His name is Konstantin De Winter and he is a producer/singer/songwriter from Belgium working under the alias "Calfskin" primarily in the indie synthpop/new wave genre. Over the years his work has been compared most of all to Depeche Mode, however it's also influenced by such major synthpop/new wave artists as Pet Shop Boys, OMD, New Order etc.

Here’s the clip

Bella Union are delighted to announce the signing of hotly-tipped Manchester-based electronic-pop duo BERNARD + EDITH. Already firmly established within the city's underground music scene, Greta 'Edith' Carroll and Nick 'Bernard' Delap draw on influences ranging from Fever Fay and Portishead via Cocteau Twins, David Lynch and Kate Bush to create the most deliciously dark art-pop/soul. Earlier this year the band released their debut single 'Poppy' on the excellent SWAYS Records to much acclaim.

Ahead of their performance at the Lexington tonight supporting labelmates Ballet School, Bernard + Edith have just unveiled an inventive and atmospheric video to WURDS, their hypnotic first single for Bella Union.

Bernard + Edith will be playing a single launch show at the Eagle in Manchester on Wednesday 3rd December. 

Fellow Manchester-based artist Jamie Lee of the band MONEY has penned the below idiosyncratic bio-cum-tribute to Bernard + Edith:

“Perhaps Bernard and Edith would think that what I'm about to say is going too far. But I remember drinking with vocalist Edith in a bar in Manchester and talking about how her and Bernard come to creating their songs. Edith observed: "Rather than say 'let's go out' or 'let's watch TV' I say, 'should we make a cheeky song?' And he says 'Alright then'." And that laughter I've come to know so well erupts from her maniacally, childishly, freely.

Edith's singing style reminds me of the kind of emancipatory freedom of the modern American school of writing. Her melodies are uninhibited by traditional rules of structure - she moves where and when she feels the impulse to; and knowing the woman behind the voice I see that the impulse in her can be as chaotic as it is beguiling. She is like a bouquet balanced precariously on the edge of a table unsure of whether it will fall and break - hinged between extreme goodness and feeling on the one hand and on the other, chaos and perhaps even madness. Lyrically, again, the comparison is relevant: "cos poppy says she loves me and I'm feeling right" is as naked, unpretentious and brave as the revolutionary poet Robert Lowell's assertion; "why not say what happened?" that triggered his confessional movement producing and influencing writers from Sylvia Plath to Anne Sexton - a place where the uncompromisingly personal and high-art met in the middle. This applies to Bernard and Edith too. A place explored by Daniel Johnston and Arthur Russell - it is the artful balance between a highly private expression and having the skill and intelligence to communicate that to the world. It is testing the limits of what a person can say within their art but also lends a universality to their language and style. Having mentioned these artists, there is clearly a strongly cathartic drive to why Bernard and Edith even exist at all - it is art being made for the right reasons - for the love of it! It is esoteric but never indulgent, original but not reactionary or avant-garde, otherworldly but unpretentious.

It is my belief that whatever art is, it is the direct opposite of whatever money is. It is made by the maker to save oneself briefly from the inevitable and in doing so (where the craft comes in) may end up saving other people briefly too. Bernard + Edith make their music from home and (I cannot help but feel) predominantly for each other - a kind of covenant to their particular and special bond.”

WURDS will be released 1st December on Bella Union. 

On the eve of her first large-scale performance in years supporting Jesus and Mary Chain, solo-artist and ex-member of cult pop group Strawberry Switchblade, Rose McDowall and Night School Records are proud to announce an extensive archive project commencing in 2015. Spanning Rose’s 34 year career, the project will include reissues and unreleased recordings alongside unseen photographs and new sleeve notes.
 
Rose McDowall began her career in her hometown of Glasgow, operating within the nascent punk scene with her first group The Poems. After a meteoric rise to pop stardom with Strawberry Switchblade (along with friend Jill Bryson), McDowall submerged herself in the post-industrial landscape, recording with the likes of Coil, Boyd Rice and Current 93.
 
Shortly after, she began recording with her own group Sorrow, before disappearing into the underground, re-surfacing for occasional performances only.
 
At the personal invitation of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Rose McDowall will support the band at Glasgow’s Barrowlands on 21st and 23rd November.
 
 
 

Punch Drunk Presents the first live KMFDM concert recording in over ten years. Cut from over 50hrs of live concert footage and including exclusive interviews with Kapt’n K, Lucia Cifarelli, Jules Hodgson, Steve White, and Andy Selway. STAY TUNED.

Click on the KMFDM-site to see the trailer.

www.wearekmfdm.com

HOLLANDS HOOP (DUTCH HOPE)

You reap what you sow
DVD and Blu-ray release on December 3, 2014
"Hollands Hoop is a highlight" - Het Parool
"Excellent TV series, the Breaking Bad from North East Groningen." - NRC Handelsblad
"A strong scenario... additionally a pleasant irony" - de Volkskrant
"Exciting and compelling, this story grabs you from the start by the throat" - VPRO Guide

The eight-part series are widely available on DVD and Blu-ray from 3 December on.

Directed by Dana Nechushtan, with Marcel Hensema, Kim van Kooten, Peter van den Begin, Martijn Lake Meier, Peter Paul Muller, and Cynthia Abma

A production of Lemming Film in co-production with VARA and VPRO NTR. The production was realized with the support of the Media Fund.

Synopsis

Fokke Augustine, a forensic psychiatrist with a dysfunctional family, stands at a crossroads in his life. When he inherited the farm from his father, he moved with his wife and children to the Groningen countryside. There appears farming a front for a criminal organization and slowly Fokke has a career as a drug dealer.