industrial
Alessandro Adriani – Kiosk Radio Outsiders
VA – Tears for Fears Vol. 3 [SOTA042]
Soil Records presents the third volume of Tears For Fears cassette compilation. The release includes 22 tracks from the likes of Adrian Marth, Anatolian Weapons, Chino, Crossover Network, Fragedis, Le Chocolat Noir, Ober Dada & Lera Foer, Sons Of Traders, Violet Poison and many more.
Interviews – S/T [BT57]
BT57 sees Markus Gebauer AKA Interviews making his debut on Brokntoys. Having left a lasting impression with his previous efforts on labels Ortloff and Bitterfeld, here the Berlin-based producer showcases his throbbing blend of Italo, EBM and electro on a 4 track EP designed for primetime club action.
VA – MRG010 [MRG010]
Marguerite Records announced its first release scheduled for 2021: ‘MRG010’, a Various Artist compilation celebrating the label’s tenth output. A side opens up with ‘My unknown friend’ by the charming Diana Berti, a blue starry-eyed minimal synth jam, followed up by Mayo’s slo-mo acid affair ‘SloMos’. A3 is ‘Miss your stupid face’, a crunchy, metallic downbeat cut by SYNTETYK boss Dzuma, and what a better way to follow such delight than a snake charming rollercoaster by Exhausted Modern? Closing up the first side is ‘Same shit fail (shame)’, a mesmerizing slow tempo deep track by Lyon’s Big Science head honcho Warzou. Flip side is unwrapped by ‘Weaklink’ a Lliasons Dangerousesque floorfiller from Lost Soul Enterprises boss R Gamble, while ‘Alpha’ on B2 marks the return of Bianco Negativo on their label with a dreamy minimal synth // ambient techno hybrid. Sitting on B3 is the high tension cinematic EBM roller ‘Duty-bound majority’ by Colombian artist Filmmaker; B4 switches the vibe and turns full speed with a mutant electro excursion by LIES affiliated Chupacabras. Madmoizel’s ‘Culture 19’, a powerful yet playful raw post punk gem, brings the compilation to its final chapter.
Baroque – Axis [SOTA043]
Baroque brings his first release on Soil Records, E.B.M focused and industrial textures on the background make a really strong release.
Modern Ruin – Unemployment Disco Line [HNRLP024]
With an Arturo Micro brute synthesizer put through psychedelic effects, Modern Ruin keeps the flame of Andrew Weatherall and Suicide burning through times of isolation and disarray. This Synth Wave/New Wave experience of an album, released on LP on Höga Nord Rekords, sums up 2020 with its dark and cold sound. The title speaks for itself: “Unemployment Disco Line” reflects the desperation in the sound and the reverb-drenched vocals in the back of the soundscape comes from deep within the Covid hole. Drawing influences from masters like the legends above, Rowland S. Howard, Johan Balance + Peter Christopherson et cetera, this debut album by Modern Ruin sums up four decades of underground club music and no matter how long this pandemic goes on we are in “Nothing Blues” until the dance floors open again.
Roberto Auser – Second Sun [DDLP01]
Dalmata Daniel presents the new album by Dutch West Coast mid-veteran Roberto Auser. Auser (born Derk Reneman) has been into cinematic (or b-videomatic) electro for more than a decade now, with releases on Viewlexx, Pinkman, Gooiland Electro/Enfant Terrible and more, ranging from atmospheric and hypnotic to tight and grim, but always loaded with a vision of a storyteller. In a Dutch way, for sure. Though “Second Sun” is, again, an audiovisual trip, that’s not the primary concept here – it’s probably the purest album-like experience of Robert Auser so far, presenting most of his characteristics and sounds, and also new elements, still, all are coherent and organic parts of Reneman’s projective language of electronics.
An Anomaly – Decadent Skies [OFFEN017]
TPPM and AtB aka Mr fLooDs are turning on the research machine taking the listener on a extraordinary tripped out ecstatic journey through timespace where spirits of Liaisons Dangereuses Radio and the legendary Boccaccio are summoned with inspiration in order to find a New Beat Soul for the 21st Century. What was born and initially exploded in 1987, went supernova (in Belgium) in 1988, declared dead in 1989, was slow and initially all about atmosphere with industrial strength beats – the main form of rhythmic propulsion being the pounding kick and heavy snare. The sound was mainly instrumental and when there was lyrical content, it often became more about slogans and giving commands. On „Decadent Skies“ An Anomaly bring back the atmosphere, beats, the essence off the beaten commercial track, and combine it with the knowledge of tomorrow.
Cardinal & Nun – Dancing In The Evil [LIES168]
Cardinal & Nun returns to L.I.E.S. now with his debut LP, 8 songs of full on rotten stripped back, fuzzed out, synth punk mayhem. Straight to the head beautifully thrashing anthems, Cardinal & Nun goes in with catchy basslines, dissonant guitar chop ups, and vocals that creep from the shadows throughout the affair. Don’t gas out though, there are some somber cuts on the b-side’s ”Whats Goin On Tonite?”, ”Pandemonium” and ”Day After Day”. A true gem in the French scene, now get in the pit and slamjack.
Ober Dada / Lera Foer – Tanzare [OR091]
The Moscow’s dancefloor burners are back with the new single “Tanzare ”. Offering again their usual modular sonic artillery and their lovely blend of electro, dark techno and body music with 2 new tracks that are insured/guaranteed floor-fillers.
Broken English Club – White Rats III [LIES165]
Almost two years after the second volume landed in record stores, Oliver Ho AKA Broken English Club has finally delivered the third and final instalment in his White Rats trilogy of albums. In keeping with its predecessors, the album sees Ho exploring a mixture of politically charged ambient compositions, post-apocalyptic electronic soundscapes, mind-altering industrial grooves and gnarled, post-punk influenced workouts. As you’d expect given Ho’s track record, the album sounds authentically dystopian, updating the Cold War era paranoia of early industrial music for a new century. Highlights include the acid-flecked industrial-electro number ‘Alone In The Hunt’, the strobe-lit EBM heaviness of ‘The Kill’, the creepy ambience of ‘The Burned The Villages’ and the clandestine, slow-motion stylishness of ‘Love Cuts Deeper’.
Absolute Body Control – A New Dawn [MEC058]
Absolute Body Control is back with new material after more than ten years. The legendary minimal-synth-wave duo formed in 1980 by Dirk Ivens (The Klinik, Dive, Sonar) and joined a bit later by Eric van Wonterghem (Insekt, Monolith) has been working together again and got finished a new EP. Six songs that fuse their classic sound with a theme that reflects the times of change that humanity is going through.
VA – Deviate 002 [DEV002]
Second release for this Brussels based organization (Label and parties) run by False Identity. This one focuses on dark and powerful electro, clanging industrial techno and techno body music straight for the dancefloor.
L.F.T. – Träume von Gabriel [MTRONW008]
Following his Red Pyramid EP, L.F.T. returns to Mechatronica with fearless visions, Nils Fock on vocals and a cold-blooded Dollkraut remix on the flip.
Caron – Shattered [SHIP067]
Caron debuts on Shipwrec with a four tracker of sheer quality. Off-kilter percussion introduces the breathy pads and grandeur of “Ancestry,” a piece of dreamy chords and acid undertones. The haunting “Common Sense” follows. Drums stagger next spectral vocals in this chilling electro piece. A similar stalking note continues on the flip with the 303 soaked “Lost.” A steady kick offers a bedrock from which looming keys, bitter squawk and dancefloor paranoia take hold. Hopeful shades arrive with the brilliance of “Ruins.” From industrial percussion and metallic rinses, a deep and intricate finale forms to bring “Shattered” to a terrific close.
Foreign Policy – Watching Existence [X-IMG20]
Foreign Policy is the electronic music project of Berlin based artist Thomas Ricard, co-founder of the Area Z collective. ”Watching Existence” marks his debut release as well as his first 12”, a six track journey of scorched electro industrial & techno body music operating as a conduit for his social observations on the modern condition, human rights and civil liberties. The 12″ EP also includes a remix by SARIN.
Daniele Cosmo @ Grand Central Festival Antigel X Motel Campo 27.02.2021
Borusiade – Purge [TRPLM007]
Romanian producer and DJ Miruna Boruzescu aka Borusiade knows how to create ethereal tracks, somewhere between post-wave, techno and industrial vibes. “Purge”, the new EP for Tripalium Corp, is about heart-break in forced isolation, when the only way to stay sane is purging through music and lyrics. From the 80s synth of “Let Go” to the experimental ten-minutes-trip “Haunted Evolution”, these five tracks are talking about of one’s coping systems in extreme emotional situations, hope and power to move on and last but not least, learned lessons and empowerment.
VA – Sons of Traders 002 [SOT002]
Sons of Traders 002 is an 8 tracks compilation Ep of loosely knit artists that surround the duo Sons of Traders (Mike Tansella Jr. and TANS). Leading the EP, the title track “Rotten to the Core” is a slow stomper with a forceful vocal sample and some various squelches. LA’s Kosmik picks up the tempo with “Murmurs” which features a hypnotic synth loop over a 4/4 beat. On “Chomping at the Bit” C.L.A.W.S. and Tyrell trade off between claps, hi hats and short delays underneath a sinister synth tone. To close the A side of the record is Future Blondes out of Texas with “2020 ultra visions”, a cut that can only be described as a sinister barrage of slamming drums and tones. The B side launches with “The Other Side of Town” by The White Lines, a dark electro workout with vocal samples, dark synths and growling bassline. Frigio label boss Juan Pablo brings us an intricate drum pattern with layers of synths on “Night Drive in Beijing”. “Self Feral” by Chris Mitchell is something with a hip hop swing, heavy drums, various feedback and vocals. Closing the EP is Dragée, a new artist from Haifa, Israel. “Them” features a hard snare that holds together the demented vocals, claps and bassline that develop throughout the track.
The Hipodrome Of Music 