I was attending a fitness class with my wife last Saturday when the email arrived from Bandcamp and the Claudia Brücken xPropaganda account; stopping me in my tracks. A new single with Zeus B. Held and Claudia had just dropped in four mixes and I was triply happy that I had finally thought to add the Bandcamp app to my personal device the week prior. I could now buy the single in the YWCA parking lot as I sat in my car and listen to it on the way home! So within 30 seconds I now owned a DL of “Dream Of The Blitz.” And was streaming it in my car on the Bandcamp app. Ye Olde Monk is finally embracing the 21st century, it seems.
The song “Dream Of The Blitz” was here in four different mixes, and here’s the rub; it was originally on Rusty Egan’s album “Romantic” which was “released” in late October of last year. Of which I had no earthly idea. Usually Rusty’s activities filter down to me fairly quickly. In the past Rusty has had physical releases on LP/CD/DL. I’ve bought some of his stuff on DL. The CDs are now priced out of my range, but this new wrinkle is that “Romantic” is streaming only. Which may account for my ignorance as I don’t stream. So I was glad that there was a sales mechanism now attached to this song, which I would have wanted last October, had I only known.
“Romantic” has the usual cast of luminaries typical of Mr. Egan to enlist in performing the material. In addition to Claudia + Zeus, there’s Erik Stein of Cult With No Name, Wolfgang Flür, Zaine Griff [and I was profusely enjoying a Zaine Griff rabbit hole last weekend!], Tony Hadley, Boy George, Ronny [!] and Peter Hook, among others. The Peter Ashworth snap on the cover art being “of the period,” and beautiful, of course. But that album is a story for another day, I think. What about this EP which I can purchase and already own?
Zeus B. Held With Claudia Brücken: 4 Ways To The Blitz – UK – DL [2026]
- Dream Of The Blitz [Cupido Mix] 4:10
- Dream Of The Blitz [Deep Dream Mix] 5:10
- Dream Of The Blitz [Dream Control Mix] 5:41
- Dream Of The Blitz [Poetic Mix] 5:32
The Cupido Mix can be thought of as the 7″ mix here. The song was similar to others I’ve gotten from Rusty Egan in recent years. It’s a stately banger with Claudia sprechtgesanging the lyric which tells the story of The Blitz Club as if relating an oral history of the New Romantic movement. Because she was. Citing many of the Club Kids who contributed to the vibe of the movement in the middle eight and ending with “Rusty and Steve.” Zeus kept the euphonious synths flowing and Mr. Egan added the backbeat accents that added the slight rigor to the dreamy mix.
The longer Deep Dream Mix was the “dub mix” a slower tempo and watery tremolo on the keyboards to suggest a more distant past than we were actually discussing here. Only the chorus was present, save for the Roll Call of The Blitz that was still in evidence.The breakdown in the coda was elegant and measured.
The Dream Control Mix was the 12″ A-side we were waiting for. This was delicious Germanic Technopop with phasers on the synth leads and a more motorik rhythm bed with the sequencers adding the right frissons of tension to the playback, and Zeus got a tasty if brief solo in the middle eight. The mix got a nice breakdown in the middle as the “and girls and boys” mantra that Claudia added looped for a few bars. And the old 12″ version dog within me appreciated the extra lyrics which were only in this version over the delectable syncopated climax.
The Poetic mix was the slowest tempo yet, with spartan Synthpop flourishes while the vocal from Claudia was a completely different lyric, sans verse or chorus. The synths swooshed and trilled here albeit in a minimal fashion. Striving for intimacy.
The DL is being sold in the Zeus B. Held Bandcamp store as well as the There Music Bandcamp store at roughly the same cost. £4.50 from Ms. Brücken, and €5.00 from Mr. Held. Purchase according to your best local economy, or throw caution to the wind and follow your allegiances. As I’m on Claudia’s mailing list, she got my shekels. DJs hit those buttons!
BUY@ ZEUS B. HELD BANDCAMP | €5
BUY@ CLAUDIA BRUCKEN BANDCAMP | £4.50
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Post-Punk Monk 
This could be paired with “Party in the Blitz” by the Pet Shop Boys on a mix tape.
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