News

Smashing Pumpkins: 1989-2000
• The last pumpkin has been smashed. Vocalist and mastermind Billy Corgan have announced that his much acclaimed band The Smashing Pumpkins are to split at the end of the year. He explains that the band have reached the end of the road "emotionally, spiritually, musically". A fact that should come as no surprise to anyone with more than a passing interest of the band's turbulent past.
Corgan and guitarist James Iha will most likely embark on solo careers. /Erik Almgren

Paul van Dyk and Saint Etienne teamed up

• Techno artist Paul van Dyk is joined by Saint Etienne on his new single "Tell Me Why (the Riddle)". The song can be described of a fusion of the two artist's sounds and the single includes six tracks. /Mikael Kahrle

Spanish debutant on Memento Materia
• Memento Materia and their new signing, Iberian Spleen (aka Frans Beltran from Spain), have now made plans for the debut release. An album called "Drama and Base" will show up this autumn, loaded with intelligent techno in the Underworld vein. /Mikael Kahrle

Unreleased Marilyn Manson "Spooky Kids" tracks

• A compilation called "The Funnel Zone" will include two previously unreleased Marilyn Manson tracks (performed together with his old band The Spooky Kids), "Strange Same Dogma" and "White Knuckles". The compilation, which was originally to be released in '91, is slated for June 30. /Erik Almgren

Gregorian version of "Fade to Grey"
• On the new Masters of Chant CD we get somewhat odd versions of classics like "Fade to Grey", "Vienna", "Losing My Religion" and "Nothing Else Matters" with Gregorian munks and soft electronics. /Mikael Kahrle

Pop duo Avant Garde's second album is here

• Swedish synthpop duo Avant Garde is back with their second album, "Certified & Tested". They are now on New York's Synthphony label. The CD contains three bonus tracks, and of course the latest single "Watch Your Back". /Mikael Kahrle

New releases from Multimood
• Vidna Obmana/Willem Tanke's "Variations for Organ, Keyboard and Processors" is Swedish art music label Multimood's latest release. It is said to "capture the atmosphere of the mystical visions and subatomic whirls which form the subject of Fritjof Capra's book "Tao of Physics"".
Other upcoming releases from Multimood are Jan Cardell's "Rytmobil" (June 1) and M'Lumbo "One Billion Names For God" (August). /Erik Almgren

Robert Enforsen's Enforce signs with Bloodline
• The new band from Robert Enforsen (ex-Elegant Machinery vocalist) Enforce has signed with Bloodline. The debut release will be the cover single "All Together Now" (originally by The Farm) on June 19. An album will follow in September. The live debut will take place at Party for the Masses in Hamburg's Markthalle on May 27. /Mikael Kahrle

Keeping up the spirit
• According to NME, Spiritulized are about to finish recording their new album, the follow-up to 1997's much acclaimed "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space". With a brand new band, frontman Jason Pierce is producing the album himself and next month will start the final stage of the recording at London's Abbey Road Studios.
Meanwhile, Lupine Howl, the band made up of ex-Spiritualized members, have signed a worldwide recording deal with Beggars Banquet, but before that deal comes into effect, they will release a new single "Bronzage" on June 12 through Vinyl Hiss. Lupine Howl expect to release their first single through Beggars in September 2000, with an album to follow early in 2001. /Erik Almgren

New material and singles collection from Trans Am
• Neo-krautrockers Trans Am will most likely release a new, yet untitled, album in September this year. A singles compilation, "You Can Always Get What You Want", have been available since May 5. /Erik Almgren

Malaise delayed once again

• Malaise have postponed their remix album "Re-assimilated" and it's now scheduled for the autumn. /Mikael Kahrle

Awarded Björk threatens to sue von Trier
• Björk and Danish director Lars von Trier continue their dispute about the collaboration on the musical movie "Dancer in the Dark". Björk, who plays the lead role and also wrote the music, threatens to sue the directors film company Zentropa if they screen a controversial documentary about the shooting of the film. This documentary is said to, for instance, show the Icelandic artist in a mentally unstable condition.
Björk was awarded for best actress in Cannes yesterday. /Erik Almgren

New Memento Materia electronica signing

• The Finnish electronica/trip hop trio Neverwood has been signed to Memento Materia. The debut album "Trapped Inside" is scheduled for an autumn release. Memento Materia says they're in a build up phase with several new signings. /Mikael Kahrle

Echo Image now contracted
• Norwegian synthpop band Echo Image signed a record deal with American label A Different Drum last Friday. They've received overwhelmingly good press and new material will hopefully be released later in the year. /Niklas Forsberg

Four new releases from the reborn Dot label
• The Gothenburg electronic music label Dot Recordings is back after a long break, mainly due to the fact that their old mother label Nons crashed. Now, Dot is a sub label to MNW, and they return with four twelve inches, released simultaneously. The artists we're talking about is Quant, Zeke Schön, Metamatics and Jol and the music is mostly soft electronica.
Two Dot albums are in the making and have their respective release dates set. On August 30, Quant's debut "Quantastical Quantasm" will see the daylight. September 27 is set for Metamatics' "Midnight Sun Pig". /Mikael Kahrle

Re-release of classic Hope and Kirk album
• Peter Hope and Richard H Kirk's (ex Cabaret Voltaire) claustrophobic classic, "Hoodoo Talk" is being re-released on CD by Mute in August 2000. The CD will feature extra tracks including mixes of "Leather Hands" from the 1985 "Doublevision" 12" along with two previously unreleased tracks, "Sugar Can You Feel the Drums" and "Up Beat", both of which were recorded soon after the "Hoodoo" sessions. /Erik Almgren

More female industrial from Cop

Chiasm (Emeleigh Rohn) is now signed to Cop.

• A new compilation, featuring women from the alternative electronic scene, will be released shortly, on American label Cop. Among the bands participating are Moev, In the Nursery, Propaganda and Battery.
Also on Cop, Imbue has just released their second album, entitled "Filth Parade". Imbue is typical American industrial, in the vein of Nine Inch Nails.
Cop has also signed a new artist, the one woman project Chiasm, with mastermind Emileigh Rohn. Her debut album is in the works, and she also has a song on the above mentioned compilation. /Niklas Forsberg

Antiloop finally deliver their second album
• After several delays, techno duo Antiloop will deliver their new album "Fastlane People" on May 24. It is followed by the album's second single, "Only U", on May 29. /Mikael Kahrle

The Young Gods goes techno
• Swiss crossover pioneers The Young Gods are back with a new single, "Lucidogen". You can listen to the heavily techno trance-influenced track at www.theyounggods.com. They're currently on a European tour that will last to the end of June. /Erik Almgren

Alphaville live release in June
• Alphaville have spent the last two years touring extensively all over the world, and now the time has come to release a live album. The title is "Stark Naked & Absolutely Live!" and it is said to be out in June. /Niklas Forsberg

Nina Persson and The Orb on new soundtrack

• The 60:ies TV series "Randall & Hopkirk" is brought back to life and a soundtrack has been released. The theme is made by Nina Persson (pic) of The Cardigans together with David Arnold and the piece is somewhat similar to last years David Arnold/Garbage James Bond theme. Among the other artists participating are The Orb, Emiliana Torrini, Pulp, The Charlatans and James. /Mikael Kahrle

NIN joined by Manson on stage
• At the Nine Inch Nails Madison Square Garden gig on May 9, no other than Marilyn Manson joined Trent Reznor to finish off "Starfuckers Inc" and perform his own "The Beautiful People". Since the relationship between the two rock stars haven't been the best for a while, this little joint venture could be seen as something of a reconciliation.
Also, unreleased material from "The Fragile" sessions will possibly be released as two EP's. Since this isn't confirmed information, no dates are set.
Finally, NIN's latest video "Starfuckers Inc" is currently spinning on MTV and other music channels. /Erik Almgren

"A Short Introduction to Kraftwerk" out now

• The new Kraftwerk release "A Short Introduction...", we told you about recently, is out now and we have the details.
The 45 minute CD contains seven interesting previously unreleased tracks. First out is a hard and rhythmic "It's More Fun to Compute", made for a 1981 12" release that never took place.
Number two is "Kristallo" from "Ralf & Florian" in a version made 1990 for a possible "The Mix" participation.
Third track out is an early instrumental "The Mix" study on "Autobahn". Then there's a very short demo take of "Hall of Mirrors" from 1976, followed by a minimalistic, atmospheric "Trans Europe Express".
Number six is again a track redesigned for "The Mix", which never made it to the final release - "Uranium" in a long, different edition. Finally, there's "Das Model" in a version from 1977, four years prior to the single release. /Mikael Kahrle

Russian gothic scene gets organised
• Since three years there is a Russian Gothic Project in Moscow, which basic activity is a web site. They also organise concerts, clubs and promote the music in several ways.
Now, they have also released a CD with Russian gothic and mediaeval music called "Edge of the Night" with bands like Canonis from Naberezhnye Chelny, Caprice from Moscow, Romowe Rikoito from Kaliningrad, Djembe from Novosibirsk and Moon Far Away from Arkhangelsk. /Mikael Kahrle

KMFDM is dead, long live MDFMK
• Tim Skold and Sascha Konietzko (both ex-KMFDM) has now released their debut album "MDFMK" under the name MDFMK. Like KMFDM, this is smart electro/industrial with political messages and hit potential. MDFMK are now joined by Lucia, ex singer in the American band Drill. /Jens Krause

Early launch for "2001: a S.P.O.C.K Odyssey"
• This Friday, S.P.O.C.K celebrates crew man Yo-Haan's birthday with a gig in Kalmar, Sweden. The weekend also marks the start of the final stage of the new album "2001: a S.P.O.C.K Odyssey". The trio plan to sit inside a hot studio during the summer to make way for a possible October release. They also have several summer concerts and festival gigs planned and more might follow.
S.P.O.C.K contributes to the new "Cover Classics Vol 2" with the Pete Shelley song "I Don't Know What It Is" (playing the guitar). /Mikael Kahrle

New Front 242 song on impressive Waldorf compilation

De/Vision are happy to be on the new Walfdorf compilation.

• The manufacturer of Waldorf instruments have made a compilation gift for this year's music fair in Frankfurt/Main, with artists that works with Waldorf machines. The impressive CD already exists and is called "SubOut". Here we find several established acts who contribute with exclusive songs or remixes: Front 242 (new song "Sick UFO"), Oomph! ("Scorn Waldorf mix"), De/Vision and Front Line Assembly. Also some new projects are featured, like Dkay.com and DKDENT, with the ex-singer of Armageddon Dildos. /Jens Krause

Order free tape from super project Dkay.com
• All who are curious about the new project from Jürgen Engler (Die Krupps), Julian Beeston (Nitzer Ebb) and Dirk Krause (Armageddon Dildos) - Dkay.com - can order a free promo tape with excerpts from the new delayed CD at www.dkay.com. They can also listen to several sound clips and watch a video and a panoramic movie. The sound of Dkay.com is dark electronics similar to Dance or Die.
Among the participants we can also find Adam Grossman (Skrew), Chris Lietz (Die Krupps), Chris van Helsing (Philip Boa and the Voodooclub), Birgit Fischer (Motosheep). Also, Andreas Bruhn (ex-The Sisters of Mercy have created a remix on the new single "Hell Is Heaven". /Jens Krause, Mikael Kahrle

Mobile Homes album in September

Photo by: Mats Oscarsson

• The delayed new Mobile Homes single "It's All for the Best" is out, but the new album "And the World Will Listen" is moved to September. Two new song clips can be downloaded from their web site. /Mikael Kahrle