The Neon Judgement | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | Leuven, Belgium |
Genres | |
Years active | 1981–2015 |
Labels |
|
Members |
|
Website | www |
The Neon Judgement is a Belgian new wave band, formed in Leuven in 1981 by Dirk Da Davo (born Dirk Timmermans, keyboards/vocalist) and TB Frank (born Frank Vloeberghs, guitarist/vocalist). They have often been cited, alongside fellow Belgian band Front 242, as the pioneers of electronic body music (EBM), [1] an electronic dance genre from the early 1980s combining industrial and electro music.
Dirk Timmermans (aka Dirk Da Davo) and Frank Vloeberghs (aka TB Frank) combined minimalist industrial drones and new wave synthpop and dance music, with cold, mechanical rhythms. Their early work was aggressive, danceable and dominated by synthesizers and drum-machines. Later in their career, their work featured prominent guitars. Their early influences included The Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd. [2]
The band self-released a pair of cassettes before landing their first single, 1982's "Factory Walk." [2] Most of their subsequent output was on the Belgian Play It Again Sam label, beginning with 1986's Mafu Cage. Their first American release came in 1987, with the sex-themed concept album, Horny As Hell [3] which included the well-received dance track, "Miss Brown. [2] Subsequent recordings included Blood and Thunder (1989), The Insult (1990), and Are You Real (1992). The duo took a three-year hiatus in 1992, returning in 1995 with At Devil's Fork, an LP recorded with percussionist Ben Forceville entirely in a wooded area.
The band stopped performing in 1998, but reformed in 2004 and started performing live again to promote a series of remixes and re-releases of their material. The touring continued into 2006, with the band stating on their website that "Live, The Neon Judgement will continue to give art terrorism a good name, finding new ways of marrying noise and beauty, machines and magic".
Timmermans is also part of the side project Neon Electronics, for which he started his own record label Dancedelic-D and he both reworks old classics and composes new material.
In November 2005, the Neon Judgement played at the Machina Festival at the Broadway Club in São Paulo, Brazil. The festival celebrated the first eight years of the site FiberOnline and the launch of the label Fiber Records. Fiber Records released the DVD The Neon Judgement – Live at Machina Festival in 2005 featuring the whole concert of 13 songs. [4]
In 2007, the band released the compilation album Redbox. [5] The release followed the 100% vintage 2 CD Box released in October 2005. Redbox mainly contains the band's work during the second half of the 1980s. The album also features remixes from acts such as David Carretta, Blackstrobe, Lifelike, and Helmut Kraft. Redbox also contains a new cover version of "Heroes" by David Bowie.
The band released another album, Smack, in 2009.
Psyche are a Canadian dark synth-pop band, now based in Germany. They are centered on singer Darrin Huss, who has been the only constant member, with various line-ups including his brother Stephen Huss, later followed by David Kristian, Per-Anders Kurenbach, and Remi Szyszka, all recording albums with Darrin under the name Psyche.
Telex was a Belgian synth-pop group formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers, with the intention of "making something really European, different from rock, without guitar—and the idea was electronic music".
Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they are a profound influence on the electronic and industrial music genres.
Bananarama are a British-Irish girl group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world's highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 30 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
Erasure are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member of synth-pop duo Yazoo. From their fourth single, "Sometimes" (1986), Erasure established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful acts of the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, the pair achieved 24 consecutive top-40 entries in the UK singles chart. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK top 40, including 17 climbing into the top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.
Hocico is a Mexican electro-industrial duo that was formed in 1993 in Mexico City.
Dive is a Belgian electronic body music project formed in 1990 by Dirk Ivens. Dive's "audio trademark" is the experimental sound of abused drum machines, pulsating through crackling distortion on almost every song.
Neuroactive is a Synthpop, Futurepop, EBM music group from Finland founded by Jarkko Tuohimaa, Ville Brusi, and Vesa Rainne.
Project Pitchfork are a German dark wave and electronic music group from Hamburg, Germany.
Das Ich is a German dark wave/gothic-industrial band formed in 1989. The group, fronted by Stefan Ackermann and Bruno Kramm, were one of the prominent founders of and contributors to "Neue Deutsche Todeskunst" a musical movement in the early 1990s. The band is known for having a classically-inspired gothic-industrial style, for their on-stage theatrics, and their almost exclusive use of German-language lyrics. The German term Das Ich makes reference to the Freudian concept James Strachey translated as "ego".
Christian Jay "C. J." Bolland is an English-Belgian electronic music producer and remixer with British roots.
Shitdisco were a dance-punk band from Glasgow, Scotland. They formed in 2003 while studying at the Glasgow School of Art, consisting of Joel Stone, Joe Reeves, Jan Lee and Darren Cullen (drums). The band's first single "Disco Blood"/"I Know Kung Fu" was released in December 2005. Signed to record label Fierce Panda, their debut album Kingdom of Fear was released on 16 April 2007.
God Module is an American dark electronic band founded in 1999 from Orlando, Florida. Since 2006 they have been based out of Washington state. God Module is currently signed to Metropolis Records.
Total Terror is the second of two self-released cassette tapes by industrial music band Front Line Assembly. At this point, Bill Leeb was the band's only dedicated member, with some help from Rhys Fulber.
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and vocalist Keith Flint, dancer and occasional live keyboardist Leeroy Thornhill, dancer Sharky, and MC and vocalist Maxim. They are pioneers of the breakbeat-influenced genre big beat, and describe their style as electronic punk.
Neon Indian is an American electronic music band from Denton, Texas. The music is composed by Mexican-born Alan Palomo, who is also part of the band Ghosthustler and releases solo music under his birth name and the stage name VEGA. The project has been characterized as defining the 2010s music genre chillwave.
Neon Trees is an American rock band from Provo, Utah. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records. Their first single, "Animal", climbed to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart.
Signal Aout 42, also known as SA42, is a Belgian electronic music band. Initially active in the 1980s, Signal Aout 42 became known for producing music in the EBM and industrial styles of electronic music, but into and through the 1990s also incorporated techno, acid, and trance styles. After a decade-long hiatus, the band became active again in the late 2000s.
Cyanotic is a Chicago-based industrial rock collective fronted by Sean Payne that formed in 2002 and released its first full-length album in 2005. Cyanotic is known for its genre-blending work, which fuses traditional industrial beats and vocals with drum n bass, sampling and heavy metal to create a hard, aggressive sound. The band's lyrics contain many tongue-in-cheek references to transhumanism.
The Neon is the eighteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released on 21 August 2020 by Mute Records. The album debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart with 8,394 copies sold in its first week.