Alan Replica (official web site)

(06/03/2012) Music distribution Here it is.. I have recently decided to take back the distribution of my catalog. This means my music is temporarily unavailable as no-one is currently entitled to sell or distribute my works anymore. Hopefully, my catalog should be back up soon, as I progressively settle my own distribution channel and partnerships. I have ended partnership with Ninthwave Records, although I am grateful to them for releasing my music in the first place, I really want to have better control on my music distribution, and that before issuing any new material.. I am currently reviewing possible partners of the market and I shall post here any new development regarding the partnerships I may settle and the places where to find my albums again (and update the links..) ! Thank you for your continued support.

24/01/2009) New compilation & Special remix While there is no evident sign yet of an imminent release of the Darkened limited CD edition, some nice teasers are about.. Ninthwave Records is issuing a promo CD entitled 'Hard Times vol. 1', on which is featured 'This Eternal Life', along with outstanding tracks from Heaven 17, Garland Cult, ESH, The Modern, Smile.dk, Astromill.. And I have also been working with Bobby Clark, who is currently making a remix version of 'The Machines', a track from the earlier 'Clockworks, Juliet' album, to be featured on a special CD recollecting Ninthwave Records high points, to mark the label's 10th anniversary ! Although I have heard a couple of cover versions of my songs by bands on stage, I am quite excited to hear this first 'official' remix of one of them.

On another topic, I am currently rehearsing quite intensively, as I intend to invest more time on performing live in 2009..

27/07/2008) Darkened status update Darkened is apparently doing quite well as a download, and I don't really know if this has something to do with it, but the release of the long announced CD version has been somewhat delayed at Ninthwave Records. I expect it will soon be rescheduled so that I may give you a reliable release date from Ninthwave. Although I know CD's are not mandatory anymore to make music available, apart from the object interest it still represents for some of us, I know it remains a considerable, if not the main, vehicle for promotion for a new album. So, I guess I have to do some serious rethinking now, about the way I can organize things to mitigate these kind of hazards and possibly optimize my distribution. I'm sorry for the delay, but this has nothing to do with me, and I'm sure you will understand that Ninthwave Records is also doing its best to arrange things at soonest, while bearing indie company's work conditions.

Meanwhile, I have put up the lyrics for the Darkened album so you may now read these in the 'LYRICS' section, and even download (for free) the full booklet and artwork in section 'STORE'.

(30/03/2008) Darkened up on Itunes Darkened is now up on iTunes. Strange enough, the album picture displayed on various sites appear to be..Darkened from the original cover; but the content remains the same.

(03/03/2008) Darkened album is out now ! A bit further in the year than expected (coincidentally , Darkened was up February, the 29th of 2008), this mainly due to my poor technique when it comes to artwork designing (as I insisted to do everything myself this time), the digital download version of the Darkened album is now available at www.Amazon.com, and soon on iTunes.. Ninthwave Records will also put out a limited CD edition, including lyrics booklet (!), in a couple of weeks from now (CD is currently at the plant). You may check the 13 new songs (plus album trailers) extracts here at the listening post in section 'SONGS', or directly on the online stores. You may browse current section to read more about the Darkened album.

Darkened release statusNow changes made to the artwork were posted and are in assembling phase, Darkened is planned to be released early 2008, most probably in January. In the meantime, you may get a preview of the album in section 'SONGS', where a short extract is now available for each of the songs.

Darkened release deal Darkened has found a deal with Ninthwave Records, my faithful distributors for the Northern US, David Richards liking the album as much as wanting to release it the earliest.. So, we are currently working on fixing the last details, like technically adapting the artwork from my scribble design. Now, I'll tell you the way the album is going to be released.. However hard I may defend the physical media first for the object itself, but also for the audio quality and for preserving the integrity of an album (because this is the way I make albums, with an overall concept), Darkened is, nevertheless, mainly going to be released through digital download, as the market and behaviours have dramatically changed regarding physical media, leaving these the more disused, and companies the less wanting to invest on manufacturing. But.. A limited edition of 100 Cd's should see the light of day in the same time, and I'm confident enough Ninthwave would follow if the demand on Cd's exceeded expectations, before or after the limited edition was out..

Darkened, now complete Darkened, my new album is now complete, last recording session ran October 6th, 2007. I had a bit of a trouble choosing the right sequence for the songs and also trying to rend the intro/outro bits I wanted to polish the album with (this is to explain part of the delay), but, it all came together nicely in the end. I also was sure since the beginning I wanted to keep to my usual way of recording the songs, that is to say, record all (instruments+voice) at once, in direct mode (that is to explain another part of the delay.. Another hidden part being the artwork).. Well, what's more to the album than previously said in this section? That I wanted to change my borders, by exploring other structures in building songs, and I also wanted to enhance the 'powerful&dreamy' contrast in my sound, finally I wanted to try to rend something of an ancient etching in music (how weird ambitions can cross one's mind..). That I have chosen a narration pretext based on a vampire's life theme, I felt suited for this album; theme being inspiring both for the musical period and for the romantic content. Now, that I am particularly proud of Darkened, that comes out to mix just the classical sacred music, the Italian baroque music and the rock music atmospheres, I only dreamt I could blend into my music when I first started the album.. So, further than one may certainly expect, this album is indeed very special to me, because it represented a musical turn for me to that extent, and it opened me a way through to, what I deeply feel is a more free and personal approach of music, anyway coming up with songs I definitely feel more contemporary with who I am now. I have just sent copy of the master to Ninthwave Records, wishing they will like it as much as wanting to release Darkened fairly soon.. More technically, Darkened comes out a 13 tracks album plus some intro and outro tids, ranging from 61 to 128 BPM, and running for a time of approx. 1 hour and 8 minutes, songs listing as follows :

1. A Mirror Darkly (part 1) - 1:08
2. Dark and Light - 4:53
3. A Paradise Lost - 5:35
4. Children of Millenniums - 3:35
5. Redemption - 4:28
6. Love beyond Life - 4:47
7. Our Poisoned Faith - 5:17
8. This Eternal Life - 3:49
9. My Angels Rise - 4:25
10. Darkened - 5:23
11. Calling The Furies - 4:53
12. Until Kingdom Come - 5:43
13. Angels of Light - 5:54
14. 100 Years Time - 5:59
15. A Mirror Darkly (part 2) - 1:23

You may hear the extracts in section 'SONGS'. More to come soon.

(21/07/2007) Simulacra Radio promo tour This summer at your local fave indie radio, tracks from the 'SIMULACRA' album are being aired, part of the album's radio promotion tour, starting today ! Now, it might sound a simple drop in the ocean considering the profusion of albums and music out and available everywhere, but this means a lot to me, as it is most probably the only 'official' promo support I will get as an independent; so.. If you want to help in some way, I encourage you to show your support by tuning in to your fave station and why not , request for some 'SIMULACRA' airplay on your radio. I appreciate any contribution, and want to thank the radios and many DJ's that have been kind enough to find an interest in the album and have already started to give it a couple of spins ! Sorry, you will obviously understand, I cannot list here the radios and airplay timetables, simply because there are too many I don't yet know of.. Ninthwave Records have the first draft of participants, and it involves from local indie radios to universities, so the range of audience is wide enough, but I also know things are evolving quite fast on that end.. Anyway, I will definitely put up the list of radios involved once I receive a full info list. All I can say for now is, there are quite a lot of radios, internet radios & podcasts that are currently playing some tracks, so you are most likely to find your local indie radio has joined in, and is supporting the album, and.. If not, a nice word of request from you will probably do the trick ! Seriously, be sure any contribution will help, and most surely make a great difference to me.

The Clockworks, Juliet album is gradually regaining the charts interest, keeping at good pace at Amazon, and jumping back to #34 last week, and now to #7 on A Different Drum sales chart this week! Of course the actual ‘giveaway price’ must be a major factor of the current selling.

There are now plenty of online stores selling tracks of Simulacra and Clockworks, Juliet ‘by the pound’, and as much as I understand the freedom it is giving to people to buy the songs they have interest on only, and that after all, songs are like short stories only bound together by the album artefact, I still think my albums have an overall thread, if not spirit, that develops through the set of songs as a whole (well at least I have made the albums with that intention), and that precisely will be lost by listening to fragments only. And then, it is almost common to say that immediate stand out tracks can turn boring while others not so obvious are likely to grow on you, so buying a whole album gives you a chance to buy something that you can live with, and not just buy music tracks like disposables.. But then, it's only my vision about albums being concepts.. The other little setback I have on some of the stores, is that many of them just list mixed songs, without giving a clue about the initial track order or even listing the albums, so it makes it quite impossible to anyone to actually buy an album in its integrity. So, there are still a bit of tuning and levelling to be made on the way online sales media manage and list the music they sell, but I’m sure these media cover a real demand, in a new uncultivated field, that just wants refining on the content, now we have the tools. Anyway my songs are more and more available through this media, and if you go for it, you can always choose the store that suits the level of content and information (and the price) you're happy with.

The new album, Darkened, is going on fine, I still have one more song ongoing, and some intro and outro stuff I want to make for the album. The current listing is of 13 songs, plus intro/outro tracks. I plan to complete it by the end of this summer, and then if everything goes fine, and I find a deal for it, it could be out by December this year or January next year, given the necessary time to design the artwork, master the tracks and manufacture the actual CD. Meanwhile I will probably put some extracts of 2 or 3 of the new songs up, in the SONGS section, as soon as I have set the definitive tracks list for the album.

(04/05/2007) Simulacra reviews The Simulacra album is starting to get regular radio plays and reviews, and quite laudatory ones too, so it's definitely a very satisfying point to me that, following the warm reception of Clockworks, Juliet, the Simulacra album appears to raise that more enthusiasm. I shall try to feature a couple of the reviews in the 'PRESS' section very soon.. I am for now kept real busy between my day time job, which is quite demanding needn't I say, and my work on the Darkened album, for which I have already recorded 11 songs, but.. You can't say it's near to an end till it's absolutely finished, can you ? By the way I also have a couple of interviews planned for the Simulacra album, but I'll speak more about that when definite.

On another topic, to try and answer various demands on making the lyrics available with the CD's (as you might guess it's actually the cost that makes the lyrics are not included in the CD's overall artwork), I have made lyric booklets available to download in section 'STORE' (for free), but bear in mind these stay hand-crafted..

(27/01/2007) Simulacra spreads The Simulacra album has now hit the stores and net sellers, so it can be found at Amazon as well as iTunes, to cite most popular. I must say first feedbacks are very encouraging, whether based on the various ranking figures that are quite impressive, and most of all judging by the kind words I have personally received via various sources (mail, the Alan Replica MySpace page, people personal blogs..) from people that have purchased the album throughout the world. It is always amazing for me to realize how a work made in my 'obscure little room' gets in the 'hands' of someone as far as Israel or Australia is from me for instance.. I take the opportunity here to say that, if I have not responded to each mail (yet), I am deeply touched by the words, and want to thank you for the time you took to write back your impressions about Simulacra. I am glad this new album found its way to you, and disclosed some of its emotion. You may care to leave some feedback about the album on the various merchant sites, it always helps to gently spread the word..

(20/12/2006) Simulacra dashes into N# 1 ! Well, unexpected news is..The Simulacra album has hit this week's N# 1 sellers Chart, during exclusive pre sales at premiere's site, A Different Drum (link : http://www.adifferentdrum.com/bestsell.php ). And there are still 2 more days to go for this special preview sale !

(16/12/2006) Simulacra album - Released ! I feel like one of these main stream artists that make their releases match with the Christmas eve's period. Except that it will make my Christmas here. After, what I must confess was, a terribly nervously trying long wait for me, also as a somber and doubtful period at Ninthwave, the Simulacra CD is now available !! The CD containing 14 new songs was released December, the 15th of 2006 ! And you will be able to get it at different stores and online, BUT.. A Different Drum has it first ! You may check some of the songs, here at the listening post in section 'SONGS', or at My Space-Ninthwave Records ( http://www.myspace.com/ninthwave ), - hmm, by the way you may also want to visit My Space-Alan Replica (http://www.myspace.com/alanreplica) - And.. You can even get a free download (hence properly mastered !) directly from Ninthwave Records. The album will soon get to the usual stores, www.Amazon.com (direct link to the CD), www.iTunes.com, .. Grab it soon at your favorite point of sales, stocks are very limited ! Artwork Design is by Todd Lemieux at www.toddlemieux.com, and features 'Valerie', a domestic female android project, courtesy of Chris Willis at www.androidworld.com. You may browse current section to read more about the Simulacra album.

Click on Cover picture below to get the CD from ADifferentDrum.

I just want to write a word of gratitude here, as this was all made possible by the grace and patience of people like, David Friede at Cohaagen Mastering who polished the mastering, Todd M. Lemieux who shined the artwork & design, the guys at the pressing plant for giving life to the CD, A Different Drum who geared up for an early Christmas release (!), and, mainly David Richards (and all) at Ninthwave Records who, despite facing personal setbacks, never let me down on this project. I feel ever so indebted to Dave for his continuous faithfulness to me.. Nothing would have happened without him.

(15/11/2006) Simulacra album street release date I have had news from Ninthwave Records, my faithful label (the label that published former Clockworks, Juliet album and now publishes the Simulacra album), that the CD will officially hit the street January, the 7th of 2007. It is already referenced at www.Amazon.com, following this link will allow you to sign up to be informed when available. The album will also soon be on pre order at www.NinthwaveRecords.com. The album contains 14 new songs : Mary and John / Simulacra / My Wheels / Disenchanted / I Feel Real / I, Android / Dream Makers / We're On Automatic / America / Love Song / Emotions / A Broken Eve / Martian Days / Alien Dream.You may go to section 'SONGS' to hear some of the preview tracks, and section 'LYRICS' now includes full lyrics to the songs.The artwork was designed by Todd M. Lemieux at www.ToddLemieux.com, and features 'valerie', a domestic female android project, courtesy of Chris Willis at www.AndroidWorld.com.

Since it was completed, studio wise, this album certainly faced its incredible lot of setbacks to public release; from having to wait because of being ready too early after Clockworks, Juliet, to timing issues with contributors availability and distribution partners activity, some late flip-flop on the artwork from me, then Dave at Ninthwave faced personal setbacks that (almost) threatened to close the label, and now some technical problems at the plant.. Just to cite a few. All these unpredictable events that, if not totally jeopardized, but caused serious delay in the end on the album release, make me see Simulacra as a survivor, making its way from the past to today, in a strange time slip.. It was also my feeling about the former Clockworks, Juliet album, but at least I had 'collected' the songs to give that impression. Well, who knows, unpredictable for unpredictable, this might bode some unexpectedly good karma to the album.. Mind you, I'm not saying there is a spell of some sort on this album, nor that it is exceptionally gifted, but all this time I have been 'living' with it, unpublished and waiting, parallel to my current work on the next album, I often get to temper my impatience facing the successive 'twists of fate' by thinking there is a 'natural' right time-frame for things to come, that frequently reveals to you in the end. Anyway, a production is bound to be anachronistic with its author by the time it is released. I am grateful that mine is released.

(16/09/2006) Delays, delays.. I'm terribly sorry not to have given any news during these days, that somehow pilled up so fast and turned into months now (frightens me how time has flown..) Well, so many of the ordinary life activities : summer break holidays, loads of work in returning back to office, the start of the new school year for the kids, being vigilant on our local mayor's pre-emptive greed, taking care of some of my instruments repair, works on the house.. Even adopted another cat & dog. On the music's side, I am first, very involved in making the next album 'Darkened', and have already completed 10 of the songs, and, second, I'm still working with Todd M. LeMieux polishing the artwork for the Simulacra album, which is otherwise all set up for an October release !

So, to try and make up for the long period of silence, I have put up an earful of new tracks in section 'SONGS' : a new listening post for the Simulacra album tracks, where you can get to hear an extract for each of the songs ! I also have put up full track versions of 'Disenchanted', 'We're On Automatic' (from TV serial 'Reunion') from the Simulacra album, 'Isolation' from the Clockworks, Juliet album, and.. A new track, 'Love beyond Life', from the on-going Darkened album !

(04/06/2006) Simulacra release date rescheduled 5, Sept. 2006 Well, finally, the official store release date for the Simulacra CD is the 5th of September this year. This is due to various reasons, as time required to refine the artwork, the overall schedule of work at Ninthwave Records and at the distro & promo partners, the kind arrangements with digital distro and partner e-stores to have the 'premiere' ( July and August respectively), and not least, the coming summer break that would leave us very short notice to unfold. Meanwhile, you may hear full length versions of the tracks "Mary and John" and "Simulacra" in section 'SONGS'.

(30/05/2006) Gearing up for the Simulacra release The final work is being done on the mastering with David Friede, and on the artwork with Todd M. Lemieux, as we are all gearing up for a June release of the Simulacra album. The album lists 14 songs and runs for more than one hour (60:15mn). It includes song "Simulacra" featured in several compilations this year, and the track from the TV serials Reunion: "We're On Automatic".

1. Mary and John (Radio Plays) - 4:50
2. Simulacra - 5:11
3. My Wheels - 3:59
4. Disenchanted - 4:45
5. I Feel Real - 3:46
6. I, Android - 4:23
7. Dream Makers - 5:01
8. We’re On Automatic - 3:55
9. America - 3:17
10. Love Song - 4:01
11. Emotions - 4:07
12. A Broken Eve - 3:21
13. Martian Days - 4:08
14. Alien Dreams - 5:31

You may hear some extracts in section 'SONGS'.

(27/03/2006) "Pushing The Future Vol. 2" Compilation "Pushing The Future Vol. 2", a sampler CD of Ninthwave Records artists is now available (www.ADifferentDrum.com). The CD track list is as follows :

1. Alan Replica "Simulacra"
2. Macondo "Game Over (Baxendale's Embrace The Dark Place Mix)"
3. Spray "We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About (Alternate)"
4. The Peoples "The Spells You Make"
5. Astromill "Call You"
6. Heaven 17 "I'm Gonna Make You Fall in Love With Me (Fake ID's Luvsick Dub)"
7. White Town "Panoptican"
8. Gentry "Tongue In Chic"
9. Electroluvs "Boy Don't Bother (grnr 12-inch Mix)"
10. Xero/G "Disappear (Left Me Mix)"

(28/02/2006) Simulacra album release Long wait.. But, finally, the agreement for the Simulacra album is being signed, we still have a couple of matters to settle (mastering and artwork mainly), and the album should be up for an early 2006 release ! Meanwhile the new Ninthwave Records sampler, 'Pushing The Future Vol.2', will be out anytime now, and features the title song "Simulacra".

(13/01/2006) Reason for no news The reason why there is no news is simply that there is not much going on, apart from my work on the next album; which has turned a tough job lately, as some instruments started breaking down on me, and we also had to face pre-emptive attempts on the house by the local council, due to a new land use plan project. But the bright sides still shine, as the new songs are coming out great. You can check a new extract in section SONGS, and Ninthwave is putting out anytime now a compilation with the song Simulacra on it, so this may keep you (and me) patient till the Simulacra album is, hopefully, released soon.

(14/11/2005) Song "Simulacra" on Ninthwave sampler CD - Ninthwave Records The song "Simulacra" from my unreleased album Simulacra will be featured on the new sampler CD from Ninthwave Records, to be released very shortly. This is an opportunity to get "Simulacra" in the fully mastered CD version. David Friede from Cohaagen Mastering is currently working on mastering the songs for Ninthwave Records. The sampler CD will contain original tracks from Macondo, Spray, The Peoples, Astromill, Heaven 17, White Town, The Gentry, and Electroluvs. You can hear the demo version of "Simulacra" in section SONGS.

Song play on TV - Fox TV "Reunion", channel PG, 09/29/2005 9pm(PDT) David Richards at Ninthwave Records, has been contacted by Fox TV representative(NOMA MUSIC) to use my song "We're on Automatic" from the Simulacra album, for a new TV serials drama called "Reunion" launched in the USA this fall as part of the next 2005-2006 season programs. I don't know how this happened, but it seems that someone in the producers or the cast team had heard the Clockworks, Juliet album and liked it. Now, the producers wanted an unpublished song, and after hearing the Simulacra album master, they chose "We're on Automatic". Well, the event is now signed. The song is to be played in episode of Thursday, September the 29th, at 9:00-10:00pm (Pacific Daylight Time;CDT-9hours) on PG channel. I am told the precise scene where 3mn of "We're on Automatic" can be heard is titled "Jenna's Loft party". I don't know yet if the song will be featured as a background fill or will benefit from a video style scene. The story is about a group of students, best friends back in 1986, in 2005 one of them is murdered, all will be suspected in inspector Marjorino (Mathew St Patrick) investigation. Cast also features renowned TV serial actors, such as beautiful and talented Armanda Righetti ; Alexa Davalos; Chyler Leigh; Sean Farris; Will Estes; Dave Annable... David Richards at Ninthwave Records, managed the short notice strain and the publishing constraints with a master rod. I also myself spent a couple hours discussing the copyrights terms with the french SACEM to sign this licence agreement with both parties (NOMA/ Ninthwave) as event restricted, the Simulacra album being not signed yet.

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Live show at The Goudvishal - "Nachtschade II" Arnhem(NL), 09/10/2005 9pm I have played The Goudvishal in Arnhem (NL), Saturday night this week end. Though I was not ready, band wise, I played the show with me Ol' synths & sequencers, as I wanted to test my recent work, and have no playbacks going whatsoever. So all sounds there were triggered in real-time by the sequencers or myself. I didn't have a hard time to arrive to that aim, as I record my albums that way; where I had a hard time was at choosing the song list, and fixing technical issues; like transferring and refining sounds, from my E-mu Emulator III disk into my new E-mu E6400 Ultra, as the former is too fragile to bring on a gig; labeling the whole equipment; adapting flight cases, and rehearsing, rehearsing.. I must say I was so afraid of not performing well after all these years, that I spent approx. 3h/ day rehearsing the songs, and a couple hours dismounting/mounting the rig, all this starting mid August.. Well the show went on magically I must say, no technical issues at arrival, brilliant sound & lighting from The Gouvishal engineers, and I was surprisingly very easy at performing, it was like getting on that bike again. But, rehearsal is the key, you must work till it really becomes a reflex.. So, leaving aside my humility, I will recount the fact as, that the audience and journalists there favoured me with a warm reception, and appeared very enthusiastic about the show, merely dancing the whole set away. And, most, I have made good friends with very nice people there too, with whom I stay in close contact. Well, a Review and Photos of the show, published at www.Gothtronics.com, can be found in relevant sections PRESS/ PHOTOS. The light show gradually transformed through the set, from pale blue/white to purple/grey through red/amber, and cuts of lashes of yellows, greys and crimson. The set of 11 song list played 59mn, and included tracks from the Clockworks, Juliet, Simulacra and on-going Darkened albums, as follows : Isolation / FactysII / We're on Automatic / Clockworks, Juliet / Mary and John / Simulacra / My Wheels / Children of Millenniums / Redemption / Love beyond Life / My Time Warp. Thanks to my good friend Frederic Bertrand (sculptor) who helped me mount the show, to the sound & light engineers, to Andre de Kok for support & photos, to Iriz & Nathan for catering and accommodation, to Frank-Jan van Zutven for Nachtschade organization, Mathijs Ijsseldijk for the Gothtronic.com photos, and all at The Goudvishal..

Alan Replica official web site - design I am currently working on the Alan Replica web site, and thanks to the invaluable help of my friend Alain Duda, I 'm starting to have fun building it as it goes. It stays as simple as it goes, because I'm not a wizard at it, and I feel it is crucial for me to have a site now, so I can reward the fans with more information, and also get contacted more easily !

Live show planned at The Goudvishal - "Nachtschade II" Arnhem(NL), 09/10/2005 9pm I am to play The Goudvishal venue at Arnhem (NL) on Saturday, the 10th of September at 9:00 (CET) during the "Nachtschade II" night, followed by band Riviera F from the UK. The night will continue with an after's party with Dj's Hans D. and Nightporter playing electro-wave-dark-goth mood tracks.. Be sure to come in early, as I am to play first due to the complexity of my rig mounting & connecting..

Darkened album - on going work I am currently working at making the songs for the Darkened album, I have completed 5 songs so far. This album sounds darker than the former ones, though it follows my baroque inspirations, like the trail of Isolation, Soul Corruption and the later Simulacra, My Wheels and I, Android stuff from second album. For the sound part, I have mainly enhanced the kick drum, bass and guitar; simplified the drum parts and enhanced the kick drum presence. I also have cut down the synths doubling the voice melody, so that melody now relies only on my voice (makes my memory work that I can tell you, and gives my voice more of a singing part); so that instruments stay on the orchestration & arrangements path. The usual background has come up front, with the synth-drone/ guitar/ bass pulses, and there's a lot more of choir/guitar mix going on behind. I embedded classical violins & medieval instruments leitmotivs, that wander around in the landscape, some odd notes like air bubbles spread about to enlightened the whole. It is darker, simpler and more punchy. I would describe it as mix of heavy rock rhythmic, 17th century strings ornaments, sacred music and droning synths sequences. The lyrics are based on a vampire's life theme, inspired by the atmosphere of Ann Rice "Armando the vampire" novel. Yes, it's all about immortality again.. I was also inspired by the edge of song "Hope vol.2" by Apocalyptica. I wanted the whole album to be just like 'dark with rays of light', a bit like an ancient etching, music coming down through the ages thing... I'm quite thrilled with what's coming out, even though it came more difficult than I thought, as I have changed my way of working; from the former albums where the songs are built from iterative layers of the whole song (strata approach), these songs are built from complete sections, then assembled and smoothed (plates approach). Well, I have 5 songs now, and I still have a few to go, as I enlarge directions around this core, I now feel solid.

Song on Compilation "YAEW 2" - YAEW Song "Simulacra" from the "Simulacra" album is guest on Yet Another Electro Web site compil', downloadable free at www.YAEW.com. I was contacted by Marc at YAEW.com and lent this song to be featured on the on-line compil.

Simulacra album - Complete I have completed the Simulacra album, October 2003, and sent to Ninthwave Records in the event of a release to follow the Clockworks, Juliet CD. This album includes a set of 14 songs, that mark an evolution from Clockworks, Juliet, to more power and integration of classical 17th century italian like strings ornamentation. The Clockworks, Juliet pretext was based on automatons and clockworks, to point out the mechanical behaviors of the living; the Simulacra album explores the Android pretexts, dramatically represented by the "Valerie" project of a domestic female android (pictured here) by the guys at www.androidworld.com, to evoke uses that could be made of such replicas, from household chores to sexual application, more, from personality back-up to further use of second hand units, in order to replay personality of departed as a domestic entertainment. It's all about new ways of gaining immortality.

Clockworks, Juliet album - Feedback The Clockworks, Juliet CD is doing well (for an underground prod. that is), as it shot to Amazon "early adapters" ranking, and rapidly hit top sellers lists : SynthpopMusic & LexiconMagazine n#2 of Best Sellers for 2004 / Chicago Reader's Best of 2004 poll for top ten albums / n#4 at ADifferentDrum / ITunes album of the week / Synthpop top 40 / Not forgetting the downloads, for instance n#3 for New Wave and Gothic-Industrial downloads top lists at Amazon / Not forgetting the reviews to be seen at PRESS section.

Clockworks, Juliet album - Released The Clockworks, Juliet CD is now released April, the 15th of 2004 ! It is available at different stores and online stores like www.NinthwaveRecords.com, www.Amazon.com, www.itunes.com, www.RasputinMusic.com, www.Industrial-Music.com, www.CCNow.com, www.CDBaby.com, www.TowerRecords.com, www.ADifferentDrum.com, www.Cd-Gold.co.jp, ...And so many more I can't account for here, as distribution is gradually expanding.. Artwork Design is by Todd Lemieux at www.toddlemieux.com

From MASQ to Alan Replica Due to an internal problem with the SACEM 'sleeping artists' files, that occurred in the middle 90's when transferring from local IT systems to central, I have lost the exclusivity of the MASQ name, at least 'phonemically'. I have changed my name from MASQ, the name I have been using since the 80's, to Alan Replica, as the french SACEM, considering I was 'sleeping' for such a long time, it was unlikely I would release anything again, and had not kept files of my previous deposits. So the name was no longer referenced and in the meantime another band was enabled to register as Masque. Of course having the anteriority, I still had full use of my name, but had to cope with 'phonetical' confusion possibilities, so I dropped the thing. Anyway, I still keep my 'mask' logo, and I finally find it refreshing to start with a new 'identity'. It relates to some universe that has been an emotional inspiration to me, from all those old Sci-Fi novelist, like Aldous Huxley, A. Van Vogt, Georges Orwell, Robert Matheson, and mostly Philipp K. Dick.. For instance 'Ubik', 'The Father-Thing', ...'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' novel from Philip K. Dick, and derived movie Blade Runner from Ridley Scott . I just love how the need of affective memory, the fear of death and the quest of immortality is rendered in this movie; the picture is also beautiful, and Rudger Hauer, Sean Young & Daryl Hannah are such impressive actors too.

Clockworks, Juliet album - Artwork Finally, the artwork is complete, as Todd Lemieux at www.ToddLemieux.com and myself have agreed on the final proposal.. Well, I can only tell it is a haunting artwork, not the one I had planned for the album, as produced with my friend Emmanuel Brugeron at www.Equallium.fr, you may see the initial artwork in the PHOTOS section, but I am very pleased Todd has brought his creativity and talent to render the atmosphere exchanged in words solely.

Clockworks, Juliet collection - Signed I have signed a distribution deal, exclusive for the Northern America, with Ninthwave Records, in the person of David Richards. So the Clockworks, Juliet album will be out anytime soon, due to the positive buzz around "The Machines"; when we're over with the Artwork that is.. I am happy to announce this deal is what I was ready to sign for, that is to say the label takes the album as I made it, no changes anyhow, and just helps me improve the shine and exposure. Re mastered by David Friede at Cohaagen Mastering, it appears to me that additions by Ninthwave Records org. merely enlightened my album. I am forever grateful to Dave & Ninthwave for bringing me publication.

Song on Compilation "Electricity II" - Ninthwave Records Song "The Machines" from the "Clockworks, Juliet" collection is featured on Ninthwave Records "Electricity II" compilation, released July 2003.