New and Notable: Billy Ray Martin

Electronic dance music diva Billy Ray Martin is releasing covers of tracks from Cabaret Voltaire’s 1983 album The Crackdown (right). The Crackdown Project is being released in two volumes. The first is scheduled to be released on February 15 and second on March 15.

A couple of promotional videos have been posted to YouTube. One is a clip of Chinese dancers performing in some unusual costumes with Martin’s cover of Just Fascination replacing the audio.

What got my attention was the album art for both volumes of The Crackdown Project. Both features black and white photographs of marionettes. I think that the image used on Volume 1 has quite a bit more impact. It kind of reminds me of something Cabaret Voltaire or even Depeche Mode would have used on the cover of an album back in the ’80s.

According to the press release for this project, the first EP will have 17 tracks and the second will have 12. Both are being released digitally.