We’d like to thank everyone who checked out and shared last week’s podcast and index of Black artists working within our scenes. You don’t need us to tell you how crazy everything feels right now, but seeing our community respond so enthusiastically to both Danesha and Jairus’ insights and to a host of underrepresented acts (including many we were hipped to by you folks!) gives us hope that larger changes for the better might not be as far away as we would have thought a few months ago. Please continue to speak out and amplify Black and POC voices and make donations when you’re able.
Dreamcrusher. Photo by @andrewjhallinan for @meltingpointnyc.
Dreamcrusher, “A Long Kiss Goodnight”
NYC’s Dreamcrusher has been making noise-inflected industrial and experimental sounds which they define as “Nihilist Queer Revolt Musik” for more than a decade. Spread across innumerable splits, cassettes and web-only releases, their sound is mutable and ever-changing but maintains a strong foothold in both noise and deeply submerged melody. “The Long Goodbye” is taken from new mixtape Another Country available now via Bandcamp, with a portion of sales going to national bail-out funds. Play it loud.
Klutæ, “Counterstrike”
Claus Larsen’s resurrection of Klute – now spelled as Klutæ to align with his most well known outlet Leæther Strip – has been pretty wild. Embracing a full-on punk aesthetic in both attitude and sound, the project speaks to both Claus’ non electronic-influences and his politics. Note the name of forthcoming album Queer for Satan if you need any clarification. And he did it all with synths and samplers. Knock ’em out Claus!
Myer, “Grüne Männchen”
Daniel Myer made a point of digging deep into the archives for the previous fee-free day on Bandcamp, and he didn’t come back empty-handed this time. His circa ’97 Rumms & Bumms EP comes off as a mash-note to classic London jungle, filtered through the moody sound design Myer was exploring at the time via NEWT and Cleen. While some tracks are pure breaks flurries, this one speaks to quirkier glitch and noise influences as well.
Bestial Mouths, “In Ruins”
Here’s a strong and immediate blast of grimy darkwave, perhaps signalling what we can expect from the forthcoming fourth Bestial Mouths LP. Lynette Cerezo’s proven of late that she can have her cake (or her offal, as we saw in that Textbeak vid) and eat it too, simultaneously bringing hooky immediacy, deep bellowing rage, and serious compositional depth to her work as she does here. All proceeds from this advance track are being distributed “to over 70 community bail funds, activist organizations and racial justice organizers via ActBlue”.
Haex, “Plague (Demo)”
New thick as fuck demo from the good folks in HAEX down LA way. Watching the group shift their approach and grow into themselves on the route to their debut LP has been interesting to watch, and this particular iteration of their sound – grinding synths and guitars that don’t read as classic industrial rock but as a sleeker more streamlined threshing machine is extremely promising. Proceeds from this release will be donated to the Reclaim the Block”, A Minneapolis based community organization that is doing important work for the cause of defunding the city’s police department and redirecting those funds to serve the community.
Damascus Knives, “What’s Your Poison”
Super-squelchy techno-body music from David Christian’s now fairly well-established Damascus Knives side project. Sitting right at an intersection of EBM and techno with both classic rave and dark electro flair plated overtop, Christian’s done a solid job of bringing heft and substance to his new Would You Feel Safer If You Carried A Gun EP while still lending the project a lither feel than his day-job work in Cervello Elettronico.
