I loved this Monotype release from the very first listening and before writing this review I've listened to this record many times. We're talking about laptop music and this trio infact features Jacek Staniszewski on computer and synth, Artus Kozdrowski on computer and adat recorder and Dominik Kowalczyk on laptop. Given the fact this music has been recorded between 2001 and 2005, this trio gains more and more respect for the high quality of the tracks. You can bet this' one hundred percent laptop music therefore expect: digital bleeps, loops, samples, unnatural white noise, weird sounds and that kind of sound aesthetic you usually have with such projects. At the same time this trio reaches an incredible intensity above all when mixing soft harsh digital noises with loops of blues singers or with simple melodies, litanies have been always kept under the surface but you don't have to strain so much to here them. Despite some melodic solution this release is basically serious music oriented and most of the episodes express a deep and thoughtful intensity and "What do we need to know?" is the perfect example of that kind of austerity. Differently from what I've just wrote may suggest this project's compositions are not so heavy but not absolutely to be confounded with quasi-ambient/IDM/abstract light music. Neurobot played that style of music that walks on the tight rope between academic abstract computer and post-industrial/installation music. Different layers of sound, serial loops, some sad melodies fighting with astral synth to conquer the scene, digital bleeps facing soft harsh drones and everything has been dragged around patiently but not so much to sound heavy. After ten years this music still sounds quite interesting and if you consider the tracks may result odd but also well assembled, you may get why I this work is definitely worth of a listen since it's definitely interesting.

There's nothing better than having a beautiful song to make a great single. After seven years of break, Tommy (who moved from Sweden to Thailand years ago), Paulinda and Carl reunited to write new songs. "City lights" (available for free at the band's website) was the first and it showed that synthpop still have something to tell thanks to catchy melodies and cool synth sounds. IT'S A GAME is the new digital Daybehavior single and contains the main track plus two remixes. The original tune is a fresh danceable synthpop song with fat bass lines in evidence and the seducing vocals of Paulinda. The song talks about lovers' games ("it's a game and I want to play / I wanna go all te way/ ...we can go slow and faster / and we can love like there's no tomorrow day") and the Greek duo Marsheaux did a great remix by keeping the original vocal lines and writing new bass lines (those ones sounds really great) with catchy lead synth inserts here and there. Australian band Parallox (that have their debut album "Metropolis" available on Conzoom) opted for a retro sounding 4/4 danceable mid tempo with dreamy atmospheres. The remixers did their best to give to the original song a "new life" and they proved once more that when you have a hit on your hands it's almost impossible to fail. Keep your eyes opened for the forthcoming album!

Stoneman is no anonymous band at all and that goes not only for their home country Switzerland. Those who are no newbies to the metal scene know that Switzerland has more to offer than overwhelming views, peculiar dialects and Samael. 'Human Hater' is a third album of this prime league Dark Metal act and is marked by '¦ hmmm'¦ hatred. Mikki Chixx (not an evil twin of Nikki Sixx), Iron Chris (must be a bodybuilder nickname), Mr Fly (for a white guy) and Rico H play traight forward and in your face Metal. The good thing about this album is that it offers certain diversity. More than most metal bands normally come up with. I guess this comes with musical experience and artistic growth. Stoneman has already toured with acknowledged acts such as Deathstars, Impaled Nazarene, Xandria and Wednesday13.
'Trail of Destruction' demonstrates how a metal band can tastefully incorporate keyboards into their song without sounding like a popish version of Dimmu Borgir. 'Built of Anger' is a really angry song with lotta screaming and not one of my fave compositions on the CD. Something like Alice Cooper gone Black Metal on cocaine. ,Sugar Mama' has got some Mötley Crew to it, only darker. I mean it in a positive sense. 'No Sweet November' is a very untypical composition for Stoneman. It sounds as if it had been written by Jyrki from The 69 Eyes. That dark rock romance with clear deep male vocals and it features Wednesday 13. No soft rock really but sounds very unmetally pleasant and suitable for mainstream radio.
All in all a very solid metal album with a number of interesting musical developments and ideas.

Influenced by the latest Prodigy, Narsti, from UK, landed on Basserk on the fourth volume of the Some Tunes CD compilation series and now they are ready to deliver their first EP titled STEREONAZI. Two out of four tracks are new ones as "Not as strong as the machines" was already on the fore mentioned compilation and the closing track is a remix of the main track (which now sounds like a dance tune for nuclear bombing). On this EP Narsti followed the rule "if you have to do it hard, do it harder" and brought hard beats, syncopated distortions and many layers of rhythm plus balanced doses of synth arpeggios. Their formula isn't new but work well and Nasti know where to hit!

Included into the fourth volume of the Some Tunes series compilation, Rawfare's "Floor luv" has now been released as remix EP where you can find an extended mix of the original tune (which sounds like a mix of house and dance with pistol pop distortions) plus four remixes: Keatch (they focused the remix on techno distortions with digital synth leads in evidence), Volatile (they de-structured the original tune using original vocal samples and focusing their sound on hard techno influences), Distrakt (acid, techno and 8bit distortions are the core of this remix) and Shock And Awe (they opted for a cinematic slow dub grime approach). If you are in need for 30 minutes of dance sounds, check this one...