Echo Instinct – Electronic Soundscapes For Post-Industrial Urban Decay [UDR003]

Echo Instinct is the new AV electronica project from Kat Day and Nicholas Wood of The KVB. Electronic Soundscapes For Post-Industrial Urban Decay gathers a collection of recordings and improvisations made between 2021 and 2025, crafted from a patchwork of synthesizers, drum machines, manipulated samples and field recordings. Inspired by the ever-changing concrete cityscapes of their former home in Berlin and the derelict, overgrown red-brick factories surrounding their new base in east Manchester, the album isn’t a soundtrack for a dystopian future — it’s a journey through the modern ruins of the world we live in today. 

Echo Instinct – Electronic Soundscapes For Post-Industrial Urban Decay [UDR003]

The KVB – Tremors LP [INV311LP]

Cold wave duo The KVB are back with their new album ‘Tremors’ on Invada Records. The KVB returns to the darker sound that embodied their earliest releases whilst retaining the infectious pop of their last album ‘Unity’. The band have dubbed their new album ‘dystopian pop’, and wrote it with the live show in mind; full of energy, hooks and dynamic moments. Writing the album between Manchester and Bristol, and recording alongside James Trevascus (Billy Nomates, RVG), the band have drawn on their own back catalogue and the music that inspired them at the very beginning of their artistic journey. The end result is the most complete album from The KVB to date, full of emotive impact and pop hooks presented in a uniquely shadowy atmosphere and with an idiosyncratic detachment that adds to the cinematic quality of their sound.

vinyl / CD

The KVB – Tremors LP [INV311LP]

The KVB – Of Desire [INV150]

Having begun life as a bedroom project for then Southampton-based Nicholas Wood to experiment with ideas around minimal electronica and shoegaze, The KVB has grown with partner and collaborator Kat Day. The now Berlin-based productive pair have released four albums of woozy and immersive anthems since 2010. ‘Of Desire’ is The KVB’s most fully formed record to date, taking in influences such as Death In Vegas, Scott Walker and Roxy Music to create something that is at once familiar and yet inventive and original. Steeped in musical history, it’s an album that hums with devotion and captures a band ready to emerge from the underground and embrace an ever-growing audience. “Being able to produce from home meant we weren’t restricted.” Wood says remembering The KVB’s early days. Many of the songs on ‘Of Desire’ date back to these earliest bedroom recordings, including lead single ‘In Deep’. “It’s about longing,” he adds of a song powered by a motorik beat and distorted blasts of icy guitars.” There’s definitely a romantic undercurrent to the record.”

vinyl / CD

The KVB – Of Desire [INV150]

The KVB – Mirror Being [INV147]

Now Berlin-based duo The KVB land on Geoff Barrow’s Invada label for the first in a series of releases. Mirror Being differs from most releases from The KVB as the pair’s deep set vocals, a key component of their sound, are largely absent from the 10 tracks but their reverb soaked mastery of guitars and analogue gear is still very much evident throughout.

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The KVB – Mirror Being [INV147]

The KVB – Run Away [AMPLA075DD]

The latest release for The KVB comes via Ample Play, a London label that’s best known for releasing the music of indie rockers Cornershop. The two-track Run Away EP sees the duo on form once again, with more curtailing synths, straitlaced drums and vocals clear as mud. Both tracks on the EP are somewhat contrasting, the title track being dancey and melodic, while “436” is a grungier version of sounds you could expect from Tropic Of Cancer or HTRK.

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The KVB – Run Away [AMPLA075DD]

The KVB – Minus One [AUK109]

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London-based “dark wave” duo The KVB are a productive lot. Somewhat remarkably, this is their sixth album since 2011. It further explores there trademark distant, discordant, murky sound, blending barely-audible vocals and shoegaze guitars with fuzzy tones, clandestine moods and atmospheric grooves. While they can do full-throttle noise – see the growling “Dominance/Submission” and “Something Inside”, which push reverb and multi-layered guitars to their limits – they’re actually at their best when exploring less intense pastures. There’s much of this on Minus One, with the wide-eyed “Passing By”, dreamy “Endless” and clandestine “Kill The Lights” standing out.

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The KVB – Minus One [AUK109]

The KVB – Immaterial Visions Remixes EP [CITI009]

Cititrax presents remixes for The KVB by Regis, Shifted, Silent Servant, In Aeternam Vale and Worn.

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The KVB – Immaterial Visions Remixes EP [CITI009]

The KVB – Immaterial Visions [CITI008]

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Cititrax present a new release by the UK duo known as The KVB via our sublabel Cititrax. Combining shoegaze guitars, minimal synth melodies, hypnotic drum machine rhythms and reverb drenched vocals, The KVB was first formed in 2010 as the solo project of Klaus Von Barrel. He was later joined by his girlfriend Kat Day, who added synthesizers and abstract visual elements. Their sound can be described as dark, layered, complex and moody – an icy atmosphere juxtaposed by the warmth of distorted guitars.

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The KVB – Immaterial Visions [CITI008]

The KVB – Always Then LP [CDRLP008]

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“Always Then” is the second album from UK post punk band The KVB aka Klaus von Barrel. The album will be released on Clan Destine Records and is featuring 10 dark wave, new wave tracks.

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The KVB – Always Then LP [CDRLP008]

The KVB – Into The Night [DN010]

Downwards continue to split the crowd with their riveting 10″ series, presenting this astonishing slab of motorik depression from The KVB. Klaus Von Barrel show here something darker, sexily narcotic and thrusting to their sound. ‘Into The Night’ is a case in point, with couldn’t-give-a-fu*k, glazed-eye vocals heard from behind a wall of Joy Division synths and a bruisingly muscular, meth-fuelled bassline. ‘Lost’ is perhaps more spacious, mixing everything tantalisingly out-of-reach, but with just enough abrasive guitar to gnash on. Again on ‘Hide & Wait’ the flanging, fire-and-ice-breathing guitar is upfront, while vocals are half-heard in the murk next to unrelenting drums Stephen Morris would be proud of. Includes 10″ x 10″ insert.

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The KVB – Into The Night [DN010]