(Photo by Justin Minister) As we reported earlier, Toronto’s The Shadow Majlis released a debut album, “The Departure”, on which he collaborated with Bauhaus, The Mission, and DakhaBrakha members. Out now is the video for “Mazdur”. Musically, this project fuses elements of Eastern modes with post-punk.

Here’s what Ali Jafri says about the new “Mazdur” single: “It means ‘labourer’, which came to me as I watched how hard it was for Oisín to fight his losing battle to cancer. All the changes and adjustments. I chose to have the song ‘mutate’ through the different styles it weaves through. From the classical guitar to the dub reggae and ending on industrial with MRI sounds mixed in. MRIs were hard on Oisín. Existing became hard labour for him but he wasn’t ever far from having a laugh. He had a gracefulness about him which became apparent when it was observed by us as one of the constants through all the change. I dream of him sometimes, he’s ever graceful then.”

And he adds: “Going ‘dub’ on this was David J’s idea – hard to refuse. When I realized he wanted to play dubby stuff, my reaction was ummm hello?? Yes please! My demo was originally more like the first half of the song, which Bottrill and I had worked on. We saw Skinny Puppy during our sessions, which inspired the industrial ending. We recorded it the next day as a good way to conclude the ‘mutation’ furthest away from its original form. The ending was also a good place for some of the angst I was feeling and that Oisín was feeling. The machine voices say ‘We Come To Leave’, a recurring line on the album – making it a concept, I guess.”

Revolving around Ali Jafri (known as a member of David J’s live band, Pigface and various other projects), this record was produced and mixed by David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Tool, David Sylvian, Smashing Pumpkins, Muse, Real World Studios).

Also on board are David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets) and drummer-percussionist Rakesh Tewari (Jaffa Road, The Special Interest Group) next to Dakhabrakha’s Olena Tsybulska, Mark Gemini Thwaite (The Mission, Peter Murphy, MGT, Tricky), Anne Bourne (Loreena McKennitt, Jane Siberry), Tuvan throat singer Soriah and more.

The full album marks the 2-year birthday of Jafri’s son Oisín, who passed away in September 2022 after battling a highly aggressive form of brain cancer. The recording helped Jafri work through grief over this and the dissolution of his conjugal relationship.

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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Toronto’s The Shadow Majlis presents his debut album “The Departure” fusing elements of eastern modes with post-punk. Revolving around Ali Jafri (known as a member of David J’s live band, Pigface and various other projects), this record was produced and mixed by David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Tool, David Sylvian, Smashing Pumpkins, Muse, Real World Studios).

Also on board are David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets) and drummer-percussionist Rakesh Tewari (Jaffa Road, The Special Interest Group) next to Dakhabrakha’s Olena Tsybulska, Mark Gemini Thwaite (The Mission, Peter Murphy, MGT, Tricky), Anne Bourne (Loreena McKennitt, Jane Siberry), Tuvan throat singer Soriah and more.

This release marks the 2-year birthday of Jafri’s son Oisín, who passed away in September 2022 after battling a highly aggressive form of brain cancer. The recording helped Jafri work through grief over this and the dissolution of his conjugal relationship.

You can check out the release on Bandcamp and other platforms.

Below are various videos for this 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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On October 3rd Elsiane will release their 5th studio album, simply titled album “Elsiane”. The new album was again produced by David Bottrill. David Bottrill is a Canadian recordproducer who formerly owned the Rattlebox Studios in Toronto, Ontario with producer Brian Moncarz. Bottrill’s credits include production work for Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian & Robert Fripp, Muse, Placebo, The Smashing Pumpkins, IAMX, etc.. In 2020 he also produced Elsiane’s “Sinai” album.

The new album will be out on vinyl (200 copies) and as download/streaming.

Elsiane is a Canadian band composed of Elsieanne Caplette and Stephane Sotto. Elsieanne grew up in Peru, became a singer in a group in Peru and then moved to Montreal in 1999, where she met Stephane Sotto. When Sotto, a self-taught musician, met Elsieanne, they decided to form the band Elsiane whose name is formed from the first four letters of the first name of the singer and the last three letters of the musician’s first name.

The duo began their collaboration in 2000 and published their first (excellent!) album entitled “Hybrid” on May 1. The album was released a little over a year later in the United States under the label Nettwerk. During the summer of 2011, Elsiane announced the release of a second album preceded by the first single “Underhelped”. The album “Mechanics of Emotion” was released on April 10, 2012. Because they were struggling with the music industry, their third album “Death of the Artist” was released independently. “Rin, Tongue and Dorner” followed in 2018, and was self-released, in collaboration with Rich ShaperoThey.

More on the new album and pre-order info on this website.

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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There is a new Vlimmer 2-track single uit called “Noposition/1979” via the German label Blackjack Illuminist Records. “Noposition” is the third single from Vlimmer’s forthcoming sophomore album, titled “Noposition” (out 4 November), in which Alexander Leonard Donat addresses the breakdown of communication and what he refers to as the ‘sabotage‘ of serious discussion of real issues in the age of social media.

Pointing the proverbial fingers at social media and its proliferation of disrespectful and intolerant points of view, he explains further: “At the heart of the song is the repeated question of why someone doesn’t see that we are all the same as human beings, no matter what gender we are, where we come from or what we look like.” As a result, “Noposition” ostensibly is a statement of support for “people who don’t fit the traditional mold.”

The single is also out as a physical 2-track CD-r single which can be ordered on Bandcamp.

On the B-side Vlimmer covers The Smashing Pumpkins classic, “1979”, turning it into a darkwave track.

Vlimmer has undergone a considerable transformation since its inception in 2015, beginning as an atmospherical darkwave band and eventually morphing into the one-man project of Berlin-based artist Alexander Leonard Donat, infusing elements of post-punk, industrial, goth, and synthpop. The band also got rightfully picked up for our 2021 released “Post​-​Punk (Genesis)” free download compilation with the track “Euphorie”.

You can download the single right below on Bandcamp.

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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Ritualz is back with an all new single, “Disintegration”. This is the first single off Ritualz ‘s upcoming new album “Radical Macabro”. This single includes remixes from Pictureplane, Sidewalks and Skeletons, plus two remixes made by Ritualz, a cover of “Ugly” by The Smashing Pumpkins and a short instrumental track from the “Radical Macabro” sessions.

This is the fourth week in a row Ritualz has released new music this year, something the project will continue to do until the release of the album this Summer.

You can find the full single on Bandcamp.

You can watch the video for “Disintegration” right below.

About Ritualz

Ritualz is the dark electronic project of JC Lobo from Mexico City. Once part of the first wave of witch house acts the one man band has since branched out to explore other styles like darkwave, industrial, noise and dark ambient, crafting a style of his own.

Releases include the witch house classics “CDR” and “Ghetto Ass Witch”, recently reissued on vinyl by Re:Mission Entertainment for their 10th anniversary, the debut album “Doom” and its follow up EP “Satanico Supremo” on Artoffact Records, and “Häxan”, a live score performance to the 1920s silent film.

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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(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange. Cover art by Halvor Bodin)
Exactly a month after the previous release ‘Faceless fear‘, Apoptygma Berzerk and Pitch Black Drive Productions followed up on May 1st with another digital compilation, ‘Disarm – A collection of B-Sides & Rarities’. In a busy time working on several projects Stephan Groth found time to elaborate on this release and more, and there’s even releases from his side projects in the pipeline!

Side-Line: The ‘Disarm’ compilation – any major differences as a concept from ‘Faceless Fear’?

Stephan Groth: It is basically the same concept, and a follow up to “Faceless Fear”. We are making rare APOP tracks available on all digital platforms, including the Pitch Black Drive Bandcamp page. We have so many B-sides, rare remixes and even unreleased versions of APOP songs lying around. A while back Per Aksel and I started to compile them and put them together in an album format. Because of the corona virus situation, we finally found the time to realize the project, and we are already working on Vol. 3! 😉

S-L: ‘Kathy’s Song – Litteraturhuset versjon’ is one of the more unexpected tracks here, and as I was present myself the first time it was performed I found it very surprising and pleasing seeing it on the track list.

STP: Yes, the ‘Litteraturhuset versjon’ of ‘Kathy’s Song’ is extremely rare! The song was only performed live once at a very exclusive show in Fredrikstad called “Menneske/Maskin/Musikk”, a concert we did playing only Kraftwerk songs as well as APOP songs in Kraftwerk’ish versions. The ‘Litteraturhuset versjon’ is not a live recording from that show though, but a touched up version of the rehearsal track that Jonas and I would rehearse to before the show.

S-L: The track ‘Disarm’ – never released before, right? Ever played it live?

STP: Correct, it was never released and never played live before.
It was supposed to have been put out many years ago but for some reason it just never happened. So, now was a good time to let people hear it, and the feedback has been great. It seems like people are really appreciating us doing this.

S-L: It took literally just seconds before ‘Disarm’ trumped the original Smashing Pumpkins version IMO. It’s named ‘Alex O. Mix’ – does that imply there’s other versions too? I think the track deserves it’s own single release in multiple versions!

STP: Better than the original, well… I don’t think so, but thanks for the compliment 🙂
It is an amazing song by an amazing band, a song that was very important to me earlier in my life.
There are other versions of Disarm, yes, but I never got around to finish them. Alex Odden (Pegboard Nerds/Drugwar) made this mix years ago, and it only needed a little touch-up before it was ready to be released.

He is an extremely talented producer, someone I will be working more closely with in the future. We just revived our project DRUGWAR, something that you`ll hear more of on the ‘Nein Danke!’ EP, as we did a remix of the song ‘A Battle For The Crown’.

S-L: What’s up next? Lots of plans postponed due to the corona situation?

STP: I have quite a few projects in the works at the moment. I already mentioned Drugwar, and I am also working with Echo Image for some new releases as well as a very interesting project with Mortiis, who I am currently recording with. This project will definitely be on the more experimental side of the electronic music specter, and we will use elements of both bands broad palettes.

There will also be a follow-up EP to the recently digitally released ‘Before You Came Along’ CD-Maxi with Fairlight Children, consisting of previously unreleased mixes from back then, mixes that are way to good to be left on a shelf somewhere.

Now that ‘Rocket Science’ will be released on vinyl for the first time on the same date as the ‘Nein Danke!’ EP, we will also be working on getting ‘You And Me Against The World’ out on 2xLP, hopefully together with yet another brand new EP.
So, we’re not getting bored down here in FRXTA! 😉

Next out is the 12″ and CD of ‘Nein Danke!’ EP, preordering have started in Germany at Poponaut and Infrarot, in US/Canada at The Electric Fox, in Denmark at Braincorp, in Sweden at Hot Stuff, and finally: in Norway at Retro Vinyl in Sarpsborg (phone or e-mail only).
Meanwhile check out the teaser @ Bandcamp!

For more upcoming APOP action:
www.theapboffice.com
www.facebook.com/ApoptygmaBerzerk
www.pitchblackdrive.bandcamp.com

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, industrial-rock

Background/Info: Al Jourgensen is the charismatic pioneer, musical genius, innovator and iconic founder of the industrial-metal genre (the fusion of repeating metal guitar riffs, samples, keyboards and distorted vocals on a danceable beat). This fully authorized visual history with 248 pages of rare and unseen photos, artwork, and other stuff that spans Ministry’s entire career, shows how the band (that everyone wanted to sound like) evolved from ’80s synth-pop, over EBM/industrial to trash-metal. Ministry has been nominated six times for a Grammy award and is definitely a band you must have seen live at least once in your life!

Content: The four-pages introduction is done by Al’s good old friend Jello Biafra, explaining some hilarious anecdotes. Then this limited 9″ x 9″ casebound book is divided into six chronological chapters starting from the early Wax Trax! era (1981) until the latest release “AmeriKKKant”. We get to see lots of nice rare (promo and live) pictures, cut-outs, artwork, flyers and posters. On almost every page there are interesting quotes or anecdotes from befriended artists like Charlie Clouser (Nine Inch Nails), Moby, Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Gary Numan, Perry Ferrell (Jane’s Addiction), Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke), Phildo Owen (Skatenigs), Jeordie White (Marilyn Manson), Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten), David J (Bauhaus), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Paul D’Amour (Tool), Page Hamilton (Helmet), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Franz Treichler (The Young Gods), Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), Sean Yseult (White Zombie), Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Till Lindemann (Rammstein), Mark Gemini Thwaite (The Mission), Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks) and many more. Just like the music of Ministry changed from soft to very hard, it is clearly shown how Al’s style has changed all over the years ending up with dreadlocks, tattoos and piercings. The author of the book is Aaron Tanner (who also created a visual history for Pixies) and features artwork from Brian Shanley and Paul Elledge.

+ + + : We get an exclusive look at Uncle Al’s personal collection of behind-the-scenes pictures together with contributions from band members past and present.

– – – : Although many well-known artists are featured in this book, some (expected ones) are missing …

Conclusion: There’s only one thing we can conclude: Ministry has had a huge influence on many artists and Al is still going strong after all these years! This book is definitely a must have for the fans!

Artist: www.ministryband.com / www.facebook.com/WeAreMinistry
Label: www.melodicvirtue.com / www.facebook.com/melodicvirtue Read the news on ‘Prescripture: The Visual History’.

Today the American industrial-metal pioneers Ministry released their authorized 248 pages book ‘Ministry – Prescripture: The Visual History’ via Melodic Virtue. It is a collection of rare and unseen photos from the very beginning in 1981 until today, behind the scene pictures of Al Jourgensen’s personal collection and stuff coming from past and present members of the band.

The author of the book is Aaron Tanner (who also created a visual history for Pixies) and features artwork from Brian Shanley and Paul Elledge. The book opens with an introduction by Jello Biafra. Many exclusive quotes are featured from members of Smashing Pumpkins, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick, NWA, Ramones, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Megadeth, AFI, Slayer, Jane’s Addiction, Rammstein, The Flaming Lips, Devo, Butthole Surfers, Static-X, Anthrax, White Zombie, Death Grips, Bauhaus, Killing Joke, High on Fire, GWAR, Einstürzende Neubauten, Revolting Cocks, and many more!

This exclusive book is limited to 2000 copies and also has a deluxe edition (500 copies only) including a t-shirt and vinyl single. Definitely a must have for the fans! You can order the book here. Read the review of ‘Prescripture: The Visual History’.

The Smashing Pumpkins have released a music video for their new single “Solara” which was directed by Nick Koenig.

Next Month, The Smashing Pumpkins will embark on the ‘Shiny And Oh So Bright’ North American arena tour with support from Metric. The tour is the band’s first in nearly 20 years to feature founding members Corgan, Chamberlin, and Iha. Longtime Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Jack Bates, and keyboardist Katie Cole will also take part, as the band moves to a three guitar lineup.

Here’s the video itself.

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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Kid’s time again in music land. Ex-Marilyn Manson keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy has posted a Facebook rant in which he described Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan as “arrogant” and “whiny”. Oh and according to Gacy, Trent Reznor doesn’t like Manson either.

You can read the rant below. And we thought that all musicians were basically mostly busy creating music. Not so much it seems.

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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Original Smashing Pumpkins bassist D’arcy Wretzky has told the webmagazine BlastEcho that she was not invited to take part in an upcoming reunion tour with the band. But a reunion tour without D’arcy Wretzky?

It’s not something she is really pleased about: “My apologies to all of the Smashing Pumpkins fans out there who are excited about this oncoming reunion tour of the original members of the band. I know this is a huge disappointment for me, as well, but it’s not going to happen. I only just found about yesterday that the band has decided to go with a different bass player.”

It seems the water between the bassist and Corgan remains pretty deep although Billy Corgan posted a video 2 years ago acknowledging that he and Wretzky had recently reestablished communication saying “I’ve been in communication with D’arcy for the first time in 16 or 17 years, it’s awesome to have my friend back.”

Wretzky decided to leave the band in 1999, ‘with intentions of pursuing an acting career’ so she claimed. That really didn’t happen at all. The band was recording “Machina/The Machines of God” at the time and consequently she performed very few bass parts on the album. Most of the bass parts were handled by Corgan himself. Shortly after leaving the group, she was arrested for possession of crack cocaine. Corgan later said she was “fired for being a mean-spirited drug addict who refused to get help.”

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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Read the review of ‘Blueprint’.

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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