Many people consider the Tbilisi scene (thanks to the artists that turns around Khidi club) as one of the most advanced and influential in the entire world. Giorgi Kolbaia (aka Downwell) & Giorgi Kharanauli are a good example of those talented Georgian artists. They have made partnership as Initial Light to present a more relaxed work in relation to their solo acts stuff, “40 Degrees In The Air” is a blend of Italo, breaks, synthwave and modern EBM / new beat keeping a common pleasant industrial taste in the 6 tracks included in their vinyl debut.
The very young Paris based Rémi Lauvergne signed some of the best post-punk and dreamy synthwave tracks digitally released in 2022. Oráculo Records put them all together and asked his usual partner in crime Skelesys to remix “Idole”, one of the very best tracks included on this mini- album. You could expect all genre classical approaches as repetitive drums, cold melodies and mesmerizing cavernous vocals.
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.
French electronic pionner, ADN’ Ckrystall, became a legend in the Minimal-Synth scene when his first album “Jazz’Mad” (from 1982) was rediscovered and re-edited via the two biggest labels in the genre : Minimal Wave (circa 2005) and Dark Entries (circa 2012). Following this new interest, a bunch of unreleased materials reappeared and went out mostly directly through Erick (ADN)’s control, under compilations, coffrets (V.O.D.) or albums that never had the chance to come out before… But one piece was still missing, the album just following “Jazz’Mad” called “Frankraut” and here comes the story… During the covid year of 2021, Erick finally found the tapes forgotten somewhere at his parents house since 1984. After relistening to it he decided to bring them back to life. “Frankraut” was a project born from the reflexion about the concept of marrying (and not the opposite) the romantico-poetico side : naive melodies flirting with research and experimentations in the electronic music “à la française” like illustration, “bilbliothèque sonore” (library) or music for film… and the cold, mechanic, motorik, hypnotic, psychedelic free explosive and creative side of the Krautrock.
The venerable Dark Entries celebrates it’s 300th release with “Panoramic Coloursound”, a triple LP from The Creative Technology Consortium. Traxx, Andrew Bisenius, and Jason Letkiewicz forged the CtC during the depths of pandemic isolation. Drawing from film and television music of the 80’s/90’s and armed with a mighty array of vintage analog and digital synthesizers, they set out to explore heists, vices, and catastrophe. Panoramic Coloursound collapses sound and image into a neon blur throughout its 25 tracks. While retro scores were the starting point for the CtC, the project does more than pay dutiful homage — these notes are warped and skewed, devolving into decaying digital soundscapes. EBM-inflected basslines pop up on tracks like “Catastrophe” and “A Retro Vice”, menacing numbers that recall Traxx and Letkiewicz’s legendary work as Mutant Beat Dance (a project also featuring Beau Wanzer). “Follow Our Kode” pairs heroic synths with funky bass, striking cosmic chords akin to the material that Traxx and Bisenius have released as An Anomaly. Krautrock-esque guitars slide along anthemic pads on “Beautifully Polluted Sunset”, which comes across like an alien Miami Vice closing theme. The CtC channel corroded VHS vibes while making music for the future.
Fashion Flesh aka John Talaga from Bay City, Michigan, is known for his “off the grid” approach to music. Most all of the instruments used to perform and produce are self-built electronics, oscillators, generators, sound toys, and modulators. Those that are not built from one’s own design are heavily modified beyond audible recognition or return. No sampling/stolen sound is ever used or sucked from outside pre-existing sources. No laptops, instead tape manipulation and hard copy cut-ups…analog devices that are built for specific purpose and dis-purpose. “Rubber Mountain” is his first full LP, 6 tracks of mutant mayhem on The Black Lodge label, spanning from odd italo-disco flavors, to no-wave, post-punk, jakbeat, and experimental sounds from the beyond. Equally for the dancefloor and home listening, this record has it all.
Asymetric80 is the EBM/new beat project from producer and DJ Gonzalo Sendon from Spain, Barcelona. “Blood Lies Mini-album” continue exploring the evolution around the late 80’s / early 90’s underground “spaniard sound”, you could expect a mixture of new ebm, new beat and even trance melodies usually combined with hypnotic spoken words.
Martin Steinebach is back with his EM1V project on Soil Records, delivering a new 15 tracks album called “Escape Pattern “. A mix between e.b.m, electro and synthpop on a CD release.
After releases curated by the masters Mick Wills and Intergalactic Gary, brokntoys presents the third and final installment in the Casting Shadows series with five tracks showcasing Maja Pa’s unique style. The EP opens with ‘A Perfect Day’ by Art Teachers, an excellent example of their distinct synth punk sound, providing the perfect introduction to the Veveo-verse. Next up is Vastechoses associate Brique Corps, who delivers the jagged body music of ‘Has Yo For All4,’. On the B-side, Czech duo Kontrajas contribute ‘Lunt,’ a circuit-breaker from their self-released Laguna EP. Label regular Rory McPike returns to his post-punk persona 2200 for the goth-infused Outlaw. The record concludes with Geoid Color Circle’s mournful ‘Adieu Trois Mort En Juin’, taken from their Six Sad World tape.
Roman artist Heinrich Dressel delivers a sparkling gaze into the future with the glistening ‘Lambda 2077’. Dressel cultivates a cinematic, cerebral experience throughout each track, delicately weaving a visceral soundscape. Growling arps and magnetic, synthesised moans flows throughout this record. Francisco opens things up with an electro-tinged, thunderous remix. Building upon the chordal gravitas of the original, the remix provides the release with an acidic percussive journey.
Humans have to drink! They went down to the pond to quench their thirst. Sipping from the cool wet while being on all fours, they saw the reflection of their own faces for the first time. This must have been the beginning of the ongoing struggle of mankind dealing with self-consciousness. Anna and Ole (Das A&O) also met at the water point and much like the myth of the first human couple “Adam and Eve” they ate too much poisoned apples but instead of getting obsessed with one’s ego, they wrote some beautiful Synth Wave music together. Immortalized on a seven-inch piece of wax, the results are now available on Rat Life Records.
BT67 presents Colombian producer / promoter and Dj Non Punire with a minialbum entitled Espeletia. Member of the defunct Vltra Delta Drive, Espeletia sees the Colombian exile delivering a masterclass in Giallo-infused synthwave and electro. Throughout 6 tracks, the EP blends suspense and drama for the discerning dancefloors.
Keeping up with the number of different aliases Legowelt has is as hard as keeping up with the number of personal beefs Prince Harry has, only far more worthy of your time. Here the prolific Dutch producer becomes Smackos and links up with Brightness Shallan Davar for a second of 10 proposed volumes of Whispers Of An Ancient World. Davar takes care of the first side, which offers four deeply atmospheric pieces of analogue ambient fuzz and cosmic imagery. Smackos steps up on the B-side with a more mystic ambient sound and plenty of his signature shapeshifting synth patterns that melt the mind and submerse you deep in an interplanetary world.
Chris Mitchell is back on Dead Channel, delivering 7 tracks of mutated psych-apocalyptic acid, icy minimal wave, and blown out machined rhythms. Dense hammered percussion, kicking you straight in the sternum, sends you reeling into the abyss. Dire, unsettling vocals dowsed in gritty, unrelenting squelched out 303 madness. Spectral atmospherics blanket bit-crushed drums in a disconcerting fog. With ‘Rip Run Ride Die’, Mitchell melds a black sea of contorted electronics into a twisted, utterly unique vision that pulls you under..
Cristiano Grim is back with the second number of his experimental zine/compilation , FAKE2-120AMERICA. Obsessed by the work of the cult poet Pierpaolo Pasolini and his seedy film “Salo or 120 Days of Sodom” , the original short story behind by Marquis De Sade and Dante’ s “Divine Comedy” structure which Pasolini mirrored during his screenwriting session with Sergio Citti, Cristiano Grim coded that “ anarchy of the power” in the contemporary North American society, through a desecrating prose and poignant portraits of a country drowned in 3 masochist “circles” : BLOOD, MANIAS and SHIT. Original film photography was taken in the streets and the underground scenes of New York, Memphis, Nashville, Durham, Virginia and South Carolina. Jonathan Castro nailed his second collaboration with Cristiano Grim , disrupting his photography with a spirited overexposed technique and metallic colors. Music by : Alessandro Adriani which featured the whole A side of the release with 3 tracks with the contribution of Cosimo Damiano and Riccardo Chiaretti, legendary IDM musician CEX, Italian psychedelic duo Mushrooms Project, Californian musician Aaron Coyes (1/2 Peaking Lights), italian ambient musician Alexia Robbio, Roman techno producer Ida Mandato, New York industrial band INTRZN, Riga’s sound artist Reinis Semevics, San Francisco’s video artist and musician YNV, mystery vocalist VETA DAY.
Never Been is the first collaborative release by Loradeniz and Interstellar Funk, who produced the EP at a Volkshotel artist residency in Amsterdam, in 2021. The record examines the interplay of synthetic melodies and Loradeniz’s vocals, which are underpinned by meticulously crafted rhythms. Steeped in melancholy, many of the tracks on Never Been evoke the essence of departure, complex emotions and fading memories.
The Hipodrome Of Music 