On a regular basis, I am asking bands/artists who I admire to suggest musical acts THEY like. For this installment, I checked in with Mark Moore of the legendary dance act S’Express.

Mark recommended Ping Pong Bitches ( Click here to visit their website)

“When I first saw the Ping Pong Bitches I fell In love. I thought this is how the Shangri-Las would sound if they were brought up on a diet of Acid House and The Ramones”

It’s a fitting description, as Ping Pong Bitches manage to bring the raw energy of garage rock and acid house into highly catchy pop songs. Mark ended up signing the group to his label, Umami Records, and Ping Pong Bitches have just released a new album, “ALPHA DOG.” They are doing live shows throughout April to support the release - check out their website for details (and be sure to listen to their great cover of Soft Cell’s “Bedsitter.”)

For more info on Mark Moore and his various projects, check out his myspace page.

According to Amazon.com, Howard Devoto’s “Jerky Versions Of The Dream” will FINALLY get a CD re-issue on March 8, 2007. Originally released in 1983, “Jerky Versions Of The Dream” is the first and only solo album from the former Buzzcocks and Magazine vocalist. Those who don’t remember it by name may recall the single/video “Rainy Season” (’I am on fire, and it’s the rainy season….’). Later in the 80’s, Devoto put out 2 albums as part of the band Luxuria before leaving the music industry to work at a photographer’s agency. He returned in 2001, collaborating with Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks as ShelleyDevoto. When it comes to post-punk British music, “Jerky Versions Of The Dream” has been very much a lost gem, difficult to find outside of the occasional appearance on eBay. It has long been a favorite of mine, so I’m looking forward to finally replacing my old cassette copy!

UPDATE (4/22/07): Amazon just cancelled the order, saying that the item is unavailable! At this point, I’m not sure if the re-release actually happened/will happen. But I will investigate and post any updates I find.

Throbbing Gristle are back with “PART TWO - The Endless Not,” their first new studio album in 25 years. Each disc of the initial pressing will contain one of four different TG Totemic Gifts, which were handmade in Thailand under member Peter Christopherson’s personal supervision. There will also be a double vinyl edition.

The group has announced a series of live dates to coincide with the release:

Apr 30 DONAU FESTIVAL, Vienna, Austria.
May 27 TATE MODERN London. UK.
Jun 1 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, London. UK
Jun 2 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, London. UK
Jun 3 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, London. UK
Jun 7 BIOS FESTIVAL, Athens. (tbc)
Jun 9 FASTERTHANSOUND, UK.
Jun 10 VENICE BIENNALE, Venice. (tbc)
Oct 6 EMILIA OPERA HOUSE Bologna, Italy. (tbc)
Oct 13 FREIZE ART FAIR London. UK

For more info, check out the official Throbbing Gristle website. A music sample from “PART TWO - The Endless Not” has been posted on the Throbbing Gristle MySpace page.

Back in 1996, Chaos Control profiled Babyfox, a UK-based trio with a dub-influenced electronic sound. Over the years, their 2 CDs have stood the test of time and remained favorites, but the group itself disappeared from view in the new millennium. So I was very happy to get an email from member Alex Gray saying that Babyfox are BACK with a website and new music available for download.

The following is the first part of a new email interview with Gray:

Why has it been so long since we’ve heard from Babyfox? What made you decided that the time was right to return with new music?

We left Roadrunner Records back in ‘99. Usual story - original A&R guy had left (went on to manage Death in Vegas and Electralane) and the vision from the company side was gone. We got involved in writing some film soundtracks and recording new songs. We were really pleased with the new direction. Then we changed management, but although Maverick nearly went for it nothing happened. So by about 2000/2001 we kinda stopped being a band -though since we had been mates for so long the friendship remained intact. Dwight actually went off to do a fine art masters and then promptly won inclusion in Bloomberg New Contemporaries - an important platform for new emerging art. Christine was doing her own thing (Alf - bluesy twisted collaborative effort with various friends - now 3 albums in) and I started a new project that became NAGRA (album coming out later this year on a German label called www.mole.de) Since we had started collaborating again under the auspices of a Dwight art piece it made sense to see what might reveal itself if we started writing songs together again. Dwight turned up to my studio (in an ex-chocolate factory in North London) with an old doowop track about getting married. Typical start point. Fantastically inspired tangent from Dwight and me and Chris start jumping up and down(more figuratively at first) and running with the baton. Another evening Francois Hardy became our muse and we came up with a thing that became the track “E.M.O.T.I.O.N”

• Visit the Babyfox website
• Read our 1996 interview