News editors: Mikael Kahrle & Johan Carlsson

Lustans Lakejer to Tinitus
• Lustans Lakejer will headline the Tinitus Festival in their hometown Stockholm on November 15. The legendary band hope to release a new album later on.
We received the first wave Tinitus bands now. Hocico, CAP and five more acts will play. Tickets are on sale from August 4. /Mikael Kahrle

Funker Vogt completes tour

Funker Jens live in Toronto.
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• Germans Funker Vogt played a quick Canadian "Survivor" tour earlier this month as a trio. Fans came from as far away as Arizona to catch them live. Their new remix CD "Revivor" has just been released on SPV (Germany). The CD includes mixes by Haujobb, Noisex, T.O.Y., Aghast View and Icon of Coil.
See earlier Funker Vogt news at Release here. /Alex Veronac

New album by Melotron
• The new album by German synthpop band Melotron is called "Sternenstaub". The official release party on October 17 is organised in a theatre in the hometown of the band (and me...), Neubrandenburg. The day after, the band presents their new songs live. /Jens Krause

Canadian radio show celebrates 500
• Montréal dark music show Les Mouches Noires counts its 500th episode (500e émissions) today on CISM Radio. French speaking DJ Francois Richter has been hosting the radio show since 1992 featuring past interviews with Covenant, Laibach, Stabbing Westward, Front 242, Haujobb, Spahn Ranch and Chameleons U.K.. The special two hour show starts 19h00 ET (1am CET) here. /Alex Veronac

Cevin Key speaks on new Skinny Puppy

Key's Cats period.

• During a recent web chat, Cevin Key spoke of his current solo release, recent recordings by Skinny Puppy and a planned world tour in 2004. He intends to do more work with Ken "HiWatt" Marshall in the future as well. Key mentioned he had written about 40 songs for the new Skinny Puppy which will come down to about ten songs on CD. A signed contract with a record label has not been established, yet two are very close at this point.
Some new Puppy compositions have been described as noisy experiments. It was also mentioned that the new Skinny Puppy will have additional musicians on stage. Furthermore, Key was asked to do a remix for Jack Dangers on the upcoming Meat Beat Manifesto CD but did not have time available to take on the project.
See Key's recent CD reviewed here. /Alex Veronac

Dots in search of venues
• The Legendary Pink Dots are currently looking for prospects for live shows in Oslo and Gothenburg. If no venues are found, plans for a small Scandinavian tour possibly in November will be cancelled. /Mikael Kahrle

First look at third album from Spanish EBM act

• Allied Vision from Bilbao, Spain, has everything prepared for the release of a third album "OS Bandwidth" on September 1. Furthermore, it is already decided a remix album will follow, with new versions from Grenzfallmensch, Ancient Ruin and others.
A first look at "OS Bandwidth" shows complex, hard, and pure electronic sounds spread over nine songs. A video clip for the song "Coaxial Hardware" is signed by Rod Chong (Speedtribe, FLA, Junkie XL). /Mikael Kahrle

Curve set to release rarities disc and DVD in 2004
• Curve's "Anxious Years" compilation will be released in February of next year and will contain ten tracks selected by fans from the years 1991-1993. A DVD release by the band is also in the making which will include all videos from this period. For further information about these excellent releases, check out their site. /Peter Marks

Vitamin for the music scene?

The "new" cover and track listing is revealed. We hope the music is fresher than the cover.

• Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Fritz Hilpert and Henning Schmitz in Kraftwerk deliver "Tour de France Soundtracks" with eleven new tracks and a re-worked version of "Tour de France". The track listing looks like this: 1) "Prologue" 2) "Tour de France Etape 1" 3) "Tour de France Etape 2" 4) "Tour de France Etape 3" 5) "Chrono" 6) "Vitamin" 7) "Aero Dynamik" 8) "Titanium" 9) "Elektro Kardiogramm" 10) "La Forme" 11) "Regeneration" 12) "Tour de France". The original "Tour de France" was, as we all know, never released on an album. Soon, you can listen to snippets of all album songs here.
"Tour de France Soundtracks" is said to be full of "rubbery oscillations, restless metallic ripple, bio-mechanical pulses, glistening vistas" and is "sensual, playful, simple, profound and beautiful. A 21st century classic".
The album has left the Kling Klang vaults (no more delays?) and we expect a review copy any day now (maybe tomorrow).
Don't miss the chance to win the new album at Competition. /Peter Marks, Mikael Kahrle

Goldfrapp tour the states this fall
• The band will be appearing in the US from September 17 through October 8 with shows in Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco among them. /Peter Marks

Swedish release for Camouflage prior to gig

• Stockholm Records reports they will release the new album "Sensor" by German pop stars Camouflage on August 27. Three days later they perform at Electric Gathering.
Expect a competition with 15 albums closer to the release and read the review. /Mikael Kahrle

Industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle come alive for a short time

Throbbing Gristle 2002.
Photo by: Brian Griffin

• The seminal UK four-piece act Throbbing Gristle will be reuniting for a one-off performance at RE-TG, a three day "celebration of industrial music in the 21st century" which will take place at the Camber Sands Holiday Resort near Rye, England May 14-16 next year. All four members of Throbbing Gristle will also be performing sets with their post-Gristle projects: Coil, Carter Tutti and Thee Majesty. Guests scheduled to appear on the bill alongside the band and their projects are Black Dice, Richard H Kirk, Matmos, Merzbow, Pan Sonic, People Like Us, Scanner, Thighpaulsanda and more.
- Please note TG is not reforming, Peter Christopherson says. If there is sufficient interest we may play the following weekend as well in the same setting rather than turn people away, but I can put my hand on my heart and promise this is a one-off deal. I only agreed to appear live on stage in TG on the understanding that we would not do one of those crap "come-back" type events, where a bunch of old people (us) just play old songs and try to make it like it was then.
The concert will focus on the present.
- It will be a function of where the four of us are now, working together with the benefit of hindsight, experience, highs and lows etc. There may be some old material but it will not be some kind of nostalgia trip. The event is a celebration of the industrial genre - which I guess we did arguably kick off - for the 21st century, Christopherson states. /Peter Marks

Fourth Norberg Festival in closed mine
• The fourth Norberg Festival starts tomorrow and ends on Saturday. This festival, organised by Danish enthusiasts in the facilities of a discontinued mine in the middle of nowhere in Sweden, caters to friends of experimental electronica.
Headlining this year is Finnish funky static noise act Pan Sonic (read our Spotlight). Other names of note are Panamerican, Monolake and Swedish workaholic producer and DJ Håkan Lidbo. There will also be a lot of visual arts and installations in the area, and the audience will have the opportunity to make their own music. The pint sized but very ambitious festival has grown from about 300 paying participants in 1999 to over a thousand last year. The focus is on Nordic music and the majority of the artists hail from Denmark and Sweden. /Mattias Huss

And One album and single but no web site

• The new delayed And One album "Aggressor" is now scheduled for late August on Virgin Germany. The first single will be "Krieger".
Still no official And One web site in sight and andone.com is for sale for the modest price of $10 000. /Mikael Kahrle

Meat Beat Manifesto rehashed
• The early work of pioneering UK eclectic hard dance outfit Meat Beat Manifesto is being "re-animated" by some of today's experimental artists. The classic 2xLP "Storm the Studio" (1989) consisted of four tracks remade a few times each and has affected many in the industrial, noise, techno and dance scenes since. "Storm the Studio R.M.X.S." remixers include Merzbow, Twilight Circus Dub Sound System, Komet, The Opus, Jonah Sharp, DJ Swamp, DJ Spooky and Scanner. The 13 track CD is set to ship September 23 on the independent label Tino Corp (US). The original "Storm the Studio" collection will be reissued on July 22 along with it's predecessor recording "Armed Audio Warfare" circa 1988. /Alex Veronac

New Dependent signing
• Dependent announces their new signing Pride and Fall. This act hails from "the far North" and have plans to "dispose of the tired formula" that apparently is rampant in the futurepop scene. Pride and Fall claim they "have taken it upon themselves to clear the field". A fitting name for this band, indeed. An album release is planned for the near future. /Peter Marks

Polyspace comes in September
• The new project of Polygon and For a Space will emerge on September 15 (Minuswelt) if all goes according to plan. Currently, a new compilation disc entitled "Overflow" is out now on Polymorph Records. This disc features unreleased tracks by Polygon, Audiokular, Polyspace, Disharmony and more. /Peter Marks

Original Duran Duran on tour

Big in Japan.

• Believe it or not but 80's wave band Duran Duran have returned in their original configuration and have played some showcase gigs in Japan and the US West Coast.
Reviews from their recent Los Angeles gig have Simon Le Bon singing as nasal as ever celebrating their 25th anniversary at the first US venue they ever played. CD recordings of their five Japanese dates can be purchased here. Duran Duran's first gigs US in 18 years continue in Las Vegas on July 17 and 19. New songs have been added to their live set. A greatest hits double DVD is planned for September. No other live dates have been confirmed.
See Release's last Duran Duran news here. /Alex Veronac

Klinik double album release imminent
• "Akhet" is out within the next few days (Hands) and consists of two entire discs of dark, cinematic musical work. This release is described as having some thematic similarities to the first Klinik box which was released in 1990. Marc Verhaeghen is the only apparent member in Klinik for this release. The track list is as follows. Disc one: "Heka", "Bellatrix", "Mintaka" and "Saiph". Disc two: "Orion".
No live dates are planned, but in further Klinik news, the collaborative disc between Verhaeghen and Vidna Obmana is still being worked on and will emerge sometime before the end of 2003. /Peter Marks

Delerium hits the road in September; Conjure One to support
• Bill Leeb will be on tour under the Delerium moniker in September of this year. The first cities to be hit are Vancouver BC, Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Further shows will take place throughout the rest of September and will cover the rest of the United States with some additional shows in Canada. No plans for overseas dates yet exist.
To add to this unique event, Rhys Fulber will be performing as Conjure One on this tour and will of course also be playing alongside Mr Leeb for the Delerium shows. Rhys is currently compiling a tour-only disc of unreleased tracks which will be on sale at the merchandise table. /Peter Marks

Daniel Myer and Victoria Lloyd to shoot live video

• Daniel Myer (Haujobb and more) project H_M_B will be part of the first WTII Records' MiniFest in Chicago being held this weekend. During their set on July 19, H_M_B (featuring Victoria Lloyd of Claire Voyant) will shoot for their first ever music video. "This Fire" is the song chosen and footage will be gathered prior to and throughout their gig. The video is to be tagged onto the ending of the upcoming DVD release of John Covert's film "Shut-Eye". /Alex Veronac

Camouflage to Electric Gathering
• The Stockholm festival Electric Gathering (August 30) has added German synthpop legends Camouflage and British EBM band Aslan Faction to their line-up. /Mikael Kahrle