Belgian electronic pioneer Dirk Ivens unleashes the long-awaited new album 'Where Do We Go From Here?' from his cult project DIVE.
Belgian electronic pioneer Dirk Ivens unleashes the long-awaited new album "Where Do We Go From Here?" from his cult project DIVE."Where do we go from here?" is another masterpiece of dark minimalist Electro-art. Between droning Noise and marching Industrial, Dirk Ivens created his very own unique style with DIVE. „Where Do We Go From Here?" is his masterpiece – an album transferring sound and spirit of the classics in today's time.
On „Where Do We Go From Here?", Dirk explores new ways to enforce his sound:
„For this album, I teamed up with Jan Dewulf, known from his bands Your Life On Hold and Diskonnekted", says the humble main man. „New collaboration means new sounds." Nevertheless „Where Do We Go From Here?" has an attitude of the early DIVE and The Klinik combined with state of the art production. The beats are even more brutal, the soundscapes even darker, the vocals even more touching. „The world we live in today will never be the same", Ivens comments on the obvious influences. „But even when things don't look hopeful, we try to keep a positive mind."
So „Where Do We Go From Here?" is the expected dark and heavy piece of music, yet it allows a glimpse of hope. „Where Do We Go From Here?" is now released as a CD as well as a wooden box limited to 500 which includes the album on vinyl, the CD-version, and an exclusive vinyl EP.
Watch the new DIVE video 'Inside Your Head' below!
Today, 49 years ago (17.12.1971) the late David Bowie released his first masterwork, Hunky Dory.
“Look out, you rock & rollers."
Following on from the garage-rock of “The Man Who Sold The World” the formula was now in place for Bowie to push the boundaries that bit further and make the world sit up and take notice, his travels to America had inspired the writing of his first masterpiece, the culture and the music soaked into his songs, from the Velvet Underground to Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol, all would play a role in the dynamic of David Bowie’s creativity.
From the infectious opener “Changes”, an instant pop-classic with the catchy chorus which would foretell Bowie’s career, the path he would take and the warning to the music world of his arrival.
“Oh! You Pretty Things”, this was “Starman” part-one, the full lineup of the Spiders coming into their own for the first time with the aid of Rick Wakeman on piano.
As “Life On Mars?” became the pivotal Bowie track of the day, the transcendent chorus, the uplifting piano working in partnership with the guitar solos, images of America and childhood dreams:
“It's on America's tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Now the workers have struck for fame
'Cause Lennon's on sale again”.
On “Quicksand” he went shoulder to shoulder with the songwriting greats of the day in this tale which dealt with the occult, the Second World War and most surprisingly Aleister Crowley and The Golden Dawn. Bowie was at his darkest, pulling images and characters from the abyss and casting them in his latest play;
“I'm the twisted name on Garbo's eyes,Living proof of Churchill's lies, I'm destiny. I'm torn between the light and dark, Where others see their targets, divine symmetry”
The driving acoustic guitar of “Andy Warhol”, a psychedelic-ballad, an ode to art and it’s creator, though being able to sum up Bob Dylan in one line is an accomplishment all of its own, in his tribute to the folk-troubadour Bowie nailed it perfectly on “Song For Dylan”;
“With a voice like sand and glue”
“Queen Bitch”, was the template for the following albums, Bowie on acoustic guitar, Ronson tearing up a riff similar to The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane”, the melodic bass-run by Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey hammering out the drums, Bowie went at a sonic pace into area of a Glam-Rock.
The sinister folk of “The Bewlay Brothers”, a nightmare which would have fit in on the “The Man Who Sold The World”, the schizophrenic lyrics are terrifying, closing the album in a weirdness, to leave fans and critics warped;
“With our backs on the arch
And if the Devil may be here
But he can't sing about that
Oh, and we were gone”.
The songs were refined so well the album only took two-weeks to record at Trident Studios, he always worked at a frantic speed, creating the cabaret melodrama set the course for his career, his partnership with The Spiders and a world ready for the name Bowie.
A year later the glamrock-alien Ziggy Stardust would land to earth, taking the guitar driven elements of ‘Hunky Dory’ and releasing an album which would change music forever.
Hunkt Dory (1972 LP Tracklist)
01 “Changes”
02 “Oh! You Pretty Things”
03 “Eight Line Poem”
04 “Life on Mars?”
05 “Kooks”
06 “Quicksand”
07 “Fill Your Heart”
08 “Andy Warhol”
09 “Song for Bob Dylan”
10 “Queen Bitch”
11 “The Bewlay Brothers”
DISCOGS
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UK Electro-Industrial Band BIOMECHANIMAL Announces New Single,'End Your Life.'
UK electro - industrial band BIOMECHANIMAL has unleashed their aggressive new single, "End Your Life."
The maxi-single release features 6 remixes.
"End Your Life" release bio:
Conjured in the depths of London’s Slimelight, scene upstarts BIOMECHANIMAL, bring you "End Your Life", a brutal, filthy expression of electronic music. This aggressive collaboration brings together elements of industrial, extreme metal, and both artists’ visceral vocal performances. It's rounded out by a selection of explosive remixes from both established and fresh artists across the alternative electronic sphere.
Written by Matt & Nysrok, produced by BIOMECHANIMAL, post production from X-Fusion Music Production & Keith/Mechanical Vein, and some incredible artwork from returning artist Midiankai Arts, the single hosts a large array of scene talent: DIE SEKTOR, JAVI SSAGITTAR (Terrolokaust, Killus), MOAAN EXIS, XMH, XOTOX, and new labelmates KALCYFR.
For fans of: AMDUSCIA, CELLDWELLER and AESTHETIC PERFECTION
A Date In Camden | On this day 42 ago The Fall recorded Live At The Witch Trials!
This day 42 ago was The Fall entered the Sound Suite In Camden, Greater London and recorded their first long-player:
“Live At The Witch Trials”.
Although recorded in one day on the fifteenth of December and mixed the following day, the album would not hit the shops until mid March 1979.
This however was the very moment the alternative, indie and punk scene exploded under a collision curated by the late Mark E. Smith, the Mancunian rebellious wordsmith, one part Johnny Rotten and one part Ian Dury.
The man who steered this ship of alternative post-punk was as scathing as he was intelligent, not yet the commander and chief but his dominance was already in its infancy and rearing its head.
The fearless nature of the collective unit was the original mark of brilliance which made this a standout release in the late-seventies punk movement, its acts as a time capsule of both the social and economic state of Britain forty-years ago, a narrative of council estates, unemployment;”Rebellious Jukebox”,”No Xmas for John Quays”, “Industrial Estate” and of course the opener, the claustrophobic masterpiece “Frightened”.
Martin Bramah, the original guitarist is solid, melodic and at times the centerpiece, he effortlessly provides a backdrop of intensity, as for Marc Riley and his solid bass which holds the band’s direction together but it is the drumming of Karl Burn which was as wild and ramshackle as they come when it came to providing that extra menacing aspect to the music, this was the classic Fall lineup.
The extra ambiance of keyboards by that unsung hero Yvonne Pawlett was the perfect balance to Smith who, is at the very front on the mix, every word and syllable is clear, unlike later recordings, but here they are friends and comrades which adds to the easy flow of “Live At The Witch Trials”, it was never again this relaxed, this brilliant.
Frightened (Smith/Friel)
Someone's always on my tracks
And in a dark room you'd see more than you think
I'm out of my place, got to get back
I sweated a lot, you could feel the violence
I've got shears pointed straight at my chest
And time moves slow when you count it
I'm better than them, and I think I'm the best
But I'll appear at midnight when the films close
'Cause I'm in a trance
Oh, and I sweat
I don't want to dance
I want to go home
I couldn't live in those people places
Oh, they might get to know my actions
I'd run away from toilets and feces
I'd run away to a non-date on the street
'Cause I'm in a trance
Oh, and I sweat
I don't want to dance
I want to go home
I feel trapped by mutual affection
And I don't know how to use freedom
I spend hours looking sideways
To the time when I was sixteen
'Cause I'm in a trance
Oh, and I sweat
I don't wanna dance
I wanna go home
I'm frightened
Amphetamine frightened
I go to the top of the street
I go to the bottom of the street
I look to the sky, my lips are dry
I'm frightened, frightened, frightened.
Original 1979 Track List;
Frightened
Crap Rap 2 / Like To Blow
Rebellious Jukebox
No Xmas For John Quays
Mother-Sister!
Industrial Estate
Underground Medecin
Two Steps Back
Live At The Witch Trials
Futures And Pasts
Music Scene
[KB]
On this day, 43 years ago, Joy Division recorded their very first EP, 'An Ideal for Living'!
On this day, 14th December, it is exactly 43 ago that Joy Division recorded their very first EP An Ideal for Living (14.12.1977). In fact by the time of these recordings the band was still called Warsaw. It was released the year after on 3rd June 1978 by the band's own label, Enigma, shortly after the group changed its name from Warsaw to Joy Division. The EP was recorded at Pennine Studios in Oldham and self-financed by the band on a budget of £400 (+/-€ 450).
The original 7" version of An Ideal for Living (1000 copies) was sold out by September 1978 and was subsequently followed by a 12" version on 10th October on the band's own Anonymous Records label. All four tracks were re-released on the 1988 singles compilation, Substance.
The cover has a black-and-white picture of a Hitler Youth member beating a drum, which was drawn by guitarist Bernard Sumner. The cover design, coupled with the nature of the band's name (Joy Division was the name from the sexual slavery wing of a Nazi concentration camp mentioned in the 1955 novel House of Dolls) fuelled controversy over whether the band had Nazi sympathies. When the EP was re-released on 12-inch vinyl, the original cover was replaced by artwork featuring scaffolding.
The EP has an overall more punk-rock sound than towards the post-punk/new wave sound that their future releases would get. Founding members Hook and Sumner acknowledged forming the band inspired by and after witnessing a Sex Pistols concert.
An Ideal For Living (Track listing)
- "Warsaw" – 2:26
- "No Love Lost" – 3:42
- "Leaders of Men" – 2:34
- "Failures" – 3:44
Today, the original 7" pressing has become an expensive collectors' item and copies have been traded on the internet for over € 2,700!
