AVANT! Records: HØRD – Bodies

HØRD – Bodies

HøRD is the solo project of Bordeaux-based synthwave producer Sebastien Carl. Started in 2014, Sebastien has proven himself to be able to gather a cult fan-base around his creation in a short time, collaborating with artists as Hante, Winter Severity Index and Black Bug and performing live in most European countries.

Debuted by Antoni Maiovvi and Vercetti Technicolor’s Giallo Disco, an EP on SNTS’ Sacred Court and a second full-length on Avant! have followed. Bodies is his third album and it shows eight new passages that take HøRD’s distinguishing features one step further once more.

Ethereal synths matching deep analogue beats, veiled vocals speaking of visions, memories, meaning and failing. Synthwave sounds like a soundtrack from the 80′s meet electro and techno mechanical rhythms along a stream of tracks that almost have no name so that the listener can just let them flow and flow with them, taking a journey away from the present time and into an abstract, dream-like modern dimension where the misty and the solid are one.

LP / Digital Album

Posted on May 3rd, 2020 under Releases, ,

Pinkman: Ian Martin – Neo Modernist

Ian Martin - Neo Modernist

Ian Martin’s Neo Modernist is an exercise in introspection, where things aren’t always rosy. Confronting your anxieties and fears may not be pleasant but sometimes necessary to escape deterioration. Ian Martin’s music channels these feelings, and gives beauty to something that expressed in words can seem depressing. One of Rotterdam’s best kept secrets comes through with maximum emotion and prowess. Take notice.

12″ Mini Album / Digital Album

Posted on May 2nd, 2020 under Releases, ,

Werkstatt Recordings: Metal Disco – Clublife

Metal Disco – Clublife

Metal Disco is the solo project of Toxic Razor of Paradox Obscur.

Nothing is disclosed from behind the wall of misinformation and masked anonymity Metal Disco present to the world.

Digital Album

Posted on May 1st, 2020 under Releases, ,

Bureau B: CEL – Self-titled

CEL

The debut album from this German-Polish duo CEL is a test laboratory for rhythmic cadences and electrostatic discharges. Under the expert guidance of Hamburg producer Tobias Levin, they have created seven self-contained instrumentals enriched by vibraphone, xylophone and African percussion. Zemler’s stripped down mechanics and Kubin’s erratic electronics dovetail superbly. A sense of concentrated restlessness pervades the album – in the greater stream of things, some tracks come close to bursting their banks whilst others scale the loftiest heights of insanity. And yet – every movement, every tone fits perfectly. There is method to the madness, an exercise in systematic excess.

LP / Digital Album

Posted on April 30th, 2020 under Releases, ,

Dais Records: Riki – Self-titled

Riki

Riki is the Los Angeles based dark synth-pop outfit commandeered by the mysterious Niff Nawor, a visual artist and musician active in the deathrock / anarcho-punk scenes of the California bay area (formerly a member of Crimson Scarlet), before founding her solo endeavor as Riki in 2017. Niff’s desire to explore her own sound manifested in the recording of the Hot City cassette tape in 2017, which featured Chelsey Crowley of Crimson Scarlet, Skot Brown of Phantom Limbs and Peđaof Doomed to Extinction. Released on Commodity Tapes and later reissued on vinyl by the well-regarded Symphony of Destruction label, Riki followed the release of the single with several small tours and festival dates, performing with such acts as Light Asylum, Black Marble, and Trisomie 21.

For her self-titled debut album for Dais, Riki explores courage, physicality, and romance across eight timeless synth pop anthems. Produced and engineered by hardware-based synthesist Matia Simovich of INHALT, influences and ideas are worn proudly without deviating from fresh and daring electro-pop territory. Nostalgic cues can be heard ranging from Neue Deutsch Welle, early Adrian Sherwood productions, classic ZYX Italo Disco, Japanese Visual Kei and even classic new wave/pop like Pat Benatar, Kate Bush, and early Madonna.

The lead single, Napoleon, contains Riki’s indelible sound design, reminiscent of 80’s New York dance floor electro-pop that recalls the fusion of uptown and downtown styles and culture, told through Riki’s present day West Coast narrative. For contrast, the second single entitled Böse Lügen (Body Mix) was previously released in demo form and re-mixed to emphasize its commanding presence and addictive nature. Translated simply to “Wicked Lies” and sung completely in German, Böse Lügen moves away from the upbeat romanticism found throughout the album and commands serious self-reflection guised within an infectious dance floor anthem.

Riki invites listeners to “reveal their useless habits of complacency and fear…and witness their own rebirth, a rhythm universal”.

LP / Digital Album

Posted on April 29th, 2020 under Releases, ,