Some weeks these Tracks posts are easy as shit to write, f’real. The torrential wave of new music shows no signs of abating, and just as we feel like we’re rounding the corner on getting caught up, and whole new swell of material hits Bandcamp and we’re underwater again, adding swathes of releasees to our wishlists. This is of course a roundabout way of suggesting that as always, we’d love to hear from you regarding what’s hitting for you, either in the comments of these posts are via e-mail. We rely on the good taste of our friends and readers to put us onto new shit, so if you have a hot tip we should be talking about, please don’t hold back. Onto the new shit!
Spike Hellis
Stabbing Westward, “Ghost (Christopher Hall remix)”
Just gonna say it: Stabbing Westward are unfairly maligned by a lot of scene folks, mostly because they got some mainstream airplay in the alternative era. If you haven’t been checking their new shit based on that, you should really reconsider your preconceptions – everything they’ve put out post their recent reformation has been good and new single “Ghost” (produced by the legit legend John Fryer, who is at the boards for their forthcoming album Chasing Ghosts) is as good as anything they’ve ever done, no word of a lie. Peep the single featuring a mix from Assemblage 23, and this club contender from SW’s own Christopher Hall.
Pablo Bozzi, “Vanishing Paradise”
We’re rapidly losing count of all of the various projects the two members of Imperial Black Unit have on the go right now (Templər, A.T.T.Corp, Infravision, and Soft Crash to just name a handful), but we’re not at all worried about the new solo EP from Pablo Bozzi getting lost in the wash. At first blush Ghost Of Chance looks to be a grand foray into Italo ecstasy, with a strong sense of body music fundamentals and sounds and production techniques lifted from across the past few decades of dance music. Heavy rotation in continentally-minded streams is a guarantee.
Spike Hellis, “Slices”
If you’ve been paying attention to some of the recent rumblings around the West Coast scene, the name Spike Hellis should be one you’re familiar with. Between the release of their Crisis Talk EP back in 2020 and now they’ve gotten a goodly amount of interest stirred up based on some well-received live appearances, and seem primed for to make a big splash with their new self-titled LP, due April 1. “Slices” might give you a clue why folks are excited; it’s punky, danceable body music in the classic style that has style, keeping things sweaty, minimal and mean. This is a highly anticipated release in our offices.
M‡яc▲ll▲ feat. MAHR, “Offset”
A new LP from always cryptic post-witchouse project M‡яc▲ll▲ is great news. We’re looking forward to digging into New Condition more thoroughly, but are also happy to see that it features a guest spot from MAHR. For those who need a reintroduction, MAHR plies a broad-reaching ambient style (as well as the late great Pale Noir label), and here lends a ghostly ambiguity to the track’s driving, rubbery programming.
Meshes feat. Iron Court, “Инстинкт (Instinct)”
Russian producer Meshes has been putting out some of the nastiest techno-EBM going for a year or two, straight for the throat songs that have big hooky basslines and rough and ready production. Their latest production is a collab with the similarly minded Iron Court and the two are as sympatico as you would expect, putting out a dancefloor slapper that’s 70% bass, 15% squiggly acid sounds, 15% cracking drums and 100% sweat, Soviet style. Check for it on Chilean label Absu Labs’ recent Termoiónico compilation.
Brighter Death Now, “Love Hard”
Cold Meat Industry honcho and perpetual misanthrope Roger Karmanik snuck in under the 2021 deadline with All Too Bad – Bad To All, the first Brighter Death Now record in seven years. Karmanik’s keeping the death industrial festivities rolling with companion EP Everything Is Gonna Be Alright (we assure you it will not), which includes this throbbing number, a collaboration with Swedish synthpunk act Isotope Soap and recent BDN collaborator Åsa Tedebro.
