Morning, kids! Not a whole heck to report from the weekend (apart from catching a phenomenal 30+ minute match at the local pro wrestling concern), and we covered most of the other recent goings on in the last podcast. Speaking of the podcast, we’re always looking for feedback and participation from you, the We Have A Technical listener! Have a question you’d like us to discuss in a future episode? Get at us on Twitter or fire an e-mail off. Lord knows we can’t shut up once we get going, so we might as well be making the listening experience as pertinent to you as possible. On with this week’s Tracks!
Transparent Flesh Flag. Nice to know that Lady Cassandra's getting work after "Dr. Who".
Winterkälte, “Climate Change Denial”
New music from legendary rhythmic noise duo Winterkälte is in relatively short supply – a recent collection of tracks done for and at Maschinenfest was their first full length release since 2004 – but it’s perhaps received all the better for its scarcity. Despite remaining ostensibly instrumental, the title of this new cut and the accompanying video done by friend of the site Dominic Marceau couldn’t be clearer. We may all be heading for higher ground by the time there’s a new LP by Winterkälte, but at least we’ll have a killer soundtrack to scavenge by.
WINTERKÄLTE :: CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL [Official Video] from F Squared Media on Vimeo.
Hidden Place, “Reazione”
By happenstance I was listening to Italian darkwave outfit Hidden Place’s back catalog the day before this new tune dropped. But, were it not for Sara Lux’s vocals, I’m not sure I’d have recognized the band on this cut on the basis of sound alone. While there’s always been a hazy touch to the band’s production, this tune is absolutely smothered in fog, and trades the lusher sounds of 2013’s Novocento for a tight and frantic bassline which brings The Soft Moon to mind. Not sure if this is a portent of a new direction – there’s talk of new material being recorded but no firm album news – but we’ll keep an ear open.
M‡яc▲ll▲, “Movement”
We’re hoping M‡яc▲ll▲ needs no introduction at this stage in the game. Always finding ways of refining their sound while retaining that distinct character to each of their tunes, the still anonymous outfit is making as much of a virtue of digital distribution’s immediacy as anyone, keeping a steady stream of singles and short releases on tap between larger projects. Getting some throwbacks to the gloss of millenial electro-goth on this one as well as an interesting mix of outrun and their characteristic stabby insistence.
Winter Severity Index, “Anemone”
New stuff from Italy’s Winter Severity Index always merits attention. In two EPs and one full length, Simona Ferrucci’s carved out a name for herself as one of the best talents currently in post-punk. Taken from a comp which seems to be revisiting the legacy of C86 through a coldwave lens, has a more loping feel than much of the band’s other work, almost connoting early Lowlife, but the mood conjured by Ferrucci’s vocals is pure Winter Severity Index.
BecomingTheDevourer, “The Fever Dream Of A Dying God”
Eric Sochocki (formerly of Cryogen Second, currently of Rust and Remain, forever of the Internet) continues to showcase his production chops and, perhaps more importantly, his sense of pace and timing with his BecomingTheDevourer side project. The slow build on this, and the other two tracks on the My Time On A Dying Ship EP lends a cinematic feel, and despite the rising tension and eventual break, things stay so creamy smooth that one’s jimmies remain completely unruffled.
Transparent Flesh Flag, “I Wanted To Die But Now I Don’t”
Lastly, something from brand-spankin’-new Aussie act Transparent Flesh Flag’s first demo tape. While we’re well accustomed to acts referencing early industrial releases taking a low-fi, tape-hiss approach to production, they’re rarely as percussion heavy as these tunes. I’d say that early Controlled Bleeding and Attrition are decent enough signposts, but there’s a quirkiness which tends to bubble up as tracks which doesn’t fit with that, and by contrast underlines the stoic gravity of the vocals. Well worth checking out.
