Innovative Kiwi electronica act Pitch Black kick of their international tour at London's Cargo this Thursday 30 August. Straight off the back of an eight city tour of New Zealand to launch their new album 'Rude Mechanicals', their Northern Hemisphere jaunt will take in this weekend's Festinho and Roughbeats Festivals, as well as Austria (3rd September), Croatia (5th September), Berlin (6th September), Spain's Harmonia Festival (8th September) and Amsterdam (9th September). It's then on to the States for a gig at San Francisco's SupperClub (13th September) and the awesome Earthdance Festival at Northern California's Black Oak Ranch on 15 September.

Consisting of Paddy Free and Mike Hodgson, Pitch Black's sound is impossible to pigeon-hole. They've been described as like "Richie Hawtin meets King Tubby, or Rhythm and Sound in Technicolor" and given their eclectic assortment of dub, ambient and acid riffs that's not far wrong! They've also been called the "Hexstatic of New Zealand' and have played at the UK's Big Chill Festival three times, as well as being championed by Radio One's John Peel (RIP), Xfm's Nick Luscombe and Dreadzone's Greg Roberts.

With the first pressing of 'Rude Mechanicals' selling out in just two weeks, we can only hope that there will be more copies ready to buy at the gigs as promised. Their fourth album, it follows up 'Futureproof' (1999), 'Electronomicon' (2000) and 'Ape to Angel' (2004), which DJmag rated Album of the Month with a big fat five stars. All the albums have lead to remix projects, with artists as diverse as Kenji Williams, System 7 and Antix all getting in on the action.

However, for many fans Pitch Black are best known for their live sets. Their music really takes on another dimension as Mike's intense visuals are mixed with their sounds to make one hell of a sensory experience… or as their bio proudly says: "Their tracks take on an added dynamism and their performances reveal the dialectic behind the band - Paddy wants to do it for the crowd, Michael wants to do it to the crowd."

Tickets for the Cargo gig are £8 advance from www.ticketweb.co.uk (08700 600 100) and doors are open from 7 pm – 1 am. The boys are supported by International Observer (Live) and Crazy Baldhead + Damien (DJs)

In the meantime you can check out some of their new sounds at www.myspace.com/pitchblacknz