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May the 4th was with you, and it most definitely was with Agent Side Grinder, with their brand spanking new album, Jack Vegas, Out on Progress Productions, the Swedish provocateurs of post-punk, doused in dark electronics, is composed of members, Johan Lange (synthesizer, keyboard, programming, percussion, backing vocals) and Peter Fristedt (modular synthesizer, tape loops), with Emanuel Åström (vocals).

Photo by Haris Mlivic

The not so gentle thrumming pushes into your ears, stirring your senses in the “Waiting Room“, a sensation of anticipation and nervous energy surging forth from this first track. “Number By Number” ramps on the building synths and crashing guitar, while the vocals chant, and “Bloodless” definitely has the air of dark crystalline beauty, as well as show casing the singing of lead vocalist, Emanuel Ã…ström, in the spine tingling, swirling chorus.

There is most certainly an early 80’s, post-punk feel to the maudlin “Madeleine“, as the drum machine rattles and the synths drone, making key changes very noticeable. There is something so very profound in what sounds like wild winds blowing frigid into your soul. “Flaws And Flame” wavers between grimy and angelic remorse, as the electronics screech in the background, before we get a bit funky with the title track, “Jack Vegas“. In Sweden, Jack Vegas refers to cheap slot machines, and the chiming keyboard riff has taken on the edge of a tune of a one arm bandit, after another loss, and the pressure builds, as the machines lull the addicted players.

It is so nice to hear the voices of Ã…ström and Lange together in “Decipher“. You could swear you can hear a harpsicord creating an elegance over the drone and supporting the heart melting vocals. We come to the final track, “The Unravelling“, and honestly, the atmosphere could be described as oppressive and yet sensual, as the electronica caress your nerves.

Jack Vegas has been a very anticipated album, especially after hearing the guys last year, featuring on the Kill Shelter track “The Necklace“. So, after hearing Jack Vegas, I am not disappointed. In fact, it is a bloody amazing darkwave album, and in many ways, Agent Side Grinder are reminiscent of Joy Division, creating beautiful music within the shadowy sphere of human limits and emotions. Perfection.

Jack Vegas | Agent Side Grinder (bandcamp.com)

https://facebook.com/agentsidegrinder

https://instagram.com/agentsidegrinder

https://agentsidegrinder.com/

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Is there a cooler band name out there than Super Dragon Punch!!? I think not! This 8bit/industrial project from Belgium, is the brain child of Jérémie Venganza and there is a new single called “Split“. If this wasn’t enough, he has called on several electronic musicians to help out on the remix duties.

In true 8bit fashion, the track starts out like a computer game, that crosses with far more uplifting synth lines that spin around the punchy lyrics that talk about regret at losing another. As soon as you hear the first remix, you can tell it has Jamie Blacker’s touch all over it. The ESA (Electronic Substance Abuse)remix is a bit funky with thumping beats and static, giving the track a much darker tone. Next is the Dulce Liquido remix. Oscar Mayorga is Dulce Liquido, as well as a member of Hocico, and with that pedigree, the rhythm slams and the industrial-techno strobes your senses, creating an amazing dance version. The fourth version is doused in the electronic splendour that is [SITD], where they use their skill to give the track a depth, using those beautiful tinkling key notes and lowers tones and this leads on perfectly to the Toxxic Project mix. Toxxic Project is another Mexican project, and their remix is this building tide of synthy injected waves, that surges around your ears.

There is also an instrumental mix which is equally as good, but honestly, you should just listen for yourself. It is a chance to immerse yourself in not only a great track, yet also bask in the talent of the guest remixers. There is not one that I could actually say is my favourite due to the fact each has their own, very distinctive, style. All killer and no filler from this single, “Split” by Super Dragon Punch!!.

Split | Super Dragon Punch!! (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/superdragonpunch

http://www.superdragonpunch.com/

https://super-dragon-punch.creator-spring.com/

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May the 5th seems to have been a huge day for releases, and what could be better than a single from the British electronic wizard, Simon Carter. “Erase My Mind” features the dulcet tones of Sweden’s Fredrik Keith Croona (Against I/Menschdefekt).

I was not joking when I said Croona’s vocals are dulcet, as he takes you down the electronic rabbit hole where one feels unfulfilled, and it leaves such a hole, it would be better to forget to ease the pain of it all.

Carter’s music as always, is simply scintillating. There is a symmetry between the techno x psytrance and Croona’s vocals, that make this not only a great dance track, but just an enjoyable song in general….. that I won’t be listening to in the car….. speeding is bad. This Simon Cater featuring Fredrik Keith Croona, and they don’t really want to “Erase My Mind” so much as raise my resting heart rate.

▶︎ Erase My Mind | Simon Carter (feat. Fredrik Keith Croona) | Simon Carter (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/HumansCantReboot

https://www.instagram.com/simon.carter_official/

http://www.twitch.tv/sy_carter

Music | Twisted Flesh Recordings (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/againstIband

https://www.instagram.com/againstiband/

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Norwegian, Erlend Eilertsen of Essence Of Mind, is about to release the second album under the project name Lights A.M., on the Alfa Matrix label, called Stories Without Words Vol. 2, on June the 23rd. However, we get our first listen through the single “Not Ready For This“.

An element of foreboding and lament is in the electronics, as they waver and chime through the instrumental track. Ancients drum whilst the low murmur of the droning electronics is in stark comparison to the gentle synths, that hold the lilting melody of what has passed. Subtle, beautiful and memorable is “Not Ready For This“, which you are utterly ready for by Lights A.M.

Stories Without Words Vol. 2 | LIGHTS A.M | Alfa Matrix (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/lightsaftermidnight?mibextid=ZbWKwL

http://alfa-matrix-store.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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There is some really brilliant darkwave music coming out currently, and the Antipole & Paris Alexander album, Crystalline, out on Young & Cold Records, on May 12th, is most certainly one of them. However, for now, sate your cravings with the latest single, “Bleached“, out on the 27th of April.

“Bleached is about a lost soul battling darkness and light. They still have an optimism and so strive for a more positive future. It is also set against a backdrop of Brexit and current social and economic struggles in the UK.” – Paris Alexander (Brighton, UK)

“We wanted to combine nasty-sounding moody synthesizers with ethereal guitars.” – Karl Morten (Antipole) (Trondheim, Norway)

From those first smooth synth lines, you just know who this is. The guitar strikes true and clear, and when you hear Alexander whisper,’take me‘….well, just damn. You can hear the murkiness Morten mentions that creeps under your skin, while the rhythm carries you ever forward into the crumbling city, beneath darkening skies, hoping for something to change. “Bleached” is the darkwave dance noir, and it is a thing melancholic beauty from these bards of shadows, Antipole & Paris Alexander.

Crystalline | Antipole & Paris Alexander | Antipole (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/antipoleband?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.facebook.com/parisalexandermusic?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.facebook.com/youngandcoldrecords?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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The late Burt Bacharach asked us what do I get if I fall in love, but in reality, maybe he should have asked what do we get when Sonikdevil and Mach FoX (Zwaremachine) join forces? For April, it seems to be an EP called New Dead Wave, with FoX as the vocals and Kyle Sonik playing instruments, with the pair cowriting all tracks.

The title track is the starter, and it sets the mood for the EP with a music vibe of that period of time where the 80s melded into the 90s industrial and the unquenchable hunger of the vampiric kind. The possible hint is in the name, “New Dead Wave“. If you were in doubt, this was a horror themed release, there is the guitar filled “Little Monster“, a rock ode to the female terror in your life that wants to reduce you to a tasty jelly mess. Psychedelic effects and a big rock sound stalks, waiting to “Let Us In“, where there is actually a liberal amount of glam rocker style in the offering.

“Garden Of Rust” kind of reminds me quite a bit of the Ramones when they wrote “Pet Cemetery” with that very up-beat punk attitude, though this is at complete odds to the far more electronic “Circus Of The Damned” with FoX channelling a bit of Alice Cooper thrown in for good measure. The reminiscing of crazier times is the punk “Barstools & Broken Fools” and yet there is a story of loss behind the bravado. Of course, the aliens have not been forgotten about, and the last track is “The 4th Kind” that almost has horrorbilly feel to it, which is a really nice end to the EP.

Feels a bit mealy-mouthed to call this an EP when I’ve seen albums with fewer tracks on them. This is a recording that runs the gamut of rock from the wham bam glam 70s, punk, post-punk to industrial, with a sprinkling of psychobilly horror tongue in cheek, giving it the spooky flavour of B grade monster movies, which I think are the best sort. The hills might have eyes, but Sonikdevil and Mach FoX have New Dead Wave.

New Dead Wave | Sonikdevil & Mach FoX | Mach FoX (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/machfoxband

https://sonikdevil.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/SonikdevilOfficial?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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Australians Gerry Hawkins (Cryogenic Echelon) and Lawrie, aka Lawrie Masson (Studio X), are back with a new single/EP for their project Avarice In Audio, called “War Tanz“, tanz meaning dance, on the Alfa Matrix label. 2022 saw the release of the fifth studio album, Our Idols Are Filth and “War Tanz” is the second single.

Slamming electronic beats, Hawkins‘ gravelled vocals and those warbling synths that breakout during the chorus. They are pounding the dance track into your skull, the motivation to stop being a observer inside your own life, in “War Tanz“. Alien:Nation next have the remix, injecting heavenly synths into the more techno influenced version, though those mammoth beats still blast through, highlighted by the tinkling keyboards.

Lawrie is no slouch nor stranger when it comes to the remix, so the Studio-X mix is hardly a surprise. From the beginning, it is stripped down with the vocals at the fore, with hints of synths and it is amazingly effective, and equally danceable. It might be time to bust a move with the “Downer Grooves“, an instrumental to get on down with, and get on up again, which does not appear on the album.

Brilliant heavy beats, evocative vocals and scintillating remixes…. does it get any better than that? Industrial dance music done right by Avarice In Audio and they are calling you to the “War Tanz” against mundane.

War Tanz EP | AVARICE IN AUDIO | Alfa Matrix (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/avariceinaudioaus?mibextid=ZbWKwL

http://alfa-matrix-store.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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In 2020, ABU NEIN released their first album, Secular Psalms, and now the band, hailing for Malmö, Sweden, are about to drop their next called II, on Progress Productions. But before that happens, there is a new single, “Kissing The Glove“.

From the first electronic beats, “Kissing The Glove” simply oozes dance floor killer, with buckets of seduction drawing you in. The track pulsates and causes a quickening of your heart. The vocals send a shiver of pure joy down your spine while the synths darkly rumble.

This is an impossibly wonderful darkwave track that is gorgeously drenched in eroticism. So what is the mystery of the left hand? Maybe all will be revealed in II, but for now, we have “Kissing The Glove” by ABU NEIN.

▶︎ Kissing the Glove | ABU NEIN (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063707343343

https://www.facebook.com/ProgressPro

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IMJUDAS is the solo project for Maxx Maryan, who is also half of the Italian duo HELYAN FLOWERS. Maryan has released two EP’s, People Of The Blame and So Untrue, on the Spleen+ label which is a mixture of electronic and post-punk sensibilities.

Both EPs are a mixture of songs off the previous album Yrjudas, however you will find remixes and also unreleased demo versions. People Of The Blame indeed takes the track of that name and giving you the glorious canned anger mix and the Octolab remix which brings a very techno vibe dance track. Madil Hardis gives the track her elegant touch as well as delightful vocals, making it poignant and thoughtful, or you can enjoy the alfa remix and the 2016 demo version. The Neikka RPM mix of the single “Ritual” whirls out into the universe and you are also are treated to the demo of “Tulpa“.

So Untrue follows the same formula with the standout remix of the title track by Elektrostaub, where the guitar has been removed and filled by beautiful synths. There is the slower version by Phil from The Breathe Of Life that pulls at your heart strings and yet another demo of this track. You can hear yet another electronic interpretation of “Ritual” and the demo of “Outcast“.

Maryan really does have a brilliant voice that is the lynch pin between all the tracks and it is really interesting to see the progression between demo, single versions and remixes. It has been stated that this is the last look back at the Yrjudus album….. and what a look back it has been. It might seem too good to be true but you should definitely get into IMJUDAS.

People Of The Blame EP | ImJudas | IMJUDAS (bandcamp.com)

So Untrue EP | ImJudas | IMJUDAS (bandcamp.com)

https://m.facebook.com/IMJUDASofficial/

https://www.instagram.com/maxx_maryan

https://www.facebook.com/spleen.plus?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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Akustikkoppler (Acoustic coupler) is Hamburg duo, Matthias Schuster (Geisterfahrer, Das Institut) and Malte Steiner (Notstandskomitee, Das Kombinat). They create experimental electronic music and last year they dropped their fourth album. Alles Muß Raus (Everything Must Go), which was mastered in 2021 but the actual recordings were made between 2008 – 2012.

The whole ten tracks are instrumental and they most certainly run along the lines making noises that please them and incorporating those noises into music that they inspire. There is the space like “Heimweg“, with a 70s kitsch feel, and yet it could be a science fiction horror in the cold void. Or the throbbing and wandering nature of “Horses And Carriages Burn“, as spikes of electronics speak up or the oddity that is “Dinge, Die Unter Dem Tisch Lagen” or the things that were under the table, which could be a whole new world with out of place bleeps and reverberations.

It might be experimental but Alles Muß Raus is very enjoyable. There are bright noodling bits and even tracks that have a dance beat, yet overall the album is nearly hypnotic as you become engrossed in listening to everything going on. Akustikkoppler seems to be hitting all the good notes.

Alles Muß Raus | Akustikkoppler (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064120891094&mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.block4.com/musicprojects/Akustikkoppler/index.php