Previously we heard recently remixes from Australian and Russian duo of SiK aka CraigSaunders and Dima Ilyin, who make up Nova State Machine. We just had to let you know that on March the 24th, there was a third EP released called TCM RMXS-003 Drugs and Drums.
If you weren’t awake before you started listening you soon will be as SiK(Saunders) growls into your ear with a barrage of rhythm with “War Is A Drug– Ephedrine mix” by SEXGUN. This definitely reminds me of Ministry/RevoltingCocks both vocally and the melody syncopation.
For the rest of this EP you will be graced with the scintelating deep vocals of Dima. “Do or Die– BZP remix” by SEXGUN has a techno vibe and this feels like old style Front242/Nitzer Ebb, which is never a bad thing with that fast feverish pace.
Back to a previously remixed number, however it’s easy to see why someone would want to do another version of “Harsh Reality” as it is such a strong song. SiK brings RxSingular Obsession remix to bear down on your ears. He had made “HarshReality” sleek and clean while Dima’s distorted vocals rip through.
I get images of Judge Dredd, listening to “Total Control – MKUltra Mix” by FILTHmachine. It screams science fiction war games to me. Brutal vocals bellowing ‘total control, total control‘ and bouncy synths chirping in.
No Pain – Codeine Mix by nOvAsLuG who are the artists ToMsLuG from Vancouver and CraigSaunders, starts like a sound scape as it builds and swells. This becomes an industrial cacophony of noise. Dima sounds like he’s trying to convince himself he’s alright and yet it all reflects body or mind wounds.
Electronic burbles bring in “Destroy All Hope – krocodil mix” by Evil Against Evil. This starts off slow and dirty whilst it creaks and groans along. The minimalistic nature conveys the drudgery of a world bereft of all love, hope or joy.. just grey.
Most of this is not so much danceable but definitely more experimenting with the music at hand to see where it can be taken. Which is exactly what you need from a third part of a trilogy.
When all is said and done, this is another solid remix and there is everything to gain as this is pay what you want on Bandcamp. So be where the cool kids are before Nova State Machine unleash the next new album but for now lock and load some TCM RMXS-003 Drugs and Drums.
In 1999, Slovakia saw the birth of electro-industrial group, LastInfluenceOfBrain. This year has started off with the release of a new album, Insomnicons after a silence of almost ten years.
L.I.O.B. (LastInfluenceOfBrain) is made up of three members who are mysteriously only known as Blazena, Solo and…..Bob. Not much else is known about them other than they are in other projects. Their previous album was TwoFaces before their hiatus and they are featured on the Slovakian record label AlienProductions.
Last Influence Of Brain
“Twone” might be something you need. This goes from grinding vocals to bright and light synths which are a almost a contrast of dark and light. The beat continues to build and swell. This is just the beginning and it’s started well. In the Urban Dictionary, Twone is described as ‘a phrase that silences participants‘.
The second track, “Invasion/Introverted” just smacks of all the things that are best about LeætherStrip, punched out lyrics and a beat you can bounce to.
Demo version of Idolatry
This is a great song with its intensity and wonderful synth cascade that crashes down on you with “Idolatry“. It rivals the sound of FrontlineAssembly with the finesse of LeætherStrip.
“Binarea” is heavy and wanting to force the rhythm straight down your throat at the start. The beat at times almost resembles a machine gun going off. It’s like a lethal game show and where they are taking us no one knows.
Khonsu was the Egyptian god of the Moon, who was especially worshipped at the holy city of Thebes. “Khonsu Again On His Eternal Path” is about the journey this deity takes across the sky, bringing the tides, marking the seasons and future telling with foreboding signs. To reflect this the music does feel otherworldly, space like, consistently traveling.
As we discuss the Moon, we have the track “Sedimental (In The Mare Nubium)“. The Mare is within the Nubium crater which is on the visible side of the Moon. The staccato, grained vocals punctuate through the electronic noise. The Moon will reek it’s toll on the mental faculties.
Dark and forbidding is “Hypnosphere” made all the more so with a small child crying for mummy and then sounding like a demon from the darkest recesses of hell. This is reminiscent of SkinnyPuppy both vocally and musically.
There is a slightly experiemental to “Duality“. Purposeful and almost ambient as it winds itself into your brain. It is angst and beautiful all at the same time. This is emotional and poignant with so much depth.
Not sure what a moonster is but this is a “BrokenMoonster” and the dynamics between those heavy vocals and light synths make this very listenable. Possibly it’s due to the weaving harmonies you perceive, as delicate as spider webs.
Almost a busy hip hop feel to the beginning of “Necrotopia“. This loops back with an almost delicate rhythm that harkens back to SkinnyPuppy’s “Protest” . For a song about a nirvana for death, this is very much alive.
With that understated slower pace that L.I.O.B seem to be masters of, they are taking you away to the “E-Sylum“. They growl about pressure and progress as the music backs this up with it’s own version of expanding noise. Yet it is almost cool and distant.
“Twone” gets a remix by award winning industrial composer and producer Ken ‘Hiwatt’ Marshall which at the start is a tad creepy before finding a techno style beat. This is a great remix to tie up the album.
L.I.O.B are an anomaly. They sound traditional harsh industrial and yet they, in many ways are not. They obviously like to create atmosphere and this comes off as being almost dark ambient in its style.
This is a great come back album and if you are a fan of 90’s SkinnyPuppy and other older acts such as LeætherStrip and especially FrontlineAssembly then I can highly recommend Last Influence Of Brain and their newest creation, Insomnicons.
Adriana Martinez and Miguel Bastida are the Mexican duo that make up Deer Mx. The band met, formed in 2013 and reside in Hong Kong of all places and released the beginning of the year, the single, “There’sNoFuture” with a video clip.
The video itself is made up of news disaster and war footage, conveniently called the WWIII Version.
This song seems to deceive you into thinking it is a slow number and for the most part it does start out that way. Though slow to start off, it is persistent even with Martinez’s dulcet tones.
This reminds me of 4AD’s time with the CocteauTwins that offered dreamy vocals to get lost in. Add in a small dose of P.J.Harvey with SlowDive and that’s a pretty close estimation.
The music starts to crescendo and crashes inwards with synths and a guitar blazing away.
DEER MX
Every time I hear this piece, it grows more and more on me. Pop savvy with industrial rawness. Enjoy Deer Mx and ‘There’sNoFuture”
Konqistador released at the end of last year, the album Nafada. The band started back in 2005 and is a collaboration of Detroit musicians, ReginaldTiessen and ElizabethGraham as well as Sydney artist INfest8.
This latest album has a theme, in which Konqistador invited female hip hop artists to perform on their tracks, although they are more known for their industrial, gothic and electronic music. These women are as diverse in nationalities as they are in sound.
Kicking off is MedusaTn also known as Boutheina El Alouadi, from Tunisia with the single “Eden,Woman’sWar“, a powerful start. Not only does MedusaTn rap but her singing voice is beautiful and provocative, woven with the middle eastern traditional music and an industrial beat.
“Adrestia” by Moroccan artist, Soultana starts as a staccato monologue with backing synths that you feel building up and then the beats kick in and it becomes a whirlwind of sound. This is a great mixture of electro and vocals. A Greek warrior goddess, Adrestia punishes those who cause injustice.
Solemn beats bring in “Hamazam” and if I didn’t know any better, I would say MeryemSaci has a cheeky little smile on her face. Meryem is from Algeria singing in French and English. She is bold and sexy and makes the intricacy of this song work for her. It is about strong women that use their power, not for war but rather strengthening bonds of love and peace.
Fourth track is “Karitha” by Iranian, SalomeMC and featuring from Detroit, DJLos, a heavy weight in the hip hop/rap/beatboxing world, who does all the scratching on this song. Salome’s voice soars to the heights and yet will hold your attention even when at a whisper. This is why SalomeMC has been recognized not only as the first Iranian female rapper but perhaps one of the best in the world. For a song about the evil residing even in the best of intentions, it is such a gorgeous blend of industrial background with female sass.
Traditions can be safe and easy to follow but sometimes they are also meant to be broken and this is “Safiyya” by Moroccan songstress Soultana aka YoussraOukaf, who has been rapping since she was thirteen and a strong voice in advocating women’s rights. The music with her voice at the beginning reminds me of vast deserts and then unleashes the storm.
“Nafada” is the title track and the call rise up and rebel. Nafada means in Arabic tremor. MeryemSaci returns and is accompanied by Sultana who hails from Turkey and is yet another progressive female that championed hip hop in her country. It begins low and dark and the ladies voices are like a light, drawing you up. It feels ancient and yet it most definitely isn’t. Saci and Sultana compliment each other so well, whether they are rapping or singing.
“Sahar” literally means awakening in Arabic. This piece is based on an Iranian folk tune, Morq-e sahar and performed by MissUndastood of New York aka TavashaShannon. ‘My talent a gift and a curse’, when the eyes are opened to all possibility there is the realization of the double knife edge of going two ways… rising above or falling down. You can hear the influence of being brought up in America in Shannon’s style of rapping but this just brings a new facet to this story of traditional verses modern.
“Kahina” by MedusaTn is just epic. Such a big voice. Passionate hip hop bringing to life Kahlina, a queen and warrior of the Berber people. She is remembered with great fondness and kept alive in spirit as the invocation of the power women hold and that females should never be kept down or silenced because of their gender.
This could be a song SkinnyPuppy created when you hear the start. HanHan brings her native Filipino languages to “Visaya“. This is fresh and dynamic with synths chiming in. The Visaya are a people in a region of the Philippines but more so the song is about how we are far more similar than we are different.
I have to use the word powerful again because that is what this album is. I’m not in any way into hip hop and yet these women are inspirational in every way. They bring a beauty to the art of rapping and yet they are so much more than that.
They are mostly the voices of a female minority of the countries they represent and this makes them pioneers and bravely throwing light on the music they love. They are most worthy of being looked up to with much respect. Not just because they are originators of an art form in their homelands but rather for their conviction to never give up or give in.
INfest8, ReginaldTiessen and ElizabethGraham are the trio of writers that carefully crafted all the songs presented and you can hear the devotion to this project through the beautiful lyrics, as well as the fact each hip hop artist was able to inject their own influence into their track/s.
It’s an amazing cross cultural exploration and recorded mostly on two different continents, utilizing many different musical genre, mixed by INfest8 in Australia and mastered in the United States.
This is exotic and the Arabic/ middle eastern/ Filipino influences just push this into a different realm of wow. Social order, peace, solidarity and the support of women who can be the centre of change because music is the voice of change. This is Nafada by Konqistador….. hear the call.
Onyx Music Reviews 