Though Australia is not normally thought of as a hotbed for electronic music, Sydney’s Single Gun Theory have nevertheless proven to be one of the most creative bands in the genre. The group’s music is highly structured and song-oriented, while also being very experimental in terms of the sounds used. Their latest album, “Flow, River … Read more
“We’re cursed, everyone who joins the band, including me, loses their job, their girlfriend, wherever they live,” proclaims Sister Machine Gun’s Chris Randall. “For some reason it’s happened to everybody. And every time somebody wants to play with us live I warn them that they’re going to lose their house, their job and their girlfriend.” … Read more
With “Accident In Paradise,” German musician/DJ Sven Vath truly breaks down the barriers in electronic music. The instrumental music of the LP brings together elements of techno with soundtrack music, and places equal emphasis on melody as sonic experimentation. As a result, Vath’s album will appeal equally to both rave kids and the older crowd … Read more
A longer version of this article was originally published in Music From the Empty Quarter (March 1994) Since their emergence just over a decade ago, Sleep Chamber have proven to be one of those bands you either love or despise. Their fusion of highly repetitive, electronic composition and heavy S+M imagery is definitely not for … Read more
Back in the early 80’s, a new wave of affordable electronic instruments became available, but no one in their right mind would use them too extensively because they sounded to synthetic. But now, after digital technology has made it possible to recreate sounds so realistically that you’d swear you were hearing real instruments, many people … Read more
On his 1993 album “Cyberpunk” Billy Idol re-defined his approach to creating music. The album was created in Idol’s home studio, which is controlled by a Macintosh computer and makes extensive use of other electronic gear. But despite the samples, dance beats, and strange electronic noises, “Cyberpunk” is musically more in tune with Idol’s early work … Read more
With the thousands of limited-run dance singles being put out by new bands, the chances of them leading anywhere are small. But every once and a while, a band will stumble upon a hit and find themselves propelled to stardom. Then, of course, chances are they’ll never follow it up and be doomed to becoming … Read more
When an artist from a popular group comes out with a solo album, it always seem to fuel rumors of the band’s demise. Reports of the Sugarcube’s breaking up started spreading even before Bjork released her aptly (though incorrectly) titled “Debut”, but according to the singer, that’s not the case. Although they were the darlings … Read more
With a growing number of American industrial bands making guitars figure prominently in their music, Xorcist’s sound comes as a nice change. The solo project of Bat, who also runs the CyberDen BBS, Xorcist creates highly structured, entirely electronic, “cyberindustrial” dance music. The songs are highly aggressive and manage to avoid repetition without adopting traditional … Read more
To fans of electronic and experimental music, Cabaret Voltaire are truly legends. Since 1978, the Sheffield-based group has been using technology to push the boundries of music to the absolute limits. Originally a trio of Richard H. Kirk, Stephen Mallinder and Christopher Watkins, Cabaret Voltaire are right up there with Throbbing Gristle as the pioneers … Read more