Bedroom Talks, hailing from Ukraine, is a gifted solo artist whose music, delves into an eclectic blend of genres including coldwave, darkwave, synthwave, post-punk with touches of EBM. “Call Me Malespero,” produced during Ukraine’s shelling, captures the essence of his art in a unique and moving way. It’s a powerful testament to human resilience and the ability to find beauty even in the darkest moments, evoking a range of emotions from pain and anger to palpable sweetness, all woven into poetic lyrics and enveloping melodies.
Introducing Yarrow Ballet’s V.A. (Volume 01) featuring 10 beautiful tracks. The essence of this compilation its best describes as a listening experience that aligns perfectly with Yarrow Ballet’s musical aesthetic. It captures a balance of darkness and softness, all underscored by a sense of melancholic beauty. The V.A. also embodies a sense of community, similar to that of a close-knit family.
Filmmaker consistently traverses genres from post-punk, EBM, synth wave and beyond to create a unique identity still firmly rooted in film culture. Now he returns to Veyl with Hollywood Cult. Comprised of 13 tracks, the album sees the producer elevate his sound to new levels, conjuring a world of haunting atmospheres and devious directions that take the listener through a journey of unparalleled proportions.
“Vanishing Dreams” is a highly awaited new mini-album by Cold Colors, brimming with personality and inspiration as always. Wistful undertones and captivating melodies establish Cold Colors as one of the most prominent figures in the current French and European new wave scene. His music mirrors the sharpness and elegance reminiscent of the renowned Lyon duo, Deux, showcasing his talent for evoking beautiful emotions through his melancholic and catchy notes.
Marguerite Records announced Meccanismo Ritmico, a new multidisciplinary project that will involve artists who can think outside the box, inspired by the energy and spirit of the 1980s DIY subculture. The first volume contains 6 exclusive tracks by Diana Berti aka Violet Poison and Disappearer, 1/2 of Harlem Electronics, two already well-known names in the international electronic scene. The first part is dominated by the romantic and introspective minimal synth wave sounds of Diana Berti contrasted by the dirty and distorted EBM influenced tracks of Disappearer.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza: we are witnessing a gross violation of human rights and since the beginning of the conflict, we have often felt helpless in the face of all this barbarism and inhumanity. We have therefore decided to donate the proceeds from the sales of the compilation to PCRF – Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.”
“Strange World” is not merely an album; it’s a sonic expedition that probes the aberrations of a society shaped by the strange and transformative influence of technology. The music industry, a microcosm of this surreal universe, has become an intricate web of formatted reactions and impersonal interactions. Foreign, the musical observer, takes the audience on a solitary journey through the night—a time of introspection where raw feelings and emotions are eclipsed by the numbing shadows of social media and the relentless march of technology. The album resonates with an unmistakable romanticism, shrouded in a dark, mysterious atmosphere. Each track is a testament to the disquieting beauty found in the synthesis of opposites—the warm, pulsating beats of EBM intertwining with the ethereal melodies of synth-pop. The result is a musical landscape that is simultaneously haunting and alluring, much like the strange world it reflects.
Ferry Lane Records welcomes Teatre AKA Viktoras Urbaitis for its fourth release. ‘2 Songs’ presents the Lithuanian producer at his most introspective. On the A-side, ‘Alone’ offers a languid, bittersweet melody evoking the golden era of synth-pop. The B-side, ‘Low’ intensifies the mood while still embracing melancholy.
For more than thirty years, Ruud Lekx has been corrupting hearts and minds with his unmistakable brand of synthesizer music. Under his Rude 66 mask, this titan of electronics returns to Bordello A Parigi with twelve darkened tracks for ‘Conditioning Consciousness’. Tempos glide low in the opening incantations. From the breathy murmurings of “Magick Angels’ Invocations”, the listener is brought into Rude’s world. Shauna Lekx’s signature vocoder lyrics and blackened subject matter are central tenets, as are hauntingly delicate melodies. “The Riddler In Me” is a deep psychological journey through cable and circuit, an unsettling monologue accompanied by liquid analogue lines. BPMs are allowed to rise for the shimmering warmth of “In Exile” and in the reverb soaked “The Chariot”. But these are the outliers. Across the collection, percussion drives without ever being a central force. Instead, the focus is the bewitching and brooding compositions. Take the drugged low slung groove of “The Talisman of Algol” or the loose modulations of “Le Sagittaire”, here the listener is brought into the heart of the machines and the musician. The curtain close, “The Five Swords Of Venus In Aquarius” gathers a spread of influences, bringing them together into one piece. Synth. Soundtrack. Strings. All culminate in this superb climax, a climax to an album that broaches the boundaries between terrifying and terrific.
Third album from Rouen cold & arty band Love In Cage, between some cold synth electronic tracks, some post-punk anthems and a deep lynchian dark rock on the second half of the record. Perfect marriage of 80’s sound & contemporary music. A must have for wave & cold lovers.
Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX is the second compilation for Eskimo Recordings compiled and curated by Berlin-based Musician and DJ Luca Venezia, aka Curses, to explore the darker side of club music. Spread across 3CDs and three 2LPs Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX features a mammoth 49 tracks that join the dots between early industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle, EBM legends like Nitzer Ebb and the post-punk experiments of people like Malcolm McLaren and Big Audio Dynamite with some of the most exciting artists around today, such as Boy Harsher, Nuovo Testamento and Years of Denial. Where the first Next Wave Acid Punx compilation was a personal journey for Luca, a lockdown inspired exploration of his record collection to find the thread that ran through the music that had soundtracked much of his life, DEUX is a celebration of that music let loose on the world, the thrill of music performed live, the smoke and strobe filled clubs you’ll hear it in and the artists you’ll find on those stages.
Jonathan Fitoussi & Julie Freyri are Model Alpha. 8 years on after their first album Dimensions, Perceptions is the duo’s second album and was entirely composed on analog synthesizers. Model Alpha is inspired by electronic artists such as Kraftwerk, Laurie Spiegel, Manuel Göttsching or early Detroit techno productions. An elegant blend of synthesizers and drum machines including remix by Chloé (Thévenin).
Poetical License was a brief project uniting Scottish born and Aotearoan (New Zealand) musician Mark Airlie and keyboardist and vocalist Keri Ansley after the duo met in New Plymouth. The solitary 7” came together in 1986, recorded at the infamous Auckland studio, The Lab. The A side’s fragile Footprints is as utterly charming as it is drenched in melancholia with a delicate glockenspiel lick and Ansley’s ethereal delivery of the vocals. On the B Side, Room 101 pivots to wonky rock and a more post-punk approach to composition. The two tracks shine brightly among an abundance of outsider gems made in Aotearoa during the 1980s
MEGABREAKZ is the brainchild of the collaboration between Oráculo Records, M.U.S.A. and Ombra Festival. It’s born to be a tribute to the iconic Valencia sound of the late 80s, when the city was a global epicenter of dance music, avant-garde exploration and cutting-edge creativity. The third part presents a new project from Curses, Tutto Vetro – No Mercy.
‘Psykhe’ sees Lithuanian musician and composer Gediminas Jakubka continuing to explore his distinct sound, but taking it in a new direction: a step away from the euphoric new age dance floor and into a significantly murkier, more precarious territory. ‘Psykhe’ is meant as a sonic simulacrum of the artist’s psyche during the pandemic – a quickened mind bred by a decelerated world. In that and other senses, the record is a modern take on the ‘80s/’90s Detroit ethos of dance music created for an illusory dance floor.
The Hipodrome Of Music 