From Bordeaux, France comes this cryptic project, ".-" in Morse code, or 'eaux saines' in French, which means "safe waters". I'm not sure these waters are so safe after listening to this debut album, but I'm jumping in anyway without a life preserver. Colin, the man behind this solo project has a background playing in noise/punk/hardcore bands, but this is something different. eaux saines is much more in the industrial/electro/darkwave/coldwave vein relying primarily on synthesizers and programmed drums and percusssion, and some (quite distorted) guitar as well as vocals. First track, "les eaux saines" is quite industrial and reminds me of John Bergin's C17H19NO3 industrial project. Lots of distortion, submerged ghostly vocals, basic heavy industrial beat, and a guitar wail. A simple melody line follows the progression, all pretty cool actually. Nice introduction, and the noise is a key component. Second track, "almost" is nearly in the vein of Signal Aout 42, an old school Belgian Electro/EBM band often compared to Depeche Mode. Here the somewhat monotone vocals (sung in English) are more intelligable and the synth sounds are dirty and gritty giving a fresh perspective to dark synthpop. There is a shoegazer quality to "drunk in your bed," channeling some of the noisier aspects of My Bloody Valentine in an electronica setting. The squinky electronics in the brief break and elsewhere lift this song well beyond the norm. "des mots," sung in French, is some fine Coldwave, and by this time I'm realizing that this melding of noise-electronica and synthpop is really paying off. When Brian Eno broke new ground on his first couple of studio albums utilizing some of these techniques it was considered revolutionary. This project goes even further into the noise aspect, but still retains a dark pop sensibility.

"one day, ten years" is an introspective yet harrowing piece that envelops you with the gloom of futility. The doom metalish "le chant des sirens" crushes all hope with walls of distoted guitar over submerged vocals. Yet again though things readically change on "lost sailplanes" moving squarely into synthpop territory. Gary Numan-esque synths and a great melody/hook make this an amazing standout track. The vocals (in English) are the clearest and cleanest on the album. The synthwork is stellar, the sound is modern, yet recalls some of the best things I've ever heard in the genre. Back to underground electronica on "unfalling", like Depeche Mode falling off the deep end into the dark abyss. It all ends with "this smile," an apocalyptic synth-heavy number that really crushes it. WOW!

For a debut, this is astounding. It is something you just have to hear. Unfortunately, the ones who need to hear it the most probably never will. Being released on cassette, and not until March 2016 (it's in pre-order now) may all but guarantee its anonimity. If there ever was something well worth seeking out, .-, or 'eaux saines' is it.

This new release from this italian band is focused on night landscape so its title "Luna" i.e., moon, evokes the aural phenomenon where, at night, without the day noises there are unnoticed sounds that emerges. This soundscape which should have also a visual counterpart as this is an audio-visual project is based upon drones generated from electric guitars, sampling, effects pedals and tape manipulation so it's something as digital as analog which fill the aural spectrum but leaving space for other sound to interact with the music.
The initial drone of "From the village to the country under the moonlight" quietly starts this release and slowly evolves until it's substituted by another drone which is resolved into another drone. The hypnotic quality of the construction is marked out by the concern that there's no sense of the fact that the track is based on three drones until there's any analytical analysis of the track, at the first listening there's only the vague sense that something has changed. "Midnight: song of crickets on the green hill" is based on the progressive juxtaposition of drones until there a fulfillment of the aural space. "Night climb to the Mount Analogue" closes this release is based on a single slowly evolving drone that is doubled to another ones which creates certain resonances unveiling sonic details of prismatic beauty.
This is a release so coupled to a rigorous form that could be as boring at a distract listening as enchanting at a rigorous one. It's not a record for everyone but every fan of drone music will listen to this tape until it's disintegrated. Applause.

This new release from Artoffact is the reissue of the first cassette by Pankow which was never reissued and it documents the first steps of this important band while stating how, with few means, they were pioneering a genre that will be fully developed only years later. The development of the first industrial style with the new wave influence generated the seed of what will be later known as EBM when the band would follow other territories in the '90s.
The drum machine of "Das Wodkalied" introduces the listener into a sound field which is as outdated as legendary as it prefigured some development that will become codified only years later. The structure is almost simple: drum machine, synth and the voice that don't sing a text but rather speak catch phrase. "Rendez-Vous Dans Un Bois" is instead a more experimental track focused on the vocal experiments of Alex Spalck and featuring a cameo of Blixa Bargeld speaking almost inaudible phrases. "Wait And Search" and "Zz Walhalla" are instead focused on the rhythmic impact while "Destiny" returns to a path where Spalck's voice is fundamental for the creation of the atmosphere. "I'm Food For You" closes the original cassette as a balance between the rhythmic urgency and the atmospheric research.
The bonus part is made out by four track: "Voce" a track where the voice follows the rhythmic path, "Satellite" featuring a sax that is symptomatic of the way out from the genre's cage which will be explored in the masterpieces of the band. "Spinnen" is an experiment into almost noise path while "Senza titolo" closes this release with an atmosphere constructed with a beat and a synth conscious of their cinematic properties.
As this is their first cassette, obviously it's far enough from the mature releases that has erected the myth of one of the most important bands of italian new wave, however it's a document of historical importance as it revealed how they searched a personal way into a genre well codified from the beginning. An essential reissue.

This release from Sirotek, the post-industrial project of Vitaly Malygin, seems based based on psychological concept as it features also samples of the voice of Sigmund Freud. The mirror could be seen as how we perceive ourself in what we see and this could be the sense of the cover artwork where a man is seen through the disturbed signal of the television.
"Some Important New Facts About The Unconscious" opens this release juxtaposing noises and voices, perhaps from a television program, as the noises, perhaps from a malfunctioning television, underlines the worries generated by the lecture. "Rhizome Ways" reveals a sense of narration as it starts almost quality to superimposes noise generators to expose a gentle line of piano in the central part and closing the track with small noises in a pure silence. "Hypnagogia" is a long track starting as an almost dark ambient track to evolve with sharp noises in a central part of undeniable impact and closing with with tones of atmosphere. "Inside The Mirror" is a noise track of deep impact and "I'm Only Sleeping" is at the threshold between ambient and noise. "I'm Only Dying" is a meditative juxtaposition of noises while "Besy" superimpose noises until it reaches the white one. "The Gift Of Death" sequences sonic details from a sort of melody above a canvas of background noise.
This is more multifaceted release than the average of the genre which is focused on the body impact and reveals an artist which is anchored to an allegorical vision of noise that reminds to an almost spiritual vision. This not a release for everyone but noise fans will see a path for the future of the genre.

Hot off the press - released today on vinyl by Washington DC-based label Translation Recordings -, this awesome tidbit by Brussels-based The Untouchables, the bicephalous project by Kate Mcgill aka Kay and Ajit Steyns aka Nitrox, who moved towards a catchy interbreeding of jungle sonorities, ragga movements and heavyweight dub, got ignited by a couple of great collaborative tracks, they made side by side another skilled producer orbiting around the label, the Finnish producer Ilpo Kärkkäinen aka Resound: a slideshow of chirping birds and other voices from a proper jungle got grasped both in the catchy "Separate Reality" and the following "Mystic Arts", even if they sound more heavily morphed into the latter track as if the second track is the revealing of the hidden side of those entities as a consequence of an augmented perception of surrounding reality. The wildly animalist/animistic script got likewise followed on "Devourer of World", the first tune by The Untouchables on the flipside, whee they inserted a sort of distorted barking on the carnival of sub-bass-driven electrically shocked dub movement, but there's a similar spiritual voltage in the following "The Beast" - very nice work over a set of tribal drums and woodstick-like hits - as well as in "City Of Thieves", coming as a bonus track for all those listeners who are going to grab the digital version on Translation's Bandcamp.