A lot of people have been looking for the dates of Covenant's newest tour. Their site is as infuriating as ever so here they are:

2010-04-08, Bucharest, RO, Control Club
2010-04-09, Zagreb, HR, Club Aquarius
2010-04-10, Belgrade, SRB, Dom Omladine Beograda
2010-05-16, Montreal, CA, Kinetik Festival
2010-05-17, Toronto, CA, Mod Club Theatre
2010-05-18, Chicago, US, Abbey Pub
2010-05-19, Detroit, US, Crofoot Ballroom
2010-05-20, Pittsburg, US, Pittsburgh Fate Lounge
2010-05-21, New York City, US, Oceana
2010-05-22, Philadelphia, US, Starlight Ballroom
2010-05-23, Washington, US, Washington Town DC
2010-05-29, Athens, GR, DJ Eskil @Second Skin Club
2010-06-05, Karlskrona, SE, Vince Festival with Colony 5, Mergel Kratzer, Voister Litz
2010-06-26, Berlin, DE, E-tropolis Festival / Zitadelle
2010-07-16, Waregem, BE, Gothic Festival
2010-07-23, Kaliningrad, RU, Yantarniy Beach Party with Timo Maas
2010-09-25, Miami, US, Gothic Cruise onboard the Carnival Liberty. Miami-Cozuma-Cayman-Jamaica-Miami.
2011-02-04, Madrid, ES, Sala Heineken
2011-02-05, Barcelona, ES, Sala Bikini  read more »

I really wish I was more Canadian so I lived closer and could attend Festival Kinetik going on May 14-17, 2009 in Montreal, Canada. Here's the rundown for the poutine eaters who get to go:

Phase 1 - May 14 - Opening Night
Project Pitchfork
Terrorfakt
Interlace
Memmaker
Ayria
Corrupted Suburbs
Marching Dynamics

Phase 2 - May 15 - Harsh Industrial
Grendel
Amduscia
Reaper
God Module
Soman
Accessory
Unternull
Life Cried
Dym

Day 3 - May 16 - Noise
Winterkaelte
Noisex
Synapscape
Imminent
Mimetic
Architect
Iszoloscope
Cervello Elettronico
Caustic
Adversay
Left Side Neighbour

Day 4 - May 17 - EBM
Icon of Coil
Das Ich
Assemblage 23
Pride and Fall
XP8
Headscan
FGFC820
Astyplaz

Tickets run $48.50 USD for the first night and $53.50 for each of the other three nights. Not cheap, but you get quite a few bands for the bucks.

If you haven't seen A23 perform live this year, here's your last opportunity as posted on A23's website:

"Assemblage 23 will headline a roster that also includes Rectractor (in their first Los Angeles appearance) and Manufactura side project Broken Fabiola (performing an exclusive set of new material). The show will be Thursday, November 13th at Klub Terminal @ Leonardo's located at 831 S. La Brea Ave. Admission is 18+ and $15. Doors open early (8PM)."

Tom will likely perform material off his upcoming album as he suggested for his upcoming Canadian performance, so consider me envious of all that get to go.

As posted on Assemblage 23's site:
"23db Records, the independent electronic music label run by Assemblage 23's Tom Shear, is proud to announce the addition of Sweden's Burikusu!!! to the label's roster. The band will release their debut album, entitled 2080, on 23db Records later this fall as both a physical CD and via digital distribution."

I first learned of Burikusu!!! on a myspace posting by backandtotheleft (also on 23db Records before they went kaput) but have been hooked since. Their music doesn't really sound like anything else out there, in a wonderful way. This is pretty much the best possible scenario as I love Tom Shear's production work. Expect 2080 to punch you in the face repeatedly with its complete awesomeness. Until then, we're stuck looping the tracks they have posted on Burikusu!!! Myspace

UPDATE: Rejoice, as posted on Burikusu's Myspace on Sept. 13th:

"Hey People!
The album will come out in mid november, a more accurate releasedate will come up as soon as we know!

Symmetry is virtue!"

I saw these guys open for Covenant and they put on a really solid show. It's worth your while to catch them if they are coming anywhere near your abode, and with the ambitious number of dates on their schedule, I imagine that will be likely.

Imperative Reaction - Minus All - North American Tour
With Special Guests [:SITD:] and Aesthetic Perfection

09.20.08 - Hollywood, CA - Safari Sam's - Tickets
09.21.08 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
09.24.08 - Portland, OR - Mt. Tabor's Legacy
09.25.08 - Vancouver, BC - Red Room
09.27.08 - Calgary, AB - The Underground
09.28.08 - Edmonton, AB - New City Suburbs
09.30.08 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
10.02.08 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Avalon Theater
10.03.08 - Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
10.04.08 - Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Music Hall
10.05.08 - St. Louis, MO - TBA
10.06.08 - Milwaukee, WI - Miramar Theater
10.07.08 - Minneapolis, MN - Ground Zero
10.08.08 - Chicago, IL - The Abbey
10.09.08 - Columbus - TBA
10.10.08 - Detroit, MI - TBA
10.12.08 - Toronto, OT - The Reverb (The Big Bop Nightclub)
10.13.08 - Montreal, QC - TBA
10.14.08 - Philadelphia, PA - The New Alhambra Arena
10.15.08 - Boston, MA - TBA  read more »

Psyche sent me a tip announcing the release of their cover of Disorder by Joy Division to celebrate 25 years rocking out. Anyone who can survive 25 years doing this stuff deserves massive respect. You can enjoy the track on YouTube.

"Psyche's new single for 2008, a cover version of the great Joy Division showcasing a whole new sound for Psyche produced by 2Grad and released as a 7" single from the forthcoming album. Digital Download here: http://indiestore.7digital.com/psyche"

Long time no typey typey. Real life has been catching up with me. On a more positive note, Andrew Sega from Iris has released a recording he made of a live duet of Watching Over You done by Seabound and Reagan Jones from Iris. It was recorded during their recent tour which I got to enjoy at their Chicago date. It was fabulous! Reagan's vocals were considerably better than the first time I saw them perform, and sounded beautiful. He sings better now than when they recorded their albums which I found hard to believe. I suspect touring is to blame for that.

Wolfsheim's website has finally been updated after almost a year and a half break. The news, unfortunately, is dire for the band. Band member Markus Reinhardt is suing singer Peter Heppner in German court to get Heppner out of the band due to Heppner's exclusive contract with Warner Brothers that was signed in 2005. The contract prevents Heppner from working with Reinhardt on Wolfsheim so Reinhardt wants to replace him. I'm so sad to hear this news and wish it had worked out differently. The case is ongoing and I'll post updates as I learn them.

This flyer gives the details. I'll be picking this up as soon as humanly possible.
It will be available on Amazon's fantastic mp3 store on March 4th.

"In time for the upcoming US-Tour, Canadian director Phil Martin has created a video for Seabound's Castaway."