This Friday will see the live debut of 32CRASH, a new project featuring Jean-Luc De Meyer (FRONT 242), Len Lemeire (IMPLANT) and Jan D’Hooghe (ex-VIVE LA FETE drummer). The group will be doing a short set as part of an Alfa Matrix festival in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. Also on the bill are DISKONNEKTED, MONOLITH, AYRIA (first Belgian concert!) and IMPLANT + DJ Stef (NEBULA-H) & DJ Dave (ex-Syndroom). All attendees will receive a free sampler CD featuring a 32CRASH track. According to their website, 32CRASH will be releasing their debut album next year. In the meantime, you can hear a few of their songs on myspace.

• Click here to for more info on the festival
• Click here to visit the 32CRASH myspace page..

In recent years, Clint Mansell has become well known (and respected) for his film soundtrack work. He has scored all of Darren Aronofsky’s films (the most recent being “The Fountain,” released last week) as well as such movies as “The Hole,” “Sahara” and “Doom.” We interviewed Clint back in 1994, when his musical focus was the band Pop Will Eat Itself. Active primarily between the mid 80’s and mid 90’s, PWEI had a sample-heavy sound that brought together elements of hip hop and noisy guitar pop. In 1995, the band reunited for a while, but early the following year it was announced that Mansell and guitarist/bassist Richard March were leaving in order to concentrate on their other projects. PWEI members Graham Crabb, Adam Mole and Fuzz Townshend went on to continue working together in a new band, Vileevils.

This interview was done to coinciding with the release of the “Dos Dedos Mis Amigos,” the final official PWEI album.

• Click here to read the interview
• Click here to visit the Vileevils myspace page
• Click here to visit the Official Pop Will Eat Itself site (also containing info on related projects).

A few months back, we reported about a new project featuring members of KMFDM and Dean Garcia of Curve. The band is called KGC, and they have now set a release date of December 14th for their debut CD, “Dirty Bomb.” It is available exclusively through the KMFDM store, and the first 250 people who pre-order it will receive a FREE 11×17 limited edition poster.

• Click here to for more info on KGC
• Click here to visit the KMFDM store.

During a recent visit to Argentina, New Order’s Peter Hook and Stephen Morris spoke to Buenos Aires-based paper Página/12 about the future of the band. New Order Online is currently running excerpts from the interviews, where Morris says it feels like they are “the old guys of the neighbourhood” and both members state that it might be time for a break. Hook also talks about his unhappiness with the way things are going doing music for Anton Corbijn’s Joy Division film “Closer” (”the problem is that he´s telling us what to do and if we don´t tell him how to direct, why is he telling us how to make music?) and mentions his new project, Freebass. Also featuring Gary Mournfield of Primal Scream/Stone Roses and Andy Rourke of The Smiths, Freebase brings together three of Manchester’s best known bass players together in one band!

• Read the full article here

Boston’s Freezepop have a new song, “Less Talk More Rokk,” in the recently released video game “Guitar Hero II.” They’ve put out a limited edition CD single that pairs the track with “Get Ready 2 Rokk,” their contribution to the original “Guitar Hero” game. For info on ordering the disc, check out the official Freezepop website at freezepop.com.

In January, Marc Almond will be releasing a new CD comprised primarily of his favorite cover songs. According to his official myspace page, the album will either be called “My Life” or “Stardom Road.” Marc has also been working on new material for what he says is his “last ever album of original songs.” That release, “Dining With Panthers” won’t be out until 2008, but you can currently hear demos on the myspace page. Also in the pipeline is “All The A’s,” a DVD collection featuring videos of his singles along with rare audio tracks. For those unfamiliar with Marc Almond, he started out as singer for Soft Cell (”Tainted Love”) and has gone on to release many great solo albums. I interviewed him back in 1999.

• Marc Almond myspace page
• Marc Almond official site
• Marc Almond interviewed by Chaos Control