Genre/Influences: Experimental, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Robin Storey (Rapoon, Zoviet France), Robert L. Pepper (Pas Musique), and Shaun Sandor (Promute) met a long time ago. They also started releasing music under the Old Castle moniker for a few years.

Content: The work clearly appears to be a good old improvisation session resulting in a sonic puzzle. It might be linked to the early years of Kraut music.

+ + + : The least I can say is that Old Castle are simply into free-style. You might recognize different influences -I personally like passages featuring deep bass lines and Industrial sound treatments, but in the end it always remains unpredictable.

– – – : I’m missing structure and cohesion which you clearly can’t expect listening to such a sound experiment.

Conclusion: A complete anarchistic sound experiment; kind of sonic Dadaism.

Best songs: “Rage Goat”, “Nightmare Fuel”.

Rate: 6.

Label: www.zoharum.com / www.facebook.com/zoharum

About Old Castle

Old Castle is the trio of Robin Storey (Rapoon, Zoviet France), Robert L. Pepper (Pas Musique) and Shaun Sandor (Promute). “Artwork 51”, released 10 December 2022 on Zoharum, is the group’s second album for the label, built from improvisation sessions rooted in the early Kraut tradition, pressed in a 300-copy limited edition across digital and CD formats.

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

Out via Cold Spring on November 4th is a re-release of the debut album from Dead Voices On Air (Mark Spybey of Download/ex-Zoviet France, Reformed Faction), featuring cEvin Key (Skinny Puppy/Download).

The original release “Abrader” (1994) blends processed sounds from primitive instruments and found objects into hypnotic looped rhythmic structures, with dark clusters of heavy ambient. It was the first ever of over 80 releases (so far) by Mark Spybey using the name Dead Voices On Air.

“Abrader Redux” features the three lengthy tracks that were released on the original cassette, plus the bonus tracks that were included in the 2009 reprint as part of a double CD, and now with two ‘new’ previously-unreleased bonus tracks.

Here’s a teaser for the release.

Dead Voices On Air was formed in 1992 when Mark Spybey emigrated to Canada from his native England. Dead Voices On Air was mostly a solo project of Mark Spybey for a long time, expanding to the band only several times before, but since 2020 it’s officially a full band including Mark Spybey, Lori Cole, Marko Roberti and Anatoly Grinberg.

Below you can buy the CD release or the download straight from Bandcamp.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Out today via Re:Mission Entertainment is the second album, “—-X—-“, in an ongoing collaboration between Dead Voices on Air and Snowbeasts. For this release the two bands took a slightly different approach during the recording. Most of the songs were passed back and forth via file transfer until the songs felt finished. “This resulted in a more composed, or thematic feel to the album, which features more lyrical content”, so the label emphasizes.

The release is out as a download and as a limited CD digipak (100 copies) via Bandcamp (where you can order it. A special T-shirt is also available for ordering.

Spybey’s lyrical content continues to be preoccupied by the political challenges of our time, believing that we have entered a new era of autocracy. He believes that we are in danger of being seduced by the incessant barrage of lies, half-truths, trolling and allegations. That we are being wilfully misled by petty tyrants, upper class twits, the filthy rich, pathological liars and narcissists.

The duo says: “We are oppressed through the weaponisation of fear, in a vain attempt to obscure the political and strategic ineptness of our politicians. The enemy is anyone who dares to think or act differently, or who challenges the kind of beliefs that have plagued mankind: hatred of others, hatred of minorities, hatred of those who seek to instil hope and compassion into our societies.”

Spybey specifies even further: “I’m 60 and I’m still pissed off. Perhaps more pissed off than ever. I confess I find it ever so hard to believe that with all of the advances that humans have made during my lifetime, all of the wonderful things we have achieved, that our countries (the USA and the UK) have ended up electing, being led and represented by people like Trump and Johnson. I can’t believe that anyone could be stupid enough to believe that the world is a safer and better place because of their contribution, or lack of it to the maintenance of peace, stability and wellness. To all of you who say that musicians shouldn’t get involved in politics, I have this to say. I make music because I am able to do it. It’s my right to create and by doing so I am afforded a voice and a platform. It’s one of the many privileges of living in a ‘free society,’ (whatever that means). I make music because I want to and if I didn’t think that by doing so that I couldn’t reach out to people and to respectfully challenge the status quo, in an attempt to make some kind of meaningful contribution to society, I’d quit tomorrow, pack up and go away. For Trump and Johnson, you can easily add another dozen or so ‘world’ leaders names to the list by the way. Politicians are not all the same, and if you think that, then I’d like to respectfully suggest that you might want to do something about it. We deserve better. So yeah, when I started to write lyrics for this record, I really couldn’t avoid mining some of these feelings and I’m kind of unapologetic about it. I don’t like to offend people but enough is enough folks, we deserve better.”

Simon Paul, a well known graphic artist from Toronto, Canada provided the artwork, which plays on a number of themes from the album. The CD was mastered by another member of the Dead Voices on Air family, Anatoly Tokee Grinberg from Moscow.

Here’s the album itself.

About Snowbeasts

Snowbeasts is the duo of Robert Galbraith and Elizabeth Virosa. The project was formed in 2014 in Providence RI after a series of heavy snowstorms. Earlier releases were cinematic modular landscapes and droning dark ambient while later tracks can be more beat oriented.

Snowbeasts has numerous releases scattered across their own Component Recordings and Paris’s MTronic. They have also recently completed a trio of albums with beat oriented noise artist, Solypsis including two for Ohm Resistance.

Along with Snowbeasts, Virosa and Galbraith produce techno under the name Obscure Formats and electronic dance as Pattern Behavior.

About Dead Voices on Air

Spybey started his career in the North-East of England with Zoviet France in the late eighties before moving to Vancouver. It was here that Dead Voices On Air were formed. Spybey also worked under the name Propeller and was an original member of Download, who included members of Skinny Puppy. Spybey was the voice of their 1996 release, “The Eyes of Stanley Pain”.

After leaving Download he started a series of collaborations, appearing on over 50 albums in a five-year period. Perhaps his most significant collaboration was being asked to be part of CAN guitarist Michael Karoli’s band Sofortkontakt! and appearing at the CAN 30th anniversary shows in 1999. Spybey was a close friend of Michael Karoli prior to his death in 2001 and had toured with him as part of legendary CAN vocalist Damo Suzuki’s Network in 1998 in North America, appearing in the German TV film by Peter Braatz, “On the Air”.

Spybey has recorded, toured and played live with numerous collaborators including Faust, Michael Rother (Neu!) and Dieter Moebius (Cluster), members of The Legendary Pink Dots, Mick Harris (Scorn, Painkiller), Jarboe (Swans), Simon Fisher-Turner, Richard Sanderson, James Plotkin (Flux, Old, Scorn), Robert Hampson (Loop/Main), Jochen Arbeit (Einzturzende Neubaten), Darryl Neudorf and Sugarpill (Abintra), Not Breathing, Pigface and Martin Atkins.

He has worked with a number of record companies, including Kranky, Nettwerk, Invisible, Cold Spring, U.M.P and Soleilmoon. Spybey was part of the band Beehatch with the late Phil Western of Download, who released three albums and toured Europe. In 2004 he formed Reformed Faction, a duo with founding member of Zoviet France and Rapoon mainstay Robin Storey. The band have released a number of albums and have played live in both Europe and North America. He now resides in his native Yorkshire, in the UK.

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 on December 14th via Re:Mission Entertainment is the album “The Camel Corps and Other Stories” by the experimental / industrial duo Jochen Arbeit and Mark Spybey. You will know Jochen Arbeit from his work with Einstürzende Neubauten and Automat, while Mark Spybey has been active with Dead Voices On Air and Download. Among others that is.

Mark was introduced to Jochen via Robin Rimbaud of Scanner. Mark then invited Jochen to contribute to a collaborative project whereby he teamed with various friends to create a number of 7 inch singles. The single was never released but the pair enjoyed the experience enough to go on to record enough material for a full length album.

That was back in 2011. Ten years elapsed before they talked about releasing it.

Mark explains: “Ten years seems like a lot of time and I guess it is. I can recall that we felt that the best way of finishing the album was for me to either send Jochen the project files so that he might do some of the finished mixes or that, preferably, I go to Berlin to spend time with him finishing up the project. In the end I guess life and experiences just took over and we didn’t manage to get together. Earlier this year I listened to the mixes, which I really liked and sent them to Jochen with a suggestion that we release the album, as is. Thankfully he agreed!”

Most of the material on “The Camel Corps and Other Stories” was assembled from sounds that Jochen sent to Mark: fractured rhythms, and textured processed guitars.

You can pre-order it already on Bandcamp.

About Jochen Arbeit

Jochen Arbeit moved to Berlin in 1980 and became part of the arts collective Geniale Dilettanten. In 1983 he joined the
instrumental band Die Haut, and recorded and toured extensively.

In 1997 he joined Einzturzende Neubaten and is still an integral part of this legendary band. His other projects include Automat, The Jever Mountain Boys, Alert!, Abq, Martin Dean, Richard Ruin, Latin Lovers and the arts project Stupid Green. He has collaborated with people such as Scanner, TM Schneider and members of Larsen.

About Mark Spybey

Mark Spybey started his career briefly working with Zoviet:France, before forming Dead Voices on Air and joining Download with members of Skinny Puppy whilst living in Vancouver. He was a member of Can guitarist Michael Karoli’s band, Sofortkontakt!

Over the years he has collaborated extensively with a wide variety of artists such as Damo Suzuki, Martin Atkins, Jarboe and works with ex-Zoviet:France member Robin Storey, from the band Rapoon in the project Reformed Faction.

He now lives in the north of England.

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

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.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Experimental, Cinematographic, Minimal-Electro.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: This work is the seventh studio album by the duo Tony D’Oporto (Gnome) – Mark Spybey (Dead Voices On Air, ex-Zoviet France) while it also is their first new work in seven years.

Content: The album features 6 songs, which bring us back to the familiar influences from this project. Cinematographic atmospheres have been mixed with delicate piano parts while other songs reveal a more Minimal-Electro approach, which has something vintage-like. The main change –or evolution, with previous works is the addition of ghost-like, half-spoken produced vocal lines.  

+ + + : This album is without a shadow of a doubt my favorite work by Gnome & Spybey. It remains a mysterious trip covering different influences, but the global work sounds more accessible. It however remains an intimate work accentuated by great sonic atmospheres and brilliant Electronic treatments. The analogue-like sound effects on “Born To Fly” have something magic. More ‘classical’ cuts like “To Be The Sun In Flight” and “Long And Short” are more for cinematic lovers, but I especially like the global progression mixed with delicacy of both cuts.

– – – : Both last cuts are a little less convincing so the climax of the album appears right at the beginning.

Conclusion: This is an astonishing return for Gnome & Spybey; somewhere in between accessible Experimental music and visionary Ambient work.

Best songs: “Born To Fly”,  “To Be The Sun In Flight”, “Long And Short”, “Cancel Your Tomorrow”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/gnomeandspybey

Label: www.ant-zen.com / www.facebook.com/antzen.official

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

“Dead Voices On Air : Snowbeasts” is the newest album by the dark ambient acts Dead Voices On Air and Snowbeasts. For those who might have forgotten, Dead Voices on Air is Mark Spybey’s experimental and industrial project formed after his departure from Zoviet France. Dead Voices on Air has collaborated with artists such as Not Breathing and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy.

But back to the joined effort which started out when Dead Voices On Air’s Mark Spybey – who played at a festival in Providence RI – was helped out by Rob Galbraith from the band Snowbeasts. He drove Mark back to Boston to catch his flight home. It resulted in Rob and Mark eventually talking about working together.

During the first Covid lockdown, in the summer of 2020, the duo started working on a new Dead Voices on Air album. Rob and his partner Beth sent so much music to Mark that when he started to assemble the finished project, he worked out that it was at least a double album’s worth of material. He suggested that the bulk of the work that Rob and Beth had contributed might work as a Dead Voices on Air and Snowbeasts joint CD.

Even the artwork seems to have been a collaborative effort as the band’s artwork guy Marco Roberti assembled the sleeve for the CD from photographs by Rob, Beth and Mark. The CD was mastered by another member of the Dead Voices on Air family, Anatoly Grinberg from Moscow.

The album is out now via Re:Mission (inlcuding as a limited CD edition of just 100 copies), you can check it below.

About Snowbeasts

Snowbeasts is the duo of Robert Galbraith and Elizabeth Virosa. The project was formed in 2014 in Providence RI. Earlier releases were cinematic modular landscapes and droning dark ambient while later tracks can be more beat oriented.

Snowbeasts has numerous releases scattered across their own Component Recordings and the fine Paris based label M-Tronic. They have also recently completed a trio of albums with beat oriented noise artist, Solypsis including two for Ohm Resistance.

Along with Snowbeasts, Virosa and Galbraith produce techno under the name Obscure Formats and electronic dance as Pattern Behavior.

About Dead Voices On Air

Spybey started his career in the North-East of England with Zoviet France in the late eighties before moving to Vancouver. It was here that Dead Voices On Air were formed. Spybey also worked under the name Propeller and was an original member of Download, which included members of Skinny Puppy. Spybey was the voice of “The Eyes of Stanley Pain” in 1996.

After leaving Download he started a series of collaborations, appearing on over 50 albums in a five-year period including that of CAN guitarist Michael Karoli’s band Sofortkontakt!. Spybey was a close friend of Michael Karoli prior to his death in 2001 and toured with him as part of legendary CAN vocalist Damo Suzuki’s Network in 1998 in North America, appearing in the German TV film by Peter Braatz, “On the
Air”.

Spybey was part of the band Beehatch with the late Phil Western of Download, who released three albums and toured Europe. In 2004 he formed Reformed Faction, a duo with founding member of Zoviet France and Rapoon mainstay Robin Storey. The band has released a number of albums and have played live in both Europe and North America.

He now resides in his native Yorkshire, in the UK.

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, tribal, cinematographic, experimental.

Format: Digital, 3 CD.

Background/Info: Robin storey is an artist who needs no further introduction. He simply belongs to the collective memory of music lovers addicted to industrial/ambient/tribal/experimental work. This work is a CD edit of the album that was released in 2010 on Vinyl-On-Demand (as the name of the label indicates, the original version was a vinyl edit). The album features 19 tracks spread over 3 discs. The songs were originally composed and recorded in between 1994 and 1998 and mainly consist of alternative edits of earlier Rapoon-songs.

Content: I can’t say there’s a real difference in style and approach between the 3 discs. Robin Storey progressively moves from soundscape- and cinematographic compositions towards tribal-minded cuts, which were more characteristic for the early years of Rapoon. The atmosphere supporting all songs creates a mysterious element with a visual appeal. This work sounds a bit as a sonic exorcism of all different influences and styles Robin Storey has ever worked with. Sometimes anguished and next relaxing and abyssal, Rapoon invites the listener to (re)discover some forgotten pearls from his career.        

+ + + : First of all I’ve to catch –once more, your attention for the great artwork of this digipak. Zoharum really does a great job here and even if you’ve already the ‘older’ vinyl format, this re-release is a cool artistic present. Soundwise Rapoon delivers a fascinating selection of rare-, reworked songs. I like the minimalism of the writing and the very personal tribal touch running through some tracks. The tribal cuts are the one I prefer, but I’ve to say I also enjoyed some of the pure cinematic passages. These songs have something evasive, but always recovered with mysterious sound atmospheres. The very last song of the work (cf. “Easterly Falling – Early Mix for “Easterly 6 Or 7” is worthy of examination. Another essential song in the ambient vein is “Same River – First Mix Of “Same River” from “Vernal Crossing”. It’s an opportunity to get us back to the early hours of the project during the Staalplaat period.

– – – :  You probably have to be a huge Rapoon addict to buy this album, but it also is an opportunity to rediscover the early sound universe of this great artist.

Conclusion: Rapoon has created its own style from different influences. Even if Robin Storey will be always linked to Zoviet France he has accomplished greater things with Rapoon.

Best songs: “Fallen  Bhangra  – Early Mix/Sub Mix of “Fallen Gods”, “Easterly Falling  – Early Mix for “Easterly 6 Or 7”, “Same River – First Mix Of “Same River” from “Vernal Crossing”, “Fallen Gods – Early Working Mix Of “Fallen Gods”, “2 Track In Vernal Crossing 1 – Submix of “Vernal Crossing”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.rapoon.org / www.facebook.com/rapoon 

Label: www.zoharum.com / www.facebook.com/zoharum

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: Experimental, electro-ambient, cinematographic.

Background/Info: “Collective” is a compilation featuring twelve songs composed over the years by Tony D’Oporto aka Gnome and Mark Spybey (Zoviet France, Dead Voices On Air ao). Both artists did numerous collaborative works so this is an opportunity to re/discover some of their experiments.

Content: The sonic universe of both artists rapidly appears to be a World without compromises and a sonic platform to exorcize multiple electronic influences. The work is mainly ambient-like, but always carried by experimental parts, field recordings and fascinating sound treatments. Some cuts are driven by a slow rhythmic while others are moving into an abstract ambient sound. The tracks are moving from music composed among the stars towards pure, and still evasive cinematographic passages. A few cuts are featuring whispering vocals. 

+ + + : The sound of this duo has something atypical and yet rather familiar for lovers of experimental music. I like this taste of doing things ‘differently’. The tracks create a sphere of rest and evasion, which is accentuated by piano parts and transcendental strings. I like the few cuts featuring spooky, whispering vocals.

– – – : I don’t know if it is because of the format of this work (compilation), but some cuts don’t sound in total harmony with other ones.

Conclusion: “Collective” is an interesting sonic summary between those two artists. It’s a must have for the fans and other electro-experimental freaks.

Best songs: “Achim”, “Atomes”, “Dreamed Of Being A River”, “The M urmur Of The Rivers  Mouth”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/gnomeandspybey

Label: www.ant–zen.com / www.facebook.com/antzen.official

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

No doubt about it, Robin Storey will always be linked to Zoviet France. That project brings us back to the early years of industrial/experimental music. Right after the Zoviet France experience he started to release his music under the Rapoon moniker. Twenty five years later (in 2017) Winter-Light label released the first chapter of the “Mercury Rising”-trilogy, meant to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Rapoon. Two years later Robin Storey has accomplished this trilogy by releasing the final chapter. It was a perfect opportunity to catch this great artist (who’s also busy as writer, painter ao) to ask him a few questions.     

(Picture credits: Dave Hall / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The first chapter of the “Mercury Rising”-Trilogy was released in 2017 and meant to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Rapoon! What does this anniversary evoke to you and what did you try to accomplish by releasing this trilogy?

Robin: The anniversary year wasn’t something that I had actually consciously thought about. It was Mark at Winter-Light who pointed it out to me. I was a little surprised that so much time had passed, but then again it seems to pass very fast these days.

I had been kicking the idea around of the abandoned replicants for some time, mostly as an idea within an idea within an idea, for another novel I have been sketchily writing. When I sat down to start some new music this idea came back to me and carried over into the music creative process. It is a bit along the lines of a Kurt Vonnegut side plot. I was curious how they might develop their own ideas of society. Like all my ideas, I have no idea where they might go, or where they will end up.

Q: Musicians/bands are often releasing a ‘best of’ to celebrate an anniversary while you simply started working on new material. Was this trilogy a bit of a challenge and do you think it would be ever possible to release a ‘best of’-album (especially when considering such an impressive discography)?

Robin: I have been asked what are my favourite pieces of music, or which albums are my own personal favourites. I think I even made a playlist of some of my favourite pieces quite recently (that could mean anytime within the last five years).

My favourite things are always the pieces I am working on at the moment but sometimes I revisit things from the past and either think ‘wow that’s good’ or ‘what was I doing there’? Obviously it’s nicer if it’s the former. I couldn’t judge what was a ‘best of’.

Q: Musicians like to release trilogies, but what makes it fascinating especially when you know painters are still fond of triptychs and writers like trilogies as well?

Robin: There is something broader and more ‘in depth’ about a trilogy, you don’t feel like you have to hurry to get somewhere. It can be a challenge to get right though. One of my favourite books of all time, Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow” has a long narrative at the beginning of the book about all the different things you can make to eat using bananas. I have read the book a few times over the years and this is the one bit I just skip over… maybe it’s because I am allergic to bananas. I listen to older pieces of my music and sometimes find myself thinking… this is going on a bit long. I try to keep things just as long as they need to be these days. Whether I succeed or not is another thing.

Q: How much of the ‘young’ Robin Storey and early Rapoon do you still recognize in your latest works? What have been the main evolutions and changes in the writing & production process?

Robin: That’s interesting because I have been deliberately listening to older material to try and disseminate what made it interesting, both to me and to the listener. I think it’s the worst thing an artist can hear when someone says ‘I like your earlier stuff’ the pause afterwards implying , ‘your stuff nowadays is bollox’. But there is no going back. You can’t unlearn the things you have learned along the way. You can just try and keep interested in what you are doing and not try to please someone else.

I change the way I do things a lot. Sell equipment and buy new pieces that I don’t know how to use. Learning how to use them is the best way of producing things that are interesting for myself. The learning process is interesting. The trial and error.

Q: From Zoviet France to Rapoon, I think we might say you’ve seen it all! I however want to ask you a question about the 80s, which obviously was a decade of great artistic creation –and not only in music, characterized by a great artistic freedom and pure underground spirit. What did you keep in mind from that period and how have you seen things changing till today?

Robin: There was a certain creative dynamism that existed in the 80’s. It depended on so many random factors. One of the driving forces behind the creative output of Zoviet France was the differences between the people involved and then putting them all into the same big house. It wouldn’t be too ridiculous to say we all lived Zoviet France. It wasn’t just a music and art project, it was a living experience. We really did feel apart from anything else that was going on and it did feel very underground and detached.

I have fond memories of that time. But it certainly wasn’t ideal. I still keep apart from things as much as possible, although I have made some great friends over the years who are more involved in whatever ‘scene’ is current and occasionally they drag me out to have a look.

Q: One thing is for sure, you never really suffered from a writing block and never stopped releasing several albums a year! How do you explain this high productivity (more than 60 albums in 25 years!!!) and what are the further artistic plans you want to accomplish?

Robin: I just love starting new things. It’s the same with painting. A blank piece of paper. I have no idea where it will go to when I start putting paint on it. The interactive process is one I enjoy, although it is also, sometimes , challenging and exhausting. Yet at the end there is something that exists, where before there was nothing. There seems no end of possibilities because the variations, juxtapositions, influences of chance make for endless artistic output.

Also, importantly, I feel like I just plug in to some creative current (as Stockhausen spoke about) and so it’s not just me that is the creator. I am, in part, just a receiver.

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: Dark-ambient, experimental.

Background/Info: “Sol Laude” is the final chapter from the “Mercury Rising”-trilogy, which started in 2017 to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Rapoon. If Robin Storey has been constantly evoked and remembered as being a member of the legendary Zoviet France, it’s important to note that he has been active under the Rapoon moniker since 1992! After “Sanctus Equinox” (2017) and “Offworld OP1 Equs” (2018) we now get “Sol Laude” which is ‘thundering its way through the universe, leaving its impression trailing across the cosmos like a giant comet’s tail’.

Content: The album features 8 songs and multiple influences. From pure dark-ambient tracks towards pure experimental creations Robin Storey has no longer anything to prove. He had experienced with multiple styles and influences and this album sounds in the perfect continuation of his work.. Most of the tracks have been progressively built up, even going over the 20 minutes (cf. “A New Sun”). Electronic sound treatments have been mixed with buzzing sound waves and neo-classical winks revealing violin- and piano-like sounds.

+ + + : “Sol Laude” is a kind of imaginary sonic puzzle made of multiple little noises and pieces. You don’t always get the impression that all the tracks are fitting together, but in the end it just sounds like a new exposure of this great experimentalist. I have to admit that I was more impressed by the overwhelming sound production emerging from dark-ambient pieces –and I especially refer to the opening track “Attack Ships On Fire”. But I also have to mention “A Bell ..Far Reaching..” for this numerous little details. Storey likes to elaborate his work and I get the impression a song is never finished. Last, but not least, I also have to say a word about the artistic digipak format of this album.

– – – : The most experimental passages are less accessible, but here again it’s just part of the man’s work and global approach.

Conclusion: I’m always in for trilogies and “Sol Laude” is a perfect conclusion to honor the “Mercury Rising”.  

Best songs: “Attack Ships On Fire”, “This Great Expanse”, “A New Sun”, “A Bell ..Far Reaching..”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.rapoon.org / www.facebook.com/rapoon

Label: www.winter–light.nl / www.facebook.com/winter.light.1

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-ambient.

Background/Info: Tony D’Oporto aka The Gnome is slowly becoming a veteran active at the wider fields of ambient and experimental music. Most of his work has been released on Crime League (the label of Michael Morton also active as Displacer) and consists of productions together with Mark Spybey (Dead Voices On Air, Beehatch, Zoviet France, Download ao). D’Oporto recently set up Crisis Actor together with David Thrussell. “Stillness” is the first Gnome work released on Ant-zen and the 4^th work in his ‘ambient album collection’.

Content: “Stillness” invites the listener to move throughout a dreamy, chilling sound universe. It’s not exactly what I would call a relaxing experience as the cold sound treatments and desperate sounding atmospheres are leading the poor listener into a feeling of isolation.

+ + + : I like the global production of this work, which from a pure technical point of view reveals great stereo effects and multiple little tricks. It’s a cold, meditative expression, which is carried by an intelligent writing. It’s not that complex, but simply featuring outstanding and somewhat mystic space atmospheres.

– – – : A few cuts are a little bit monotonous, which is the kind of feeling you sometimes can experience when listening to ambient music.

Conclusion: This work features all kinds of ambient ingredients for dark music lovers. It’s an icy, astral voyage throughout fantasy fields, which would be the perfect soundtrack for a documentary and/or film.

Best songs: “Flowing”, “Under A Tree”, “New Years Day”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/gnomeandspybey

Label: www.ant–zen.com / www.facebook.com/antzen.official

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

Back in 1986, Toronto (Canada) based vocalist/programmer Heiki Sillaste (aka Mouth 392) started up the EBM project Digital Poodle. It remained active until about 1995 and was Toronto’s answer to the Vancouver-based industrial scene with acts like Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly.

Digital Poodle originally released a series of cassette tape demos and full release albums on Sillaste’s own Shadow recording label. The first CD release was “Work Terminal” in 1992, which was distributed in North America under the Death of Vinyl label and in Europe on Germany’s Hyperium Records label. The band’s final release was the “Combat!” EP in 1997, which contained mainly remixed material from previous releases.

Out in 4 weeks from now is the 2nd volume in a vinyl reissue/remix series by Toronto’s Digital Poodle: “Revision! Vol2 – Soul Crush”. “Soul Crush” was an underground hit in EBM/alternative clubs around the world especially via Zoviet France’s Virtual Mix which was a live-in-studio jam between Digital Poodle and :zoviet*france:.

You can order the vinyl versions of “Revision! Vol1 – Work Terminal” (back and red vinyl) and “Revision! Vol2 – Soul Crush” right here!

The tracklist of this 4 track vinyl release:

1. Soul Crush
2. Soul Crush (Adam X Revision)
3. Soul Crush (Zoviet France Virtual Mix)
4. Soul Crush (Manie Sans Délire Revision)

Here’s the original version:

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Abstract, dark-ambient, experimental, soundscape.

Background/Info: Robin Storey will be forever linked to his previous formation Zoviet France although Rapoon for sure gained a similar recognition. Storey has been releasing under the Rapoon moniker since the early 90s and has released an endless discography. “Song From The End Of The World” seems to be the first Rapoon-album from 2016.

Content: Robin Storey has been inspired by ecology and the danger behind the melt of the Arctic ice mass. It’s a dark and apocalyptic theme, which unfortunately might even become reality. The abstract and experimental soundscape created by Rapoon will not become the most efficient ecologic weapon to bring politicians and all humans aware of this danger, but it’s an interesting and important theme. Music also is the ultimate way of expression for an artist like Robin Storey to express his feelings about the subject.

He transposed and eventually exorcised his thoughts throughout a unique ambient sound experience made of mysterious moods, manipulated noises, echoing sound, buzzing sound waves and even a kind of ritual-minded vocal parts. It’s not the typical dark-ambient experience, but an intriguing creation filled with an entire arsenal of noises and sound treatments. Some parts are touching real freaky ground while other passages are more into a kind of sterile reverie even featuring a sad, melodic element.

+ + + : The main strength of the album is the ambient diversity, which is totally different from the usual standards. I like the diversity and the elaboration of the work.

– – – : The somewhat abstract and experimental approach is not always the most accessible element of the album while I can imagine some fans will miss the tribal touch Rapoon has often created.

Conclusion: “Song From The End Of The World” is a kind of imaginary requiem for a day, that will hopefully never come true. It’s a poignant testimony from a brilliant, visionary artist!

Best songs: “A Prophecy Lies Under”, “A Sky Beckons Down”, “The Sky Dances In Green”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.rapoon.net / www.facebook.com/rapoon

Label: www.glacialmovements.com / www.facebook.com/glacialmovements

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