Music Reviews of Techno, Trance, Industrial, Electronica
Band Spotlight
Chiodos
Perhaps no one can explain the sheer ferocity and timid quietness it is better than when vocalist Craig Owens says “we don’t want to let the kids down” when discussing the group’s intense vocals live at shows. Well they never let a single kid down with their vicious assault on the ears and grip on the jugular...
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Current Top Ten Chart
Skinny Puppy - Mythmaker
Converge - No Heroes
The Graduate - Anhedonia
Death By Stereo - Death Alive
Comeback Kid - Broadcasting
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth
Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
The Geeks - Every Time We Fall
Limbeck - Limbeck
WinterKids - Memoirs
03.09.2007 by J-Sin
Music Reviews of Techno, Trance, Jungle, Trip-Hop, Industrial, Electronica, IDM, House, Drum&Bass
KiloWatts — Routes Buy it at Amazon
I reviewed their “Problem/Solving” album a while back here on Smother Magazine and thoroughly enjoyed it. They continue in the ambient vein with some dark and dank tunes that sound like processed field recordings with distorted psychedelic sonic etchings drawn through them. There’s plenty of melody and catchiness though, just check out “Learn to Love Loneliness” which despite it despondent and melancholy moniker is a richly texture bleep riddled glitchy IDM beat-oriented groovy anthem. Think Aphex Twin with a little dash of Autechre and plenty of hypnotic groove and downtempo breaks. I’m thinking about how redefining this album is for the whole IDM and ambient genre in of itself. If you don’t pick up this album, you’re missing out on a genre-definer for sure.
- J-Sin
Armin van Buuren — A State of Trance 2006 Buy it at Amazon
Armin Van Buuren has been on the top of the publicly voted DJ Top 100 for some time now. Why? Because he’s one of trance’s elite DJs. Minting us with a double disc of fun-filled high energy melodic trance bangers, Armin has made a mark as a DJ, producer, and renowned remixer. He canvasses all of trance to find some of the true gems and have combined them here for a mix album that blends house influences with some breaks and a lot of progressive melodic trance. Floor fillers for sure will be found around each corner. I’ve always been a big fan of Armin, whether it’s his own signature trademark cuts, his fantastically blended DJ mix albums or even his incredible live sets. Perfect follow-up to his fantastic “A State of Trance 2005”.
- J-Sin
Steril — Realism Buy it at Amazon
Industrial mavens Steril boast elements of EBM and driving electronica that delivers their fifth album (and first studio album in some four years) into the hearts and minds of those who love their electronic music harsh and yet oddly melodic. Catchy rhythms that are both danceable and energetically driven provide the backdrop. Meanwhile the synth loops remind one of Apoptygma Berzerk with its pseudo trance-pop infectiousness. The vocals can snarl and melodically croon. Awesome!
- J-Sin
Massiv In Mensch — Klang Der Unsterblichkeit Buy it at Amazon
German dancefloor addicts look no further than Massiv In Mensch for their fix. Banging out huge big beat techno hits along German vocals and hard synth tweaking, Massiv In Mensch provide the landscape perfect for readying your dance shoes. This is the teaser EP to tantalize your tastebuds for their forthcoming full-length “Clubber Lang” and boy does it do its job. A remix by The Promise along with a remix of “Around My Heart”, a b-side, and a live version of “You’re the Greatest Lover” makes this essential for collectors and fans.
- J-Sin
Venus Hum — The Colors in the Wheel Buy it at Amazon
Having toured with the Blue Man Group, Venus Hum got some bit of notoriety and fan attention. “The Colors in the Wheel” showcase Venus Hum’s ability to write soft melodic indie pop with beautiful melodies. They mix in crafty electronic pop with eclectic synths and sweet laptop drum loops while always focusing on the female vocals. A bit similar to an Imogen Heap type of sound, “The Colors in the Wheel” is a fantastic journey of melody, harmony, electronics, and ethereal vocals.
- J-Sin
Massiv In Mensch — Clubber Lang Buy it at Amazon
Swirling hard electronic pop music from Germany’s Massiv in Mensch is on order here on their fourth full-length release. “Clubber Lang” shows off big beats, dynamic synth loops, and awesome acid lines. Bouncing beats and hard floor fillers seem to promise to keep your body in constant movement. Indeed there’s no calm of inertia here on this four-to-the-floor EBM adventure. Their interpretation of U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is an exhausting take on that pop-rock juggernaut which saw the group enlist some help from The Promise’s Sven Enzelmann.
- J-Sin
Wzt Hearts — Heat Chief Buy it at Amazon
Field recordings, ambient noise, white noise, and psychedelic audio disturbances are all unraveled here on this four song forty minute adventure. Wzt Hearts who assure us that it’s pronounced “wet” open out with modern flairs of drone and ambient noise with distorted flakes of bizarre minimalism. Exploring the harsh side and soft side of noise, Wzt Hearts ripple with caustic clatters and soundscapes of digital dissonance. Brilliantly mapping out the genome of sound, “Heat Chief” is an abstract tale of delightful drone.
- J-Sin
Dorje — XIM Buy it at Amazon
Recorded and produced in Toronto, Los Angeles, Italy, New York, and Lithuania, “XIM” is an international effort by Canada’s Dorje. Of course throughout his life he was bouncing from country to country; he was born in Boulder, Colorado then moved to Japan onto to move to Nova Scotia. Dorje culls techno with club-friendly beats, soaring vocals, and icy synths. He enlisted Michal the Girl to sing on a couple of tracks, electronica fans will remember her voice that graced some ATB choons. The songs are rich with hard breaks, plodding rhythms, and coursing electro vibes. Check it, now!
- J-Sin
Paul Oakenfold — A Lively Mind Buy it at Amazon
Paul Oakenfold’s follow-up artist album, “A Lively Mind” is yet another album featuring a slew of famous guests and packed with dynamite rhythms and super slick production. Actress Brittany Murphy (“Sin City”, “8 Mile”) is the guest vocalist on the album opener in “Faster Kill Pussycat” and surprisingly she has a great voice, or perhaps the studio engineers elicited that voice with some more than meek tweaking. Oakenfold got his name first as world-renowned DJ and then as a producer/remixer. So we shouldn’t be too surprised that he enlisted the help of another world-renowned DJ in Grandmaster Flash on “Set It Off” for a hip-hop fused electronic pop anthem fueled by huge turntable scratching. Pharrell Williams is also featured on the album on “Sex N’ Money” backed with a filthy synth and thudding bass. Spitfire and Ryan Tedder are also featured on several tracks adding their unique talents. This album feels much more club-friendly than his last with some very huge four-to-the-floor anthems like “Amsterdam” with its spacey acid lines, big beats, and thunderous techno rhythms leading the way as well as “Praise the Lord” with its staccato techno beat, weird Christian religious samples, and Bonds-esque spy bass and “Save the Last Trance for Me” which like the title suggest follows a progressive trance anthem beat as it builds and builds into a sweaty club anthem. Oakenfold once again fires on a million cylinders with precision.
- J-Sin
Yellow Swans — Drift Buy it at Amazon
Bay Area duo Yellow Swans gather delectable sounds and discard them for something harsh and nasty. Psychedelic noise collages shiver with eerie deliveries of cerebral itching throughout “Drift”. Not simply a drone noise alchemy, there’s elements of field recordings here as well. Dark ambient music this unsettling tasks one’s mind allowing your imagination to veer off into a multitude of directions, therefore “Drift” couldn’t be a more aptly titled album.
- J-Sin
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