Out now and recorded during the current tour by French electronic act Poltergeist is the “Kämpfer – Live Tracks” EP. The EP includes alternative live versions taken from the “Kämpfer” LP and new songs.

Behind Poltergeist we find Ari Girard, a graduate of the Conservatoire’s Department of Amplified Contemporary Music. Poltergeist is quite a family affair, with his sister Lou Girard serving as the artistic director and his brother-in-law Adrien Guitton as the manager.

Here’s the new EP.

The first Poltergeist album “Kämpfer” was released in July 2022 followed by a year of touring with Vitalic.

You can check out a live session video right below to get an idea.

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: Techno, New-Wave.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: French duo Nomenklatür is already busy for several years and has released an interesting list of EP’s. They strike back with a new EP featuring American vocalist Odge. Clivage Music is the label of Pascal Arbez aka Vitalic.

Content: This EP features 5 songs bringing good-old and dark New-Wave influences together with a more explicit Techno touch. It all sounds pretty minimal and danceable featuring irresistible female vocals on top. You’ll find two different edits of the title track.

+ + + : “When The Wind Blows” is  a song from David Bowie but I here discovered a Techno-Wave driven cut. The other tracks are pretty similar in style mixing dark bass lines and sexy vocals. I even prefer these songs and especially “After Life” is a brilliant piece of retro-futuristic Electro music. I also enjoy the minimalism of “My Something” and the great instrumental “Satori V1” carried by an irresistible bass line.

– – – : The title song is cool but I personally prefer the other cuts.

Conclusion: “When The Wind Blows” reveals a visionary project inspired by different retro influences.

Best songs: “After Life”, “Satori V1”, “My Something”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/nomenklaturmusic

Label: www.clivage-music.com / www.facebook.com/clivagemusic

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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(Selfie by Vitalic) Vitalic is back and announces the release of his fifth album: “Dissodænce” which will be divided into two volumes. The first part will be released next Autumn 2021. Vitalic himself describes it as “a return to the roots of my sonic identity, a kind of reinterpretation of the rock energy of my early albums.”

Out now already is a first single: “Carbonized” which you can check out below.

About Vitalic

Vitalic is Pascal Arbez-Nicolas, a French electronic music producer. His first singles were released in 1996 and 1997, but were confined to the underground electronic music scene. However, he became good friends with techno producer The Hacker, whom he met in Le Rex Club, the “techno temple” of Laurent Garnier. The Hacker suggested he should send his new tracks to DJ Hell, head of International DeeJay Gigolo Records in Munich. A few months layer International DeeJay Gigolo Records released the well known “Poney” EP in 2001.

With the track “La Rock 01”, Vitalic created a club anthem which was a hit in the summer of 2001. It would take Vitalic 4 years before releasing his debut album, “OK Cowboy”, on Different/PIAS Recordings.

Vitalic’s second studio album “Flashmob” was released on 28 September 2009 and held quite some disco influences. Vitalic’s third studio album, “Rave Age”, was released on 5 November 2012. In late 2016, Vitalic began a new live tour across Europe ahead of the release of his fourth studio album, “Voyager”, which was released on 20 January 2017.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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NNHMN (Non Human) is a Polish duo featuring Lee -who was active as an actress in city theatre, and Michal -who was a techno DJ. After a while they started to live- and collaborate together, which artistic wise resulted in strange projects. NNHMN is one among them and the least I can say is that I discovered a minimal-, sexy electro-wave sound. The album “Church Of No Religion” and the mini-album “Shadow In The Dark” (both available via Zoharum) both are masterpieces if you like this kind of music, but especially if you’re in search of a creative electronic exposure. I talked about it with both protagonists.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You’re based in Berlin, which for numerous artists remains a kind of ‘sonic Mecca’. What makes this city, his clubs and nightlife, but still his scene and all the artists maybe special for you? And do you feel a kind of impact from the place you live upon your music?

Lee: Well, yeah at the beginning it was very overwhelming actually, we moved out from Poland running away from growing religious and political estrangement and Berlin was a natural choice. When we landed here I felt overwhelmed being suddenly surrounded by all the freedom, creativity, variety and richness of culture. It took me quite a few years to be back myself. I took it and ate it and now I am free again to do something because it kinda trapped me in.

Michal: The previous mayor of the city used to say: ‘Berlin is poor but sexy’. Poor because in comparison to other cities,  especially of West-Germany it is rather a poor city but yep it is sexy. There are so many creative people from around the world, so many interesting musicians. I think it is rather difficult not to be impacted by this city, but it is true you need time to understand what is going on around.

Q: You last year released your official debut album “Church Of No Religion”. What kind of album did you try to compose and how did the writing- and recording process happen?

Lee: Ha, the official debut was actually ‘’Second Castle’, which took its name as a sign of -let’s say a rebirth of creativity, an intro to other releases. ‘’Church Of No Religion’’ has been like translating all of that inspiration of experiencing other states of consciousness during just losing yourself in Berlin days, nights, flashbacks into the body of musical work. It’s true that you can feel this transcendent feeling in the club when the DJ knows what he/she is doing, music and atmosphere is proper.. this -and on the other hand, I have always been thinking about this whole thing with the Old Testament -this cruel world,  there is this ‘’Song Of Songs’’ poem in there -the huge one, very controversial one -I used characters of this poem to create living embodiments. I wanted to recreate the stories; wanted it to be the garden of delights. This album to me is a techno-ish Bosch.

Q: I think it’s really interesting analyzing your sound, which covers multiple influences. Where does this eclecticism come from and what does it say about your sources of inspiration?

Lee: I am aware it sounds very, very simple, but I love music -the divinity of it. I am not very interested in genres I must say, but in musical personas behind it and in the music itself. As a vocalist and some kind of a writer, I admire (mostly) female vocalists. I have a great sentiment to discover vocal pearls of hippie music, I really like middle ages music, sacral music of all kind, I adore the cold-wave scene, sexy electro does something to me, strong minimal-techno is the best music for your living body, industrial-folk for your poetic mind to swim in… Bach always works for me.

Michal: Thinking about music is always thinking about emotions. I started with punk and hardcore, being involved in a band, loving D.R.I. etc etc. These are my roots -and maybe that’s where I come from actually. But then the time has come for electronic music. Mostly techno but also disco, electro… As a DJ I played a lot of it, like Listen To The Hiss, DJ HELL Feat Alan Vega (this one I love especially), Vitalic, Umek and all that stuff. Musically we have a bit different souls, but we meet each other in emotional space.

Q: The title of the album is an intriguing title and appears to me as a metaphor, but what can you tell us about the lyrical content?

Lee: It’s just pure improvisation, the method is called glossolalia -singing without words! F.ex., old stars of nowadays strange 4AD were singing this way.

Q: You recently re-released the mini-album “Shadow In the Dark” on CD format. What are the main changes/evolution compared to the album “Church Of No Religion”?

Lee: We recorded ‘’Shadow In The Dark’’ after ‘’Church”; it was a conscious decision to develop the sound toward cold-wave electronic, we wanted to play in clubs for people, so we moved the music denominator toward more dancey sound while maintaining the poetry (I hope so).

Q: And you also released a totally new EP entitled “Deception Island I”, which again sounds pretty minimal, but still your most elaborated work to date. What can say about the writing of this work and how do you see this EP in the band’s evolution?

Lee: I am an adult finally and I have the feeling that my audience is also mature enough to feel and listen. I feel like I don’t have any choice, but to take these disappointing, embarrassing, frustrating, frightening, touching or painful life lessons and spin them into something simple yet meaningful. Shortly I know that the writing/edit (of the lyrics) needs to get to the point.

Michal: it’s a good question. Thanks. We are always on this path of searching for the ideal sound and expression and this is the next step on this endless road.

Q: It seems you guys are actually going through a very personal tragedy. Does music bring some cure and/or relief to go through this period? And what brings the future?

Lee: Music definitely has been a purgatory during this time, without it, we would fell into the void of infinite pain. About the future… I want to get all the sophisticated layers, I want beautiful music.

Michal: Yes, music is a bright light in this dark tunnel,  it is the invisible lovely friend. And the future, unfortunately, depends on Corona’s plans. If this little, not even living creature, will be tired of harrowing humans,  then maybe we are back on the track and play shows again. You know I miss that feeling to play live and also to be in the club,  seeing other people, other bands. Those restrictions are totally understandable,  but they hit us so much. Maybe better times will come.

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: Electroclash, minimal-electronics.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Last yearFrench Kompromat duo took me by surprise unleashing the brilliant debut album “Traum Und Existenz”. Driven by Vitalic and Rebeka Warrior this project is now back again unleashing this EP with one new song and a cover version of DAF’s “Der Räuber Und Der Prinz”

Content: The style and influences both remain pretty close to the sound approach of the album. Kompromat is mixing minimal-electronics and EBM together with a technoid production. In the end it all sounds like they reactivated the good-old demons of electroclash music.

The songs have been accomplished with analogue effects in the truest 80s spirit. The DAF cover has been edited in two different versions.

+ + + : This is exactly what I expect from a single or EP; danceable songs to set dancefloors on fire! I like Kompromat’s minimalism and especially the fusion between EBM and techno is absolutely successful. The opening cut “Das Grab” sounds cool, but the way they transposed DAF’s “Der Räuber Und Der Prinz” into a minimal, alien-like electroclash song is absolutely phenomenal. I also like Rebeka Warrior’s sterile way of singing with her sexy French accent on top!

– – – : When you’re listening to such a great release, you can only regret there are only 2 (or 3) cuts on it!      

Conclusion: I’m nearly sure Gaby Delgado liked this EP…

Best songs: “Das Grab”, ““Der Räuber Und Der Prinz”, “Der Räuber Und Der Prinz – Radio Edit”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/KOMPROMATmusic

Label: www.clivagemusic.com / www.facebook.com/clivagemusic

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

After more than 10 years dedicated to compose music for films (the best known are “The Human Centipede” and “The Outsider” starring Oscar-winner James Caan), Holeg Spies have just released a new album, “Axis Mundi”. For this album Holeg based the music on two immersive journeys among the Hopi tribe in Arizona and the noamds in the steppes of Mongolia.

“Axis Mundi” also gave Holeg the opportunity to invite some of his friends to contribute. As a result we find British-Australian violinist Patrick Savage, French guitarist Thierry Gotti and the Japanese percussionist Yasushi Yamazaki back on this album.

Holeg Spies is one of the forerunners of electronic music in France and was part of the very first generation that was won over by techno music. Over the years the project released material on several labels, from Universal Japan, Polygram, over Cleopatra to Vitalic’s Citizen Records and Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto Records.

You can listen to the 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: Minimal-techno, electroclash, electro-punk.

Background/Info: Kompromat is a new project featuring Vitalic and Rebeka Warrior. The sound is inspired by the ‘Berliner’ school and defined as the meeting between Einstürzende Neubauten and Crash Course in Science.

Content: “Traum Und Existenz” clearly brings different influences together. During the early millennium years it would probably have been defined as electroclash, but today we should rather speak about a sonic chemistry between techno-, industrial- and electro-punk music. Most of the vocals –sung by Rebeka Warrior, are in German, but you’ll also notice French spoken passages. This is ultra-danceable music!

+ + + : The opening cut will directly give you an idea about the intelligence of this production. The song sounds a bit space-like, but definitely technoid, but the surprising touch is the injection of a children’s choir. I like the sound intelligence of this project. It’s a successful fusion between numerous influences, which is moving from harder danceable pieces towards slower cuts. There also is an experimental touch running through the songs, but it remains all pretty accessible. This album comes from the hands of true sound architects and it’s really exciting to see how an artist such as Vitalic has created such a new and sexy project.

– – – : Like most albums there are a few tracks that couldn’t satisfy me, but there’s no reason to complain. This is a class-act!

Conclusion: Do you remember the magical effect of Miss Kittin & The Hacker? This is different, but the magic is quite similar!

Best songs: “Herztod”, “Possession”, “Auf Immer Und Ewig”, “Traum Und Existenz”, “Einfach Da Sein”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/KOMPROMATmusic

Label: www.citizen–records.com / www.facebook.com/citizenrecords

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: Electroclash, electro-pop, techno-body.

Background/Info: Pascal Arbez-Nicolas better known as Vitalic gained a serious reputation in the selected and intelligent areas of techno music and other electroclash. After the release of his maxi “Poney” released in 2001 on International Deejay Gigolo Records he became instantly renowned. Vitalic went on, in the meantime creating his own and now respected label Citizen Records and releasing new productions. “Voyager” is the first album since “Rave Age” (2012) featuring 10 songs and numerous (famous) guests.

Content: The work of Vitalic remains carried by solid technoid and electroclash influences, but globally speaking it became more versatile throughout the years. “Voyager” is a real sonic journey giving me the feeling that Pascal Arbez-Nicolas simply exorcised all of his sonic ideas.

I consider the more electroclash tracks as the most exciting ones, but I also noticed electronic treatments reminding me of Kraftwerk and a bassline in the purest Front 242 format. There also is a part of electro-pop featured and a cool kind of parody from the famous song “Warm Leatherette” renamed “Sweet Cigarette”.

Notice by the way that next to contributions of David Shaw and Mark Kerr there also is Miss Kittin who contributed to one song.

+ + + : “Voyager” sounds into modernism. While holding onto great electroclash driven cuts (cf. “Hans Is Driving feat. Miss Kittin”, “Lightspeed” and “Nozomi”) I also fully enjoyed the minimal-minded “Waiting For The Stars feat. David Shaw” and the harder, body-driven “Levitation” revealing a terrific ‘242’ bass line. The final song (cf. “Don’t Leave Me Now”) reveals a pure electro-pop approach and a somewhat hidden side of Vitalic. I already mentioned the kind of “Warm Leatherette”-parody, which has been transposed into “Sweet Cigarette”. This is a cool techno-punkish touch reinforcing the diversity of this work.

– – – : Diversity can be also seen as one of the points that can’t totally convince and I especially think to the electroclash die-hard fans.

Conclusion: Vitalic doesn’t repeat himself although hold on familiar and successful ingredients to compose a more open-minded piece of music. “Voyager” is a great journey through danceable electronic areas.

Best songs: “Levitation”, “Lightspeed”, “Waiting For The Stars feat. David Shaw”, “Hans Is Driving feat. Miss Kittin”.

Rate: (8).

Band: http://vitalic.org / www.facebook.com/VITALICOFFICIAL

Label: www.facebook.com/citizenrecords / www.facebook.com/pg/citizenrecords

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: Electro, synth-pop.

Content: Debut album of the Belgian duo Gunther Haegeman (Obverse Reality, Synthetic Dream) and Dries De Vreeze, released on the label of Dirk Ivens (Dive, Absolute Body Control, …) and mastered by Eric Van Wonterghem (Monolith).
A wide sound-spectrum of different styles such as electro, new-beat, minimal, trance, etc. come to mind when listening to this very danceable CD.

Opener “Redhead Sky” throws you right back in the ’80’s and is followed by “Syquest”, a song built up, layer by layer, going from an ambient-like intro towards a full danceable electro-pop song in the style of Goose. “Der Nachtmann” reminded me on “Housewife” of Daan and is a song which could have been part of the repertoire of Vitalic while “Terror Rice” sounds very atmospheric and ‘spacy’, starting from an Antiloop-wise intro.

“Buchstabieren” is for me by far the best (danceable) track and has the potential to become a club-hit and dancefloor-filler! I also recognized the sound of Vitalic in “City Loneliness”, a song where even guitars are used to create the climax.

Another highlight is “Bunkerkopf”, a downtempo song which creates a very dark gloomy atmosphere. Track 8, “Floorlayer” reminded me of Tiga and is for sure very club-minded as well.

“Kontrolieren” I found the least-interesting song while the synths on “Untkalker” (what’s in a name!) also threw me back to the ’80’s. The last piece “Gamebreaker” has a huge new-beat content and is a worthy closing-track of this 57 minute duration album, of which each song has an average playing-time of approximately 5 minutes.
If I have to say one minor point about the music it is that sometimes the drums (roll-overs) sound a bit too simple (basic). But what I like most on this album is the fact that both gentlemen combine different styles which are closely connected to the dark electronic scene although their stuff also fits perfectly in the alternative dance scene.

Also important to keep in mind: the live-sound of this duo is as clear as on CD!

Conclusion: If you are into electro, new-beat, minimal, trance, and fan of Vitalic or Goose, check out this stuff!

Best songs: “Terror Rice”, “Buchstabieren”, “Bunkerkopf”, “Floorlayer”, “Gamebreaker”.

Rate: (WH:8)WH.

Band: www.facebook.com/pages/Karl-Hefner-Hugh-Lagerfeld/128855857266795

Label: www.daft-records.com

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