Outside Belgium they know it for years: The Arch belongs to the absolute top of the goth rock scene, even though the band is so much more than that! The latest CD Fates is again a good example of that: thirteen tracks with one common characteristic: quality! Gasoline Lady begins with a melancholic guitar that seems to come from a Chameleons record, but it turns quickly into an energetic electro-rock song that sounds like…

Music fans don’t stop talking about Parade Ground. For most people, Jean-Marc and Pierre Pauly are just two musicians that had (in fact have) a connection with Daniel B. and Patrick Codenys of Front 242. Of course Parade Ground is much more than that! Perhaps no one manages to describe the definite sound of Parade Ground. Is it minimal synth pop? Perhaps, albeit with a very destructive side. The original records by Parade Ground are…

  Music has a lot to do with luck. Every day dozens of records are released and there’s no human ear that can hear it all, let alone handle it. By sheer coincidence we received the debut album of the Dutch Non-Alignment Pact, and what a record it is! Eight delightful post-punk tracks that are dominated by rousing guitars, tight rhythms, energetic songs and the necessary portion of melancholy. From opener End? you hear that…

One of the nicest elements of music is its diversity. Nothing is more distressing than music fans who, for whatever reason, are narrow minded. Geert Vandekerkhof is not that kind of guy. Of course, you know him as the frontman of the new wave band Der Klinke or the founder of the minimal electro project Story Off, but he also makes alternative ambient music with Hidden In Treetops. The music of Hidden In Treetops is…

  Last year, the debut album of the French duo Mad Masks was released on the British label Peripheral Minimal. The record features eleven instrumental tracks, and they all have something in common: they suggest fear. This is the kind of music that will make you shiver as you might think someone touches your shoulder, even if there is no one behind you. It’s hard to stick a label on this album. One considers it…

  After missing from the public ear for some years now (originally a CD compilation released on Big Blue Records in 2007), this collection of uptempo numbers again sees the light of day in the form of a vinyl release. For many familiar with Venus Fly Trap, this is a representative selection of their past and present work – with panoramic quality to the songs, at times psychedelic and pastoral, and at times darkly energetic….

Mitra Mitra – “Mitra Mitra” (LP/cassette/digital, 2016) Theoretically, “mitra mitra” is Latin for sea slug. Musically, it is storming the sea, a brave experiment echoing sharply into the distance, its electronic signal reaching far beyond the sea horizon. A joint effort between New Zealand-born Violet Candide and UK-born Mahk Rumbae, Mitra Mitra recently delivered their very first proper, conceptually strong studio LP. Although the duo formed approximately a year ago, and a mere few live appearances and…

  I wasn’t aware of My Robot Friend until accidentally discovering his adorable world of bleep through another great artist – Solvent. It was around 2009 and Solvent happened to be remixing one of My Robot Friend’s then current singles called “Waiting”. The song featured guest vocalist Alison Moyet and Solvent delivered his remix of the song in obsessively pleasant Yazoo-ish style which got me searching for more of My Robot Friend himself. Originally featuring…

  Vuduvox, a French-Belgian duo released their debut album “Vaudou électrique” almost exactly a year ago today when it came to me. Although it is a debut release, the band members are all but newcomers to the industrial/EBM scene. J-C, in charge of singing and synths, is also the frontman of BUZZ, French minimal electro, while guitarist Oliver T. has a resume of playing electro-percussions with acts like Signal Aout 42 and GrandChaos. Their combined…