News editors: Mikael Kahrle & Johan Carlsson

SAMA winners
• The winners of the Swedish Alternative Music Awards was presented on Saturday's event in Gothenburg.
Newcomer 2001: Run Level Zero.
Artist 2001: S.P.O.C.K.
Song 2001: Yvonne: "Bad Dream".
Album 2001: Sista mannen på jorden: "OK, OK, OK. /Mikael Kahrle

Mutual respect

Fad Gadget live at ElectroFest.
Photo by: Peter Mastbooms

• We asked Fad Gadget (Frank Tovey) what he is up to these days.
- I'll be playing some festivals in the summer in Europe and maybe some shows in the States. In the meantime I'm working on a new album, he says.
On Saturday, he headlines the sold-out Swedish Alternative Music Awards together with Apoptygma Berzerk and Elegant Machinery, backed by the band Temple X.
Fad Gadget is back in the spotlight after his best of compilation and of course, the support slot for Depeche Mode.
- They were discovered supporting me. It was nice of them to invite me. Mutual respect.
Fad Gadget hasn't been on everybody's lips lately, up until last year that is. But he has always echoed in other's artists' music.
- It's not for me to say, but people are evidently saying that. You can't own a sound and, of course, I was influenced by others too. People like Dylan, Lou Reed, Bowie, Burroughs, Bergman. All I hope is that, if I have had an influence, it has been on the interesting bands, like The Prodigy or Nine Inch Nails, not charlatan DJ:s. /Mikael Kahrle

Unreleased Skinny Puppy "Process" era recording ships to fans


The fan made artwork for "Puppy Gristle", and the face plate for the Gristleizer.

• The second in the "From the Vault..." CD series compiled by Skinny Puppy's Cevin Key, gives us a 40 minute jam session with then "Creative Consultant" Genesis P-Orridge from November 1993. The session CD is named after the famous Gristleizer music effects box created by P-Orridge's former bandmates Throbbing Gristle in the mid 1970:s. The Skinny Puppy studio performance was fed through the device that P-Orridge held and was then manipulated live by engineer Ken "HiWatt" Marshall. Nivek Ogre's additional vocals were overdubbed soon after but only recently discovered and added to the mix. The high quality fan created artwork helps create the mood of the Skinny Puppy "Process" Malibu sessions.
In a recent Internet chat, Key leaked information regarding the Ohgr plans to play the Arvika Festival as well as new Download and Skinny Puppy type material. The next CD in the series, Download "III Steps Forward" promises newly created songs along with the unreleased Download "Moth" and "Resilient" remix EP:s material. The limited edition "III Steps Forward" CD is now available on preorder at the SubCon site only. Skinny Puppy members Key and Dwayne Goettel created music independently in 1993, but with the approval of P-Orridge realised Download as a viable musical project. /Alex Veronac

Phantoms of the opera?
• After the successful release of the debut maxi "Illusion", the Calyx Records band Sub/Zero has been working on new material for an album and for an American compilation. The name of the compilation track is "Music in the Night" and it is based on "Phantom of Opera". This compilation consists only of musical themes in new interpretations. In further news, the new "Elektrauma Vol 6" CD is out, released and distributed via Triton in Germany featuring the Sub/Zero song "Illusion". /Jens Krause

Busy days for German label Ausfahrt


Inertia.
Photo by: Willis Boyce

• Lots of news from the German label Ausfahrt has come our way. Let's begin with E-Craft who are going on a tour of the UK, US and Germany, starting in London on April 4, and ending in Mexico on July 30. Next up we have Rasputin who is working on his album debut, due out at the end of May, with the single "Das bin ich" out beforehand. Fiction 8 is ready with the third album "Chaotica", featuring 18 tracks. Another band ready to release their third album is Inertia, whose new album "Advanced Revelation" will be out at the end of April. The single "No Defect" is already out. /Johan Carlsson

Country mini special: South Africa

Stefan of Silex.
Photo by: Hein Lass

• We hear more and more from South Africa and it's not all about crime, aids or tourism. Those of you who think our music is non-existing in Africa might have to reconsider.
South African label Intervention Arts recently released the debut album of homegrown gothic act Silex. The launch party of the album entitled "Legendary Beauty" was held March 9 in Pretoria. The album was produced by Ashton Nyte of likewise South African gothic act The Awakening. Some of our readers might know of them, since they were featured on the Cleopatra Records "Unquiet Grave Vol III" sampler. Perhaps a new band for us, but veterans in South Africa.
Release contacted Jack Dante of Intervention Arts and the situation does actually sound a bit like the one in Europe.
- Like any scene anywhere, the goth/EBM/industrial scene in South Africa has its ups and downs, but in general it is a pretty vital sub culture here as it is in the rest of the world, it simply does not get a lot of media attention. There are usually between one and three clubs in major cities at any one time, though their lifespans are usually quite limited.
The problem for South African acts aiming internationally is of course the distance. And finding licensing or distribution deals, Jack tells us. The South African currency is weak, thus making it extremely costly for bands to tour outside the country and awake interest among distributors. /Peter Takizawa

Depeche Mode and Rammstein on soundtrack by Marilyn Manson


Milla Jovovich in the "Resident Evil" movie.
Photo by: Sony Pictures

• The "Resident Evil" movie soundtrack is released in Europe today by Roadrunner Records. It can be listened to here. It includes, among other songs, Depeche Mode's "Dirt", Rammstein's "Halleluja", Fear Factory's "Invisible Wounds" and Marilyn Manson's "The Fight Song" as well as four score pieces by Manson.
You may recall when former Pop Will Eat Itself front man come hot movie score composer Clint Mansell was dropped from the project in favour of Nothing label mate Marilyn Manson back in November before work started. Manson is said to have collaborated with Marco Beltrami ("Blade II", "The Crow: Salvation", "Alice") on the original score for "Resident Evil". Manson recently contributed to the "Queen of the Damned" movie soundtrack and is continuing work on his band's new studio CD with the help of Tim Skold of KMFDM.
Mansell's much anticipated "Requiem for a Dream" remix CD project is complete but still looking for a concrete release date.
Related news. /Alex Veronac, Mikael Kahrle

The award winning Bill Leeb

Strike a pose.

• Bill Leeb has received three awards from Canada's West Coast Music Awards. All three were related to the "Poem" album by Delerium. The awards were for "Best electronic dance album", "Best pop album" and "Best male artist of the year".
The Delerium "Archives Vol 1 and 2" has just been released in America. They were previously only out in the UK, and features lots of tracks from all the pre-"Semantic Spaces" albums.
In further news, the video for the Front Line Assembly track "Epitaph" is now available on line at Launch.com. /Johan Carlsson

Blind Passengers' Nik Page covers The Sisters of Mercy
• Nik Page of Blind Passengers has produced a cover version of the Sisters of Mercy hit "Mother Russia". The song was produced for the German label Zoomshot Records for a new compilation called "A Tribute to Sisters of Mercy". /Jens Krause

Conjure One delayed again


Rhys Fulber in the waiting lounge.

• The heavily delayed first album with Rhys Fulber's project Conjure One has been rescheduled to July 30. /Johan Carlsson

Ministry of Sound opens German office
• The old dance label from UK and USA Ministry of Sound will open a new office in Germany's Berlin. The first releases are the double compilation "Old Skool" (with popular dance tracks from Germany) and an album with City Rockers. /Jens Krause

Second signing by Mute Records Germany
• Mute Records Germany's first signing was Station 17 last year. Now they have completed a contract with the vocalist Katharina Franck. In the eighties she was the singer of the pop band Rainbirds. Her first album on Mute is scheduled for May 27 under the name "Zeitlupenkino". /Jens Krause

Ministry web site back on line
• Ministry have regained possession of their domain name from Warner. The site is now being run by the band in time for their new live record release. The new "Sphinctour" live DVD comes out April 8. /Alex Veronac

Barcelona festival with electronic and alternative stars

British synthpoppers Bis heading for Spain.

• On May 17 the Primavera Sound festival will take place in Barcelona, Spain. Adult, Aphex Twin, Andy Weatherall, Bis, Chicks on Speed, Dave Clark, Delgados, Gonzales, Le Tigre, Luke Slater, Pulp, Spiritualized, Stereo Total, The Tindersticks and many more will perform. /Peter Marks

Richard H Kirk to play London gig
• Richard H Kirk will be playing live on March 29 in London. Kirk is known best for being one third of the nucleus of Cabaret Voltaire, the classic electronic experimental band from Sheffield, UK. The evening's party is dubbed "1977", held at Electrowerkz and hosted by record label Soul Jazz Records (UK). It features Kirk's former Factory Records alumni A Certain Ratio. /Alex Veronac

Two new Siouxsie and the Banshees US live dates added



• Washington (April 17 - tour opener) and a second show in Chicago (April 22) have been added to the previously announced four city US mini tour by reunited Siouxsie and the Banshees. For those planning on travelling, the shows are already on sale with the Washington show sales starting March 22 via Internet. The Banshees end up at the Coachella Festival in California which will likely be the easiest ticket to purchase for fans. Previous Release news on the tour can be found here. /Alex Veronac

De/Vision release a live-EP in April
• Just like Silke Bischoff have done, the German synthpop duo De/Vision will release a live EP in April (Drakkar/BMG) with songs from their PopKomm concert in Cologne last year. /Jens Krause

The Cure and KMFDM confirmed for Arvika
• The Swedish Arvika Festival adds The Cure, KMFDM, Weeping Willows and several others to this year's event. The Cure is the festival's largest booking ever and KMFDM haven't played in Sweden since their early days. Previous bookings include Ohgr, Orbital and Tiamat. /Mikael Kahrle

Daniel Ash tour continues after car crash

Daniel Ash live in Toronto.
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• Daniel Ash with accompanying bassist and drummer played Toronto March 18 on their current North American Tour. The band went through the artist's solo works as well as previous band's music from Love and Rockets, Tones on Tail and the legendary Bauhaus.
The Daniel Ash touring group suffered injuries earlier this month when their vehicle rolled four times in highway traffic (see News from March 5). The tour was revived with replacement bassist Mike Peoples from band 16 Volt.
Ash is enjoying his break from being in a full-time band and pulling from his own creativity to make his own music. The first single from his latest release on Psychobaby Records (US) is a cover of the 1960's classic "Spooky". Daniel mentioned he hopes to tour his new self-titled CD in Europe later this summer. Hopefully recovering bassist Patina Creme will be on stage by that time. /Alex Veronac

Statemachine return with Rolling Stones covers

• One of the most celebrated new electropop bands of today, Stockholm's Statemachine are finally back with a new EP called "Less Than Perfect" (April 2). The disc is filled with 45 minutes and eight tracks. The title track comes in three shapes: original, dance and acoustic. It is said to be groovy with a strong melody and hook. Not one, but two Rolling Stones covers are included on the EP, as well another new Statemachine song and of course more remixes, of "Battered and Bruised" and "Last Legal Drug".
Statemachine are also back on stage and after a couple of gigs they will play SAMA later this month. /Mikael Kahrle

And One added to three day Canadian synthpop festival
• One city, three nights, 15 bands, 1 000 fans. The upcoming SynthPop Goes the World music festival in Toronto, Canada now has And One and Mesh added to the bill. The first nine bands announced were: Covenant, Beborn Beton, Assemblage 23, Melotron, Psyche, Red Flag, Cosmicity, New Clear Sky and Die Roboter. They will play Toronto's Palais Royale during the three day fest from June 28 to 30. Many Americans are expected to come as well as Europeans. More acts will be announced soon says promoter DJ Lazarus. This is a first event of this genre for Toronto and Canada. Beborn Beton (and TOY) were recently dropped from US Synthcon 2002 line-up. /Alex Veronac

Twisted neo-blaxploitation on third Steroid Maximus album
• Baby Zizanie, a brand spanking-new project from J G Thirlwell (Foetus) and Jim Coleman (Phylr, Here and Cop Shoot Cop) is currently on a tour playing eight venues starting on March 18, going on to April 2. Cities visited include New York, Athens, Catania, Bologna and Paris. These shows will be backed by live realtime video projections by Vishwanath. No single or album plans for this project are in the works at this time.
In other Thirwell news, the long awaited and impossibly improbable third release by Steroid Maximus is out on May 28 world wide via Ipecac. It is described as a "haunting soundscape, twisted neo-blaxploitation, spy/crime noir-intrigue" sort of album. Should prove interesting. Further details can be found at the official Foetus web site. /Peter Marks

Lost and found from Project Pitchfork

• German band Project Pitchfork will release a new double CD compilation under the name "Collectors - Lost and Found" on their own label Candyland Entertainment. On the compilation there are a lot of unreleased and limited stuff from the darkwavers, including live versions, instrumentals and soundtrack music. /Jens Krause

Another new east German synthpop band
• The east German band Nitefall is about to release its first official MCD "Rainfall". The sound of Nitefall is in the good tradition of bands like And One, Camouflage and Melotron. /Jens Krause

Three Björk and one Portishead DVD on their way

Photo by: Peter Åstedt (Release)

• Icelandic popster Björk is due to release not one, but three DVD:s in the near future. Bristol, England's Portishead will also be released on DVD in 2002. All these DVD:s will be put out by Universal Records. Details will follow. /Peter Marks

Coil on the roads and Nothing CD on its way
• Coil hit the road with dates in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the UK. Russian dates are expected to be announced later. Coil's "The World Ended a Long Time Ago" (formerly known as "Backwards") will be released through Nothing Records (US), and by Threshold House in Europe with distribution by World Serpent. For more on Coil, check previous news. /Alex Veronac

Run Level Zero remixed by Psyche and Pouppée Fabrikk
• A new mini-album has been released by hard electro act Run Level Zero. "In Between" contains nine tracks in total with remixes by Psyche, Pouppée Fabrikk, E-Craft and others. Two new tracks are included as well, to snare the completists. The band are currently touring in support of their debut disc "Symbol of Submission". It received a positive review in Release last year. /Peter Marks

Deine Lakaien and Alphaville live incarnations coming soon
• The dark stars themselves kick off a German tour starting on March 14. The 16 date journey will take Deine Lakaien the length and breadth of Germany with Stendal Blast as support for the first three shows. Ernst Horn and Alexander Veljanov are touring to support their latest work "White Lies". The set lists will no doubt be heavily infused with songs from the new album.
Also hitting the road will be synthpop veterans Alphaville. Their road trip begins on April 15 and will encompass 14 shows. /Peter Marks

Silke Bischoff becomes 18 Summers


Let me clean your ear.

• Due to legal issues arising from a former member challenging their right to use the name Silke Bischoff, the band have put an end to the Silke era and re-titled themselves 18 Summers. Felix Flaucher and Frank Schwer will release their "debut album" on May 27 via E-Wave Records. John Fryer and Roman Schonsee (The Dreamside) have co-produced the album along with the band. Mr Flaucher stated:
- This is not a new band nor a side-project of Silke Bischoff, it will be better than ever before. /Peter Marks

ClubCulture for Apoptygma Berzerk
• The East/West sub label ClubCulture will issue a strictly limited vinyl edition of the new Apoptygma Berzerk single "Until the End of the World" for DJ:s. On the disc there are three dancefloor remixes of the title track. /Jens Krause

Wolfsheim release DVD



• Wolfsheim's 1999 "Alten Schlachthof" live concert is featured on their new DVD titled "Kompendium". It also contains seven of their music videos, an interview and rare photo material. It arrives on April 16 on Strange Ways Records. /Alex Veronac

Sadovaja try their luck abroad
• Luce Music has released Swedish Sadovaja's second album "White Depression" in GAS. They will also put out the new single "You're All I See" in April. /Mikael Kahrle