Hey, kids. The big story this past weekend in Our Thing was, of course, the Coldwaves Jamie Duffy Memorial show. While neither Alex nor I could make it down to Chicago to see it firsthand, our editorial curmudgeon Matt Pathogen (he’s half H.L. Mencken, half Bob Howard) took it all in and will be posting a full report right here on these pages. From what we could gather from various folks’ updates over the weekend the whole thing was a huge, sold-out success, and any party that ends with 80% of the Chicago industrial scene onstage singing Foreigner’s “Jukebox Hero” is aces in my book. Let’s get to this week’s new tracks…

Nexus Kenosis, “Future Divided”
Sweden’s Progress Productions have been responsible for the release of a sizable percentage of our favourite records from across the dark electronic spectrum over the past few years, perhaps not a coincidence when their dedication to issuing records by acts from their homeland is taken into account (a quick run-down: Henric de la Cour, Necro Facility, SPARK!, Kite). They’re preparing to launch a new project from Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (though where he’s from with a name like that is anyone’s guess), famed for his work in longstanding EBM outfit Pouppée Fabrikk, the thoroughly unpleasant but compelling death industrial project MZ412, power electronics act Folkstorm, and probably half a dozen others I’m forgetting. In any case, if this track is any indication, we’ll be in for some unsettling stuff that straddles the EBM/electro-industrial boundary.

PROSYMNA, “Theme from Suspiria”
Like we said a while back, the witch house aesthetic is a great fit for tributes to works like “Twin Peaks” and “Akira” (apparently there’s also a “Dune” one which seems like it’d be worth checking). But, if there’s one film which has likely propelled the crosses n’ triangles set further than any other, it’s Dario Argento’s blood and tint soaked classic which is literally about a house of witches, “Suspiria”. The main theme by legendary Italian horrorists Goblin has never been too far from reach, even cropping up this summer in a surprisingly high-profile context. Point being, a witch house tribute to “Suspiria” is an obvious move, but also a necessary one, and as long as you hit the main theme out of the park like PROSYMNA do, it’s all good.
PROSYMNA – Theme from Suspiria by Prosymna

The Pain Machinery, “Outside (Tripping the Tangent Fantastic Remix)”
Reworked from their excellent Restart LP, here’s a brand-spankin’ new Pain Machinery remix. This cool, woozy number comes courtesy of Clive Pierce of 80s EBM/minimal wave act Hard Corps, who are experience a bit of a renewal in interest thanks to some reissues on Minimal Wave.

Ghosts In The Clocktower, “71T_09-NE4”
I tell you what, folks, this is how you write a press release. You may have already been hipped to Ghosts In The Clocktower in the past few days (we’ve seen more than a couple of bands talking it up on the Tweetbooks), but I’d feel remiss if I didn’t do my best to point more people to this stuff. A side project of Worms Of The Earth’s Dan Barrett which has been on the backburner until the recent arrival of collaborator Michael Sciortino, Ghosts In The Clocktower have just released a nine track EP of super dark IDM which perfectly suits the project’s “exploring abandoned spacecraft” conceit. Out on Abstrakt Reflections, it’s proven to be a great listen on a first pass…oh yeah, and it’s a free download. To paraphrase Aliens, “Well, here comes our salvage, guys.”

S U R V I V E, “cschz 01”
A lengthy, spaced-out ambient track from the Austin act whose debut you might recall me gushing over a while back. Initially released on a mega-limited cassette run, this two track untitled EP’s just been given a digital release as well as a somewhat less limited cassette reissue. As might be expected with a 22-minute synth jam (an early track which from which album opener “Deserted Skies” would later be culled), names of masters like Vangelis and Klaus Schulze come to mind, but it’s all presented with the gauzy lo-fi atmospherics which made their LP so distinct.