Solo Ansamblis, “Scenos”

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Solo Ansamblis - Scenos

Solo Ansamblis
Scenos
Artoffact Records

The broader world of post-punk has undergone massive changes over the past ten years, both in terms of reach and sub-styles. After a lengthy run of North American bands cleaving perhaps too closely to Joy Division and similarly weighty elder gods, the surprising crossover success of Molchat Doma has led to a somewhat lighter but similarly monochromatic wave of acts from former Soviet states holding sway, drawing younger listeners to the style but often delivering a fairly conservative read on it. While Solo Ansamblis do indeed hail from Baltic territory and at times trade in of-the-moment chilly and languid sounds, their willingness to run riot through electronic, funk, and krautrock inspired sounds on new LP Scenos is a welcome reminder of just how colourful post-punk can be.

This is far from the Lithuanian act’s first rodeo. Indeed, our first point of contact with them, 2020’s “Baloje” was an indicator of their interest in robotic funk and their willingness to buck contemporary trends five years into their career. Now ten years in, that free-roaming approach still holds on Scenos, with the morose and minimal opening title track giving way to the more squared off and intrepid stomp of “Oda”. But it’s when the chorus pedal on the guitar of “Švelnūs jausmai” adds a sheen of lithe funk to its motorik beat that the record’s combination of freewheeling surrealism and solid grasp of Neue Deutsche Welle throwback sounds really kicks in.

That ability to pick up on the subtler sides of classic post-punk is something which keeps adding depth and dimension as Scenos unfolds. The funky synth lope that pokes and threads its way through “Meilės Mašina” has far more in common with left-field synth classics like Grauzone’s “Eisbar” than just about anything happening in the field today. On the flip side of that, the detuned and grimy acid synth scribbling of “Tendencija” finds Solo Ansamblis taking a page from much more recent electronics to bring their already solid rhythms to modern nightclubs, albeit with a stutter-step.

By the time the Neu!-indebted “Nuobodu” and its reprise close out the album with a rave-up which feels like Snowy Red going motorik, the sense that Scenos leaves the listener with is one of variety and, well, fun. That last notion is one which might not come to mind very often with post-punk these days, but Solo Ansamblis’ ability to send their rhythmic talents casting out towards so many touchstones from the past and present can’t help but feel like a welcome and infectious change of pace in the current post-punk landscape.

Buy it.

Scenos by Solo Ansamblis

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Tracks: April 14th, 2025

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It’s almost Spring time for real here in Rain City, and with that comes the rush of live music that kicks off our Festival-attending year as Verboden Festival looms large in the near-future. In just a few weeks we’ll be watching (and doing some MC’ing) for a whole swatch of great bands, many of whom we’ve not had the opportunity to see before, or see in our own hometown. As always, if you’re in town and attending, we’d really love to chat with you and maybe share a drink or three, it’s a great social atmosphere and there’s never a shortage of memorable performances to discuss. On to Tracks!

Hallows

Hallows

Rotersand, “Black Night”
Rotersand covered Deep Purple. Yeah no point buring the lede on that one, and they did quite a job of it. The German act have always had some decent rock energy in their sound, although never quite so explicitly as this; the boogey of the original is maintained here, but done over in their inimitable style, especially benefitting from Rascal raunching up his vocals, and the solo and organ breakdown being replaced by some detuned synthwork and rolling drum programming that feels weirdly natural. Butt rock rarely sounds quite this club-ready.

Creux Lies, “Apocalypto”
After the walloping, baroque strength of sophomore LP Wrong Divine, you can bet we’re very keen to track the next moves by Sacramento post-punks Creux Lies. Stripped down and deeply black-pilled, “Apocalypto” is a far cry from the freestyle brightness of “Frozen”, and instead drives straight into the most doomed corners of post-punk’s origins. There’s enough filigree around the corners of the production to let you know that it’s still Creux Lies, but the gap between these two recent songs suggests that Creux Lies’ next LP will be a varied beast.
Apocalypto by Creux Lies

Hallows, “Despite Those Times”
A nice new one from Los Angeles’ Hallows, working a much more old school version of darkwave than has been popular for a few years now. The metal clanks, stoic vocals, and smooth analogue synthwork (aided and abetted by Matia from Inhalt on the boards) bring to mind the goth-adjacent synthpop of early Propaganda and Anne Clark, that nice sweet spot between dancefloor appeal and mopey moods. We haven’t had an LP from the band in a few years, it’ll be interesting to see whether this and the previously released “Find A Way” are leading up to a full record.
Despite Those Times by HALLOWS

Organist, “Thank God We Die”
Shaped by Justin Hagberg’s well-known fascination with occult and hermetic traditions and his less-known fascination with Alphaville, the fist single from the 3 Inches Of Blood axeman’s new project has a graceful lilt and just the right amount of pomp, as reflected in this lush video (much of the symbolism of which is likely flying over our profane heads). Entirely removed both from 3IB and his more saturnine work in Ritual Dictates, it’s as unexpected of a synthpop slow-burn as you’ll hear this year.

bent, “Liquid Bells”
Remember the days when gloomy, drippy dark electro from Germany held sway over clubs and labels worldwide? Munich’s bent certainly does, and their new single “Liquid Bells” is an excellent homage to that style (think Lam-‘Bras-era Pitchfork rather than Absurd Minds’ tribute to the α Ω period). Replete with the titular sound, it’s a track which nails the harmonic and at times anthemic side of songs of this stripe while still delivering all of the shimmering atmospherics you’d hope for.
Liquid Bells EP by bent

Tham, “Heartcore”
A couple of years ago we discussed how French producer ROÜGE had reverse engineered that techno-body version of aggrotech Anti Hero EP by ROÜGE“>on some of their singles, an interesting development to be sure. The new mini-compilation on ROÜGE features a preview track from techno producer Tham that suggests the same only moreso; to wit this is basically a modern hardcore track, complete with MC’ing, but with some slick cybered up production and a healthy amount of distortion. It’s fun as hell, maybe a touch intense for the average dancefloor, but this should find a home in the crates of those who like it loud, fast and fearless.
Echoes by Tham

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Observer: Nyxx & Apocryphos

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Nyxx
Salt EP
SHVDOW Records
NYC artist Nyxx’s take on the contentious industrial pop sound has proven versatile and mutable, as evidenced by the material on the recent salt EP. Made up of the title track and three collabs, two with the IDM-touched industrial songsmith genCAB and one with queer darkwaver Danny Blu, there’s a surprising amount of variety, while remaining true to Nyxx’s arch musical persona. Where “salt” itself captures a slinky, seething grind that comes complete with bent and chords and distorted growls, “Body Count” goes uptempo with Nyxx and Blu trading off bitchy one liners and a shouted hook behind a solid bit of bouncy electro. Even the genCAB team-ups are distinct from one another in their execution, with “Crown” hitting a mood between seething and melancholy, turning up the drama for its big chorus and tweaky breakdown, “Gun” (probably the project’s best track to date) is a rock solid slice of clubbed up electropop, thick with richly detailed production and tremendously catchy and charismatically delivered vocal hook. Between its variety and its balance of smooth and rough-edged electronics salt packs plenty into its tight 14 minute run-time.
salt – EP by Nyxx

Apocryphos - Ultimum Saeculum
Apocryphos
Ultimum Saeculum
Cryo Chamber
The latest in a slew of releases (solo and collaborative) which Robert Kozletsky has released as Apocryphos over the past decade since the dissolution of Psychomanteum, Ultimum Saeculum is a deep and subtle reminder of the sort of focused control and power Kozletsky holds in his drone-heavy style of dark ambient. Framed by the concept of the last 24 hours on earth, the record uses a host of field recordings and pedals to build warm and tremoring rises and falls. As with preceding Apocryphos work, Ultimum Saeculum is likely best suited for those already initiated into dark ambient, and those who have a taste for the style will be drawn in both by the uncompromising purity of Kozletsky’s take on it, as well as his talents in detailing and executing it, and it’s really in the latter that his latest excels. By the time choral-like harmonics emerge on “1200 (Astrophe)”, the listener’s already so attuned to the subtle textures which thread through the record that the blooming warmth of the piece’s chords shimmers all the more in contrast with the wind recordings in which it’s buffeted. From the undertow-like timbre of his core drones to the light dusting of just enough adornment, Ultimum Saeculum gets the details and the craft of dark ambient right.
Ultimum Saeculum by Apocryphos

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We Have A Technical 553: Bon-Bon

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Assemblage 23

Assemblage 23

We’re offering up one of classic, easy going Pick Five episodes this week folks, as we each look back at some underrated singles. Which tunes came out too early or too late to hit the spotlight? Which hinted at roads less travelled by established bands? And which tickled the fancies of the Senior Staff just because? As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Ye Gods, “Black Moon”

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Ye Gods - Black Moon

Ye Gods
Black Moon
self-released

Antoni Maiovvi’s work as Ye Gods has emerged as a sustained, and perhaps most importantly, deeply considered branch of the UK expat’s expansive discography, which spans techno, italo, and post-punk. While the wit of the name might have initially suggest that Maiovvi was approaching the metaphysical and occult themes of the project with some sense of bemusement, there’s nothing shtick-heavy about Ye Gods five years into its tenure, as even a passing listen of Black Moon, the second in a suite of three LPs, shows. Instead, Maiovvi continues to release work which reflects a tactile, honest, and surprisingly approachable perspective on psychedelic styles and themes which producers have for decades opted to cloak in mystery.

Black Moon picks up closely after the preceding The Arcane & Paranormal Earth, and while careful listeners will detect some subtle changes in the details of these six tracks in comparison (for his part, Maiovvi has said that he was aiming for a less grounded and more dream-like release), the core elevator pitch remains the same. A combination of ambient and post-industrial soundscapes and beats coalesce and fragment, with an emphasis on sustained mood (think Deleuze’s take on durée) rather than noise or fraught drama. Indeed, a relative lack of distortion and abrasion makes Black Moon feel much smoother than Earth, though I’m too much of a secular ignoramus to know if that’s reflected in the differences in specific imagery or hermetic references in the two volumes (and don’t even think of asking me to contrast the two different magic squares on the cover art).

Still, Maiovvi draws and maintains interest via hypnotic repetition throughout Black Moon, and you don’t need to be a Thelemic initiate to understand the repeated “If cleanliness is godliness then dirt is my king” mantra on “Av HaTumah”, perhaps something of an answer to the similarly recurring question “of what substance are you made?” on Earth. These lines of questioning, be they purely philosophical or mystic, of trying to find a baseline for matter, reality, and perhaps most importantly, of experience, rest at the heart of much of the Coil discography Maiovvi is clearly influenced by, and quite frankly it’s refreshing to hear someone take up that aspect of that band’s legacy rather than the elements of pure shock, confrontation, and extremity. That’s matched in the musical direction of Black Moon, which even in its darkest moments, like the looping boiler room groans of “Complete Despair & Disrepair”, opts for a vague sense of the uncanny via pitched sampling of the Louis Malle film from which the record takes its name. Two thirds of the way through this trip the destination may not be visible to those of us along for the ride, but damned if it isn’t a smooth ride.

Buy it.

Black Moon by Ye Gods

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Autodafeh, “Greed”

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Autodafeh
Greed
Scanner

It’s been a solid decade since we’ve had a new LP from Swedish EBM purveyors Autodafeh, a time period where the neo-old school body music movement they were loosely affiliated with has largely dissipated from the broader dark alternative club consciousness. Known in their heyday for their various allusions to mid-period Front 242 (the most notable of which was the wink-nudge chorus of their single “Divided We Fall”), their 2025 comeback record Greed has many of those same markers, and some of the associated issues that come with their brand of fealty to the greats.

That’s a roundabout way of saying that Autodafeh haven’t changed super significantly during their hiatus. That’s not a bad thing necessarily, as there’s generally a lot less retro-EBM going around than in the early 2010s, allowing these songs to standout more easily. There’s more than a few fine examples of Autodageh plying their trade, such as mid-tempo nodder “Find Myself”, which works a steady groove and peppers in portentous samples of men speaking seriously and calls to prayer, all glued together with a simple FM bassline and a brassy synth lead. “Tame Your Body” goes a similar route, adding in plenty of extra percussion and synthlines that mirror the bassline to allow vocalist Mika’s spot-on DeMeyer-isms to shine.

That said, Autodafeh’s homages to legendary acts and songs have always been one of the things that makes or breaks them with listeners; either you’re cool with them paying tribute to the classics, or you find they veer too far into crass imitation. This was less of an issue a decade and half back when all their peers were competing to take the gold in the Muscle n’ Hate Olympics (indeed, their allegiance to 242 was even a little refreshing in a sea of Nitzer soundalikes), but it sticks out a bit more now than it did then. The bassline to “Shame On You” is half “No Shuffle” and half “Lightning Man”, similar enough to each to raise a few eyebrows, while the halting, slightly pitched delivery of the vocals on single “One Step Forward” brings “The Bog” to mind once you notice their similarities. This can often lead to playing a game of spot-the-reference that distracts from the listening experience, with things like the title track’s interpolation of the hook from The Invincible Limit’s “Push” eclipsing all other aspects of its composition.

This is of course one of those ear-of-the-beholder situations, and one never gets the impression Autodafeh are trying to pull a fast one. Indeed, they’re a band whose best moments have always been in service to the EBM gods, and it can be fun to hear them weave some further afield sounds into their tapestry, such as the minimal electro beep-boops of “Backstabber” and the Juno Reactor-esque 32 bit racing game rush of “Under the Blood Red Sky”. Greed does what Autodafeh has always done, and it’d be weird to expect anything else.

Buy it.

Greed by Autodafeh

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Tracks: April 7th, 2025

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As we’ve been alluding to on the podcast for the past couple of weeks, world events are likely going to result in shows and tours being cancelled (as well as simply not being booked), as well as would-be attendees being incapable of attending live shows, or simply being hesitant of travelling to do so. We mention this by way of telling folks that if there are shows or festivals happening near you, the bands and promoters involved are likely going to be counting on local audiences more than ever. Obviously economic uncertainty in addition to travel security is a factor right now (oh, what a time to be alive), but if you do have the means to do so, consider dishing out a few extra shekels here and there to help out the artists in Our Thing as well as those working to put them on stage. On with this week’s Tracks!

Bootblacks, white coats

Comaduster, “Wavelike”
It’s been ages since we had new music from friend of the site Réal Cardinal and his Comaduster project, but the first seconds of new track “Wavelike” certainly made the wait worth it. If you know the project, you’ll no what to expect; incredibly elaborate sound design with endless amounts of micro-glitches and edits, married to honest-to-god-songwriting and melodies. Interestingly we’re hearing a lot of Cardinal’s interest in the current wave of hyper-comples progressive metal more than ever before. Great stuff, as it always has been and always will be.
BLACK SUN RAYS + WAVELIKE by Comaduster

Rhys Fulber, “Running Out Of Sand”
At the clip that Rhys Fulber’s solo run has been going, a layoff of nearly a full year since his last LP actually seems substantive…which is of course to ignore his heavy touring, remixing, and even photography schedule. Still, this stripped down and direct banger is a great reintroduction to the style Fulber’s been plying so well, its core programming and rhythm feeling both of the moment and calling back to the earliest roots of electronic dance, all augmented with just enough of the subtle atmospherics which Fulber’s imbued his standalone work with.
Running Out Of Sand by Rhys Fulber

Bootblacks, “Only You”
Bootblacks have been priming the pump for the June release of Paradise for a while now, releasing singles like “Forbidden Flame” and “Wilderness” that rank amongst the best songs in the band’s catalogue to date. New taster “Only You” continues that trend, taking the bands synth-tinged post-punk and wedding it to a groovy rhythm courtesy of Chris Vrenna (!!) and some smokey sax from session player Benjamin Harrison, resulting in a genuinely great rave-up that showcases the NYC band’s unique identity in full.
Paradise by Bootblacks

Unter Null, “Coming Up To Breathe”
We couldn’t tell you exactly when we shifted from thinking that Unter Null was simply on hiatus to presuming that Erica Dunham’s long-running industrial project had been permanently retired, but the sudden appearance of this new cut not only undoes those presumptions but has us flashing back to the lay of the land the last time we would have heard from Unter Null. Immediate and flashy with a healthy amount of acidic bite, this is a great reintroduction to one of the stalwarts of a classic club-focused style.
Coming Up To Breathe by UNTER NULL

Give My Remains To Broadway, “Coke – Remix (feat. Casket Cassette)”
Give My Remains To Broadway’s take on darkwave has relied on lean, speedy minimalism and a heavy influence from pop-punk and indie rock of generations past, and so it’s not especially surprising that their new set of remixes of the This Party Sucks EP don’t go for easy four-four club layups. Instead, reworkings like this one with a feature from LA’s likeminded Casket Cassette play things close to the chest, making only minor modulations to the already dialed in and focused original.
This Party Still Sucks by Give My Remains to Broadway

Mari Kattman, “Anemia”
Recent Metropolis Records signee Mari Kattman brings her signature powerful vocals and some mid-tempo dancefloor grooves with new single “Anemia”. If you’ve followed Kattman’s work between her numerous guest appearances, as half of Helix with Tom Shear, and her solo work the control and confidence of her delivery won’t be a surprise, but the single does show some growth in song construction, with a strong instrumental hook and nice tight dancefloor arrangement that compliment the vocal perfectly.
Anemia by Mari Kattman

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