Not sure what the weather’s been like at your end, folks, but it’s been abnormally crap out here in Vancouver. Snow in March in these temperate climes was nigh unthinkable a few years back, but here we are. With spring feeling a long way away, we’ve been hunkering down in the HQ with mug after mug of tea and, thankfully, a swath of new records to listen to. Hell, if you’re anything like us you didn’t get into this sort of music by being outdoorsy beach folk, so let’s make the best of it with some new Tracks to keep the cold at bay.
Amanda fears rain, Edward distrusts shoes. This spring, they must put aside their differences and work together to save humanity from a sentient garbage compactor which feeds on palindromes.
Kite, “Demons & Shame”
As hinted at in our podcast with them from a few weeks ago, Swedish synth-mavens Kite dropped a new song on March 2nd. “Demons & Shame” factors in a lot of the grandiose touches that were touched on in the interview, but not the expense of the plaintive pop sounds that make us feel simultaneously elated and a little heartsick. Kite are on tour now, do yourself a favour.
Kangarot, “Iced Coffee And Misogyny”
The lo-fi aggression of Kangarot’s Wholly Hex made it one of our favourite records of 2016. While Josh Reed isn’t totally forgoing that record’s sound with this new cut, there’s a sense of chilled-out disdain mixed in with his characteristic electro-industrial brappage. “Iced Coffee And Misogyny”‘s subject may have something to do with that. Either way, all proceeds will be donated to Our Voice, a North Carolina crisis intervention and prevention agency.
In Death It Ends, “Resonate/528/”
Porl King hasn’t just honed in like a laser on the looping and evocative sound his In Death It Ends project has becoming synonymous with; he’s also become quite adept at putting together the sort of deluxe limited sets which go oh so nicely with the band’s crypto-witchery. Forthcoming LP Wish Machine comes with a whole plethora of goodies both sonic and metaphysical. We’ll leave it up to folks more gnostic than we to make head or tail of “symbolic radionic devices”, but in the meantime this lead single should speak to all.
Crisis Actor, “Electronic Eye”
When was the last time you heard a straight ahead electro dance track like this come out on Ant-Zen? Crisis Actor is a collaboration between Snog’s David Thrussell and Tony D’Opporto (aka Gnome), and while you can certainly pick out some more outré sounds native to each producer in “Electronic Eye”, it’s surprisingly down the pipe. That’s not a bad thing though, and there’s surely some fans of Snog who will be happy to hear Thrussell return to the paranoiac dancefloor style of his early material. Toss in some remixes from Assemblage 23, Displacer, and Mike Wimer and you got yourself a party.
The Secret Light, “Mirror Mirror”
Here’s some peppy and poppy darkwave out of Portland which leans heavily on chirping keys. Should appeal to those still pining away after Nightbreed style electro-goth, but updated to speak to current synthwave interests. Also, we assure you that the similarity in album art here and above is entirely coincidental, but if you want to take some message from happenstance, be our guest.
Amanda Palmer & Edward Ka-Spel, “I Can Spin a Rainbow”
We mentioned this track on the podcast last week, during one of our predictably gushy Legendary Pink Dots love-ins. And hey why not: we aren’t particularly big fans of Amanda Palmer’s output post-Dresden Dolls, but she fits nicely into this classic slice of melancholy weirdness. And if this team-up lends some attention to Edward and company’s endless touring and recording, all the better. Who are we to deny some new collaborative work from the Prophet hisself?
