We Have A Technical 534: You Put Me On The Spot

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Potochkine

Potochkine

In an episode dedicated to splitting the finest of hairs and analyzing the specific dance steps of angels on pinheads, we’re each picking five micro-genres for discussion. Do they exist? Are they distinct from neighbouring styles? What can be learn or take from them? We’re also discussing Metropolis Records’ recently announced charity initiative and corresponding compilation series. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Silent EM, “Real Life”

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Silent EM
Real Life
DKA Records

We last heard from NYC darkwave act Silent EM (aka Jean Lorenzo) in 2019, when their album The Absence impressed us with its strident and hard hitting take on darker-flavoured electronic dance music. In the intervening years we’ve heard more mingling of the electro-darkwave genre with body music and techno, but what new Silent EM LP Real Life brings to the table is the same feeling of desperation and uneasiness that defined its predecessor, albeit with some broader changes in approach.

The chief amongst these is the addition of more melodic and groovy compositions, providing some respite from the starker and more anxious songs that defined previous releases. That the album opens up with “Heart Sinking”, with its speedy, ascending bassline, peels of guitar and crystalline pad sounds feels appropriate; it’s not so far off from what you’d expect from a new Silent EM song, but its mood and instrumentation come across as more fluid, and less fraught than the funk by force of the past. Indeed, it’s almost a bit strange to hear Lorenzo sing a song like “Institution”, forgoing his stern and anguished vocals for a more matter of fact delivery that suits the song’s new wavey bounce, complete with stereo-panned grunts and rolling drums. With studio assists from Automelodi’s Xavier Paradis, it’s not entirely surprising to hear a bit more variety in textures and atmospheres here (Xarah Dion collab “Europa” certainly has their fingerprints on it), but it’s not at the expense of Silent EM’s established identity.

To that end, there’s a healthy dollop of the fast-moving, densely programmed sounds that are the band’s stock and trade here. “World of Sin” has the band’s signature combination of impactful drums, high-strung synthlines and relentless momentum, tightly assembled with care taken to allow space for Lorenzo’s wounded yowl. “Survive” slows things down, but its shrill synth trills and ghostly progression as layers of reverb and throbbing bass intermingle transforms the project’s stress and tumult into a more subtle if no less effective disquiet. Old and new meet on cuts like “My Versions of Hell” where sturm and drang are supported by inhuman choral sounds and speedy guitar riffs, familiar and novel in equal measures.

Real Life is something new from an act who had their aesthetics well-established, and with a move like that there’s always the danger that changing what worked could lead to a dilution of that identity. Thankfully Lorenzo has a good grasp of his project’s main appeal, supplementing his stormy ennui with fresh and invigorating ideas and approaches.

Buy it.

Real Life by Silent EM

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Skelesys, “Fading Echoes”

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Skelesys - Fading Echoes

Skelesys
Fading Echoes
Pinkman

Berlin-based one-man project Skelesys has been plying solid and engaging club-focused darkwave for a few years via singles and remixes, but for Damian Shilman’s first proper LP the formula’s been changed into something notably different, and dare I say earthier. Fading Echoes is still a beat-driven listen with plenty of dancefloor appeal, but rather than filling itself to the brim with heavy leads or atmospherics, a minimalist strain of rock featuring twangy summer sunset guitar and crooning vocals instead carries the LP into a hazy but also decidedly grounded minimalism.

Lead single “Pictures In My Mind”, featuring some tag team work with Curses’ Luca Venezia (with whom Shilman’s worked previously), is as solid a mission statement as any, buttressing immediate chiming synths with roaming guitar and rock vocal harmonies. Turkey’s Affet Robot is perhaps as close of a current comparison as could be made, but that still doesn’t point to the dusty warmth that emerges over “Pictures In My Mind”. That rock-focused but sparse aesthetic is held over the rest of the record: Shilman’s vocals and a rueful, listless guitar slowly rotate in and out of the spotlight over a minimal lope on the languid “In The Dark”, while the stoic and weary “Digital Ghosts” suggests both airy dreampop and sullen neofolk.

Not all such gambits pay off on Fading Echoes, though. “Grey Days”‘ homage to classic French coldwave is spot on, and there’s some solid punch to the drums, but the atmosphere isn’t enough to account for a lack of a hook or direction, and at least one or two other tracks feel similarly underwritten. But I have something of a feeling that these misfires in restraint are the sort of tradeoff a project like Skelesys is willing to make in order to absolutely nail the overarching sound and mood they’re clearly aiming for. And when everything comes together, as on “Golden Eyes”, one can see why. Its laid back groove, suggesting The Jesus And Mary Chain tackling “The Boys Of Summer”, is charming enough, but all of the tiny tics and flourishes which ornament it – Shilman dropping his baritone an octave at just the right time, a guitar line that shimmers like a Mann film, what might be a couple of muted sax skronks in the background – carry it into a slowburn majesty unlike anything else you’ll hear in darkwave this year.

It’s no secret that the broader dark music world is positively awash in darkwave right now, for better and for worse. Between the established giants and the mediocre dregs, it can be difficult for an emerging project to establish itself, but Fading Echoes does just that for Skelesys, giving it a sound and identity fairly distinct from much else happening in the field. It makes for an unexpected and welcome statement of arrival for a project that’s been waiting in the wings for a while.

Buy it.

Fading Echoes LP by Skelesys

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Tracks: November 18th, 2024

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Okay we make this plea every year, but it’s only out of some neurotic fear of missing out: if you have albums that you think would fit well in our Year End coverage, but that we haven’t reviewed or mentioned on the site, speak now. We try to keep up, and have a pretty good grip on what we need to get done between now and mid-December when our Top 25 needs to be solidified, but there’s always a few late contenders in the mix, and the field feels pretty open for some new entries as of this writing. Drop ’em in the comments below!

Menthüll, “Jargon”
Regular readers of these Tracks columns might be getting fairly accustomed to us featuring a Menthüll cut here every three or so months, but as long as the Quebec duo keep infusing their combo of synthpop, new wave, and cold wave with as much thought and originality as this number has, not to mention their ear for harmonies, that ain’t gonna change. This prose poem-driven piece maybe isn’t quite as direct as some of their more dancefloor focused stuff, but still finds a bevy of corners into which grooves and baubles can be stashed. Somewhat reminiscent of Severed Heads side project Coklacoma.
Jargon by Menthüll

Camlann, “Ronny (Burn in Hell)”
Our favourite indonesian darkwavers Camlann get real intense on new single “Ronny (Burn in Hell)”, and yeah, this rules. Their LP last year DISMANTLE! was one of our favourites from last year, largely for the number of ideas and styles it touched on while remaining very much its own thing. That record had some good growls and shouts on it, but nothing like this new cut, feels pretty pointed at someone in specific, who no doubt knows what they did to bring this out of the otherwise quite composed duo.
Ronny (Burn in Hell) by Camlann

Lights of Euphoria, “Surrender”
Infacted house band Lights of Euphoria have dabbled in a lot of styles over the years; they’ve been dark electro, ebm, synthpop, and most recently broadly an electropop act. New single “Surrender” has some of the charm of their best singles over the years, due in part to the smooth vocals of Jimmy McMahon and Torben Schmidt’s tastefully modern production. Just a pleasant little slice of something from an act who have persisted for some decades now.
Surrender by Lights Of Euphoria

Schwefelgelb, “IO”
It’s been a year since the last missive from German techno-body act Schwefelgelb, although we’ll admit to not tracking them super closely for a while there. It seemed that just as the new-school body music sound they helped pioneer was kicking off, they turned to more purely techno style production, which while quite nice were not totally our cup of tea. Not sure if “IO” is a return to form per se, but the vocals from Sid Lamar and the bassline make it feel like the sort of thing that drew us to them in the first place. Check that sick break mid-track, this slams.
Trigger by Schwefelgelb

No Filter, “Sauvages”
Here’s something well off the beaten path via AVANT! Records. France’s No Filter combine early synthpunk bounce with the stormy chants of classic oi. It’s a combination which doesn’t end up in the same oiBM territory as EkoBrottsMyndigheten or Container 90, despite some shared component parts, but instead conjures a strange hybrid of early 80s NDW or French coldwave being carried into Mad Max wastelands.
Sans Filtre by NO FILTER

Vacíos Cuerpos, “Vit​í​ligo”
Mexico’s Vacíos Cuerpos jumped onto our radar late last year with the project’s Hoy Solo Quiero Odiar EP, which added some speed and bounce to contemporary darkwave gloom. A string of stand-alone tracks this year have kept that delivery going, and the latest is no exception. Vocals and a hazy guitar line drift with hypnotic langour while tight and frenetic rhythmic programming whizzes past at double time, creating an uncanny speedball effect.
Vitíligo by Vacíos Cuerpos

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Pøltergeist, “Nachtmusik”

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Nachtmusik - Pøltergeist

Pøltergeist
Nachtmusik
Bad Omen Records

A year can make a big difference. When I saw Calgary’s Pøltergeist play a hometown show at Terminus in the summer of 2023, I saw a band whose reach exceeded their grasp. They were a clearly impassioned act and had a vision for an anthemic and melodic style of post-punk, but there wasn’t just enough cohesion to the material or delivery to cinch things. They were much stronger earlier this year at Verboden Festival, and now their first LP Nachtmusik not only captures a band beginning to coalesce around strong instincts, but one bringing some welcome cross-genre pollination.

What is surprisingly easy to miss about Pøltergeist when you see them live is much more apparent on record: they’re metalheads. Metalheads who love and are self-admittedly inspired by The Chameleons, but metalheads nonetheless. In its early days, the idea of corrupting the pure and austere experimentalism of post-punk with boorish metal would have been unthinkable, but decades on with swathes of younger bands finding themselves enchanted with new darkwave and casting an eye backwards, such divisions seem petty and academic. The speedy drive of “Ethereal Nightmare” could easily be linked back to the earliest Twin Tribes material, but when it sits alongside the galloping triplets and shredding of “Yesterday Fades” (or songs called “Burning Sword” for crying out loud), the metal influence in its drum rolls and bellowed vocals can’t be ignored.

Thankfully, this combination isn’t just coasting on its novelty (Gallows’ Eve and Unto Others are the only other two bands who readily come to mind in terms of crossing these streams, but their specific interests in metal, goth, and post-punk are clearly distinct from Pøltergeist’s influences), but brings some proper tunes with it. The brooding “Cold In September” has a melancholy weight which belies its speed and immediate hooks, part modern Spectres, part Lovelife played at double speed. Ironically, the gloom of that cut sits a large distance from the spritely and crisp “Children Of The Dark”. Adjusting the ratio of power metal to NWOBHM, of pure goth rock to dancefloor darkwave, Pøltergeist pack a great amount of variety into a tight forty minutes, and are rarely found wanting in whatever build they settle upon.

Nachtmusik isn’t entirely without its faults. Some of the shredding is lost in a rough mix and a few harmonies and sections lose their way by trying to stand astride both of the band’s major genres. But those are the sorts of rough patches Pøltergeist have already begun smoothing out in their live delivery and seem more than capable of taking on in the future. Nachtmusik is a great proof of concept in terms of its chocolate and peanut butter blending of genres, but it’s also a damn catchy and satisfying record in the here and now which should make for some great late autumnal midnight skulking for metalheads and goths alike. Recommended.

Buy it.

Nachtmusik by Pøltergeist

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We Have A Technical 533: I Stand

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Marsheaux

It’s a pretty diverse two albums formatted episode this week; we’re talking about the freeform, hip-hop and rock tinged EBM chaos of Scapa Flow’s final LP Heads Off To Freedom and Marhseaux’s big and direct 2013 electro-pop LP Inhale. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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OP-ART, “The Final Act”

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OP-ART
The Final Act
Minimal Wave

OP-ART, an acronym for Oblique Pleasures Amidst Rough Times, is the pandemic-born analogue synthpop project of Andrew Clinco, more well-known as the enigmatic silver-skinned Deb Demure of Drab Majesty fame. As you might expect from the band’s name, the music on their debut LP has its origins as an additional outlet for Clinco during lockdown, although the record is far less insular and downcast than that might imply; The Final Act is by turns animated, psychedelic, baroque, and catchy, and often all of those things at the same time.

To be clear, when describing this record as synthpop, it’s much closer to the new-wave of early Numan, John Foxx and OMD (all of whom are name-checked in the press material for the record) than it is the pure bubblegum that is often associated with the genre. Which is to say doesn’t lack for catchiness, but that there’s a certain complexity to the production and songwriting that adds intrigue to the listening experience. Listen to how “Dystopian Custodian” slow plays things, starting with a relatively minimal arrangement of synthbass, drums and modulated vocals, with each repetition of the hook adding layers of programming and melody until the song’s final moments are positively grandiose. Similarly, there’s something delightful about how “Polyurethane” leans into its awkward rhythm, drawing a direct line between the funk of early electro and the locked in grooves of krautock, all topped with a punchy and theatrical chorus.

That Clinco knows his way around a tune is certainly no surprise, but there’s a distinct difference in the delivery of these songs and the excess of Drab Majesty’s guitar-driven opulence. It’s partially in how the vocals are kept in lower registers (either sung that way, or pitch-shifted down) to match the gritty tone of the drums and synths; “Hardscape” is a big song with lots of swirling textures that could recall some of Drab’s proggier moments, but the squeal and squelch of its hissy snares and the detuned warble of its pads pair with the croaking vocals to make it an animal of a different kind. Even the records most accessible moments like the Martin Dupont collaboration “11 Stars” have an economy to their design, visible as it jumps from section to section without ever abandoning the dead simple but ultra-immediate high speed bassline. Those kinds of decisions in layout and design often mask the actual complexity of the songs; the opening title track has bedroom synth simplicity at its heart, but reinvents its melody via vocal harmonies, and the addition of new synthlines that play with and against the song’s progression.

The charm of The Final Act is really apparent in how much of the record sticks, even after cursory listening. That’s certainly a function of the polish with which it’s presented (the mix is bold and bright even in its most esoteric moments), but you can’t help but admire the way these tracks stay musical, regardless of how alternately flamboyant and austere they can be. For those with a yen for the buzz and clamor of classic synthpop will find it here in abundance, spiked with a healthy dose of vibrant and engaging colour. Recommended.

Buy it.

The Final Act by OP-ART

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Tracks: November 12th, 2024

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Solid sets by legacy acts continues to be one of the threads of the last year or so, with half of the Senior Staff (guess which) catching a set by stone goth legends The March Violets this past weekend. The material old and new sounding charming live, and Rosie & co have a great sense of themselves and how to win over a crowd even sans original member Simon Denbigh. They have three shows left on their NA tour in California this week; check them out if they’re in your town.

Sad Madona, sunlit but still in shadow.

Spark!, “Vi är två (Mot En Miljon)”
When we got word that original vocalist Stefan Brorsson was rejoining the Spark! camp, we did our best to keep expectations in check. Sure, the last full LP to feature Brorsson pairing with Mattias Ziessow has earned a hallowed place here at I Die: You Die as one of the best EBM albums of the millennium, but that’s a lofty standard to hold any new material to. Still, even more than intial single “66 ton krom”, this new number has everything we want in a Spark! track: energy, hooks, and an uncanny balancing of pop and EBM elements we’ve not heard the likes of since before or after the last time these two teamed up.
Vi är två (Mot En Miljon) by Spark!

Beborn Beton, “Ticket to the Moon”
Slow and low-key aren’t strangers to German synthpop stalwarts Beborn Beton, in fact pretty much everyone of their LPs has one or two torchy ballads that make proper use of Stefan Netschio’s wonderful voice. “Ticket to the Moon” is one of the original numbers that appears on the forthcoming remix EP To the Stars and in contrast to the previously released “American Girls” (a cheeky bit of bubbly synthpop in the club style) this is the BB’s going baroque; the song has sections, builds, flourishes, all to give it a certain stoic grandeur commensurate with it’s scope. These guys know their way around a proper bit of ornate songwriting, and don’t mind showing it off.
To The Stars by Beborn Beton

Nordvargr, “Our Lord Of The Abyss (Part Two)”
The recently represented box set of Henrik Nordvargr Björk’s Resignation material was a deep and immersive reminder (not that we needed it) of just how far Björk’s muse carries him from what most think of when “extreme” electronics are mentioned. The big man is taking up that project again, and the teaser tracks for Resignation IV submerge us in a hypnagogic and hauntological primordial soup, with some fractal-pop takes on ambient recalling Balam Acab.
Resignation IV by NORDVARGR

Sad Madona, “Blush”
More hypnotically sad shoegazey darkwave from Parisians Sad Madona is always cause for celebration, or at least as much celebration as you can manage while moping. Like all their previous songs, “Blush” has a preternatural sense of sorrow woven into it, with the ethereal production creating a ghostly effect; it’s like getting haunted by someone going through a break-up. But in a good way?
Blush by Sad Madona

Ash Code, “Nostalgia”
In case that Sad Madona track wasn’t enough to fix your darkwave jones this week, Italy’s Ash Code have just the scrip. Punching in heavily with just a little hint of grit, “Nostalgia” is another showcase of how the trio balances the beats, harmonies, and atmospheres that the style they’ve been trading in for a decade hinges upon, with just the right amount of wistful poppiness to offset the weighted doom.
Nostalgia by Ash Code

Harsh Symmetry, “Fossil Brain”
We’ve always enjoyed the post-punk stylings of Los Angeles’ Harsh Symmetry, but “Fossil Brain” brings something new to the table. The tenorous vocals and guitars that have defined the project’s sound up ’til this point are still here, but the song is built around bright synthwork, taking on bass and lead duties, entering the world of synthpop, albeit in the darker and moodier style.
Fossil Brain by Harsh Symmetry

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