Modular synthesizer enthusiast Drew McDowall is best known for his work with British industrial legends Coil during the ’90s, although his career actually stretches back to the late ’70s. The Scottish musician started post-punk band the Poems with his then-wife, Rose McDowall, in 1978. The group rarely gigged, as the Glasgow pub crowd wasn’t especially interested in their music, and there wasn’t anywhere else for the group to perform. McDowall subsequently moved to London and abandoned guitar-based music, becoming a part of the industrial community. He worked with Genesis P-Orridge and Psychic TV, and eventually joined Coil during the ’90s, contributing to their remixes of Nine Inch Nails as well as the classic Musick to Play in the Dark album. McDowall left Coil and moved to New York City in 2000, becoming a fixture of the city’s experimental music scene. He began a project called Captain Sons and Daughters with Kara Bohnenstiel, and later teamed up with Tres Warren of Psychic Ills to form Compound Eye. The group debuted in 2012 with the Origin of Silence LP on The Spring Press, which was followed by Journey from Anywhere, issued by Editions Mego. McDowall began performing solo at the urging of Long Distance Poison’s Nathan Cearley, who invited him to perform at one of the quarterly Modular Solstice concerts in 2012. McDowall then became very active as a solo performer, and in 2015 Dais Records issued his debut solo full-length, Collapse. Two years later, the label released McDowall’s second solo album, Unnatural Channel, which was mixed by Josh Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv, Second Woman). ~ Paul Simpson
Digital Album
To have such amazing artists come together to collaborate on such a deeply personal song is an absolute dream come true. Thematically the song is pretty transparent as it deals with feelings of loss and frustration that there is no hope for any redemption in the future. We would like to donate all the proceeds of this song to Planned Parenthood in hopes that people in need of these resources can continue to attain them without ever having to feel lost or frustrated with taking care of their reproductive health.
Digital Track
Laughing is the confirmation of the bottomless void and confirmation of the individual’s victory over it. You, they and we together, have realized that nothing matters as soon as it matters. Being on the right side of the zero is inevitable. You lose here and there, but in addition you work there and here.
Cassette / Digital Album
Santiago Leyba makes his vinyl debut on the label following the ‘Rooms’ tape released earlier this year. Recorded simultaneously, ‘Life, Money, Work’ shows the New York-based artist by way of Albuquerque, New Mexico, portraying the different characters one might have in a broken mind.
Sketching a strong criticism of America by means of disorienting vocals and slow-paced D.I.Y. electronics, SANTIAGO finds him performing alter-egos of sorts — ranging from forlorn ballad singing, to more guttural and strained barking seeking to describe a conflict in maintaining a unified persona. Paid labor, sex, and consumer goods. How America tells you to grow up when there is nothing left but complacency and oppression through economic and social means. It all goes down to the shortcomings of humanity, the tangled webs we weave, the impossibility of justice and fairness, and the pressure those things put upon ourselves.
12″ EP / Digital Album
New York-based Santiago Leyba becomes the sixth installation in our ongoing tape series. Picturing delusional struggles and states of duress, ‘Rooms’ was recorded in complete social isolation and comes ahead of a 12-inch release to be released next month. Lost in a perception of changed reality and dead-end labyrinths of thoughts, SANTIAGO’s persona splits into pieces and relates to the claustrophobia and paranoia that contemporary life inspires.
How it takes a toll on us all. The slowness and uncomfortable nature of the music, excruciating decay, makes it incredibly uncomfortable but weirdly familiar too, or feels like it is moving through places we have all been before. Cycles of shame, guilt, financial trouble, fragmented relationships. Paranoid impressions of modern life that manifests as music with an uncanny resemblance or nod to contemporary techno and electronic sounds. A rotting mannequin resembling music.
Cassette / Digital Album
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