One of the best videos we’ve seen in a while comes from courtesy of the EBM Electro beats of Gesaffelstein’s Pursuit. With abrasive Germanic synths like this could the video have been any less militaristic?
Directed by Fleur & Manu, the video, well, just watch it, it’s awesome.
Gesaffelstein’s Pursuit is out now.
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We’re not going to lie, we were quite worried about this tune. Apart from the odd tune, Boys Noize have not been impressing of late, the last album, Out Of The Black, was more filler than killer, so the thought of Ridha getting his hand on Pet Shop Boys didn’t fill us with optimism. Imagine out relief then when, after a Mixmag première, it turns out that Boys Noize reMix of Axis isn’t too shabby at all.
The original of Axis is pretty amazing Stuart Price produced Italo gold and whilst Boys Noize reMix doesn’t hit those crazy highs, it does deliver a fairly storming hard dancefloor juggernaut. With a whole pallet of spiky synths, this reMix if Axis really does build up an infectious groove that it’s pretty hard not to get into, and serves up quite a nostalgic old school flavour. An out of place 2007 middle-eight aside, this a high octane killer of a tune.
♫ Pet Shop Boys – Axis (Boys Noize reMix)
Pet Shop Bot’s Electric album is due out in June.
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This is Bonn, Rex The Dog’s Record Store Day opus. Released on the auspicious day in a limited quantity of 300 12”s with hand etched sleeves, Bonn will (thankfully, for those who missed out) also see a digital release next month via Southern Fried Records. Rex really is the don when it comes to funky analog workouts and Bonn exemplifies this.
Bonn is a huge dancefloor monster. At times Poppy, at times Acidic, at times dirty Electro. During the course of it’s seven minute length it keeps quite a strong Minimal Synth feel, but applies these sensibilities to a dark dancefloor groove. A grinding, hypnotic, synthetic juggernaut that is relentless in delivering it’s mesmerising hooks. Also, sounds like it was a hell of a lot of fun to produce too, which is nice.
♫ Rex The Dog – Bonn
Rex The Dog’s Bonn is released 6th May.
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We know absolutely nothing about newcomer Alpha Rhythm. he hit us up on SoundCloud, from which we can discern his real name is Jimmy Hansson and he’s from Sweden. So there you go, that’s all the information we’ve got, but really do you need more? just check out the music and you’ll soon be taken in by this guys synthetic, space-age Technoid Disco.
The six minute epic that is Moon Chaser is his most recent tune.A Kraftwerkian oddessy with a storming disco grove. Decked out in electronic blips and deep warping bassline, Moon Chaser straddles a weird line between Cosmic Disco, House, Techno and Electro but usually manages to take the best from all of them and wraps them up in a dreamy SynthWave vibe. there’s a touch of the Balearic to the track too, a definite sunrise feel beneath the machine beats. Laika is more SynthWave leaning, with a strong emotional core played out with a troupe of rich synth tones and intertwining melodies. Don;t be fooled by it’s heartfelt content though, there’s still a grinding bassline underneath it all. The other track on alpha Rhythm’s SoundCloud is Chrome Sunset, an arpeggio fuelled car chase in music form, or maybe that should be starship chase? The tracks driving rhythm section is complimented by some seriously galactic keys and is one again, reminiscent of the Robots reMixed. For three début tracks, Alpha Rhythm has really delivered the goods, if you like you electronic music with a touch of an Italo grove and a Sci-Fi mood, then you should check this out.
♫ Alpha Rhythm – Moon Chaser
♫ Alpha Rhythm - Laika
♫ Alpha Rhythm – Chrome Sunset
Check out more from Alpha Rhythm on SoundCloud.
After last weeks post covering Billie Ray Martin’s Cabaret Voltaire cover album, where we one again professed our love of the Cabs, we received an enigmatic email in our inbox that we soon worked out was from Hey, Rube! Who, as it turns out, are a electronic project formed by Fila Brazillia’s Steve Cobby and Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder. a couple of months ago they released an album called Can You Hear Me Mutha?, and intricately crafted fusion of Dub, Electro, Techno, Indie-Electro and B-Boy Electro that never fails to surprise or intrigue.
The whole album leans toward Dub and Experimental sounds, but never crosses the line into ambient or self-indulgent. Tracks on the records, whilst ecclectic, bordering on avant-guarde at times, retain a strong sense of groove, drawing from Electro Funk, Kraftwerkian Techno, even occasionally Italo to keep things, for the most part, dancefloor friendly. Opening with the deliciously chaotic Rob A Bank Rob, which lobs frantic tribal drumming, ethereal chimes, Acidic bleeps and Mallinder’s Cabs rasp into a ring and let’s them sort things out amongst themselves, the album drops Mengi Dem Disco Leggi. A broken Balearic Boogie, like a Mediterranean robotic assault. Scissormouth is where the album’s Dub credentials start to rear their head before launching into the full on twisted synth skank of Pimpdaddy. This is built upon, with the addition of more of Mallinder’s whisper, in the space Dub of Kamikazee Peloton. Shaz—–Tate reminds of these guys experimentalist backgrounds as it layers sounds into an organized Industrial cacophony . the album’s longest track, and one of it’s standouts, Rapture, is a nine minute Dup epic, a popping synth echo chamber that is as interesting as it is hypnotic. Which leaves the relaxed, breezy Bali Hai to easy you out of the album. Considering a few days ago we didn’t know this record existed, we are very glad to have been introduced to it. A glorious example of what happens when two talents are left to create freely.
♫ Hey, Rube! – Mengi Dem Disco Leggi
♫ Hey, Rube! – Rapture
♫ Hey, Rube! – Rob A Bank Rob
♫ Hey, Rube! – Kamikazee Peloton
Hey, Rube!’s Can You Hear Me Mutha? is out now.
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It was released last November on CD and Vinyl, so it’s not exactly a new release, but it’s about to see a digital unleashing and it’s was on our playlist toward the end of 2012, so let’s have a little revisit with Kill Your Friends, the début solo album from one of our favourite artists of all time, Douglas J. McCarthy. Doug is, of course, one half of the legendary Nitzer Ebb, of whom we have been fans since we were crazy teens, having first seen them live in 1991. It’s not unconceivable to say that in some mirror universe where we didn’t discover Nitzer Ebb through Bong, the official Depeche Mode fanzine, that electronic rumors, the website, the record label, might not exist. They were, particularly the Showtime and Ebbhead albums, a massive influence.
That said, Douglas’ Kill Your Friends is actually a more satisfying record than Nitzer Ebb’s 2012 comeback album, Industrial Complex. Where Industrial Complex seems to be pandering to the expectations of black clad, stomping fans (something that Nitzer Ebb had never done, just look at Big Hit), Kill Your Friends feels like a much more personal and authentic affair. From the album’s opener, Death Is King, the album deliver what I would have like to hear from Nitzer Ebb, not trying to be Nitzer-Ebb-by-numbers, but producing something with real passion, and musically, making EBM for grown ups. Take The Last Time, one of the albums standouts. Fresh beats and shimmering stabs are paired with the expected synth growl allow McCarthy’s voice, probably one of the most recognisable in electronic music, to shine. And it’s his voice, the Essex-Americana drawl that made Nitzer Ebb so special, that ties the record together. Waxing lyrical on his favourite topics, control, religion, dysfunctional relationships, freedom, Douglas appears as a introspective co-pilot on a road trip through the seedy backstreets of electronic music. Backstreets that lead you through myriad influenced, from the Dubbed-out Evil Love to the Deep Acid House of Taken. Of course, the jackhammer EBM still rears it’s head in the form of All Kinds Of Wrong and Move On, both classic EBB, but on the whole Kill Your Friends is an album for everyone who grew up with, but grew out of, EBM. If you love Nitzer Ebb, but really can’t be bothered with distorted kick drums, arpeggios and shouting anymore then this is definitely the album for you.
♫ Douglas J. McCarthy – The Last Time
♫ Douglas J. McCarthy – Nothing After This
♫ Douglas J. McCarthy - Death Is King
♫ Douglas J. McCarthy – Taken
Douglas J. McCarthy’s Kill Your Friends is out now on CD and Vinyl and released digitally 18th February.
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Fresh from her stint on Kris Menace’s new single, ElectroClash legend Miss Kittin has just released a brand new single, Life Is My Teacher, in anticipation of a new double album, Calling From The Stars, coming in April next year.
Life Is My Teacher is wonderfully hypnotic mixture of Deep House, Techno, Acid and 80’s SynthPop. Imagine the beats from a dimly lit Berlin Electro club mixed with Gary Numan lead synths and an Acidic Burbling and you;re starting to get close. Add to this Miss Kittin’s sultry vocal and you’ve got yourself an involving slice of electronica that draws you in and swirls round your head until it’s done.
♫ Miss Kittin – Life Is My Teacher
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