Juan Mendez a.k.a Silent Servant finds his ideal EBM vocal foil in Ori Ofir under their Sterile Hand moniker. The duo’s first vinyl round for Not Waving’s Ecstatic label is a dark and sleazy run of deviant industrial techno and pugilistic EBM cuts made over the last year.
From Conrad Schnitzler in the 1960s to the pioneers of Detroit techno in the 1980s, experimental sonic artists were often inspired by the metallic noises of industrial factories. Schnitzler wanted to recreate the sounds he heard in his apprenticeship as a locksmith with musical instruments, and the sons and daughters of the midwestern automobile-industry generation programmed the motown soul into Japanese electronic music equipment. With his new piece The Metal Beat EP, Credit 00 wants to get in line with this tradition of transforming factory sounds into music. Each of the three tracks reflects on the role of the human being in an industrial environment. The never-ending movement of the machine becomes the rhythm, while the melody embodies our forlorn voices in the vastness of the factory site. The blues played by machines–modern work songs for a post-industrial society.
Neubau brings up some experimental bits & pieces by Gil.Barte from Lyon, operator of the newly founded Kump label.
June Records presents a new compilation with live electronics, featuring music from Svengalisghost, Manie Sans Délire, newcomer Bruce Roach, Trenton Chase, RR Hearse + Furnace Miskin and Zodiac Free Arts Club.
The material for Ecdisis Vol.1? Lost tracks from the past, patted down, spruced up and given a couple of shots of whiskey by Juanpablo, Dunkeltier and, a new member of the family, Vinilette. From Barcelona, Vinilette is a Dj and producer who isn’t afraid to pull a musical punch or two and she is in fighting form with her two offerings. First up, the 1986 EBM stomper “God Save The King” by Son of Sam is revamped and reconstructed into a psychedelic rollercoaster of crashing cymbals, spiralling samples and bruising bars. The clock is being turned further back, this time Belgium’s new wave punk outfit Arbeid Adelt! are the source material with their 1987 track “Help (Me Ik Stik)” muscling up on a diet of raging rhythms and splintering guitar strings. The head honcho, Juanpablo, meets up with an old member of the family Dunkeltier (aka Dj Sneaker) to finish our journey. The pair travelling back to 1983 to Catalonia and the prog-jazz musings of Pegasus. “Perseguido por el Rayo” is tuned up and transformed into an electronic bomb. Addictive grooves and hooks are polished with beats getting a shot in the arm for a hauntingly sinister piece of disco deviance.
Pinkman records presents Five Years of Tears: A string of releases dedicated to celebrate the 5th birth year of the label. The first volume features contributions by 3 of the labels usual suspects, as well as newcomer Randstad. Ernestas Sadau’s powerful, raw and menacing cut starts sets the scene for Alessandro Parisi to delve deep into his synthesizer toolkit. What comes out is a highly emotional production, infused with sirens and melodies that may cause tearful mourning on the dancefloors. On the B side Identified Patient provides yet another one of his notoriously slow and filthy underground creepers, while Randstad delivers another burst of energy that celebrates raw percussion, gloomy pads and haunting vocal samples.
After his storming debut on Pinkman and Oliver Ho’s Death & Leisure at the beginning of the year, Maenad Veyl returns with ‘The Acceptance ov Not Knowing’, six tracks hovering above techno, EBM, noise and power electronics. VEYL is the new label by Thomas Feriero (Maenad Veyl, Avatism, CW/A) and Alex Knoblauch (Vakant, Parachute).
Since first joining forces in 2014, hardware freak Parrish Smith and former punk activist Mark van de Maat (founder of Amsterdam’s admirable Knekelhuis label) have earned a reputation for delivering the kind of incendiary live shows that were once the preserve of British multi-media mavericks such as Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle. Mutilating and manipulating their songs on the fly, Volition Immanent takes no prisoners in pursuit of artistic expression.
Phase Fatale (Hayden Payne) and Silent Servant (Juan Mendez) started their collaboration in 2016 performing together live at several Jealous God showcases across Europe, such as Berlin Atonal, and then working together on Payne’s Redeemer Extended Mix 12′ from his album on Hospital Productions last year. The Confess EP on BITE is a studio documentation of those aforementioned live performances and harnesses the cathartic energy of the stage into a physical medium.
Mannequin’s 100th – a compilation looking forward featuring an international and serious cast. The modern synthwave scene would be significantly poorer without the keen ear and tireless efforts of the Mannequin label run by Alessandro Adriani. Mannequin continues to go on exploratory missions to find the best and most relevant aspects of genres like acid, industrial, EBM, post-punk, coldwave and still more. Which brings us to Mannequin’s newest project and 100th release overall: the Waves of the Future double LP compilation, which itself is not a conventional retrospective collection. Case in point – none of the artists appearing on this collection have put out their own releases on Mannequin yet, despite acting as Mannequin’s unofficial ambassadors (via DJ sets and other means). This makes the set even more compelling rather than less so, since it shows how Mannequin fits into a larger picture that includes other scene leaders and label owners including Beau Wanzer, Willie Burns, Silent Servant and Ron Morelli.
Kris Baha turns to Pinkman with a standout 5 tracker blending influences ranging from EBM, darkwave and experimental electronics. What makes them work together is a shared industrial edge, spine-chilling atmospheres and minimalistic vocals. By finding excellence in diversity this record is equally suited for boiling dance floors and home listening purposes.
Job Sifre is one of the guys bringing new blood into the Amsterdam scene. This is the follow-up to his recently released debut on the new Artifical Dance label, where he continues his path of solid EBM fueled electronix. The record ends with the gorgeous ‘At Least We Try’, showing of his more tripping, rhythmic side.
