Accident Sentimental
Brutal synth pop rather than minimal, spiced up with a touch of Italo Disco and Synthpunk, the world of ACCIDENT SENTIMENTAL is a jumble of fluorescent colours, graphic swaying, smoky make-up and cosmetic smiles. The minimal French roots of the 80s (from Deux to Eli and Jacno) mingle here with the Jugowave vibes of Max & Intro, Romanticne Boje and La Card. The first videos and stage performances of the quartet (notably at the Gothic Pogo Festival in Leipzig or the Waveteef Festival in Belgium) quickly attracted the attention of the new synth wave scene in France and abroad. "So Solitaire", their first album, brings together 9 tracks that are as many treats with furiously acidulous romanticism.
Accident Sentimental’s members are: Rixx Blonde, Eli Pew Pew, Fred Dakat and Leoni Klapolis.
Kline Coma Xero
Kline Coma Xero is a solo electronic music project founded in 2012 by US based artist Tony Williams. Initially appearing in 2013 on the French independent label La Forme Lente’s Circuit d’Actes 3 with two songs for a limited vinyl release. The following year a full length self titled LP was released on Medical Records. In 2021 a second full length LP titled Movement Study was released by the Peruvian label Infravox. As a musician he has a long history of writing electronic music spanning from the mid 1990’s in various projects over time.
Sir Percy
SIR PERCY is a Berlin-based duo featuring Erik Haegert - who composes, writes, sings and plays organ - and Jan Rohrbach on bass guitar. While retaining some psych-garage roots from their past collaboration, SIR PERCY is a project that's completely original. Ghostly crooning and sumptuous textures. Music like the sweat-drenched awakening from a stifling dream.
UFO Shadow
UFO SHADOW is a Berlin-based duo composed of OBERST PANIZZA (ex- Velvet Condom) and BÉRYL LE GALLO. Oberst Panizza, founding member and co-composer of the bands Liste Noire and Velvet Condom, is now pursuing his solo career by programming synthesized melodies and robotic voices in the vein of early synthesizers futuristic pop . He appears in numerous compilations and in 2020 released the album "Octobre Noir" on Young & Cold Records. Béryl Le Gallo is a poet, calligrapher and visual artist. She directed "Cosmovision" , the band's first video, and appears for the first time as a musician and singer on this project. For the past few years the duo has been experimenting with sound and demos, also appearing under their name in shared DJ sets. "Hypergravity" is their first official release.
OID
Andrei Antonets – aka OID – is a Russian electronic musician, producer and film music composer, known also as the co-founder of Alexandroid. Established in 1996, Alexandroid rapidly became one of the most remarkable projects in Russian experimental electronica (Radio France's International Electronic Music Awards in 2004 and several LP released in Russia). From 2006, Andrei focused on his solo work under the stage-name OID and released "Systems of Mercy" , « Id10ts » (from which « Gold Room » was redesigned by DJ Koze and released on Lorecordings in 2010). In 2012 he collaborated with Russian rockstar Ilya Lagutenko (« KETA »). In 2015 the « Bright Side of Life » LP was released on PNN with remixes by Popnoname (Cologne) and The Field (Stockholm). OID has performed extensively all over Europe. He is also writing music for films, art installations, television, soundscape festival.
https://soundcloud.com/andrei-0id
Sergej Timofejev
Sergej Timofejev was born in Riga, Latvia in 1970 in a family of Russian origin. He is an author of 9 books of poetry. The subject of his writings – modern world, especially with East European background. Participant of many poetry festivals around the world – in Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, Ukraine, Slovenia, Georgia, Slovakia. His poems were translated into English, Italian, Swedish, German, Ukrainian and others languages and published in different international anthologies. He is one of the organizers of multimedia poetry project Orbita (1999, www.orbita.lv). He was among the first to invent genre of poetry video in the post-soviet cultural space, his first video poetry work “Orchestra Rehearsal” was made in 1993 in collaboration with filmmaker Victor Vilx. He got Latvian theatre prize in 2014 for his libretto for the opera "Mikhail and Miklail play chess" at Latvain National Opera. In 2021 he finished libretto for the opera “Contact” which is on stage of Gertrudes ielas theatre.
Jin Cromanyon
Started in 2002 as a duet, JIN CROMANYON became in 2003 the solo project of Hidetaka Horie, Japanese artist from Kobe. From his own words, he awakened to electronic music at the age of 13 through the Playstation game « Ridge Racer » before he got introduced to the synth scene from the 80’s. His very unique musical universe also claims inspiration from Japanese anime, special effect heroes and horror movies. After a first EP "Sponge in reverse!" released in 2017 on Macadam Mambo, a first full-length instrumental album "Super Gorilla" released in 2020 on Diffuse Reality Record, he contributed to various compilations and mixes.
Soloist Anti Pop Totalization
« Soloist Anti Pop Totalization» (which started in 2016 as «Soloist Apartment »), is the solo project of Tokyo based musician Rikinari Hata. One of the most promising figure of the experimental synth scene in Japan, he has collaborated with artists such as Second Apartment, WAR/ZIT, and has been working on remixes for a wide range of projects. His sound, metallic and inorganic at first glance, places emphasis on width, sound images, and heat. He works mainly with vintage synthesizer equipment such as Roland SH-101, TR-606, MC-202, and BOSS DR-55. He has released his first album on Debauch Mood in 2019, as well as a split LP with Second Apartment on Dub Ito in 2017 and a CD in 2020 with Minimalkombinat.
This Is The Bridge
This Is The Bridge is an electronic music project based outside of London, with roots in Liverpool. Mainly solo, but with regular collaborations, it began in 2013, exploring a primitive electronic sound using mainly analogue synthesizers. Known for an uncompromising approach, prolific output and an ever shifting and evolving range of soundscapes, influences include classic science fiction, modern architecture and the utopian spirit, history, minimalism and the experience of growing up and living in a troubled country, ill at ease with itself.
Selected discography: Interpolation (CD / Half Releases, 2019), Broken Sculptures (LP / TONN Recordings, 2018), Nothing Is Permanent (CD, Half Releases, 2016), This Is The Bridge (Half Releases, 2013).
Luminance
LUMINANCE is the solo project, created in 2012 in Brussels, by the French musician and producer Dea Hydra.
As an ancient member of Soror Dolorosa and current member of Emptiness, Dea has long been involved in the Goth Rock and Metal scene before developing a more personal way into Dark wave and Synthpop territories. His love for sounds and machines also lead him to collaborate
as session musician with Position Parallèle and Sylvaine. Following a series of releases in labels such as Weyrd Son Records, Artoffact Records or Medical Records, he toured extensively in Europe and up to Lebanon and Russia.
Despite roots that plunge into the darkest and thorniest forests, the music of Luminance always strives to let rays of pure emotion through its stormy and threatening skies . The bittersweet melancholy of his compositions crystallizes in explosions of color and sophisticated sound textures that make each track a true journey worthy of the soundtrack of a fantasy epic. His sensitivity and skills make him a regular collaborator, through his «Les Jardins de Verre» studios, as a mastering engineer and producer for Objetrouvé, Tonn or Kernkrach labels, as well as for various bands and projects.
La Chatte
Along the meandering course of Parisian nights, La Chatte was born in 2003 from the meeting of the artists Vava Dudu (at that time also fashion designer in collaboration with Fabrice Lorrain) and Stephane Argillet (aka Stereovoid also member of the art collective France Fiction), soon joined by Nicolas Jorio (aka Nikolu). Led by the spectacular vocals and whimsical outfits of Vava Dudu, the cold and steep synths of Stereovoid and the hypnotic guitar riffs of Nikolu, the trio fervently unfurls their animal art punk performances, between expressionist cabaret and hallucinated wave. Very quickly, the group imposed its musical and artistic performances on the underground scenes of France and Europe. After a first eponymous opus released in 2003, a single and two albums came out: "Cosmic Cosmetics" on Born Bad Records in 2010, and two albums "Bastet" in 2011 and "Crash Ocean" in 2013 on Tsunami Addiction. In addition to the personal artistic or musical projects of each of its members (Vava Dudu developing her fashion inspired solo artwork, Stereovoid forming with Coco Gallo the minimal synth band Peine Perdue, and Nikolu composing for various theater and art projects) the trio has nevertheless continued to make concerts, videos and performances. Their new album brings together pieces produced discontinuously over these past few years and specially during a residency at the Confort Moderne Art Center in 2018.
Martial Canterel
Martial Canterel is the solo project of Brooklyn-based musician Sean McBride(who also performs as half of the duo Xeno & Oaklander). He began under the moniker Moravagine before he started releasing limited edition cassettes and CDrs and playing Brooklyn dive bars and clubs as Martial Canterel in 2002. Crafting his electronic sound in a peculiar intersection between avant-garde and pop, Martial Canterel merges the influences of the first wave of relatively unknown minimal electronic bands from northern Europe with seminal industrial noise bands while simultaneously giving nods to the smoothly stylish song craft of early French and British New Wave. Martial Canterel records and performs using analogue synthesizers, sequencers, and drum machines exclusively, providing a visceral kick best felt on the dance floor, amidst a flurry of flesh in motion. The mastery of his composition technique, along with a unique talent for melodies, and coupled with vocals and lyrics that reflect the pitfalls and pleasures of our age, McBride produces gems of extreme noise pop, making use of all its unexpected ingredients.
Having put out releases on numerous labels including Xanten, Genetic Music, Tarantulla Productions, Pieter Schoolweth’s legendary Wierd Records and Dais records, Martial Canterel’s dark and danceable anthems have flooded North America and Europe, garnering both critical acclaim and a rapidly growing ardent fan base.
HØRD
HØRD creates electronic music inspired by darkwave, soundtracks, fantasy movies, oscillating between epic compositions, EBM and techno pulse, and also more contemplative tracks. Since 2014, he played almost 100 shows in France, and all over Europe. He also works for cinema and theatre, as sound designer or on original soundtracks. «The label Giallo Disco Records have described the music as “Reverb-Soaked Urban-Gothic Melancholic songs, between synth-shoegaze and violent EBM,” and believe the album will “will resonate strongly with fans of Pornography-era The Cure, Joy Division and classic Nine Inch Nails.” » Juno Download (2016)
DISCOGRAPHY
Bodies (Mars 2020) LP Avant! Records, Parallels (2018) LP Avant! Records, Focus on light (2016) LP Giallo Disco Records, Futures (2017) EP Sacred Court, Speak/Let Them burn (2015) EP Anywave, Deliverance/RFLX (2014) EP Romance Moderne.
Volcan
Volcan is the alias of Greg Vezon who started to publish songs in 2012, he practices synthetic music which oscillates between ambient, minimal & techno. His machine-based live, built around evolutionary loops, building up atmospheric and hypnotic landscapes, has allowed him to perform in France, Europe & Asia. He shares the synthetic project Die Ufer with the musician H ø R D. He released his first album on the Parisian label Camisole records in 2015.
Arnaud Lazlaud
Somewhere under Quebec snow, around 1995, a basement was invaded. At first it was only arpeggiators, lost in the last coughs of recycled tapes and hopeless desynchronized verses. Then, by dint of obstinacy, some interfaces were connected and Arnaud Lazlaud became the pseudonym of the one who, awkwardly, assembled little by little his first songs. Between the hallucinatory romanticism of a vanished adolescence and relics of a disillusioned science-fiction, - failing to pay homage to a future that obviously would never exist - it maybe dealt with developing a « folklore of the impossible ». By dint of obstinacy, as we said, and after a good number of demos in some cases, the five tracks as presented on this record were completed between 1997 and 1999. They would lay out the premises for the future project that their author, Xavier Paradis, would complete some years later under the name « Automelodi ». Although already circulating in various forms, this is the first time that these five pieces are released in the form of a physical vinyl record.
Madmoizel
Classically trained, MADMOIZEL draws upon many different influences, from neo-classcial to electronic music. Known for her captivating live-act, the artist handles the machines like a conductor directing his orchestra. Her gesture and powerful vocal transform her performance into a narrative electronic and a dancefloor encounter. Both unclassifiable and recognizable, MADMOIZEL plays a music of her own.
Discographie: “Play Bizarre “(CD, Digital / TONN Recordings, Belfast, 2018), “The Love Machinery” (LP, CD, Digital / Lentonia records, 2016), “Lady Dandy” (Digital / autoproduction, 2013)
Peine Perdue
Key figure of the renewal of French minimal wave scene, Peine Perdue released 5 albums and toured extensively in Europe, Russia and Canada since 2014. Dancefloor meets reverie in this cold, melancholic but always catchy music, rooted in cinematic phantasmagoria, nebulous synthetic architectures and sensual minimal wave. Stephane Argillet, aka Stereovoid, artist and musician based in Berlin (France Fiction, La Chatte), composes and plays the music on the texts written and interpreted by Coco Gallo who lives in Paris.
Discographie: “Tokyo en Morceaux” (LP Vinyl /Electronic Emergencies, 2018), “Histoire d’une âme” (EP Vinyl / Electronic Emergencies, 2017), “La Peur Belle” (lim. ed. CD / Objet Trouvé, 2017), “Nuit Blanche (LP Vinyl / Peine Perdue prod., 2016), “Disparitions” (LP Vinyl / Medical Records, 2015), “No Souvenir” (CD / Cold Beats Records, 2014), “Adieu Staccato” (EP Vinyl / Kernkrach Records, 2013), “Peine Perdue” (Cassette / Vocoder Tapes, 2012)