Blatant Propaganda CD:

::: Various= "A.S.I.N.G.E.D." (2002) BPCD015

Australian Synthpop Industrial Noise Gothic Electronica Darkwave

CD cover image

The purpose of this CD was to raise public awareness about some of the great music that's being made around Australia. For many years (via my radio shows) I'd received CDs and demos from bands and artists that aren't being heard beyond a few colleagues and the audiences of my radio shows and the few others around the country like it.

With this compilation CD I sought to get the music into the hands of the public. I arranged launches at relevant nightclub events in the 8 major cities of Australia. At several of these events several of the bands performed. At each event around 70-100 CDs were given away to punters. Several hundred other CDs were sent to community radio stations around Australia. Several of these tracks were picked up by club DJs and became better known that way. The Australian government's national youth radio station, JJJ, selected TDM's track "Fast" to be on their daily rotational list and was played daily for several months.

In all it was a huge project and took up most of my spare time over about 18 months. I'm very glad I did this project but I must say, for anyone thinking of doing something similar, it exhausted me! Regards, J. Citizen. PS - There are some more notes below.

TRACK-LIST:

1/. TDM = Fast 3:18 Alternative-Electronic
2/. EYE (+ Lady Hannah Cadaver) = Kadoish (x3) Adonais Tseybeyoth (club mix) 5:30 Industrial-Dance
3/. Tankt = Flip 'em Out 3:17 Electro-Industrial
4/. ELF = ((C.I.A.) Hypno-Programmed) Robot Assassin 4:12 Electronica
5/. Devour Ensemble = Frozen Forests (edit) 5:00 Dark-pop
6/. Jekyll Switch = Circles & Lines 3:56 Industrial Rock
7/. VNB = Violent New Breed 3:50 Heavy Beat
8/. Sobriquet = Not Everything I Believe is True 4:46 Tek-electro
9/. Zeitgeist = Tormentum (Darke Remix) 5:57 Darkwave
10/. Graycode = We Have the Technology 4:39 Elektro-Hardhouse
11/. Storm & Serenity = The Outer Edge of the Spiral (radio edit) 3:19 Gothic Industrial
12/. Surgery 7 = Darkness 4:20 Industrial
13/. Lux Voltaire = Doll Museum 4:00 Darkwave Glam
14/. SysX = Boomstik (radio edit) 3:20 Power Noise
15/. Up Syndrome = Synaesthetics 2:42 Electro-Industrial
16/. Scream Age = War (Violence-Dance remix) 3:09 Industrial Rock
17/. Dark Violence of Beauty = Ghostrider's (in the Sky) 2:35 Gothabilly
18/. EYE = Slogans for Consumer Youth (part 1) 4:40 Electro-Industrial
19/. DJ Citizen = One of Those Days 3:48 Power Noise Glitchcore

Album liner notes: A showcase of the depth and diversity of contemporary talent in these related genres. A sign of a new level of community, organisation and networking by these grass-roots artists; to break through the ignorance traditionally shown by the Australian music industry and music press towards Australian makers of these types of music.

In the 1970s ,'80s & '90s Australian artists were at the forefront of developing these genres (eg. SPK, Severed Heads, Foetus, Snog, Dead Can Dance, Death in June, No etc.) In the '00s Australian artists are at the forefront of taking them in new and fresh directions. This CD is one part of the new effort to get the recognition these artists rightly deserve. All over Australia S.I.N.G.E.D. music makers are increasingly coming together to organise gigs, get press coverage and increase radio airplay.

This CD was partly funded by Blatant Propaganda, partly by the artists chosen for inclusion and partly by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia's AMRAP programme, care-of Community Radio 2XX 98.3FM Canberra.

PRICE:

SOLD OUT, sorry!

REVIEWS:

Kosta in Goth Nation (later known as FIEND) magazine, Oct 2002, Melbourne: "... A truly magnificent compilation... an extraordinary array of Australian talent... if you only buy one CD this year, make sure it is "A.S.I.N.G.E.D." ... you will be discovering a treasure chest..."

Craig Wright, of Heresy (& Vedette) nightclub, Melbourne: "I can not believe how good this cd is. I am personally hopeless when it comes to buying music. The irony is that now I have found a cd I must have and already have it. Love your work."

Guy Lomas of the Primary Darkwave Collective web-site, Brisbane: "Now what can I say about this CD? How about great! Excellent! Bloody fabbo! I loved this CD from start to finish. The crew at Blatant Propaganda did a job worthy of much kudo's... Truly this is a CD you MUST have! (I've got mine)."

DJ NME, Ex Inferus Radio show 2SER 107.3FM Sydney : "We received the CDs and I enjoyed them greatly... I have been approached by Aether Sanctum to review ASINGED and will be pleased to give it a "two thumbs up" rating...

Andrew Mee, Primary Collective webmaster, Brisbane: "...my first impression is that it's the best Australian compilation I've heard... :) ..."

Sebastian, who missed the free give-away night and bought the CD, Canberra: "... Congrats on putting together the A.S.I.N.G.E.D. CD compilation! It's awesome hearing Australian Acts producing such Brilliant music, truly a professional job. Its getting #1 airplay in the car and headphones (work didn't appreciate it on the stereo), and equal #1 spot at home with SNOG and kraftwerk... I hope promotions with A.S.I.N.G.E.D. and other blatant propaganda stuff proves successful nationally..."

Gordon Taylor, Infectious Unease Radio show, 3INR Melbourne, who has played lots of tracks on his show: "... I'm really enjoying the music..."

Roberto Massaglia, designer of the CD artwork, Melbourne: "... I've been listening to the ASINGED CDquite a lot, and I have to say that there's no boring track on it, they are all very good!"

From www.vibewire.net, 2002, music journalist Evil Chris wrote:

"Underground electronic producer and social agitator J. Citizen makes an extremely potent point early on in his sleevenotes for A.S.I.N.G.E.D. "Many don't realise Australians played a disproportionately large role in the origins of (Industrial / Darkwave) genres in the late 70s and early 80s... Due to our geographic isolation from the markets of Europe & the USA and the lack of local support, it's almost impossible to survive as an Australian artist making non-mainstream music."

Luckily, that's exactly where this 19-track compilation of independent Australian artist / producers steps in. . . A.S.I.N.G.E.D. brings together a broad range of styles while maintaining a sinister edge. Serving as an acronym for 'Australian Synthpop Industrial Noise Gothic Electronica Darkwave', A.S.I.N.G.E.D. aims to showcase some of the best homegrown artists working with darker electronic textures in a variety of settings.

Melbourne outfit TDM kick off proceedings with the retro-analogue riffs of 'Fast', which melds distorted Tubeway-army Moogs and guitars, with a sneering, yet detached look at the constant human need to rush. EYE and Lady Hannah Cadaver bring on the evil house with 'Kadoish', layering phased ethereal diva vocals over dark jacking beats and synths, while Tankt build a wall of thick electro stomp on 'Flip 'Em Out' that suddenly doubles tempo, kicking into serious pogo action.

After Canberra-based techno-anarchist / pranksters ELF drop in a dash of humor with the cut and paste sample frenzy of 'C.I.A. Hypno-Programmed Robot Assassin', Devour Ensemble change the pace completely with their contribution, 'Frozen Forests'. Blending choral 'This Mortal Coil' style vocals with wandering brush drums and lilting violin, 'Frozen Forests' starts off as one of the most quiet tracks amongst this collection, but ends up exploding into overdriven fury before its departure. Occasional Clan Analogue member Sobriquet, layers acid synth lines and uplifting house beats on 'Not Everything I Believe Is True', while SysX takes the Bruce Campbell sample from Army of Darkness straight into hard house hell on the relentless and hammering 'Boomstik'. And then, just when you least expect it, Gothabilly outfit Dark Violence of Beauty bring on the weathered storm of 'Ghostriders (In The Sky)'. Yes, you read that right Gothabilly. Blending military-style drum fills with reverb-heavy country vocals and squealing electric guitar, on first listen 'Ghostriders' reminded me of Highwayman-era Johnny Cash (who I guess was the original 'man in black', after all).

More than anything else, A.S.I.N.G.E.D. provides compelling evidence of the sheer diversity and standard of darker electronic music currently being produced throughout Australia..."