Vromb - Chorégraphie

2015-11-12 (News)

For more than twenty years the Canadian project Vromb a.k.a. Hugo Girard has masterly transformed a plethora of different inspirations into sound. For the realization of his recent opus, Girard drastically changed his approach: instead of choosing an exterior subject he wanted to transcribe the tones and voices generated in his own mind, keep hold of them and etch them onto record, and thus he is the choreographer of imaginary sounds which become physical musical entities. 'Chorégraphie' demonstrates Vromb's incredible skills at handling his' analog electronic equipment, which means in large part the sound manipulations are created by directly using the machines with only a little part of computer assisted sequencing, audio montages and overdubs. Subliminal trance-inducing beats, mighty pulsating sub basses and repetitive sequencer textures enriched with surrealistic ambient dronescapes and Hugo Girard's recognizable voice generate a steady but everchanging semi-ritualistic flow which was, is, and will be associated uniquely with the sonic world of Vromb.

Digital Poodle - Work Terminal

2015-11-12 (News)

1st in a series of vinyl reissues by the Canadian EBM band, Digital Poodle, beginning with "Work Terminal," an early ‘90s electronic dance floor anthem, that sounds decidedly contemporary in 2015. "Work Terminal" became nothing short of a local EBM anthem, a staple in all of Toronto’s thriving alt/EBM club scene, and even crossing over into the emerging techno scene, with Digital Poodle even playing alongside Detroit’s Underground Resistance, Jeff Mills, Kenny Larkin and Joey Beltram at 1992’s The Realm Of The Techno Gods Festival. Digital Poodle’s popularity in the EBM scene spread, and their music was picked up for license on Hyperium in Germany, and Metropolis in the USA. But this banging EBM anthem, a tried and tested dance floor killer, has really never seen a proper vinyl release, until now, and is rounded out by remixes by Opal Tapes’ O/H and Ghostly’s Solvent. The 12" is also rounded out by an impossibly rare 1991 cassette version, a much more clanging and ominous take than the original. Alongside O/H’s sludgy, furious techno version, and Solvent’s driving minimal synth reduction, "Revision! vol.1" offers a diverse set of dance floor killers for the modern industrial-techno scene.

Gjöll - The Background Static Of Perpetual Discontent

2015-11-11 (News)

The fourth full-length release of the Icelandic duo Gjöll is 'The Background Static Of Perpetual Discontent'. Both the music and the lyrics on this album reflect this topic from different points of view between anger and inner peace. This wide range of tempers and feelings are musically processed with most various styles between gloomy ambient soundscapes, rhythm based industrial and piercing power electronics whereat strumming rhythm guitar blows by Luca Brembilla on track 3 add a heavily distorted post-rock element. 2kilos &more and Black Sifichi have a guest appearance on track 4, melting their unique downbeat electronica and sinister voice with Gjöll's sound spectrum: slow, grinding beats, elaborated synth / sampling treatments and intense vocals ranging from susurration to furious screaming. This diversified range of instrumentation and sounds generates augmentative atmospheres between coldness, warmth and burning heat. Haunting, hypnotic, soothing and disquieting, 'The Background Static Of Perpetual Discontent' presents an enthralling impulse for mind and body.

Siamgda - Oppression

2015-11-10 (News)

On his second album 'Oppression', Marc Fischer a.k.a. Siamgda continues to tread the path that began with 'Tremors': a unique and captivating mixture of acoustic ethnic sounds and electronic soundscapes ranging from ambient to noise, with the emphasis on looped tribal percussion. On ‘Oppression’ this German artist generates a wide scale of moods between trance, unease and wariness. dense, repetitive textures and even borrowed elements from the characteristic krautrock rhythm 'Motorik' carry the catchy musical motifs based on native sounds recorded in India and Nepal, and all this is then enriched with subtle changes which become clear after repeated, intensive listening. This release connects industrial roughness with beat-structured hypnosis, riveting drumming with tailor-made samples and lo-fi production elements with an intoxicating live feel.

Haujobb - Blendwerk

2015-11-09 (News)

To put it bluntly, Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic are angry. What about is anyone's guess, maybe a relationship gone sour, maybe an entire life, but the feeling is palpable throughout ‘Blendwerk', which might be because of this the band's strongest album to date. You feel it in the elastic synthlines, which never get bouncy; they are always repulsing you, not quite incorporating you in their rhythm. And you feel it in the lyrics, the swearing, the puzzling sense that Myer has been hurt; the sad and almost desperate way that he screams 'just go' on the album's opening track. Even in the lyrical delivery, which for most of ‘Blendwerk' veers towards deadpan spoken word, there is a stoic sense that Haujobb has transcended their own role as future-faring industrialists, and - somehow - become human, all too human. Although ‘Blendwerk' is Haujobb's eighth studio album in 22 years, it is only the second in the last decade. Its cold production, daring introspection, and bare naked emotion might be a clue as to why, and it will take you on an inward journey that is both troubling and unexpected.

Distel - Zand

2015-11-09 (News)

The second full length album by the remarkable Dutch project is a striking follow up album to 'Puur' displays once again Distel's outstanding skills, fusing sound treatments, songwriting and emotional intensity with the ability to generate a coherent, monolithic opus reaped from a wide range of sources. 'Zand' is a collection of songs expressing autumnal, funereal moods through subdued atmospheres carried by subliminal beats, phantasmal electronics, processed guitars and gloomy, sometimes mildly distorted vocals. Particular levels of discomfort are never exceeded, never the less they are audible and linked with layers of tension and intensity. Four exclusively recorded tracks, a cover version of a song by the legendary project Suicide and six remixes made for Keluar, Acclimate v.1, Ghost Actor, Black Egg, Veil Of Light and Michael Idehall add up to a harmonious and perfectly coordinated set executed in Distel's very own style oscillating between ritualistic soundscapes, vintage industrial music and cold-/darkwave. An album that leaves space for adventure, fun and some strange moments.