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WASP FACTORY NEWS

For our press archives, click here


May/June 2004

Come in, come in. Leave the vodka and lube on the table there, we`ll get round to that in a minute.

Let us tell you what we`ve been up to of late.

THEY PLAY THEIR 303s ON THE MTV

Topping the pile is Psychophile and Freudstein featuring on the MTV US Show Made - which I think is the most bad and wrong thing we have ever done ever. We`re working on DeathBoy composing themes to beauty pageants to try and top ourselves.

WIN STUFF FROM WE

We`ve been enjoying a rather lovely relationship with the even lovelier Logo Magazine of late. By far and away the UKs widest circulation "proper alternative" magazine, we`ve been fans since it started, being the first rag in ages to remind us of the days when reading NME, Melody Maker et al was actually a rewarding and informative experience. They`ve given us glowing reviews of the 4 current releases, and theres a high profile lable feature and interview coming up any time soon. If you aren`t reading it yet then track down a copy soon - and check out the website for an example of music journalism like it was when we were kids.

And then pop along to their online store where you can preview all 4 of our new albums, and enter a competition to grab yourself a free copy of each of them. Go on. You know you want to. And don`t forget to be buying copies if you lose.

WE ARE LIVING IN AN MPERIA WORLD, WHICH I SUPPOSE MAKES ME AN MPERIA GIRL

A shameless, shameless plug for new digital music platform Mperia.

Still very much in the start up phase, the site does exactly what it says on the tin. Direct band to punter digital downloads run by people who obviously care. Everything mp3.com never was and a bold step forwards for alternative music in the post iTunes, Napster, Coca fucking Cola tunes rush to be the number one digital download platform. Slowly but surely pretty much the entire Wasp Factory catalogue will end up on there at a price that even the dirtiest blots of humanity amongst you will find a tempting alternative to Soulseek, along with exclusive new material by many of our artists. Right now, DeathBoy and Goteki rank as the top artists on the site and we fully intend to keep Mperia well and truly as our bitch as time passes.

This is the first of a number of Newmedia deals we`re signed up to at the moment, which over the next few months means there`ll barely be a download platform and playback medium safe from us. Mperia will I suspect however, remain the jewel in the crown. A digital download site with the Wasp Factory attitude. Lovely.

CHAOS ENGINE TO QUIT QUITTING

It`s true. Chaos Engine have been spotted sloping in through the back door of Parental Advisory Studios when they think no-ones looking, where work has commenced on their 4th album. Christ knows what it sounds like, but Cellos and Harps have been noticed lying around. No set completion date as yet, but we`re hoping it will be ready for an Autumn offensive, joining sophomore efforts from Deathboy, Psychophile and Freudstein (all of which are sounding, between you and me, absolutely monumental). And somewhere amongst all of this work will probably start in earnest on the Warren Ellis album at some point this year. Excited yet?

AND THEY USED TO BE SUCH NICE BOYS

Erstwhile Skinflowers Mr G and Rich will be playing a few low-key gigs in the near future, details below in the gig guide, but much more excitingly are currently embarked on a sekrit project working with Ange Doolittle, frontman of seminal indie rockers Eat and notorious knobwaver. We`re quite excited about all this.


April 2004

Hi Kids. Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Wasp Factory Show.

What have we been up to recently eh? Well, our semi traditional April Fools prank went off in style. Just to clarify here - Deathboy are NOT in fact being sued by Motley Crue. What you thinking, eh?

Paradoxically, in what might *sound* like a belated April Fool but isn`t, the WF crew have been turning up in some of the most unlikely places of late. Some of you may have caught Earth Loop Recalls Jo Q peforming live on The Brits with Black Eyed Peas just over a month ago. More recently Mel Allezbleu from The Chaos Engine played keyboards for Icon of Coil at Belgiums Invitation Festival. What next? Eris says he`s in negotiations with NWA. But we think thats a lie.

HEY. MR WASP FACTORY - WHATS NEW?

Well. At the moment we`re working very hard on a couple of projects that we hope to reveal in the next month or so. The one thing I can talk about now is the string of Goteki launch parties in the US which will culminate with their appearance at the legendary Convergence Festival in Chicago. Organised by our good and dear Friends at www.ld50.com, there`ll be playbacks of tracks from the new Goteki O/S - Corrupted Files remix album, and there`ll be giveaways of a limited edition collectors CD "First Contact" containing a selection of tracks from Gotek O/S and corresponding remixes from Goteki O/S Corrupted Files and the obligatory Goteki stickers.

Heres the April schedule - we hear the ones from March have already been a roaring success - show some support for your local club on these nights.

April:
1st - Sin Thursday in Philadelphia, PA with DJ Black Widow
3rd - House of Voodoo in San Francisco, CA with DJ Voodoo and Guest DJs Goblyn and Tomas Diablo
3rd - Ceremony at Laga in Pittsburgh, PA with The Night Shift
4th - Sacrilege in Las Vegas, NV with DJ Entropy
7th - Flux in Atlanta, GA with DJ SpinMonkey
7th - Purgatorio in Washington, DC with MC Tram
7th - Darkwerks in Toledo, OH with DJ Kibosh
7th - Nocturne in Chicago, IL with DJ Scary Lady Sarah
10th - The Chamber in Cleveland, OH with DJ DV8
14th - HDLO at Club Inferno in Madison, WI with DJ Eurotic
17th - Blackout in Huntsville, AL with DJ Naught

Coming Soon:
TBD - Revolution in Philadelphia, PA with DJ Totentanz
TBD - Charlotte, NC with DJ Spider
TBD - Midnight in Washington, DC with DJ Vikki Wilson
TBD - Requiem in St Louis, MO with DJ Skeletal
TBD - Redemption Club in Santa Barbara, CA with DJ Dead
Date TBD: Darkwave Lounge in Mt Pleasant, MI with DJ Cypher
Date TBD: Club Illuminati in Savannah, GA with DJ Kreepy Krawly
AND HOW ARE THE CURRENT ALBUMS DOING?

Funny you should ask that actually - we were just thinking a round up of some of the reviews so far might be a good idea.

ARKAM AYSLUM

"Unlike Industrial from the Old Days, which could be quite savage, most Industrial these days is artistic Rock, taking itself so seriously, and everybody knows that. But a band like Arkam Asylum can still retain humour and vent sensible spleen even when being boiled alive by their own sounds. Everyone should accept these are good things." - Mick Mercer

"Looking for a definition of cyber-punk? Start here. Arkam Asylum swaddle their hyperactive, juddering cold-wave electro in the jet black industrial waste of Atari Teenage Riot and Machines Of Loving Grace. Like Ministry in spiked jackboots, ‘Gundam High’ spits locomotive breath on Rammstein and Coil, while ‘Drinkers Of Thee Heavy Fluid’ imagines Super Mario-Land in the hands of The Prodigy. Top of the pops though is the drum ‘n’ electro take on Dead Or Alive’s ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’ a doublethink Dadaist manifesto that rewrites history in no-one’s image." Logo Magazine 4/5

"This is a top album. Be sure to drop by the Asylum on your way out!" Hard Wired Magazine - 3/4

PRESS ARCHIVE

BUY HERE

LISTEN TO GUNDAM HIGH FROM THE ALBUM

EARTH LOOP RECALL

"Unsettling in its sheer enormity yet thoroughly enthralling from start to finish, ‘Compulsion’ is a towering inferno of electro-fused rock that instantly moves Earth Loop Recall into Industrial’s top circle. Not content with merely tethering carefully-scripted techno-surges to the genre’s relentlessly caustic riffage, there’s teeth-clenched bile deep at work here that rips pages from ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ and slashes that deep punk heritage through its very heart. It’s big, sweating electro dynamite that somehow manipulates industrial rock into something strangely feral and gleefully degenerate. Amazing stuff that’ll leave you panting for breath." - Logo Magazine 4/5

"I cannot recommend this album enough - this is THE new face of the UK Industrial scene, and if ELR can keep this up, they will be the new benchmark by which others are judged! Buy it, play it, and play " - HardWired 4/4

"This is a tremendously assured debut, and, with ‘nuff respect to the other acts on Wasp Factory’s roster, top quality artists all, possibly the most fully-realised, the most *complete* release the label has ever put out. In short - it’s damn fine stuff.

Now all you need to do is go out and buy it." - Starvox Magazine

PRESS ARCHIVE

BUY HERE

LISTEN TO RECONNECT FROM THE ALBUM

LISTEN TO PLEASE STOP HURTING ME FROM THE ALBUM

GOTEKI

"If you’ve never heard the Human League this could be a very exciting record for you, and that isn’t a snide comment." - Mick Mercer

"They’re often pointless excursions into flaccid mutual-backscratchery, but Goteki subvert the remix formula by offering fourteen genuine re-interpretations of the tracks on their 2002 PlayStation-electro debut ‘Goteki O/S’. It’s not so much the quality of the contributors, with the exception of Sigue Sigue Sputnik (whose mix of ‘We Go Chrome’ is all technicolour fractals and animated anti-matter) and Coil, few of the names here will mean anything except to the devout. Rather, it’s what those contributors do the source material. Carol Masters’ mix of ‘Autoloader’ takes David Bowie to Dizzy Gillespie’s basement, Glis’ take on ‘Ninjagrrl’ visits a Berlin club with Curve, while Goteki’s own rework of ‘Pn55’ introduces Julian Cope to The Human League. File under surprisingly surprising." - Logo Magazine - 3.5/5

"Any complaints? None at all! With no duff tracks, and a quality that makes you listen to this album from start to finish, this album cements Goteki’s place in the alternative scene today, in as much as they are not afraid to let their work be experimented with. Having a broad outlook like this will see them go very far indeed. Let’s hope they stick with it! Forget taking this album home to meet your parents - get into bed with it now!" - HardWired Magazine - 4/4

PRESS ARCHIVE

BUY HERE

LISTEN TO STEAM VIRUS [YENDRI MIX] FROM THE ALBUM

LEECH WOMAN

"Though Wasp Factory unleash this collection of Leech Woman remixes on the same day as they unleash reworkings of Goteki’s oeuvre, the two couldn’t be more different. Infinitely tougher and uncompromising, ‘Uncertainty Device #26573’ is industrial in the truest sense of the word, microtonal deconstructions that could just as easily have been created using cement mixers, jackhammers and diamond-tipped drills. Polar opposites are offered in the neo-gothic, Teutonic lullaby from the moonlit grave that is The Dark Half’s rework of ‘Cardinal’ and the extreme drill ‘n’ bass of Matt Green’s ‘Cardinal’, a track that doesn’t so much locate the ghost in the machine as strap it down and discharge the national grid through its bollocks. Is uneasy listening for budding serial-killers a genre? It is now." - Logo Magazine - 3.5/5

"Anyway, if yer the type to call electro-disco what it is- DISCO, not ‘industrial- then yer probably smart and brave enuff for this ugly joyride. This, brothers and sisters, is the sound of rock and roll coming completely apart." - Sleazegrinder Magazine

"It's absolutely fucking horrible, and a genuine work of art, if you're brave enough to let them seduce you with their come-hither scythes." - Mick Mercer

PRESS ARCHIVE

BUY HERE

LISTEN TO TOOL [TARANTELLA SERPENTINE REMIX] FROM THE ALBUM

THIS IS ALL VERY EXCITING. I ENJOYED ALL THOSE FREE SAMPLES AND BOUGHT THE ALBUMS IMMEDIATELY. NOW ALL I NEED IS A CHANCE TO SEE THE BANDS LIVE.

Ah. Well then. You`ll be wanting to try and get yourself down to one of these events then (see gig guide to the right).


February 2004

So. Here we are again, merrily ploughing into the new year with a quartet of bar raising releases, and a surprise TV appearance for our very own Special Uncle Tony who took steps to avoid the ongoing mistaken identity scenario between himself and Eris by getting a makeover on TV's The Salon (and between you and me, he looks pretty good as a result!). That's us. Never mind the bands, you can't even avoid the office staff.

And talking of being unable to avoid the bands, without further ado, let's introduce you to our latest offspring :-

-------------------------

WASPFAC018 - ARKAM ASYLUM - Running with Scissors
The Digital Freakshow is in town...
Self-styled cybernetic industropunk shocktroops Arkam Asylum have built themselves a fierce reputation on the UK live circuit over the last year with their high octane mix of maverick swamp guitar, drum patterns, breakbeats, sampladelia and intense lyrical visions. True Cyberpunks, Arkam Asylum replace nihilistic visions of "No Future" with an aggressive struggle to bring the world around them kicking and screaming into *their* Future. A world where machine is simply a third gender, where the machinations of the Military Industrial Complex are reduced to a pay-per-view entertainment channel, where nothing is true and everything is permitted and we are all sovereign rulers of our own temporary autonomous zones.

Featuring Bug on samples and beats, frenzied dervish Angel on guitar pyrotechnics and one of the most charismatic frontmen around, Zero (both Edward Norton AND Brad Pitt if you follow...).

Varyingly described as a 21st century Specimen, The Gun Club vs. Atari Teenage Riot, Bauhaus on crack (indeed, a whole slew of "insert band name here" on crack) and a bunch of fucking lunatics, the band's debut album "Learn to Love Your Cancer" certainly bore all these comments out. Live, the band have picked up a reputation as agent provocateurs, smashing laptops in front of audiences specifically selected for their prediliction for anal technology worship and conducting impromptu Chaos rituals.

Second album "Running with Scissors" takes everything to its next level. On the surface still a bunch of noisy buggers with scant respect for the quaint notion of something for the milkman to whistle. But listen again and you'll see a whole slew of subtleties, the album is literally bleeding bursts of catchiness that'll see you singing along to it in your head weeks after the noise has dissipated. If such a thing is possible, they've harnessed the high octane pisstake gabba of Ultraviolence and smashed it head-on with deathrock and psychobilly sounds and a lyrical sensibility that politely suggests it's to be taken seriously for your own physical well-being. On paper an unlikely fusion, but stick on the disc and it becomes obvious that this is the ultimate in sleazoid rock. Balls-out polemic, beats and riffery hung together with gaffer tape and the sort of genuine headrush that only pioneers of a distinctly new sound can give.

The true sound of "cyber"."punk". Here's 3 breakbeats, now go and make a dystopian future.

"..the bastard offspring of Iggy Pop and Marilyn Manson, conceived whilst both parties were off their faces on crack at an Orb gig.. a psychotic blast of unrestrained nihilism and desperation." - Rock Sound

"Arkam Asylum are what punk / new wave would have been like if they'd had samplers and modern electronics 25 years ago. Lots of energy, ideas and imagination have gone into this astounding album, that touches on every subject that your parents wouldn't want you listening to. The use of sampling is excellent, whilst the conglomeration of disassociated noises carries the whole sound right out of the leftfield. Without coming over as at all anal, Arkasai have nailed down to perfection what so many other bands have attempted so pitifully!" - Kaleidoscope Magazine

"a mixture between Ministry (Land of Rape and Honey) & Atari Teenage Riot."- Totem Magazine

"I have been finding the band as perfect combination of modern sound a la late Prodigy and NIN, energy and aggressiveness of early punk bands and craziness of gothic acts like Alien Sex Fiend, Specimen or Sex Gang Children." - Cold Magazine

BUY HERE

LISTEN TO GUNDAM HIGH FROM THE ALBUM

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WASPFAC024 - EARTH LOOP RECALL - Compulsion

Earth Loop Recall, in addition to inadvertantly teaching us more about telecommunications technology than we wished to know whilst doing a web search for them, plough a very nice line in My Bloody Valentine / Sonic Youth style post-punk / alternative rock that doesn't run scared of moments of towering feedback colliding head on with NIN-style electronic trickery, and moments of exquisite beauty lurking in the calm at the eye of the storm.

The ultimate crossover band, the sound of a band with a record collection as diverse as it comes, not giving a fuck about which genre they end up in. In short, a press release writer's worst bloody nightmare.

In the band's own words, "think 'The Holy Bible' By Manic Street Preachers. Add 'The Process' by Skinny Puppy, 'Aenima' by Tool, 'Mezzanine' by Massive Attack, 'Never Mind The Bollocks' by The Sex Pistols and 'In Utero' By Nirvana. And maybe 'Grace' by Jeff Buckley. Then you'll be midway there."

Already pulling sizable crowds on the London gig circuit, the band have sat comfortably on all manner of metal, alternative, indie and electronica bills, frequently making the evening their own. The intensity and integrity of the live shows have already caused onlookers to comment that it's like having front-of-stage access to an early Stooges gig, had The Stooges had access to samplers. And, it must be said further just to make the point that this isn't a DHR-style breakbeat punk affair, someone in charge of the electronics who is also a classicaly trained cellist, and performs live with Rose McDowall/Sorrow.

Keep a very close eye on this lot. We're predicting *very* big things for them.

"Some Industrial music is slave to the technology on which it depends, but some manipulates and perverts the little black boxes to altogether more organic, human and some would say, degenerate ends. Like Nitzer Ebb and Nine Inch Nails sexed up for the post-millenial mire, Earth Loop Recall gleefully spit acrid bile over electronica's clean lines" - Terrorizer

"The band have the knack of building and building and building their songs, throwing in more and more until you wonder how much further they can take it. When the music eventually arrives at some sort of climax, a point of resolution, the release of tension is almost physical. This is good stuff: the feeling that the band are pushing, pushing, pushing their music until it breaks through a weird, intangible, barrier, is highly effective." - Starvox

"Their music's guitar driven, complex and intense. It's also very good, grabbing and holding the listener's attention from the very start of each song. Aggressive vocals, frantic guitars, keyboards adding a slightly unsettling backdrop to it all - oh, and there's a fair bit of stage presence in there, too. A band that's definitely worth keeping an eye on" - Meltdown

BUY HERE

LISTEN TO RECONNECT FROM THE ALBUM

LISTEN TO PLEASE STOP HURTING ME FROM THE ALBUM

-------------------------

WASPFAC026 - GOTEKI - Goteki O/S Corrupted Files

Excursion on the Version from the J-Electro stormtroopers. In the year since the release of debut album "Goteki O/S" the boys have been travelling the world and making friends, playing at major festival events throughout Europe and North America, and shifting albums by the truck load.

More importantly the band have been picking up new friends who were all keen to bring their own flavour of magic the the technicolor experience that was Goteki. So why not gather them all together for a remix album, we thought?

You'll find your packed dancefloors on here. Chrome plated electro and filtered house a mile wide. Floorfillers? You want 'em, you got 'em. With names like Icon of Coil and Echo Image on the case, you know it's going to do the job. But remixing isn't just about the club is it? Where would the fun be in that, when the remixer's job allows them to pull something apart and reassemble it in their own image, as destroyed, as reborn and as weirdly divergent from the original as their whim takes them?

Check out The Chaos Engine mix of "Surveillance" that not only adds a whole new chorus motif that after a few listens you'll hardly believe wasn't in the original, it then smothers the whole build-up in harps; the Sigue Sigue Sputnik mix of "We Go Chrome" that sends a Love Missile right up the jacksy of the band's ode to 50s America and proves once and for all that the band *were* 20 years ahead of their time, and 20 years later here's Goteki, right on schedule; the Carol Masters re-imaging and re-recording of "Autoloader" opening a window onto a parallel universe where "The Joshua Tree" launched U2 on their way to being the world's biggest electro band - with a horn section; the Introndepot mix of "Piranha Advancement", straight off a Street Sound Electromix compilation; DeathBoy smashing a Commodore 64 over the head of "Do Not Listen to Goteki" for all the retro kids out there; Yendri smothering "Steam Virus" in orchestral strings and piano, turning the pumping trance of the original into something really rather beuatiful in the process before colliding head on with some old school Chicago house and all of a sudden it's the Second Summer of Love all over again and Marshall Jefferson's on the decks.

Add this to extensive deconstructions from Seize, Glis, top console composer Graeme Norgate, Project 65 and Goteki themselves, and you have over 79 minutes of the most varied and flamboyant electro around. Corrupt your O/S today.

BUY HERE

LISTEN TO STEAM VIRUS [YENDRI MIX] FROM THE ALBUM

-------------------------

WASPFAC028 - LEECHWOMAN - Uncertainty Device #26573

The UK's finest hardcore / industrial crossover band bar none. If there's a band who crosses musical extremity with street style so effortlessly anywhere in the world, we'd like to hear them. Hand-picked to work with the likes of Foetus, Alec Empire, Unsane, Godflesh, 2nd Gen and Cubanate. The first UK band since Throbbing Gristle coined the term industrial to fully re-embody the aesthetic.

All of this. Reduced to a raging ghost in the machine.

White hot anger dropped from a great height and reassembled by a broken machine with delusions of sentience. Shards of dark ambient, electro, noise and drill & bass, stitched together by masters of the genres. Fuck your cartoon college punk bands, this is what happens when a band true to the punk ethos embraces the digital age.

A remix album that eschews the generic dancefloor filler that seems mandatory for these releases, and embraces the more destructive and wilfully caustic side of the form as embodied on albums like Nine Inch Nails' 'Fixed', and Scorn's 'Ellipsis'. We see no reason to file this one anywhere but with these greats.

Mood Music for people who should clearly be locked away.

NOIZE PUNISHMENT - TOOL - NOIZE PUNISHMENT RMX
AMBASSADOR 21 - BREAKER - A21 RMX
NEEDLEYE - SECTION 13 - PREY FOR ME REMIX
SCHIZOID - KNUCKLEHATE - 3:00AM ASHTRAY REMIX
APHASIC - BREAKER - I AM NO LONGER REMIX
MATT GREEN - CARDINAL - BROKEN WANK MIX
TARANTELLA SERPENTINE - TOOL - TARANTELLA SERPENTINE MIX
TOM MILLS - FEDRILL - TOM MILLS MIX
EXITBOY - CARDINAL - DARTH CALIGULA MIX
UNIFORM - BREAKER - UNIFORM REMIX
NOISE CREATOR - SOLID STATE / FEDRILL - SUBURBAN TRASH MIX
HYDRA - KINCAID - SHAPE OF RAGE MIX
THE DARK HALF - CARDINAL - DARK HALF REMIX
MENTAL OUTPUT - TOOL - MENTAL OUTPUT MIX
HIDEOUS WHEEL INVENTION - BREAKER - HIDEOUS WHEEL INVENTION MIX
TOTAL OUTPUT - SOLID STATE - TOTAL OUTPUT MIX
ADVANCED IDEA MECHANICS - CARDINAL - SEVENTH CIRCLE MIX
GERMSEED - KINCAID - GERMSEED MIX

"It's easy to forget that industrial music was essentially invented in the UK by Throbbing Gristle because this country hasn't produced a lot since then, but Three 3Zero stakes the claim once more. Mindblowing. 9/10" - METAL HAMMER

"Armed with angle grinders, steel bars and washing machine drums - alongside buzzing guitars, frontman Alex B's tortured vocals and grisly distorted bass - the quartet have finally nailed down the hypnotic, percussive intensity of their live show. Eschewing such niceties as catchy choruses or bouncy grooves, 'Three 3Zero' instead evokes a setting of hopeless, urban paranoia as uncompromisingly bleak as you're likely to get. Just don't expect to hum it on the way into work. You have been warned." - KERRANG

"Sod green issues, Leech Woman deal with grey and black issues; concrete, surveillance cameras, the city's impatient, attention-scattering clamour, and how to assert yourself when your environment never allows you any composure. 8.5/10" - TERRORIZER

"Influenced as much by the brutal pounding of Neubaten and Evil Mothers as they are the ferocity of Extreme Noise Terror and the electronic affectations of Optimum Wound Profile, Leechwoman are the ideal alternative to the anodyne and mundane; the bitterest pill to even the most hardened junkie, an impenetrable wall of white noise for those that don't understand or just can't be bothered to make the effort. Their fucking loss! 4.5/5" - ROCK SOUND

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COMING IN 2004?

Psychophile, Deathboy and Freudstein are all ensconced in the studio working on their new albums, provisionally titled "Vodka Milk", "Project Scorpio" and "Yes, yes, it`ll be finished soon, we know we said it would be done last year".

Meanwhile, we've received the following disturbing crayon-scrawled note in the mail accompanied by a selection of surveillance photos of our families:

"Oh yes. Setting fire to Dublin venues was just the beginning. The c**t had it coming anyway. And yes, it was fun violating the Joneses in Slimelight, I think on reflection I preferred Aled to Tom, so much more purity to turn sour. Oh, the taste. It amuses me that even without a release others have been playing recordings of the event. I know who they all are and I'm planning some....... heh ........very "special" recordings for each and every one of them in the near future. I've current got one of my minions, I like to call him Poodle, set to change the copyright laws so expect to take delivery of my masterwork as soon as it goes through. Meanwhile, please find attached the demos of my working of the Electric 6 "classic", which I`m calling "Ga Ba". Payment in the usual method will be acceptable, though no more from the council estates please. eXitboy"

-------------------------

SO. WHAT EXACTLY *IS* GOING ON WITH THE CHAOS ENGINE THEN?

In short, The Chaos Engine are back after the gig of their life at Whitby. Lee Chaos says, "We decided to stop doing Chaos Engine gigs if they stopped being fun, and to be honest, they had. Conversely, our show at Whitby was possibly the best we've ever done, and the enthusiasm the crowd showed at the gig itself and after the show have given us enough enthusiasm to explode back out of retirement. We promise not to scare you like that again. We have no intention of becoming the industrial Status Quo." So there you go. We will of course be having words with the man to the effect that doing a "last ever gig" on a yearly basis since 1985 hasn't really harmed The Cure's popularity or sales.......

The band will be keeping that retirement very much prefixed by the word "semi" as main support to Haujobb at London's Metro club on 5th March. Because it's been a while since there was a London assault and, well, it's Haujobb, innit? There's a possibility of some UK tour dates and festivals for 2004, so get those offers rolling in.

Whilst Lee Choas is keeping tight lipped about the possibility of new Chaos Engine material, we can confirm that there is an uncharacteristic absence of other bands booked into Parental Advisory Studios for the first half of 2004, and that the live set may contain a few surprises.

Meanwhile, anyone who needs an urgent dose of Chaos, can find the man going head to head in a DJ Clash with Alex B from Leechwoman at the infamous Club Judder on 20th February - Full details at the Judder website.


DeathBoy update

Scott DeathBoy, the man who never sleeps, is continuing to knock out songs at a rate that ensures that by the year 2010, one in every ten songs ever written will have had his dirty little fingers all over them somewhere.

Latest in the tunestack is a collaboration with Martin Diablo, driving force behind 2000AD-approved purveyors of filth Kat5can (and previously of Putra Chic and darkwave legends Necromantic). Thats right, folks: two of the UK's remier purveyors of TekPunk working together.

You can find the resulting track PAIN UNLIMITED here for your download pleasure. Scurry along for your slice of history in the making, people.


November 2003

WEEEEEE'RE BAAA-AAACK!

(Warning. May contain excessive amounts of well deserved back-slapping and frequent gratuitous references to some quite literally mindblowing bands.)

So. Here we are. Sitting in the office on the comedown from the blast that was the 10th Anniversary of Whitby. And thinking to ourselves, if that's the state of the UK's dark underground scene, if that many people, are going to have that much of a good time, and for there to be such diversity of character, appearance, beliefs and music, then fuck yeah, we're glad to be a part of it. The jokers in the pack maybe, but damn glad to be a part of it nonetheless.

This year was a resounding success for us. DeathBoy, Goteki and The Chaos Engine all playing the gigs of their lives and going down a storm with the rather sizable audience. Enormous shout-outs to you all. If you had even half as much fun as we all did, our work here is done. And breaking down the barricades, Lee Chaos ends up on stage with Icon of Coil, the worlds newest and most possibly fervent Chaos Engine fans, finishing their magnificent set joining in with them on a cover of Front 242's Headhunter. And on Sunday night Sorrow played a set of apocalyptic beauty, joined by Jo Q from Earth Loop Recall, stepping out from behind her racks of synths and technology to play cello. Who said programmers were''t real musicians? It certainly wasn't us.

The invasion continues, people. You will thank us for this one day. Meanwhile here's some fireworks. Be happy.

So what else have we been doing whilst maintaining radio silence? It's been hectic over at Wasp Factory Towers, people. You don't think anything less than absolute work overload could shut us up do you? Chaos Engine toured Australia with Sheep on Drugs to an amazing reception, and have certainly been pulling off the best gigs a band who split up in 2002 have ever played this year. Come on. Australia and Whitby X? You'd think about getting back in the saddle too right? Meanwhile Goteki and DeathBoy beetled off for a Canadian odyssey, showing our North American chums how we like to do it back in the UK. There are still scars from that one. Each and every one of them dearly cherished. The Goteki boys even found time out to investigate the many charms of Rotterdam due to popular demand. We are coming for your children and living outside the UK is no longer a guarantee of safety.

Plus of course the usual barnstorming hit and run appearances across the UK at such prestigious events as InFest, Black Celebration and Carnival of Souls.

And then there's the albums. "MUSIC TO CRASH CARS TO" by DeathBoy and "TRANSITION" by Psychophile have been going down a storm out there in punter land. Heres what some of the critics have had to say about them :-

MUSIC TO CRASH CARS TO (WASPFAC021) :-

Top German mag Zillo said this, and also featured the band on a recent cover CD :-

"This sort of quasi-debut is a cheeky mixture of Industrial Rock, Electro, Trip Hop elements, Drum'n'Bass splinters, and also melodies that hang on in your head. Imagine for yourself Nine inch Nails of Pretty Hate machine era. Join up with Pop Will Eat Itself and Ned's Atomic Dustbin, and then you get a big fat portion of mid-90's charm with whipped cream on top. Scott Lamb's could very well get through as Trent Reznor's little brother. With hellishly groovy songs such as We Will Destroy, Sick World or Lost Again, the UK crew are really good uppers for dance floor maniacs, but also for the lovers of melancholy there are fitting songs such as I Know You Know. Whoever likes NiN or Sulpher can't go very wrong here with this one."

Top UK extreme music magazine Terrorizer were kind enough to give the album 8/10 and flood the following filth all over the shelves of WHSmiths and all good newsagents near you :-

"After a rather promising demo, London's DeathBoy have finally released their debut album Music To Crash Cars To (Wasp Factory). Fusing industrial, rock, drum n bass and darkwave, the five-piece have created something that brings back memories of late 80s indie with bands like Pop Will Eat Itself, Jesus Jones, Renegade Soundwave with a pinch of Nine Inch Nails. You won't be surprised when I tell you that vocalist Scott Lamb sounds uncannily like a cockney Trent Reznor, penning songs about love, despair and computers. Take a trip back to NIN's Pretty Hate Machine, add some contemporary noises, add a pinch of humour (check out the lyric: 'We spend a fortune on make up so we can all look the same' from 'Decimate') and you've got DeathBoy."

Legendary scene journo Mick Mercer said too many nice things in Starvox for us to even begin repeating here (go to www.starvox.net instead) but we particularly liked the following :-

"I expected a beach landing of demon spawn, but ended up with bleached musical porn, so I'm happy. Play repeatedly, until dead."

He was also kind enough to go out on a limb in a recent online rant and suggest that DeathBoy were the only UK act right now that mattered in a global perspective. The pintage has duly been noted Mick!

Wheras Logo magazine, one of the few UK rags covering all musical bases these days that in our humble opinion really matters, in a way NME did when we were kids, said this :-

"Those looking for evidence that the UK underground is dead won't find it here. Before hooking up with Wasp Factory for this debut commercial release, DeathBoy oversaw a thriving online community that lapped up a comprehensive catalogue of internet only releases, the happy by-product of which is that DeathBoy emerge tight and honed, the results of years of no-budget studio discipline. 'Music To Crash Cars To' marks a progression from early techno/drum 'n' bass/jungle experiments into a realm where the obvious touchstones are Nine Inch Nails and Curve, breakbeat industrial that can trace its lineage back to Killing Joke and, before that, Cabaret Voltaire. Though Scott Lamb's vocals are as dry and lean as Trent Reznor's, his habit of drifting off-key unintentionally lends him the queasy air of being in the middle of a nervous breakdown, a happy accident that will endear DeathBoy to anyone who's discovered the guilty pleasures of Machines Of Loving Grace and Medicine."

Still not jumping on the DeathBoy car before it crashes?

Check out www.deathboy.co.uk for all the news, and an unhealthy amount of free .mp3 downloads. You like? You buy the album. Deal? We want your soul over here http://www.wasp-factory.com/waspfactory/merchandise.htm

TRANSITION (WASPFAC014) :-

That man Mercer again with the following words over in Starvox :-

"'Invocation' is a delightfully stampy thing with Lucy in the role of Lady Macbeth waving a gin bottle around, 'Intense' is a wonderfully filleted mechanoid vigilante hybrid, scrabbling along, and the torment of 'Sciagraphy' gets highly dramatic, either sweet or seething.

'Surplus' is a total delight, 'Illumination' gets weirdly droopy, 'Horrorshow' is harsh and strange, and 'Darklight' quite seriously is the best thing The Banshees never wrote."

Logo magazine keep the side up with the following rave :-

"It’s easy to be distracted by the fact that Psychophile programmer Mat Hook once turned down an invitation to join the nascent Radiohead, and that, onstage, singer Lucy Pointycat gets so carried away that she often manages to fall out of her bra. Concentrate on the music, and what you’ll find is an extended homage to the bedsit-land occupied by Soft Cell, a style that recalls Marlene Dietrich fronting Black Box Recorder. When it toughens up, as on 'Invocation', the ghost of a rejuvenated Siouxsie Sioux comes to the party, with sizzling synth beats and hypnotic arrhythmia in tow. These diversions ensure that Transition doesn’t outstay its welcome, making it an ideal refuge for lovers of post-modern beat-freaks."

Meanwhile Terrorizer continue to try and lure the average metal kid in the highstreet onto more interesting musical fare, giving the album 8/10 and the following big up :-

"Brighton outfit Psychophile blend the rock and electro beautifully with darkwave on their first proper album, Transition. Lucy's powerful vocals darken the already sinister programming while the chunky electric guitars add a fuel-injected punch to what would ultimately be electro pop. The outcome is a creepy but catchy blend of dark electro rock. As with many of the bands on the Wasp Factory roster, members from the WF clan have lent a helping hand with this album. Listen very carefully and you'll hear the Chaos Engine's former bassist Vere Kervorkian grinding away on two tracks, the whole thing's been mixed by Lee H, while Freudstein's David Else has mastered the album. If ever there were a quality stamp for underground music, this album bears it!"

In broadcast land, Total Rock radio invited the band in as studio guests for an uproarious show, and said the following :-

"The Brighton electro rock outfit release their debut album on Wasp Factory and what a corker it is! Lucy's powerful vocals stand out against a backdrop of electronica with electric guitars, particularly in the wonderful 'Intense' - first heard on the band's original self-titled demo. The mysterious Vere Kervorkian, formerly of The Chaos Engine, contributes his dark and moody bass to a couple of the tracks on here, whilst extra Goth points are awarded to the 'phile's rather perky cover of 'Mercy Seat', originally done by Ultra Vivid Scene, and taken to a new dimension with Lucy's deep vocals. I recommend that you be the first to tell your friends about Psychophile and snap this one up immediately!"

Feeling a need to indulge your psychophilia? All the latest gossip and debauch can be found here http://clik.to/psychophile plus an astonishing amount of videos and .mp3 files, both showcasing the band's new album and their frankly gobsmacking history. Check out Mat's vault for some of the most deranged bedroom recordings you'll ever hear. If Snooker Loopy doesn't have you reaching for the vodka, nothing will.

Then of course, don't forget to go HERE - www.wasp-factory.com/waspfactory/merchandise.htm - and give us your souls once more.

PAST GLORIES SCHMAST GLORIES.

Yeah yeah. Enough of the back catalogue already. We've said enough. Glories they truly are, miss out on them at your peril. The back catalogue is already fading, and you may not be able to get some of these gems much longer. Don't count on us neccesarily doing a repress any time soon. We're saving the space for some of the corkers we've got coming up shortly :-

ARKAM ASYLUM - "RUNNING WITH SCISSORS" (WASPFAC018)

The second album from seminal Cyberpunk mavericks Arkam Asylum is all you'd expect - a head-on collision betwen deathrock, psychobilly and twisted gabba. On paper an unlikely fusion, but stick on the disc and it becomes obvious that this is the ultimate in sleazoid rock. Balls-out polemic, beats and riffery hung together with gaffa tape and the sort of genuine headrush that only pioneers of a distinctly new sound can give. The true sound of "cyber"."punk". Here's 3 breakbeats, now go and make a dystopian future.

With an official release date of the end of the year, copies of this little beauty are already available on direct order from us. Top notch shows at this years InFest and Carnival of Souls, together with what appears to be some hefty word of mouth recommendation have already taken care of the prepublicity, and people have literally been biting our hands off for this one (check the stumps).

Check out the band here http://www.arkam-asylum.com/ - those who like cutting edge transhuman philosophy alonside their rock and roll iconoclasm will particularly enjoy the Yahoo Group link. Those who just want to listen to a fucked up collision of psychobilly, punk and digital hardcore will enjoy the .mp3 of machine.

And you know where to go to get your copy of the album by now, yeah? Fuck it, mail order all 3 of the current releases from us and we'll do you a deal that puts the price of a major label release from HMV to shame. It's all there waiting for you at your big value best of British www.wasp-factory.com.

EARTH LOOP RECALL - "COMPULSION"

Winner of the hardest album to write a press release for EVER award. It's just absolutely fucking sublime. The premasters have been stuck on permanent loop on our stereos for weeks now. Words fail me. Angst fuelled Indie, before Indie became a swear word. The punk energy of the Stooges, had the Stooges had access to samplers filtered through a deep love of The Chameleons, Joy Division, The Cramps, Manic Street Preachers etc. And then washed in layers of electronica so gorgeous and contemporary they make me look like the arse I am for just making those retro comparisons. If you understand and like the textural comparisons between Joy Division and Massive Attack, then theres a good chance this one will melt your heart, your brain and your soul.

Released very very soon. Watch this space.

GOTEKI - "GOTEKI O/S CORRUPTED FILES"

What aren't those Goteki boys up to? All over the soundtrack of one of the biggest console games of 2002. Playing enormo gigs both sides of the Atlantic. Working with a top Czech pornstar on her forthcoming album. And doing a nifty sideline in VERY convincing impersonations of characters from Tekken 3. It's a wonder they've had the energy left to sell out of all their existing releases. But sell out they have. We've got VERY limited stock of their debut appearance on "Working with Children & Animals vol 1", their debut EP "Fight the Saucermen" (limited edition flying saucer packs long since vanished into the box marked Deleted - if you got one, keep it sdomewhere safe!) and their debut album "Goteki O/S". Frankly, we've had to do a major stockcheck on these to find the odd couple behind the sofa, a handful in the wrong box here, a handful in the wrong box there. Get your orders in for these quick. None of them will be repressed in their original format and they really are getting scarce. Or pop over to our trusted chums at www.darkcelldigitalmusic.net who have the last known boxes of Saucermen and O/S we're aware of. If you see one elsewhere BUY IT. It's that rare.

But fear not. We know success when we smell it. Available in the very near future, we'll be presenting "GOTEKI O/S - Corrupted Files" - a CD rammed so full we've damn near had to reinvent the technology to fit it all on, of remixes by the likes of Mesh, Icon of Coil, Echo Image, Chaos Engine and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. These aren't remixes as we know it though. You'll get your fill of doof doof. Don't you worry. But are you ready for such delights as the loungecore version of Autoloader by Carol Masters, featuring a crooning Sneaky and full brass section? Oh, it's full of surprises. Like yeah, Wasp Factory, they like to play things straight, don't they? Wise up people. You've got about a month to brace yourselves. We know you want it.

Coming to you soon enough for Santa to have time to lug them from the North Pole.

SO. thats it. Cool shit in abundance. We love it. We love it all. We hope you'll continue to do so too.

Heartfelt thanks for the support of everyone so far. We're getting bigger, better, slicker and more daring year by year. They even gave us an industry award. Bwah ha ha. But we couldn't do it without your support. Keep giving us that support and we'll keep on proving that there are valid alternatives to the music industry at large and keep delivering you events and product that we believe in. The future is ours people. Let's grab it.

Gig Guide

Fri 22nd Apr 2005 - Whitby Gothic Weekend, North Yorkshire
Gene Loves Jezebel + Voltaire + Psychophile + The Screaming Banshee Aircrew

Mon 16th May 2005 - The Marquee, Leicester Square, London
Scarlet Soho + Faetal

Thur 19th May 2005 - Electrocious, The King's Tavern, Reading
Scarlet Soho + Faetal