“Sin” marks the fourth album from Swedish artist Anna Öberg. While her music can be broadly categorized as Electro-Pop, it also incorporates distinct EBM elements that add a harder, edgier feel to certain tracks. The album also features an array of vintage sounds, occasionally reminiscent of Welle:Erdball. Anna Öberg’s sound is raw and unpolished, with her vocals delivered in Swedish, a unique aspect that sets her apart. If you’re unfamiliar with Anna Öberg, I highly recommend giving this album a listen. (Rate:8).

Listen to “Ligger På Rygg”:

About Anna Öberg

Anna Öberg, born in 1965 in Helsingborg, is a Swedish musician who first surfaced as a member of the synth group Ladomir, formed in 1983 together with Kire Nilsson. In February 1985 she moved with the band to Gothenburg, where she is still active today.

After a long musical break, she released her first solo album “Härsknar” in 2017, followed by two further albums built on analogue synths from the 80s, flutes and vocals in Swedish. Charles Storm handles the production and mixing of her material. In April 2023, “Mitt sista hopp” was released as the first single from her fourth album.

“Sin” was released on Xenophone International, the Gothenburg label that also releases music by Twice a Man and Lars Falk. In late 2024, Öberg talked about her genre-mixing approach in a Side-Line interview.

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 EBM pop duo AD:keY are back with a fresh EP, “Nackt”, following their previous single, “Two Souls”. With this new release the Berlin-based duo, Andrea and Rene Nowotny, offers a glimpse of what you can expect on their forthcoming album, “0609”.

“Nackt” holds 4 tracks, 3 remixes (including a single mix) of the title track plus a mix of the track “Deine Augen”. As usual the tracks come with the band’s signature blend of male and female vocals.

As usual with Alfa Matrix the release is first out on Bandcamp with other platforms to follow in the next weeks.

About AD:keY

AD:keY was formed in 2006 as a side project by the keyboardist from the band Armageddon Dildos. The band’s sound is rooted in pure old school EBM blending what we then described “the synths and beats of DAF and Nitzer Ebb with the vocal style and slight spaciness of Welle:Erdball”.

Their music is characterized by stomping beats, muscled bass lines, addictive melodic electro sequences, and powerful male and female vocals. Over the years, AD:keY has carved out its own identity within the Electronic Body Music scene releasing material via the Belgian based electro label Alfa Matrix.

Eldrina Mich

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

www.side-line.com

Out via Nexilis on October 7th is the new 3CD set “Film, Funk & Fernsehen” by the German electropop act Welle:Erdball.

Coming as 3 seperate digipaks it is included in an inside an outer cardboards-slider holding over 2 hours of music and more than 30 tracks. The band explains the album title as follows: “The power of the media. And it is almost all-encompassing; with a theme that no longer stops at pandemics, gender and global thermonuclear war and is reflected in German lyrics, but also in songs in English, Russian and even Swedish.”

Also included are some cover versions such as David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” with female voices accompanied by Commodore C64 sounds. Also included is a complete radio play CD (in German) with several guest musicians such as Alexx Wesselsky (Eisbrecher), Ronan Harris (VNV Nation) and Steve Naghavi (And One).

Since it has been 40 years since the C64 was presented to the world (in January 1982), Welle:Erdball has also dedicated another complete CD recorded only with a C64. For those who wonder what a C64 actually is, the Commodore 64, also known as the C64 or the CBM 64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. It is still being actively used in the demoscene, especially for music (its SID sound chip even being used in special sound cards for PCs, and the Elektron SidStation synthesizer).

Check out the video for “Das Atomboot (C64)”. A new video for “Drogenexzess im Musikexpress” will be released on September 9th.

The band has also announced a tour, the dates are available below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Out now on Bandcamp is the extremely attractive 8-track EP “Fluormenschen ” by the Berlin-based vintage electronic project Rector Scanner. The EP follows the release of their comeback album “Radioteleskop” and its various related EP releases.

The band offers vintage electronic music with vocoders and German-sung synth music, which is basically a very well-made mixture of Kraftwerk’s robotic electronics, And One’s danceable techno pop and Welle:Erdball’s 80’s melodic mechanical synthpop touch.

Rector Scanner is – for those who didn’t know – the retro science-fiction pop side-project of the EBM duo AD:keY consisting of Andrea and Rene Nowotny.

The 8-track new EP reveals 3 new songs plus a couple of self-made remixes, including more dancefloor EBM-pop oriented versions by their alter-ego project AD:keY, while Belgian label mates 808 DOT POP also contribute with a vintage-synth-pop remix of the title song.

A must have in your collection! Read the review of ‘Fluormenschen’.

Eldrina Mich

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark Electro-Pop, Electro-Wave.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: German project The Snatcher has already released multiple singles and two albums. This new EP features six songs plus one remix.

Content: It’s not that easy defining the sound of The Snatcher, but the title song makes me think of an imaginary offspring between Welle:Erdball and Dorsetshire. With the exception of one song, all tracks have been sung in German. A few tracks feature female backing vocals. “Kalt” is mixing power and melody, rage and a sense of humor. There’s also an atypical song featured, which is a kind of unplugged ballad roughly sung in English.The last song is a remix of “Kalt” by Merry Chicklit.

+ + + : I definitely like the melodic and danceable side of the band. “Kalt” is a pretty cool title track carried with some kind of ping-pong sequences. The remix of Merry Chicklit features female backings and is another cool exposure. “Meckerziege” is another noticeable track and here again featuring female backing vocals. The Snatcher doesn’t really innovate and sounds typical German-like, but this new EP is efficient.

– – – : The EP often gives bands the opportunity to release weird and unusual tracks. The ballad-like “Lost Again” is such a song and definitely one you can better avoid.

Conclusion: “Kalt” is a cool song for the dancefloors and for sure an EP that will increase this band’s popularity.

Best songs: “Kalt”, “Kalt – Merry Chicklit Remix”, “Meckerziege”, “Damokles”, “Quarantaine-Källe”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.thesnatcher.de / www.facebook.com/theofficialsnatcher

Label: www.dansemacabre-group.de / www.facebook.com/dansemacabrerec

About The Snatcher

The Snatcher is a German dark electro-pop project signed to danse macabre. Discogs lists two releases for the act on that label: the album “Dein Dämon”, issued on CD in 2019, and the CD EP “Kalt” in 2021.

“Kalt” was released on 31 March 2021. The EP was mixed and mastered at Tonstudio KölnBonn, with artwork by Pure Velvet Design and the closing remix contributed by Merry Chicklit. Tracks by the project also appeared on the German magazine sampler “Sonic Seducer Cold Hands Seduction” in 2018 and 2021.

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-Pop, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital, 2CD.

Background/Info: Set up in 1997 by Rene Nowotny –who’s actually more known from his involvement with the EBM project AD:Key, Rector Scanner doesn’t release new material on a regular basis. “Radioteleskop” is the third album by the German artist, which is inspired by sci/fi and the origins of mankind and outer space life forms. The album features eleven songs plus eleven extra songs/remixes on the extra disc. 

Content: Rector Scanner is clearly inspired by vintage Electronics, which might remind bands like Kraftwerk and Welle:Erdball. The songs have been achieved with space-like bleeps and atmospheres –which totally fits the concept, while the harder songs feature an EBM touch on top. The vocals have been produced with a robotic effect while you also will notice female backings.

The second disc reveals a few alternative edits and an important load of remixes from AD:Key, Massiv In Mensch, Metroland, Merry Chicklit, Letal 30 and 808 Dot.Pop.

+ + + : Scanner brings vintage Electro with a refreshing approach. The sound isn’t innovative and yet, this ‘time-travel’ approach has something magic. The songs are well-crafted featuring great sequences and solid sound treatments, and also great atmospheres. The robotic effect on top of the vocals accentuates the retro-approach of the work. The opening part of the album is simply brilliant. You will (re)discover the EP-title song “Der Dichter Und Die Frau”, but also other great songs like the title song plus “Die Eisigen Ufer Des Titan”, “Minus 180 Grad (Celsius)” and “Das Mädchen Aus Dem All”. Among the remixes I noticed great contributions from AD:Key transforming “Radioteleskop” into a solid EBM piece, Massiv In Mensch putting their sonic stamp on the title song and Metroland revisiting “Das Mädchen Aus Dem All” in a minimal format.

– – – : The first part of the album is absolutely phenomenal while the second part is more stagnating and sometimes becoming a bit repetitive.

Conclusion: Rector Scanner is back on track with an intelligent, uplifting and alluring Electro-Pop work.

Best songs: “Radioteleskop”, “Der Dichter Und Die Frau”, “Die Eisigen Ufer Des Titan”, “Minus 180 Grad (Celsius)”, “Das Mädchen Aus Dem All” + “Radioteleskop – AD:keY Wow!-Signal Mix 3”, “Radioteleskop – Remix By Massiv In Mensch”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/rectorscanner

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Radioteleskop’.

About Rector Scanner

Rector Scanner was founded in 1997 by René Nowotny in Germany and is now based in Berlin. Discogs lists René and Andrea Nowotny as members; the two also form the EBM duo AD:keY, which started around 2007 and signed to Alfa Matrix in 2017.

Rector Scanner self-released the CDrs “Digital-Hertz”, “Molekül” and the EP “Eisplanet” in 2001. The album “Vocoder” was released by Pandailectric in January 2004 and “Herzschlag” by Emmo.biz and Kompuphonik Musik in September 2015. In March 2018 Alfa Matrix reissued the back catalogue digitally, including the EPs “Komm Zu Mir” and “World Wide Web”.

The EP “Der Dichter Und Die Frau”, released on 4 March 2021, was the first new Rector Scanner material in fifteen years. “Radioteleskop” followed on 18 June 2021 as a limited 2CD and download with 22 tracks, the second disc collecting remixes and alternative versions. Later in 2021 the project released the twin EPs Das Mädchen aus dem All and gave Side-Line a ‘Click Interview’. The eight-track EP Fluormenschen came out in June 2022. “Radioteleskop” is the album that reactivated the project.

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: EBM, Minimal-Electro, Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, Vinyl.

Background/Info: German EBM formation QEK Junior is back on track, unleashing their first new work in ten years. After the promising debut album “Ausverkauf” (2009) and the rather unknown “Druschba” (2011) they became pretty silent. The band is now back with a new line-up, but still driven by core member Dominic Daub.

Content: “Anomie” is not just EBM and that’s maybe the main difference with the early work. The songs sound like a mix between EBM elements, reminding me of  DAF and a more Experimental and yet Electro-Pop composition à la Welle:Erdball. The second part of the album is a bit darker and more into old-school EBM. All songs have been still sung in German.

+ + + : I definitely prefer the B-side of the album revealing 4 songs in a personal EBM vein; it’s retro-like, dark and into minimalism, but pretty exciting. “Kind Der Actziger” is an excellent piece reminding me of the best years of DAF. But I also have to mention “Erörterung Basaler Kapitalistischer Prinzipien In Knapp Drei Minuten (Jawoll Herr Schmidt)” and the darkest songs from the album “Dicta Delgado” and “Wer Hat Den Ganzen Lack Gesoffen?!”. The sound of this band is still pretty exciting so it’s good to see QEK Junior back on track.

– – – : The album only features 4 songs and that’s a pity especially considering the songs are rather short and the first side sounds more like a warm up for the B-side.

Conclusion: QEK Junior still has that funny EBM approach, which will appeal for all lovers of vintage EBM.

Best songs: “Kind Der Achtziger”, “Dicta Delgado”, “Wer Hat Den Ganzen Lack Gesoffen?!”, “Erörterung Basaler Kapitalistischer Prinzipien In Knapp Drei Minuten (Jawoll Herr Schmidt)”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.qek-junior.eu / www.facebook.com/qekjunior

Label: https://youngandcold.de /

www.facebook.com/youngandcoldrecords

About QEK Junior

QEK Junior is a German EBM and minimal-electro project set up in 2005; Discogs lists Dominic Daub and Tobias Dupont as members. After an untitled self-released CDr EP in 2007, the debut album “Ausverkauf” came out on Danse Macabre in January 2009, followed by the LP “Druschba” on Hertz-Schrittmacher in 2011. Young And Cold Records reissued “Ausverkauf” on vinyl in 2020; Side-Line reviewed that edition in October 2020.

“Anomie” appeared as a download on 1 March 2021 and as an LP with download card on Young And Cold Records on 15 June 2021. The eight tracks are “Trümmer”, “Ich bin raus”, “Digitaler Nihilismus”, “Moralisch korrekt”, “Dicta Delgado”, “Erörterung basaler kapitalistischer Prinzipien in knapp drei Minuten (Jawoll Herr Schmidt)”, “Kind der Achtziger” and “Wer hat den ganzen Lack gesoffen?!”. The band describes the album on Bandcamp as “German minimal wave with a cynical approach”. No production credits are listed on Discogs.

The compilation CDr “Art Brut (Eine Subjektive Auswahl)” and the LP “Das Gespenst Der Freiheit” (10 December 2024) followed on Young And Cold Records. “Anomie” is the first QEK Junior album in ten years and its second Side-Line review.

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

Founded in 1997, Rector Scanner was actually the very first music project of Berlin-based artist Rene Nowotny who then redirected all his energy over the last years on his more EBM-oriented band AD:keY together with his wife Andrea.

Anno 2021, Rector Scanner returns to reveal their much anticipated 3rd studio album “Radioteleskop”, a 2CD set. The first CD holds 11 new songs that offer vintage electronic music with vocoders and German-sung synth music in line with Welle:Erdball and And One. The songs on this release are strongly influenced by science and social fiction literature from the early 20th century and novelists in the likes of Russian author Ivan Yefremov.

The second CD features another 11 tracks which are exclusive versions and diverse collaborations with Metroland, 808 Dot Pop, Massiv In Mensch, AD:keY, Letal 30 as well as a featuring of the toitronic electropunk diva Merry Chicklit.

Also notice the design work by artist, illustrator and theatre actor Thomas Franke.

You can check out all the new tracks below. The limited edition 2CD (there is no 1CD version) set can be ordered via the Alfa Matrix webstore, and the download version via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page. Read the review of ‘Radioteleskop’.

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: EBM , Body-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl, Cassette.

Background/Info: Swedish EBM duo Strum Café this year celebrates their twentieth anniversary. “Fernes Land” is the band’s third full length and the first one in six years.

Content: Sturm Café has been always linked with old-school EBM and that’s for sure the main source of inspiration, which comes back to “Fernes Land”. But the songs also feature an explicit Electro-Pop influence. The mix of both Electro genres resulted in an original result, which in a way is the trademark of this band. The songs are well-crafted and elaborated, but still revealing great sound treatments. All vocals are once again sung in German and reveal funny lyrics.

+ + + : Sturm Café stands for old-school EBM polished with Electro-Pop arrangements. There are not many formations with a similar approach and that’s what makes this band unique. But the album is much more than simply mixing different genres together; the songs are masterly written and accomplished with great, vintage sound treatments. The EBM sound formula sounds often simple, but Sturm Café transposed it into a higher artistic level. The songs are accomplished and there’re numerous great passages among the tracklist. “Funkbereit“ is for sure a potential hit, but I also have to mention the somewhat harder “Schauspiel“ and “Spielzeit” revealing funny lyrics. The songs are driven by deep bass lines. Some bleeping sequences are a bit reminding me of Welle:Erdball, but no doubt about it, Sturm Café is a band with a very unique sound and approach.

– – – : I regret the album only features 9 songs, the opening track being a kind of intro. But it’s better to get a short, but qualitative album instead of an album with an endless and poorly inspired tracklist.

Conclusion: Sturm Café is a band that never deceives and will still appeal for lovers of EBM and Electro-Pop.

Best songs: “Funkbereit“, “Schauspiel”, “Spielzeit”, “So Lange Es Geht”, “Männer Gegen Männer”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist & Label: www.sturmcafe.se / www.facebook.com/sturmcafe

About Sturm Café

Sturm Café is the Swedish EBM duo of Gustav Jansson and Jonatan Löfstedt, formed around 2001. The band is devoted to old-school EBM, sings all its lyrics in German, and releases through its own label, SCR. “Fernes Land” (2021), marking the band’s twentieth anniversary, was their third full-length and their first new album in six years, refining their EBM sound with Electro-Pop arrangements.

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

The Berlin based Record Scanner electropop act is finally back after 15 long years of new studio silence. Founded in 1997, Rector Scanner is the first electropop project of Berlin-based artist Rene Nowotny who focused all his energy over the last years on his more EBM-oriented band AD:keY together with his wife Andrea.

This new EP announces Rector Scanner’s 3rd studio album “Radioteleskop“ and reveals new material for the very first time after some 15 years of dormancy.

This new EP – available now via Bandcamp and other platforms – will please all fans of vintage electronic music with vocoders as well as German-sung synth pop music like Welle:Erdball, And One and more.

The artwork for the EP was made by artist, illustrator and theatre actor Thomas Franke and based on the artwork “Trauer 1: Pieta des Lichtbringers vor seiner telefonischen Chattung mit der Äonenleier…”.

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: EBM, electro-wave, wave-pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: German duo QEK Junior was set up in 2005 and released a noticeable debut album “Ausverkauf” in 2009 on Danse Macabre Records. After a second opus “Druschba” in 2011 the band didn’t give us much signs of life. “Ausverkauf” has been now recovered from dust and released for the very first time on vinyl by Young And Cold Records.

Content: The tracklist remains exactly the same, featuring the 10 original songs from the album. If you don’t know yet QEK Junior and especially this debut work you might imagine a sonic hybrid between Welle:Erdball and DAF. The music is pure old-school like bringing the old EBM from DAF alive together with the typical robotic pop from Welle:Erdball. There’re also some more minimal cuts, which are evoking Absolute Body Control. This is pure retro-electronic music with German vocals.

+ + + : I’ve always liked this album by QEK Junior and didn’t realize it’s already 11 years old now. Well you don’t get the feeling the songs are suffering from the weight of time; they’re still pretty vintage-sounding, but the minimalism and robotic-pop approach make it all sound refreshing and up to date. The different influences running through their work are also complementary. The vinyl edition is totally appropriated for this vintage sound.

– – – : I just regret there are no extras –like unreleased songs and why not a new track.

Conclusion: “Ausverkauf” remains a great work released by a band that never got a deserved recognition for their work. This vinyl edition will hopefully give a second life to the album and maybe inciting the band to compose new songs.

Best songs: “Schwarzes Gold”, “Yoshiwara”, “Nut Diesen Augenblick”, “1/0”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/qekjunior

Label: https://youngandcold.de /

www.facebook.com/youngandcoldrecords

About QEK Junior

QEK Junior is the German duo of Dominic Daub and Tobias Dupont, active since 2005. The project’s 2009 debut album “Ausverkauf” appeared on Danse Macabre Records, followed by a second album, “Druschba”, in 2011, after which the duo largely stepped back from releasing new material. Young And Cold Records’ vinyl reissue gives “Ausverkauf” its first appearance on that format, more than a decade after its original release.

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

André Lellitko, Kay Lipka and Casi Kriegler set up Rroyce a few years ago now. The band’s debut album “Dreams & Doubts & Fears” got released in 2014 on Thexoomo.net. The second full length “Karoshi” got released two years later on Kayal Records and got re-released in 2017 on Infacted Recordings. The growing enthusiasm in their homeland, Germany, brought the band to perform at bigger festivals. The electro/future-pop sound of the band stands for the revival of future-pop. Their newest album “Patience” only confirms the growing talent of the trio. This work has been again released on Infacted Recordings, which is a label with a nose for talented electro-pop music. The songs remind me to an imaginary hybrid between Mesh, OMD and Beborn Beton. I asked Casi Kriegler for more info.  

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How did the story of Royce all started and what have been the main facts in this story so far?

Casi: Our journey started exactly seven years ago, where we participated in a band contest, which was called ‘UNBACO’. We won the contest out of  numerous bands coming from the wave- and synth-pop-genre and we played the fifth gig in the band’s history at the ‘WGT 2013’, which was quite impressive for us. Later on we went on tour by supporting great bands like Eisfabrik, Solitary Experiments and Welle:Erdball.

We are glad to work together with our label Infacted Recordings. Our booking agency is Eisland Entertainment, which provides us with memorable festival appearances, like ‘Amphi Festival’, ‘E-tropolis’, ‘Plage Noire’, ‘NCN’ and many more. We´re glad that we found reliable partners to work with on our way whatever the future will bring.

Q: You’ve already released three full length albums so what’s your personal analysis from the evolution in sound and production from the debut album “Dreams & Thoughts & Fears” to “Karoshi” to “Patience”?

Casi: Our first album was self-produced, which was quite exciting as we didn´t know the people´s reaction on that. Okay, at that time our fanbase was quite small, but we already set ourselves high standards in the production.

For the 2^nd album we convinced Dirk Riegner to work with us as a producer. The outcome was fantastic and we decided to rerun the collaboration for the 3^rd album. Our success confirms that this was the right approach.

I think the evolution is quite obvious, because we always want to improve ourselves as musicians and our products and we´re working every day to achieve that.

Q: “Patience” has been preceded by the EP “Parallel Worlds”, which can be easily considered as your biggest ‘hit’. Tell us a bit more about this song, its writing, the lyrical content and the clip that has been made?

Casi: The song is based on our private experiences in keeping up the balance between the daily routine on the one hand and being a musician on the other hand. Sometimes it´s hard to switch from one world to the other, especially when you spent a weekend on stage and you´ll find yourself exactly 24 hours later, sitting in an office, in front of a computer and you ask yourself: ‘What the heck I am doing here’??!

So I had the idea to point out the inner struggle in a visual way by setting up two dancers dressed in black and white, fighting with each other –but also in very close interaction to underline how close the feelings and emotions are linked together, while hopping in between these two worlds. We wanted to produce a very clear and stylish video. We are grateful that we could achieve these visions with our friends from Tiefgang Erleben, who realized this lovely video project.

Q: When you listen to “Patience” right now, what are your biggest satisfactions and do you also notice some elements you want to improve?

Casi: We’re satisfied with all the different aspects from the album, otherwise we wouldn´t have released it. As I said, there are always aims for improvement, in song writing and in setting up the lyrics, as well. When you are not constantly moving, you might get fat and dull. That´s not our intention.

Q: So far you did interesting tours, but always as support band from a bigger name like the aforementioned bands Eisfabrik, Solitary Experiments and Welle:Erdball. How do you look back at these tours and live experiences generally speaking? How do you see yourself as stage band?

Casi: We love being live on stage. I love to see these faces, the reactions, the smiling people having fun. For us it has been a great honor to perform on huge stages, in front of hundreds of people. The number of supporters is steadily increasing and we are grateful for every occasion to present RROYCE live on stage. When I think of all these special tour-life/live-moments, I can say that we made friends with the bands. One could even go so far as to say we became good friends. Without exception. memories, that will stay with me forever.

Q: I noticed you already did an impressive number of live performances during the past years, but mainly in Germany! What about RROYCE and live shows abroad Germany? Do you feel to be unknown or misunderstood outside Germany? What brings 2020?

Casi: We already played in Switzerland, The Netherlands and England and we would love to play wherever you can imagine. Every gig abroad was a big success. If there´s any promoter, who wants to see us on its stage, feel free to contact our agency. But to see it realistic and considering the costs (flights, hotels, fees) it´s not that easy for a quite unknown band to realize these dreams –apart from their outstanding live qualities (lol).

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-pop.

Background/Info: Based in Brighton (UK) Jon Russell better known as Jonteknik, has just released his ninth full length album. It’s a conceptual album, inspired by the artist’s fascination ‘by the connection between humans and nature’. “Tectonics” has been released on Russell’s own label and is also available on vinyl format and as a very limited cassette edition.

Content: If you’re familiar with the music universe of Jonteknik you won’t be surprised to discover that his electro-pop music will remind you of Kraftwerk, and also of the ‘Amiga-pop’ of Welle:Erdball. Some songs are coming pretty close to the aforementioned bands, but when considering this musician is already active for nearly 30 years it becomes obvious his music is not a copy. The work reflects an intelligent pop format, which has something ‘robotic’, space-like and definitely minimal. 

+ + + : The link with the original electro-pop from the 80s has something authentic and that’s for sure because of Russell’s fascination with analogue gear. It brings good-old memories to life, but also adds something refreshing. The sound treatments are pure magic –especially when clearly evoking Kraftwerk songs. The songwriting is well-crafted while revealing cool melody lines and great effects.

– – – : The only single element that in my opinion could be improved is the production of the vocals. I think there can be a bit more ‘passion’ or ‘conviction’ in the vocals.

Conclusion: “Tectonics” is an album I fully recommend for the lovers of what I commonly call ‘Kraftwerk-pop’, but I’m still convinced there’s more in this project than what comes out! So the best is yet to some…

Best songs: “Mount Etna”, “Tectonics”, “Mount Fuji”, “Silfra”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.jonteknik.com / www.facebook.com/Jonteknik

Label: www.thepeopleselectric.com / www.facebook.com/thepeopleselectric

About Jonteknik

Jonteknik is the electronic project of Brighton, UK-based musician Jon Russell, with a catalogue stretching back to the 1990s and including the albums “Giants Under The Microscope” (2012), “Large Hadron Collider” and “Structural” (both 2015) and “Skylines” (2017), the latter inspired by Russell’s interest in architecture and informed by his fandom of Kraftwerk and A-ha.

Russell has also worked with Paul Humphreys (OMD) and Claudia Brücken (Propaganda, Act) on their Onetwo project, remixed the Alfa Matrix act Metroland, and contributed to iEuropean, the project of former Empire State Human member Seán Barron featuring Kraftwerk’s Wolfgang Flür. In 2016 Russell founded his own label, The People’s Electric, which issued iEuropean’s debut album before releasing Jonteknik’s own “Tectonics” in 2019, followed a year later by a companion release, “TECTONICS_too”.

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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Read the review of ‘Zuckervater’.

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: Synth-pop, experimental.

Background/Info: Reed Hays and Caroline Schutz is a duo based in New York who met at college. “Buchla And Singing” is their official debut album released on Vince Clarke’s label Very Records. This is a brand-new label on, which Vince Clarke together with Paul Hartnoll (Orbital) released the single “Better Have A Drink To Think” and the album “2Square”.

The title of Reed & Caroline’s album refers to the vocals of Caroline Schutz (‘singing’) and the analogue modular ‘Buchla’ synthesizer used by Reed Hays.

Content: If you like vintage electronics this is for sure an album that will catch your attention. Reed & Caroline deal with good-old electro-pop music carried by typical computer bleeps. It reminds me of good-old Atari sounds from early computer games. This is the kind of music that might appeal to fans of Kraftwerk, and also more contemporary bands like Welle:Erdball and Client. Caroline’s sweet timbre of voice injects an evasive touch to the electronic treatments of her partner.

Next to this more ‘traditional’ electro-pop with a pure retro style the album also reveals a strong experimental side. This part is not exactly into classical electro-pop songs, but reveals a passion for sound creation. It now rather sounds like a demonstration of analogue sound treatments created by the modular synth of the band. The final part of the work brings us back to more song-related pieces and the chemistry between machines and singing.

+ + + : For years I’ve been convinced that authentic analogue machines and synthesizers all have this kind of magic you never will get when using digital- and or software synthesizers. It definitely sounds old-styled, but still so unique and magical. The electro-pop minded songs are showing interesting composing skills resulting in several highlights like “Electrons” and “Singularity (We Bond)” plus a phenomenal remix of “Bright Light” and another one of “Electrons” by Vince Clarke.

– – – : The experimental-minded cuts are for sure interesting, but they clearly reveal an experimental side, which doesn’t totally fit with the pop-inspired songs. It creates a break between promising debut songs and outstanding final tracks.

Conclusion: Reed & Caroline have accomplished a successful debut work revealing 2 sides. I especially want to recommend the electro-pop cuts bringing the good-old 80s spirit back to life. This is a band to keep an eye on!

Best songs: “Bright Light – Bright Light Remix”, “Singularity (We Bond)”, “Electrons”, “John And Rene”, “Electrons – Vince Clarke Remix”.

Rate: (7½). 

Band: www.facebook.com/reedandcaroline

Label: http://veryrecords.com / www.facebook.com/VeryRecords

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

Here’s what just popped in: a double-picture vinyl re-release of the Welle:Erdball albums “Frontalaufprall” (1994) and “Alles int möglich” (1995). The 2 albums have been united on a double-picture-LP, including a poster that features a collage of lots of Welle: Erdball memorabilia of the period 1994-1995.

You can order this vinyl 2LP right here.

Here’s one of the tracks featured on this set: “Amerika”.

Welle: Erdball are the pioneers of bitpop, especially due to the heavy use of the Commodore 64’s SID sound chip. In addition to their work as Welle: Erdball, Honey was involved in the project called “Das Präparat” from 2003 to 2005. Currently Hannes “Honey” Malecki and Plastique are involved in the new side-project called Homo~Futura.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The Norwegian electro rock act Essence Of Mind, is finally getting the recognition they deserve. After being selected to play this year’s M’era Luna festival in August, the band has now added 2 more festival line-ups: Autumn Moon festival 2016 in Hameln, Germany (14-15 October) and the Subkulturfestivalen in Sweden (12th to 13th August).

At the Autumn Moon festival they will be playing together with such acts like Welle:Erdball, Das Ich, Moonspell, L’ame Immortelle and Legend. So you are in for a good treat.

In related news the band is currently busy with working on new material in the studio. No details have leaked so far, but the moment we can lay our hands on a demo, we’ll inform you.

Here’s the band’s latest work (you can still download a previously unreleased song called “Still Untold” from the band’s website, all you have to do is sign up for their newsletter):

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