Free Range
Wild Life
DKA Records
A team-up between Matt Weiner, one half of DKA Records and the man behind TWINS/That Which Is Not Said, and UK DJ and Digital Tsunami labelman Ernestas Sadau comes with a whole set of expectations. And while the hardware-driven approach to EBM you might presume such a project would take can be found on the duo’s third release, Wild Life certainly doesn’t limit itself to such strict rhythms, nor is it in any particular hurry to get to them, traipsing as it does through all manner of detuned, subterranean drones on opener “Worms” before the pinched programming of “Rats On Coke” hearkens back to DAF. The animal-themed titling continues apace, and whatever zoological inspiration Free Range might be taking manifests in a slate of drippy and smeared day trips through bass, breaks, and the most acid-soaked iterations of body music you’re likely to find this side of Tripalium Corp releases. “Prokofiev’s Dog” sounds like incredibly squelchy and lo-fi version of the sort of house tracks latter-era Pet Shop Boys have been so good at creating, while the tropical swoops and bleeps of “Panda Mick” could score the surprise happy ending of a witch house documentary. Dense and mushy stuff with some unexpected textures and harmonies.
Andi + Machino
Parafernales
Mannequin Records
Bringing together two body producers with differing but complimentary approaches, Parafernales finds Synthicide boss Andi and Mexico by way of Los Angeles’ Machino combining their powers for a woozy and tense ride. While both acts have been touched on classic EBM and new beat tropes, the music on the EP feels closer to chaotic synthpunk than either artist has in the past; check Andi’s warbling, desperate vocal on the heartracing, guitar-feedback accented “Surface Wound”, or the way “Secret Games” clips its cycling 16th note bassline down to barely coherent blips before blowing it back out with fist-pumping release. That said, the spirit of classic body music is never far off: on “False Passion” you can hear their shared passion from the genre shine through its scarred carapace, its tiny sequences that might be whimsical in another context and drums packed in tight formation giving it some extra muscle behind its convulsive rhythm. Great, if fraught stuff from two folks who should be on your radar.
