darkwave / alternative 

I've always been rather fascinated by male/female duos working on music together. Here in our little country, there are the electronic couples of Vive La Fète and Nid & Sancy. English duo The KVB have been delivering high quality new wave tunes for quite some time now, and let's never forget about Eurythmics.

For the record, I do not know if these duos are real life couples or not, but you have to admit, sometimes something magical can come forth from the chemistry between a man and a woman. Let's just be glad that they mostly deliver music, not babies.

Tempers is a duo from New York. 'Private Life' is their third album already, and I can imagine how it came to life, especially if I look at the album cover. Jasmine Golestaneh and Eddie Cooper, hanging out in their living room, bored with their day jobs and superficial friends. They remember having a bunch of synths, guitars and whatnot standing there so the just start jamming. Shortly into their jam session, the entire neighborhood is drenched into a gloomy atmosphere but everybody is simply dancing. First and foremost those who grew up with the synth pop and dark wave from the eighties.

Because that is exactly where 'Private Life' is heading to. From opener 'Capital Pains' to the gnawing ambient tune at the end, 'Exit', this album is a tribute to the dark eighties. We do not have to wait long to find a first highlight, by the way. That is 'Leonard Cohen Afterworld', a slowly meandering dance tune that will wake up the goth in many forty year olds. That being said. Most of the music here is perfectly suited for the dark dancefloor, but if you're one of those people who like to drown in nostalgia and melancholy, these songs work just a well. I mean, if 'Piece Of Mind' doesn't bring back those black dyed tears, nothing will.

I mentioned a couple of acts in the beginning of this review, mostly to compare Tempers with other man/woman acts, but as far as influences are concerned, I need to add bands like Tubeway Army, Suicide, Joy Division and so on. In the more recent regions of dark electronic music, Tempers would fit right next to acts like Austra. 'Daydreams' is my personal favorite, perhaps also one of the speediest tunes here. I love this repetitive hammering and the emotive vocals, which even bring some old 4AD bands to mind. Follower 'Guidance' seems to take some DAF electronics into the mix, along with dance elements from the nineties. Again, a splendid idea.

Well, I guess by now you should know if this is an album to add to your collection. If you're a dark eighties addict, the answer is a resounding "yes". If you are one of those people who feel that modern day electronic music is just too unimaginative, emotionless and stale, allow Tempers to change your mind. This album is a pleasure to listen to, to shake your ass to and to reminisce about those good old days of dancing to the darkest of beats.


​Serge

electro / EBM / industrial

Dans Les Profondeurs

Nowadays it feels strange to imagine the pre-digital underground music world.  We can still remember the young tape traders spreading obscure DIY experimental try-outs like rats from cellar to cellar. After decades of dust eating, a treasure of subsurface sounds is coming back to the obscure exterior digital realms of music.

Under Starch Clouds is a compilation of a small electronic and industrial scene from the 80’s. The scene operated from an underground pub The Yellow Lemonade in Aalst. Aalst is a town in Belgium known for its rebellion priest Daens and carnival. It was during the 80’s this industrial city blew clouds of pollution that infected the minds of the local artists and music freaks.

Nearly all the material on this compilation was originally recorded on tapes.  Those demos were exchanged among friends and played on DJ Attila The Nun’s (Peter Vercauteren) radio show “The Fall Of Western Civilization” (Radio Katanga). The tracks by Killvision and Neoprene Grt come from their debut demo tapes. Under Starch Clouds stands for experimental electronica without high tech tools. The artists used their inspiration to create effects with all kinds of kitchen gear or ancient hair dryers. Samples were taken from taped radio shows and therapeutic sessions.

This compilation is filled with pure rebellion against every known mainstream soundscape from the past and the coming future.  The music styles of the selected 10 tracks are situated between dark, sharp edged, industrial electro and electronic body music.  Under Starch Clouds is a black diamond with experimental insurgent music from an underground scene hidden in the industrial dungeons of Aalst. It was too difficult to choose a favorite track between all these outstanding items of Belgian electronic music. 

Under Starch Clouds is available on LP and digital. Hurry, grab your hands on this rarity because the (white) vinyl is limited to 223 pieces. The emperor of Wool-E Discs made us clear that in the future more of these secret sounds could be released to the world. For the time being this release has already a special place in our darkened hearts.

​
Patsker

industrial / metal

Time to put on our cybergoth outfit and drag ourselves to the dark dancefloors or stages. We're diving deep into a style that doesn't often appear on the top levels of the musical universe. Instead, this stuff usually hides away in concrete basements and abandoned factories.

There, this album will undoubtedly find several outrageous fans, stomping on those massive beats and banging their heads to the distorted guitars. It's time to unleash Ritual Aesthetic, the band that sounds like a lovechild between Die Krupps and Psyclon Nine.

The band was formed by Sean Von Helvete of Dawn Of Ashes. In 2014 they released a first effort, titled 'Decollect'. Now they return with 'Wound Garden', which is nothing less than a smasher. If you love heavy electronics mixed with gut ripping guitars, this is a definitely must have. Opening with the rather typical industrial intro 'Statis', 'Wound Garden' quickly lures the listener in, only to completely demolish him during the other eight tunes.

'Life Amnesia' comes up with the synths and punishing percussion that we know from bands like Hocico, Combichrist and Suicide Commando. On top of that they throw those grinding guitars, which obviously brings bands like Die Krupps and Oomph to mind. The vocals remind me most of the aforementioned Psyclon Nine. Industrial you say? Absolutely, I mean, there are few band who deserve the "industrial" tag more than this one.

Yet, there is a bit more going on. Remember The Covenant, the industrial black metal band later rebranded The Kovenant? Well, songs like 'The Analog Flesh' somewhat remind of them, just like early Ministry, when Al Jourgensen first discovered guitars. 'Divided' raises the tempo a bit and thus becomes one of my favorites on this album. This tune brings very few new acts to mind but nicely represents everything that Ritual Aesthetic stands for: "in-fucking-dustrial". 

The album rages on with sheer power until the strange 'Mechanism Of Desire (Electronic Substance Abuse Remix)' appears. This drum & bass meets Thunderdome remix seems to be recorded on a different, lower volume level but that could just be the press version. Nonetheless, you light just crank up the volume and get lost in the madness. By the end, true cybergoths will adore the pounding 'Amnesiac (Xentrifuge Remix)'.

So there you have it, "industrial" in all aspects of the music. That would make Ritual Aesthetic one of the most interesting acts in today's "Maschinenscene" or however you would like to name it. Fact remains that this album is loaded with electronic energy that just can't wait to pierce the darkest regions of your very soul. It's probably not difficult to find people to recommend this one to. Industrialists of all ages: check this one out.


​Serge

electronic / industrial / EBM

This was a surprise to me. I could have never expected that a world famous act like Lords Of Acid would appear in the Merchants Of Air inbox. I mean, what does Maurice Engelen have to gain from appearing on this website? Or am I being just too modest here? 
Fact is, I have been a Lords Of Acid / Praga Khan fan since 'I Sit On Acid'. I bought the single in 1988 in a local record shop. The next week, the shop went bankrupt but that has nothing to do with the story here. I followed them for a while, watched them live a few times and eventually lost track when my musical interest fully shifted towards metal.

Yet, still once in a while a song popped up, one that I really digged. 'Scrood Bi U' and 'Rough Sex' often appear in my playlist, along with a number of Praga Khan tunes. I loved the rough, uncompromising and in-your-face approach of all those tunes. That's why I eventually selected this album for review. I listened to it for a few times, trying to decide what to write about it. To be honest, I was rather disappointed at first. This felt so goody-goody and even somewhat cheap. Something was wrong here.

Of course, everybody knows that erotica and hedonism are the driving forces behind Lords Of Acid. It's a gimmick, one which works if the music fits well. In that aspect 'Break Me' doesn't seem to be a very good opener. Driving on an old school EBM bassline, the song blends late eighties electronics with female fronted alternative rock. I remember thinking "Doro meets Nitzer Ebb". Don't ask me why. On the other hand, for Lords Of Acid fans, this surely is a sexy tune to kick off twelve electronic adventures, right?

'Ma Fille De Joie' seems to tribute Serge Gainsbourg's tantalizing atmosphere. It's a slow track with heavy drums. It's also somewhat creepy, but I don't think that's a surprise. Still, my first "yes" moment appeared with the old school acid house track 'Flow Juice'. This one takes me right back to those gritty dancefloors, plus, the raps brings that 'You Suck' song by Consolidated to mind. Another unusual name that come to mind is Clawfinger, more specifically on 'Like Pablo Escobar', a neat crossover tune.

The gloomy 'Before The Night Is Over' is my favorite track here. KMFDM and Die Krupps come to mind, which usually is a good thing. 'Androgyny' follows a similar path while 'Goldfinger' successfully attempts to effectuate elements from The Prodigy. But it's not all good. 'What The Fuck' completely misses the point by trying to sound like something edgy from Flo Rida or something. At the end, 'We Are The Freaks' also messes up by turning something that feels like Marilyn Manson into a rather common Soundcloud rapper thing.

The verdict? 'Pretty In Kink' is not a bad album. It contains some awesome dancefloor fillers and a bunch of possible live smashers. However somehow I feel like Maurice Engelen and his new group of deviants have been trying too hard to remain dirty, raunchy and edgy. Obviously, fans will eat this up (or out) but I still remain a bit hungry. The good thing is, it's a good old fashioned Lords Of Acid album, undoubtedly surpassing all of the crappy electronics that are hip and cool these days. So yeah, I will recommend it, mostly because it's still way better than Die Antwoord.


​Serge

EBM / industrial

One of the most amusing perks of being a music reviewer is being able to prove people wrong. Every time someone tells me that this or that genre is dead, I start scrolling my mailbox and rub a recently released album in their face. Only a few days ago a friend told me that EBM is dead.

Oh, what a mistake he made. Two hundred and forty-two seconds later I was pounding the title track for this record through his eardrums. That guy is deaf now, so I guess for him all music genres are currently dead. Sometimes everybody is right, it seems.


Actually, no, I didn't deafen anyone but I could have. Old school EBM is far from dead and once in a while another interesting album appears, one that seems to honor that old militaristic and repetitive pummeling sound that made acts like Front 242, DAF and Nitzer Ebb absolute fan favorites. This album by English trio Flesh Eating Foundation delves deep into the world of industrial electronics. It opens with the intense title track that immediately brings Nitzer Ebb to mind. With raging electronics and hardcore vocals, this trio has everything to make them sound as if they come right out of the eighties, which obviously is nice.

The electronic pounding continues for a while with two more awesome dark dancefloor killers but then, suddenly, 'Shame' shows a completely different side of the band. Here, blues rock comes shining through, which is odd but definitely interesting. Undoubtedly, this adds a lot to the variation. Later, in 'Futurelast' (featuring Adam Probert) the band goes all atmospheric downtempo on our asses. In fact, this is my favorite song so far. I love the drones, the sequencers, the noise and the methodical percussion in this tune. 

'Punk Drunk' brings back the heavy beats and sounds like Depeche Mode would have sounded if they took the same kinds of drugs as The Prodigy. 'Sick Prick Dick Lick (For The Throat)' pushes up the tempo to 'Der Mussolini' levels and might as well become a fan favorite. 'Stand Up And Be Discounted' reminds me of Atari Teenage Riot going dub. Before the customary remixes the massive EBM anthem 'Capacity' seems to take influences from Calva Y Nada, thus becomes another one favorite for me.

So yeah, EBM is far from dead. It's still stomping and kicking...


​Serge