One of the most important electro pop bands in Sweden, Elegant Machinery, is now even closer to their career's end. Richard Johansson has decided to leave the trio and concentrate on politics.

Three new hot Bill Leeb releases

Since Off Beat no longer exist Front Line Assembly had to find a new home. Just like another electro giant, Front 242, they have signed on to Zoth Ommog (licensed by Energy in Scandinavia). In the last edition we mentioned the new releases briefly. The single "Prophecy" should be out now, even if we haven't seen it yet. The album "Implode" is scheduled for May 3. Rumours say that the sound is more traditional FLA than on the last album. At least the new cover designs are traditionally cool...
One CD that we have received is the compilation "Cryogenic Studios" (street date May 17). It includes two exclusive tracks each from the Bill Leeb projects Front Line Assembly, Delerium, Equniox, Pro-Tech and Synaesthesia (just one track). About half the songs are previously unreleased, like the ones from FLA and Delerium. The rest are previously unreleased mixes. The CD will also show up in a limited "fan edition" of 2222 copies.

Yvonne is back after a long break

Next wednesday, Yvonne's new EP "My Man Forever" will be released. This is the first Yvonne release on their new record company Starboy, home of Robot and Barusta. The young label adds another indie act to it's list. Yvonne's previous CD:s - two albums and a couple of singles - were released by Beat That/Energy.

Large EBM-festival in connection to Wave Gotik Treffen in Germany

VNV Nation at Virtual X-Mas in Sweden 1998.
Photo by: Anders Ekne.

As a part of the enormous Leipzig festival Wave Gotik Treffen between May 21 and 24, there will be a two day EBM-festival called Electromania during May 22 and 23. Some of the leading hard electro bands of today will perform - like Covenant, Evil's Toy, VNV Nation, Funker Vogt and at least ten more. See On Stage

Sweden gets a music business development center

Hultsfred, home of the famous festival, might also become the base of Sweden's first music industry development plant. The Swedish government plans to support the center with 150 million Swedish crowns (about 20 million US dollars). It's also backed by foreign record companies. The center will work with market analysis, research and education. The huge Swedish music export is the reason this project is realized.

Deine Lakaien back on April 13

One of Germany's largest wave bands, Deine Lakaien, will make a strong come back on April 13. The new album "Kasmodiah" is in the classic, straight-forward Deine Lakaien style. Perhaps you have heard the single "Return". In May, the duo hits the road in Germany. Perhaps it's time to go abroad?

Swedish EBM-band makes album debut in May

Project X hope to release their delayed debut album "Forbidden Desires" in May or June. First the single "Fearless" will be delivered in the beginning of May. It contains remixes from Evil's Toy, Lights of Euphoria and others.
Project X has also just recruited a third member, Johan Lindsjö.

Feature: Gus Gus is here with their second album

Gus Gus is back. The Icelandic collective that two years ago gave us their excellent debut album "Polydistortion" now releases the follow-up, "This Is Normal". The album will be in the stores on April 26 and takes the band into the next millennium.
- "Polydistortion" started off more as a project and we weren't very focused on what we wanted to do. The situation was completely different when we began working with "This Is Normal". Now we have become more of a band, says director and songwriter Siggi Kjartansson.
Since Gus Gus has nine members, their music is as hard to categorise as one could expect. With influences ranging from salsa to electro the result is often surprising - not only to the listener.
- When our different musical tastes clash, something sparks out of that and creates a result beyond our imagination, explains Siggi and continues:
- The whole idea with the first album was to combine vocals, pop and electronics. Since then we have improved our technique and that let's us focus on what we actually want to say.
The ambient flavour of the debut album is not as dominant on "This Is Normal". Tracks like the current single "Ladyshave", "Acid Milk" and "Very Important People" shows Gus Gus' more groove-oriented side. Every song is a concept in itself and consequently makes it hard to discover a common thread throughout the album.
- All of the songs are about personal experiences from the society we live in today. So if there is a thread, perhaps it lies in the lyrics' realistic content, explains Siggi.
Another difference to "Polydistortion" is the production:
- On this record we didn't use any samples from other artists at all. We created every sound by ourselves and also used more live instruments.
Their live show is very much a multimedial experience. The theatrical performance is accompanied by a large screen on which the atmosphere of the songs are given visual support. The joy of eight people is being transmitted to the audience and this fact makes the show easy to enjoy.
- We've put together a new live show with eight new songs and a whole new cinematic experience. The set-up is similar to our last tour but it has improved in every way. The tour schedule is put together right now, but we are not going to tour as much as last time. The Hultsfred Festival is the only Swedish date that is set.
The name Gus Gus is taken from the movie "Fear Eats The Soul" by the German director Reiner Werner Fassbinder. And just as Gus Gus he was very productive, working simultaneously on many projects. But Fassbinder died, totally burned out by drugs, at the age of 37.
- I don't like to take as much cocaine as he did and neither do I want to become a male prostitute. But creatively he spent his time very well and I'm fascinated by people like him. He had an incredible need to express himself and I think that is something all of us in Gus Gus can relate to, says Siggi and adds:
- I wish I had a little bit more of him in me. But not too much because I hope to live a little longer than he did.
Another similarity between Fassbinder and Gus Gus lies in their lack of a macho attitude.
- There's no one in the band that is very macho. We prefer a kind of unisex attitude and as soon as we sense some kind of male chauvinism we try to avoid it.
They've also started their own record label, Elf 19, on which they so far only released one album. It's a compilation of various local Reykjavik-bands. It also includes contributions from both Gus Gus and Björk.
- In the future we plan to release our more experimental stuff on this label. But for the moment everything revolves around the new album and the upcoming tour. And that's how it will be for Gus Gus during most of 1999. /Erik Almgren