Lab Personnel is an electro / EBM producer team from from Zagreb, Croatia, including Ivona Ivkovic, Marijan Katic, Nikola Kos, Luka Kurjan, Goran Lautar, Jasmin Mahmic, Dominik Sesek and Paul Genetik. Sons of Traders present “Break Apart”, an improvisation recorded live at “Synth Jam” improvisation session in Zagreb at Surogat Club, December 2023.
Black Dot lands on Italo Moderni with a cult futuristic gem on vocals by Le Chocolat Noir and hardware wizard Christian Kroupa, three obscure killers bangers ready for the dancefloor, last but not least with an epic remix by the king Marcel Dettmann.
Induced with hopelessness by power structures from the future, Black Dot lands on Mechatronica White with a deep rooted urge to wrestle institutions, soak in isolation and escape into the cosmos. Backed by an all consuming Cardopusher remix. Black Dot is a collaborative effort by Christian Kroupa and Le Chocolat Noir.
From a Balkan basement comes an EP so filthy that we had to cover the record with a color photo. KRI records first installment oscillates between EBM and electro, ready for sweaty dancefloors and those extra long afterhours needing some “warm leatherette”. A well crafted five tracker journey is a debut collab by two veterans, Christian Kroupa and Le Chocolat Noir. Get ready for plenty of melodies, massive chords and menacing vocals spiced with an epic acid remix by the Mannequin boss Alessandro Adriani.
Five cuts of obsessive electro/ebm from the cold heart of Croatia that will make you sweat. Unchaste vocals on brash basslines and slicing snares are melted with acid sounds and thumping beats. These tracks tie together a journey beginning in the 80s Yugoslavia, among rituals and lies, leading to the relation with sexuality and eroticism within the collective consciousness of mankind. How do you deal with your purely physical desires?
Croatia’s Le Chocolat Noir debuts on Charlois with four cuts of embittered, EBM inspired, electronics. An EP of contrasts. Wrenching vocals are scored by brash synthlines. slicing snares, countered by a cold and bright hope. Frigid warmth from the heart of Zagreb.
Frigio Records is on the road again with Le Chocolat Noir. The Croatian artist, known for Disco Panonia and his work as Honored Matres, is no stranger to Frigio, having featured on All Stars Vol 1 in 2014. “Transform EP” is introduced by the industrial mental sounds of “Greedy Pets” which brings a new name to the roster as June delivers his interpretation of it. A grimy wave edge is pursued by the Greek machine man for a driving take. The original staggers into being. Drums slip and bass rumbles in a tense and terse piece of gritty music. Then Le Chocolat Noir offers the dark and looming “N.E.T.”. Blackened lyrics are sampled as thick bars of synth and licks of acid make for a menacing curtain fall on side A. On the flip side, the steely claps and burbling bass are rinsed in metal for the gleaming EBM infused “Doing Dishes” with vocals ghost beneath the currents. Following up, vocals ghost beneath the currents, vocals picked up by Colombia’s Cute Heels as the electronic savant debuts on Frigio for a simmering aquatic remix.
The Hipodrome Of Music 