We’ve been spending a lot of time discussing the forthcoming Love’s Secret Domain reissues (and will continue to do so!), but the quiet announcement of a massive CD box compiling the earliest work of Clock DVA reminded us of the fantastic work done by Vinyl On Demand in compiling, collating, and reissuing hopelessly out of print work by early electronic pioneers. VOD’s boxes have brought crucial works by Snowy Red, Portion Control, Crash Course In Science, Absolute Body Control, Esplendor Geometrico, Muslimgauze, and so many more back into the spotlight. But they also deserve kudos for keeping the secondary market at heel by doubling back on their existing vinyl boxes to create economical CD reissues (contrary to their name) like this one.

Red light go with Odonis Odonis

SØLVE, “NEVER + ENOUGH”
Brand new single from Brant Showers (∆AIMON)’s SØLVE and it’s a somewhat different affair. If you’ve been following the project (or heard the split with The Blood of Others we helped put out), you’ll associate it with atmospheric ritual music informed by post-witchhouse sounds. “NEVER + ENOUGH” shoots that through with some hard industrial rock drumming, translating Shower’s ever more confident vocals from pensive to commanding. The single comes in a package with remixes from artists like Sidewalks and Skeletons, Bara Hari, Null Device, V▲LH▲LL, and FIRES amongst others, and you can nab it on Bandcamp in digital or as a limited CD right now.

XTR Human, “Leben Ohne Licht (feat. Luca Gillian)”
An absolute stormer from German wave act XTR Human, one that splits the difference between cold wave and EBM with precision. The springy bass-driven verse and hard-edged vocal from Johannes Stabels sets up the lovely, melodic chorus featuring Die Selektion’s Luca Gillian, recontextualizing what we’ve heard in the track up ’til that point. Addictive and eminently relistenable, you’re gonna wanna snap this one up ASAP.


Potochkine, “Possédée”
Some friends in Europe put us on to French act Potochkine after catching them at Kalabalik (thanks, Lindsey!), and even without seeing them live their elegant darkwave charm still comes across. New LP Sortilèges is out in a week and we’ve been getting pretty hyped for it on the basic of numbers like this which combine the classic rough minimalism of Kas Product with the modern sheen of Black Nail Cabaret (and maybe a bit of the smokey intensity of our beloved Animal Bodies).

Aurat, “¿Can You Hear Me?”
LA’s Aurat impressed us late last year with an LP combining classic darkwave and post-punk sounds with Urdu vocals. While the latter aren’t present on new stand-alone track “¿Can You Hear Me?”, it’s still a nice demonstration of Aurat’s ability to hold their own even while working in some more broader and more accessible territory. Nice hint of italo in this poppy darkwave number.

Odonis Odonis, “Salesmen”
Toronto industrialists Odonis Odonis return with some tracks from their forthcoming LP Spectrums and they are not screwing around. “Get Out” is of the sort of noise-rock crossover sound that has informed a lot their previous releases, but it’s “Salesmen” that makes the big impression: livewire rhythm programming and blasts of distorted synth collide with massive force, unrelenting and undeniable. The band has always had a streak of the sardonic to them, but for the first time they sound downright mean, and we are very much on board with it.

Donna Haringwey, “No Life”
Abrasive synthpunk wipeouts await on Feral, the new EP from mutant noise artist Donna Haringwey. It’s a difficult but immediately viscerally rewarding listen, without a second being wasted. Tracks like this one are shot through with a manic yobbishness that’s quite different from the deconstructed EBM which guided the debut The Child Of God EP.

SPÆCIALISTA, “Muerde y Huye”
Another banger from Colombia’s SPÆCIALISTA, a producer whose tracks have rapidly become secret weapons in the crates of sharp-eared DJs the world over. It’s something about the combination of classic new beat/body flavour with funky electronic percussion (those bongos and congas!) that makes his small but potent catalogue so instantaneous. Like basically all of SPÆCIALISTA’s stuff, this one comes to us via a compilation, in this case the massive Universidad de Vampiros from Georgia’s SHISHI, you might wanna go and put it on your Bandcamp wishlist.