(Photo by Steve Gullick) Sex Swing have just share a new track from their forthcoming album inspired by the region between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos: “Boten, Route 13”. The single is out now via God Unknown Records together with a video.

This is the latest single from their third studio album, “Golden Triangle”, set for release on 4 October 2024 via God Unknown Records. The collective of revered UK underground musicians (comprising members of Earth, Mugstar, The Keep and Jaaw) have also detailed new UK tour dates that start on 5 October with a performance at the God Unknown 10th Anniversary show in London.

Sex Swing frontman Dan Chandler explains that “Boten, Route 13” is about illegal logging with Boten, Route 13 being a road near the Laos Chinese border, a route the smugglers take. “It really is an endless seam of activity,” Chandler explains of the region between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos that inspired the title of their new album.

The album line-up for this release was completed by bassist Jason Stoll, drummer Stuart Bell, guitarist Jodie Cox, synthesist/guitarist Oli Knowles and saxophonist Colin Webster.

“Golden Triangle” began as a project of creating beats and recording tracks remotely during the pandemic. The ideas were later developed during focused writing sessions at a quiet farm in Oxfordshire. The album was recorded by Stanley Gravett at Holy Mountain Studios in Hackney, mixed by Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse, and mastered by James Plotkin. The band also continued their collaboration with artist Alex Bunn, who designed the album cover.

The band will perform on Saturday 5 October at a very special show celebrating 10 years of the label on a lineup that includes Duke Garwood, Rainbow Grave, Sneers, Cassels and more – all taking place at Walthamstow Trades Hall – before embarking on further UK dates in December.

Sex Swing live

• 5 Oct – London, Walthamstow Trades Hall (God Unknown Records 10th Anniversary)
• 13 Dec – Tunbridge Wells, The Sussex Arms
• 14 Dec – Leeds, Headrow House
• 15 Dec – Bristol, The Louisana

About Sex Swing

Sex Swing is an experimental rock band formed in London in 2015. The group is known for a unique sound that blends elements of noise rock, post-punk, and avant-garde jazz. The band comprises Dan Chandler (vocals), Jodie Cox (guitar), Oli Knowles (keyboards), Colin Webster (saxophone), Stuart Bell (drums), and Jason Stoll (bass).

Before forming Sex Swing, the members were involved in various underground acts. They debuted with their self-titled album in 2016.

In 2020, they released their second album, “Type II”. Followed by the remix album “Passovers” (2020, Rocket Recordings). Last year saw the release of the live album “Grade A Peanut Sauce” (2023, Sonic Whip Records).

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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

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

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

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

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

About Propaganda

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

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

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

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

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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(Photo by Marco Krueger) Berlin based modular synthesist and DJ JakoJako, aka Sibel Koçer, has shared the first track, “Modus”, from her new four-track “Segmente” EP, set for release via NovaMute on 26 July 2024. All four tracks on this new upcoming EP originated in her live shows.

The new EP follows the “Verve” EP, her debut for Mute, a full length album, “Metamorphos” (2022, Bigamo) and her collaboration with Rødhåd, “In Vere” (2022, WSNWG), both of which came hot on the heels of two remixes for Mute – New Order’s “Be A Rebel” and Martin Gore’s “Vervet”.

Here’s “Modus”.

Koçer started her career working with modular systems and patch cables. Her studies soon progressed into performing regular live sets in Berlin, a Berghain Residency and a position at Berlin electronic music institution, SchneidersLaden.

In recent years she has been involved in several motion sensor dance projects with dancers at Superbooth and Kraftwerk Berlin, and has performed at the Royal Albert Hall with Bonobo, and at the Barbican in London with an improvised ‘Circle Of Live’ performance that featured dance and a specially commissioned art installation.

Jakojako live dates

• 26 May –Berghain (DE)
• 8 June – Wurzelfestival DE)
• 15 June – Danza Futura Festival (PT)
• 20 June – La Nature Festival (Ambient live set) (BE)
• 21 June – La Nature Festival (DJ set) (BE)
• 22 June – Dancity (IT)
• 14 July – Berghain (DE)
• 19 July – Detect Classic Festival (Live performance with the Detect Ensemble) (DE)
• 19 July – Detect Classic Festival (DJ set) (DE)
• 20 July – Harbour Summer
• 26 July – 2Nature (IT)
• 27 July – Junction 2 Festival (UK)
• 28 July – Äiniwalli (FI)
• 2 Aug – Whole Festival (DE)
• 11 Aug – Paradigm Festival (NL)
• 17 Aug – Ratherlost at Lofi (NL)
• 18 Aug – TR3 Festival (DE)
• 30 Aug – Station Nuage (FR)
• 31 Aug – Doel Festival (BE)
• 7 Sep – Draaimolen Festival (NL)
• 14 Sep – Smut Athens (GR)
• 20 Sep – Klub K4 (SI)
• 27 Sep – Berlin, Berghain (DE)

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 Sam Rosenthal and vidnaObmana (aka Dirk Serries) collaboration album “Terrace of Memories”, kickstarted earlier this year, will be released in a remastered version on January 12 2024. The album will be re-issued, as a download, as a limited edition CD (500 copies) and on vinyl (limited to 250 copies per color, either dark green in crystal clear or grey in dark green).

The CD comes as a 6-panel digipak with additional images. Note that the Bandcamp digital release will have five bonus unreleased source tracks.

1992’s “Terrace of Memories” was recorded when Sam Rosenthal (Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s founder/synthesist, then based in Los Angeles) and Dirk Serries (then recording under the moniker vidnaObmana in Belgium) blended their electronics. The whole was based on a text written by Sam concerning a lost love. This was the duo’s only collaboration.

The whole was remastered by Dirk Serries himself.

About this Sam Rosenthal and vidnaObmana album

Both Dirk and Sam talked about their recollections of this recording session.

Here’s Dirk’s recollection of the project: “Back in the days, pre-internet, we traded a lot of tapes by mail. Projects and collaborations took much longer to complete due to the longer waiting times, waiting for the postal system to do their work. When I started to correspond with Sam in the mid-80s, I was very into the albums by his Black Tape For A Blue Girl band. The eerie atmospheres and ambience surrounding the songs were really mesmerizing, and I could imagine a blend of Sam’s sound-structures with my ambience. I sent him sources on tape. But with every collaboration release back then, time moved by before something was completed, again due to the slower way of communicating. I appreciated Sam’s brilliant interaction and additional performances. ‘Terrace of Memories’ is a real Sam Rosenthal & vidnaObmana collaboration, and I truly wonder why we never did a follow-up. Enjoy.”

Sam Rosenthal from his side says this: “As far as I can recall, I began working on this collaboration with Vidna after the recording of ‘A Chaos of Desire’ in 1989. Dirk sent me cassette tapes of music, and I worked on my 8-track but got distracted by other projects. The project was pushed to the back-burner, and the album wasn’t finished and mixed until 1992. Quite honestly, I only have the vaguest memory of working on it in my The Lush Garden studio in Los Angeles. I remember that even a few weeks after I finished a piece, it was hard for me to tell which parts I played and which parts were Dirk’s. Aside from the low cello sound on my eMax, and the very slight vocals on the one track, who played what is a blur. That’s cool. It’s a great ambient blend.”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Out via Fabrika Records is an all new, self-titled (or non-titled) 2-track vinyl single by Lebanon Hanover. This vinyl single comes in 2 different editions and is a taster for the all new 2024 album. Both editions come in an embossed cover and will be released on November 24.

The regular black vinyl is limited to 1200 copies while the gold version is limited to 500 copies.

The single is William Maybelline and Larissa Iceglass’ first new material since the 2020 album “Sci-Fi Sky” and holds 2 tracks: “Better than going under” and “Kyiv”.

Lebanon Hanover are a British-German post-punk duo formed in 2010 in Sunderland, England. The band consists of Swiss vocalist and guitarist Larissa Iceglass and British vocalist, bassist and synthesist William Maybelline. The group is signed to Greece’s Fabrika Records and has released six studio albums to date. Their name comes from two neighbouring towns (Lebanon and Hanover) in New Hampshire, United States. In 2011, they released a split EP with La Fete Triste, which caught the eye of Fabrika Records, and the band was signed to the label shortly after.

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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Sam Rosenthal from Black Tape For A Blue Girl has launched a Kickstarter to create a remastered edition of “Terrace of Memories,” his 1992 collaboration with Dirk Serries (aka VidnaObmana). The $8000 that is being collected will all go toward manufacturing the three physical formats of the reissue of “Terrace of Memories”: a 140-gram color vinyl (in 2 color options), a CD, and… a MiniDisc.

You can support this project on Kickstarter by backing it right here.

Sam Rosenthal (Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s founder/synthesist based in Los Angeles) and Dirk Serries (then recording under the moniker VidnaObmana in Belgium) created the album the old-fashioned way: by sending tapes across the world in the mail.

Here’s Dirk’s recollection of the project: “Back in the days, pre-internet, we traded a lot of tapes by mail. Projects and collaborations took much longer to complete due to the longer waiting times, waiting for the postal system to do their work. When I started to correspond with Sam in the mid-80s, I was very into the albums by his Black Tape For A Blue Girl band. The eerie atmospheres and ambience surrounding the songs were really mesmerizing, and I could imagine a blend of Sam’s sound-structures with my ambience. I sent him sources on tape. But with every collaboration release back then, time moved by before something was completed, again due to the slower way of communicating. I appreciated Sam’s brilliant interaction and additional performances. ‘Terrace of Memories’ is a real Sam Rosenthal & vidnaObmana collaboration, and I truly wonder why we never did a follow-up. Enjoy.”

Sam Rosenthal from his side says this: “As far as I can recall, I began working on this collaboration with Vidna after the recording of ‘A Chaos of Desire’ in 1989. Dirk sent me cassette tapes of music, and I worked on my 8-track but got distracted by other projects. The project was pushed to the back-burner, and the album wasn’t finished and mixed until 1992. Quite honestly, I only have the vaguest memory of working on it in my The Lush Garden studio in Los Angeles. I remember that even a few weeks after I finished a piece, it was hard for me to tell which parts I played and which parts were Dirk’s. Aside from the low cello sound on my eMax, and the very slight vocals on the one track, who played what is a blur. That’s cool. It’s a great ambient blend.”

This is Rosenthal’s 17th Kickstarter, and he explains that this is how he funds his releases in the modern version of the music industry. Sam says: “Crowdfunding is a wonderful connection I make with people who love my art. I enjoy chatting and hearing your experiences with the music. So often, I’m told my albums were there for you at a tough time in life. A breakup, a death, a personal crisis; it’s rewarding to know the sounds I created for my own emotional reasons were helpful when you needed them.”

For more details, visit this Kickstarter page.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Experimental, Minimal-Electro.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Chris Ianuzzi is an artist I remember from I, Synthesist. He also releases music under his own name.

Content: It’s hard to define and label “Maze”. It however sounds as an Experimental work in Electronics reminding me of Sleep Chamber for the cold sphere hanging over the songs. But I also experience the work as a contemporary format of Psychic TV. There’s something ‘retro’-like running through the songs which has been transposed into a contemporary format.  Instrumental- and sung vocals have been achieved. The last cut even has something Techno-driven.

+ + + : No compromises and far away from established standards seem to be the sonic philosophy of this album. Chris Ianuzzi composes Electronic music from ‘out of the box’. It sounds a bit like songs composed in a sonic lab. It’s quite diversified but revealing different noticeable cuts. “Sweet Over Time” is my personal favorite reflecting passion and vintage sound treatments.

– – – : The work remains however Experimental and maybe missing a bit coherence now and then.

Conclusion: If an alien had to compose Electronic music he for sure would sound like Chris Ianuzzi; extradimensional!

Best songs: “Sweet Over Time”, “Maze”, “Lonesome Highway Superstar”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/i.synthesist

About Chris Ianuzzi

Chris Ianuzzi is a composer and songwriter from New York. He records under his own name and under the alias I, Synthesist.

The first album under that alias, “Avalanche”, was issued on CD in 2003 by A Satellite Symphonics Production, and the self-titled “I, Synthesist” was self-released the same year. “Art Of Survival” followed on Electric Fantastic Sound in 2007, and Satellite Symphonics released the CDr album “Somewhere & Everywhere” in 2012.

“Maze”, reviewed here, appeared as a digital album on Satellite Symphonics and moves between experimental electronics, minimal-electro and, on its closing track, a techno pulse.

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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Behind Maedon is hiding American female artist Maeghan Donovan. Now based in Berlin (Germany) her sound can be defined as hard, merciless, Techno-Body Music. She got in touch with Sonic Groove owner Adam-X who released her debut EP “Against His Will” in 2019. She next released the EP “Escape To Berlin”. Earlier this year Maedon unleashed her debut full length “Now I Am Become Death” which only confirmed the powerful sound of this artist. This interview is a way to introduce you to the muscled Techno universe of Maedon. Maeghan Donovan is not only a great producer but also an interesting person.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How did you get contaminated by Electronic music? And tell us a bit more about your music background and former experiences like Pulsewidthmod?

Maeghan: I became hooked to Electronic music at a very young age, my oldest brother who was a Senior in Highschool when I was in Kindergarten gave me my first tapes. The first two were typical Girl-Pop music. The third tape he gave me was the hook, line, and sinker for me; Depeche Mode “People Are People”. From there on my musical journeys were very diverse over the years,  but I always returned to Electronic-Dance music. 

As for my musical background, I started playing the piano when I was 5 years old and sang in choirs. I went to college for Classical Piano Performance but decided to drop out to pursue building a studio of my own and producing. 

From 2005 to 2014 I spent time learning the ins and outs of synthesis and recording. My first show as my former moniker, Pulsewidthmod, was in 2014. At that point, all my productions were focused more on Pop music but my first shows were playing for Dance parties. I became hooked after my first real rave that I played.

In 2016 I went on my first tour that coincided with my first visit to Namm in Anaheim, California. A few months later, I released my first physical album on cassette tape, “Entelechy”, and booked a 2.5 month coast to coast tour. The music was vocal-centric, Minimal/Dark-Wave. While I was on tour I realized I didn’t really enjoy playing shows where I was performing structured songs and singing. At the end of each set, I would play a more Live PA style. It wasn’t quite Techno, but it was definitely Dance-worthy and that was the time that I focused all my energy on producing music for clubs.

In April of 2018 I released my first 12” on Detroit Underground. In September of that year I moved to Brooklyn, NY. In December of 2018 I played Synthicide and when I was finished with my set I walked from the dance room to the bar and low and behold, who was standing there? Adam-X! We spoke for over two hours that night. He had given me really good feedback on the promo for my Detroit Underground release, “Serpentine Servitude”. It was really cool because he was unaware that I was a female. That’s how I wanted it a the time, I didn’t want my music to be marketed or pushed because I was a woman. I wanted the music to stand on its own. I wore a hood for most of my press shots so it wasn’t obvious that Pulsewidthmod was a woman.

That night at Synthicide, Bossa Nova Civic Club, Adam expressed to me to send him tracks. It took me till the end of April the following year to send him my new productions. He heard my tracks and immediately signed me. As many people know, we are now a couple. This happened after the release of my first Sonic Groove release, “Against His Will”. 

Q: I’m always wondering why there’re less female- than male artists active in the music scene, but especially in Electronic/Industrial music. Do you’ve an explanation and how does it feel to be active in this ‘men world’? 

Maeghan: We live in a world ruled by men, not women. This mentality trickles down into every aspect of society. The entertainment industry is ruled by men and the world of technology has always been a male driven vocation.

I grew up in a world where girls played with Barbies and wore pink and boys grew up with Transformers, and GI Joe and wore blue. (I could care less about barbies, I much preferred transformers and Casio synthesizers.) Because of technology, the world has changed exponentially. Being an Electronic musician means not only being a musician, but being an engineer and a producer. 

Synthesizers are in many ways a very nerdy thing to get into. To the unacclimated musician, they can be somewhat difficult even to get your head around. As a synthesist, you almost have to have an interest in both physics and electronic engineering. As a girl growing up in the 90s, these sorts of things were not marketed to girls. Being a woman, it took breaking the usual societal norms to break into being interested in things that weren’t meant or marketed towards women. 

I felt very alienated to a degree and singled out. Promoters were almost always men. They don’t expect for a girl to make music that appeals to them. They don’t expect that a girl even knows what she’s doing. I would play many opening slots. All this gave me fuel to push myself harder, make my music harder, make it darker, to always strive to outdo myself with each passing show. To sum it up, being a woman making music that was almost entirely a male-centric genre, it pushed me to make music that was harder and darker than all the boys.

The best feeling in the world in a way is the reactions I would get from male promoters. At one party I clearly remember the promoter coming up to me halfway through my set saying to me, next time you play for us, we will give you a prime spot. The funny thing about this story, the same promoter booked me for another party; when it came time to make the poster I asked what my time slot was just to make sure. It’s not worth my time or effort to take my gear out to a show where I’m getting paid the equivalent amount as someone doing door. They didn’t keep their promise so I backed out.

I value what I do and I deserve to get treated with respect.

With all this said, things have changed a lot now. Women along with Transgender, and non-binary artists are being heavily pushed. Because of this, I now feel comfortable letting my personality shine through publicly. I don’t hide behind a hood anymore because I don’t need to, my music stands on its own. My music got me to where I am today, not being the ‘token’ female on the all male line-up.

Q: I can easily imagine your move to Berlin, meeting other artists and visiting clubs must have had a serious impact on your artistic activities. What makes Berlin that different from the rest and can you tell us a bit more about the spirit of this town? 

Maeghan: I moved to Berlin on March 15th, 2020  two weeks ahead of schedule and only two weeks after returning from playing Tresor for the first time. The Berlin that I know is the locked-down Berlin. That being said, Berlin has had a very positive and dramatic influence on my music and music production. 

What makes this city different is the fact that this city not only respects artists but much of the economy has been built around the club culture. Last year Berlin clubs were declared to be a cultural institution to safeguard their future in the time of lockdown. As an artist, this mentality serves as a huge sense of security. Where I come from, being an artist was a constant struggle. I would live day by day, week by week, doing my best to make my rent. Many times I had to sell gear to make up for the difference to pay my rent. 

I refused to let my art suffer for the security of a paycheck. I would live off of bagels or spaghetti so I could spend time working on my craft. This was difficult in itself because those around you, including roommates, would look down on me thinking I was being irresponsible. For me, being irresponsible would be denying myself of pursuing my craft.

Here in Berlin, the cost of living is not nearly as high as it was in Brooklyn. This is another aspect of this city that really helps artists thrive. I am here because I am an artist. If I want to stay here, all I need to do is to continue doing what I always have minus the worries and guilty feelings of being a ‘responsible citizen’. This is something artists around the world should feel everywhere. 

Meeting other artists is the cherry on top with Berlin. I’ve made many friends and for the first time in my life, I feel like a member of an amazing community. Living in Berlin truly is, living the dream.

Q: Adam Mitchell introduced Mædon as one of the hardest projects signed to Sonic Groove. I think you just are the ‘hardest’ one but what do you try to express by your music and especially the debut album “Now I Am Become Death”? 

Maeghan: My music being hard is a result of two things: first, my life experiences, second, we live in a world that’s severely fucked up. “Now I Am Become Death” continues on with the same theme as “Against His Will” and “Escape To Berlin”. I express the atrocities of those who hold the power and rule the world. The title track of the album, “Now I Am Become Death” was started as a more Techno-Body Music track where I sampled Oppenheimer. The quality of the recording from his speech wasn’t sitting well so I decided to say it myself. This is how it morphed into being a more straight up, hard Techno track. My vocals became the lead.

We live in a world where we are ruled by madmen. People follow orders by those in command, and it causes death, repression, pain, suffering … so my sound and this album is me literally saying “Everything is Not O.K.”. That was another track that I originally had a vocal sample of Dave Chappele saying ‘The worst thing to call someone is crazy … maybe the environment is a little sick’. My sound has always been a musical expression of me screaming ‘I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!’ As time goes by, I’m just getting louder expressing this sentiment.

Q: How do you look back at this album? What have been the main difficulties and eventually challenges in the writing- and production process? And what are you personal criteria to say a track/album is finished? 

Maeghan: This album was written and recorded during the thick of the pandemic when lockdown was in full effect. It was very difficult to complete because there were no shows to play. Playing shows is a vital part of not only the production but the source of inspiration. 

 As I look back on it, I see it as an album created in the darkest and hardest of times as an artist. There was an overwhelming fear that club culture might not return. It’s also an album that’s a demonstration of my transition from being known as an EBM artist to being more versatile with making Techno in general. There’s some Hard-Techno in there, some Rave, and some Acid.

Outside of producing dance music when no one is dancing, the hardest challenge to a degree was making the music in a small space entirely in headphones. When I moved here, I came with only the essentials. My monitors and sub were sold because they weighed too much to bring with me from Brooklyn. I also ended up living with Adam in his studio flat because finding a flat during the pandemic was not an option.

So, I made do setting up in Adam X’s kitchen, mixing and cooking up beats, listening through cans. I really look forward to the future where Adam and I can find a suitable flat here where I can rebuild a studio. 

Q: A last question about your live sets. Do you’ve specific/favorite tracks/artists you’re always playing? How do you prepare a live set and do you notice significant differences between the places and clubs you’re playing? 

Maeghan: I am mostly booked as a live artist so my preparation for gigs is literally making new tracks. The more shows I play, the more new material I get to choose from. The main difference between the places and clubs I’m playing now is this, I’m playing and being booked to play in amazing clubs and parties. Last fall I got to play in Basement and this was such an amazing experience. I also got to play in LA for the first time ever in a proper underground warehouse. This year I look forward to playing in many world renown clubs and parties.

I am beginning to Dj now too, I find it to be very fun. I love being able to play tracks of many of my favorite artists a few of which are Perc, Ansome, Joe Far, Mickey Nox,  Sawf, Anfs, Phase Fatale, Dasha Rush… oh yeah, and Adam-X. Every DJ set I play always includes Sheer Insanity or Sensory Overload.

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 Eleanor Petry) And we stay in the shoegaze atmosphere today. After a year of uncertainty the Los Angeles shoegaze quartet Fime is back with a new single. Formed around Beto Brakmo and front woman Maxine Garcia along with drummer/synthesist Eric Promani and former Jerome’s Dream/Sea Wolf guitarist Scott Leahy, Fime now offers “Born 2 Love”.

Without corona, the band would have been on tour with Jay Som in Europe. Due to the canceled tour the band set up camp with Melina Duterte to flesh out a new collection of songs. “Born 2 Love” was made during these early days.

Here’s the new single.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Experimental electro-pop, glitch-pop.

Background/Info: Chris Ianuzzi is already active under I, Synthesist for several years now. He released a number of albums and I especially remember “Art Of Survival” released on Electric Fantastic Sound (2007). “Circus Ride To Venus” is the newest work by the American musician revealing 6 songs.

Content: I, Synthesist remains inspired by different electro-pop formats. You clearly recognize some vintage elements next to a more familiar pop with melodic elements. But this band never has been the typical and classical electro-pop project. There also is a real strong taste of experimentalism supporting the work of I, Synthesist.

The work rapidly moves towards other influences like cabaret music revealing a theatrical way of singing, but still in a kind of electro-punk way. It sounds pretty glitch-like and that’s rather surprising for an artist linked with pop.

There’s neither real coherence nor a typical structure in the songs. It’s more a kind of ‘freestyle’ featuring cool passages. Some of the songs and the way of singing remind me a bit of Thomas Dolby.

+ + + : The least I can say is that Ianuzzi has a really creative mind. He tries to innovate injecting new ideas into electro-pop music. His work is an antidote to all Depeche Mode clowns. I really appreciate the sound treatments and diversity of the work.

– – – : I like the diversity and sound-anarchism of this artist, but I’m missing more cohesion especially in the melodic aspect. Is he really dealing with an avant-garde format of electro-pop or just getting cynical with this music genre? That’s artistic freedom and I don’t really care about his real intentions; it’s just that the music is not the most accessible format while there’s no single trace of a climax.

Conclusion: This work is a real good example of an artist with a creative mind who wants to innovate, but where the result is missing some essential elements, especially when it deals with electro-pop.

Best songs: “Electric Chairs”.

Rate: (5½).

Band: www.isynthesist.net / www.facebook.com/ISynthesistMusic

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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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