Morning, gang! If’n these aren’t the actual dog days of summer yet we’re dreading how baked out and useless we’re gonna feel in a month or so, up to our eyeballs in dark ambient and EBM records but desperate to get to a patio or at least a vegan friendly bar with AC. In the meantime, we’re trying to stay cool with pro wrestling, new records and a few other misremembered awkward aphorisms lifted from the popsicle commercials of our youth. Note to PR flacks: this post’s about as close as we’re ever gonna get to ever describing anything on the site as “sun-drenched”.
The Senior Staff reps BC (in both meanings of the acronym) for life at wrestling house shows.
SΛRIN, “Anfal”
More fire from the ever prolific aufnahme + wiedergabe, whose 12″ and EP release schedule shows no sign of slowing down. Along with some new stuff from S S S S and The Horrrorist, their Bandcamp has a new one up for pre-order from Canadian ex-pat and techno-EBM superstar SΛRIN. As ever, the project’s take on sound includes tightly sequenced basslines, phasered out hi-hats and that clanging metal percussion that he knows how to deploy just so. If you haven’t taken the plunge on a+w or SΛRIN yet, this is as good a place as any to get your feet wet, from dancefloor sweat presumably.
KLUTÆ, “The Wire & The Cuffs”
The KLUTÆ project has always been the place for Leaether Strip’s Claus Larsen to get aggro and indulge in some more straight-ahead dancefloor material that would necessarily fit into LS’ ornate and orchestral sound. But man, is this new single “The Wire & The Cuffs” on some minimal electro-punk styles, just straight up bass, drums and vocals. And you know what? It bangs. New record Black Piranha is up on Bandcamp, and if it’s all songs like this we won’t be complaining.
Terminal Gods, “Interplay”
The actual debut LP of London’s Terminal Gods came years into the act’s celebrated career, but evidently they’ve acquired a taste for the format; just a little over a year on from Wave/Form, they’re prepping follow-up Meridian. The softer and more brooding side of the band’s been brought out over the past few releases, but lead single “Interplay” carries that further than we might have imagined. Is this sulky yet smooth number indicative of the lads’ current direction? You can bet we’re keen to find out.
German Army, “Become Free”
Some cool and clattering rumbles from mysterious, anonymous LA duo German Army. Drawing influence from Nocturnal Emissions (though I’m getting some 23 Skidoo here), the act is unnervingly prolific: Swidden, out on Berlin’s Total Black label, marks the fourth full-length German Army release this year. Somewhere, Bryn Jones is smiling.
Bonini Bulga, “By A Higher Thought”
The long-awaited arrival of Pär Boström’s most recent Kammarheit album seemed to trigger a flood of creativity in the Swedish dark ambient artist, with new Cities Last Broadcast plus a new collaborative project with his sister Åsa. That’s been carried forward into Hypnagoga Press, a record label/publishing project by the two siblings. Their latest zine comes packed with a tape of minimalist drones from Pär under the new handle Bonini Bulga; it’s a more stripped down approach for the veteran, yet retains much of the bleak feeling of his more firmly dark ambient work. Check the digital release below or get the full tape and zine here.
The Gothsicles, “Round 2: Fight”
As is now tradition, your pals and ours The Gothsicles have whipped up a special song specifically for a forthcoming festival appearance. And this time it’s for Terminus 2017, just a scant few months away! An extended Mortal Kombat analogy featuring references to the infamous Sega Genesis “blood code” and an actual reference to their set time to make you don’t forget when they’re on? This is why you book the ‘Sicles for your festival, birthday celebration, bar mitzvah or office holiday get-together: they bring the party with them.
