Born in Russia in 2005 thanks to an idea of Ilya Pavlov (vocal, keyboards), Andrey Smayev (drums, programming ), Dmitriy Kozlov (guitar, synthesizers, back-vocal) and followed soon by Alexey Bogatkov (bass guitar), Sensor is the first pop release for Intuition Records. Gathering the best mood of the 80's music, the band is promoted as a mix of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and U2. Well, listening to NAKED I might hazard that they are more than that. More than a copy of the best mood of a decade. Ilya Pavlov is able to make you remember Inxs, The Sound, Echo & The Bunnymen (like on the opening "Naked") and Frankie Goes To Hollywood but playing their tunes with an energy that the original bands didn't have. The modern synth arrangements help a lot into refreshing the sound and will make you understand that the band only wanted to use the best melodic ideas to pack a debut album that will astonish every lover of those sounds. On the short "All I get is..." the band is able to change mood and to write a song that will make you remember the smooth sounds of This Mortal Coil just to push the gas pedal on the following "Static" where a funky bass introduce a strong energetic tune. Good record indeed!

Three years have passed since his Masterhit album "Muscle collection" and Gigolo's "Silence Control" albums. In the meantime, Terence Fixmer released different 12"s on his own Planete Rouge, Different/PIAS and White Noise as well as releasing, the last year, the second album for his collaboration with Nitzer Ebb singer Mc Carthy. Out on Modulor his newest album FICTION FICTION is dismissing all the e.b.m. influences (maybe the project Fixmer/Mc Carthy is fulfilling his needs of exploring electronic music at the service of energy and "melody") and it's focusing the sound spectrum on techno sounds with some surprises. The album opens with a cinematic intro where piano, strings, a synth bass line and a simple 4/4 beat introduces us to a minimal techno track titled "Hypnose". On this one Terence couples treated whispered vocals and obsessive rhythms. The hypnotic experiments are also the basis of "Fantomatic", where bleeps, distorted siren like sounds are mixed with sinusoidal waves. Half way from sound experimentation and nightmarish atmospheres, the tracks succeed into creating great sound scenarios where also melody finds its way like on "Can't you see me" (I think many djs would like to remix this one) and "Ghosts in love". FICTION FICTION is a multifaceted album as it can work well on clubs, as it is able to create a good mood with tons of rhythmic layers, as well at home because of the rich sound palette, the great atmosphere and the semi experimental/cinematic attitude of the whole album. Don't miss it!

VILTIS is a split CD where we find Kreuzer (presenting, after its debut album "In hoc signo vinces", five new tracks) and Surma, a very young Ukrainian project with four tracks. The Kreuzer tracks differ from the album ones as they sound more industrial and even more minimal, if possible. The CD opens with the first of three parts of "Father listened to the radio". This one mix samples of old records in Lithuanian language, distant militaristic drums and mysterious atmospheres. The second part is half harsh industrial and half dark ambient but it doesn't sound that interesting. The third part gathers old records samples and industrial rhythmical loops. "Rainy night in Kanaus" is a atmospheric industrial ambient minimal hypnotic track which sound a bit unfinished. "God save Lithuania" is the best one of the lot, with its obsessive looped melody coupled to light distorted sounds and rhythms. The four tracks by Surma didn't excite me as I didn't find them too interesting as we have harsh sounds mixed with distant imperceptible melodies, chants, ambient sounds, industrial ambient distortions all mixed with constant crackling old records noise. There's no will of making the track evolve. I hope that the album "Allocution" will sound different. We'll check if this will happen on my forthcoming review...

In my years of listening of music, I’ve come across two albums that make you feel like you’re being beaten up with barrage of drums. These two albums are Alec Empire’s "The Destroyer", and Lucidstatic’s latest offering, the aptly titled "Gravedigger." This is an album that has a lot going on, such as fast complex jungle beats, clanking metal sounds, and aggressive noise patterns and samples. The album’s lead off track "Blackout" sets the pace for the entire collection with its brutally intense arrhythmic drum pattern that’s broken up with bits of noise and a sample of a guy saying "No your fucked!," which under most circumstances would be cheesy as hell. However, for Lucidstatic’s purpose, it acts as a warning, giving the listener a premonition of things to come, which is an extremely aggressive and unrelenting album. From start to finish "Gravedigger" is a mind blowing amalgam of breakcore, IDM, and industrial power that unmercifully destroys everything in its path. Furthermore, while most albums of this nature get boring after about the third track because every song sounds exactly the same, "Gravedigger" maintains your attention and keeps you listening in anticipation for what’s going to be thrown at you next. If you like hard power electronics, then you MUST purchase this album immediately. Indeed, this album is great for getting out some pent up aggression.

Displacer’s fourth release "The Witching Hour" is a very stylized album that utilizes a number of diverse elements such as old horror movie samples, trip hop rhythms, classic hip hop beats, and an array of new and vintage synthesizer sounds. All of these elements work together to form a very cohesive, relaxed, and stylish piece of work that achieves the dual effect of being sexy and campy (but in a good way that is satirical). And it is for this reason that "The Witching Hour" is my opinion an ideal after hours album, as it definitely an record that can take you home and set you right after a long night of clubbing and the excesses that often go along with it. Some of the album’s highlights include "Nag Champa," (with is an achievement in and of itself in that it is one of few tracks to actually use the classic synthesizer clap sound in a way that sounds good), "Squirm" which is just a beautiful and emotionally poignant piece of music, and the album’s title track which is very much reminiscent of the Thrill Kill Kult of old. All in all, I would highly recommend "The Witching Hour" to anyone who likes trip hop and alternative house. I also highly recommend it for those after hours parties where good music is so hard come by.