Portion Control – I Staggered Mentally [DE085]

February 18, 2015July 17, 2024 hipodromealbum, dark entries records, dean piavani, ian sharp, industrial, john whybrew, portion controlLeave a comment

Portion Control is a British electronic and industrial band from South London. The trio of John Whybrew, Ian Sharp and Dean Piavani started out experimenting with electronics in 1980. The band released their first official vinyl album “I Staggered Mentally” on In Phaze Records in 1982. This album laid the template for the harder edged rhythmic industrial sound of the 80s and 90s. “I Staggered Mentally” is as raw as electronic music gets. Dean Piavani’s anguished vocals are the lone human element amidst electric drones, metallic beats and alien analog flickers. The perfect soundtrack for the harsh, even malignant, urban-industrial nightmare.

Broken English Club – Scars EP [CITI016]

February 18, 2015May 24, 2023 hipodromebroken english club, cititrax, industrial, minimal wave records, oliver ho, post punk, raudiveLeave a comment

Cititrax presents a 4 song EP by Broken English Club. Sparse vocals and shards of live instrumentation over heavy, stuttering beats and bleak synths. The tracks on this EP are rich and darkly atmospheric, pulsating loudly through a smog filled dance floor. A subversive spin on dance music, the blank-stared, pin-point-focused electronics and layers of noise betray no/wave and post punk influences, dragging together industrial experimentation and pitch-black techno.

Carter Tutti – Carter Tutti Plays & Remix Chris & Cosey [CTILP012014]

February 17, 2015April 15, 2020 hipodromealbum, carter tutti, chris & cosey, conspiracy international, cosey fanny tutti, cti, industrial, minimal synthLeave a comment

New material from Throbbing Gristle’s Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti should always be celebrated and their latest joint opus will be of particular delight to hardcore fans. Carter Tutti plays Chris & Cosey is a logical extension of the live show of the same name the pair have been performing and perfecting over the past three years, transferring revisited classics from the stage to the album format. Completed to heed requests for the release of a live album, this double LP features some eight CC classics like “Driving Blind” and “Obsession” newly reworked and recorded at their Norfolk studio. Of course it all sounds as imperious and industrially challenging as you’d expect. Excitingly for completists, there is a second LP included that houses remixes only previously available on a tour-only CD.

S.M. Nurse – Hometape Recordings 1981-1983 [DOM020]

January 28, 2015October 31, 2017 hipodromealbum, anneke stempher, dark wave, domestica records, industrial, jos jak, menko konings, minimal synth, s.m. nurseLeave a comment

Around 1980 Menko Konings (eM.) started the Dutch underground formation S.M. Nurse, first together with Jos Jak and later also with Anneke Stempher. S.M. Nurse experimented with collage-like music and were inspired by N.Y.-ultra, disco e.g. The band mainly performed in the Amsterdam ultra-circuit (Oktopus, Paradiso), clubs and discotheques. They were played regularly on the famous radio programmes RadioNome and Spleen and performed live on radio in the villa of the VPRO in Hilversum. They also contributed to the theme cassette Turkish Delight of the label Ding Dong and there was a cassette release on the label Top Tape. At the end of 1983, S.M. Nurse split up.

Black Seed – Logical Consequence [DTLSND004]

January 28, 2015August 26, 2021 hipodromeblack seed, details sound, industrial, matteo viani, technoLeave a comment

BLACK SEED - Logical Consequence EP

Following the debut 12-inch Wild Rites for Details Sound imprint, talented artist Matteo Viani returns under his Black Seed guise with a condensed noise-filled techno formula, revealing a spectrum of dark energy experiments.

Bourbonese Qualk – Lies [MNQ059]

January 28, 2015October 13, 2022 hipodromeancient methods, bourbonese qualk, dark wave, industrial, mannequin records, minimal synthLeave a comment

“Lies,” a track from the now-defunct UK experimental group Bourbonese Qualk, get new life by way of a vinyl release on Mannequin Records with Ancient Methods on edit and remix duties. “Lies”, a terse, TR 808 driven electro-tinged cut just under two minutes long, originally came out in 1986 on the Preparing For Power LP by way of the group’s own label Recloose Organization.

Liaisons Dangereuses – Liaisons Dangereuses [SSLP006]

January 20, 2015September 6, 2019 hipodromealbum, beate bartel, chrislo haas, hit thing records, industrial, krishna goineau, liaisons dangereuses, re-release, reissue, soul sheriff recordsLeave a comment

One of the most important electronic albums of all time now in the rebound. Cloaked in mystery, Liaisons Dangereuses had an unusually powerful and alluring vision designed by Chrislo Haas from D.A.F. and Beate Bartel from Mania D. They found a rather magical singer named Krishna Goineau for their album who sang with passionate despair in French, Spanish, German, and a fractured gaggle of Broken English. This unbelievably romantic album was mixed at Conny Plank Studios and originally released on vinyl in October 1981. With an infectious collage of electronic rhythms, perhaps not heard of nor imagined before, combined with explosions and scenery changes to keep listeners entirely disoriented from start to finish, Liaisons Dangereuses paved the way for most all EBM music since it’s release. The album carried the single ”Los Ninos del Parque” which became an instant and obvious hit on every dance floor it captured, and twenty-two years later still remains a champion. Countless movements of electronic music (Detroit Techno, Chicago House and Electroclash to name a few) have cited the Liaisons Dangereuses album as a crucial influence to their cause.

Tanz Ohne Muzik – Belong [RDCVT014]

January 2, 2015January 1, 2015 hipodromealbum, angst pop, electro, industrial, minimal synth, red cavity records, romanian, tanz ohne muzikLeave a comment

“The new Tanz Ohne Musik seems to be a small step back to the synthpop / minimal wave sound of earlier releases and away from the Galakhorrö angstpop. A small step though. Like on “Between Our Body Shapes” there are still heavy Galakthorrö influences, but Tanz Ohne Musik seems to be working more towards their own sound; an interesting sound! Most tracks have a slow, analogue sound with typical vocals. Some tracks tend more towards minimal wave, other more towards angstpop, but most are somewhere in between.” gangleri

Shifted – Arrangements In Monochrome [AVN017/AVN018]

December 14, 2014January 26, 2024 hipodromeambient techno, avian music, drone, experimental, guy brewer, industrial, shiftedLeave a comment

Explorations of textured noise excursions and muscular techno.

part 1 / part 2

Varg & Hypnobirds – Linje 19 LP [CDRLP024]

December 14, 2014March 22, 2023 hipodromeclan destine records, deep techno, dub techno, hypnobirds, industrial, jonas ronnberg, vargLeave a comment

Northern Electronics artist Varg returns to Glasgow label Clan Destine Records for a second release this year. Dedicated to the various stops on Line 19 of the Stockholm metro, Linje 19 finds Varg working with a new partner in Hypnobirds. As you’d expect, the prevailing mood over the four tracks here is deep and atmospheric, see the discordant, delay-laden dub techno of opening track “Bandhagen”. From here Varg and Hypnobirds burrow deeper into the subterranean crawl space between ambient and techno with closing track “Hagsatra” a particular highlight. Here they take the listener on an icy but strangely warming voyage into otherworldly sonics.

Marco Shuttle – Visione [EELP001]

December 7, 2014November 24, 2017 hipodromealbum, donato dozzy, eerie records, experimental, industrial, marco shuttle, technoLeave a comment

Marco Shuttle releasing his first solo album ‘Visione’ on his Eerie label. ‘Visione’ is a cohesive and compact work, which draws on Shuttle’s design background to unfold an audio narrative with a strong aesthetic approach. With a more abstract sound than his club-focused records, ‘Visione’ retains a cinematic scope while maintaining a common texture of sound throughout the tracks: the detailed productions were created with mainly analogue equipment with meticulously modulated oscillators, creating tracks that are by turns psychedelic, cosmic and sinister

Val_Ex – Riot [SOM030LP]

December 7, 2014October 17, 2022 hipodromealbum, arne weinberg, electro, experimental, industrial, robert witschakowski, solar one music, the exaltics, valanxLeave a comment

Solar One Music present a very special project. Arne Weinberg (Valanx) and Robert Witschakowski (The Exaltics) join forces as “Val_Ex” and present their first album. Dark and deep tracks are featured on both sides of this album, the intention and atmosphere is undeniably pure darkness. The common goal of achieving this is audible each second of this record. The music ranges from ambient to electro, industrial and electronica.

Grebenstein – Grebenstein EP [DN063]

December 7, 2014December 13, 2019 hipodromedownwards records, grebenstein, industrial, technoLeave a comment

The mysterious Grebenstein is the latest artist to grace Downwards. It starts with the searing drones and rumbling drums of “Acting Within Your Terms” before progressing into the utterly menacing tones of “No You Don’t” and “Principles of Trust”. The latter’s dark soundscapes are underpinned by crashing drums and it is this element that makes the final track, “That’s Where The Answer Was, In Your Body” so memorable, as bombastic kicks and percussive volleys underpin the air of gloom.

Broken English Club live @ Manufactura, ARMA17 (Moscow) 01.11.2014

November 28, 2014November 26, 2014 hipodromearma 17, broken english club, dark wave, industrial, live act, manufactura, oliver ho, podcast, raudive, technoLeave a comment

AN-I – Gutz [CITI015]

November 25, 2014July 19, 2023 hipodromean-i, cititrax, doug lee, industrial, lee douglas, minimal wave records, technoLeave a comment

AN-I continues his love affair with electronics offering us three distinct slabs of throbbing machine funk. The opening track ‘Gutz’ is a dense mutant high energy number, modern yet timeless. ‘Rut’, the first track An-i recorded whilst still living in New York and the first one to catch our attention, opens the B side with a massive dose of syncopated teutonic mayhem, spacier and sparser than the rest. ‘Save Us’ completes the release with an anthem of dirty warehouse techno.

Unknown Artist – Wargames #121 [WAR00121 ]

November 6, 2014November 4, 2014 hipodromeindustrial, techno, unknown artist, wargamesLeave a comment

Wargames is back, this time on 12” format for maximum impact. Four new tracks coming in from the dark lord of the weird, do not weep for those who are not prepared.

Ulwhednar – 1520 [NE013]

November 2, 2014June 8, 2023 hipodromeabdulla rashim, album, industrial, jonas ronnberg, northern electronics, techno, ulwhednar, vargLeave a comment

Abdulla Rashim and Varg’s collaborative project are back for another quest in sonic experiments and northern tales. Even if they do release obscure drone from time to time Northern Electronics continues to up hold its reputation as record label worthy of the tag: ‘buy on sight’. That can definitely be said about Varg and Abdullah Rashim’s second full length as Ulwhednar. For some dirty Rashim loops look to “De 92 Vita Stenarna” while for some Nordic drone splashed with Varg’s trademark space echoes check out “Kattarens Dom”, and if you want to experience what the crash landing of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise sounds like there’s “Askan Fran Balet”.

Kobosil – RK1[RK001]

November 2, 2014October 25, 2023 hipodromeambient techno, industrial, kobosil, max kobosil, rkLeave a comment

This latest record seems to mark Kobosil’s first self-released record. “Head” is an intriguing opener, eschewing rhythms for simmering modular pulses, which grow into the seasick metallic clutter of “1018818”. More conventional techno fare can be found on the finely tuned acid minimalism fo “A15” and the artificial marching sounds of “polyheme”, but even these are pleasingly strange in the manner we’ve come to expect from Kobosil.

Violet Poison – Force [HAR004]

September 28, 2014March 20, 2018 hipodromealbum, francesco baudazzi, haunted air records, industrial, obtane, violet poisonLeave a comment

Violet Poison is the dark, enigmatic and esoteric side-project of Francesco Baudazzi, already known as Obtane, co-owner with Giorgio Gigli of the defunct techno label Zooloft. The new project is focused on analogue proto-techno with influences from 70’s Italian progressive bands like Goblin or OST composers like Fabio Frizzi and earlier Downwards records from 1994-1995.

Function / Vatican Shadow – Games Have Rules [HOS425]

September 28, 2014June 8, 2023 hipodromeambient techno, dave sumner, dominick fernow, experimental, function, hospital productions, industrial, vatican shadowLeave a comment

Here’s something to excite those of an experimental techno bent: a collaborative set from veteran producer Function and drone/industrial sort Vatican Shadow. Given the qualities’ of both producers, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Games Have Rules is rather good. Like any good collaboration, it tempers the more outlandish aspects of each producer’s work, delivering a set bristling with icy textures, bittersweet ambience, dreamy atmospherics and, perhaps most pleasing of all, sprawling techno (see the brilliant “Bejewelled Body”). Highlights are naturally plentiful, from the crystalline mood of “A Year Has Passed” (reminiscent of Selected Ambient Works era Aphex Twin) to the murky textures and spooky electronics of “The Nemesis Flower”.