Psy&#8217;Aviah &#8211; SIDE-LINE

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!

‘Resurgence’, a massive 7CD post-punk boxset to be released in January 2025 – Pre-order now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 15:25:46 +0000

The Brussels-based Spleen+ label (a division of Alfa Matrix) has prepared a deluxe 7CD collector’s edition – “Resurgence” – which brings together 133 active bands from across the globe, spanning the diverse sub-genres born from post-punk’s iconic roots. You can order it now from the Alfa Matrix webstore and in digital download format from Bandcamp.

The release comes housed in a luxurious vinyl-sized box, and comes accompanied by a 28-page book. The book holds interviews from renowned producers like John Fryer and Jean-Marc Lederman, label managers, journalists, and iconic artists (including Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, William Faith, No More, Skeletal Family, Mona Mur, KaS Product, And Also The Trees, Clan Of Xymox, Attrition, Das Ich, Merciful Nuns, The Names, The Breath Of Life, etc).

Spanning 23 different nationalities, the music included is a genre-spanning mix of post-punk, cold wave, dark synth, ethereal, and minimal EBM with such bands like Boy Harsher, A Cloud Of Ravens, No More, Skeletal Family, Collection D’Arnell Andrea, Underviewer, Attrition, Merciful Nuns, Lederman/De Meyer, Local Suicide & Sekelesys, Star Industry, Ataraxia, Czarina, Helalyn Flowers, Ascii.Disko, Je T’Aime, The Ultimate Dreamers, Lycia, Opera Multi Steel, The Breath Of Life, Auger, The Names, Whispers In The Shadow, Lovelorn Dolls, Astari Nite, Chiasm, Saigon Blue Rain, Omnimar, Still Patient, Creux Lies, Golden Apes, and many more.

You can already check out a few tracks here.

Resurgence by Various Artists

Apart from the 7CD vinyl size deluxe carton box format, “Resurgence” will not be available on mainstream digital platforms, except exclusively via the label’s Bandcamp page.

There is also a special combi pack including the 7CD set plus Darkness On Demand’s “Panic In Reserve” CD and To Avoid’s “All Gods Are Gone” 2CD.

“Resurgence” Tracklist

Cd 1

Bestial Mouths . Hex (The Spell)
A Cloud Of Ravens . Parable
Boy Harsher . Give Me A Reason
Czarina . Wonderland
Collection D’arnell Andrea . Waiting For Meaulnes
Krystal System . La Lame Dans Ta Main
Je T’aime . Out Of Sight
Aeon Rings . Fully Operational
The Ultimate Dreamers . Polarized
Partikul . Nothing Good In Me
Cosmobrigade . Spacepit
Aeon Sable . From Witchcraft To Deviltry
Stereoskop . Deep Down
The Breath Of Life . Slowly Crushing
Faust Project . Rats Lullaby
Al . Mistake
N.E.L. & J.P . Desinteresse
Zeitgeist Zero . Scream
Voyna . Moulding Heart

Cd 2

Blackbook . You Are Strange
Auger . My Heart Is Glass
Dekad . A Deadly Show (Video Edit)
Love In Cage . A Logical Secret Collection
Helalyn Flowers . Halos
Soft Scent . No Wounds
Sweet Ermengarde . Sweet Sacrifice
Martin Dupont . Bent At The Window (2023)
The Names . Far From The Factories
Boxes Of Blow . Melting Faces
Mirror Of Haze Feat. Primitive Heart . Reckless
A Slice Of Life . Seven Days
Then Comes Silence . Pretty Creatures
Nite . Inside Of My Head
Astari Nite . Bowie In Daydreams
Korus . Złote Światło Pierwszego Zachodu
Lovelorn Dolls . A Heart Cries
Whispers In The Shadow . Revenants
Merciful Nuns . Oneironauts

Cd 3

Lederman – De Meyer . Heartbeat
Local Suicide & Skelesys . Surface Of The Sun (Radio Edit)
Punx Soundcheck Feat. Ascii.Disko & Princess Superstar . Gasoline
No More . Sleepers And Trains
Mitra Mitra . Memories For Company
A Copy For Collapse Feat. Simona Pietrucci . Faded
Alien Skin . Depress Me
White Mansion . Cancel The Sky
Apnoie . Splash Your Bile
Celluloide . Compte Les Ombres
Risk Risk . Streetwalk
Total Chroma . Northern Lights
Opera Multi Steel . À Nos Moments Perdus
Lycia . Simpler Times
Noemi Aurora . Blood As Lipstick
Novus . Ess
I Ya Toyah . Death’s Kiss
Katcross . Rest
Winter Severity Index . Speak To Me

Cd 4

Systeme Paradoxe . Comme Le Sable En Hiver
Aiboforcen . Break The Black Ice (Original Mix)
Chiasm . Cut Right Through (Emileigh Rohn Edit)
Saigon Blue Rain . Dolls Dresses
Her Own World . Mistrust
Still Patient Feat. Minu-Schirin Samimi . Blind Vision
Creux Lies . Playtime
Der Klinke . Curtains (Your Life On Hold Remix)
On The Floor . Crying On The Dancefloor
Numa Echos Feat. Red Zebra . Waisted Items
Factheory . The Day (Ok Lion! Mix – Short Version)
Antiflvx . Crystal
Flor Concreta . She’s Closer
Golden Apes . Ash Trees
Glis . Blue Sky Night
Ataraxia . The Source
Hanging Freud . Grooming
Ok Lion! . Get Away
Yuzna . Queen Of The Eels

Cd 5

The Breath Of Life Feat. Implant . The Last Record
The Halo Trees . Happy Man
Palm Ghosts . Tilt
Your Life On Hold . Imprisoned (Merciless Radio Edit)
Götterdämmerung . Common Existence
Jenni Sex . Sin Chimes
Denner . She Radiates Darkness
Imjudas . I Love You
Black Needle Noise . Dollhouse On Fire
Dead Souls Rising . Dysmorphobia
The Waning Moon . Annabel
Korinthians . Leader Of The Night
Elektrostaub Feat. Stefan Netschio . Mantis (Auger Remix)
Omnimar . The Matrix
Synapsyche Feat. Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost) . The Last Dying Flame
Dance My Darling . Criminal
First Aid 4 Souls Feat. Emke Of Black Nail Cabaret . Das Messer
Supernova 1006 . Tell Your Name (Mix)
Suicidal Romance . Runaways

Cd 6

Ascii.Disko . Loslassen
Vioflesh . Emotions
Dina Summer . Who Am I (Club Version)
Pleasure Victim . Rascheln
Pink Opake . Pronta
Thewalkingicon . The Trail (Radio Edit)
Psy’aviah Feat. Sorrow Stories . Healing
Seasurfer . Collapsing
Lakeside X . Fire In The Sky (Radio Version)
Darkness On Demand . Hang On (Winterhart Remix)
Star Industry . Selling Icons (The Dreamside Remix)
Alphavox . Dark Satellite
Yama Uba . Shapes
Lifeless Past . Anxiety
Pink Turns Blue . Not Gonna Take It
Social Union . Waiting For Red
Sine . Until (Clan Of Xymox Remix)
Sorry, Heels . She Burns (We Burn) Version
Lights A.M . Clouds

Cd 7

Useless/You . Echo
Attrition . The Great Derailer
Children Of Zeal . Taking Over
Octolab . Friend Or Foe
Vague Phonique . The Last Man
Midnight Poetry . Black Hole
The Overlookers . Undercover (Edit)
La Machine . Vamos A La Playa (Radiomix)
Die Sexual . House Of God
Carrellee . Morning Sun
Underviewer . Was Soll Ich Tun (Aiboforcen Remix)
Night In Athens . Words Unspoken
Neila Invo . Alienation
Skeletal Family . My Own Redemption
The Murder Mystery . A Girl Named Red
Princess Ugly . For A Moment I Forgot The Desolation
Instant Lake . Ivory Dreams
Vision Video . Balaclava Kiss
La Scaltra . Dancing On Debris

Aiboforcen interview: ‘Transcending boundaries between noise and silence…’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 07:28:41 +0000

The iconic Belgian dark electro/future pop act Aiboforcen recently returned with their 7th studio album, “Between Noise & Silence”. Led by Benoit Blanchart and featuring the enigmatic Patrice Synthea (REGENERATOR), this album merges melancholic dark synth/EBM anthems with thrilling collaborations! Notable appearances include EBM/industrial legends like Patrick Codenys of FRONT 242, POUPPEE FABRIKK & IMPLANT (in a duet), and NUMB. The album also features outstanding female vocalists from the pop wave scene, such as Mari Kattman (HELIX), Noemi Aurora (HELALYN FLOWERS), Emke (BLACK NAIL CABARET), and SORROW STORIES… Without forgetting the splendid collaboration with Jan Dieckmann of NORDERNEY who sings on several songs and strongly contributes to crafting the album’s magic through moving lyrics, catchy dark pop melodies, and upbeat EBM sequences that often evoke the melodic and emotional depth of VNV NATION! Benoit gave us more insights on his new album…

You can order the new album now on Bandcamp as download and on 2CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore. Note that the 3CD version was sold out immediately.

Between Noise & Silence (Bandcamp Version) by AIBOFORCEN

S. “Between Noise & Silence” is your 7th studio album and features an impressive 22 tracks. Can you share the journey of creating such a substantial body of work, and what inspired the album’s title?

B. I started working slowly on what would become this new album during the covid period. Like many bands, those very special times allowed me to concentrate and spend much mor time in the studio creating new sequences and sounds. After a few months, what was started with no clear objective became to take shape and I started gathering several demo tracks thinking I could use them for an EP or album. It was a very creative period and also (hopefully for me) the opportunity to learn/improve a bit more the mixing and production side of the aïboforcen sound… I thus also started thinking about the right vocalist for each track. The title track “between noise & silence” is actually a sentence coming from a demo track that Tina from SORROW STORIES was working on for me… it became the title for the track but also for the album. It’s a bit of a special track (a bit more complex) that I really wanted to be on the album but couldn’t find the right vocalist for it… Then Tina did a test and she nailed it down!! 😊 It also has a double meaning because since I’m not considering myself as a musician what I create in a studio probably lies in the grey area between noise and silence! 😉

S. On this album it seems that Patrice Synthea and Jan D. play a key role as vocalists? Tell us more about these collaborations?

B. Well, Patrice (REGENERATOR) has been the main vocalist with aïboforcen for quite a long time now and she helped creating some kind of a trademark for us. But I’m always interested in working for certain tracks with other vocalists, either male or female. Of course it can break a bit the cohesion of the album but for me it’s more like trying to avoid the monotony of the album. I see/hear the different voices as new instruments I can play with, and it can totally change the result of the tracks. I also appreciate the fact that I can offer a broader pallet of sounds and emotions. I was introduced to Jan while working on a remix for our label mates of ELEKTROSTAUB. I knew a bit of his project NORDERNEY that I also appreciated a lot and I thought he would be the right vocalist for a track I was working on at the time. I sent him a demo and after a few days he came up with something really brilliant for me. I was so pleased with the result that I asked him to do a second track and the result turned out to be even better… He has such an emotional voice that it really adds another dimension to the song and brings them to a next level. After a while we started swapping ideas but also sequences and sounds and he eventually became more and more involved in the whole process. He helped me a lot giving advises and also programmed several synth lines, what was totally new and unusual for me… it was surprising, challenging and it contributed in creating a more mature and developed sound. In the end he helped for a great bunch of the album in various forms… Therefore the album is also much more balanced between male and female vocals. He also made a duet with Patrice on the track “everything” and I’m pretty sure that it’s something we should try again in the future…

S. The album indeed boasts collaborations with a variety of other artists too, from EBM/industrial legends to outstanding female vocalists. How did these collaborations come about, and what unique contributions did each guest artist bring to the album specifically?

B. As I said, when a demo is finished I try to think about what would be the right vocalist and what it would add to the sound of it. Of course there are some people/singer I would dream of having on the album but sometimes I have to stick to reality. My choice is influenced by the music I listen to, people I met through remixing, bands I know and so on… I’ve been blessed in the past working with great artists such as Jean-Luc from FRONT 242 and this album also gathers some legend from the scene such as Henrikk from POUPPEE FABRIKK or yet Don Gordon from NUMB who both helped me deliver the most aggressive cuts from the album. Tina from SORROW STORIES was also really involved in the process, contributing to several tracks that we can find both on the EP and the album but also on the special 8cm cd available with the limited edition. I had met her through a remix I had done for PSY’AVIAH actually and I had been mesmerized by her rather delicate and otherworldly vocals. She is also a very passionate and nice person, and meeting and exchanging with people is another aspect of collaborating on tracks. Then there is also Noemi Aurora who helped us with her very characteristic and powerful voice and it helped adding the extra touch to “cycle of life” and “heaven knows” you can find on the album. It was a pleasure working with her and she’s a professional and also involved and more than passionate with music… Also doing a track with Emese from BLACK NAIL CABARET was really an honor for me. She has one of the most distinctive voice from the scene at the moment and the result is a very captivating cut with upbeat sequences. I really hope listeners will like this track as much as I do…

Mari Kattman also lends her voice on the opening track as well as on a remix of “In My Arms” (a track from the previous album) and she also has a very distinctive and beautiful voice. Last but not least I also worked with Len from Implant since he is a long time friend of us and I was glad to have him back in one form or another. With the lyrics of the track he did evoke, it’s like a celebration of a long-time relationship between us (including also Seba, Bernard, Stephan) and how it was when we started this all as students (the magazine, the label, the bands, the gigs).

Patrice Synthea

S. Your sound is often compared to iconic acts like VNV NATION, FRONT 242 or yet COVENANT. How do you approach honoring these influences while still maintaining your own distinct identity as AIBOFORCEN? “Between Noise & Silence” seamlessly weaves between oppressive industrial assaults and catchy synth-pop tunes. Can you discuss the creative process behind balancing these contrasting elements to create a cohesive listening experience?

B. Well, it’s sure that I’ve been listening to those bands a lot (one of my first vinyl was 242’s politics of pressure, along with Kraftwerk radioactivity’s 7”) but I am also influenced by other acts from inside and outside the scene. I listen to a lot of music from the EBM but also to darkwave, gothic, experimental, industrial or yet metal… All this is ingested and some parts/influences appear here and there in my music. Also I hope that with time I manage to create a bit of my own distinctive sound and style.

As far as VNV NATION is concerned, I have to admit that Ronan has a deep sense for great melodies and a very emotional voice and is an example of what soulful music is. So if we sound a bit like this it’s a good point for us! 😊 Remember he remixed one of our track at our respective very beginning! But I always try to balance catchier tracks/tunes with a rougher sound and more complex structures or experimentations. For me it’s kind of logical and it can create a cohesion because some sounds, fx, way of treating things are the same and reflects the different side of one same “machine”. Also I tend to focus on recording an album with highs and lows rather than a succession of single tracks… so this new album (especially the first disc) needs to be explored and listened as a whole, with the tracks kind of merging one into another. I spent hours / days / months working on sometimes very little details of mixing, samples, eq’s to find the best result I could. I like it when it takes several listening to really get all the details included in the tracks and hopefully surprise the listeners…

S. One of the tracks on the album is a cover of DEATH IN JUNE’s “Break The Black Ice.” What drew you to reinterpret this particular song, and how did you make it your own while staying true to the original?

B. We’ve always tried to include at least one cover song on any of our releases, either for fun or to show where our roots are… I was introduced to DEATH IN JUNE’s music more than thirty years ago and the album “The World That Summer” from 1986 has always been a favorite of mine. “Break the black ice” was an obvious choice because it is a rather simple, dark but catchy song, kind of desperate also and I really liked the version sung by Rose McDowall which is a fragile and delicate dark cut. I thought that Patrice could do it as well and recorded a demo. The first version was really slower and darker than the one on the album. We will feature it on a compilation from our label later this year actually. The final version has a stronger beat and an aggressive lead sound while the original one is softer. Both Patrice and I liked the version very much and what was a the beginning more like a “b-side” became one of the main important track from the album… I hope fans of DEATH IN JUNE and AIBOFORCEN will be pleased by this tribute… the structure is rather close to the original version from DEATH IN JUNE but of course it’s 100% electronics and there are some distortions here and there… 😊

S. The album is described as a high-tension dark elektro masterpiece. How did you approach crafting the sound production to achieve this level of intensity and maturity?

B. I always spend a long time editing, changing, mixing, adding details and I hope it can be reflected in the overall sound of the album. I never intend to choose the easiest way while producing the music and I hope I raised the level a bit more on this new release. I spent much more time on the vocals (cutting, eq’s , volumes, …) than on any other previous releases; there are lot of movie samples (hidden or not), lots of different synths and fx… I can sometimes leave a track for one month and then come back with new ideas and Jan also helped me developing as much as possible this new sound which is probably more focused than before. It still goes into any directions but with a common thread and overall atmosphere throughout the numerous tracks. It was exhausting (especially at the end) but it was worth (at least personally) and I really hope our fans will like it…

S. How important is the visual aspect of your music, and what role does it play in enhancing the overall experience for listeners?

B. It is important, not as much as the music, but it sets the tone for the whole album. We always tried to have eye-catching sleeve or at least mysterious ones that will give the envy to enter into the universe of aïboforcen… When I was a kid, I used to go to a place where you could rent vinyls and I would sometimes rent releases just because the sleeve would attract me in a way or another. On this release we obviously used AI to create the graphics but it was intended and assumed. It was our easiest way to express and get the closest to the images we had in mind while creating the music. And since our music relies on techniques, processors, synthetic soundscapes, it makes sense…

S. Lastly, the first 50 orders from the official Alfa Matrix e-shop received a signed version with an exclusive bonus mini-CD. Can you tell us more about the significance of this bonus content and what fans can expect from these exclusive tracks?

B. When the album was completed and sent to the mastering, I noticed that there were a few tracks left without vocals that couldn’t make it on the album but were a good insight of what it’s like being in the studio and working on new tracks. It is more like demo’s but also I had the feeling that they could stand on their own and give another view on our music. The first of those 4 tracks is called “eliza effect” and is a brand new one that maybe will give some infos of how the future sound of aïboforcen will be (or not). The track “pulsions” (with vocals by Tina from SORROW STORIES) arrived too late in the process of the album but was good enough as well. In the end it gives the opportunity to the die-hard fans to have some extra tracks (unreleased) and have a bit more “intimacy” with the band…

Mari Kattman releases ‘URGOD.AI’ 2-track single – Out now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 13:05:46 +0000

Out now is the new single from Cop International signee Mari Kattman called “URGOD.AI”. “URGOD.AI” comes backed by the B-side “Lower Yourself”.

Mari Kattman has been self-recording, writing, composing, and live performing music since 2012. Currently, she operates under the Mari Kattman name as a solo artist and worked with Tom Shear, of Assemblage 23, on a project called Helix.

She has been collaborating with such artists as Mesh, Ivardensphere, Jean-Marc Lederman, Psy’Aviah, Aesthetiche, Neuroticfish BlackCarBurning, Cassetter, This Morn Omina, Solitary Experiments, Mephisto Walz, Aiboforcen, Interface and Comaduster. She also has worked on many other label releases including ones for Metropolis Records, Alfa Matrix, FiXT and will release her solo work on COP International.

You can check out the new 2-track single below.

URGOD.AI by Mari Kattman

Alfa Matrix unleashes new free massive download compilation – Dominates industrial Bandcamp charts overnight!

Eldrina Mich — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 12:28:25 +0000

Alfa Matrix, the renowned Belgian label, commemorates its 22nd anniversary with yet another mastodont compilation on Bandcamp. The latest installment in the acclaimed “Matrix Downloaded” series, titled “Matrix+ Downloaded 011”, is now available as a free download on their Bandcamp page. Packed with 60 tracks, including new signings and a preview of the upcoming Spleen+ label releases, this compilation showcases Alfa Matrix’s diverse music repertoire.

“Matrix+ Downloaded 011” soared to the top of the industrial Bandcamp charts within hours of its release, claiming the coveted number 1 position.

The collection holds 60 tracks in total including several new signings. These are the bands present on this brand new free download compilation: Hanging Freud, The Ultimate Dreamers, The Breath Of Life, Psy’Aviah Feat. Sorrow Stories, ImJudas, Star Industry, Halo In Reverse, Lovelorn Dolls, The True Union, Freakangel, Avarice In Audio, Siva Six, Alien Vampires, Synapsyche, Helalyn Flowers, Neuroactive, Elektrostaub Feat. Stefan Netschio, Technoir, Entrzelle, Llumen, Noemi Aurora, Aiboforcen Feat. Jan D., Reichsfeind, Mondträume Feat. N-Frequency, The Psychic Force, Digital Factor, Implant, Darkness On Demand, Aesthetische, Komor Kommando Vs. The True Union, Matthew Creed, C-Lekktor, First Aid Tech, Pouppee Fabrikk, ELM, Die Robo Sapiens, Plastic Noise Experience, Armageddon Dildos, Stahlgeist, AD:keY, Kant Kino, Suicidal Romance, Miseria Ultima, First Aid 4 Souls, Neikka RPM, Circumpolar, Venal Flesh, Helle9, Diffuzion, Acylum, Circuito Cerrado, Aengeldust, Studio-X, 808 Dot Pop, Cubic, Metroland, Rector Scanner, Elektroklänge, Cosmic Armchair, Lights A.M.

You can download “Matrix+ Downloaded 011” for free via Bandcamp.

Matrix+ Downloaded 011 by Various Artists

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.

Belgian goth / coldwave act The Breath Of Life signs to Spleen+, announces new album and immediately releases a download EP

Eldrina Mich — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 12:08:19 +0000

The Breath of Life was formed in 1985 and the band immediately stood out thanks to a creative originality, as a result they are the best known cold wave gothic rock band from Belgium. The band has now signed to the brand new post-punk label Spleen+ (division of Alfa Matrix) where they will be releasing their 11th album.

A first excerpt in the format of a 3-track EP is out now via Bandcamp (and all other platforms): “Down We Go”. The EP evokes good old ethereal moments from the 4AD cult years merged with their classic darkwave roots. Also added to this 3-track release is the band’s take on The Cure’s “The Lovecats” which got turned into a much darker version. As 3rd track you get a more electronic song which is their very own reinterpretation of Implant’s “The Last Record” featuring Len Lemeire himself on backing vocals.

Down We Go EP by THE BREATH OF LIFE

Anno 2023, The Breath Of Life are Isabelle Dekeyser (vocals), Philippe Mauroy (guitar, drums programming), Giovanni Bortolin (violin, keyboards), Didier Czepczyk (bass).

Below is the video for “The Lovecats”.

About The Breath Of Life

The group was formed in 1985 in Gembloux when Isabelle Dekeyser (vocals), Philippe Mauroy (guitar), and Benoît Sokay (bass) first met. In 1990, with the addition of Giovanni Bortolin (keyboards & violin – formerly of Jo Lemaire + Flouze) and the decision to incorporate a drum machine, the group independently produced a 10-track cassette. In 1991, the band embarked on a tour in Czechoslovakia, followed by another tour the following year, which is reflected in their debut CD “Live in Praha 92”.

That same year, they released their first studio album “Painful Insanity,” recorded by Gilles Martin, a renowned producer of Coldwave (Minimal Compact, Tuxedomoon, Anna Domino, Colin Newman, Malaria, The Names, Indochine). 1993 marked their breakthrough with the release of “Taste of Sorrow,” also produced by Martin, featuring the title track “Nasty Cloud,” which became a gothic classic.

In 1995, the band released “Lost Children,” showcasing a more ethereal wave style. They subsequently signed with Hall of Sermon for their next album, “Sweet Party,” which came out in 1997 and marked a shift towards a more pop and electronic sound. In 2000, they released “Silver Drops,” once again with Martin at the mixing desk. The album combined melancholic pop with elements of trip hop. Shortly after, Mauroy departed the band, and Didier Czepczyk took over on guitars.

With the albums “Everlasting Souls” (2005) and “Whispering Fields” (2012), the band returned to their gothic roots and introduced a real drummer, Marc Haerden. Benoît Sokay, the bassist since the band’s inception, left in 2014, and in January 2015, Philippe Mauroy rejoined the band, almost 15 years after his departure.

In May 2017, the album “Under The Falling Stars” was released, marking the return of Gilles Martin as the producer. In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and while Belgium was still under lockdown, the band decided to record their 10th album. Each member recorded their respective parts at home and shared the files using WeTransfer. However, when COVID-19 restrictions allowed, two band members traveled to France and met with Gilles Martin for the final mixing process. The resulting album, titled “Spark Around Us,” was released in November 2020.

During the lockdown in Belgium, the band recorded three cover songs: “Winning” by The Sound, “Ashes To Ashes” by David Bowie, and “Inner Station” by Minimal Compact. These covers were exclusively released on Bandcamp. In 2022, they were approached by the Belgian record label Alfa Matrix for various compilation projects. The band was asked to cover a song from the Belgian electro project Implant, a song from the electro-pop band Psy’Aviah, and a song from the Italian project Imjudas.

As one thing led to another, the band was soon approached to join Alfa Matrix’s post-punk sublabel, Spleen+.

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.

Healing EP by PSY’AVIAH feat. SORROW STORIES

Belgian dark pop act Psy’Aviah collaborates with Sorrow Stories’ Tina Forlorn on ‘Healing’ EP – Out now on Bandcamp

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 11:58:24 +0000

The Belgian dark pop act Psy’Aviah is now closing the “Bittersweet” album chapter in beauty with a collaboration with Tina Forlorn of Sorrow Stories. The new EP is called “Healing”, is available now in an exclusive format on Bandcamp and is one of the most representative songs from the band’s conceptual album “Bittersweet “.

For the occasion of this new EP release, both Yves Schelpe and Tina Forlorn recorded together an exclusive bonus song: “Heaven Is Not Enough”.

Yves Schelpe explains: “‘Heaven Is Not Enough’ mixes metaphorical lyrics, sorrowful atmospheres with more upbeat dark electronics. In the song we played with double meanings and questioning whether dreaming of death to feel alive makes any sense when ‘Heaven is not enough’ and might be your new Hell… a sort of beginning of the finale in a place where there is no conclusion because you need to recreate yourself altogether.”

On the new 15-track strong EP we find remixes from such bands as Aesthetische, People Theatre, Aiboforcen, Eric C. Powell, Eva X, Natures Of Wires, Enemy Infestation, 13th Angel and 11Grams.

Note that the Bandcamp release includes an exclusive booklet with lyrics plus 2 bonus remixes by Lectreau (Passenger A from Metroland) and Dynalectric Orchestra.

V/A Anthologies 3 (Album – Je M’En Fish)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 08:00:00 +0000

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

Format: Vinyl.

Background/Info: This is the third “Anthologies”-compilation released by Brussels (Belgium) based label Je M’n Fish. Nine formations have been selected.

Artists: Dirk Da Davo, Your Life On Hold, The Breath Of Life, This Vale Of Tears, NU:N, Implant, Psy’Aviah, The Neon Judgement, Mirland.

Content: Seven Belgian bands plus one from Portugal and another one from Denmark have been featured. The compilation is mainly featuring ‘familiar’ artists from the Brussels label while the music genres they’re dealing with are mainly driven by Dark/Cold-Wave influences but still by Electronic and Minimal-Electronic elements.

+ + + : I truly respect and support this small Belgian label which is mainly releasing vinyl productions. This compilation reveals a diversified tracklist mixing familiar artists together with a legendary name like The Neon Judgement. I like the “Early Tapes Version – Remastered” of Neon Judgement’s great “Sister Sue” but I also recommend Dirk Da Davo and his very American-sounding “King Of Fools”, the dreamy Dark-Wave “The Dark Side” by The Breath Of Life and the Minimal-Electro sound of “Wolf Among Sheep” by Mirland.

– – – : No absolute hits featured.

Conclusion: This vinyl is a perfect opportunity to discover the open-minded sound canvas of Je M’En Fish.

Best bands: The Neon Judgement, Dirk Da Davo, Mirland, The Breath Of Life, NU:N.

Rate: 7½.

Label: www.facebook.com/JemenfishBE

About Je m’en Fish

Je m’en Fish is a Brussels-based label, collective and promoter releasing primarily on vinyl within the Dark-Wave, Cold-Wave and Minimal-Electro sphere. “Anthologies 3”, released 31 October 2022, is the label’s third compilation LP, gathering seven Belgian acts alongside one Portuguese and one Danish formation, including an “Early Tapes Version – Remastered” of The Neon Judgement’s “Sister Sue”.

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.

Alfa Matrix launches brand new post-punk recordlabel: Spleen+

Eldrina Mich — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 13:48:56 +0000

The post-punk scene has a new recordlabel with Alfa Matrix launching a sublabel created to accomodate this specific genre and its varieties including coldwave or even minimal synth. Called Spleen+ you can already find 2 bands signed to it, the Belgian post-punk act The Ultimate Dreamers, who launched their label debut with the EP “Polarized”, and the Italian new wave act ImJudas who presents 2 new EPs, “People Of The Blame” and “So Untrue”.

We sat together with Seba Dolimont who is the A&R behind Spleen+ (and Alfa Matrix).

SL: Congratulations Seba with the new endeavour. Why start a side label next to Alfa Matrix?

SD: Since 2001, Alfa Matrix has been showing a quite eclectic approach of our music repertoire and label artist roster. We release EBM music from FRONT 242, POUPPEE FABRIKK, ELM or DIE ROBO SAPIENS, but also harsh dark elektro with ALIEN VAMPIRES, ACYLUM or C-LEKKTOR, minimal vintage synth with METROLAND, future pop with REICHSFEIND, NEUROACTIVE, MONDTRÄUME, BRUDERSCHAFT… Modern avantgarde electro with RECOIL, IMPLANT, KOMOR KOMMANDO, PSY’AVIAH or yet CUBIC! But also without forgetting our darker acts merging industrial with goth darkwave guitars like STAR INDUSTRY, HELALYN FLOWERS or FREAKANGEL.

We have been toying with this idea for this Spleen+ division for many months. It’s not something that comes out on the spur of the moment, you need to prepare such additional activity within our whole Alfa Matrix Label Group concept. We have been following and enjoying this continuous resurgence of the cold wave / post punk / minimal synth scene for some time. We also noticed that new sub-scene walls started emerging from the ground where the fans do not look much over the walls. Dedicated events and festivals get organised. Dedicated blogs, playlists, etc. start gathering more and more dark souls… So the idea from our side is to simply contribute to this movement offering it some structured and more targeted approach cos there are so many talented artists out there in need of support in their DIY efforts. This focused approach should allow us better supporting artists playing this kind of sound and reaching out to a boiling sub-scene, enlarging our scope of activities and bringing complementary fanbases together because eclecticism remains a core value for our work… And this without bringing us too far away from our roots cos the label team is made of 3 friends born in the early 70’s who were fed on JOY DIVISION, THE CURE, SIOUXSIE, SISTERS OF MERCY and other GHOST DANCE, X-MAL DEUTSCHLAND and SKELETAL FAMILY and not only on 80’s synth pop and the Belgian Electronic Body Music movement!

SL: What (new) signings can we expect?

SD: The very active Belgian act THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS is our first new signing in the genre (see the number of concerts they already played this year only! They are amazing! Their new album comes out in March…) while some current Alfa Matrix artists are potential candidates for a next release on Spleen+ including IMJUDAS or yet STAR INDUSTRY for example. Together with Frédéric Cotton (known for decades of activities as concert & party promotor in Brussels behind the famous “Fantastique Nights” but also as lead singer of THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS) we will also release this year a mega compilation devoted to the cold wave/post punk genre showing how prolific this scene can be anno 2023! We are working on it as we speak…

Since the announcement of this new label division, I am also quite happy and positively surprised by the number of proactive connections we got from very great bands who showed interest in working with us. That’s really exciting. Of course some of them are cool Belgian bands, some being living legends, cos it’s always easier collaborating with a local label speaking your language, but we are also in contact with artists from the UK, Italy, South America, etc. Nothing I want to reveal yet, but we will do this on due time. Keep an eye on our pages at https://www.facebook.com/spleen.plus and https://spleenplus.bandcamp.com . A website will follow soon as well.

SL: Will this also mean extra vinyl releases?

SD: The vinyl format is part of the equation on today’s music market. A portion of music fans who are collecting physical products do prefer the vinyl format but not all of them. So already with Alfa Matrix we have been issuing vinyls for some time for selected bands with own fanclubs and/or who are touring a lot. The vinyl format is also very appropriate to the cold wave/post punk genre that is uniting past, present and future. So my answer is a big YES. Absolutely!

Below are the first releases from the brand new label:

Polarized EP by The Ultimate Dreamers

People Of The Blame EP by ImJudas

So Untrue EP by ImJudas

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.

Mondträume singer Madil Hardis announces special solo charity EP, ‘Noel’, feat. 3 Christmas classics

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 18:46:08 +0000

London based musician Madil Hardis combines classical and electronic elements with ethereal vocals. It got her invited as guest vocalist for Psy’Aviah (“Lost at sea”) and several Ashbury Heights’ singles. She also recently joined Mondträume’s lineup as one of their new singers.

She now has recorded the 3-track EP “Noel” holding 3 Christmas classics. The classics included are: “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, “White Christmas”, and “O Heiland reiß die Himmel auf”. The EP is being released in support of the homelessness charity St Mungo’s who run a range of hostels and projects to help homeless people rebuild their lives.

Note that she also has a new solo album in the making for 2023, “Natural darkness”.

You can pre-save the single here. Here’s the artwork for the new EP.

Junksista – 0A (Album – COP International)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 08:00:00 +0000

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: German duo Diana and Boog aka Junksista are back unleashing their fifth full length album. It also is their first album released by COP International. “0A” features ten songs and an impressive list of guest singers. Yvette Winkler (Vaselyne), Lis van den Akker (Psy’Aviah, Die Krupps, Grendel), Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Maria (Omnimar) and Emke (Black Nail Cabaret) got invited to sing on a few cuts.

Content: Time has passed but Junksista held on to their initial sound approach revealing a kind of ‘evil-punk-pop’ style. The songs are driven by electronics and empowered by guitar playing. The work is pretty diversified and accentuated by the different contributors. Now danceable and carried by Trance leads and then cold and groovy the album also reveals darker and colder passages.

+ + + : Junksista hasn’t lost their ‘anarchistic’ sound approach. It’s not a coincidence they sometimes call it ‘dirty-pop’ as it clearly sounds atypical; not classical Electro-Pop but with a sharp Punk touch on top. I especially recommend the last track “Fuck Your Pretty Face” which also is one of the hardest and darkest cuts but still a cut with menacing guitar play and hot female vocals. Other highlights are the opening song “Phoenix” and “Fragile” featuring Maria Mar (Omnimar).

– – – : The songs with guest singers unfortunately aren’t the most convincing ones although they for sure make this work really exciting. Junksista remains faithful to their initial sound formula although the early magic is a bit gone.

Conclusion: Junksista is Pop music for tough people.

Best songs: “Fuck Your Pretty Face”, “Phoenix”, “Fragile featuring Maria Mar”, “Do you Wanna feat. Emke”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Junksista

Label: www.facebook.com/copint

0A by Junksista

About Junksista

Junksista is a German duo formed by Diana Noir and Boog, working in an electro-pop and punk-pop register. “0A” is their fifth full-length album and their first release through COP International, issued on October 7, 2022 with ten songs written and produced by the duo themselves. The album features guest vocals from Yvette Winkler (Vaselyne), Lis van den Akker (Die Krupps, Grendel, Psy’Aviah), Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Maria Mar (Omnimar) and Emke (Black Nail Cabaret).

Belgian dark electro pop act Psy’Aviah launches all new EP feat. Marieke Lightband: ‘My Secrets’

Eldrina Mich — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 17:24:06 +0000

Out now is an all new 8-track EO by the Belgian dark electro pop act Psy’Aviah. On this new EP Yves Schelpe has put his live vocalist (and partner in crime for the last few albums) Marieke Lightband in the spotlight.

“My Secret” was co-written with Lightband and describes the perception duality she herself experienced when she suffered from a burnout and where the girl she pretended to be in front of others had nothing to do with the “real her” in the bathroom mirror.

“We all have our secrets and there is always a point in time we need and want to share them,” she says.

The track is originally taken from the “Bittersweet” album. Besides the exclusive radio edit of the song, the EP features additional exclusive bonus remixes by Rob Dust, Entrzelle, Junksista, Digital Factor and Rool. The EP is at the moment exclusively available via Bandcamp with other platforms to follow in the next two weeks.

My Secrets EP (feat. Marieke Lightband) by PSY'AVIAH

Check the official music video for “My Secrets”.

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.

New pressing for Front 242’s ‘rewind’ 12″ vinyl in a yellow colour

Eldrina Mich — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 10:14:52 +0000

Alfa Matrix and Front 242 have decided to do a new pressing for the “Rewind” 12″ vinyl in a different colour after the initial pressing (in blue colour) sold out in just a few hours. The label hopes to have the pressing in stock by early December although they add that “manufacturing delays are very unstable (and) we will let you all know as soon as an availability date gets confirmed.”

You can order the new pressing on yellow vinyl right here from Alfa Matrix.

The release was initially bound to be an exclusive double-celebration anniversary release for the Alfa Matrix label’s 20th birthday and Front 242’s 40th anniversary but history decided otherwise as we all know by now.

The 4-track 12-inch solid yellow color vinyl again features the flashy yellow / blue artwork design of Etienne Auger featuring 4 remixes by Terence Fixmer, The Hacker, Radical G and Kant Kino revisiting the tracks “No Shuffle”, “Don’t Crash” and “Take One”.

The 50 (fifty!) first orders from the official Alfa Matrix e-shop which also include at least one additional release from the list of CD’s/Vinyls below will receive 2 exclusive numbered vintage Front 242 band pix printed in A4 size on 170 gr silk coated paper (only one per package shipped ).

Below are the CDs to choose from:

Psy’aviah – Bittersweet 2CD Box
Imjudas – Yrjudas 2CD Box
First Aid 4 Souls – I Am The Night CD
Entrzelle – Dust On A Razorblade CD
Reichsfeind – Darken CD
Metroland – 4 (Transparent Crystal) 12″ Colour Vinyl
Metroland – 4 (Solid Red) 12″ Colour Vinyl
Alien Vampires – Kinky To Hell Lp Vinyl
Pouppee Fabrikk – The Dirt Lp Vinyl
Avarice In Audio – Our Idols Are Filth CD

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.

Psy’Aviah revisits 2011 hit ‘OK’ on ‘Is Everything Going OK?’ EP + all new video

Eldrina Mich — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 17:10:53 +0000

(Photo by Gwenny Cooman of GNY Photography) On the recent “Bittersweet” album, the Belgian act Psy’Aviah revisited two of their biggest hit songs: “Tired” and “Ok”. Alfa Matrix now releases a new video clip and extended EP for the classic Psy’Aviah track, “OK”.

Originally released back in 2011, the new 2022 version features new vocal melodies sung by Huong Su with additional guitars and carrying violins by Irina Markevich turning the song into a more triphop / indie pop tune.

Yves Schelpe explains the meaning behind the track: “‘Ok’ questions the depth of that social question we use at almost every human encounter asking mechanically ‘how are you?’, expecting ‘Ok’ as automatic answer without really paying attention nor trying to find out what truth really lurks behind this or considering being empathic… ‘Everything is going Ok’ being nothing but a window-dressing expression, some kind of emotional mask.”

The essence of the tongue-in-cheek message of this song was translated into a slow-motion video clip, the result of Yves Schelpe’s collaboration with actress Gwendolin Harissa Van Jole and Gwenny Cooman of GNY Photography.

On the EP you get the new version of “Ok” with no less than 12 bonus remixes from all kinds of music genres from industrial-electro to pure club trance, to synthpop & Italo-disco inspired versions, to ambient and even old school jungle breakbeats. “It is a reflection of listening to other influences as well – so it ties nicely into the narrative of “Ok” and listening further…” explains Yves Schelpe.

You can download the EP right now from Bandcamp with other platforms to follow in the next weeks.

Is Everything Going OK? EP by PSY’AVIAH

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.

Entrzelle – Dust On A Razorblade (Album – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Experimental.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: American project Entrzelle strikes back with a new work which is also the first new album since 2016. The opus features twelve songs plus four remixes.

The gap was bridged by the EP “Feeling Heavy These Days”, released on Alfa Matrix in 2021 and announcing this album.

Content: The global approach in sound and production remains in the line of the previous album “Total Progressive Collapse”. There’s a sophisticated side with an IDM touch on top. These songs are danceable. And there’s a ‘softer’ side which even sounds like ‘electro-slow dance’. Remixes have been done by Psy’Aviah, Reichsfeind, Elektrostaub, and Simon Carter.

+ + + : I especially like the hardest side of the album which reveals all the intelligence of the project. It stands for Electro-Pop but injected by influences of Clock DVA, Haujobb ao. The title track is an absolute masterpiece and even the best cut I’ve heard from this project. I also like the icy, transcendental, approach running through “Everyday Criminal”. Among the remixes I especially recommend the ones by Reichsfeind and Simon Carter.

– – – : The ‘softest’ cuts are ruining all the good aspects of the work and especially the production of the vocals is too bad here.

Conclusion: I have mixed feelings listening to this album which is mixing great parts and forgettable passages.

Best songs: “Dust On A Razorblade”, “Everyday Criminal”, “Tax On Modern Life”, “Everyday Criminal – Reichsfeind Remix”, “Everyday Criminal – Simon Carter Remix”.

Rate: 6½.

Artist: www.entrzelle.com / www.facebook.com/entrzelle

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Dust On A Razorblade’.

About Entrzelle

Entrzelle is the electropop and noire futurepop project of American musician David Chamberlin, based in Los Angeles, California. Discogs also lists Malice Vext as a member. The project mixes upbeat electro sequences with noisy synth pop melodies and an IDM edge.

Chamberlin self-released the album “Part Of The Movement” on his Entrzelle Music imprint in 2012, followed by the singles “Biotic Shift” and “Outlive” in 2013. He signed to the Belgian label Alfa Matrix, debuting on the free compilation “Face The Beat: Session 2” in June 2015 and issuing the download EP “Set These Walls On Fire” the same month, alongside a re-release of the 2012 album with extras.

The Alfa Matrix debut album “Total Progressive Collapse” arrived in 2016. Chamberlin also worked outside his own project, remixing for llumen on the 2021 EP “The Dark In Her Eyes” and appearing on several Alfa Matrix label compilations. The EP “Feeling Heavy These Days” followed in 2021 and “Dust On A Razorblade” in 2022, released on Bandcamp and on CD through the Alfa Matrix webstore. Chamberlin described the record as an album “about hope and perseverance, letting go and moving on”.

Belgian dark pop act Psy’Aviah returns with an 18-track strong EP, ‘The Wildness In Me’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 08:55:13 +0000

Taken from “Bittersweet”, the newest album by the Belgian dark pop act Psy’Aviah, is the “The Wildness In Me” EP which highlights the more up-tempo electric pop side of the Belgian band. For this track (and the more trip-pop oriented B-side “The Book Of Life”) Yves Schelpe collaborated with female singer Eli Rho.

On remix duties we find a very versatile number of of bands offering remixes, radio and extended versions but also instrumental edits by such artists as Miss Suicide, 13th Angel, Cyborgdrive, Restriction 9, Cubic, Karl Roque, Outpost 11, Studio-X and many more. A full booklet is included as well for those who download it from Bandcamp.

You can check out the full EP below on Bandcamp (with other platforms to follow later on next month).

The Wildness In Me EP by PSY'AVIAH

And here is the video for the main track.

Mondträume – The Unknown Path (EP – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 07:00:00 +0000

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

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Mondträume strikes back with a new line-up. Singer Damasius Venys is no longer on board (he’s also busy with his solo-project Mental Exile) so Pikotto VonMond joined hands with Ivan Derbenev (Antilav, Himmash) and Madil Hardis (who already collaborated with Ashbury Heights, Psy’aviah ao).

Content: Sound-wise the work is still driven by dark and melancholic Dark-Pop vibes. The EP features 4 songs plus 3 remixes. Madil Hardis’ classically trained voice injects a dreamy, elevating effect to the work. Both singers also performed as a duo. Remixes have been accomplished by Ruined Conflict, Elektrostaub and Aiboforcen.

+ + + : It’s not an easy thing and even a big challenge replacing Damasius Venys but the new vocalists did a great job. It however sounds like a new beginning for Mondträume and especially the female vocals are quite surprising. There’s something to say about each new track but I especially recommend “Something” for its danceable loops and kick plus “Loss” which is a refined and still danceable cut with a perfect match between male- and female vocals. Among the remixes I especially salute the great work of Ruined Conflict injecting an extra Future-Pop touch to “Something”. I also like the Aiboforcen remix of the same song.

– – – : The sound, melancholia and danceable vibes of Mondträume remain all intact but it’s not an easy thing to get used to hearing new singers. Damasius Venys definitely was the soul of this formation.

Conclusion: If you like to dance to melancholic songs you better play Mondträume.

Best songs: “Loss”, “Something – Ruined Conflict Remix”, “Something”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Mondtraeume

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘The Unknown Path’.

The Unknown Path EP by MONDTRÄUME

About Mondträume

Mondträume is a Spanish synth-pop project founded in 2010 by producer Pikotto VondMond, born Jose Ignacio Castaño Marquinez. Pikotto first worked with different vocalists and placed “Life Is Short” on the compilation “Extreme Sündenfall Vol. 10” before Damasius Venys joined in late 2011.

The project moved quickly into the Alfa Matrix orbit. “Life Is Short” was released in 2013, followed by the debut album “Empty” on 26 April 2014. The EP “Free” followed on 4 November 2016, and the second full-length album “Lovers, Sinners & Liars” arrived on 28 June 2019, preceded by the earlier “Still Beating” and “Free” singles.

The line-up changed again in 2022 when Venys left and Ivan Derbenev of Antilav and Himmash plus vocalist Madil Hardis entered, which is the configuration heard on the 7-track EP “The Unknown Path”, released by Alfa Matrix on 5 May 2022. By December 2023 Nicky Schulschenk of N-Frequency had become the vocalist, debuting with “Heart Machine”, and “Poisoned Love” followed in December 2024.

Electropop / noire futurepop act Entrzelle returns with ‘Dust On A Razorblade’ – check out the full album

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 14:41:27 +0000

US based electropop / noire futurepop artist David Chamberlin strikes back with the 3rd full length album by Entrzelle. The release is available now from Bandcamp and on CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore, and of course from all other digital music services.

David explains the concept: “The songs deal with subjects ranging from personal conflict to social commentary, from loss to euphoria. This is an album about hope and perseverance, letting go and moving on. Writing these songs has helped me in my own life, and I hope that listening to them can help someone else too.”

The experimentation on this album has been kept to a minimum, instead focusing on songwriting and production. The tone is darker and the songs are more direct. Expect a mix of upbeat electro sequences and addictive noisy synth pop melodies.

Next to the 12 new songs you also get 4 bonus remixes by label companions in the likes of Psy’Aviah, Reichsfeind, Elektrostaub and DJ Simon Carter. Advised for fans of Rotersand, Covenant, Seabound, Imperative Reaction, Aesthetic Perfection, VNV Nation, Etc.

Check out all the new tracks below plus the album teaser.

Dust On A Razorblade by ENTRZELLE

Here’s the videoteaser. Read the review of ‘Dust On A Razorblade’.

Mari Kattman interview regarding being featuring on newest Psy’Aviah EP ‘Can We Make It Rhyme’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 16 May 2022 11:38:30 +0000

Out now is Psy’aviah’s “Can We Make It Rhyme”, a 10-track EP featuring Mari Kattman on vocals. The release is right now available via Bandcamp exclusively.

“Can We Make It Rhyme” is taken from the band’s very recent “Bittersweet” album. As an exclusive B-side, Mari Kattman and Yves Schelpe chose to cover their Soft Cell favorite song “Monoculture”. This 10-track EP features remixes that offer a wide electronic spectrum, two trance dance-driven anthems by Omniks and Karl Roque, whilst the ‘retro club’ edit of “Monoculture” and the Assemblage 23 remix of “Can We Make It Rhyme” will be more for the synthpop dancefloor. The versions of 13th Angel and Jen Draven then again focus more on the song’s core soundpallet.

You can check out the full EP right below and download it from Bandcamp.

Can We Make It Rhyme (feat. Mari Kattman) EP by PSY’AVIAH

Yves Schelpe interviewed Mari Kattman for this release, you can read their conversation right below.

YS: ‘Can We Make It Rhyme’, can you tell your perspective on it when you had the demo and lyrics in your hands? And in what way did it convince you to say, yes I want to collaborate on this song?

MARI: I think the main thing that really made me want to participate in the track, was the meaning of the song that you provided to me. It’s always an honor to try and help make an artist’s vision come into focus, but even better when there is a great meaning behind the music. You also had a friend participating in the demo vocal reel and I loved his vocal style and the way he was reaching for the notes. It was a little different than I was used to but it really inspired me to want to take it to the next level, so I saw it as a challenge.

YS: I remember brainstorming about the music video for this one, and I thought, I need the emotions of Mari on screen for this one. Of course, budget wise, I can’t fly you over, or I can’t come to the US… But how do you feel the music video turned out with these ‘tritone’ colours? As it were your original recordings of yourself performing the song that triggered me making the music video in this colour a lot more, and make it moody, atmospherical, and leave it with an ‘open ending’…

MARI: I was really shocked that you were able to pull off an entire music video concept JUST from the red and blue lights I used to record my part. On top of having the lighting on hand, I thought maybe it was a cool analogy, red and blue together make one of the most beautiful colors of all. So “Can we make it rhyme” seemed like the blending of two different parts harmoniously. I think it was really clever that you moved my takes to the TV and smartphone shots. I also think its insanely cool that you could hire a company to make a music video that was so on point and beautifully shot. It seemed like a lot of planning and work so props to them and however many times they had to listen to the original track while filming.

YS: I knew you since the work of Day Twelve, which I even remixed for… I loved your voice instantly, and then I guess the first track we worked on was ‘Sacrifices’ and ‘Our Common End’. What are your memories on those, and what drew you in to collaborating with me on these tracks?

MARI: Honestly, back during that time, 2012 or so, I was just learning to record myself properly. In my surrounding area, I worked with a lot of musicians growing up who ended up finding other paths in life and abandoned their music projects. I was really having a dry spell finding committed people to work with. I knew I had to build myself on my own, with no help, which was really intimidating. So I started building this portfolio of work and just reaching out to people that I admired to see if they would be interested in working with me. I can’t remember how we connected. I was working with Aesthetische on a few tracks for their album Hybridcore and I think through the Alfa Matrix channels that’s how we started talking.

It was such a breath of fresh air to work with you on those songs and really feel what it’s like to work with other people who have committed their lives to their art and have a firm vision for the things they want to see culminate song by song. I never really had the privilege of that before in my life and I look back fondly on those times and being able to hear my voice placed in a space where it was valued and produced appropriately.

YS: You’ve been growing every year, collaborating with a lot of people – up to the point you were producing your own songs which I so love (e.g. the eat EP). Up to the point now that you are now signed on COP Int. – a huge deal, and something I was waiting for – when will she be signed somewhere as I love your productions! Can you tell us how that went, and how this feels for you?

MARI: Yeah, I mean, I think I have worked with nearly all of my heroes at this point (except for you Peter Heppner!) it’s an incredible place to be when you have broken bread with people who you intensely respect and look up to as far as work ethic and artistry. I feel really honored for the time I have gotten to spend learning from those experiences. There is really something about stepping into another person’s world and having to fit to their working style. None of the collaborators I have ever worked with, work the same and to be versatile because of that is a gift for me.

Signing with COP for my solo music is SUCH a new experience for me. I’ve worked with a lot of record labels in the past but I have never officially been on one alone. I love the fact that these releases are all me, for good or bad, if you hate it there really isn’t anyone to blame but me, but if you LOVE it, well then i’m doing my job. It’s sort of strange to think that I would ever get to this point, it’s a long way to come from 2012 in my room, figuring out how to connect an interface to a microphone and cueing up a DAW. It holds a lot of importance for me and I am so happy to have the support backing this next release up.

YS: Diving a bit deeper into the song ‘OBJECTIFIED’, I love it so much. The hypnotizing pad and arpeggio in the background, a very triphop / hiphop beat that evolves throughout the track. And behind it a very soulful voice telling a compelling story. What triggered you writing the lyrics, and how important is this one for you?”

MARI: Objectified has a pretty clear meaning. I wrote it one day when I was feeling pretty down about the state of how things are for women. Sometimes you don’t feel like you are anything but a piece of meat, and then a “better” piece of meat comes along and it’s all a very shallow state of mind. Women are held to an unfair standard, we are pinned up against one another and compared. We are told “Thats just how it is.” and “Thats just guys being guys.” but it’s exhausting, to be sexualized for everything you do. Oftentimes the sexualization takes the seriousness out of anything you are trying to put meaning into. Its soul shattering when you are trying to use your brain and your passion, knowing that there will always be an element of judgement that has to do with your level of attractiveness.

YS: Can you tell us something about your production process on your solo work, how does your studio look like, and what are your favourite tools in songwriting (both software, and techniques)?

MARI: It’s funny I always feel like my creative process is evolving but oftentimes these days its very organic, like, i’m driving in the car and I just hear this bassline or this melody, I pull out my phone and record myself humming along to whatever is happening in my brain. Then when I get home I rush to my studio desk, take out my midi keyboard and try and hash it out in my DAW. Right now I’m using Bitwig for all of my musical composition but I also love Logic when it comes to recording vocals. I wish that Bitwig and Logic could come together and tighten the audio recording aspect on the Bitwig end. Vocally, I took a course from Berklee on vocal production and now I’m all about panning my voice. It’s very normal for me to take about 5 vocal takes singing the same exact thing and panning them around the stereo field and one phantom center. It makes for a much bigger vocal sound.

Photo by GNY

Synth wise, I’ve really been focusing on writing synth parts/choosing sounds that don’t overshadow each other and that play nice on top of each other, its a really delicate balance that takes a lot of skill and time to really hear what is going on. Drum wise, it’s all about choosing interesting snares for me right now and layering foley sounds into the snare hits. As far as software goes, I’m really loving Spire and Vital right now, I just love the user interface on that. Vital wins the award for me for easy usability and for ease in tweaking sounds. As far as Plugins goes, I’m always always ALWAYS loving FreshAir for vocals, MondoMod for modulation and Wider for finding places in the mix that instruments can sit where they don’t step on each other.

YS: On the single of ‘Can We Make It Rhyme’ we decided to do a b-side as well, ‘Monoculture’. I was triggered to do this song mainly because of its lyrics and how it has a link almost to the ‘Can We Make It Rhyme’ lyrics in a sense – everyone thinking in blind vision, not open to other views and therefore getting stuck in tunnel vision. In that sense I pulled the cover version into the EP in this context – how do you feel about that, is this world to ‘monoculture’ in its thinking?

MARI: You know, being a person who is starting a new full time career, sometimes I do feel like the world is just one big hamster wheel and there is a lot of pressure to stay in line. It’s tough for creative people to live in a world like that, I often think it is a curse not to be able to do what you love all the time. We are all expected to walk the path that was laid out for us (school, 40 hour a week job, marriage, kids, retire) and you are damned if you want to walk a little different. You get up for work and you fall into bed at night with exhaustion and the days just blend. Its pretty gnarly! Keep us busy enough not to have the energy to care. I think Soft Cell was right on point and I am glad to have been a part of the cover.

YS: Can you lift the veil, give a sneak peek, or tell us something about the upcoming work you will have out on COP Int.?

MARI: My newest EP is out now on COP. It’s a two song EP with some great remixes. It is truly exciting to be showcasing my solo work again. I can’t wait for you to hear it!

Spanish electropop act Mondträume returns with an all new EP: ‘The Unknown Path’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 09 May 2022 13:06:06 +0000

Since 2010, the Spanish act Mondträume has been seducing the dark souls with their somber synth pop music with an edge. After two successful full length albums and several charting EP’s the band’s founding member Pikotto (aka Jose Ignacio Castaño Marquinez) returns with the new 7-track EP “The Unknown Path”.

You will discover a brand new line-up including the new band members Ivan Derbenev (Antilav, Himmash) and Madil Hardis (who also recently collaborated with Ashbury Heights, Psy’Aviah, etc.). The EP holds 4 new songs plus 3 remixes by Ruined Conflict, Aiboforcen and Elektrostaub.

The EP is available for immediate download via Bandcamp with other platforms to ofllow in the next few weeks.

The Unknown Path EP by MONDTRÄUME

Here’s the video trailer for the new EP. Read the review of ‘The Unknown Path’.

Digital Factor – What? (EP – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 30 Apr 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: The last year released album “A Chemical Process” was the comeback of German EBM project Digital Factor. Mike Langer is now back on track unleashing three new songs plus three remixes from label mates.

Content: All songs are perfect stuff for an EP -or single. Two cuts are mixing Electro-Pop and EBM while “Sometimes We Are A Little Bit Closer” is pure EBM adrenaline carried by solid bass line à la Pouppée Fabrikk. All songs have been remixed by Psy’Aviah, Cubic and Neikka RPM.

+ + + : The title song opening the EP plus the EBM driven “Sometimes We Are A Little Bit Closer” both are great pieces reminding us of the great writing skills of this project. “What?” sounds a bit catchier while “Sometimes We Are A Little Bit Closer” is driven by evil forces. The remixes are pretty interesting as well but especially “I Wanna Taste” where Neikka RPM injected something extra thanks to sensual and mysterious chants of Neikka RPM’s singer.

– – – : The original version of “I Wanna Taste” is the only cut which couldn’t convince me. Well that’s not that bad for an EP!

Conclusion: Digital Factor confirms to be back into business. This is great EBM-driven stuff for retro-lovers and open-minded fans.

Best songs: “Sometimes We Are A Little Bit Closer”, “What?”, “I Wanna Taste – Neikka RPM Remix”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/digitalfactor

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘What?’.

The “What? EP” was released on 30 March 2022 through Alfa Matrix.

Listen to “What?”:

What? EP by DIGITAL FACTOR

About Digital Factor

Digital Factor started in Altenburg, Germany, in 1993, formed by Mike Langer, Torsten Heise and Tino Schmidt, with later line-up phases including Guido Litke and Leo von Leibnitz. The project mixes EBM and electro, and added synth-pop, techno and crossover elements over time.

The first release was the 1994 EP “F.A.L.L.I.N.G.- Down” on Hard Records. A move to Hyperium / Hypnobeat brought “Relationchips” in 1995, “On Demand” in 1996, “De Facto” and “Countercheck” in 1997 and “Over One Million Times” in 1999. After a quieter period the band returned with “One More Piece” in 2006, “Look Back To Go Forward” in 2009 and “Trialog” in 2011.

Alfa Matrix signed the band in 2020 and issued the single “Come With Me”, followed by the album “A Chemical Process” in 2021, several back-catalogue reissues and this EP in 2022. The singles “I Am What I Am” and “Ouvre” and the charity album “G.B.A. – General Behavior Abrogate” followed in 2023, and in 2026 the band previewed a new album with Digital Factor preview new ‘0.8’ album with ‘They Will Forget You (When You Die)’ EP.

Click Interview with Aesthetische: ‘Waiting To Get Back To A More Normal Kind Of Life’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 19:00:00 +0000

Brazilian duo Fabrício Viscardi – Guilhelme Pires are now active for ten years as Aesthetische. They both got previously involved with Aghast View and Biopsy. Aesthetische deals with a more danceable sound, mixing elements of EBM together with Techno stuff. It’s a tricky sonic fusion which they already reveal at their fourth full length album “RVPRTY” released early this year by Alfa Matrix. I talked about the new opus with Fabrício Viscardi.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

rvprty by AESTHETISCHE

Q: Aesthetische is active since 2012. Can you draw up the balance sheet of the past ten years? And how much of Aghast View and Biopsy do you still recognize in Aesthetische?

Fabricio : Wow then years went by very fast. It were solid ten years where we consistently delivered at least one release a year.

Aesthetische definitely has solid influences from Aghast View and Biopsy but it is a more polished and with influences from Trance and Techno too. I would say it has a 25% of our older sound but who knows haha…

Q: What have been the triggers and influences to write the new album “RVPRTY”?

Fabricio: The triggers are very much our own lives coping with the pandemic situation and waiting to get back to a more normal kind of life. It also talks about the political situation in our country and how the right wing got back into the scenario, making people’s lives worse than ever, except for the very rich.

Q: The title of the album speaks for itself, but what’s the deeper meaning and especially behind the ‘darker’ titles of this opus?

Fabricio: Well, rave party celebrates us getting back to partying and enjoying music altogether. Darker titles are about politics and isolation.

Q: How did you work together on this new album and what’s the input of each of you?

Fabricio: We worked virtually. I wrote some tracks and did some vox and all the remixes. Gui did 3 tracks and vocals of “Racing Backwards”.

Q: You clearly seem to work with guest singers, but do you handle specific criteria to work with them? How did the collaboration with Lis Van den Akker happened? Are there specific singers you really want to work with in the future?

Fabricio: Well it happens very organically. Lis was introduced to us by Yves Schelpe (Psy’Aviah). I am not sure what the future will hold in terms of collabs but we are always quite open. We would love to have Douglas McCarthy or Jean Luc de Meyer doing vocals of a future track.

Q: The ongoing pandemic clearly impacted the music industry. What’s your perception of the situation and did it had an impact on the new album and your way of working together? What are the further plans right now?

Fabricio: Certainly it did for bands that tour. As we don’t cause we are in Brazil, not much change happened to us. We really hope that things resume to normal so that people can enjoy going to clubs and gigs again.

Side-Line also covered Aesthetische’s ‘Ukraina’.

Aesthetische – Rvprty (Album – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 20 Mar 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Techno-Body.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: The new album by Brazilian duo Fabricio Viscardi – Guilherme Peres aka Aesthetische were masterly introduced by the EP “Overflow” released last year.

Content: I first noticed that the album has nothing to do with “Overflow”. We get new songs mixing the good-old and sophisticated EBM -reminding me of FLA, with the Dark-Techno approach of Aesthetische. It’s a powerful and danceable production here and then achieved with a more danceable touch and elements of Pop. They invited Belgian female vocalist Lis Van den Acker (known from her work with Psy’Aviah) on “Back To Life” and made a cover version Deo Cadaver’s “Blind Oracle”.

+ + + : Aethetische is a formation which has never disappointed me although I have to say that they sometimes were a bit too ‘Dance’ orientated for my taste. “Rvprty” sounds different; like a back to the roots and the essence of true, intelligent EBM with this little Techno-extra on top. It resulted in a few great songs, but I especially recommend “East Bound Jerks” and “Back To Life” featuring Lis Van Den Akker. The instrumental “Requiem” is another cool song featuring a great lead.

– – – : It remains a challenge to mix EBM with Techno elements, but open-minded music lovers are going to give it a chance and are going to like it! The cover version of Deo Cadaver is not exactly the best cut of the work.

Conclusion: Aesthetische once again achieved a great and fully enjoyable piece of modern Electro-underground music.

Best songs: “East Bound Jerks”, “Back To Life”, “Requiem”, “Racing Backwards”, “Grave Party”, “Back To Life – Radio Version”.

Rate: 8.

Listen to “Rvprty”:

Rvprty by Aesthetische

Artist: www.facebook.com/aesthetische

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

About Aesthetische

Aesthetische is a Brazilian EBM and electro duo formed by Fabricio Viscardi and Guilherme Peres, both previously members of Aghast View and Biopsy. The duo has released through the Belgian label Alfa Matrix since 2012.

Early singles and EPs for the label include “Blausäure” and “Less But More (New School Remix)” in 2012, “High Heel Fixation” in 2013, “Transient States” and “Cold Bliss” in 2014 and the EP “Cold Is Clean” in 2015. The albums “We Follow Blindly” (2016), “In My Aurora” (2017), “Co3xist3ns3” (2019) and “MMXX” (2020) followed.

The EP “Overflow” arrived in 2021 and the ten-track album “Rvprty” in 2022. Alfa Matrix has continued to release the duo, with the EPs “Boiling Over” (2023), “Confidence Is Silent” (2024) and “Selling Fear” (2025).

Mari Kattman signs with COP International

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 18:33:47 +0000

Mari Kattman has joined COP International. “Is It Really That Bad” will be the first EP on COP International and will be released on the 13th of May and will feature remixes by Neuroticfish, Rotersand and John Fryer.

Christian Petke / Founder COP International: “Mari brings incredible talent and drive to the table. I absolutely adore the fact that she is not just the singer but the principal songwriter and visionary in this project. She is a force to be reckoned with!”

Mari Kattman has been self-recording, writing, composing, and live performing music since 2012. Currently, she operates under the Mari Kattman name as a solo artist and works with Tom Shear, of Assemblage 23, on a project called Helix. In the past she has collaborated with many artists, including Assemblage 23, Mesh, Ivardensphere, Jean-Marc Lederman, Psy’Aviah, Aesthetiche, Neuroticfish BlackCarBurning, Cassetter, This Morn Omina, Solitary Experiments, Mephisto Walz, Aiboforcen, Interface and Comaduster.

She has worked on many label releases including ones for Metropolis Records, Alfa Matrix, FiXT and now she will call COP International her new home for her solo work.

Here’s the track “Objectified”.

Suncatcher by 808 DOT POP (Extended) Suncatcher by 808 DOT POP (Remixed) Suncatcher by 808 DOT POP (Lectreau) Suncatcher by 808 DOT POP

Belgium’s electronica pop act 808 DOT POP launches 4 singles in one go for Bandcamp Friday

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 17:41:06 +0000

Today Belgium’s electronica pop act 808 DOT POP launched their newest single “Suncatcher” in no less than four 3-track EP versions via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page. For the single Passenger S worked together with Lis van den Akker.

“Catching The Sun” as well as “Looking For The Sun” are songs originally from the hand of label mate Psy’Aviah. They were re-arranged by 808 DOT POP during the summer of 2021 to coincide with “Bittersweet”, the celebration album for the 20 years of Psy’Aviah.

As explained, this 3-track EP is part of a series of 4 different releases revealing the same songs each time from an all-new sonic perspective and offering them a different shed of light.

Next to the normal version you also get the “(Extended)” version of the EP bringing 3 extended versions clocking up to 8 minutes. The “(Remixed)” version of the EP will please DJ’s by letting 3 other artists remixing one EP song: label mates Rector Scanner and Elektrostaub, plus a trance remix by Tom Bro. Finally, the 4th version is the “(Lectreau)” version and features a unique set of ‘Lectreau’ versions (the side project of Passenger S his Metroland partner in crime Passenger A).

You can check out all 4 singles right below on Bandcamp.

Psy’Aviah returns with 2CD album ‘Bittersweet’ including an extra 3rd volume

Eldrina Mich — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 15:10:47 +0000

(Photo by GNY) Out on April 1st – but already available in pre-order via the Alfa Matrix label’s webshop – is the all new album from the Belgian dark trip electro pop act Psy’Aviah. “Bittersweet” is the last album in the introspective trilogy that started with the previous 2 albums “Lightflare” and “Soul Searching”.

The first disc of this 2CD set offers 13 new songs featuring several collaborators including Irina Markevich on violin and Polina Faustova on cello, and the vocalists Addie Nicole, Mari Kattman, Marieke Lightband, Saydi Drigger, Huong Su, Lumí, Tina Forlorn, Eli Rho, Rebecca Schneider or yet the famous Belgian professor Dr. Dirk De Wachter. Next to the new songs the first disc also offers revamped versions of the classic Psy’Aviah songs “Tired” and the mega hit “OK”.

To celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary, this first edition of the album comes as a limited double-CD digipak holding the exclusive 15-track CD “Rediscovered (20th Anniversary)” plus a download link to 14 extra additional songs. These 29 tracks (!!) hold cover version of Psy’Aviah tracks by a long list of other bands including The Breath Of Life, Implant, Aesthetische, 808.DOT.POP, Leaether Strip, Your Life On Hold, Digital Factor, IC 434, Llumen, Madil Hardis and many more.

This is not the end product, just a render.

The 2CD (and the additional 12 download tracks) can be pre-ordered via the Alfa Matrix webstore, while you can get the full 42 tracks in one bundle right here from Bandcamp.

Below you can already listen to 4 tracks. Read the review of ‘Bittersweet’.

Bittersweet (Bonus Version) by PSY'AVIAH

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.

Jean-Marc Lederman Experience – The Raven (Album – COP International)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Cinematographic, Experimental.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Jean-Marc Lederman has achieved a new work featuring guest singers. In the past few months he released similar albums like “13 Ghost Stories” and “Letters To Gods And Fallen Angels”, and also “Venus Chariot” as a collaboration between him and Emileigh Rohn. “The Raven” is driven by a new concept where Lederman asked his guests to work on old texts from poets like (Byron, Poe, Plato, Shelley, de Froidmont ao.

Content: The guest singers for this album areMari Kattman (Helix, Mari & The Ghost), Christopher Hall (Stabbing Westward), Mark Hockings (Mesh), Elena Alice Fossi (Kirlian Camera, Spectra*Paris), Azam Ali (Niyaz), Dr. Strangefryer (aka John Fryer), Jim Semonik (Red Locust), Lis Van Den Akker (Misery, Psy’Aviah), Ken Mageman, Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242, 32Crash), Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm), Christina Z.

Sound-wise the work is pretty eclectic, moving in between a free interpretation of Electro-Pop compositions and more pronounced Cinematographic music. The songs feature numerous, typical Cinema music arrangements, which are sometimes bombastic, but also pretty evasive. I also noticed very Minimal-Electro driven pieces. The songs have been sung/performed in English, French and Italian.

+ + + :Each time, Jean-Marc Lederman Experience again sounds like a new and fascinating journey. First there is always an interesting concept and I like this one for mixing old poems together with music, which as an imaginary Soundtrack has been performed by the artist. There’s once again a true symbiosis between music and vocals, seeing Jean-Marc transforming himself into a sonic chameleon. Music and performer are totally complementary, now resulting in a sensual composition like the one with Mari Kattman, then into a kind of Lounge approach with Mark Hockings, becoming totally minimal with Dr. Strangefryer, getting us into a dreamy part with Lis Van Den Akker. But the most surprising- and poignant track is the one with Jean-Luc De Meyer inspired on a poem of Hélinand de Froidmont. It’s an old and tenebrous poem, which has been masterly interpreted by the Front 242 lead singer and adapted into a horror-like music composition. There are several noticeable cuts on this album, which is more an album to listen to instead of dancing.

– – – : The album once more creates the illusion listening to a compilation instead of an album composed by one artist. That’s part of this concept and I’m sure Jean-Marc Lederman still has enough ideas and creativity to move on with it.

Conclusion: Jean-Marc Lederman Experience and his guest singers stand for a true sonic intercourse. This is a new brilliant piece of music and the perfect successor to “Letters To Gods And Fallen Angels”.

Best songs: “The Worms Of Death”, “Invocation”, Frankenstein”, “Smouldering Corpse In The Morning Sun”, “The Cold Heart Slept Below”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.jmlederman.com / www.facebook.com/Music-composer-Jean-Marc-Lederman-1585277635023000 / www.facebook.com/jeanmarc.lederman

Label: www.facebook.com/copint

About Jean-Marc Lederman Experience

Jean-Marc Lederman is a Brussels-based Belgian keyboard player, composer and producer. Active since the late 1970s, he worked with Fad Gadget, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel and Front 242, and co-founded projects including The Weathermen, Kid Montana, Jules et Jim with Julianne Regan, Ghost & Writer with Frank Spinath, Lederman / De Meyer with Jean-Luc De Meyer, and the Jean-Marc Lederman Experience. He also composes for film and videogames.

The Jean-Marc Lederman Experience is built around invited vocalists. “13 Ghost Stories” appeared in 2019 on Dependent and “Letters To Gods (And Fallen Angels)” in 2020 on Wool-E Discs, both with a large cast of guest singers. “Venus Chariot”, his 2021 duo album with Emileigh Rohn of Chiasm, came out on COP International, the same label releasing “The Raven”.

Lederman’s later solo work includes “The Bad-Tempered Synthesizer” in 2021, “Night Music for Seahorses and Manatees” in 2022, “Soul Music For Zombies” in 2023, “Sci-Fi Revisited” in 2024 and “Electronic Slipper Music” in 2025. The Rohn-Lederman duo continued with “RAGE!” in 2022, “Black And Bleu” in 2024 and “Forbidden Planet” in 2025. “The Raven” sits in that sequence as the third Jean-Marc Lederman Experience album built on guest performances.

New EP announced for Helix (A23’s Tom Shear and vocalist Mari Kattman): ‘Bad Dream’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 14:09:15 +0000

On November 5th, Helix will self-release a brand new digital-only EP entitled “Bad Dream”, featuring 4 brand new tracks and remixes from Mark Hockings (Mesh) and Andrew Sega (ex-Iris, Hallowed Hearts). The EP will be available on Bandcamp and the usual digital and streaming platforms.

Helix is the brand new collaboration between Tom Shear (Assemblage 23) and vocalist Mari Kattman (known for her work with Psy’Aviah and Mari & The Ghost). The debut album for the duo was released on August 24 2018, called “Twin”.

Here’s already a trailer.

Psy’Aviah’s 2016 track ‘Not What I Expected’ gets second life on TikTok

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 13:49:31 +0000

In 2016 the Belgian electro pop act Psy’Aviah released the album “Seven Sorrows, Seven Stars”. On that album we also find the track “Not What I Expected” with Fallon Nieves on vocals. The very same year Douyin started, a Chinese video-sharing social networking service which would get a rebranded launch for the international market as TikTok in 2017.

Fast forward to 2021 when Yves Schelpe from Psy’Aviah suddenly sees videos popping up on TikTok, more specifically with the track “Not What I Expected” in combination with videos that indeed show an unexpected result…

Yves: “I was stunned. Music that I make here on my own, in my own little (head)space was interpreted in completely different ways, and I didn’t even know anything about it! I found out about it by accident as I was using the app to promote our new single “Pretender”. I was googling my profile name, a simple search term “Psy’Aviah TikTok” and it didn’t give my profile, but interpretations of songs like “Not What I Expected”. But also other tracks used in TikTok videos popped up such as a company using “Anger Management”, or “Infected”.”

The videos are hilarious and sometimes touching. Yves: “It’s weird to see we actually did connect with some fans we didn’t know before. The impact you have, unknowingly, on people when you make music – is something not to take for granted, so it is touching when it does happen and you find out about it. People used to write me letters, now it’s via TikTok apparantly 🙂. Without the platform, or the internet, I would never have met those people!”

“Not What I Expected” is not the only track being used from Psy’Aviah but it does result in some of the funniest videos around. Here’s the original track, below TikTok videos using the same or other tracks from Psy’Aviah.

Not what I expected, on TikTok

@lytrell.strayhorn
Not quite what I expected… 😑 #snowinmay #pleasedont #really #imcold
♬ Not What I Expected – Psy’Aviah

@kira_kfr
#goth #dark #schoolkillsartists
♬ Wild Ride – Girlflesh Remix – Psy’Aviah

@laurengraham9
♬ Not What I Expected – Psy’Aviah

@chagranbo
#angermanagement 🤯
♬ Anger Management – Psy’Aviah

@dennisthetennisball
Anger
♬ Anger Management – Psy’Aviah

@nalaandbenji
Still love you NalaNoo 😂💕 ##fyp ##americanstaff ##mygirl
♬ Not What I Expected – Psy’Aviah

@olgastrungari1
Under the rain ☔️
♬ Under the Rain – Psy’Aviah

@iamlanakaye
It is in fact, an arm. Scared not scared #part2 #river #oklahoma #paddleboard #outdoors #rivertime #maniquin
♬ Not What I Expected – Psy’Aviah

A Kiss To Resist EP by SUICIDAL ROMANCE Burning Love / Remember Me EP by SUICIDAL ROMANCE Whisper Goodbye EP by SUICIDAL ROMANCE

Cult electropop act Suicidal Romance re-releases 3 EPs which were unavailable for quite some time

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 12 May 2021 10:47:46 +0000

Good news for the Suicidal Romance fans, the Estonian dark electropop act has decided to re-release 3 of its EPs which have been unavailable for quite some time. Available right now via Bandcamp (and in 3 weeks from now on all other platforms) are the following EPs: “Whisper Goodbye” (2013), “Burning Love / Remember Me” (2012) and “A Kiss To Resist” (2008).

The cult dark pop duo Dmitry Darling and Viktoria Seimar recently returned with their rather stunning new EP “Runaways”, so the re-release of their older material does not come as a complete surprise.

“A Kiss To Resist” EP was originally released in November 2008. This 13-track EP was the follow-up release to the band’s debut album ”Love Beyond Reach”. Included is also an excellent cover version of Erasure’s “Always” and a collaboration with Lost Area’s singer Jan Moser. Next to this you got an acoustic version of “Call Me” next to various upbeat electro remixes from acts in the likes of Aesthetic Perfection, Massiv In Mensch, Syrian and many more.

“Burning Love / Remember Me” EP was originally released in October 2012. The 13-track EP came out after the release of the band’s 3rd studio album “Memories Behind Closed Curtains”. It featured two new tracks including the very first song ever sung in Russian by the band. Hovering between romantic synth pop and female-fronted dark elektro, these two cuts were accompanied by quite a diverse selection of additional remixes from acts like Diversant13, ES23, Kant Kino and many more.

The “Whisper Goodbye” EP was originally released in December 2013 and features 7 tracks revealing the harder side of Suicidal Romance. For the occasion the band teamed up with Pete Crane (SHIV-R) as guest vocalist on the club hit “Slave/Slave” as well as with remixers in the likes of Die Sektor, Reaxion Guerrilla, Incubite, CeDigest and Psy’Aviah.

You can check out these re-releases right below.

Psy’Aviah interview: ‘as a society we still have a lot to learn’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 19:45:29 +0000

A few weeks ago Psy’Aviah returned with a brand new EP, “City In Flames”, the last single taken from the band’s “Soul Searching” album. “City In Flames” handles the very current issue of psychological and physical isolation refugees are going through mixing human trauma and drama, which nowadays might even tend to be even more eclipsed by the global pandemic that keeps disrupting our society.

For this release Yves Schelpe collaborated with American artist Ellia Bisker, who is also the female singer of Sweet Soubrette and Charming Disaster.

We decided to talk with Yves Schelpe, Ellia Bisker and Bernice Van Dijck who works as a social worker in Filet Divers, an organization in Antwerp for people living in poverty. Yves met Bernice through the project “Samen Inburgeren” which matches newcomers with buddies to smoothen the integration.

A trio who clearly have a lot more to say on the subject. We threw them some questions!

City In Flames EP by PSY’AVIAH

SL: Can you briefly tell us what your background is and how you came to get in contact with Yves, Bernice as in meeting Yves – and Ellia as getting involved in this song. What attracted you to it?

YVES: Me and my girlfriend actually signed up for what is called “Samen Inburgeren” in the local Antwerp office, we were then matched to our “buddies” (newcomers who wanted to get someone who they can sort of explore the city with, get to learn the environment and build up a network). I met Bernice, I think, the first workshop we had together with out buddies, and later on at several other events!

BERNICE: I’m a social worker in Filet Divers, an organization in Antwerp for people living in poverty. I’m the projectleader of Samen Inburgeren. We match people who want to know the city (and its citizens) better and the language with people who wants to know what it ‘s like to be ‘new’ in Antwerp/people who want to help others with feeling good in this city. It ‘s my job to get people in touch with each other, to see if buddies are fine together, to organize multiple events a year to meet other buddies etc. Both Yves and his wife had someone who they met regularly within the project.

ELLIA: I’m an American singer/songwriter/musician based in New York City. Yves and I have never met in person, but we’ve been collaborating on and off since 2014, when he remixed a track that I had released with my project Sweet Soubrette, “Live Wire.” A little while later he asked if I would contribute vocals to one of his tracks, which I was excited about, but I also let him know I was interested in collaborating as a lyricist and he was open to that idea. Working with Yves has been great because I feel there is a lot of generosity and very little ego involved. It’s an exciting challenge to find the right words and convey a sense of meaning within another artist’s musical composition. We’ve now collaborated in this way on three Psy’Aviah tracks, with “City in Flames” the most recent. “City in Flames” was a bit different from the other two songs, as Yves had a really specific idea in mind for this one and some lyrics already written, so I had to channel his vision as well as the refugee story that he wanted the song to convey. I think the experience of people who are displaced by war or other circumstances is such an important issue, and it was an honor to try to capture it in this song in a way that would let listeners feel it for themselves.

SL: Integration is considered to be the way to get newcomers to become full citizens. However, we see it’s not a linear story where all goes as planned. What hurdles do you see?

Bernice Van Dijck

YVES: Correct, I think people need to be aware that “integration” is a word that for me doesn’t really exist, or at least is very hard to define. When are you integrated? Even when living in Antwerp, my own city, I often wonder – am I integrated into the society as other people are? So this is where the problem starts, seeing “integration” from only one perspective (most of the time your own) is limiting the scope, and even essentially defining how a human would function as perfect or as normal in your idealized society. That’s one big hurdle I see, the tunnel vision where people get lost in. I always advice those people to visit the museum we have in Antwerp called “The Red Star Line Museum”, where you see that about 120 years ago mass immigration took place to the US and Canada from European countries – and how that affected things. It puts a lot in perspective, certainly because you see that immigration is something that has always existed, for the same reasons, and that it is a human thing to do. Most utter “integration” and “migration” without thinking about what they really mean with these words and concepts, or have no historical background – and often don’t reflect upon what it means for different people, as well as the “newcomers”. So, I’d say, creating awareness around the fact that “integration” comes in different shades of grey is the biggest hurdle, the biggest challenge when talking about this. Education thus, for everyone, is the biggest hurdle.

BERNICE: I mostly follow Yves’ ideas. You see, once we made an exercise about ‘integration’. What does it mean? What ‘s in it for the one who is integrating? What’s in it for society? Is someone who just like to sit at home and not joining the party’s in the street not integrated? Even we as professionals just got more questions instead of answers. And I think this shows how hard it can be to be new somewhere. You know you have to integrate, but what does it exactly mean? The most important thing I guess is that both society and newcomers are ready to meet eachother and respect eachother. When you can get in touch with and you are willing to learn from eachother, there can be a happy place for everyone.

ELLIA: As an American I’m not exactly qualified to answer this question, but I wanted to mention that immigration is of course an important issue here in the U.S. as well. Even though we are a nation of immigrants (my own ancestors were Jews fleeing oppression in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century), there is so much anti-immigrant rhetoric, particularly with respect to people coming from Mexico and Latin America, and so much racism (not to mention mistreatment and abuses at the border) in response to people who are often fleeing desperate situations to come here. As Yves mentioned, people migrating to find better circumstances is not a new phenomenon.

SL: In the past I have been giving extra Dutch courses to newcomers to speed up their integration. Those people were willing to integrate and did their best, but I think there is a blind spot of people which we never reached and which kinda disappeared from our radar. How do you see this?

YVES: It’s a point I wanted to touch upon in the song and music video, we often think giving materialistic & educational support is enough. The mental support often lacks in the trajectories people go through. Where within our own country we still have a big stigma talking about mental health, or giving people the much needed support – that is for me the most lacking part, and to come back upon the previous question; another hurdle. Mental issues, and gaining trust, dealing with these situations is a big step. When someone is depressed, or is struggling, it is hard to pick up & learn new things – for anyone, and especially someone who’s vulnerable and in a new country. Studies do also show that not everyone will ever be able to speak another language perfectly, or climb higher on the scale of knowing that language. Certainly the older you are, and the baggage you carry, but I’m sure Bernice can fill in the blanks more here…

BERNICE: I think as a society we still have a lot to learn. In Filet Divers – the organization where I work – I meet a lot of people who do not have a legit ID-card. Those people are extremely vulnerable. As I see it personally, those people may not even integrate: they may not volunteer nor work, they may not go to Dutch class, they may not have an entry pass for the library and so on. Even though they try their very best, life is rough on them. But even if you have a legit ID-card, life can be pretty hard. We see so many people struggling to find a proper job and a good place to live. We’re seeing every day that if your Dutch isn’t that good, the struggle is way more harder. Let me be clear: I think it’s good that you have a similar language to communicate. It makes living together much easier. But I think the focus on learning the language is too hard right now. Even research shows us that if you’re living in stress, learning new things is super hard. Just because your head is full of ‘surviving’, new things will not get in that easily.

SL: My wife who is from Mexico has been following language courses in mixed classes. She often told me that several male classmates showed no respect at all for the female fellow classmates and actually didn’t bother to listen to what the female teachers were saying or asking, because of their disdain for women. As a woman how do you cope with this?

Ellia Bisker (Photo by Kristopher Johnson)

BERNICE: Now, this is a hard one. This has something to do with preconceptions I think, from both ways. Of course, it’s not up me to say who’s wrong or right. Tough I think it must have been very challenging for both the teacher as for the classmates. In Filet Divers I’m most of the time see the opposite of what’s described here. For example: we see that in Samen Inburgeren a lot of young men are asking for a woman to be in buddy with. I never understood why, always explaining that we are not a place for dating or to find love. Ever since I started to really ask in several questions why they do prefer a man of woman, I start to understand better. Now I know that in many religions the woman is the one for the real conversations. They are the teachers, the ‘talkers’, the ones who will ‘help you out’ with psychological difficulties. Ever since I know that, it’s way more easy to have the proper conversation why man X would be much better company than woman X.

SL: In respect to that, the reaction towards LGBT fellow students was just abysmal. I doubt that pure talking will solve anything? Having said that, language is the power towards a good integration. What are the extras you pay attention to?

YVES: For me talking face to face is always the key point. Talking openly, about how I view the world and what ideas I have. But most importantly I learned to listen (even more), and to see where they’re coming from. I did not have an encounter where any of my buddies had problems with LGBTQI+ communities, so I can’t go deeper into that. But then again, the people migrating here that I worked and talked with, often are more open towards those subjects as one might initially think. I think it depends from person to person, as well as talking and getting a conversation going. I am an atheist, and in that sense we can talk about that for example. If you take the time and both parties are open to listen and form ideas, which to an extent works of course. The main part for me is, visiting places with them and showing them the world. Explaining the context. By explaining similarities we find a lot more common ground, enjoying experiences together forms a deeper bound than talking alone. So you have to combine it.

BERNICE: I totally agree with Yves! What I see, is ‘pure talking’ will never help. You also have to be able to listen properly. And that’s where it hurts a lot of the time. I’m not sure how to say it without hurting someone… You see, I am 100% supporting the LGBT movement. I truly believe that love is love. But the communication has to be ‘open’ all the time. We do not only have to talk to convince someone, but also to understand others, although they seem to think ‘wrong’. That‘s something I see a lot in the project Samen Inburgeren. Most of the people who are starting, they start from ‘the opposites’. They see someone who is new here, who doesn’t speak their language that good, who believes in (another) God(s),… After one year we do an evaluation. For me, it’s a magical moment. Almost everyone will tell me that they are not that different. In the end, they just want their kids to be happy or have a nice meal at the end of the day. Everyone likes to find a meaning in life or to love and be loved. But you see, it takes people one year to understand this. One year of talking and listening.

SL: You do book succes stories with the buddies but how do you feel about the failed stories?

BERNICE: I create the buddies, support them, bring the buddies together etc. The buddies who last a year or longer, are always the ones who are open to each other. If something doesn’t seem nice or strange, they dare to talk about it. It takes guts to do that. Sometimes it’s difficult to know if you may or may not ask about things. I know that a lot of starting buddies wonder why someone flees his or her country, if this person was a boat refugee, how long they had to walk, if they see their family,… I get a lot of questions when those kind of questions can get asked. My answer is always the same: as long as you are respectful, you can ask each other anything.

SL: Ellia, Is there any kind of buddy system like this you are aware of in the US? Where the focus on mental health + getting a “network of friends or people you can rely on” is setup for refugees, or newcomers?

ELLIA: I’m not aware of an individual buddy system like this in the US, although there are many organizations (from government agencies to nonprofit organizations to church groups) doing valuable work to help immigrants get settled, access legal and educational resources, and find a community.

BERNICE: In Belgium (and I guess in whole Europe) we have tons of buddy projects, in all kind of ways with all kinds of people. If you scroll through Google, it shows an amazing range of projects. If people reading this are interested, I would just suggest to open Google and start looking if there’s a project in your neighborhood!

SL: What is the key for succes for a good integration you think?

Yves Schelpe

YVES: I think that it boils down to letting go of the word “integration”, I will likely be repeating myself, but if you think hard and deep about it, then where do you draw the line. When is someone integrated? Is it something measurable? (No). Does it change over time and generations? (Yes). So it is in constant flux, the big key to the kingdom of succes for me is that people talk and see the world from both sides. In essence, that’s the only way we will ever reach a type I civilization (or a global civilization) on the Kardashev scale, as Carl Sagan touched upon – which is both technological innovation but very much a psychological revolution as well for human race. And the implications of that, or the boundaries for reaching that I tried to describe in another song called “Our Common Future ft. Kyoko Baertsoen”, which many think is about global warming – but essentially it deals about the things or dangers that are holding us back to reach that planetary civilization (or Type I civilization). It is very cultural based, so hence why I always emphasize on education on every part of the world, and critical thinking. Without tearing apart cultural habits, or forms of theatre or music – those are two different things.

SL: Ellia and Yves, how do you feel music can make a difference in this?

ELLIA: Music — listening to it as well as making it — is an international language that rewards curiosity, collaboration, being open to new ideas as well as respecting traditions. Connecting through music is something that can happen whether or not you share a verbal language, it transcends age and ideology and national origin. I think opportunities to appreciate and participate in music are an incredibly powerful way to connect people, when those who might not have other obvious ways to connect.

BERNICE: As I see it, music connects. Some people like lyrics, others like sounds or beats, some people like dancing, others like listening or singing.. I barely know people who just do not like it at all. Just like Ellia said, it’s a language that everyone can speak in some kind of way.

YVES: For me it’s another form of talking about subjects and raising awareness. For some topics I write blogposts, for some topics I write songs and for others I do both. Music can, often without words, make us come closer together. With our buddies for example we had a lot of fun exploring flemish music, and even I discovered classic works I didn’t know or had forgotten. We go to concerts together, and just try to have fun. If then they have questions about things – we answer as we feel the world works, with as much context and differences we see. It also a means to broaden their network, bringing them out to concerts, or musea, sporting events – that’s where you meet new people.

SL: I have always thought, and am actually convinced that music can serve as a perfect medium to let people accept new ideas and cultures. For instance I have been checking out Sufism and its music because I discovered the music from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for instance. In Istanbul I visited a sufism school, watched their dances, and so on. Not that I got converted, but I tend to try and check out several different things. The same goes for world music thanks to Dead Can Dance, Yasmin Levy, Recoil or even Peter Murphy who has been incorporating lots of eastern elements in his solo material. And now the question :). What are your worldly influences Yves & Ellia?

ELLIA: I’ve been exposed to a lot of Balkan brass and choral music through the brass music scene (I sing with a 20-piece brass-punk band called Funkrust Brass Band), and have grown to love the complex time signatures, untempered vocals and strange (to me) harmonies. And I’ve recently been getting more into African music, especially West Africa — I know that’s a huge category but there’s a great show on Columbia University’s radio station, WKCR, that has introduced me to some incredible sounds and artists from all over the African continent — Amadou Balaké, Le Grand Kallé, TPOK Jazz, Fatoumata Diawara.

YVES: As Psy’Aviah fans are aware, we don’t shy away from any form of music… from classical and traditional music of different cultures, to deep and even forgotten or small communities. I can find gems everywhere. I try to listen and take whatever influence I can get. On “Soul Searching” it was apparent of course, but there are those ethnic or other-worldly influences which stood symbol of the journey a person makes on his quest of searching: soul searching, living your life, learning every day. Even learning why you don’t like something. For me the band(s) Moby and Faithless embody this the most, if you look at their catalogue – you’ll find very different influences over and over again. They don’t shy away from it, which I like, even though it’s not always a “hit” success with the fans.

SL: What hurdles do you encounter in order to have a succes story with a newcomer?

YVES: Let me say that a succes story doesn’t necessarily exist. Making a connection face to face from human to human and getting a basic understanding, even without as little as words, can be a connection and a success story for me. I can only talk about what I have experienced so far, and for me, thus the biggest hurdle can be language. But, that is only normal, so you get quite adapted to that yourself – talking slower is key, until they pick up, being patient… The biggest hurdle I had personally is not being “a teacher”, but rather being someone “to hang out with”, and that’s thus a thing that’s so important. You’re there to have fun with, to be trusted, draw your own lines, talk openly about it, and I must say that Bernice and her team do everything they can to guide that process in workshops with the buddies. Which is a great learning experience for both.

BERNICE: As I said before, we mainly have to learn that communication is not only talking. We have to try to be open, without losing your own beliefs (tough sometimes willing to adapt..). Success for me is that people are willing to meet each other. If they don’t know how to do it themselves, they can always join projects such as “Samen Inburgeren” ?.

SL: Where will the future lead us to according to you?

YVES: I’m not a futurist, but I touched upon it when talking about the hurdles for reaching a planetary civilization. The threats that face that, which can be found in the doomsday clock, are evidently there. Fundamentally I am a rather pessimistic person when I write my songs, or when you hear them I think. But these songs are there for a reason, to let people think critically about their own thoughts. It’s why I am a big fan of the work of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, who see a big rise and supporting those people leaving behind cruel rituals, cruel faiths. Next to that you have in Belgium voices like Maarten Boudry and Johan Braeckman, pleading for the same essence of critical thinking, moral philosophy etc.. Furthermore I must think of people like James Randi and Derren Brown, who can take you into a more edutainment world of your own critical thinking – some of their most profound stories and specials are worth watching as they teach on religion, (blind) faith, quackery, homeopathy or a perfectly working gambling systems that never fails (look up “The System” by Derren Brown). Combine that with the efforts of a lot of Humanists, for example prof. dr. Dirk De Wachter, who I worked with on the album, for a more humane approach and a not so self-centered universe we tend to fall in… I see the world as something we can improve, but we need to keep talking about it – and not on twitter or facebook, but face to face… to find solutions together.

BERNICE: This is a difficult question for me! When my thoughts are dark, I think that we are not learning from history. I see war, anger, complaining, … But on bright days (luckily, they are the majority) I do see that people create beautiful spots to live. People do come together and collaborate. They are willing to share what they have and like to see others smile. Learning (from history) is a never ending story and I believe we have challenging times coming. But we can do it, as long as we do it together.

Belgian electropop act Psy’Aviah launches new single / video ‘City In Flames’ taken from ‘Soul Searching’ album

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 18:28:28 +0000

Out now for immidiate download via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page (and other platforms to follow) is the last single from the Belgian electropop act Psy’Aviah. The track “City In Flames” – taken from the “Soul Searching” album – gets released in various radio & club-friendly versions for the pleasure of DJ’s and fans. On vocals we find Ellia Bisker, female singer of Sweet Soubrette / Charming Disaster.

The remix duties were executed by 11Grams, Mind Divided and Butsenzeller. The main track also has a brand new video which you can view below.

Check out the video below.

And here’s the full EP “City In Flames” to check out.

City In Flames EP by PSY’AVIAH

Alfa Matrix releases brand new free download compilation + exclusive face masks

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 16:19:31 +0000

It has been a hectic year, also for Alfa Matrix, but luckily their bands took the time to work in their studio to record new material. Out now via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page is the label’s 10th edition in the “Matrix Downloaded” compilation series, again offering you a – free – insight in what the Belgian label is all about. You can discover 64 tracks right here on Bandcamp.

Matrix Downloaded 010 by Various Artists

The download holds tracks from Cubic, Psy’Aviah, Aesthetische, Digital Factor, Reichsfeind, Llumen, Zombie Girl, Diffuzion, Matthew Creed, Circuito Cerrado, Circumpolar, Venal Flesh, Mentallo & The Fixer, Freakangel, Alien Vampires, I:Scintilla, Schwarzblut, Totem Obscura, Reactor7X, First Aid 4 Souls, Lederman / De Meyer, Implant, AD:keY, Kant Kino, Die Robo Sapiens, ELM, Pouppee Fabrikk, Armageddon Dildos, Plastic Noise Experience, Synapsyche, Avarice In Audio, Elektrostaub, Junksista, First Aid 4 Souls, Benestrophe, Mental Exile, Star Industry, Halo In Reverse, Lovelorn Dolls, Helalyn Flowers, Essence Of Mind, Rector Scanner, Elektroklänge, Metroland, Lights A.M, Cosmic Armchair, Aiboforcen, H.O.W., 808 DOT POP, Suicidal Romance, Entrzelle, Technoir, Neuroactive, Mondträume, The Psychic Force, Studio-X, Studio-X Vs Simon Carter, Neikka RPM, Komor Kommando, Siva Six, Aengeldust, Acylum, Dunkelwerk and Növö.

Exclusive face masks

Next to that you can also get the download together with a face mask, out in a very limited series. You can either buy them separately or get all 3 in one. Check the set of 3 Face Masks (Blue Matrix + Endzeit + Red EBM Alert) or the separate masks.

Note that EVERY face mask order comes with a free compilation CD on top: “Sounds from the matrix 022” with 20 extra tracks.

11Grams – Humanicide (Album – EK Product)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 20:00:14 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Three years after their great debut album “Panacea” the American – Australian duo featuring Rob Early (Retrogramme) and Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11) is back on track unleashing the new opus “Humanicide”. The work features nine new songs plus five remixes. The band again worked with some guest singers. Roy Retrofit (Red This Ever), Alicia May, Rebekah Feng and Sarah Myers (Fake Boyfriend) contributed to this work.

Content: “Humanicide” moved on where “Panacea” stopped; an album featuring intelligent and sophisticated EBM. It clearly reminds me of Frontline Assembly and Skinny Puppy, which I think rather sounds as references to be compared to. The different singers inject their proper touch, intonation and passion to the work.

The remixes were accomplished by Psy’Aviah, Sebastian Komor, C1TZN.X, Leather Strip and Red This Ever.

+ + + : 11Grams doesn’t sound as the most accessible EBM format, but they let us discover a different kind of ‘body music’; music that has been composed with technical knowledge and certain passion to create great sound treatments. The album sounds maybe a bit less powerful than its predecessor, but it has been empowered with poignant atmospheres created by cool synth sounds. Some passages are clearly old-school driven and even space-like. There’s a great diversity and yet still a balance between the different singers. The title song for sure is an attention grabber, but I definitely prefer the “Static Noises 2.0” revealing impressive writing skills of 11Grams. Among the remixes I especially recommend listening to “Ice Man” remixed in a powerful way by Sebastian Komor and “Weaponized”, which is another powerful outburst, remixed by Leather Strip.

– – – : I don’t see real minor points about this new work, 11Grams simply confirming their natural talent to compose futuristic EBM, but I just regret this kind of band never gets the deserved recognition.

Conclusion: “Humanicide” confirms the great work revealed at the “Panacea”-album; this is styled EBM!

Best songs: “Satanic Noises”, “Artificial Lifeforms”, “Humanicide”, “Ice Man”, “”Ice Man – Sebastian Komor RMX”, “Weaponized – Leather strip RMX”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: http://11grams.com / www.facebook.com/11grams

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct Read the news on ‘Humanicide’.

About 11Grams

11Grams is an Australian-American EBM and electro-industrial project pairing Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11) with Rob Early (Retrogramme), mixing catchy bass riffs and synthpop melodies with electro-industrial production. The duo’s 2020 album “Humanicide” on EK Product follows the 2017 debut “Panacea” and features guest vocals from Roy Retrofit, Alicia May, Rebekah Feng and Sarah Myers, plus remixes by Psy’Aviah, Sebastian Komor, C1TZN.X, Leather Strip and Red This Ever.

Psy’Aviah – The Earth Keeps Spinning, Without Being Noticed (Album – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 19:30:38 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Ambient, Soundtrack.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: The new Psy’Aviah album is a collaboration and conceptual work between the Belgian musician and photographer ‘GNY’ aka Gwenny Cooman (who’s also involved with Mildreda). Yves Schelpe got inspired by her work and composed a Soundtrack for the exhibition GNY under the conceptual title “Steden Schuilen Niet Wanneer Het Regent” (translated “Cities Don’t Seek Shelter When It Rains”).

Content: The album indeed is an original ambient soundtrack featuring 11 tracks. Psy’Aviah transposed his Electro-Pop-Dance-Trance style into pure reverie. The multiple strings accentuate the Ambient side of the work, but I also noticed numerous field recordings (or samplings) now creating a dreamy impression and then a kind of astral trip. Some cuts are more mysterious like while others feel like an Electronic ballad.

+ + + : Artists are often dreaming to compose a Soundtrack. I don’t know if it was part of Schelpe’s bucket list, but he remarkably transformed himself into that style. The work is achieved with poignant strings while the multiple astral passages only reinforce the Ambient impression. I also noticed great analogue-like sound effects, which are a cool wink to some famous pioneers in this music genre. I don’t want to compare this artist with others, but some elements make me think to a modern perception of J.M. Jarre. “Slow Motion Bright Flashing Neon Lights” is a great exposure of this resemblance. But my favorite song is “The Escalator” for its mysterious sphere, which however remains devoted to Ambient.

– – – : The work is missing an absolute ‘master’ song although there’s a real potential hiding behind this work. But what I’m really missing is the addition of some real acoustic instruments like a saxophone or even guitar ao.

Conclusion: This new Psy’Aviah album is definitely one out of the box, but it for sure opens new perspectives for the artist.

Best songs: “The Escalator”, “Slow Motion Bright Flashing Neon Lights”, “Clinical Nature”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.psyaviah.com / www.facebook.com/psyaviah

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

About Psy’Aviah

Psy’Aviah is an industrial rock, electroclash and dark EBM project from Antwerp, Belgium, driven by Yves Schelpe. The project took form in 2004, initially focused on live performances, and won the Studio Brussel Demopoll that same year with “The Future Of The Sun”. In 2007 Schelpe teamed up with Len Lemeire (Implant, 32Crash) to record the first album. Festival appearances followed, including BIMFest 2008 and Waregem Expo Gothic Festival 2009, alongside support slots for Subsonica and Emilie Autumn. The DJ EP “Ok / Virtual Gods” was released in 2012.

Psy’Aviah’s 2020 album “The Earth Keeps Spinning, Without Being Noticed” is a conceptual collaboration with Belgian photographer Gwenny Cooman, known as GNY and also involved with Mildreda, composed as a soundtrack for her exhibition “Steden Schuilen Niet Wanneer Het Regent”.

Take part in the new Psy’Aviah video – deadline November 19th

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 17:17:10 +0000

Good news for those who want to participate in a music video. Psy’Aviah has launched a call for participants in their next video. It’s very easy to participate, basically everyone with a smartphone can participate and it only takes a minute. Watch the video below and follow the instructions as lined out below. The video will be directed by Jonathan Guttmann who also directed the band’s videos for “Searching”, “New Times” and “Train of Thought”.

The music video the band is making is for the song “Pretender”, a critical protest song on behaviors on the work floor, on social media and other places – where a lot of people have to pretend, smile whilst they wouldn’t like to smile. It’s a song to bring awareness.

They are basically looking for horizontal and vertical shots of you talking – it doesn’t matter what you’re saying as it’ll be muted in the music video. You can send your material to info@psyaviah.com preferably via a WeTransfer link, or just PM the band via messenger (on the profile facebook.com/yves.schelpe).

Deadline: November 19th, so be fast!

Check out the video here with extra information what to do.

The Earth Keeps Spinning, Without Being Noticed (original ambient soundtrack) by PSY'AVIAH

‘Ambient is such a big umbrella term that people don’t find their way anymore!’ An interview with Psy’Aviah and GNY (aka Gwenny Cooman)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 14:20:46 +0000

Belgian photographer GNY (aka Gwenny Cooman, also known for her work in the band Mildreda) recently organized an exhibition of her work under the conceptual title “Steden Schuilen Niet Wanneer Het Regent” (Cities don’t seek shelter when it rains) in Wetteren (B).

For this project she also collaborated with artist and musician Yves Schelpe of Psy’Aviah who wrote a dark ambient soundtrack inspired by her work that played during the exhibition, reinforcing the atmosphere of the photographs, adding a unique sonic dimension to the exhibition, giving tones of hope and peace, but also of darkness and melancholy highlighting the contrasting sides of city and nature.

That soundtrack, “The Earth Keeps Spinning, Without Being Noticed”, is out now on Alfa Matrix as a download album (via Bandcamp) or as streaming via Spotify. Good to know, the Belgian national radio broadcast Klara already took one track, namely “The Escalator”, from the album to be used in a show for which you can see a video below.

We had a talk with both artists regarding this special collaboration.

SL: You never released an instrumental let alone an ambient album before, how did this one come about?

Yves/Psy’Aviah: After my previous, more or less traditional, album “Soul Searching” I set my eyes on working more on theatre soundtracks or atmospherical pieces. I did that a lot more in the early stages, but now I felt a need to go back to supporting a story, to collaborating on a different level and letting the music be supportive instead of dominant. I loved her photography work, and so when Gwenny asked me to do something for her closing night, I of course jumped on the opportunity.

SL: I presume you also listen to ambient then, many preferences?

Yves/Psy’Aviah: My ears are open to anything I like, so ambient is in the collection too… Let me say that I’m hugely inspired by work from Moby: I love how he layers piano and a ton of strings and pads. His ambient work is something I was drawn to from the get go. Other artists I like a lot are Mark Isham (his work for Black Mirror’s “Arkangel” for example), Eric Serra, Inon Zur (his soundtracks and solowork, especially the Dragon Age works are very much my cup of tea) Deuter (certainly albums “Prana Yoga” and “Atmospheres”), the more poppy Enigma (but check out his less beat-driven tracks like “The Dream Of The Dolphin”), Dirk Veulemans, Vangelis, and I could go on and on…

SL: I was actually quite surprised by this album, ambient tends to go nowhere in a lot of cases, but this one really has a true destination with tracks that develop nicely, I guess that your dream pop heart lays enough structures in there?

Yves/Psy’Aviah: Well, I think ambient is such a big umbrella term that people don’t find their way anymore in the vast amount of work and variety that exist in the genre, let alone what it means, or can mean, and end up listening to ambient music that isn’t their cup of tea… Just like every music genre ambient has so many genres, it’s impossible to describe them all.

There are indeed a few big broad distinctions: either you have a clear study of sound and sound patterns, in which it isn’t really music but a research project of what can be done. Then there’s the very experimental electro-acoustic work I know of Dirk Veulemans for example (he’s a fellow Belgian talent and well known for his work) – and apologies Dirk if I’d describe it wrong – but I feel their storytelling in the work is a big focus as well as experimentation – finding the boundaries of what music is. And then I think we have the more chill-out or soundtrack synthesizer music. We all know Vangelis and JMJ did pioneering work, it is a lot more focused on melodic elements. For me personally the storytelling is present, but also creating a kind of mood is important, certainly because it was written based upon existing photography work.

SL: How did you start on this one? Did you get to see Gwenny’s material on forehand?

Yves/Psy’Aviah: One can’t write music for an exhibition (unless that is the experiment of course) if you don’t know what the source material is, and if you don’t understand what the artist wants to evoke in terms of emotions. All this music is driven by Gwenny’s photography, by her vision and talking about her work. I do need to be drawn to something before it can inspire me, so it goes without saying that the emotions I experienced with the selected photography work of Gwenny on that exhibition were really strong, and very relatable. I could imagine certain things right off the bat. It’s in subtle ways such as the angles the photos are taken at, as well as the general subjects and the stories one can see behind them.

Gwenny Cooman: I think I saw Psy’Aviah’s first gig, and I was immediately overwhelmed. I remember thinking ‘okay, the new Praga Khan is born’. Psy’Aviah evolved and made their own sound and story, and I always liked the look and feel of the artwork and the content of the songs. Also, I noticed Yves carrying out street experiments and having other original crossover ideas. So I knew something exciting could be done.

SL: Did you use any specific techniques as far as the sound collages go?

Yves/Psy’Aviah: When I knew what the themes were I knew I had to incorporate a lot of field recordings – which meant going outdoors and recording sounds in train stations, elevators, nature, fields, underwater, on the bus, in supermarkets etc… As they’d be an underlying tone in either rhythmic elements (such as an electric escalator with its clicks and clacks tuned to a nice clock as if it were a drum machine, or train tracks repeating over and over, water streams that have a natural tendency to emulate a sort of repeating vibe, yet always with a little tonal difference…).

Those natural rhythms of nature and city were a perfect match and were for me personally the technique I had to use to get in tune with the photography of Gwenny.

Of course that is not everything, using those sounds and creating a compelling storyline in a track, using my background of chord progressions I like and basslines (either slowed down very much, or sped up a lot), to evoke emotions and contrast them to the sometimes dull machinal sounds, is what the motivation (or technique) was in the end.

SL: Gwenny, I know you have been busy with photography for quite a few years, but it’s the first time you are in the spotlights yourself with that expo. How different do you consider the material for this expo compared to what you did in the past?

Gwenny Cooman: I guess the way I look at things, and the stuff that draws my attention has not changed. But the last couple of years I’m more focussed and spending more time and effort to enhance my work. I discovered how different a picture can be in its digital form from one in printed media. The printing process was really a search for pictures with printing results that matched my expectations, and same for the framing.

SL: Did you select the pictures for the expo or were they made with the intention to organise an expo?

Gwenny Cooman: My partner convinced me to have an exposition now instead of postponing things until, say, the year 2080 (I tend to keep thinking I can improve something). Most pictures were not made especially for the expo, they were selected to fit the idea I had under the title ‘cities don’t take shelter when it rains’.

I am currently working on a new expo (aiming to exhibit summer 2021 in Ostend) which will have a different setup. I have a concept in mind and all pictures will fit that new story and concept and will be made with that purpose. I can’t reveal yet what I have in mind, but I can say it will involve topics such as science and superstition, some astronomy and astrology so to speak.

SL: What subjects do attract you the most? I see a few with buildings, but it’s the stray dog that has triggered quite some feedback from our readers on Facebook. Care to explain?

Gwenny Cooman: I guess it’s about the questions that come to mind. Is it an abandoned dog? Are there houses in the neighbourhood where he could find a home? What kind of life has he had?

The expo showed pictures of abandoned places and the less attractive aspects of citylife in black and white. In contrast to these pictures, there were colourful pictures of nature (this use of black and white versus colours is reflected in the movie Yves made).

I was very lucky to have been able to do some travelling, and especially to visit some weird or abandoned places in the United States. The Salton Sea for example is one of those places where I can just sit and watch the emptiness, the leftovers of thrilling lives and expectations that place once held. So afterwards, when people look at a picture from that kind of abandoned place, they also start making up their own stories and interpretations of what happened.

SL: Every photo artists probably dreams to have his/her pictures released in a photo book. A dream or something you might want to materialize in the nearby future?

Gwenny Cooman: Indeed! Working with Yves/Psy’Aviah really added value to everything. We inspired each other and that really is the most joyful feeling. If I make a picture and then look at it once I’m home and if it’s a good one, it makes me smile. But if someone else feels that way about my work, or even better, if they are inspired by it, that beats it all. So the movie and soundtrack that resulted out of our collaboration was really a very nice piece of art. Of course, a book would also be great. For my next project, I have some ideas on a catalogue which should be a crossover between photographs, poetry and literature. Still dreaming…

SL: What’s your favorite setup and why?

Gwenny Cooman: I try to take silent, subdued pictures. Most of the time unintended. So I don’t go out thinking ‘now I will photograph this place or that person’, but the subjects are more or less random encounters. Of course I tend to go places where these encounters are more likely. But that means I travel with a wonderful and compact Leica camera so that I can always capture the moment.

You can check out the complete album below.

The Earth Keeps Spinning, Without Being Noticed (original ambient soundtrack) by PSY'AVIAH

Dark ambient album for Psy’Aviah – Inspired by GNY photo material, download now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 14:52:30 +0000

(Photo by GNY) “The Earth Keeps Spinning, Without Being Noticed (Original Ambient Soundtrack)” is a brand new ambient album by the Belgian electro pop act Psy’Aviah, which can be downloaded now from Bandcamp.

The material on the album is inspired by the work of Belgian photographer GNY (aka Gwenny Cooman, also known for her work in the band Mildreda). She recently organized an exhibition of her work under the conceptual title “Steden Schuilen Niet Wanneer Het Regent” (Cities don’t seek shelter when it rains) in Wetteren (B). The dark ambient soundtrack was played during the exhibition.

Under the current Covid19 crisis that limited the number of visitors and forced the cancellation of the planned live performance of Psy’Aviah at the closing of the exhibition, it was decided to make this soundtrack available for everyone showcasing Psy’Aviah dark ambient side and GNY’s photographic work.

Check it out below. The album download holds a selection of pictures taken by Gwenny Cooman for you to enjoy. Expect an interview with both artists in the next days.

You can also download the release straight from Bandcamp below.

11Grams to release new ‘Humanicide’ album on EK Product label – first video available now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 16:35:10 +0000

Out on September 25 is the second album by the collaboration project between the Australian Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11) and American ‘Retrogramme’-mastermind Rob Early. The partnership between the two artists – baptized 11Grams – debuted in 2017 with the previous full length “Panacea”.

Here’s what the band says about their new album: “On our new album “Humanicide” the listener will be wrapped by a wide variety of avveniristic modulations, sometimes threatening or full of suggestive mystery and drama. Expect midtempo dancing drumming mechanically squared by the drum-machine, sequenced symmetries, powerful bass lines and solemn synths harmonies spread an alienating musicality, while the chant adds further catchy charm to the structures.”

You’ll have both male (including Roy Retrofit) and female vocals (including Alicia May and Rebekah Feng) on the 14 track album which offers a blend of electro, endustrial, EBM and synthpop. Included as well are remixes by for instance Psy’Aviah, Sebastian Komor, C1TZN.X and Leæther Strip.

Check out the Video for “Ice Man”. Read the review of ‘Humanicide’.

Alfa Matrix adds 50% discount code on top of Bandcamp Friday – use SUMMER20

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 07:56:23 +0000

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

It’s Bandcamp Friday today, which is a great day to support artists, as the download platform charges no fees that day. The Belgian electronic label Alfa Matrix goes the extra mile and offers 50% reduction on top when using the discount code SUMMER20.

So, if you want to support the label and artists (Armageddon Dildos, Psy’Aviah, AD:keY, 808 Dot Pop, Lights A.M, and lots more), then don’t hesitate to go crazy on the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page!

You can of course also help us out today by ordering a Side-Line T-shirt including a free mouth mask or download and donate towards one of our compilations. Hundreds of parcels have already be sent out worldwide, so if you want one as well, check it out on our Bandcamp page.

Dances Remixes by NEUROACTIVE FanFanFanatisch – The Düsseldorf EP by DIE ROBO SAPIENS Fire by FIRST AID 4 SOULS From The Rib of Adam by AVARICE IN AUDIO Herz Lass Los EP by AD:KEY MMXX EP by AESTHETISCHE Metropolis Necropolis EP by HELALYN FLOWERS Our Promise EP by STUDIO-X vs. SIMON CARTER The Colour Temperature by 808 DOT POP Train Of Thought EP by PSY’AVIAH feat. Kyoko Baertsoen

Alfa Matrix releases 8 new digital releases exclusively on Bandcamp incl. AD:keY, Aesthetische, Die Robo Sapiens, First Aid 4 Souls, Helalyn Flowers, Neuroactive, Psy’Aviah and Studio-X vs. Simon Carter

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 09:29:01 +0000

The Belgian electro label Alfa Matrix is launching 8 new Bandcamp exclusive releases today from AD:keY, Aesthetische, Die Robo Sapiens, First Aid 4 Souls, Helalyn Flowers, Neuroactive, Psy’Aviah and Studio-X vs. Simon Carter. At the same time the label also officially releases the new albums by 808 DOT POP and Avarice In Audio today.

Good to know, if you want to support artists and labels to survive during this Corona crisis, Bandcamp is again waiving its revenue share on all sales today. All the purchases placed on that day will therefore support the bands and labels present on the platform.

The new releases can be found below:

Side-Line also covered Aesthetische’s ‘MMXX’.

MATRIX:REB00TED – The PSY'AVIAH Guerrilla – Zion [Electro Dance] Warfare [07] by VARIOUS ARTISTS

Alfa Matrix offers 2 more ‘Matrix:Reb00ted’ remix albums, this time remixed by the electro dance / trip pop electro act Psy’Aviah

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 19:22:57 +0000

Alfa Matrix continues the ‘Matrix:Reb00ted’ series, this time with 2 remix albums by Belgian artist Psy’Aviah displaying his electro dance trip pop remixes cruising through the Alfa Matrix band catalogue. The releases are first released via Bandcamp and will follow on all other platforms in the next weeks.

Here’s what is available on both volumes plus also a preview of what to expect.

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Psy’Aviah Guerrilla – Zion [Electro Dance] Warfare [07]

This volume holds 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire remixed by Psy’Aviah. Offering the electro dance side of the Belgian band you can expect a harder selection of modern dancefloor assaults with these bands: Ayria, Suicidal Romance, Zombie Girl, Junksista, Leaether Strip, Essence Of Mind, Nebula-H, Diffuzion, Schwarzblut, Diskonnekted, Krystal System and Psy’Aviah. You can check all the songs below and download it from Bandcamp directly.

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Psy’Aviah Guerrilla – Zion [Trip Pop Electro] Warfare [06]

This volume also holds 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire remixed by Psy’Aviah. The “trip pop electro” edition reveals a selection of more moody and catchy synth electro songs thanks to bands like Mondträume, Metroland, Aiboforcen, Helalyn Flowers, Acylum, Junksista, Entrzelle, Llumen, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Halo In Reverse, Schwarzblut, Mildreda, Totem Obscura and Psy’Aviah, also including guest vocals by Kyoko Baertsoen, Mari Kattman and Fallon Nieves. You can check all the songs below and download it from Bandcamp directly.

MATRIX:REB00TED – The PSY'AVIAH Guerrilla – Zion [Trip Pop Electro] Warfare [06] by VARIOUS ARTISTS

Previous volumes

Here’s a list of the 5 previous volumes which Alfa Matrix released in the past with remixes executed by Kant Kino, Simon Carter, Acylum and Aesthetische !

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Kant Kino Guerrilla – Zion (EBM) Warfare (01) by VARIOUS ARTISTS Matrix:Reb00ted – The Acylum Guerrilla – Zion (Dark Elektro) Warfare (02) by VARIOUS ARTISTS MATRIX:REB00TED – the AESTHETISCHE guerrilla Zion [advanced electronic] (red pill) Warfare [04] by VARIOUS ARTISTS MATRIX:REB00TED – the AESTHETISCHE guerrilla Zion [advanced electronic] (blue pill) Warfare [03] by VARIOUS ARTISTS MATRIX:REB00TED – The SIMON CARTER Guerrilla – Zion [Hard Dance] Warfare [05] by VARIOUS ARTISTS

Psy’Aviah releases ‘Hold On’ EP – available for immediate download + 2 videos

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 14:54:58 +0000

Out now is a 12-track remix EP, “Hold on” (which is quite applicable for today’s Corona crisis) by the Belgian electronic act Psy’Aviah. The track “Hold On”, featuring Mark Bebb (Shelter, Form), is taken from the “Soul Searching” album and comes here in various 7″ short, 12″ long and other dub versions.

“Hold On” was also influenced by the bond between Matilda and Léon in the movie “Léon”. Next to the single the band also released 2 videos which you can view below.

Bandcamp fans will enjoy the exclusive bonus booklet for this EP release with lyrics, credits & more. You can download the 12-track EP as a super low priced EP right here on Bandcamp.

Hold On EP by PSY’AVIAH

Videos

Psy’Aviah – “Hold On (ft. Mark Bebb)”

Psy’Aviah – “Hold On (ft. Mark Bebb) (Unterberg 7″ club remix)”

Psy’Aviah – Hope (EP – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 19:30:46 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, dance-pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: The song “Hope” is taken from Psy’Aviah’s latest album “Soul searching”. This work released late 2019 by Yves Schelpe and featuring numerous guest singers probably was the best full length ever released by the project. “Hope” featuring Addie Nicole was not exactly my favorite song from the album. It has been featured as different edits while there’s also an exclusive song featured.

Content: The basis of “Hope” is a mix between electro-pop, trip-pop and dance music. It has something of ‘Delerium made in Belgium’. The songs featured 3 remixes by the Israel based KGProject. They bring us a “Radio”-, “Club”- and “Dub” edit. The main characteristic is that these versions have been seriously uplifted into harder dance projects. Last, but not least the exclusive song “Rain In The City” featuring Lis van den Akker sounds more like a mysterious, wafting song.

+ + + : Psy’Aviah moves back into dance and that’s for sure an aspect club- and dance lovers gone like. The songs –bit especially the remixes by KGProject, have something ultra dance and trance-minded. If you’re not afraid of more ‘commercial’ tricks and tunes, this is for sure something you gone like. My favorite version is the “Club Remix”.

– – – : I think the “Dub Version” is the wrong title for the last remix -as it doesn’t sound dub at all. I personally prefer the songs I heard on “Soul Searcher”, which had something intelligent and mature while this EP is something completely different and only suited for the dancefloor. In the end that’s also the goal of EP’s…

Conclusion: “Hope” is a song with a message while the music is just ‘dance’. I think this EP is meant for a different audience than the album.

Best songs: “Hope – KGProject Club Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www .psyaviah .com / www .facebook .com /psyaviah

Label: www .alfa –matrix .com / www .facebook .com /Alfa .Matrix

About Psy’Aviah

Psy’Aviah is a Belgian dark electro-pop project founded by Yves Schelpe in Antwerp in 2004, initially focused on live performances before winning the Studio Brussel Demopoll with “The Future Of The Sun”. Schelpe teamed up with producer Len Lemeire (Implant, 32Crash) for the project’s debut album, “Creationism” (2007), followed by “Entertainment Industries” (2008, Alfa Matrix), “Eclectric” (2010), “Introspection / Extrospection” and “Into The Game” (2011), “Ok / Virtual Gods” (2012) and “Future Past” (2013). Psy’Aviah has since worked with a rotating cast of guest vocalists, including Gwenny Cooman (GNY), Mari Kattman and Addie Nicole, who appears on this “Hope” single from the 2019 album “Soul Searching”.

Alfa Matrix launches massive download compilation for free – all donations to be used to invest in new bands

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 13:01:38 +0000

Available now for free (or pay-what-you-want) via Bandcamp is the 9th volume in the “Matrix Downloaded” compilation download series by the Belgian electro label Alfa Matrix. In the past these compilations have been downloaded by ten thousands of fans around the world and we don’t expect it will be different this year.

The label also announces that it will invest all donations in nurturing new bands and getting their careers launched.

Here’s what Seba Dolimont, A&R at Alfa Matrix, has to say about it: “The music market has shifted a lot over the years and in many ways losing its solid footing. CDs sales are collapsing entirely and the shift from downloads to streaming has not yet shown a revenue that is replacing what has been lost. (…) This evolution has created an environment where many labels have almost stopped playing their key-role of talent scouting, no longer daring to invest in new talents who deserve to be heard by you! Alfa Matrix is one of the very few record companies in this scene who try to keep the right balance between releasing renowned artists and supporting younger bands who still need to catch the attention and reach your ears.”

61 bands and tracks

The compilation holds the work by 61 label bands who joined hands to deliver you 61 songs representing the label’s most recent singles and albums while giving a preview of some promising forthcoming 2020 productions including announced new releases by POUPPEEE FABRIKK, NEUROACTIVE, ALIEN VAMPIRES, HELALYN FLOWERS, DIE ROBO SAPIENS, IMJUDAS, 808 DOT POP, ACYLUM, ARMAGEDDON DILDOS, PSY’AVIAH, AVARICE IN AUDIO, SIVA SIX, NEIKKA RPM, AESTHETISCHE, KANT KINO, KOMOR KOMMANDO, AD:KEY, H.O.W., CIRCUMPOLAR, SYNAPSYCHE, LLUMEN, ENTRZELLE, LIGHTS A.M, REACTOR7X, FIRST AID 4 SOULS, etc.

Matrix Downloaded 009 by Various Artists

‘Click Interview’ with Psy’aviah: ‘I Don’t Get Why People Are So Hung Up On The Fact A Band Has To Stick To One Genre’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 18:00:20 +0000

Belgian Psy’Aviah is driven by the creative spirit of Yves Schelpe. The project is already busy for several years now and this year unleashed its seventh full length album. “Soul Searching” –released on Alfa Matrix, can be easily considered as a conceptual album for its lyrical content, but still for the renewed experience with multiple guest singers. Sound-wise the work remains a truly sonic enigma, which might be simply called ‘electro-pop’, but when you listen more carefully you’ll notice an amazing amount of influences. But more than the result of multiple influences, Yves Schelpe has for sure released his most mature work to date, which might appeal for lovers of Delerium, Conjure One, Lunascape and related bands. On stage Yves Schelpe (electronics) has been joined by singer Marieke Lighband and guitarist Ben Van de Cruys. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: When you’ve a new album out, do you consider it as the best one you’ve ever released? Where do you place “Soul Searching” in your growing discography?

Yves: Honestly rating your own work, I think most musicians will tell their latest is the best as it sounds fresher to their ears, because as a musician you grow in technique, songwriting and taste. Hence why most musicians would rate their latest work as either their best or among the best if they’d had to choose. But in the end it comes down to the listener, I do my thing in my small bedroom studio, try to learn every day, try to bring new ideas, fuse genres and create stories.

As for where I place it in my discography, that’s an interesting one. I think it’s on the list of albums between 2013-present vs 2007-2012. As of 2013 with “Future Past” I radically changed in both style and wanted to bring the EBM and electro into different genres from jazz, to trip-hop, to classical, to pop.. Always with a dark hint and with a wink to the past. And that’s why I split my discography in those two ‘eras’ internally in my head. Since 2013 it’s also more focused in stories per album, as well as inviting guests to sing instead of just one lead vocalist.

Honestly maybe this could be the start of a third era in Psy’Aviah’s discography, where I go even further and incorporate even more other sounds and songwriting styles. Who knows, an artist always evolves… That’s so fascinating about music.

Q: What have been the influences and challenges to write and accomplish “Soul Searching”?

Yves: Writing the basic songs wasn’t the biggest challenge -as I always write the basic chords and melodies on piano first. You have to know that with “Soul Searching” it was the intention to create a soundscape that is radically different and alienates the listener from the daily Western sounds they hear -both so the sound from song to song is coherent, even if ‘styles’ change, and as well to transport the listener in a different ‘space’. Pull them out of the traditional Western sounds they’re so familiar with, I wanted to introduce something fresh. So finding those right instruments to tell the story was a big challenge. We have all the tools available: samplers, effects, digital instruments…

But I went for a radical approach to use real instruments, either pre-recorded or played by real people.

Q: I can imagine finding the right match between the songs and guest singers must be one of these challenges, but how did the final selection happened? Is there something like a cast? Are there specific criteria to choose a singer? What about the lyrics and how did the recording with The guests happened?

Yves: I always write the songs first on piano sounds, then the search for the ‘sound’ begins. Once I have a rough demo then I send either one or more demos to the singer I think they match with. About 90% of the time I have a strong feeling of how the melody of the lead vocals and backings should sound and I prerecord those with my own voice. But some guests do write their own lyrics -I do always give them pointers how I want it to sound or what lyrics need to deal with to match the story and to inject my ideas as well. But for Mark Bebb and Lis van den Akker they wrote their lyrics, vocal melodies and harmonies. Sometimes I co-write, as with Roeland van der Velde and Ellia Bisker -exchanging lyrical notes and adapting them.

The fact is that for each song I know the tone of the vocalist, and know what they can bring to the table by listening to their work and -with most of them -knowing them already for a long time. It’s a collaboration in the end, of course I do have my veto, as do they if they’re not happy. I always brief them of the concept of the album, the intent of the song -it’s maybe very over the top micromanagement sometimes, and maybe taken too seriously, but when you’re that passionate about what you do, you can’t help it (lol).

As for recording, most people record at their own home studio, or the studio of the band they play in. We exchange via the internet, and I give my feedback whether I want some extra adlibs, or extra shouts or harmonies… I once did a video with Mari Kattman on how we collaborate: [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_NMFZZ9a-A ] -it’s explained how she works, and how I work -it’s generally 95% the same for each song…

Q: Sound-wise, I don’t know if “Soul Searching” is my favorite Psy’Aviah album, but it for sure sounds as the most mature one! I get the feeling you’ve found ‘your’; sound while other albums were more like the exorcism of ideas and influences. How does it feel at your side and what did you finally try to achieve with this work?

Yves: Every album has a different sound, but it always has the ‘Psy’Aviah’ stamp on it. Maybe the reason why it sounds more mature is the fact that I wanted to draw people out of this world and this gave every song the alienated Eastern vibe -and that gives an extra layer of coherency. As for an eclectic approach on other albums, that’s part of the deal with Psy’Aviah. And I’m not alone -check for example the mélange of trip-hop to ambient to ballads to electroclash and to pure dancefloor driven tracks to even rock tracks by Moby, Praga Khan, Bowie, Die Antwoord, Junksista or Faithless on a single album, that mix given with their own take on it and their own sound, as I do as well, is not so weird in my mind… So I don’t get why people are so hung up on the fact a band has to stick to one genre, for me that is boring and hence why the bands listed before are prime examples why I’m a big fan of their albums, they can be on repeat for days because of the diverse take rather than a rehash of 12 tracks in the same genre with the same sounds being reused over and over again…

Q: The opening song “Becoming Human” is for sure an essential track from the album. I get the impression this song with spoken words by the famous and mediatized Flemish psychiatrist Dirk De Wachter is the heart from the album to understand the concept, right? Tell us a bit more about this surprising guest vocalist and how did you get in touch with him and finally convinced him to contribute?

Yves: I saw some of his lectures online, then started reading his books “Borderline Times” and “De Wereld van De Wachter”, as well as his newest work “De Kunst Van Het Ongelukkig Zijn”. There were so many ideas in there that it already inspired my work on “Lightflare”, when writing songs for the EP “Looking For The Sun” I wrote a mini essay in the booklet (PDF in bandcamp release) on how these ideas are reflected in the songs on the EP, and by then I did contact Dirk to get his approval, because when you mention someone -I feel it’s only appropriate to ask for advice and approval. Later that year I met him at a lecture he gave at the University of Antwerp, and by then I had already written half of the songs for “Soul Searching”. We talked about the ideas, and then set a date via mail to meet & record -he lives just two blocks away so that was easy. We talked about the concept of the album, the reason behind those words, not a lot of convincing was needed -you have to know Dirk is a really nice and warm person.

The poem I wrote as an introduction to the rest of the album’s lyrical content as you understood correctly, but his deep voice as well as his attachment to the lyrical content, for me was a trigger to ask and include him. Recording was fun though, at his cabinet, cosy, greeted with a smile and coffee. Talking about each other’s interests, and then record. I’m grateful to have him included in this concept album as it really makes the journey complete from start to finish. But that fact is essential for each vocalist, the match in voice and passion for the lyrics has to be there -otherwise it does not work.

Q: You mentioned Dirk De Wachter’s book “Borderline Times” where he makes an interesting link between BPS (Borderline Personality Disorder) and the Western World we’re living in. I realized there also is a possible link between this psychiatric disorder and the music business from today. What does it inspire to you as an artist?

Yves: You are correct, he essentially goes through each of the symptoms of BPS and then diagnoses our Western lifestyle to come to the conclusion that we live in ‘borderline times’. Every part of it, from medical institutions, business world, politics – and of course the music business. It is the whole of our Western world that is affected by these symptoms, and especially when it comes to the ego: everything revolves around the ‘I’, the ‘Me, Me, Me’ culture. I see it a lot in this music business from small to big; it hurts the way we interact with each other unfortunately.

As an artist I try to break that cycle by not making this project about me alone, although I do have ambitions and try to put ‘myself’ into each and everything of what Psy’Aviah is -that in essence is no problem. But you should never ever forget the people around you that are helping you around the way, I guess that’s what I try to hold in higher regard after reading his books. Being a lot humbler towards achievements, because what are you with achieving something when you can’t share it but yourself. At the end a good relationship with the musicians I work with, the artwork artist, the live band Marieke & Ben, the fans… that relationship is important. Not for sales, but to stay grounded. And if you can help out other bands, then why not. I have no interest in beef or drama, so that’s how I try to act in this business as an artist. To give a concrete example, we played a benefit concert at the British American Theatrical Society (or BATS in short, yeah, they’re a bit gothic too then ;-)), as the theatre is in need of funds to move location (as their rent is being raised). We played there for free, [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ROR9lWOCXo ], we helped them out, they helped us out reaching a new audience. We had fun, it was a concert that’s on my high all-time list because of this fact. There is a ‘Great Disconnect’ in this society at the moment, and not only in the music scene. So looking out for each other is something that I take away from it, without devaluing/patronizing the person or organization you’re helping or listening to. Doing small good things should become a natural habit again instead of the ‘bol.com’ instant delivery for the ‘me me me’ society we are creating.

In that sense you could say that Psy’Aviah lyrics are of great importance to highlight these issues as well: “Voodoo Love”, “Becoming Human”, “Hold On” (as written by Mark Bebb) or even “City In Flames” are prime examples of that.

Psy’Aviah – Soul Searching (DCD Album – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 20:30:31 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, ambient-pop.

Background/Info: “Soul Searching” is the seventh official album for Belgian Yves Schelpe aka Psy’Aviah. The composer again invited an impressive list of ‘guest singers’ to put their voice on his compositions.

Content: Psy’Aviah is a project in constant move. “Soul Searching” features typical influences and arrangements, which are into the Psy’Aviah sound, but compared to the previous album –which was more into some dance-electronics, this work reflects maturity and impressive vocal performances. The opening cut featuring one of the most famous and ‘popular’ psychiatrists from the Flemish part of Belgium (aka Dirk De Wachter) you’ll also get songs with Roeland van der Velde, Mari Kattman, Mark Bebb, Alicia May, Kyoko Baertsoen, Saydi Driggers, Marieke Lightband, Addie Nicole, Lis van den Akker and Ellia Bisker.

Sound-wise Yves Schelpe has achieved a work, which sounds like a sonic bridge between electro-pop and ambient-electronics. It might appeal for lovers of Delerium, Conjure One, Lunascape and related bands.

The limited edition features an extra disc with remixes by SD-KRTR, Metroland, Rob Dust, 11 Grams, Mind.Divided, SNVFF, J. Wolf, The Gothsicles, Studio-X, Cosmic Armchair, Noire Antidote, Maarten Pels, Tom Bro, People Theatre, KGProject and French Skies.

+ + + : Psy’Aviah is back with great stuff and has probably accomplished his most achieved work to date. After a rather disappointing “Lightflare”-album on which Yves Schelpe fall in the trap of easy electro-dance music, this work reflects a more intelligent approach and still a challenge in the fusion between electro-pop and atmospheric passages. The songs have been accomplished by alluring, deep sounding bass lines, elevating leads, down-tempo rhythms and a few Eastern sound treatments on a couple of songs. Yves Schelpe also selected an impressive list of talented singers (featuring some familiar Psy’Aviah guests next to newcomers).

One of my favorite cuts is the more club-friendly “New Times” feat. Alicia May (who already sang on a song of Benjamin’s Plague) while the already familiar “Voodoo Love” feat. Roeland van der Velde is a dreamy, beautiful piece of music. Among the vocalists I also want to mention Kyoko Baertsoen, Saydi Driggers and Ellia Bisker (reminding me of Lana Del Rey).

Among the remixes I recommend the 80s driven “Hold On” remixed by Metroland, “New Times” remixed by SNVFF, the wafting “Dream Fever” remixed by Tom Bro and the trance-orientated “Searching” remixed by French Skies.

– – – : The main difficulty for Psy’Aviah remains the style, which is hard to define for mixing different influences; it remains often too ‘indie’-like for underground music and too ‘dark’ for the indie-stream. It’s not exactly an album for the clubs although it sounds danceable!

Conclusion: Psy’Aviah has accomplished its opus magnum, which however remains an album hard to label and a pure challenge when it comes to ‘sales’.

Best songs: “New Times”, “Voodoo Love”, “Dream Fever”, “Searching”, “City In Flames” + “Hold On – Metroland 7” Remix”, “News Times – SNVFF Remix”, “Dream Fever – Tom Bro After Club Remix”, “Searching – French Skies Club Remix”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www .psyaviah .com / www .facebook .com /psyaviah

Label: www .alfa –matrix .com / www .facebook .com /Alfa .Matrix Read the news on ‘Soul Searching’.

About Psy’Aviah

Psy’Aviah is an industrial rock, electroclash and dark EBM project driven by Belgian musician Yves Schelpe, formed in Antwerp in 2004 and initially focused on live performances. The project won the Studio Brussel Demopoll that same year with “The Future Of The Sun”, then teamed up with Len Lemeire (Implant, 32Crash) in 2007 to record its first album. On stage, Schelpe has been joined by singer Marieke Lightband and guitarist Ben Van de Cruys. “Soul Searching”, the seventh full-length Psy’Aviah album, continues the project’s practice of working with a rotating cast of guest vocalists and remixers.

Famous Belgian psychologist Dirk De Wachter featured on new album Psy’Aviah

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 13:01:22 +0000

The Belgian tripop/synthpop act Psy’Aviah isn’t shy of venturing into unknown territories. On their newest album, “SoulSearching”, they invited the wellknown Belgian psychologist Dirk De Wachter to provide words on the song “Becoming Human”. De Wachter is a professor at the famous KU Leuven university and author of the bestsellers “Borderline Times”, “The World of De Wachter”, and many more.

The link with the central theme in the new Psy’Aviah album – the quest through life in today’s world – can actually be found in De Wachter’s first book where he criticizes the lifestyle of the western world and the effects on happiness, loneliness and the relation with social media, consumerism, and an Icarus/ego centred world.

You can listen to “Becoming Human” right here in Spotify.

For the track Yves Schelpe asked Dirk De Wachter to provide his deep voice for the lyrics he wrote and which were inspired on the narrative he shares in his lectures and books. Yves: “I wanted to work on the subject of what it means to be human, and especially with these words I was trying to rephrase in a poem how the “small goodness” of philosopher Emanuel Levinas could be interpreted.” For Schelpe, it was a collaboration bound to happen one day, his office is closeby to where I live so…

The album is out now via Alfa Matrix, on CD, 2CD and as download and streaming of course as well.

You can check the complete album in its deluxe version below on Bandcamp.

Soul Searching (Deluxe Edition) by PSY'AVIAH

Psy’Aviah announces more details of upcoming ‘Soul Searching’ album – preview the first tracks!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 18:12:13 +0000

One of Belgium’s finest electronica trademarks over the last decade, Antwerp-based Psy’Aviah aka Yves Schelpe returns with “Soul Searching”. The new album, expected for a November 1st release, was preceded by the “Dream Fever” download EP released in March this year.

The basic album (available here) will hold 12 tracks while there is also a limited 2CD set (available here) holding a 16-track bonus CD. And for the remixers amongst you all, there are 2 remix kits waiting for you as well once the album is released on Bandcamp.

Guest vocalists

The album itself features guest vocalists in the likes of Mari Kattman, Kyoko Baertsoen (ex-Hooverphonic and Lunascape), Lis van den Akker, Ellia Bisker, Addie Nicole, Saydi Driggers, Alicia May, Roeland van der Velde, Marieke Lightband, Mark Bebb as well as psychiatrist Prof Dr. Dirk De Wachter speaking on the intro track “Becoming Human”.

First 2 tracks available

You can now listen to the first 2 tracks which have been made available from the album.

Soul Searching (Deluxe Edition) by PSY'AVIAH

In case you missed the “Dream Fever” EP, as released in March, check it out below. Read the review of ‘Soul Searching’.

Dream Fever EP by PSY’AVIAH

Metroland – Framed + Framed Anew (Vinyl Double Album + CD Album – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 19:30:14 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Belgian Metroland last year unleashed their fourth full length “Men In A Frame”; a conceptual album about photography. After the album they also released the singles “Man In Frame” and “Memorabilia” featuring exclusive ‘non-album’ tracks. Next to a few more singles and an USB-release they closed this conceptual chapter with this gatefold yellow vinyl release and an extra CD. Each format features nine identical songs and three exclusive ones.

Content: All of the songs are remixes and alternative versions from tracks that were originally released on the last album or the exclusive singles. Metroland remixes son songs while other remixes were done by artists such as Aavikko, Elektroklänge, Psy’Aviah, Kurt Baggaley, Implant, Der Dritte Raum, Die Robo Sapiens, Zusammenklang and Him+He. The songs/remixes are pretty diversified, holding on the Metroland song basis, but mixed with some extra influences like EBM, minimal electronics and even a touch of psychedelic-ambient.

+ + + : The vinyl format is absolutely great; it has something retro-like, which fits with the Metroland-sound, but it also is sober and artistic. The content is interesting as you get much diversified edits. The clubby-sounding “Memorabilia” remixed by Der Dritte Raum is my personal favorite one. Elektroklänge did a great job remixing “The Speed Of Life III” in a different, but still very robotic/Kraftwerk-ian approach. Another song I want to mention is the remix of “La Macchia D’Acqua” by the Belgian project Him+He. Their remix has something new-beat like.

– – – : I think it’s the right moment to close the “Men In a Frame”-album; it was a great, conceptual and successful release, but more remixes would be a little bit abusive!

Conclusion: This is album is a truly collector’s item for the Metroland fans. It has been strictly limited to 300 copies worldwide so it’s a little treasure of sonic ecstasy.

Best songs: “Memorabilia – Der Dritte Raum Rmx 3.4”, “The Speed Of Life – Elektroklänge 1-2-3 Remix”, “La Macchia D’Acqua – Him+He’s Real Sounds Of A Matrix Edit”, “Proiezione 41-828 – Ot-Vorpsrung-Remix”, “Creative Rose – Passenger S Perennial Mix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www .metrolandmusic .com / www .facebook .com /metrolandmusic

Label: www .alfa –matrix .com / www .facebook .com /Alfa .Matrix

About Metroland

Metroland is the Belgian electropop duo of Andy de Decker and Sven Lauwers, performing as Passenger A and Passenger S. A third member, Louis Zachert, known as Passenger L, was part of the group until his death in August 2015; the album “Things Will Never Sound The Same Again” was released that December as a tribute to him.

Metroland continued with the fourth full-length “Men In A Frame” and the non-album singles “Man In Frame” and “Memorabilia” before closing that conceptual chapter with “Framed + Framed Anew”. Lauwers has also released solo material as 808 Dot Pop. In a later interview with Side-Line, the duo discussed the albums “0” and “Forum”, which continued the group’s conceptual approach to electropop.