Paul and a few others recently asked me when I was going to write about the upcoming Festival Kinetik, and I am happy to oblige. For those of you who haven’t heard about Festival Kinetik, it’s a new electro/industrial/noise festival that is replacing the C.O.M.A. Festival which ran from 2004 until 2007. It will take place in Montreal, Canada from May 15th to the 17th and will feature dozens of bands and DJs from North America and across Europe, including 5 from Germany. They are Funker Vogt, Kiew, Noisuf-X, Feindflug, and Xotox. Also worth noting, this will be the first North American appearance by the latter 2 bands.

Tickets and other info for attendees
Tickets to the festival are available in the Kinetik Store at various prices depending on what the package includes. The festival website also has lots of information for anyone who might be travelling from a distance about hotels, places to eat, and lots of other stuff about the city of Montreal.

Listen to the bands of Festival Kinetik
ArtOfFact has a 2CD compilation that has music by most of the bands that will be performing at the festival (plus a few extras) called Festival Kinetik Volume 1. While this is a great mix for fans to pick up, it’s also a terrific sampler for anyone who wants to learn more about the festival’s bands before making the decision whether to go or not. You can actually listen to every song from the compilation right there on the website. Just click on a track name and then look to the left side of the screen and click the play button. If you like it, the 2CD compilation is just 12.99 CAD to purchase.

Are you going?
Is anyone planning to go to Festival Kinetik? Leave a comment if you plan on attending, or if you just have something to say about one of the bands.

Last friday I picked up a large parcel from my local post office. Guess what it contained?

click for larger image

Yep, the limited box edition of the electro-industrial legend :Wumpscut:’s record for 2008. It was one of those “well, why the hell not”, spur-of-the-moment impulse buys, the first :W: box I’ve bought. What wonders could await inside?

Find out just what, a review of the album and more behind the link!
(more…)

The German Electro/EBM band Tyske Ludder (seriously, what’s with me always posting about EBM bands?) was founded in the early 90s and they released a couple of albums full of harsh EBM before fading into a ten-year silence. The band then re-emerged in 2006 with a new album, Sojus, and since then they’ve been pretty active. Their new EP titled SCIENTific technOLOGY will be released on the 11th of April.

There’s absolutely no information on the track listing or the prices of the coming EP to be found anywhere as of yet. Even their record company Black Rain doesn’t seem to have anything about it, but in the meantime you can check out their brutal electronic antics on their Myspace site.

Sorry for posting this one at the last minute, but Accessory has just arrived in the United States to begin a short tour in support of their new album More Than Machinery. This is something I haven’t talked about yet, so bear with me and we will get both done here…

Accessory’s new album More Than Machinery
The album was released a few weeks ago on March 14th on Out Of Line in Germany. It has 2 discs, the first of which is the actual 11-track album of new electro club-oriented music. The second disc contains 3 more new songs, 2 remixes, and 4 bonus tracks that were created back when the band was still very young. But don’t be fooled by the marketers and shops who tell you this is a limited edition, I have yet to see a version of this album with only 1 disc. It looks to me like the 2 CD version is the normal version.

Infrarot.de has 45-second samples of all 20 songs on More Than Machinery for you to listen to, and they also have it for the best price I’ve seen in Europe, at €15.99. In North America, Isotank.com has it for $26.99, and while this is slightly higher than Infrarot after the exchange, you’ll surely pay far less for shipping from Isotank so it still makes sense for Americans to get it there.

Accessory - More Than Machinery tracklisting:
CD 1:
01. Humanity
02. If this isn’t a dream
03. Acsy Girl
04. The Hole
05. Numbers and Bits
06. Heartattack
07. Take the Chance
08. Tanzflaechenmann
09. Big and Easy
10. Under Control
11. Gegen den Strom

CD 2:
01. The Shape
02. Fuck the Terrorism
03. At the End
04. Tanzflaechenmann (remixed by Ashbury Heights)
05. Gegen den Strom (remixed by Acylum)
06. Die Rebellion (1998)
07. Revolution (1998)
08. Notice from Addict (1998)
09. Despair (1998)

Accessory’s US Tour
OK, now for the more urgent part: Accessory’s US tour begins tonight! It was just a few weeks ago that the band was still planning this tour and changing dates around. It seems like everything was finalized in a hurry and the short length of the tour shows this. The band will only be playing 7 concerts spread out across the country. Nonetheless, they are a great electro-industrial band and I recommend that you check out one of their shows if you can.

Accessory US tourdates:
March 26 - Philadelphia, PA - Shampoo
March 27 - Washington DC - Chief Ikes
March 29 - Newark, NJ - QXTs
March 30 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
April 02 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
April 03 - Chicago, IL - The Kinetic Playground
April 04 - Phoenix, AZ - Jug Heads

Now, Eisschock is a bit of an unusual EBM project in that the sole member is a self-trained psychologist and also a woman. It’s not that women making music is weird, mind you, but it’s definitely a rarity in the EBM scene. What makes Eisschock even more worth having a look at is that the music is pretty good as well. Sure, it has issues and it’s not anything totally revolutionary, but it’s got a bit of a different touch than most testosterone-driven bursts of hate and anger most EBM bands tend to be.

Therapie (released in 2006) is thus far the only record by Eisschock. The music here is mostly very old-school EBM, and there’s also a couple of softer, more synthpop-like tracks thrown into the mix as well. To each their own, but I find the mellower material on Therapie downright embarrassing when compared to the vastly superior EBM cuts. There’s a number of goofy or just bad choices of sounds, run-of-the-mill compositions and it doesn’t help that the singer’s voice just doesn’t work that well when actually singing either. On the other hand, the aggressive EBM tracks are really great, incredibly old-school and the sounds are also suitably cold and clean, with the singer whispering menacingly on top of the deep bass lines and hard percussions.

Therapie is NOT a bad record, no. On the contrary, there’s a number of wonderful ideas and some extremely strong songs like the opener Sag Mir Nicht and Panic Attack. However, it’s a real shame that about half of the album falls into the category of mediocre synth-pop that’s almost hard to listen to after the awesome faster tracks. Alright, alright, debut albums are very rarely great as a whole, but Eisschock’s first is just so promising that it’s frustrating it’s not any better. I believe that if our psychologist focuses more on her stronger aspects the next time around, she might just blow our minds. Definitely check Therapie out if you dig old-school EBM like Nitzer Ebb or Front 242, or if you’re craving for a slightly different take on an otherwise somewhat stagnant genre. It’s surely not perfect, but makes you want to hear just what Eisschock is capable of.

You can listen to samples of each song on Eisschock’s site, and you can also buy the album there.

Eisschock - Therapie tracklisting
01. Sag Mir Nicht
02. Loveseeker
03. Sex Sells
04. P.B.
05. Nameless
06. Stupide
07. Panic Attack
08. Our Party
09. Narcissism
10. In Deinem Kopf

Rudy Ratzinger is at it again. Wumpscut has a new album called Schädling which has just been released today (March 21st) in Germany. The Americans will see the album in just a few weeks on April 8th via Metropolis Records, Wumpscut’s typical US-distributor. So far so good, but now this is where it gets a little confusing. There are 4 different versions of the album:

• The first edition of Schädling is a limited run and all copies are autographed by Rudy. This version contains 1 CD with the 12-song album and a special booklet with parchment paper. It is packaged in an oversized SACD case and is available only in Germany, although some other stores may decide to import it.
• The second edition of Schädling is the same 1 CD with 12 songs in the SACD, but it is not limited and does not have the autographed parchment paper booklet. This is what you would call the most standard version of the album. It will be the version that’s available worldwide, although I don’t know if the US version from Metropolis will also have the SACD packaging or not.
• The Schädlingsbox is the box set version which is limited to 1,515 units. It contains the limited first edition of the album (see above) plus a 2nd CD containing a remix album. Also included is a polo shirt in sizes Medium or X-Large, a flag, fridge magnet, postcard, calendar, sticker, and a poster.
• The Vinylschädling version is obviously the version of the album on 12″ vinyl LPs. This is limited to just 300 units.

Also note that the Wumpscut shop offers a special package containing the Schädlingsbox, the limited first edition of the album, the vinyl version, plus the DJ Dwarf Eight single (limited to 500 units) and Dwarf Craving v2. This is not really a version of the album, but rather a combination of items that are available.

Listen to Wumpscut and Schädling
You can listen to reasonably long MP3 samples from Schädling in Wumpscut’s shop. Just go to one of the items like the second edition here to download these samples. Wumpscut’s MySpace page also has a sampling from the album.

Where to buy Schädling

• In Europe - The official Wumpscut shop has all the different versions of the album, plus all kinds of older Wumpscut music and other merchandise.
• In the USA and Canada - Metropolis Records has the US version available for pre-order, as well as the first edition German version as an import. They have the lowest prices for these items that I have seen in US-based shops.

Wumpscut - Schädling tracklist
01. Rusty Nails From Hell
02. Schäbiger Lump
03. Oh How It Feels
04. Foretold
05. Break The Seal
06. Rifki
07. Enemy
08. Hard To Bear
09. Spuuk (Now Is Over)
10. Moloch
11. Voodoo Void
12. Nest

Schädling remix CD tracklist (only in the Schädlingsbox)
01. Schäbiger Lump (Ranthony Other remix)
02. Rifki (Cerebral Apoplexy remix)
03. Rusty Nails From Hell (12 inch remix)
04. Schäbiger Lump (Der Blutharsch remix)
05. Rifki (Mechanimal Canicals remix)
06. Schäbiger Lump (Recently Deceased club mix)
07. Schäbiger Lump (Midnight Commodore remix)
08. Rifki (K-U-T-T Remix)
09. Schäbiger Lump (Recently Deceased Floating remix)
10. Schäbiger Lump (Reznick remix)
11. Schäbiger Lump (Yendri Goosepimple remix)
12. Rifki (Advent Resilience remix)
13. Schäbiger Lump (Erektor remix)
14. Schäbiger Lump (Piscide remix)
15. Schäbiger Lump (Naked Beat remix)
16. Schäbiger Lump (ASL remix)

Piscide has released their new album Elekktroshokk recently… either this past Friday the 14th or today, depending on where you look. This is the second full length release by this band from Thuringia, and it is being supported by Biohazzard Records, the new(ish) sublabel of Bruno Kramm’s Danse Macabre.

Elekktroshokk is in a harsh electro-industrial / EBM style, judging by the 3-minute medley of songs from the album on Biohazzard’s MySpace page. Strangely, you won’t find any music player on the band’s own MySpace page, and they don’t even have a true website either. Actually, for music sampling purposes, you would probably do better listening to the samples on an online store like AlphaMusic.de. They have the CD for 11.99 Euros which is the best price I’ve found online. Both Infrarot.de and Abella.de have it for 13.99 if you prefer to use a different retailer.

Piscide - Elekktroshokk tracklist:
01. ElekktroShokk
02. Kranke Gehirne
03. Drei
04. Schaedlinge
05. Murdoc
06. Schwarzmaler
07. Mein Sarg
08. Cybergoth
09. Wenn der Mond
10. Ein dunkles Lied
11. Das letzte Blatt

Hello everyone. I’m Valtteri, a fellow reader of Germaniac, and I’ll be helping Greg run the website by writing some articles now and then. For my first contribution I’ve decided to review Painbastard’s latest album Borderline, which was released on the 28th of September last year. Painbastard is a one-man industrial EBM project by Alex P., and he’s been recording as Painbastard since 1998. I discovered the band just recently when surfing Germaniac and was really impressed right away by the samples on Painbastard’s MySpace, so I decided to get the album.

Borderline is divided into two parts, Rage (tracks 1 – 9) and Melancholy (tracks 10 – 14), with Rage featuring fast-tempo killer tracks and Melancholy moving into somewhat calmer waters. The album’s opener, the crushing title track Borderline shows pretty much what to expect from the rest of the album: thumping beats, harsh industrial synth melodies, a bunch of well-used samples and distorted, screaming vocals. However, although the album is comprised mostly of these main building blocks, there’s enough variety so you shouldn’t get bored.

Part I is, as already stated, the faster and more aggressive part of the CD. In addition to the great opener, the highest points of Part I are definitely Hope Dies Last, which features a catchy melody and Nemrod of Dementi guest singing to great effect, Madhouse Earth, a powerful comment on the state of humanity today, and, interestingly, a remix of Borderline, which ends the otherwise dark and angsty part in a brighter and more hopeful mood. The other songs range from good to great as well, but tend to be overshadowed by the well-placed catchier cuts. Part II is more melodic, epic and down-tempo and two of its songs, are actually based on Ludwig van Beethoven’s composition Mondscheinsonate. The most memorable tracks here are the two based on Beethoven (Mondscheinsonate and Liebe, die verbrennt) as well as Parting From You. I think the latter should’ve been the last song on the album, as the nearly eight-minute long Beyond All Borders is just a bit of a stretch, although it’s not bad either.

All in all, Borderline is a great record. Sure, it might not be very easy to listen to if you don’t dig the overall hateful and aggressive tone and the constant assault of industrial bombardment, but those who don’t mind that are in for a ride. The change of pace between the parts definitely helps keep the record interesting. If you’re a fan of harsh industrial electro like early :Wumpscut:, Borderline might just be what you’ve been looking for. I know I like it!

Check out our previous coverage on Painbastard including the track listing for Borderline, and don’t forget to visit the MySpace site as well to hear a couple of samples here.

If you’d like to comment on my first article for Germaniac, feel free! Criticism, constructive or not, is always very much welcome.

This week’s Radio Goethe podcast dives right into some of the electronic music from Germany, mostly the more specific subgenres of EBM, synthpop and futurepop. There are even several remixes this week, which is something we rarely hear on the Radio Goethe broadcast. Arndt must have been feeling a little frisky when he was producing this show. It’s great this week! Stream it on RadioGoethe.org or download it from iTunes.

Rotersand: Lost
Funker Vogt: City of darkness
Neuroticfish: Why don’t you hate me?
Diorama: Synthesize me
Massiv in Mensch feat. Mind.in.a.box: Supermassive Gravity
Retrosic: Unleash Hell (Deeper into hell 2008)
Patenbrigade Wolff: Demokratischer Sektor (Club Mix)
Mind.in.a.box: What used to be (Short Storm)
Umbra et Imago: Glaubst Du (Remix)
E Nomine: Vater unser
E Nomine: E Nomine
Diary of Dreams: The Plague (Version N4-4)
Noisuf-X: Hit me hard (as hard as you can-mix)

Now that I have fully recovered from last night’s And One concert, I’ll write up a little review of the show here for anyone who may be interested in seeing them on the rest of their first ever US tour. I arrived at The Madison in New York with my friend Nadja and we met Jen in the line waiting to get in. After going through what seemed to be a rather intense security search, we entered the building and checked the place out. It was kind of small but the setup was pretty decent.

Cervello Elettronico was the first opening band. They were okay, but honestly some people (myself included) didn’t even realize that these 2 guys were a band. It sounded more like they were just double DJs entertaining the crowd before the show began. Obviously it was nothing noteworthy. Life Cried was the second opening band and was much better. It was actually a real band and they put on a pretty good show. Their music was pretty dark, kind of like Wumpscut or bands like that. The only thing that was a bit annoying was the screaming vocals combined with an echo effect on the microphone. It fits the music pretty well, but it was a bit much.

A short time after they went off stage, the two synth players for And One stepped up and began to play (wearing their suits, of course). Then, Steve Naghavi burst onto the stage out of nowhere and started singing a few minutes into the intro to officially begin their show. He is easily one of the best frontmen I have ever seen live. He’s extremely enthusiastic and crowd-oriented. His charisma, dancing and spinning around, and still poses definitely made him the center of attention, too. Now I understand exactly why they dropped out as a support band for VNV Nation’s tour last year. And One is a band that absolutely needs to be the headliner, there’s no question about it.

During And One’s set, they played lots of their biggest hits, as you might imagine. My favorites have always been older songs like “Deutschmaschine” and “Panzermensch” and they played both. They also played plenty of newer songs like “Traumfrau” and “Military Fashion Show”. There was also a fantastic cover of Project Pitchfork’s song “Timekiller” since Naghavi performed vocals with the band. And One later performed another cover of “The Walk” by The Cure, as well as a mini-cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” in the middle of one song. Every other song was performed really well also, making And One’s entire show just wonderful. This was just a great experience overall and I would really recommend everyone to go to one of their concerts if they are coming anywhere near where you live.

The best news of the night: At the end of their set, Naghavi announced that this was just the first American tour And One is playing. They are planning on returning to the States for a second tour in the Autumn! I am really looking forward to a second tour. I’ll definitely be seeing them again (but hopefully they will find a different venue in New York next time).