Hats off to the mighty Woebot for his sterling and scan-tastic archaelogy of Žerjavic's musical back pages. (And red face in this corner for not twigging sooner that DMZ and Stepinac are one and the same...) Shoulda known Matt would have been tracking this stuff from way way back!

Let me recover my pride with a some hot-off-the-press news. DMZ's debut album Fur Ilija Garašanin has been bumped back owing to problems with sample clearances, most likely it will come out spring 2008 now. In the meantime Black Hand are putting out a stop-gap release, a covers EP (crafty way to sidestep the sample issue eh?)which pays tribute to DMZ's influences. There's five covers versions, but they're also collaborations with five of DMZ's heroes, making for ten homages in total.

Tracklist for the EP, Blows Against the Empire

1/ "Funk Gadaffi", original by Front 242 ; new version in collaboration with Borghesia (EBM legends from Slovenia)

2/ “Fists of Pride”, original by Temper Tantrum; new version in collaboration with Oliver Chesler (= Chesler covering himself, cos Temper Tantrum = him!)

3/ “Keep ‘Em Separated”, original by Offspring; new version in collaboration with Rammstein (German industrial-rock band)

4/ "Bafflin’ Smoke Signals”, original by Lee Perry; new version in collaboration with Afrikaans Boy (MC from Orania, South Africa)

5/ “No Woman Allowed”, original by Sperminator; new version in collaboration with Void Kampf (French nu-EBM outfit)

Of the Front 242 cover, DMZ told Moving Hands webzine: “Electronic Body Music is a big part of my musical DNA. Everybody knows that without EBM there’d be no gabba. But not a lot of people know about EBM’s influence on the early turbo. A lot of those early producers like Dreaptă Pavelić and Zelea Codreanu came up on A:grumh, Pankow, KMFDM. One of my uncles roadied for Borghesia and their live tapes were this constant background thing for me growing up. That stompy beat gets in your blood! I was gonna do something off Tyranny For You, like "Moldavia" or “Neuro Bashing”, cos I think that album is underrated. But it had to be "Funk Gadaffi." That is the TUUUUNE! The other reason is that it's a salute to Muammar al-Gaddafi--not the NATO arse-licker he is nowadays, but the young Gaddafi, who was like the Muhammad Ali of geopolitics or something! He kicked out all the foreign money, the Western companies, and got back control over the national resources, and then he used that oil money to build up a strong nation, with welfare from cradle to grave. Most important to me, he was a secularist. When you've seen the poisonous effects of clerical-fascism on your region, that's really a shining light. Strong secularist leaders is what we need now. Cos Empire is getting stronger and stronger."