If you want to listen to music purely made from analog synthesizers and drum machine Solvent is a good place to start. Jason Amm has some nice stuff in his studio no? I like his honesty when he does into details how even though he’s a veteran at this point he is still largely unknown and gets ripped off my distributors and promoters. He will also be featured in the upcoming I Dream of Wires movie.

“Veteran Canadian producer and hardware lover, Solvent, gave StudioFeed an inside look at his Bloor-West home studio set-up, as well as discussed everything from why he makes music to the story behind his recent RDJ-CS5 EP.” – studiofeed

For more info: solventcity.com

Watch the Rolling Stones record Sympathy for the Devil. There’s a lot of magic happening in bedroom project studios these days but I wish more productions were still created like this.

“Sympathy for the Devil is also the title of a producer’s edit of a 1968 film by Jean-Luc Godard whose own original version is called One Plus One. The film, a depiction of the late 1960s American counterculture, also featured the Rolling Stones in the process of recording the song in the studio.” – DRJVancouver

via musicradar

“Finish what you start.” is a good saying. I agree with it. Last year when I released the album Joyless Pleasure I promised to go song by song and tell you the backstory and technical details. Honestly, I got cold feet realizing I would have to reveal more of myself than I may want to. This blog is useless if I don’t add a personal touch and although it’s 80% music tech it’s music itself that’s important right? In addition I’ve had more than a few readers ask I continue explaining each song. I’m already 6 songs into my next album and want to preview some of it soon. Therefore it’s now or never to get into the details of the remaining 8 songs on Joyless Pleasure. The first two songs are covered here: Modern and We Will Get Wicked.

Darkling Lullaby. If I could have written a song like this when I was 17 years old I would have. I didn’t have the skill or wisdom at that time so I wrote it now. It a lullaby to a beutifull young girl who is on top of the world. She breaks hearts. The song is from the scorned and obsessed. One day the girl will be old and struggle like everyone else. When I listen to the song sometimes I picture a father singing it to a daughter in her bedroom. It’s February so maybe this is fine for a Valentine’s day playlist. Especially if you’re single.

The vocals were written in one take but I changed the last verse a few days later. The main synth is a layer of Fairlight CMI choral samples and a Korg Poly 800 arpeggiated. There’s lots of Altiverb reverb washing over the entire track. The kick is a Jomox Mbase 01. The song took about a week to finish. Be sure to check out the Dom Dumoulin remix on the Joyless Pleasure Remixed album (link). The photos used for the Youtube video still (above) are indeed yours truly. I used to climb the slanted tree to the right of me in the photo almost everyday. Behind me you can see the stream that ran through my front yard.

“I am sorry for what the world will do to you. Darkling I am sad to tell you the truth. Love is a lie like a butterfly. Dear I wish it was different for you. You will cry like everyone cries. I am sorry it’s the truth. Darkling I am sad for for you. My sweet Darkling you will cry. You will cry and cry.” – The Horrorist

Buy the song: iTunes, Amazon or Beatport

“[About the song Shake the Disease...] Band member Alan Wilder felt this song captured the essence of the band, stating “there’s a certain edge to what we do that can make people think twice about things. If we’ve got a choice between calling a song “Understanding” or “Shake the Disease”, we’ll call it “Shake the Disease”. There’s a lot of perversity and innuendo in our lyrics, but nothing direct.” – Wikipedia

For more info: depechemode.com and Dicken Schrader

via Laughing Squid

It must be a real mind trip for an everyday non music techno American listener to see this.

“Russian techno party in the forest.” – marteenp

For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia

I’ve been creating some music with Tom Carpenter. He’s the man behind the wonderful Analogue Solutions synths and modules. He did an unexpected “nice” for me and printed my alias The Horrorist on his upcoming Spring Reverb modules. So I guess I broke some new here… yeah AS has a new Spring Reverb module coming up. If you follow Tom on Facebook you can also see his new very nice looking Telemark Keyboard. The first song we recorded is called “Forever for You” although we could change it to Cold Wave.. what do you think Tom? My friend Gabri is also doing a mix and there will be some other tracks. Samples coming soon…

“Your name is imortalised on the new spring reverb circuit board. hopefully it will be released in a few months!” – Tom Carpenter

For more info: thehorrorist.com and analoguesolutions.org.uk/v2/

Photoshop’s content aware fill feature used for dramatic effect!

“In this eerie Tumblr by Hatim el Hihi and Jean-Marie Delbes, famous album covers are shown with dead band members digitally removed.” – Laughing Squid

For more album covers: liveiseedeadpeoples.tumblr.com

via Laughing Squid and Nerdcore

After my recent post Front 242 Collector I was contacted by a person named Martin who collects 242 himself. He sent me some photos and history of a very unique and collectable piece: one of Jean Luc Meyer’s helmets. He paid about about 150 Euro for it but it turns out the helmet itself even without the 242 connection was originally expensive…

“A few months ago i have sent an e-mail to front 242 collector. But i didn´t get an answer. I think the blog isn´t updated anymore. I regret that there is no real actual f242 forum. I send you a photograph of an item i bought many, many years ago and an old article from a japanese music magazine to compare. Take a look at Jean-Luc. Please let me know what you think. I did a lot of research about this helmet (it is the version whithout the welding shield), i am sure it´s an original. And the story from the guy who sold me this helmet is plausible.

I have bought it from a former dj, who worked in an underground club in the eigthies. I used to go there from when i was 16 or 17 (at that time Depeche Mode released “Black Celebration”). The dj (i don´t remember his name) got a backstage pass for the Depeche Mode concert in Essen/Germany (Music For The Masses Tour), Front 242 were the opener (i was there, brilliant concert). After the gig he had the possibility to talk to Jean-Luc. Jean-Luc gave him some signed posters, as far as i remember a signed flag, and as a highlight his helmet.

You can see the helmets when you watch the beginning of the Front 242 Tape One Video (Paris 1987). While Jean-Luc on stage only used the basic version of this helmet Patrick and Richard wore the version with the welding shield. The helmet was originally manufactured by Racal Amplivox. Today you can buy it for example here: http://www.airwareamerica.com/3mhepaairstream.aspx, (list price: 968,77 $), you see, even today the helmet is to expensive to create a fake.

I have seen a lot of photos from the “f242 museum/exhibition” in Brussels to the band´s 30s anniversary, they showed a lot of stuff, even old clothes, but i haven´t seen any other of their helmets.” Martin

To read the newspaper clipping above in detail: front242articles.blogspot.com

The Belgian electronic body music group Front 242 is one of my all time favorite bands. Anything before the album Tyranny for You was incredibly original and creative. Like many great bands that continue to make music there is a cut off where things changed. The early albums which focused on Jean-Luc De Meyer vocals and military aesthetics had me fully hooked. Anything after that time period I simply can’t listen to. The canon of “good stuff” they recorded is large so I’m really not complaining. In the late 80s I collected every piece of 242 music and memorabilia I could find. Back then there was no eBay so Manhattan record stores were the hunting ground. The most rare thing I own is a Front by Front DAT Cassette. Every few months I still check eBay to see what 242 stuff is there. Once I saw the arm bands then someone bought them and I never saw them for sale again. Some friends (Pet Duo) of mine went to see them live in Berlin last night so I decided to look around online for old 242 stuff. Amazingly I found a blog called Front 242 Collector that has great photos of the arm bands and all sorts of finds.

“this is without a doubt one of the most collectible and hardest to come by Front 242 items: the Front 242 armband! Back in the day, before Transmission 242 there was the 242 Propaganda Unit. This was one of the “Propaganda Supports.” You can see 242 sporting this armband on the Official Warfare Tour and in videos. The armband was offered for sale in the Propaganda Unit catalogue (I will post this someday as well). The cost for the 242 Armband was 50 BF in Belgium, 70 BF in Europe, and 100 BF in other countries (+ postage). Today, when they do come up for sale, expect to pay upwards of $200-$250 at times! The armband is made of leather with beautiful “242″ stitching and attaches to the arm with velcro. The Propaganda Unit logo is stamped inside and I believe they were numbered? This example happens to be #63.” – target242

For more info: target242.blogspot.com

Is Jay Greenburg the next Mozart? It doesn’t really matter it’s amazing how music flows from some in such a way. Jay mentions he can’t turn the music off in his head and hears multiple channels at a time. Let’s hope he doesn’t go insane.

“There is a composer studying at New York’s renowned Juilliard School who some say is the greatest talent to come along in 200 years…. “We are talking about a prodigy of the level of the greatest prodigies in history when it comes to composition,” says Sam Zyman, a composer. “I am talking about the likes of Mozart, and Mendelssohn, and Saint-Sans.” – 60 Minutes

For more info: jaygreenbergmusic.com