News editor: Mikael Kahrle

Depeche Mode's first studio round successfully completed
• Depeche Mode are now on holiday after a successful first round in the studio. A handful of songs are said to be 80% finished and everyone is pleased with the result. According to rumours two of the songs are called "Dream on" and "Shine on Me". The studio sessions will continue in September. /Mikael Kahrle

Trent Reznor to work with Aliyah
• According to the British magazine The Face, an article printed about the hip hop singer Aliyah confirmed that she will in fact work with Trent Reznor for one song on her third album. What the article had to say: "Confirming her love of dark, serrated sounds, she's due to go in the studio with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor for a track on her third album, due at the end of this year." /Erik Almgren

Wave Gotik Treffen compilation released


• A compilation covering the Electromania part of the Wave Gotik Treffen has been released by Bloodline. "Electromaniac" features S.P.O.C.K, Haujobb, Apoptygma Berzerk, Funker Vogt, Covenant and other bands that have performed at the festival. 15 tracks, all in all, both original versions and remixes. /Mikael Kahrle

New releases from Warp
• The double-CD "Trainer" is an anthology release of early and rare material from exotic techno act Plaid. It both includes new and unreleased tracks and was released on July 10.
Dub-techno act Two Lone Swordsmen (Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood) will release a collection of the three 12" EP's "Tiny Reminders 1-3" on August 28. /Erik Almgren

Aaron Sutcliffe album in October
• Johan Malmgren (ex-Elegant Machinery) plan to release his Elvis Presley cover album "Last Train to Salias" in October, as a follow-up to last year's EP. /Mikael Kahrle

Ant-Zen "Industrial Overdose" US tour


• Three industrial/noise bands from the label Ant-Zen embark on a joined US tour tomorrow: Noisex, Hypnoskull and Tunnel. They will visit nine cities, starting with Anaheim, CA, ending with Lowell, MA. /Jens Krause

Paradise Lost back in September


• New material from British Paradise Lost can be expected in September. The band has completed a twelve track album, to be called "Believe in Nothing". The preliminary release date is set to September 18, with a possible single release on September 4. The members feel that this definitely is their strongest album to date. /Niklas Forsberg

The Sisters of Mercy mini tour
• The Sisters of Mercy will play one gig in Scotland, three gigs in England and two in Spain in September. As we have reported earlier they will headline the German M'era Luna and Doomsday festivals in August.
Still no details on record releases. The band just continue to tour forever. /Mikael Kahrle

Mute Records Germany founded
• After being handled by Intercord in Germany, Mute Records have now founded an office of their own similar to Mute in the Czech Republic. Mute Records Germany will be an independent label based in Berlin, with distribution through PIAS. We wish the Mute crew (Anne Berning, Nobert Brendel, Tina Funk and the others) a good start. /Jens Krause

Stockholm electro festival with And One, Pouppée Fabrikk and Das Ich


Good old Stefan Ackermann in the Das Ich show at Wave Gotik Treffen recently.
Photo by: Åsa Nielsen (Release)

• The Stockholm Tinitus festival will be back in November. So far And One, Das Ich, Pouppée Fabrikk, Imminent (ex-Imminent Starvation from Belgium) and Restricted Area are included in the line-up. Marina Schiptjenko (ex-Page, Vacuum), Eskil Simonsson (Covenant) and representatives from different clubs will manage the two dance floors. There will also be a "Blacklight" installation. See On Stage. /Mikael Kahrle

New Hooverphonic album soon
• We told you about the new single release, "Mad About You", from Hooverphonic last week. The follow-up album will soon be released as well. It'll be called "The Magnificent Tree". /Niklas Forsberg

New Utah Saints record features Michael Stipe - on the phone
• Four songs on Utah Saint's forthcoming album "Two" features REM's frontman Michael Stipe on spoken word. Stipe, who is said to be a big fan of the British dance act, made his vocal contributions via phone line from the States.
He describes one of the tracks, "Wiggedy Wack" as being about '90's teen pop rappers Kriss Kross, of all things:
- I saw them once in a deserted airport lounge in Atlanta. There they were, sitting entirely on their own in the biggest airport in the world, with their clothes on the wrong way round, looking like something the cat threw up.
No release date is set for their up-coming album. Utah Saints made their live comeback at Glastonbury Festival last month, where they were joined on stage by Edwin Starr, who sang guest vocals on their recent top 30 single "Funky Music". They have completed a handful of UK dates and plan a further tour in the autumn. /Erik Almgren

OMD to be covered
• US synthpop labels Ninthwave and Synthphony will put together an OMD cover album for a possible fall release. Interested artists can contact the labels for details. All proceeds of the album will go to Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy. /Mikael Kahrle

New Hooverphonic single includes Euro 2000 song


Photo by: Guy Kokken

• The new Hooverphonic single, "Mad About You", was released on the June 26. It also includes the appreciated song the Belgian laidback electronic pop act performed at the Euro 2000 opening ceremony in Belgium. The song is called "Visions". /Niklas Forsberg

Anything Box - live show and new material
• American (synth)pop band Anything Box gave a show in Chicago on July 3. The upcoming album "The Universe Is Expanding" has no official release date yet. /Niklas Forsberg

German EBM band explores love

• When the EBM genre has run empty on war, cyber and politic themes, good old love will have to do. On the brand new In Strict Confidence album "Love Kills", the band explores love and its influence on different human characters.
Many of the songs are in German in line with the current German club trend. "Zauberschloss" is the first single choice from the album. Other striking German songs are "Stern", Wenn ich die Augen schliesse" and "Weltuntergang" (a classic EBM title after all).
"Love Kills" is delivered in a normal as well as a limited edition of 1 000 copies in a box with A5 booklet, 3" bonus CD with exclusive mixes, metal pin, three stickers, four autographed postcards and last but not least one condom. The album is out now, except in Scandinavia (July 10, Energy) and USA (no release date set, newly founded WT2).
In Strict Confidence will play live in 14 German and Swiss cities in September together with Decoded Feedback. /Jens Krause, Mikael Kahrle

NIN cancelled headline show in Docklands
• According to NME, the Nine Inch Nails' cancellation of their scheduled headlining slot at the Lost Weekend event on July 1 led to a clearout of the venue, with almost half the audience seeking a refund. Almost 4 000 of the estimated 9 000 disappointed ticket holders are believed to have claimed back their £20 admission fee at London Docklands Arena.
The cause for the cancellation was said to be illness of drummer Jerome Dillon and had nothing to do with the tragedy of Roskilde Festival, which they played June 29. /Erik Almgren

The Cassandra Complex is back with "Wetware"
• The veterans Cassandra Complex returned with the album "Wetware" on June 5 (SPV). They plan some live performances as well, like on the impressive M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim, Germany. /Mikael Kahrle

Celebrated electronic act Pluxus release new album
• Last Friday, June 30, Pluxus released their second album "och resan fortsätter här" ("And the Journey Continues Here"). A review is of course on its way.
Pluxus performs lovely, playful electronica and if you want to you can discover three of their nine new songs at http://www.spraydio.com. Or perhaps watch them live at the Arvika Festival within less than two weeks. /Sussi Pettersson

Five new Delerium remixes on two singles


• Lots of Delerium fans out there are waiting for new material. The new single "Heaven's Earth" may still some of the hunger, even though it doesn't contain any new stuff. Instead we get three Max Darey remixes, two Key South remixes and the original version from the "Karma" album. The versions are released on two singles in special digipak. /Mikael Kahrle

Johnny Marr's new band plays live
• Ex-Smiths guitarist and Electronic man Johnny Marr's new band Healers are to play a low-key warm up show in anticipation of their support shows with Oasis. The gig will take place in Sheffield on July 14.
As well as Marr on guitar and vocals, Healers feature ex-Kula Shaker bassist Alonso Bevan, Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey on drums, percussionist Liz Bonney and keyboardist Lee Spencer.
The band have only made a handful of live appearances before, playing secret gigs in Coventry and Lancaster in May, before supporting Oasis on six dates on their European mainland tour. /Erik Almgren

Pain conquers Germany?


• A few weeks ago, Sweden's best selling industrial project Pain, was launched in Germany through Rammstein's label Motor. It's time for the Germans to discover Peter Tägtgren's second disco metal album "Rebirth".
Motor has also recently released MDFMK's debut album in Germany. /Mikael Kahrle

Details on the "new" S.P.O.C.K single


• The S.P.O.C.K: "Never Trust a Klingon 2000" maxi CD from Bloodline features three dance mixes from the German remix collective Mox Epoque, a radio mix and a slow mix from producer Werner Seega and a hit radio version as well as a bonus from S.P.O.C.K:s own studio wizard Crull-E. Bloodline wants to add that this release doesn't reflect the sound of the forthcoming brand new material. /Mikael Kahrle

Veteran Joachim Witt releases new album
• "Bayreuth 2", Joachim Witt's new album is soon here. The German veteran had a grand comeback 1998 with the album "Bayreuth 1 "and the no 1 hit-single "Die Flut" (where he was supported by the Wolfsheim singer). He has worked on the successor for a long time and now we've heard excerpts from the first auditions, which promise a musically diverse album. Joachim Witt is likely to be successful once again.! Recommended for friends of Rammstein & co. /Jens Krause

Another synthpop newcomer
• Newly founded Swedish pop band Barcode has completed their first demo "The Barcode Battle". It contains three tracks of music inspired by Saft, Massive Attack and De/Vision to name a few. /Niklas Forsberg

Busy days for Faith and the Muse


Photo by: Karin

• Yesterday, American darkwavers Faith and the Muse embarked on an extensive tour which will take them to 17 US cities. In August, they will head for Portugal, Belgium and Germany. But then, the band plan to stay away from the roads until after the next album release 2001, fall.
First in line, however, is the since long scheduled collection "Vera Causa" with remixes, live and rare tracks as well as some new material. The album will appear during spring or summer next year.
Front man William Faith will also produce the Los Angeles band Penis Flytrap (you won't forget that name, will you) with ex 45 Grave vocalist Dinah Cancer. The project at hand is the debut full length, to be recorded in the FATM studio Wisperthal in the LA area. /Mikael Kahrle

Sparks finally release "Balls"
• After several delays, the new Sparks album "Balls" will finally be released worldwide on August 21. They have signed deals with Strange Ways (Germany), Oglio (United States, Canada), Flavor of Sound (Japan) and Recognition (Great Britain). As for other countries, they will be announced shortly. /Niklas Forsberg, Anders Wikholm

Interesting debutant for fans of And One and Melotron


• In March, we wrote about the debut maxi "Bis der Arzt kommt" from Klirrfaktor. They now gives us their debut album "Kunststoff", with tunes in the same school as And One and Melotron. German lyrics meets catchy melodies in a perfect fusion. /Jens Krause

Roskilde report in progress
• We figure nobody missed the tragedy at last weekend's Roskilde Festival with eight people suffocated to death, which left the event in a state of shock. Our shaken reporter Erik Almgren is back - stand by for his report. /Mikael Kahrle