Tracklist Bonus CD (sold with vinyl): 01)
Death Is King (Soulrider Remix)
02)
Taken (Jonah Sharpe & DJ Spun Remix)
03)
Hey (Manuel Tur Ibiza Mix)
04)
Death Is King (Original 12″ Remix)
05)
Demon Prophet (Original 12″ Remix)
06)
Move On (Original 12″ Remix)
07)
Evil Love
08)
Taken
09)
All Kind Of Wrong
10)
Lovers Arms
Tracklist Digital: 01)
The Last Time
02)
Move On
03)
Evil Love
04)
Love In the Back Room
05)
Nothing After This
06)
Taken
07)
All Kind of Wrong
08)
Lovers Arms
09)
Evil Love (Big Black Delta Remix)
10)
Taken (DJ Spun & Jonah Sharp Rong Music Remix)
11)
Move On (The Hacker Remix)
12)
Move On (Black Light Odyssey Remix)
13)
Move On (Black Light Odyssey Dub)
14a)
Love In the Back Room (Allesandro Cortini Remix)
14b)
Love In the Back Room (Extended Original 12″)
Track 14 is exclusive for iTunes, track 14b is exclusively available on Beatport. Both stores mislabelled the “Black Light Odyssey” remixes as “Black Light Orchestra”.
Info:
Nitzer Ebb founder/electronic music pioneer Douglas J McCarthy began writing his first ever solo album in 2010 during a European DJ tour. McCarthy and world renowned producer/former M People singer Mark Bell – lauded for his work with such acts as Doc Martin and Felix da Housecat – recorded the album in LA over two years that found McCarthy performing 150 shows with Nitzer Ebb, caring for his father in England, and travelling across India by train.
McCarthy wrote Kill Your Friends as he traveled the world, returning to Cyrusrex’s LA studio where Cyrusrex’s custom made analog gear and Bell’s innovative production techniques bolstered McCarthy’s revolutionary debut. Recalling Cabaret Voltaire, Heroes era Bowie and Kraftwerk, this record devilishly blends industrial and experimental sounds with heavy dance floor beats and pop melodies.
For this release, McCarthy turned to Pylon Records whose mission to expose hidden gems from the darker side of the musical underground catalyzed their 2011 release of Peter Hook & The Light’s reawakening of Unknown Pleasures and single-handedly saved Santa Barbara’s Iron Curtain from absolute obscurity.
Kill Your Friends will be released by Pylon Records on November 23, 2012 in vinyl and CD. All vinyl editions include CDs featuring bonus songs and remixes. A limited collection of signed LPs will be available exclusively through Pylon’s website: http://www.pylonrecords.com.
Revolutionary in its conception, execution and distribution, Kill Your Friends truly exploits the opportunity a debut album provides for an artist to create new rules of engagement.
Kill Your Friends is a viscerally energetic journey through the darker side of electronic dance music.
Snippets:
CD
Bonus CD
Full Track Streaming:
“Taken (Dj Spun & Jonah Sharpe Remix)”
Release Date:
24th September 2012 (Beatport)
15th October 2012 (vinyl)
Format:
12″ & digital
Tracklist: 01)
The Knife (Brian Sanhaji Remix)
02)
The Knife (Peter Van Hoesen Remix)
03)
The Knife (DJ Emerson & Angel Costa Remix)
04)
The Knife (Original Mix)
Tracks 4 and 5 are digital-only.
Info:
Once more CLR pays respect to the intriguing music on MOTOR’s recent “Man Made Machine” album and releases another exiting remix package. This time the featured vocalist is none other than legendary Nitzer Ebb’s lead singer Douglas McCarthy, definitely a great honor and joyful challenge for the artists in charge of the remixes.
On the A side of number three in this series of limited edition picture discs, a deep, hypnotic and uncompromising version of MOTOR feat. Douglas McCarthy “The Knife” by Brian Sanhaji slowly unfolds over the time-span of ten and a half minutes. The acclaimed live artist once more proves that he is not only a skilled producer of original tracks, but that he can also do an equally accurate job on other artists’ music and vocals. The usual sonic brilliance of Brian Sanahji’s productions is something we already take for granted when a track of this mastering expert leaves his studio, and he surely lives up to the high expectations again.
The B side of the vinyl contains a faster, pleasantly driving take on the MOTOR track and shows at least two of producer Peter van Hoesen’s biggest talents. On the one hand he is known for his ability to combine the best of many musical worlds and on the other hand he can reliably deliver what has been called “straight-up dancefloor jackin’ techno”. The treatment of the vocals is excellent, and in spite of the raw power of the track, it adds an almost mesmerizing vibe. The Berlin based sound designer from Brussels has definitely left a recognizable handwriting on this remarkable production.
Press Info:
This is the first single from Nitzer Ebb frontman Douglas J. McCarthy’s first solo album. Dark and dreamy, Sparse desert themed, Tech House. This is a truly unique recording from one of the greatest innovators of early modern electronic dance music.
Dark growling bass, real shuffling drums, spacey slide guitar, subtle simple synth parts underpin one of Douglas’ greatest vocal performances to date. An eerie sense of twilight magic spun together within one of Blakkat#s finest productions.
Remixes are courtesy of Reverse Commuter, also know as [a]pendics.shuffle & Kenneth J Gibson. This mix is a must for lovers of Indie Dance, it’s Primal Scream meets The Doors, the greatest Indie Dance record not to come from Madchester, huge live drums, scally House piano parts, groovy duck dunn b-lines, an absolute floor killer!
The Mono Electric Orchestra is the new project of the legendary producer/remixer Barry Jamieson. Barry has been making massive dance floor records since the late 80s. He was Sasha’s sideman on all his releases for the past 10 years, and has remixed everyone from Thom Yorke to Madoona. Theses remixes are a new frontier of Techno with vocals. We believe that time will tell the importance of these works. Both the vocal mix and the dub are built around a colossal swinging Techno groove peppered with wild drum FX, and soaring synth noises. The bass line from the original version builds into the track at the halfway point. The energy is relentless, the atmosphere is electric and both verrsions are powerful floor fillers of the highest order!
The debut album “Life Is Sucking The Life Out Of Me” is an enjoyable journey through the darker side of electronic dance music.
Nitzer Ebb founder/electronic music pioneer Douglas J McCarthy began writing his first ever solo album in 2010 during an European DJ tour with his wife, video artist Hazel Hiull McCarthy III.
McCarthy and world renowned producer/former M People singer Mark Bell – lauded for his work with such acts as Doc Martin and Felix Da Housecat – recorded the album in Los Angeles over a year that found McCarthy performing 150 shows with Nitzer Ebb, caring for his father in England, and travelling across India by train.
Throughout his worldwide travels, McCarthy wrote “Life Is Sucking The Life Out Of Me” using NAtive Instruments’ Maschine – returning to LA reguarly to work with Bell, who produced and mixed the record. Recalling Cabaret Voltaire, Heroes era Bowie and Kraftwerk, this recird devilishly blends industrial and experimental sounds with heavy dance floor beats and pop melodies.
For the first time, McCarthy is releasing a record through Beatport, the Denver-based leader in electronic music downloads. Beatport provides electronic music practitioners and fans alike with an unprecedented quality and breadth of artists, filling the gap left by record labels unable to appease the discerning electronic music buying public.
Revolutionary in its conception, execution and distribution, “Life Is Sucking The Life Out Of Me” truly exploits the opportunity a debut album provides for an artist to create new rules of engagement.
Tracklist:
01-01 Promises
01-02 Once You Say
01-03 Never Known
01-04 Going Away
01-05 Hit You Back
01-06 Payroll
01-07 Down On Your Knees
01-08 I Don’t Know You
01-09 My Door Is Open
01-10 I Am Undone
01-11 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
01-12 Traveling
02-01 I Am Undone (Alan Wilder Remix)
02-02 I Am Undone (Christopher Kah Remix)
02-03 My Door Is Open (Terence Fixmer Remix)
02-04 Once You Say (Tom Furse Remix)
02-05 Once You Say (Celluloide Mix)
02-06 Once You Say (Orphee-Eeproh Remix)
02-07 Once You Say (People Theatre Remix)
02-08 Once You Say (Collapsed System Mix)
02-09 Once You Say (Suessenborn Sinessence Mix)
Info :
Initially formed in Chelmsford, Essex by school friends Douglas McCarthy [lead vocals, guitar], Vaughn ‘Bon’ Harris [vocals, percussion, guitar] and David Gooday [percussion] in the mid 1980’s, Nitzer Ebb were influenced by the harder sounds of the early electro pop scene, but also distilled elements from several other genres until they had created their own identifiable sound characterised by powerful rhythms, minimal sequencer bass and hooklines and fierce, chanted vocals.
The trio caught the attention of PWL producer Phil Harding, who not only produced their 1985 debut single Isn’t It Funny How Your Body Works?, but also helped them set up their own label, Power Of Voice Communications, on which to release it. Their impassioned techno rage was captured perfectly on three further singles: Warsaw Ghetto (1985), Warsaw Ghetto Remixes (1986) and Let Your Body Learn (1986), which raised their profile to the extent that in mainland Europe they were soon regarded as leading exponents of the new Hard Beat or Electronic Body Music (EBM) scene.
Signing to Mute Records (the UK’s biggest electronic record label) in late 1986, they released the brutal beats of Murderous (1986) and international funk aggression of Let Your Body Learn (1987) as the opening salvoes in what would prove to be a long-term relationship with the company. The latter single was a smash hit in the clubs of New York, while their next release Join In The Chant (1987) was an early hit on the nascent UK acid house scene. Their subsequent debut album That Total Age (1987) neatly encapsulated the essence of the band, combining irresistible rhythms with controlled anger and energy to create a classic slice of hard-edged proto-Balearic techno. It became for many fans the definitive example of the Nitzer Ebb sound.
This infectious mix attracted the attention of fellow Essex lads and label mates Depeche Mode, who invited the group to accompany them on the European leg of a highly successful world tour, exposing them to large – and appreciative – live audiences. Returning to the studio after the tour, they completed their next album Belief (1989) as a duo following the departure of David Gooday, while Mark ‘Flood’ Ellis became their new producer and steered McCarthy and Harris towards a more refined sound. With their own world tour now in the pipeline, they recruited Julian Beeston to assist them and he soon became a regular contributor both on and off stage.
The third Nitzer Ebb album Showtime (1990) revealed a less confrontational sound and an accessibility that appealed particularly to audiences in the US. The single Fun To Be Had (1990) even received a groovy remix by the grandfather of funk George Clinton and reached no. 2 on the US dance chart. For their fourth album, Ebbhead (1991), they showcased a more considered, orchestrated songwriting style that still threw in plenty of hard industrial beats and raw guitar samples. Promoting the album with a global tour that took them from the southern US to northern Siberia, they were beginning to enjoy the fruits of their truly international appeal.
However, by the time of their fifth album Big Hit (1995), Nitzer Ebb had been through a major metamorphosis. Gone was the techno rage of yore, and in its place was a greater use of ‘real’ instruments, especially guitars and drums. The new songs were also more complex, dividing their fan base into those who simply wanted them to go on making Electronic Body Music and those who supported their desire to develop. McCarthy and Harris recruited a new third member, Jason Payne [percussion], to their main line-up, and also brought in John Napier [guitar, percussion] to assist with live performances.
Big Hit seemed to be the final release by the band, with all concerned beginning to concentrate on various solo and side projects, a practice McCarthy, Harris and Beeston had actually started in 1989 when collaborating with the German group Die Krupps. McCarthy has subsequently been a regular collaborator with both Alan Wilder (formerly of Depeche Mode) on his Recoil project and French electronic producer Terence Fixmer as Fixmer/McCarthy, while Bon Harris relocated to Los Angeles and worked as 13mg and as a member of Maven.
However, the turn of the millennium saw the likes of respected DJ/musicians such as Richie Hawtin, Derrick May and LFO’s Mark Bell pay tribute to Nitzer Ebb by remixing some of their classic tracks for a series of 12” releases on NovaMute, while 2006 saw Mute honour their enduring influence with a CD/DVD retrospective entitled Body of Work. This coincided with the group starting to play live again, since when they have graced many festival stages, toured in their own right and recorded new songs.
Finally, almost 15 years after the release of their last studio album, Nitzer Ebb are releasing the fruits of these recent recording sessions as their brand new album, Industrial Complex, on the German label Major Records. A comeback after such a long hiatus is difficult for any act, with the inherent danger of sounding either dated if it veers too close to past glories, or irrelevant if new recordings are too different to previous releases, no matter how good the material may be. However, with Industrial Complex Nitzer Ebb have expertly mastered the challenge and delivered a piece of work that sounds fresh and modern but without denying their past. Musically and vocally diverse but without being uneven, they focus on the essence of each track (something they’ve always been particularly good at) and thus Industrial Complex works perfectly on the dance floor and at home on headphones. The album features several songs that have become staples of the band’s live set since its reformation, including the irresistibly energetic Once You Say (which features Depeche Mode songwriter Martin Gore on backing vocals) and marching rhythms of Payroll, while the dark, brooding Never Known has featured in the soundtrack to Saw IV.
