LATEST NEWS
Robert Marlow Passes After Illness
Robert Marlow (aka Allen) has died. According to a post on his Facebook page, made on behalf of the family, he had experienced a sudden illness. The post, by Biba Boele, reads: I am very sorry to be sharing such sad news with you. Robert Allen (Marlow) passed away yesterday, Thursday 22nd September, after a…
London Date for Lonelyklown
Dave Baker is preparing to take his Lonelyklown project live in London. The I Start Counting/Fortran 5/Komputer front man has been lined up to play the Black Heart in Camden on Saturday, the 24th of September. Also on the bill are Mechanical Cabaret and DeadAudioSaints. Baker recently released the debut Lonelyklown album, Funny Sunday Morning….
Machinists Reunited: FLA and Die Krupps on Tour
Bill Leeb of Front Line Assembly (Photo: Simon Helm) Front Line Assembly and Die Krupps are back together for The Machinists Reunited Tour 2022. The two electro-industrial acts previously toured in 2018, shaking European venues with their intense performances. Both bands have released two albums since their last tour. FLA have released Wake Up the...
Front 242 Announce Second London Show
Front 242, the Belgian EBM pioneers, have announced a second show in London, extending the UK leg of their 40th Anniversary Tour. They will perform at the 02 Academy on 17 July 2022, having sold out their first show on the 16th. Their press release tells the tale: Front 242 began in 1981 when Daniel...
Electronic Summer Returns for 2022
There might be a heatwave in parts of Europe and the UK now, but the hottest news is the return of Electronic Summer, the Swedish music festival. First organised in Gothenburg in 2012, the event quickly established itself as the best programmed festival in the Nordics. It was joined by slightly smaller Electronic Winter shows,…
Solo Pop Missile Strikes 80s Pose
Billy Bragg’s “Help Save the Youth of America” was written under the threat of nuclear Armageddon, at a time when Ronald Reagan was threatening the security of countries all over the planet. The lunatic actor famously used a sound check to threaten, “We begin bombing in five minutes.” Bragg’s song appealed to the peoples of…
On the Tracks with Nille Nyc
The Danish singer, Nille Nyc, has revealed her new single and video. “Looking Out (The Train Song)” finds the artist chasing after a train filled with young women, in a nostalgic impression lifted from Nyc’s youth. As ever, Nyc’s vocals and arrangement are woven with skill and a developed pop sensibility.
Orbit Releases New Single with Polly Scattergood
William Orbit has released a new single with Polly Scattergood. “Colours Colliding” is the first track to be revealed from his forthcoming album, The Painter. Orbit has been showing his paintings, which use day-glo colours and psychedelic images, for several years. His palette is bright and warm – rather like the sonic shape of this…
REVIEWS
Lonelyklown Play Down in Camden Town
LONELYCLOWNBLACK HEARTLONDON24 SEPTEMBER 2022 The first outing for Dave Baker’s Lonelyklown act is a boutique affair. Flanked by Mechanical Cabaret’s Roi Cabaret on an OB-6, Baker leads a showcase of tracks from his recent album, Funny Sunday Morning. The bouncy, buoyant material is a foil to Baker’s deadpan delivery; the combination being the red thread…
Flower Power Unleashed: Waterflower Live in London
INTOX EXTRAVAGANZAAMP STUDIOS, LONDON8 SEPTEMBER 2022 The Latvian performance artist, Waterflower, gives new meaning to the phrase, “Tesco disco.” In order to make their music, they need a fresh supply of mushrooms. The fruiting bodies of fungus produce electricity, like the human nervous system, and can trigger I/O interfaces to make sound. On the table,…
The Painter of Dreams: William Orbit Returns
William Orbit has experienced a few things in his time: building a studio in a squat run by refugees from Franco; collaborating with Madonna; producing Blur; running a progressive house and techno label; rescuing Britney’s career; hoovering up more white lines than the Wembley parking lot; experiencing a psychic break; and then regaining a sense…
Rebel Without Paws: Lonelyklown Unleashes Album
Dave Baker has worn many hats. As one-half of I Start Counting, he was responsible for some of the most enigmatically beautiful songs on the Mute imprint. When acid house took over the UK, he and collaborator Simon Leonard reinvented themselves as Fortran 5, commanding dancefloor action with a string of brilliant 12" singles. The...
Always Ahead: Front 242 Live in London
From the opening of “First In/First Out,” which saw Jean-Luc de Meyer and Richard 23 enter with industrial-grade flashlights and strict rhythms, Front 242’s return to London promised to be a special event. Touring in their fortieth anniversary year, the band had nothing to prove except that they could keep up the energy of their…
Dubstar: Take Two
Dubstar never wore the labels of the 90s well. They weren’t Britpop, nor really dreampop. They weren’t all synthpop, and no one would have called them triphop. Their infectious, melodic brand of pop combined elements of these without settling into one style. Singer Sarah Blackwood’s sophisticated Northern presence set the band off from the mod-haired...
FEATURES
Shine On: Robert Görl
Compared to the privileged founders of Kraftwerk, who were able to launch their project with family money, Robert Görl had it tough. Raised in an orphanage in Munich, he was attracted to punk and became one of the outsiders hanging around Düsseldorf's Ratinger Hof. There, he connected with fellow spirit, Gabi Delgado, and the duo...
Shine On: Martyn Ware
Dr Martyn Ware recently joined a growing list of luminaries from the 1980s alternative music scene in acquiring an honorary doctorate. The University of Sheffield awarded the degree to Ware in recognition of his contribution to music; particularly in Sheffield, his hometown. It's a long way from the NME's review of his first proper album,...
Shine On: Dave Ball
As the half of Soft Cell charged with operating the machines, Dave Ball has played a crucial role in the popularisation of electronic pop music. With Ball leering on the keyboards and Marc Almond prowling with his microphone, Soft Cell was a futuristic panto made with equal measures of soul and sleaze. They looked like...
The Top 21 of 2021
For a while, it looked like things would open up in 2021. Heaven 17 finally had a chance to stage their Human League shows. Bands like Duran Duran were able to get back in front of live crowds. Bjork finally revealed her symphonic shows. Even Dave Gahan left his Battery Park apartment for a run...
INTERVIEWS
Twenty Years of Alfa Matrix
It has been twenty years since the label, Alfa Matrix, started to issue material from its base in Belgium. From the trip-hop of Hungry Lucy through to the solo projects of EBM’s godfathers, Front 242, the label has covered a lot of ground. Artists on their roster include Nitzer Ebb, Recoil, Psy’Aviah, Leaether Strip, and…
Brian Griffin: Black Country Dada
Self Portrait (Photo: Brian Griffin) Brian Griffin's camera has captured some of the most iconic images of the past century. His image of a Soviet-style peasant in a wheat field for Depeche Mode's second LP, A Broken Frame, was selected by Life for the cover of their collection, The World's Greatest Photographs. He was proclaimed...
Claus Larsen: Going Hell for Leæther
Interview with the Danish musician better known as Leæther Strip.
Back to the Future with Page
It is the 40th anniversary of Page this year. From their beginnings as a Swedish version of Silicon Teens brought to life, to a mature poptronica duo keeping the spirit of futurist electronics alive, they have a scrapbook filled with enduring songs of love and lust. With Under mitt skinn [EN: Under My Skin], the...
S.P.O.C.K Beam in from the Neutral Zone
Sweden's poptronica legends, S.P.O.C.K, will make a rare London appearance on Saturday, 1 February 2020. They have been orbit above Scandinavia and Germany for many years, but they will appear right at the moment of Brexit to show that the planets are still united, even if Europe is not. Actually, it is a party at...
December Love Song: Facket Strejkar
One of the great things about Chris & Cosey is that the project was partly artistic and partly romantic. The love affair between the two musicians is what took them out of Throbbing Gristle and into each other's arms. The same combination of oscillators and hormones is evident in the work of Facket Strejkar. The...
TRACK OF THE DAY
Rohn-Lederman – It Hurts! (Leaether Strip Remix)
From their bases in America and Brussels, Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) and Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Kid Montana, Fad Gadget) have released another collaborative EP. "It Hurts!" features a lead mix by Stefan Netschio from Beborn Beton and this remix by Denmark's Leaether Strip. Coming ahead of their new album, RAGE! (due 2 September 2022), "It...
