I'm really sorry that I'm reviewing this release a little late. I closed my P.O. Box and this arrived there after that. Anyway... The Trackers is a project which is including Gary Husband (British drummer and keyboard player who performed with tons of people, like Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Billy Cobham, Mike Stern, British pop/funk band Level 42, Gary Moore, Robin Trower, fusion / jam band Gongzilla, Christof Lauer Trio (with Michel Godard), Germany’s NDR Big Band, HR Big Band and others) and Alf Terje Hana (I reviewed different releases he sent me in the past, so you should know that to me he sounds like a sort of Robert Fripp a little more jazz-oriented but with the same will to experiment) that born when Gary Husband, after collaborating with Alf for the album "Invisible Colours" at the track "The Elders Too". When Allan Holdsworth, a long-time collaborator of Husband died, he thought that Alf's style would have fit well what he was having in mind. In this way, the album "Vaudeville 8:45" started to take shape. Gary Husband played drums, organ and electric piano, while Alf Terje Hana, guitars, octave guitar, synth and took care of the programming, so the only thing missing was a bass player. For this project, they wanted to call friends and old collaborators to play one track each. The call to arms reached Etienne MBappé, Jimmy Johnson, Øyvind Grong, Jimmy Haslip, Kevin Scott, Mark King, Jimmy Johnson, Øyvind Grong and Guy Pratt. Each of them brought to the tracks their personal style and even if you don't know them, you can understand that only by enjoying the tracks. How do the tracks sound? Well, the nine instrumental tracks sound kind of tense I must say, even if sometimes some free jazz or fusion improvisation rise here and there. Think about the King Crimson of the mid/late 90s (the "THRAK" period) mixed with 80s free jazz. I enjoyed the whole album and you can make your own idea by checking the album here https://garyhusband-ablx.bandcamp.com/album/vaudeville-8-45

Zero Equals Three, written 0=3 is the project by Scott White, who released early this month his first EP "Black Tears" for Ukonx Recording. Even if "Black Tears" is the first release under this moniker, Scott isn't a newcomer as he plays electro since 1988, when he was living in the US and he did the same when he moved halfway between Kyoto and Osaka in western Japan, in 1999. He already released music under the Outsider moniker since 2011 but also as 0=3 is really active as you can check on his Soundcloud page, where he uploaded almost one hundred tracks you can check (you can do it by checking this link: https://soundcloud.com/zero_equals_three) and there he wrote three keywords to describe his music: dissonant, dystopian and dysfunction.
On this EP, the four tracks "Black Tears", "A Single Grain", "The Polygon" and "Skin Trap", have been composed following exactly the keywords used on Soundcloud: dissonant (like some melodies used), dystopian (like the cold atmospheres and the feeling you have by reading the songs' titles plus watching the robot crying black tears which you find on the cover) and dysfunction (like the world we live in). If you like it cold, since there's no Marylin Monroe involved, this is for you!

"Programma" is the newest album by Happiness Project, which now changed its name shrinking the old one to h/p. By checking their personnel, I thought they changed the female singer, along the band's name, as Christelle Fournioux doesn't fit the C/P moniker you can find on the CD inner cover, but I was wrong as C/P is the new one after that Christelle married and took the Prévot surname . The new album has been delayed a while because of the vinyl print delay crisis and has been anticipated by the label BOREDOMproduct by two digital singles: "Black Tea" and "Ultraviolin". Singles that contained also the extended version of the tracks (plus the exclusive "Liquid Mirror" available only on the promo EP gathering all the five tracks and titled after the exclusive track). Containing ten new tracks, "Programma" sounds seducing and elegant and it's paying a tribute to '80s music, which deeply influenced the band (see also the Alain Séghir of Martin Dupont playing the bass on the closing track "Vicinities"). They also wanted to underline the link with the European synth sounds by playing mostly old gear and if you don't know what I'm talking about but you know how the first two Depeche Mode albums sound, well, now you know. The lyrics are like instant frames of memories made of emotions, questions and few answers.

Active since early 00's, Bob Davies under The Hidden Persuader has produced dark electro for different labels such as Access Tonal Communications, Bass4Bots, Shameless Toady (for his collaboration with Pip Williams) and participated to different compilations. After eight years of hiatus he's back with a new four tracks EP titled "Stand Up Straight". Released on digital download and streaming on the usual platforms plus at the Ukonx Recordings' Bandcamp page, "Stand Up Straight" is a really strong release with mid/fast paced dark funk-fuelled Electro music. Recorded in an underground basement deep in Wales, UK, the EP would satisfy the finest taste of every electro fan. "Trust Issues", "Stand In Line", "Tear It Down" and "There's No Respect", beat hard (but no 808 has been harmed during the recordings of this EP) and thanks to their "neurotic" melody changes they sound kinda hypnotic. Robotic filtered vocals this time don't sound cold and detached, but they are able to sound menacing and melodic. I really dug these tracks and they're a must if you love Dopplereffekt or Luke Eargoggle.

Derma is the project of Riccardo Bianchi (voice) and Massimo Magrini (music and most known for his solo project Bad Sector ). "Signore E Signori Buonanotte" is their second release, out as the first one on Luce Sia but, this time, instead of a tape we have a white vinyl packed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with a lyrics insert and postcard in a limited edition of 240 numbered copies. The first thing that pops out, even before checking their music, are the wood sculptures made by Riccardo Bianchi used for the graphics: they remember me of the robots made by Kraftwerk but while those ones have always given me an idea of futurism, I feel like these ones are their mysterious and primitive progenitors. Putting the record on the turntable, well, strangely enough, I had the same feeling: something we could call retro-futurism, maybe? Musically we have good 70's/80's synth electro tunes with, sound-wise, some modern intuitions: some distorted parts, like IDM rhythms or some lead synths plus the metallic filtered vocals. The effect created is an interesting one and, as already told, is like a mix of old and new: something old which is looking toward the future or something coming from the future which is taking inspiration from the past. This isn't something easy to explain because if I would say that they are taking inspiration from the early Depeche Mode and John Foxx it would be right and wrong at the same time. Take tracks like "Test" or "Gesti", they are melodic and catchy but at the same time, they are minimal, cold, and experimental. Lyrics are in Italian (the insert has them translated in English) and the vocals are a mix of singing and declamation which are just right for the lyrics. See tracks like "Ditalia", which is talking about Italy's darkest times. You know, stuff like the Ustica affair or the Red Brigades, etc. The only weak point is that the lyrics sometimes aren't really intelligible and the inner sheet has only the English translation. Anyway, they are probably the best nowadays' electronic Italian project, for me.