Xxx

Agent Augustus Gibbons has selected an imprisoned former US Navy SEAL Darius Stone, a new agent in the XXX program, travels to Washington D.C., where they track a splinter faction of the U.S. military that attempts to overthrow the U.S. government and assassinate the President, led by Secretary of Defense and former 4-Star General George Deckert, Stone's former commanding officer whom he once led a mutiny against. But he's been targeted for assassination by a radical splinter group of dissenters deep within the United States government. The new XXX agent must uncover the insurgents from within. It is the nation's only hope to stop the first coup d'etat in American history.

Theoretically, aging wouldn't be that difficult of a trick for ZZ Top to pull off, since the little ol' band from Texas is thoroughly grounded in the blues, an ageless music that can sound equally good from the young and old alike. After all, countless blues-based musicians, from Lightnin' Hopkins and Muddy Waters to B.B. King and the Rolling Stones, have aged gracefully, albeit in varying degrees. So why does ZZ Top sound so stiff and useless on XXX, a record celebrating their 30th anniversary? Part of it could be that the songwriting is decidedly weak, but a band as seasoned as ZZ Top should be able to make third-rate material at least listenable. The real problem is that the band long ago sacrificed organic rhythms for a steady synthesized pulse. They suggested this even before 1983's Eliminator, but that record was a bizarre, unpredictable masterstroke; after all, nobody would have predicted that a blend of Texas blues-rock and new wave drum machines would work, let alone flourish. The problem was, the massive success of Eliminator made ZZ Top reluctant to abandon that sound. That was OK for Afterburner, since it was released at the tail-end of the new wave era, but on every album since, they retained the steady click track, even as they stripped away the synthesizers…

KAI HANSEN, earMUSIC and WACKEN Foundation are happy to announce the release of "XXX", the first "solo project" album by Kai Hansen, one of the most influential guitarists and singers to emerge from Germany during the first part of the 80s. First with ground-breaking band HELLOWEEN (of which Hansen is one of the founding members) and later with GAMMA RAY, one of the bands that contributed to define the genre power metal, bringing it to generation of devoted fans worldwide since its first album.

With a unique multimedia-based approach and intriguing sound design, legendary French art-Electro-project Die Form is a one-of-a-kind experience. To adequately celebrate three decades of their extraordinary and extreme art, Philippe F. and Éliane P. are releasing a very special box set, titled “BEST OF XXX”, which includes the most powerful and well-known rhythmic titles that have been the foundation for the creative duo’s continuing success. All of the timeless tracks have been completely reworked, rearranging and re-recording all the machines and original elements (sequencers, drum machines, analog- & digital synthesizers, samplers, tapes and effects) and Éliane’s vocals, using current state-of-the-art technology.

Agent Augustus Gibbons has selected an imprisoned former US Navy SEAL Darius Stone, a new agent in the XXX program, travels to Washington D.C., where they track a splinter faction of the U.S. military that attempts to overthrow the U.S. government and assassinate the President, led by Secretary of Defense and former 4-Star General George Deckert, Stone’s former commanding officer whom he once led a mutiny against. But he’s been targeted for assassination by a radical splinter group of dissenters deep within the United States government. The new XXX agent must uncover the insurgents from within. It is the nation’s only hope to stop the first coup d’etat in American history.