Hello friends of A Different Drum!  Hello electronic pop music fans!  Hello everybody!

I’m going to post a copy of the latest email update from A Different Drum here in the blog so everybody can easily access the latest “new release” information, but first, let me think of some of the label news for this week.

I’m happy to announce that A Different Drum will be releasing new music by a very cool band from Italy called BLUME in coming months.  You can take a look into BLUME from their Myspace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/blumeofficial

Also, I’ve received a lot of questions from customers about the upcoming releases from Depeche Mode, Erasure, and Pet Shop Boys.  Though it has become nearly impossible to get a good deal on their releases, I DO have them on order in any rare edition I can find.  So, I will have them in stock if all goes well.  I can’t promise that I can match some of the other major store prices out there, but I’ll price them as low as I can.

Here is a little update on NEUROACTIVE.   There is a new album pretty much wrapped up by the headman, Jarkko, but he decided to make a few final touches to get the music exactly where he wants it.  The new album will be called “Antidote” and much like “N-Gin”, it features several guest vocalists.

I’ve also heard from Joey of THE ECHOING GREEN this week, and he tells me that he is just finishing up the last couple of songs for the upcoming “In Scarlet and Vile” CD album.  It has taken a lot longer to finish the album than he had anticipated, but life has a way of slowing us down sometimes.   When we talk about new albums from some of these established acts like Neuroactive, The Echoing Green, etc. we’re talking about guys who have families, full-time jobs, and precious little time to put into music production.  Heaven knows they’d love to work on new songs full time, and if that were the case, we’d see a new album every year.  But the music market is not so kind.  These are labors of love, and sometimes they take years to finish.

In other label news, the “Ghosts I Have Been” CD album by FAITH ASSEMBLY has been out-of-print for a couple of years now.  Due to popular demand, Mark Stacy of the band has worked to put together a new, deluxe edition which will be coming out in about a month.  It is remastered and features a bonus disc with old and new remixes.   So, watch for that in the near future as well!

COPY OF EMAIL UPDATE FOR March, 14th, 2009:

It’s time for another update from A Different Drum.  Only three new items rolled into the store this week.  We’ll take a look at those momentarily.  But first, let me remind you about the upcoming party in Minneapolis:

As long as the weather stays nice, I’m driving to Minneapolis for the big show on MARCH 28th featuring INFORMATION SOCIETY, Faith Assembly, Moulin Noir, and more.   A Different Drum will have a vending table where you can pick up some great deals on CD’s.

It would be wonderful to see you there.  You can get more information here :
http://www.adifferentdrum.com/conventions.php

You can buy tickets here :
http://www.indietickets.com/tickets/customer/home.php

NEW ARRIVALS:

Interface “Visions of Modern Life” $14 — After the popular “Destination Focus” CDEP, the new Interface full-length album is released!  It’s packed with VNV Nation-esque futurepop music aimed at the dance club.  Driving bass lines and thudding beats keep a steady pulse throughout.   Perhaps it is not necessarily ground-breaking,  but it is well executed and a solid release for those who love the blend of edgy synthpop and intense industrial dance music.  Listen to audio samples and order the CD here :
http://www.adifferentdrum.com/artist.php?n=NR038

Blutengel “Schwarzes Eis” (limited 3CD box) $60 — Already sold out in many European stores, this extremely limited box set of the new Blutengel album has arrived in our store…though it is ONLY a few copies.  I don’t expect it to be here long, since the number of vampire-pop / gothic fans who love Blutengel keeps growing.   The box features the album, plus the “Behind the Mirror” remix single, and the “Redemption” bonus CD.   See the track list and order here :
http://www.adifferentdrum.com/artist.php?n=OUT336

Various Artists “Die Maschinen” (CDR) $10 — This new compilation release from the new Revolution Recordz features a blend of lesser-known and a couple more established bands from the industrial and synthpop underground.   It reminds me of some of the introductory-style compilations I’ve seen in years past, where presenting newcomers is the key intention, rather than pulling together “hits” from big-name bands.  Some of my favorite compilations have been the ones with lesser-known acts.   Well, this one has some tracks that stand out, and a few that were a bit noisy for my personal tastes– it runs the gamut from abrassive industrial, to female-vocal gothic pop, to synthpop.   Actually, there one of my own tracks here (another remake of a song I wrote in the 80’s) which ends the collection, and after some of the more hard-hitting stompers that come before it, my song kind of sounds like synthpop elevator music :-)   Anyway, you can listen to audio samples and order the release here :
http://www.adifferentdrum.com/artist.php?n=RR2

That is all for this week.  Have a wonderful day!
-Todd