WHO’S THIS FACE!? After several strong and adventurous releases on Unknown Precept and Mannequin records, now it’s time to land on Knekelhuis for the next chapter. Meet Maoupa “Clown carrying butcher knife at Brussels” Mazzocchetti, known for his nervous, out of the box, thoughtful machine- driven electronics. You’ll love his powerful, distorted, gut-wrenching, yet danceable, black humour filled tunes! Would you please buckle up?
Mace. appearances are scarce. As his music is. Scarce, dirty, brown and miserable, as the Bunker guys would say. A mechanical reflection, not a choice of soothing harmonics. Not melodious structures. The survival of the fittest, harsh economics, suicidal stock brokers, piling up as much as possible before leaving. These are four things everyone will be talking about today. And so Lux Rec does. The last piece is a joint venture together with Diana Berti of ‘Veleno Viola’.
The return of The Hague’s black magician. It has been 13 years since The Parallax Corporation / Conservatives projects together with I-f and now Intergalactic Gary is back. I-G hooked up with a new musical partner, the lovely and talented Pasiphae from Greece and together they deliver four very well-crafted tracks of contemporary machine-driven techno romance, with the ecstatic title track ‘Made of glass’ being the floor burner that will unite dancefloors worldwide. With the ‘Made Of Glass’ EP Bio Rhythm proudly presents the absolute creme de la creme of the current Dutch West Coast ‘noir’ scene.
Dark minimal elektronix by Russian based LVRIN on Broken Dreams, the white label series of Pinkman Records.
Four tracks showcasing a wide range of production styles, each effective in their own right. From side-chained jack to peak red drum work outs to computer based minimalist bit destruction this ep proves to be a crushing statement from an artist coming into his own. US import price.
The Argentinian based NGLY had seemingly appeared out of thin air landing on the Brooklyn based L.I.E.S. label in 2014 with an untitled four track white label ep. On this ep, the unsuspecting track “Speechless Tape” ended up becoming a cult hit with select djs in the scene (I-F, Mick Wills, Intergalactic Gary…) eventually leading to it being voted as Intergalactic FM’s #1 track of the year in 2014. On the heels of his successful debut Rudolfo could have stayed the path and produced an easily digestable follow up dance record or two, instead he chose to take his time and reflect. Sitting back in the studio tweaking his live act, recording endlessly, transforming and refining his sound. In the end we get his debut eight track lp, Cities of Illusion, a record that walks a fine line between many of the original strains of the electronic realm. The elements are all there to be picked apart, to be used, to be abused, thrown against the wall smashed to bits…played in the club or on the late night mix shows, it’s magic you heard in the past and crave in the present. To say the music on the lp is one thing or another is an injustice…it pays reverence while at the same time turns a corner; held together by a loose yet cohesive thread. It is a full presentation that is unafraid to challenge or confuse, with no concern for genre imposed limitations.
Beau Wanzer returns with another LP of archival material plucked from the mutant mounds of shitty coughs and smelly feet. Wanzer digs deep and delivers twelve tracks in his inimitable style, with some dating as far back as 1999. The brutal electronic punk productions like ‘Something Stinks’ are balanced with moldy movements such as ‘Staring at at Fish’. This LP takes a more vocal heavy and menacing approach, but it’s not without moments of respite. Undoubtedly another oozing outing from the Chicago deviant.
Dominick Fernow presents another dark and confronting opus entitled Media In The Service Of Terror. Read between the lines of the titles then listen and learn via these harsh textural abrasions on offer. The sombre and brutalist opener “Ziad Jarrah Studied Mathematics” sets the scene well, the tunnelling slo-mo techno of “Take Vows” is great and follows the same path as Vactrol Park or L’estasi Dell’oro have in recent times. “Interrogation Mosaic” shows Fernow still has the knack for some chilling imaginary soundtracks while “More Of The Same (Tunisia)” has the classic outsider techno sound that Fernow has honed on previous efforts like Remember Your Black Day or Ghosts Of Chechnya.
One hour taken from the Phormix Aftermath party.
10 / 09 / 16 Athens.
Heavy EBM stompers by Celldöd, aka Anders Karlsson, has been releasing dirty electronic music since the late ’80s, both small-run cassette tapes inspired by the DIY ethos of his post-punk background, and pristine vinyl editions.
Forever a label willing to revisit previous tape-only wares if the demand is there, Sam Willis and Ale Natalizia’s Ecstatic turn their gaze to one of the latter’s earliest Not Waving documents. Originally issued on highly limited, gold cassette way back in 2012, Redacted was produced during Walls downtime by Natalizia and expanded on the “classified” themes of his Remote Viewing-inspired debut LP Umwelt. Fans of the most recent Diagonal-released Not Waving LP, Animals, should be thrilled to see how far Natalizia’s project has developed in just four years with the prevailing mood on Redacted a sort of murky and brutish EBM that is wholly satisfying.
Sign Bit Zero strides onwards with a set of punishing dancefloor interpretations of forgotten industrial gems handpicked by Hamburg’s Wosto and label head honcho, Kilian Krings. While Wosto’s previous output as half of Fallbeil is as much informed by Chicago house as EBM, his contributions to SBZ002 focus on the C90 experimentation which roughens the edges of the duo’s past efforts for Contort Yourself and New York Haunted. Kilian Krings explores his passion for Neue Deutsche Welle and its various offshoots in his edits here, setting a bold statement for the future of both his own and Sign Bit Zero’s no-compromise approach. SBZ002 sheds light on crucial yet often overlooked aspects of 1980s industrial experimentation. Wosto and Kilian Krings morph their discoveries into club-ready headspinners, assured to prove a highlight of any adventurous DJ set.
JASSS debuts on Mannequin Records for the “Death Of The Machines” series with a killer 3 track mix of ebm/industrial & wave on this heavy 12”. Perfect for the most abrasive dancefloors.
After crafting the deconstructed synth-pop of Soft Metals for the past 6 years, Portland OR – based synth artist Ian Hicks has resumed his solo output and has delved deeper into exploring the darker, weirder, more mutant alleys of his mind and studio. Inspired by the capricious winter of the Pacific Northwest, early industrial gear experiments, science fiction, horror and the explosion of the modular synthesizer scene in Portland, Ian presents VIY as his initial post-Soft Metals work. VIY is a snap shot of an ever-changing configuration of equipment, textures and moods captured with minimal processing and editing to preserve the original idea in the purest form.
The Hipodrome Of Music 