Released just a little over a month ago on Session 9 Studios (the same label that did the new Negative Format album, of which you can read in these very pages), God Module's "Perception" EP follows their debut "Artificial" and presents only three new songs backed with eight remixes, totalling eleven tracks. God Module is dance-ebm that in my opinion lacks a little in originality when it hangs in the same old cliches of punching filtered synth lines and sequences, distorted whispering vocals and steady beats. Following is a list of the bands who provided remixes along with what flavor they gave the remix and with their web url for more info: Infekktion (stomping industrial - infektion.de), Culture Kulture (rave-industrial - culturkultur.com), Dismantled (dark/ambient - dismantled.org), Parallel (techno/electro - another Sector 9 band), Cut.Rate.Box (ebm - cutratebox.com), L'Ame Immortelle (ebm-dance - lameimmortelle.com), Stomkern (ebm - stomkern.com), Grendel (industrial - industrialnation.nl/grendel). Indeed the remix war formula is an interesting way to get an EP together, especially when remixers get way personal about the outcome, but in this case it just didn't click for me... But then again, let's not forget it's always a matter of taste.

To those of you who remember their "Distant Pulses" (that we reviewed on an earlier issue), NF's new album will come as a pleasant surprise. Although it is not my preferred sound, I have to admit (and it is pretty damn obvious) that there is talent involved here. You can hear it from the composition of the pieces to the manipulation of the sounds. Definitely a club-goers' favourite, "Static" goes for obsessively hammering dance beats, groovy and sharp rave sounds ("Downfall"), electronic textures backing the structure, sporadic space-ambient scenarios with Kraftwerk-like vocoding ("Genocide mix"), cinematic soundscapes with a techno-driving force ("Gateway"), more Kraftwerkian electro-dance-pop in the catchy title track, volcanic lava cascades of bubbling analogue electro-industrial-techno - sort of FLA meet Jeff Mills (like in the amazing Aiboforcen remix - I got to hear this band cause this song is my kicker!), experimental-textured techno with ebm vocals ("Impant mix") and ambience d'n'b breakbeats (the sloppy but nice "End of Transmission" outro)... The three remixes of the title track by Informatik, Headscan and Implant plus one mind-blowing remix of "N.E.A.R." (from "Distant Pulses") by Aiboforcen spice up the sizzling sup and make it into a plate that has a lot to offer to the bouncing dance-hungy handbangers out there. All tracks between 126bmp and 140bpm, so be prepared! The madness goes on for 50 minutes, intro and outro included... if only CDs came with stroboscopic and laser lights! If you don't mind too much dance in your soup, this CD is a total blast!

This under-legal-drinking-age duo has an Armenian heritage but is based out in LA, where allegedly they are quite appreciated in the Teknoklub and rave scenes. Since I had never heard of these guys before, I was going through their info sheet, and it looked quite interesting and promising when they were described as Prodigy meet Orbital «holding on to thier rock roots as well as being influenced by hip-hop and the music of their Armenian heritage». "The Message is Clear..." is their second full length album and after listening to it several times to make sure I am not mistaken I would probably say that they must have drastically moved away from the above described sound, if they ever even played that stuff (maybe on their 1999 debut "On the Sonic Forefront"...). This record right here doesn't have any Prodigy or Orbital, if you as me (even though I can hear they tried real hard to emulate Prodigy's vocals and beats in "Let Me In" and in "Trancemission", which actually is a pretty good track); rock and hip-hop influences I couldn't find either (except for a little rapping on "LFO Child" and sporadic ebonic wording samples in "Down From Up"); and as far as Armenian music, I am no expert in the field but I think I would have recognized sounds coming from thousands of miles away... Anyway, it is not my intention to bitch about the description of Signal given by others, my concern is rather that I wasn't too thrilled with this at all. Not that it isn't well performed (their sound palette includes Roland's 909, 606, the Akai MPC milestone, a guitar and some keyboards and brings to the table noteworthy sounds) but their compositions are just a little too commercial for my taste. I am not gonna say it's euro-style (cause that would almost be offensive) but, straight up, it seems like its only aimed at the high dancing masses and doesn't keep an eye on quality. If I was listening and bouncing to this at a rave it would probably sound different and much cooler, but on a CD it sounds like they floating somewhere in the North Atlantic, not very sure whether to sail towards the US (even thought the West Coast would be a better beach for this) or rather let themselves carry by the currents leading to the European shores. Most of their tracks would be a kicker in Ibiza, Berlin, Zurich and places like that... One's for sure: they would have a hell of a blast if they were to perform in Mittle-European raves, I can tell you this much!
In my opinion, the best of Signal is to be heard when they escape the tekkno cliches (you know, the slowly sweeping cut-off filters, the volume increasing 16th snares, the commercial reso-synth hooks and the like) and migrate into moving ambient textures driven by trippy drum'n'bass (like in "Believe", some parts of "It All Starts Here" or "LFO Child" again). The best rave track in my opinion is "A Memory of You", that's a kick! If they only could stay away from the cheap synth lines and the easy-listening (or no-listening-just-bouncing) dancefloor beatz and concentrate their production around what I know they have the potential to do, I'd be far more appreciative. I mean, Prodigy, Orbital, Chicane and many others get the people moving anywhere, but you can listen to their stuff at home and realize that there is a big deal of quality, there is an essence, a soul, there is real music, there is power, and you don't even have to look hard to find it... it's right there in your face (or ears ;-)... With Signal's sound, I feel like it doesn't offer me all of that, unless I strictly dance to it and that's it. Sorry guys, not my cup of tea!

I know for most of you out there pronouncing his last name must be a nightmare, but you better try to learn it by heart cause you're gonna be hearing more and more from this dude. His newest is a live CD with five bonus tracks, remixed versions by Luca Torasso, aka SANdBLASTING. I've seen, and actually even opened for Daniele, live when he was still playing with something similar to a regular band (now he tours the world all alone) and his set was quite impressing. While back then his primary focus would be guitar noise over some pre-recorded industrial tracks now the guitars take a few steps backward (not always though) and grant even more space to the murky and cold industrial soul pumping, blasting, hammering, looping and stomping underneath. The remixes are actually really quite good I must say. SandBlasting was able to capture all the sides of this multifaceted artist, going through the dark claustrophobic suites and the violent outbursts of industrial music and noises, eventually enhancing its industrial brutality, adding electronic textures and industrial(-dance) rhythms, spicing things up with drum'n'bass fills and bass-lines, flavoring with additional layers of noise and samples, cutting, pasting and rearranging Daniele's vocals, looping sounds, creating ebm compositions from Daniele's repertoir; and overall bringing a big deal of all new rhythmical essence to the table that wasn't quite as developed before and that is not bad at all! I believe that if these two guys were to work it out so that they could find a compromise, I can see them playing together and be a terrific duo!

Radian (Martin Brandlmayr (Drums, Vibraphone, Computer), Stefan Németh (Synthesizers, Computer) and John Norman (Bass)) have been associated with the austrian electonic scene around pita/mego for a while, their refusal to be definded as neither nerd/noise/avantgarde nor postrock always made them fall out a bit. Since they moved to Thrill Jockey it seems like they eventually found a home which provides the patience, rapture and support the trio needs and deserves.
rec.extern is Radians 3rd release, it was recorded and mixed by John McEntire in his Chicago studio and is a result of meticulous engineering and a perfectly thought out concept. But all the minimalism and stringency inheres the most passionate and articulate understanding of what sound can be and how far it can be taken. The sinus tone, clicks and cracks now team up with the reinforced audibility of the vigorous sound of the actual acoustic instrument making an impact as fragile and virtuous as possible.
Watch out for Radians US-tour (with Pan American + Signer), it would be a shame to miss "Jet" where Radian almost start to rock in Thrill Jockeys best postrock-tradition. Almost, if there wasn't this beautifully carried out seriousness.