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The M&E Newsletter - Fall 1999 (September) 1 Judge Trev & Nik Turner – “Judgement And Thunder” (440) 2 Pseudo Sun – “Aliens Only” (443) 3 Steve Andrews – “Dive In Deep” (296) 4 Into The Abyss – “Cosmogonia” (472) 5 The Witches – “Welcome All To The Solstice Sabbath” (347)
*Interesting note in the editorial of this issue - we'd just got out first computer! It's hard now to imagine life without the damned things, isn't it? No e-mail sorted or anything, and I was still doing the newszines with a typewriter, Letraset and fine art pens, but there was this PC thing sat in the corner, mocking me... The M&E Newsletter - Spring 2000 (April) 1 Judge Trev & Nik Turner – “Judgement And Thunder” (440) 2 Into The Abyss – “Cosmogonia” (472) 3 Steve Andrews – “Dive In Deep” (296) 4 Idiom – “Who Stole The Sun?” (488) 5 Gothica – “Proserpina” (482)
Confusingly, though this 'New Year' issue of the zine didn't come out until April, thus was labelled 'Spring', the big chart on the front page was for year ending 31st December 1999, the next chart due to be compiled only a few weeks later in May. As it turned out, it would be the last zine I would ever do the using the old DIY paper-based system, and it finished on the saddest of headlines, announcing the tragic death of former MMATT keyboardist, Kate Twilight (above, taken from the cover of the 2000 M&E Yearbook), at a mere 30 years of age.
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Unpublished - Rise 2000 (May) 1 Judge Trev & Nik Turner – “Judgement And Thunder” (440) 2 Idiom – “Who Stole The Sun?” (488) 3 Silverspoon – “Ecdyson” (491) 4 Sigis Bruder – “Leftovers” (278) 5 Steve Andrews – “Dive In Deep” (296)
Unpublished - Fall 2000 (September) 1 Judge Trev & Nik Turner – “Judgement And Thunder” (440) 2 Idiom – “Who Stole The Sun?” (488) 3 Silverspoon – “Ecdyson” (491) 4 Gurus Of The New Millennium – “II” (553) 5 Sister Sinister – “Sister Sinister” (559)
The
first PC / DTP produced issue wouldn't appear until January 2001. In the
meantime, I seemed to spend my entire life trying to come to terms with this
new fangled technology, while my abacus
* THE LAST PUBLISHED CHART *
The United World Underground Newsletter - New Year 2001 (January) 1 Gurus Of The New Millennium – “II” (553) 2 Sister Sinister – “Sister Sinister” (559) 3 Sirenée – “Distance” (558) 4 Judge Trev & Nik Turner – “Judgement And Thunder” (440) 5 Werk – “Unpleasant Things” (561)
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Two
new names appeared in our Top 5, Idiom and Gothica. Let's start with the
latter (right), their sombre tone seems more fitting here. From Vasto in Italy came
the melancholic duo of Roberto Del Vecchio and singer, Alessandra Santovito
(right), baring their souls and sharing their sadness with the world. Though
"Proserpina" got Demo Of The Month in 'Metal Hammer', it's so much
more
than just a rock album. This is really arty, Alessandra's soaring vocals
straying into operatic territories, neo-classical harmonies enhancing the
music. All things dark and beautiful in all their glory. The rather
eccentric Huddersfield band, Idiom, were another tale entirely. Based around
Christopher Goddard and Rachel Trimmer, their general concept was of musical
fairytales for grown-ups. Or, as they would later put it, for those who
never came down. "Who Stole The Sun?" was their second release on M&E,
following "Waterglass" (cover pictured left). A wild weave of
manifold musical styles indeed. Many bands will tell you that
no single track can summarise their work. Some bands are actually telling the truth,
Idiom are very much one of them...
smouldered
slowly in the back garden incinerator. Consequently, neither of the above
charts ever saw the light of day. I actually had to go back to tattered old
handwritten sales records to put them together, if just for the sake of
completion. So, having gone to all that trouble, let's take a look at the
new bands that appeared in them; Silverspoon (above right) were my Release
Of The Season for Fall '99, a seriously good underground head rock band from
Waltrop in Germany. The album "Ecdyson" had first been released as a CD on
Tonhaus Records of
Dortmund,
who had kindly provided us with a cassette master. The other new band to
appear were Norway's Sister Sinister (left), another huge personal favourite
of mine and my Release Of The Season for Spring 2000. A brilliant piece of
melodic rock, quite ornate, laced with gothic and progressive elements, the
cake being iced by the excellent voice of Solveig Jacobsen. Utterly
wonderful.
second
CD, "Flux", and another triumph of ability for this foursome from
Gillingham, Kent. I think I was about two thirds of the way through reviewing
it when I realised I hadn't made a single note, I'd been enjoying it too
much! Wondrous progressive psychedelia and tight harmonies, I see my
official review rating was "fucking excellent!" The Austrians also returned
to the upper throws of our charts in force at the turn of the millennium.
The lovely 
(pictured
above with gentleman friend, Markus, on a visit to Mmattland in the late 90's),
formerly of talented Austrian duo BDF, returned to the fold with a
marvellous solo album called "Distance", and the latest band involving the
prolific Günther Castanetti (Those Who Survived The Plague, Scrooge), Werk,
made their welcomed debut with "Unpleasant Things".