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Arvikafestivalen 2005
Arvika / Sweden
Thursday, 14th July to Saturday, 16th July 2005

Entrance: 830 SEK
www.arvikafestivalen.se 


Behind Arvikafestivalen is the non-profit event organization Galaxen, which has more than 2000 young members, most of who are between ages 15 and 25. Arvikafestivalen offers a unique mix of the best and most exciting artists, big and small, Swedish and international, within carefully chosen genres. Arvikafestivalen 2005 could proudly present 130 artists performing on 6 stages during 3 days, and we combine – among other things - music, theater, art, poetry, movies, atmosphere, extraordinary experiences and discoveries.

Arvikafestivalen is a youthful and innovatory festival, both regarding program and implementation. You can tell this by the strong will within the festival, and also by the turnout of volunteers and new people ready to shoulder positions with great responsibility. This means that they are in a process of constant change and improvement. The festival has been held every year since 1992. The last five years the number of visitors has been over 10 000, with a fabulous record attendance of 15 000 visitors in 2003. Sold out, terrific atmosphere and an unanimously praised program, topped by Björk and Ministry. Total success!

Musically, Arvikafestivalen has been characterized by its profiling towards new, qualitative and fresh music. There are a number of good examples of artists that performed in Arvika before they hit it big - Cardigans, The Prodigy, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Hives... Artists performing on the festival during the years include Björk, The Cure, The Sisters of Merxy, Primal Scream, The Prodigy, Placebo, PJ Harvey, Muse, Tricky, Moby, Rollins Band, Type o Negative, Soft Cell, Levellers, Front 242, Biohazard, Einztürzende Neubauten, Motörhead, Paradise Lost and Laibach.


Info

GENERAL INFORMATION
 
Tickets
Tickets are 830 SEK. They are available via the festival website www.arvikafestivalen.se or at www.ticnet.se. Visitors above 50 or below 12 years are free.

Camping
Camping is included in the ticket price. For more info visit the festival website, which is unfortunately only in Swedish.

Required age
You are allowed to visit the festival without any company from 15 years on.


CONTACT

Arvikafestivalen
Box 99
671 23 ARVIKA
Tel.: +46 – (0) 570-136 66
Fax: +46 – (0) 570-121 12
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  


Confirmed Artists

8kHz Mono (s)
A Bunda (s)
Acid House Kings (s)
Ane Brun (no)
Annie (no)
Arise (s)
Banco de gaia (uk)
Bitpop (s)
Blå Björk Samapel HB (s)
Bright eyes (us)
CDOASS (s)
Chris Pointdexter (s)
Cult of Luna (s)
cut.rate.box (us)
DAF (d)
Deine Lakaien (d)
Deltahead (s)
Detektivbyrån (s)
Differnet (s)
Dimbodius (s)
DJ Enden & DJ Sne (s)
dj GEN6 / Paulina Cewe (s)
DJ Justin Sorell (s/uk)
DJ Kvasi (s)
DJ Martin H (s)
DJ Morg (s)
dj Sangeet (d)
DJ Thomas Penton (us)
dj Xavier Morel (fr)
Doktor Kosmos (s)
Echotek (isr)
ECU feat. Mystical Roots (s)
Ed Harcourt (uk)
Ela rè (s)
Electrocute (d)
Elegant Machinery (s)
Enter the Hunt (s)
Entombed (s)
Freddie Wadling (s)
Frida Hyvönen (s)
Gåte (no)
Henry Fiat's Open Sore (s)
Håkan Hellström (s)
Håkan Lidbo (s)
Infected Mushroom (isr)
Infusion (aus)
Inget går upp mot mammas gräs (s)
Jenny Wilson (s)
Johnossi (s)
Junior Boys (ca)
Khonnor (us)
Kilroy (s)
kiN (s)
Lars Winnerbäck & Hovet (s)
Lo-fi-fnk (s)
Looptroop (s)
Madrugada (no)
Magni Academia Spass (s)
Miss Yetti (d)
MissisBisarr (s)
Moneybrother (s)
Mugison (isl)
Necrofacility (s)
New Order (uk)
Ov-silence Oli (d)
Path of No Return (s)
Perry and the travellers (s)
Pixel (isr)
Powerplay (s)
Rilo Kiley (us)
Robyn (s)
Sensient (aus)
Silverbullit (s)
Skazi (isr)
Slagsmålsklubben (s)
Speech Defect (s)
Spetsnaz (s)
Strip Music (s)
Svenska Akademien (s)
The Ark (s)
The Faint (us)
The Je Ne Sais Quoi (s)
The kid (s)
The Kristet Utseende (s)
The Similou (s)
The Tough Alliance (s)
They Live by night (s)
Tiger Tunes (dk)
Timbuktu & Damn! (s)
Timo Räisänen (s)
Tomas Dybdahl (n)
Vansinnesteatern ()
VNV Nation (uk)
Welle:Erdball (d)
X-Dream (d)
[:SITD:] (d)
[ingenting] (s)

More artists to come. Find additional information about the bands at www.arvikafestivalen.se  


We recommend these bands

cut.rate.box

cut.rate.box took shape in Florida and has since existed in Chicago, North Carolina, and currently, New Orleans. They take influence from many diverse sources - from the powerful atmospheres of Coil to the dancefloor energy of Front242 - yet all the while mutating and advancing towards an expanding style of flowing energy and mature lyrical concept. cut.rate.box consists of g.wygonik and clint sand. Both share songwriting, orchestration, production, concept and graphic design, while live g.wygonik provides vocals and clint manipulates guitars and keyboards. The cut.rate.box live performance is an emotion-filled and intense experience. To maintain an original and expressive performance, each song in the set is altered from the original album version. Because of the intricacy of the material, pre-recorded backing tracks are used, but are combined with spontaneously created synth, drum, samples, and guitar manipulations. The cut.rate.box live experience is the combustion of the ideas originally presented in CD form. In addition to their headlining slots, cut.rate.box has performed as opening act for many industrial favorites including Nine Inch Nails, Pop Will Eat Itself, Pigface, Die Warsau, Alien Sex Fiend, Foetus, Sheep On Drugs, VAST, Covenant, VNV Nation, Beborn Beton, and Clear Vision. http://www.cutratebox.com/


DAF

DAF is an influential synth band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 featuring drummer/synth player Robert Görl , vocalist Gabi Delgado , guitarist W. Spelmans and bassist/keyboardist/saxophonist Chrislo Haas . The name stands for Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft or German-American friendship - which at the time the band formed was a shot at DSF, the East German German-Soviet friendship organization. DAF's most famous song is "Der Mussolini", a pulsing dance song with lyrics of "Dance the Mussolini, dance the Adolf Hitler!". Rumour has claimed the name is really a tribute to the Deutsche Arbeits Front a Nazi labour organization, however, DAF's style is arguably anti-political or even nihilistic, and such rumours almost always surround lyrically or musically controversial bands. A few months before the 2003 invasion of Iraq DAF released "The Sheriff (An Anti-American Song)" blasting perceived American imperialism. http://www.daf.ag/ 

Deine Lakaien

Deine Lakaien are an exceptional appearance in Germany's music landscape. Their music, which tastefully and self-assuredly balances between classic, folk, techno, rock, industrial, goth, wave and ambient soundscapes, does not follow any current trends and is not oriented on any commercial guidelines whatsoever. And yet, the charismatic vocalist Alexander Veljanov and the classically trained composer, pianist and drummer Ernst Horn together experience a huge success with their concept of ignoring the borders set by genres and cultures. Three years after their last release "White Lies", the duet is now ready to open a fascinating new chapter in their career, with their eighth studio album, "April Skies", which also celebrates the artists' start with Capitol. The story of Deine Lakaien began a good 20 years ago in the classifieds of a city magazine ("Vocalist wanted who enjoys experimenting").

The man who was responsible for the add was musical man of all trades Ernst Horn, who had studied classical music in Freiburg and Hamburg and was working in Munich as conductor and pianist. The man to react to the add was Alexander Veljanov, who was attending a film and theatre class in Germany's southern capital. They soon detected a kindred spirit as well as shared musical preferences and in 1985 founded Deine Lakaien. The name they took from a verse out of a song by Einstürzende Neubauten. http://www.deine-lakaien.com/


Elegant Machinery

During the spring of 1988, Richard Johansson and Leslie Bayne, heavy influenced by bands and artists like Yazoo, Human League, DM, Rational Youth and Robert Marlow decided to start a band. With the aim to make electronic music the way it was made during the early 80's, they began to put some songs together. But the lack of a good singer haltered them in their progress. But then, at a party in the winter of 1988/89, Robert Enforsen came along. After a short audition, Robert became a permanent member and the lead vocalist of the band. During 1989 their first demo, with songs like Safety in mind and A little sacrifice was recorded together with the producer Jonas Warnebring, a former member of the swedish band French Revolution. At this point they decided to call the band elegant MACHINERY, a name taken from the third album by Data. The previous name Pole Position was now discarded.

This demo was sent to a couple of labels, just to see if there was anyone interested in their kind of music - someone was. The record company Electronic Beat Association (EBA) from Lund in the south of Sweden, decided to release the song Safety in mind. The single, which was made in 500 copies only, and released in January 1991, sold out in one week. Two concerts in Sweden during the year of 1991, which gave them a small but faithful group of fans. During the same period EBA and two other Swedish record labels decided to unite; Energy Rekords was created. After a small appearance on the Depeche Mode tribute 'I Sometimes wish I Was Famous', the first album, Degraded Faces, was recorded. The album was released in the spring of 1992. The success was now a fact. A small tour was made in the same year which established elegant MACHINERY as one of Swedens most popular and well known synthbands.

Things would soon change though. Leslie Bayne realized that he found no joy in live performances, which created some problems for the band. Now when a replacement was needed on stage, Johan Malmgren came along. Johan joined elegant MACHINERY on their German tour together with the EBM-band Poupée Fabrikk during the early summer of 1992, a tour which showed the German audience that this was a band to remember. When back in Sweden, Johan became a permanent member of the band. At this point a Spanish record company, Kong Records, wanted to rerecord the song Process, taken from the album Degraded Faces, and release it in Spain. The song became an instant succes. It reached as high as number 5 on the official Spanish chart.

In August the same year, elegant MACHINERY played at the largest musicfestival in Sweden, Hultsfredsfestivalen, which gave then the chance to perform their music for a larger audience. It turned out to be a golden opportunity, which gave them a lot of new fans. The concert was also filmed by one of Swedens, at the time, most famous moviemakers, Staffan Hildebrand, and later sent on Swedish national television. Although it seemed like things were going in the right direction for elegant MACHINERY, some problems emerged. The planned Spanish tour with radio- and TV-performances was canceled due to an argument between two Spanish record companies. At the same time Richard decided to concentrate on his studies at the University of Lund.

Still disappointed about the failure in Spain, elegant MACHINERY decided to go into the studio once more. During the summer of 1993 the album Shattered Grounds was recorded. Later that year, the song Hard to handle reached number 40 on the official Swedish chart. A big and succesful German tour was also made together with the band, and good friends, S.P.O.C.K. During 1994, Leslie decided to leave the band permanent. Except for a smaller tour in Sweden and Norway, nothing really happened that year. Instead, a new album was planned. Meanwhile, the song  “Watching you” was released together with two new songs. Germany and Hungary was also visited for a couple of succesful concerts.

During the spring of 1996, elegant MACHINERY finally went into the studio again together with Anders Eliasson (a former member of the old synthpop band Page); the album Yesterday Man was recorded. Yesterday Man was released in August 1996 and has so far been their most selling album. After a very succesful tour in Sweden and Germany during the autumn and winter of 1997, and a smaller tour in Germany during the spring of 1998, the expectations were higher than ever. During 1998 the long awaited compilation A decade of thoughts was recorded. This time together with Eskil Simonsson (Covenant). A couple of concerts, and a couple of perfomances on swedish national television were made. Problems with labels and other personal reasons, led to the split of the band during the spring of 1999. The concert at Virtual X-mas in Lund on the 13th of december 1998, was recorded, and released on video.

After they split up they lately gave a few concerts and now they are working together to release new material. www.analogue.org/em


Gåte

On the 18th of October 2004 Warner Music Norway released the follow-up to Norwegian quintet Gåte´s platinum selling debut album, Jygri (2002). The new album is titled Iselilja and is a refining of the sounds that made the first album a Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) winner. This means that Gåte stick to their dangerously effective amalgam of traditional folk melodies and powerful fuzzed up hard rock.

Gåte is fronted by singer Gunnhild Sundli and it is her voice that grabs any listener, well versed in Norwegian traditional music or not. With her brother, Sveinung (fiddle, keyboards) and their three compatriots Gunnhild has successfully bridged the gap between the Hardanger fiddle driven Norwegian folk music and the somewhat more contemporary sounds of widescreen rock.  Kåre Christoffer Westrheim is the producer of Iselilja and a seasoned rock and jazz musician himself. His last production, the phenomenally successful album by folk-rock singer Odd Nordstoga, Luring (four time platinum award!) also blends traditional Norwegian folk sounds into contemporary settings. With the breakthrough success of Jygri, Gåte hit the road with an authority that you rarely find among such young musicians. Their shows are spectacular events, much like making Hall of the Mountain King into a surround sounding laser lit rock club.

Gåte's songs split themselves more or less evenly between real old traditionalism and songs based on contemporary lyrics written by poet Astrid Krog Halse. This time around Gåte also make the song «Kjærleik» («Love»), written by the leading Norwegian hardanger fiddle player Knut Buen, into a blistering piece of modern rock. Knut Buen, known to Norwegians as a serious gatekeeper on behalf of the traditional sounds of Norway, has wholeheartedly embraced Gåte and has on occasion joined them onstage, fully regaled in his Spelleman outfit. Much like what the hippie longhairs of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band experienced when they recorded Will The Circle Be Unbroken in 1972 with original country legends Mother Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff and Earl Scruggs. After putting out their own independent EP in 2000, Gåte signed with Warner Music Norway and released their label debut, the commercially as well as critically successful Gåte EP in early 2002. That EP and Jygri were produced by Alex Møklebust, lead singer of art/ goth rockers Zeromancer.

By this time the two Sundli siblings had assembled the line up that still makes Gåte; Magnus Børmark (guitars, synths), Martin Viktor Langlie (drums, percussion) and Gjermund Landrø (bass, vocals). http://www.gaate.no/


Madrugada

Ask the three members of Madrugada why their new album is called The Deep End and they all give a different answer. "It's about the feeling of not being in control, the sinking feeling, the deep end of the swimming pool," says enigmatic vocalist Sivert Høyem. "It's got this classic ring to it," adds guitarist Robert Burås. "When you hear that title, a lot of word associations come to mind. It works on many levels," muses bassist Frode Jacobsen. "You get to a stage in life when it's time to learn how to swim."

Madrugada have swum further than most, both literally and metaphorically. They formed in 1995 and the trio have made great strides internationally, selling in excess of 400.000 copies of their three previous albums, touring across Europe, the UK and US, and scoring a major hit with the bewitching track Majesty. Now they're releasing The Deep End, an ambitious album recorded over two months in Los Angeles with famed producer George Drakoulias (Tom Petty, The Black Crowes, The Jayhawks, Ride, Primal Scream) and mixer/engineer Dave Bianco (U2, Throwing Muses, Johnny Cash, Mick Jagger). http://www.madrugada.net/


New Order

Until the death of singer Ian Curtis in 1980, Joy Division was one of Britain's most admired and promising post-punk bands. New Order built on that promise, with 1983's "Blue Monday," forging an influential alliance of new-wave and dance music. Joy Division's Velvet Underground -- derived drone and Curtis' matter-of-fact, gloomy lyrics scored significant club hits with "She's Lost Control," "Transmission," and "Love Will Tear Us Apart," a British hit single. Formed by Hook and Sumner after they saw the Sex Pistols play in Manchester on June 4,1976, the group took shape after Curtis responded to a "seeking singer" ad posted by the two at the local Virgin record store. Morris joined on drums the following year. The band, naming itself Joy Division after Nazi military prostitute compounds, released a four-song EP, Ideal for Living by year's end. In April 1978, the band generated a buzz when they performed at a Stiff Records battle of the bands. After turning down deals with Britain's RCA and Radar labels, the group recorded their first album, Unknown Pleasures, with producer Martin Hannent. They chose Manchester independent Factory Records to release the album, which was an immediate success in the U.K.

The next year saw the band's acclaim grow as they toured England and Europe. In March they returned to the studio to record their second album, Closer. Curtis, who was responsible for much of the group's dark vision, suffered from epileptic grand mal seizures -- occasionally while performing onstage. Having attempted suicide in the past, Curtis hanged himself on May 18, 1980, just before the release of Closer (Joy Division's most commercially successful album) and the group's first U.S. tour. A collection of demos, outtakes, and live performances, Still, was released in 1981. The remaining members regrouped as New Order and added Morris' girlfriend Gillian Gilbert on key-boards. Like Joy Division, New Order has eschewed publicity, with no band photos on album covers, and played low-key, unemotional concerts. The group's sound -- a brighter but still moody version of Joy Division, with Sumner's monotone yet plaintive vocals at the center -- gained it club hits with "Everything's Gone Green" (1981) and "Temptation" (1982).

"Blue Monday" (1983) was New Order's breakthrough. Released only as a 12-inch single, it matched the band's usual emotional chill to a propulsive dance track and reached #5 on the Billboard dance chart, selling over three million copies worldwide. Sessions with dance producer Arthur Baker followed, producing "Confusion" (1983), another dance-floor favourite, which hit #71. The band left Factory Records in 1985, signing with Quincy Jones' new Qwest label. Although Lowlife (1985) and Brotherhood (1986) were their first American chart albums, sales were disappointing. Substance (1987), Technique (1989), and the hit single "True Faith" (1987) turned things around, but the band members turned their backs on stardom, releasing only the British World Cup Soccer theme "World in Motion..." (1990) before unofficially parting ways to pursue solo projects.

Sumner had the greatest success, teaming with ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant on "Getting Away with It" (1990), featured on Electronic (1991). Bassist Peter Hook's solo project, Revenge, released One True Passion (#190, 1990), while Morris and Gilbert wrote British TV themes, eventually releasing an album as the Other Two. New Order re-formed in 1993, releasing Republic, followed by a successful tour of the U.S. The band members were rumored to be at odds with each other, however, by the release of a 1995 anthology. In 2000, New Order contributed the song "Brutal" to the soundtrack of the Danny Boyle film The Beach. The following year, they appeared at several west coast dates of Moby's Area: One Festival, and were set to release their first album of new material in eight years, Get Ready (by Rolling Stones Magazine)http://www.neworderonline.com/


Spetsnaz

The hard hitting EBM duo Spetsnaz was formed in Örebro, Sweden in the autumn of 2001 by Stefan Nilsson and Pontus Stålberg. With the powerful vocals, frenetic pounding bass lines and relentless rhythmic assault, Spetsnaz has the aggression and the melody to be the missing link between the heavy scene and the pop scene. Being fans of the electro genre for many years, both Stefan and Pontus felt there was an emptiness in the EBM scene when the classic bands were replaced with newcomers performing a more technofied EBM called futurepop. The old school style was underrepresented and the new school didn't exactly excite the boys.

Having performed, both together and separately, in different projects like Octoberland, Volvo 242, Destin Fragile, Lazer Stefanz, Wärk, and PAF, Stefan and Pontus decided to form Spetsnaz and give it 100%. Inspired by pioneering artists like Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Die Krupps, and DAF, the duo started to work in studio Downstairs and after a few months, the first four track demo was presented to Swedish labels and promoters. At the same time Spetsnaz launched its official website and interest in the band started to grow. Spetsnaz performed live in some of the major cities of Germany and Sweden respectively, including Gothenburg and the Scandinavian Alternative Music Awards (SAMA). The live show of Spetsnaz's has been reported to be as intense and energetic as the music, with Pontus moving all over the stage, screaming on top of his lungs, and Stefan fiercely beating his drum pads.

The duo's debut album "Grand design" - completed with assistant producer Jouni Ollila (ex Pouppée Fabrikk) and mastering guru Andreas Tilliander - will be released by SubSpace Communications on 28th April and holds 12 tracks of nothing but classic, old school EBM. http://www.spetsnaz.se/


Strip Music

"Hope you like our new direction": words guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of every clued-in music fan. Forget being indie rock one minute and country and western the next. The best bands have one amazing idea and stick to it - like The Ramones, or the Sex Pistols, or My Bloody Valentine. Strip Music are one of those bands. Their debut album 'Strip Music' is 45-minute cascade of keening vocals and sheet-metal guitars and synths, heart-stopping drama and epic atmospherics, as relentless and glittering as a rainstorm. Songs like 'Oh My God' and 'Never Die' are anthemic enough to call to mind mid-Eighties U2, while 'Plastic Doll' and '2.75' have the shadowy, trance-like qualities of The Cure. There's a strong industrial element in there somewhere too, while the icy purity of singer Henric de la Cour's voice gives Strip Music a strong flavour of their native Scandinavia (Stockholm, Sweden to be precise). "It's big and it's intense with an arena feeling," summarises Henric. "We wanted to take wide steps and let it all out. Stand with our chests out instead of with our heads down." This is Strip Music. It's also big music.

Strip Music emerged from the wreckage of much-loved cult band Yvonne, named after a Swedish winner of Miss Universe 1984. Henric was the founder and frontman, while Christian played bass. Strip Music was originally an Yvonne side project with a concept - for Christian (by now playing synths) and Henric to make "really minimalistic music" unlike Yvonne's Joy Division-meets Kraftswerk synth goth assault. When the band disintegrated in 2001, the pair started to concentrate on Strip Music full time while doing a day job selling classified ads on newspaper 'Gula Tidningen'. At first, they had rules - only three chords maximum in every song, only two instruments and only lyrics about love. Unsurprisingly, this soon became restrictive, and Christian and Henric started recruiting musicians to bring the new, more expansive music they were writing to life. There was one stipulation. "They had to look good," says Henric. "We didn't want people to say about anyone 'Well he's the ugly guy in that band.' We didn't have the option of ten guitarists standing there looking great and we took the most good looking, but I think we had a bit of luck - they look terrific."

They found Fredrik Balck (drums) in a club called Nightlife in Stockholm. He introduced them to fantastically named bassist Valdemar Asp, with whom he used to play in a band called Vendor. Patsy Bay (guitar), was Yvonne's old guitar tech, while Jens Hellqvist (synths) knew Christian from the days when they were both in a band called April Tears. As well as being the men to build the wall of sound in Henric and Christian's heads, the band indeed look great, a skinny, androgynous crew who wear a goth-tinged, slap-smeared twist on classic rock 'n' roll attire. "I like bands who look like they're an army," summarises Christian, whose super-delicate looks often get him mistaken for a girl. "A pack of dogs," agrees Henric, proud wearer of a widow's peak. "Us against everyone."

The band started to record some demos without really knowing what to do with them (Henric: "we didn't send them anywhere, we just had them"). Then in September 2003 Yvonne's manager, by now also an executive at Swedish label Playground Music, told Henric that it was high time Yvonne got together to make their fifth album. "I told him 'that's not going to happen but check this out, this is Strip Music' and he said 'this is really good, maybe we can work something out' and the whole thing started clicking." Since their first gig that month, Strip Music have played over 50 dates around Sweden while their single 'Desperation' gained considerable airplay. Nevertheless, their ambition is to break out of the bounds of their homeland and give their widescreen music the international mass audience it deserves. "People in Sweden go for the most easy thing," says Henric. "'What's on TV? OK, I'll buy that record or download it from the internet.' The thing that people see and hear every day, that's the thing they're going to buy. That's the way people work in Sweden - they're like a flock of sheep."

Strip Music seem destined to gain a stateless army of fans who don't want to be part of that flock, but instead immerse themselves in the exquisite melancholia of Henric's lyrical universe. "The lyrics are me," he states simply. "They're about getting the hell out of it. Out of relationships that don't work, out of the sickening thoughts that you have... I wanted to show that underlying desperation in every song. Every last line is from my own experience." The result is an album that has elements the bleak perspectives of Joy Division the pop joy of early OMD, the 'dirty arena' dynamics of mid-Eighties Simple Minds and the synth attack of Suicide, fused into an overwhelming sound which is Strip Music's alone. As for the band's attitude, you can judge that from the fact that Henric's hero is not John Lennon, Kurt Cobain or anyone else plucked from the rock canon, but Blixa Bargeld from Einstürzende Neubauten. "He's the coolest musician ever," he enthuses. "He's good looking, really smart, with an idea about music that he shares with no-one else. 'OK, we're banging on whatever's available.' On one record he plays the cigarette. That's inspiring to me. No boundaries at all."

The plan now is for Strip Music to take their metal machine-dream music to Britain. "It's always the hardest country to do," ponders Henric. "We'd never thought of going over until recently, so whatever happens is great." What's sure to happen is that songs like the lyrically vicious '2.75' and the emotionally pulverising 'Halber Mensch' will see Strip Music take their instensely wintery place on the pop music map. And for the second album? "The idea will be the same", says Henric. "We're not going to be a smorgasboard where one song's county and another's the blues. The concept is clear." And it's perfect.

Strip Music are:
Henric de la Cour (Vocals), Christian Berg (Synthesizer), Jens Hellqvist (Synthesizer), Fredrik Balck (Drums), Valdemar Asp (Bass), Patsy Bay (Guitar) http://www.stripmusic.se/


The Faint

Omaha, NE's the Faint have gone through countless changes in their relatively short career, but with each shift, both personnel-wise and stylistically, they have made a distinct new impression and turned more and more heads. Originally called Norman Bailer and featuring current members Clark and Todd Baechle, as well as bassist Joel Peterson, the band's early years were a mix of lo-fi pop and tongue-in-cheek easy listening with a touch of punk rock ideals borrowed from their early skateboarding days. Along with a prepubescent Bright Eyes and a recently formed Cursive, the band was one of the seeds that spawned the explosive Omaha scene as well as a flagship act for the highly regarded Saddle Creek Records. A very limited cassette release and a few tracks on split 7"s and samplers were the band's only output, but the spark was there, and after adding Matt Bowen to the mix, the Faint proper first came into being around 1998. Media, the group's first full-length was still a far cry from their later sounds, but the record was a fitting introduction to the band that featured a bevy of conflicting sounds from new wave-inspired pop to Lullaby for the Working Class style acoustic dirges. It wasn't the perfect record, but it was an inspired start that gave the band a good idea of what they were, and more importantly were not, striving for. In the wake of Media, the band set out to add something special to their live show, and in the course of the year, Bowen left the band and Jacob Thiele joined up to add the all-too-important keyboard sounds into the mix.

Early 1999 saw the band re-enter the studio with a new agenda, focusing on danceable beats, catchy keyboards, and an '80s- influenced sound that both revered and reinvented the past. The result was Blank Wave Arcade (Saddle Creek), a pulsating record about sexuality, transportation, and mass consumption that instantly attracted hordes of new fans who were blown away by the group's distinctive new sound. The new material, along with a seizure-inducing D.I.Y. live light show and incorrigible on-stage energy created a major buzz, and soon the Faint were revered as the second coming of new wave genius. A series of remixes on both a limited-edition LP and a tour to support a CD from Insound furthered the hype, and by the time the Faint entered the studio yet again in early 2001 the buzz had grown to a resounding roar. In August of 2001, the group released their third LP, Danse Macabre (Saddle Creek), a somewhat darker exploration of the styles hinted at on Blank Wave Arcade. They also added a guitarist by the name of Dapose, whose death metal past worked perfectly with the gloomy, but still oddly upbeat, sentiments of the new record. The disc was released to instant acclaim, and almost immediately became one of the label's best-selling titles. The Faint followed it up with even more touring and also found the time to release the Mote/Dust 12" (GSL) in October of 2001, featuring two more remixes, a Sonic Youth cover and a new track featuring Bright Eyes songsmith Conor Oberst. The band were all quiet on the recording front until March of 2003 when they released an album of remixes from Danse Macabre called strangely enough {Danse Macabre Remixes}. The disc featured remixes by artists like {Paul Oakenfold,} Photek and Medicine. They followed this up with Wet From Birth, which was released in fall 2004. (by Peter J. D'Angelo, All Music Guide) http://www.thefaint.com/


VNV Nation

One of the most frequently asked questions is what the letters VNV stand for. They stand for "Victory not Vengeance". The meaning behind this stylised motto is that one should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret. VNV Nation are Ronan Harris (electronics, lyrics, vocals) and Mark Jackson (drums). VNV Nation´s inspiration was originally the clash of modern and classical Europe cultures, where mythology and technology live in an uneasy fusion but this has since broadened to encompass a world view. The music ranges in style from electronic dance music to ballads and classical inspired music. Inspirations are taken from a wide range of styles including contemporary underground club culture, industrial and classical music. The lyrics draw on philosophy, literature, art, politics and different forms of symbolism. VNV Nation does not advocate any ideology. It is a metaphor for expression. www.vnvnation.com

Welle:Erdball

“Listening, here´s Welle:Erdball, symphony of time. She´s swinging and swelling out of the ether into eternity!”

 Would you like to listen again to the sound of the eighties, i. e. to the Neue Deutsche Welle, and where appropriate even feel it? All of this Even in a modern style that left the future behind long time ago? Welle:Erdball absolutely hits the spot! The radio moderators HONEY, A.L.F., the C=64, Soraya, Misses Venus, and the complete team of Welle:Erdball are at your disposal each day and night.

Since 1990 the appliance is broadcasting. German lyrics are linked with fireworks of electronic. Nothing is embroidered or even being forgotten. In all circumstances, Welle:Erdball stands by your side with advice and deed. Welle:Erdball is everywhere and up to date. All of Germany and many of surrounding countries have been already linked to the net. Welle:Erdball starts where artists like Kraftwerk, Profil, DAF, Ideal, ect. unfortunately stagnated. And even on stage they are heard and seen with a kaleidoscope full of computer technology – drawn from life and black and white.After already ten records, Welle:Erdball publishes the newest radio show on vinyl. It´s the sound storage medium that you have had to wait a long time for: “Nur tote Frauen sind schön”

Once again, analog tones and electro pop are sent into the ether and the essential of life Is summarised. And the listener merges with a word of technology, mysticism, and perfect products. Don´t miss out of anything and locate by the correct frequency – like millions of other listeners – the correct broadcast station with your receiving set. Welle:Erdball doesn´t wait for you! And anybody who doesn´t keep up with the time … has to keep out. http://www.welle-erdball.de/


[:SITD:]

Bone-crunching beats, apocalyptical electro hymns and very energetic live appearances ... hailing from Germany’s real industrial heartland, the former coal and steel centers of the Ruhr area, [:SITD:] made a name for itself a while ago, and can be counted amongst the most acclaimed electronic projects of the present international club scene.

It all started in the year 2002 when CARSTEN JACEK [Vocals] and THOMAS ‘TOM’ LESCZENSKI [Music] released their “SNUFF E.P.” which does not only conquer the Dutch D.U.C. (No. 1) but also remains Number 1 in the D.A.C. (Deutsche Alternative Charts) for three weeks – a success that has never been achieved by a newcomer band before! Today the title track “SNUFF MACHINERY” stands as a classic and is missing neither on a DJ-event nor on a compilation seriously dealing with electronic music. With their second output “LAUGHINGSTOCK” the band tie in with the success of the “SNUFF E.P. “and again [:SITD:] had a smash hit all over Europe, Australia and the U.S. Their debut album “STRONGHOLD“ (2003) finally appears and immediately climbs to a Number 1 position in the German D.A.C.-Album-Charts for five weeks ( ! ) and also to Number 1 in its American equivalent, the A.B.D. Now [:SITD:] invite you to come to their “RICHTFEST”, the first taster of their forthcoming album “CODED MESSAGE: 12” ( Release date: March 28, 2005 ). www.sitd.de



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