PROPAGANDA - REMIX ENCOUNTERS DIGICD

YOUTUBE ►

CD in digipak, and including 11 of the 12 tracks of the Vinyl edition, in different running order.

Electronic pioneers Propaganda follow up their acclaimed 2024 comeback with Remix Encounters, a broad and brilliant remix album featuring Moby, Tangerine Dream, Rhys Fulber, Schiller, Metroland and more.

After the widely praised release of their self-titled comeback album in October 2024, Düsseldorf’s legendary art-synth auteurs return with Remix Encounters, a thrilling reimagining of their latest work. This remix collection reflects the enthusiasm Propaganda’s return after three decades of silence has ignited among contemporary artists, who approached the project with fresh energy and creative freedom. Since breaking new ground with their seminal 1985 debut A Secret Wish and its pioneering remix companion Wishful Thinking, Propaganda have thrived on transformation. Yet rather than revisiting the past, Remix Encounters looks forward, building on the vitality of last year’s album and celebrating its widespread critical and fan acclaim.

What began as a remix request from Finnish electronic maestro Jori Hulkkonen, returning the favour after Ralf Dörper’s contribution to his last album, quickly blossomed into an international collaboration, drawing in luminaries such as Moby, Tangerine Dream, Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly, Delerium), Metroland and Schiller. Embracing openness, Propaganda spent the fourth quarter of 2024 encouraging the wide range of musicians inspired by their triumphant return to offer their own interpretations. Each brought their distinctive voice to the material, resulting in a thrilling journey through electronic subgenres, from EBM and industrial to rave, ambient, house, and beyond.

On the CD Rhys Fulber opens the album with a brooding, machine-funk reinvention of “They call Me Nocebo,” evolving from a sleek, sinuous introduction into a relentless pneumatic stomp. Next, Schiller offers a powerful remix of “Distant” that balances raw electro-house and techno energy with the emotional depth of EBM, before Moby transforms “Purveyor of Pleasure” into a furious early-’90s rave anthem, fusing breakbeats and rolling basslines that pulse with nostalgic urgency yet feel unmistakably modern.

Elsewhere, Finnish polymath Jimi Tenor infuses “Vicious Circle” with cosmic jazz and dub textures, while Pyrolator (Der Plan), a key figure in Düsseldorf’s avant-garde scene, delivers a shadowy reinterpretation of “LoveCraft.” Cult With No Name contribute a brooding electro-ballad version of the same track. Propaganda’s own Michael Mertens teams up with longtime collaborator Hans Steingen to re-envision “Dystopian Waltz,” shifting its time signature to a gripping 4/4 and intensifying its ominous mood for darker dance floors. The range of remixers speaks volumes: from Berlin’s industrial punks Gewalt and synth purists Metroland to ambient pioneers Tangerine Dream, Remix Encounters unites an eclectic group of electronic artists bound by a shared reverence for innovation and Propaganda’s distinctive voice.

Recorded and remixed across creative hubs from Düsseldorf to Los Angeles, Helsinki to Paris, Remix Encounters is far more than a companion piece. It is a celebration of Propaganda’s enduring influence and the vibrant, evolving electronic landscape they helped shape. Each artist engaged deeply with the band’s richly textured and cinematic sound world, reinterpreting it with enthusiasm and respect, producing a collection as diverse as it is cohesive.

NOTE: The Vinyl edition contains one EXCLUSIVE Remix, not included on the CD: ‘Vicious Circle’ re-interpreted by the British singer/songwriter Thunder Bae, who was singing on the ‘Propaganda’ album, but also plays synthesizers.

TRACKS: 01 They call Me Nocebo (Rhys Fulber Remix) 02 Distant (Schiller Remix) 03 Purveyor of Pleasure (Moby Remix) 04 Tipping Point (Jori Hulkkonnen Remix) 05 Love:Craft (Pyrolator Remix) 06 Vicious Circle (Jimi Tenor Remix) 07 They call Me Nocebo (Tangerine Dream Remix) 08 Distant (Gewalt Remix) 09 Dystopian (Steingen & Mertens Remix) 10 Love:Craft (Cult With No Name Remix) 11 They call Me Nocebo (Metroland Remix)