piece Señor Coconut orchestra. The album “Yellow Fever!”, featuring covers of Yellow Magic Orchestra songs, became a major hit in Japan. Schmidt also released the Señor Coconut album “Around the World”, collaborating with artists like Stephan Remmler and Louie Austen.

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 new Maduro album, “End in Noise”, recorded between 2023 and 2024, is now available via Re:Mission Entertainment. Maduro, aka Dave Buracker, describes the album as a reflection of the overwhelming visual and auditory static of a world in perpetual conflict. He explains, “Everything is full of noise – the internet, media, propaganda, warfare, consumerism, data, consumption, entertainment. The Modernist poet T.S. Eliot wrote in his 1925 poem ‘The Hollow Men’ that the world would end ‘Not with a bang but a whimper’ – I disagree. We are saturated with noise.”

The album cover is inspired by the early Dadaists, who embraced the absurd and asymmetric elements of terror and apathy during World War I.

Maduro is the alias of Washington D.C.-based dark electronic musician Dave Buracker, who has been creating music under various names for over two decades. In recent years, he has fused genres such as EBM, industrial, techno, and darkwave with new beat and breaks. Maduro gained popularity in the mid-2000s by producing tribal fusion electronic music. Buracker’s work has been featured on numerous label compilations, from Alfa Matrix to Universal Music Group, and he has collaborated with artists like Miss Kitten, the Horrorist, Wumpscut, Jean-Luc De Meyer, Amon Tobin, Venetian Snares, and Muslimgauze. Additionally, he has remixed tracks for Dean Garcia, HEALTH, Violent Vickie, and others.

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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Update: Yesterday Russia deliberately hit Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, Okhmatdyt (abbreviation for “Mother-and-Child Care”, Okhorona Matery ta Dityny) resulting in the death of over 30 people and many wounded children, including babies. Simone Salvatori – as usually – spread the Kremlin propaganda that Ukraine would have hit the hospital themselves, whereas all available evidence clearly shows it was a Russian missile.

Spiritual Front, signed to the German label Prophecy Productions, is getting more and more backlash from the general public due to its founding member Simone Salvatori (online also active as ‘Alex Vice’) being a very vocal pro-Putin fan supporting the war launched against Ukraine.

That he is quite pro-Putin is not exactly news, you can see it clearly below.

On Friday 10 November 2023 for instance, Simone Salvatori announced two special solo shows in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, right after dates planned in Tbilisi (Georgia), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Istanbul (Turkey). The announcement led to a huge shitstorm to the point where Salvatori deleted the announcement and issued a rather poorly formulated ‘apology’.

Fans from Ukraine and elsewhere started to point out certain posts that were liked by Simone Salvatori, now nicknamed ‘Zimone’, including a post by Fabrizio Giannese (Aborym). Simone replied that he ‘didn’t understand the post’ which was posted in Italian to start with, Simone’s mother tongue…

As a result the concert in Warsaw (Poland), scheduled on 12 November – just two days after the Facebook post on 12 November – was immediately cancelled by the promoter upon learning about Simone’s Russian concerts. Also the concert in Vilnius (Lithuania), scheduled on 20 April 2024, was canceled by the promotor. It didn’t stop there, the promotor Pink Hearts furthermore canceled the concerts in May in Tbilisi (Georgia), Almaty (KazakHstan) and Istanbul (Turkey).

Oh, and also Side-Line gets mentioned, although we never had any dealings with Simone.

Simone is also a regular troll on our Instagram page where he tries to push Kremlin lies and continues to attack Side-Line for its role in denouncing vatniks like Simone and their creepy agenda.

You can read a whole lot more on how Simone acts online and his real agenda from this website that is going to list all bands from the dark scene who have been pushing Putin’s agenda. It’s clear: Side-Line will not entertain or propagate Kremlin rhetoric.

About Spiritual Front

Spiritual Front is an Italian neofolk and dark folk act from Rome, founded in 1999 by vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Simone Salvatori, the band’s sole constant member. The project’s style blends neofolk, neoclassical, tango and art-rock influences. Key albums include “Armageddon Gigolo'” (2006, later reissued via Prophecy Productions), “Open Wounds” (Trisol, 2013) and “Black Hearts in Black Suits” (Rustblade, 2013); the band is currently signed to German label Prophecy Productions. Salvatori has faced public backlash over pro-Russia statements, including announcing and later canceling planned shows in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in November 2023.

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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Chicago post-industrial duo [melter], Jax Allos & Robert Hyman, have a new single and a grainy black and white video out, “Blacklist”. The single comes ahead of upcoming tour dates of the US Midwest and East Coast, spanning July, August, and September 2024.

“Blacklist” has been mixed and produced with post-punk / deathrock / darkwave producer William Faith (The Bellwether Syndicate, Faith and the Muse, et al) at Chicago’s 13 Studio; while the video was created by MoK Films and [melter].

Rob Hyman says of the track: “Musically the song took off once Jax supplied me with her vocal melody and lyrics. She had built off of a musical idea I started which is the electronic foundation of the song, but which finally became a [melter] track after the drums, bass and vocals were added to it. ‘blacklist’ is very representative of where [melter] is as a band right now. The song evolved into a powerful and driving backbone to Jax’s dynamic and textured vocal performance. Working with William Faith on the mix helped to present it as strongly as we had envisioned it while wiring it.”

“Blacklist” from [melter] is out now via Bandcamp as a 3-track single, featuring live versions of the title track, and the earlier track “Raw”, originally from the band’s self-titled debut EP (May 2023).

Upcoming [melter] tourdates

[melter] are soon to embark on a string of tour dates with Pittsburgh’s Hemlock for Socrates. The two bands’ Summer Tour kicks off in Louisville, Kentucky on July 26th, before taking in dates mainly across the US Midwest (Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois), and winding up with homecoming shows in Chicago, IL, and Pittsburgh, PA, on 10 and 11 August 2024.

Of the upcoming tour with Hemlock for Socrates, Rob says: “This is our first tour, so we are excited to play cities we’ve not played before and to perform to new audiences. Getting to spend more time with Hemlock for Socrates and enjoying life on the road for a few weeks. Jax and I end up living [melter] 24/7 when we are on the road and it really helps to spur new ideas and provide a lot of focus for what is next for us.”

And Jax adds: “I’m excited to continue growing our friendship with Heather and Kegan from Hemlock for Socrates, and I can’t wait for us to share all our stories from many years of music creation. I’m ecstatic about travelling, in part because I can tackle some of the things on [melter]’s to-do list while Rob is driving. Like Rob said, living the [melter] life 24/7. I’ll maintain productivity and brings me so much joy, you have no idea! Because, it’s the little things, right?”

In September, [melter] once again hit the road, this time for the Imperfect Waves Tour across the East Coast, alongside “Chicago glampires” Plasmata, and Cleveland industrial-rock / dark synth outfit 2 Forks.

Hemlock for Socrates and [melter] – Summer Tour 2024

• 26 July – Louisville, KY – Art Sanctuary
• 27 July – Columbus, OH – The Spacebar
• 31 July – Ypsilanti, MI – Ziggy’s
• 1 August – Madison, WI – Crucible
• 2 August – Grand Rapids, MI – Mulligan’s
• 3 August – Fort Wayne, IN – The Ruin
• 8 August – Cincinnati, OH – The Comet
• 9 August – Alton, IL – The Conservatory
• 10 August – Chicago, IL – Bourbon on Division
• 11 August – Pittsburgh, PA – The Government Center

Plasmata, [melter], and 2 Forks – Imperfect Waves Tour: September 2024

• 20 September – Lake Worth Beach, FL – Propaganda: ‘Nights in Necropolis’
• 21 September – Tampa, FL – New World Brewery
• 22 September – Atlanta, GA – 10 High
• 23 September – TBD – contact Hecataea Music for bookings
• 24 September – Pittsburgh, PA – Poetry Lounge
• 25 September – TBD – contact Hecataea Music for bookings
• 26 September – Philadelphia, PA – The Fire
• 27 September – Providence, Rhode Island – Fete Music Hall
• 28 September – Harrisburg, PA – JB Lovedrafts Micropub
• 29 September – Richmond, VA – Fallout RVA

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 via Bureau B in October is the brand new Propaganda album, simply titled “Propaganda”. The new album will hold 8 tracks and will be out in 3 formats.

This self-titled set was co-written by Ralf Dörper and Michael Mertens. Recorded entirely in their native Düsseldorf it features guest appearances from Hauschka and Thunder Bae.

The album will be out on vinyl, CD and as a limited expanded digipak 2CD in a hand numbered edition of 1000 copies worldwide. The expanded version holds 5 exclusive bonus-tracks, namely “Not good for You”, “Solace in Sin”, “World out of Joint”, “I feel mysterious” and “The Calling”.

There will also be a double-vinyl edition. A first version on orange vinyl was already sold out on pre-order.

Below is the track “Purveyor of Pleasure“, the first of two single released already next to “They Call Me Nocebo“.

About Propaganda

Propaganda was formed by Ralf Dörper, former synthesist with electro-punks Die Krupps, and Andreas Thein in 1982, but it wasn’t until the addition of Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra percussionist Michael Mertens that the outfit emerged as the dark synth-pop powerhouse which would see chart success as part of the ZTT machine.

Upon signing with Trevor Horn’s imprint in 1983, Propaganda, now comprised of vocalists Claudia Bruecken and Susanne Freytag alongside Dörper and Mertens, delivered their classic debut LP “A Secret Wish” and a string of international hit singles, such as “Dr Mabuse”, “Duel” and “P Machinery”.

After a late 80s hiatus spent escaping their unfavourable contracts, during which the singers went their separate ways, the project returned on Virgin in 1990, with a new line-up, including Betsi Miller on vocals and former Simple Minds rhythm section Derek Forbes and Brian McGee. Working alongside producers Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes, the ensemble delivered “1234”, featuring collaborations with Howard Jones and David Gilmour.

After this album, Dörper resurrected Die Krupps and Mertens moved into TV and Film composition and provided a conduit for Düsseldorf’s experimental electronic scene via his Amontillado Music label.

It was a 2015 remix request from Zang Tumb Tuum chum and former Frankie Goes To Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson which finally prompted the pair to revamp the band. Still, it would take them another 9 years to announce a new studio album, their third.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Ambient-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Stefan Poiss has taken some of the best cuts from the latest Mind.In.A.Box album “Black & White” and remixed them himself. “Shades Of Gray” is also featuring one exclusive song.

Content: This EP comes as a ‘club’-addition to the latest album. Four songs have been remixes in a harder, club-friendly approach. “New Wave Propaganda” has been remixed in two different versions. “Fire And Lace” is a new song which serves as a cool gift.

+ + + : “Integrate” and “New Wave Propaganda” both were some of my favorite tracks of the album and has been adapted into great, danceable, Space-Pop with again the great vocals of Stefan Poiss on top. The remix of “Lost And Alone” is another great work and a strong debut to this EP. This EP features great dancefloor adaptations and brings Mind.In.A.Box back in the spotlight.

– – – : A new song is always a bonus to an EP but “Fire And Lace” isn’t exactly the best cut from this artist. 

Conclusion: This EP is an essential addition to the “Black & White”-album.

Best songs: “Integrate – Club Mix”, “New Wave Propaganda – Club Mix”, “Lost And Alone – Master Mechanic Remix”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist & Label: www.mindinabox.com / www.facebook.com/mindinabox.official

About Mind.In.A.Box

Mind.In.A.Box is the Vienna-based electronic duo of Markus Hadwiger and Stefan Poiss, built around a continuing cyberpunk narrative that follows the characters Mr. Black and Mr. White through the “Agency” and the Dreamweb. The seventh album, “Black & White”, followed “Broken Legacies” roughly six years earlier and arrived on 30 August 2023 through THYX Records with a 20-page booklet continuing the storyline. “Shades Of Gray” gathers club remixes of tracks from that album, reworked by Poiss himself, alongside the new song “Fire And Lace”.

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

Published in conjunction with David Major and A Distant Mirror, a new edition of George Orwell’s landmark novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (also known as “1984”) is now available in both hardcover and paperback formats.

Completed in 1948 and first published in mid-1949, “1984” was immediately recognized for its scathing satire of malignant bureaucracy and totalitarian overreach. Part cautionary warning and part pitch-black absurdist autobiography, Orwell’s gritty alarm now rings more relevant than ever.

This edition is the most comprehensive, accurate, and relevant available. It features the full, uncensored, and unabridged 1949 text, a Foreword by “1984” (the film) co-producer Al Clark, and a comprehensive, illustrated introduction by David Thrussell. The introduction situates the book within Orwell’s personal circumstances and the broader political and social framework. An afterword by Irish writer and philosopher Richard K. Moore, along with other key texts and notable additions, enrich this edition.

The artwork and design are by Richard Grant/I+T=R.

Historical Context of ‘1984’

“1984” was written in the aftermath of World War II, during a time of great political upheaval. Orwell, having witnessed the rise of totalitarian regimes in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, was deeply concerned about the potential for oppressive governments to emerge in the post-war world. His novel reflects these anxieties, presenting a dystopian future where the state exerts total control over every aspect of life.

Orwell wrote “1984” while suffering from tuberculosis, which contributed to the bleak tone of the novel. His personal experiences with illness, poverty, and political disillusionment heavily influenced the narrative. Orwell’s time fighting in the Spanish Civil War and his observations of totalitarian regimes deeply informed his portrayal of the oppressive government in “1984”.

The novel explores themes of surveillance, censorship, propaganda, and the manipulation of truth—all of which remain relevant in today’s digital age. The concepts of “Big Brother,” “doublethink,” and “thoughtcrime” have entered the cultural lexicon, illustrating the enduring impact of Orwell’s work on contemporary discussions about privacy, freedom, and state power.

“1984” is not only a work of fiction but also a profound commentary on the nature of power and control. It has been widely studied and analyzed for its themes, literary style, and political implications. The novel’s stark portrayal of a dystopian future continues to resonate with readers and serves as a powerful warning against the dangers of totalitarianism.

About David Thrussell

David Thrussell is an Australian musician and composer known for his work in various electronic music genres. He is the founding member of the dark ambient and industrial bands Snog, Soma (with Pieter Bourke), and Black Lung. In his work Thrussell is often exploring themes related to conspiracy theories and esoteric subjects.

Thrussell’s career spans several decades, beginning in the late 1980s and his projects have consistently pushed the boundaries of electronic music, blending elements of industrial dance, original scores, and soundtracks. His work under the Black Lung moniker, in particular, delves into thematic explorations of conspiracies, with albums featuring titles and liner notes that reference documents and theories related to the New World Order and mind control technologies.

In addition to his musical endeavors, Thrussell has also been involved in film scores, with contributions to soundtracks such as “Wolf Creek” (2005) and “The Year of the Golf Ball” (2012). His discography includes a diverse range of releases, from experimental spoken word albums to cinematic soundscapes.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Ambient-Pop. 

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Black & White” took a while to get achieved. Six years after the previous opus Stefan Poiss released “Black And White” in 2023 as the eighth album of the Austrian project. This is a new sci/fi story transposed into music.

Content: The album sounds like Mind.In.A.Box hasn’t been away for too long. This album sounds like the perfect offspring between Electro-Pop and space-like atmospheres. The tracklist alternates ‘harder’, danceable, songs and sweet, dreamy, cuts. On top you’ll Stefan singing while two guest singers joined in now and then.

+ + + : What I’ve always liked by this project is the very own sound DNA. Mind.In.A.Box deals with a sound you directly recognize. It’s a perfect offspring between danceable- and dreamy-like songs. But the main strength remains the unique sound treatments which have an elevating effect during the choruses and mixed with the vocals. Stefan Poiss is a talented and especially passionate singer. It’s impossible comparing this artist to another one but occasionally there’s a touch of Michael Cretu emerging at the surface. Speaking for myself I prefer the more ‘danceable’ cuts of the album.

– – – : I would have liked to get a few more danceable tracks but globally speaking this album sounds like ‘mission accomplished’.

Conclusion: It’s good to have this talented artist back on track; no true innovation although it remains a great and sexy sound experience composed by a visionary artist.

Best songs: “Integrate”, “Just Like You Always Wanted”, “New Wave Propaganda”, “Vertigo”, “Activate”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist & Label: www.mindinabox.com / www.facebook.com/mindinabox.official

About Mind.In.A.Box

Mind.In.A.Box is an Austrian electronic duo, Stefan Poiss and Markus Hadwiger, founded in Vienna in 2002. Their album chronology runs from “Lost Alone” (2004), “Dreamweb” (2005) and “Crossroads” (2007) through “R.E.T.R.O.” (2010), “Revelations” (2012), “Memories” (2015) and “Broken Legacies” (2017), continuing a cyberpunk narrative across releases. Nearly six years after “Broken Legacies”, THYX Records issued the seventh album, “Black & White”, on 30 August 2023, with a companion remix EP, “Shades Of Gray”, following on the same label.

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

Out now via Freaksville Records is “Microwaves”, the brand new single and video from Telex co-founder Michel Moers featuring Claudia Brücken (Propaganda) on vocals. The single is taken from the second solo album by Moers, “As Is”, out on April 19th on CD, LP and digital.

This new material comes more than three decades after the first solo album, “Fishing Le Kiss”, by the Belgian electro-pop musician Michel Moers and almost 20 years since his groundbreaking group Telex delivered their final message.

The album will contain songs that have been developed over several years. Moers also collaborated with compatriot Daan Stuyven for the track “Back To Then”.

Here’s the video for the single.

Moers has spent the last three decades working as an architect and photographer while continuing to make music. Involved in the remastering of the Telex back catalogue that was reissued on Mute Records in 2023, this also served to reinvigorate his skills and contributed to the creation of “As Is”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Four years have passed since the promising debut-album “Teenage Wet Dreams”. French duo JB Lacassagne (Dekad) and Pierre_XY (Foretaste) are back on track unleashing their second opus “Videodrama”. They remained inspired by the past, now moving back to the fantasy world of David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Stephen King, John Hugues ao.

Content: The sound has evolved as well although remaining pretty Electro-Pop like. They’re more into 80s Electronics while the debut-album also featured 50s and 60s elements. You’ll notice the typical effects, sweeps and space-like atmospheres getting us back to the magic of Electro-Wave. Most of the songs have a danceable appeal but you’ll also discover softer, melancholic, cuts.

+ + + : The Overlookers didn’t produce a copy-paste album of their debut work. “Videodrama” is a catchy, retro-like work with a personal touch on top. The work  has an atypical BOREDOMproduct-sound and that’s rather cool. It enlarges the musical horizon of the label and both musicians as well. It also is a well-crafted composition with multiple attention grabbers. Some parts are reminding me to Propaganda but globally speaking I would dare to say The Overlookers have adapted 80s Electro-Pop into a very personal sound approach.

– – – : The album is maybe missing an absolute hit song but don’t worry, we’ll get a very cool tracklist instead.

Conclusion: The Overlookers is much more than simply a side-project but just a great, creative, and inspired Electro-Pop project made in France.

Best songs: “Undercover”, “A Heavy Price To Pay”, “Cast Away Your Sorrow”, “Red Lights”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/theoverlookersmusic

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

Listen to “Videodrama”:

About The Overlookers

The Overlookers pair XY from Foretaste with JB from Dekad. The duo debuted with “Teenage Wet Dreams,” built around a 1950s American aesthetic, before returning four years later with “Videodrama,” which moves the concept into 1980s VHS and analog-synth territory. Ahead of the album, the band released the single and video “Undercover.” Fans of the project can also read the earlier Side-Line Click Interview with The Overlookers, in which the duo discussed breaking rock ‘n’ roll’s codes.

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

Every time Side-Line releases a new compilation, I seize the chance to interview Bernard Van Isacker, the chief compiler for Side-Line and our editor-in-chief. This time around, he has curated the comprehensive 88-track “Electronic Bodies” compilation, predominantly focusing on EBM with a hint of New Beat. I must say, I’m perpetually amazed at how he juggles his time. Not only does he supervise Side-Line, but he’s also engaged with Alfa Matrix, holds a full-time role in online marketing with an international firm, and has recently founded the digital marketing agency, Fox DS.

SL: With such a packed schedule, how do you find the time for these compilation projects?

BVI: Honestly, I often ponder how I muster the time and enthusiasm to initiate and oversee projects of this magnitude, given their time-consuming nature. The motivation largely stems from the Side-Line community; I sometimes feel I owe them my time (laughs). I genuinely enjoy these projects; I’m a person who thinks in terms of projects and concepts rather than daily routines. This mindset is evident even in my day job, where I’m known to favour large-scale, impactful projects over short-term tasks. This approach ensures consistency in my endeavours. As I age, I notice this trait becoming more pronounced.

SL: Merely 12 hours post-release, the “Electronic Bodies” compilation has already clinched the top position on the industrial charts. How do you maintain such consistency?

BVI: The credit goes entirely to our audience. Time and again, I observe the active engagement of the Side-Line community. The volume of personal emails from readers is staggering, and I make it a point to respond to each one, even the occasional critiques regarding our editorial decisions. A prime example is our decision to remove ads from Side-Line, a move purely based on reader feedback. In hindsight, it was probably our best decision, eliminating those intrusive Adsense ads that marred our magazine for years.

Returning to your question, we can now engage tens of thousands of fans with a single click. I always strive for transparency in our communication. For instance, if a project gets shelved (which has happened once in the past two decades), I explain the reasons behind the decision. Honest communication is paramount in everything we do at Side-Line. I’m fortunate to run this magazine alongside one of the most principled individuals I know, Stephane Froidcoeur. I highly regard his opinions, and despite our occasional disagreements, we remain an inseparable duo, frequently deliberating on our future direction. This long-term planning is crucial to our operations.

SL: What drove your decision to spotlight EBM and a bit of New Beat?

BVI: The idea dates back a few years. Sven Lauwers, Andy De Decker (Ionic Vision / Metroland), and Franky Deblomme (Cubic, Darkmen) once suggested that Side-Line should explore EBM and New Beat. This concept lingered in my mind, but with the “Electronic Resistance” projects consuming a significant portion of my time over the past 18 months, it took a backseat. However, a recent conversation with Sven reignited this dormant idea. A brief poll on Side-Line’s Facebook page indicated the potential success of this project. While the popularity of our compilations has been on an upward trajectory, I’m acutely aware that success shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s imperative to consistently deliver value.

SL: On that note, I was surprised to discover the new Ionic Vision track “Deathrow” in the compilation. How did that inclusion come about?

BVI: When I informed Sven about this upcoming project, I inquired if he had any unreleased tracks to contribute. He mentioned their unreleased album and promptly sent over a track. Ionic Vision has been a staple in my EBM mix from the outset, so it’s gratifying to feature this iconic Belgian act in the compilation. Additionally, Andy contributed a track from his project, Him+He, which leans more towards New Beat.

SL: ELM, which kicks off the compilation, is widely regarded as a trailblazer in today’s EBM scene. Would you concur?

BVI: Absolutely. Musically and in terms of production, Peter is top-tier. Had ELM been active in the 80s, he’d undoubtedly be a superstar. I recently discussed ELM during an interview for Canada’s DJ Moose’s The Gothic Moose podcast. Fabrício Viscardi from Aesthetische was also a guest, and we delved into the production quality of various releases. Fabrício (just like Peter), in my opinion, possesses exceptional production skills. Both ELM and Aesthetische consistently deliver top-notch productions.

SL: Not surprisingly that I also see Aesthetische featured on this compilation.

BVI: Indeed. Upon hearing the masters for “Boiling Over (Celsius Version)”, I was convinced it deserved a spot on the compilation. I sought Seba Dolimont’s (Alfa Matrix) opinion, and his response echoed my sentiments. This track epitomises the evolution of EBM in 2023, infusing a contemporary touch while preserving its roots. Coupled with superior production, it’s undeniably a gem.

SL: I’ve observed that only a handful of bands in the compilation are established names in the scene. Are other labels hesitant to collaborate?

BVI: I never pressurise scene labels to contribute. They receive an invitation, and their participation is entirely voluntary. Our compilation series has always been independent of label contributions, although a few labels consistently support our vision and concept. The majority of submissions are from emerging bands eager to expand their audience. Our primary objective remains to nurture and promote new talent. We’re always open to collaborations, and labels willing to contribute are always welcome.

SL: Do you maintain communication with all these numerous bands post-release?

BVI: I consistently encourage bands involved to keep me informed about their subsequent activities once the release is out. Many do, and this way we ensure to track their progress and share updates when there’s noteworthy news. Our approach isn’t just a one-off; it’s only fitting that these bands know they can rely on our continued support.

SL: Was the process of selecting bands for this compilation straightforward?

BVI: The response we receive when we issue a call for submissions is always overwhelming. Sifting through the plethora of material is a weeks-long endeavour. Once I’ve shortlisted the bands, the next step involves securing contracts, which proved challenging this time around due to the sunny weather. Chasing contracts during the summer holiday season is far from ideal, that I knew and know now even more. One contract eluded us, resulting in 88 bands on the compilation instead of the initially announced 89. So, for those fixated on the number 88, the missing 89th slot isn’t our oversight but a consequence of the band’s oversight (laughs).

SL: What inspired your focus on Ukrainian victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

BVI: I recently came across an article detailing the psychological toll of the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine. The repercussions are devastating, with families torn apart and a surge in divorces and suicides. Many are grappling with PTSD, a condition that arises after experiencing traumatic events. Symptoms disrupt daily life, manifesting as flashbacks, avoidance behaviours, and a host of other issues. If we’re in a position to assist, we should.

SL: Doesn’t immersing yourself in such grim realities depress you?

BVI: While it’s undeniably sombre, it’s essential to recognise our privileged position compared to their plight. Rather than symbolic gestures, I advocate for tangible action. The West should be doing more. The disparity between resources squandered on frivolities and the valiant efforts of the Ukrainian populace defending their homeland infuriates me.

SL: I’ve noticed a decline in the presence of Russian bands in this scene. Have you observed this trend?

BVI: They haven’t vanished; they’ve chosen to either keep a low profile or relocate from Russia. In a few instances, some even openly support the controversial regime led by Putin. For example, Side-Line has a policy not to feature bands that align with Putin’s views. I’m in regular contact with many Russians. A majority express their dismay at the current situation, foreseeing significant repercussions as their nation faces increasing isolation, contrary to what some media outlets suggest. Do you think the BRICS nations appreciate having such an outlier in their midst? A few others I converse with remain reserved, but their sentiments suggest they don’t necessarily disagree with their nation’s actions in Ukraine. It’s disheartening, but I believe in maintaining open communication, hoping they’ll recognize the gravity of the situation. Decades of propaganda have left a profound impact.

The future of Russia’s dark music scene remains uncertain. I hope they recognize the extensive damage their nation has inflicted. With a death toll exceeding 300,000, there’s no room for national pride. The current oppressive environment will likely stifle these bands’ voices, leading me to anticipate a decline in activist lyrics and public positions in their work. This shift should serve as a stark indicator for those still questioning the integrity of their government and its societal constraints.

SL: Why hasn’t Side-Line ventured into establishing a full-fledged label? Given the magazine’s dedicated readership, it seems like a logical progression, doesn’t it? I remember discussing this with you before.

BVI: Yes you did, and my stance hasn’t changed (laughs). Side-Line collaborates with thousands of bands. Focusing on a select few could compromise our credibility. I’m meticulous about ensuring my involvement with Alfa Matrix doesn’t influence Side-Line’s operations. Managing bands under the Side-Line banner would blur these lines further. While I frequently receive proposals to release albums, I remain committed to Side-Line’s vision of being a platform for all bands within our genre. Our audience’s trust and respect are paramount. Their unwavering support is the lifeblood of Side-Line. Without them, there’s no magazine, and consequently, no compilations.

SL: During this project, were there any bands that particularly resonated with you?

BVI: Conditions Extrm and their side-project Balsab, both hailing from Bordeaux, intrigued me with their raw EBM sound. Their music evokes memories of the tape demos Side-Line received in the early 90s. They encapsulate Side-Line’s ethos of amplifying young bands’ voices. Numerous other bands contributed, but these two immediately come to mind due to their interconnectedness, despite submitting their tracks separately.

SL: What’s on the horizon for Side-Line? I’ve heard whispers of a potential Turkish compilation. Can you shed some light on this?

BVI: Those aren’t mere whispers; I’ve alluded to it occasionally. I’m liaising with Turkish partners to assess its feasibility. I often encounter criticism for not featuring bands from the Muslim world in our compilations. While I’m open to the idea, the scene in these countries isn’t as expansive. However, the prospect intrigues me, and I’ve initiated preliminary research. No promises, but the groundwork has begun. For now, enjoy the current compilation, it holds plenty of good stuff!

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.

www.side-line.com

Belgian industrial-electro pioneers, Signal Aout 42, have unveiled their latest single, “Memories”. This track, the third single from their forthcoming album “Ex-Voto”, is now available via the Out Of Line Music label. Fans can anticipate the album’s release on 13th October.

Jacky Meurisse, reflecting on “Memories”, shared, “It’s a homage to those who have passed away but have left an indelible mark on me, shaping the person I’ve become.”

“Ex-Voto” boasts 12 tracks and will be accessible both as a double LP and on CD. Additionally, a fresh T-shirt design will accompany the album.

Tracing back to 1981, Signal Aout 42 was originally conceived as Signal, a casual live improvisation endeavour by school friends Jacky Meurisse, Damien Vandamme, and Luc Vandamme. However, due to a naming clash with a popular local toothpaste brand, they opted for Signal Aout 42. This name references the launch date of the German Wehrmacht’s propaganda magazine, Signal. Despite some misconceptions linking the band to far-right ideologies because of this association, Meurisse has firmly clarified that such assumptions are unfounded. Following a ten-year break, the band re-emerged in the late 2000s.

Discography:

• Pro Patria – 1989
• Contrast – 1990
• Conviction – 1993
• Transformation – 2007
• Vae Victis – 2010
• Inspiration – 2013
• Insurrection – 2019

Enjoy their new single 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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Genre/Influences: IDM, Industrial-Techno, Experimental.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Fabrizio Matrone strikes back unleashing a new album from his sonic alter-ego Matter. The Italian artist has already released several works on different labels like Ant-Zen, Le Petit Machiniste, Soviet Media Kontrol and Kvitnu -which in a way became I Shall Sing Till My Land Is Free)

Content: The work remains faithful to the main sound ingredients Matter is using. There for sure is a Dark-Techno/Industrial element running through the work  which has been sophisticated with IDM influences. Some parts are more Experimental-like but I always connected with Techno-Industrial music.

+ + + : Matter is an artist who no longer has to convince me. Fabrizio Matrone perfectly knows how to compose intelligent Electronic music. This is pure underground stuff for Berliner Techno underground clubs. I can easily imagine this is also the kind of production appealing for Sonic Groove lovers. The work features several great and accomplished cuts but “Futuro” is my favorite one for its extra noise- and crystalline sound treatments.

– – – : There are two more Experimental cuts (cf. “Accettazione” and “Oppressione”) right in the midst of the album which are less inspired.

Conclusion: Matter is a great addition to the ‘young’ Ukrainian label but definitely revealing a top-notch production.

Best songs: “Futuro”, “Resistenza”, “Propaganda”, “Realismo”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/matter.it

Label: https://ishallsinguntilmylandisfree.com / www.facebook.com/ishallsinguntilmylandisfree

About Matter

Matter is one of several aliases used by Italian producer Fabrizio Matrone, alongside Fm Chloroform, Heidseck and The Subliminal Persuader. Under the Matter name he has released material through labels including Ant-Zen, Le Petit Machiniste, Soviet Media Kontrol and Kvitnu, working in Dark-Techno, Industrial and IDM territory.

“Frammenti” is Matter’s album for the Ukrainian label I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free, the successor to Kvitnu.

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 Slovenian band Laibach is set to release their cover of Rammstein’s satirical song “Amerika” for the upcoming “A Tribute To Rammstein” album. This album is due for release through Cleopatra Records on 25th August.

“Amerika” was originally released by Rammstein on 6th September 2004 as the second single from their fourth studio album, “Reise Reise” (2004). The band describes the song as a satirical commentary on ‘Cocacolonisation’, addressing what it called “the global cultural and political influence of the United States of America”.

Below, you can find Laibach’s cover version of the song.

The song’s lyrics, alongside most of the video imagery, offer a clear critique of America’s cultural imperialism, political propaganda, and perceived role as the world’s police force. The song features two verses sung in German and a chorus in Denglisch, such as: “We’re all living in Amerika, Amerika ist wunderbar, We’re all living in Amerika, Amerika, Amerika…”

The music video for the original track portrays the band in Apollo-era spacesuits on the Moon, intercut with scenes of various cultures adopting stereotypical American behaviours. This includes scenes of Africans eating pizza and sending Christmas wishes to Santa Claus, Buddhist monks enjoying hamburgers, and various global communities engaging in recognisably American activities. Near the video’s end, diverse ethnic groups are seen singing and dancing along.

As the video concludes, it is revealed that the band has been on a fake moon set in a studio, complete with a film crew, which appears to nod to Moon landing conspiracy theories. Lead singer Till Lindemann is seen wearing a spacesuit with the name “Armstrong” on it, referencing astronaut Neil Armstrong. The video concludes with a photograph of the band left on the moon’s surface and plays a recording of Jack Swigert’s famous quote: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”

Side-Line also covered Laibach’s ‘The Engine of Survival’.

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

After three decades since its initial release, the track “Last Damage” by the Swedish electro cult act Cultivated Bimbo receives a complete revamp with the 2023 remake and an EBM remix via Microlab Studio. The EP will be released on May 12.

The 2-track single is in pre-order now via the band’s Bandcamp page.

Cultivated Bimbo, a musical act that began producing under various aliases in 1985, signed under their current name in 1990. After a five-year stint, they vanished from the Swedish music scene until 2019, when they began to remaster their old material from 1985 to 1990. This culminated in the 2020 release of “Prequel”, an extensive digital compilation of 222 tracks that saw the light of day on Progress Productions and Bandcamp.

Since then, the band has been busy remastering and reworking their music from 1990 to 1995 while also crafting new tunes. Last year, they dropped two new tracks – “Propaganda” and “Product 22” – and this year they have already released a remastered/remixed version of “Dead Aim And Attack” and an instrumental mix of “Wendy Takes The Fall”.

And now, the time has come for the Wallin / Ö-dahl penned track “Last Damage”, taken from the 1993 release “Your Useful Guide To Life” originally released via Energy Rekords.

Cultivated Bimbo has plans to unleash a wave of old tracks, unreleased material, and remixes spanning the years from 1990 to 1995 in the near future.

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

Roger Waters, the legendary member of Pink Floyd, has had his concert in Frankfurt cancelled by the city’s government due to his “continuing anti-Israeli stance.” Frankfurt officials view Waters as one of the world’s most influential anti-Semites due to his repeated calls for a cultural boycott of Israel, his comparisons to South Africa’s apartheid regime, and his pressure on artists to cancel events in Israel.

Waters – already often referred to as being the Leni Riefenstahl of rock ‘n’ roll – has also been known for promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and featuring a pig-shaped balloon with the Star of David during a previous tour as you can see above. Fans who love his music but are critical of his political views are directed by Waters to the bar during his performance under the guise of “fuck off.”

Despite this controversy, Live Nation, Mojo and other organizers will keep his concerts maintained. Some say that they do not endorse Waters’ political views, but they will continue with the concerts (for the sake of money of course).

The cancellation in Frankfurt was due not only to Waters’ political views but also because of the sensitivity surrounding the Festhalle, where the concert was to be held. During the Kristallnacht in 1938, 3,000 Jewish men were taken to the Festhalle, where they were mistreated and later deported to concentration camps. The venue has a plaque urging people to take a stand against anti-Semitism and hate speech.

It’s highly possible that Berlin, Munich, and Cologne will also cancel the Roger Waters concerts.

More than one incident

There have been several instances where Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd band member, has been accused of making anti-Semitic comments.

In a 2010 interview with CounterPunch, Waters compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to apartheid South Africa and said, “The parallels with what went on in the 1930s in Germany are so crushingly obvious.”

In a 2012 interview with Electronic Intifada, Waters stated, “I think that the Israeli government has been playing the Holocaust card, and it is disgusting. They have been blackmailing the world with it for years.”

In a 2013 interview with CounterPunch, Waters criticized what he called the “Jewish lobby” in the US and accused it of controlling the media and the government’s foreign policy. He later apologized for using the term “Jewish lobby” but maintained his criticism of Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians.

In a 2017 interview with BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) activist Frank Barat, Waters compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews during the Holocaust, saying, “The situation in Israel/Palestine, with the occupation, the ethnic cleansing, and the systematic racist apartheid Israeli regime is unacceptable.”

In 2018, Waters published an open letter urging fellow musicians to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest, which was being held in Israel. In the letter, Waters accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “dispossession” of the Palestinian people, and called for a cultural boycott of the country.

It’s worth noting that Waters has denied being anti-Semitic and has stated that his criticisms are aimed at the Israeli government’s policies, not the Jewish people as a whole. However, his comments have been seen by many as crossing the line into anti-Semitic territory.

A true Putin lover?

Waters has been known for his criticism of Western governments, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, and has been vocal in his support of political causes such as the BDS movement and the anti-war movement, and has more recently been used by Putin’s Russia to spread the bogus claim that the Russian invasion in Ukraine was provoked by the NATO countries.

He ended up speaking at the United Nations Security Council – at Russia’s request – in early February. While he denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine as illegal, he also claimed it was “provoked,” drawing sharp criticism from the Ukrainian UN ambassador, who accused him of aiding Russian propaganda. In addition, Waters criticized his former Pink Floyd bandmates for releasing a charity single, arguing that it would only encourage the continuation of the war.

As a result of his controversial statements, two concerts that Waters was due to perform in Krakow, Poland in April were canceled. This followed an open letter in which Waters strongly criticized Ukraine and the West for their actions in the conflict with Russia.

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

What comes in mind when hearing the names Jürgen Engler, Marcel Zürcher and Ralf Dörper? Die Krupps! Right; but since a few years they also started a new side-project called Die Robo Sapiens. This new band moves back to pure Electronic music and will mainly appeal for EBM fans. The German project signed to Alfa Matrix unleashing a debut EP in 2018. We next had to wait four years till by the end of 2022 they released the debut album “Robo Sapien Race”. This work is one of the best EBM albums from the past year which is clearly featuring explicit retro elements. An album filled with power and still a part of fun… and that’s what Die Robo Sapiens  is all about. I asked Jürgen Engler a few questions for the interview.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You guys have been next to Die Krupps involved in multiple other side-projects but what does Die Robo Sapiens stand for? How did the project come to life and how does it feel to start a new ‘band’ when you’ve been involved in a successful formation like DIE KRUPPS for so long?

Jürgen: The idea for Die Robo Sapiens came to me when I didn’t get the budget from the record company that I needed to produce an Industrial-Metal album. I also realized that I always ended up writing songs from time to time that didn’t quite fit that Die Krupps Industrial-Metal concept. So I decided to leave those songs purely Electronic. I know we also have fans who are more into the Die Krupps-EBM style tracks, so why not cater to them and give them something they will enjoy? It is a fun project for me as well, I can really play around with all my analog synths!

Q: Listening to your music and the debut album I got the sensation Die Robo Sapiens move on there where Die Krupps started to play with guitars. Is this what you mean?

Jürgen: The concept picks up there, but isn’t restricted to staying within that framework. I wanted to create somewhat of a niche for us, merging hard Die Krupps EBM with the sound of Düsseldorf-Electro, and with that I mean the roots. Kraftwerk and Die Krupps may stem from the same city and we know each other quite well, but they were never a direct influence on me. But I understand that Düsseldorf will forever be associated with Kraftwerk, and their music breathes Düsseldorf. So it was a logical progression for me to combine these musical styles. It sounds unique, and expands the genres. Niemals stillstehen! 

Q: While your debut EP was already released in 2018 it took a few more years to achieve the debut album “Robo Sapien Race”. Tell us a bit more about the writing and accomplishment of “Robo Sapien Race”? What have been the different stages in the writing and production of the work and what’s the input of each member?

Jürgen:At the time of the EP, I was ready to continue with the project, but the former record company threatened not to release the album if it was an all Electro album. They insisted on getting an Industrial-Metal album, so I was forced to move ahead and finish the new Die Krupps-album first. When that album was completed and the following tour, we continued working on the tracks that fit the concept. During the process it became more and more clear to me what the music needed to give Die Robo Sapiens a sound of its own. To me it’s always important to find your own style and niche. That’s how we did it since the beginning, don’t follow trends, spearhead them!

Q: It seems there’s a kind of concept behind this album dealing with ‘the dehumanization and technological dependency of mankind… without it you are nothing…’ How do you face this fact and how do you see the pros and cons of technology in the evolution of Electronic music -especially when compared to the 80s analog era?

Jürgen: I am fascinated by new technology, but I won’t let it dominate my life unless it is useful and making my life easier. Unfortunately, most people let technology dominate their life nowadays, and the balance seems off. We cannot make ourselves completely dependent on computers and machines, I personally refuse to becoming a Robo Sapien in my lifetime! We are the human race and should resist becoming one with the machinery. Although it’s a fascinating thought, it will be the end of humanity. I think the time will come sooner or later that man will be replaced by robo sapiens. I know I won’t be around anymore, and I have a feeling that’s a good thing.

Q: Soundwise you already mentioned the Kraftwerk-touch which is easily noticeable for the sound color and atmospheres but there also is the hard EBM side of DAF… and Die Krupps as well;-). How do you perceive it  and was there something as a ‘Düsseldorfer’ scene?

Jürgen: DAF are not a Düsseldorf-band, they were from Wuppertal and part Austrian. But Gabi did start his musical career in Düsseldorf, that’s true. I was friends with him before he even started a band. Ralf and I knew Kraftwerk because we all used to hang out in the same clubs and movie theatres around town back in the 70s. I later became friends with Karl and also Wolfgang. I didn’t get in touch with them regarding guesting on the album, but it’s a nice thought and I will keep it in mind. Regarding the so called Düsseldorf-scene, sure there was a scene, and it was transitional when Punk happened. Kraftwerk, Neu, La Duesseldorf were the first wave, then came DAF, Die Krupps and Propaganda. We had our background in Punk, and not in the late 60s experimental strain of the Hippy scene. Although it produced very interesting bands, the two scenes never really crossed paths musically, until I tried to unite them in the mid 90s, when I brought members of Cluster, Guru Guru, Amon Duul, Faust and Die Krupps together to produce the album “Space Explosion”. It was an eye opening experience.

Q: What brings the future for Die Robo Sapiens? Is the album just a ‘one shot’ project or should we expect more stuff and eventually live shows, remixes etc?

Jürgen:This album is not supposed to be a one off, the project will continue. I am open to all kinds of adventures, even live shows, and I know Ralf is too, if we can find the time to do it. Die Krupps is and will always be our number one, but it feels good to have another outlet for the purely Electro tracks. I enjoy the different approach, and I’m also interested in defining the Robo Sapiens sound even more. The deeper you delve into a musical project, the more you understand its own mechanisms. And I believe Die Robo Sapiens has a lot more potential. Time will prove my point. Die Zukunft hat begonnen!

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

Swedish artist Peter Elm strikes back with the third full length album of his EBM sonic alter-ego ELM. “Penetrator” sounds as furious old-school EBM. Hard, aggressive, and powerful cuts which can be placed somewhere in between Nitzer Ebb and Pouppée Fabrikk. The album has been already released by Alfa Matrix and is available in different formats. I talked with Peter Elm about “Penetrator” and a few more things.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You third album as ELM has been composed and released during the ongoing pandemic. Did it have an influence and impact to write and release “Penetrator”?

Peter: Well, it’s been a weird couple of years to say the least… The pandemic in itself enabled me personally to sit and work in my home studio a lot and to be quite productive, so that was a good thing.

At the same time there was this isolation while simultaneously watching the world get more and more insane through the magnifying glass of online media. Most of the songs on ”Penetrator” were written around 2019-2020… I think the pandemic made it all the more obvious how unhealthy social media really can be. It’s not natural and it’s not healthy.  There’s so much to be said on this subject matter, way more than what would fit in this interview. Another thing that really started to piss me off more and more is this political correctness, woke and cancel culture and how absolutely devastating it is to all forms of creative expression, humor and human relations.

Q: “Penetrator” seems to deal about subjects like ‘mass manipulation, social media insanity, violence, propaganda, pandemic and war’. How do you as citizen versus artist face this reality? And how do you transpose themes into music?

Peter: Yes, some of the lyrics touch on those subjects… It’s very easy to feel discouraged by the world we live in. You see how easily people are corrupted (on all levels), how integrity and values mean nothing. Hypocrisy has reached new and unsurpassed levels! It’s easy to lose hope.

To transpose themes into music just comes naturally though… If you genuinely feel pissed off you will probably express rage through your music. If you feel sad you’ll express sadness, etc… That’s why my music is 100% honest and hopefully people feel that. I’m not trying to be this or that or to belong to this or that group. That’s just pathetic. I observe and express. That’s all.

Q: Lyrical wise ELM seems a bit like an antithesis to most of the EBM bands dealing with simplistic themes. What’s your perception about it and does your ‘engagement’ go further than only writing lyrics?

Peter: Good lyrics are good lyrics regardless of their subject matter. I consider mine more like small notes or poems about the state of things. Be it within myself or the world around me.

Q: Production-wise “Penetrator” sounds as your most professional work to date; great mix and sound production! Tell us a bit more about this constant progress and improvement? Is it just growing experience or still the need to learn new techniques about mixing and producing?

Peter: Thank you very much! I just try to keep learning and hopefully I get better at what I do with experience, watching tutorials online, asking friends who produce music, etc… There’s a lot more to learn and there are far better producers out there than myself but I try to get better and learn all the time. I love making Electronic music but I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of material I’ve released in the past has had a very amateur production. I try my best to improve!

Q: “Penetrator” has been released as a special 3CD digipak edition featuring the surprising third disc “Fragments Of Longing”. Sound-wise this album has nothing in common with the hard EBM stuff of “Penetrator” so what means this album to you and what did you try to express?    

Peter: I listen to a wide variety of music all the time. I love music and it has a very profound role in my life. The songs on ”Fragments Of Longing” span over a very long period of time and I needed to release them so I could move on. This was more a personal thing I needed to do…

I didn’t touch the songs too much production wise but kept them quite simple and ‘naïve’. These songs come from within me. I feel harmonies, atmospheres and lyrics are my strengths. ”Fragments Of Longing” is really more like Soundtrack music for me. It was important for me to show that I can do more than just ‘old-school’ EBM even if I fear these songs will get a bit ‘lost’ and should probably have been released on a different type of label.

Q: What brings 2023 for ELM? What are the further plans and would you ever consider bringing Restricted Area back alive?

Peter: There are gigs planned in Germany, Belgium and France for 2023…

ELM and Peter Elm is what I focus on, but who knows what other projects could see the light of day. It’s been a few exhausting years though so I really don’t know what the future holds… Right now I go back to basics, find the essence of what I love, stay away from the noise and we’ll see.

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

(By Janos Janurik) Temperatures are dropping, days are getting shorter and from now on the umbrella is a permanent accessory when you leave the house. Nevertheless, you can also love autumn. One reason for this can be a good book that you can pick up and read in front of the fireplace without a feeling guilty.

For us, lovers of electric music, the book by Richard Evans, published on 17^th November, would be the perfect read.

Setting out to chart a unique chapter in the history of popular music, “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” tells the story of a single generation of post-punk musicians, mavericks, visionaries and opportunists tinkering with primitive synthesisers in bedrooms, bedsits and basements around Britain, who assembled a potent cocktail of ideas and influences, took them apart, mixed them up, and reassembled them in entirely new ways to create a genuine golden age of British pop, and along the way creating some of the most enduring, iconic and influential records in pop history.

Drawing from years of extensive research, as well as from conversations with many of the movement’s key movers and shakers, “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” sets out to examine the multitude of influences that led to the synthpop revolution that spanned 1978 to 1983; tell the definitive story of a true golden age of British pop through the careers, releases and stories of the movement’s pioneers, mavericks and superstars; and explores the era’s lasting musical impact and enduring influence, including it’s role in the development of hip-hop, house, techno and beyond.

Richard Evans has worked in the music industry for over thirty years in a variety of roles, including positions at London Records, Factory Records and MTV Europe. In 1998 he set up marketing consultancy The Fan Base and has been connecting musical artists with their audiences ever since. He is the founder of the This Is Not Retro website and record label and has worked for Andy Bell, Vince Clarke and Erasure since 2009. Richard is based in Dorset where he lives in perpetual fear of being asked what his favourite record is.

I have known Richard for several years as a result of being an Erasure fan for many years. I emailed him a few questions about his upcoming book and you can read his answers here. Of course, I also asked him about his favourite record.

SL: Richard, you have been the leader of the international Erasure fan club (EIS) and the webmaster of Erasure’s homepage for several years. I think your name has become known to the general public through this activity. Did you make it to the top of your career?

It’s quite complicated to talk about my career as at any given time I’m usually working on a few different projects simultaneously and it’s always very likely that they are all shooting off in different directions. But you’re right that Richard from the EIS is much better known than the Richard Evans who wrote the book! I also think that having worked with Erasure for as many years as I have definitely represents a career peak.

SL: With a background like that, one would have thought that you would write a book about Vince and Andy, about Erasure. Have you ever thought about anything like that?

Vince and Andy get offers to write books every year, on their own or as part of Erasure, but at this point in time neither of them feel the time is right to tell their stories. However when the time is right I very much hope that I will be involved in some way.

SL: You must have a lot of funny or exciting stories about your collaboration with Erasure. Could you tell us a short story that you particularly like to think back to?

I think the best stories are the ones that I can’t tell…

SL: Have you always been a big fan of electro music? Where did your interest in this music genre come from?

I kind of have and I haven’t. My book covers the period 1978-1983 which coincides with the time I was starting to discover music for myself and I always  consider my musical tastes extremely varied. Looking back however and I can see that the music that I was drawn to often had a very noticeable electronic element even when it wasn’t electronic music as such, so although I would enjoy, for example, rock music, the actual songs I was listening to would be things like ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ by Yes, or tracks from ZZ Top’s ‘Eliminator’ album. It turns out that those electronic elements run through a huge amount of my favourite music but I hadn’t really noticed it before. But I did always love ‘pure’ electronic music too. I can remember being blown away the first time I heard things like Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ and Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’ for example.

SL: On 6^th November there will be a special event in London to launch your book “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” where you will interview Andy Bell and Martyn Ware (The Human League, BEF, Heaven 17) about their lives in electronic music. We already know about your connection with Andy, but what about Martyn? Have you known him for a while too?

I first met Martyn through a website I used to run called This Is Not Retro and I interviewed him a few times for that website, but I got to know him better through Vince Clarke who has a side-project with Martyn called Illustrious. Illustrious released a boxset called ‘House Of Illustrious’ under the name The Clarke & Ware Experiment a few years go and I was involved on the periphery of that release and got to know Martyn a little better through doing that. Then Martyn was working on his book, ‘Electronically Yours Vol. 1’, at the same time I was working on mine and I was able to introduce him to some helpful publishing people and also to share some of my research with him. We’ve only met in real life a couple of times so I’m looking forward to doing that at my launch in London and then again when we’re doing a joint event at the Louder Than Words Festival in Manchester the following week.

SL: Both Martyn Ware and Vince Clarke have special podcasts and radio programmes where they talk about synthesizer music, play such tracks and talk to famous artists. Do you listen to these programmes regularly?

I always listen to The Synthesizer Show, Vince’s radio show with Reed Hays, for pleasure of course because it can be very entertaining, but also so I can talk about it in the Erasure newsletter. I try to keep up with Martyn’s podcast Electronically Yours but he does so many of them that I’m always a few episodes behind!

SL: The foreword in your book was written by Vince Clarke who has been a living legend in the music industry over the last 40 years. How did he like your book? Has he already read it?

I sent Vince the manuscript so he would have an idea about what was in my book and I know that he has dipped into it, but I don’t know if he’s actually read it all… the book is 528 pages long so it takes a lot of reading and Vince is a busy man with a lot on his plate. I was delighted that he agreed to do the foreword though, as you say he is a legend and I’m extremely lucky to be able to call him a friend.

SL: Could you please name artists you met during your research or with whom you had conversations on the topic? By the way, who is your biggest hero from the electro music scene?

When I first started work on the book I did intend to talk to as many people from that time as possible, but I actually changed direction quite early on in the process simply because a lot of those people don’t actually remember the details very well after all these years. Instead I went to the original music and popular culture media from 1978 to 1983 and collected as many interviews, reviews, features and news pieces as I could – literally thousands of them – from magazines and papers from the NME, Sounds and Melody Maker to Smash Hits, The Face and ZigZag and constructed the narrative of the book from those original materials. Where I was fortunate was in having access to a number of those people who were available to answer questions, join the dots and provide extra clarification when I needed it. Vince Clarke and Andy Bell of course but also people like Martyn Ware, Neil Arthur, Rusty Egan and Daniel Miller.

I don’t know that I have a biggest hero as such, but in the summer Karl Bartos from Kraftwerk published a book, ‘The Sound of the Machine’, with Omnibus Press, the same publishers who are putting out my book ‘Listening to the Music the Machines Make’, and I was able to go to one of Karl’s events and was introduced to him afterwards which was a huge thrill. He was absolutely lovely and very funny.

SL: You jokingly said about yourself that you live in constant fear that people will ask you about your favourite record. Is that really such a difficult question to answer? Could you name at least three records that have had a big impact on your life?

It really is a difficult question to answer. There are so many great records and my favourite one day might not be favourite the next day depending on what I’m listening to, how I’m feeling and what sort of a mood I’m in. So here are three electronic records which I absolutely love and which I never get tired of listening to: The League Unlimited Orchestra’s ‘Love & Dancing’, Propaganda’s ‘A Secret Wish’ and Depeche Mode’s ‘Ultra’… but it really is an impossible question. If you were to ask me again in half an hour I would probably choose three completely different records!

SL: In the last two years, the music industry has also been hit hard by the pandemic. Many tours had to be cancelled or postponed. Which band did you see live for the last time from the electro music scene? Are there still concerts on your personal wish list?

A few weeks ago I saw Front 242’s concert in London which I think I was supposed to see in 2020 and which had been rescheduled four or maybe five times before it finally happened. It was a great show though. And I’m off to see Blancmange next week which I’m looking forward to as I really like their new album. As for a concerts wish list, I never saw the Eurythmics so I think they would be top of the list for me.

SL: We, electro music fans, are already very excited about your upcoming book. And what are you reading right now when you have a little “me time”?

I’m currently reading Martyn Ware’s ‘Electronically Yours Vol. 1’ as I will be interviewing him about the book at my event in a few weeks time. It’s very good, he has done some extraordinary things and has been involved in some amazing projects, so I’m very much enjoying it.

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.

The Swedish EBM act ELM is back with an all new album via Alfa Matrix later in October. “Penetrator” is the project’s third one and the release comes right after the release of the EP “Steel Hope” out since May. The first pressing of “Penetrator” comes out as a limited deluxe 3CD digipak edition.

The album handles mass manipulation, social media insanity, violence, propaganda, pandemic and war and thus really captures the atmosphere of the past years’ chaos in an absurd world along with personal hardships and battles. Musically, this is definitely a must-have for fans of Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 and related acts.

This first edition of “Penetrator’ holds 2 exclusive bonus discs. The first bonus CD is an extra 8-track CD with 4 additional songs plus 4 remixes including one by Patrick Codenys of Front 242. The 3rd CD is the “Fragments Of Longing” album which comes under the moniker of Peter Elm. The album is a mostly instrumental synthpop album which offers an extra dimension of Peter Elm.

You can order the 3CD set right here via the Alfa Matrix webshop while the download is available in two parts via Bandcamp as you can see below.

And here is the release available on Bandcamp, split up between the “Penetrator” album in a bonus tracks edition plus the extra Peter Elm album “Fragments Of Longing”.

Here is the EP “Steel Hope”.

Videos

Two videos were already released a while back; “Steel Hope” and “Sex Junkie (Abuser Mix by Patrick Codenys of Front 242)”. Read the review of ‘Penetrator’.

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.

www.side-line.com

Ahead of their extensive ‘Tainted 2022’ tour, which builds on their recent “Tainted” LP, darkwave / postpunk pioneers Pink Turns Blue release their single “Not Gonna Take It” tomorrow, Friday. Formed in 1985, the band emerged from a divided Germany and this new single is written in defiance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 4-track collection “Tainted Tour-2022” EP itself will be released on September, synchronized with the launch of the tour in Seattle before dozens of shows across North America, followed by select dates in Spain, the UK and Germany.

Frontman Mic Jogwer says this is “about standing up for oneself and for a better world. Yes, the powerful, the bullies and the rich have many resources to get their way and claim that wrong is right. And yes, we all have our moments where we feel helpless and depressed because there doesn’t seem any way out of this cunning system of lies, propaganda, lobbying and influence. But every now and then, we just get fed up and decide we are not going to take it anymore. We find ways to break free, organize and fight for the things that are worth fighting for. Right now, it seems very difficult, at times impossible, naïve and all too idealistic. But if we give up fighting, we give up living. It is an uphill battle, but our defiance and our courage keep us going.”

Here’s the video for “Not Gonna Take It”.

About

Pink Turns Blue are a post-punk band from Berlin, Germany. Formed in 1985, they were part of the first generation of gothic rock in Germany and released their first LP, “If Two Worlds Kiss”, with a sound reminiscent of new wave with very dark undertones and use of synthesizers. They went on to become part of the developing sub-genre of dark wave.

Tainted 2022 Tourdates

• SEP 2 Seattle, WA – Funhouse
• SEP 3 Vancouver, Canada – Rickshaw Theatre
• SEP 4 Portland, OR – Star Theater
• SEP 6 Garden City, ID – Visual Arts Collective (VAC)
• SEP 7 Salt Lake City, UT – The Urban Lounge
• SEP 9 San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
• SEP 10 San Diego, CA – Casbah
• SEP 11 Los Angeles, CA – Part Time Punks, Echoplex
• SEP 15 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
• SEP 17 Dallas, TX – Cheapsteaks (aka. Cheap Steaks)
• SEP 18 Austin, TX – Sunny’s Backyard
• SEP 22 Tampa, FL – Crowbar
• SEP 23 Miami, FL – Gramps
• SEP 26 Atlanta, GA – 529 Bar
• SEP 27 Richmond, VA – The Camel
• SEP 29 Pittsburgh, PA – Spirit
• OCT 4 Toronto, Canada – The Garrison
• OCT 5 Montreal, Canada – Bar Le Ritz PDB
• OCT 6 Rochester, NY – Photo City Music Hall
• OCT 7 Cambridge, MA – The Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub
• OCT 8 Brooklyn, NY – Market Hotel
• OCT 9 Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery
• OCT 10 Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMOCA
• OCT 14 Pinto, Spain – DarkMAD Festival Madrid
• OCT 28 Rüsselsheim, Germany – These Days Festival 2022
• DEC 15 Glasgow, UK – Ivory Blacks
• DEC 16 Manchester, UK – Night People
• DEC 17 London, UK – Electrowerkz

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

Two charity releases to help Ukraine have taken the Bandcamp charts by storm in the past few weeks. There is the Side-Line powered “Electronic Resistance” compilation (and book and T-shirt) featuring 55 Ukrainian bands, and there’s the COP International powered 3-track single “Come Together” featuring members of bands including Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, Black Needle Noise and others.

The two releases have three things in common, they come from the indie scene, they have been created and released in record time, and both people behind the release are actually longtime friends. We decided to talk with both initiative takers, our very own chief editor Bernard Van Isacker and producer and musician John Fryer who both invested their time in creating two extremely successful charity projects.

SL: John and Bernard, you were the very first people to launch a charity project in the metal/rock and darkwave scene to help the Ukrainian people and also the ones that made it a huge success. What was the decisive moment when you said, ok, let’s do this?

John: It was late one Sunday evening and I was talking to Christian from COP International records on the phone and as always we were discussing many thing that are happening to us and the world and we got talking about the invasion and all the people suffering the effects it was having on them. So we decided to do a song to raise money. We were like yeah let’s do a song get it recorded and out by Friday of that week.

We were totally nuts to think it could have been done in such a short time. It took as 3 weeks and working around the clock not just on the music side of things but calling, emailing and texting people to get them involved in the project.

Bernard: The moment I saw the first images of the bombing, the dead civilians, I was like, I have to do something, and I have to do it right now. It took roughly 2,5 weeks to get everything done as far as the compilation goes, because I’m still working on the photo book itself which is also going to be released.

I honestly never thought Putin would actually invade Ukraine… who on earth can be so sick? It came as a big blow in my face when I heard the news. I was like, WTF, we are in the year 2022 and some lunatic still thinks it is OK to just invade another country. Looking back, we should have known this was going to happen, all the signals were there for years, especially after he invaded the Crimean with his ‘green’ men. Putin has a track record which is just plain wrong in all its facets and that was just one of the examples that should have made us realize far worse was bound to happen. Add to that that Europe acts like a junkie when it comes to oil and gas…

SL: I know you know each other rather well, it’s like same minds think alike?

John: I have known Bernard for many a moon now and he has a big heart also. Even though we didn’t discuss this with each other we have both come to the same conclusion of what a terrible thing that is happening in Ukraine and want to help in some way.

Bernard: I appreciate John a lot as well and I know he has the heart at the right place. It didn’t surprise me that he ended up with a similar idea. I think we both are very much affected by what is happening so it came as a natural thing to help in the way we know best, John by making music, me by setting up a project and use the Side-Line promo machinery to turn the project into a success.

SL: Can you both describe how you set up your projects?

Bernard: Within 3 days most of the tracks were delivered by the participating bands, some even recorded new material during those 3 days. I then had to literally chase for the necessary paperwork, because the last thing these Ukrainian bands are busy with or need now is bureaucracy, which I totally understand, but it is and was a necessary evil which took me around 2 extra weeks. In the meantime I had contacted Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) in Norway if he could make sure the sound would be ok because some of the sourced material literally was recorded while the bombs were falling like I said. Other bands had nothing left but rough demos, so there was some work needed to get everything polished.

John: Christian and I had done a similar thing before but on a smaller scale. This time we wanted to reach a much bigger audience so we decided to reach for the stars. I’ve known some of the artists for a long time but we also got a lot of help from people we asked like Geno Lenardo, Marija Buljeta, Rod Saez Chavez who also joined in asking people to join our project and we thank them and everyone else who has helped along the way and the people who have donated money to the project.

Side-Line: Bernard, you decided to get to work with Ukrainian bands only. How on earth did you get hold of 55 bands in such a record time?

Bernard: Ah yes, I forgot to tell that. Very simple, I contacted a few bands in direct, but most were actually triggered by a Facebook message I spread in Ukraine. People there reacted very quickly from allover Ukraine, also fans contacted bands after seeing the message. That’s one of the few times when I thought that Facebook did a proper constructive job.

Side-Line: John, you chose to work on a cover of John Lennon’s “Come Together”…

John: John Lennon wrote “Come Together” and we re-imagined it and added Queens [we will rock you]. It is a cover of the Beatles song mixed with a Queen song and we changed the words to [we will stop you]. As in the name, we wanted people to come together to help. This kind of invasion should not be happening. It’s horrifying to think that things like this can still happen in this day and age.

Side-Line: John, you made a supergroup – à la Bruderschaft – but this time from the metal scene featuring members of Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, and a lot more bands. How did this process technically work?

John: I wouldn’t say Metal Scene I would say Alternative Music Scene.

Doing this kind of thing these days is much easier I would say as you have the internet and that’s how we got everyone from around the world on the track. We would email, text or call and if they were willing to be involved we would send them the track and they would record their parts as most people these days have the ability to record at home. I ended up with about 200 tracks of audio and it was like fitting a jigsaw puzzle together and everyone is super happy with the end result.

Bernard: Now that you mention Bruderschaft, I worked on that charity project when it was released on Alfa Matrix back in 2003. You know, working on projects like these makes you realize that you can indeed help people, you just have to use your talents and network. And if everyone would do this, the world would be a much better place anyhow.

Side-Line: If I’m not wrong, this is the first time that 2 band scene players, COP International and Side-Line took the number 2 and 3 spot at the same time on Bandcamp. Kinda huge. What is your feedback on this?

John: In fact “Come Together [we will stop you] reached number 1 on Bandcamp and we have raised around 10,000$ and the artists that are involved with us in this have donated 100% from the money raised but unfortunately Bandcamp have taken their % from the donated sales and we are probably going to have to pay the publishers too even though it’s a god damn charity record to raise money for those who are suffering from this horrific and despicable war.

Bernard: Bandcamp and Paypal indeed take a big chunk. Luckily Bandcamp Friday helped a lot to recoup some of the costs that were involved.

As of this morning, Side-Line has already donated over 8000 EURO (8674,96 US$) to Ukrainian aid. Our compilation is still doing very well and I foresee to be sending hundreds of parcels with merchandise by mid-May as well.

As far as Bandcamp goes, it does make sense that we both stormed the charts there. You don’t find an artist like Rihanna on Bandcamp do you, I think she doesn’t even know it exists. Bandcamp mainly is a platform for the indie crowd, whether it is darkwave, metal, folk, jazz, blues or any other alternative (sub)style that often is not captured by the mainstream charts. So, we charted right in the indie scene, and that’s a very good thing.

Side-Line: Bernard, Side-Line is not a label, but a magazine, why was this project not released via a label?

Bernard: Good question but very easy to answer as well. These kind of projects need a very short roadmap from idea to execution, and since I worked with 55 bands things needed to be done quickly. In short you can not wait for months to get the ball rolling with these kind of projects, you need to act fast and thus instead of having this project go through various hands with different views and ideas, I decided to do it myself and handle everything from A until Z. Luckily Benoit Blanchart (Alfa Matrix, Aiboforcen) quickly volunteered to work on the book layout when I told him about the idea late February this year. Lots of work, which basically happened during long nights after my daytime job and all other work I have. But since I’m also responsible for the ‘Face The Beat’ compilation series, compiling it was not really different as far as the approach goes, just a lot faster when it came to releasing it.

The major difference however was the multitude of charities that had to be funded this time. I usually donate towards 2 or 3 charities per release. But here I spent a whole morning wiring money to all kind of Ukrainian organizations and also to bands who then did local charity. Lots of work, but I guess it’s more than worth it.

Side-Line: How do you both see things evolve in Ukraine?

John: We are hoping this ends now and the killing must stop and Ukraine can be re-built and bring back the misplaced people to their land and rebuild their lives. It’s amazing to see the resolve of these people through this tragedy.

Bernard: I’m personally not really optimistic as far as the length of this full blown war goes. If I see the increasing aggressive tone from all parts in the Russian society – just look how they have set up this huge Z-propaganda – I don’t think this will be over pretty soon. Hence why we need to support the population right now and continue to do so. The country is under heavy shelling in the east since a few days now and there is more happening. Putin started to roll a snowball downhill that is increasing in velocity and size.

I would not be surprised they’ll do sabotage acts inside Finland and Sweden to disrupt the society there since those countries clearly will choose to adhere to the NATO. Railway sabotage, massive hacking of public service networks, etc., they have done it in the past in the Baltic states so I see them returning to that modus operandi with Finland and Sweden especially. This is just the beginning. And we haven’t talked about how China is behaving in all of this.

But, one thing is quite clear, Putin seriously miscalculated what a courageous people the Ukrainians are. And especially because of that we have to start thinking of how to help Ukrainians to rebuild their country after this mad war is over and done.

Side-Line: Bernard, you are still in contact with all the band’s on a weekly basis, how are they?

Bernard: At least once a week they receive an update on the compilation, and I usually get a lot of messages back from the bands telling me how they are, where they are, where they have fled to this week, etc.. I wouldn’t say it is depressing, but it’s not really uplifting either. Having said that, I’m here, safe in my attic, they are there, unsure what will come next. So who am I to complain? I’m proud of every single one of those bands.

Side-Line: Is this the final word or do you plan to continue with this?

Bernard: I don’t know for you John, but I will most probably work on another project in the near future to help and collect funds for Ukraine. The first plans are on the table as we speak. Honestly, I am very positively surprised how our scene has been showing that they really care for the idea and purpose behind these 2 releases. A BIG thank you to all those who donated and who made these projects big successes.

John: We hope the song will continue to keep raising money. So if you have read this and want a way to help please head over to Bandcamp and buy the songs as every little bit will help in the long run. A big thank you again for everyone involved and those who have donated and to those who be donating in the future.

Below are the two charity releases.

Side-Line also covered John Fryer’s ‘Not Another Vampire Song’.

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.

www.side-line.com

“Everything Will Be Clear” is the latest single from the album “Transformation” by the Irish post punk act Movment. The Single is available on Bandcamp and all digital streaming. Recorded at the End of Light Studios, Mullingar in Ireland, it was mixed at Miloco, London and mastered by Jerome Schmitt at The Airlab.

The new album “Transformation” was released in December 2021 and handles such subjects as confusion and propaganda. The two brothers had been writing songs for that album since 2017 and actually had about 25 songs and ideas initially. This was narrowed down to 16 songs of which 10 were recorded in their own home studio with mixing and mastering being completed in London. At the moment they are writing a new album and have about 22 songs/ideas to be developed.

Movment was born out of the ashes of Raw Novembre which released 3 albums and some singles and EPs.

Here’s the Video for “Everything Wil Be Clear”.

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 Irish post-punk band Movment, has just released the single and music video of “We all must go”.

Movment will release a new album, “Transformation”, on Distort The Scene on 2 December 2021. The lead track from the album is “We All Must Go” for which we offer you the video today. The 10 tracks were recorded in End of Light Studios, Mullingar, Ireland and mixed at Milocco, London. The whole was mastered by Jerome Schmitt at The Airlab.

This is what the band says about the album: “There is a divergence in society. We are bombarded with information, opinions, viewpoints, and words. We drown in ideas, in solutions, in propaganda. There needs to be a transformation from where we are now. The album explores what we are.”

For now check out “We all must go”.

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 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!

side-line.com

OMD is coming back to North America for a headline tour bringing 40 years of greatest hits. You can see all the dates below.

Now that we think of it, 40 years is actually kinda ‘misleading’ some might say as the band released its very first single already in 1979, which was a re-recorded version of a track originally by the Id (which was the first band for McCluskey and Humphreys) called “Electricity”. But the UK and European tour was already announced in March 2019 as part of the group’s 40th-anniversary celebrations which saw the release of a retrospective deluxe boxset entitled “Souvenir”.

Here are the confirmed dates.

About OMD

OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) were formed in Wirral, Merseyside (UK) in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). The band gained popularity throughout Europe with the 1980 anti-war song “Enola Gay”, and achieved broader recognition via “Architecture & Morality” (1981) and its three singles, all of which were international hits.

In 1989, creative differences saw Humphreys and other members form the spin-off band the Listening Pool, leaving McCluskey the only remaining member of OMD. The group returned with a new line-up and explored the dance-pop genre: “Sugar Tax” (1991) and its initial singles were hits in Europe. By the mid-1990s, however, electronic music had been supplanted by alternative rock, and both OMD and the Listening Pool disbanded in 1996. McCluskey later conceived pop girl group Atomic Kitten, for whom he served as a principal songwriter, while Humphreys formed the duo Onetwo alongside Propaganda vocalist Claudia Brücken.

In 2006, the band reformed with Humphreys and McCluskey working on material closer in sound to their early output; “The Punishment of Luxury” (2017) was the group’s seventh top 10 entry on the UK Albums Chart.

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

German label Trisol has been set up in 1997 by Alex Storm. He’s also running Apocalyptic Vision, which was his first label. Trisol is characterized by a true eclectic taste of music; from EBM to Dark-Electro to Industrial to Dark-Wave, Neo-Folk and related genres. Trisol is the home of artists such as Rome, Project Pitchfork, Die Form, Clan Of Xymox, Nachtmahr, Asp, L’âme Immortelle, Samsas Traum, Mantus, Scheuber, Persephone ao. Apocalyptic Vision is still active today releasing the work of Sopor Aeternus.

(Stéphane Froidcoeur / Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Was there a kind of ‘philosophy’ when you set up your label and did it evolve over the years? How would you define your label activities today?

Alex: To answer this question properly, I need to go back in time a little and begin before I founded Trisol. The first label I founded was Apocalyptic Vision, which I (unofficially) started in 1992, so five years before starting Trisol. In the early 90s, when lots of vinyl albums were being released on CD for the first time, I was waiting in vain for CD reissues of many of my favorite albums –albums by Clair Obscur, Esplendor Geométrico, Memorandum and others. And even back then, I was also a big Sopor Aeternus fan. So I contacted quite a number of labels to suggest they reissue various albums on CD, or that they sign Sopor Aeternus –but not a single label was interested. Completely unfathomable!

After months of investing my time and money into these activities, I thought: ‘Just do it yourself!’ In other words, Apocalyptic Vision was intended as being purely a label for reissuing some of my favorite albums by my favorite bands, as well as for Sopor Aeternus. That was of course naive, but luckily, I was able to pull it off.

It seemed I developed a good reputation with this label, and as a result I received more and more interesting enquiries from bands that I treasured, both personally and artistically (such as DIE FORM). Bands that unfortunately didn’t fit into the Apocalyptic Vision re-release concept. I therefore decided to set up a second label, which enabled me to sign precisely these types of bands.

Apart from those specific re-release intentions for Apocalyptic Vision, the philosophy behind both labels is to work with artists who pursue the ‘total work of art’ approach, and who literally live their art. Good music alone was never enough for me, even just as a fan of bands. What excites me is when artists strive for a synthesis of the arts, in order to then transcend art’s boundaries. This idea of striving for a total work of art still applies today. So nothing in my basic philosophy has changed over the last nearly 30 years.

Q: I can imagine you must have specific and explicit criteria to sign an artist/band. Can you give us more details about this aspect and how important is it for you to know the person(s) hiding behind the ‘artist(s)’?

Alex: As explained above, the important thing for me is the ‘total work of art’ approach. I therefore look for artists in whom I see this potential. What’s more, I’m not interested in copies of copies. Back in 1992, when I founded the label, there were countless Sisters Of Mercy clones about. Some of these were really good, but of course, some of them were really terrible. But even the very best of the clones didn’t interest me. I’m interested in artists who want to create something new, and who have this irrepressible drive; this special ‘spark’. And last but not least, the chemistry must also be right. I’m proud to run an independent label, and for me that means first and foremost that the human element must first be established before a contract is concluded, because goals and visions can only be achieved by working together.

Two examples of this ‘total work of art – individuality – partnership’ trinity are Asp Spreng (ASP) and Alexander Kaschte (Samsas Traum). At the time, I was ripped to pieces for these signings. Lots of colleagues, and above all the press, shook their heads. Today, these are two of my most successful artists, and without them ever having had to compromise their principles in any way. As well as their musical projects, both of them are meanwhile active as authors, owners of their own publishing imprints, A&R people and consultants. In short: they’re indefatigable all-rounders.

But because of digitalization, I also have bands on my roster for whom I only release a digital single here and there. In these cases, I don’t apply the above-mentioned selection criteria quite so strictly. Because of the nature of purely digital releases, this is OK, and things work on this premise.

When all’s said and done, working together should be enjoyable. But even though it’s not really the primary consideration for me: I also need to see a certain amount of commercial success. It may not fit in with romanticised conceptions, but even independent labels and their artists need to earn money. As a result of the major –or more precisely, dramatic –developments of recent years, labels need to unfortunately keep a closer eye on this aspect. If you don’t, you’re out of the picture more quickly than you think. There’s a fitting German saying that says you can’t just live on fresh air. Unfortunately, this is true!

Q: You are already active for numerous years now so you must have seen a lot of things changing and evolving; think about social media, streaming platforms, Youtube channels… but also economic crisis etc. What are the pros and cons of these changes/evolutions and in, which way did you had to adapt/change your strategy and activities?

Alex: Digitalization was and is the most radical upheaval of all. People even speak of it as being a new industrial revolution. The positive aspect of digitalization is the accompanying democratization of the music industry.

Today, we can no longer imagine how difficult –rather, hopeless –it was as a newly founded label back then to get a distribution deal. Especially with a distributor who was actually capable of being able to get CDs into the shops. The difficulties we faced back then, just to get an album reviewed in a music magazine, are barely imaginable! In those days, music magazines were the only medium in, which indies could make their releases known. And if that wasn’t enough: all these problems described here didn’t just apply to Germany, but to every country in the world. As a German label without the internet, and armed only with a telephone connection, how could you find out whether there were relevant magazines –and what they were called –in for example France? I can still vividly recall how, for my very first release, “In Out” (cat no AV 001 CD) by the French band Clair Obscur, how difficult it was to send the CDs over the border into this neighbor country (!) and to market it there. It was as easy as it would presumably be today to export Trisol albums to North Korea, hahahaaa!

Today, the entire world is only a mouse click away. Being able to distribute and market music no longer depends on the benevolence of just a few quasi-monopolists.

And as for the negative aspects –everybody knows what they are, so I don’t know if I still need to list them? Today it’s all about Individual songs and playlists. Whoever succeeds in getting onto popular playlists is guaranteed substantial listener figures. For example, most playlists are orientated towards the course of the day, spanning ‘Good morning!’ to ‘Beating afternoon fatigue’ and up to ‘Gently fall asleep’. The artist is no longer important. Everything is based on users’ habits instead. So it’s no longer surprising that the people listening to music are no longer called ‘fans’, but rather really are called ‘users’. But music is also a haptic experience. Apart from the cover artwork and booklet, this also includes the signs of wear that a record or CD in a fan’s possession for a long time displays. Streaming and downloads are soulless! This soulless consumption also has some quite different ramifications. In the past, you could offer a contract to ten bands that you believed in. Nine of these bands would however never make it, but there was always one band who would make a breakthrough. Earnings from this one band could then subsidize the others, which was vitally important for promoting newcomers and keeping the market dynamic. Today, this is no longer possible. Or on a related topic: protest culture and protest songs. Has anyone ever encountered Fridays for Future protest songs?

Of course, strategies need to be adapted. To explain all that, I’d need to write a reference book. I’ll try to illustrate this by means of an example: When I started, it was all about releasing albums on CD, because vinyl was dead. Furthermore, when realizing album projects, we had to take into consideration that the playing time was way over 60 minutes, because the capacity of a CD is greater than that of a vinyl record. And then, when I occasionally did release a vinyl edition, I usually received the pressing, including test pressings, within three weeks, because the vinyl presses were otherwise at a standstill. Today, when releasing albums, you predominantly have to think about the vinyl edition, and therefore a playing time of 45 minutes maximum. Ideally, this must also be easy to split across two sides of a record. But nowadays, a vinyl pressing means having to plan ahead for nearly six months. In short, virtually everything is diametrically opposed to how things were when I started.

Q: The ongoing pandemic has affected all artistic life and activities so what’s the true impact on your label activities and do you think it will also affect your long term objectives?

Alex: The pandemic’s effects on the work of the label can be split into two groups: bands that play live lots or tour, and bands who only occasionally play live, or not at all. For more popular bands, it’s vitally important that album releases are accompanied by a tour. This means that, without a tour, the releases planned for these bands also have to be postponed. But for bands whose releases aren’t supported by tours, the pandemic doesn’t affect release strategies in any way at all. However, some of my colleagues see this aspect differently.

But the effects on physical sales are downright epochal. Because bricks and mortar shops were closed –and to an extent still are –the pandemic’s effect on the decline of traditional offline shopping has been like that of an accelerant on a forest fire. Records and CDs are hardly ever bought in local shops, but rather sold via mail order.

Q: Do you think media (magazines, online platforms etc…) still have an impact and a role to play today? What’s your relationship with ‘journalists’ and how important is their work?

Alex: Ah, the good old days of print media… those days are long gone. Personally, I miss those times enormously, because back then I virtually devoured all the magazines: Glasnost, Zillo, Elegy, D-Side, Side-Line, New Life, Ritual, Black, Ghastly Magazine, Propaganda Magazine and Music From The Empty Quarter. The latter in particular made a lasting impression on my musical taste. In those days, if you read a good review by Zillo journalists Joe Asmodo or Dirk Hoffmann, you knew that you could buy the album in question. And you weren’t disappointed. Those were still the days of quality journalism.

Today, a lot of it is just meaningless crap. After you’ve read the reviews, you often still don’t even know what sort of music they’re writing about, and how the album might sound. The press hasn’t done itself any favors there. To an extent, they have themselves to blame for this irrelevance. Luckily, there are exceptions, and I’m glad that in Germany, we still have Orkus! as a print magazine.

So of course, I’m pleased to cooperate with journalists who turn out really great work, and I can still see a clear relevance, irrespective of whether in print or online media.

Q: What do you consider as your biggest accomplishment(s)? Do you have specific goals/dreams you want to achieve and how do you prepare and see the future of the label(s)? And what are your biggest regret(s)?

Alex: My biggest achievement is that, after nearly 30 years, I’m still running my two labels. My greatest dream is that I’ll be able to pursue this path for many more years to come. Ideally, literally until the end of my life. There are no special preparations in place for this –only my passion for music and a willingness to always be open to new developments, even if I may not always personally approve of them.

My greatest regret is probably the virtually archetypal A&R error: that artists sometimes slip through the net, and that you then regret this for the rest of your life.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro, Electro-Wave.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: While Chris Pohl last year released the debut album of his side-project She Hates Emotions, which was devoted to the 80s, he now strikes back with this new Blutengel album featuring cover versions of legendary 80s songs. The album is available in different formats, but I here review the classical CD version featuring ten covers plus two extra songs.

Content: Blutengel transposed the original Electro-Wave/Pop songs into a very personal interpretation. You always recognize the original songs, but also the typical –and rougher, but melodic Blutengel touch. Chris Pohl remains the lead singer while Ulrike Godmann sings a few songs as well. 

The bands that were covered include Duran Duran, Alphaville, Ultravox, Gary Numan, Steinberg & Kelly, Mike & The Mechanics, Yazoo, Propaganda, A-Ha and Erasure. Last, but not least we also get two extra songs written by Blutengel featuring the instrumental “Journey To The Edge Of The Night”.

+ + + : Covering legendary songs such as “Wild Boys”, “Forever Young”, “Nobody’s Diary”, “Dr. Mabuse”, “The Sun Always Shines On TV” or yet “Ship Of Fools” remain a tricky business. It’s an exercise, which is often more efficient when the songs are played live instead than releasing a ‘special’ album. But there’s a reason if Blutengel is recognized as one of the absolute leading formations from this scene and that probably explains why these interpretations have been accomplished with passion and knowledge. It sometimes feels like Blutengel is the original writer of the songs, this way realizing a sonic bridge between the 80s and Blutengel’s sound. The production of the vocals is absolutely great. We probably all have our favorites, but the way Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” has been reworked is brilliant. I also have to mention Yazoo’s “Nobody’s Diary sung by Ulrike Goldmann. Blutengel takes their fans by surprise by this new opus. And as a little bonus you get a great song entitled “Unsere Zeit”, which is a typical, but efficient Blutengel piece.

– – – : I definitely prefer original albums, but I can live with this one.

Conclusion: I think this album has been a way to bring homage to legendary 80s artists, who probably inspired the work of Chris Pohl.

Best songs: “Nobody’s Diary”, “Wild Boys”, “Dr. Mabuse”, “Alone” + Unsere Zeit”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.blutengel.de / www.facebook.com/BlutengelOfficial

Label: www.outofline.de  / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel Read the news on ‘Fountain Of Destiny’.

About Blutengel

Blutengel is a German electronic band founded in Berlin in 1998 by Chris Pohl, who released the debut album “Child Of Glass” in 1999 and has since been joined on vocals by Ulrike Goldmann. The band records for Out Of Line.

Days after “Fountain Of Destiny”, Pohl announced the band’s next studio album, “Erlösung – The Victory Of Light”, in four editions, and discussed the band’s approach to digital releases in an August 2021 interview.

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

Cristian Camporesi is an Italian musician/producer/live performer/sound designer who has been involved with an endless list of projects. His latest solo-project CHRIS SHAPE is driven by old-school EBM, Minimal-Electro and Techno vibes. He last year released the debut album “Shaped To Deform” on Unknown Pleasures Records, which sounds a true masterpiece. Thirteen songs driven by power and danceable vibes featuring guest singers  HIV+, ALBERTO FRIGNANI, IV HORSEMEN, DAVE INOX, BLACK ASTEROID, RAFFAELLE VENTURELLI, VELVET KILLS and BLIND DELON. It for sure is one of the best EBM productions from 2020.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You’ve been involved with an impressive number of projects/bands dealing with very different music styles. What do you consider as your main accomplishments and how did you finally come to set up CHRIS SHAPE?

Chris: This is simple: I’m an old man with a long career: this is why I was involved in lots of projects. My roots are in the 80’s New-Wave, Electronic and Punk music. I started my career in some local New-Wave bands in late 80’s, but in the early 90’s I was hit by Techno music and started to work with the historic Cocorico Club resident DJ in lots of projects from Techno to Psy-Trance to Hardcore to Eurodance. I was involved in lots of projects ‘cause my goal was to raise money, lots of money’.

In the early 2000’s I was very disappointed by the Techno scene and my accomplishment. When I met DJ Franz I realized that my New-Wave origins could mix with Techno giving life to a project without any pretension. A new project made for the pleasure of writing music and not to earn money: FRANZ & SHAPE became one of my greatest success. We started a tour that lasted 10 years and that took us to play all over the world. After the split in 2011 it took me years to start again; I had to understand who I was and what I wanted to convey with my music. In 2017 I decided to start again on my own, continuing what I had done with FRANZ & SHAPE, but also emphasizing leaving messages to try to sensitize people on introspective ‘difficult’ issues and denounce a capitalism that has made us unaware slaves. The first message was ‘Eat the bankers’!

Q: What does this project brings you in comparison with all others you’ve been involved with? Did you’d a specific idea and sound in mind how CHRIS SHAPE had to sound?

Chris: Now I’m naked! I’m myself, without shame, no masks. I understood that art ends where the money goes and I do simply what I feel. Nothing is left to chance, from music production and the use of sounds from vintage analog gear to the production of contents, images, videos everything must follow a logical thread. It took me a long time to find my way, but now I see it well!

Q: You last year released the debut album “Shaped to Deform”, which is featuring an impressive number of guests/friends. Tell us a bit more about how this work took shape and how did the collaborations with the other artists happened? What have been their input?

Chris: During the years in which I was looking for my own way I produced a lot of music, but I left all these songs unreleased because I had to find a wire that could connect all or at least a lot of them. Once I ‘had enlightenment’ it was easy to adapt everything to fit into an album. I have always enjoyed working with singers despite having produced Techno music without vocals for years. I had lots of demos written on purpose to be sung so I started sending them to several friends put together with a long work on social media and it was easy to target the right demo to the right singer. Usually my collaborators send me a vocal part which I then readapted on the song. Except for the song “Mind” where BLIND DELON besides singing have also brought a notable sound contribution.

I have to thank very much Pedro Penas Robles who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to print my album on Unknown Pleasures Records helping me in all aspects of production and endure all my mistakes!

Q: Like you’ve said, the songs are clearly driven by 80s elements like EBM, but still by some Minimal-Electro approach and Techno influences. What does it say about your personal sources of inspiration, the love for analogue equipment and the connection with the 80s vs. the cover version of DEATH IN JUNE’s “Heaven Street”?

Chris: DEATH IN JUNE together with THE SISTERS OF MERCY, THE CURE, BAUHAUS, CHRISTIAN DEATH, DEPECHE MODE and many more… were one of my favorite bands during my New-Wave period. Then during the Techno years I put all these records of mine in a closet. Only recently I discovered that all these records have continued to play in my head and have always influenced my productions. There is no escape from the rule: black is forever! I often found in my productions parts of ideas that I unconsciously ‘stole’ from DEATH IN JUNE or those 80s New-Wave records. When Pedro from Unknown Pleasures Records asked to do a cover for a DEATH IN JUNE-tribute I was very happy because I was finally able to pay homage to one of the groups that influenced me the most. In 2 days I had the instrumental version ready, everything magically built itself.

About my love for vintage analog gear there isn’t much to say: I’ve worked years with digital synths, but when I went back turning on my old synths I discovered the warmth they give off that I wasn’t ready to perceive before. What I love is what drove so many musicians to digital: imperfection. For about 10 years I have forced myself not to use the computer anymore and I have begun to travel to the studios of friends who have mythical synths that I can’t afford or incredible self-built modular systems. I have recorded hours of sessions, a lot of my past and future music comes from these sessions.

Q: Can you give us an idea about your way of working? Do you follow a precise pattern and do you need to be in a specific mood to compose music? And when do you know a song/album is finished?

Chris: The first rule is: there are no rules. The second is: there are never rules. The third rule is: error is human, perfection is for robots. ‘Mr. Mistake’ and I have finally become good friends and have a great time in our studio.

HAHAH Inspiration is not something linear, it is a large sine wave with a variable wavelength. I write music only when it reaches its highest peaks, I have also spent dark years in which I did not see it return, then I realized that if you call it sooner or later it arrives. I have developed a quite effective recall system and now I can get it to arrive with a few days’ notice: I am a sponge and absorb everything I like until the moment when I am full and everything is downloaded in one or more songs.

Knowing when a song is over is like looking at a painting, seeing that every brushstroke and every nuance are put at the right place and the whole vibrates something inside you. It is something absolutely individual, but when someone who has listened to one of my songs writes to me telling me that he has felt the vibration, I have reached my goal and that pays for every effort of mine, much more than money.

Q: In which way have you been affected as artist and simple citizen by the ongoing pandemic? How did you try to keep yourself busy during the lockdown and what are your further artistic plans?

Chris: I have been living with my daughter and my wife in the countryside for almost 20 years, surrounded by nature between river and hills, I have no neighbors, I have no television, I have not been ill for decades, I cut wood in the woods for heating, I cultivate my vegetable garden. The only information that reaches me is what I decide to come from books or the internet. Living in lockdown is essentially my way of life. Only on weekends I go out to work in clubs. Thanks to all of this I can see this pandemic situation for what it is: a huge propaganda work to promote the globalist agenda. The virus exists, but it is only an excuse, it is not strong enough to justify what they are imposing on us. Democracy is dead; we are in full dictatorship, big pharma is more powerful than any state and can afford to corrupt everyone. I am very sad to see so many people plagiarized by propaganda, but also very pissed off: they have destroyed the art world and left millions of people unemployed. I had to look for a new job out of the club world and now I have a lot less time to devote to my music than before. We will never go back; we are in a new Middle Ages: social networks have replaced our constitutions and allow themselves to censor what they do not like. In any case, history teaches: truth always finds a way to come out and whoever seeks it will find it. I can’t live without music so I’m always working for new stuff, new album, new collaborations, new remix 😉

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

Out on March 12 is a brand new Blutengel album: “Fountain of Destiny”. The album holds ten iconic songs from the 80s. The CD version also includes two brand new Blutengel tracks: the instrumental “Journey to the Edge of the World” and “Unsere Zeit”.

The cover songs were of course handpicked by Chris Pohl and Ulrike Goldmann. Check out the tracklist below, including of course Duran Duran, a-ha, Gary Numan, Propaganda, Alphaville, Yazoo, Erasure and so on. Read the review of ‘Fountain Of Destiny’.

1. The Wild Boys
2. Forever Young
3. Hymn
4. Down in the Park
5. Alone
6. Silent Running
7. Nobody’s Diary
8. Dr. Mabuse
9. The Sun Always Shines on TV (Blutengel Version)
10. Ship of Fools
11. Unsere Zeit
12. Journey to the Edge of the Night (Instrumental)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: German-Swiss trio Nine Seconds announced their fourth full length album with the surprising EP “Love Will Tear Us Apart” featuring cover versions of legendary bands Joy Division, Bronski Beat, Trans-X and Starter. The new album moves on the same formula revealing a few more cover versions.

Content: Next to the already familiar cover versions from Joy Division, Bronski Beat and Trans-X the trio accomplished more cover versions from Fad Gadget, Propaganda, Fancy, Paul Hardcastle, Front 242, Depeche Mode and Mando Diao. This kind of experience is always fun for the band, but a challenge to convince the fans. Nine Seconds perfectly adapted most of the songs into a very own, Body-Pop approach sometimes adding female backing vocals next to Oliver Spring. Mind.In.A.Box made a remix of “Lie To Me” while the less familiar Membran 66 remixed “Living On Video”. 

+ + + : I’m always skeptical with this kind of releases and especially when it concerns legendary hits from the 80s like “Ricky’s Hand”, “Love will Tear Us Apart”, “Dr. Mabuse”, “Lie To Me”, “Living On Video” or “No Shuffle”. I must admit that the way they adapted Fad Gadget’s “Ricky’s Hand” is absolutely well done. But the most surprising and probably best song is the Italo-Disco hit “Slice Me Nice” from Fancy, which still sounds a bit Italo-Disco like, but with a naughty, evil and rough touch on top. Mind.In.A.Box did also a great job remixing Depeche Mode’s “Lie To Me” into something space-like and still danceable.

– – – : A few songs couldn’t convince me at all; the aforementioned “Lie To Me” and “Love will Tear Us Apart”. I’ve also some reservations about the impact of such a ‘conceptual’ work, but on the other side it’s also a way to pay tribute to bands and songs you like and bring young music lovers to discover legendary tracks from the Electronic scene.

Conclusion: I definitely prefer when Nine Seconds are composing their own music, but they for sure did an honest job covering such legendary bands.

Best songs: “Slice Me Nice”, “Ricky’s Hand”, “Dr. Mabuse”, “Hit That Perfect Beat”, “Lie To Me – Mind.In.A.Box Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.nineseconds.de / www.facebook.com/nineseconds

Label: www.infacted-recordings.de  / www.facebook.com/pages/Infacted-Recordings/124099254321690

About Nine Seconds

Nine Seconds is a German-Swiss trio built around vocalist Oliver Spring, formerly of Sleepwalk, together with Thomas Kowalzik and Rene Ebner, both formerly of No Comment. The band mixes EBM and electro-pop and signed to Infacted Recordings for the album “Agent Provocateur”. “That Perfect Beat Will Tear Us Apart” is their fourth full-length, following the covers EP “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and continuing the group’s cover-song format with reworked versions of tracks by Joy Division, Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode and others.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Wave-pop, trip-pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Lunaires is a project driven by Danilo Carnevale and Patrizia Tranchina. They both know each other from Jeunesse D’Ivoire and Other Side. They set up Lunaires in 2010 and released their debut full length in 2019 on Shades Of sound –which is a subdivision of the Brazilian label Wave Records.

Content: This album sounds like the fusion between different influences. There’s an explicit 80s touch reminding me of cold/new-wave music. Some of Patrizia’s vocal parts also remind me of Claudia Brücken  (Propaganda). But the sound moves further than only into nostalgia and reveals a modern trip-hop touch as well.  The atmosphere supporting the songs is an important aspect of the production for injecting a dark touch to the wafting songs.

+ + + : The music sounds dreamy-like and features a few elevating passages. The female grace of the vocals creates a perfect twist with the music. But I also enjoyed this album for its obscure touch supporting the songs. It has something mysterious, a bit paranoiac so the songs also have a visual appeal. “Mirror Trancefix” is the ultimate song illustrating the sound and style of Lunaires.

– – – : There are only 8 songs featured on this opus and that’s maybe a pity. I think Lunaires deals with a style of music, which is accessible although hard to label. So it has something of a challenge.  

Conclusion: Lunaires delivers an honest debut album although I can’t say it’s setting the world on fire.

Best songs: “Mirror Trancefix”, “Naked Indivisible”, “Unbound”.

Rate: (7)

Artist: www.facebook.com/Lunaires.band

Label: www.facebook.com/shadesofsoundrecords / www.waverecordsmusic.com / www.facebook.com/waverecords

About Lunaires

Lunaires was formed in 2010 by Danilo Carnevale and Patrizia Tranchina, who first worked together in Jeunesse D’Ivoire and Other Side. Their debut album, “If All The Ice Melted”, appeared in 2019 on Shades Of Sound, a subsidiary of Wave Records; the review’s comparison of Tranchina’s vocal delivery to Claudia Brücken points to Propaganda.

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

Palm Products GmbH, a highly regarded manufacturer of audio synthesizers which was founded and owned by Wolfgang Palm, has been acquired by the software company Plugin Alliance. PPG is located in Hamburg, Germany and, for 12 years from around 1975 to 1987, manufactured a range of electronic musical instruments, all designed by Palm. We asked Alan Wilder (ex-Depeche Mode, Recoil) for some feedback on the PPG as you can see further in this article.

It is Plugin Alliance’s founding member Brainworx which acquired the assets of Wolfgang Palm’s PPG brand. PPG’s synth products will join Plugin Alliance, updated by Brainworx in close cooperation with founder Wolfgang Palm.

From keyboardist to keyplayer in audio synthesizer market

Wolfgang Palm was active as a keyboardist in bands in the Hamburg area before starting his company in 1975 which focussed on the developing synthesizer market. His first commercially available synthesizer was a modular synthesizer, the 300 Series, which failed to sell in large quantities. Inspired by the design of the Minimoog, Palm introduced the 1002 and 1020 synthesizers which were portable, analog, monophonic, and relatively compact. In 1979, PPG introduced the 340/380 System, a complex digital synthesizer which consisted of the 340 Processor Unit, the 340 Generator Unit, and the 380 Event Generator (a 16-track sequencer). Itt was used by Tangerine Dream and Thomas Dolby during the early 1980s.

But the big breakthrough only happened in 1980, when Palm introduced the “wavetable synthesis”. These digital synthesizers expanded upon the capabilities of Palm’s earlier synthesizers by expanding the sound creation tools with limited samples, which were compiled together in lists called wavetables. The first PPG synthesizer to implement this algorithm was the Wavecomputer 360, released in 1980 in two versions. But it was with the release of the Wave 2, which debuted in 1981, that the ball started rolling. In total, around 1,000 Waves were manufactured between 1981 and 1987, making it the most successful product PPG manufactured.

From a-ha to Depeche Mode’s Alan Wilder

The PPG Wave was used by artists such as A-ha, Alphaville, David Bowie, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Depeche Mode, Propaganda, Jean Michel Jarre, Level 42, Gary Numan, Robert Palmer, The Stranglers, Talk Talk, Tangerine Dream, Tears For Fears, Ultravox, and many others.

We asked Alan Wilder (ex-Depeche Mode, Recoil) for some feedback on the PPG.

Alan Wilder: “Depeche used a PPG Wave 2 (+ subsequent 2.2) mainly in the studio for the second album (‘A Broken Frame’, 1982) and onwards for a couple of years. Its unique and distinctive sounds are unmistakable on that record. The single ‘See You’ features the very recognisable choir sound, plus the bell riff and other parts, while that release’s B-side ‘Now This Is Fun’ also has PPG’s hallmark stamped all over it. The gratifying array of rich preset sounds it produced were not so easy to improve upon, although Dan Miller would have a go. Complex synthesis produced bell-like overtones that, until that time, had never really been heard to such an extent electronically – later to be resurrected, via equally confusing algorithms, in Yamaha’s DX7 but not nearly with comparable depth or character in my view.

The PPG was a sensitive, delicate & bloody difficult beast however – trying to use it in a live environment proved to be disastrous and the band soon jettisoned that idea following endless embarrassing breakdowns. When it failed, just to let you know how unhappy it was, a massive ‘clunk’ would be accompanied by a loud piercing siren-type noise. Only a re-boot would sort it out – sadly an all too short-lived fix. No, it needed caressing & cajoling and I guess when sampling came along, coupled with Dan Miller’s beast of a Synclavier featuring heavily on DM’s next album ‘Construction Time Again’, the forlorn-looking PPG got relegated and ignored somewhat. A real gem of its time.”

PPG officially ceased business operations and closed its doors in 1987 after shelving the Realizer project. The Realizer was an all-in-one studio machine which combined production, recording, sequencing, and mixing tools into one machine in addition to a sophisticated sampling and synthesis system.

Wolfgang Palm after PPG

After the decline of PPG, Wolfgang Palm continued to be an active innovator in the area of synthesizer technology. For Waldorf Music for example he designed the digital ASIC for the first Waldorf product Microwave (1989) which basically contained the complete sound engine of the PPG wave 2.2. In 2002, Steinberg from its side released PLEX, a software synthesizer designed by Palm.

Today, nearly every digital synthesizer implements wavetable synthesis in some form, and the Wave’s unique integration of analogue and digital circuitry influenced synthesizers such as the Monowave and the E-mu Emulator.

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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Laibach have announced a six-track EP, “Party Songs”, featuring unpublished tracks from the repertoire of the band’s 2015 performances in North Korea, as documented by Morten Traavik and Uģis Olte’s “Liberation Day” film (2016). Mute will release the EP on vinyl 12-inch and digital platforms on November 22.

You can watch the video for “Honourable, Dead or Alive, When Following the Revolutionary Road (Arduous March Version)”, the first track to be taken from the EP right below. Filming for the video took place earlier this year at the Cankarjev dom venue in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

“Honourable, Dead or Alive, When Following the Revolutionary Road” is based on an aria from the classic North Korean revolutionary opera “Tell, O Forest” (1972), one of five famous revolutionary operas in the DPRK. The propaganda says it was written and produced under the guidance of Kim Jong Il, but we all know that is bogus of course.

Laibach’s re-interpretation was prepared for the 2015 Liberation Day concert at the Ponghwa Theatre in Pyongyang, but deemed too “confusing” by the North Korean hosts and struck from the concert repertoire. The band later performed a version of the same song at Kum Song Music School, arranged by the students of the school.

Other songs on the EP include “Arirang”, an all-Korean folk song, performed by Laibach in Pyongyang, and “We Will Go to Mount Paektu”, originally performed by the all-female Moranbong band, and again according to the propaganda created under the creative guidance of Kim Jong-Un. They are a very musical family there… not.

“Party Songs” tracklist

1. Honourable, Dead or Alive, When Following the Revolutionary Road (Arduous March Version)
2. Honourable, Dead or Alive, When Following the Revolutionary Road (Single Hearted Unity Version)
3. We Will Go to Mount Paektu
4. Arirang (Live at Kum Song Music School, Pyongyang)
5. Honourable, Dead or Alive, When Following the Revolutionary Road (Live at Kum Song Music School, Pyongyang)
6. We Will Go to Mount Paektu (Live at Ponghwa Theatre, Pyongyang)

Side-Line also covered Laibach’s ‘Laibach Revisited’.

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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Rodion Skityaev is a Russian musician operating from Moscow (Russia). He last year released the official debut album “Resonate” of his sonic brainchild Outpost 11. The CD format has been released on Advoxya Records and sounds as a powerful sonic bridge between EBM and dark-electro. The sound has something 90s-like reminding me formations such as X Marks The Pedwalk and early Skinny Puppy. It’s a real promising debut from a band we’ve to keep an eye on.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Outpost 11 is a rather new name active at the wider fields of EBM and dark-electronic music. How did you get in touch with this music style and what do you consider as your main sources of inspiration?

Rodion: Well, I first got in touch with this kind of music not even knowing what I was listening to. Back in time I was just a kid playing video games. And those games featured pretty good soundtracks. I played a lot of C&C games, featuring brilliant music of Frank Klepacki. I also adore Quake franchise, especially the first three games. The soundtrack of the first game was done by Trent Reznor, the second game was scored by Sonic Mayhem and third one had Front Line Assembly bashing in the background. I’m a big fan of “Silent Hill” series, and it’s music done by Akira Yamaoka, respectively. That’s some good quality music right there! And so this kind of sound etched into my mind and stayed there for a while. Until much  later, when I consciously researched what was the music that I liked so much. Since then I  was exposed to all the good stuff we know and appreciate today as post-industrial music.

As my source of inspiration I consider acts like Nine Inch Nails, Ministry (mostly early records, but I like their metal stuff too), Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly, to name a few. It is also worth mentioning recent L.A act Youth Code. Basically, there was no Outpost 11 before I saw them live in 2016. I had some demos that would end up on “Resonate”, but I didn’t consider developing them into a finished record, until those two fellas came to my town. It was just mind-blowing! I had no idea that people are still playing this kind of music and listening to it, rather passionately. Besides electronic music I listen to a lot of stuff, I think something occasionally can slip through into Outpost 11, but that’s not something that I consciously control 100% of the time.

Q: What kind of album did you have in mind when writing the songs for “Resonate” and how do you look back at the entire composition- and production process?

Rodion: To be really honest with you, I didn’t have any concrete vision of what “Resonate” would be. I have a serious background in the local metal scene and so doing electronic music in any capacity was an experiment for me, I haven’t done any before. Surely, I was applying my songwriting skills from before, but it would not always fit into the sound or mood I was trying to achieve for Resonate. I wanted to get that sound and vibe from my earlier experiences with this kind of music. When I think a bit deeper about it, It’s somewhat romantically odd, trying to capture experiences from your past, using yet to be developed skills from present. Kinda weird…

Though the biggest issue for me on that record was the production of the vocals. Now I’m a bit better singing, but before then it was like a clean slate, tabula rasa, you know. I had to figure out the way of singing that would fit into my music and this raspy kinda subtone vocals worked well for me. I got that idea from one of my favorite movies –“Escape From New-York”. The character of Snake Plissken speaks in this kind of dramatic action-hero tone and I thought, well who cares, I’m gonna try that and see what comes out! By the way, John Carpenter is awesome. So to summarize, the process was somewhat chaotic, but I managed to tame it and extract some valuable knowledge from it.

Q: “Resonate” clearly reminds me to the good-old EBM from the late 80s/early 90s with an extra personal touch on top. What can you say about the Outpost 11 ‘sound’ and do you’ve personal criteria/references when it comes to production?

Rodion: I tend to produce relatively simple sounds, but I like big instrumentations. It starts usually with drums and bass, and then I add the other stuff; a pad chord progression (I also like extended chords), some noises to accentuate passages, a lead, a harmonized pluck, a few more elements to the drum kit, occasionally movie samples, a filtered sweep… It can go on and on, but sometimes it’s better to keep things simple. The main criteria in the arrangements is to find the right balance between all elements.

I have a few sources of inspiration when it comes to song writing generally speaking. I can start a song from a weird sound, or I can start it with a nice riff, or just a chord progression. It kinda depends on my mood actually. Heavier songs are usually taking off from a riff, like “…But He Likes You” for example. More melancholic stuff has more musical roots, so to speak. Then I develop this initial idea into a complete song, or at least into verse-chorus combination, to tackle it later.

As for sound design, I use very few VST plugins. Synths are mostly VA, with wavetable or FM occasions here and there. I tend not to layer instruments, it doesn’t fit really well into my approach to instrumentation. It’s hard to fit a lot of fat sounding stacks of synths in one song, for me at least. I also like my pads and leads to be a bit wide in the stereo field, so when they come in at some point in a song, you can really hear them, but not in an obvious way. Probably this overall approach gives my music this old-school vibe. And I like it that way!

Q: What have been the main lyrical themes for this album and what’s the importance of the lyrics when composing EBM-like music?

Rodion: The album is called “Resonate” because of certain topics are resonating with me, sometimes violently. That’s kinda silly idea, to name an album this way, but it works for me anyway. The album’s themes and ideas come from me being a part of a modern world and my experience of it so far. That results in lyrics related to my perspective on current global political climate, or about religion, war, propaganda and other nasty stuff. There are few more introspective songs, where I try to reflect on my more personal side of things. Or sometimes I just had fun paying homages to favorite pop cultural pieces. It’s a bit of everything. Kind of like life itself, in a sense.

A few times I stumbled upon an idea; that lyrical content of successful musicians tend to resonate strongly within their audiences. That’s true, and I hope my lyrics do the same, but I don’t think it is strictly necessary. Any musician is an artist (in a greater sense) in a first place, genres are good at describing what musician do, but they aren’t definitive, they can’t dictate what you can do and what you can’t. Hell, if I want to write an EBM banger, featuring a sax solo, with lyrics about pink ponies having nasty fun with some BDSM gear, no one’s gonna stop me from doing that 🙂 And I bet you, some people are even gonna like it! My point is simple, do what you feel necessary, but beware for the consequences. And yes, there’ll be always somebody telling you that you’re doing it all wrong, you can’t get away from that…

Q: The artwork of the album is quite intriguing. What does the front cover stands for and what’s the parallel with the sound and the lyrics?

Rodion: A: Cover art is product of imagination of a good friend of mine. He’s drawing style features many techniques, but this particular image was done with ink on a thick cardboard as a canvas. He did a few death metal covers in this style and i thought that i could use that for my little project, somehow his artwork resonated (he-he) with me. I approached the man with a simple task: listen to the music, read the lyrics if necessary and do what you think fits the mood. As a result, his disturbing art reflected my obsessive desire to share my music pretty well, i must admit. I did a few tweaks in Photoshop, to make an image a bit surreal and i think our combined result is representing an album pretty nice. It’s sufficiently rough, a bit surreal and somewhat disturbing. Pretty much like Resonate sounds, i think. I did the CD packaging by myself, i was just extending the mood of cover art by using grungy textures as backgrounds.

Q: A debut album is always something special, so how does it feel for you and are there some elements you want to improve in the future and what are the plans for the next few months?  

Rodion: Well, maybe it’s a debut for Outpost 11, but for me as musician it would be the second or even the third album. This experience gives me a certain perspective on things that I need to improve. You can expect a new album this year, that’s for sure. At the moment I’m focused on perfecting the vocal parts here and there, but I’m almost finished. So you can expect me singing better than on “Resonate”. I also learned a few sound design tricks, which I used on the new album. But I think the main contribution to the overall improvement would be the mixing. This time I did it myself and from what I gathered from my listeners, it’s a big step forward. For the “Resonate”-album I was at the very beginning of that mixing-engineering path. I had serious doubts about my skills so I outsourced mixing and mastering to another buddy of mine. He did a great job, but there were moments where we took a few improper decisions, so to speak. Thankfully, now I can fully express myself and I’m happy with the results. Sound’s gonna be brighter, a bit wider and punchy this time.

Regarding live performances I think I’ll do a few shows later on this year. For the moment Outpost 11 still is a studio solo-project, but I’m also in the process of recruiting musicians to form a live line-up. I’ve managed to recruit a keyboard player. No idea what parts she’s gonna play, but we have a lot of enthusiasm. I think we’ll figure this out somehow! I hope that we’ll do a few shows this year and I’m really looking forward to it. Further in time, I’ll do at least one more album released by Advoxya Records in 2020 and next we probably will extend our contract for a few more albums.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

(Photo by Rammstein) This news remained largely unnoticed in the Western press, so we are bringing it today. The Rammstein guitarists Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe have defied Russia’s anti-LGBT laws during their set at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium by sharing a quick kiss on stage. The snog was in direct violation of the country’s gay propaganda law, which has been in effect since 2013 and which stipulates that it is a crime to present any non-traditional sexual preferences or lifestyles as normal in media or any type of public space.

The law was voted “for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values”. It was unanimously approved by the State Duma on 11 June 2013 (with just one MP abstaining—Ilya Ponomarev) and was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on 30 June 2013.

The band also shared a picture of the ‘event’ with the caption, “Russia, We Love You!”.

View this post on Instagram

Россия, мы любим тебя! Photos: @jenskochphoto

A post shared by Rammstein (@rammsteinofficial) on Jul 30, 2019 at 10:23am PDT

And there is also a video of the ‘kiss’.

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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Does the name Mark Burghraeve make ring a bell? No doubt about it, ‘older’ electro heads know this Belgian artist born in 1961! Together with Marc Verhaeghen he set up The Klinik and created the band’s original look. Both ‘old’ mates are now back again working on new Klinik-stuff. You might also know him from his work under the Somnambulist moniker and M.Bryo & D.M.T. He also worked with artists and bands such as Niki Mono, Bill Leeb, Insekt, Vomito Negro, For Greater Good, Mike Shelter, Brain Pilot, Dark Poem, Hybryds, Les Boufons Tristes ao. Mark Burghraeve is a man of many talents and next to his music activities he’s also active as a multimedia artist and graphic-, video- & sound-designer and sound & light engineering. But back to music! The French label Nuit Et Brouillard recently released the album “Things I Was Due To Forget 1979 – 2005”. The work has been released on different vinyl formats and is now planned to be released on CD format as well. The music brings us back to the early and original sound of electronic music… to the roots. This interview will give you more background information about this passionate, fascinating and visionary artist.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The least I can say is that you’re involved with an impressive number of very different artistic projects. Do you’ve some preferences in your artistic creation, what’s the importance of music and do you still have secret dreams in mind?

Mark: My preferred creations are the ones where I could sit at home and work on them in my own tempo and atmosphere, without any unwanted interference from the outside world. The ones where I could set my own deadlines and delegate some of the time consuming work. I like to see myself as a multi-media artist in the broad sense of the word. Music is one of the media I use to evoke or reproduce feelings, visions and dreams, based on my experiences and observations. I jump from one medium to another, sometimes mixing them. And the more I can use in one project, the more satisfying it becomes. The final result grows into a part of a viewer’s or a listener’s precious time. The artist has only this short period to take them on a small journey by exposing himself.

I try to keep my mind and taste open. My dreams are no secret. It would be nice to have my work survive the times, interpreted by others as it has already happened. The best feeling one can have is that his work is appreciated by as many people as possible, I guess. Making an immersive VR experience is on the want-list. Another film score would be nice too. A book maybe? A golden tie?

Q: You’ve been inspired by early electronic pioneers, but you in a way became a pioneer yourself. How do you look back at the early years of electronic music? Was there a kind of particular ‘spirit’, ‘philosophy’, ‘goal’… and do you see common elements with what’s happening today?

Mark: I always felt as a pioneer, out to get a taste of the future. Electronic music was the most futuristic music then. That time,  synthesizers were expensive and not seen as a full instrument yet. They were more like an effect in a classic rock setting, an extra weird toy for the keyboard player, like Pierre Henry did in the sixties with “Psycho-Rock”. Or they were used as sound effect machines for cinema as Bebe and Louis Barron already did in the fifties for the movie “Forbidden Planet”. Apart from “Popcorn” by Anarchic System, full electronic music was not yet popular. There weren’t that many people in Belgium who had a synth and tried to make music that fitted the expectations of a new sci-fi future vision.

After the ‘No Future’-era, we were looking for one. Most of the guys who had synths made ‘cosmic’ music or just collected buttons. Pure electronic music was not regarded as ‘real’ music yet. But there was a kind of spirit of togetherness between the artists of that time in Antwerp, a lot of independent projects and disciplines crossed each other: theater, music, fine arts, fashion, performance. It was a period in time when we revolted more, as a group or as individuals, against anything we were opposed to. We used the new technologies. We walked away from tradition and uniformity. Sometimes we even had ‘goals’. From political- and ecological awareness to shared ethics and aesthetics. We were multicultural anarchists with a rainbow of tastes and opinions. We were the avant-garde. We were the underground.

I don’t see this anymore, it seems culture has been institutionalized, nationalized, censored and belonging to the happy few who get financial support from the government. I see increasing xenophobia and homophobia. I see aggression, racism, poverty and despair in this modern day dystopia. And cell-phones, lots of cell-phones. But then again, I don’t go out that much anymore, so I might miss out on a lot of what is happening today.

Q: One thing is for sure, the late 70s and early 80s were pure ‘underground’-like! I think it had something magic, connecting people a different way than today. Today we’ve the internet, electronic music became much more accessible… everything became that different. What’s your perception about this evolution? The pros and cons?

Mark: The pros are that it all became much more accessible and now more people can create, produce and put their stuff on the internet. One can reach a global audience immediately. A computer is now a household thing and most people have cell-phones. We are all connected by wire or by Wifi and have libraries of virtual synths and plug-ins at the touch of a button or screen, complete with professional production tools and low distribution costs, if any.  Also you can get direct feedback from people all over the world who value your stuff. One can communicate faster. Co-operations over great distances get easier. Tools are easier to find.

The contras are that anybody can make music and put videos on YouTube. But without talent, proper promotion or attention of the media one can get lost in the flood of banal information. Today’s internet has become a marketplace, a big and busy one. You need extra skills if you want to get noticed as an artist. Like for instance opening an e-mail account to get PayPal. It also still leaves a very big and bad ecological footprint. Think of the control knob you ordered on e-bay, transported by trains, planes and diesel trucks.

The search for new music has also dramatically changed, we have robot programs that search for everything we want, telling us what we are supposed to like, based on databases and tags. Before all this, we physically went to the record shop to buy what they were offering. We had magazines with no commercials. No cell-phones, no social media sites, no e-mail, no internet. Just telephone, fax, modems and walkmans. Cassettes were the independent medium of that time. The home-studio was born. Affordable, but still expensive. I was lucky to have Stefan Van Elsen (Trans-4M,  Brain Pilot, …) of Central Tapes who distributed my work. Teac, Tascam & Fostex competed with Revox. There were still U-matic, 12-bit Digital Recording, Commodore & Spectrum, Memorex. All these factories sold physical equipment. Nowadays, big companies sell or even just rent data for the same use.

It has it’s pros and cons. The thing is, it’s here. One has to use it as a tool and avoid distractions. It’s still very new and it already had a very radical impact on all our lives. Writers like Kafka, Orwell or Huxley couldn’t even have dreamt this up. It’s like their warnings became handbooks for the rulers. Are we in the hands of a system we don’t understand, own or even know anymore? Who collects and controls the data? Does all this ‘security’ make us feel safe or does it make us more scared or paranoid? Since the expression ‘Fake News’ has been introduced, nobody trusts the media anymore, from both sides. We have political propaganda and commercials in between the services we paid for. We’ve all seen how YouTube and Google have evolved from data providers to data collectors. Do we lose freedom and privacy and should we protect these values? What’s this thing with wars, money, power and persistent ecological & political unawareness?

We live in glass houses. Too many rats in a cage with an overload of information. Sorry, what was the question again?

Q: Nuit Et Brouillard recently released the double album “Things I Was Due To Forget”; I should say an appropriated title for songs taking us back to your first sonic compositions. How did this release come through and can you tell us something about the origin of the songs?

Mark: Sylvie, co-founder of the French Nuit Et Brouillard-label, once made a compilation tape from records she had borrowed from a friend to play in her car. One of the songs was “The Empty Street” by M.Bryo & D.M.T. from the “No Big Business” compilation. Years later she found me on Facebook on a picture with Marc Verhaeghen (the Klinik) and Bill Leeb (Frontline Assembly), from the time we worked together on Noise Unit. She knew both Marc and Bill, but had never heard of me until she did some investigations. Nuit Et Brouillard invited me to Lille to meet them in person, so I took all my courage, some luggage and a train to France. There I met Stéphane as well. We talked about music and politics and played with the idea of making a release. It was a bit like checking each other out, before we made this idea concrete.

For Nuit Et Brouillard it would certainly have been the most ‘commercial’ record they would have ever made, since they were mainly releasing more experimental and ‘obscure’ music. A bold step. They showed me their beautifully made releases. Some of them had handmade art covers. All their releases were treated as gems, showing a deep involvement and respect for the artist. They were not driven by money, but by passion. Of course I felt very flattered by the offer and I loved the people there in Lille who supported me. I had the chance to do everything from A to Z; music, lyrics, recordings, mastering and artwork. I am very lucky to have had this opportunity and I am proud with the result.

The songs had their origin in the late seventies, the start of punk, affordable synths, drum machines & multi track recorders. Bands like Kraftwerk, Tubeway Army, Ultravox and The Human League had just started and people like Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, Tomita and Walter Carlos had already opened the door to popular electronic music.

I lived in industrial Hoboken and was a DJ for some time, pretty up to date. By buying the ‘trash’ the record shop couldn’t sell on a Friday, I got a lot of weird unknown stuff. The weirder it was, the more I liked it. Anyway, I had fun in my room with my machines, later got into computers and now I’m still trying to use technology as a medium, not only for making sound.

Q: When it comes to music, I think there’re very different types of artists; classical schooled musicians, composers, producers, self taught artists and experimentalists who clearly break the codes. Where do you place yourself and tell us a bit more about the different aspects of being the musician/artist you are?

Mark: I’m a self-taught mad experimentalist, composer, bad musician, an OK writer and from time to time, if I may say so, a very able producer with neo-classical ambitions, and some more… I cherish my work as a musician as much as I like using other media. If I get bored or stuck with one medium, I jump onto another one. It keeps the creative ball rolling. Sometimes one inspires the other. Bringing as much art forms as possible into one project is the most satisfying, I think. To me, programming is an art form as well. Sometimes a program can be written as elegantly as a poem.

Q: You’ve been involved with different music projects; M.Bryo & DMT, The Somnambulist, The Klinik… and you’ve worked with an impressive list of artists. What did you keep in mind from all these projects and experiences and tell us something more about The House of the Thepaphone?

Mark: So many stories to tell. So many experiences. Every contact has its anecdotes. Sometimes, it seemed as if I lived in a soap opera, complete with the melodrama and the intrigues. But the fun part was the work itself, trying to get the best results with the tools I had. Having my own rock-band KOYT! was great, but what I liked especially were the one-on-ones, like Les Bouffons Tristes with Peter Geysels, whom I knew from For Greater Good or the ones with Sophie from Dark Poem.

With The House of the Thepaphone, I try to create a cosy place for my friends and I on Bandcamp, a popular music site for independent use, with a possibility to get some money for the music. Not big amounts, but since money seems to be a handy thing to have on this planet, any return is always welcome. It’s where I put some of the collaborations with other artists and completed works from my archive. On SoundCloud I put my most recent sketches and portfolios. ReverbNation was one of the first music libraries I used on the web. I forgot MySpace, but who didn’t? I think of building some more websites. They open possibilities for experiment and promotion. Recently, I got on Spotify and iTunes, to keep up with the new tools and platforms. I’m still learning.

The House of the Thepaphone :

Nuit Et Brouillard:

Other Links:

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

Signal Aout 42 (aka Jacky Meurisse) is back with a new album “Insurrection” to be released next month. The release comes 6 years after “Inspiration” and sees this belgian EBM legend focus on all that SA42 has done until today.

You can find the trailer for the album below.

From EBM to New Beat

When they started, back in 1981, Signal Aout 42 (which was at the time simply called Signal) was the project of a bunch of schoolmates (Jacky Meurisse, Damien and Luc Vandamme). What most people don’t know is that the final name refers to the date that Signal, a German propaganda publication in the Second World War, came out. Meurisse would later on also embrace New Beat and work on several projects such as Amnesia, Boris, Pleasure Game, Le Park, DJPC, … that were quite successful at the time. Read the review of ‘Insurrection’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Experimental, rhythmic-ambient, industrial.

Background/Info: Robin Storey (ex Zoviet France) started composing music under the Rapoon moniker since the early 90s. “Darker By Light” was originally released in 1996 on Soleilmoon Recordings. Polish label Zoharum started re-releasing early Rapoon albums. It’s an opportunity to (re)discover this early pearl of the industrial veteran, which has been released in an artistic digipak.

Content: The sound universe of Rapoon has been always something particular. It sounds inspired by genres like industrial-, ambient- and experimental music, but the composition always reveals a particular sound-DNA. This album is characterized by dark, repetitive electronic loops joined by slow rhythms. The repetitive sequences have something trance-like and especially the first half of the album sounds this way. You’ll hear different little noises joining in while some spooky vocal parts can be heard now and then.

+ + + : This album reveals Robin Storey at his best. While the album was originally released in 1996 it still has this initial magic leading the listener into a hypnotic sensation. Storey has been always a master in rhythms and it also remains one of the main strengths from this work. The composition feels a bit like the web of a spider; it has been conceived with patience and knowledge. It moves crescendo towards a total apotheosis. The five first cuts of the album are absolutely impressive and that visionary for the time.

– – – : The second half of the album sounds cool, but there are no similar highlights such as in the beginning.

Conclusion: When you’re listening to this album more than twenty years after its original release you can only, but agree Rapoon always has been a visionary artist. This is a great work in Storey’s discography!

Best songs: “From Sleep Awake”, “Lies And Propaganda”, “Night That thunders”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/rapoon

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

About Rapoon

Rapoon is the project of Robin Storey, who previously recorded with Zoviet France before starting Rapoon in the early 1990s. In 2017, UK label Winter-Light marked Rapoon’s 25th anniversary with the first chapter of the “Mercury Rising” trilogy, which Storey completed with a final chapter in 2019; he discussed the trilogy in a 2019 Side-Line interview.

Polish label Zoharum has continued reissuing and releasing Rapoon material since, including “Hotel Bravo” in 2020 and “Seeds In The Tide Volume 06” in 2022, alongside “Darker By Light”, originally released on Soleilmoon Recordings in 1996.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, industrial-body-music.

Background/Info: I got the opportunity to discover the L.A (California, USA) based Agitprop 666 by its debut work “Mind Control” (2002). The solo-project revealed an interesting old-school EBM sound. Because of an incarceration –which clearly inspired the title of this work, it took years to achieve “Penitentiary”. The album features 11 songs and is available as a free-download on Agitprop 666’s site.

Content: The main influences running throughout “Penitentiary” are once again taking us back to the great 90s decade of EBM. The multiple samplings featuring samplings from Nazi-propaganda, movie & documentary extracts and also a speech of Obama are classical elements from the 90s. The EBM style has something sophisticated, which might evoke early Mentallo & The Fixer, and also industrial sound treatments.

+ + + : Agitprop 666 is pure 90s nostalgia, but the album is not a cheap emulation. The songs are well-crafted, complex and reflecting certain intelligence. It makes this album different from the rest although supported by the spirit of 90s EBM. I like the complementarity between fine, bleeping sequences and pure bombast.

– – – : Complex music is not always the most accessible format and especially when it concerns EBM. You don’t hear me to complain, but there’s just one single cut (cf. “Peak Oil”) featuring guitar sounds, which sounds too different and less accomplished.

Conclusion: You’ve 80s and 90s nostalgics, but in the end this album brings an interesting retro-EBM format.

Best songs: “Firestorm”, “Freedom To Fascism”, “Wall St.”, “Penitentiary”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.agitprop666.com / https://myspace.com/agitprop666

About Agitprop 666

Agitprop 666 is a solo industrial and EBM project based in Los Angeles, California. The project debuted with “Mind Control” in 2002, followed years later by “Penitentiary”, a free-download release reviewed here.

Agitprop 666 continued with the album “Corruption” in 2021, and with “Cyber War”, a twelve-track digital album released at the end of 2024.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial.

Background/Info: London based Howard Gardner started making short films, animations, and music videos for other people till he decided to compose his own music under the Non-Bio moniker. A few self-released and promising productions saw the daylight and we here welcome a new album featuring 14 tracks.

Content: Non-Bio moves back to its industrial music approach, but “The Future Is Written” definitely stands for a sonic transformation. It’s not just hard-banging industrial music based upon distorted sounds and noises, but Non-Bio still moves on creating cool sound treatments. The songs are sophisticated, joined by guest vocalist on one of the songs and ending with furious, hard tracks.

+ + + : Some of the tracks remind me of Test Department, but then transposed into a contemporary and technological approach. The songs are well-crafted, dark, driven by alluring industrial loops and heavy, bouncing rhythms. There’ also is a noticeable evolution in the tracklist, which crescendo reaches a furious final part.

– – – : “The Future Is Written” is not exactly reinventing the industrial genre. It’s sophisticated, but you’ll not be surprised. From a very personal point of view I think it could be interesting to inject more vocal parts –in a kind of exclamation- or propaganda-style.

Conclusion: Non-Bio reveals an interesting and accomplished industrial work. This band deserves a wider recognition and has the potential to sign on a leading industrial label.

Best songs: “Facial Recognition”, “We Own Your Memories”, “Distraction”, “Nourish”, “You Reborn”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/nonbiomusic

About Non-Bio

Non-Bio is the industrial and powernoise project of London-based musician Howard Gardner, who worked on short films, animations and music videos before turning to music under the Non-Bio name. Gardner self-released the debut album “Pillar Of Salt” in 2010, followed by “Blue Horned Humanoids” in 2011 and “Machine Cold Wash” in 2014. The albums “Alpha Micro Revival 8000 Ultra” and “The Death Chillout Sessions” both followed in 2016. “The Future Is Written” was released in 2018 with 14 tracks, and Non-Bio compiled five years of remix work on “Degraded – Remixes 2014-2019” the following year. Non-Bio has since released the albums “Monkey Feather” (2023) and “Every Chalice Poisoned” (2025), plus the EP “Vermin” (2023).

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Für Alle’.

About Melotron

Melotron is a German synth-pop band founded in 1995, with Andy Krüger on vocals alongside Edgar Slatnow and Kay Hildebrandt on synthesizers. “Für Alle” was announced in June 2018 ahead of its release on Out Of Line.

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

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Widerstand’.

About Nachtmahr

Nachtmahr is the solo project of Austrian musician Thomas Rainer, also known for L’Âme Immortelle and the now-defunct Siechtum. The project released its first track, “Kunst ist Krieg”, in September 2007, followed by the mini-album “Mädchen in Uniform” in 2010, later reissued as a limited picture-vinyl.

“Widerstand”, reviewed here, appeared in 2018 on Trisol. Rainer followed it with the single “Flamme” in January 2020 and the album “Imperivm“, also on Trisol, before announcing the album “Verboten!” and a tour in 2024.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Military-music, ambient-music.

Background/Info: H.Ø.S.T is a Polish project unleashing its debut release on cassette format. The album features 8 cuts and is still available as digital release as well.

Content: “Anthology Of War” is an appropriate title for this work, which sounds like having been recorded on the battlefield during WWII. Next to some familiar German propaganda sampled parts you’ll hear several familiar military elements such as air raids and bombings, alarm sirens, gun rifles, explosions, screams etc which have been joined by obscure sound atmospheres. There also is a passage with panpipes, which makes me think to soldiers sitting around the campfire when they were not active on the front.

+ + + : “Anthology Of War” is a strong visual release; you literally can feel the horror of war, which appears to be the muse and main source of inspiration from H.Ø.S.T. There are a few cool passages running through the work, but I especially recommend “Imperial Spirit”.

– – – : H.Ø.S.T definitely accomplished an honest album while avoiding any form of innovation. This is the kind of military-ambient work I’ve already heard thousand times before.

Conclusion: “Anthology Of War” is a sonic documentary with a strong visual strength. You can imagine all the images of despair and horror by the simply force of music.

Best songs: “Imperial Spirit”, “Eastern Front”.

Rate: (6).

Artist: www.facebook.com/hosttotalwar

Label: www.hellishereprod.glt.pl 

About H.Ø.S.T

H.Ø.S.T is a military-ambient project from Poland. “Anthology Of War” was followed by the albums “Desecration Of Peace” (2018, on M.Y.R.F.I.P. Productions) and “Ages Of Determination” (2019, on Spatha Production).

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

Set up and driven by the creative spirit of Florian Schäfer and Oliver Goetz, German formation Noyce™ is already active for more than 20 years now. They released their fourth full length album “Love Ends” at the end of 2017, which also was their first new opus in eight years. The album released on Focile Art Tribe belongs to one of the best productions from 2017. It’s an opus filled with delicacy and passion resulting in a truly artistic piece, which you can’t really compare to any other band. I got in touch with Florian Schäfer who perfectly transposed this ‘passion’ in his answers. A fascinating read…

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The least I can say is that Noyce™ is not releasing new albums on regular basis. So how does it feel to have achieved this fourth full length in history and what explains the gap of time between the albums?

Florian: I know… 4 albums in a period of 21 years is at the first view not a massive output and I understand that you and others ask why there is always that big gap between the releases. Well… we are 100% independent and so we’ve to pay everything ourselves. Instruments, studio costs and mixing, CD-artwork and CD-printing, DJ- and print promotion, advertising… everything. On the other side we try to hold up the high level we build in the past with good songs and meaningful lyrics, a brilliant sound and a special artwork. So it costs a lot of money and our songs always need a lot of time to get accomplished.

Our songs are ready when we feel the goose bumps on our skin… when we think the sound pictures are now nearly perfectly painted. But nothing matters more than the fact that we do music because we love it and because it is our passion. So the best and logic answer to your question will be ‘we do music because we love music and not longing for being commercial, successful or to get 45min of fame on a festival stage’!

Q: “Love Ends” is a somewhat pessimistic and melancholic title while lyrical wise we all can feel it’s a very intimate piece of work. What did you try to express and maybe exorcize on “Love Ends”?

Florian: Even if “Love Ends” is a pessimistic- and yes… a melancholic title, the album should express love. Love is always a better answer than hate. A ‘hello’ is better than a ‘go away’. We have songs about the new nationalism all over the world, refugees, hates peech, populism… the world change because some people fear that this have an impact of their lives. but is that fear that big? I mean in “Die Ungeliebten” we count dates of terrorism attacks from the last back to the first which is 9/11. But it needs that date to understand what the song is about? Strange, isn’t it? I mean you normally should remember the closer dates. Maybe this is a kind of human protective mechanism or simply ignorance. Is it indifference or missing empathy? At the end we tried all songs should spread love and hope so that we all start questioning about our lives and that humanity and empathy both play again a bigger role in the future.

Q: Sound wise Noyce™ remain a mystery to me. Your music is not exactly belonging to an established music genre rather than bringing multiple influences together. It might also explain a part of your success, but what’s your own perception of this success story?

Florian : Oliver and me grew up with bands like Yello, Ultravox or Depeche Mode, but we also liked Nine Inch Nails, And Also The Trees, The Young Gods or Clan Of Xymox. I guess if you mix all these bands together you will get something what sounds like NOYCE™. It has always been our claim not to copy ourselves. I mean it would be easy to do an album full of “Fall[out]”-songs, but where is the creativity then? I guess most of the people buying our CDs expect something special… simply the unexpected. In my point of view nothing is more boring in music than when every song sounds the same; if just the lyrics, the bpm’s or the sounds change a little bit… but more or less every song is equal. If a band cover their own songs in the eternal loop!

Of course, it always depends on what and how you want to reach your goal with your music. If I want to earn money then it is like a job. You need to be commercial. But this is not our motivation because we love what we do. We want to make music with an artistic aspect; music with a repertoire and value in a fast-moving and instant fame-oriented world. So simply… music we love! And if you understand music as art like we do then it doesn‘t need a genre, but it simply needs the listeners and their opinion… they’ll like it or not.

Q: You didn’t spare any effort to get the album the best as possible asking famous producers like John Fryer and Krischan Wesenberg to contribute to the album. How was it working with those renowned artists and what has been their impact at the final result?

Florian: We asked John Fryer because Oliver an me love some albums he mixed and produced in the past. “Pretty Hate Machine“ from NIN, “Medusa“ from Clan Of Xymox, “Head/Down” from Moev to give you a few examples. So we contact and simply ask him if he would mix 3 songs. We’d fun working together, but he doesn‘t produced the songs, so there were no ideas or sounds from his side. It was simply not possible because when he starts with “The World Is Quiet“ he lived in Norway and when he worked on the mixes of “Brave New World“ and “Propaganda“ he lived in Los Angeles.

About Krischan, we know each other for a couple of years now and he mixed “Heimat“ and in 2012 he helped us to give “Fall[out]“ the right sound and a great mix. He would say his impact was not that big, but all the sessions in his studio plus the coffee breaks where we discussed about the music scene gave us the right motivation to start working again with him. Sadly it was not possible to do more songs because he is very busy and we… well… are very slow in producing songs.

The main part of the album was mixed by sound fetishist Adrian Le Monde. He gave “Love Ends“ that brilliant homogenous sound for that we are longing for and he did some awesome mixes as well. To make it short, it was a real pleasure working with those great people.

Q: What’s the link between the title “Brave New World” and the famous novel of Aldous Huxley? Do you feel close with the so-called ‘dystopian writers’ such as Huxley, Orwell, Burgess and co?

Florian: There is no direct link but if then our “Brave New World” describes the revolution against Huxley’s world. It is the last wake up-call for a revolution to wake up and don‘t let it happens. But if you open your eyes you can see some parts from Huxley’s world are becoming real in some countries. Turkey, United States, Russia, Syria, North-Korea have all leaders who don’t serve the people. The rebirth of nationalism in Europe, Populism where lies are sold as truth, hate speeches on internet or the end of laws and jurisdiction. We don’t need science fiction books…  we sadly write new ones.

Q: I remember your previous band Silence Gift, so are there some elements and influences you still recognize from this band in Noyce™? I’m also wondered what you think about the evolution in the music writing, production techniques, social media ao between the 90s and today?

Florian: Silence Gift was exactly what we wanted to do in the beginning of the 90s, but it sounded very pop/wave and cut our musically freedom. This is why we found NOYCE™ to do whatever we want to do.

I think most of the NOYCE™ songs sound just like Silence Gift would have sound today. I’m sure that in the future we will continue to dress Silence Gift songs in a NOYCE™ robe as we have already done with some songs.

I‘m not quite sure if there still is an evolution in the music scene. Sure it is not easy to do something completely new, but most of the newer bands just try to sound like VNV Nation, Suicide Commando or Rammstein. As I explained before, it is the best way to get your 5 minutes of fame, but musically it is boring. Production-wise it is sad that a lot of these newer bands are not able, even with today’s possibilities, to reach the production level of… for example Skinny Puppy‘s “Worlock“. I mean the song is nearly 30 years old! So some of them produce their stuff at home using some apps for free, load up at Facebook and think, after receiving 13 likes, ‘we are the ones everybody is waiting for even no producer or mixer involved’! So the quality is poor. The next step is that they pay to play at festivals. They don’t see that this is ridiculous.

The last newer band who are really brilliant and unique in my eyes is Empathy Test. It’s very well produced and mixed featuring great lyrics and well-done artwork. Sure not every new band is crap and not everything from the past is brilliant, but in my point of view there was simply a lot more variety. One thing is for sure, music has lost its value through Spotify and others. Even if people still listen to music, the result will be that in some years only equal commercial music will survive.

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

Die Krupps’ second album, “Volle Kraft Voraus”, released in 1982, and featuring such cult tracks as “Wahre Arbeit, wahrer Lohn” and “Goldfinger”, has never been reissued on vinyl since its first pressing by Warner in 1982.

The wait is now over as Artoffact Records presents a reissue edition of Volle Kraft Voraus, on both black or collector’s pink vinyl, with remastered audio and restored cover art. You can order these vinyls right here from the label’s mailorder.

The same year the album came out, Ralf Dörper, who was part of the initial line-up, left the band to found the band Propaganda. He would however return in 1985.

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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