Leisur Hive [UK]

LEISUR HIVE were formed by Daniel Knowler and Maria Vellanz after a chance meeting 13 years after they first met as children.

With Maria's punk-spirited enthusiasm and Dan's background in Suicide-esque rock band Proton Wedding, they began Leisur Hive as an attempt to fuse angular, percussive forms with intense, emotional and visceral songwriting.

The line-up was solidified with the addition of longtime friend and collaborator Mark Bishop and drummer Robert Allen (of Australian noise duo Halo )

Their close-to-the-bone, emotional performances, echoing distorted soundscapes and throbbing, thunderous basslines have ensured that Leisur Hive remain solely focused on their own wayward path.

LEISUR HIVE's new album "THE SOFT COLUMN" was described as "Stirring, stately and throbbing with a warm grey heart, this new full length album brings to fruition the off-kilter sound of LH's live performances. ""like a hybrid between Swans and Nick Cave".

http://www.leisur-hive.co.uk/

http://www.myspace.com/leisurhive

De Volanges [Bel]

Black romantism and psychedelic tension. De Volanges defines itself as a rock band strongly but not exclusively influenced by 80's underground rock: Joy Division, the Chameleons, Bauhaus, And Also the Trees but The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Cranes, Interpol, Editors and much of others have always counted and still do amongst their principal references. From 1990 to 1997, de Volanges has played a hundred gigs, includind opening acts for Sttellla, Dripping lips (Brian James), The Passengers, Peter Jefferies, Into the Abyss, Corpus Delicti, The Breath of Life, The Venus Fly Trap, ... During this period, about fifteen tracks have been recorded on different studio sessions, which have been used as demos, promotion and compilations in Belgium and abroad; a mini-LP, "First Paradox", has been released on a tape, in Poland by Black Flames Production, an independant label based in Poznan, but no real album came to light. Between February 1996 and May 1997, the band played in Poland three times, in Malbork, Legniça, Warsaw, Grodzieç (Castle Festival 1996), Szczecin and Katowice. In May 1996, de Volanges opened for Rosetta Stone in Camden Underworld (London). On July 12th, 1997 the last concert of this line-up stands on the main stage of Dour Music Festival (opening for Breath of Life, Das Ich, La Muerte, Sisters of Mercy); de Volanges splits and each one is occupied by his own personal musical projects. Early 2002: Yvan, Renaud and Enrico reform the band after a 4 years separation. A brand new musical repertory is created, cold-rock-alternative directed, leaving beside the dark wave references they had in the past. The band focuses its activities in Brussels and is joined by percussionist Priscillia.

April 2003: a 3-titles self produced CD is recorded, "Caresses Draw Maps". December 2005: de Volanges enter in studio. A nine tracks album is recorded and mixed in a few days by Renzo Gotto, called :"SDSS J090745.0+24507 (the Outcast)". March 2006: Str8line signs the group and produced this firts album, released in may.

http://www.myspace.com/devolanges

http://www.str8linerecords.com/devolangesuk.html

Deafear [Ita]

Deafear are an Italian Dark/New Wave band circa 1983, featuring Max Casacci and Lux Colarelli. Casacci's later band Subsonic appears to be active still. It bears some similarities to the Chameleons.

Discography:

1983 Demo

1983 Stair EP

1984 The Waiting Ep

There's few hint for the history of this band and even no trial for their songs.

Here's the dl link for their 1983 demo I find from deathrock forum:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8EFW7H7G

De Brassers [Bel]

De Brassers - Gesprokkeld en bespoten (Compilation 2008)

Joy Division-like post-punk band out of Hamont, a little village in the north of Limburg. Started out at the end of the 70’s, inspired by early British punk bands like The Clash and The Damned. Short-lived but not forgotten. Their self-released single ‘En Toen Was Er Niets Meer’ (1981) is considered a true Belgian cult classic.

After sporadic reunion gigs throughout the years, De Brassers are a working unit again as of 1998. In 2005 they even released a 5-song EP with new material. A compilation album surfaced three years later.

http://www.myspace.com/debrassers

The Bureau [US]

The Bureau - We Make Plans in Secret (2007)

A dark, danceable quartet with roots in '80s mope-rock and sleek neo-post-punk. Slinky basslines work well in tandem with its synth parts, just like Duran Duran's best, critically underrated work. Plus, the band's impeccable hairstyles.

"It's easy to think of the Bureau as a throwback to darkly melodic new-wave bands of yore. The group's professed love of Duran Duran only reinforces this idea. In truth, the Bureau takes moody, synth-based rock & roll and infuses it with a heavy dose of sharp-cornered post-punk and austere robo-rhythms. We Make Plans in Secret delivers on the promise of the band's debut EP by framing Mike Cracchiolo's expressive, octave-spanning vocals with retro keyboard bleeps and lush synth pads, while the rhythm section maintains a propulsive, carbon-based energy."-Christian Schaeffer, Riverfront Times (reviewing The Bureau CDLP "We Make Plans in Secret)

http://www.myspace.com/thebureau

SafeAsHome [UK]

SafeAsHome - Not What Happens 2008

Not What Happens is SafeAsHome's first full-length album. Composed of 11 tracks, it plays like a flow of disconnected memories, a random series of photo slides projected through the distortionary lens of long-lost childhoods or uncertain futures. From raging guitar epics to delicate, fleeting moments of introspective electronics, it is an album of fertile contradictions.

Pop-song structure persistently competes with gritty texture. Soaring melodies are overwhelmed and lost in phases of intense sonic density. Suspended synth and vocal lines are set against grinding riffs and noise, in bittersweet moments of dream versus reality.

Not What Happens is the difficulty in expressing anything more than the Unimportant. It is sudden starts and abrupt endings. It is haunted by the uneasy comfort of nostalgia, and by the frustration with what remains unresolved. It is the derelict spaces of disappointment through expectancy, of loss via pursuit.

The album itself is graced with the stunning, sprawling artwork of Roberto Calbucci, the depth and substance of which mirrors the sound's myriad of layers. Both seem to be questioning the extent to which detail is not what is concealed, but is what draws away from the greater picture, itself hiding in plain sight.

http://www.myspace.com/safeashome

Dreamtiger [US]

Dreamtiger - Glisten EP 2008

"Dreamtiger is a band better described through poetic devices than through comparisons. Their first EP entitled Glisten is an ambient creation swathed in reverb and within the first line, becomes the soundtrack to indie romance. "

"Even though there's a lot of similarity to the Cocteau Twins' floaty harmonies, the band doesn't give off one of those "We're tyring to be British" vibes. Still, it's not easy to find a local comparison. It's been a while since we got any shoegazer type music sent over here. So it's a pleasant surprise that this five-song EP is full of lush, atmospheric songs. There are pretty melodies and boy-girl harmonies making it easy to get lost into. But what's surprising is that as soft as the music appears on the surface, there's an undertone of toughness thanks to heavy guitars and strong vocals."

http://www.myspace.com/dreamtigermusic