I turned 34 over the weekend, and friends, I’m not super happy about it. Oh sure, I relish the opportunity to add another year of arbitrary authority to my internet argument game (“I’ve been listening to industrial for 19 odd years, the hell you tell me that T3RR0RPH3UM are rivet!”) but I can feel the creep of obsolescence like cold fingers tightening around my throat. There is only one solution for that, and that is to immerse myself in as much new and interesting music as possible, and then hold forth on it. Fortunately I have a venue for that handy, so pardon me while I do my best to stave off my own terrible fear of irrelevance! Let’s do this, and then let’s not ever regret it!
Pankow, “Great Minds Against Themselves Conspire/Dirty Old Men”
You know, that Hogre EP from last year was so banging and club friendly, I kind of forgot how fuckin’ weird the dudes in Pankow are. That’s quite a feat, considering that the track they’re most well known for on this side of the pond is an ode to dicks called “Me & My Ding Dong”. I wasn’t sure what to make of this when I first heard it, and even after a couple listens I’m still scratching my head, which is the intended effect I guess? Weirdly catchy though, if this is the taster they selected for their new album (soon to be released stateside by Metropolis), then I guess I don’t really know what to expect from them at all, and that’s pretty intriguing.
CONCLΔVE, “Melted”
Kind of wasn’t expecting this Slowdive-on-quaaludes vibe from the homey CONCLΔVE, but I’m not complaining at all. Not 100% sure what the status of Justin’s work with glo-chill-witch-wave act Ronobe is at right now, but if he wanted to just kick back and put out an EP or two of super bassy stripped-down glazegaze like this, it wouldn’t be unwelcome. I can always find a use for songs that just ooze out the speakers or headphones: they’re perfect for late night bus rides, reading a book of poems by candlelight, quietly recollecting loves since passed, you know, normal dude stuff.
Worms of the Earth, “Disgraced at the Foot of the Throne of God”
I really liked all the atmospheric, texture based stuff on last year’s WotE album Anāgāmi. It was probably the biggest pointer to how much the Washington project has evolved artistically from their initial incarnation as a power noise act. Their soon to be released album Azal’ucel is a dark ambient LP in the Cold Meat Industry tradition if we go by the samples on Bandcamp, and we’re trying to save a place at the table for stuff in that vein here at ID:UD, so expect a review of some kind in the next fortnight. In the meantimes, this’ll do nicely as a ritual soundtrack, or fit well into your instrumental D&D playlist, you know, whatever you’re into.
Norad, “Fortitude”
Sometime member of iVardensphere and Iszoloscope Frederic Scarfone is bringing some martial electronics with his project Norad, and holy shit does this track remind me of classic In The Nursery in the best way possible. I guess this actually first appeared on a compilation that dropped last year celebrating the Danish electro scene, but y’all need to check out this just-released video, preferably full-screened and with the lights off. I was gonna put a joke here about how he should change the name of the project to “Yes-Rad!”, but then I thought no: have some restraint and just let people enjoy the song. It’s not about you.
Norad – Fortitude from Rane Knudsen on Vimeo.
Douglas J McCarthy, “Move On (Black Light Odyssey Remix)”
I think we might have used this to accompany our recent interview with DJM (which you should go read, even if you read it before, do it again!), or maybe it was The Hacker remix? Either way, feel the classic tweak on this hear courtesy of Black Light Odyssey, which maintains the classic EBM stylee of the original track while adding a touch of rain-slicked neon to the proceedings. 12″ is out now, DJs y’all should get on that.
