Hey friends! It looks like the recent batch of shirts which we printed and mailed out are starting to make their way into the hands of those who ordered them. Again, we’d like to thank Mason of Ringfinger for the great design, and everyone who ordered one of them. It’s still pretty crazy to us that people find this whole endeavour of ours not only worth listening to and reading, but also voluntarily representing in public, no doubt leading to all manner of halting conversations with baristas around the world. Let’s get to this week’s Tracks!
Generation Askani’Son, er, Cable.
genCAB, “The Badge (Flesh Field remix)”
Okay, this is a real twofer inclusion here at the HQ; we’ve been pretty sweet on David Dutton’s work as genCAB since he reactivated the song-oriented electro-industrial project a few years back, so a new single is always gonna perk our ears up. That “The Badge” also comes with a taste of new Flesh Field (who as we mentioned on the podcast have recently reactivated and have a new album due very soon) is equally enticing – we’re getting noted of the latter project’s classic orchestral oomph along with some very prominent guitar chug, all a fine accompaniment to genCAB’s emotional delivery.
Antigen Shift, “Where Is Your Rage”
The return of Ottawa’s Antigen Shift continues apace, with the sixth in a series of hard-hitting and hooky singles from Nick Theriault and Jairus Khan. Hearkening back to classic dark electro (an appended Leaether Strip remix ), the current wave of melodic EBM, and maybe even a little bit of the more tasteful sides of synthwave, “Where Is Your Rage” is flashy but also well-considered, with the duo’s skill for crafting instrumental pieces with real movement and progression on full display.
Red Meat, “Providence”
When friend of the site DJ Gilly Woo reached out to let us know about the new single from Manchester based act Red Meat, she described it as “like Filth Pig, in the best way”. That description proves to be accurate, as double a-side Providence/Remission is chock full of mechanized riffs, distorted vocals, and samples, all delivered with some of that uniquely UK flavour of bile and cheek. Not an act we were checking for previously, but certainly one we will be going forward.
Blac Kolor, “Zerschmetterling”
Hendrick Grothe’s Blac Kolor found a new kinship with the legendary Ant-Zen label on his Roots EP last year, and it’s a pairing that makes all the sense in the world for new LP Weltenbrand. Sure, the tense and brooding style of dark techno Grothe has been plying since before TBM blew up is still in place, but tunes like this which underpin the beats with a bit more rumbling, metallic clatter owe as much to Ant-Zen’s rhythmic industrial legacy as anything else.
Meshes, “No Rules”
We haven’t been keeping close tabs on Meshes of late, which is a lapse on our part. When the Russian project (now based in Israel) first came to our attention during the pandemic, it was due to how their hard-hitting body music fit so nicely with the then-current wave of techno-EBM crossover; the tracks felt like pretty pure EBM, but gelled well crossover club DJ sets. The project has never strayed from that ethos, as new EP Always Against testifies with lead-off “No Rules” – it’s pure EBM in terms of bassline and atmosphere, but you could drop this in a hard tech set and have it go off any day of the week.
Mesmer’s Ghost, “The Dark”
A cross-Canadian project with whom we’ve been checking in here and there over the years, Mesmer’s Ghost trades in a minimalist and atmospheric electro-industrial/dark electro hybrid. The title track from forthcoming new EP The Dark positions a haze of classic atmospherics against tight and tense programming in a manner not unlike that of recent site favourites Kurs.
