News editor: Mikael Kahrle

Mark Bell Depeche Mode producer?


• According to Warp Records, Mark Bell (LFO) has been hired to produce new Depeche Mode material. This remains to be confirmed, however. /Mikael Kahrle, Sussi Pettersson

David Gahan solo song on record


• For those of you interested in hearing David Gahan solo, check out the Roxy Music tribute "Dream Home Heartache" (above). Here, you can hear an average slow rock piece signed Gahan called "A Song for Europe". The rest of the participants are mostly fairly unknown, like Three Alarm Fire and John Feldman from Goldfinger. /Mikael Kahrle

Possible change of location for Virtual X-Mas
• The organisers behind the Swedish Virtual X-Mas festival, Energy Rekords, consider changing the location from Lund's Mejeriet to The Tivoli in the nearby city of Helsingborg. This would make room for a second stage with lesser known acts. Virtual X-Mas normally invites four artists. /Mikael Kahrle

Remix album with Austrian synthpoppers Neuropa
• Australian synthpop act Neuropa has released a remix album titled "Alternate Faith - the Mixes" on A Different Drum. It contains remixes from both of their prior albums. Among the remixers are Neuroactive, Count to Infinity, B!Machine and The Nine. They are also working hard on their third studio album. /Niklas Forsberg

Stockholm Records' plans for Nåid, Pain, Secret Service and Antiloop
• A release schedule from Stockholm Records shows the following: The Secret Service "Best of"-CD is set for an October release. The same goes for the new Nåid album. A Nåid single called "Waking up" is planned for September. Two more singles will show up in September: Antiloop's "Catch Me" and Pain's "On and on". /Mikael Kahrle

Sneaker Pimps leaves One Little Indian


• Sneaker Pimps reports that they have left One Little Indian. They are currently working on new material, but it is unclear if they will hunt a new record deal, or stick with their own label Splinter Records. /Mikael Kahrle

Halloween re-release for Wumpscut
• A 2000 edition of "Music for a Slaughtering Tribe" by German EBM act Wumpscut will be released in USA on Halloween. It will contain the original disc plus eight mixes on a second disc. All packed in double digipak with new artwork. /Mikael Kahrle

More Swedish demo synthpop
• One man project [brus], consisting of Andreas Wallgren and a bunch of machines, has released a demo CD entitled "Sternkollekten". It can be described as quite dark electropop, with elements in the style of Sista mannen på jorden. Several interesting ideas are presented, vouching for interesting future releases. /Niklas Forsberg

Another signing on Bloodline
• Bloodline has added a new band to their growing rooster, Austrians XPQ-21. "A Gothic Novel" is the title of their first release, a maxi-CD. It will be followed by the album "Belle Epoche". /Mikael Kahrle

S.P.O.C.K release dates and single title


Photo by: Bo Magnusson

• As reported earlier, S.P.O.C.K has aimed at an October release for their fifth album "2001: A S.P.O.C.K Odyssey" and it seems they will succeed. A release date is now set to October 23. This happens to be front man Alexander "Android" Hofman's birthday.
A first single choice has also been made. "Where Rockets Fly" will hit Earth on September 25 and is said to be (of course) a catchy pop song.
S.P.O.C.K has been working on lots of new material for six months and are now in the difficult process of choosing which songs should make it to the album. They say the album takes off where "S.P.O.C.K: 1999" ended. Exactly what that means, remains to be seen.
On Saturday at the Tivoli Festival in Helsingborg, Sweden, they will probably test some of the new stuff live. They have promised to show their new outfits as well. /Mikael Kahrle

S.P.O.C.K and Melotron headline festival tour
• The details for the Bloodline festival "Pleasure & Pain" tour are set. S.P.O.C.K, Melotron, Neuroticfish, Klirrfaktor and special guests will perform live in twelve cities in Switzerland and Germany between October 11 and 22. Which artist will cause the "pain" is not revealed. /Mikael Kahrle

Exclusive Underworld material via Internet
• According to NME, Underworld intend to supply fans with brand new pieces of material via the Internet, starting as they release their forthcoming DVD on October 9. It can be accessed only from the DVD. Producer Rick Smith explains:
- People will be taken to a site. It's not an Internet site as such as you'll have to own the DVD to get to it; friends won't be able to copy the address and pass it around - where we'll have something not available anywhere else. It might be a piece of music, the next day it might be a webcam watching Karl in the garden, the next us jamming up a mountain.
The DVD itself is an interactive collection, that among other things features forthcoming live album "Everything, Everything", video footage recorded at dozens of shows around the world during the "Beaucoup Fish Tour", and a facility that allows users to adapt images from Underworld's famous onstage video projections. /Erik Almgren

Pet Shop Boys remixing upcoming Bloodhound Gang single


• Pet Shop Boys have remixed the new Bloodhound Gang single "Mope". A 12" promo has been sent out with two remixes, one of which is being rumoured as not being released on the forthcoming commercial copy, to be officially released on August 14. /Erik Almgren

Spectre X, a Tin Pan Alley side synthpop project
• Two members of Swedish pop band Tin Pan Alley have recently formed a synthpop band, Spectre X, together with a new singer. With a sound similar to that of Vacuum, but significantly more electronic sounding, they might find a substantial fanbase. Spectre X' current demo release "Portable Fiction" is available now. /Niklas Forsberg

Synthpoppers B!Machine releases new single
• The new single from the B!Machine album "Infinity Plus" is called "Opal" and is out now, with no less than eleven tracks. Several remixes of "Opal" as well as other "Infinity Plus" tracks are included. Also featured is the new track "Purity". The first 300 copies of the "Opal" single includes the first demo CD by B!Machine, "Must Kill". /Niklas Forsberg

A compilation with tomorrow stars?
• Powerspot and Memento Materia released the sixth "Monument" compilation late last month. As usual, unsigned bands are featured, some very strong ones. At least four of the bands are negotiating for a record deal as we speak. Worth mentioning are Presence of Mind, Michigan and Industri Jugend. /Niklas Forsberg

More news about Marilyn Manson - again
• The official Marilyn Manson website announced that "Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)" will be released on Tuesday, October 24 and also announced a "partial" track list from the album:
1) "Cruci-Fiction in Space", 2) "The Love Song", 3) "Disposable Teens", 4) "Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis)", 5) "President Dead", 6) "The Fight Song", 7) "The Nobodies", 8) "A Place in the Dirt", 9) "The Death Song", 10) "Burning Flag", 11) "Lamb of God", 12) "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death", 13) "Coma Black" a) "Eden Eye" b) "The Apple of Discord".
Manson also stated that once a week, starting next week (31), he will be previewing the album with either a song or a piece of artwork. And go to the official Marilyn Manson news page to download a taped announcement of Marilyn Manson from his home in Apple QuickTime format. /Erik Almgren

Three day UK electro and gothic festival


50% In Strict Confidence. They headline the InFest in England.

• UK fans of electro and gothic tunes might want to book a trip to Bradford on the last weekend of August. During three days, 13 bands will play live at the InFest. Among the most well-known acts we find VNV Nation, who will do an exclusive show in their home country, In Strict Confidence, Ultraviolence, Imminent and Project-X. See On Stage. /Mikael Kahrle

Daniel Miller radio shows accessible on the net
• Mute president Daniel Miller has hosted several "Elektro Beats" shows on German radio Radio Eins. RealAudio link: http://www.radioeins.de/sendungen/elektro_beats/miller_hour/. Playlists: http://www.radioeins.de/sendungen/elektro_beats/199911/19991103100051.html. As expected the shows are full of obscure electronic music mixed with some more normal tunes. /Mikael Kahrle

New Zillo festival compilation


• Our German colleagues Zillo has a long tradition of putting together interesting compilation albums. Their latest product is the double CD "Dark Summer". The first disc is more electronic with acts like Skinny Puppy, Front 242, De/Vision and Funker Vogt. The second disc is goth oriented with Tiamat, Fields of the Nephilim, Diary of Dreams, Umbra Et Imago, Moonspell and many more. /Mikael Kahrle

New album and single from Theatre of Tragedy


100% VNV Nation.

• Theatre of Tragedy have been signed to Nuclear Blast and will release a new album, "Musique", on October 2. A single called "Machine", featuring a remix by VNV Nation, will be released in the beginning of September. /Erik Almgren

The end or a new start for Armageddon Dildos?
• While Armageddon Dildos keyboarder Dirk Krause concentrates on Dkay.com, mastermind and vocalist Uwe Kanka works on his own with new Dildos material. He has finished 23 new songs complete with vocals, but hasn't decided if he should label the songs Armageddon Dildos. He has also considered the name ArmageddonD. Even though Kanka and Krause haven't closed the door for future Dildos releases together, they have now worked separately for a long time. /Jens Krause

Fans help Bowie with tracklisting
• On July 31 David Bowie offered his fans to choose a track on his forthcoming album, "Bowie at the Beeb 1968-1972". It's a three-CD compilation of his BBC sessions from that period, scheduled for an autumn release. The event was made possible through a webcast via the official David Bowie website, www.davidbowie.com, where fans was streamed a number of different mixes of the same song. They got the chance to vote on their favourite, which will then appear on the final version of the album. /Erik Almgren

Listen to the new U2 single
• From yesterday on, U2 offers a clip of the forthcoming single "Beautiful Day" on their web site. The clip doesn't reveal much, although one can claim that it sounds pretty ordinary and retro. /Mikael Kahrle

Busy Björk album and video plans


• The "Dancer in the Dark" soundtrack "Selmasongs" is scheduled for September 15 on One Little Indian Records. Björk's duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke, "I've Seen It All", can be downloaded from the official Björk site, but is not considered to become a single as of now.
Björk, video director Floria Sigismundi and an unnamed digital designer are currently working on an on-line video for MTV.com. It will start running on September 1. One week prior to that date, Björk will attend the MTV Awards in New Work, where she is nominated for two awards.
The working title for Björk's next studio album is "Domestica" and Björk has described it as an opposite to "Selmasongs". It will be "gentle, humorous, happy and kind". /Mikael Kahrle

New Front 242 live dates in Europe and America
• Front 242 plan several live dates in Europe, Brazil and USA. It's not known if they will perform any new material live.
Here are the current live dates: August 6, Eurorock, Neerpelt, Belgium; 24, Sao Paolo, Brazil; September 28, New York, USA; 29, Chicago, USA; 30, Los Angeles, USA; October 1, San Francisco, USA; 2, Santa Ana, USA; 3, San Diego, USA; 14, Got Milk Rave, Strasbourg, France; November 11, Harmony Electro Festival, Leipzig, Germany; 15, Liège, Belgium. /Jens Krause

Cevin Key: "It feels good to be in Skinny Puppy again"


• Cevin Key and Nivek Ogre are currently working hard to prepare their Skinny Puppy reunion gig at Dresden's Doomsday Festival on August 20. This is the first time Skinny Puppy will play in Europe since 1988 and the first life-sign after five years of passivity. The band promises a spectacular show with the classic Puppy special pyrotechnic, splatter, multimedia and light effects, which will be similar to the "Last Rights" tour of 1992. This time, they are also co-operating with the German cult horror director Jörg Buttgereit.
The interest for this one-time concert is naturally huge. Actually, few events in the modern history of electro and industrial can measure up with this. The festival site has been moved in order to handle more people and visitors will show up from all over the world - Russia, China, South Africa, USA and so forth. For those who can't go to Doomsday, the concert will be recorded for a live CD release, "Back & Forth Vol 5: Doomsday".
In the latest issue of the German magazine Orkus, Cevin Key is interviewed:
- My relationship with Ogre has improved a lot in the recent past. A lot of it had to do with the enthusiasm of the promoter, who kept asking us every year if we didn't want to do a reunion show. The idea was to make the reunion something special, because it's only one show.
The band is reworking a lot of the songs.
- They won't be changed to the point where they no longer resembles the originals. We're not going to add jungle loops or anything like that. Our old hardcore fans want us to sound like Skinny Puppy, they don't want some 1999/2000 Skinny Puppy remix album with a bunch of songs that sound like Prodigy, Key explains.
Nothing is certain about what happens after the gig and live CD. If everything works out fine and they're having a good time they might consider more Puppy activities, but don't want to speculate at this stage.
We will inform you as soon as we know more and you can also expect a report from Doomsday. /Mikael Kahrle

Richard 23's side project releases single
• Front 242 star Richard 23 and Arcade Belgium will shortly deliver a new single, "Carwash", from Richard's debut La Tschak album. /Jens Krause

VNV Nation re-release and US tour


• VNV Nation will release a partially re-recorded and remixed version of the out of print debut "Advance and Follow", in a strictly limited edition in November. Prior to this re-release they will undertake an extensive US tour with Apoptygma Berzerk. /Erik Almgren

Marilyn Manson speaks out and is featured in Eminem video
• Marilyn Manson are currently mixing the new album "Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)" together with co-producer Dave Sardi. The album has been made in the former home of magician Harry Houdini in Los Angeles.
In a new Rolling Stone interview, Mr Manson talks about the new album:
- It is about a boy who wants to become part of the world that he doesn't feel adequate for, and the bitterness and rage becomes a revolution inside him. And what happens is that the revolution becomes just another product. When he realises it's too late, his only choice is to destroy the thing he has created, which is himself.
During a recording break, Manson participated in the forthcoming Eminem video "The Way I Am". /Mikael Kahrle