Vince Clarke goes retro disco



• We are used to Vince Clarke's trademark synthpop, but first he released an ambient experimental album last year and now it's funk and disco time. The US label Cleopatra has recently released the Family Fantastic album "...Nice!", produced by among others Mr Clarke and full of solid grooves and 70:ies retro tunes.
The CD was recorded in 1998 and apparently rejected by Mute Records. /Mikael Kahrle

bob hund's first international release
• Bergman Rock - in Scandinavia the members is also known as the outstanding band bob hund - has released their debut single. The songs "International Bob" and "Help the Band" is to be found exclusively on the Internet and can be downloaded from April 25 to May 2. /Sussi Pettersson

Morrissey single box
• On June 19, EMI will release "The HMV CD Singles 88-91" with Morrissey. This is a ten CD box with original artwork and of course, several non-album songs. /Mikael Kahrle

Confirmed And One departure


Photo by: Jörgen Strandquist

• Annelie Bertilsson's time in And One didn't last long. She has left the band abruptly and irrevocably. /Jens Krause

William Shatner covers Gary Numan
• Star Trek star William Shatner plans to take up music again and record, among other songs, a cover of Gary Numan's "Cars" from 1979. It's now 32 years since Shatner's first failed attempt for a musical career with "The Transformed Man". /Mikael Kahrle

Red Flag releases old and new material
• American duo Red Flag will re-release their first album "Naïve Art", under the name "Naïve Art Special Edition". It will contain four bonus tracks; two new remixes of "Russian Radio" and two previously unreleased songs from around 1989.
As if this wasn't enough, a brand new Red Flag album will arrive on June 6, entitled "The Eagle and Child". /Niklas Forsberg

Rob Zombie makes Universal Studios horror movie
• Industrial rock star Rob Zombie will write and direct the horror movie "House of 1000 Corpses" for Universal Studios. Production starts any day now and the release will be somewhere in the beginning of next year. /Mikael Kahrle

Massive Attack in Armani commercial
• Massive Attack's "Angel" will be used in a world-wide Armani commercial for the fragrance He/She. The band accepted when they saw the opportunity to donate their payment to charity. Red Cross will receive most of the money and Massive Attack have challenged Armani to pay the same amount.
"Angel" has previously been used in another commercial, one by Adidas. As we all know, Massive Attack have made dozens of other songs...
Massive Attack are currently working on their next album, scheduled for an early 2001 release. /Mikael Kahrle


New single from Emiliana Torrini


Photo by: Rankin

• "Easy" will be the fourth single pick from Emiliana Torrini's album "Love in the Time of Science". Swedish producer Tore Johansson (The Cardigans, Saint Etienne) have made a radio friendly remix. Release date: May 22.
Torrini is a former member of the collective Gus Gus from Iceland and she is half Italian, half Icelandic. She originally studied to be an opera singer, but ended up singing beautiful alternative pop songs. /Mikael Kahrle

Broder Daniel member tries solo career
• Håkan Hellström, bass player in Swedish alternative rock act Broder Daniel, will release a solo single called "Känn ingen sorg för mig, Göteborg" on May 8. The sound is somewhat similar to that of Broder Daniel. /Mikael Kahrle

VNV Nation and Sigue Sigue Sputnik to Whitby
• This weekend it's time for the English cult festival Whitby Gothic Weekend, version 7.0. VNV Nation, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Mesh, Saints of Eden and others will perform and there will be several other events like clubs and parties. Obviously, not every band is gothic.
Version 7.5 will take place on November 4-5. /Jens Krause, Mikael Kahrle

International launch for Kent's "Hagnesta Hill"


• Now, it's time for Sweden's leading rock band, Kent, to release the international version of the latest celebrated album "Hagnesta Hill". The original version was in Swedish, the new in English. We will not review the English edition, but the Swedish edition was reviewed at On Record last year.
Two new songs have been added: "Quiet Heart" and "Just Like Money". They were recorded after their Scandinavian tour. "Just Like Money" is a likely single choice for the future, both in Scandinavia and abroad, according to the record company BMG. Two songs from the Swedish edition has been deleted: "Insekter" and "Ett tidsfördriv att dör för".
Kent are ready to promote "Hagnesta Hill" and will play live in Germany, Holland, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Iceland and other countries. They will as usual play at some festivals this summer and they headlines the Swedish Kalas tour in July. See On Stage for Kalas details (official today). /Mikael Kahrle

American Synthpop Awards launched
• American Synthpop Awards - ASA - is here. Anybody can vote for best US synthpop album, song, band and so on 1999 at http://www.lexiconmagazine.com/awards.html. There are also some categories for international nominations. The voting will go on for one month, and then a top-4 list for each category will be published. The final voting will take place the next month. /Mikael Kahrle

Him hysteria in German record shops
• Thousands of, mostly female, fans showed up along the Him autograph tour to German records shops recently. Him mastermind Ville Valo and bass player Mikko travelled all over Germany.
Meanwhile, the booking agency announce that they have to upgrade venues on the forthcoming tour. But even new, larger venues have been sold-out.
Both the single "Join Me" and the album "Razorblade Romance" have sold gold in Germany and are heading for the platinum border. /Jens Krause

Second Metallica cover CD released


Electronic acts' fascination for rock legends Metallica continues. Apoptygma Berzerk participates on "Cover 'em All Vol 2".

• The industrial Metallica tribute "Cover 'em All" was such a success (with 100 000 copies sold), a follow-up has been released, "Cover 'em All Vol 2". Few well-known bands participate except for Apoptygma Berzerk who offers their version of "Fade to Black", from their latest full length. The playlist includes Dreadline, Physical Attraction, Stigma and Terror Test. /Mikael Kahrle

Fan suicide at Cure concert
• A tragic incident occurred at The Cure's concert in Prague last Wednesday. A 24 year old fan (a police man by profession) shot himself during the concert. /Mikael Kahrle

The next NIN video features Marilyn Manson
• Nine Inch Nails have just recorded a video for the song "Starfuckers Inc". According to Los Angeles radio KROQ, Marilyn Manson appears in drag, as a date for Trent Reznor.
Reznor will try to raise the sales figures for his 1999 album "The Fragile", with help from this video and more touring. "The Fragile" has sold "only" 705 000 copies so far, but 2 000 000 copies are said to have been shipped. /Mikael Kahrle

New Love Like Blood album
• The new Love Like Blood album, called "Enslaved + Condemned", is set to be released on June 5. The band recruited top producer Simon Efemy for the work on this new record. Efemy has worked with Pantera, Helmet and Paradise Lost to name a few. /Niklas Forsberg

Extended Death in Vegas album
• Electronica act Death in Vegas have re-released their latest album "The Contino Sessions". The new edition contains three live tracks and video clips for "Aisha", "Neptune City" and "Dirge". /Jens Krause

No Comment takes help from ex Elegant Machinery singer


• German No Comment will release their new single "I Won’t Cry" on June 10. They will also be available for a chat on April 20, together with Wolfsheim producer José Alvarez. A new No Comment album is also in the works, where a duet with Robert Enforsen (ex Elegant Machinery) will be featured. /Niklas Forsberg

Tricky: label change and new EP
• Tricky is busy finishing production on his new EP, scheduled for release this coming summer. A full album will follow. More surprising is his label change, from Island to Epitaph (NOFX, Dwarves, Tom Waits). /Niklas Forsberg

Details on the Fields... single
• The new Fields of the Nephilim (or Fields of the Nephilim AD, which they call themselves now) single will contain the songs "Trees Come Down AD" and "Darkcell AD". These will not be on the forthcoming album.
The band will perform on the following festivals (so far): Roskilde, M'era Luna, Eurorock and Woodstage. /Mikael Kahrle

Breakbeat Era still exists
• Breakbeat Era haven't split up, as previously reported here and in other media. The current tour is cancelled and no official explanation has been given. Therefore rumours have started to circulate. /Mikael Kahrle

Uncertain future for Front 242


• Recently, Front 242 producer and mastermind Daniel B appeared in an interview in a Belgian newspaper. He wasn't optimistic about the future of Front 242. He said that they are currently working on new material, but it's doubtful the fans will accept it as Front 242. He realised most fans want a continuation of the classic Front sound in songs like "Headhunter".
Jean-Luc de Meyer's C-Tec has quite sensationally reached number five in DAC. /Jens Krause

News from Cold Meat Industry
• Two new Cold Meat Industry releases: ambient act Raison d'être's new, dark album "The Empty Hollow Unfolds" showed up on March 31. And Arcana is back with the album "...the Last Embrace". /Mikael Kahrle

Mobile Homes single delay
• The new Mobile Homes single isn't released yet, for some reason. A possible release date is said to be May 2. /Mikael Kahrle

Alphaville signed to SPV
• Alphaville are now signed to the German indie label SPV.
The US release of "Salvation" is out now on Metropolis. /Mikael Kahrle