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Sweden has a rich history of electronic bands and Stockholm’s Hatif have joined these illustrious ranks. The duo released their debut full length album “Everything Is Repetition“, on September the 30th with the label Town And Towers Records.

From the start of the first track, “A Small Scratch“, your senses are wrapped in the gorgeous folds of the electronics, heightened by the Middle Eastern influence, pervading like the delicate smoke from a beautiful incense. “Pool” is imbued with the sights and sounds of a Moroccan bazaar with silken like darkwave and those are just the first two tracks

Even in the smooth electronics, there is an undercurrent of tension such as the sexuality in “Repetition“, the dispossessed in “City Beneath The City” or the entrancing “Close to None“, which is about loneliness, yet so utterly hypnotic and mesmerising… possibly one of my favourite tracks.

In some ways, Hatif remind me very much of the great Deine Lakaien. The vocals effortlessly creep under your skin, saturating the senses with sensual perfection. It is extraordinary electronica with the divine infusion of the exotic East, creating a glorious album where not “Everything Is Repetition” with the rather darkwave cool that is Hatif.

Everything Is Repetition | Hatif (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/hatifband

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Fox Nova Project is the combined forces of Mach Fox (Zwaremachine/USA) and Craig Saunders (NOVAkILL/AUS). Their latest project, out on the Phage Tapes label, is an album, titled PredatorPrey, which leads on from their debut EP, The Haunted The Hunted, remixing those tracks to give a storyline.

The overall sound of this remix album is heavily rooted in the harsher EBM style of the 80s. The breakout growling guitar amongst the analogue sounding synths and Fox’s bleak vocalisations. The mixes for the predator, full of bravado and snarling certainty, while the prey are crippled with fearful racing heartbeats and heightened alert. With PredatorPrey, Fox Nova Project goes old school on this one

https://machfox.bandcamp.com/album/predatorprey

https://www.facebook.com/FoxNovaProject

https://machfox.bandcamp.com/

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The 31st of October was a rather busy time for releases that I’m working my way through. In that vein, the Boston based label, Info Sec Records has put together a compilation of electronic artists called Music For Hacking.

INFO SEC RECORDS

The Neon Droid brings a “Cloud Of Ashes“, sailing across the net, floating in the electronic world, while “terminus” from Rap2h has its video games inspired tones.

There is the cool beats and ambience of Inter Gritty’s “The Chase” or you can go full cyber angst with Psi Drive with the tracks, “Master’s Revenge” and “Hail Overlords“…. plus there is the synthwave crossed with crunchiness of “REJUVENATE” by TWINKLE MARIA きらきら マリア.

Not all is instrumental, with Neon Tuesday covering “Rhythm Of The Night” which is a bit more calm that the original and later also providing another cover in the form of the Amiga game theme from “Lotus III” which is full on cheesy and amazing. ThyHarvest has this wonderful techno sound, with synths trickling down, making you think of the Matrix code in “Net Terminal“.

M73 is surfing the “Interlinked” data, like a stream of conciousness, with dark synth intent and, oh my, _NetNomad with “Build“, makes me think of the old games like Prince Of Persia, with its whimsical chip tune style.

This is another project where a label is showcasing independent musicians to help raise their profiles but also garner more interest in the electronic scene. There is an inclusiveness in this compilation with synthwave along side darkwave, chip tune, ambient and even industrial, all sharing a deep passion for experimental electronica. So plug in and become one with the interface with some Music For Hacking.

Music for Hacking | Info Sec Recs (bandcamp.com)

https://neondroid.bandcamp.com/

https://rap2h.bandcamp.com/

https://intergritty.bandcamp.com/

https://psidrive.bandcamp.com/

https://twinklemariamusic.bandcamp.com/track/it-s-out-of-this-flaesh-world

https://touzimsky.bandcamp.com/album/rhythm-of-the-night

https://thyharvesting.bandcamp.com/

https://m73dk.bandcamp.com/

https://netnomad.bandcamp.com/

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From County Cork, in Ireland, we have the darkwave act, Arctic Lights with their new single “Belong“, released on November the 4th. Liam O’Callaghan (vocals, guitar) and Edward Butt (bass guitar)are the duo that are the nucleus of Arctic Lights, with Max Mac joining them on drums.

Low vocals greet your ears with acoustic accompaniment of a guitar, though all this is an illusion as the electronics break through. There is a sonic component, a see saw between vocals, synths and guitar that is quite mesmerising.

Darkwave with that shoegaze wall of sound and the sublime singing that creates a wonderfully textured track about the very human desire to be apart of a relationship of some description. Come and “Belong” with Arctic Lights.

https://arcticlights.bandcamp.com/track/belong

https://m.facebook.com/ArcticLightsCork

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The latest single from M73, has just been released, off the album Motor Romantik., on the record label, LÆBEL. “Vampire” has been given a lush video, care of Anna Tartaglia, exploring the visual concept that not all vampires live off blood but many are regular humans who feed off the power of controlling another person. As always the synth lines are stunning and John R Mirland completes the track with his vocals.

https://m73dk.bandcamp.com/album/motor-romantik

https://www.facebook.com/m73official

https://www.facebook.com/laebelmusic

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When things go bump in the night, you are sure to get music to remind you not all is known or seen. October 31st or All Hallows Eve, saw the new EP, Avernus, be unleashed by In Tenebris, upon the world while the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest. This is the more ambient product of German electronic musician, Sebastian Sünkler, whom is better know for his power noise project, STAHLSCHLAG.

Something unnatural this way comes, in the form of an ancient “Relic“. The synths waver in high pitch warning and the clash of tones signal there is something that feeds on the darkness, an aberration has become unbound. Sinister electronic overtones, coalesce with slow rhythmic beats… a heartbeat from a demonic being, in the cathodic noise, casting a foreboding shadow for this is the “Dynastic Cult“.

The beginning of “Traits” is almost transcendental, though almost immediately drenched in a claustrophobic pall of dank noises. The ringing, instead of being enlightening, joins the overbearing build up of portent. The final track is “Iconoclast” and the beast waits, no longer in torpor, as the music oozes with sharp edges, stalking so that you can almost feel the fetid breath on the back of your neck, though nothing can be seen through the mists. How long do you have?

Avernus strikes a chord somewhere in your brain that stores your animal ability to sense danger. Something dark and threatening lurks within, nothing like us and with evil intent. The music conjures a myriad of feelings and visions, like a good horror movie, never showing you the monster but rather letting your imagination run away with the subtle suggestion simply in the tone or noises within each track. And each listen will reveal more than you previously heard. Sünkler’s famous crunch is bleeding through a little into this EP, giving the ambient tracks a rather delightful texture and most definitely increasing the menace.

Avernus | In Tenebris | STAHLSCHLAG (bandcamp.com)

In Tenebris | Facebook

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Riveting Music are a US label, whom have decided to make a stand and with the help of a whole bunch of artists, created a compilation of twenty-one cover songs, all previously recorded by powerhouse women of pop/rock. The recording of this compilation is in reaction to the overturning of the historic Wade Vs Roe and the degradation of a woman’s rights to have autonomy over her own body.

There are three singles off the album consisting of The Joy Thieves robust kick arse version of Pat Benatar’s “Love Is A Battlefield“, Laurie Anderson’s “The Day The Devil” by The Blue Hour, which I think is much better than the original, and File Transfer Protocol with their rather stunning recreation of Eurythmics’, “Here Comes The Rain Again“. Of course there are plenty more musicians and their cover versions to encounter here and most of the song’s originate in the 80s, going into the 90s, so there is a chance to find music you do or don’t know, as well as checking out current electronic/industrial musicians.

All money raised will go to the Global Fund for Women but not only that, it is about raising the profile of this subject and saying that this new trend against the rights of women is not okay, because if this is happening in a first world country such as North America, then how long before other countries decide to go down the same path? My body, my life. So fucking Regulate This!

Regulate This! | Riveting Music (bandcamp.com)

Riveting Music | Facebook

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Melbourne’s Snog, with David Thrussell firmly at the helm, stole a place in our industrial hearts, from the first time we heard “Corporate Slave” back in the early 90s. Now in 2022, a new EP, Jaded has been released on the Australian label, Lightarmour Editions, in both digital and limited coloured vinyl. The track “Jaded“, was previously released on the album Eight Offerings For The Undead, but now you get to hear it remixed, with others, rounding the EP to six tracks.

“Jaded” is a bit like rant poetry but with an electronic twist. Thrussell airs his grievances about a world that had left him more than a little dusty. Hushed tones creepily balance over the music. Brisbane based, Nam Shub Of Enki remixes “Jaded“, with his style described as grimecore, though I like to think mad man let loose and having a damn good time. Nam Shub lays it down with his signature tones and enthusiastic rhythms. One last remix by Sir Real, of “Jaded“, gives us an almost darkwave feel with those synths mixed with a modern tribal beat, lulling you into a trance.

Oh my, it’s the “Spaetzle Machine” the DiscoMachine RMX!. As expected, one machine mixing another is going to result in a robotic love fest. The Morpho RMX of “The Sweet, Sweet Treacle (Of Surrender)” trickles through your senses, the electronics burying into your brain. Last track has a near magical aspect to it. The Theme to “The Great Reset” has never been released. Brooding and languid, it runs at its own pace, which highlight the brighter synths that meander. It reminds me very much of work the late Vangellis.

I might be a bit biased as Snog gave the Australian electronic and industrial scene a good kick, back in the 90s, showing that world leading quality music was not something just from Europe and the USA. Thrussell has been at the forefront of some pretty kick arse albums since then and this special edition EP proves he’s still forging ahead with some powerful allies.

Jaded E.P. | Snog | Lightarmour Editions (bandcamp.com)

Snog | Facebook

Lightarmour Editions | Facebook

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The label Machina ad Noctem, is back with another compilation, inspired by author Philip K. Dick, called PDK II. As like the first compilation, this is a group of musicians whom have pursued their love of the science fiction, written by Dick, though the music they compose.

The beginning of “VALIS” by Edge Of Decipher, starts off hesitantly but soon grows in sweeping assurance, waking out of dream perhaps, into another plain of reality. Cumsleg Borenail gives us “Man Has Not Eaten God, God Has Eaten Man” is as quirky as the name suggests, synths like synapses sparking in a metaverse, unable to be contained by man or God.

A train has set the rhythm in “Second Variety” by Non Union, on a journey to who knows where, but it seems otherworldly and ominous, before we are met again by Edge Of Decipher. The track, “The Future We Create“, inspired by Ubik, speaks of stars, moons and whirling galaxies beyond ours. The experimental HyMettus Woods, bleeps, fades in and out of static in “A Scanner Darkly“, trying to find the rapidly fluctuating channel but constantly on the knife’s edge until the fuzz clears momentarily, rapidly gaining veracity.

The only track with vocals is Priestessdeath and their “Like Tears In The Rains V” with smoldering female singing that meanders like rivulets of water down a pane of glass, inspired by the Orient. A change of pace for Edge Of Decipher as the music becomes urgent and the synths are trying to catch your attention for “The Agentic State“. There is a movie like quality to this track which leads onto the final number, “Eye In The Sky” by Non Union, as the electronics reach out in waves, invading all spaces and detecting all.

The music is eclectic, electronic and often experimental just as science fiction is. The tracks are like points of light in a sea of literature and dark electronic music, bidding you to further sink into the worlds of Philip K. Dick with them. So I bid you adieu on your journey as you experience this new adventure with PKD II.

PKD II: Philip K. Dick | Machina ad Noctem | machina ad noctem (bandcamp.com)

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Chicago based BOUNTE released on September the 1st, the decidedly strangely named EP, THE GRAUPNER DICOTOMY. Now, you might say…hmmm, not the Brian Graupner of legendary Gothsicles and Gasoline Invertebrate fame, who also runs Tigersquawk Records? To which we would say, indeed tis the very same Graupner of those very bands and on this very label….. and low there was much rejoicing for this union of BOUNTE’s Dean Dunakin and Brian of the Graupner.

Straight off the serial killer’s bat, we have “Acid Bath” featuring Gasoline Invertebrate, with the creepy whispered vocals of Graupner backed up by grooving guitar that somewhat invoke the ghost of early Rage Against The Machine and some rather delightful electronics. In complete contrast is the second track “Tear It Up” with its 8bit, industrial, glitching computer game feel but even better, Graupner’s far more glorious Gothsicles vocal persona (which is always amazing) and Dunakin’s deeper tones.

Tigersquawk Records is a acid trip of a label, with bands that are both eclectic and super fun, including the ultra busy captain at the helm of this spaceship, with especially comfy couches. These tracks are a credit to the musicians involved, BOUNTE utterly deserving a place in the galactic ark. And really after all this, what else is there to say but YEEEAAAHHHH!!!

The Graupner Dichotomy | Bounte (bandcamp.com)

Bounte | Facebook

Bounte – moving indietronica

The Gothsicles

Tigersquawk Digital – Tigersquawk Records