Haujobb has released its newest album “The Machine in the Ghost”, the tenth full-length album by this German electro-industrial duo. The title seems a reference to the The Police album “Ghost in the Machine”. The Leipzig, Germany-based duo decided to use fieldwork recordings this time to create the overall sounds for this album.

Additionally, “The Machine in the Ghost”, features a guest appearance by Emese Árvai-Illés from the Hungarian duo Black Nail Cabaret. “The Machine in the Ghost,” is available from Metropolis Records in North America and Dependent Records in Europe on all digital and streaming platforms along with a CD version.

About Haujobb

Haujobb is a German electronic music project formed in 1993 by Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic. Initially influenced by the industrial sounds of the early ’90s, Haujobb became known for their fusion of electro-industrial and EBM (Electronic Body Music) with more experimental electronic genres like IDM, ambient, and techno.

The band’s debut album, “Homes & Gardens”, was released in 1993, showcasing their industrial roots. However, their sound began to evolve rapidly, and by their second album, “Freeze Frame Reality” (1995), Haujobb embraced a more complex and layered approach to electronic music, moving away from traditional industrial structures.

Their breakthrough album, “Solutions for a Small Planet” (1996), marked a significant departure from the harshness of industrial music, incorporating elements of drum and bass, techno, and glitch. This release established Haujobb as one of the most innovative acts in the electro-industrial scene.

Over the years, Haujobb has continued to explore different sonic territories, with albums like “Polarity” (2001), “Vertical Theory” (2003), and “New World March” (2011). Their work has been characterized by its willingness to push boundaries, blending different subgenres of electronic music, while maintaining a dark, futuristic aesthetic.

Daniel Myer, in particular, has been active in various other projects, including Architect, Destroid, and Covenant, further solidifying his role in the electronic music community.

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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Former OOMPH! frontman Dero Goi has released the video single for his latest track “Whistleblower”, a tribute to whistleblowers who risk their lives and freedom to expose serious crimes. This track is from his forthcoming debut double album, “1984”, scheduled for release on November 29, 2024.

“The lyrics of ‘Whistleblower’ and the theme of the video are directly related to the title of the track,” Dero Goi explains. “Julian Assange’s release was a surprise and a relief, but there are still many whistleblowers who continue to suffer in silence. It’s shameful that the German government remains indifferent to Edward Snowden’s situation, a critical voice in our fight for truth and transparency.”

“1984” marks GOI’s first major project since his departure from OOMPH! in 2021. Known for pioneering the Neue Deutsche Härte genre with his former band, GOI has since taken a different creative path, embracing electronic influences. His vast array of inspirations, ranging from industrial legends like Front 242 to icons like Depeche Mode and ABBA.

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 their second conceptual album “Motorik”, the Swedish minimalistic electro-pop act, ELEKTROKLÄNGE revives the vintage Kraftwerkian “Düsseldorf sound” with their topnotch synth-pop signature style. “Motorik” is a sonic journey inspired by KRAFTWERK’s groundbreaking “Autobahn” album, celebrating its 50th anniversary. Curiosity serves as the compass, and humour as the travel companion, as ELEKTROKLÄNGE explores and enhances the lyrical, musical, and conceptual themes presented in KRAFTWERK’s masterpiece… We hacked ELEKTROKLÄNGE’s “Bordcomputer” to better understand how we should best read/listen to all these tiny well-hidden details…

The release is available as download via Bandcamp and other services plus on CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore.

S. “Motorik” is described as a sonic journey inspired by KRAFTWERK’s “Autobahn” album. What drew you to pay homage to this particular album, and how did it influence the creation of your own conceptual work?

F. “Motorik” is basically a love letter to “Autobahn”, a record that has meant a lot to us. “Autobahn” captured (and still captures) our imagination with its hypnotic rhythms and minimalist aesthetic. The electronic textures, melodic motifs, and thematic depth inspired us to explore similar themes in our own work while also paying homage to the iconic soundscapes and visionary spirit of Kraftwerk.

S. You mention curiosity and humour as key elements of “Motorik.” How do these themes manifest in the album’s lyrics, music, and overall concept?

F. For us, curiosity and humour have served as guiding principles in “Motorik”, shaping the album’s lyrical content, musical compositions and visual presentation. We definitely sprinkle in some lyrical and biographical Easter eggs throughout “Motorik” for attentive listeners. There might be a turn of phrase or a specific sound effect that subtly (and sometimes, perhaps, not so subtly) nods to “Autobahn” and other albums by Kraftwerk. Curiosity and humour add layers of depth and entertainment, encouraging listeners to engage with the music on multiple levels. A little bit like a journey down the autobahn, “Motorik” unfolds with twists and turns, surprises and revelations.

S. The album features tracks with titles like “Abfahrt,” “Bordcomputer,” and “AutoRadio.” Can you elaborate on the narrative or thematic journey these tracks represent as listeners progress through the album?

F. Each track on “Motorik” serves as a chapter in our sonic journey. “Abfahrt” sets the stage for the entire album, acting as the sonic ignition for the journey with its pulsating rhythms and playful melodies, evoking the excitement and anticipation of embarking on a journey. “Bordcomputer” (together with the first track “Vorprogrammierung”) explores the connection between man and machine, echoing the thematic exploration present in much of Kraftwerk’s work. As the album progresses, “Autoradio” introduces upbeat melodies and catchy synth hooks that evoke the sound of classic driving music. Just as drivers tune their car radios to find the perfect soundtrack for their journey, this track perhaps explores the significance of music as a companion on life’s road. Or, the lyrics could just be nods to different song lyrics by Kraftwerk.

S. ELEKTROKLÄNGE is known for reviving the vintage Kraftwerkian “Düsseldorf sound.” How do you balance staying true to this classic style while also incorporating your unique modern twist?

F. You could think of it as an ongoing, and sometimes lively, conversation between the past and the future, where Kraftwerk’s legacy paves the way for Elektroklänge’s sonic exploration. We might reimagine a particular melody, chord progression or rhythmic pattern, but recontextualize it within our own sonic and thematic framework. We believe that our commitment to the “Düsseldorf sound” ensures continuity, while our forays into unexpected sonic territories keep the journey exciting and somewhat relevant. We hope that listeners will appreciate the respectful references and subtle nods to the original while also recognizing the melody-driven retro-future sound that makes “Motorik” distinctly Elektroklänge.

S. “Motorik” aims to envelop listeners like passing landscapes on a journey. Can you describe the creative process behind crafting the repetitive yet evolving motifs and rhythms that define the album?

F. “Autobahn” functions as a cohesive journey and we wanted “Motorik” to achieve a similar effect, but through the lens of Elektroklänge. To achieve this, we developed a narrative arc that explores the themes of “Autobahn” from our perspective. This involved crafting a thematic flow between tracks on the album, ensuring they built upon each other and hopefully offer a fresh interpretation of the original concepts. On a song level, this meant meticulously crafting repetitive motifs and rhythms that would become the building blocks of the album. We built upon these motifs and rhythms, adding layers of texture and variation throughout each track. This involved introducing new sonic elements, such as shimmering synth pads or vintage speech synthesis.

S. With tracks like “Glitzerstrahl” and “Auf der schönen grauen Autobahn,” how do you use musical elements to evoke the imagery and feeling of a car journey?

F. We used a variety of musical elements to evoke the imagery and feeling of a car journey. Both tracks build on a steady, driving beat that creates a sense of forward motion and momentum. We also use different synth textures such as lush, evolving synth pads that represent the vastness of the open road ahead, while arpeggios and simple repeating melodies evoke a sense of hypnotic movement akin to watching the scenery fly by. Perhaps most evident on “Auf der schönen grauen Autobahn”, the compositional structure plays a big part. The track (just like the album itself) is structured to mirror the flow of a car trip by combining faster, more intense sections representing high-speed stretches with sections of a more meditative quality reflecting long stretches of highway.

S. What was the most challenging aspect of creating “Motorik,” and how did you overcome it to ensure the album captured the essence of both ELEKTROKLÄNGE and KRAFTWERK’s influence?

F. We hold immense respect for Kraftwerk’s pioneering work and their influence is undeniable in our music. The most challenging aspect was creating an album that paid tribute while retaining Elektroklänge’s distinct sonic identity. We tried to overcome this by focusing on reinterpreting, not replicating. We meticulously programmed sounds and textures that resonated with “Autobahn’s” core aesthetic while adding different layers that reflected our signature style. This involved a lot of experimentation and refinement to ensure each element served the music without cluttering the sonic space. We used “Autobahn” as a sort of blueprint, employing its themes and motifs to craft new compositions that reflect our own musical perspective. In that sense “Motorik” is a tribute to the past, reimagined for the present.

S. As you celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Autobahn,” what do you hope listeners take away from “Motorik,” and how do you want it to impact their perception of electro-pop and its roots?

F. We haven’t given much consideration to that question. But ultimately, “Motorik” isn’t just an homage; it’s an invitation. We invite listeners to explore the roots of what you call electro-pop and appreciate the enduring influence of these musical pioneers. We hope “Motorik” inspires a renewed appreciation for the power of minimalism and experimentation. We also want listeners to rediscover the potential of the concept album format, where music and ideas intertwine to create a more cohesive experience.

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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Data Void emerged from the collaborative efforts of Don Gordon (Numb, Halo_Gen) and James Mendez (Jihad ao). This year, they released their debut album, “Strategies Of Dissent,” on Metropolis Records. The songs feature a Dark-Electro and EBM sound, yet there’s an overwhelming Cinematic vibe running through the work. It is a remarkable opus, and I had the opportunity to connect with Don and James, who revealed many details about their work and album. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The two of you have been in the music industry for a long time, but what has brought you together, and what has led to the origins of Data Void?”?

JM: The very beginnings of the project initially began back in June of 2020, where I initiated the idea of collaborating on a song to see how things would progress. In response, Don shared some early ideas that which evolved into the track “Seven Seconds”. The idea of collaborating on music together was something that came up after many different discussions we had (both music / non-music related) throughout the approximate year and half we remained in contact since meeting up in Southeast Asia where I met Don for dinner in Ho Chi Minh City where he was living at that time. From there, it wasn’t something we both knew we were going to pursue and continued working on more ideas/material which sort of played out organically throughout the entire process up to what you hear on the finished album.

DG: While there wasn’t an initial plan to release anything we realized quite quickly that there was something quite unique coming together out of the experiments. This led to discussion about possibly releasing some of the material as an EP which over time expanded into an album. The conceptual framework for the album emerged after the first couple of songs were finished. The name of the project was suggested by the alignment between themes we were exploring lyrically and articles that I was reading concerned with information data voids and misinformation/propaganda.

Q: I can imagine that such a new project must be very exciting. Did it feel that way for you throughout the entire writing and production process? How did the songs on the album come together?

DG: The album was developed through the online exchange of audio and MIDI files and lots of discussion. This meant that there wasn’t a lot of real-time interaction during the writing phase. The process would start with one of us sending a sketch of a groove or harmonic progression to the other person who would use this as a creative jumping off point. The first couple of exchanges usually led to quite marked departures and evolutions from the original source idea. This iterative back and forth allowed for unexpected ideas to be introduced and a more reflective approach to development of ideas. After structuring the primary instrumental components of a song, I would write lyrics and record a version of the vocals. These were forwarded to James who would then record an alternate variation. The most interesting elements from these different versions were then used as the basis for a song’s vocals. This resulted in some songs in which the main vocal part would alternate between James and myself in the verses and chorus (i.e. “Crash, Burn & Resurrect”), other songs where both vocal approaches were integrated throughout, and in some there would only be a single vocalist (i.e. “A Failure Of Language”, “This Night Goes On Forever”). While I executed the final mixes, these too would undergo revision based on discussion.

JM: I was really exciting to see how the ideas we started out with would evolve as they developed into full-length songs, and in turn how this would lead to a complete album. It was quite interesting to see how we both approached the song writing process, along with all technical aspects (i.e., sounds, textures, percussion, mixing elements, etc.).

Regarding how the songs came about on the album; one of us would start out by sending the other a short clip (~45s – 1m) that would entail several different sequences  that represented the beginnings of an idea where the other would then add additional parts to compliment where the other left off. Going back and forth in this fashion until we completed the outline of what felt like the song should be. We would complete a rough draft of each song and then repeat the process again, starting out with more ideas until we eventually completed the next song and so on. As we continued working on each song, we would also discuss all of the details via email, chats, and video calls when things became a bit more complex, as this would save a lot of time in conveying our thought process.

We both use different DAWs (Logic Pro and Ableton Live) when writing music but also use several of the same virtual instruments / effects which helped make things a little easier when sharing files back and forth. We would share a combination of audio files, MIDI, VST patches, screenshots, configuration files, etc. so we could essentially mirror all of the individual sequenced tracks and song structures on both of our DAWs respectively as we continued to complete each song.

After we finished each song, Don would write lyrics and share them along with a rough sketch as to how they may be structured. The vocal structure would also undergo the same iterative approach going back and forth until we were content with the final outcome. After finishing three songs, we both reevaluated what we were going to do as far as a release was concerned and decided to continue working on more music until we felt we had enough songs to complete an entire album.

Q: The title of the album, “Strategies Of Dissent”, sounds intriguing and particularly relevant in the context of world politics. What is the album all about, and what inspired the lyrics?

DG: Lyrically and conceptually the album explores the themes of power, control and resistance to it, and the attraction for many to ‘lost causes’. Each song takes a different perspective, a different strategy if you will, to engaging with these themes. Not surprisingly, information spaces, misinformation, conspiracies, and technology figure into this with most of the songs having their basis in contemporary events and social/political currents. That being said, the lyrics were constructed so as not to come across as didactic, but instead to present these ideas at a more personal level.

“Nothing Changes” is intended as a ‘call to arms’ in response to the deception and erosion of individual control being exercised by big tech, corporations/banks and governments. The dilemma is that this is not some unified grand conspiracy but rather the outcome of a number of overlapping and competing self-motivated agendas.
“A Failure Of Language” and to a degree “What’s Left Unsaid” question the current collapse of language, the appeal of conspiracy theories and skepticism, and the increasing failure of our ability to communicate meaningfully and where this leads. A new Babel?

“Echoes Of Ritualised Performance”, while an instrumental track, was inspired by our need to repeat inherently negative social behaviors/tropes of the past and a seeming inability to learn from these… each echo a further degraded/distorted version of an initializing event from the past.

“This Night Goes On Forever” was conceived of as a reflection on the individual consequences for those who found themselves supporting and surviving a major conflict started for the wrong reasons, and the resultant aftermath of physical, psychological traumas and guilt that extend far past the event.

The 2020 Hong Kong protests and the 2021 coup in Myanmar resonated strongly with me after having lived in Southeast Asia for 20 years. So “Alien” was inspired by photos, reportage and interviews about these events and was an attempt to try and put yourself into the head of a person who has found their world suddenly and radically changed and themselves unexpectedly at the center of violence and/or as a symbol of resistance.
“The Goal Of Seven Seconds” was to evoke an anthemic quality while presenting a scathing critique of those who ‘sell dogma and deceit’ in order to incite an ill-conceived end of days for their own personal gain.

The tracks “Crash, Burn And Resurrect” and “Control” were written as a comment on the rise of extremist rhetoric and behavior.

Q: You’ve explained how this collaboration took shape, but can you tell us more about the chemistry between you?

DG: My sense is that the chemistry comes from our overlapping but distinct musical reference points and different approaches to our creative processes. It was the embrace of these differences that provided the creative dynamic that led to many of the interesting ideas as we developed over album.

JM: It was quite interesting for me to reconnect with Don 22 years after first meeting him in 1996 Austin, TX when Numb was on tour with FLA and Die Krupps. It became clear that we share some common perspectives and ideas about different things, which also happens to carry over into music. And because of our similar yet different musical preferences and approaches in our writing styles, this played a significant part into how the album turned out. As part of the musical journey when collaborating on the album, one thing I can appreciate is being challenged in a way that I would constantly be conscious of the writing style and mood I would contribute, to deliberately not write in the same fashion I am typically accustomed to and comfortable with. It certainly helped me take a different approach to writing for this project and in general.

Q: “As experienced musicians, do you still have certain influences or references when making and finishing a song? Also, how would you describe the album “Strategies Of Dissent”?

DG: In many ways you never outgrow your early influences as they are a baseline to which you add, refine and push-back against over the years. While I’m always listening to new artists and across genres, I find those early influences still subtly find their way into my more recent work.

“Strategies Of Dissent” is an album in the ‘old-school’ sense, a series of thematically connected songs that have been ordered in a manner so as to present the listener with a loosely structured narrative rather than just a collection of songs. I feel this provides a more interesting experience for the listener and allows them to get a better sense of where the project is coming from.

JM: Having been exposed to so many different kinds of music styles, genres, and artists over the years (to include the discovery of new bands regularly), there are many references I feel that have made their way (subconsciously) into music I’ve written years ago including some of the more recent work I’ve done. I think it’s inevitable.

With “Strategies Of Dissent” we set out to capture the intensity of early Electro-Industrial and integrate this into more contemporary Electronic music sound. The album as a whole, in my opinion, is homogeneous in that each song works well independently and thematically throughout the entire album.

Q: What does the future hold after this album? Do you have any concrete plans at the moment?

DG: We’ve been thinking about a follow-up release (EP?) with a combination of new material and dub versions of some tracks from “Strategies Of Dissent”. We’re also exploring the possibility for a version of Data Void to do some live European shows.

JM: We have discussed in passing the idea of working on some new material, whether that would be a new single/EP or possibly a new album at some point to also include some alternate versions of existing tracks. We’re also considering live alternate versions of the songs for some shows in Europe later this year and next.

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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Philip Glass, the American composer, has publicly condemned the unauthorized use of his music by the Sevastopol Opera and Ballet Theater in Crimea. This protest stems from the theater’s plan to premiere a ballet adaptation of “Wuthering Heights”, based on the novel of the same name by Emily Brontë with music by Philip Glass, without his consent.

Glass expressed his outrage in a letter posted on X, saying that the use of his music and name without permission violates the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. He described this action as “an act of piracy” but also acknowledged that the current political situation in temporarily occupied Crimea renders him powerless to legally enforce his rights. However, he made it clear that he strongly objects to the unauthorized use of his work and name.

pic.twitter.com/A0mp2atmyx

— Philip Glass (@philipglass) July 25, 2024

The ballet is set to include not only Glass’s compositions but also music by Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir.

The theater’s director, Sergei Polunin, a known supporter of President Vladimir Putin, is expected to perform a leading role in the production​.

In 2019, the Paris Opéra Ballet revoked an invitation for him to perform due to backlash over his homophobic and sexist social media posts. Polunin is also an outspoken supporter of Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has alienated many in the dance community. Sergei Polunin also has three tattoos on his chest and shoulders depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A full blown fanatic in other words.

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 Belgian electro-pop duo Metroland released “Forum” a few months ago, an electrifying conceptual hymn to the industrial revolution of the 21st century, a sonic journey exploring the crossroads of innovation and nostalgia. Fresh and experimental vintage electronic prowess for fans of the melodic Düsseldorf synth style. We talked with Passenger A and Passenger S about this new album, while new singles from this album are in the pipeline. 

The album is available on Bandcamp and on CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore.

SL. “Forum” is described as a continuation and evolution of your previous work “0”. Can you explain the conceptual link between these two albums and how the EP “Industry” serves as a bridge between them?

Passenger A&S: When “0” was not yet released and seriously delayed by many different factors, we were toying with the idea to extend the ‘World Economic Forum’ concept around the industrial revolutions. We planned 5 EP’s, each with a variance of the song “Industry 4.0” alongside new tracks. However, once “0” was out, we no longer had the urge to release these foreseen EP’s. We both felt it was simply not enough and, to be honest, it was close to being even pointless. After some creative discussions and a Belgian beer or 2 (make that 4) an album felt better, more significant and certainly in the afterglow of “0”, unfinished business.

The album indeed draws inspiration from the World Economic Forum in Davos. How did this influence shape the themes and musical direction of “Forum”?

Passenger A&S: It is in fact almost never the theme itself that shapes the songs or the direction. We mostly start from a sample, a sound, or a title. While building the song we come across other sounds and samples and even then what we had in mind to start with could turn out totally different from that. “Forum” is an album which is not as dark as its predecessor, but you can surely put it alongside the atmosphere and direction of it.

Tracks like “Happy Nothing”, “The Great Reset”, and “Infotainment” showcase your melodic side. Can you discuss the inspiration and creative process behind these particular songs?

Passenger A&S: These 3 songs all started from a totally different base. “Happy Nothing” came from a textual idea, whereas “The Great Reset” was built on a sampled baseline and “Infotainment” started from a melody. While melodies are a continuum of Metroland’s way of working, we don’t really have 1 way to go about a song, nor do we start together in the studio every time. It is quite possible that a Passenger comes up with a demo or a loop of a few seconds.

“Forum” includes experimental song structures and fresh sounds. What new techniques or approaches did you explore in this album that differ from your previous work?

Passenger A&S: Every album is an occasion to broaden our sound palette and discover new electronics. However, we never set out from the start with a clear goal; it mainly comes along during the creative process; our more ‘experimental’ side you could say. Sometimes, we even delete parts of a song or a sound, and yes, even sometimes a complete song is being omitted. We have around 5 to 6 songs that never make it on a release, and we never re-use any of these either. We do have our special things and tricks that we tend to do with shifting notes, trying different layers or strange effects. But we never look back, never try to copy something from our past, or use any of the sounds we used before. Every new release is a fresh new audio canvas where we use different approaches in sound scaping.

The EP “Industry” features different versions of the industrial revolutions, culminating in a 10-minute epic experience on the CD edition. How did you conceptualize and create this multi-part industrial journey?  And why these different versions always between CD, digital, vinyls… it’s quite conceptual for METROLAND isn’t it?

Passenger A&S: Apart from the music, there is art, there is concept, there is hard work. So, if you “only” want digital, you might get less. We strongly believe in the item as an entity to complete our message. It is only by holding, reading the booklet and seeing the full package that you understand what that message ought to be. Digital platforms should be an argument to buy a physical version on an album and not “the end”. We want to deliver value to those who appreciate it. That requires much more input from our end, more songs, more art, but in the end, it brings much more value. And yes, this is a harsh view, we confirm. But since we entered the music business in 2012 with “Mind The Gap” we get the appraisal for that from our loyal fan base.

Your music often reflects a blend of innovation and nostalgia. How do you balance these elements to create a sound that feels both fresh and rooted in the vintage electronic tradition?

Passenger A&S: It is the blend of our very rich background and music collectors from 80s to modern, from dark wave to electronics and everything in-between that results in the typical Metroland sound. Where Passenger S is inspired by dark music but loves the high-pitched sequences, Passenger A loves club stuff but prefers not to make things too jolly. We push each other in both directions and extremes, but we meet each other in the middle. It is that synergy that keeps us going, that delivers that Metroland attitude.

The tracks “Activity as a Timetrigger,” “Baukultur,” and “Quantum” continue the trajectory set by “Industry.” Can you delve into the themes and messages you wanted to convey through these electro-infused pieces?

Passenger A&S: We never thought of it that way. We never make a song, deliberately thinking of a message or a link with another album track. We do read and discuss often about the concept and about what would/could be the right direction to take, both music and art wise. Things just happen, albeit everything is linked to the theme. The current concept we are creating songs for is basically an easy one, opens a lot of opportunities, but is the hardest one for us to give it the right approach in art, when looking at all our endeavours.

As a duo, how do Passenger A and Passenger S collaborate in the studio? Can you share some insights into your creative dynamic and how it influenced the making of “Forum”?  And how different is it for both of you compared to your respective solo-projects?

Passenger A&S: Usually, we meet up weekly in the Underground Studio and work on no matter what upcoming release. There is never any pressure, but once someone holds the final result, he or she can be sure that everything is meticulously planned to the hilt, from every little stroke of art to the very last second of every song. But we never follow the same pattern or path; nor for music nor for art, and the further we can step outside of the box the more we like it!  The solo-projects are clearly without the influences of the other Passenger and music wise, although both electronic, it is very different for 90% (some things are in our DNA and we cannot ignore it. But that feels natural after working together for more than 30 years). The biggest difference is that the synthpop from 808 DOT POP (Passenger S) is built around concepts and more sequence based, whereas LECTREAU (Passenger A) works in singles only and aims for the club floors. The mutual aspect is electronics; that will remain a fact, no matter what.

Side-Line also covered Metroland’s ‘Cooperation’.

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

Jem Tayle (Shelleyan Orphan) and Boris Williams (The Cure) have founded a new project, Vamberator.

Jem describes the transition from Shelleyan Orphan to Vamberator as follows: “After Caroline Crawley’s passing, I had been offered the chance to make a solo album. I had been writing on and off without a focus and not having someone to bounce off was new to me. Boris is family, and we have played together with Shelleyan Orphan live and in the studio on and off for years, so it felt very natural for us to work on this together. I am extremely fortunate to have a drummer of his calibre pounding out the rhythms on this album.”

Vamberator’s debut single, “Sleep the Giant of Sleeps” is from the forthcoming album “Age of Loneliness” (Unifaun Productions), and also features regular collaborator Charlie Jones (Goldfrapp, The Cult, Robert Plant et al) on bass.

Asked to describe the themes and inspirations behind the new single, Jem says: “Chasing trains, chasing dogs, chasing dreams, they always get away. Pushing your way through that froth on a daydream, sharing the gloom with ghouls and procrastinating – it’s all part of the daily merry-go-round. But there is always an unseen presence that comes to the rescue, sometimes in dreams, sometimes in the middle of the night as you cool yourself in front of that open fridge. It’s relentless though, and here it comes again, but there’s so much to do, but close your eyes and there she is again.”

“Sleep the Giant of Sleeps” by Vamberator is out now from Bandcamp, Spotify, and all the usual digital music stores worldwide.

Side-Line also covered The Cure’s ‘A Veces 100 Años’.

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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Premiering on Side-Line today is the brand new video, “Eve”, from the Los Angeles-based industrial rock band Fleischkrieg. The song was produced, mixed, and mastered by Logan Mader (Machine Head, Once Human).

Here’s the excellent video for the song.

This is what the band says about the track: “The song “Eve” is based on the Gnostic tradition of Adam’s wife being the hero in the Genesis creation myth – rather than the villain. This 2nd century Christian sect revered Eve as an early incarnation of the Divine Feminine, and if it weren’t for her courage to commit “original sin” – we’d still be trapped in a genetics lab known as the Garden of Eden.

The song is sung from Adam’s point of view where he praises Eve for delivering them from the tyranny of the Elohim. Though they are “thrown out the gilded cage”, Adam asks Eve to “make the thorns our home”, a poetic nod to human resilience in the face of catastrophe.”

Italian scholar Mauro Biglino and his research on the Biblical Apocrypha inspired the song’s themes and lyrical content. Mauro briefly translated for the Vatican – but was eventually fired when his published works revealed modern Christian theology was incompatible with the written texts of ancient Hebrew authors.

About Fleischkrieg

Fleischkrieg is an industrial rock band based in Los Angeles. The band was formed when vocalist Richard Cranor, with a background in video production and small acting roles, met guitarist Thomas “Ceraphym” Crawford while driving for Uber. They discovered a shared passion for industrial and metal music, leading to the formation of Fleischkrieg​.

The band’s sound is heavily influenced by acts like Rammstein, Lord of the Lost, 3TEETH, and DK-Zero. Their music explores complex themes such as the conflict between physical, emotional, and intellectual survival.

Their previous single, “I Believe In Gnomes”, released in April 2024, delves into the themes of belief and its shapers, which is well linked to the band’s newest offering, “Eve”.

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 Finnish industrial metal band Project Silence released a new lyric video “Rip The Flesh”, taken from their upcoming album “The Void”.

In a reaction frontman Delacroix says this: “The track is an opening track from the album, the idea was to get atmosphere and inspiration from the Doom games. The song started as a motif with a main riff, made by our guitarist A and when I heard the fast killer riff, instantly, I had an idea to compose some heavy ramming riffs around it and make some atmospheric synths to go with it. The song is full of fast riffs, hefty and ramming stuff with a lot of synths. The story itself tells a story about series main character “Doomguy” and if you know how the games are, you know that the the lyrics of the song are pretty violent and brutal.”

About Project Silence

Established in Kuopio by vocalist Delacroix in 2008, the band’s early material was closer to industrial metal and aggrotech-based music. As time went on, the band’s music began to have heavier tones and electronic elements, industrial elements still being a big part of it.

The band released their first album, “424” in 2012, which mixed melodic metal and atmospheric industrial. In 2016, the band signed a worldwide contract with Sliptrick Records, and later the same year they released their second album, “Slave To The Machine”, which was heavier with ingredients from death, black, and other extreme metal subgenres. The same evolution continued with their latest EP, “Infinity”, and singles like “Disease” (2022) and “Cult” (2023) from their upcoming album. On the other hand you could hear synthwave and darksynth with their instrumental singles “Blood Moon” (2021) and “Neon God” (2023).

Project Silence shows

• 05.7.2024 Varparock 2024
• 12.07.2024 Metal BBQ – PreNight
• 16.08.2024 Haukka Music Bar, Kotka
• 16.11.2024 Bar & Bistro Route 431

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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With the Long Beach, California-based synth punk duo Intrusive Pinky, Les Disques De La Pantoufle announces its vey first signing. Out on April 5 is the duo’s “I Hate You, Patriarch Fuck!” EP.

Les Disques De La Pantoufle is a partnership between Jean-Marc Lederman and Christian Petke’s COP International label.

Christian Petke explains the collaboration as follows: “Running an indie label has always been a labor of love, especially in today’s challenging environment. Now, more than ever, we need individuals willing to support and nurture artists. It is with immense pride that we unveil Jean-Marc Lederman’s venture into the world of boutique labels with Les Disques De La Pantoufle. Few individuals are as well-equipped for this endeavor as Jean-Marc Lederman, who has dedicated a lifetime to the music industry. He collaborated with some of the most iconic figures in electronic music history: Fad Gadget, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Front 242, Karl Bartos, Rohn – Lederman and many more. His extensive experience provides him with an intimate understanding of the intricacies of our industry, having navigated both sides of the table.”

Cop International will provide A&R and logistical support to the new label.

Jean-Marc Lederman adds: “I’m very happy Christian has understood my need to be able to release my works sooner than it could on a label with more acts and Les Disques De La Pantoufle being partnered with COP will provide me with the guerilla-label tactics that could work well with my relentless schedule. We have a busy year ahead as we are releasing “Intrusive Pinky” in April the brand new Rohn-Lederman double CD album “Black And Bleu” in May and, who knows, some exciting bands whose songs I love so much that LDP will release them within weeks.”

Here’s the first release which you can already pre-order 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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This year Front 242 – who recently announced their farewell tour – will be re-releasing 5 classics on crystal clear vinyl in their original vintage design artwork. The first 3 releases (“Endless Riddance”, “No Comment” and “Politics Of Pressure”) were announced today for pre-order with 2 more releases to follow later this Summer.

The band and label (Alfa Matrix) say that “the importance of this re-releases for both the band and label is to make these titles available again on vinyl format at a correct price instead of the crazy pricing sometimes found on other platforms.”

Apart from the the 3 vinyls, there is also a combo 3-vinyl package offered with an exclusive Front 242 tote bag, which is limited to 500 units.

The rush for these new pre-orders caused the Alfa Matrix webstore to crash multiple times, while the label was constantly increasing the capacity of their servers to handle the wave of fans flocking to the website. In a reaction the label says: “We are used to quite some traffic when it comes to Front 242 and had already prepared the server capacity, but we never expected such a huge wave like we saw today. By noon we had all servers upgraded to keep on handling the traffic and orders.”

At the moment of writing the Alfa Matrix website was handling a whopping 40 orders per minute, 5 times more than usually happens when a Front 242 product is launched. It shows the rather huge demand for democratically priced vinyl releases.

• Endless Riddance EP (clear transparent vinyl)
• Politics Of Pressure EP (clear transparent vinyl)
• No Comment LP (clear transparent vinyl)
• Crystal Vinyl Package with Tote Bag 1 (Endless Riddance EP / Politics Of Pressure EP / No Comment LP)

“Endless Riddance” is available from Bandcamp in pre-order as well as a download in a re-mastered version. The remastered versions of “No Comment” and “Politics Of Pressure” were already made available as download in the past.

• Endless Riddance (Remastered) EP
• No Comment (Remastered) EP
• Politics Of Pressure (Remastered) EP

As an extra, the 24th volume in the “Sounds From The Matrix” CD compilation series will be automatically included in every order of any of the 3 first re-releases presented today. It features 17 label artists with a straight EBM / future pop teneur.

Eldrina Mich

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

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Jean-Marc Lederman, known for his work with Fad Gadget, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer (with Frank Spinath from Seabound), and Rohn-Lederman with Emileigh from Chiasm, presents an audiobook of short sci-fi tales, “Sci-Fi Revisited”. The book is narrated by various singers and musicians, and it is accompanied by a computer puzzle game. The package also includes a 12-page micro book with 11 pulp covers.

Released under the The Jean-Marc Lederman Experience moniker, “Sci-Fi Revisited” features Tom Shear (Assemblage 23), Christina Z, Jim Semonik (Red Lokust), Mari Kattman, Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm), Ken Magerman, Daz Sharp, Julianne Regan, Jim Marcus (Die Warzau), and Sapphira Vee.

This release is a co-production between Les Disques De La Pantoufle and COP International. It was produced, arranged, and played by Jean-Marc Lederman. The images for the website and cover were prompted by Kevin B. Lederman. The lab/vault website and video game were developed by Kevin B. Lederman, courtesy of https://blackfoot.io/.

The album is available through COP International and on their Bandcamp page. Note that the CD version comes in a limited edition of just 100 hand numbered copies. It holds a 12-page micro book on 230 gram paper. You also get access to a puzzle game to unlock the tracks.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The US-based post-punk / synthwave act The Sea At Midnight, has just released a four-song EP, “Oceans”, in preview of what is to come on April 1st with the release of a full-length album to follow up their self-titled release “The Sea At Midnight”. The EP is available from Bandcamp and all other digital plaforms.

Behind the The Sea At Midnight project we find Vince Grant, a Chicago born artist. The material was producer by Chris King (Cold Showers) and drum programmer Brandon Pierce. The EP was actually self-released a couple of weeks ago.

For the Los Angeles songwriter Vince Grant it was the older postpunk bands like the Cure, Joy Division, the Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees, New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen and other bands of that era that inspired him to start making music. He bounced back and forth between New York and LA for a number of years, playing and singing in numerous bands while grappling with drug addiction and alcoholism. After getting sober and making a serious attempt at dealing with his lifelong depression,
Vince now calls LA home.

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

Ronan Harris from VNV Nation was in his former life the very first webmaster of Side-Line. A little known fact, but it was Ronan who gave Side-Line a first online presence, albeit on a different url and not in the format that it is now. It showed his interest in technology, something that has stayed very alive within the VNV Nation master brain over the years. It had been a while since I had spoken with him, time goes quickly, but when I was asked if we were interested in a VNV Nation interview, it was a no-brainer that this was the right time to do it now, at a time when so many things are rapidly changing in the technology field.

I phoned Ronan at his hotel in the US, and talked about the current tour, his musical sidelines, the new VNV Nation album “Electric Sun” and of course how he looks at AI being (ab)used in the music industry.

A funny anecdote, a colleague once told me – referring to the tourist guide industry she worked in – that for her “Listening to Ronan is like using the high quality infoport audioguide instead of some cheap Chinese knock-off.” It took me a bit to understand what she actually said, this is lingo for her sector, not mine, but when I looked up the device I understood her reaction. Quality.

This is just a fraction of a very long talk, but it will give you an idea of the man behind VNV Nation, his skills and his long term vision on innovation and creativity.

SL: I see the moustache is staying there.

RH: Do you want it to go? I have people still coming up to me saying, like, you have a moustache now. What was the last photograph you saw of me? I mean, I must have had hair, because I’ve had this for 13 years now (laughs). It’s just my thing. I like your beard by the way, suits you well… I’m just looking at myself thinking Jesus, I look tired. I mean, we arrived here late last night, so I’m pretty much just out of bed, so you’ll have to excuse me.

SL: You look fine Ronan. Don’t worry. So I guess you are not in Hamburg but still in the US?

RH: Still in the US, we finished up the US, the first leg of the US tour, on Sunday. It’s 11:00 in the morning here and we finished that up and then we’ve got two shows in Mexico, starting this coming weekend. We’ve got a flight and right now we’ve got five days off. Everybody went home. I’ve got five days to work. I’m working with a producer here on some tracks for them. I work with a lot of different producers and different areas, and I do a lot of work under other names because I don’t want it to be connected with VNV. I also don’t want the music that I help people with to be judged, you know, by like people going, ohh what’s the VNV connection? It should be a piece of music in its own right. So I do everything from like orchestral arranging to ambient work to all kinds of crazy processing on the laptop. The laptop I’m using to talk to you now is the one I use in my studio. So I have a whole studio with me. Like tomorrow I’m gonna be working with a guy who does some kind of dark trance, but he’s like a a big name in his own genre and then I will also be working with someone on a synth wave remix. So lots of fun. I’m telling you man.

SL: I have know for a long time you are working with different people, commercial genres or what exactly?

RH: These are really successful artists. I mean, I’ve worked with two people recently who are legendary names. I won’t say who they are. In some cases it’s a real honor because I’m working with people who’ve been an inspiration for me. I don’t see me or what I do anymore as being part of any scene. And if you look at the audience at the concerts, it’s people from so many different backgrounds and so many different styles. They all get something out of it. That’s the people who like dance music. That’s the people who like the more electronic, melodic stuff because it reminds them of other bands. People are like kind of indie electronic, you know? There’s so many different people who get something out of it and listen to it and they hear what they are looking for in it.

SL: Being well-connected is a good thing I’d say.

RH: Correct. The connection of the people I work with is so broad. I mean, here’s really weird example. I’m connected with a lot of people who work for different bands. So when we were going on this tour, I had to ask the crew from Empire of the Sun if they could help me find a bus because there’s a shortage of everything in the United States at the moment. That was the big problem we had with the first shows of the tour. We had to postpone them because there were no buses. No drivers. All the lighting companies had all their main gear rented out. You know, it’s a huge country, so you’ve got to get the logistics of trying to get a light rig from one corner of the country if it’s the only place that has it, and then get it over to Tampa, FL or something. I mean this is the distance of going from, say, Helsinki to Malta. You know, for us in Europe it’s, yeah, the logistics are insane.

SL: Is it still a result from post COVID that everybody is touring or what?

RH: COVID changed so many things. I know a lot of drivers, a lot of people involved in equipment and, you know, all kinds of things to do with touring over the years. A lot of drivers couldn’t work during the the COVID era, they went off to do other jobs. They are happy because they are getting a permanent salary, getting benefits, they were getting things they never had before, so it was a game changer. A lot of people retired and said they were sick of this. They were sick of how they’re being treated and I think a lot of change is still coming, and I hear that from a lot of people I work with that they’re tired of how they were taken for granted in the past. You do this job, that’s it. And a lot more people, I guess are thinking about themselves and how to try to get the best for themselves. So when we started planning the tour in February, we started sending out emails to companies going, hey, we want this, we want this and what can you give us? And we were also trying to find budgets that fit what we’re going to do so we can make this work. And honestly, the first thing I noticed is that a lot of companies increased their prices 30 to 50%. I don’t want this to be a financial conversation, but hey.

SL: Touring the US as a European band which VNV Nation is, is not so simple anyhow.

RH: If you’re coming from Europe and you’re going to the United States to do a tour, you have to rent a bus, You’ve gotta get the crew because there is no way to do it in a van and there’s no way to pull a whole light rig behind you. And I want to put on a show. So I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve been doing this for 23 years here, so I know all the aspects needed and this was really the most stressful and the toughest tour organization ever. But it worked out. Unfortunately there’s a lot of people who have become really flaky. Like they commit to you and then the last minute they pull out. You know, I’ve I’ve got another job and they don’t feel there’s anything wrong with that. There’s no commitment or loyalty in some people, so you see how it’s affected everybody. But also this, when you play concerts you realize a lot of people are still getting used to being at concerts again even though America has a COVID surge at the moment.

SL: Masks included?

RH: It’s not like the serious one we were all dealing with, you know, back in 2020. But when we played the West Coast, a lot of people were wearing masks and a lot of people won’t go out. A lot of people won’t go out like this was a really, really big thing. And we heard this from every band. We heard this from the crew who work for like urban culture meets dance meets everything kind of artists in America. There’s these two guys who have this project called Odessa, and we know a lot of the people involved with them, like the lighting engineer and some of the sound people. And then we were talking to metal bands. And they were saying that as well. It’s really crazy, like hearing from fans saying that they they’re afraid to go out. So I think we’re still in a phase where people are learning that it’s OK to go to concerts when they wear masks. It’s not. You know, anybody who reads and wants to spend some time being intelligent knows that. The mask is there to protect others, you know.

SL: Herd immunity is still not an established mentality.

RH: Masks are not a bulletproof vest. I mean, life goes on, the world goes on. And the other thing that we noticed on these shows was when we played the first show in Detroit, that’s where we had to start because that was the 1st place we could get every element we needed for the tour, is that everybody’s out on tour, like all the big bands. They’re all out on tour and taking up all the buses, all the drivers, what’s left and all of the resources. We were talking to lighting companies we’ve worked with for years and they were saying they’ve got nothing we were looking for. They just have some really old lights and I said, well give us something, we’ll put it together, you know. The Detroit show was fine, we talked to a lot of people after the show and everybody just seemed grateful.

SL: At least some joy…

RH: There’s a lot of negativity. It’s not just COVID, it’s the economy here and this perpetual political bullshit that they have to put up with every day. You know, we have a little taste of it in Europe. They’re living it like on levels I’ve never seen. It’s absolutely insane. So I feel for them. But every single concept we played was exactly the same. People were so appreciative that they got to go out and feel this live experience again. So it was quite an eye opening experience.

SL: Talking about working on different projects, did you never work on a musical?

RH: Uh, yeah, I did. Not a ‘musical’ like you’ll imagine. I worked on an arts project with somebody who combined a lot of different elements and wanted to make something really creative. I create the video elements in the background for some other projects too. I’ve had people who wanted video work done where they have a gigantic wall and they want elements playing that are part of that show that become a like scenes within the whole landscape. I’ve done that. I’ve done a lot of sound treatments and created backgrounds, sounds and elements for them, or even pieces of music. So musical? Yes but not the commercial Broadway, you know like “Full Metal Jacket, the musical” or something. These kinds of bullshit things that people put together.

I hate commercial projects. I’ll be honest with you. I mean, still to this day I can’t listen to commercial music, even if it could be a really nice song. There’s always a part of me that thinks this was created to be a hit for a big company that’s purely about shareholders and money. The artist will always be told what to do, in what way. I have a lot of friends who work in Hollywood and they have great artistic ambitions. And then they talk about how their work is then taken, changed by a long line of anonymous people. Or someone else gets credit for it. So I try to work with people who are doing underground things. There’s a lot of people who ask, can I use a piece of music for like for a video or something? And it’s not profit. I’m happy to support small creative people because that’s what I was, you know.

SL: But is that also the aim with the VNV Nation studio you have in Hamburg?

RH: I’ve used it a lot because I have the resources of all the equipment. If you want to talk technologically with two very, very experienced people in trying to recreate that on the system, I can bring it with me around the world, so. We’ve managed to set something up because I’m gonna do work. As I said, tomorrow and the day after I’m working with another guy where I can bring pretty much my studio with me, full audio interface, everything. I can have 10 microphones running, and I can produce, I have everything I need. That’s a real miracle. I’m telling you, man. But when I do a lot of my work, it’s basically when I’m back in Germany and I can do my demos and ideas on the laptop and then take them into the studio and flush them into something bigger.

SL: A couple of years back I was at the Mute event at the Roundhouse in London and during a session with Pole I told him that if you’re really working indie, then the really small bands have no budget for studios. And actually, you hear it, there’s a lot of subpar material being released.

RH: There are a lot of people who want to in a band. Yeah. This is something I noticed when I had to rent a studio space for myself. Now as far as the studio goes, if I’m going to finish an album or if I’m going to create an album, there’s a lot of equipment. It’s gotta go somewhere and it’s not going in my basements because I don’t have a basement. So I’m not gonna fill up a bedroom and annoy my neighbors with this. I have to work in a way that I can be there at four or five in the morning. What I found was when I rented a room in a studio, a commercial studio, and these guys were doing really amazing work, because they were not working with big name artists, but people who wanted music for a project. Really, very, very creative stuff.

But when I met some of the young bands, it’s suddenly clicked that there’s a lot of people who hear a band in this genre, or they go to a club and they say let’s be a band. That’s kind of an exciting fantasy, you know? They’ve got the logo. They’ve got the photos, they got the name of the band and they haven’t got a song yet. They have no idea and they get in there and it’s like we want to sound like this band and they tell a producer like as if you’re saying to someone please help me, I wanna sound like this. It just doesn’t work like that. So I find that a lot of people I meet want to be in a band. I made music. I was writing songs and I really wanted to take this to the next level. And when you say about subpar, I think one of the miracles is that we all have the technology to do whatever we want. With our laptops. With our computers. But that also means that 99.999% have never bothered to learn how any of these tools work. You know, one of the reasons why I did “Matter + Form” in 2005 with a producer, it was because I was gonna get to learn some stuff. By doing every album, I had to learn more about production.

SL: What about your older VNV Nation recordings, how do you look at those now?

RH: I can’t listen sometimes to my older stuff because it was recorded on a budget. I mean, you know, “Empires” and “Futureperfect” were recorded with almost no money. In a very basic studio. I made “Futureperfect” with just the computer. “Empires” or “Praise the Fallen” were recorded in basements with a simple console and the guy knew how it worked, but the quality that was possible with the equipment was, you know, it wasn’t fantastic. But yet today you can listen to let’s say bullshit like EDM, which is just commercial loop crap. Whatever. The production techniques which they use are not like a choice. You have to do it or no one’s gonna listen to it, so. In that sense, the tools are there. People can use them if they want to create something better.

But I’m hearing even within, as you say, like the scene, – I don’t even know what the scene is anymore because it seems to be more fragmented musically than ever – but people really are trying to apply the knowledge of other genres. And this is just basic studio knowledge. And one of the things I did during COVID was that I closed myself in, myself and my partner and I said, look, we’re gonna look after ourselves and our close ones and our loved ones. And we will use it as a time of learning. I listen to a lot of music I would never listen to. And I mean, it really expanded my knowledge of music. But I found all kinds of crazy shit online, and I loved it.

But I spent a lot of time learning better techniques and I wanted to do that because I’ve always had these sounds in my head or these unfinished ideas. Because for one reason or another, I have never felt that I reached it. I can listen to the track “Electric Sun” and think, how did I make this? It was an incredible experience and also during COVID building my own studio with other companies who could not coordinate times because nobody could schedule anything, they all said that their guys were on furlough. The Germans called it quits, and they said we don’t have enough people. So I’m sitting there with just these framework walls thinking what the fuck am I going to do? It was a really long process. But it was also very beneficial. At the time I had about 85 songs, because when you’re working on something else, you get the best ideas. It’s like a part of your brain wants to stay active to fill in for the boredom. I have a synthesizer on my phone and I’m just constantly recording myself playing all these melodies that I’m hearing. I also was using my laptop, even just to write a demo, using the physical keyboard on the laptop as musical keys. 4 songs on the album were originally recorded like that. I was just sitting there playing like OK, this key is this, this key is this. You strip away all of the big technology and you come right down to the sense of it. Is it a good song? Does it work?

SL: I recognized more developed orchestral arrangements this time, I guess the orchestral VNV Nation album left an influence?

RH: Yeah, you can’t hide it, let’s say. I’ve always had orchestral elements in the albums anyhow. There was a cinematic element to that album, a cinematic flavour. I wrote a lot of pieces for it, which never ended up on the album. There were about maybe 27 songs I picked for it. And the worst part is that you come down to a list of, say, 14 or 15 songs. And I said, let’s finish as many as we can, but you’ll always end up writing new tracks while you’re doing an album. I mean, “When is the Future?” happened out of nowhere. One night, I was bored in the studio and I was going through really old tracks and I found a track that I wrote in 2007. It’s just the bass progression and the vocal line. That’s all it is and I pulled it up and had some sounds on the keyboard and just started playing it because it stuck in my head. It was the right moment. You know when you hear it and you think, OK, it’s a simple chord progression, but it works. “All our sins” for instance is astonishingly orchestral. Even if you’re playing synthesizer sounds, you’re approaching them to create an orchestral feeling. So it was quite cinematic. Even the arpeggios and the way I was doing the arpeggios on “When it’s the Future?” are based on a piece of classical music I like.

I work with four different arrangers and they can actually tell there’s more an orchestral approach in my music than what they’re used to with other artists. With other albums it was the same. I mean with “Of Faith, Power and Glory” there were still huge amounts of orchestral elements in there. It’s what you assumed to be orchestral, because you can do a track like something more experimental and you’re still channelling something you heard from Stockhausen or Stravinsky and nobody understands that. Or you’re taking a little element of a composer no one’s heard of in the the average everyday world. But then that’s just one element of my influences.

But on “Electric Sun”, I wanted the opening to be like the opening to a film and I originally had a whole orchestration piece for the opening of the album that I just took out. “Electric Sun” does the job because in the end I want the album to tell a story from beginning to end. That’s what I was asking people to do, to listen to it from start to finish. It was the opening of a film for me, and the ending of the album was the finale, the last credits appearing on the screen. Everything in between is the elements of the story that I imagined. I felt this time round that in the studio I had all the things, all the tools I needed, the atmosphere. Also, a studio shuts out the outside world.

So it’s just you, the walls, synthesizers you bring in to used. I went crazy with analogue synthesizers I have. I’m kind of like an obsessive, I’ve been collecting synthesizers since I first got a chance to buy one. I still have two synthesizers that I owned in the 80s. I’ve had them repaired numerous times because they’ve been overused. Synthesizers are used on all the old albums. They’re still there on every album. There were always about four or five analogue synthesizers being used for most of the sounds on the album. So this time I really went crazy on it. I wanted this vibe. It’s really hard to explain to somebody when you use a plugin what the difference is. And the difference is that when you put all the elements together, you will hear this great kind of feeling. The opposite argument to that is that there are some amazing albums that have been recorded by bands – that we have a great sentimental attachment to – that used a four track.

SL: The one doesn’t exclude the other, right?

RH: Of course. And the thing is now with all this technology, you’re listening to copy paste bullshit. It’s like, look, do you have an idea? Focus on your idea, then build around that. Try to do the best you can because you’ll hear the idea through it. But if it’s just an ensemble of random sounds for 30 seconds of pleasure in a club to make everyone think, ohh, this is a bit ‘oonzee’, it’s not achieving much. It’s throw-away and that’s a kind of like a sad factor for the iPad generation who grew up playing with simple things at home and it was just push a button, make a sound and they didn’t learn more than that. I can’t say if I need the whole studio or not. One of my idols is a mixer called Andrew Scheps. His philosophy and his approach to mixing… I just love hearing him talk because he talks about so many aspects of of the audio world.

He’s an icon and he has mixed some of the biggest albums of all time and he says he’s in the box now, meaning he just uses a computer. And he has many videos where he talks about it because there will be people who just want that connection with the old world and they think it sounds better or whatever. And he said it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It doesn’t. If you know, how to use the tool so you can make it sound how you want. But if you need the tools, if you need the physical things, then if that’s what gets you the results, then that’s the right tool for you. My idea was, OK, do you have a mouse? You have one finger. That’s it. So you have all of this equipment and you’re gonna use one finger to write an album? Are you kidding me? That’s like the joke I always make, it’s like painting the hallway of a house, but doing it from outside the front door and you’re painting through the letterbox.

SL: We’ve become so normalized to this I guess…

RH: When you’re doing these big constructions and you’ve got all this software and all these plugins, you have to have better controllers and things like that. I was sitting with some of the synthesisers and just playing with controls and just creating, it got me places that I never have been. I forgot in a lot of ways what that felt like. Yeah, I mean, I’ve always seen synthesizers on the albums, but this time I had a lot of new gear because of building a new studio and I wanted to have this connection. I know the guys who work for Sequential Circuits, you know, in San Francisco. One of them was a guy who booked our first concert in San Francisco. We were talking about new synthesizers and he said ohh, we have a great new one. When I did for example, the album “Praise the Fallen” I used this old sequential synthesizer on every track. I mean, I had only had a few synthesizers, so I had to make them work for me on every single song.

So I got this new synthesizer, which is like the third generation of that thing. It’s the brand new one, wonderful, does everything. And I said to my partner, like, I’m just gonna plug it in and I’m just gonna listen to some of the sounds, get my headphones on. I’ll be in bed in 1/2 an hour. You know, that was 11:00 at night, 5:00 in the morning I went to bed. I just fell in love. There’s something that connects you with this technology. The sounds, the way you control things, the way you play with it. You can control everything and play with the sounds. It’s the person and a machine. So I programmed about three banks of sounds for the thing, and I’m just having the best fun. And that’s what became like a lot of the basis, a lot of the background to a lot of sounds on the album. This organic sound gave everything a kind of a 70s vibe. There are so many incredible electronic artists from the 70s. I went back and started listening to NEU! again. I love a lot of old krautrock. There’s so many eras that we forget about. They’re so relevant that you can listen to them today and think, why am I not listening to this?

SL: I know you’ve always been quite interested in everything that is new technologically, whether it is for social media or whatever. You’ve always been interested. Now, professionally I work a lot with AI.

RH: You know my old job, so you know that I’m heavily involved into all this new tech.

SL: That’s why I’m asking. What is commercially available now doesn’t impress me compared to what I’ve seen in laboratories where they experiment with AI as far as music goes. That really does impress me. So I wonder, would it ever come up into your mind first of all to create an AI generated album using the laboratory stuff? Do you see anything that you would use as a musician? And would you ever consider using it for vocals as well?

RH: Here’s my problem with with generated music right now, we’ll start using it like people used mp3.com. I’ll give you just that as a simple example. People loaded it with shit. There was no way to listen to most of it. We’re gonna have exactly the same problem with AI because it’s going to be companies trying to sell you tools that say ‘hey look make your own track’. And I work with a lot of producers, there’s guys in the building where my studio is, and they all wwork ith loops. It’s cut and paste. Someone else is making loops for them. They don’t know who, but they’re just using the same loops everyone else is using. I think that’s boring. One of two things will happen. There will either be a backlash where you’ll have people posting on their album ‘This was made by humans completely organically’.

The possibilities of laboratory AI where it can sing. Yeah, we use tools right now. We use Photoshop and we use tuning, we use like ways to compress the vocals and EQ. We’re using tools as it is. It’s where the line is. I don’t want fake. I mean if somebody can use it when they are a Picasso and where they describe to a computer this wonderful creativity, then you’re using it as a tool, then I’m OK with it. But if someone is basically learning a computer ‘just write me a hit song’ then you’re David Guetta, you know that that doesn’t interest me at all.

I’ve had people offering me so many AI tools or generators. I don’t need core generators. For instance, the band had so much problems even just practicing the track “Invictus” on the album, because they said it’s incredibly complicated. I’m working with people who are really, really good, very professional keyboarders. I think I could do a lot myself, but what I would like to be able to do is to say, can you save me a lot of the grunt work that I don’t want to do so I can just focus on the ideas. That’s where it is gonna matter. I want my own ideas to be the forefront. You and I both know that all technology will be used by people to make bullshit. When the Apple iPhone came out, do you know how many fart apps there were? You know that’s how humans use it. They are stupid, puerile, childish. It’s funny for about 5 seconds and then after that it’s done.

For more on VNV Nation, see Porta Nigra Festival 2024: Front 242, VNV Nation, Kosheen, … on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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(Photo by Krichan Wihlborg) Out on October 6th is the the brand new album from Sweden’s industrial rock act Morlocks: “Praise the Iconoclast”.

The Gothenburg-formed Morlocks are kinda legendary in Sweden as far as music goes but also because they managed to release 2 full length albums in 22 years only: “…For your Pleasure?” (2001)’ and “The Outlaw of Fives” (2011).

On “Praise the Iconoclast” you’ll also hear guest vocal appearances from KMFDM’s Sascha Konietzko, Karin My, and black metal vocalist Heljarmadr of Grá/Dark Funeral.

Morlocks has had a constant change of members over the years. In 2003, the then only remaining founding member J.Strauss teamed up with partner in crime Innocentius Rabiatus from Swedish goth veterans Dark Side Cowboys. In 2013 they met, befriended and recruited the bass player/vocalist Lamashtu and the trio has been the core of the band ever since.

Check out two new tracks below.

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

(Photos from the personal archives of Jean-Marc Lederman) This article draws from various updates posted by Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Kid Montana, Jules et Jim, Ghost & Writer, Lederman / De Meyer, Rohn-Lederman…) on his Facebook profile, which we’ve consolidated into a comprehensive piece. This compilation offers a profound understanding of the workings of the indie music industry during its ‘golden era’. Additionally, it provides specific insights into Mute Records, the label of Daniel Miller, as numerous individuals, including Fad Gadget, mentioned in this article have significant associations with the iconic UK label.

Digital Dance (1978-1979) / Daniel Miller

The year was 1979 and I had just quit, well I was sacked tbh, from Digital Dance , the first band I was in.

We were doing post punk/cold wave/new wave stuff and it was really exciting. I started doing bass with them on a..ARP 2600 whci I had bought working on building sites, yeah, far too much of an overkill I agree. We were rehearsing here and there but did a time at the famous Plan K where we supported Joy Division. Actually, that day I went to pick up Ian and Bernard Summers at the very seedy hotel they were in and I drove them to the gig.

They were laughing like kids, you know, young musicians being happy to play abroad. It was such a cold day, everyone was freezing and Ian even came close to Stefan Barbery (Digital Dance guitar player) who was close to an electric heater to tell him “Well, I guess this is why they call it Cold Wave…”

We also opened to Magazine and Fisher-Z and it was becoming too much of a routine for me: the Brussels band that does all the new wave support slots but hasn’t even got a decent recording contract…

Oh, we had one, and they made us record our very fast cover version of Kraftwerk’s “RadioActivity”. At the end of the session, they made me do some terrible sound effects, hoping to catch on the fad of the moment, and it just ruined the whole song. Tells you that if a thing sounds bad and contrived and cheesy on monday, still sounds the same the day after and 40 years later. Sorry Stefan, my fault.

Then Phil Wauquaire (whom I had met from Streets, the punk band he was in and I actually played with them live on a couple of songs with a…AKS, another overkill) joined us and I played synth with a Korg MS20 then with a Yamaha CS50M who weighted like half an olifant after a drinking binge.

Anyway, after a couple of gigs with Digital Dance at the Gibus in Paris, i was let go (which was fine, really). Two days later, I call Daniel Miller whom I had met in London a few months ago. Digital Dance had been foolish and crazy enough to believe that if you go to London you can pretty much be sure you’ll find a gig. All we did was rehearsing (below Beggar’s Banquet where I met Peter Kent from the future 4AD label) and waiting in our hotel off Kings Road. Anyway, we were trying to get Geoff Travis from Rough Trade to listen to our demo and he stopped it 20 seconds in and tell us: if you go to “Better Badges” now, you’ll see a man called Daniel Miller (from label MUTE RECORDS) and maybe he’ll like your stuff….

So, off we went to Better Badges and there we met Daniel, with a green basket full of The Normal badges.

Daniel and I hit directly like if it was an “International Conference Of Synths Fanatics”. I mean: synths weren’t as known or popular then as they were then. It was still a relatively rare sight on stage or in gigs or in bands that weren’t poppy or progrock. No, we’re talking new industrial scene in the UK: noisy and determined, not minimoogs played by long haired musos…

So, Daniel and I exchanged phone numbers and we traded letters and phone calls here and there. So, remember, I’m sacked from Digital Dance and I then realize that if I wanted to really go anywhere in music, Brussels isn’t the place to be and I must move to where things are happening. At that time, London was THE center of music in Europe and I decide that I want to try my luck and the two major chords I know there. I pick up the phone and call Daniel, asking him if he knew any musician that would be interested in moi ?

Yeah, I know someone, he’s on my label now, he’s looking for musicians, call him… His name is Frank Tovey….

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget #1 (part 1)

The audition was simple: we didn’t even play a note or try to do a song, we just sat and drank coffee and laughed a lot. But there was no try-out, no keyboard or synths tickering… And that’s how Philippe Wauquaire and I became members of Fad Gadget #1 for a few months in 1980: a simple coffee cup meeting and an unmistakable good chemical feeling between us. Frank had played a few gigs on his own but wanted musicians around him so he could concentrate a bit more on being a little bit less concentrated if you know what I mean.

There was Frank: clever, astute, open, funny, with a lot of wit doubled with a good dose of sarcasm: totally my alley. But he knew what he wanted musically, there was no doubt about what he wanted to sound like. The plan was: rehearse at my place in Brussels, a first gig here, then play a few gigs as support for Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft in Germany and going to tour the UK as support for The Monochrome Set.

So, we start rehearsing in my attic: Frank on vocals, Pearl Syncussion and distorted electric piano, Phil on Fender bass and Korg MS 20 and myself on handling the cassette player (each song had its drums/rhythmic parts on a single cassette and I would feed the machine with a new cassette every song) and my 4 notes polyphonic, Yamaha CS 50M. Again, an overkill.

After a few hours of rehearsals, we have our first gig: support-act for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. We are all extremely nervous but the gig goes well: Frank doesn’t go into the mad behaviours he’s known for yet but you can see he’s holding up something big inside, something is boiling there. After the gig, we proceed to the German border and sleep in a motel there. In the morning, I’m being handed an envelope with my per diem (every day allowance a musician gets when on tour): it is the first time someone hands me money for doing something I love doing: playing music. I couldn’t believe it and I took a second piece of bacon and refilled my coffee cup. We are about to go to Dusseldorf to play The Ratinger Off as support for Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft.

Something started to happen at the Ratinger Hof: maybe it was the roughness of the place, the German lager (naaaaah) or the history of the place but this thing Frank had inside him but it slightly came out at that gig. See, there was an animal inside Frank, and that animal was as extrovert as Frank was introvert: Frank was then frontal and loud and, yes, obnoxious but in a gentle and friendly way but he wasn’t the shy Frank. In response to Frank’s changing live attitudes, Phil and I started to play loser and noisier and wilder (and there were far more bump notes on my part) but the band started to make sense.

The crowd wasn’t there for us, they were there for what would later become DAF, but the reaction was good and people liked us. I recall Frank and I going out in front of the place and that guy comes out dressed as a mod, full parka mode with a patch “Remember Brighton” which made Frank laughed a lot, people were out there with their beer and… Omg what am I saying: IT JUST FELT GREAT.

Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft at the time was a five piece band and they were fun and chaotic. You couldn’t miss Chris Haas, the synth guy, who was classy and special. He had a very specific body language when playing live: he would stand back, have a smile and just come here and there to play a few notes…He is the real grandfather of EBM as he introduced the famous 1/16th bass line (Korg MS 20 and SQ 10 sequencer) that will be the bone of so many records later on.

The morning after, we went out to the next gig. Daniel, Phil, Chris and myself embarked in my mum’s yellow Civic and we went down the motorway, singing loudly “Fahn Fahn Fahn Auf Der Autobahn” laughing and laughing… I guess Chris must have done that thousand of times before but, for Daniel, Phil and I it meant something different: we were doing it. We were travelling in Kraftwerk’s motherland and going to play electronic music there: it was immense.

We only played one more gig in Germany and then the whole tour was somehow cancelled… Roland Beelen: I saw the animal in Frank I guess a few months later at the Paasfestival in Koninfshooikt (organized by my friend Guy Vanwoensel) I was a stagehand there. Frank smashed a crucifix that was hanging above stage in the hall (parochiezaal)with his magic stick. The whole village was in shock when the news spread the next morning. The vicar organized a special service the next day to please the smashed fallen Christ ! they say he resurrected a few weeks later! All end, good end !

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget 1980 (part 2)

Something had clicked in Frank after a few gigs: it’s like he had been showed by practice that it could work, that the songs were good, the voice was good but even more than that his FG personnae and ideas had an impact on the crowd. He would go out, do his thing, see people respond to his songs, lyrics and theatrics and then he would retrieve after the gig in the gentle and shy Frank Tovey. Phil and I were providing a background that wasn’t perfect but for Frank it was a great practice for FG future.

When we toured as support for The Monochrome Set, we were sometimes in fire and I could really feel people’s amazement at that born-to-be showman. He would play with the crowd and slowly take them into the show. Our sound might not have been very sophisticated but with Frank’s distorted piano, the CS50 brutal in and out sounds, Phil’s impeccable swirling bass, we were like The Stooges with synths and Frank was a perfect bionic Iggy Pop….I began to be very proud of us, we were quite something indeed and I was going on stage with a mission: to show people the songs and to let them fall in Frank’s performance.

I also remember that after the last show of the tour, possibly at the YMCA gig, one of the roadie came at the CS 50 and started to play some Bach’s prelude. I was stunned and shameful of the snobiness i may have shown the roadies on that tour, or before tbh. I learned a lesson that night and never again would I be feeling above anyone on a stage, or in studio, be them multiple charts success artists or simple roadie.

Something wild happened after our gig at the 100 club. Jock Mac Donalds (from the future Bollock Brothers) was very drunk and he started to look for a fight with us and being extremely aggressive, a bottle in his hand, waving it at us. Phil, FG’s bass player, was a karate black belt and he was looking very calm, coming closer to Jock inch by inch. Suddenly he jumped at Jock, put two fingers on his Adam’s apple and said with a slow voice: “OK, let’s kill”, his eyes deep into Mac Donald’s eyes.

The bottle instantly fell on the ground and the guy just ran out the club swearing loud and clear… Phil and I were sleeping at Daniel’s mom place for a few days and we were making music late at night. One of these nights, Daniel was on Phil’s MS 20, I was trying Daniel’s infamous Korg 700S (the one that was on TVOD and Warm Leatherette) and Phil was on the CS 50M but it was visibly too loud and too late as Daniel’s mum came down and asked us to PLEASE STOP !

Next gig to come was going to be the Clarendon, but we were told this would be our last gig with Frank as he wanted a full band behind him to totally free him from any other duties but vocals. I was devastated…

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget #1 (part 3)

So, we were invited to headline Stevo’s kinda festival at the Clarendon, on June 27 1980. Stevo was a very colourful character who will make himself known later when managing bands like Soft Cell and The The. The bill was very symptomatic of the time: DAF, Naked Lunch, B.Movie, Vice Versa, Clock DVA,…

So, Fad Gadget #1 had started touring as a relative unknown a few months ago and we were by now talk of the town and headline this festival. It felt good and it felt also important and I was nervous. Everybody was. Frank had a song by Georges Folmby playing before we would go on. Folmby was a Lancarshire working class comedian and he was famous for playing double entendre ukulélé songs. It was a known and safe thing for British people and Frank used it as contrast as chaos would start when we would cut Folmby and go straight into “State Of The Nation” and follow that with most of what is on the album Fireside Favourites.

• State Of The Nation
• Back To Nature
• The Box
• Fireside Favourite
• Newsreel
• Pedestrian
• Coitus Interruptus
• Ricky’s Hand
• Back To Nature

Yes, Frank wanted shock and chaos, and he got that except that at the Clarendon it went a bit further than expected. During one of the early songs, Fad had already taken over Frank, he smashed up his face with one of the two Syncussion drums and it started pouring blood. Phil and I looked at him and he made us understand it was fine and let’s continue…So we continued until someone took Frank off stage as it was just like a fountain of blood by now. The gig was stopped.

We went backstage and Frank was adamant he was fine but Babra (his wife) disinfected the wound and placed a cloth on it. We went back on stage.

The crowd went MAD. Frank was standing there, his white clothes with red blood all over it, singing to the public that was all won. It was an incredible sight, and being on stage, playing the songs with a singer that went beyond the call of duty was something unexplainable. After the gig, we had to take the 5 am ferry. I was sitting on the stairs of the Clarendon and, yes, I was crying, letting all the tension, the fears of the gig off my system but also the sadness I felt after having lived some incredible times with
Frank, as synth player in Fad Gadget. I saw Frank playing with Fad Gadget #2 a few months later and he invited me to play in the encore: we were cool.

Still, I wasn’t done with London and would come back later…

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘Sci-Fi Revisited’.

About Fad Gadget

Frank Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), an English electronic musician and performance artist, recorded as Fad Gadget, becoming the first artist signed to Daniel Miller’s Mute Records after the two met at the Rough Trade shop in London. His recorded work combined synthesizers with found-object sounds and dark, comic lyrics. Studio albums as Fad Gadget include “Fireside Favourites” (1980), “Incontinent” (1981), “Under the Flag” (1982) and “Gag” (1984), after which he continued recording under his own name, releasing six further albums on Mute between 1985 and 1992. He died of a heart attack at his London home in 2002.

Belgian musician Jean-Marc Lederman played with Fad Gadget in the band’s touring lineup during the early-to-mid 1980s and has recounted memories of touring with Tovey, Daniel Miller and DAF’s Chrislo Haas in interviews, describing Tovey as bringing something unheard in electronic music at the time. Lederman has credited Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget’s early-1980s touring band, including Chrislo Haas of DAF, as formative to his own career.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The Belgian dark idm ambient project Kilmarth has released an all new 5-track strong mini-album, “Better Days¨. Behind Kilmarth we find the Belgian musician Cedric Wattergniaux.

Small but important detail, Cedric used to write for Side-Line and with his project he is the 5th (ex)member of the Side-Line team who has released music next to Ronan Harris (VNV Nation), Benoit Blanchart (Aiboforcen), Seba Dolimont (Aiboforcen) and Stephane Froidcoeur (Nebula-H).

Cedric’s work is the kind of work you would link to productions released on labels such as Ad Noiseam, Tympanik Audio, Ant-Zen, Mindtrick Records and M-Tronic. Wattergniaux, who has been active in the dark music scene since the early 90’s, first as writer for various fanzines including our very own Side-Line magazine up until a few years ago, and now with Kilmarth, the project he debuted in July 2017 with the 3-track single “The End of Humanity”.

On his newest EP, out now on all digital platforms, we find (female) vocals for the very first time by the the Nigerian singer Blessing. Also included are two remixes from the IDM project, D-Fried.

You can download the release right below from Bandcamp. Read the review of ‘Better Days’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The Los Angeles-based dark electronic rock band, Al1ce has just released their new video and single, “Time”.

“Time” is a reflection of the band’s writing period during the pandemic and where they found inspiration, namely in the silence, stars, sand, and expansiveness in what felt like a timeless space.

As Tash Cox says: “I remember the feeling of Time itself feeling so expanded as we all lay in stasis, waiting to know what the next day would bring. Time is its own element and force. It can feel so fast or slow, depending on the moment. But it’s always a relentless presence. Through our experience of Time, it is the small moments of connection that are so meaningful to us. Through the song and video, AL1CE hopes to honor Time and the moments of sweetness that can still be found in all the shadows and crevices along our human journey.”

“Time” is available now as a single on all digital platforms including Bandcamp. The drums on the track were engineered by Steve Kefalas and Gordon Bash and the track will appear on the the band’s forthcoming full-length release, “So Below”.

Here’s the video for the track which was directed by Tas Limur.

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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It’s been more than two years since the the industrial metal act DK-Zero have released original music, namely 2020’s “Cyber Sex Inc.”. DK-Zero now releases a new single and video called “Resistance”.

The song also marks one of the band’s few collaborative efforts, teaming up with Nuda.

Band leader D-Punk explains the genesis of the track: “In 2020 I was hired by Nuda to mix and master her second record. We had such a good report and worked together so flawlessly, that when she began writing for her third album, she reached out to me straight away. She asked me to do a remix of one of her early songs called ‘Resistance’. As I began putting the beat together, I started hearing different chord changes and something that could turn into a huge chorus… so I went for it. As it all came together, I immediately saw the potential in this song and wanted to give it as much life as possible. Lyrically, it means a lot to me because it’s a huge statement about what is happening politically, on both sides of the aisle in this country as well as what is going on overseas between Russia and Ukraine. I knew getting Industrialism Films on board would help bring the whole concept together and knock it out of the park. Nuda has also been the live keyboardist for DK-Zero since 2020.”

You can watch the video for the single below shot and edited by Vicente Cordero of Industrialism Films.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Out on the 2nd of September via COP International is the Rohn – Lederman album “Rage!”.

Behind Rohn – Lederman we find Jean-Marc Lederman (Fad Gadget, The Weathermen, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, Ghost & Writer + numerous solo records) and Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) who started this project to bring catchy electropop. More recently, Emileigh Rohn recently also completed an album with John Fryer titled “Missed The Noise”, and since has been working with Jean-Marc Lederman on this project.

Here’s a first preview of the Porno For Pyros track “Pets” by Rohn – Lederma. Read the review of ‘Rage’.

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 Cologne based band Superikone is back with a double maxi, “Komm, lass uns tanzen”, on September 15th. This is the third single for the project this year and will be presented live on September 23rd, 2022 as part of a concert the the “Phönix Club” (Mülheim a.d.R.).

The following versions can be found on the “Deluxe” version:

1. Komm, lass uns tanzen (Radio Edit, 3:30 Min)
2. Komm, lass uns tanzen (Extended Synthpopmix, 4:49 Min)
3. Komm, lass uns tanzen (Originalversion, 3:52 Min)

The “Alternative Mixes” comes with the following mixes:

1. Komm, lass uns tanzen (Trancepopmix, 4:39 Min)
2. Komm, lass uns tanzen (Italo Disco Mix, 4:01 Min)
3. Komm, lass uns tanzen (Alternative Radiomix, 3:46 Min)

You can get a 5-track download via Bandcamp as well minus the radio version.

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 via Merzbow) Out via Old Europa Café in early September is the CD re-edition of an ultra-rare Merzbow tape, “Flesh Metal Orgasm”, which was originally released in 1989 on Nihilistic Recordings and then re-released in 2010 by Blossoming Noise. Both editions are long time sold out and this is the first time this album is released on CD format.

Recorded live at the ZSF Studio in September 1988, the tapes and CD hold 2 tracks, “No-1” (21:50) and “No-2” (24:14). The material for the CD release has now been re-mastered by Masami Akita.

Below are the the visuals for the original tape releases. And below that the new CD artwork.

About Merzbow

Merzbow is an extreme experimental music project created in Tokyo in 1979 under the direction of musician Masami Akita and is recognized as being one of the earliest projects in what has become known as Japanese noise. Highly prolific, Merzbow has released hundreds of recordings since 1979.

Originally Merzbow was formed in 1979 as a duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani. In 1989 Kiyoshi Mizutani left and Merzbow became a solo project of Masami Akita. Since 1991 Merzbow became a trio of Masami Akita with Reiko Azuma (electronics and voice) and Tetsuo Sakaibara (aka Bara) (voice and dance). Since 1999 Merzbow became a solo project of Masami Akita again.

Akita’s early work consisted of industrial noise music made from tape loops and conventional instruments. Similar to his present albums, he produced lengthy, disorienting pieces.

During the 1990s Akita’s work became much harsher and was generally mastered at a louder volume than usual. These were heavily influenced by death metal and grindcore bands of the time (a prime example is the “Venereology” album). The mid-1990s saw Akita being heavily influenced by psychedelic bands and this was reflected in various albums.

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: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Set up at the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic Dead Lights features two producers; one based in the The Netherlands and the other in England. Richard Van Kruysdijk (Palais Ideal, Phallus Dei ao) is one of those members. After the excellent self-titled debut album, the duo is back on track unleashing this EP.

Content: After a short intro Dead Lights clearly reveal their EBM style characterized by impressive, low, resonating bass lines. Male- and female vocals are essential to the production. You’ll discover 4 new cuts and a remix of “The Raven” (opening song of the album).

+ + + :  The main strength of the composition is hiding in the heavy, carrying, bass lines. Even the softer pieces are carried by the power of the low, resonating, bass lines. “Run” sounds like a terrific exposure to this very own EBM approach. The “Video Mix” of “The Raven” is another attention grabber with a noticeable chorus.

– – – : Softer passages like running through “Follow Me” aren’t exactly the best part of the work.

Conclusion: Dead Lights confirm to be an EBM project with innovative elements and a true potential.

Best songs: “Run”, “The Raven – Video Mix”, “Vile”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.deadlights.band / www.facebook.com/officialdeadlights

Label: www.coldtransmission.com / www.facebook.com/coldtransmissionmusic

About Dead Lights

Dead Lights is an electronic duo based in London. The two producers, one working in the Netherlands and the other in England, started the project at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Richard van Kruysdijk, also active in Palais Ideal and Phallus Dei, is one of the two members. On Bandcamp the band describes its music as “Electronic glam goth with an industrial edge”.

The earliest entries in the band’s Bandcamp discography are “Hex Death Pop” and the self-titled “Dead Lights”. “Doom Doom Trash”, reviewed here, followed on 11 March 2022 through Cold Transmission Music. The duo wrote and produced the EP and Uwe Teichert mastered it at Elektropolis in Brussels. The CD edition is a four-panel gatefold digisleeve with a lyric booklet and adds the bonus track “The Raven (video mix)”.

Later releases listed on the band’s Bandcamp page include “Receiver”, “I Am Electric”, “Into The Night”, “Let The Ugly Out”, “Glitterspit”, “Grind”, “Take The Algorithm”, “Gravity”, “Break Out” and “Killing Time”. “Resonate” arrived in January 2026, “(The Edge Of) Dusk” in March 2026 and “Lash” in May 2026.

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

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

Here’s a preview of what to expect.

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Out on May 6th via Cold Spring is the Genesis P-Orridge & Dave Ball OST release “Imagining October”.

The official soundtrack to Derek Jarman’s 1984 short film “Imagining October”, with music recorded by Derek’s friend and collaborator Genesis P-Orridge (Psychic TV, Throbbing Gristle), and Dave Ball (Soft Cell, The Grid) will be released on limited edition 12″ vinyl. The material was recorded at the DJM recording studios in Theobalds Road, London.

The vinyl features an etched B-side and includes liner notes by James Mackay (Jarman’s producer, collaborator and archivist).

The track-listing is as follows:

1. Imagining October I
2. Imagining October II
3. Imagining October III
4. Imagining October IV

Derek Jarman put together a program of films for the London Film Festival, reflecting the cutting edge of the London avant-garde of the time. Recorded at the same time as “The Angelic Conversation”, “Imagining October” was filmed in the Eisenstein Museum in Moscow, Vladimir Mayakovsky’s grave at Novodevichy Cemetery, the GUM department store facing red square, and the fire temples of Baku in Azerbaijan. The painting sequences with a group of soldiers (Angus Cook, Stephen Thrower, Peter Doig and Keir Wahid) was filmed in London. Jarman considered it one of the best, if not the best, of his shorter works. It was intended as an agit-prop work.

About Derek Jarman

Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English film director, stage designer, author and gay rights activist. He was outspoken about his personal struggle with AIDS. On 22 December 1986, Jarman was diagnosed as HIV positive and discussed his condition in public. His illness prompted him to move to Prospect Cottage, Dungeness in Kent, near the nuclear power station. In 1994, he died of an AIDS-related illness in London, aged just 52.

Although he made a long list of feature films and short films, you will know him best for the the following videos he also directed: Read the review of ‘Imagining October’.

• The Sex Pistols – “The Sex Pistols Number One” (1976)
• Throbbing Gristle – “TG Psychic Rally in Heaven” (1981)
• Marc Almond – “Tenderness Is a Weakness” (1984)
• Bryan Ferry – “Windswept” (1985)
• The Smiths – “The Queen Is Dead”, a short film incorporating the Smiths songs “The Queen Is Dead”, “Panic” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (1986). The “Panic” sequence from The Queen Is Dead was edited to form the video for that single (1986).
• The Smiths – “Ask” (1986)
• Pet Shop Boys – “It’s a Sin” (1987)
• Pet Shop Boys – “Rent” (1987)
• Pet Shop Boys – several concert projections (released as “Projections” in 1993)
• Pet Shop Boys – “Violence” (1995)
• Suede: “The Next Life” (1993)

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 now via the The Big Chair label is the brand new single, “Angel Dressed In Snow”, by the Blackpool (UK) based dark rock duo Auger. Also out is an accompanying video.

The single acts as a teaser for the band’s yet untitled fourth album due to be released on Friday the 1st of April 2022.

Auger are Kyle Wilson (25) (lead vocals, programming and live keyboards and guitar) and Kieran Thornton (25) (Guitars and backing vocals). They launched in mid 2017 with their double A sided debut single “My Guardian / New Life” via Rebco Records, That debut single was quickly followed by their debut album “The Awakening” also on Rebco Records.

They were then picked up by Dark Tunes Music Group (Germany) for a three album deal. This saw their debut album “The Awakening” being remixed, re-mastered and re-released worldwide in mid 2018. Their 2nd album “From Now On I” was released in mid 2019 and was followed in 2020 by their 3rd album “Insurgence”. A new single & video entitled “Dark Clouds” was released on the the 28th of May 2021.

Here is the band’s newest output.

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 Chris Carter) Out on 28 January 2022 via The Grey Area (Mute) is the reissue of the 1979 album “The Bridge” by Thomas Leer And Robert Rental. This new reissue will be available on limited edition white vinyl and CD, both featuring new sleevenotes.

The reissue of Leer and Rental’s sole collaboration will coincide with “From The Port To The Bridge”, an exhibition detailing the duo’s work and legacy, due to run at The Horse Hospital in London from 21 January through to 10 February 2022.

Discovered by Throbbing Gristle

Thomas Leer and Robert Rental, both from Port Glasgow in Scotland, were at the vanguard of a DIY electronic scene that went on to influence and inform the 80s synth-pop movement. After self-releasing two solo 7” singles, they came to the attention of Throbbing Gristle and signed to their label, Industrial Records. Their one and only collaboration, “The Bridge”, was originally released in 1979, the first non-TG / associated release for the label.

Recorded at Rental’s home over two intense weeks using equipment provided by Throbbing Gristle (with only rudimentary explanation of how to use it), their album was cited by a number of electronic musicians at the time, including John Foxx, Matt Johnson (The The) and ABC.

Listen to “Monochrome Days”.

The late Robert Rental retired from the music industry

Robert Rental (who sadly died in 2000), went on to collaborate with The Normal – Daniel Miller and Rental’s live album, “Live at West Runton Pavilion, 6-3-79”, was released in 1980 by Rough Trade. Rental also released a single on Mute, “Double Heart” / “On Location” in 1980 and produced music for the Comic Strip’s “A Fistful of Traveller’s Cheques”, before retiring from the industry.

Thomas Leer continued to release music

Thomas Leer went on to release albums on Cherry Red and Arista, formed Act with Claudia Brücken (formerly of Propaganda) in the late 80s who released on Trevor Horn’s ZTT label. After a hiatus, he re-emerged with a series of releases from 2001, and currently lives in Greenock.

About The Grey Area

The Grey Area was founded in 1990 to restore and reissue albums by important and influential artists, initiated by catalogue deals between Mute and Throbbing Gristle, Can and Cabaret Voltaire.

The label went on to be the home for the catalogues of DAF, Virgin Prunes, SPK, Swell Maps, Dome, The Radiophonic Workshop and The Hafler Trio as well as key early works by Wire, Buzzcocks and Einstürzende Neubauten.

Dormant for a few years during the 2000s, The Grey Area emerged again quietly in 2013 with the re-release of Cabaret Voltaire’s Virgin period work, Richard H. Kirk’s solo work, the Sandoz catalogue and a new agreement with Throbbing Gristle.

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 short, mysterious career of the female French duo Deux Filles started and ended in tragedy. Gemini Forque and Claudine Coule met as teenagers at a holiday pilgrimage to Lourdes, during which Coule’s mother died of an incurable lung disease, and Forque’s mother was killed and her father paralyzed in an auto accident. The two teens bonded over their shared grief and worked through their bereavement with music. However, after recording two albums and playing throughout Europe and North America, Forque and Coule disappeared without a trace in North Africa in 1984 during a trip to visit Algiers.

This would be a terribly sad story… if a word of it were true. In reality, Deux Filles were Simon Fisher Turner, former child star/teen idol and future soundtrack composer, and his mate Colin Lloyd Tucker. Turner and Tucker left an early incarnation of The The in 1981 to pursue another musical direction.

Turner and Tucker strictly maintained the fiction throughout the duo’s career. Not only did they pose in drag for the album covers, the duo once even played live without the audience realizing that the tragic French girls on-stage were actually a pair of blokes from south London.

Deux Filles released two albums through Turner and Tucker’s Papier Mache label, 1982’s “Silence & Wisdom” and 1983’s “Double Happiness”. In 2016 Deux Filles reappeared with the album “Space & Time” and in 2021 it was followed by “Shadow Farming”.

Both first albums are included now in a re-release via Dark Entries records: “Silence & Wisdom / Double Happiness”. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley.

Check it out.

About Simon Fisher Turner

Simon Fisher Turner is an English musician, songwriter, composer, producer and actor.

After portraying Ned East in the 1971 BBC TV adaptation of “Tom Brown’s Schooldays” and roles in films such as “The Big Sleep” (1978), Turner rose to fame as a teenage star in Britain when his mentor, Jonathan King, released Turner’s eponymous first album on UK Records in 1973. For a period of two years Turner was a member of The Gadget and also joined The The. He has used several names as a recording artist, including Simon Fisher Turner, The King of Luxembourg, Deux Filles and Simon Turner. He continues to record albums for Mute Records as Simon Fisher Turner.

Turner was also a member of The Portsmouth Sinfonia Orchestra, and plays clarinet on the orchestra’s only live album recorded at The Albert Hall, London.

About Colin Lloyd Tucker…

Since his teenage years, working as an engineer for the De Wolfe music library from their Soho base in the 1970s he has been involved in all aspects of music production. Here he developed skills in the art of tape manipulation in those far off, pre-digital times, skills he would pass on to Matt Johnson and Simon Fisher Turner, both of whom he still works with today.

As a singer/musician he signed a management deal with Tony Calder in the mid 1980s. Ex-Immediate Records boss and co Stones manager Calder had been introduced to Colin’s work by model Linda Keith. A single was produced, “Head”, that obtained little commercial success.

Unhappy with Calder’s desire to turn him into a pop star Tucker walked away and began a journey along a much less commercial, though more independent route. Various discs with different independent companies were to follow. He also formed Papier Mache Records with Simon Turner and together they issued two well-regarded long players as Deux Filles.

The 1990s saw Colin sporadically issuing the odd solo album and cropping up as a guest vocalist on Kate Bush’s “Red Shoes” album (Tucker also appeared as a devil in the accompanying film). Before the decade was out he made the album “Skyscraping” with Paddy Bush under the group name Bushtucker.

In 2006 he formed his own Samphire Records as an outlet for his solo work producing a string of diverse releases.

A re-union with Matt Johnson cumulated in appearance in The The’s “Inertia Variations Film” and “Trilogy” box set with Tucker performing Johnson’s “Bugle Boy” (2017).

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 the The Big Chair label is the brand new single, “Libra”, by Auger, a dark rock / industrial duo which fuses electro, industrial and metal not their sound. After releasing 3 albums in just 3 years, the duo will now release a new single and video, every 6 weeks.

Auger are Kyle Wilson (25) (lead vocals, programming and live keyboards and guitar) and Kieran Thornton (25) (Guitars and backing vocals). The band released their first material mid-2017 with the double ‘A’ sided debut single “My Guardian / New Life” (Rebco Records) quickly followed by their debut album “The Awakening” (Rebco Records).

They were soon picked up by Dark Tunes Music Group (Germany) for a 3 album deal. This saw their debut album “The Awakening” being remixed, re-mastered and re-released worldwide in mid-2018. Their 2nd album “From Now On I” was released in mid-2019 and their their 3rd album “Insurgence” was released in mid-2020.

A new single and video entitled “Dark Clouds” was released earlier this year. A few months later the band launched their own label to release their material. So far they released “Sound Of The Machine”, “Oxygen” and now “Libra”.

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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Oscar and the Wolf, the the alter ego of Max Colombie, has released a brand new single “Livestream”. This is the third track to be released from the third OATW album “The Shimmer” which is due 22nd October.

There is also a “Livestream” video which acts as a sequel to “Oliver” portraying the same characters in the same dreamlike Summer setting. The video was directed and choreographed by Colombie himself.

Watch the “Livestream” video below.

If you want to compare, then watch the “Oliver” video.

About Oscar and the Wolf

Oscar and the Wolf’s official debut, the 2012 EP “Summer Skin”, was a first teaser for his 2014 debut album “Entity”.

Released in 2017, the second Oscar and the Wolf album, “Infinity”, also introduced producer Jeroen De Pessemier and multi-instrumentalist Ozan Bozdag (who already worked on “Entity” too) in the equation. Both now also work on “The Shimmer” as well.

Concertdates

These are the Oscar and the Wolf first live dates in support of “The Shimmer”.

• 22.03.2022 – Scala, London (UK)
• 26.03.2022 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam (NL)
• 05.04.2022 – Quantic Club, Bucharest (RO)
• 06.04.2022 – Form Space, Cluj-Napoca (RO)
• 08.04.2022 – Morze, St-Petersburg (RU)
• 09.04.2022 – Ivestia Hall, Moscow (RU)
• 30.04.2022 – Sportpaleis, Antwerp (BE)
• 03.05.2022 – Les Docks, Lausanne (CH)
• 04.05.2022 – Plaza, Zurich (CH)
• 06.05.2022 – Santeria Toscana, Milan (IT)
• 10.05.2022 – Fabrik, Hamburg (GER)
• 11.05.2022 – Metropol, Berlin (GER)
• 12.05.2022 – Live Music Hall, Cologne (GER)
• 14.05.2022 – Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette (LUX)
• 15.05.2022 – Batschkapp, Frankfurt (GER)
• 20.05.2022 – La Cigale, Paris (FR)

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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“True North” is a filmed live-performance with all new music from a-ha. The film is made in collaboration with Bodø 2024 and the The Arctic Symphony Orchestra and is scheduled for release in Autumn 2022 together with the album.

Set in the landscape of Northern Norway and recorded in the town of Bodø up above the Arctic Circle, the music from the film will be made available as a new album from the group for the first time since “Cast in Steel” which was released in 2015.

“We want this film to be a poetic homage to the importance that nature holds in Norwegian culture, and in particular the ocean, which has provided us with a privileged life up here, from the early fishing boom to the troublesome riches extracted from the seabed in the form of oil,” says Magne.

About Bodø

Bodø is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten and is located just north of the Arctic Circle. Bodø was named one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2024.

Most of the town was destroyed during a Luftwaffe attack on 27 May 1940. Six thousand people were living in Bodø, and 3500 people lost their homes in the attack. Due to the acute lack of housing, the Swedish Government helped build 107 apartments in the winter of 1941. These houses were built tightly together just outside the town.

This small area, today in the heart of Bodø, is still called Svenskebyen (“the Swedish Town”). The town was subsequently rebuilt after the war. The rebuilding ended in 1959 with the completion of the new town hall.

Side-Line also covered a-ha’s ‘The Sunshine Revolution’.

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

“Jab # 3​,​1415926535​.​.​. [Ain’t gonna fuck with my brain]” is the title of an all new 8-track strong EP by the female fronted dark electro pop act Diffuzion.

Lead singer Xev explained the title as this: “‘Ain’t Gonna Fuck With My Brain!’ is a quite usual expression we use in Russian language when somebody annoys you with repetitive and unnecessary information. So why not make a song out of it.”

Combine that with the the highly frustrating Covid19 lockdown situation with a physical separation of over 7000 km across the Atlantic ocean between both members and you get the idea where this comes from. The whole resulted in an excellent cut!

Besides the title track we also get an excellent, but really an excellent, rework by Aesthetische of “The Blessed”. The title track was reworked by First Aid 4 Souls, Cubic, Aesthetische, Matthew Creed, Neikka RPM and Acylum vs. Aengeldust.

You can download this rather attractive release below, first on Bandcamp, later on on all other services.

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

Out now is the 2nd single for Berlin-based artist Vlimmer. The 2-track single comes prior to Vlimmer’s debut album “Nebenkörper” which is coming out on september 24 and features the the atmospherical industrial track “Meter” and the drum packed synthwave track “Kartenwarten”.

The single comes after 18 (!) EPs realised between 2015 and 2020.

For the debut album “Nebenkörper” Alexander Leonard Donat offers a departure from the atmospheric post-punk/goth/electronics adding tribal drums, a more aggressive way of singing (and screaming) and distorted synthesizers.

Here’s the single which can be downloaded from 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!

side-line.com

Out now is Laura Carbone’s newest single “Nightride” which was recorded live at the Rockpalast in 2019. This live single version of “Nightride” celebrates the official North American physical release of Laura Carbone’s latest album, “Laura Carbone – Live at Rockpalast”, recorded in October of 2019 on the heels of her September “Empty Sea” tour of the US and Canada, and only a couple of months before the unforeseen dystopian boredom and paralysis of lockdown.

The live video footage is from the same concert, simulcast nationwide and across Europe on TV and online worldwide on Germany’s prestigious Rockpalast live music television show, that in the past has documented monumental performances by The Police, Sonic Youth, Einstürzende Neubauten, and so on. The bootleg fans out there will surely know this.

The additional footage was realised in June 2021 in a forest outside Berlin by Laura and her longtime partner in graphics and video crime, The Underground Youth drummer and graphic artist Olya Dyer. You will also recognize Olya’s husband Craig Dyer, singer and frontman of The Underground Youth.

After the the limited first edition, which sold out immediately on release, “Live at Rockpalast” will be available again later in the year, in a limited second pressing.

Here’s Laura Carbone’s “Nightride (Live at Rockpalast)” video.

About Laura Carbone

Laura Carbone is a 34-year old German / Italian composer, singer , songwriter and photographer who began her musical career as a singer of the NDW – punk band Your Youth.

In 2014 her first solo EP and single “Stigmatized” was released followed in 2015 by her first solo album, “Sirens”. In 2017 she toured Germany with The Jesus and The Mary Chain. The album “Empty Sea” was released in June 2018 with Aporia Records (Toronto) and Duchess Box 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!

side-line.com

Pennsylvania-based industrial band Malice Machine have just unleashed their new full-length album, “Chemical Violence”. Concept wise the lyrics on “Chemical Violence” express some of the the darker sides of our nature. All songs were written by Syn and Ammo and recorded and mastered by Syn at Prototype Studio. The tracks “Restrict” and “Dead Circuit” on the other hand were co-produced and mixed by John Bechdel from Ministry.

For the band “Chemical Violence started as a continuation of their first album, “Digital Scars”, but quickly evolved into a more electronic driven, rhythmic industrial project with guitar being a lesser element. Musically “Chemical Violence” covers a lot of industrial territory. Says the band: “We don’t want to be pigeonholed into one sub-genre so all the songs have their own flavor. Retro and post style, Electronic, driven guitar, grinding Noisecore and Aggrotech elements, Synth bass, Drum-dominant.”

Front line Assembly, KMFDM and Wumpscut fans. Here’s the video for “Restrict”.

Check out the full album below.

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

Out now is the eponymous self-released debut album from the Italian/Welsh dreampop / synthpop band Lunar Bird. To push the release a new single and video have been released for the track “Second Circle”. Here’s what the band says about the single: “The song is a melancholic ballad in three movements about a process of rebirth, the end of love becomes an opportunity to get rid of the the ghosts of the past.”

You can watch the video below.

Lunar Bird was formed in 2017. Their debut EP “Daydreamer” was released one year later, in 2018. Band members include RWCMD graduate jazz singer, songwriter and synth player Roberta Musillami, composer and visual artist Eliseo Di Malto, bass player Francis George, drummer Ellie Strong and synth player Ross Davies. A very diverse lot, which culminated in a dream pop / synthpop approach.

Several tracks were released earlier this year to announce the band’s debut album: “Swallow Man Aviary”, “Emerald and Blue” and now “Second Circle”.

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

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)
Norwegian industrial synth rockers Zeromancer follow up their February release ‘Damned le Monde’ with the new track titled ‘Mourners’. The release comes as a digital EP with three remixes in addition to the original – and they’re all great! This time around we also contacted the remixers to get their thoughts about the band and this release –  it’s always interesting to hear what someone who’s both a professional and a fan have to say about their remix work.

Zeromancer core members Kim Ljung and Alex Møklebust were very happy about the end result:

Side-Line: ‘Mourners’ and the first lines indicates someone sad, but becomes increasingly uplifting – will things get better is one find someone to share it with?

Kim Ljung: That is pretty spot on I would say! Mourners is a message for the lonely. Lonely in life or lonely at heart. Never give up. There is always a twin soul out there somewhere!

Alex Møklebust: Songwriting is about expressing yourself. The last 3 years has been pretty rough on a personal level and making music becomes kind of a treatment. «Mourners» became that song for me.

S-L: Musically it’s a bit softer than usual, almost synthpop, and the singing made me think about Alex’ guest vocals on the Bermuda Triangle album ‘33RPM’, and it also made me wanna listen to ‘ZZYZX’ again – a new direction or just keeping it varied?

AM: Trying to recreate a demo is always a challenge, but with Mourners it was impossible. The demo had parts that didn’t sound great and the performance was quite bad, but had a really good feeling to it. If we removed the demo ideas or tried to replace it with new recordings, the song fell apart. It’s all about the feeling of a song. We just chased that feeling all the way until the end and. Imperfection elevated the track. It was the right decision. You can hear the the demo tracks clearly in the Rotersand remix. Love that they decided to represent the demo tracks so clearly in the remix.

KL: When you write a song, you don’t think what genre would be best suitable. You make the choices that fits that particular song the best. Mourners were meant to be exactly like this. I remember starting out with the verse on an acoustic. I never play acoustic guitar with normal chords and full notes. Never. It’s all riffs, basslines and weird shit.

The verses are quite dark. It’s the chorus that has this uplift feel that great choruses have. However the term synthpop is not so accurate I feel, at least not to me, since my idea of synthpop is a happy thing. We don’t do happy. 🙂
When you get to hear the full album, you will get the picture. It’s a classic Zeromancer album. With all the elements present. A gift from us to our devoted, loyal fans.

S-L: You also got a good, varied bunch of remixes this time too, even by Norwegians – what about their versions did you like?

AM: The remixes compliments the EP 100%. Love it. A beautiful balance. Electro Spectre with a superb version, Sebastian Komor with his awesome mid tempo hard hitting remix and the lovely moody Rotersand version. They all put in a lot of effort to make this EP as good as it can be. How they interpreted our song blows my mind. Respect to them all!!

KL: Couldn’t agree more. What amazes me the most, is how they all understood the core of the song. I’m dead serious when I say those three remixes makes the song a better song. Not that their versions top the original. That’s not the issue. It’s what they add to that song, that makes Mourners a longer lasting piece. At least that’s how I feel! So much passion and a whole lot of “fingerspitzgefühl”!

S-L: This started with ‘Damned le Monde’, and you will get it every time now – who’s in the cover picture?! 😉

KL: My mom 🙂
Holding the white lilies. A symbolic flower, often used in funerals. Perfect for Mourners.

S-L: Other upcoming highlights fans can look forward to during these slow-moving days until more restrictions are lifted?

AM: Yes, there will be more releases and a full new album. It’s important for us to promote an album release with live shows. As for now that’s impossible, but we have to keep believing that it’s happening soon.

KL: The fans are in for a treat. A lot is happening in the shadows. New label that will help out regarding issues with previous albums hard to get, both digital and analog. At this moment I can’t reveal more than that. But in the end, there’s definitely a reward for everybody!

As mentioned we also reached out to the remixers who contributed to this EP, and also asked if they had remixes of their own to share. First to reply were Isak Rypdal from Electro Spectre:

S-L: What’s your relation to Zeromancer before this remix?

Isak Rypdal: I was a big fan early on, and two major favorites from nearly 20 years ago is ‘New Madonna’ and ‘Famous Last Words’,  I think they only were included on a maxi-single or something then. In 2013 Electro Spectre supported Zeromancer on their ‘Bye-Bye Borderline’ tour at Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo – that was a lovely event.
Alex Møklebust, aka SnifferGod, has also been so kind remixing the Electro Spectre single ‘The Way You Love‘ just a few years ago, which became a great remix.  

S-L: How did you like the new song ‘Mourners’?

IR: Personally I think it is admirable to deliver one of their very best singles to date. In my opinion not all bands only get better and better in what they’re doing as the years go by. The previous single ‘Damned le Monde’ is that kind of caliber as well! 

S-L: What was your main idea with your remix?

IR: Actually, I think it was one of the easiest songs I have ever remixed. The reason is simple; when you get a remix-kit from a major band, who delivers pure quality elements it is a lot more inspiring. Although not to say I took the challenge lightly, I spent several few weeks on the remix, adding all of what I think is my very best production techniques into the remix to get it as punchy and well sounding as possible. It was a pure joy, and I am very happy I had the time to spend that many hours on the remix process. In the end, Alex from Electro Spectre also delivered some additional spice to the final mix. I hope the Mancerheads enjoy the remix!

Across the Atlantic, in Canada, the Polish/Norwegian expat Sebastian Komor elaborated about his involvement:

S-L:  What’s your relation to Zeromancer before this remix?

Sebastian Komor:  I know the guys more as Seigmen, the Norwegian Alt Rock band. In fact, a time and place long ago I booked Seigmen to play at a venue I was working at, during their Radiowaves album tour.  Always loved their music.

S-L: How did you like the new song ‘Mourners’?

SK:  It is a beautiful song. I dig the electronic approach in this.

S-L: What was your main idea with your remix?

SK: I really dig the snare sound in the original and def wanted to make that a big element of this mix. My approach to remixes is to use as few original sounds as possible vs. making it sound like an extended 12″ mix of the original. I am really happy with the result. It promotes the emotions in the original song while taking it for a ride through my mind.

Check Sebastians playlist with a lot of his work, remixes included!

Final remixer was from Germany, Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand:

S-L: What’s your relation to Zeromancer before this remix?

Krischan Wesenberg: Zeromancer and Rotersand are signed to the same label, work with the same booking agency and love our live-sound-engineer (which is the same person). Surprisingly it took rather long to meet in person, which luckily happened during an epic meal in Oslo while I was there as sound-engineer for Nitzer Ebb.

S-L: How did you like the new song ‘Mourners’?

KW: I really loved the depth and flow of the song instantly; its melancholic mood and I am addicted to melancholy in music anyway.

S-L: What was your main idea with your remix?

KW: Obviously with Rotersand attached to it expectations went towards a more club-orientated vibe. As there aren’t any clubs open I took the chance to search for a very electronic vibe and flow that kept a lot of the original recordings, and added some space to let the melancholy breathe and enjoy its special magic.

Listen to and buy the EP from Spotify, Apple music and other services – click here!

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

(Interview by Simon Helm) Dubstar first came to prominence in the 1990s with the kind of hummable dreampop songs that worked as well driving as in clubs. 

Despite chart success, they went on hiatus at the end of the decade. Singer Sarah Blackwood joined Technique and went on tour with Depeche Mode, which led to the founding of Client, the first band on Andy Fletcher’s Toast Hawaii label. Collaborations followed with Martin Gore, Nitzer Ebb and Die Krupps, as the band rode the electro-clash wave.

Blackwood returned to the Dubstar fold and, in 2018, the act returned with a new album, One. Honed to the duo of Blackwood and musician Chris Wilkie, Dubstar’s sound maintained its classic resonance, but with updated and reinvigorated melodies.

The band’s latest release is “I Can See You Outside,” which comes with a video addressing themes like CCTV surveillance. Their previous single, “Hygiene Strip,” tackled the public health crisis. This is deeper material from a group that once got into trouble for using pictures of sexy pencil cases on their covers.

We spoke with Dubstar to find out more about creating under lockdown and their colourful history.

SL: Dubstar seems to be in a much better place as a duo. How do the two of you work together to create the new songs?

Sarah: We live a couple of hundred miles apart, so rely on WeTransfer and sending songs back and forth to each other. Chris will usually start with a template; and, if I like it and it feels and sounds good “sung,” we develop it. Sometimes the vocal suggests different areas to approach, like a key change or a word tweak, and sometimes they don’t need much development; they are almost fully formed and ready to send on to the mother ship, which is [producer Stephen Hague’s] studio.

Chris: Even the people at the end of my street seem a couple of hundred miles away nowadays. But yes, we already had a bit of practice at working “remotely” for geographical reasons. I can usually imagine what the songs will sound like with Sarah singing them, but often unforeseen ideas will emerge in response to what happens the first time she approaches it. Maybe because she hears something which I hadn’t, and her delivery suggests another layer of meaning.

SL: You have been working on new material with Stephen Hague. He seems to have collaborated with a lot of Northerners – New Order, Pet Shop Boys, OMD, Holly Johnson and Pete Shelley being just a few examples. How did you take to him, being from Yorkshire?

S: He’s very mild mannered and easy going. This time around, it was like picking up from where we left off. I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but I’ve known and worked with him, on and off, for 25 years.

He has seen me through drunken melodramas to sober neurosis; through Dubstar to Client and back again. He even helped me design my kitchen. He’s always tried to nurture and encourage me as a person, especially during the first album, when I was overwhelmed by just about everything. He was a welcome, quiet and calming, influence; and he used to lend me books he thought would be relevant and helpful. Stephen went out of his way to put me at ease, which I massively appreciated. In all the madness, his recording studio was always a place of calm and focus. 

So, the Northerner in both myself and Chris is pretty direct. We don’t need pandering to, and hope what you see is what you get – which I think works well with Stephen’s laid-back calm, on both a productive and a personal level.

C: Perhaps it helps that he’s from Maine and is essentially a Northerner himself, in U.S. terms.

He brings a tranquility-of-mind to proceedings, which is something which me and Sarah have always struggled to achieve without assistance!

SL: The new material doesn’t shy away from confronting themes lifted from the headlines, including the pandemic. How have you been coping during the crisis?

S: I have significantly narrowed my horizons to stay sane, what with ever-changing restrictions. I can’t seem to keep up with which iterations are the most recent, so I just keep my head down, stay close to home, and go out only when it’s absolutely necessary.

I’m massively introverted, anyway, so I’ve quite enjoyed nesting and making unrealistic plans for my home environment, but some of my friends have found it very difficult and I worry for them. My WhatsApp groups with my friends and relatives have become lifelines, even if all we share is yet another banana bread recipe or the latest Donald Trump meme. I see more of my parents, via Zoom, than I ever did, so I think some good has come out of it.

I think my biggest problem will be re-adjusting, if and when the time comes. I haven’t used public transport or been into the centre of town since February. Two evenings out ended disastrously in anxiety attacks, so I think a gentle re-introduction is most definitely in order.

C: I haven’t coped well at all, but making the record has been a lifeline. I liken it to any recycling process: you can take fear and sorrow, and transform them into something less harmful, or even useful.

SL: Sarah, you have sung with Die Krupps. What was it like performing a Visage song with Germany’s legendary industrial act?

S: Well, I remember the recording of it vividly!!!! About three days before, in the middle of a tour, I was given a CD of “Der Amboss” with strict instructions to learn it – which really was mission impossible with absolutely no access to a CD player. Smartphones then were still a twinkle in the eye of Steve Jobs. 

So, on our Saturday off, Ralf [Dörper] dutifully appeared at the hotel just after breakfast, bundled me into a car, and whisked me off to a recording studio in Düsseldorf. I had the journey time to listen to it, on repeat, and then he told me I had to sing it in German too! I have no aptitude for languages, whatsoever, although all my German friends love teaching me very bad things to say for their own amusement. 

Honestly, trying to get my Yorkshire mouth and dialect around the song left us all in fits of laughter. I could see Ralf and Jürgen [Engler] doubled over in tears through the window of the control room, especially “habe spas mit mir”! It took a long, long time to record. 

I had the absolute pleasure of singing it with them onstage in London a couple of times, but I think a lot of the fans were confused as to who I was and why I was there. They were very accepting, though, and gave me a nice cheer. 

And then, post gig, I showed Die Krupps how to stretch out their hip flexors in the dressing room. That was an unforgettable image of them all doing the couch stretch. So game. Love them.

SL: Dubstar were managed, at one time, by the same man who had signed Test Department and Cabaret Voltaire to major labels. How did that come about?

S: Just like Marc Almond, our first encounter with Stevo [Pearce] was in Leeds. His first words were, “See that billboard? Your name will be on there one day, in lights!” 

I wasn’t bowled over, to be honest. That sort of thing doesn’t really float my boat. In fact, it would be more likely to induce panic if it ever happened. He was one in a long line of potential managers we had seen. The record label were losing patience with us. We needed a manager – needed one the day before yesterday – and we were terrified of making the wrong choice, but were also so tired, physically and emotionally. We were at the stage where the last one we had seen was the best one – and he was the last one.

Also, his girlfriend was Cleo Rocos. Cleo was Stevo’s secret weapon. Both Chris and I wanted to be in Cleo’s orbit. She was just one of “those” people:  warm, fun and genuinely caring. She became a bit of a rock for me at the time: encouraging me with writing and performing; buying me CDs of interesting artists, like Dory Previn; picking up false eyelashes for me on her travels; and, most wonderfully, she used to ring me when she knew I was scheduled to be on my own in a hotel room. 

She was a big fan of watching C4 Friday night comedy, especially Frasier, and Chris and I continued that tradition long after Stevo had stopped managing us. We always sent a little thank you into the universe for Cleo. 

To me, then, Stevo appeared quite bonkers. He also told me he was dyslexic, and the one thing I admired about him was that, every day, he would learn a new word and incorporate it into his vocabulary. He never saw limitations, only exciting possibilities – no matter how crazy. One of his more publishable ideas was to engineer a photo opportunity in front of the Selfridges Christmas tree, with him dressed as Santa bestowing us with our gold disc for Goodbye sales, whilst the EMI executives posed as elves. In the little green suits and curly toe shoes. It never happened.

C: I was aware of Stevo as a teenager, because he was often referenced in relation to The The or Soft Cell, and I used to find his notes of wisdom on the Some Bizzare record sleeves interesting. The one he put on Soul Mining always stuck in my head: “With every kick in the face and every hurdle you pass, the rewards get greater“.

It seemed very profound and benevolent, so I suggested that he put one on our Goodbye album. It wasn’t quite as snappy, but I appreciated the lineage.

We could probably fill an entire book with anecdotes just from the period where he was our manager. I was amused that he had a literal, free-flowing fountain of Dom Perignon in his office on New Bond Street to entertain visitors, until I realised who was paying for it.

SL: It seems like narcissists are everywhere in the music industry these days. Does that mean they are winning?

S: Ha, I’ve encountered a couple over the years. I don’t think I ever will again, now I’m a little older and hopefully wiser. I think narcissists have always been with us but social media has given them a platform to thrive, and we are becoming more able to spot them. It’s that thing: the more you look for them, the more you see. Maybe social media exaggerates those traits in people, too, like a virus, which is very sad. They start as entertaining and end up being toxic, which can stir up emotions – and sometimes that’s not a good thing.

We have never been more scrutinised as a society; nor judged as individuals, particularly in media and politics. I think having a profile comes with responsibility, which some don’t realise, and it’s time we all started to scrutinise how we communicate. It used to be something we all just took for granted, but maybe the negative aspects of social media have thrown up some things we can all learn from. 

C: It’s unsurprising that narcissists would be attracted to the music business or any role in public life, because it affords them attention. They’re often good at it for a while, but it’s bound to end badly, because they lack the ability to perceive how others see them.

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

Out since last month but still worth checking out today is the new electronic project formed by two talents in the leftfield electronic music: Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, The The, Fad Gadget, Ghost & Writer,…) and Erik Stein (Cult With No Name). The duo formed Lederman * Stein and have released their debut with the “Textbooks for Tomorrow” EP.

Each of the 8 tracks on the digital only EP explores a very different sonic and melodic territory, from warm analogue and modular electronics, over synth pop and atmospheric sounds, to jazz riffs infested structures.

You can check out the EP below.

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘The Mysterious Manuscript of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’.

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

(Photo by Erica Hinyot) COP International has announced the signing to their artist roster of Jean-Marc Lederman. COP International will release a full album with Emileigh Rohn (of the electronic-industrial project Chiasm). The two most recently worked together on a series of remixes for Chiasm’s “Away” EP as you could read here on Side-Line. Lederman will also be teaming up with opera singer Diva Marisa Winter for a series of genre-bending tracks. Information on both releases will be announced soon.

Says Lederman of the label signing: “It’s a pleasure to work with COP International and I really look forward to exciting releases and synergies.”

Says COP International founder Christian Petke: “I first noticed Jean-Marc’s work when he did remixes for our artist Chiasm. Our mastering guy put it perfectly: ‘Every note had its place and the sound was perfect.’ After doing a bit of research, I had come to realize he’s an electronic music bedrock and came highly recommended by our in-house producer John Fryer who had worked with him on The Weathermen. After having a series of long conversations about life and music, it became obvious that we needed to work together. COP International is not just looking for raw talent, but also people that understand and embrace the culture of community that we are creating with the label. Jean-Marc is a perfect fit for that and we are incredibly excited to have him on board. We decided that we will create a band around his skill and talents deeply rooted in electronic music with a cinematic and epic feel. We found an exceptional vocalist in Diva Marisa Winter who is equally comfortable on a stage in the world of opera as she is belting it out in the pit of the Thunderdome at Burning Man and Wasteland. The first demo is on the way and it sounds incredible. He will also write a new album with Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) that allows both of them to explore a more tender/fragile side of their respective music. The first tracks are fantastic and we anticipate a release next year.”

From Fad Gadget to Front 242

Best known for his work with iconic alternative and industrial bands such as The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, Fad Gadget and The Weathermen, as well as collaborations with Front 242 and French rocker Alain Bashung, Lederman’s storied career has also included lush sonic compositions for both film and video games. Lederman’s recent scoring work can be heard on the 2017 full feature movie “Doubleplusonegood” and he was also second composer to Ramin Djawadi (“Games of Thrones,” “Westworld”) on a full feature.

Lederman has also released exclusive double CD/artbooks under the name Jean-Marc Lederman Experience (and with artwork by Erica Hinyot) in which he gathers singers from all over the music worlds to contribute voices to a common musical theme—the most recent including 13 Ghost Stories in 2019 and Letters To Gods (And Fallen Angels) in 2020.

He also worked together with Jean-Luc De Meyer from Front 242 in the Ledermann / De Meyer project which released 2 EP’s and a full album “Eleven grinding songs” on vinyl and limited 2CD.

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘Textbooks for Tomorrow’.

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: Post-punk, cold-wave, gothic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: The Venus Fly Trap is a British band that was originally set up by Alex Novak. The band is active since the late 80s and released multiple records. This album is a kind of ‘best of’, but also a look back to different side-projects Alex Novak has been involved with.

Content: Let’s begin with the 10 songs from The Venus Fly Trap. The sound belongs to the UK-80s scene revealing a cold-wave and somewhat post-punk approach. The raw guitar play and some melodic electronic arrangements are some of the main characteristics. Among the tracklist you’ll also discover cover versions from Suicide (cf. “Rocket USA”) and The Cramps (cf. “Human Fly”).   

The next part of the album brings us back to punk with Isaws, Religious Overdose, The Tempest, Attrition (Alex Novak contributed to the album “Smiling At the Hypogonder Club” (1985), Nova State Conspiracy, The Den and Spore.

+ + + : There’re always some cool songs featured at the The Venus Fly Trap albums so this ‘new’ compilation is for sure a good idea, but things are getting more interesting when getting back to the multiple side-projects and bands Alex Novak has been involved with. From the pretty cool punk formation Isaws to Religious Overdose and The Tempest this musician touched ground with different styles although all related genres. This album is an interesting discovery for 80s fans.

– – – : I’m not a huge fan of both aforementioned cover versions. I think these songs must be cool on stage, but can’t compete with the originals on CD.

Conclusion: This is an interesting retrospective from Alex Novak’s main band The Venus Fly Trap while the songs from the other bands he has been involved with is a cool bonus.

Best songs: “Achilles Heel”, “Morphine”, “Desolation Railway” + Isaws: “Standens” + Religious Overdose: “In This Century” + The Tempest: “Lady Left This”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.spiralarchive.com / www.facebook.com/thevenusflytrapuk

Label: www.facebook.com/glassrecordsoflondon

About The Venus Fly Trap

The Venus Fly Trap is the main band of British musician Alex Novak, active since the late 1980s. Novak also set up the independent record shop Spiral Archive Records in Northampton, UK, at the end of 1999, discussed in a Side-Line interview. “Mercurial 1978-2018”, reviewed here, followed the earlier compilation “Metamorphosis 1987-2010” and gathers material from Novak’s main band alongside his side-projects Isaws, Religious Overdose and The Tempest.

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

Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Fad Gadget, The The, Ghost & Writer, Lederman-Demeyer) has released a new release under the Jean-Marc Lederman Experience moniker. With this project he calls up singers from different niches and countries to write lyrics and sing them on a common theme. The end result is then being packaged in a 2CD 36 pages hardcover art book with artwork and pictures by Erica Hinyot.

2019 saw the release of “13 Ghost Stories”, and now he offers “Letters To Gods (and fallen angels)” including performances from 21 different singers, from the USA to Italy, Mexico or Wales. The concept this time is very topical in this strange reset time: “You can write a letter to a God, or a fallen angel. What do you say?”

This time, the artists are:

• Agi Taralas (Our Banshee, Greece)
• Emma Barson (Promenade Cinema, UK)
• Ghost & Writer with cello by Jo Quail (Germany/Belgium UK)
• Mari Kattman (Helix, USA)
• JP Aston with backing vocals by Julianne Regan (Gene Loves Jezebel/Wales All About Eve/UK
• Coline Wauters (Atome, Belgium)
• Christina Z (comics Witchblade writer, Magnesium Burn/USA)
• Das Vintage (Mexico)
• Lucia Fairfull (Lusca And The Best Boys/ Scotland)
• Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton/Germany)
• Hunter S. Thompson (Writer, USA)
• Elena Alice Fossi (Kirlian Camera/Stalingrad Valkyrie Italy)
• Tom Shear (Assemblage 23/ Helix USA)
• Mark Hockings (MESH/ UK)
• Jenna Fearon (USA)
• Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm/USA)
• Miriam Christina (The Other Side Of Who, 580 Miles/ Germany)
• Haydn Park-Patterson (The Ninth Wave/ Scotland)
• Rodney Orpheus (The Cassandra Complex/ EU)
• Louise Fraser (USA)
• Lis van den Akker (Holland)
• Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip/ Denmark)
• Friedrich Nietzsche (Patrimonia Universal de la Humanidad)
• With 3 novels by:
• Christina Z. (comics Witchblade writer, Magnesium Burn/USA)
• Ceratomia (USA)
• Philippe Genion (à;GRUMH /Belgium)

Check the previews below. Read the review of ‘Letters To Gods [And Fallen Angels]’.

For more on Jean-Marc Lederman, see COP International has announced the signing to their artist roster of… on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

To support Namenlos and BLA, two clubs/live venues in Bonn (GER) a sampler has been released to donate towards the the 2 clubs who face financial problems due to the corona crisis. The bands featured include Flesh Wire, Armageddon Dildos feat. Melting Rust Opera, Mona Mur, Mind Area and Melting Rust Opera.

Every track on the sampler was written before the corona crisis took place and are previously unreleased tracks.

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

Erasure are restarting the series of remastered and expanded album editions that started with “Wonderland”, “The Circus” and “The Innocents”. Available soon is a brand new 30th anniversary of “Wild!” which will be released in a deluxe 2CD hardback book package on March 29th next year.

The new edition features the original album, fully remastered, on one disc and then a selection of b-sides, remixes and rarities on the the other. Note that the second disc includes no less than five previously unreleased tracks (see below).

The tracklisting:

CD1
Piano Song – Instrumental / Blue Savannah / Drama! / How Many Times? / Star / La Gloria / You Surround Me / Brother and Sister / 2000 Miles / Crown Of Thorns / Piano Song

CD2
Sweet, Sweet Baby (The Moo Moo Mix) / Drama! (Richard Norris Mix) previously unreleased / Blue Savannah (Mark Saunders 12″ Mix) / Piano Song (Live at the London Arena) previously unreleased / Runaround On The Underground (Remix) / How Many Times? (Alternative Mix) previously unreleased / Supernature (Daniel Miller & Phil Legg Remix) / Star (Soul Mix) / No GDM (Unfinished Mix) / Drama! (Act 2) / Brother and Sister (Live at the London Arena) previously unreleased / Dreamlike State (7″ Acappella Mix) previously unreleased / You Surround Me (Gareth Jones Mix) / 91 Steps (6 Pianos Mix)

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

A few days ago Jean-Marc Lederman – the man who worked with numerous bands including Fad Gadget, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Front 242, Julianne Regan, Jacques Duvall and Alain Bashung – posted the above picture about him playing with The The. We asked Jean-Marc how that happened.

SL: How did Jean-Marc Lederman end up with The The at The The Marquee gigs in 1982?

JM: The year was 1982 and I was living in London, tired of the belgian music scene. I had moved there shortly after my service in the Belgian Army, gee talk about a waste of time (do you see me as good proctection against the Russians ? Case closed).

Matt had heard my EP “Statistics Mean Nothing When On The Wrong Plane” and he reached out to me through a mutual friend. He told me about the residencey gigs The The had planned 4 thurdays in a row at the Marquee, the legendary London club.

So, I went to a rehearsal and it was real anarchy: everybody banging on petrol tanks à la Einsturzende Neubauten. Jim Thirlwell was there, Zeke Manyaka was playing the drums and Thomas Leer was playing some synths. We both had a Roland Jupiter 4 so we ended up using his. I remember telling them to stop banging the drums and start working the songs…

SL: And how did the gigs itself go?

The gigs were well announced and The The was quite the talk in London so the place was really packed. I was very nervous, I hate playing live as this is definitively not one of my strong points, and waiting backstage was tense. We had a set cut in several parts with some guests. I was starting the show, we all head to wear balaclavas and an early version of “Giant” was the first song, if I recall correctly . Marc Almond was a guest on the first concert, and so was Richard Kirk from Cabaret Voltaire (or was it Malinder ? It’s so long ago…).

We had more or less the same set for the 4 thursday residency shows and it was a bit strange to have to come back to the same place but it was quite common in the UK for bands to have a serie of shows week in week out at the time apparently.

SL: So all in all, how would you describe it?

JM: A great experience. Next week, I’ll tell you how and when Matt and Johnny Marr beat me at soccer-table but I won a Depeche Mode silver disc in the process (laughs).

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘13 Ghost Stories’.

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

Kimmo Karjalainen got some recognition as member of [Active] Media Disease and Neuroactive. In 2007 he set up Huminoida and started to release his own music, which reveals an atypical synth-pop approach. Earlier this year he released the album “The Grey Area” revealing a quite eclectic electro-pop release carried by a strong lyrical content.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Kimmo, you gained some experience in music as member of [Active] Media Disease and Neuroactive. What did you learn and keep in mind from this experience with both bands and what incited you to set up Huminoida?

Kimmo: I have fond memories of both of those bands and I learned something about the recording  process and gigging also, but after all these years I think the camaraderie between band members is the thing that I value the most. There are some good points of making music together, and the times when everything clicks into place are just wonderful. But Neuroactive slowed down (we both had very time consuming jobs at that time), and I had always wanted to write and release my own stuff, so I eventually set up Huminoida.

Q: Huminoida was originally set up in 2007 as a duo. What have been the main facts in the band’s history and how does it feel to move on as a solo-project?

Kimmo: Yes, I was determined to set up this slightly skewed synth band (first single was an instrumental and the  B-side was carved by hand!), and AugM had his own record label (Plastic Passion) and some connections, so he joined in.

After a while it became clear that he really hadn’t time to contribute, so he left after two singles and I started to make the first full-length album which was released 2011. After that there were two EP’s and the second album “The Grey Area”, released in 2018. This kind of solo working suits me well, I love the  freedom of it.

Q: All Huminoida productions have been released on Out Of Range Records, which I think is your very own label. So in the end it all looks like you’re taking care of every single aspect of the production; from composition to recording to production to manufacturing… What does this D.I.Y. approach mean to you and why is it important?   

Kimmo: Well, maybe I’m just a control freak… 😉 I love the D.I.Y. aspect because it’s direct, fast and fun. Straight from the artist to the audience, there are no  middlemen filtering out the odd bits and telling what can or cannot be released. I’ve always loved records  where the artist’s personality shows through, and this is the way to do it. It’s also very fast and easy to  upload a new track to the net whenever you want.

The visual aspect is also an important part of the Huminoida releases. I like to make an effort to offer something extra with the music: paintings for the record sleeves, booklets, posters, little bits & pieces to make the whole package interesting. That’s the fun part, and I’m intrigued with the idea that the whole release is made by an artist including the artwork. (‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, like they used to say)

Q: What have been the main ideas you wanted to accomplish when starting the writing of the new album “The Grey Area”?

Kimmo: Musically “The Grey Area” is in the line of the other Huminoida releases. It’s varied, and I think a strong collection  of songs with nice pop tunes (“Just By Wishing”, “Beneath The Empty Skies”), harsher material (“Contradictator”, “Trying Times”, “Thoughts Like Insects”), plus the ‘difficult’ bits and some beautiful tracks also.

Lyrically it’s a whole different thing, it became clear very soon that this isn’t going to be a party record. I started the songwriting in 2015, and since then the news from the world and from my home country Finland haven’t been pleasant reading with all the hate-mongering, terrorism, wars, influx of refugees, racism, the relentless greed and short-sightedness of the business world and politicians. Not to mention the end of the world… It’s finally seeped into the common consciousness that this isn’t going to end well, and the problems  are so big that we can’t deal with them, or more likely don’t want to deal with them.

I wanted the lyrics reflect the anxiety of the the times, and I’m also venting my frustration and anger in these  lyrics. But I definitely wanted to avoid preaching or the ‘Fuck you fucking cunts’-type of argumentation,  because there’s enough moronic shouting on the Internet already. I think I managed to handle the difficult  topics well, and I’m happy with this set of lyrics, although they’re pretty heavy, depressive even.

Q: One of Huminoida’s main characteristics is the ‘atypical’ electro-pop approach. It’s hard to describe, but your music clearly is an antidote to all electro-pop clones and Depeche Mode copyists! Tell us a bit more about this ‘sound’ and ‘approach’?

Kimmo: Oh yes, I’ve had difficulties with this also…  I sometimes call it ‘uncomfortable synthpop’:)

The style of Huminoida is hard to describe mainly because it’s musically varied, there are some nice  synth-pop tunes, some beautiful tracks and then some dark, heavy stuff as well. To me it’s electronic music  mainly to listen to, there are the danceable tracks, but it’s not club-friendly at all. Lyrics are also an important part of Huminoida. This may sound odd, but I see myself more as a singer-songwriter than an electronic music  maker anyway.

When it comes to sounds I don’t have any rules. I’m a music lover and I’ve taken lot of influences from lot of  different genres, but naturally I try to maintain some degree of originality in the work. There has to be that ‘personal touch’, otherwise the whole thing pointless. (I don’t quite understand bands who want to copy  some other band exactly – there’s a tragic lack of ambition there.) So, I’m not so keen on following some current song writing style or ‘trend’ or imitate certain era in music. But I love those late 70’s / early  80’s synth sounds, and that’s why some Huminoida tracks have a very strong ‘retro’ feel.

Q: There’s a hiatus of 7 years between both Huminoida albums. How would you analyze your own evolution as musician from the “Whiter Album” towards “The Grey Area” and what brings the future?

Kimmo: Well, actually I don’t call myself a musician, because I’m not exactly a virtuoso.. I guess the new one is more refined soundwise, and the production/mixing is clearer (not too crisp or light though – I like my  synth-pop dark and heavy).

The future brings new records, next will be the “Autumn” and “Winter”-EP’s to complete the “Seasons” series. I’ve also thought of adding some other instruments along the synths to some tracks, trying some new tricks etc..  Lately I’ve had this growing urge to make some really insane, out-there release (in the same vein as the first hand-made single), but these are now just in my head, let’s see what comes out.

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

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)
Imagine David Lynch producing an offspring of The Jesus And Mary Chain and Radiohead with a touch of The Sisters Of Mercy – that’s the associations that dropped into my head when first listening to the new two track single ‘The Chaser’ from the Norwegian band The Ghostly Ravens. Jon Martens Holm (formely of Icon of Coil and The Pussyclub) was available for answering some questions on the release day:

Side-Line: How did this project start, and what have the band done so far?

Jon Martens Holm: The Ghostly Ravens started out in 2017 at Black Lodge studio in Fredrikstad, on a request to play the soundtrack to an art exhibition as a part of the installation at Rød Gård in Moss. Emil Nordbæk and me worked together on Emil’s psychedelia project, Marching Forest, and spent much time together in the studio making several instrumental sketches in a Lynch landscape.
Conrad Nilsen was brought into the project on bass, and The Ghostly Ravens was formed. I also play in the electro/post punk band The Sky´s Gone Out, and Emil is the front man in one of the finest psychedelia bands in Norway, Marching Forest.
We use a Roland D-5 as a drummer. Very easy to relate to 😉

A setlist of 12 songs was written in 2 weeks, for the exhibition and made the basis for the forthcoming album.

We started to record the album in December 2017, and have spent almost every day in the studio since then, playing around, trying to bring our influences together and form our own very unique sound. We narrowed the instruments down to an old Roland drum machine, modular synthesizers from my collection and mixed them with Emil’s guitars and vocals 60’s style and ended up somewhere between the 80’s and 90’s. Conrad has also major influences from the 80’s and 90’s.

S-L: Any plans ahead – releases or gigs?

JMH: Our plans for the future are as broad as our musical influences. Wanting to reach more than just the Norwegian underground, and looking towards Europe and the rest of the world. The music has a broad spectre of potential, taken the sound is both synth, 90’s brit pop, post punk, psychedelia and easy to like from a broad range of genres.
We are planning to pitch this to several booking agencies around the world and focus on a few selected major cities with potential crowds. The gigs we have done so far has been overwhelming in positive response, with a noticeable age variance in the audience, ranging from 16 to 70!
This is our first release from the forthcoming album due in September, and we’re very proud to present this quite extraordinary piece of work.

The Ghostly Ravens is part of the Velvet Electra Rec catalogue. A collective of cooperations between local artists, helping each other out in every aspect of production. MC Peko at Focus Studio is the the cover artist and photographer. He is not only featured here, but has made the music videos, done remixes and masters for Jon´s solo project The Sky´s Gone Out, both on the former release and his next.
Photographer and artist Vidar Kollstad also have an occasional role here.
– ‘The Chaser’ c/w ‘1995-1988’, release today
– The full album is due 15th of September

Listen and buy here:

http://listen.tidalhifi.com/album/91070070
https://itunes.apple.com/album/-/id1404413064

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

[By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange]

The Norwegian synth pop duo Electro Spectre releases their brand new single ‘The Way You Love’ today! The single is taken from their 5^th studio album ‘A Man-Made Sun’, announced to arrive in August 2018.

Hear the new single on Spotify now:

The band also invites all producers and remixers out there to a remix contest for the brand new single – go to http://electrospectre.net/remix/ for info and download of the the remix kit.

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

The English synthpop duo Soft Cell, consisting of Marc Almond and Dave Ball, have announced a farewell reunion concert. The concert is their first in 15 years and will take place at London’s O2 on September 30.

The final show is marking their 40th anniversary as a duo. Marc Almond: “With Soft Cell I always felt something was unfinished. This last ever final show will be the best ever ending. It will be a real statement and send off, and thank you to every fan.”

Tickets can be ordered right here starting tomorrow morning, if you want to book a hotel in London, check now (tip: you’ll get 10% cash back via this Booking.com link)!

Rumour has it that the ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’ concert will also be filmed for a later video release.

Soft Cell was initiated during 1977 after Almond and Ball met at Leeds Polytechnic. The same year they releases a self-financed EP, “Mutant Moments”, which caught the interest of record labels such as Mute Records and Some Bizzare Records.

Not surprisingly Soft Cell’s next recording, “The Girl with the Patent Leather Face”, appeared as a contribution to the “Some Bizzare Album”, which featured then-unknown bands such as Depeche Mode, The The, and Blancmange. The duo ultimately signed to the Some Bizzare label, backed by Phonogram Records. And the rest is history!

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: Industrial, electro.

Background/Info: Droid Sector Decay once started as a solo-project and became a trio throughout the years. They have already released a considerable number of releases, which were mainly edited by Werkstatt Recordings. Underground Industrial Records is a subdivision of Werkstatt (Netlabel) on, which they also released a number of productions.

Content: This EP reveals 6 tracks, which are pretty eclectic although dominated by a mix of industrial sounds and electronic structures. From heavy crashes to EBM sequences and solid bass lines, the work sounds raw and somewhat unpolished. I noticed some female spoken-like samplings and male vocal parts.

+ + + : The industrial side is quite fascinating for awakening some good-old souvenirs of the 80s industrial era. But it’s much more than simply emulation and rather sounds as early industrial music composed with contemporary instruments and techniques. I also enjoyed the EBM flavor emerging at the surface on a few cuts while the vocals also  add the the accomplishment of the work.

– – – : I guess the raw and unpolished production has been intentional, creating this old-school effect although I think it would have been interesting to get a more professional production and mix. The cuts are somewhat monotonous after a while.

Conclusion: Droid Sector Decay doesn’t feature innovative elements, but it’s the kind of record that will possibly appeal for lovers of early industrial music. The EBM element is an interesting little bonus.

Best songs: “Near-Death Experience”.

Rate: (6½).

Band: www.facebook.com/DroidSectorDecayofficial

Label: www.facebook.com/UndergroundIndustrialRecordsofficial

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