Big shouts out to Queen Victoria, the British monarch in whose honour we Canucks got to take Monday off. Pretty sweet deal if you ask us. At any rate, we’re rapidly approaching the midpoint of the year, a time when we traditionally take stock of the current trends and look to the future for what albums are still to be released before midnight on December 31st. Our list of the latter is not inconsiderable, and that’s even before we take into account all the stuff that has already come out but we haven’t had time to look into yet. All of this is a lead-in to remind you gentle reader, if there’s a record you dig or think is interesting that we should look in on, please post it in a comment here or on Twitter or FB. We sure do appreciate being made aware of good new music, insatiable as we are. Lets check in on this week’s Tracks shall we?
TSTI don't need World Goth Day as an excuse.
Architect, “Shadow of Eve 2017”
Daniel Myer’s Architect has had a few different identities sonically over the years, with the catalogue being unified more by the artist and producer’s approach to sound design and composition than genre markers. We weren’t able to catch Herr Myer on the recent Architect tour, but his recent posting of his live 2017 version of 2010’s “Shadow of Eve” has been a real pleasant revelation; where the original found a commonality in techno and industrial programming, the new version shows influence from his latter explorations of bass music. “Same song, same artist, new ideas” is always an appealing combination to us. Grab it for free on Soundcloud.
Rhys Fulber, “Effigy”
We were totally not expecting Rhys Fulber to come out with a techno-ebm record for Adam X’s Sonic Groove label, but lo and behold, that is exactly what has transpired. You probably don’t need us to put over Rhys’ bonafides, so we’ll suffice to say that the idea of one of the best programmer/producers in industrial history trying his hand at the current hot flavour is absolutely a thing we are into. Check the lead-off song “Effigy”, with its rolling bassline and wicked good stereo placement for a taste of what the Realism 12″ has on offer. Available now on Bandcamp.
Violet Poison, “Syd”
Some super-stripped down fare from Italy’s Violet Poison comes to us from new German label Smashing Tape. The Pareti insanguinate EP has a lot more roots EBM (with a helping of acid) than the last dose of Violet Poison we caught, but it’s pulled off just fine. Maybe a little bit of vintage Klinik around the corners?
TSTI, “Naïveté”
Oh boy is this exciting. We’ve been craving the next LP from TSTI since we heard “Things I Would Do” almost two years ago, and the announcement of Endings impending release has us in a proverbial tizzy. If you’re unfamiliar and wondering why, check out new song “Naïveté”, how many people stick the landing on that kind of melodic early-to-mid Depeche Mode sound like this, while delivering a catchy song to boot? Not very many artists we can assure you. Look for us to be talking this one up a bit, it’s been a long time coming.
The Shyness Of Strangers, “Wrong”
One-man Toronto outfit The Shyness of Strangers’ debut is out on France’s Unknown Pleasures in a month. While this is the first we’re hearing of Vadim Kristopher’s work, it’s comfortably straddling the goth/post-punk line in a style we very much dig. Moody but propelling, this might appeal to folks who’ve been digging Forever Grey.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “La Mitrailleuse”
Finally, the first hint of what’s to come on undisputed synthpop legends OMD’s latest, The Punishment Of Luxury. The two albums which have been released since Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys reunited have been super solid, wedding their early experimentation to later pop-craft. With something this brief it’s tough to say where they might be headed next, but the mixture of harmonic vocals and sample-assembled rhythm is classic OMD.
