Welp, this here’ll be the last installment of Tracks before we head off to Calgary later this week. Despite having done a bunch of prep coverage for the fest, we’ve found ourselves consistently and pleasantly surprised by the range of acts we remember we’re going to be seeing shortly. “Oh yeah, Statiqbloom! Oh right, Decree! Oh, Everything Goes Cold! And Grendel, too!” What we’re saying is that we’ve essentially been rivethead goldfish constantly hammering the “release endorphins” button. Anyway, things don’t slow down around the HQ just cuz we’re about to jet over to the prairies (Oh yeah, you’ve got a few hours to get a reprint of the ID:UD shirt if’n yr interested), so we’ll leave you with a blast of Tracks before we reconvene sometime next week.

Coupla ne'erdowells, I tell you what

Cocksure, “Razor Invader”
Lest you think the collaboration that yielded last year’s entertaining TMALSV was a one-off or a whimsical blip on the musical radar, Jason Novak and Chris Connelly are back with more of the same nasty-groovy industrial rock that made their debut resonate so well. The new album Corporate_Sting drops August 21st on Metropolis Records, but those hungry for a taster can check the video for “Razor Invader”, an appropriately sleazy entry in the group’s bass guitar driven oeuvre.

Ohm vs Slighter, “Lights Out”
Speaking of collabs, here’s a super cool one between one of our favourite British Columbian acts Ohm (aka Chris Peterson and Craig Huxtable) and multi-disciplinary synthesist and composer Colin Cameron Allrich. The approach of both acts is distinctly rooted in extensive sound design and deep production, so it’s no surprise that this demo sounds about as polished as anything you’re likely to hear in your musical travels on a given day. We’ve been promised a more extensive set of songs, and you can bet we’ll be keeping tabs on this fruitful sounding team-up.

Front 242, “Take One (Radical G Remix)”
It’s been twenty three years since the classic 242 catalog was last properly reissued, let alone originally released, so when Alfa-Matrix makes a big hullabaloo about reissuing No Comment with a remix contest and the like, we’re more than happy to cut them some slack. Hell, just a revisiting of the classic catcher’s pads look is enough to get us excited. Tools of ignorance and all that. ANYWAY: as a taster of what’s to come, A-M have enlisted Radical G, the man behind the irresistible left-field club hit “Lucifer” and inumerable techno-flavoured remixes to rework “Take One”, underlining in Sharpie the connections between early EBM and new beat, as if you needed reminding.

Statiqbloom, “Behind Glass (Sanford Parker Remix)”
Wait, weren’t we just saying something about Statiqbloom? We can’t remember. Regardless, Fade Kainer’s following up 2013’s fantastic Mask Visions Poison with a remix comp. It tends to skew towards the witchy and the ambient, but on this take by generally savvy metal producer (you might remember him from A Place To Stand) Sanford Parker strips “Behind Glass” down to its rawest, most cutting elements.

AF Cristy, “Dollhouse”
We’re guessing that LA’s AF Cristy never forget to thank Mr. Skeltal, at least on the basis of this nice B-horror vid which cinches a whole mess of spoopy and synthwave tropes in a tight package which recalls M‡ЯC▲LL▲ as much as it does Peturbator. To be honest we don’t have much in the way of firm information about this brand spankin’ new outfit, but there’s a keen ear for insistent bounce on the tracks on the The Pearl Of York EP.

Beborn Beton, “Daisy Cutter”
We’re not exactly sure what’s been keeping Beborn Beton busy since 1999’s Fake, the follow up to which is due to arrive shortly from Dependent. For an act who had a whole gross of great synthpop jams (“Poison”, “Spawn” and “Deeper than the Usual Feeling” to name a few favourites, without even mentioning their ubiquitous club hit which you secretly still love, don’t deny it), the double B are frequently overlooked when examining the club scene of the late 90s, perhaps due to their extended hiatus. We caught them due a rare set at Kinetik a few years back, and this song as well as a few other new ones impressed us plenty. Very much looking forward to seeing what 16 years of catching up sounds like.