Hola, gang! It’s the beginning of October, which heralds pumpkin beer, playoff baseball, and moseying about at dusk with Disintegration on the headphones for yours truly. This year, it also happens to mark us hitting 1,000 Facebook likes and 500 Twitter followers on the same day, which is pretty cool as far as arbitrary landmarks go. But, far be it from us to stand on ceremony when none’s needed: let’s get to some new music!
Officers X Gary Numan, “Petals”
Say, d’you remember that Gary Numan-approved band Alex reviewed a month back? Looks as though that connection’s sufficiently sympatico to warrant an official collaborative EP, which’ll be out on November 19th. This track feels a lot muddier and murkier than Numan’s work has been of late, and he’s added a vaguely wounded quality to his delivery which is difficult to pin down. In any case, we’re always keen to hear where this site’s patron saint is gonna go next.
Needle Fac†ory, “Failing”
UK newcomers Needle Fac†ory are prepped to release debut LP Goetia on Unrepresented Music in about a month after about a year’s worth of remix work and one EP. From what we’ve heard, it should offer a nice mix of old and new dark electro stylings, with a light dusting of some witchier atmospheres. This is a nice mid-tempo cut which should appeal to those who’ve dug recent stuff by Necrotek and By Any Means Necessary.
Soft Kill, “Seven Hundred”
It’s probably felt like longer of a hiatus for this post-punk act who emerged out of the ashes of Blessure Graves than it actually was, but 2011’s An Open Door proved to be quite the sleeper record, and it’s nice to hear them return with some more Chameleons-steez nodding goodness. This is the A-side of a forthcoming 7″ which should presage a sophomore LP.
Cruise [Ctrl], “In Hell (Everything Is Fine) feat. Dirk Ivens”
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with concept records in industrial, and if they avoid the well-trod “human/machine interface” routine (to which very few bands can bring anything new), so much the better. Our friends at Signifier have just released the third record by Belgium’s Cruise [Ctrl], and we’re excited to listen to an album’s worth of songs dealing with that most hypnagogic of television shows, Twin Peaks, especially when at least one of them has our beloved Dirk Ivens guesting on a nice and grinding minimal noise tip. Say, whatever did happen to Thrills gum?
Mongo Erectus, “Delta”
Those lads in Severe Illusion are nothing if not cryptic, but I think I’ve got this sussed: Fredrik of SI did some original 8-bit video game-style compositions under the Mongo Erectus brand in the 80s, and has recently rebooted the franchise to do modern revamps of classic gaming themes. With no official releases it’s tough to tell exactly when this came out, but it’s well worth yr time to check this (and ME’s take on C64/Atari title Panther) out.
