We gave it a quick mention on the podcast, but we’d like to draw folks’ attention to the storm brewing down in Los Angeles. No, not the storm over [INSERT TOPICAL SPORTS REFERENCE #52], but concerning the just announced three day festival that’s being assembled to celebrate Das Bunker’s 20th anniversary in October. We’re not at liberty to disclose any of the line-up as of yet, but it includes a host of heavy hitters from Our Thing which speaks to the Bunker crew’s years in the game. Looks like Industrial Summer Camp’s gonna be running well into the fall this year: do you have the constitution for it, campers? Let’s give you some new tracks to get you in shape.

SPARK! Eveyone knows a clown packs!

SPARK!, “Zombie”
We’ll cop to being lukewarm on SwEBM act SPARK!’s last full length LP. That may be partially attributable to the departure of Stefan Brorsson, leaving Mattias Ziessow to complete an album with an array of other singers. It was Biomekkanik’s Christer Hermodsson who stood out from the pack of guest vocalists, and it was shortly announced shortly thereafter that he would be the new permanent voice of SPARK!. New single “Zombie” is promising enough: Hermodsson’s voice is a nice compliment to Ziessow’s 16th note basslines and punky kick-snare patterns. It’ll be interesting to see how it works across an entire record.

Blush Response, “Body Artifex”
Joey Blush’s breakout year continues with Body Architect, his new one for [aufnahme + wiedergabe]. Some of you may recall his last one for the ahead-of-the-curve Belin label was more on the techno-industrial style. This one feels like it’s splitting the difference between that sound and Reshaper, the really good rhythmic noise LP he just put out for Ant-Zen. Strong, deeply designed work as always, it’s another winner from a producer on a roll that shows no sign of slowing down.

Disharmony, “Memorized Skin”
Few bands kick between IDM, classic electro-industrial, and ambient as confidently as Slovakia’s Disharmony. It’s been three years since their last LP, and now here they are moving into the post-Tympanik (R.I.P.) phase of their career with this taster EP. The tension between that which is crystal clear and that which is scarred and occluded has always made Disharmony worthy of attention, and this new piece is no exception.

Eschaton, “Answer My Prayer”
We’ve been idly referring to 2016 as the year of techno-industrial, and there’s been plenty of good releases to support that assertion so far. How about a collab from two separate acts that each can lay claim to cred in that equation? Orphx are no strangers to industrial and techno audiences both; the long-running Hamiltonian duo have a scrolls-deep discography that caters to a wide swathe of electronic music appreciators. Ancient Methods seem to have emerged into the broader consciousness over the last 18 months, buoyed by cosigns from acts as diverse as The Soft Moon and Theologian. This is actually the second 12″ this team-up has produced, but the timing couldn’t feel more right for another dose of clinically-controlled beats and surgical grade programming.

Dissociate, “GUH!”
Snappy bleeps and squelches coming by way of Minneapolis’ Dissociate. Though the project’s been kicking around for a donkey’s age, we’ll cop to being unfamiliar. That said, the skronky electro bounce on display on new LP parse/process is immediately welcoming. Should appeal to folks who dig on Kill Memory Crash, We Have A Ghost, and Big Black Delta.

Plazas, “2 Leave U Behind”
Lastly, some dark and nifty bedroom synthpop from our own backyard. We actually just caught the one-woman act for the first time last night, though Plazas have been gigging about town for a year or so. Soft and clearly delivered with just the right amount of shadow and restraint, second EP Empathy‘s just been released digitally and on tape.