Brooklyn’s Statiqbloom is the dark hallucinogenic brainchild of Fade Kainer. Drawing from the grittiness of early industrial and EBM, Statiqbloom combines hard dance beats and haunting electronics with disorienting vocals to create a pulsing raw vision of music for today.
Kainer has also provided vocals and electronic soundscapes for industrial doom metal band Batillus, and, previously, industrial metal duo Inswarm. In addition, Kainer is a member of blackened synth band Theologian, has played synths and percussion on tour for Jarboe, and has done remixes for a variety of bands and artists, including Chris Connelly, Nachtmystium and Secrets of the Moon.
Listen and order here.
Minuit Machine, a synth wave band based in Paris, is the association of Hélène de Thoury’s electronic melodies and Amandine Stioui’s vocals.
The project was born in Hélène’s mind in June 2013 during a tour with Phosphor, her former band. In September this same year, she met Amandine and fell in love with her voice. Together, they released their first EP called “Blue Moon” in October 2013. The sound of the French duo, based on powerful electronic drums and the accumulation of dark synth lines, is a mix between all their inspirations that range from minimal wave to electronic rock.
Their debut album “Live & Destroy” will be released by established french label desire in the Fall of 2014 and will be followed by an european tour.
It talks about life, love, self-destruction and fear, all the struggles we encounter one day or another, all the doubts and darkness that can sometimes bring us down. And the idea that our worst enemy could be our own mind.
Listen and order here.
“evaluated” is the companion album to “evaluations”, the debut album of TSTI, released on desire18 months ago. It contains 14 remixes (10 on the vinyl + 4 as bonus digital) by producers and bands as diverse as Soft Riot, Phosphor, XIU, Heinrich Dressel, Castratii, Roladex…
Isolated in an upstate, NY bedroom studio exists TSTI, a solo project by artist S. Smith described as ‘dark, hazy synthetic pop.’ Constructing musical landscapes that combine pounding drum machines with elevated melodies, TSTI stirs the echoes of his 80’s influences into a pot of contradicting emotions to establish a diverse yet familiar and powerful sound.
The genesis of TSTI began in a 2003 but did not show its face until the summer 2011 with the self-released, 4 song demo “Black Envelope EP.” The first 10 months of 2012 TSTI spent writing, recording and mixing his full-length release “evaluations” which consist of 9 tracks assessing those that surround him.
Listen and order here.
Olympia, Washington’s political post-punk outfit Underpass uses a minimalist approach to craft songs about isolation, displacement and gentrification. Formed in 2013 by Alexander Miranda, the band’s creative force behind the quartet, and his cohorts, who’s names are withheld due to border issues, N.C (bass) D.L (synths) and M.W: (floor tom and snare), create dark heavy punk at its best by incorporating large atmospheric synths, deep echoing bass lines with “Robert Smith kissed” guitar compositions and haunting vocals.
Recorded in Vancouver, BC over the course of two sleepless days and nights by Josesph Hirobiashi, then mastered By Mell Dettmer (Earth, Sunn O))), Assimilation is nothing short of a call to action. On “Stranger” Miranda recalls the cities where he came of age such as Vancouver, Seattle and Olympia that have since come and gone and he no longer recognizes due to the intense wave of development that surged through the region in the early 2000’s and still continues today. “Side” reflects more personal experience recalling a time where a friend was assaulted and stabbed multiple times while on public transit in Southern California.
Underlying the record as a whole, Miranda draws on his personal experiences growing up in a politically charge Native American family where he experienced cultural displacement, personal conflict and of course assimilation. “I really admire writers who can create songs that mean something different to everyone,” explains Miranda. “With Assimilation I tried to accomplish this by allowing the each listener to connect to the record in different ways by internalizing their own experiences and relating to it in their own unique way.”
Listen and order here.
Keluar, based in Berlin, is a duo consisting of the electronic sounds of Sid Lamar and the voice and words of Zoè Zanias. Their debut EP, ‘Ennoea’, was released by Desire Records in July 2013, and was followed by a European tour spanning from London to Athens.
Limited to 500 copies – solid white vinyl – 12’’ x 12’’ insert – download card.
Listen and order here.
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