What started as a fan request for some online material has grown somewhat. LOCKDOWN SIEBEN sees Matt Howden perform a free online concert each Friday evening (8 GMT) via his SIEBEN Facebook page. No log in required.

As well as this, individual tracks performed live by Matt in his home studio (in his socks) are added to his Matt Howden Youtube channel on a regular basis:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wcs8kgZRyr17Ih9VP5Dnw

So far, all 6 concerts and 17 individual tracks have been added. The artist is linking his material old and new (including revisiting many tracks from his earlier back catalogue), brought together under the new power-sound of his trusty five-string Kevlar violin, Kev.

Matt says:

The concerts have really felt like the digital divide isn’t there - I’ve been loving the special, intimate and homely feel that people are bringing to these concerts. Loving that I can rock up in my socks, singing through a studio condenser mic, loving that it's pushing me to reconnect with my older material. Loving that people can merrily chat-type away, without talking over the music. Overall, I'm quite liking it, then. Come join me on a Friday :)

LOCKDOWN SIEBEN is also an evolving series of ‘live in lockdown’ albums, available from the Sieben Bandcamp: https://sieben.bandcamp.com/

Volume 1 & 2 are now released, volume 3 expected soon. They are ‘pay what you like’ so can be downloaded for free - times are hard, and the artist aims to provide some entertainment for you during lockdown and beyond. (As well as keep himself sane).

Meanwhile, enjoy his live coverversion of David Bowie's Heroes below!

www.matthowden.com

On this day, 29 years ago, Nitzer Ebb released the 'As Is' EP (10 June 1991), prior to their fourth studio album 'Ebbhead', on 7" vinyl, 12" Vinyl, CD, and cassette through Mute Records (MUTE122).

The EP features four tracks, each mixed by a different artist / producer. The first track, 'Family Man' is the only one which was also featured on Ebbhead album, albeit in a different version. It was mixed by Jaz Coleman, vocalist and frontman of Killing Joke. The second track, 'Lovesick' was mixed by Flood who produced the band's second and third albums, Belief and Showtime as well as the previously mentioned Ebbhead. The third track, 'Come Alive' was mixed by Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode, who would eventually be hired to co-produce the Ebbhead album. The last track, 'Higher' was mixed by Barry Adamson and Paul Kendall (PK). Barry Adamson was the bassist for Howard Devoto's Magazine and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and PK is an engineer/producer who has worked mainly for Mute Records on various Depeche Mode and Flood projects.

As Is (tracklist)

1. Family Man 3:56
2. Lovesick 4:00
3. Come Alive 6:12
4. Higher 5:50

Nitzer Ebb

Bon Harris – programming
Douglas McCarthy – vocals
Julian Beeston – additional drums and percussion

DISCOGS

Today, 42 years ago, Joy Division self-released their very first EP, An Ideal For Living! All four tracks were recorded in just one day at the Pennine Sound studios in Oldham, UK, on 14th December 1977 and released as a 7” on the band’s own Enigma label. The band self-financed this recording on a budget of £400.

The original release was pressed as 1000 copies and sold out by September the same year.

While the band was still known as Warsaw during the recording sessions for this release, they changed their name to Joy Division before the release took place.

The sleeve was printed on a 14' x 14' piece of thin cardstock and then folded into four squares. The front cover has a black-and-white Hitler Youth member beating a drum, which was drawn by guitarist Bernard Sumner and their bandname printed in a German gothic style blackletter font. The cover design, coupled with the nature of the band's name, 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.

Numerous counterfeit editions of this release exist. Only the original vinyl has serrated vinyl around the label and different contours on the label.

Today, original copies are being traded between collectors and fans for prices from € 1500 to a stunning almost € 3000!

An Ideal For Living - Tracklist

DISCOGS

St. Louis electronic/synthwave band GIANT MONSTERS ON THE HORIZON have released their new studio album, Live From Night City.

Social disparity, the need to connect on a greater than superficial level, tasting oblivion. We, as a society, seem to have merged with the mechanical as a form of statement or as a need to find an added ability to get something we didn't have access to before.

Is that, however, transcendence? That's what we'd like to know. And these songs ponder such nature.

"When writing this album, we were dealing with isolation, depression, illness and other struggles. You will see those themes and attempts to overcome them in a lot of the songs throughout. We tried to wrap it all up into a tight little package of stories you might see in fictitious Night City, which could represent any city really." - GIANT MONSTERS ON THE HORIZON

For all of the technological advances we have made in the world, we are at a much worse place than we ever thought we would be. Welcome to Night City. So how did we get here?

For Fans Of: VNV NATION & COVENANT

giantmonstersonthehorizon.bandcamp.com/album/live-from-night-city

On this day, 62 years ago, Jerry Wayne Hussey (26 May 1958) was born in Bristol, England. He is best known as the lead singer of The Mission and ex-guitarist of The Sisters of Mercy.

The first real success for Hussey as a guitarist was with Dead or Alive. After frontman Pete Burns retreated to become a more studio-based artist, Hussey left to join The Sisters of Mercy, concentrating on 12-string and 6-string guitars. Besides playing guitars he also contributed to The Sister Of Mercy arrangements with his higher ranged voice which was brought into place to contrast with Andrew Eldritch's melancholic baritone.

When The Sisters of Mercy disbanded, Hussey and bassist, Craig Adams, set up The Mission, recruiting Mick Brown on drums and Simon Hinkler on guitars.

In 2009, he released his first solo album called Bare and in 2014 his second solo album Songs of Candlelight and Razorblades followed.

Hussey lived in Leeds for a while before moving to London towards the end of the 1980s. Currently he lives in São Paulo, Brazil.

Photo © Luc Luyten