It all began in 1983 under the name Xymox, a musical project founded and spearheaded by Ronny Moorings. Shortly after, the project evolved into Clan Of Xymox, marking the birth of a band destined to leave an indelible mark on the Dark-Wave scene. Signed by the legendary British label 4AD, the band released two seminal albums that would become classics in the genre. While they briefly returned to the original name, since 1997, they have been known exclusively as Clan Of Xymox. What makes Clan Of Xymox truly special is not only their pioneering role in the New/Dark-Wave movement but their unwavering ability to create valuable and impactful music over the decades.

Unlike many of their contemporaries, who often rely on the nostalgia of 80s hits, Clan Of Xymox has consistently released strong, fresh material, proving that their creative spirit remains as vibrant as ever. With a career spanning over 40 years, Clan Of Xymox has firmly established themselves as one of the most influential forces in Dark-Wave. Ronny Moorings has remained true to the essence of his sound while allowing it to evolve, ensuring a timeless yet contemporary edge. Their latest and 18th studio album, “Exodus”, released via Trisol (Germany) and Metropolis (USA), is a testament to this balance. Featuring a collection of masterful tracks, the album combines melancholic, dark, atmospheres with Pop-infused arrangements that are both haunting and danceable.

I felt it was the perfect time to take a retrospective look at Clan Of Xymox’s incredible journey. In this interview, Ronny Moorings graciously shared his insights, reflecting on the band’s beginnings, their evolution, and their current work. I am deeply thankful for his enthusiastic cooperation and for taking the time to answer in such detail. His dedication to crafting inspired music over such a long period is remarkable, as is the man behind the artist. Respect! (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

‘I Wanted To Be A Part Of Things Which Were Happening In Front Of My Eyes’

Q: Getting back to the early 1980s which marked the rise of New-Wave music and subgenres like Dark-Wave, Cold-Wave, and Post-Punk. How do you reflect on those formative years and what do you recall from the very beginning of your career? Specifically, what events or circumstances led to the formation of Xymox and, later, Clan Of Xymox and what was your original dream when you first started making music?

Ronny: I will make this a short story because there is so much to say about how it came to be. I was in bands from on my childhood in my birth town Roosendaal (NL) where I already played live at the age of 11 with older 15 year old friends. When it was time for me to study, I first moved to The Hague, deciding after a year of Social Academy that I’d rather do a Sociology study in Nijmegen.

In the early 80’s there was a lot going on. Musically we had the Deutsche Welle and from the U.K. came New-Wave. This appealed a lot to me and DJed (what I also already did in Roosendaal as a teenager) this type of music in the local venue Doornroosje. It was volunteers work, but I got to see all the cool bands coming in.
The alternative scene was thriving in the whole of The Netherlands. Naturally many British bands were on the fore front of innovation. The Goth / Wave movement came also to Doornroosje. I remember especially Bauhaus and The Virgin Prunes making a big impression on me because they sounded and looked visually stunning. The Virgin Prunes making a complete theatre out of their show; it looked like genuine madness with a lot of stuff flying about on stage. With Bauhaus, Peter Murphy just looked the ideal part, a new ‘thin white duke’ with white light shining under his chin and the rest of the band in fluorescent colours, exposed with a black light.

Every week there was a brilliant band to be seen in Paradiso (Amsterdam) or in Doornroosje, like Echo And The Bunnymen In an army outfit with camouflage nets hanging over the stage, The Sound, Dance Society, The Birthday Party with Nick Cave swinging like a monkey from left to right from the light supports, giving it a high energetic performance, Siouxie And The Banshees, The Cure ( they played in a circus tent) and later seeing Robert Smith playing guitar with Siouxie in Rotterdam , Theatre Of Hate, Eyeless In Gaza, Black Flag, The Comsat Angels, Sisters Of Mercy, in the Milkyway Amsterdam,  of course with Wayne Hussey,  Further The Slits, Liaison Dangereuses, U2 ( played in Arnhem for 400 people) who was pretty unknown still etc. Too many to mention!

All bands not jet known by the majority of people but making a big impact on everyone alternative seeing them live. New-Wave, Deutsche Welle, Punk, Synth-Pop and New-Romantics was now a major alternative movement perfectly fitting the times we were living in.

Also the Netherlands produced influential bands who made quite an impression on me, like I already mentioned Mecano & Minimal Compact from Amsterdam, Nasmak from Eindhoven, Coitus Interruptus from Utrecht, and ‘famous’ local bands from Nijmegen like Mechanic Commando and Vice.

By seeing all these brilliant international and national bands I knew there and then that I had to start something new and interesting too. I wanted to make music like these bands. I was totally inspired. I wanted to be a part of things which were happening in front of my eyes. I wanted a band instead of just making things late at night on my own on a 4 track for no one else to hear.I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. It seemed that nearly anyone in the local scene started a band. In every squat people started a band and rehearsing was no problem in these industrial buildings we all occupied. Music was becoming a way of life, a means to express your views. There were enough opportunities for bands to play. There were always some old factories freshly squatted. One of the first shows I did was on a festival in De Plu Fabriek, a desolate disused umbrella factory. The festival had a social awareness theme about ‘Acid Rain’ of which maybe a handful had heard about. It was not taken very serious yet by the general public. It was the first ever show of Xymox there.

Round the same time at the University we had to do a video project. We had to film something about a socially significant social subject, so I started filming and interviewing the squatters local bands I knew. I still have the V2000 video tape but because of its backdated discontinued format, I haven’t been able to see it since the presentation at the University of Nijmegen.

In the beginning of 1980 in Nijmegen I had no real serious relationship with anyone. I was fairly new in town and most people I found quite uninteresting. The typical jeans and long hair student types, freshly coming from their cosy parental homes, with only one aim in life and that is to study, graduate and getting a job. Also most people were just coming out of the seventies and their clothes reflected that, very colourful shirts, a lot of blue jeans and mostly having long hair. In Rotterdam long hair in the back and short in the front was accompanied by a little moustache was the local fashion there.

Anyway, just after my initiation weeks of the University back in Nijmegen, one night I went out, going to a bar where I would normally not come with my fellow student friends. I was standing there drinking beer with my mates until I spotted this girl in the distance. She had the same kind of image as me. Out of place I thought. I simply had to talk to her and soon we were engaged in conversation and ended up spending the night together in her basement flat.. She told me she came from Nuenen, a small village close to Eindhoven but very famous for the house of Vincent Van Gogh. Her name was Anke.

In this period I wanted to start a Live band with the name I already had:  Xymox.  One day I showed her my songs I had recorded and asked if she would want to be in my ‘band’ which was just me at the time 😉 I said it would not matter that it was only the two of us because a lot of bands played with a drum machine and it would be a cool thing to do; she agreed. The songs were most of the time two or three chords so it was not too difficult for her to learn the tracks. I released this tape at the time, sold it for cheap (some people still have it). She liked the songs and decided to learn and play the bass guitar so she could play live. We started rehearsing together in 1982. I started sending my old Xymox demos to various venues and to my surprise a dozen clubs or so liked it.

Soon we played live with the two of us in various alternative clubs. I was singing, playing guitar and the synth plus operating the rhythm box. She played the bass by now and did some backing vocals . The songs were all mine, if you could call them songs 😉 For transportation I had my old cheap orange Renault 4 with a shift stick. All the equipment fitted in beautifully. Because we were just with the two of us and the fuel was very cheap, the money earned was very reasonable for those days.

Later we got asked by the locally known band Vice to support them. We did so and managed to play quite a bit of shows in the South of the Netherlands again. We felt we were getting somewhere.

Later a few friends to join our ‘band’ live. They were hitting metal pieces or doing backing vocals etc. Inspired of course by Einstürtzenden Neubauten. We started rehearsing in the empty vaults of a squatted bank building. Soundproof and safe it luckily was 😉

Anke wanted to move to Amsterdam in 1983, when she changed her study. She wanted to study Psychology and since I finished my Sociology ‘Candidates’ phase holding an official diploma. I was looking for a relevant Masters study so I decided to go to Amsterdam as well, I chose for  ‘Media Studies’ at the ‘University of Amsterdam’. Apparently you would have a lot of freedom with this study as well.

In Amsterdam I was asked by a friend in 1983, if I wanted to DJ for a local pirate radio station WHS. The show; ‘De Lege Huls’, translated ‘The Empty Shell’, would be late at night which of course I gladly accepted. I did this for quite some time well into 1985 until I got too busy with Clan Of Xymox and its many obligations.

As I already said I saved for a while every penny in order to buy my much desired object, a Teac 4 track multi tape recorder. I bought it in Antwerp, Belgium, November 1982. After many recordings of songs and ideas in Nijmegen I started a new In April 1983, frantically starting to record some new songs; the old ones were already more than a year old and I wanted to have new ones. With the help of the Teac 4 track recorder I could be more creative with writing and recording, bouncing previous recordings and build on that.

The instruments I had access to were: a Yamaha synth, Korg Poly 6 Synthesiser, Korg MS10 and MS 20, a rhythm box K500 , an electric Framus guitar, Welson Keyboard, a standard Shure 58 mike of course, my fantastic vintage space echo, melodica, guitar pedal effects and a bass guitar. A later valuable asset was later a Solina Strings but this one was borrowed once and a while.

All instruments were played in real time on tape. No sequencer used. That was too expensive.
These were the days computers were only academic and hardly used by anyone at all. Computers were just those big main frames standing in a government building or only portrayed in science fiction. Today our ears are completely trained to sequenced patterns, then it was something new, the ear was untrained to these sounds and pattern uses.

Soon things were ready. I asked Anke if she wanted to sing one song on the track I already prepared for her. It ended up with the title “Call It Weird “, so now  all tracks were done and everything was set up to bring these recordings to a mastering plant near Amsterdam called  Dureco. This was a vinyl factory specialised in producing Dutch product, the type like ‘Dutch Schlager’ like Vader Abraham known internationally for his “Smurf” songs. He was prominent on the wall everywhere in the factory offices. The main earner. Newer versions of this first EP exist: “Muscoviet Musquito” ( deliberately spelled this way) and “Going Round”. Both have various versions over the years.

‘I Felt That The Xymox Days Were Not The Right Way To Go’

Q: Xymox became Clan Of Xymox when you signed to 4AD, but later you reverted to Xymox before ultimately returning to Clan Of Xymox in the late ’90s. How do you view these shifts in retrospect? What, in your opinion, distinguishes Xymox from Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny: I started with the name Xymox and released my first EP “Subsequent Pleasures“ under this name. When Xymox got signed by 4 AD and the first debut album was called “Clan Of Xymox” I decided it was a slightly better name also because I had found people to play the songs live, so hence the ‘Clan’. I considered Xymox as my Pseudonym.

When Clan Of Xymox got signed by Wing / PolyGram USA I felt this was a significant change and wanted to underline this with shortening the name and perhaps with the reasoning that it would be easier for people in general to remember our name when it was shorter.

After 4 albums under the name Xymox, with the album “Phoenix” it had gotten too commercial in my opinion. With the 2 UK releases “Metamorphosis“ and “Headclouds” which were too Experimental and nothing much to do with the early material on 4 AD I decided in 1997 it was time to reintroduce Clan Of Xymox again with the same approach and attitude as in the earl 80’s. I felt that the Xymox days were not the right way to go and that it was better to stick to my own opinion instead of letting people influence me in one way or the other.

The result was the album “Hidden Faces” released worldwide on Tess Records and Pandaimonium Records in Germany in 1997. This was the start of Clan Of Xymox again. Since Phoenix I didn’t tour anymore. Had actually no live band anymore. I started to find again people who could play live with me and soon I had a live band ready to start promoting “Hidden Faces” and the older works on 4AD. Mojca my partner was there already since 1991 with me learning to play an instrument, keys and bass. She already designed the artwork from on 1992. In 1995 I decided to play in The Netherlands and promote “Metamorphosis” and “Headclouds”. The old live members from the 80’s Frank Weyzig and Will Anvers joined me on stage together with Mojca on Keyboards. This tour made me realise I missed playing live and soon since 1997 Clan Of Xymox played live each and every year till now and will keep on playing live.

I have a steady crew for more than a decade now with Mojca from on 1991 (of course), Mario ( more than 20 years), Sean and Daniel. I stay with the labels Metropolis (USA ) and Trisol (Germany ) as well as I run my own label Xymox Control now for decades a steady course with Clan Of Xymox, only expanding with my band, slowly but gradually. It manifests in the vast amount of sold out shows we are having each year.

‘We Were In Our Extravaganza’

Q: You were closely associated with 4AD, one of the most groundbreaking labels of the early New-Wave era. How did an unknown band from the Netherlands find its way onto such an iconic label? And how did your time with 4AD influence your evolution as an artist?

Ronny: Back in 1983 I felt that my former town Nijmegen ‘deserved’ a few copies of “Subsequent Pleasures” too. I was doing all the distribution myself. I sold 150 through Rough Trade UK, 150 in New Waves France and 150 export to Essen in Germany. Anyway, so I went to Nijmegen the night of the ‘Day of the Dead’, 1st of November.
I decided to visit a friend but he was not at home so not knowing what was going on that evening  I soon found out The Cocteau Twins were playing in Doornroosje that night, so I had to see them. There was still plenty of time left so I decided to have something  to eat in my favourite eating cafe De Plak. Whilst having dinner I heard English was spoken on another table, so my interest was aroused. Maybe this couple were The Cocteau Twins? Had to be! An English male and female.  Without any hesitation I went to their table and asked them all sorts of questions about their band The Cocteau Twins. They informed me politely that they were not The Cocteau Twins but were their supporting act called Dead Can Dance and if I wanted they could put me on the guest list; which I naturally did not decline since I was no longer active in Doornroosje anymore. In return I gave them a copy of “Subsequent Pleasures” for them to listen to.

Having seen Dead Can Dance they blew me away, just like of course The Cocteau Twins. After the show I went boldly to the dressing room and drank some beer with both the bands as they were sharing the dressing room and already established that we were all like-minded, talking to each other, or trying to, because Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau’s had a very heavy Scottish accent. Difficult to understand for a  Dutchman who knew and spoke only ‘school’ English. That night I learned then that Brendan was Irish, lived in New-Zealand, moved to Australia, met Lisa in Melbourne and moved to London to work on their musical career. A similar story was true for The Cocteau Twins who moved from Scotland to London to work on their career. All was very interesting and at the end of the night we swore to keep in contact and said our goodbyes.

During that time I kept in contact with Brendan and Lisa who lived together on the Isle Of Dogs. They invited me to their London home and I stayed at their place quite a few times. In those days I had to travel by ferry to the UK, a long journey. They lived on the 11th floor with a fantastic view over London. The flats were those typical council flats, ashen grey and reeking of urine in the elevators. They had a staggering amount of locks installed on their front door. With all their equipment at home I could understand their mistrust of their surroundings. It was all very depressing but very exciting for me. Brendan worked the same way as I did. We ended up with almost the same equipment in 1986. Brendan and Lisa were then still living together and were really dedicated to music. Every day they recorded or rehearsed. Lisa mainly singing and playing the Yang Ching. I slept in the living room and later on some visits they had a closet, like the one of “Harry Potter”. I slept there and was pretty cosy;)

Xymox started playing live in 1984 again. One day Brendan Perry called me up and asked me if we wanted to support them on a tour in the UK.  Without any hesitation I agreed to do it and almost a week later we were in London. Unfortunately when we arrived nearly all the dates of Dead Can Dance got cancelled and there were only three dates left:  one in London, Huddersfield and one in Dudley. We stayed with Brendan and Lisa, sleeping all on the floor in the living room, which I knew already too well.

During our first concert In London I nearly disappeared through the hole in the stage, I had to walk very carefully  because they did not manage to cover all the holes under the stained carpet. The father of Brendan was I believe the tour manager and his mother made sandwiches for Dead Can Dance when we went on the road to Dudley. The town looked nothing much and the bar we had to play likewise.. our dressing room was between beer barrels and if we wanted to have a drink we had to buy it at the bar said the promoter resembling “Dell Boy” of “Only Fools And Horses”. Still we had a great time hanging out with Brendan and Lisa, who were very generous to give us some money for covering our ferry expenses, which I know for sure they were paying out of their own pockets. After that we did more shows all over The Netherlands till summer.

Brendan Perry was the first one who told me about 4AD.  Before that I only paid attention to bands and not too much to record labels strangely enough.  He said he gave “Subsequent Pleasures” to Ivo Watts Russell , the label boss of 4AD, and so I followed up with sending a demo to 4AD with some newer additional tracks in July 1984, recorded in the Amsterdam Octopus 8 track studio. The demo I had sent 4AD after our shows in Paris’ old theatre La Seballe Club, several Dutch and the 2 UK dates. I was getting impatient as always. I gave Ivo Watts Russell a phone call. I was complaining about how the Dutch music industry sucked and that his label was the only independent label appealing to me. A week before that,  I had a meeting with the Dutch division label EMI but this meeting reminded me of all the cliches I ever heard about Major labels. To my absolute delight and surprise Ivo told me he liked what he had heard from the demo so far and wanted to meet, to see us in person and talk about it.

Ivo wanted to meet the band, so arriving in London, me and Anke  were heading to the private home of Ivo Watts Russell and his girlfriend Debby who also worked for 4AD as their press agent. They lived together in a residential SW12 London area. We stayed in their house for a week.

Anke and I had placed these long extra hair extensions in our hair so we looked a bit like ‘Uber Goths’ with a lot of make-up and special clothing we had designed for us by a friend who was handy with the sewing machine and wanted to become a fashion designer. I saw the surprise on Ivo’s face when he saw us for the first time. We were obviously not looking the way he expected us to look. Most of his bands on the label looked actually quite normal with no real image to speak of; so here we were in our extravaganza.

Luckily Ivo and Debby liked us or the music enough to offer Xymox a record deal and with that great news we went back home. The news had spread that we were the first band 4AD signed since two years of their last signing of Dead Can Dance. After this published fact my phone started to ring frequently and offers for radio and new Dutch live shows offers came in by the plenty.

When the self-titled album “Clan Of Xymox”’ was released funny enough nearly all the journalist thought we were Scottish by origin judging by their reviews. An Englishman is always very sensitive to accents. I saw it as a compliment though. Of course ‘Clan Of’ was suggestive enough 😉 . Most reviews were ecstatic, full of praise with five star ratings, the highest you could get. I guess we got lucky with my intention not to advertise we were Dutch. Having no names on the artwork and let the album speak for itself.

The British can be real chauvinists regarding their music industry, they didn’t take foreigners making music too seriously in those days. Of course the weekly music magazines Sounds, Melody Maker, New Music Express etcetera made up their ‘mistake’ in the eye to eye interviews, clearly pointing out us being Dutch and using the usual stereotype references, with headlines like ‘Dutch Bake’, ‘Dutch Courage’, ‘Going Dutch’, ‘Hollandaise Sauce’ and any phrase relating to the war between the Dutch and the Brits a few centuries ago. Anyway it did not matter anymore because we got the attention;  had a proper selling debut album. We did a lot of photo shoots with an English photographer using drapes in the back ground giving us a more Gothic image. This was used as our promo picture.The Music Maker and Sounds were giving us regular features and interviews afterwards, which gave us finally an international standing. Soon 4AD set up a few shows in Croydon and the University of London plus a John Peel session, which was very important to establish up and coming bands.

‘We Had To Prove Ourselves Time And Time Again’

Q: You’ve already mentioned several legendary British bands that were prominent in the 1980s and shared strong connections and camaraderie. What was your experience of the Dutch music scene during that time? How do you reflect on it now?

Ronny: I only had French, British and Scottish bands as friends. I could not get along with any band in The Netherlands in the mid-eighties. In the Netherlands there was a very strong Rock culture with no space for bands like us. We had to prove ourselves time and time again. I didn’t understand the provincial attitude towards synths coming from the Dutch critics. In a very first review the national music magazine Oor reviewed synths as magic boxes which made them nervous listening to them. When our first album came out we finally got greeted by the more alternative media which just got a foot in the door and were played on radio and TV, MTV and the like. Suddenly we were part of a movement to be reckoned with. Sometimes we even played live twice on a day in The Netherlands.

‘The Only Disappointment For Me Was That I Actually Never Got To Meet John Peel’

Q: During that period, you worked with or crossed paths with notable figures like the aforementioned Brendan Perry. But what about John Fryer, David M. Allen and John Peel? What can you share about those interactions and their impact on your journey?

Ronny: Our first John Peel session was in the beginning of  November 1985. It was pretty stressful for me. We had to record 4 to 5 songs with the live band in one working ‘BBC’ day of 6 hours or so. It didn’t occur to me that I should have taken adaptors for English power plugs with me.  Because it is the BBC, no one is allowed to change a power plug without the assistance of a fully qualified engineer, so it took them already one hour to find such a person as labour union regulations dictated that the technician supposed to have his tea break of an hour. We were already losing valuable time! We didn’t have computers in those days. My first Commodore computer with TV monitor I got in 1988 when I wrote the “ Twist Of Shadows“ album.  The Macintosh 128K a normal mortal could not afford. Clan Of Xymox did however use an 8 track recorder for the backing tracks, like Depeche Mode or The Cocteau Twins used as well. It consisted of individual drum tracks, sequenced bass triggers and strings. This made life a bit easier.  We could thanks to the ‘eight track’ finish within the timeframe of the BBC.

The only disappointment for me was that I actually never got to meet John Peel. Even then he was a legend, especially to me, because it was the best program for discovering new exciting bands. I only got to call him from the 4AD office, thanking him for the opportunity he gave us. He declared in his program that we were the pioneers of Dark-Wave. That was a huge compliment and recognition for Clan Of Xymox. Soon Dutch radios started to follow suit. We got to record a live show for Radio Veronica in Hilversum. Several TV shows invited us for music programs like the VARA. MTV picked us up too. We felt we were on a roll!

John Fryer I instantly liked as a person and sound engineer. He was the in house sound engineer of 4AD and knew what he was doing. He was not afraid to experiment with sampling sounds and replacing them. The AMS delay was his secret weapon. I remember sitting evenings together with John mixing tracks by hand. So I had to pull and push knobs on my side and he on his side. It was a lot of fun and very educational. Later in live John made me a remix for “Big Brother“ from the album “Limbo” (2021).

I worked with David M. Allen on tracks like “Out Of The Rain” and “Sing A Song” together with Jools of Nitzer Ebb. It was in Leamington Spa in John Rivers’s studio. I worked with John Rivers already on the “Blind Hearts”-EP for 4AD and several B-sides for later PolyGram. Now I was working with John on the “Hidden Faces”-album (1997) and we thought it would be very cool to have Dave M. Allen involved. This certainly worked. I wished we had the budget to work on all the songs but I was already glad these two songs worked out fantastically. Dave is a very likeable person with an air of mystique around him. He gives suggestions for you to try and they always make sense. He taught me to delve deeper when needed.

‘Without Me There Is No Clan Of Xymox’

Q: Both Xymox and Clan Of Xymox included founding members Anke Wolbert and Pieter Nooten. What role did they play in shaping the band’s identity, and how do you reflect on the line-up changes over the years?

Ronny: They were both not founding members. They joined me in the beginning of the Xymox period. First Anke as I told you and later in 1985 Pieter. Because they were the first ones joining they are seen as founding members but I am sorry to say; it was always my thing. I was and still am the driving force behind the band and it’s musical direction. No one else. They concentrated mainly on their own songs like “Masquerade” or “Stumble” and “Fall” back in the days. The bulk I wrote. I participated also on their songs as well.

Regarding the songs it is true we worked more together like a band should. In the beginning we rehearsed the songs for live shows and many got changed during this process. This was only sustainable for a short while as nobody liked to rehearse together.

We ended up as 3 individuals writers with different taste and musical directions so it was inevitable it wouldn’t work out long because we were all to egocentric to begin with. When I officially broke up with Anke it was also the end of working together as a collective. We all went our own way.

Indeed we had many changes but maybe the irony is in the word ‘Clan’, a group of close knitted people. So in the end there were many LIVE musicians joining the band for a short or longer period. Joining ‘the Clan’. The red line was and is simple: without me there is no Clan Of Xymox.

All happened really fast in those days. It was a learning process for all involved. Books about the music industry and bands hardly existed. Everyone was left to do whatever with their experiences, positive or negative.
I never knew or expected that just making music could make me enemies but also gaining a lot of friends of course. Jalousie and spite can make people really vicious and vindictive and yet equally so many fans or friends treat you with the utmost respect or even adoration. To me it is just music but soon you realise it is something more than that. 

Former friends or partners turning into your personal enemy. It is the worst thing that can happen, because they know your weaknesses and irritation points and will not shy away from using this against you if they have no pride, dignity or integrity.

Thinking back on this short period between 1985 and 1989 stir more negative emotions then positive ones in me. It wasn’t all bad of course but I can’t remember real long good periods. I realise looking back that I am only happy with the band since the beginning of the  mid 90’s to now, at least 33 years so far:)

Q: How does the young Ronny Moorings compare to the musician you are today? What traits have endured, and which aspects of your younger self do you miss in your music or approach to life?

Ronny: I was definitely very naive in the beginning. When I wrote a song for example I just split the rights between the band members because I thought it would motivate my band to pull more their weight in the band and…. after all I was a socialist and not a capitalist 😉

Soon I discovered that when people sense they don’t have to do too much and can simply lay back whilst I do the heavy lifting because they get paid anyway.

I started to get annoyed with this uneven situation and learned from this that I should not give away my rights that easily just to please band members or partner. So I ended this naive approach and never looked back.
Equally I used to work with bigger crews, managers, tour managers, lawyers and all the professional people they told you would need to have in order to make it as a band.

After many annoyances about the enormous bills I decided I could do most jobs way better. I know I am a control freak. You have to be. You have to understand the way things work. Now I have a lean machine and I like it a lot. Later I also learned to delegate things and that is also very rewarding. I guess ‘live and learn’ is true in my opinion.

‘Dark-Wave Has A Strong Hold All Over The World Like In The 80’s’

Q: Many legendary New/Dark-Wave bands achieved their greatest success in the ’80s. Why do you think those years were so special and unique for the genre? How do you see the evolution of New/Dark-Wave music from its origins to today, particularly in terms of its spirit and cultural significance?

Ronny: Yes, it was a new style taking over with fashion unseen before, It was against the Hippy culture, the jeans wearing long haired pot smokers. It was a clean break from all of this, plus the ‘no future’ feeling with all the political turmoil and nuclear threats hanging over our heads. Remember Thatchers England. Ronald Reagan as president.

These bands made the sound track of our lives and guess what? It is happening again. Dark-Wave has a strong hold all over the world like in the 80’s. Yes, it’s not on the dying radio or TV stations as we know it but streaming like crazy, this time on internet radios, YouTube, Spotify It feels a bit like maybe the pirates in the 80’s.

It feels the same to me and also we have the same nuclear threats back again. In a way it feels coming ‘full circle’.

Q: Over the decades, the music industry has undergone tremendous changes -rising social media, streaming platforms, declining physical album sales, advances in technology, and shifts in performance venues from intimate gigs to massive festivals. How have you navigated these transformations, and what are your thoughts on the (r)evolution of the industry?

Ronny: I navigate these changes just fine I think. I always welcomed change and will ever do. We need to improve. We need to move forward and not backward. When for the very first time in the 80’s I could get my hands on a computer I embraced it as a big help with sequencing and programming. It made endless rehearsing patterns on keyboards so much easier. Later it became my entire virtual studio platform. Streaming is now the most important thing now in the music industry and some artists do not like it, but remember when music was pirated and artists would get nothing from it financially and no insight how many like to listen to your music etc. I love Spotify and as an artist you have access to all date regarding what your fans are listening to.
Most music I listen to these days is from platforms, on my phone with airpods. This gives me more time to listen to music when I am on the move or outside. Everything in one device is just brilliant I think. Of course I have at home all old media devices still in place. I do play vinyl as well when I am in the mood. I still love vinyl and the looks of it. The best format for the artwork to shine.

Q: While it’s difficult for any musician to choose a single album or song as their best, is there a particular piece in your discography that holds special significance for you? Or do you believe that your most recent work is always your finest?

Ronny: I have to agree with my fellow musicians. My recent is indeed the best so far as I can see and feel 😉 It is simply because new songs are for the one who wrote and recorded it the most exciting, the most fresh and recent to your current experiences. You have to play them live which you haven’t done before and in the end they will sound different then when it came out. If you don’t have that feeling the artist should not release the album in the first place 😉

‘I Let The Listener Feel What I Feel’

Q: Your lyrics often feel deeply expressive, sometimes addressing social and political themes, other times delving into introspection. Do you see your lyrics as a reflection of your true self? What value and purpose do they hold for you?

Ronny: Sometimes yes and sometimes no. It’s complicated 😉 I definitely sing about emotions I feel or felt. Say I sing about Evelyn, Louise or Michelle. That doesn’t mean I know a person with that name or sing about a real person. All these names are fictional but the feelings and thoughts what went into these songs are real. Sometimes more than one person I think about finds its place into a song lyric. It all depends. Political themes are the ones which affected me like in the Lockdown periods in the early 20’s. It comes home, becomes personal and I describe more the situation than anything else. I let the listener feel what I feel.
Sometimes I write a song to blow off steam and feel good afterwards. Most of the time it’s about a person who doesn’t want to leave me alone almost my entire life 😉 I can keep going on like that. I always delve the lyrics out of the depths of my mind where it lay buried until I get it out through some type of instrumentation deciding for me what the topic is going to be. A new to be written song has most of the time its own will and direction.

Q: Clan Of Xymox has consistently attracted new fans over the years. What do your fans mean to you, and how does it feel to have a lasting influence on the Dark-Wave scene?

Ronny: Fans are the most important to me. Without a doubt. We meet so many dedicated fans, traveling to all of our shows they can reach within reason. We always talk to anyone after the show who’s interested, have selfies taken, give autographs, give something a fan would like to experience, a closeness you can’t give onstage. A hand shake, a look in the eye.

I am honoured to contribute to the Dark-Wave scene as it is today. All bands who are now big I met when they were still beginning and were our support one time or the other. I know that we had an influence on them but now they are an influence on me the same. So it works in the end both ways. To me this scene is the best scene ever for me.

Q: Looking back on your career, what do you consider to be your biggest milestones? And what were the most significant disappointments?

Ronny: I am still working on my biggest milestone 🙂 My quest is to see how long I can still play live with the band. That is my ultimate quest in life. Disappointments enough, especially in people, but to me that is also an inspiration to write songs about so in the end all turns out for the best. I am lucky I have many good friends in my life to compensate for the negative. Unfortunately I am a person who has to be on the darker side of things in order to feel inspired. So I don’t mind 😉

Q: How have you managed to keep finding fresh ideas and challenges over the years? Were there periods where inspiration waned, and if so, how did you overcome those creative blocks?

Ronny: I think in the beginning it was harder to write as it is now. To me writing comes very natural I think. Maybe because I have more to say now than when I was in my twenties. In that time I read a lot of books in order to get lyrically inspired. For a long time now I just write from what comes up in my mind and put it into lyrics. Way easier I think and less time consuming 😉 The music was never a problem. Finding words to it is a harder nut to crack sometimes.

A creative block I handle very easy: I put the song away and start with something else. Sometimes its years later that I have a look at it again, if I can do something with it and often that’s the case. So for me I don’t like to force a song if it doesn’t present it by itself.

‘Joy Division, The Sisters Of Mercy And The Cure Were Very Important To Me’

Q: One of the most surprising entries in your discography is “Kindred Spirits” (2012), a cover album featuring renowned songs and artists. How did you choose the tracks, and what connection do you have to those songs? Would you consider them key sources of inspiration?

Ronny: When I was young, the only means of getting to know music was the radio or “Top of the Pops” later in the 70s. In the Netherlands we had bands like Shocking Blue, Brainbox, Earth And Fire, Focus, The Golden Earring and such, which appealed to me a lot. These were the bands I was interested in. On TV we grew up with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and of course The Monkees especially grouped for US TV. These bands made me want to play an instrument at a very young age. After that I always stayed on the alternative side of music. On my album “Kindred Spirits“ you can see and hear which artist influenced me in the direction I was going. Bands for example like Joy Division, The Sisters Of Mercy and The Cure were very important to me.

I gave or restricted myself to make a choice for ten songs of bands who had in one way or the other an impact on my musical taste. I wanted to give an ode to these bands and revive these songs in my memory to keep and make them as my own. In the end I did 11 tracks of my all-time favourite bands or songs.

Too many bands like to hide their influences or deny them. I decided to give them my own pedestal.

Q: This year marks the release of Clan Of Xymox’s 18th album, “Exodus”. What does this album represent within your extensive discography? Can you share insights into its creation?

Ronny: I finished and released the album “Limbo” in 2021 and I wrote the “Exodus” album after writing “Save Our Souls” in 2022 in 2023. The last song I wrote for this album was in January 2024 and here we are. In a way keeping the tradition of one album release in every two or three years.

We toured an awful lot so the little time I had, I spend in the studio taking my mind of things. The late general developments in the world I felt writing about. Instead of introspective lyrics I felt more like describing our current times we live in. After “Save Our Souls” I wrote “Fear For A World At War”, especially after all the rhetoric of Putin threatening Europe or the world with nuclear strikes. Because the world is massively gearing up for war.

When I was born there was the biggest world crisis between the Soviet Union and the USA about the missiles in Cuba.

It is ironic that now we are living with almost the exact conditions but this time closer to home, having a nuclear missile threat. History repeats itself . I certainly hope this is not getting out of hand but the signs are that we seem to step up our war talk more and more. SOS indeed. The world is at turmoil and nothing good will come out of this. Exodus for me as well when it gets out of hand. Anyway, this is the back ground for writing all these songs for “Exodus”.

Q: Talking about “Save Our Souls”, there clearly is a sense of commentary on the state of the world. Do you see music and this album as a unifying force in troubled times? How do you perceive its broader impact on society?

Ronny: “Save Our Souls” was specific about the invasion of the Russians into the Ukraine. It was a shocker for me. Especially after just having toured there in September 2021. I see music in troubled times more as a safety blanket you can wrap yourself in. It gives comfort and soothes your mind and well-being. An escape as it were from the daily sorrows we get bombarded with each and every minute. So far music can change or influence politics when masses cry out for social change. I don’t see that happen with this album or any of my albums;) Never intended for it either.

Q: Authenticity seems to be a hallmark of your music. Many fans describe a sense of genuine emotion and connection in your work. How do you experience this dynamic and interaction with your audience? How powerful or influential do you think music can be in bridging gaps and inspiring change?

Ronny: Wow, if you talk about the grand scale of things you might have a chance to do so but in the cult circuit we are maybe just the inspiring factor. That which might work on a small scale. I should certainly hope that our fans and other listeners get the music of Clan Of Xymox and feel the emotions I feel when I perform these songs with my band. Live you notice this the best. During the show I always look at people and there are so many various expressions on people faces, you feel that you are almost privileged to see an expression of someone when they sink into the song with mind and body. I love it!

‘Contrast Works Always The Best In A Way’

Q: Your music often combines dark, melancholic themes with an energy that makes people dance and feel alive. How do you reconcile these contrasting elements?

Ronny: Contrast works always the best in a way. I defines, it outlines. I have a lot of slow songs with equally dark lyrics but playing live I want to entertain people, want to make them move inside and out. I have luckily lots and lots of songs to choose from and during the years it taught me a lot about which songs people like to hear when they go to our concert. That means the classics are always included and never ignored.

Q: Finally, let’s end with a few rapid-fire questions:

• ‘Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘N’ Roll’: does this resonate with you?

Ronny: During my long career all certainly resonates at one time or the other. Experimenting with drugs I steered away long time ago. It was perhaps hip in the 80’s or attractive to experiment but the same goes for smoking or anything else unhealthy. I value a healthy life style with perhaps an alternativee: Sex, Wine and Wave 😉

• Is there a band or artist you would have loved to collaborate with?

Ronny: It’s a shame I never got to work with David Bowie. I met him once in LA when he came to see our concert in the Palace. I was too starstruck to even think of asking him. What a missed chance !

• Do you feel a spiritual connection with any particular artist or band?

Ronny: Yes, plenty! I have got so many great friends in the current scene who make great music. Backstage is always fun when we meet.

• In a world without music, what do you think you’d be doing?

Ronny: Not breathe.

• Which Clan Of Xymox song would you recommend to someone who has never heard your music before?

Ronny: “A Day”, “She” or “Loneliness” as a starter.

• How many albums has Clan Of Xymox sold, and which remains the most successful?

Ronny:  Wouldn’t you like to know 😉 “Twist Of Shadows” was still the most successful in terms of hard record-CD/Cassettes sales because it was at the time people could only buy that and did. There was no piracy then, apart from the classic copying on a blank cassette. In terms of streaming and overall impact I have to point to my later works.

• What is the ultimate dream for Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny: To carry on like the last two years.

• What would you want written on your epitaph and that of Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny:  

See you on the other side.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am not there, I didn’t go.

I didn’t die, so you know. 

See you on the other side.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

The Cure‘s live album “Paris” is being reissued by Rhino Records for its 30th anniversary. The new issue of “Paris” comes in a remastered version executed by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios.

The 30th anniversary version holds two bonus tracks (“Shake Dog Shake” and “Hot Hot Hot!!!”) and will be out on CD and 2xLP vinyl on March 22.

“Paris” was recorded during the concert The Cure gave at Le Zénith de Paris, in October 1992 during their ‘Wish’ tour. It was released in October 1993. “Paris” was released at the same time as “Show”, which was recorded in the United States. The album features more cult classics like “The Figurehead” and “One Hundred Years” than “Show”, which is generally more single-friendly.

50% of the royalties earned by the album were given to the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement charities in support of their international relief work.

For more on The Cure, see Jem Tayle (Shelleyan Orphan) and Boris Williams (The Cure) form… on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Out on February 23rd is the new and also the trees album “Mother-of-pearl Moon”. The tracks on “Mother-of-pearl Moon” were born from a series of electric guitar improvisations created in during a month of solitude in 2020. “Mother-of-pearl Moon” will be promoted with tours throughout the year, beginning with a UK show in Birmingham on 24th March followed by six dates in Belgium and France in early April.

and also the trees formed during the original post-punk era in rural Worcestershire. The band immediately caught the attention of Robert Smith of The Cure, who invited them to tour with his group on several occasions. Smith was also involved with their early recordings alongside his bandmate Lol Tolhurst, who produced their first records. The band was also invited to perform at the 2018 edition of the Meltdown festival in London, an event that Smith curated.

Founded by singer Simon Jones and his guitarist brother Justin, and also the trees have released fifteen studio albums and toured frequently throughout mainland Europe, as well as North America and Japan.

Here are two tracks from the new album.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Belgian post-punk band The Ultimate Dreamers have unveiled their unique rendition of “Lovesong,” originally by The Cure. The cover is available for free download now from the band’s Bandcamp page and is part of the Spleen+/Alfa Matrix tribute compilation, “A Strange Play vol.2“, which features various artists paying homage to the iconic British band. The compilation is available for streaming and download on Bandcamp.

A Fresh Spin on a Cult Classic

The Ultimate Dreamers have put their own spin on this beloved track by slowing down its tempo and incorporating TR808 drums. The band’s signature reverb adds a layer of depth, enhancing the song’s already dark atmosphere. This creative approach has led the band members to affectionately refer to their version as “Lovedark.”

A Glimpse into the Band’s Unique Style

The cover serves as an excellent introduction to The Ultimate Dreamers’ melancholic cold wave universe. The band has also released a complementary video clip to accompany the song.

Credits

• Words by: Robert Smith
• Music by: Roger O’Donnell, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst, and Boris Williams
• Recording, Mixing, and Production: Len Lemeire at Implant-Plant 3.0
• Video: Valentine Blanco

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘Los Angeles’.

Eldrina Mich

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

www.side-line.com

In the past few months we often documented how the lead singer of The Cure, Robert Smith, expressed his frustration with Ticketmaster’s mandatory fees shortly after the company implemented a “verified fan” process on March 15 to distribute tickets for the band’s American tour.

The additional layer of security was there to prevent scalping and inflated ticket prices. Ticketmaster in return included extra fees for buyers. Smith was able to convince Ticketmaster to provide modest refunds to verified ticket buyers due to the “excessively high” service fees and thus put a halt to the price gaming.

It’s not the first time Ticketmaster is doing ‘funny things’. Ticketmaster’s ticket resale scheme, also known as the Verified Resale program, allows anyone to sell tickets on their platform at any price they choose. This means resellers can buy tickets in bulk and resell them on Ticketmaster’s site, often at prices much higher than the original face value.

Maybe as a result of protecting fans’ interests, the “Shows of a Lost World Tour” grossed $37.5 million with over half a million tickets sold: 547,000 to be exact.

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘ free cover of The Cure’.

About The Cure

The Cure formed in Crawley, England, in 1976 around schoolmates Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums), first performing as Malice, then Easy Cure, before settling on the Cure in 1978 and signing to Chris Parry’s Fiction Records. The band released its debut album, “Three Imaginary Boys,” in 1979. Bassist Simon Gallup joined for “Seventeen Seconds” (1980) and, after a mid-catalog departure, returned in 1984 and has remained in the lineup since. Tolhurst, the band’s last other founding member, moved to keyboards before being dismissed in February 1989 ahead of “Disintegration.”

Key albums include “Faith” (1981), “Pornography” (1982), “The Head on the Door” (1985), “Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me” (1987), “Disintegration” (1989) and the UK number-one “Wish” (1992). Keyboardist Roger O’Donnell joined in 1987 and drummer Jason Cooper in 1994; guitarist Reeves Gabrels joined in 2012. The band’s most recent studio album, “Songs of a Lost World” (Fiction/Capitol), was released on 1 November 2024, their first in sixteen years, reaching number one in the UK and the top five in the US. The Cure won its first Grammy Awards in February 2026, for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Alternative Music Performance.

Founding-era member Perry Bamonte, who joined in 1990, died on 24 December 2025 at age 65. The Cure was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. The current lineup is Smith, Gallup, O’Donnell, Cooper and Gabrels. The Cure’s 2023 tour followed Robert Smith’s public dispute with Ticketmaster over service fees on the tour’s general-admission tickets.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

White Rabbit, a UK-based music book imprint, will release a book titled “Curepedia: An A-Z of The Cure” on November 9th. The book is a comprehensive biography of The Cure, written by music writer Simon Price, with a foreword by Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai and illustrations by Andy Vella, the designer behind The Cure’s visual identity for the past three decades.

The Curepedia offers an extensive portrayal of their legacy, politics, image, and cultural influences. These influences range from existentialist writers like Albert Camus to Mervyn Peake’s decaying Gothic castle in the Gormenghast series, as well as exploring the profound literary, musical, and cinematic connotations behind their single “A Forest.”

Curepedia provides a complete overview of The Cure’s body of work, delving into miscellaneous trivia, detailed analysis of their discography, films, concerts, and appearances, as well as biographies of both current and former band members.

Presented in an A-to-Z format, Curepedia covers everything from the band’s albums like “Pornography,” “Disintegration”, and “Wish”, to lesser-known releases like “Blue Sunshine” by Robert Smith and “Glove”, the group featuring Steve Severin of Siouxsie and The Banshees.

Simon Price is a British music journalist known for his work at Melody Maker and the Independent on Sunday. He expresses his admiration for The Cure, stating, “The Cure are the biggest alternative rock band on the planet, and their magnificent body of work continues to inspire successive generations of musicians and music lovers. Writing a book about them is an honor.”

Foreign rights for Curepedia have already been sold to Dey Street Books (USA), Sexto Piso (Spain), and Heyne Hardcore (Germany).

The book will be available in different editions, including a hardback, a paperback, and audio. A special deluxe edition limited to one thousand copies will feature alternative cover artwork, a bespoke slipcase, ribbon marker, and integrated full-color A-to-Z chapter headings. This edition also includes additional prints and a signed bookplate insert.

You can expect this:

• Alternative original cover artwork
• Housed in a bespoke slipcase
• With a ribbon marker and 26 integrated full colour A-Z chapter headings
• Complete with interior pages printed in red and black ink and bespoke C-U-R-E lettered endpapers
• This edition also comes with four additional prints (C-U-R-E) from original mixed media print in an envelope
• Plus a bookplate insert signed by Simon Price and Andy Vella
• All artwork, design and packaging is by Andy Vella, celebrated artist and longtime Cure collaborator (as part of Parched Art)

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘A Strange Play (Vol. 2) – Tribute to The Cure’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Yesterday was an unusual day as we experienced a sudden surge in donations from Bandcamp, more than the typical amount. Upon reviewing our page’s statistics to determine the source, it became apparent that something was happening on Twitter. A swift investigation revealed that Robert Smith from The Cure had tweeted a link to our 2022 charity compilation, “Electronic Resistance – A Darkwave / Post-Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground“.

“Electronic Resistance” (and also the follow-up compilation “Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction”) is a 55-track strong compilation which features darkwave / post​-​punk acts from the Ukrainian underground scene only. Compiled in – extremely – difficult conditions it offers you an insight into the Ukrainian dark underground and also reflects what all of them are going through. It suffices to see some of the titles to understand what we mean.

The compilation features artists from allover Ukraine, from Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mariupol, etc.. Many of them are right now in the frontline, or help in all kind of services from the fire departement to field hospitals. Others are distributing food, others have been forced out of their destroyed homes.

Stan Przhegodsky (aka Owen Wowson on Twitter), whose band Black Light District is featured on the compilation replied the following to Robert Smith’s initial tweet: “I was 14 years old when I started listening to The Cure. Decades later, you post a compilation that I appeared on (track 17). As a Ukrainian, this is multiple levels of amazing. Thank you very much. Respect & admiration.”

I was 14 years old when I started listening to The Cure.
Decades later, you post a compilation that I appeared on (track 17).
As a Ukrainian, this is multiple levels of amazing.
Thank you very much.
Respect & admiration.

— 🇺🇦 Owen Wowson 🎷 (@technicolorfilm) April 23, 2023

Watching Ukrainian family have their lives destroyed before coming to the U.S. last year, fearful and with little, all things related have my instant support. Heartbreaking artists also lost work and gear. First, partial listen, particularly enjoying tracks 2, 17, 48 so far.

— Ilse (@Ilse_not_that_1) April 23, 2023

Robert Smith is the last in many artists who have been supporting our charity work, earlier on also the cult act Throbbing Gristle pushed decided to give us an online push a while ago.

Electronic Resistance – A Darkwave / Post – Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground 🇺🇦https://t.co/ocpxxKgXfz pic.twitter.com/MvpNFqJS2m

— THROBBING GRISTLE (@ThrobbingGrstle) January 26, 2023

The tweet by The Cure’s frontman has now propelled the compilation back into the bestselling industrial music charts on Bandcamp on spot 3. As you can see it is being joined by Alfa Matrix’s The Cure tribute releases “A Strange Play – Tribute to The Cure“ and “A Strange Play (Vol. 2) – Tribute to The Cure“.

Below is said compilation and it’s follow-up, the recently released “Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction”.

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘Curepedia: The A–Z of The Cure’.

Eldrina Mich

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

www.side-line.com

The Cure’s Robert Smith continues his ongoing fight against the numerous financial challenges within the ticketing industry. We previously reported that The Cure is frustrated with Ticketmaster’s ‘deceptive’ ticket pricing, and earlier this month, Smith convinced Ticketmaster to provide modest refunds to verified ticket buyers due to the “excessively high” service fees.

On March 16, following the release of The Cure’s US tour tickets, he wrote on Twitter: “After further discussion, Ticketmaster has agreed with us that many of the fees being charged are excessively high, and as a gesture of goodwill, they have offered a $10 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for Lowest Ticket Price (‘LTP’) transactions.”

Now the band’s frontman is taking things even further. This time, he’s targeting secondary resale websites. Just a few weeks ago, Smith managed to obtain several refunds from Ticketmaster for fans hoping to see the British band during their upcoming “Lost World” tour. Smith now reveals that they have cancelled 7,000 scalped tickets and announced a plan to resell these tickets and donate the original fees to the charity Amnesty International.

When the tour-the band’s first North American venture in seven years-was initially announced on March 9, The Cure explicitly stated that they had opted out of Ticketmaster’s “platinum” and “dynamically priced” ticket options, both of which have notoriously contributed to higher ticket prices. Consequently, thousands of scalpers took advantage, with Smith tweeting on Monday morning that “Approximately 7k tickets across around 2200 orders have been cancelled. These are tickets acquired with fake accounts / listed on secondary resale sites.”

‘IHBT’ #? “Approx 7k tickets across approx 2200 orders have been cancelled. These are tickets acquired with fake accounts / listed on secondary resale sites. TM have identified specific locations from secondary postings” #ShowsOfALostWorld2023

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023

The night before, Smith advised ticket buyers not to attempt exploiting loopholes in ticket transfer regulations, and cautioned, “Offering to sell or send account login details to bypass Ticketmaster’s transfer limitations… any and all tickets obtained in this manner will be cancelled, and the original fees paid on those tickets will not be refunded.”

1 OF 2
BEWARE ANOTHER SCALPER SCAM: OFFERING TO SELL/SEND ACCOUNT LOGIN DETAILS TO GET AROUND TM TRANSFER LIMITATIONS… ANY/ALL TICKETS OBTAINED IN THIS WAY WILL BE CANCELED, AND ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL NOT BE REFUNDED… #ShowsOfALostWorld23

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023

2 OF 2
…ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL BE DONATED TO @amnesty AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, AND THE TICKETS THEMSELVES WILL BE RESOLD TO FANS #ShowsOfALostWorld23

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023

Smith concludes with a post stating, “This ongoing Ticketmaster ‘conversation’ is not happening in isolation… the system that prioritises profit over people is what truly needs to change… x.”

Here is the tweet:

A WEEKEND THOUGHT… THIS ONGOING TM ‘CONVERSATION’ IS NOT TAKING PLACE IN A VACUUM… THE SYSTEM THAT VALUES PROFIT OVER PEOPLE IS REALLY WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED… X

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023

Welldone Robert !

For more on The Cure, see The Cure frontman Robert Smith tweets Side-Line’s Ukrainian charity… on Side-Line.

About The Cure

The Cure formed in Crawley, England, in 1976 around schoolmates Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums), first performing as Malice, then Easy Cure, before settling on the Cure in 1978 and signing to Chris Parry’s Fiction Records. The band released its debut album, “Three Imaginary Boys,” in 1979. Bassist Simon Gallup joined for “Seventeen Seconds” (1980) and, after a mid-catalog departure, returned in 1984 and has remained in the lineup since. Tolhurst, the band’s last other founding member, moved to keyboards before being dismissed in February 1989 ahead of “Disintegration.”

Key albums include “Faith” (1981), “Pornography” (1982), “The Head on the Door” (1985), “Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me” (1987), “Disintegration” (1989) and the UK number-one “Wish” (1992). Keyboardist Roger O’Donnell joined in 1987 and drummer Jason Cooper in 1994; guitarist Reeves Gabrels joined in 2012. The band’s most recent studio album, “Songs of a Lost World” (Fiction/Capitol), was released on 1 November 2024, their first in sixteen years, reaching number one in the UK and the top five in the US. The Cure won its first Grammy Awards in February 2026, for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Alternative Music Performance.

Founding-era member Perry Bamonte, who joined in 1990, died on 24 December 2025 at age 65. The Cure was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. The current lineup is Smith, Gallup, O’Donnell, Cooper and Gabrels. In spring 2023, ahead of the band’s North American tour, Robert Smith had roughly 7,000 tickets bought through bots and resale platforms canceled and reissued to fans at face value, and publicly criticized Ticketmaster over dynamic pricing and added fees.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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The lead singer of The Cure, Robert Smith, expressed his frustration with Ticketmaster’s mandatory fees shortly after the company implemented a “verified fan” process on March 15 to distribute tickets for the band’s upcoming American tour. Smith had insisted on the additional layer of security to prevent scalping and inflated ticket prices, but was dismayed to learn that Ticketmaster had included extra fees for buyers. Taking to Twitter, Smith wrote an angry post in all-caps, stating that he was “as sickened as you all are” by the “fees debacle.” He also clarified that the artist had no control over the fees and expressed his confusion over their justification. Smith promised to update fans if he received a satisfactory explanation, adding that tickets were still available, albeit through a slow process.

A tweet that went viral highlighted the extent of malpractice by the company, revealing that a fan’s reasonable ticket price of $20 had more than doubled due to processing fees and charges. Despite The Cure’s decision to avoid a demand-driven “dynamic pricing” payment structure for their upcoming tour, and to make all tickets nontransferable, scalpers still managed to acquire a significant number of tickets for the resale market. Although StubHub removed these listings in states without protective laws, Smith expressed his disdain for dynamic pricing, which he deemed a scam. This situation serves as a reminder that the Biden administration is taking steps to diminish the power of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, who hold a substantial monopoly over the concert industry. In February, the White House proposed the Junk Fee Protection Act, which aims to prohibit excessive fees, require disclosure of fees in ticket prices, and mandate disclosure of ticket holdbacks that reduce available supply. Whether it’s a weekday or the weekend, this is an issue that requires attention.

How does dynamic pricing work exactly?

Dynamic pricing in ticket selling refers to the practice of adjusting ticket prices based on supply and demand. Rather than setting a fixed price for a ticket, dynamic pricing algorithms take into account various factors such as venue capacity, historical sales data, and real-time demand to determine the optimal price for a particular event at any given moment. As demand increases, ticket prices rise accordingly, and vice versa. This pricing model is commonly used in industries such as airlines, hotels, and sports teams, and has become increasingly prevalent in the live entertainment industry. However, it has faced criticism from some consumers and artists who argue that it can lead to inflated ticket prices and pricing inequities for fans.

The below meme made by a Norwegian Depeche Mode fan group was published on our Facebook page a while ago and also attacks the outrageous prices.

For more on The Cure, see The Cure versus silly journalists (with video evidence) on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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In 1981, 5 July to be precise, The Cure played at Belgium’s Werchter Festival to promote their album “Seventeen Seconds”. Other bands playing that year were De Kreuners, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Undertones, Toots & The Maytals and Robert Palmer.

The day before in Torhout the band had been able to play 15 songs, in Werchter they would only play 13 songs skipping “Three Imaginary Boys” and “Faith”. The Cure, consisting of Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Laurence Tolhurst, was scheduled to play just before Robert Palmer and while they were playing, they were told to cut their set short by Robert Palmer’s managers.

Right after ending “Play For Today” Robert Smith says: “This is the final song because we’re not allowed to carry on anymore, cause everybody want’s to see Robert Palmer I think. It’s called ‘A Forest'”. What follows is a stretched version of “A Forest” into a 9-minute long rendition. When the band stops Simon Gallup takes the mic and yells “I hope you’re not arresting me. Fuck Robert Palmer! Fuck rock’n’roll!”. Bootlegs from that show often include that track being aptly titled “A Forest (Fuck R.P. Version)”.

Here’s said song recorded that day.

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘7 Different Words For Love’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The Austin, Texas based solo-act Sine has announced the release of a new five-song strong EP, “Mantis 2”. This EP is the second in a trilogy. Released by the Austin-based record label eMERGENCY heARTS it is available now.

“Mantis 1” and “Mantis 2” were produced by Sine founder, Rona Rougeheart in collaboration with audio engineer Charles Godfrey at Scary American Studio in Austin, TX. Godfrey, in his two decade plus career, has been engineer/producer on over 75 recordings, including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “It’s Blitz!” and “Mosquito”, The Black Angels’ “Indigo Meadow”, and notable work for Trail of Dead, SWANS, among many more.

The new EP also has a cover of The Glove’s song “Sex-Eye-Make Up”.

Rona Rougeheart tells us why she chose that song to do a cover: “The Cure is one of my all time favorite bands. When I was growing up, I loved Robert Smith and followed everything he did musically, which led me to Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Glove. When I found out that The Glove was Robert Smith and Steve Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees, I had to get it! It’s still one of my favorite albums – the song “Sex-Eye-Make Up” is one of my favorites on the album, so it was a natural choice. I don’t usually do covers, but oddly enough, the only other SINE cover is of The Cure song, “Like Cockatoos”. I guess all roads lead to The Cure!”

In discussing the recording process, Rougeheart says: “I worked with producer Mark Pistel (Consolidated, Meat Beat Manifesto). He took my bare demo and added more instrumentation and those super cool, dreamy vibes you hear. When I heard our final mix, I felt like I wanted to cry tears of joy! I’ve imagined doing this cover for years, so it was an absolute thrill to have Mark help me with it.”

Here’s the video for “Virtual Realitease”.

And here is the new EP.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The Soviet Net Label, a virtual record label, established in 2007 in Argentina and specialized in post-industrial sub-genres has prepared a special YouTube show for tonight. Tonight, April, 21st, they will be honoring Robert Smith on his birthday and celebrating the anniversaries of the The Cure’s albums “Wish” and “Pornography” on their YouTube channel.

Nineteen bands will perform their versions of the songs that are part of these albums. On the list we find Amöniacö, And When I Die I Said, Antena Mantis, Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos, Black Noise Machine, Cubüs feat. Louder, Curetaje, Dr. Spectrum, Maldigo, My Fusion Blast, No Tenemos Nombre, Post Machinery Environment, Púlsar, Recipe Morado, Sacré Nom!, Solo-X, Tenebras Sex, The Final Sound and Último Refugio.

Here’s a preview of what to expect.

For more on The Cure, see Don’t piss off The Cure, Robert Palmer found out in 1981 on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: New-Wave, Dark-Wave.

Format: Digital, CD, Cassette.

Background/Info: Distance Dealer is a new (international) project between Blackjack Illuminist Records owner Alexander Donat (still involved with Vlimmer) and Thiago C. Desant (Phantoms vs. Fire). The German – Brazilian project released their debut work featuring ten songs.

Content: The project was introduced as a symbiosis between both artists and their respective projects. The New/Dark-Wave approach of Vlimmer is for sure a noticeable element of the composition. Alex Donat is also singing, but for this project he sings in English, vaguely evoking Robert Smith. Sound-wise the album also features elements of Shoegaze, the album being composed with synths and guitar. 

+ + + : The 80s touch will definitely appeal for all lovers of New/Dark-Wave music. The band’s main force is their passionate way of singing. Alexander Donat really put all his soul in the songs, which perfectly matches with the melancholia of the music. I was impressed by the Dark-Wave/Pop “Mourned & Dead”, the more into guitar driven “A Lack Of What?” and the last track “Hit By A Brick”, which sounds like a true apotheosis to this work.

– – – : It all feels like this duo has potential, but can improve on some of the details in the songwriting and global production.

Conclusion: Distance Dealer confirms it’s possible for musicians living in different countries to release cool productions. This is a promising debut.

Best songs: “Hit By a Brick”, “A Lack Of What?”, “Mourned & Dead”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/distancedealer

Label: www.facebook.com/Blackjack.Illuminist Read the news on ‘Mind Dawns’.

About Distance Dealer

Distance Dealer is a German and Brazilian duo made up of Alexander Donat and Thiago C. Desant. Donat runs Blackjack Illuminist Records from Königs Wusterhausen, Germany, and records as Vlimmer, a project whose Discogs entry runs from the numbered EPs "I" and "II" in 2015 through "Angststand" in 2018, "Pulmo" in 2020 and "Nebenkörper" in 2021. Desant records from Brazil as Phantoms vs. Fire, with "Swim" in 2018, "WLDLFE" and "My Mind As Your Amusement Park" in 2019, and "Modern Monsters I & II" in 2020.

The pairing was introduced earlier in 2021 with the two-track single "Slasher" / "Hit By A Brick". Blackjack Illuminist Records then issued the ten-track debut album "Mind Dawns" in 2021 as a download, a CDr in a handmade sleeve and a transparent orange cassette limited to fifteen copies. It remains the duo’s only full-length to date.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

(Photo by Dean Wallflower) Kælan Mikla’s new single “Hvítir Sandar” is now streaming on all platforms. The track is a collaboration with French post-metal pioneers Alcest. “Hvítir Sandar” appears on Kælan Mikla’s forthcoming Undir Köldum Norðumljósum, the fourth album by the Icelandic band, set for an October 15th release on Artoffact Records.

Stream the official music video below.

In addition to touring with Alcest, Kælan Mikla has toured with the likes of Drab Majesty and King Dude and was hand-picked by Robert Smith of The Cure to play The Cure’s 40th anniversary show as well as a slot on the Pasadena Daydream festival. In 2018, the band’s third album, “Nótt eftir nótt”, won Album of the Year at the prestigious Kraumur Awards in Iceland and landed on year-end lists in magazines and blogs worldwide.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Cirque D’ess is an Italian duo set up in 2017 by Miriam Ssam and Valerio ‘Ryo’ Nubeat. The band explained the band name as being an instinctive part of them. The French word ‘Cirque’ stands for something freak and weird just like some old circus freak legends, while ‘D’Ess’ has something in common with Freud’s unconscious and instinctive part that each human has inside. The band’s debut album “Black Synthetic And Dense” has been released by Cold Transmission Music revealing a fascinating mix of Dark-Wave, Ritual, Industrial and Trance music. Cirque D’ess sounds as a hot new comer with a huge potential.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How did you guys meet and what’s your musical background?

Ryo: I was looking for a female singer, with some demos to showcase, and I randomly found her on Facebook so I asked Miriam to join. While I come from a Grunge/Gothic/Blackgaze past she’s more into New-Wave, Dark-Wave, No-Wave, Noise. We are happy about our music influences; the debut album sounding familiar with some of those genres.

Q: So did you have a specific sound in mind when setting up Cirque D’ess? And tell us a bit more about your way of working and what’s the input of each other?

Miriam: When we started playing together it was a first trial, something like ‘let’s play and see what happens’. Our first EP indeed, is a mixture of tunes and sounds, which are much different than the album.

Ryo: We always start improvising over some raw loops/beats I created on the fly with drum machines, synths/guitars while Miriam focuses on vocal lines and improvisation.

Q: Speaking about your influences, you clearly seem to be a band with an eclectic taste. You call your music ‘Ritual-Wave’! What is it all about and do you’ve specific artists/albums you’re using as a reference? 

Miriam: Something unexpected happened when we wrote what’s inside “Black Synthetic And Dense”: a sort of evocative and ritual atmosphere jumped out from those sounds, and so we decided to mix our ‘Wave’ roots with those ‘Ritual’ sounds. So we called it ‘Ritual Wave’.

Ryo: We soon noticed that we are much more influenced by atmospheres and beats rather than other artists, sometimes kinda pads/drones and whatever, some other times by rhythm and sort of dance beats.

Q: What did you try to express by the title of your album “Black Synthetic And Dense”? What are the lyrical themes all about and tell us a bit more about the song “Lydia For Frankie”?

Ryo: “Black Synthetic And Dense” is a phrase taken from a song by an Italian alternative Grunge band, which was pretty famous during late 90s in Italy. They were Ritmo Tribale and we adopted that phrase which is inside “2000” one of their songs from the album “Bahamas”.

We’ve chosen that phrase because it represents very well how we look at our music: obscure, electronic and filled with many layers. Imagine to listen to that sound while you are inside a church both eyes closed.

Miriam: I write all lyrics and vocal lines, so I put my experiences, thoughts and emotions into our songs. I often drop down lyrics based on daily experiences driven by an emotive and intimate perception of things.

The inspiration for the song “Lydia For Frankie” came  during a live show in Italy of Lydia Lunch while she was singing a cover of “Frankie Teardrop” by Suicide. While the chorus deals about her, all verses are inspired by those weird, sad and unlucky troubles that everyone can live, just like -but not in a tragic way -what happens to Suicide’s character Frankie Teardrop: he goes in serious troubles with his job, he get mad enough to kill his whole family just before killing himself. That’s a real drama. We gave a lighter interpretation of all this sad story; the wash machine is broken, the laptop is broken, the amplifier is broken, the dripping tap… and so on: no real drama of course, but when they come all together it’s not good :-/

Q: Another interesting song is “A Spooky Host”, which was released as single right before the album while you also made a clip for this song. Who’s this spooky host and what did you try to express by the clip?

Ryo: We were smoking at the window and  a huge scorpio was just aside, very close to us. He was half covered by the shadows. That’s our ‘spooky host’. The clip was recorded with a phone during some nights at the first lockdown. We wanted to do a sort of lo-fi video to give more room for the music.

Miriam: When I wrote the lyrics I remember to have been inspired by lyrics the and clip of The Cure’s “Lullaby”. The scorpio became the spider as well as my whispered verses are inspired by those of Robert Smith and a sort of horror-like atmosphere.

Q: What are your further plans and especially considering live performances in Covid times? I think there also is a new clip in the make? And what are your long term ambitions? 

Miriam: As many of us we are slowly and hardly trying to keep things and contacts alive, hoping to have some good chances in the nearly future to be part of some live shows. Anyway we already got some offers to play in Europe. But despite something is moving well there are still many uncertainties and doubts about what will really happen next months. Who knows? We partially count on collaborating with our label Cold Transmission and partially on our network of contacts. By the way we are always open minded and available to get in touch with venues, promoters and booking agents to plan and schedule live shows, gigs and tours.

Ryo: We have 2 new videos to release this year: the first will be just the “Lydia For Frankie”-clip, with footages and recordings made in Mexico by a lovely friend who lives there. The second one will be something more than just a clip: we got filmed by a crew for a real short movie for our song “Creacky Leaves”, a modern story about an ancestral conflict between witches and hunters.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

(Photo by Momento Mori) Simon Gallup (61) has stepped out of The Cure. On Facebook, he announces his departure after almost 40 years because he is “done with the betrayal”.

“With a slightly heavy heart I am no longer a member of the Cure ! Good luck to them all …”, the bassist writes. When a fan asks him in the comment if it’s about his health, Gallup says: “I am okay. I’m just done with the betrayal,” he writes.

The rest of the band, consisting of Robert Smith (62), Reeves Gabrels (65), Roger O’Donnell (65) and Jason Cooper (54), have not yet commented publicly on the announcement. Shortly after the announcement, Gallup deleted his Twitter account.

The second time in 42 years

Simon Jonathon Gallup was the bassist across two stints from 1979-1982 and 1984-2021. He was the longest-serving member of the band apart from lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Smith.

During the Pornography Tour in 1982, a series of incidents prompted Gallup to leave the Cure, including an incident on 27 May 1982 after a live performance at Hall Tivoli, Strasbourg, France when he got into a fist fight with Robert Smith at a nightclub in Strasbourg reportedly over a bar tab.

Gallup and the rest of the Cure returned to complete their ‘Fourteen Explicit Moments Tour’ in support of “Pornography”, concluding their 11 June 1982 live performance at Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium with an improvised song, “The Cure Is Dead”, with Gary Biddles singing abuse about Smith and Tolhurst. Smith, on drums, then threw his drumsticks at Biddles, and they stormed off stage. Tolhurst played bass guitar and Gallup played rhythm guitar during this last song.

This second incident, occurring weeks after the first notable incident, was more infamous and resulted in Gallup leaving the Cure to form the Cry (later renamed to Fools Dance) with Biddles and Matthieu Hartley.

In 1984, Smith asked Gallup to return to the Cure, an offer which he accepted. Since then, the two of them have remained on good terms. Gallup also served as best man at Smith’s wedding in 1988. All went well, until now it seems.

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘All Too Familiar’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-Wave, Gothic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Four years after their promising and totally accomplished debut album “As We Fall”, German duo  Soykut Gür and Rio Black are back on track with a new opus featuring thirteen new songs.

Content: The work takes off with an instrumental piece, which is followed by a song reminding me of The Cure. It remains a very important source of inspiration, which was also at the forefront of the debut album. It’s not only about the sound and melody line, but Rio Black’s timbre of voice is reminding me of Robert Smith. However all the songs aren’t touched by The Cure inspiration as No Trust In Dawn also reveals an explicit melancholic and dreamy side featuring complementary parts between guitar and electronics.

+ + + : If you’re an 80s nostalgic you’re definitely going to like some of the harder and more melodic parts of this album. “Where Are You Now” sounds pretty close to early The Cure, but the somewhat harder “Under The Sun” is another exposure of this band’s potential. If you prefer melancholic Wave music the album definitely has a very consistent part to offer.

– – – : I didn’t feel a similar satisfaction as with the debut album. The main part of the album sounds like it is in the grip of a deeply, melancholic atmosphere. I’m not convinced this is the best exponent from this formation.

Conclusion: I’m not saying I was disappointed, but this work sounds like a step backwards after their cool debut opus. 

Best songs: “Where Are You Now”, “Under The Sun”, “Lost And Apart”.

Rate: (6 ½).

Artist: www.notrustindawn.com / www.facebook.com/NoTrustInDawn

Label: www.darkdimensions.de /  www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Dimensions-Label-Group/486014725206

About No Trust In Dawn

No Trust In Dawn is a darkwave duo from Kassel, Germany, formed in 2016 by Soykut Gür of Down To Reality and singer Rio Black of Atomic Neon. The debut album As We Fall was released on CD by Alice In… / Dark Dimensions in 2017 and reviewed on Side-Line in January 2018, followed by the self-released download “As We Fall Outtakes”. Rio Black discussed the debut in the ‘Click Interview’ with No Trust In Dawn published the same month. Discogs lists sampler appearances on Sonic Seducer and Orkus compilations from 2017 onward.

“Lost And Apart” was released by Alice In… / Dark Dimensions on 26 March 2021 on CD and as a download. The label wrote on Bandcamp that the album arrived “a little later than expected due to the Corona crisis”. The thirteen tracks are the instrumental “Can You Feel The Silence”, “Where Are You Now”, “The Greatest Love”, “This Beautiful Cage”, “Lost And Apart”, “Hope”, “Secret Room”, “Death Rays”, “Under The Sun”, “Purity”, “Morphine”, “Break Me” and “Sweet Dream”. No production credits are listed on the Bandcamp or Discogs pages. A two-track download, “Lost & Apart – Outtakes”, was self-released in 2022.

Discogs also lists the duo on the 2024 Depeche Mode tribute “In Your Memory”. “Lost And Apart” is the band’s second album and its second Side-Line review.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

The Cure frontman Robert Smith is about to release an hour worth of noise as a solo album.

The news was revealed in a new interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe where Smith said the following: “I’ve always wanted to do an hour’s worth of noise, and I didn’t want it to be The Cure. You wait ten years and then we bring out an album that’s just noise. So it was just like, ‘No’ – that was me doing the rest of the band. That ‘no’ was a band no. So I’ve been just having fun with that really.”

Smith was featured alongside Chvrches with whom he teamed up to release the single “How Not To Drown”, ahead of the band’s new album “Screen Violence”. ”

Regarding the 2 new The Cure albums which were announced a while ago already, Smith confirmed that these two albums will be released with one being notably darker than the other. More details should be revealed in the upcoming weeks. At the moment the band is completing the recordings. The band still has to decide what mixer they’ll be using.

In further news, Smith also teamed up with Gorillaz for the track “Strange Timez” and with Deftones for a remix of their song “Teenager”.

Below is the track “How Not To Drown” he recorded with Chvrches.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

There’s a hiatus of twenty four years between Seven Trees’ debut album “Embracing The Unknown” (1997, Zoth Ommog) and their new opus “Dead/End” released on Progress Productions. Johan Kronberg and Henrik Karlsson both remain the single members on board. It’s not an easy thing to label their music, but it sounds to me as the offspring between The Klinik, Project Pitchfork and Front Line Assembly. You never got the feeling this band has stopped composing music for such a long time; “Dead/End” has something retro-like, but still personal and featuring multiple great songs. I talked about it all with Henrik Karlsson.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: When evoking SEVEN TREES people are always getting back to your debut album “Embracing The Unknown” released in 1997 by Zoth Ommog. What did this album and the fact it was released by Zoth Ommog mean to you and what has been its further impact on your career?

Henrik: It meant a lot to us; it was the perfect label to be on at the time, and we got a lot of exposure. People seem to really like that album, which is equally important for a career in music; it acts as a mental booster for future compositions. Also, our tour with MENTALLO & THE FIXER most likely had an impact.

As for today… I think signing with a prominent label like Progress Productions most likely strengthened the interest in the first ‘come back’ release, the “Trauma Toxicity”-EP. Finally, the expanded re-release of “Embracing The Unknown” in Infacted’s “Classixx”-series was definitely very important too.

Q: There’s a hiatus of 24 (!) years between the debut album and your new opus “Dead/End”. Do you feel it’s still the same band with a similar approach and perception about music or is this something totally different? What are the most noticeable changes & evolutions?

Henrik: We have put a lot of effort into developing our sound to a more modern soundscape, while at the same time leaning towards the more old-school Dark-Electro. We still have the same visions for SEVEN TREES, while at the same time trying to break patterns and challenge ourselves. I think this is quite evident if comparing the EP and the new album, which has a more carefully considered neater production.

Q: Over now to “Dead/End”. What kind of album is it all about and did you’d specific ideas in mind about sound and production? In which way is there a connection between “Dead/End” and the “Trauma Toxicity”-EP from 2017?

Henrik: There is quite a strong connection, despite the differences in production. They both deal a lot with for example the consequences of being subjected to extensive and prolonged trauma. With the EP we were trying out our grounds, see how we wanted the ‘new’ SEVEN TREES to sound. It’s a very dark EP. When working on the new album we felt like we wanted to do something even darker, especially when it came to the lyrics, all the while making that work with our ‘new’ sound. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. We did not plan for a specific production, it came naturally as we were working on the album.

Q: I was just asking you about the ‘sound’ of SEVEN TREES, which according to me is hard to label, being more a kind of sonic osmosis between different music genres. What does it say about your potential sources of inspiration and do you handle specific criteria and/or references when it comes to writing and production?

Henrik: We don’t have much of criteria at all, except for that we will stay in the Dark-Electro realm. Also, we don’t really like doing club tracks or similar, it’s just not our thing. Honestly as for genre, we don’t really know where to place us either, but people say Dark-Electro so I guess that’s what we do.

We’re both very broad in our taste in music; my favorite band is PLACEBO, and Johan listens quite a bit to Black-Metal. We grew up on Electronic music of various kinds, but eventually broadened our horizons. We both listen to a lot of Electronic stuff nowadays too though, but varying it with other genres.

As for lyrics I draw inspiration from for example Brian Molko and Robert Smith, while incorporating my own style of writing.

Q: “Dead/End” is an intriguing title for lyrical themes, which are clearly evoking despair, disillusion… which can be summarized with one of your songs: dystopic illusions! What did you try to express and what does it reveal about your perception of life and society?

Henrik: Funny you should ask, because this particular song is something we’ve never done before, it’s very different from the other tracks on the album (the lyrics). It is very political, something I never thought we’d do, but with everything that was going on last year over here I guess I felt like trying it out. I wanted to do it in a rather cryptic way though, so it might not be very obvious. There’s quite the pitch black worldview in that song, and I guess in most of the other tracks too.

Q: What are the further plans and especially considering we’re actually going through this ongoing pandemic? Dystopia became reality don’t you think?

Henrik: Yeah, it certainly did. It’s been a crazy year, and it’s been tough for us all, especially being isolated, and to exercise every precaution to not get Covid. May this nightmare end soon! As for further plans, we do have a release coming up, but I can’t say anything about it yet.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

The Simpsons’ episode “Panic on the Streets of Springfield” is not really welcomed by Morrissey’s manager. In the episode, with a title referring to The Smiths 1986 single, you see Morrissey satirized as an imaginary depressed friend of Lisa Simpson. Named Quilloughby, the character is the lead singer from a fictional band called the Snuffs. The character was voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Morrissey had an update posted on his Facebook by Peter Katsis, his American manager. It’s not the first time Katsis (of Deckstar Management) takes to the public forum to complain about a press article (see this article against The Independent) or in this case a TV-show.

Before the episode, show writer Tim Long said that Morrissey, Cure singer Robert Smith and Joy Division’s Ian Curtis were among the character’s inspirations.

Here’s the full post:

“Surprising what a “turn for the worst” the writing for The Simpson’s tv show has taken in recent years.
Sadly, The Simpson’s show started out creating great insight into the modern cultural experience, but has since degenerated to trying to capitalize on cheap controversy and expounding on vicious rumors.
Poking fun at subjects is one thing. Other shows like SNL still do a great job at finding ways to inspire great satire.
But when a show stoops so low to use harshly hateful tactics like showing the Morrissey character with his belly hanging out of his shirt (when he has never looked like that at any point in his career) makes you wonder who the real hurtful, racist group is here.
Even worse – calling the Morrissey character out for being a racist, without pointing out any specific instances, offers nothing. It only serves to insult the artist.
They should take that mirror and hold it up to themselves.
Simpson’s actor Hank Azaria’s recent apology to the whole country of India for his role in upholding “structural racism” says it all.
Unlike the character in the Simpson’s “Panic” episode…….
Morrissey has never made a “cash grab”, hasn’t sued any people for their attacks, has never stopped performing great shows, and is still a serious vegan and strong supporter for animal rights.
By suggesting all of the above in this episode…the Simpson’s hypocritical approach to their storyline says it all.
Truly they are the only ones who have stopped creating, and have instead turned unapologetically hurtful and racist.
Not surprising…… that The Simpsons viewership ratings have gone down so badly over recent years. – Peter Katsis”

Viewership ratings have indeed gone down

Katsis’ comment as if the Simpsons viewership ratings have gone down, is actually pretty correct. A few weeks ago Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, has spoken out in defense of the long-running cartoon’s lower rated recent seasons.

The series, which was recently renewed for two years, has long faced accusations from fans and critics that the quality has dipped from its seminal heyday.

Asked about the series’ decline in viewership ratings from its earlier seasons’ peak, Groening said: “I don’t think about that stuff at all. (…) If big numbers come with it, that’s great, if they don’t, well, let’s keep that a secret.”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Experimental, Minimal-Electro, IDM.

Format: Digital, Cassette.

Background/Info: Bruit Fantôme is a French producer who has already been active for a couple of years now. “Robert Smith”refers to the legendary frontman of The Cure and features seven titles from the band that serves as inspiration to this work. The EP is part of the label’s series “Digital Mutant Series”, which is meant to be an exploration of the alternative French Techno scene and its subgenres.

Content: The EP features 7 songs; 6 of them are titles from The Cure. But this EP is not a cover work, but simply a personal interpretation of Bruit Fantôme from these titles. The sound is pretty minimal-like, somewhere in between pure Experimental music and more danceable parts. Bleeping sequences, pitched vocals and low bass lines are resonating.

+ + + : The idea/concept of the work is original and has nothing in common with the original songs from The Cure. “Forest (Monsters Are Coming)” is one of the highlights for its refined bleeping sequences. The song is rather repetitive, but progressively moving crescendo. I also like this work for its pure minimal approach. It has something complex and yet pretty accessible.

– – – : I’m not a huge fan of “Carnage Visors”, which is driven by heavier d’n’b influences.

Conclusion: This EP doesn’t sound blasphemous for all fans of Robert Smith and The Cure while it will ravish Electro heads in search of originality.

Best songs: “Forest (Monsters Are Coming)”, “Disintegration”, “Subway Song”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/bruitfantome.music

Label: www.tripaliumcorp.com / www.facebook.com/tripaliumcorp

About Bruit Fantôme

Bruit Fantôme is a French producer active since the mid-2010s, with early tracks appearing on the “Vapeur” compilation series in 2015 and 2016. “Robert Smith” appeared on Tripalium Corp as part of the label’s “Digital Mutant Series”, built around Cure covers reinterpreted through French Techno and IDM.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

(Photo by Erica Shumsky) The blog for the ongoing project ‘Push – A Cure Fan Documentary’ has posted an update (you can read it right here) about the night Trent Reznor met Robert Smith, in 1996 in New Orleans, more precisely at the Blue Crystal Club. The photo taken by Erica Shumsky with Trent Reznor and Robert Smith has circulated online for a few decades and now ‘Push – A Cure Fan Documentary’ has posted an article about the occasion but seen through the eyes of the public that was there.

This is pure fan material, but if you are one, it will probably be a very good read, and that’s what the ‘Push – A Cure Fan Documentary’ is all about of course. The project itself began in 1999 when Arusha Baker started recording the stories of fans she met along the way. Cure Fans that is.

Reading this particular blog post it reminded me of when I was young (I still am of course) and of all the things I was doing back then. 1996 was, if I remember well the year I started writing for Side-Line, it was also the year I recorded a very obscure record (ping me of you find out out which one that was – the label never paid me though), and the year I got in touch with a load of artists thanks to my daytime job as a journalist (badly paid, so I quickly decided that would not be my main income).

So, if you want a ride back in time, make sure to check this, I had fun reading it!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Background/Info:

About European Ghost

European Ghost is a multi-member project from Bologna, Italy, blending Kraut, electro-darkwave, post-punk and drone influences. The French label Unknown Pleasures Records released the group’s debut, the concept album “Pale And Sick,” on 6 May 2016. “Collection Of Shadows,” reviewed here, is European Ghost’s second album, also issued on Unknown Pleasures Records in 2018. The project has continued releasing music since, including the 2022 album “No Peace, No Sleep, No Shelter.”

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

About Atomic Neon

Atomic Neon is a German gothic and cold-wave band formed in 2007, fronted by singer Rio Black, who also remains active in No Trust In Dawn, interviewed by Side-Line in a January 2018 Click Interview. After three albums on Black Rain and one on Holy Hour Records, “Remember Me,” reviewed here, is the band’s first release through a new partnership with Alice In…

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Cold-wave, rock-wave, gothic.

Background/Info: Set up by singer Dirk Vreys (obsCURE) and guitarist Guy Wilssens (Perverted By Language) A Slice Of Life was later on joined by 4 extra members becoming a real ‘band’. This self-titled debut-EP reveals 5 songs and is a teaser to the announced debut full length for 2018.

Content: A Slice Of Life clearly sounds inspired by some of the most famous new-wave formations from the 80s. The guitar parts might remind you of The Sisters Of Mercy, some of the darkest passages are awakening Joy Division memories and the vocals are sometimes evoking Robert Smith (The Cure). The dark and melancholic composition is accomplished by some electronic treatments and a flavor of dark-rock music on top.

+ + + : A Slice Of Life avoids any real form of innovation, but has accomplished a successful mix between 80s influences and an own rock-like touch. I like the dark atmospheres supporting this work while the typical new-wave guitar playing remains magic. The final song “Restless Gods” is my personal favorite one for being also the darkest cut and somewhat evoking the spirit of Joy Division.

– – – : Among the 5 cuts I just noticed only one poorly inspired track (cf. “Feel Like Crazy”). I’m convinced there’s much more potential hiding inside this formation than what they’ve shown at this self-titled debut. That’s why I’m eagerly awaiting for the album.

Conclusion: If you’re into 80s new-wave and related genres you really have to discover and keep an eye on this new formation. A Slice Of Life could be a next big surprise from Belgium!

Best songs: “Restless God”, “Panic Attack”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/asliceoflifeband

Read the news on ‘A Slice Of Life’.

About A Slice Of Life

A Slice Of Life started in late 2015 as an online collaboration between Dirk Vreys (vocals) and Guy Wilssens (guitar). Positive reactions from web radios in 2016 encouraged the pair to form a six-piece live band, which also added Wim Kempenaers (guitar), Nelson Da Silva (bass), ‘FIX’ (drums) and Bart Vanmeerbeeck (keyboards). The group played its first gig in 2017 alongside a self-released demo-EP, followed by the self-titled EP reviewed here in March 2018.

The Belgian band signed to Wool-E-Discs for its debut album, “Restless”, released in August 2018. The band self-released the follow-up album “Tabula Rasa” in 2022.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: New-wave, gothic.

Background/Info: No Trust In Dawn is a brand-new duo hailing from Kassel Germany. Driven by Soykut Gür (Down To Reality) and Rio Black (Atomic Neon), the band joined hands with the Dark Dimensions group to unleash this debut opus.

Content: The influences of this band will rapidly come through. The Cure definitely is the one and only source of inspiration, which comes back nearly the entire album long. No Trust In Dawn reminds me of the 80s period of Robert Smith and his gang. The songs reveal a melancholic touch, which makes me think to the sensitive and dark side of The Cure’s famous song “Charlotte Sometimes”.

+ + + : “As We Fall” is a well-crafted album with a perfect match between mewing and sensitive guitar playing and elevating electronics. Sadness and melancholia became beautiful and essential aspects of this work. If you’re a fan of The Cure you possibly gone like No Trust In Dawn. It’s not only about the sound, but even the timbre of voice reminds me of Robert Smith. This is a beautiful album.

– – – : There’s only one The Cure and that’s possibly what will hurt listeners discovering “As We Fall”. This album is not about artistic creativity, but simply copyists.

Conclusion: No Trust Is Dawn is possessed by The Cure and the only remedy is to start an exorcism and begging Robert Smith to come out of that body! But as I don’t believe in exorcism and don’t care about blasphemy, I simply prefer to enjoy this great album!

Best songs: “Come Closer”, “Trust Me”, “Trash”, “Matthew”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/NoTrustInDawn

Label: www.darkdimensions.de /  www.facebook.com/pages/Dark–Dimensions–Label–Group/486014725206

About No Trust In Dawn

No Trust In Dawn is a German duo formed in 2016 in Kassel by Soykut Gür (also of Down To Reality) and Rio Black (also of Atomic Neon). “As We Fall,” reviewed here, is the duo’s debut album, released in 2018 on Alice In…/Dark Dimensions.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Future-pop, techno-body.

Background/Info: Electro Bromance is a Brazilian duo unleashing its debut full length. They previously released a self-titled and self-released EP. A few songs from the EP have been featured on the album as well.

Content: The opening cut reveals a solid techno-body sound mixed with some pop elements. Quite progressively the real source of inspiration emerges at the surface. Electro Bromance is dealing with electro-pop, which they mixed with other influences such as EBM and future-pop. You’ll also notice a few dance-pop cuts. The songs have been composed with electronics and guitar. I also have to mention the very efficient vocal parts. The singer’s timbre of voice sometimes reminds me of Robert Smith.

+ + + : This album is a nice surprise. It’s not that often we discover cool electro-pop from Brazil, but this album is worthy of examination. The opening song is something harder and somewhat into techno-body music, but it’s a phenomenal song. It sounds a bit like Syrian meeting Komor Kommando. The other cuts will appeal to nostalgic future-pop freaks. Electro Bromance feels comfortable experimenting with different influences, but in the end it all remains good underground-pop music. From danceable songs to other cuts supported with some melancholia to a kind of wave-pop music, this album is a real cool surprise.

– – – : I regret there’re no other songs than the opening cut in this harder techno-body style. But I have to admit Electro Bromance feels comfortable dealing with more familiar electro-pop fields as well.

Conclusion: Brazil and electro-pop music is not exactly a successful match, but Electro Bromance must be the exception to the rule. They’ve accomplished a sexy debut album featuring multiple great songs.

Best songs: “Euphoria”, “Dig Deeper”, “Erotic Playground”, “Beloved”, “Black Phillip”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www.facebook.com/electrobromance

Label: www.facebook.com/DeeplandRecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

We have again found some real gems in the list of releases especially produced for the upcoming Record Store Day on April 22. We put them in a list below.

For those unfamiliar with the phenomena, Record Store Day (aka RSD) was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on April 19, 2008. A Record Store Day participating store is defined as a stand alone brick and mortar retailer whose main primary business focuses on a physical store location, whose product line consists of at least 50% music retail, whose company is not publicly traded and whose ownership is at least 70% located in the state of operation. In other words, we’re dealing with real, live, physical, indie record stores—not online retailers or corporate behemoths.

So what items did we find in the list of planned releases?

PANKOW – “TIMES”
Format: Grey Color 10″ / Quantity: 175

The two earliest Pankow recordings to see a release were “We Are the Joy” on one of the first Italian new wave compilations (Gathered), and following that “Wither” on a split 7” which was enclosed in the “Free8212” fanzine from Florence. Two other tracks that have never before been released appear together on Times, a gorgeous 10″ vinyl coming courtesy Toronto-based Artoffact Records. This 10″ features spectacular new artwork created by Pankow’s own fm, and is fully authorized by the band. An essential document of one of Italy’s most important electronic artists. The black vinyl version can be bought right here already.

ALICE IN CHAINS – “Get Born”
Format: 2 x 7″ / Quantity: 4000

This special Alice in Chains 45 RPM double 7” single collects four hard-hitting tracks remastered and available on vinyl for the first time. “What the Hell Have I” and “A Little Bitter,” released on the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero in 1993, were the first to feature new bassist Mike Inez, who’d played with Ozzy Osbourne for five years. “Get Born Again” and “Died,” released on the box set Music Bank in 1999, were the band’s final recordings with original vocalist Layne Staley.

THE CURE – “Greatest Hits”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3250

Limited edition double picture discs of The Cure’s Greatest Hits. Featuring their best known tracks, including “Love Song”, “Friday I’m In Love” “Never Enough”, “Mint Car” and many more. Curated and remastered by Robert Smith. On vinyl for the very first time for Record Store Day 2017.

THE CURE – “Greatest Hits Acoustic”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3250

Limited edition double picture discs of The Cure’s Greatest Hits performed acoustically. Featuring their best known tracks, including “Love Song”, “Friday I’m In Love” “Never Enough”, “Mint Car” and many more. Curated and remastered by Robert Smith. On vinyl for the very first time for Record Store Day 2017.

JANE’S ADDICTION – “Been Caught Stealing”
Format: 12″ / Quantity: 3500

Originally released in 1990 in conjunction with the Ritual De Lo Habitual album, “Been Caught Stealing” was a massive hit for Jane’s Addiction. This 4 track replicates the original European 12″ release and contains the album version and a remix of “Been Caught Stealing” plus “L.A. Medley” which includes Woman” (The Doors), “Nausea” (X) and “Lexicon Devil” (The Germs).

MOTORHEAD – “Clean Your Clock”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 1500

Motorhead are immortalized one more time in “Clean Your Clock”, the superb live album recorded at the Zenith in Munich, Germany during the Winter 2015 Bad Magic Tour. The indomitable cocktail of power, purpose and head-crunching volume that Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee always succeeded in producing is captured superbly by long-time producer Cameron Webb’s mix,giving this landmark Motorhead release the warmth, curve and punch which helped the band achieve international acclaim during a career which saw the Grammy-winning icons sell over 15 million albums and play to millions worldwide.

PINK FLOYD – “Interstellar Overdrive”
Format: 12″ Vinyl / Quantity: 4000

A previously unreleased 14:57 minute recording from 1966, released in mono at 33 1/3 for Record Store Day.

RAMONES – “76-’79 Singles Box”
Format: 7″ boxset / Quantity: 3500

A box of pre-1980 US 7″ singles by the Ramones, authentically reproduced with Sire labels, picture covers where applicable and a selection of great punk rock tracks that changed the course of rock ‘n’ roll. All packaged in a unique cigarette-style outer box, with an insert and individually foil-stamped numbered global edition of 6500. Wall-to-wall Ramones classics including “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”, “Swallow My Pride”, “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School” and a special mono/stereo promo edition of “I Wanna Be Sedated”, all presented the way punk rock should be–as 45 RPM slabs of wax.

THE SMITHS – “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side”
Format: 7″ Vinyl / Quantity: 5000

A 7″ single featuring previously unreleased versions of “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” and “Rubber Ring”. Includes new artwork featuring Salford actor Albert Finney.

U2 – “Red Hill Mining Town”
Format: 12″ Picture Disc / Quantity: 7000

To coincide with the 30th anniversary of U2’s iconic album “The Joshua Tree”, Island Records will release a 2017 mix of ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ on limited edition 12” picture disc, featuring the classic photography of Anton Corbijn in colour. The previously unreleased mix is by Steve Lillywhite, who produced the band’s critically acclaimed debut, ‘Boy’. ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ is famously “the single that never was”, originally discussed as the second single from The Joshua Tree but then put to one side at the last minute in favour of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’.

VANGELIS – “Blade Runner” Original Soundtrack
Format: LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3500

2017 sees the 35th anniversary of the original release of Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult film Blade Runner. The original soundtrack, composed by Vangelis will be released on picture disc for the first time, housed within a die-cut single sleeve jacket. (Limited worldwide release of 7500.)

CONJURE ONE – “Conjure One”
Format: 2 x LP / Quantity: 900

Originally released on CD in 2002, Conjure One was the brainchild of Front Line Assembly and Delerium co-founder Rhys Fulber. The debut set a new standard in world electronica and went on to sell over 50,000 CDs globally. The album features guest vocals by Sinead O’Connor, Poe, Marie-Claire D’Ubaldo and Chemda as well as mixes by electronica pioneers Junkie XL and Carmen Rizzo. It’s being released on double 45 RPM 180g colored vinyl for the first time, and includes a download card with three new bonus tracks.

PINK FLOYD – “London 1966 – 1967”
Format: 12″ Picture Disc / Quantity: 650

The first studio recordings from the classic ’60s Pink Floyd line up released for Record Store Day on limited edition 12″ picture disc vinyl.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

For the first time in the band’s nearly 40–year history, the story of The Cure from someone who was there at the very beginning (Laurence “Lol” Tolhurst) is being released in 336 pages book format: “CURED: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys”. Tolhurst is the band’s co–founder, co–songwriter, and lifelong friend of lead singer Robert Smith.

The book is available right here for ordering in the US and right here from the UK

and right here from Germany.

From Smith and Tolhurst’s early childhood to the band’s heyday, “CURED: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys” sheds a new light. Tolhurst mines the band’s peak years (1976–1989) to produce never–before–told tales of The Cure, shining a light on Robert Smith and revealing the highs and lows in a lifelong relationship. It also handles Tolhurst’s battle with alcohol, which shows this book really goes far deeper than what most bios do.

Tolhurst, currently living in Santa Monica, met Robert Smith in 1964 on their first day of school and together they began a journey that would take them to the very pinnacle of musical success. Starting in 1978, Lol and The Cure would chart an impressive selection of achievements that includes selling over 27 million units worldwide and earning 40 Platinum and Gold Records in the US, Europe, and Japan.

Here’s a trailer created for the book release. The video was directed by Michael Frost.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Gothic, cold-wave, new-wave.

Background/Info: Atomic Neon is a German band, which gained some recognition for their pure new-wave/cold-wave albums released on Black Rain. Not much really happened at this great label and Atomic Rain found a new home in France joining Holy Hour Records (label of Factice Factory ao). This new work is their 4^th full length. One of the members, Lars Kappeler, has also been involved in The House Of Usher.

Content: Atomic Neon never has been a real source of creativity, but a great copyist of one of the most famous and legendary new-wave bands in history. They could have been a cover band of The Cure, but they simply used The Cure as main source of inspiration to compose real great and noticeable music.

This album feels like a new trip through history awakening somewhere in the early 80s. All the different elements of the composition smell like Cure. Even the dry snares remind me of early Cure. The vocals are quite close to Robert Smith so in the end I would say that the main differences consist of less efficient guitar parts and more electronic elements.

“The Bodanegra Session” sounds dark and like melancholic reverie. It all sounds desperate and yet beautiful.

+ + + : Despite of the lack of creativity, I prefer a talented emulation revealing multiple noticeable songs instead of boring, innovative music. This work features many great songs and I especially refer to “The Walking Dead”, which is a potential hit. This is for sure one of the most talented bands in their genre!

– – – : The lack of originality for sure remains the main hiatus of this band. There’s only one Cure and when a band is getting too close to their Master it will for sure sounds like a blasphemy for numerous die-hard fans.

Conclusion: If The Cure remains one of the most famous ‘teachers’ of new-wave music, Atomic Neon definitely is one of the most promising and talented ‘pupil’! I prefer this new work by Atomic Neon instead of numerous Cure-albums.

Best songs: “The Walking Dead”, “Soul Ruins”, “Burried Machine”, “The Burning Star”, “Dark City”, “The Fall”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.atomic–neon.de / www.facebook.com/theatomicneon

Label: www.holyhourrecords.com / www.facebook.com/HolyHourRecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: New-wave, rock-pop, chanson, wave-folk, cinematographic.

Background/Info: Justin Curfman is a man of many talents. He wrote and published several books, directed stop-motion / puppet animation films and back in 2006 he set up the band Feeding Fingers. The band went through several line-up changes and has now released the 5^th opus “Attend” featuring 25 songs.

Content: It’s nearly impossible to categorize this album as one established genre. Curfman seems like exorcizing multiple influences on this double disc. There clearly is a darker new-wave and rock-pop influence, which sounds like the offspring between The Cure, Nick Cave, The Sisters Of Mercy and IAMX. It sounds pretty 80s and at the same time still cinematographic and even into cabaret music. It sounds dark and desperate, but still sensitive and refined.

The refined touch of the composition comes through on the 2^nd disc and I here refer to numerous piano arrangements. This is more into ballads and chanson style while still revealing this obscure new-wave influence.

The vocals are a quite noticeable  and essential aspect of the work as well. Justin Curfman is a talented singer who –and here again, might remind you of singers like Robert Smith and Chris Corner. Notice by the way that several guest artists contributed to this work as well.

This album is also available on vinyl format, but strictly limited to 250 copies.

+ + + : There’s a great diversity revealed at this work and that’s also the reason why Feeding Fingers sounds like something totally different from the masses. This band will for sure appeal for a diverse audience, but doesn’t belong to an established genre. That’s precisely what I like and still is one of the band’s main strengths. Musically Feeding Fingers sounds comfortable with every explored influence, but the ‘chanson’ exposure for sure appears to be the most delicate and accomplished one.

– – – : As it’s nearly impossible to label this band it also might be an obstacle to focus on one specific audience. It also is important to fully like the sound to endure 25 songs, which is quite long for a release.

Conclusion: Diversity and creativity both are the main components to describe this beautiful piece of music.

Best songs: “Barbed Wire Threads The Sun”, “Abrasive Remains Lubricate Me”, “And Crayon Toxic Twins”, “The First Born Stands Sedated”, “I Am Erasing Doors”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.feedingfingers.net / www.facebook.com/feedingfingers / www.justincurfman.com

Label: www.tephramedia.com / www.facebook.com/tephramedia

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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New Order has announced the release of their video for their latest single, “Singularity,” out March 25, 2016 on Mute. The video is a fast-paced collage of footage taken from “B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989”, the story of Mark Reeder’s life in 1980s West-Berlin. Damian Hale, the man responsible for the visuals that make up New Order’s stage show, edited the video. “Singularity” features scenes of a city divided by the Wall showing a cultural inter-zone in which everything and anything seemed possible.

You can watch the video here:

It’s not just a coincidence that Reeder pops up in New Order’s video. In 1981, Reeder formed the synthpop-rock duo Die Unbekannten (later renamed as Shark Vegas) and toured Western Europe with New Order in 1984. In 1986, Shark Vegas released the 12″ single “You Hurt Me” which was produced by Bernard Sumner. In September 2009, he released a collaboration album of reworks of tracks by Blank & Jones titled “Reordered” for which he rewrote and replayed all the tracks. This album features vocals by artists as Robert Smith of The Cure, Steve Kilbey of The Church, Bernard Sumner, Claudia Brücken of Propaganda and Anne Clark. On his last studio album 6 of the 13 tracks feature vocals by Bernard Sumner.

Oh, in 1991, Reeder discovered the teenage Paul van Dyk, guiding and paving his way to build up his now international DJ superstardom. In short, he’s a well connected man.

In the meantime New Order has also been announced as headliner at the Teenage Cancer Trust show of April 23rd at the Royal Albert Hall.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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