We’re looking forward to folks being able to hear this week’s episode of the podcast, which’ll feature some Patreon backers joining us to talk about records of their choosing. While we spend a lot of our spare time chatting with friends about music and hearing fresh perspectives on the music we cover here, that rarely happens in a semi-formal or considered setting (rather than just shooting the shit online or at shows), and so these episodes are a chance for us to break out of the common avenues from which we cover stuff here. Speaking of breaking out of common avenues, we hope folks dig some of the more left-field picks in this week’s batch of tracks.
How Bedless are these Bones we’re talking about?
Bedless Bones, “Jouissance”
This Bandcamp friday brought a nice surprise; a new double single from the insanely consistent Estonian darkwave artist Bedless Bones. That name should be familiar if you’ve been reading our Year End lists for the last half-decade, and if you were to take a peek at our setlists and personal listening stats, you’d seen a pretty healthy amount of BB in the mix. It’s not just the production, or the atmosphere, or the general charisma that gets infused into these songs that grabs us, it’s the fact that regardless of how electronic, how solid and dancefloor ready they are, they maintain a very specific, dignified grace that feels extremely rare and characteristic. Need an example? Hit play on “Jouissance” below.
Circa Tapes, “Haeded”
Experimental coldwave act Circa Tapes (the solo hustle of Adam Sieczka of the late, great Kill Memory Crash) has been firing the engines up again of late and yielding some interesting results, like the a-side of the plainly titled A / B single. Linking robotic funk and early electro breaks with industrial-strength post-punk grime, you’re getting a little bit of everything in this squalling, uncanny, but strangely addictive track.
SDH, “Threshold”
SDH have been teasing us for a while; since Semiotics Department of Heteronyms signed to Artoffact we’ve had numerous tastes of their presumably upcoming LP, highlighting a lot of the things that drew us to the Spanish synth act in the first place. If you like modern darkwave, but like spicing it up with unusual rhythms and melodies, the duo has you covered as on the slowburn of “Threshold”; this could have been a straight up 4 on the floor club banger, but they instead choose to draw it out, busying up the drums and tossing in little synth runs that keep it engaging through its run time.
MODEBIONICS, “There Used To Be Life Down Here”
The latest release from throwback EBM/dark electro act MODEBIONICS is a far cry from what we might have expected. Effectively serving as the demo reel for a forthcoming gaming/musical hybrid project, the sampler for POPULATION19 is made up quick, cinematic stingers and spacey ambience like this (perhaps bringing the about face of Forma Tadre’s Automate to mind). Whether or not forays into this territory influence mainline MODEBIONICS material or not, getting lost in this sort of cosmic soup is a good time.
SPC ECO, “A Love Like This”
We honestly don’t check in on SPC ECO enough; the duo of Curve’s Dean Garcia and his daughter Rose Berlin has been around for nearly two decades at this point, and has been putting out material pretty consistently during that time. Honestly we shouldn’t take them for granted, even leaving aside the family’s considerable legacy in the world of electronic music and shoegaze (and being one of the pioneering acts at bringing those sounds together), SPC ECO has been quietly self-releasing cool, textured music that is good to chill to. We’ll try to do better at keeping track of them going forward, and start by posting this lil’ two-track single they posted on BC Friday, which hit the spot on a rainy PNW weekend.
alienobserver, “You Got Me”
Trading in a similar vibe as SPC ECO though with radically different execution and instrumentation, the new EP from Orlando’s alienobserver is a chill but instantly engaging mix of electropop, trance, and ethereal sounds. Between the stuttering vocal samples and winsome synth sounds in a piece like this, it’s impossible to not drift off into daydream reverie listening to it, despite the short run time. If you’ve enjoyed Zanias’ recent solo work, still hold a candle for vintage Delerium, or just want to take a road less travelled when it comes to electropop and darkwave, you’ll dig this.
