OMG! It's 9:30 AM And I'm Listening To Front 242!

Then I might play the Mozzer mix-tape I made years ago. Track-listing: everyday is like sunday/sister i'm a poet/disappointed/will never marry/ouija board ouija board/yes, i am blind (my favorite morrissey song of all-time)/east west/interesting drug/such a little thing.../november spawned a monster/he knows i'd love to see him/girl least likely to/sing your life/that's entertainment/the loop/pregnant for the last time/skinstorm (skinstorm being the last b-side when i made the tape)

We are the nation, WE ARE CONTROL.

yes, i am blind (my favorite morrissey song of all-time)

Little Scott
On a hill...

(Still, can't complain, it's better than still having What Katie Did jammed in there, argh.)

xpost

I opted to not partake in any Morrissey this morning. It's too sunny outside. Instead I put on a good Current 93 mix tape that someone from the old Swans e-mail list was kind enough to tape me years ago. (Thanks, Bradley Bee!)

A friend in high school made me a mixtape containing two of their records that I used to play incessantly, back right after I'd gotten into NIN. No idea where the tape is now. Don't know whether or not I'd even want to hear it, because the friend who made the tape (and was also HUGE into Enigma and Lords Of Acid) killed himself senior year.

I just got the best (to me and probably no one else that i can think of) album of sad-boy light industrial new wave rock the other day and you'll never guess who put it out. Equal Vision. The punk label. I'm digging it. Some of it sounds like hurting-era TFF. The band has a horrible noo-metal name though: Codeseven. (Dancing Echoes/Dead Sounds is the album)

Dan correct about KMFDM though I have all the albums through Money (after that, nothing changes...ever). A good singles comp would work, though.

Track Listing:

Cadillacs - Hey Bob E Re Bob
Ron Moody & The Centaurs - The New Breed
Googie Rene - Look At Your Girl
Karen Kelly - Susie's Toys
The Sherrys - Pop Pop Pop-Pie
The Pipe Dream - Mrs.Brown's Limousine
Phil McLean - Small Sad Sam
The Electric Junkyard - L.David Sloane
Dave Clark Five - All Night Long
The Hollies - All The World Is Love
Cook E. Jarr - Red Balloon
Dolphin - Let's Get Together
Dyke & The Blazers - Shotgun Slim
Leslie Gore - Off & Running
Ben Peters - Downtown U.S.A.
Willie White - 99 Beef Steaks
The Continental Cousins - Dang Dang
Bill Dana - Teenage Problems
The Caravelli Orchestra - Wig Wam
Barrabas - Mr.Money
Flash & The Pan - Hey St.Peter
The Enoch Light Singers - Hello, I Love You
Ramos - Housebroken
Junior Mance - Maria
Mantronix - Scream
Buffy St.Marie - Cod'ine
Monie Love - I'll Drive You Crazy
Etoile De Dakar - Jalo

I don't know what possessed me to put Mantronix & Ramos on the tape. I musta been drunk. I don't even think I made this tape for maria even though there is one of those obligatory name-check songs on it. And Cod'ine is such a dusty warhorse. And you probably don't even have a tape-deck anymore. Anyway, lemme know.

Actually, I do. Send it along if you like! Thanks!

i went on a 242 downloading spree on the *gulp* gothic.industrial.mp3 newsgroup. someone posted more-or-less everything.

tho - seriously get the Geography 2xcd release. has allsorts of goodies on it - pre 242 tracks, odd versions and unreleased early tracks. it's fantastic.

they were fantastic live in 89. and can i get any takers for signed front by front and back catalogue cd's ? can i heck. best not mention the nitzer ebb...

Scott I haven't listened to Dewdrops In The Garden for ages, but I remember really liking it, especially after their disapointing 2nd album. I say open it!

Yes you do. Especially someone who has the original pressing with all the samples that were later removed. I wonder who that person could be.

oh, and stirmonster to thread

the words "blue" and "moon" spring to mind.

(xpost Title search + judicious use of quotes R UR friend, DB)

(I'm in Belgium, so I've just ordered a ticket for their 25th anniversary (a double show on March 3rd and 4th))

Alfa Matrix newsletter, yesterday:

Important news concerning FRONT 242 double gig Brussels !

On Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th March, Belgium's electronic music pioneers FRONT 242 will be celebrating the band's 25th anniversary with their fans and friends at the legendary Ancienne Belgique concert hall in Brussels - Belgium for two explosive sold-out nights...

To make the event even more special, the band's label ALFA MATRIX will be offering you CD's and DVD's from FRONT 242 (and related) at very special "anniversary" prices... Make sure you visit our merchandising stand at the Ancienne Belgique and receive on top one exclusive FREE 17-track CD compilation (until stocks are exhausted).

In related news, when visiting FRONT 242 during their rehearsals, we picked up rumours that the following songs will also be played during one or both nights: Until death us do part, Circling overland, Tragedy for you, Quite unusual, ...

See you all there to join the rhythm...

That's about it, I think.

I LIE.

And the visuals. I haven't mentioned the visuals yet. They were incredible. Unfortunately, I've only seen one big camera near the PA and nothing else, so I'm going to have to assume these two shows aren't going to be released on DVD. :-(

can any front 242 fans help me out? heard "headhunter v1.0" the other day for what might have been the first time, but I've heard chunks of it before - I can place the opening bit as sampled by dennis dj's "cerol na mao", but the bit which starts at around thirty seconds in - where have I heard that before? kraftwerk? miami bass? blackstrobe? the ingame music for the first command & conquer? argh!

-- etc (et...), August 31st, 2005

. . . wait, maybe I've gotten it the wrong way round - that pulsing keyboard bit's sampled by the avalanches on "flight tonight", isn't it?

01. first in, first out
02. body to body
03. no shuffle
04. don't crash
05. religion
06. welcome to paradise
07. commando remix
08. quite unusual
09. melt
10. circling overland
11. gripped by fear
12. loud
13. moldavia
14. (don't know this one) ("inspired by the freedom fight"? "I feel home again"?)
15. take one
16. headhunter
----
17. kampfbereit
18. punish your machine
----
19. soul manager
20. rhythm of time

*finally shuts up now*

I was going to check out their first album recently, haven't gotten around to it yet. One song sounded pretty good anyway.

Oh, and they did Masterhit and Crapage too, by the way.

01. first in, first out
02. body to body
03. u-men
04. lovely day
05. religion
06. welcome to paradise
07. masterhit
08. tragedy > for you <
09. crapage
10. 7rain
11. until death (us do part)
12. one with the fire
13. moldavia/neurobashing
14. together
15. im rhythmus bleiben
16. headhunter
----
17. operating tracks
18. happiness
----
19. loud
20. take one

what i would give to have witnessed this!

(wtf?)

OMG! It's 10:20 AM And I'm Watching The Awesome "Take One" Video!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9dFpJ6GiwRc

just spent the day revisiting a large chunk of the F242 catalogue.
damn it stands up well.
i'd completely forgotten the pleasures that headphone listening to 242 can induce.
i was lucky to see the Front By Front tour, and fuck it was good.
easily one of my favourite gigs.
when cruising the ILM archives, i expected a barrage of hatred towards the band, so this thread came as a pleasant surprise i have to say.

Hmm, I have to disagree re. the test of time. Recent spins have left me a bit cold.

ahh well.
its all to do with nostalgia innit.
i'm sooo loving the old technonlogy sounds today.
then again, the love maybe due to the fact i shaved my head this morning.
Oh, and surely Front 242 are meant to leave you feeling cold.
Warm and cuddly they were never meant to be ?

New free 2-track single available for download now:

http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1534_0_8_0_C

Dear Alfa Matrix, please provide more than two initial seeds next time you announce something like that.

http://i28.tinypic.com/2je4qiw.png

Contents: live versions of U-Men and Im Rhythmus Bleiben, plus this comment in the mp3 files:

Tune in on www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1533_0_8_0_C on July 4th 2008 for further moments.

(I'm hoping they're going to announce the release of the two anniversary gigs in the Ancienne Belgique)

mail from alfa matrix:

Dear Front 242 fan,

After the free "First moment" download teaser, FRONT 242 brings you the live release "Moments..." including the very best of Front242's compositions recorded during the band's worldwide "Vintage Tour" that is still running strong today.

Available as an 18-track digipack CD (holding 4 tracks in alternative versions not featured on the box edition), there will also be a pure vintage collector limited double-disc edition with in total some 32 tracks: 2 picture discs inside a 23 cm square deluxe carton box with 1 poster, 2 stickers and 1 button.

Also available is an exclusive vintage "Kommando" 242 T-shirt which was also designed for the occasion. The shirt is available in various sizes (M, L, XL).

We present you 6 packages:
- Digipak CD (holding 4 tracks in alternative versions not featured on the box edition)
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1540_0_8_0_C
- Limited 2CD Carton Box (including "Sounds From the Matrix 007" in all boxes)
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1541_0_8_0_C
- Kommando t-shirt (sizes: M, L, XL)
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1542_0_8_0_C
- Limited 2CD Carton Box (including "Sounds From the Matrix 007" in all boxes) + CD digipack
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1543_0_8_0_C
- Limited 2CD Carton Box (including "Sounds From the Matrix 007" in all boxes) + Kommando t-shirt (sizes: M, L, XL)
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1544_0_8_0_C
- Limited 2CD Carton Box (including "Sounds From the Matrix 007" in all boxes) + Kommando t-shirt (sizes: M, L, XL) + CD digipack
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1545_0_8_0_C

IMPORTANT: for 5 days (UNTIL Tuesday July 8th, 12 PM) you - as a downloader of "First Moment" - can purchase the digipak, the double CD boxset (or both in one package) for 3 euro cheaper than the normal price ! Follow the links below in order to benefit from this special fan discount ! This offer expires on July 8th, 12 PM so be quick !

- Digipak CD (holding 4 tracks in alternative versions not featured on the box edition)
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1547_0_8_0_C
- Limited 2CD Carton Box (including "Sounds From the Matrix 007" in all boxes)
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1546_0_8_0_C
- Limited 2CD Carton Box (including "Sounds From the Matrix 007" in all boxes) + CD digipack
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1548_0_8_0_C

Or order the Limited 2CD Carton Box + Kommando t-shirt (sizes: M, L, XL) + CD digipack in one go !
http://www.alfa-matrix.com/shop_comments.php?id=1545_0_8_0_C

Tracklisting Boxset:

CD1
1. Happiness
2. Body to Body
3. U-Men
4. Lovely Day
5. Religion
6. Welcome to Paradise
7. Commando Remix
8. Funkhadafi
9. 7Rain
10. Until Death
11. Moldavia
12. Together
13. Im Rhythmus Bleiben
14. HeadHunter
15. Operating Tracks
16. Punish Your Machine

CD2
1. First in First Out
2. No Shuffle
3. Don't Crash
4. Welcome to Paradise
5. Commando Remix
6. Quite Unusual
7. Master Hit
8. Crapage
9. Melt
10. Gripped by Fear
11. Loud
12. Moldavia
13. Take One
14. HeadHunter
15. Kampfbereit
16. Punish Your Machine

Tracklisting Digipak:

1. Happiness
2. Body to Body
3. Religion
4. Welcome to Paradise
5. Commando Remix
6. Lovely Day
7. Until Death
8. Moldavia
9. Funkhadafi
10. 7Rain
11. Loud*
12. Together
13. U-Men
14. Take one*
15. Im Rhythmus Bleiben
16. HeadHunter
17. Kampfbereit*
18. Punish Your Machine*
(*) alternative versions not featured on the box edition

OMG no one should be listening to Front 242 at 9:30 AM unless they are on some heavy drugs or alcohol.

I posted that at 6:20 AM :-(

Great news! Got me the itch for ebm and now I'm playing some Mussolini Headkick.

I was into Mussolini Headkick for about a month in 1990. Everyone I've mentioned them to thinks I've made them up for a laugh. Few bands have been so firmly consigned to history's dustbin as second/third-tier EBM groups.

np. "commando mix" http://fc17.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/317/3/7/Headbang_Emoticon_by_d3monthesicko.gif

http://fc17.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/317/3/7/Headbang_Emoticon_by_d3monthesicko.gif"masterhit part i & ii"http://fc17.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/317/3/7/Headbang_Emoticon_by_d3monthesicko.gif

OMG! Guys, sit down... It's 2:48 and I've just discovered that the guy who distributes the internal mail for the last few years is... Richard 23!!!!!!!!

*head explodes*

What!? Where do you work?

You caught the man!

The ramifications of this are fucking with my brain... For the last four years, I've been regularly having Monday morning coffees with RICHARD 23! OMGWTF!!!

I must see if I can find a WDYLL with your colleagues (who happen to be be members of FRONT 242)

Omg it's 9:30 am and you're drinking coffee with Front 242!

looooool

hahahaha! weird!

How did you find out, by the way? Did you get pushed out of the way by a roadie? :-)

I was walking in the street with a colleague and we passed by a F242 poster and he was like "oh look that's mailman Richard's band. Have you heard of them?"

Lol

I just told your story to our gardener Bono and he didn't think it was funny at all, surprisingly.

Baaderonixx that's amazing!

on a Belgian side note, it seems he's also an 'ecolo' rep in BHV: http://www.majoros.net/?p=169 (in French)

baaderonixx, that is amazing

now I regret not going to that anniversary show last year - I would have been like "wait a minute, what are you doing up there?!"

the other night i was at this queer industrial/goth party and "Quite Unusual" came on really loud and i started freaking the fuck out. only if they had played "Masterhit I & II" would i have freaked out more.

"Official Version" has been in constant rotation recently, in other words.

There's a second live DVD, came out last year apparently. I had no idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPInPCw4h-o

OMG! It's 1:23 PM and I'm listening to Front Line Assembly!

its 18:40, i have had a couple of glasses of "it's the weekend" treats, and i am listening to my newly re-ripped @ 256 front 242 UP EVIL album.

it is, quite frankly, sounding f*cking brilliant.

it's 19:57 and i am listening to front 242.

i often forget just how brilliant this band were ..

reasons i love ilm part 463

OMG! Guys, sit down... It's 2:48 and I've just discovered that the guy who distributes the internal mail for the last few years is... Richard 23!!!!!!!!

Geography, y'all

They celebrated their 35th birthday last year by releasing loads different versions of these three remasters, including these super deluxe box sets:

http://alfa-matrix-store.com/Front-242/front-242-filtered-pulse-anniversary-box (including live show from 1989)

http://alfa-matrix-store.com/Front-242/front-242-geography-deluxe-box-vinyl-7inch

http://alfa-matrix-store.com/Front-242/front-242-no-comment-politics-of-pressure-boxset (including live show from 1987) (and No Comment sounds fantastic)

Attention DJP...

They're on tour in the US right now! http://www.front242.com/live.html

(without Daniel B who is 66, he's not out of the band, just not touring anymore - the rest are 58-64) and they're even playing a couple of new songs! (first one is Funkhadafi/Generator (new) )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQuXmCdsVW4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuNZieQdGLo

I caught the Philly show a couple weeks ago and had a lot of fun though the specter of COVID seemed to take the wind out of really enjoying myself.

Just need to stop in from vacation and say that “Pan Dhemihk” from Pulse (2003) is mind-blowing.

What’s a good place to start with these guys if I love the funkiness?

Just listen to their big three albums: Official Version, Front By Front and Tyranny For You, plus the Backcatalogue compilation. That's all you need.

Every once in a while I remember that Front 242 had an album named "06:21:03:11 Up Evil", and I think what an innocent time it still was in 1993.
When "Closer" by NIN started getting major radio play a few months later, they must have realized their album might have done better if they'd just spelled it out.

Utilising a simple alphanumeric conversion from numbers to letters, i.e. 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, ..., 26=Z, the title can be interpreted as:

06 = F
21 = U
03 = C
11 = K
Which gives a full album title of Fuck Up Evil.

i think "No Comment" and "Geography" are the ones with the most funk, "Politics Of Pressure" EP too. For me, by the time it got to "Tyranny For You" they had programmed all the funk out of the music.

I had tickets to see them in March 2020 which has been rescheduled and rescheduled. Now looking like being Feb 2022.

If not for Covid and a vacation I would probably catch this tour.

https://www.front242.com/store/p90/USA_91_DIGIPAK_CD.html Live in the USA 1991, released last year

oh, and there was a live in Europe 2LP too - sold out by now

https://www.front242.com/store/p91/91_DOUBLE_LP_BOX.html

both are great btw

They really know how to put on a show

40th anniversary show in July - they got the whole crew out this time, even Daniel B back on stage, how long ago was that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAt4Czl6bsI

keep watching until the end of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPSwGj45gxM

last time i saw them was on the 'front by front' tour in 1988 - i went to see them at the ancienne belgique in brussels. i thought that could never be beaten but have watched this recent AB gig and it is up there. such a great show! such a great set list! i'm still getting over the fact i had to give away my ticket as i had to work the night they played glasgow a few weeks ago. hopefully they will be back sooner than last time as i don't think i'm going to make waiting another 34 years.

i think it ain't just!

xxpost: that was a live version of Controversy Between where they start fighting at the end. was online for years and the second I link to it it gets set to private. Thanks.

it's a classic. i can never get over how young Jean-Luc De Meyer is there.

this should work -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxvgCc91J_I

this thread led me down the Bandcamp rabbit hole, those remasters sound sweet

thanks! xpost

all four of these are very recommended: (had the first two for a while in box sets but now available digitally too)

https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/hamburg-87-official-version
https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/ancienne-belgique-89-front-by-front
https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/91-live-in-eu
https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/usa-91-live-in-the-usa

https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/ancienne-belgique-89-front-by-front

woah! this is the one i was at. so it was '89, not 88! i can still vividly remember losing my shit to lots of this and then to the nth degree when they played "WYHIWYG / U-men".

I listened to 06:21:03:11 UP EVIL, one of their two albums from 1993, this morning. I don't think I'd heard it since it was new. It was pretty good! They were trying a little too hard to write "real songs," and the guitars seemed unnecessary (as they always did when anybody but Ministry used them), but overall pretty solid stuff.

I listened to 06:21:03:11 UP EVIL, one of their two albums from 1993, this morning. I don't think I'd heard it since it was new. It was pretty good! They were trying a little too hard to write "real songs," and the guitars seemed unnecessary (as they always did when anybody but Ministry used them), but overall pretty solid stuff.

agreed. of the 2 albums, these days i listen to OFF a lot more than EVIL.
seemed to remember that OFF was billed as a more ambient album, which i guess is true.

I couldn’t find any posts on ILM about graphic novels about particular scenes or music subcultures, and this one goes across way too many bands, but this post has seen some recent action, so here we go!: my old pen pal Tomas has just published the English edition of the best graphic novel ever written about being a synth-obsessed teen in Sweden in the 80s/ 90s!

Richard 23 even contributed a jacket blurb!

https://synth-kids.com/images/ministry.jpg

More info here: https://synth-kids.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFzT1L0Faos

due to this thread revive, i am currently loving the M✧✧@g✧.M✧✧@ge release.
possibly the first time i have heard this to the end in well over a decade, and yeah, it's not really a F242 release at all, but an excellent mixtape of underworld/orb/prodigy enhanced 90s ambient techno.

other than Pulse (which i seem to recall not being well received by fans at the time), and the never ending live albums,
have the band actually recorded any new material since the era of UP EVIL/OFF + eps/remixes excess ?

guess the use of the 'at' symbol caused trouble.
of course i meant 'mutage.mixage'.

it's 2:41 pm and i'm listening to front 242!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwMdpDsaqW4

i can't believe i started this thread before there was a youtube!

Front 242 have just announced that they'll stop touring after this year. Final dates here...

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3w0JeJNjBZ/?igsh=cWh5MGFpeW14dWd4

rest in peace, brave warriors. your work is done. we salute you.

there should be an old industrial musician home that people can go to.

So... this is it - Today, Tomorrow and Saturday are their final 3 shows, at Brussels' Ancienne Belgique. (Wasn't able to get a ticket, they were sold out ridiculously fast)

I was still hopeful I'd get a last minute ticket but alas, it seems impossible. Heartbroken. Still, I'll always have my memnories of seeing them at Ancienne Belgique twice in 1989.

live stream was incredible!

oh no i forgot that was on!

it's still online

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbwSXVRwKUo

setlist https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/front-242/2025/ancienne-belgique-brussels-belgium-33aa4045.html

Gutted I didn’t manage to get tickets but the live stream is hitting the spot tonight. I’m still hopeful they’ll play the odd gig around Brussels now and then

I have the stream on now, what a treat.