London-based musician and composer Ian Williams has released his latest work, “Le Mystère Lucie (Dossier Secret)”, today, July 25. You can download it from Bandcamp.

This album serves as a companion piece to the soundtrack for the 2023 French documentary “Le Mystère Lucie (Des Espions Contre Le Nazisme)” / “Codename Lucy (Spies Against Nazism)”.

“Le Mystère Lucie (Dossier Secret)” features compositions originally intended for the documentary but not included in the final 52-minute TV broadcast, which was initially conceived as a 75-minute film.

The documentary, directed by Éric Michel and Jacques Matthey, explores the pivotal role of a Swiss-based spy network in the Allied victory during World War II. A spy network led by the Swiss-based Jewish communist Sándor Radó was instrumental in precipitating the victory of the Allies during the Second World War.

Radó received confidential strategic information from the highest levels of the Nazi state and in particular from the HQ of the German army via Rudolf Roessler, a deeply anti-Nazi Christian who he never actually met. Roessler, codenamed Lucie because he was based in Lucerne, received his information from German supporters of the resistance, aided by notable members of certain industrial circles.

Here’s “Le Mystère Lucie (Des Espions Contre Le Nazisme)” as available on Bandcamp.

About Ian Williams

Ian Williams began his music career in Edinburgh in the mid-1980s as a founder of Beautiful Pea Green Boat. He later collaborated with Lebanese choreographer Joumana Mourad and her contemporary dance company Ijad, blending Arabic, classical, techno, and ambient styles. Williams has also worked with singer Claudia Barton in the duo Gamine, producing two albums of dark, piano-led torch songs and lullabies.

His solo releases include:

• “The Dream Extortionists” (2019): A debut album of dark piano and electronics.
• “Les Blessures Invisibles” (2019): An eclectic electronic soundtrack for another documentary by Eric Michel.
• “All Becomes Desert” (2021): An album of minimalist ambiences and warm analogue soundscapes.
• “Slow-Motion Apocalypse” (2023*: Described by Electronic Sound magazine as “designed to sound as if it’s on the edge of orgasm or violence,” likened to works by Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, and Jean-Michel Jarre.

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 ZYX now is the Kirlian Camera mini LP “Communicate 40th Anniversary 2023 Remixes” (in orange). This special vinyl re-release of one of the earliest Kirlian Camera classics, was actually released already some months ago, but has not been talked about yet on Side-Line or on many other websites. It’s actually thanks to Sebastian Koch from Audioglobe that we picked this up now.

Originally released on Memory Records in 1983, “Communicate” was the first ever single by Kirlian Camera. At that time, Kirlian Camera had already 2 albums, and “Communicate” was the opening track of their second album “It doesn’t matter, now”. Angelo Bergamini’s project was a mixture of darkwave and Italo Disco in those days. The original 12″ was followed shortly after by a 12″ of another project, that involved Angelo Bergamini: Hipnosis with the now legendary “Pulsar” 12” (a track originally by Vangelis), which turned out to be a world-wide megahit.

Kirlian Camera revisits Italo Disco roots

This new edition features both original extended versions of the track, plus two brand new remixes by two main players of the so called Italo-Disco-scene: Flemming Dalum (a Danish artist, DJ, musician and producer) and Vanzetti & Sacco DJ (a Dutch Duo).

Below is an outtake from the release.

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 Jane Fotou) Greek post-punk, darkwave, and dark rock band Lefki Symphonia has announced the release of their sixth album, “Anthi Tis Siopis / Blossoms of Silence”, featuring ten new songs. Formed in 1984 in Athens, the band has released four albums, appeared in numerous compilations, and toured Greece, Spain, Romania, and Germany during their active years from 1986 to 2000.

The lyrics were penned by Theodoros Dimitriou, with “Fthinoporo” featuring poetry by Napoleon Lapathiotis and “Se Ena Filo” featuring poetry by Maria Polidouri. The music was composed by Theodoros Dimitriou, with “Anthi Tis Siopis” and “Kathe Apoheretismos” co-composed by Diogenis Chatzistefanidis. The album was arranged by Lefki Symphonia.

Lefki Symphonia comprises Theodoros Dimitriou (vocals), Kostas Mihalos (guitar), Diogenis Chatzistefanidis (bass), and Vangelis Tsimplakis (drums). The album was recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced by hector.d, with cover and artwork designed by Melanie Merges-Dimitriou.

The album is set to be released on April 28th in limited-edition white vinyl by Labyrinth of Thoughts Records and The Lab Records. A new video for the song “Anthi Tis Siopis / Blossoms of Silence” has been created by Melanie Merges-Dimitriou and is available for viewing on YouTube.

About Lefki Symphonia

Lefki Symphonia’s first album, “Mistiki Kipi / Secret Gardens”, was released in April 1986 through EMI. The band became the first Greek act to appear on MTV in 1988 with the song “Kitazontas Piso / Looking Back”. Over the years, they released several albums and singles, including the fifth album “San Ton Ilio / Like The Sun”, which was released on April 10th, 2020.

The new single and video for the song “Mi Zisis Mataia / Don΄t Live In Vain” were released on March 15th, 2023. The sixth album, “Anthi Tis Siopis / Blossoms of Silence,” is due for release on April 28th, 2023, by Labyrinth of Thoughts Records and The Lab Records.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Cinematic.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl, Cassette.

Background/Info: Hailing from The Netherlands, Nortfalke has released several productions in a rather short lapse of time. “Seefonktjúenderee” was originally released in 2021 but later on released in different formats.

Content: The sound has been defined as ‘dungeon synth’ which makes sense but I personally experience as pure Cinematic music with a true dark edge. The 3 extended pieces create an abyssal sensation, the sound being a dark wink to Ambient pioneers like Vangelis and Tangerine Dream.

+ + + : I like the contrast between the evasive sensation of the production on one side and the darker touch on the other. There’s something malefic hiding behind this work which also accentuates the visual strength.

– – – : The tracks are maybe a little bit too extended.

Conclusion: Nortfalke brings the listener into a strange world of fantasy.

Best songs:  “Seefonktjúenderee”, “Yn it schymenryk”

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100040874921527

Label: www.facebook.com/dunkelheitprod

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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Out now via the Black Pill Red Pill label is the newest single and video for Angelspit/Ice Planet 9000: “The Planetoid”. “The Planetoid” will be part of a compilation to be released on Bandcamp in 2023.

Inspired by 70’s science fiction, Jean Michel Jarre, Jodorowsky, Klaus Schulze, Chris Foss, Lovecraft and Vangelis it conjures images of solar winds echoing off an icy planetoid in a forgotten corner of the Universe. The video for the track is inspired by 80’s sci-fi and video games.

Zoog Von Rock explains the concept: “This five-and-a-half-minute instrumental is a homage to 80s sci-fi. We only used synths available in the 80s (E-mu Emax, Jupiter 8, Modular synth, ARP 2500, MiniMoog, SCI Prophet 5, Yamaha CS-80). We wanted to create something that was reminiscent of a childhood full of wonder and Saturday matinee science fiction. This track follows on from the concept of the “Sequence 1: Glass Jar” album, exploring a frozen planetoid hidden in a nebula surrounded by a ring of ice asteroids.”

Here’s the video for the track.

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 Michaela Olexova) A year on from the release of his debut album, “Insubstantial As Ghosts”, the London based experimental electronic artist BArTc is to issue a seven track companion piece entitled “Ghosts” tomorrow.

His debut album, “Insubstantial As Ghosts”, plus much of his brand new companion piece “Ghosts” were recorded in early 2021 while the UK was in lockdown. ICR label owner Colin Potter, himself a well known figure in the experimental genre as a member of Nurse With Wound and sound engineer, heard some of Barton’s work and offered to release it, handpicking several of the tracks that subsequently appeared on the debut and mastering both that album and “Ghosts”.

“Ghosts” features two reworked tracks from the project’s debut (“Energy Field [long]” and “Malleus Incuss Tapes [inner ear mix]”), plus five further pieces recorded around the same period. “Ghosts” mixes layers of analogue synth, dark ambient drones and experimental work combined with field recordings.

The release was mastered by ICR owner and Nurse With Wound member Colin Potter and is available digitally via bandcamp and in a very limited Bartefact edition with handmade and numbered artwork from tomorrow on.

Here’s the video for “Energy Field [long]”.

About BArTc

BArTc is London based experimental electronic audio visual artist Jason Barton. BArTc is comprised of the symbols for three chemical elements – Boron (B), Argon (Ar) and Technetium (Tc) – while also giving nods to both Hungarian composer Béla Bartók and his own surname.

Initially inspired by instrumental electronic records in his father’s record collection by Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre, Barton gravitated towards underground industrial icons such as Coil, Einstürzende Neubauten, Chris & Cosey and Skinny Puppy while in his teens, before digging deeper into the work of early German electronicists such as Cluster, Musique concrète pioneers Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, plus the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. He cites sound recordist (and Cabaret Voltaire co-founder) Chris Watson as a key influence.

Having collected synthesisers and made music (both alone and with friends) for several years, Barton subsequently started the project Less Than One to create accompanying videos that he began posting on Instagram. It has led to commissions from the likes of Daniel Avery and Alessandro Cortini.

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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I already interviewed BySenses four years ago right after the release of the third album “People”. This Belgian solo-project driven by Didier Dewachtere took me by surprise dealing with an intelligent Electro-Ambient style which is clearly inspired by the ‘Berliner School’. The artist this year self-released his fifth opus “MonoCHROOM” on which he confirmed to have a talent for sophisticated Ambient music. This is an album appealing for fans of Tangerine Dream but more than simply an emulation BySenses is a project with an own approach and a fascinating sound.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Tell us a bit more about your musical background and roots? How did you finally come to set up BySenses? 

Didier:As a little boy, at home I was mainly brought into contact with French chansons, Charles Aznavour or American artists, such as Nat King Cole, Dean Martin or Orchestral melodic music. The time on the radio is still in my head today, and yes, I did like that. As a child, you develop naturally and you end up in your own world. A world of New-Wave, Front 242, The Neon Judgement, Simple Minds etc… New-Wave pubs were the place where a lot of my music started. In Ghent, there was no shortage of such nice bars either, The Fifty Five for instance. 

At one point I heard the opening tune “Equinoxe 5” by Jean-Michel Jarre on the “Musique de France” broadcast on the radio, presented by Zaki, father of, father of the Soulwax-brothers. It was a bit of a surprise, because the opening tune really didn’t match the French chansons that were presented, but it was a start. “Equinoxe 5” did catch my attention. I went looking for that music and finally bought the single. Later, the LP-version was added, so my parents were obliged to buy me a record player. But actually, my first distant contact with Electronic music was at the Bargee’s institute in Wetteren, where the catholic brother played Vangelis’ music at night, while the lights were off… very special, but I think that has stuck. He then played “To The Unknown Man”. It was only when I bought “Spiral” that I recognized it.

In Sluis (Holland) I came across an album with a purple background and a big X sign. I didn’t know what and who it was, but I had the album played on the turntable in that shop. I was overwhelmed. After a long time of sawing, my parents let me buy it… and then the purchase of many albums by Klaus Schulze.

Also the album “Live” came up and if it would just happen that the song “Sense” is on it and that’s how I came to the name BySenses. I thought it was a nice pun on one of my great examples

Q: Your work is clearly inspired by Ambient music. Does this label fit with what you’re doing and what means Ambient music to you? 

Didier: I can imagine that people place my music in that genre. Just putting together different sounds, looking for a setting, atmosphere is very important to me. Music has to be able to take you along, whether it’s Rock, Jazz, Hard-Rock or House or Classical music, if it takes you along, I think you’re on the right track. 

You can’t compare Klaus Schulze’s music with VANGELIS’ music. These are two different environments, two different atmospheres, two different worlds. Where Vangelis mainly feeds on his fantastic melodies, Klaus Schulze feeds more on his Soundscapes, composer of different tones, sounds. I find that an incredible thing. Am I influenced by it, certainly, and that’s no problem, they will have been influenced by other artists as well. “Le Grand Petit”, from the digital album “5 Jours De Liberté” tends much more towards the melodic, while on the same album there are pieces where I try to create an atmosphere with pure sounds. It’s the same on “MonoCHROOM”. The album “People” tends more towards sequencer work and more Techno-like rhythms. 

Q: You already mentioned Klaus Schulze and Vangelis who both passed away quite recently. You already talked about it but in which way do you feel connected with their work and what made both artists and their work that special? 

Didier: It is indeed terrible, Electronic music is losing its founding fathers. Let’s not forget Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream.

Both are absolute founding fathers of Electronic music, each in their style the synthesizer was used in a totally different way. 

Klaus Schulze in his own style took me into his environment, the build-up, his build-down, his sounds… “Dune” is the biggest example for me, a song that carries me away in all its facets. I feel the same way about Brian Eno’s “Dune”-melody. If you play Frank Herbert from the album “X”, you get sucked into his own way of sequencing. Tangerine Dream on “Rubicon” or “Stratosfear” and “Ricochet” give me that same feeling.

Vangelis, also in his own style, takes me into his melodic music. He manages to play every note in the right way, less experimental, more in the sense of ‘ Here I am, here I present you something to accompany me in my journey through this album’. For a man who hasn’t learned a note and wins an Oscar… hats off. “To The Unknown Man” is a great example of how he manages to change the melody in one song.

To me, both are pioneers of the highest level, both can be placed next to great composers such as Mozart, Beethoven…

Q: Over now to your own work and the newest opus “MonoCHROOM”. How did this work took shape and what kind of album did you want to achieve?

Didier: “MonoCHROOM” has a small history. When I was at boarding school in Wetteren, an educator told me: ‘There are people who only like one colour. White or black’. He gave it a name. I had forgotten that name and actually spent a long time looking for it. A friend of mine, I think it was Johan Depaepe from Owann, my friend in “The Tower Tree”, told me that it might be that word. “MonoCHROOM” was born.

At first I had in mind to make pieces that were separate from each other again, but more and more the album grew into one big whole. Had I been able to make one 60-minute song, I might have done so. But I still wanted to see the differences between black and white and other colors. That’s why the cover is black and white and the inside is colored balls of different sizes (an idea of Alain Wymeels of Midician by the way). 

When the album was OK for me… the music goes to the mastering man, Dries De Vreeze. A man who regularly puts me in my place, in the positive sense of course… but he gives it an extra dimension through his mixing and mastering. I can only be grateful to him for the additions he makes.

I wanted to release an album that pushed the monotony aside, and made it like a multi-color festival. There is more than one color in your life, and when you open the book (the CD cover), you see the diversity. It’s the same in everyday life. 

Q: Your albums are always composed around a theme or should I say conceptual theme, which is not that different for “MonoCHROOM”. Does the theme and/or concept become the main inspiration to compose your music or how does it happen? And how do you transpose ideas/concepts into notes and songs? 

Didier: I like to talk about one subject, because that is what I can focus on best. I then try to further develop the project, the idea. Maybe in the future I will try to make a story CD, spread over several CDs. 

In “Monos” (cf. the first track), I wanted to bring out the monotony of color by working very hard on a light build-up, repetitive song, which eventually ends in an uptempo. The Industrial beginning points to how hard it must be to enjoy only one color. “Monos” means one color. 

“Chroom” means more colors, which makes me start more rhythmically. I also wanted to add another instrument. I had seen Peter Moorkens playing his experimental guitar solos when we were in Ghent for the Sonic Emissions concert. At the Antenna Festival in Evergem I saw him working on his modular systems and thought, maybe we should do something together. Peter immediately liked the idea of playing guitar on “Chroom”. Because of this mixture, I think that the diversity has come out well. 

Most of the ideas grow bit by bit. The melody lines are sometimes done in one night. The rhythmic piece on “Monos”, the solo, was recorded in one take. I like that. You’re in the zone, and … then it comes anyway… 

Q: What did you try to express by live performances and how do you transpose the songs on stage?

Didier:I try to draw people into the story. Since live performances are a bit monotonous for EM musicians, we usually bring in some film, so that the movements are more pleasant than watching one person behind a battery of synthesizers. I find film very important in EM. Once I asked Johan De Paepe (Owann) at the concert in Ghent, Sonic Emission 1, when “People” came out, to take pictures of the people who were there. These were then incorporated into the film, directly, and put on the screen. That clicked well, because the CD “People” had just come out and you’re bringing people live. You can imagine that the people who suddenly saw their faces on the screen were shocked, and they liked that. Involving the audience, I find that very important.

I also try to adapt the songs, so that we don’t get the feeling that we are playing a play button. It goes without saying that I can’t manipulate all synthesizers with two hands. Some sequencers and samples are recorded beforehand… the PC is therefore the replacement of the old tape recorders that used to be on stage during live performances.

On Youtube, a 45-minute film called “45 Minutes De Liberté” is circulating, a precursor to the digital CD 5 “Jours De liberté”. There you can also see a film during my concert. 

I am very happy when people say to me after the concert, ‘we enjoyed it’. I think that is the intention of all artists.

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

Originally released as download only on March 31, 2022, Maschine Brennt is to release the CD version of “Grief” at the end of July. The album is the follow-up to last year’s “Puls” album.

Maschine Brennt is the one-man project by Swedish musician Joacim Thenander (formerly one of the founders of Cultivated Bimbo). While the project’s earlier releases offer mainly minimal electro/machine-pop “Grief” is a conceptual, very atmospheric piece of work offering more classic-ambient oriented music with elements of the Berlin school electro and experimental electronic music. You can easily say it’s a mix between Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, Vangelis.

This album was conceived as a kind of bitter soundtrack to our current reality including alienation, pandemics, war conflicts, political confrontations etc.. In addition, one of the inspirations for “Grief” was a photo exhibition by Russian photographer Pavel Otdelnov, dedicated to the “industrial beauty” of a chemical plant in Dzerzhinsk.

The “physical CD-version” contains two bonus tracks compared to the download release, “Ice” and “Last”, and is released as an ultra-limited edition of 150 hand-numbered copies.

Check out “Isolation”.

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 Greek musician and composer of electronic Vangelis is no more, he died on 17 May 2022, aged 79, at a hospital in France while receiving treatment for COVID-19.

Vangelis, or Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou as his real name was, was best known for his score to “Chariots of Fire” (1981), as well as for composing scores to the films “Blade Runner” (1982), “Missing” (1982), “Antarctica” (1983), “The Bounty” (1984), “1492: Conquest of Paradise” (1992), and “Alexander” (2004).

Vangelis began his career working with several pop bands of the 1960s such as The Forminx and Aphrodite’s Child. Throughout the 1970s, Vangelis composed scores for several animal documentaries, including “L’Apocalypse des Animaux”, “La Fête sauvage” and “Opéra sauvage”.

In 1975 he set up his new 16-track studio, Nemo Studios in London and by the early 1980s, Vangelis formed a musical partnership with Jon Anderson, the lead singer of progressive rock band Yes, and the duo released several albums together as Jon & Vangelis.

Vangelis composed (and performed on) more than 50 albums.

Below are some of his best-known tunes.

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 Jan Fotou) The new official video from the Greek post-punk act Lefki Symphonia, for the song “Me Mia Kravgi / With a Scream” is out now. The track originally appears on the band’s album “San ton ilio / Like the sun”. The video was shot and directed by Melanie Merges-Dimitriou.

Formed in February 1984 in Athens, Greece, Lefki Symphonia consists of Theodoros Dimitriou(vocals), Kostas Mihalos (guitar), Diogenis Chatzistefanidis(bass) and Vangelis Tsimplakis(drums).

Here’s the video for “Me Mia Kravgi / With a Scream”.

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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Tony D’Oporto aka ‘The Gnome’ (involved with Suffering For Kisses, Crisis Actor…) and Mark Spybey (ex-Zoviet France and involved with projects like Dead Voices On Air, Beehatch, Solaris…) started working together in 2009. Albums got released on Tourette Records and Crime League. It took them seven years to release their seventh album “The Seventh Seal”. This work released by Ant-Zen is mixing elements of Ambient-, Minimal-Electronic and Cinematographic music together. It also sounds as the most accomplished work by the duo; an accessible Experimental production, but also a visionary Ambient work. I got in touch with both protagonists.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: By the exception of the compilation “Collective” released in 2019, “The Seventh Seal” is your first new studio album in seven years. How do you explain this hiatus and what incited and inspired you to work on new stuff together?

Mark: I wasn’t really aware of the hiatus to be honest, we are not a typical band, whatever that may mean! We just do things, usually when the Gnome asks me to do something. Gnome sends me music and I listen to it and respond. I’m not a fan of concepts, so for me this project is all about making music together with a friend. Sometimes Tony will say something to me like, ‘more vocals,’ or ‘no drums.’ He’s a Gnome of few words. I like the music that Tony sends to me, I like the fact that it is minimal, compact and well composed. It gives me a free hand to add sounds, to edit and when the mood takes me to add words. In this case, the mood took me and I likely did more vocals than usual. I feel like I need to act with a careful hand working with Tony’s sounds because they sound pretty perfect.

Tony: Both Mark and I have other projects going on that keep us quite busy. As he said, we are not really a band nor do we stick to any format. This music just kind of happens… as it has from the first song we wrote together.

Q: What’s the link between the title of the album and the legendary movie by Ingmar Bergman “The Seventh Seal”? Can you tell us a bit more about the ideas and lyrical content hiding behind this work?

Mark: There isn’t really that much of a link I’m afraid. It’s our seventh album. When I started to think of a sleeve I remembered the classic image from the Bergman film and thought we might try and recreate it. It didn’t happen! Actually, I think the title more likely came from a song by Aphrodites Child, “The Four Horsemen”, a song I love from the early 70’s that featured the unlikely pairing of Demis Roussos and Vangelis.

We recorded this during the height of the first lockdown, so my thoughts were perhaps inspired somewhat by that time. Likely represented best with the song title, “Cancel Your Tomorrows.” I think the principle source of anxiety for me during that time was the ‘I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow’, kind of feeling. Thankfully that didn’t stay around for too long before it was replaced by a ‘I know what is going to happen, because the Politicians are going to make a huge mess that will take forever and a day to clean up.’

I also think there is a glimmer of optimism in the lyrics too. “To Be The Sun In Flight”, for example is likely as close as I have got to writing a happy song. I’m a generally happy person I should add. I love colour, flowers, birds and the sun.

Q: The album has been introduced as ‘a departure from your previous work’. Do you recognize this departure and is it rather intentional or just a natural process/evolution? What makes this album different from previous productions?

Mark: I think it is a departure, but only because it features more ‘songs with words.’ I was also influenced by the choice of equipment I had. I’d bought a few really nice vocal processors that I have chained together, which I used to create double voices and harmonies. That was a bit of a breakthrough moment for me.

Q. I personally experienced “The Seventh Seal” as a true accomplishment; kind of visionary Ambient-Electro. How do you consider this work and what kind of album did you want to compose? How do you perceive Gnome & Spybey as a music project –and especially compared to your other music projects?

Mark: Thank you, that’s most kind of you. I do feel proud of this release. I think it stands tall, taller than the Gnome anyway! I think it plays well as an album, there’s a flow to it. I also think that there are about three songs on it that I’d consider to be some of our best work.

As I said earlier, maybe one of the advantages of this project is that it isn’t really governed by needs or rules. We don’t need to make more records, we likely will. We don’t have to play live, I hope we will. We don’t have to cater to a label’s demands and we don’t really know what the audience needs or wants. We don’t necessarily like the same kind of music. We’re different and tolerant enough to create and manage a bit of tension when it comes round to making music together. I think that helps. I’m only involved in 2 or 3 projects like this, that have a number of releases and a shared history and most seem to work in a similar way. We initiate contact when we want or need to and don’t really have a plan. That’s how I like it.

Tony: Mostly everything I do has a very conventional format. I am a big fan of structure. Working with Mark gives me a chance to step out of that box and do something a little more experimental. We both come from totally different perspectives and influences when it comes to music. I think this makes for an interesting combination.

Q: What’s your way of composing music together? Who’s doing what and what are the different stages to achieve an album?

Mark: As I said earlier Tony sends me some tracks, as separated stems. I listen, sometimes edit and usually add other sounds. If the music calls for vocals I’ll write some lyrics, or sing along until I have a melody. Often I’ll make up lyrics on the fly that are pretty rubbish, record them and then re-write them, if you get my drift. I am not sure I can recall if Tony has ever gone  on to rework my ‘finished,’ songs but I do know he will occasionally suggest changes. Sometimes that can go on a bit!

I also think mastering is really important, and we always use the same guy now, my friend Anatoly Grinberg from Moscow. He’s really got a very good ear. Sometimes Tony and I agree to disagree. He might like some songs more than me and vice versa. Usually I feel pretty good about that. At the end of the day, we’re in the game of creating something as a duo and I’m happy to make compromises. Usually! Working for andwith Ant-Zen has also added something too. They have such a strong visual and graphic identity as a label.

Tony: I usually just doodle and come up with weird sounds and/or melodic riffs. I’ll put together some sort of song structure with it then send it over to Mark to complete. It’s gone that way most of the time. He usually takes quite a bit of time, so when he finishes it I generally do not even remember what I did anymore!

Q: What makes the chemistry between both of you? And what do you especially like in each other’s work and approach in composing music?

Mark: Fear and loathing in equal measures. No, I’m joking, it’s actually care and respect. I care for Tony and respect his work. We’ve had a few adventures together and we’ve maintained our friendship despite the fact that it must be nearly 10 years ago since we last saw each other in person. He may have grown a little since then. I’ve certainly grown older.

Tony’s work is for me an important reminder that there is infinite possibility in making the most of limited resources. That’s been a kind of mantra of mine over the years. I appropriate sources, I am not a slave to technology. I’m not interested in wires and buttons. I just make the most of whatever is at hand.

Tony’s compositions are clear and defined. I love his sense of tonality and his ability to ‘paint’ something using as few brush strokes as possible. I think that this is his gift, and I am not sure I know of too many other people who can do this. He’s a minimal composer and I regard that as a great compliment.

Tony: Mark is the only person I have ever had a successful long term collaboration with. In general, I like doing things on my own and directing other people what to do.

I think the way we compose music together over long periods of time, from a distance with very little fuss is what makes it work. We do not need to discuss it much. Like previously stated, it just sort of happens…

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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Premiering now on Side-Line is The Rain Within’s “Forward in Reverse”, a track which is influenced by the horror films Andy Deane loved as a kid: “It is driven by repetitious, haunting melodies that call back spiritually to themes from the films of Argento, Fulci, and Carpenter. Lyrically, it’s about trying to mend your heart and move forward before the weight of the world kills you.”

“Forward in Reverse” is taken off The Rain Within’s new album “Horrorshow” due out October 5th on Negative Gain.

The Rain Within’s sound is influenced by various bands, from the cold synthesizers of John Carpenter and Vangelis to the catchy pop structures of The Psychedelic Furs and Depeche Mode. Add to that of course well placed dance beats.

Here’s the new single, you can also stream / download it here.

About The Rain Within

After 2 self-released EPs, The Rain Within met up with Negative Gain Productions at a performance in LA on their first US tour. A first full-length album, “Dark Drive”, was released followed by “Atomic Eyes” which landed The Rain Within a slot on a nationwide tour with VNV Nation.

“Horrorshow” is the latest release for The Rain Within and is said to be their most aggressive and ambitious work to date.

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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BArTc is a London based experimental electronic one-man project (Jason Barton). Out in September is the project’s debut full length “Insubstantial As Ghosts” containing 14 dark atmospheric soundscapes. ICR owner Colin Potter, himself a well known figure in the experimental genre as a member of Nurse With Wound and sound engineer, heard some of Barton’s work and offered to release it. He has handpicked several of the pieces included on “Insubstantial As Ghosts” and also mastered the album.

Initially inspired by instrumental electronic records in his father’s record collection by titans such as Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre, Barton soon gravitated towards underground industrial icons such as Coil, Einstürzende Neubauten, Chris & Cosey and Skinny Puppy, as well as digging deeper into the work of early German electronicists such as Cluster, Musique concrète pioneers Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, plus the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Barton has cited sound recordist (and Cabaret Voltaire co-founder) Chris Watson as another influence, adding: “I have always loved environmental sounds and often carry a field recorder on my travels which I use to create texture in my pieces. I build layers to create something abstract yet strangely beautiful, mixing source material, organic and experimental sounds plus field recordings that are heavily distorted with various effects. For me, creating music is a form of meditation, and to lose oneself in an improvisation is a wonderful experience. I just need to remember to hit record!”

Much of “Insubstantial As Ghosts” was recorded in January 2021 while the UK was in lockdown. Barton: “I participated in an annual Instagram music making challenge, where artists post a short piece of music every day using the hashtag #jamuary2021. Recording my contributions at the same time every evening (22:23), I amassed many minutes of music and ideas. Some of these were expanded to become tracks for the album or inspired further recordings through the dark winter nights.”

Check out the 3rd track on the album: “Malleus Incuss Tapes”

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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Drifting In Silence was formed in 2003 by Derrick Stembridge. Out now is the new album, “False Awakening”. It was released on Secret Press, a self-proclaimed nomadic record label home to a variety of ambient artists. On the release the band you get a deep contemplation of Carl Jung’s dream theories. The Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst wrote that art expression and images found in dreams could help recover from trauma and emotional distress.

Across the album, the rhythmic collage of field recordings and synthesizer pads lay the foundation for meditative strains of piano and guitar. Vangelis, Robert Rich or Max Richter come really in the neighborhood listening to the material.

“False Awakening” is available on CD and cassette as well as digital download.

Here’s the video for “False Awakening”.

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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(Photos by Tori Lind) Out since last month and now available on Bandcamp and all other platforms including Spotify is the full length debut album by the electronica wave / ambient act Lights A.M, the brainchild of Norwegian musician Erlend Eilertsen we know from the electro rock act Essence Of Mind. The conceptual full length album “Stories Without Words” comes after the release of 3 EPs back in 2019 and 2020: “Shine Our Lights” (2019, and re-released with bonus tracks in 2020), “Surrender & Evolve” (2020) and “Agnes” (2020).

The instrumental 10-track offers a mix of meditative soundscapes, heartwarming hymns and melancholic melodic layers, something which we actually also could hear in the electronic layers Eilertsen added in his Essence Of Mind work.

The Norwegian artist is going very deep here, digging into his emotions and intimate moments as our interview will show. Timeless electronic music from the Nordics.

We hailed Norway, and caught Erlend in his studio. You can check out the album below whilst reading the rest.

SL: How are things in Sandvika?

EE: Here in Sandvika (20 kilometer outside Oslo), it is all good, apart from the ongoing pandemic which does put it’s mark here as well. That said, it hasn’t had that much impact on my daily life apart from not being able to play live and attend some concerts. I do miss those and other opportunities, like being more social and traveling. But in the end I really can’t complain, cause the impact it has on a lot other people’s life is far more severe.

I can’t wait for it all to be over though, it’s really sad to see how many people are struggling in many different ways, and that we can’t remove all the current restrictions.

SL: Lights A.M seems a really good way to pass a good time in confinement, it’s very tranquilizing, I guess it had the same effect on you?

EE: Funny you should mention that (laughs). It does, but all the tracks I have released so far have been written before the outbreak last year actually, so just wait to see what comes next! Joke aside, it does fit the current situation in a way, but it’s more a reflection of me personally, and how I evolve as a person, and music is my therapy. I really enjoy making soundscapes, it’s almost meditative in its own way. I tend to think that the scares and frustrations I needed to scream out before is done. Now it’s time to heal the wounds, and for me the best way is to slow down.

SL: Is this a project that has been boiling in your head for while? What was the click to start recording it?

EE: Yes it is, you are correct. Back in late 2016 I found myself doing some more cinematic and slower instrumental tracks all of a sudden, and I really enjoyed doing things differently than before. So I got really creative, more than I had been in a long time. So it just happened more or less.

It did take some time to figure out what do with the new tracks though, as I felt it could not be interpreted into Essence Of Mind without doing a radical change in style. I also wanted to do something new again, back to start in way, so I started this new chapter in my life, with total creative freedom.

Another thing I quickly realized is that writing instrumental tracks is very deliberating in the way that the music tells the story itself. I often find words limiting, and to have another way of telling a story is something I really appreciate.

Take the track «Agnes» for example; a track I wrote as a tribute to our beloved Griffon dog which had been a big part of our lives for almost 16 years at that time. I really don’t think I could have made a track about her with words to express my feelings for her. I feel that the track itself channel the love and gratitude I feel for her in a way not possible with written words.

I also believe that the listener experience the tracks in a more personal way as well, as everything is more open to each own interpretation, so the listener is a part of making the story. Making an album called “Stories Without Words” really made sense to me.

SL: It has the melodic twist we also find back in Essence Of Mind but with synth layers that remind us a lot of Vangelis. I guess he was one of the main inspirations musically speaking?

EE: One of many, but a big inspiration of course. The 70’s and 80’s have a lot of amazing instrumental electronic music. Another thing I quickly realized is that writing instrumental tracks is very deliberating in the way that the music tells the story itself. I often find words limiting, and to have another way of telling a story is something I really appreciate.

SL: The music instantly also reminds of that stellar Netflix series “Stranger Things”, I guess you are a fan as well? I actually find that several pieces would well have fitted that series.

EE: I am, just love it, and thank you very much! The atmosphere, characters and the story are just awesome, and together with the soundtrack, it really makes something special! If you have not already, I really recommend that you check out the band Survive, which is the band behind the music in the series, they are totally awesome and a big inspiration for me as well.

I would love to make soundtracks my self one day, that magic when picture and sounds blend together perfectly is truly amazing! So it’s a dream I have.

SL: The release has a very own musical synth palet, it’s very easy to recognize it as Lights A.M, I guess that was the purpose?

EE: Thank you, I’m happy to hear that! I actually have not thought that much about it to be honest, but I do want to do things my way, and I guess giving myself total freedom to not have to fit something really helped to develop my own style and sound. I do listen to a lot of different music, and have influences from all over the place, from krautrock, old soundtracks, to ambient and melancholic pop and rock, it really does not matter. So what you hear is just me picking the parts I like and make something out of it.

SL: You aren’t too keen on the term synthwave, why is that?

EE: I have nothing against it, just feel it does not fit Lights A.M, I also feel that the genre has been a little saturated, and lot of the music sounds too generic and artificial to my taste. Maybe that’s what happening when something get’s a hype and a lot of people all of a sudden want to make something sound a specific way?

Then there are bands like Gunship, who are brilliant and who I really enjoy, and even Cliff Martinez (behind the amazing Drive soundtrack) has been put into that term, so it’s not about the genre, it’s about the music presented. I do like that the music and visuals have some kind of organic approach – even if it’s purely electronic just like my own stuff – and that it has strong emotions and a story behind it.

I want to feel something when listening, and it does not matter if it’s a 20 min drone track or a 3 min pop track, and it certainly does not matter which genre you put it in.

SL: Are there plans to bring the project live once this whole pandemic is over?

EE: I hope so! I have a quite clear vision of how it should be, but it has to be done the right way. Very different to how I have done things before, but that is a challenge I want to take on. It will be a lot more visual to what I’m used to do, so the whole production needs to be on another level than before. I will not perform alone on stage either, so a lot of puzzles have to fit, but I do have some ideas and have been in talk with a close friend and awesome musician already.

Lights A.M videos

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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(Interview by Simon Helm / photo by Krichan Wihlborg) Sweden’s love affair with EBM goes back a long way. Bands like Pouppée Fabrikk, Container 90, Kropp, Sturm Café and Spetsnaz have carried the torch for body music for many years.

The next generation of Swedish artists influenced by the sound has included Rein, Circumpolar and Strikkland. These acts have built on the beats of their predecessors by adding elements of electronic pop.

The last of these has started to release a series of singles and an EP independently in 2020. A duo composed of Henric Ceder (keyboards and computers) and Henrik Johansson (vocals), Strikkland has combined EBM and pop influences to striking effect. They have also leveraged Johannson’s skills as a videographer to ensure that their visuals are as dramatic as their sound.

We asked Ceder to tell us about Strikkland’s work and plans in the time of corona. 

SL: How did you come together as Strikkland?

S: Strikkland was started in Trollhättan, Sweden, in 2015. 

Henrik and I had been friends for a long time, and we shared a passion for electronic music. We had often talked about starting a band, since he had a background as a singer in a metal band and I had been mucking about with synthesizers since the mid 1980’s. In 2015, we actually sat down to make something, and the result was “Predatorial Right.” 

Unfortunately, Life™ intervened. I got divorced, moved to Gothenburg, and Predatorial Right ended up in a drawer until the summer of 2019, when it was played at a private Subkult Festival pre-party in Trollhättan.

The feedback we got was amazing, and in April 2020 it became our first single, released on all major streaming platforms. To our surprise, the single was nominated as a newcomer at the German Electronic Web Charts (GEWC.de) and aired at several Web radio stations across Europe and even in South America. That was like a vitamin injection for us that really sparked our creativity. So, here we are, seven months, three singles and one EP later.

The “Dance Like a God” video.

SL: How important is the visual element to you?

S: The visual element is pretty important. A reason for that is probably the fact that Henrik is a photographer by trade. The cover art of our releases are all photos taken by him. Our first (and, so far, only) music video (“Dance like a God”) is shot by his film production company and directed by his wife Sofie.

The obvious thing to do would be to go to a closed-down factory and take pictures in black-and-white, posing in combat boots in front of chimneys, rubble and cog wheels, and use that as cover art; but the visuals are an equally important part of our art (if we may call it art without sounding like  pretentious wankers). So, we do our thing just like we do with our music.

SL: Your style is based on old school EBM, but you have acknowledged influences ranging from metal to Depeche Mode. What do you draw upon to create your music?

S: We both love old school EBM, and it has had a huge impact on us in terms of influence, but we can never become another DAF, Nitzer Ebb or Front 242, even if we wanted to. We also have to confess that we love synth-pop, lush pads and solid melodies. I mean, I grew up in the 1980’s with Human League, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Alphaville, Yazoo and all the other great artists like Vangelis and Jarre – that was the soundtrack to my youth. So, of course, that all sits in the back of my brain when I write the music. 

I also took classical piano lessons for more than a decade when I was young, so that probably has an impact, as well. I usually sit down with the intention to make a raw bassline on an analog hardware synth, but a few hours later  there are pads and melodies added. That is our workflow, by the way: I write the music and Henrik writes the lyrics and does the vocals.

SL: What is next for Strikkland? There seem to be remixes on the way?

S: There is another single in the making, which will hopefully be released in November. We will also be releasing some remixes of our music that other bands are working on right now. No ETA on those yet, though. We are also working on a remix for the amazing Swedish band Octolab, and we are making a cover song for a German compilation that will be out before Xmas.

There is a small Covid-safe live performance together with our good friends Peter and Robert of Dpoint scheduled for December 18^th. Hopefully, we can pull that one off, but of course nobody knows these days. Last but not least, we are looking for a label to help us to the next level – to release a full album on physical media.

SL: Are you happy with how your material has been received?

S: We are extremely happy and thankful for the amazing support and positive feedback we have received. Strikkland wouldn’t exist without it, and that is what sparks us to continue. With that said, we did expect some of the songs on the A Gift to Solitude EP to attract more streams and attention. I mean, “Kinky Sophisticated Gentleman” deserves to be a floor-filler, and “Truth Will Unfold,” where my wife Cecilia contributes with some vocals, is a pretty solid track with a 80’s vibe to it.

But, all in all, we are extremely happy with the reception of our music and we really want to thank everyone who helps making this journey possible for two fifty year olds!

Released so far…

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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Belgian photographer GNY (aka Gwenny Cooman, also known for her work in the band Mildreda) recently organized an exhibition of her work under the conceptual title “Steden Schuilen Niet Wanneer Het Regent” (Cities don’t seek shelter when it rains) in Wetteren (B).

For this project she also collaborated with artist and musician Yves Schelpe of Psy’Aviah who wrote a dark ambient soundtrack inspired by her work that played during the exhibition, reinforcing the atmosphere of the photographs, adding a unique sonic dimension to the exhibition, giving tones of hope and peace, but also of darkness and melancholy highlighting the contrasting sides of city and nature.

That soundtrack, “The Earth Keeps Spinning, Without Being Noticed”, is out now on Alfa Matrix as a download album (via Bandcamp) or as streaming via Spotify. Good to know, the Belgian national radio broadcast Klara already took one track, namely “The Escalator”, from the album to be used in a show for which you can see a video below.

We had a talk with both artists regarding this special collaboration.

SL: You never released an instrumental let alone an ambient album before, how did this one come about?
 
Yves/Psy’Aviah: After my previous, more or less traditional, album “Soul Searching” I set my eyes on working more on theatre soundtracks or atmospherical pieces. I did that a lot more in the early stages, but now I felt a need to go back to supporting a story, to collaborating on a different level and letting the music be supportive instead of dominant. I loved her photography work, and so when Gwenny asked me to do something for her closing night, I of course jumped on the opportunity.

SL: I presume you also listen to ambient then, many preferences?
 
Yves/Psy’Aviah: My ears are open to anything I like, so ambient is in the collection too… Let me say that I’m hugely inspired by work from Moby: I love how he layers piano and a ton of strings and pads. His ambient work is something I was drawn to from the get go. Other artists I like a lot are Mark Isham (his work for Black Mirror’s “Arkangel” for example), Eric Serra, Inon Zur (his soundtracks and solowork, especially the Dragon Age works are very much my cup of tea) Deuter (certainly albums “Prana Yoga” and “Atmospheres”), the more poppy Enigma (but check out his less beat-driven tracks like “The Dream Of The Dolphin”), Dirk Veulemans, Vangelis, and I could go on and on…

SL: I was actually quite surprised by this album, ambient tends to go nowhere in a lot of cases, but this one really has a true destination with tracks that develop nicely, I guess that your dream pop heart lays enough structures in there?
 
Yves/Psy’Aviah: Well, I think ambient is such a big umbrella term that people don’t find their way anymore in the vast amount of work and variety that exist in the genre, let alone what it means, or can mean, and end up listening to ambient music that isn’t their cup of tea… Just like every music genre ambient has so many genres, it’s impossible to describe them all.

There are indeed a few big broad distinctions: either you have a clear study of sound and sound patterns, in which it isn’t really music but a research project of what can be done. Then there’s the very experimental electro-acoustic work I know of Dirk Veulemans for example (he’s a fellow Belgian talent and well known for his work) – and apologies Dirk if I’d describe it wrong – but I feel their storytelling in the work is a big focus as well as experimentation – finding the boundaries of what music is. And then I think we have the more chill-out or soundtrack synthesizer music. We all know Vangelis and JMJ did pioneering work, it is a lot more focused on melodic elements. For me personally the storytelling is present, but also creating a kind of mood is important, certainly because it was written based upon existing photography work.

SL: How did you start on this one? Did you get to see Gwenny’s material on forehand?
 
Yves/Psy’Aviah: One can’t write music for an exhibition (unless that is the experiment of course) if you don’t know what the source material is, and if you don’t understand what the artist wants to evoke in terms of emotions. All this music is driven by Gwenny’s photography, by her vision and talking about her work. I do need to be drawn to something before it can inspire me, so it goes without saying that the emotions I experienced with the selected photography work of Gwenny on that exhibition were really strong, and very relatable. I could imagine certain things right off the bat. It’s in subtle ways such as the angles the photos are taken at, as well as the general subjects and the stories one can see behind them.

Gwenny Cooman: I think I saw Psy’Aviah’s first gig, and I was immediately overwhelmed. I remember thinking ‘okay, the new Praga Khan is born’. Psy’Aviah evolved and made their own sound and story, and I always liked the look and feel of the artwork and the content of the songs. Also, I noticed Yves carrying out street experiments and having other original crossover ideas. So I knew something exciting could be done.
 
SL: Did you use any specific techniques as far as the sound collages go?

Yves/Psy’Aviah: When I knew what the themes were I knew I had to incorporate a lot of field recordings – which meant going outdoors and recording sounds in train stations, elevators, nature, fields, underwater, on the bus, in supermarkets etc… As they’d be an underlying tone in either rhythmic elements (such as an electric escalator with its clicks and clacks tuned to a nice clock as if it were a drum machine, or train tracks repeating over and over, water streams that have a natural tendency to emulate a sort of repeating vibe, yet always with a little tonal difference…).

Those natural rhythms of nature and city were a perfect match and were for me personally the technique I had to use to get in tune with the photography of Gwenny.

Of course that is not everything, using those sounds and creating a compelling storyline in a track, using my background of chord progressions I like and basslines (either slowed down very much, or sped up a lot), to evoke emotions and contrast them to the sometimes dull machinal sounds, is what the motivation (or technique) was in the end.

SL: Gwenny, I know you have been busy with photography for quite a few years, but it’s the first time you are in the spotlights yourself with that expo. How different do you consider the material for this expo compared to what you did in the past?
 
Gwenny Cooman: I guess the way I look at things, and the stuff that draws my attention has not changed. But the last couple of years I’m more focussed and spending more time and effort to enhance my work. I discovered how different a picture can be in its digital form from one in printed media. The printing process was really a search for pictures with printing results that matched my expectations, and same for the framing.

SL: Did you select the pictures for the expo or were they made with the intention to organise an expo?
 
Gwenny Cooman: My partner convinced me to have an exposition now instead of postponing things until, say, the year 2080 (I tend to keep thinking I can improve something). Most pictures were not made especially for the expo, they were selected to fit the idea I had under the title ‘cities don’t take shelter when it rains’.
 
I am currently working on a new expo (aiming to exhibit summer 2021 in Ostend) which will have a different setup. I have a concept in mind and all pictures will fit that new story and concept and will be made with that purpose. I can’t reveal yet what I have in mind, but I can say it will involve topics such as science and superstition, some astronomy and astrology so to speak. 

SL: What subjects do attract you the most? I see a few with buildings, but it’s the stray dog that has triggered quite some feedback from our readers on Facebook. Care to explain?
 
Gwenny Cooman: I guess it’s about the questions that come to mind. Is it an abandoned dog? Are there houses in the neighbourhood where he could find a home? What kind of life has he had?
 
The expo showed pictures of abandoned places and the less attractive aspects of citylife in black and white. In contrast to these pictures, there were colourful pictures of nature (this use of black and white versus colours is reflected in the movie Yves made).

I was very lucky to have been able to do some travelling, and especially to visit some weird or abandoned places in the United States. The Salton Sea for example is one of those places where I can just sit and watch the emptiness, the leftovers of thrilling lives and expectations that place once held. So afterwards, when people look at a picture from that kind of abandoned place, they also start making up their own stories and interpretations of what happened.   

SL: Every photo artists probably dreams to have his/her pictures released in a photo book. A dream or something you might want to materialize in the nearby future?
 
Gwenny Cooman: Indeed! Working with Yves/Psy’Aviah really added value to everything. We inspired each other and that really is the most joyful feeling. If I make a picture and then look at it once I’m home and if it’s a good one, it makes me smile. But if someone else feels that way about my work, or even better, if they are inspired by it, that beats it all. So the movie and soundtrack that resulted out of our collaboration was really a very nice piece of art. Of course, a book would also be great. For my next project, I have some ideas on a catalogue which should be a crossover between photographs, poetry and literature. Still dreaming…

SL: What’s your favorite setup and why?
 
Gwenny Cooman:  I try to take silent, subdued pictures. Most of the time unintended. So I don’t go out thinking ‘now I will photograph this place or that person’, but the subjects are more or less random encounters. Of course I tend to go places where these encounters are more likely. But that means I travel with a wonderful and compact Leica camera so that I can always capture the moment.

You can check out the complete 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

Genre/Influences: Ambient, cinematographic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Set up in 2011 by Dieter Mauson, “Steady” is the first official album and CD-release by this German artist. Mauson has been involved with numerous projects, but Nostalgie Eternelle remains the most famous one on the list. Occupied Head has performed in different countries and on different continents and yet it remains a less familiar name.

Content: The album features 11 songs composed in between 2012 and 2016. The songs have something inhibited, creating a dreamy atmosphere. The songs have been composed with electronic equipment, but also feature a few authentic instruments. Some songs bring us back to the origins of electronic music. It sounds dreamy and somewhat astral like, which reinforces the comparisons with work of Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and co.

+ + + : The songs have been meticulously built up featuring multiple effects and space-like sound treatments. You get an evasive effect, creating the cinematographic aspect of the work. My favorite song is “L’Etat D’urgence”, which is a poem written by the artist and translated into French. The vocals are adding this little extra to the composition, but I also enjoy this song for its tune. The last song “Inside Out” sounds as a little wink to electronic pioneers, but also is one of the noticeable tracks from the opus. Last, but not least I also want to say a word about the cool digipak format of this record.

– – – : There’s not enough diversity in between the songs creating a monotonous feeling after a while.

Conclusion: This album will appeal for ambient lovers. I however think it’s the kind of production that will come to its own together with a visual content and/or performance.  

Best songs: “L’Etat D’Urgence”, “Uncertain Ride”, “Inside Out”.

Rate: (6).

Artist: www.facebook.com/OccupiedHead

Label: www.wdrcreative.com / www.facebook.com/wdrcreative

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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(Photo by Tori Lind Kjellstad) After signing with the Belgian electronic music label Alfa Matrix, the Norwegian electronic project Lights A.M has now released a 2nd single on the Belgian label, a 5-track EP, “Surrender & Evolve”.

Lights A.M is the side-project of ESSENCE OF MIND’s frontman Erlend Eilertsen. With the debut-EP “Shine Our Lights” we already got a glimpse of what to expect from this project: cinematic electronics, something that will please all fans of Vangelis and Tangerine Dreams.

But there’s definitely more into the project as you’ll hear now on “Surrender & Evolve” which offers 5 tracks. Listeners will notice that this new EP is a bit more upbeat than the first EP, “Shine Our Lights”, offering an insight on the more electro pop side of the project as well and this spread over 4 brand new songs and a remix of the title track.

The new single is available now via Bandcamp including a bonus booklet with all lyrics. Other services will follow in the next week. You can already listen to the tracks on Bandcamp of course.

The first EP “Shine Our Lights” can be downloaded right below or played via Spotify.

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: Cinematographic, electronic-ambient.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: French artist Romain Frequency gained some recognition with his techno-inspired project Electrosexual while he’s also involved in a few other projects such as Dear Strange. “Research On a Nameless Colour” is a solo-album released under his own name and inspired by Derek Jarman’s final collection of Essays entitled “Chroma” released in 1994, the year he passed away.

Content: This work has nothing in common with Electrosexual. The music goes back to early electro-ambient experiments, reminding me of the work of pioneers. It’s not what I would call an ode to J.M. Jarre, Vangelis and co, but an ambient electronic work following the steps of those famous names. Romain Frequency creates ambient spaces filled with analogue treatments and effects, which are creating an evasive sensation.

+ + + : The vintage/analogue touch of the work brings the magic of early electronics alive. Romain Frequency did an honest job and even took me by surprise at songs like “The Colour Of Space” and “Infra Mauve”, which both appear to be the most accomplished cuts. Globally speaking, this album is well crafted and elaborated.

– – – : The first part of the work is pretty exciting, but the magic got lost during the final cuts. I however miss a sort of climax listening to this work. The addition of a few vocals (even spoken) or passages with some chants would have been the little extra to the album.

Conclusion: This is the kind of album that will appeal to lovers of early electronic experiments.

Best songs: “The Colour Of Space”, “Infra Mauve”, “Perfect Blue”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/RomainFrequency

Label: www.facebook.com/rockmachinerecordspage

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

Steve Roach, one of the leading American pioneers in the evolution of ambient/electronic music, is back with an all new album. “Bloom Ascension” will be released by the end of August. This is Steve’s first release conceptualized for LP since “Desert Solitaire” (1989).

The new album will hold 4 tracks:

• The Beauty Relentless [12:12]
• Motivating Factor [06:43]
• Synesthete [06:18]
• Bloom Ascension [16:11]

Originally a Motocross racer, at the age of 20 Roach taught himself to play the synthesizer after being inspired by such influential synthesizer artists and groups as Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Vangelis. His debut album “Now” appeared in 1982, followed by “Structures from Silence” in 1984. In 1986 he released his acclaimed “Quiet Music” series. In 1988, he released what has been described by critics as his masterpiece, the double-album “Dreamtime Return”. The rest is history, which each ambient music fan should know by heart.

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

Does the name Mark Burghraeve make ring a bell? No doubt about it, ‘older’ electro heads know this Belgian artist born in 1961! Together with Marc Verhaeghen he set up The Klinik and created the band’s original look. Both ‘old’ mates are now back again working on new Klinik-stuff. You might also know him from his work under the Somnambulist moniker and M.Bryo & D.M.T. He also worked with artists and bands such as Niki Mono, Bill Leeb, Insekt, Vomito Negro, For Greater Good, Mike Shelter, Brain Pilot, Dark Poem, Hybryds, Les Boufons Tristes ao. Mark Burghraeve is a man of many talents and next to his music activities he’s also active as a multimedia artist and graphic-, video- & sound-designer and sound & light engineering. But back to music! The French label Nuit Et Brouillard recently released the album “Things I Was Due To Forget 1979 – 2005”. The work has been released on different vinyl formats and is now planned to be released on CD format as well. The music brings us back to the early and original sound of electronic music… to the roots. This interview will give you more background information about this passionate, fascinating and visionary artist.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The least I can say is that you’re involved with an impressive number of very different artistic projects. Do you’ve some preferences in your artistic creation, what’s the importance of music and do you still have secret dreams in mind?

Mark: My preferred creations are the ones where I could sit at home and work on them in my own tempo and atmosphere, without any unwanted interference from the outside world. The ones where I could set my own deadlines and delegate some of the time consuming work. I like to see myself as a multi-media artist in the broad sense of the word. Music is one of the media I use to evoke or reproduce feelings, visions and dreams, based on my experiences and observations. I jump from one medium to another, sometimes mixing them. And the more I can use in one project, the more satisfying it becomes. The final result grows into a part of a viewer’s or a listener’s precious time. The artist has only this short period to take them on a small journey by exposing himself.

I try to keep my mind and taste open. My dreams are no secret. It would be nice to have my work survive the times, interpreted by others as it has already happened. The best feeling one can have is that his work is appreciated by as many people as possible, I guess. Making an immersive VR experience is on the want-list. Another film score would be nice too. A book maybe? A golden tie?

Q: You’ve been inspired by early electronic pioneers, but you in a way became a pioneer yourself. How do you look back at the early years of electronic music? Was there a kind of particular ‘spirit’, ‘philosophy’, ‘goal’… and do you see common elements with what’s happening today?

Mark: I always felt as a pioneer, out to get a taste of the future. Electronic music was the most futuristic music then. That time,  synthesizers were expensive and not seen as a full instrument yet. They were more like an effect in a classic rock setting, an extra weird toy for the keyboard player, like Pierre Henry did in the sixties with “Psycho-Rock”. Or they were used as sound effect machines for cinema as Bebe and Louis Barron already did in the fifties for the movie “Forbidden Planet”. Apart from “Popcorn” by Anarchic System, full electronic music was not yet popular. There weren’t that many people in Belgium who had a synth and tried to make music that fitted the expectations of a new sci-fi future vision.

After the ‘No Future’-era, we were looking for one. Most of the guys who had synths made ‘cosmic’ music or just collected buttons. Pure electronic music was not regarded as ‘real’ music yet. But there was a kind of spirit of togetherness between the artists of that time in Antwerp, a lot of independent projects and disciplines crossed each other: theater, music, fine arts, fashion, performance. It was a period in time when we revolted more, as a group or as individuals, against anything we were opposed to. We used the new technologies. We walked away from tradition and uniformity. Sometimes we even had ‘goals’. From political- and ecological awareness to shared ethics and aesthetics. We were multicultural anarchists with a rainbow of tastes and opinions. We were the avant-garde. We were the underground.

I don’t see this anymore, it seems culture has been institutionalized, nationalized, censored and belonging to the happy few who get financial support from the government. I see increasing xenophobia and homophobia. I see aggression, racism, poverty and despair in this modern day dystopia. And cell-phones, lots of cell-phones. But then again, I don’t go out that much anymore, so I might miss out on a lot of what is happening today.

Q: One thing is for sure, the late 70s and early 80s were pure ‘underground’-like! I think it had something magic, connecting people a different way than today. Today we’ve the internet, electronic music became much more accessible… everything became that different. What’s your perception about this evolution? The pros and cons?

Mark: The pros are that it all became much more accessible and now more people can create, produce and put their stuff on the internet. One can reach a global audience immediately. A computer is now a household thing and most people have cell-phones. We are all connected by wire or by Wifi and have libraries of virtual synths and plug-ins at the touch of a button or screen, complete with professional production tools and low distribution costs, if any.  Also you can get direct feedback from people all over the world who value your stuff. One can communicate faster. Co-operations over great distances get easier. Tools are easier to find.

The contras are that anybody can make music and put videos on YouTube. But without talent, proper promotion or attention of the media one can get lost in the flood of banal information. Today’s internet has become a marketplace, a big and busy one. You need extra skills if you want to get noticed as an artist. Like for instance opening an e-mail account to get PayPal. It also still leaves a very big and bad ecological footprint. Think of the control knob you ordered on e-bay, transported by trains, planes and diesel trucks.

The search for new music has also dramatically changed, we have robot programs that search for everything we want, telling us what we are supposed to like, based on databases and tags. Before all this, we physically went to the record shop to buy what they were offering. We had magazines with no commercials. No cell-phones, no social media sites, no e-mail, no internet. Just telephone, fax, modems and walkmans. Cassettes were the independent medium of that time. The home-studio was born. Affordable, but still expensive. I was lucky to have Stefan Van Elsen (Trans-4M,  Brain Pilot, …) of Central Tapes who distributed my work. Teac, Tascam & Fostex competed with Revox. There were still U-matic, 12-bit Digital Recording, Commodore & Spectrum, Memorex. All these factories sold physical equipment. Nowadays, big companies sell or even just rent data for the same use.

It has it’s pros and cons. The thing is, it’s here. One has to use it as a tool and avoid distractions. It’s still very new and it already had a very radical impact on all our lives. Writers like Kafka, Orwell or Huxley couldn’t even have dreamt this up. It’s like their warnings became handbooks for the rulers. Are we in the hands of a system we don’t understand, own or even know anymore? Who collects and controls the data? Does all this ‘security’ make us feel safe or does it make us more scared or paranoid? Since the expression ‘Fake News’ has been introduced, nobody trusts the media anymore, from both sides. We have political propaganda and commercials in between the services we paid for. We’ve all seen how YouTube and Google have evolved from data providers to data collectors. Do we lose freedom and privacy and should we protect these values? What’s this thing with wars, money, power and persistent ecological & political unawareness?

We live in glass houses. Too many rats in a cage with an overload of information. Sorry, what was the question again?

Q: Nuit Et Brouillard recently released the double album “Things I Was Due To Forget”; I should say an appropriated title for songs taking us back to your first sonic compositions. How did this release come through and can you tell us something about the origin of the songs?

Mark: Sylvie, co-founder of the French Nuit Et Brouillard-label, once made a compilation tape from records she had borrowed from a friend to play in her car. One of the songs was “The Empty Street” by M.Bryo & D.M.T. from the “No Big Business” compilation. Years later she found me on Facebook on a picture with Marc Verhaeghen (the Klinik) and Bill Leeb (Frontline Assembly), from the time we worked together on Noise Unit. She knew both Marc and Bill, but had never heard of me until she did some investigations. Nuit Et Brouillard invited me to Lille to meet them in person, so I took all my courage, some luggage and a train to France. There I met Stéphane as well. We talked about music and politics and played with the idea of making a release. It was a bit like checking each other out, before we made this idea concrete.

For Nuit Et Brouillard it would certainly have been the most ‘commercial’ record they would have ever made, since they were mainly releasing more experimental and ‘obscure’ music. A bold step. They showed me their beautifully made releases. Some of them had handmade art covers. All their releases were treated as gems, showing a deep involvement and respect for the artist. They were not driven by money, but by passion. Of course I felt very flattered by the offer and I loved the people there in Lille who supported me. I had the chance to do everything from A to Z; music, lyrics, recordings, mastering and artwork. I am very lucky to have had this opportunity and I am proud with the result.

The songs had their origin in the late seventies, the start of punk, affordable synths, drum machines & multi track recorders. Bands like Kraftwerk, Tubeway Army, Ultravox and The Human League had just started and people like Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, Tomita and Walter Carlos had already opened the door to popular electronic music.

I lived in industrial Hoboken and was a DJ for some time, pretty up to date. By buying the ‘trash’ the record shop couldn’t sell on a Friday, I got a lot of weird unknown stuff. The weirder it was, the more I liked it. Anyway, I had fun in my room with my machines, later got into computers and now I’m still trying to use technology as a medium, not only for making sound.

Q: When it comes to music, I think there’re very different types of artists; classical schooled musicians, composers, producers, self taught artists and experimentalists who clearly break the codes. Where do you place yourself and tell us a bit more about the different aspects of being the musician/artist you are?

Mark: I’m a self-taught mad experimentalist, composer, bad musician, an OK writer and from time to time, if I may say so, a very able producer with neo-classical ambitions, and some more… I cherish my work as a musician as much as I like using other media. If I get bored or stuck with one medium, I jump onto another one. It keeps the creative ball rolling. Sometimes one inspires the other. Bringing as much art forms as possible into one project is the most satisfying, I think. To me, programming is an art form as well. Sometimes a program can be written as elegantly as a poem.

Q: You’ve been involved with different music projects; M.Bryo & DMT, The Somnambulist, The Klinik… and you’ve worked with an impressive list of artists. What did you keep in mind from all these projects and experiences and tell us something more about The House of the Thepaphone?

Mark: So many stories to tell. So many experiences. Every contact has its anecdotes. Sometimes, it seemed as if I lived in a soap opera, complete with the melodrama and the intrigues. But the fun part was the work itself, trying to get the best results with the tools I had. Having my own rock-band KOYT! was great, but what I liked especially were the one-on-ones, like Les Bouffons Tristes with Peter Geysels, whom I knew from For Greater Good or the ones with Sophie from Dark Poem.

With The House of the Thepaphone, I try to create a cosy place for my friends and I on Bandcamp, a popular music site for independent use, with a possibility to get some money for the music. Not big amounts, but since money seems to be a handy thing to have on this planet, any return is always welcome. It’s where I put some of the collaborations with other artists and completed works from my archive. On SoundCloud I put my most recent sketches and portfolios. ReverbNation was one of the first music libraries I used on the web. I forgot MySpace, but who didn’t? I think of building some more websites. They open possibilities for experiment and promotion. Recently, I got on Spotify and iTunes, to keep up with the new tools and platforms. I’m still learning.

The House of the Thepaphone :

Nuit Et Brouillard:

Other Links:

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

Electropop act Cyber Monday has its first cover version out namely a cover of the track “To have and have not” by the 80s act Ronny. The track has just been released and is free to download for a short period of time via the band’s label right here.

You can check the video below.

With Ronny, Cyber Monday has picked up an artist which many had forgotten as her career was extremely short-lived. She used to be a top French model who after meeting entrepreneur Rusty Egan in the Paris club Privelege co-produced several songs with Midge Ure, Vangelis, Georg Kajanus and Peter Godwin. You might also remember her as the model who appeared on the Ultravox “Station” record sleeve and can be seen in Visage‘s “Visage” video. Ronny also did a duet with Steve Strange called “The Lady Is A Tramp”. Neither the single nor the video was ever released.

If you wan’t to check out the original by Ronny, you can check that one 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

Didier Dewachtere is a Belgian artist from 53 years old. He started to like electronic music at his 15th birthday. It was the good-old time of new-wave music, which still remains a source of inspiration. Later on he discovered artists such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze ao. The ‘Berliner School’ had a real great impact on Didier. It is very obvious, that BySenses was partly taken from a song from Schulze entitled “Sense”. BySenses now has released its third full length entitled “People” on the Belgian label Wool-E-Discs. It’s a beautiful and styled ambient release, which also brought me in touch with the artist.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: BySenSeS has been featured at the Wool-E-Discs series “Belgian NeuMusik”. How would you introduce the sound and approach of BySenSeS and what does it mean to you to be part of this label-series devoted to Belgian ambient music?

Didier: My first album came out on an independent label Multidisc. But when Dimitri Idunno told me he would start up a new label Wool- E Discs, pure Belgian music, I thought it would be nice to be part of it. So he said yes and now “People” and a lot of other albums have been released on his label. I’m thinking on Sensory++ , Venja or Galactic Underground, The Rosswell Incident, Rhea and a lot of other.

Mostly they say ‘Berlin School’ is the base of ‘Belgian Neu Music’, but that is not really right.. If you listen to Nothing But Noise, another Belgian group, I think there is no Berlin School in it. It is a great honor to be part of it. I think Belgian Electronic Music can be placed amongst the German School, or French School.

My sounds and my music is how I feel… how I think, how it is in my mind. Starting a song is searching for sounds and I use this bases to create songs. It can start with a melody or with a simple rhythm… or something that comes into mind while going home.

Q: What means music to you and what importance does it take in your daily life?

Didier: Music is very important to me. It has always been a part of my life. When I was a young boy, I spend all time at my bedroom listening to music, playing cards with headphones or going to sleep with music and getting up with music… I just came home in the weekends, because I was at a boarding school, but over there they played music as Vangelis.. At that time I didn’t pay any attention to it. I was nearly 9 years, but later on it got really an impact. I still think that I kept this music in my mind. When I was 20 years old, I started living on my own and the first thing I did was buying a Korg MS20 and MS50. In the beginning I made some tracks with the Korg MS20, but they are all lost. My parents didn’t believe in the music I wanted to make and certainly not in ‘the synthesizer’. Because my life at that time was a bit other than it is right now, all my money went to discotheques and going out.. Later on, when I came back from Afghanistan, I decided to buy more instruments, and my son Pieter did all the technical support. It was great to see him doing these things although he never made music (lol).

Q: The first BySenses production were released in 2014. How do you look back at the earlier work and what have been the main evolutions and steps forward towards “People” and is there a hidden message behind the front cover?

Didier: My first album “InSense”, which is only available at Bandcamp was not mastered. I made the music and put it on Bandcamp. It was only a bit later I got in touch with some people like Dries De Vreeze, who do some mastering. “Frigmants Fragments” is mastered by Dries and is a bit different, more experimental. It tells us the story of a part of my life, a moment where during a short time things were not so good… a story about good and bad things… “Slaap Stil Mijn Kind” can been considered as an example. The track is dedicated to a child I lost.

Next to Dries, Sarah Joos came into the picture. Sarah is incredibly good in what she’s doing. She makes really dreamy pictures and has her own style. I think there is a mutual respect for each of our work. In these times people are living so separated, living all alone without contacts etc… People are so tired of politics. People are scared and getting afraid while I think politicians should bring people together and help them. I don’t like populism and I don’t like Nationalism… not in that way… Using migration to get votes is abusing people. That’s a bit the hidden message. So quite progressively, the idea came to make an album for all people around the world. I asked Sarah if she would make some pictures of people; just their faces and all colors while I asked a friend to be on front. His  has a real expressive face.

Alain Kinet, who I already knew from earlier times, did the sleeve design. He listened to my story and so the artwork got created. I wanted to make an album from birth to death, from loneliness to happiness, from feelings to non-feelings, from things that happened in my life such as relations etc. So “People” was born.

I really think that music can feature a message. I want to put a message in it, but also maybe a message that people has to find listening to the music… that message is not necessarily the same as I want to give. Nothing around us reflects the open-mind of humanity. We are not chosen, we are people.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the global production process of this work; potential sources of inspiration, way of composing, addition of guest artists and how do you look back at the album right now?

Didier: To be honest, it has been a lot of work producing “People”. It took me 2- 3 years to have it all done. It is not a secret that I’ve been seriously impressed by Klaus Schulze, but also Vangelis, Roedelius, Tangerine Dream ao. So am I influenced about them? Maybe, but I really try to put my own ideas and feelings in the compositions. It’s always a pleasure when someone says that he can hear BySenses in my music.

As I said I start with some sounds, looking for some nice patterns and work on it. Sometimes the melody comes, like on “Nightdancer”, where I played the melody in one night. I surely can not replay it again, I was in ‘The Zone’ and when you are there, you can do a lot of things. So ‘Frakke’ came in for drumming on “Nightdancer”, as he already did on “OGF” on “Frigments Fragments”. I know Frank De Coster (‘Frakke’) as a collegue and he’s really rock and roll.

Next came Thomas Betsens. I saw him live at a little festival in Drongen (Belgium), where I played live with my other project The Tower Tree (collaboration between BySenses and Owann). I asked him if he was interested for singing on “People”. So he came over and had a listen. The music was already composed and then it happened… It blew me away. He never heard the song which I wanted him to sing. And he also sung on “Sensitivity”, which I think is the best song I ever made. There’re so much feelings in it, which doesn’t mean that the other songs are less important. The song “Birth” was made when my son told me he was becoming father himself and I became grand-father. So all feelings are in it. I like to work with other musicians and I like to give them enough space to do their own thing. So did Thomas and Frank.

When I look back, I think it is a step forward comparing to “InSense” and “Frigmants”; technically and musically I think all albums have their a different sound.

Q: When I hear ambient music I often think to concepts featuring diversified forms of arts like films, documentaries, pictures, paintings, sculptures, theatre etc… What’s your perception about it and what are your further plans?

Didier: The 80’s music of Klaus Schulze, Vangelis, J.M. Jarre was played on the radio. I even heard Tangerine Dream on ‘Studio Brussel’ (national broadcasting). Later on I discovered other programs late at night. I remember I was 15 years old and asked my teacher if I could listen to these programs. As he was fan of Vangelis he let me listen to it, but It was forbidden to say it to my friends. Nowadays there is a totally different way of making radio.. It all is about how many listeners you can reach, money etc. So nowadays our music is played on internet radio, even Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream. I really respect that, but it’s a pity that national broadcasting is not giving time to this kind of music. There is a lot of beautiful- and modern electronic music.

When people ask me what ‘ambient music’ is all about, I often say that they can listen to the music of a documentary etc.. but it’s much more than that.

Nowadays I take some rest and simply enjoy spending some time with my little daughter Eleonora. I’m still searching for new sounds and there’ll maybe a new album from The Tower Tree. I really would like to see “People” getting released on vinyl format. I remixed some songs, made them a bit different and now they’ll be mixed by Alain Wymeels. I’m just waiting what Wool-E-Discs will say.  Don’t expect a new BySenses-album within one year.

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 “Stranger Things” original soundtrack, composed by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of the electronic band Survive, is a direct homage to 1980s artists and film composers including Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Goblin, John Carpenter, Giorgio Moroder, and Fabio Frizzi. Not surprisingly it has gotten a perfect reception from the electronic music fanbase.

The soundtrack will be re-released in a few weeks in various limited vinyl editions and will hold a new album cover of ‘Boys on Bikes’, a 11 X 17 (folded down to 8.5 X 11) poster, five 4×6 character cards.

The vinyl editions are available here in 2 versions of the deluxe edition (released as 180g multi-colored double vinyl sets) and right here as a normal vinyl version.

On August 31, 2016, Netflix renewed the series for a second season of nine episodes, which is set to be released on October 31, 2017. Below is the trailer for the upcoming second season to be released on Netflix. A year after Will’s return, everything seems back to normal… but a darkness lurks just beneath the surface, threatening all of Hawkins.

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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We have again found some real gems in the list of releases especially produced for the upcoming Record Store Day on April 22. We put them in a list below.

For those unfamiliar with the phenomena, Record Store Day (aka RSD) was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on April 19, 2008. A Record Store Day participating store is defined as a stand alone brick and mortar retailer whose main primary business focuses on a physical store location, whose product line consists of at least 50% music retail, whose company is not publicly traded and whose ownership is at least 70% located in the state of operation. In other words, we’re dealing with real, live, physical, indie record stores—not online retailers or corporate behemoths.

So what items did we find in the list of planned releases?

PANKOW – “TIMES”
Format: Grey Color 10″ / Quantity: 175

The two earliest Pankow recordings to see a release were “We Are the Joy” on one of the first Italian new wave compilations (Gathered), and following that “Wither” on a split 7” which was enclosed in the “Free8212” fanzine from Florence. Two other tracks that have never before been released appear together on Times, a gorgeous 10″ vinyl coming courtesy Toronto-based Artoffact Records. This 10″ features spectacular new artwork created by Pankow’s own fm, and is fully authorized by the band. An essential document of one of Italy’s most important electronic artists. The black vinyl version can be bought right here already.

ALICE IN CHAINS – “Get Born”
Format: 2 x 7″ / Quantity: 4000

This special Alice in Chains 45 RPM double 7” single collects four hard-hitting tracks remastered and available on vinyl for the first time. “What the Hell Have I” and “A Little Bitter,” released on the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero in 1993, were the first to feature new bassist Mike Inez, who’d played with Ozzy Osbourne for five years. “Get Born Again” and “Died,” released on the box set Music Bank in 1999, were the band’s final recordings with original vocalist Layne Staley.

THE CURE – “Greatest Hits”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3250

Limited edition double picture discs of The Cure’s Greatest Hits. Featuring their best known tracks, including “Love Song”, “Friday I’m In Love” “Never Enough”, “Mint Car” and many more. Curated and remastered by Robert Smith. On vinyl for the very first time for Record Store Day 2017.

THE CURE – “Greatest Hits Acoustic”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3250

Limited edition double picture discs of The Cure’s Greatest Hits performed acoustically. Featuring their best known tracks, including “Love Song”, “Friday I’m In Love” “Never Enough”, “Mint Car” and many more. Curated and remastered by Robert Smith. On vinyl for the very first time for Record Store Day 2017.

JANE’S ADDICTION – “Been Caught Stealing”
Format: 12″ / Quantity: 3500

Originally released in 1990 in conjunction with the Ritual De Lo Habitual album, “Been Caught Stealing” was a massive hit for Jane’s Addiction. This 4 track replicates the original European 12″ release and contains the album version and a remix of “Been Caught Stealing” plus “L.A. Medley” which includes Woman” (The Doors), “Nausea” (X) and “Lexicon Devil” (The Germs).

MOTORHEAD – “Clean Your Clock”
Format: 2 x LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 1500

Motorhead are immortalized one more time in “Clean Your Clock”, the superb live album recorded at the Zenith in Munich, Germany during the Winter 2015 Bad Magic Tour. The indomitable cocktail of power, purpose and head-crunching volume that Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee always succeeded in producing is captured superbly by long-time producer Cameron Webb’s mix,giving this landmark Motorhead release the warmth, curve and punch which helped the band achieve international acclaim during a career which saw the Grammy-winning icons sell over 15 million albums and play to millions worldwide.

PINK FLOYD – “Interstellar Overdrive”
Format: 12″ Vinyl / Quantity: 4000

A previously unreleased 14:57 minute recording from 1966, released in mono at 33 1/3 for Record Store Day.

RAMONES – “76-’79 Singles Box”
Format: 7″ boxset / Quantity: 3500

A box of pre-1980 US 7″ singles by the Ramones, authentically reproduced with Sire labels, picture covers where applicable and a selection of great punk rock tracks that changed the course of rock ‘n’ roll. All packaged in a unique cigarette-style outer box, with an insert and individually foil-stamped numbered global edition of 6500. Wall-to-wall Ramones classics including “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”, “Swallow My Pride”, “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School” and a special mono/stereo promo edition of “I Wanna Be Sedated”, all presented the way punk rock should be–as 45 RPM slabs of wax.

THE SMITHS – “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side”
Format: 7″ Vinyl / Quantity: 5000

A 7″ single featuring previously unreleased versions of “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” and “Rubber Ring”. Includes new artwork featuring Salford actor Albert Finney.

U2 – “Red Hill Mining Town”
Format: 12″ Picture Disc / Quantity: 7000

To coincide with the 30th anniversary of U2’s iconic album “The Joshua Tree”, Island Records will release a 2017 mix of ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ on limited edition 12” picture disc, featuring the classic photography of Anton Corbijn in colour. The previously unreleased mix is by Steve Lillywhite, who produced the band’s critically acclaimed debut, ‘Boy’. ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ is famously “the single that never was”, originally discussed as the second single from The Joshua Tree but then put to one side at the last minute in favour of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’.

VANGELIS – “Blade Runner” Original Soundtrack
Format: LP Picture Disc / Quantity: 3500

2017 sees the 35th anniversary of the original release of Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult film Blade Runner. The original soundtrack, composed by Vangelis will be released on picture disc for the first time, housed within a die-cut single sleeve jacket. (Limited worldwide release of 7500.)

CONJURE ONE – “Conjure One”
Format: 2 x LP / Quantity: 900

Originally released on CD in 2002, Conjure One was the brainchild of Front Line Assembly and Delerium co-founder Rhys Fulber. The debut set a new standard in world electronica and went on to sell over 50,000 CDs globally. The album features guest vocals by Sinead O’Connor, Poe, Marie-Claire D’Ubaldo and Chemda as well as mixes by electronica pioneers Junkie XL and Carmen Rizzo. It’s being released on double 45 RPM 180g colored vinyl for the first time, and includes a download card with three new bonus tracks.

PINK FLOYD – “London 1966 – 1967”
Format: 12″ Picture Disc / Quantity: 650

The first studio recordings from the classic ’60s Pink Floyd line up released for Record Store Day on limited edition 12″ picture disc vinyl.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange, w/inputs from John-Erik Bye Johansen. Photos by Tarjei Krogh and Jan Ronald Stange)
After releasing three 12” EPs of instrumental tracks the last couple of years, the new Apoptygma Berzerk album “Exit Popularity Contest” compile these alongside a couple of new versions of the Apop staple “Until The End Of The World”.
The idea for the album came together when working on the third EP “Xenogenesis”, as they realised these tracks somehow belonged together. Some minor changes later, it has come together as a wholeness, solid and thorough.

The press bio states: “Groth pays homage to his roots through emulating the analogue soundscapes of innovators like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Klaus Schulze, and the driving motorik Krautrock rhythms of Neu!, Cluster and La Duesseldorf, all filtered through his own unique Scandinavian sensibility.” When listening to this album much of this rings true, as this concept draws heavily on the inspiration of Stephan Groth’s musical heroes. It is not far-fetched to claim there is also some early Recoil/Depeche Mode influence in “For Now We See Through A Glass, Darkly” along with John Carpenter, Jarre, Vangelis and – surprise: Apoptygma Berzerk anno 1993 with some “Burnin’ Hertic” samples.
For those who miss Stephan’s voice there’s also an extra gem on the album – “U.T.E.O.T.W. (Extended Version)” – a downtempo and stripped version of “Until The End Of The World” from 2002 (also featured as a shorter version on the flexi-disc accompanying the “Xenogenesis” 12”).

After a long career ranging from EBM via future-pop and trance to a more rock-influenced electronica, Groth has taken a long glance backwards to what really ignited his musical fire and done a reboot of the type of music he wants to make as well as how to make it. Like the music that inspired Apoptygma Berzerk, this album also passes inspiration on to another generation of artists, something that has been evident since other musicians have approached asking about hardware and methods.

For the rest of us, the listeners, many will be using this album as an inspirational guide to the electronic past, and also for the future.
Conclusion: Highly recommended – and let’s hope ♠TP continues the exploration of his synth origins!

As the album won’t be available via digital outlets, we suggest you get a copy of the very limited cassette, CD or vinyl!

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

As we reported a few weeks ago, Apoptygma Berzerk’s Stephan Groth is reinventing his sound on the new 10-track album “Exit Popularity Contest” (a fix-up of the 12″ EPs “Stop Feeding The Beast”, “Videodrome” and “Xenogenesis”) which brings instrumental music back into the spotlight.

On the album Groth pays homage to his roots through emulating the analogue soundscapes of innovators like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Klaus Schulze plus adding some Krautrock rhythms of the likes of Neu!, Cluster and La Düsseldorf.

The release will be out as a very limited cassette release (which you can order now), on CD (available here) and on vinyl (available here)!

And right below is already a very sweet sounding video teaser !

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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Apoptygma Berzerk is reinventing its sound which is different from, but complementary to, the electro rock future pop stylings of the previous releases. As a result the new 10-track album “Exit Popularity Contest” (a fix-up of the 12″ EPs “Stop Feeding The Beast”, “Videodrome” and “Xenogenesis”) brings instrumental music back into the spotlight.

On the album Groth pays homage to his roots through emulating the analogue soundscapes of innovators like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Klaus Schulze plus adding some Krautrock rhythms of the likes of Neu!, Cluster and La Düsseldorf.

The release will be out as a very limited cassette release (which you can order now), on CD (available here) and on vinyl (available here).

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: Dark-pop.

Background/Info: My first feeling was that this band was the logical new project of Pedro Peñas Robles after the end of Adan & Ilse. The band name clearly appears to be inspired from his previous band he was involved with Usher (Norma Loy).  A★I was set up in 2015 by Pedro (vocals) and Philippe Merry aka Phllox (producer). The band claims to be inspired by dark-pop artists and refers to Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, Laiback and even Lassigue Bendthaus.

Content: The sound is a bit different from the body-pop minimalism of Adan & Ilse although there clearly is a link in the global sound approach. There indeed is a link with some aforementioned bands –and especially Depeche Mode, but still with Kraftwerk and even Vangelis. This work mixes good-old standards with a unique sound production, which clearly experiments with new ideas.

“Le Chant Du Cygne Noir” sounds vintage-like, but still ambient-like. The production reveals phenomenal, deep resonating bass lines and haunting atmospheres. Cold sequences and sterile vocals reactivate the good-old 80s spirit while the surprising cover version of “Ashes To Ashes” featuring Dan Söderqvist on guitar (known from Twice A Man) has been remarkably transposed into the sonic universe of A★I. I know that Pedro Peñas Robles is a fan of David Bowie so in the end this cover version is not totally surprising, but the way the song has been reworked and adapted is really worthy of examination.

+ + + : You really have to listen a few time to this album to fully seize the judicious mix of influences which will remind you of Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk on one side and the personal sound input on the other. It’s an efficient balance resulting in an open-minded work, which clearly appears the start of a new adventure for Unknown Pleasures Records owner Pedro Peñas Robles.

– – – : This album clearly is not the most accessible electro-pop release. It even makes me think to a reaction against familiar electro-pop standards, which are constantly repeating themselves. So in the end I would say that the main strength of this work also is the main point and reason for classical electro-pop lovers to turn their back on this band.

Conclusion: A★I clearly sounds like a challenge when it comes to convince electro-pop lovers, but it more sounds like a nice addition and alternative to electro-pop for all of those who are bored with endless emulations of Depeche Mode and co.

Best songs: “We Are One Nation”, “Sin Of Sin”, “Goodbye Lady Red”, “A Secret”, “Dark Stars”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/havoc2027

Label: www.unknown–pleasures–records.com /  www.facebook.com/Unknown–Pleasures–Records-566180440115465

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Synthesizer music, electronic, psychedelic, cinematographic.

Background/Info: Vieon is a Coventry (UK) based duo inspired by some of the finest and most influential synthesizer artists on history. Their album “The Sound Of The Future” got a very enthusiastic response in their homeland where they toured a lot during 2015. They are now back on track unleashing 7 new cuts, which are available in a strictly limited cassette edition.

Content: Vieon clearly enlarges the sound horizon of Analogue Trash Records, which I first of all associate with electro-pop & body-pop music. Vieon sounds like it is composing in a distant galaxy together with electronic pioneers like Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and co. This is a sound universe of reverie and psychedelic synth resonances.

“Fly By Night” clearly smells like vintage electronics leading the listener into prosperity. It’s a relaxing experience, which sounds pretty space-like. It has been accentuated by typical robotic vocal parts. The evasive feeling makes it all pretty cinematographic-like.

The most surprising and somewhat different cut (cf. “Fly By Light”) reminds me a bit of Daft Punk, which is another pioneer, but in a different genre.

+ + + : If you like good-old synthesizer music this EP will fulfill all expectations. This is pure space-electronica.

– – – : All tracks are well-crafted and enjoyable, but I’m missing a climax. This is for sure the main difference compared to the band’s famous sources of inspiration.

Conclusion: Reflecting to the title of their album “The Sound Of The Future”, this EP clearly reveals the answer, which can be found in the secrets and analog tricks of the past.

Best songs: “Fly By Light”, “Transmission”.

Rate: (6).

Band: www.facebook.com/VieonMusic

Label: www.analoguetrash.co.uk / www.facebook.com/analoguetrashofficial

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