Hey chums! We know not all of our readers can stomach the thought of listening to us babble on in a recorded rather than written format, but a recent uptick in downloads tells us that at least some of you have been checking out our official podcast We Have a Technical lately. If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode yet, we made a special announcement, namely that for the next couple of weeks we’re going to be doing the ‘cast weekly instead of our usual biweekly schedule. It’s a change we’ve considered making in the past, and this is essentially the trial run to see if we can keep up with the schedule and keep the show interesting. It also means that we’re gonna be redistributing some of the posts here on the site to compensate for the increased workload, so for the next little while it’ll be Tracks on Monday, a review or other feature on Tuesday, some kind of larger or more substantial piece on Wednesday, and the podcast Thursday. If you like the idea, or even if you don’t, please let us know! We rely on your feedback to make these kindsa decisions, and while we’re excited by the prospect of more audio content, we also don’t want to waste our time or yours if the appetite for it ain’t there. Speaking of wasting time, let’s quit dawdling and get to what brought us here: new Tracks!
Like many folks in the synthpop scene, Camouflage have aged really well.
Camouflage, “Shine”
Camouflage sit in an odd generational grey area when it comes to synthpop, at least from a North American perspective: too late on the scene to be included alongside pioneers of the genre like Mode or OMD, yet originally part of a major label push denied later genre acts like De/Vision or Iris. We get the sense that the band have maintained a respectable enough following in Europe despite little since “The Commandment” having had an impact beyond synthpop die-hards Stateside, perhaps not unlike A-ha. Regardless, this cut from new LP Greyscale finds them ably incorporating newer, M83-ish sounds into the sort of widescreen synthpop which dominated radio in the mid 80s.
Mr.Kitty, “Entwine”
Is there anything we can say about Mr.Kitty that we haven’t said already? On the exceedingly unlikely chance that you’re still sleeping on one of the best artists in dark electronic music, may we recommend browsing through our tag and discovering why so many people have fallen in love with Forrest Avery Carney’s darkwave inflected synthpop. As evidenced by new single “Entwine”, his talent for melody and arrangement is the equal of his wonderfully affecting and emotional songwriting.
Black Nail Cabaret, “Satisfaction”
Emese Arvai-Illes’ voice should be well familiar to readers given her collaborations with Daniel Myer, but her primary project, Black Nail Cabaret, may be less so. That should be set to change as the Hungarian duo’s second LP will be out in about two months time on labels of no small repute: Negative Gain Productions on this side of the Atlantic, and the Haujobb boys’ boutique Basic Unit Productions for territories closer to home. This is a pensive taster which keeps the focus square on the understated vocals.
Kirlian Camera, “My Kids Kill (Soulful mix by FerDJ)”
So yeah, there’s a strong chance that Kirlian Camera will single-handedly be responsible for the bankruptcy of this website. There’s a neverending stream of deluxe reissues, limited vinyls, fancy fan club exclusive releases for us to buy, and we’re big enough fans of the world’s premiere Italian darkwave act (sorry The Frozen Autumn) that we’re unlikely to let any of ’em pass us by. The band does go out of its way to keep a nice stream of free downloads coming via Soundcloud though, like this pleasant low-key remix of a track from 2013’s Black Summer Choirs: just the thing to ease the aching pain in our collective wallets.
Kant Kino, “Nag Gag”
A fat and melodic jam from our old pals in Kant Kino aimed square at the floor. Detecting a little bit of that trance piano throwback Encephalon worked so well into recent club templates. Not exactly sure when we’ll be getting a third full release from the Norwegian act, but their atmospheric yet lightly snarky take on modern oontzery is always welcome around these parts.
Resistor, “Breathe (Equitant Alternate mix)”
Finally a little something from Columbian EBM act Resistor, delivered by way of US EBM loyalist Equitant. As far as we can tell this is the first release from the duo, and considering that fact it’s a pretty stacked release: the 11 track single features two original tracks and remixes from the likes of The Horrorist, Grandchaos, Modernista and Xotox. We dig on the 90’s flavour this one has, an element brought to the fore by Equitant who is quite the dab hand with this sort of remix.
