Ner\Ogris has been set up by Kai Neugebauer who you probably remember from Les Berrtas. He got company from singer Tino Claus who’s involved with Amnistia, TC75, MRDTC. They early this year released the debut album “I Am The Shadow – I Am The Light” on Dependent. The work is driven by retro-like EBM & Dark-Electro influences reminding legendary bands like Skinny Puppy and Yelworc… The power of the production emerges from bombastic drum sections, Industrial sound treatments and dark atmospheres. I talked with the German duo about this promising debut.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Both of you are experienced artists active in Electronic music for years. How did you get in touch with each other and where did the need come from to set up a new project? What does Ner/Ogris stands for by the way?

tinoC: We met the first time in 2014 at a Tommi Stumpff show. We talked about the ‘good-old days’ and had some fun. We have been in contact since then and did remixes for each other. In 2021 Kai sent a couple of instrumental tracks to get some feedback. His idea was to release an instrumental album. I had an idea of one of the tracks, asked if I should try something, got a GO and 90 minutes later I sent a vocal demo for “Shadowlight” to Kai.

kaiN: I was blown away, because I never thought that vocals fit into that song. And of course I asked Tino if he might want to try some more songs. At the end we had 6 songs. It was more than obvious that we could not call it a ‘featuring’… Ner\Ogris was born. This was in February 2022. The meaning of Ner\Ogris is simply Nero for black and Gris for grey. That’s it –no mystical meaning.

Q: I noticed you speak about Ner/Ogris as ‘always about contrasts and opposites’. What are these contrasts all about and how do you reflect it in your sound and lyrical content?

tinoC: First of all the contrast is that we both have our own ‘playground’ in the project. kaiN is the music and I am the voice. We don’t have the same age so our influences are different. We like the same artists but we have some addictions to artists the other will never listen too. So the base is quiet interesting and a great seed for creativity.

kaiN: The second point is that the album was not planed to the songs where there and tinoC added his vocals to an almost finished painting in some ways. We did not change anything on the tracks. This is (maybe) a bit unusual but this was a great challenge for us.

Q: The theme of contrast is clearly related in the album title “I Am The Shadow – I Am The Light” but what is the deeper significance of the title? And how did this album took shape?

tinoC: The name of the album is one line from the track “Shadowlight”. We called the album like the track but the label asked to name it “I Am The Shadow – I Am The Light”. And they were right. A strong name that reflects our philosophy. Sometimes the label guys have good ideas 😉

Q: I noticed a very strong, powerful, and overwhelming, ‘dark atmospheric’ side running through the composition which sometimes remind me a bit of early Canadian EBM formations. Can you give us more insight about the sound properly speaking and eventually influences/references?

kaiN: My influence is of course Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, The Tear Garden, Schnitt 8 and all the other Belgian, American or European bands of the 90s. That’s what I grew up with. I absorbed all those songs and it’s obvious that it has to come out again. Maybe the sound is like that because I’ve been collecting studio equipment since the 90s and of course I use it. That makes for this exciting mixture of old, perhaps familiar sounds and fresh sounds from modern DAWs.

Q: The album is also available as a special edition featuring an extra disc. What is the bonus of this extra disc all about and how did the selection of the songs for this bonus disc happened?

tinoC: To be honest… the label deal came very fast and was a big surprise. We did not think about the possibility of a release at Dependent. But when Dependent asked for songs for a special edition we had not so much material… ok we had a bunch of instrumentals but we thought that an instrumental bonus disc is maybe not sexy for most of the people. So we decided to record vocals for at least 2 songs. And here we are now with a bonus disc. Our label says that the tracks of the bonus disc are very good, so you guys should give it a try.

Q: I noticed you played your first concerts so what have been your experiences and reactions? How does it feel to go on stage with a ‘new’ project and what brings the future considering live shows, new songs, remixes, clips etc..? 

tinoC: We both are active in other bands so it is exciting to bring Ner\Ogris on stage. We are a bit nervous of course but we are no newbies. We believe that the concert will be as good as possible for us. And we hope and believe that all will work properly.

kaiN: Playing live and having a direct line to the fans is the greatest thing. We really want to do that. Besides the concert on 18.3.2023 in Naumburg/Saale, the NCN Festival in Deutzen on 31.8.2023 is also confirmed for this year. I’m currently working on a few remixes for a few bands I’m friends with, and of course I’m already working on more material.

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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(Photo: Michael Mendoza) Skinny Puppy co-founder cEvin Key is releasing his 5th solo album, “Xwayxway”, on February 19th via Artoffact Records. “Xwayxway” (anglicized as “Whoi Whoi”) is an indigenous village located in what is now Stanley Park in Key’s hometwon of Vancouver.

Key: “I was surprised to hear only recently of a 3,000 year old village which stood on the spot of Lumbermen’s Arch, its history erased. This instantly explained the many enigmatic sensations, profound feelings, and visions I’ve had in the park. I am saddened by the story of Xwayxway. I truly believe this is something we should have been taught in schools so people would recognize the park sits on Salish land which to this day has never been ceded. Perhaps that is why no one mentions it, or its secret mysteries contained within. [Skinny Puppy’s 1990 album] ‘Too Dark Park’ refers to this park, and I feel that title to now be an only more appropriate reference, given its dark history. I have an immense love for the forest in the park. It can speak. I could feel this inspiration deeply. I dedicate this album to the spirits of Xwayxway.”

You can stream the new single “Night Flower” from “Xwayxway”, featuring guest vocals by Edward KaSpel of The Legendary Pink Dots (and a longtime collaborator of Key’s in the band The Tear Garden) right below.

Musical guests include Edward KaSpel, IAMX, Traz Damji, Soriah, Otto von Schirach, Dre Robinson, Guilherme Pires, Omar Torres and Eric In Quantum.

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.

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Out on February 14th is the a tribute to The Legendary Pink Dots & The Tear Garden. “Love Notes to a Velvet Apocalypse” will feature over 18 renditions of some of their most well known and rare tracks. Note that the release will be offered 100% free of charge via Bandcamp.

The release is a collaboration between Coitus Interruptus Productions and Auricle Media and features a wide range of various artists and genres from around the world, such as post-punk, industrial, ambient and experimental. Contributing artists include: Chase Dobson and Curse Mackey, European Ghost, Dreamscape Invocation, Kill Shelter, Zeitmahl, The Present Moment, Broken Fabiola, The Rorschach Garden, Factice Factory, The Midnight Marionettes, The Strange Walls, Bioassay, Tearful Moon, DACID, Fluxion AD, Dead Receptors, Night Terrors, Sol Sirenn and Manufactura.

Coitus Interruptus Productions has released 3 tribute compilations in the past dedicated to Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire and Klinik/Dive/ABC.

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.

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Coitus Interruptus Productions in association with Auricle Media are currently working on a very special non-for-profit tribute album for the prolific Legendary Pink Dots and Tear Garden. In the last 40 years Legendary Pink Dots released well over 30 different albums touching on various styles and genres. Also the Tear Garden have left their mark on a multitude of electronic musicians over the last 30+ years.

Tear Garden was initially formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985. The duo released 7 heavily influential mind bending albums and many other collections and singles.

This special tribute compilation is titled “Love Notes to a Velvet Apocalypse” and will feature a wide range of various artists and genres from around the world, such as post-punk, industrial, ambient and experimental. It’s not the first time that Coitus Interruptus Productions has gone into tribute modus. The label released 3 tribute compilations already for artists such as Fad Gadget (released through Cleopatra Records), Cabaret Voltaire (released through Metropolis Records) and Klinik/Dive and ABC (released through Coitus Interruptus Productions). Auricle Media has been behind several large scale industrial music compilations as well, and is currently the marketing branch of the Crunch Pod Label based out of Los Angeles.

Check here for more information on Coitus Interruptus Productions.

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.

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Genre/Influences: Experimental.

Background/Info: Edward Ka-Spel is an artist of many talents, but first of all a real veteran from the underground scene. We all know him as the enigmatic front man of The Legendary Pink Dots and The Tear Garden. Ka-Spel also released numerous productions under his own name, but this one is something special. It concerns improvised jam sessions that have been recorded during the 80s and now released on cassette format.

Content: The A-side features “The Berlin Sessions 1 & 2” from 1981 while the B-side entitled “An Amsterdam Space Jam” is from 1986. The common element between both cuts is the improvised character seeing Edward Ka-Spel experimenting and simply jamming with the material he had. It sounds pretty experimental- and abstract like while reminding the numerous experiments artists made during the early 80s.

+ + + : This is a real sonic testimony from early Ka-Spel music. It’s hard to label this records as ‘music’ properly speaking. This is nothing else than experimenting with sounds and multiple noises sources. It feels a bit like Edward Ka-Spel was going mad on the gear he had in front of him. It’s also pretty cool discovering this work on cassette format, which probably is the single format fitting to this kind of experiment and the period it has been recorded.

– – – : This work brings us back in time revealing a somewhat forgotten experimental style of this artist. It’s extreme and hardly experimental although an interesting production.

Conclusion: The cassette format of “The Perfect Patch” has been limited to 100 copies, which makes this release even more interesting! Edward Ka-Spel moves back to his early years as artist and bring us pure improvisation and abstract sounds.

Best songs: “The Berlin Sessions 1 & 2”.

Rate: (6).

Artist: www.legendarypinkdots.org / www.facebook.com/Edward–Ka–Spel-298070890211009

Label: www.facebook.com/4mgRecords

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

“High On Station Yellow Moon” is a new solo album by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots, and marks the beginning of his collaboration with longtime friend and fellow traveller Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls. The album is the follow-up to last years “Spectrescapes Volume 3”.

The new album is available on vinyl and CD (you can order both formats right here).

Edward Ka-Spel is best known as the lead singer, keyboard and electronics player, songwriter and co-founder of the band The Legendary Pink Dots, in which he was initially known as D’Archangel, Prophet Q’Sepel and other pseudonyms.

He has also released numerous solo albums (initially featuring other members of the Legendary Pink Dots, and including contributions from Steven Stapleton), and has worked in various side projects, including The Tear Garden (with cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy), and Mimir (with Phil Knight, Christoph Heemann, Jim O’Rourke and others).

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.

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The Tear Garden, consisting of cEvin Key (Skinny Puppy) and Edward Ka-Spel (The Legendary Pink Dots), will celebrate their 30th anniversary with the album “The brown acid caveat”. The new album will be out on 2LP vinyl (available here) and on CD (available here).

Next to this new album, the duo also will release “Eye Spy Vol. 2”, a collection of unreleased tracks, demos and rewritten or original material made over the life of The Tear Garden. This rarities album will be out as a 2LP vinyl set (available here) and as a 2CD set (available here).

The Tear Garden is a psychedelic/experimental/electronic band, formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985 after Key served as a sound engineer on tour in Canada for Ka-Spel. The self-titled EP “The Tear Garden” was released that same year, with Dave Ogilvie producing. The duo has collaborated on 6 albums, 2 EPs, and the first volume of “Eye Spy With My Little Eye” which also included rarities.

Here’s how the band sounds like:

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.

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Out soon on a limited edition green vinyl – pre-orders are accepted here – is the reissue of “Have A Nice Trip” from the psycedelic-industrio-experimental act The Tear Garden. Tear Garden is the long running project by Skinny Puppy’s cEvin Key and Edward Ka-Spel from The Legendary Pink Dots.

The reason why many have never heard of this project before is that The Tear Garden have never toured. Here’s the title track “Have A Nice Trip”. Note that there are some nods to Fad Gadget included.

The Tear Garden was formed in 1985 after Key served as a sound engineer on tour in Canada for Ka-Spel. Their self-titled album “The Tear Garden” was released that same year, with Dave Ogilvie producing. The group reconvened in 1987 to release Tired Eyes Slowly Burning with contributions from the other members of Skinny Puppy to a limited degree of success. Members of the Legendary Pink Dots would keep on contributing to The Tear Garden and in 1992 they released the full-length album “The Last Man to Fly”. Another EP, “Sheila Liked the Rodeo”, much of which was live studio improvisation was accompanied by a video – directed by William Morrison – of the title track in 1993. With the collapse of Skinny Puppy in 1995 cEvin Key was dedicated full-time to The Tear Garden and released “To Be an Angel Blind, the Crippled Soul Divide” in 1996, followed by “Crystal Mass” in 2000.

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.

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