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June 29, 2012

Blackfield Festival 2012 – Jun-23&24 – Gelsenkirchen: Viva Music Review with Photos

Blackfield Festival celebrated its fifth edition with a first-time sold-out arena on Jun-23&24 in Gelsenkirchen. In the already traditional Amphitheater of Gelsenkirchen, the festival was set up as a middle-sized event to the minutest of details. Not only the amphitheater was made-to-fit the crowd and its access to and fro, but it provided excellent venue facilities. All bands were rigorous about their stage time and the schedule allowed everyone to be entertained by a musical diversity which was at the same time well-thought and respectful of people’s tastes and interests. The setup of the festival was complemented by a large array of facilities and the food served met all tastes. Add to that the number of shops for gear and clothing, jewelry and fragrances, as well as the wonderful medieval fair, and you tick all the boxes of a dream festival. Unfortunately, the weather was not so welcoming, but however, did not actually impact the audience, who stood against a first day of scorching sun and wind, and a second day of drenching rain and dark skies.

Viva Music’s presence at the festival was enriching and educational – we have of course met before decent and respectful organization of events, and Blackfield is one of the festivals which actually commit to people’s well-being while on the premises, but we were constantly overwhelmed by the friendliness of space, people, and concept of the festival. So our thanks go to the Blackfield organizing team, to our fellow artists, journalists and music fans – with them, the event felt like a blessing, and within minutes of its end, we would have started this experience all over again! Go back to top

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December 19, 2011

2011: A Music Year in Review (Viva Music version)

2011 was a great year for our scene. Just a quick roundup of the acts and artists who released new material this year is sufficient to give you an impression, however fleeting, of the great tumult the scene has caused and the important additions 2011 has brought to our playlists. New releases from VNV Nation, Apoptygma Berzerk, Haujobb, Sopor Aeternus, Covenant, Kirlian Camera and Diary of Dreams kept music lovers on edge and numerous other releases made their days worthwhile throughout the year.

In 2011, Viva Music had the pleasure and honor to listen to and review some 100 albums. In order to read our reviews, you can go to the menu and pick Album Reviews from the Interviews & Reviews section, or navigate using the right-hand visual cover flow. Pluses between brackets in the article lead you to the featured reviews.

Readers’ choice in terms of number of Facebook likes indicate Apoptygma Berzerk’s “Black EP vo.2” (+), Global Citizen’s “Nil by Mouth” (+), Haujobb’s “New World March” (+), The Cruxshadows’ “Valkyrie” (+), Ghost and Writer’s “Shipwrecks” (+), Autodafeh’s “Act of Faith” (+), Tenek’s “EP2” (+), Shiv-r’s “This World Erase” (+) and Covenant’s “Modern Ruin” (+) as top favorites. We have no doubt it was the beauty of the respective albums and not of our reviews that kept them up in the charts!

With numerous releases, the appreciation of the public was unanimous. It was an honor to have around VNV Nation’s “Automatic” (+), Kirlian Camera’s “Nightglory” (+), Diary of Dreams’ “Ego:X” (+),  Sopor Aeternus’ “Children of the Corn” (+), Aesthetic Perfection’s “All Beauty Destroyed” (+), KMFDM’s “WTF?!” (+), And One’s “Tanzomat” (+), Sin D.N.A.’s “Afterlife” (+), Lowe’s “Evolver” (+), IAMX’s “Volatile Times”, Imperative Reaction’s “Imperative Reaction” (+), Necro Facility’s “Wintermute” (+), Amduscia’s “Death Thou Shalt Die” (+), and System Syn’s “All Seasons Pass” (+ ).

No less impeccable and listenable in a loop proved to be a set of albums which, should you have missed them, are up on your shopping list next time you hit a record store. Ad Inferna’s “There Is No Cure” (+), The Pain Machinery’s “Surveillance Culture” (+), God Module’s “Seance” (+), Mona Mur & En Esch’s “Do with Me What You Want” (+), Leaetherstrip’s “Untold Stories” (+), Vic Anselmo’s “In My Fragile” (+), Solar Fake’s “Frontiers” (+), Mina Harker’s “Bittersuess” (+), Lahannya’s “Dystopia” (+), and Lord of the Lost’s “Antagony” (+).

Special mention should be made of Romanian wonders LeVant’s “Beyond the Masque of Eden” (+) and Brazda lui Novac’s “Dizzy” (+).

Let us not forget the beautiful events we were invited to attend, and had the pleasure to experience in 2011. We provided detailed footage both under the guise of reviews and photo galleries at Amphi Festival (+), Nordstern Festival (+), and Nocturnal Culture Night (+). In 2012, we intend to attend to more such events and keep you posted on our beautiful and dynamic scene.

As Viva Music we also organized our own events in Bucharest. You can take a look at the feedback we received for the third edition of our Darkwave.ro Festival (with Tenek, Rabia Sorda and Project Pitchfork, +), for our Combichrist (+) and Kirlian Camera (+) concerts, as well as for our support for the first Nine Inch Nails Tribute in Bucharest (+). We do our best to keep our scene alive and the response we get is always heart-warming and positive.

 

What was your favorite release in 2011? And what are you looking forward to in 2012?

September 22, 2011

VNV Nation – “Automatic” – Viva Music Album Review

Tracklist: “On Air” * “Space & Time” * “Resolution” * “Control” * “Goodbye 20th Century” * “Streamline” * “Gratitude” * “Nova” * “Photon” * “Radio

Other VNV Nation news by Viva Music: VNV Nation – “Automatic” – New Album Out in September + Preview + Tour Dates | VNV Nation at Nocturnal Culture Night 2011 | VNV Nation at Nocturnal Culture Night 2011 (photo gallery) | VNV Nation at Nordstern Festival 2011 | VNV Nation at Nordstern Festival 2011 (photo gallery) | VNV Nation at Amphi Festival 2010 | VNV Nation at Amphi Festival 2010 (photo gallery) | VNV Nation at Wave Gotik Treffen 2009 (photo gallery)

VNV Nation – “Automatic”: Viva Music Album Review:

 After a very packed full summer, filled with concert and festival dates, VNV Nation regale us with a very beautiful album, really in time for those who set in their autumn melancholy. “Automatic”, tracks from which were previously first-time listens during summer festival dates, and snippets of which were made available earlier this month, is finally out with Anachron Sounds and Sep-16 and Sep-19 as US and continental release dates. With an inspiring sub-title “Marking 100 years of progress”, the album, redolent of very much of what you are accustomed to listen to when the name of VNV Nation pops in your mind, it also is an exclusive encounter with the newer edge of the band, and their definite shift to more optimistic, and beat-driven music. Definitely not a commercial album, but a compositionally healthy one, the album is in many respects similar to their previous 2009 “Of Faith, Power and Glory”, thus bridging their fans’ experience to a new lot of songs, but also enriching their experience with a great deal of good songs. (more…)

September 8, 2011

Nocturnal Culture Night #6 in Deutzen bei Leipzig – 02-04-September – Viva Music Review and Photos

Day One | Day Two | Day Three

About NCN Festival

Nocturnal Culture Night celebrated in the truest sense of the meaning its sixth edition in Deutzen bei Leipzig between Sep-02 and Sep-04 with a killer lineup and a very appealing atmosphere. With ups and downs due to the times of the shows (some of them took place kind of early for the party fatigue building up especially on the second and third days), the audience topped 2k participants who were in their entirety a big family. Everywhere you went, you found people smiling, ready to help and to enjoy together the shows or the side entertainment that were carefully and laid out smoothly by the organizers. With the exception of the unpredictable, to which the same organizers were able to save face wonderfully (the power cut on the second day), the festival could not have been thought up in a fancier and friendlier manner.

To begin with, the shows – they all started on time making the festival a big Japanese train station. The bands were introduced on stage coherently and with great enthusiasm, but only in German. Even after the power cut had been mended, the shows quickened their pace, so that the expected end time would be the same, and bands and audience alike showed understanding faced with the mishap. The sound was overall good and that’s one thing to credit the venues for: both the mainstage (Grosse Buehne) and the smaller one (Kleine Buehne), which were located within reach, had a great surrounding and accommodated easily the hundreds of participants without impeding access and/or blocking the view of participants.

Participants at NCN Festival 2011 – photo gallery

The participants themselves were friendly, peaceful and really at ease with the festival setup. The family feeling was not given only by the fact that participants greeted one another, were courteous and their merry-making was probably the best example of community, but also by the numerous families with kids as young as 9 months (and who knows, even younger) who participated in the festival. Their spare time was divided between the cleverly arranged stands, food courts, playgrounds, quiet areas, shops and the medieval market that took place in the proximity of the main festival venue. The shopping choice was classy and the food was really good, while the refuse collection showed that having fun and being responsible can go hand in hand.

Medieval Market at NCN Festival 2011 – photo gallery 

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August 29, 2011

VNV Nation – “Automatic” – New Album Out in September + Preview + Tour Dates

Filed under: International News — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 10:11 am

“The new VNV Nation album “Automatic” will be released in September. The album has been in production for a while and so far it looks to be an incredibly energetic and anthemic release (and then some). We’ll be premiering some of the new songs at our show at the Nordstern Festival in Hamburg in July and snippets and previews will be posted online over the Summer. There’s so much we want to tell you about this album and what we have planned around it but we prefer to keep it a surprise, for the moment. There are lots of things planned that we’ve never attempted before and we’re really excited about it.” (source)

Read about the wonderful performance of VNV Nation at Nordstern Festival 2011 here (Viva Music review). | Read about the album (release date: September 16, 2011) here. | Read about the 2011-12 VNV Nation tour across Europe and the US here. | Listen to the album snippets below.

VNV Nation – Automatic (Snippets) by VNV Nation

July 26, 2011

Nocturnal Culture Night – Lineup, Details, and More! September 02-04, Deutzen bei Leipzig

Ever since 2005, Nocturnal Culture Night festival enchanted with its cozy atmosphere, intriguingly clever lineup and enchanting surroundings of the venue of Deutzen bei Leipzig, a small municipality south of Leipzig, where the project of the Kulturpark Deutzen, a recreational and cultural venue was brought up.

Destroid, Mesh, Rotersand, Frozen Plasma, Solitary Experiments, Zeraphine, Colony 5, Santa Hates You, Das Ich, Diary of Dreams, In Strict Confidence, Girls Under Glass, In the Nursery are highlights of the 100+ bands who went on stage for the editions of 2005 and onward – and now, for the sixth edition already, Nocturnal Culture Night (in short, NCN) comes with just as impressive a lineup for the days – or better said, nights, of September 02 thru 04. A Friday-to-Sunday outdoor event, the NCN venue will include two stages for concerts, a cultural stage, a medieval market, an after-show area as well as a children’s area.

The schedule for NCN in Kulturpark Deutzen (Deutzen bei Leipzig) needs the finishing touches, but the main layout of the event looks enticing just as it is!

Friday, September-02: Golden Apes * Gothminister * Kirlian Camera * No More * Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio * SITD * Tyske Ludder * Whispers In The Shadows

Saturday, September-03: 32 Crash * Absolute Body Control * Atrocity * Elane * F.O.D. * In My Rosary * Klangstabil * Merciful Nuns * Sensory Gate

Sunday, September-04: Blind Passenger * DAF * Eyes Shut Tight * Future Trail * Fixmer / McCarthy * Krypteria * Nova-spes * Persephone * Schoengeist * Staubkind * VNV Nation (more…)

July 22, 2011

Solar Fake – “Frontiers” – Out Today July-22 – Viva Music Review

I write about things that bother me or psych me out. These are usually negative impressions or experiences. I try to enjoy all the positive things happening to me and about all the rest I’m writing lyrics.” (Sven Friedrich, SOLAR FAKE)

Tracklist: “Under the Skies” * “Why Did I Raise the Fire” * “No Apologies” * “More than This” * “Parasites” * “Such a Shame” * “Where Are You” * “The Rising Doubt” * “Pain Goes by” * “Until I’m Back” * “The Line of Sight

About SOLAR FAKE:

The German electro act SOLAR FAKE, created by Sven Friedrich (of ZERAPHINE and DREADFUL SHADOWS fame) presents a really extraordinary work with their new album, “Frontiers”. Though three years have passed since the debut album “Broken Grid” was released, followers of Sven’s musical activities have pleasantly eased their waiting with the “Resigned” E.P. (2009), by SOLAR FAKE, and the album “Whiteout” (2010), by ZERAPHINE. Due to SOLAR FAKE supporting VNV Nation on their last tour and playing several festivals, they have attracted great attention, constantly increasing their number of fans, and not only amongst ZERAPHINE’s audience. What was indicated on “Broken Grid” and “Resigned” now finds a felicitous continuation in “Frontiers”: driving beats and danceable floor fillers melt with great melodies you can’t get out of your head once you hear them. Sven’s voice is multifaceted like never before, but still it’s the element connecting all eleven tracks to a whole complete work. (source)

Read about ZERAPHINE and DREADFUL SHADOWS performing at Amphi Festival 2011 here. | Order SOLAR FAKE’s new album “Frontiershere.

SOLAR FAKE, “Frontiers” – Viva Music Album Review:

Very driving beats open up the perspective of the new album by SOLAR FAKE, “Frontiers” inside a very danceable track, “Under the Skies”. With great vocal exercise from a versatile vocalist such as Sven Friedrich, the track is memorable and not exceptionally so: the entire album provides excellent listening material. A dancefloor collectible, “Under the Skies” is closely followed on by a gem of a track, “Why Did I Raise the Fire”, the anthem texture of which intertwines straightforward electro and ineluctable industrial beats, and really makes for a great addition to any playlist. A Viva Music favorite, “No Apologies” comes up next with zest, but also with a very rewarding arrangement; to the effect that it stands out as a generous tribute to numerous red threads of our favorite music, from the music of the 1980’s to synthpop, and from electro to industrial music. (more…)

July 12, 2011

Nordstern Festival, Hamburg, 08&09-July 2011: Viva Music Review

 

Viva Music wants to thank Neuwerk Music Management and all the participants in the first edition of Nordstern Festival for an awesome experience. Let’s do it again!

Day One (below) | Day Two

Day One: July-08, 2011 Nordstern Festival @Markthalle

 The venue | SLAVE REPUBLIC | ARCHITECT | KLANGSTABIL | EMPIRION | FROZEN PLASMA | SONO

The venue

Hamburg’s own dark and electro festival debuted with a first evening in the generous venue of Markthalle. With a good club and concert venue layout, Markthalle proved not only to be a very accessible location (in the immediate vicinity of Hamburg’s central train station and with a myriad of means of transportation within reach of the avid concert-goer), but also a plausible choice for the size of the event and the needs of the audience. Bedecked with a no-wait bar, food stand, coatroom and merchandise stands, the venue was impressive, with good acoustics and a wonderful coordination of sound and lighting, thanks to Neuwerk’s team of skilled professionals. Though the 2-day festival passes were sold out before even the event kicked off, the management made a few 1-day tickets available at the front counter, so that late-comers to the festival could enjoy it, too.  back to top (more…)

April 12, 2011

Kinetik Festival, May 19-23 in Montreal: News!

A non-profit organization founded by a partnership between KAO Production, EBEN Production & [i] Prod to promote the North American Electro-Industrial-Noize scene, Kinetik Productions is proud to bring you back after the success of the last editions, the Kinetik Festival from May 19 to 23 2011 in Montreal, Canada. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this unique experience with some of the best acts of the Electro-Industrial scene performing during those four days!

KINETIK DEFINITION (KINETIC) :

The kinetic energy (also called in the old writings live viva, or sharp force) is the energy which a body because of its movement has. The kinetic energy of a body is equal to work necessary to make pass says it body of the rest to its current rotation and translatory movement.

It is Guillaume d’ Ockham (1280-1349) who introduced, in 1323, the difference between what is called the dynamic movement (that we generate) and the kinetic movement (generated by interactions, of which collisions).*

* Definition supplements via wikipedia

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February 28, 2011

6th electro music show on Bucuresti radio (98.3 fm) on Sunday, Feb 28, 2011

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Our dear friend and sup­porter, Lau­ren­tiu Rusen (thank you, Laur!), Vivi and Adara are guests of the extremely pop­u­lar A la chart de week-end, with Bog­dan Crutescu show on Radio Bucuresti (98.3 FM) every other Sunday. We are grate­ful to Bog­dan Crutescu for his invi­ta­tion, and we appre­ci­ate his support.

We play electro/industrial music between 7:30 and 8:00 pm and 8:30 and 9:00 pm (GMT+2). You can always watch the show live on http://www.bucurestifm.ro/, they’ve got a good livestream. Vivi is in touch with you during the show on her Facebook page. Royalties on playing the tracks go to the record companies of each band.

Today’s broadcast was really special. Markus (Head-less), Peter (Tenek) and Lars (Violent Back Propagation) joined us on Facebook while we were on air! Thanks to them and to Anca, Simona, Tudor, Ella, Robert, Dani K who listened and encouraged us tonight.

Bogdan had a surprise in store for us: WE ARE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER SHOW NEXT WEEK, NOT IN 2 WEEKS! Wow, Bogdan, thank you so much!

6th show playlist, February 28, 2011:

Ghost&Writer – From hell
Combichrist – Throat full of glass
Mortiis – Smell the witch
Apoptygma Berzerk – Shine on
Violent Back Propagation – Violent back propagation
Tenek – Less is more
Frozen Plasma – Tanz die revolution
VNV Nation – Illusion
Imatem – Elegy of angels

All Royalties on playing the tracks go to the record companies of each band.

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