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Nordwaves is a website in French dedicated to cold wave, gothic, industrial etc. music from the north of France, with a focus on the 80’s. Most valuable are the biographies and discographies of bands. On some bandpages you can listen to music, for example of Guerre Froide. Also nice are the scans of old fanzines.

This weekend I saw Das Bierbeben at a presentation of the Shitkatapultlabel. They played a mix of punky electropop and NDW, which was not very new, but quite entertaining. You can see a video of Reproduktion atYouTube or listen to songs at myspace of their new album Alles Fällt.

Ferrara Brain Pan: “I have decided to make available the complete recorded back catalog of Forms Of Things Unknown as free, high-resolution MP3 downloads in the FOTU audio section. This includes all five full-length tracks of the “Cross Purposes” CD, as well as a couple of hard-to-find compilation appearances.”

Two songs from the forthcoming album @ Myspace: Radiolied + Ich nehm dich… Even more material at the members’ pages: Herr Brandt,Frau Sonne & Kpt. Korg.

Two exclusive songs @ Myspace: ‘Die Zeit’ + ‘Schneeflocke’.

The first song ever recorded by C.O.T.A. ‘From Aliens to Indians’ is now available for download at http://www.sonicksorcery.com.

Only available for a short time: the web mini album ‘Free Tibet‘ by Death in June, with seven tracks, mainly alternate versions of material from their World Serpent days. Some videos are now online at YouTube as well. Another webzine down

UK-based webzine Auralpressure, active since July 2003, will cease its review activities at the end of September. Just the links and events sections will continue. A pity, but I know how time-consuming such a website is. I wish webmaster Jo all the best with her work at Cold Spring Records.

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Brian Eno and David Byrne came out 25 years ago and is considered a “pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience, and Third World music”. This year there is a remastered reissue with 7 bonus tracks, but also the multitracks of two songs are available online […]

A nightmare: a flood that ruins your belongings, including your treasured record collection. This happened to people in Broome County, NY in June/July. On their site they describe (with many photos) their efforts to save as much of their beloved records as possible.

Do you have a short attention span? Then the online compilation Sloppy Seconds may be something for you. All submissions must be exactly one second in length. They are being strung together in the order they are received, into a “massive roller coaster ride of an audio experience”. Hundreds of artists have submitted already…

Always entertaining: looking at nostalgic record sleeves. In 2004, the now defunct e-zine The Endless Groove compiled a big gallery of new wave single sleeves. You can browse through 40 pages with over 300 sleeves, also sorted by artist.

Right now photographer Anton Corbijn is working on his first movie,Control, about Joy Division’s Ian Curtis. Dutch news program NOS Journaal paid a visit to the film set in Nottingham (watch streaming video).

Just returned from two pleasant weeks in the English countryside. In the coming days I will try to post the reviews that were submitted in the meantime, catch up with new releases & events and deal with my filled mailbox.

Syd Barrett (1946 – 2006) VH1 Legends docu

Now and then the document pops up: the ‘manual’ How to be a Cult Industrial Project. It’s lengthy and amusing, by an anonymous author. I think I first saw it on a mailinglist a few years ago. Do you recognize some ‘famous’ projects in it?

Normally I’m not too fond of modern tools in a retro design, I rather prefer the ‘real’ old stuff. But for this black machine I made a small exception.

Saw Franz Ferdinand on stage this week. They played in the relatively small Tivoli venue (1000 people) in my hometown.

This weekend I visited a jukebox exposition in a museum in Amersfoort. Though I’m not much into American rock’n roll lifestyle, I’m always fascinated by these ingenious devices.

The interesting and long-running Dutch site Monas.nl has added ‘some kind of blog’. Webmaster Roy wrote very positive words in the Logbook about Funprox (entry of 24/6). This is of course pleasant to read, but the timing is perhaps not perfect.