Fucking June already, seriously? How did the last five months even happen? It seems like just yesterday we were polishing off our best of 2017 lists and rejoicing at the fabled “slow period” we usually luxuriate in at the beginning of the year before release schedules pick up. Except that kind of didn’t end up happening this year as 2018 has been wall to wall with new and interesting stuff, so much so that we’re still playing catch-up from like a month ago. As we’ve noted many times, too much good music to listen to is the best curse you could possibly have put on you, almost a blessing really. Join us for some new Tracks and share the bounty why not?
Going outside to… stalk… Stockhaussen
Stockhaussen, “The System”
We enjoyed Cold Lines, the previous LP from Mexico’s Stockhaussen, for its straightforward blend of minimal synth structures and a whiff of gothic atmosphere. New record XXI (one of two LPs being released simultaneously, from what we can gather) looks to be a much peppier affair at first blush, with a strong focus on vintage synth styles ranging from Kraftwerk to synthpop to straight up italo. Check this speedy little number featuring no less of a synth luminary than Tracy Howe of Canada’s own Rational Youth!
Wulfband, “Amputieren”
Is it even possible to dislike Wulfband? The mysterioso Swedish EBM act have so much appeal to fans of trad body music, general industrial audiences, and even openminded punk and metal types we’ve played them for. Is it the songwriting? The manic energy that comes through on the recordings? The mystery of who is behind the masks? Probably a bit of all of that, but the music is immediate and plain fun that it kind of defies analysis: you just want to stomp out to it. Here’s the b-side to their new single, which you can snap up on Bandcamp. Good times!
None, “Isolated”
We’re not sure that one-woman German act None had ever crossed our desk (good luck Googling that moniker), but a whopping fourteen releases of varying lengths have been issued by Anna Nin since the project’s inception a year and a half ago. New EP Hydrophobia is rife with witchy beats and atmospheres as on this piece, but the classic goth/coldwave style of the guitar threading through it points to a solid grasp on older forms. We’re keen to dig back into Nin’s discography and see what other dark treats are ferreted away within.
Front Line Assembly, “Force Carrier”
Some more of that orchestral industrial soundtrack steez from Front Line Assembly, leading up to the release of the project’s soundtrack for Warmech. Definite Vangelis vibes at the outset mixed with modern bass music style production that is executed thoughfully and exactingly. The weird thought that occurred to us recently is that back in the day this sort of thing might have been a whole other side-project for Leeb and company, a la Pro>Noise, Equinox or the like. That it can now be just a full FLA thing and for that variation to make sense is certainly a testament to the mutability and push by that project to try new ideas over that last decade or so.
Conformco, “Into The Cut [Funk-O-Tron]”
The lead single from Sean Payne (Cyanotic, Glitch Mode) and Chris Harris (project .44) clearly wasn’t a one-off. The pair have just dropped a full record under the Conformco brand, promising Wax Trax inspired irreverance and grooves…and evidently more than a couple of Simpsons samples. The title of this cut from controlled.altered.deleted tells you all you need to know, with Payne and Harris bringing back the funk influence to classic post-industrial programming.
Kali Jugend, “New Body Beat”
Wild and weird stuff from Kali Jugend, a trio made up of Tzar, Zarkoff (Sumerian Fleet) and Chupa. Located somewhere between early Cabaret Voltaire, 23 Skidoo and Section 25 in terms of sound, the project has been around since 2014 but have just recently released their debut mini-album Crippling Narcissism & Absolute Self-Doubt, via Detriti records. It’s awkwardly funky and insidiously catchy stuff, appealing to those with retro-tastes but not totally beholden to them either. Look out for a review of the release from us soon, we’re gonna be bumping this for a while.
