Dudes, I totally feel like I’m setting myself up for disappointment, but you won’t even believe how dumb excited I am for X-TG’s Desertshore/Final Report to come out later this month. I’m trying to keep my expectations reasonable, but that’s proven quite difficult when the peeps at The Quietus (best music website on the planet, no doubt) keep publishing all these crazy interviews and snippets of the record? It’s a god damn Sleazy Christopherson/Chris & Cosey record with Blixa Bargeld and Antony Hegarty and Marc Almond (amongst others) on it, how am I not supposed to lose my mind anticipating it? I’m honestly having a crisis of conscience about reviewing the fucking thing: how the hell am I gonna be objective about something that seems design to tickle all the major musical centers of my brain simultaneously? Gah, I need to go take a shower or something. In the meantime enjoy some new music, why don’t you?
Mushy, “My Life So Far”
Way back in February I had the pleasure of having a few drinks with Mannequin label-boss Allesandro, and he filled me in on the sessions for the new Mushy album, a record that comes out tomorrow. My how the time flies. Mushy is super-interesting, her sound ducks and dives in the crevasses between classic industrial, cold and minimal wave and even a bit of that ol’ warhorse post-punk. The album also features her collab with 4AD legends A.R. Kane, a true school cosign if I ever heard one. You’ll be wanting snap this one up ASAP, Breathless is limited to 500 copies worldwide and let me tell you, these short run releases are a beast to get a hold of once they sell out at the source.
Dead Musician, “The Chair”
Another project from hella prolific friend of the site Seb Komor, a dude with his fingers in more pies than a pie fetishist on payday. A collaboration with Anthony Black, the sound is quirky industrial rock: it’s got that old school emphasis on bass and drum programming but as with all Komor’s productions has some nice studio touches to grab the ear. Check that weird little G-Funk piano roll that pops up on this one. It’s pleasingly oddball, be checking for this one when it comes out on Deathwatch Asia at the end of the month.
Corvx de Timor, “5h‡†h4vvk”
Ben Arp has renamed C/∆/T, apparently to make the distinction between his current output and that of his previous industrial scene project C/A/T that much more clear. No complaints from us, latin spelling is way easier than remembering the keyboard shortcut for delta, and hey, peep the trap cymbals and supertight bassline on this rubbery little gem, the first taste we’re getting of the forthcoming Scars Heal EP. Arp has been one of the most prolific and interesting to watch artists of 2012, if you have any interest in where Our Thing intersects with other regions of dark electronic music y’all owe it to yourself not to sleep on him.
Sleepwalk, “Revenge of the Lost (KantKinoReWork Fast)”
Holy shit, Sleepwalk are still together? And they have a new album coming out? Man do I feel out of the 90s dark electro loop. One way or the other, I dig on Kant Kino remixes and this one ain’t buckin’ the trend, club ready and coated with lotsa atmosphere. The new record Nibiru drops on Dark Dimensions on the 23rd and will feature a disc of remixes from which this was drawn.
Tash Willmore, “Wear Eyes Closed (BL/\CK CEILING Remix)”
Tash Willmore’s free remix EP Broken Bloodline: An Alternate View saw the light of day a week or two back within days of that dope V▲LH▲LL + M‡яc▲ll▲ remix release and the expanded version of the ∆AIMON record. Times are very good for quality witch house stuff, just take this remix from BL/\CK CEILING for example, just a glacier of a track with all the classic hallmarks of the drag sound (snappy snares and digital reverb FTW) filtered through the lens of the genre’s recent history and expansion. Are people still holding out on this stuff because they don’t like the visual aesthetics? Their loss man.
Do you have an opinion on Sasha Grey’s involvement in Desertshore?
Not really. I don’t particularly like the music of hers I’ve heard, but I trust the folks making the record and will wait to judge ’til I’ve heard her track.
You feelin’ a bit Foetus in your teeth after chewing on The Chair?