I’m terribly sorry for the lack of updates recently! For me there’s been so much to do lately, and I presume it’s the same deal with Greg as well. But on to business! Again!

The ex-KMFDM, currently of Slick Idiot crazy bastard En Esch recently teamed up with Mona Mur, a respected and long-time sound engineer and vocalist. Both musicians are well-respected figures in the industrial scene but still of very different styles, so it’s interesting to see these artists perform together. Last month they finally released the fruits of their collaboration, a full-length album titled 120 Tage - The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence. The record contains eleven tracks of which seven are remade versions of Mona Mur’s 80s and 90s hits, and four are completely new songs (tracks 1, 4, 5 and 11). The project was extremely positively received by the press, and it indeed is a mystifying, oftentimes just plain weird but still extremely captivating meld of industrial elements, orchestral strings, gothic vocals and dark electro. Really a unique, extremely dynamic duo of artists. In any case, it’s damned difficult to describe but a lot more fun to listen to, so the best would be if you checked it out yourself by visiting Mona Mur & En Esch’s MySpace, where they have two full songs and two short clips.

You can find the album for sale on at least Amazon.de and Pale Music.

Thanks to teekey for the info on the all-new songs!

Mona Mur & En Esch - 120 Tage - The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence
1. Candy Cane
2. Die Ballade vom ertrunkenen Mädchen
3. 120 Tage
4. The Thin Red Line
5. Visions & Lies
6. Eintagsfliegen
7. Snake
8. Mon Amour
9. Surabaya Johnny
10. Der Song von Mandelay
11. The Wound

Many people consider Klaus Schulze to be one of the greatest musicians alive, having continually produced groundbreaking electronic and atmospheric music for an astonishing 40 years. From his earliest days as a member of famous krautrock and electronic bands like Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel to his solo work releasing dozens of albums that push the boundaries of sound, he is certainly worthy of being called a legend.

Now, this status has officially been preserved by the publishing of a new book about him called Klaus Schulze: Electronic Music Legend. Written by Greg Allen, this 300+ page book documents everything you could possibly want to know about Klaus Schulze, from his own personal history to what instruments he has used. The bulk of the book is made up of an in-depth, album-by-album journey through the Klaus Schulze discography with lots of discussion, both factual and opinionated. There are also several interviews with Schulze and many of the other musicians that have worked with him over the years, photos, and a number of other extras.

You can read reviews of the book, the table of contents and an excerpt, and other information relating to Klaus Schulze: Electronic Music Legend at the book’s website KlausSchulzeBook.com. You can buy the book online at many locations including Amazon.com in the USA, Trafford.com in Canada, SphericMusic.de in Germany, and Foyles.co.uk in the UK.

Blixa Bargeld’s multi-media project The Execution of Precious Memories will soon be performed for 5 nights in San Francisco, California, from November 19th to the 23rd. Alongside Blixa will be the musicians known as Nanos Operetta and Yannis Adoniou’s dance company Kunst-Stoff. Blixa is also expected to sing 4 original songs as part of the performances.

About the project
The Execution of Precious Memories originates from 1994 and actually makes use of the individual memories of hundreds of local citizens near where the show will be performed. Weeks ahead of the performance, questionnaires are distributed to the local population, their responses are collected anonymously and organized, and then artistic interpretations of these memories are what the audience ultimately experiences through a fusion of music, spoken word and dance. Therefore, the performance is completely different each time it is done in a new city, and it is said to be especially powerful for anyone who completed the surveys and also attend the performance.

Ticket and theater info
If you are in the San Francisco area and enjoy a thought-provoking experience, be sure not to miss The Execution of Precious Memories. The performance is for 5 nights only at the Project Artaud Theater at 450 Florida Street in San Francisco. The performances from November 19th through the 22nd will begin at 8 PM, while the November 23rd performance will begin one hour earlier at 7 PM. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at Brown Paper Tickets (which is a great site, by the way, because they don’t have ridiculously high service fees like some other sites *cough*Ticketmaster*cough*) or by phone by calling the ODC box office at 415-863-9834 between 2 and 5 PM Wednesday through Saturday.

Jochen Arbeit, best known as the guitarist of Einstürzende Neubauten and Die Haut, will be releasing an album called Solo. While the exact contents are still not known, we do know that it will be a compilation of music he has made over the last 10 years for films, theater, and other non-band-related projects, coupled with a DVD containing some video material. Solo is expected to be released on October 17th.

Klangbad Records is the home of some of the most creative and experimental musicians in Germany. Faust is probably the most famous of them all, with a history stretching back to 1971. The label also has a number of non-German artists like the Russian experimentalists Ole Lukkøye, the folk-trance project Kangaroo Moon from the UK, and others.

Every year, Klangbad hosts a concert festival that has some of their best musicians as well as some from other labels. The Klangbad Festival is being held from August 1-3 this year, in the southern German town of Scheer. But, for the first time ever, the festival’s creators have decided to broadcast the entire 3-day performance live and free online. This is a fantastic idea that lets you check out the action even if you are simply too far away to actually attend the festival. Don’t miss it!

Who is performing at the Klangbad Festival this year? The major headliners on the first 2 days will be Mouse On Mars, one of Germany’s most influential electronic groups, and of course Klangbad’s own legend, Faust. Other big name artists include Bernadette la Hengst and Band, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Jolly Goods, Pram, and Olafur Arnalds, along with dozens of other lesser-known musicians playing a wide range of musical styles. You can see the full list of artists and when they will be playing on the Klangbad Festival website.

An introduction to Resonator

Resonator is a duo from Münster, Germany, who makes some of the most unique and creative music you can find. Kai typically writes music for theater and works on film soundtracks, while Anja is a formally trained musician who plays the accordion for the Resonator project. Ambient electronic music mixed with accordions is certainly not a common combination of sounds, but I can assure you it’s something very special when you hear it.

Enter the Red Room Diner

Red Room Diner is Resonator’s first full length album, originally released in 2003. It starts out with the mysterious sounding intro “Avis De Securite”. Coming in at under a minute in length, the song doesn’t really give you much of a clue about what you’re in for. This could be the introduction for anything, it’s very abstract. What’s to come? It might surprise you…

(more…)

Laibach interprets J. S. Bach

Laibach, every Germaniac’s favourite not quite German but Slovenian super-political and awesome industrial/neo-classical/electronic/everything ensemble will be releasing a new record titled LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE. In 2006 Laibach performed at a festival celebrating the classic German composer Johann Sebastian Bach’s life and works, and now it will be available for everyone on CD or digital download. LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE is a laibachized (i.e. sodomized but a hell of a lot better than the original) interpretation of Bach’s composition Die Kunst der Fuge. The release will also be accompanied by a short LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE tour in Europe.

On 5th May, the CD will be available for digital purchase on Mute.com and later as a physical product on Laibach WTC Shop, which will be opened in May as well.

Visit LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE’s own page for information on the project, complete tracklisting and tour dates.

New material from Turmion Kätilöt this summer

Although the Finnish Turmion Kätilöt is far from German, their incredible music has some really strong ties to German industrial metal. In fact, I remember Greg once writing that B.O.S.C.H. is like the German equivalent of Turmion Kätilöt, so if you like B.O.S.C.H., (and chances are you do if you’re surfing Germaniac), Turmion Kätilöt should get you very, very excited if you aren’t already.

Turmion Kätilöt has now announced the release of a new single and album. The single, due for 21st May, will be titled Minä Määrään, and the new album USCH! will be released on 11th June. Turmion Kätilöt have had some major difficulties with their current record company Spinefarm, and the animosity between the band and the company will be solved in court. I hope everything goes well for them.

Tracklisting for the single and albums haven’t been published as of yet, but in the meantime you can check their website for information on the band and samples of every single song they’ve released if you aren’t familiar with them already. Trust me, you should be.

Documentary about Einstürzende Neubauten planned
The Berlin-based film maker Uli Schueppel is planning a documentary about Einstürzende Neubauten’s first concert which took place on December 21st, 1989 in what was then East Berlin. This should be really interesting to see when it’s completed, but for now Uli is in search of anyone who attended that concert and who can provide some additional information for his documentary. Anyone who can help should contact him at info@schueppel-films.de.

Diary Of Dreams has a clothing collection
I don’t know how old this news is, but it caught me by surprise as I was browsing Infrarot.de. Apparently Diary Of Dreams has launched a clothing line in association with the gothic clothing company Aderlass. They have several different styles of jackets, trench coats, pants and skirts available. You can see them all on Infrarot.de here, but I have to warn you, they are pretty expensive. The prices range from €89.90 to €239.90.

Lacrimosa begins work on new album
Lacrimosa, the Swiss gothic metal band headed up by Tilo Wolff, has begun working on their next album. This will be the band’s 10th studio album since they formed in 1990, and their first major release since their 2007 live album Lichtjahre. If you’re in Europe, be sure to catch one of their upcoming concerts or the Blackfield Festival in Gelsenkirchen where they will be headlining.

Carlos Perón, originally known for his work in the Swiss electronic band Yello, recently released a new compilation of songs called Carlos Perón Talks To The Nations on February 22nd. Not to be confused with his single of the same name, this compilation is a best-of album for Perón and contains many of his most classic songs from more than 2 decades of recording. Some songs sound more ambient and some sound more like industrial, but the overall genre I would say is electronic experimental, it is 100% Perón. This album would be a nice way to expand your musical tastes for those of you who are more open-minded.

There are 2 discs on the album which is released as a digipack. The first CD contains the more traditional best-of section and a video for “A Dirty Song” while the second disc features lots of old, unreleased songs and a few newer works. There is a new version of “Der Komtur” featuring Carlos Perón vs. Combichrist, and also a previously unreleased Yello song called “You gotta say yes to another Success”.

Listen to Carlos Perón
You can listen to samples from every song on Carlos Perón Talks To The Nations on AlphaMusic.de. His MySpace page also offers some older songs if you wish to explore his music further.

Carlos Perón Talks To The Nations tracklist

CD 1
01. A Dirty Song
02. Los Alamos
03. Motorman (seven times)
04. Commando (war dance version)
05. Put your skates on
06. In a gadda da muerte (castro mix)
07. Der Komtur (im neuen Gewand)
08. Le chasseur du rêve
09. Seelendämmerung (zweites Kapitel)
10. Breakin’ in
11. Become a marine!
12. Frigorex
13. Nothing is true, everything is permitted
14. A dirty song (video)

CD 2
01 Atlantis; the place to be
02 Wall of effects
03 Combichrist vs. Perón “Der Komtur”
04 Closer & Closer
05 Yellowed vs. Yello “You gotta say yes to another success”
06 Vallersleben vs. Perón “Der Komtur”
07 Warning; why can bodies fly?
08 Lenin drank baikalwater
09 C´est moi
10 Neandra´s def version

Alec Empire, famed leader of the now defunct band Atari Teenage Riot, will release his latest solo album The Golden Foretaste of Heaven in europe this coming Monday, January 21st. (It has already been out in Japan since November 28th, 2007.) And for the first time ever, his music will be under his own label, Eat Your Heart Out. His digital hardcore roots have melded with rock to create a sound that makes the album’s music really difficult to pin down. Should I try to describe it? It sounds like Daft Punk collaborated with some breakbeat-experimental artist, perhaps Venetian Snares. Or imagine if Nine Inch Nails were originally more influenced by punk, instead of industrial, and then followed along the same historical path to one day produce Year Zero with that same kind of depressing futurist motif. That doesn’t make any sense, you say? I told you it wasn’t going to be easy.

Trying to describe the music on The Golden Foretaste of Heaven is like one of those tricky word problems they give students on standardized tests. The answer can’t be A, his style has evolved way beyond punk by now. It could be B, rock, but it’s not rock like his older solo albums were. Maybe C? It’s a little closer to techno perhaps, but I’m still not sure. It’s worded funny. Let’s just pick D, “all of the above.” I hope that’s the right answer. Except this time, they finally tell you after the test is over that there was no correct answer. It was open to your own interpretation, after all. Have a listen. What do you think Alec Empire’s new album sounds like?

There have already been 2 singles released for this album, “Robot L.O.V.E.” which was released back on June 11th, 2007, and “On Fire” which came out more recently on December 7th. Whatever you call this kind of music, I like it, personally. It doesn’t have quite the same effect of insanity that you got with ATR’s “Speed,” but it’s still really good. If you liked those singles or what you heard on Alec’s MySpace page, be sure to check out the “New Man” single which will be coming out sometime soon, as well.

Alec Empire - The Golden Foretaste of Heaven tracklist
01. New Man
02. If You Live Or Die
03. ICE (As If She Could Steal A Piece Of My Glamour)
04. 1000 Eyes
05. Down Satan Down (Dub)
06. On Fire (The Hellish Vortex Sessions)
07. Robot L.O.V.E.
08. Death Trap In 3D
09. Bug On My Windshield
10. No/Why/New York

Video for “On Fire”

Source: youtube.com/watch?v=59sp56-TiZ8