‘Sup y’all? As you read this we’ve probs just returned from an ever so brief trip down south to connect with friends of the site Matt P n’ Kelly S in ol’ Seattle (and a quick jaunt up the road to watch Monday Night RAW get filmed, holy crumbs), but as we type this it’s a muggy, nasty sweaty kinda Friday in Vancouver. We can only assume that we had plenty of fun trekking around the wilderness enjoying the fresh air and scenic PNW landscape (and eating some of Seattle’s best vegan comestibles and swilling its finest microbrews), but you’ll have to wait ’til we actually get back to get the full report, which we’re sure you’re all just dying for. In the meantime, here’s some Tracks; let’s have fun with it.
VProjekt, “Fulcrum”
Hey, Australian electro-industrial act VProjekt is back with something of a rock makeover. We found ourselves surprisingly taken with Eugene Nesci’s 2011 debut, in no small part due to the number of chances he took with his sound, pulling off some pretty impressive stylistic shifts. This track and the others we’ve heard from the soon to be released Wounds in the Age of Healing have a pretty loose and experimental feel, which suits us just fine; when a band is suited to changing their steez up, far be it from us to demand any different.
//TENSE//, “Disconnect Myself (The Beau Wanzer Adjustment)”
It’s tough not to think about what work //TENSE// would be doing were they still a going concern. The Houston act was plugged into the EBM/techno crossover renaissance well before the majority of their peers, and consistently dished out fraught and nervous fodder for discerning club floors. A 2011 mix of the lead cut on their Escape EP is getting the vinyl reissue treatment from Mannequin, and it’s a corker. Beau Wanzer stretches the wet groove of the original out into a woofer filling eight minute stomper.
Wulfband, “Eiszeitgeist”
Some more of that strict tempo thrills from SwEBM pureveyors Wulfband, chock full of all the punk energy (and punk brevity) we’ve come to expect. This is like the third or fourth song the band has just tossed up on the web since their debut album got released last year, and we’re thinking there’s likely more where that came from. We’d be pleased to here another full length from them, we’re still getting spins from 2014’s self-titled debut and could use a comparable helping of spastic body music to chase it.
Inexora, “Gone Hunting”
The debut LP from Vancouver newcomer Inexora has just dropped, and we’re keen to dig in. We’ll have a full review on the site sometime soon, but in the meantime here’s a slice of what Mike Mayer is bringing to the table. A thick and trippy classic electro-industrial groove recalls Mentallo in their dreamier moods.
Architect, “Neon (Displacer remix)”
Hey check it out, we totally hate it when an artist we like remixes another artist we like. Naw, just playin’, we’re pretty much the target market for a mix of Daniel Myer’s Architect project by our Torontonian friend Michael Morton, two great IDM-like tastes all jammed together in a best of both worlds kinda way. Apparently this was a remix contest entry that Morton put together, and hey, no flies on it that we can hear. Good stuff remixed by good stuff.
Tapage, “Two Of Six”
Dutch IDM producer Tapage returns to Tympanik after a brief sojourn elsewhere for his sixth album. After Seven and Eight Tijs Ham isn’t going for a nine part suite, though, but instead seems to have interwoven five and six part pieces in and amongst each other, if the track listing’s any indication. That numeric complexity’s matched by the absolute rhythmic headfuck shown on the first teaser track.