Back in the early 2000's Echo Image was connected to APOP's label, Hard:Drive, and now they are yet again connected as the entire catalog of Echo Image releases have been put out digitally through Pitch Black Drive, the new APOP label!
Also, Echo Image have just stepped out of a near 20 year long hiatus with their comeback single, "Walk My Mind".
The single contains remixes by Apoptygma Berzerk, Technomancer feat. Angst Pop and Einar K. Five.
Echo Image - "Walk My Mind" is out now and available on all digital platforms and streaming services, including the Pitch Black Drive page on Bandcamp!
For many years, Jonas Groth has been playing around with an electronic synthpop project called Piston Damp, together with his friend Truls Jardar Sønsterud.
Finally they have finished their first single, and you can see the video on YouTube here: Piston Damp - "Something In Me" (YouTube Video)
And you can also find it on:
Spotify here: Piston Damp - "Something In Me" (Spotify)
iTunes/Apple Music here: Piston Damp - "Something In Me" (iTunes/Apple Music)
Deezer here: Piston Damp - "Something In Me" (Deezer)
A new single will follow in spring 2021, followed by an album by summer 2021!
Bridget Kyle Gray did a 2 hour long interview with Stephan Groth for Artefaktor Radio on the 18th. June, the day before the release of the "Nein Danke!" EP.
They talked about life, music, gaming and a lot more that you now can enjoy in the Artefaktor Podcast Archive here: 2 HOUR STEPHAN GROTH INTERVIEW
To buy the "Nein Danke!" EP and support the band directly, you can get it here via the Pitch Black Drive Bandcamp page: BUY "NEIN DANKE!" CD EP HERE!
Now you can also pre-order the brand new "Nein Danke!" 12" EP/CD EP and the "Rocket Science" LP from Swedish mail-order veterans Hot Stuff.
They also have "Soli Deo Gloria (25th. Anniversary Edition)" (LP) and "SDGXXV" (2xLP) in stock too, in case you want to add extra items to save on shipping if you missed out on these!
To place your pre-order with Hot Stuff, go here: APOP at Hot Stuff
New pre-sale items, including Welcome To Earth/Crop Circle Socks, New Wave Synth Pop shirts, You And Me Against The World totebags, Welcome To Earth baby onesies, and the new "Nein Danke" 12" EP/CD EP + "Rocket Science" LP first time on vinyl!
It's a MAZE out there, so, where to shop? Check all of the shops and their selections. It varies from shop to shop! Tell your local record shop they can order our releases from Broken Silence (Germany, most of Europe and Japan), Border Music (Scandinavia) or AudioGlobe (Italy ++)
- Lo-Fi Merchandise: Our official partner in Europe. They have the "Nein Danke!" 12" EP/CD EP, "Rocket Science" LP, new Socks and Baby Bodies with Welcome To Earth print, You And Me totebag, lots of shirts, keyfob, buttons, fridge magnets and CD's and LP's from the APOP back-catalog! GREAT SHIPPING PRICES FOR EUROPE! Go here: Lo-Fi APOP SHOP!
- POPoNAUT: THE BEST SELECTION of APOP CD's and Vinyl around! So if you're after the music or want all different colors + back-catalog items, this is the place to go! Check them out here: POPoNAUT APOP SHOP!
- InfraRot: Have a good selection of APOP CD's + vinyl. Check them out, compare prices on the items you're after + shipping and make your own decision! Check them out here: InfraRot APOP SHOP!
- Original Product: The official mail-order of our distributor, Broken Silence. They only carry the APOP items that they distribute, but still a good way to support our distributor directly! Check them out here: Original Product!
- If you're in USA/Canada/South America, go straight to our official webstore The Electric Fox. They carry a good selection of our Vinyl, CD and Cassette releases + different shirts and other merch. Save A TON on shipping if you live in the US! They do ship worldwide though! Find them at: The Electric Fox APOP SHOP!
- If you live in Norway, contact our local record shop Retro Vinyl. They have most of our Vinyl and CD releases. They ship all over Norway + internationally if needed! Mail your pre-order/order at post@retrovinyl.no or call at +47-96909398 + check their homepage www.retrovinyl.no to locate the shop if you want to pick up your pre-order/order to save money on shipping!
When all this corona madness is over, let's do REAL record stores again! We're hoping and praying that they all will survive the economic difficulties that comes with a total lockdown in so many countries!
In the meantime, thanks for supporting APOP through all this, when we did our two digital releases "Faceless Fear (B-Sides & Rarities)" and "Disarm (B-Sides & Rarities)" and also when it comes to pre-ordering these new items, as well as downloads and CD's from our Pitch Black Drive Bandcamp page that you find here: Pitch Black Drive Bandcamp
<3 APOP LOVES YOU <3
Things continue rolling on, and now we have got the pre-sales links for USA and Norway as well:
For USA/Canada, go to: https://theelectricfox.com/collections/apoptygma-berzerk and add your order there. You can also add older items with your order and have them shipped together with your pre-order in mid-June! The Electric Fox also have pre-orders for New Wave Synth Pop shirts both for men and women in either black shirt with white print or yellow shirt with white print to match the artwork on the "Nein Danke!" EP.
For Norway, go to: https://www.retrovinyl.no/ or send them an e-mail at: post@retrovinyl.no or simply call them at +47-96909398. They will secure your pre-order and sort out your payment and ship your order to you around the release-date, or you can of course also pick them up in the store in Sarpsborg. Retro Vinyl also have a lot of back-catalog stuff from APOP both on LP and CD, so if you missed out on the reissue of "Soli Deo Gloria", or the "SDGXXV" and "Exit Popularity Contest" albums on vinyl, you can get these too there, as well as a wide selection of albums and singles on CD. Just ask and they will help you out!
The items you can pre-order are:
- Nein Danke! (12" EP) (Crystal Clear Vinyl ) (Limited Edition 300 Copies)
- Nein Danke! (12" EP) (Solid Yellow Vinyl) (Limited Edition 700 Copies)
- Nein Danke! (CD EP) (Comes with 4 extra bonus tracks not on the vinyls!)
- Rocket Science (LP) (Solid Red Vinyl) (Limited Edition 300 Copies)
- Rocket Science (LP) (Solid Turquoise Vinyl) (Limited Edition 700 Copies)
By pre-ordering from The Electric Fox, you support the band directly through their US webstore, and by pre-ordering from Retro Vinyl, you support a local record shop that is not a part of a chain!
"It's Apoptygma Berzerk, Jim - but not as we know it."
APOP reinvents itself - again - with an exciting new sound; different from, but complimentary to, the electro rock future pop stylings of previous releases.
On Exit Popularity Contest (a fix-up of the 12" EPs Stop Feeding The Beast, Videodrome and Xenogenesis), APOP founder Stephan Groth distils the essence of carefully selected pioneers to construct a classic yet refreshingly contemporary sound. Varied and vital, it brings instrumental music back into the spotlight, and after the wildly enthusiastic audience reaction to the sold-out performance in Norway last year, it appears he has tapped into a rich seam of electronic pleasure for a new generation as well as older aficionados.
Always a musical chameleon, Groth pays homage to his roots through emulating the analogue soundscapes of innovators like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Klaus Schulze, and the driving motorik Krautrock rhythms of Neu!, Cluster and La Duesseldorf, all filtered through his own unique Scandinavian sensibility. In doing so he has created a vibrant, colourful 21st century palette on which to blend these classic influences from the Golden Age of electronic music.
Exit Popularity Contest demonstrates an admirable musical purity and sincerity, channeling the best of the past to forge a path into the future.
