Annnnnnd he’s back. Fresh from the continent, Alex returns to the I Die: You Die fold for this week’s Tracks posting. What treasures did he bring home from his journeys? What shows did he partake in, and what wonders did he behold in those faraway lands? You’ll probably need to listen to We Have a Technical this week to find out, but he would like to take a moment to thank Bruce for holding down the fort in ol’ Vancouver whilst he was eating pizza and vegan gelato and guzzling wine like a roman senator. On to this week’s new songs, friends!

Kontravoid's new member has a wicked good haircut.

LEATHERS, “Day For Night”
We’re happy to premiere the second track from LEATHERS, the side-project of Vancouver’s Actors. We talked up the summery Curve vibe of “Missing Scene” a good deal on the site and podcast. And while “Day For Night” is a much more stripped down affair, it still cinches the gauzy pop sheen Jason Corbett and Shannon Hemmett are overlaying atop their post-punk foundations in this new project, and features a great vocal turn from Hemmett, sitting somewhere between Terri Nunn and Julee Cruise. Check the video here, and then go cop the track on Bandcamp.

Pig, “The Diamond Sinners (KANGA remix)”
Following relatively closely on the heels of Pig’s recent The Gospel comes remix companion Swine & Punishment, a hefty collection of alternate versions featuring SKOLD, Android Lust, London After Midnight, tweaker, Mortiis and many others. For our money the hottest track is this slowburn version of “The Diamond Sinners” by the inimitable Kanga, who adds production and vocal elements to the song, taking the bluesy original into soupy, atmospheric new territory.

Saltillo, “The Us We Do Not See”
It’s been a full five years since Menton J. Matthews III released any music under the Saltillo name. Fair enough; the man splits his time between music and painting pretty evenly. We’re digging the infusion of some post-rock into Matthews’ already heady blend of downtempo and symphonic elements. The three track Ascension release is apparently “a sign of things to come,” so stay tuned.

Kontravoid, “So It Seems”
Ex-Crystal Castles drummer Cameron Findlay returns under the auspices of his Kontravoid project. Where Findlay’s 2012 LP explored electropop and post-punk synth sounds, new song “So It Seems” feels firmly set to the current wave of techno flavoured body music. Like all the music Kontravoid has released there’s a genuine grittiness and nervousness to the track, as tension is built up before being released through snapping snare drums and waves of grinding analogue bass. Nice to have ’em back, and looking forward to hearing what direction the masked man takes us next.

Empusae, “Guiding Light feat. Colin H. Van Eeckhout”
Empusae’s Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe has a lengthy discography spanning the spectrum from dark ambient to martial industrial to even further fields, but he’s rarely brought all of his powers to bear in quite as lush and ornate a manner as on the new Lueur LP, consisting of two lengthy tracks with vocals from Belgian sludge metaller Colin H. van Eeckhout of Amenra. Drones, strings, and thunderous drums slowly build and swell into an imposing storm front.

Winterkälte, “Planet Earth First”
Straight from the Forms of Hands stage (and the festival compilation), Winterkälte deliver some of their environmentally themed rhythmic noise with new song “Planet Earth First”. Featuring a stunning video clip from friend of ID:UD Dominique Marceau, the song is classic ‘Kälte; industrial grade distortion applied to ever-shifting drum patterns, the song’s depth created by arrangement and variation. The project hasn’t released a new album since 2004 but has never been entirely absent from Our Thing, perhaps 2017 is the year the power noise gurus grace us with something substantial to sink our teeth into.