Coming out on October 16, 2007, ” Oblivion With Bells ” marks the first regular Underworld CD release since 2002’s “A Hundred Days Off.” But it isn’t that the band went on a five year hiatus, as they have been extremely busy with internet and film projects. We were able to get member Karl Hyde on the phone for a short interview, where he talked about the online releases, film scoring, and more.
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Fusing together various styles of dance music, Purity manages to create a slick, high-energy electronic sound that also has the raw intensity of rock music. Their sound represents what pop music SHOULD be like: ultra-catchy, yet with a strong edge to it. The group originally signed to Tommy Boy Records in 1997 and opened for Depeche Mode on their 1998 European tour. After being away from the project for many years, Jill Stark and Florence Briggs are BACK with new Purity music. They have a single out, “Liberation (so alive)/Driving Me Insane,” as well as an album’s worth of material written. In an email interview, Jill told us more about the return of Purity.

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The Young Gods have returned with a new cd, “Super Ready/Fragmenté” and recently did a special acoustic show at the Swiss Institute in New York. Since sampling and sound manipulation are such a big part of the Young Gods style, the idea of them performing on acoustic instruments may seem surprising. But it really does come across well. Prior to the performance, I interviewed frontman Franz Treichler and he had this to say about playing without electronics.

“We started doing these last November, for very special occasions,” he says. “Like when a book came out about the Young Gods, for the release of that we did an acoustic show for the very first time. It turned out really well, so we thought we’d keep on doing a few of those shows. We did only Switzerland, not that many shows, maybe 20 or so. Once in a while, people ask us to do something different than the in-your-face wall of electric guitars and samples. It’s something that we discovered we appreciate while doing it, so that’s also why we’re going to carry on doing it when possible. We’re probably going to do a recording on this, either live or in the studio. It made us aware that some of the Young Gods music can be interpreted very differently, and it works.. It’s great. And as a singer, it’s great because it leaves me more room.”

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Ror-Shak began as an experiment by DJ DB and DJ/producer Stakka (Shaun Morris), two veterans of the electronic dance music scene who decided to create a track of their own together. Though it was DB’s first experience working in the studio on original music, the collaboration proved a success, resulting in the highly acclaimed single “Groupies” (Breakbeat Science). The duo continued to work together and has now released a full album, “Deep”.

“It’s really anything goes,” says Stakka on the collaborative process. “We’ve both got different backgrounds and listen to a widely varied sort of music. So the influences come in just playing around in the studio. Drum & Bass has been part of both our backgrounds for the past 10 years, so we normally start with drum & bass or something that is down-tempo and then go from there”

Ror-Shak enlisted a variety of guest musicians and vocalists for “Deep,” many of whom they knew or had contact with before. Singer Julie Cruise is an interesting case.

“We actually started out by sampling her,” explains Stakka. “Through finding out who it was and and getting permission to use it, she ended up appearing on four of the tracks on the album.”

We did a phone interview with Ror-Shak, but unfortunately equipment problems made the tape very difficult to transcribe. Stakka was kind enough to answer some follow-up questions by email.

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