It’s hard to know what to say about what happened in the US this weekend, and right here in our own country of Canada on Sunday. The undistilled hatred and ignorance is staggering, and we here at I Die: You Die stand with our friends across the globe who condemn the actions of the United States administration, as we mourn the loss of life in Quebec. These are scary and difficult times. When we find ourselves feeling hopeless or powerless, we often like to remind ourselves that the best and most important thing any of us can do is to send whatever support we can, be it monetary or volunteer time, to those on the frontlines battling these injustices and caring for the wounded, and the families of those affected by violence born from hatred. If you’re looking for a good place to start, The Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre and the ACLU would be excellent choices.

Rein Rein Don’t Go Away

V▲LH▲LL, “ORDΞR OF STΞNDHΛL”
It’s actually been a little while since we were treated to anything new from our favourite Mystery Vikings, so the arrival of the STΞNDHΛL EP is welcome indeed. There are some glitchy tics to this particular cut, but the foggy atmosphere of a timeless world of ice and spirits endures. Be sure to check out the whole EP!

Black Tape for a Blue Girl, “The Rubicon”
Now we normally associate Sam Rosenthal and his long-running Black Tape for a Blue Girl with an ethereal or darkwave sound, but darn if the first track off their newish Blood on the Snow EP doesn’t take them into neo-folk territory. Subject matter aside, the track features sparse, beautiful guitar that eventually crescendos with some very emotive strings. It’s a bit of dramatic switch from the gentle melancholia of their last LP (a favourite of ours last year btw) but one we’re totally on board for.

Rein, “Missfit”
Sweden’s Rein seems to be pivoting from the more trad EBM sound of her original demos, for a smoother vibe. She still busts out some growls, but the edges have been sanded down to a shape suitable for club play. Some of that may come from her collaborator on this one, noted electro producer Owl Vision. It’ll be interesting to see where things land when a full-length LP arrives, but we’re happy enough with this particular morsel to play wait and see.

Blac Kolor, “Chains”
Hendrick Grothe’s starting up a new slate of Bandcamp exclusive Blac Kolor releases; the ’24U’ series will showcase “some old, some previously unreleased and even some experimental, context-free stuff” two tracks at a time. The exact vintage of this rattler’s unknown, but it’s classic Blac Kolor, replete with bass that feels like it’s about to explode your cans and just the right dose of scraping noise.

Vandalaze, “Great Big Things (Cyborgs on Crack Remix)”
Take some North American retro-weirdness, crash it into some equally weird Croatian throwback sounds and don’t skimp on the orchestra hits. That’s how you get this bit of mid-80s nostalgia, courtesy of mutant pop radio act Vandalaze and the mighty (mighty strange at any rate) Cyborgs on Crack. Both projects have a penchant for making mutated versions of FM synth radio pop, so it stands to reason that one remixing the other would yield…well, this. Oddball to be certain, but entertainingly so.

Sixteen Knives, “No One Cares For You”
Here’s some more lo-fi post-industrial fun being passed our way by the XOS label. Info on Sixteen Knives is scant, but most of the cuts from the Prime LP we’ve checked out are built around vintage electro-industrial loops and give off an oozing, pulsing sense.