Cologne’s Blue Shell hosts a brand new event series: The Neue Klangordnung (New Sound Order, NKO). The newly founded NKO collective brings the “Blue Shell” back to its roots: rough industrial underground sound, rooted in body music (EBM), post-techno and the new cold / dark wave.

The NKO sees itself as a space for dance and sound experiments, “in which people regain control of their smartphones and their heads are freed for the experience.”

Max Esser explains: “By mainstreaming underground music genres such as techno, the NKO wants to shape new, alternative music styles of tomorrow with its DIY approach. This is inspired by sound pioneers such as Cabaret Voltaire, DAF, Test Dept. and Esplendor Geómetrico, and the next chapter of Industrial is to be entered into at NKO under the term Post-Techno. This is implemented behind the mixing desks of DJ and darkwave performer BORGBORG, the industrial-purified mixing master Hugo Dirac, the Cologne selector Klaus F., and the sound researcher MX Probe.”

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For fans of: Einstürzende Neubauten, Esplendor Geométrico, NAKED, Spit Mask, Broken English Club, Parrish Smith, Bauhaus, Severed Heads, DJedjotronic, ADULT, Fixmer/McCarthy, Boy Harsher, Alessandro Adriani, Ancient Methods, Randolph & Mortimer, Unconscious, Sarin, Alen Skanner, Years of Denial, Whitehouse, Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV, Qual.

This is what the NKO Spotify playlist sounds like.

What, where and how of The Neue Klangordnung

• When: 24. November 2023 – 22:00 o‘clock
• Where: Blue Shell, Luxemburger Str. 32, 50674 Cologne
• Cost: 8€ Box office, 6€ limited presale via Rausgegangen

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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Set up in 1993 by Ken Evans and Georgina Emery, Australian formation Tycho Brahe recently released the “Triplex [complete]”-album on ScentAir Records. It’s without a shadow of a doubt their most accomplished work to date. The songs will probably ravish 80s synth-pop lovers, but it first of all is a great production the band might be proud of. This was a real good reason to organize an interview with the band.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Tycho Brahe saw the daylight in 1993. What have been the main facts about your career and how much of early Tycho Brahe do you still recognize in your writing today?

TB: We started off as something different and evolved into our current form. The consistent thing about us though, is that we have always approached every situation with a total sense of self-belief. We’ve never been afraid to take a risk and do something ‘crazy’ or to do the impossible when others might say it can’t be done eg like organize an international support in 2 other states with 5 days’ notice when we haven’t rehearsed in five months. Or organize an interstate gig for an international or interstate band whose promoters let them down with one weeks’ notice.

With this never say never and can-do attitude, we’ve ended up playing shows with other notable acts like The Human League, John Foxx, VNV Nation, Covenant, Real Life, Psyche, Pseudo Echo etc and made many great connections and strong relationships within the industry. We are self-taught in everything, including playing our instruments, programming, recording and production…everything…but have never seen that as a disadvantage. Through self-belief and determined application we have succeeded.

Compared to the earlier Tycho Brahe songs, some of the more recent work has been more unusual in structure (eg “1985” and “Valerie Perrine”), and that has been a deliberate decision to try and keep things interesting. There’s also more confidence these days in being more personal about song lyrics. But the biggest difference between the early Tycho Brahe releases and the more recently recorded work is the level of production we’ve achieved in an independent studio setting. We feel that “Triplex [complete]” is easily our most accomplished body of work so far on many levels.

Q: I noticed your early work has been released on cassette format. What does that evoke to you and what’s your perception about the evolution of technology (recording techniques, instruments, social media, streaming etc)?

TB: Our first two releases were on professionally duplicated cassette in 1996. This was the most affordable format at the time. We’d spent a lot of money in professional studios before that, which was fairly normal for a band in those days, however we made those recordings ourselves very cheaply on a borrowed 4-track system, with the intention that they would be used as demos. We were playing a lot of live shows, and we needed to be able to make our music available to promoters as well as fans, so we put the best of these recordings on a cassette – that first release is literally called “The Promotional Cassette”. The reaction was great, and we realized that for our purposes it didn’t matter if we recorded in a 24 track studio or on a home 4-track system, as long as the music was good, and was recorded and produced to a suitable standard. This appealed to our self-taught ‘do it yourself’ manifesto, so we decided to completely move away from expensive professional studios, and instead invest that money into achieving self-sufficiency for recording and producing. We were early adopters of the digital recording revolution, and the freedom to experiment with recording and production on our own time schedule was a total revelation. Our debut album “Cassiopeia” (released in 2000) was recorded on a PC running very basic 8-track recording software on Windows 98. Our studio setup has now evolved to the point where we’re able to integrate and centrally control all of our vintage hardware synths, drum machines, effects units, DAW software and VST’s etc quite seamlessly. We are living in a golden age of digital recording.

Social media is the great enabler for independent bands which allows us to not only connect globally with geographically dispersed fans, but to connect with other musicians and producers, creating great opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Before social media, in the early days of the internet, it was still difficult as an independent act to grow beyond our local area and we were still reliant on local gigs, press and radio to generate interest and connections, which of course is very limiting. Streaming services like Spotify are both a blessing and a curse – whilst they deliver practically no income for the artist, people who otherwise may not have listened to acts like Tycho Brahe can hear the music very easily for no cost. It’s just one aspect of the modern democratization of music distribution, although as an artist it is painful to see very little financial return on the recorded work through these streaming services.

Q: Your newest CD-album “Triplex [complete]” features your 3 latest digital EP’s. How important is to have these songs released on CD format and how did you get in touch with Russian ScentAir Records?

TB: Digital distribution is obviously a far more pragmatic way of distributing music, but it is killing the album format. The recordings on the “Triplex”-EP’s were originally intended for a cohesive album, so from an artistic perspective we feel that presenting them in a physical format such as a CD album encourages people to listen to that entire body of work rather than hearing random individual songs from a digital playlist, and that is very important to us. And to have a business external to the band share a belief in the recorded work to the point where they’re willing to invest money into manufacturing and distributing physical copies of that album is a very affirming and validating process.

We became aware that there was a synth-pop scene happening out of Russia, when we stumbled across a pirated Russian synth-pop compilation which we were on with the likes of Depeche Mode, Beborn Beton and Camouflage. It was completely illegal but somehow flattering. So our curiosity was piqued, and we investigated the Russian scene a little further and realized that our musician friends Empire State Human (ESH) had recently released an album through ScentAir, who appeared to be one of the few remaining independent synth-pop labels still releasing CDs. Tycho Brahe had previously collaborated with ESH/The Garland Cult when we remixed each other, so we contacted Aiden from ESH. After he said very positive things about ScentAir, we decided to directly approach them with the idea of compiling the “Triplex”-EP series into the proper complete CD album. This had been our original plan and ScentAir were very keen to do it, with distribution through Poponaut. We’re very happy in our relationship with ScentAir, and would like to release further albums through them in the future. If we could ever do so, we’d also love to tour in support of those releases in Europe, but living in Australia makes that a very expensive proposition.

Q: I’ve to admit I’m deeply impressed by this album revealing a perfect balance between electronics and guitar while featuring bombast and refined bleeps, alluring bass lines and catchy choruses, typical 80s arrangements with charismatic vocals on top. Tell us a bit more about the writing and recording of this masterpiece?

TB: Thank you, we’re glad that you like it! “Triplex [complete]” is our fifth album, and we actually started work on it immediately after our “Atlantic” album in 2006. The first song to be completed was “Loveless”, which debuted on Myspace way back in 2007, before our “Transatlantic”-remix album was released, and that recording set the writing and production standard that we wanted to achieve for the rest of the album. We were playing and refining songs from “Triplex” at live shows with bands like The Human League, Psyche etc, and that live work plus other commitments slowed progress on recording the album…

Before we knew it, four years had passed, and then our studio was flooded, completely submerged, under 4 metres of filthy flood water in the devastating Brisbane floods of January 2011. We saved all of the equipment, but then we were basically demolishing and rebuilding for the next year, but then decided to relocate to higher ground anyway as we were post-traumatic from losing a studio and a home to the flood… every time it rained we would freak out. The flood cost us two years of progress, and around that time Andy Walls (live keyboards and co-writer), decided to leave to ‘take up gardening’ which was another setback. We had a semi-functional temporary studio which wasn’t really set up for vocals during this time, so in 2012 we recorded and released the novelty song “Sex Rocket” as a single – which is one reason why it has a vocoder in place of vocals… it was remixed by Parralox, Neuropa and Psyche, we also did a follow up song in a similar style, “Super Hot Robot”, another fun novelty song but not representative of our usual work. (Both songs have videos on Youtube and were created by another talented member of the Tycho family, Thomas Evans.)

So as fate would have it, the album was shelved until we could get our studio and our lives back in order. When we finally re-established the studio and got back to the album, we found that we were being perfectionists wanting a very high production standard, and recording was slow and painstaking, so we became impatient to release something. That is when we decided to split the album into three parts, so we could complete four songs at a time and release three EPs over a longer period, maintaining some output. Georgina came up with the name “Triplex”, which means ‘having three parts’, or a house divided into three residencies. We digitally released each EP ourselves, with artwork by our friend Stig Olsen in Denmark, who has also done graphic design work for The Human League, and on our “Sex Rocket”-CD single. Each EP was mastered in Sydney by Kathy Naunton at dB mastering, who has worked on albums by Severed Heads, Boxcar, Midnight Oil… the songs themselves range from very personal, such as “No Love”, to “Castaway” which is about not fitting into society, to “Valerie Perrine” which is about the hot tub scene from the Village People movie, “Can’t Stop The Music”! Our favorite track on the album is probably “Metropolis”, the intro has a mobile phone recording from a New York subway which sets the mood perfectly.

Q: “1985” is an interesting song with references to the 80s. Are you guys nostalgic and what has been the impact of the 80s on you as teenagers and later on as musicians?

TB: We’re massive ‘80s fans, obviously music especially but also movies like “Buckaroo Banzai” and “Electric Dreams”, video games (Georgina has a vintage Galaga arcade machine), musical equipment… most of our synths are vintage ‘80s machines like the Prophet 5, Emax sampler, Juno-106, LinnDrum, Simmons, etc because we love how they sound… even the registration plates on our cars… Georgina’s is “80-MIX” which is the music she’s always playing in the car – a mix of ‘80s stuff; Ken drives a Mustang convertible with the plate ‘FAC-73’ which is the Factory Records catalogue number for the “Blue Monday”-single, the song that made him want to create music way back in 1983. Most people’s formative years are their teens, and the ‘80s certainly had a huge impact on us, but it was a groundbreaking era for music, with all of that incredible new technology becoming available and affordable in the post-punk years.

The song “1985” is deliberately nostalgic and is about specific events experienced in the ‘80s with various friends…”Park Avenue” is referenced in the song, it was a Hi-NRG club in Adelaide that played Man 2 Man, Dead Or Alive, early Stock Aitken & Waterman… we would actually dance all night and emerge at daybreak; the song is quite personal and about still being anchored to that era. In 2011 we were able to work with Giorgio Moroder’s 1980’s bass player/programmer Arthur Barrow, and we released a remix single for the song “1985” in the production style of Moroder in 1985, with Arthur Barrow contributing parts using the same bass guitar and Jupiter-8 synth he used with Moroder, and our LinnDrum loaded with custom Giorgio Moroder sounds used around the Scarface/Electric Dreams era. There might even be some sneaky “Back To The Future” samples hidden in that song too…

Q: I’ve to ask you a last question about a real exciting project consisting of doing some programming for the upcoming tour of Peter Hook. How did you get in touch with each other and what is it all about?

TB: We became friends with Peter Hook and The Light when they toured Australia in 2010, when we shared drinks and stories with them after their Brisbane show, and we’ve since caught up with various members socially and travelled to see the band play overseas. They’re wonderful people and an amazing, hardworking band, and one of our favorite live acts of all time. Some of the New Order songs that Peter Hook and The Light play require pre-programming and digital multi-track playback onstage (also known as backing tracks) to re-create the complex vintage sequenced synth and drum machine parts. Peter Hook initially became aware that Ken was an expert in recognizing the distinct New Order sounds and the synthesizers that made them, when he sought his help in clarifying how some early New Order equipment would have worked on certain songs for his latest book. Ken had also assisted in setting up a live vocoder system for their keyboard player, who also knew that Tycho had been covering “Bizarre Love Triangle” live. This led to Ken being asked in 2015 if he’d like to attempt new programming and backing tracks for “Bizarre Love Triangle” for them, as they weren’t particularly satisfied with what they’d been using. They were very happy with the result and so Ken has been creating backing tracks for Peter Hook and The Light ever since.

About half of the New Order songs from their recent international “Substance” tours in 2017 and 2018 featured Ken’s work. He’s been working on new backing tracks for the “Technique” and “Republic” albums since late 2017, for a tour commencing in September 2018. By the end of the current project, Ken will have re-created the synth and drum machine parts for over 30 classic New Order songs. It is incredibly challenging work, as everything has to be completely made brand new, from scratch, without access to any of the original source material due to legal reasons, with only the released versions from albums etc as a guide. The most complex of these can take around 60 hours of work, and it involves researching the original equipment used, detailed sound design, forensic listening techniques, and then the actual programming, sequencing, mixing and production to essentially build a new multi-track recording of the electronic parts, as close to the original as possible. Ken has set up a separate business called Tycho Sound Design to accommodate this work, and he has also now done similar work for Australian ‘80s band Machinations.

Tycho Brahe literally would not exist if not for New Order releasing “Blue Monday”, so to be working with Peter Hook brings us full circle and is a huge honor. Last year in our home town of Brisbane Ken was invited on stage to sing “Bizarre Love Triangle” with Peter Hook and The Light, which was a very surreal and emotional moment.

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

Here’s a release series available via Artoffact Records which will please many: the Brave New Wave radio sessions! But first some background. Brave New Waves was a Canadian radio program which aired on CBC Stereo, later known as CBC Radio 2, from 1984 to 2007. Airing overnight five nights a week, the show profiled alternative and indie music and culture. The show was created after Augusta La Paix submitted a demo tape for a show on avant garde culture, featuring music by Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Klaus Nomi and Nina Hagen.

In 1988, the program also began recording live in-studio sessions (next to studio live-to-air) curated by producer Kevin Komoda. And that’s exactly where it gets really interesting as the show featured a lot of homegrown and foreign electronic.

Available now for pre-order (next to many other sessions – a complete list can be found here) are the sessions recorded by Psyche, Severed Heads and The Jazz Butcher, all on vinyl and CD. Here’s a rundown of what you can expect.

Severed Heads – “Brave New Waves Session” (Purple vinyl)

Available for ordering right here. Recorded in CBC’s studio live-to-air in 1986 while on tour with Skinny Puppy, Severed Heads’ “Brave New Waves Session” includes never-before heard versions of songs from “The Big Bigot” and “Dead Eyes Open”, including the band’s hit, “Harold & Cindy Hospital”, as well as commentary by Tom Ellard.

First formed in 1979, Severed Heads is an Australian electronic and experimental project led by Tom Ellard since 1981. In the mid- to late-80s, the project saw its biggest commercial successes with releases on Nettwerk and huge European and American tours. The band’s 1986 tour with Skinny Puppy resulted in this now infamous Brave New Waves recording, which to date has never been released commercially. The recording is taken from CBC Archives reels and remastered at Grey Market Mastering in Montreal, by Harris Newman.

The Jazz Butcher – “Brave New Waves Session” (Blue vinyl)

Available for ordering right here. The Jazz Butcher’s fabulous Brave New Waves session is one of the only sessions that ever got an official release, as the b-side of an EP called “Spooky” in the late 80s. Now hopelessly out of print, the session gets new life as part of the Brave New Waves series from Artoffact Records. This release includes a never-heard bonus track, a download card with bonus interviews, and completely updated and revised artwork, partially modified from the original Spooky sleeve art.

Led by Pat Fish the project featured an array of collaborators (including David Jay of Love And Rockets and Bauhaus fame) and recorded some 15 albums since its founding in 1982. The Jazz Butcher’s Brave New Waves session was recorded on June 5th, 1988 in CBC Studio 13 in Montreal. The recording features cameos by both Kevin Komoda (Rational Youth) and Brent Bambury (the Brave New Waves host). The rendition of “Sex Engine” also includes a memorable dig at Skinny Puppy, as well as at other Canadian icons. Also this recording is taken from CBC Archives reels and remastered at Grey Market Mastering in Montreal, by Harris Newman.

Psyche – “Brave New Waves Session” (Yellow vinyl)

Available for ordering right here. Recorded in 1988 and never before released, this session from Psyche includes songs that the band never recorded, as well as alternative takes with different lyrics that never appeared on any Psyche release.

A rare moment of uncertainty after Psyche’s final performance with Stephen Huss, Eric Klaver joined the band to create a trio on stage and produce the most obscure recordings of Psyche’s career. In 1988, Darrin and Eric found themselves in the studio with Kevin Komoda for a Brave New Waves session with only sketches of material they had improvised in between shows in Montreal and Quebec City.

The set is available on black vinyl, limited edition yellow vinyl, as well as CD digipak and digital formats.

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, electronics, glitch, industrial.

Background/Info: Kongo is a new project featuring Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (Pouppée Fabrikk, Nordvargr, MZ.412, Folkstrom ao) and Peter Nyström (Negru Voda, Obscene Noise Korporation ao). “Blubber” is meant as a homage to bands such as Severed Heads and Cabaret Voltaire.

Content: Kongo rapidly appears to be an elaborated fusion between different influences. Electronic sequences have been merged with industrial noises plus pure experimental treatments. It’s hard to define the style of “Blubber”, but it definitely sounds like pure experimentalism.

The tracks are carried by mainly slow rhythms. The work has been accomplished by a few more influences and samplings. One of the songs sounds like an offspring between industrial music and dub.

+ + + : Both dark-ambient and industrial veterans have accomplished a surprising work. It is not the typical work of Henrik Nordvargr Björkk and Peter Nyström. I don’t exactly hear a possible homage to Severed Heads and Cabaret Voltaire except in the experimental way of composing the tracks. The least I can say is that Kongo is a creative process bringing different genres together. It’s an elaborated composition revealing interesting cuts such as “Lower Than Batra” revealing a great progression and “Landet Runt” for its deep, minimal approach or “Al Gadaffi Bike Gang (Giganten Ganja Smoke)” for the surprising osmosis between industrial noises and dub elements. Kongo also is one more sonic project featuring Henrik Nordvargr Björkk who clearly seems to have endless inspiration.

– – – : The diversity of the work is sometimes missing some cohesion. “Blubber” is not exactly the kind of composition, which is instantly accessible. There are many more fascinating projects where both protagonists have been involved in.

Conclusion: “Blubber” is a sophisticated experimental work composed by experienced musicians although an album you have to listen a few times before you can get into it.

Best songs: “Landet Runt”, “Lower Than Batra”, “Al Gadaffi Bike Gang (Giganten Ganja Smoke)”.

Rate: (7).

Bands: www.facebook.com/pages/Nordvargr/107816625907877 / www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004044051125

Label: http://ur–muzik.blogspot.be / www.facebook.com/urmuzik.rec

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

Laurent Boudic is a kind of pioneer in electronic music although he’s not the most famous and recognized artist at the wider fields of EBM. While he was mainly dealing with different forms of techno music Növö definitely sounds more into good-old vintage EBM. It still sounds quite minimal and accomplished with a technoid flavor on top. I discovered this artist by some productions released on the American digital label Black Montanas. Növö finally joined the established Alfa Matrix to releases the latest albums. The newest brainchild is the album “The Shortwaves”, which will definitely appeal for lovers of analogue gear and the magic of old-styled electronics.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Can you briefly remind us the main facts from your artistic background and how did you get contaminated by the electronic-music virus?

Laurent: I started in the early 80’s by experimenting industrial electronic & concrete music, first in Belgium & then in France under different nicknames & collaborations. During the whole 90’s I got into intelligent techno & ambient music with projects such as Genetik System & x2Proton. Since year 2000 I’m essentially working on Növö.

I’ve been contaminated to the avant-garde electronic & industrial music essentially with bands such as Severed Heads, Throbbing Gristle, SPK or Suicide.

Q: You’re one of those artists with a real passion for analogue equipment. Where does this fascination comes from and what makes the magic of analogue equipment?

Laurent: From my childhood. In the 70’s, electronic music was already almost everywhere. On TV advertising, news & documentaries, movie soundtracks etc. This analogue sound really fascinated me forever.

But it’s not only the way how it sounds, it is also how do you interact with it. Working with vintage analogue equipment and its limitations is something that definitely opens the creativity.

There’s also something of magic in that sound. It is alive, warm and organic, the total opposite of the digital sound which is interesting in terms of sound synthesis but very cold and clinical in sound.

Q: What’s your opinion about the huge mass of bands using software and composing nearly all the same sound?

Laurent: To be frank I find it pretty sterile & boring. The same beats, almost the same sounds everywhere & the same way to create. I personally can’t conceive to create a musical piece with a mouse and a controller. I’m a musician so I must feel and play with the instrument, the equipment.

The music & creativity from today is pretty poor in general but it’s not necessary due to the technology, you know it’s just a tool. The main factor is the lack of audacity from these artists even though they doesn’t bear the entire responsibility. Indeed, the narrow-minded people buying the same records again & again without other interests are also responsible.

It’s becoming very hard to find artists that breaks the rules nowadays. Fortunately, there’s still some interesting people with interesting minds but not too many.

Q: You recently released your new album “The Shortwaves”. I experienced this album as more experimental than some of your previous work. What kind of album did you’ve in mind and how do we have to understand the result?

Laurent: You definitely right, “The Shortwaves” is more experimental, dark & lo-fi than the previous ones, except maybe for “Architecture & Severity”. I have to thanks Alfa-Matrix for taking risks. It’s definitely not a commercial album nor for people looking for standard electronic music even though some songs are more affordable (“Radio Peking”, “Operator”) & catchy (“Whisky Tango Romeo”, “The News” & “Groupe 8/2”).

I didn’t have and never had an album in mind during the process, it’s not the way I conceive creativity but rather a concept: to create a whole musical album entirely devoted to shortwave radio and spy numbers stations.

With “The Shortwaves”, the aim was not to use conventional structures but rather to break the rules & explore something else, something that first reflect the main concept, vocals included since they are used & treated as samples, then to form a kind of ‘musique concrete style’-soundscape all the way.

Q: The Alfa Matrix releases usually feature next to the regular album a limited edition (box) with an extra album. Why is it “The Shortwaves”-album has been only released as a ‘regular’ disc?

Laurent: Well, you have to know that the process was a bit long and painful. Two full years of very hard work, first by selecting and treating the huge material (AM Radio/noises/interferences samples) and then by creating the structures & sequences. After these 2 years I was very tired by the process and I couldn’t create anymore. As a result there was not enough material to fill a limited edition box. But now and after some rest I recently did some new tracks for the forthcoming EP’s…

Q: So you already have new plans and music in mind? What brings the future?

Laurent: For the moment I’m working exclusively on the videos & single EP’s. For a solo-project it’s a hard work as you guess, then I will see what the future brings to Növö.

You’ll get more news at http://www.gencomprodukts.com

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, new-wave, EBM.

Bands: Psyche, Chris & Cosey, Ministry, Carlos Peron, Dark Day, Severed Heads, Fad gadget, Killing Joke, Klaus Schulze, T.A.G.C., Peter Godwin, Portion Control, Grauzone ao.

Content: This is a real particular and we might say conceptual compilation, but still a part of the Belgian and especially Antwerp history. “Liaisons Dangereuses” was a radio broadcasting in Antwerp during the 80s. The broadcasting was presented by Sven Van Hees (who became a recognized and praised DJ/producer) and Paul Ward. Their main aim was to introduce the audience with certain underground dance-music, which was not played on national radio broadcasts. If you got the opportunity to see the great movie/documentary “The Sound Of Belgium”, which is all about the history and evolution of electronic music in Belgium, you for sure remember to have seen an interview with Sven Van Hees in it and some old images from this broadcast.

I think we might say it all is about pioneers and visionary people who had understood that even the underground electro scene featured great, danceable music. Sven Van Hees who compiled this sampler selected 38 songs. This is a great track list, which will for sure bring you back into the good-old spirit of the 80s and mainly new-wave music composed by electronics. It also was a pleasure to rediscover somewhat forgotten bands and songs.

The 1st disc is an invitation to rediscover the early work of legendary names like Psyche, Chris & Cosey, Ministry, Carlos Peron, Dark Day, Vicious Pink, severed Heads, Savage Republic, Fad Gadget, O Yuki Conjugate, Informatics, Section 25 and even Killing Joke. We all will find our favorites, but I have a little preference for the classical Fad Gadget’s anthem “State Of The Nation”. Other essential songs are “Proximity Switch (Accidents In Paradise)” from Informatics and “Looking From A Hilltop” from Section 25. It also was pure fun to rediscover the somewhat unusual sounding “Turn To red” from Killing Joke.

This compilation doesn’t feature the darkest and most tormenting electronic forms like The Klinik, Front 242, The Neon Judgement, DAF, Skinny Puppy ao, but typical 80s bands dealing with great analogue treatments and some danceable vibes for alternative clubs.
The 2nd disc features a new selection of great bands and songs so it was a total pleasure to rediscover T.A.G.C., Kissing The Pink, Peter Godwin, All systems Go, Carlos Peron (again), Portion Control and Grauzone.

Grauzone’s “Film 2” remains to me a real cult classic of the electro-wave movement. Kissing The Pink’s “Big Man Restless” was for me one of those ‘forgotten treasures’ which I haven’t heard in years, but when hearing the first notes of the great electro tune running through the song I immediately felt like I was 30 years younger. “Big Sex” from T.A.G.C. is another essential cut while the somewhat tribal like “Crash Bang Wallop” of All Systems Go reveals a different style.

Sven Van Hees did an excellent job with this compilation. As some of the master recordings weren’t even available and he had to go back to the original records and remove the typical vinyl noises. “Liaisons Dangereuses” later on evolved into house, new-beat and acid music, which could be an interesting concept for a 2nd volume of this series.

This is an essential compilation, which also brings me back to all the local radio broadcasts dealing with alternative music and, which was during the 80s a real source to discover new music!

Conclusion: This is not just a compilation bringing old 80s new-wave tracks together, but an electronic legacy that has without a shadow of a doubt inspired numerous artists, producers and DJ’s during the next generations. But the main strength of all those bands is that their sound still has this magical touch, which is an ingredient ‘classical’ dance music has never had.

Best bands: Fad Gadget, Grauzone, Informatics, T.A.G.C., Kissing The Pink, Dark Day.

Rate: (DP:8½)DP.

Label: www.universalmusic.be / www.facebook.com/universalmusicbe

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