Okay, now that we’re into the swing of things here at the HQ, it comes for the Senior Staff to start planning our year. It’s been an unusually busy January thus far, and the new releases don’t seem to be slowing down, so it’s not like we’re worried about having stuff to write about. That said, we are curious what the folks who read the site and listen to the podcast are interested in seeing on I Die: You Die in 2018. We’ll probably do a formal survey at some point in the future to really get an idea of what kind of stuff people enjoy and don’t enjoy on the site, but in the interim, feel free to drop us a line here in the comments or via e-mail or our social media channels with your thoughts. Is there a specific feature you’d like to see us do more or less of? A new idea you’d like to see us tackle? Any specific artists we should try to and talk to at some point? Let us know!

Frank Spinath remixed his look and his album

V▲LH▲LL, “Ormens Offer”
Toronto played host to a rare North American gig by our beloved Swedish Mystery Vikings V▲LH▲LL over the past weekend. Sounds like things went swimmingly, and those of us not lucky enough to have been in town for the show can take some comfort in this, the first preview of the act’s second full-length release, Grimoire. There’s a mix of folk and pop in the vocals on this one, but the slinky yet stuttering groove underneath it feels just like that peculiar mix of ancient and futuristic dark sounds V▲LH▲LL have had on luck since their emergence out of the mist.

Kirlian Camera, “Haunted River”
If you listened to We Have a Technical last week you may have surmised that we’re pretty excited about Hologram Moon the upcoming album from Italian darkwave monarchs Kirlian Camera. We gobbled up first single “Sky Collapse” are equally excited about this second taste “Haunted River”: all the majesty, atmosphere and endearing weirdness we’ve come to expect from the group, along with some orchestral sounds that really work in the context of a beat-oriented club track. Stay tuned for more on the LP as it develops, we guarantee you we will have opinions.

Meat Beat Manifesto, “Nocebo”
Jack Dangers certainly needs no introduction from the likes of us, and a new LP from Meat Beat will obviously garner attention from just about every corner of the world of electronics. From film scoring to the incredible visual dimension of live sets we’ve caught in recent years, Dangers doesn’t coast on his laurels and we’re keen to hear what the forthcoming Impossible Star has to offer. Wet yet stripped down, this number gets across both the funk and rigid programming which have always been in Meat Beat’s DNA.

Lionhearts, “No Going Back (Forma Tadre remix)”
We had a conversation about Frank Spinath’s solo project Lionhearts on the podcast a ways back, and agreed that while it was an album that had a lot to recommend it in terms of atmosphere and songwriting, it was also perhaps a touch too mellow to make an impact. Remix album Companion addresses that somewhat by turning up the tempo of numerous numbers, as a diverse and impressive cast of collaborators including Architect, Acretongue, IRIS, Mildreda and Hecq (who worked on the original LP) have a go at the songs. Especially grand is this mix by Forma Tadre, who really give “No Going Back” into a regal ballad of massive proportions. Is this a sign Andreas is back making new material? We hope so.

SARIN, “Korean Air Lines”
Seems like scarcely a month can go by without us getting wind of something new from SARIN, the techno-ebm outlet of Emad Dabiri. Like we’ve come to expect this one has the straight up body-bassline and percussion mixed with techno structures that allow it straddle the line of both genres effectively. This one appears courtesy of a 12″ by Area Z, which also features cuts by Unhuman, Elements of Joy and Tomohiko Sagae. Also, it was mastered by Eric Van Wonterghem of Absolute Body Control, Monolith and inumerable other projects, which is a cool touch to be certain.

Black Mecha, “Counterforce”
Lastly, some seriously screwball electronic chaos brought to us courtesy of the always intriguing noise/metal label Profound Lore. Reminding us of old Negativland as much as all that wacky hardvapor stuff coming our way from Russia, Black Mecha hew loops out of wholly arrythmic programming. Info on the project is scant, but the press release states that the cover art is “advanced actualization of Internal Masonry S. Star Sigil rumination emanation metaphor technique of which encompasses special geometric based inner space mind constellation illustrations.” So…there’s that.