"Underground" is the debut album from french coldwave/ ebm outfit Krystal System, a new addition to the expansive Alfa Matrix roster. There are 13 tracks total on this disc, and quite a lot of diversity is spread throughout them.
Some tracks are heavy on crunchy guitar riffs and anthemic structures ("Instar", "Demain N'existe Pas", "Mental"), while others focus more on symphonic atmosphere and eletro pop tendencies ("Krystal Song", "Underground"). The majority of the songs fall somewhere in between those two extremes, with each one having it's own unique personality.

While the music on "Underground" is awesome, it's probably the band's vocalist Bonnie that really seals the deal for me, due to her passionate and varied delivery. On one track she might sound like a sexy nymph and on another a distorted
aggro queen ready to destroy everything in sight. She sings in both French and English throughout the album, and sometimes when she's angry in the French parts Natasha from Ambasador 21 is brought to mind, but also because both bands have occasional male/ female choruses.

All in all, "Underground" is an expertly crafted and spotlessly produced selection of pounding beats, awesome synth lines, kickass guitar, and amazing vocals. I highly recommend you check this one out.

This is a new EP from Italian minimal tech outfit Eggbox, released on the Al Dente netlabel. There are only 4 tracks on "Closed", but each track is around 5 minutes, which rounds it out to about 20 minutes, which I think is ideal time for the ADD world of internet music listening.

The sounds represented throughout these 4 tracks are all in the minimal techno side of things, with some glitch and ambient elements thrown in as well. Most of the tracks start with a small thudding almost 8 bit sounding bass drum in a 4/4 pattern, and slowly build up to add more depth with other drums and instrumentation, such as chilled out pads or reverberated found sound type things. However, the emphasis is placed clearly on the beat, which is fine by me.

This is nice stuff if you like minimal, somewhat ambient and chilled out techno. You can listen to it for free on the label's site, so you aren't losing anything but a few minutes of your life if you don't dig it.

"Wave Ta Bixe" is a new album from Paris based project Weetalife, released on the 20kpbs netlabel. The release starts off as a high energy acid tech/house effort for the first two tracks, until the happy dance train is derailed by a minute long noisy, distorted, almost power electronics-esque track of vocals and beats that have been sped up to oblivion. It's actually not that bad at all, but it is rather jarring and unexpected on the first listen, which I guess is likely the point. I can dig it, but I can see how many folks who dig acid tech might not be as open to the burst of noise.

And while things do get less noisy, the album never returns to the more dance-able side of things, instead opting for an interesting, somewhat glitchy experimental route, which I also find enjoyable. If you think you can stomach the various different musical terrain explored here, I recommend you do so, because it's certainly worth the listen.