It’s officially summer here in Vancouver, and while we try to enjoy the sun before the inevitable wildfire smoke clouds the city in dystopic haze, we’re looking back through releases old and new which suit long summer nights. Before fall brings the inevitable return of goth rock and darkwave, we like to throw on a bit more synthpop, dream-pop, and anything with a halfway psychedelic tint (see last week’s comments re The Tear Garden). What’s been on your speakers of late, dear reader? Let us know after checking out these new tunes, summery or otherwise.
Double Eyelid with the double side-eye
Rendered, “Adrenalien”
Daniel Myer and Clément Perez are showing no signs of slowing the pace at which they’re releasing techno-EBM bangers as Rendered. If you’ve been having trouble keeping up, we don’t blame you, but new 12″ Adrenalien offers as good a re-entry point as any. The title cut flashes between metallic squalls, disassociated samples, and exactly the sort of undeniable, perfectly textured bassline that the pair have had on lock for a good while now.
Panther Modern, “Creep”
New music from a new project, we’re feeling this EP from Panther Modern, aka ex-Sextile member Brady Kheen. Where that act was doing genre agnostic weirdo dark dancefloor action, PM feels more like a straight blend of body music and acid tropes, with squiggly, discomforting synths and banging metal spread across three tight dark disco jams. Not bad at all, and if the live presentation is anywhere close to that of Kheen’s previous project, this should be an act to keep an eye on. Where’s Lupus Yonderboy at?
Double Eyelid, “A Means to an End”
Just in time for summer, here’s some warm synthwave-tinged darkwave from Toronto’s Double Eyelid. The healthy dollop of guitar gives the track a lot of flavour, forgoing simple repeating figures for a wide variety of mellow licks, a nice accompaniment to vocalist Ian Revell’s warble and the simple, synth and drum machine arrangement that drives it. You can peep the track now, along with the b-side remix by none other than ol’ Claus Larsen over on Bandcamp.
Nootropic, “Spiders”
Here’s something interesting from the DTH X CMP. With his new Nootropic release Blood Vapor Netherlands-based producer Dominic Smelt (Solid State) offers an interesting mix of throwback cyberpunk signfiers with just enough updated production choices to keep things fresh. More interestingly, the arrangement on pieces like “Spiders” is quite moody and restrained, option to build and maintain atmosphere and tension rather than going for the jugular with big leads or breaks. Should make for good late night gaming fare, we’d think.
Chrome Corpse, “Necessary Tension”
Here’s a fun one from Seattle’s princes of neo-old school EBM, Chrome Corpse. A bonus track slated for the cassette release of their Gun Spit EP (which we wrote about a few months back) and it feels of a piece with that material: rubbery bassline, thick, saturated percussion and some slimy vocal sample manipulation slathered on top. These cats have been gearing up for big things for a while, you should get in on them now while the getting is good.
Red Market, “Learn The Signs”
From Kansas City comes some rather off the radar, groove-focused analog electro-industrial. Red Market is just one of Brandon Duncan’s current projects, but the somewhat paranoid focus it places on celebrity-Illuminati conspiracies, mind control, and the like give it a distinct yet eerie cast. That the tunes on the project’s new self-titled release take on long, hypnotic forms full of stuttering and wormy bass seems to fit the subject matter just fine.
