Men With Secrets – Sand Clock LP [CITI034]

Cititrax presents Sand Clock, the new full-length album by Men With Secrets – the Italian trio of Donato Dozzy, Lino Monaco, and Nicola Buono (Retina.it). Born from a shared background in experimental techno under the name Le Officine Di Efesto, the three found themselves drawn toward something slower and more deliberate: the emotional directness of classic post-punk, minimal wave, and synth-driven pop. Sand Clock is the fullest expression of that devotion. Recorded in Rome and Pompeii in 2023, the album channels the melodic clarity and romantic tension of late-80s and early-90s darkwave while never losing the cool precision the trio carries from their electronic roots. Icy synthesizers curl around shuddering basslines; drum machines land with quiet authority; baritone vocals move between intimacy and quiet apocalypse. The result is music that breathes between the shadowed dance floor and solitary headphone listening—structured, emotionally exposed, and impossible to place in any single moment. This is not revivalism. It is the recognition that certain emotional territories were mapped but never fully inhabited—and a determination to go further in.

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Men With Secrets – Sand Clock LP [CITI034]

2020 Best Albums

Continuing our past year briefing, after the readers top 3 and best giveaways, we present a list of our 20 favorite albums from 2020.

We have four albums more on the electro side coming from DMX Krew, Men With Secrets (Donato Dozzy and Retina.it), Nullptr and The Exaltics & Heinrich Mueller, while on the industrial/EBM side we have albums by A Civil Terror, La luna sotto il ponte and LBEEZE and impressive works from Black Meteoric Star, Ian Martin and Trenton Chase.
On the synthier side of music we have four albums coming from Das Ding, Linea Aspera, Newclear Waves and Jake Schrock, while for the Detroit lovers we have two Detroit influenced album by The Beneficiaries (Jeff Mills, Eddie Fowlkes and Jessica Care Moore) and The Nightstalker (Dan Piu and Martin Akeret).
Closing the list are the debut album of disco-don Franz Scala on Slow Motion, Obergman‘s acid album on Furthur Electronix, Anthony Collins with his album on Lobster Theremin under the Grant alias and Shifted with his first album on Avian.
The list is compiled in chronological order.

Continue reading “2020 Best Albums”

2020 Best Albums

Men With Secrets – Psycho Romance and Other Spooky Ballads [BK041]

Donato Dozzy collaborates with Retina.it on a new dark and sleazy electro project, Men With Secrets. After Dozzy’s first project with Retina.it (aka Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono), under the moniker Le Officine Di Efesto on Spazio Disponibile, fresh ideas would fast unfold. “They quickly discovered a shared love of classic post-punk, wave, and synthpop, and not long after, Men With Secrets was born.” Drawing influence from the likes of Richard Bone, Cabaret Voltaire, The Human League, New Order, and even Dopplereffekt, the trio stamp out their own sound with ‘neither imitation nor rehash.’ Their debut thirteen track album, titled Psycho Romance and Other Spooky Ballads, will land on none other than The Bunker NY.

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Men With Secrets – Psycho Romance and Other Spooky Ballads [BK041]