Welp, it’d probably be possible for the senior staff to have had two more different weekends, but it was still a pretty extreme divide. With Alex in his motherland of Nova Scotia visiting friends and family and drinking deeply from the well of icy ennui that rolls in off the Atlantic, and Bruce in Los Angeles at the massive blow-out for LA’s Das Bunker (RIP, and more on that later to be sure), things were, shall we say, a touch divided. Massive distances don’t stop the show though, and it’s just not a Monday without a tracks posting to get things started right. Enjoy!
Black Lung, “The Business of Selling”
There’s been a Black Lung almost as long as there’s been a Snog, a heady and cerebral instrumental expression of Dee Thrussel’s recurring creative themes (corporate dominance, economic warfare and the business of mind control) that stands as a contrast to the more sardonic and cynical tone of the main project. As Snog has become less and less “industrial”, focusing more on folk and pop ideas in musical construction, Black Lung has continues to wave the technoid banner, most recently with a distinctly analogue flavour, as evidence by the new single “The Business of Control”. If you ever wanted a crash course in the radical end of Thrussel’s beliefs, you can dive right into the video embeded below. The new 12″ which cynically promises to shape a “Moral, Spiritual, Cultural, Political and Economic Outlook for the Contemporary Business Environment” is out on February 8th from M-Tronik, pre-orders are available now.
Gin Devo, “Dark Frequencies”
God only knows how Gin Devo is keeping this pace up. The mastermind behind Vomito Negro has been keeping insanely busy with that project’s now prolific release schedule (a follow-up to last year’s excellent Fall of an Empire will apparently drop soonish) and a couple of solo releases to boot. This track seems to indicate that the new GD album Garden of Evil will be focusing more on the atmospheric and bleak end of his work, although there’s something pretty insistent in the rhythm of this track, propulsive even in the absence of any kind of bass drum. New blackness from a cat whose welcome return to the game has been pretty rewarding thus far.
Ruinizer, “Upon An Armoured Beast (feat. E.S.A.)”
Bass-heavy sturm und drang from a new project on DWA, featuring none other than Jamie Blacker on vocals. Whether it’s on quiet Access To Arasaka tunes or lumbering behemoths like this, Jamie always brings gravitas to other projects. Thick production and a liberal schmear of apocalyptic shizz make for a fun stompy listen, which is pretty much what one would wants from an album featuring a ramped-up version of DOOM‘s Cyberdemon.
Celldöd, “Betong”
The new sublabel from our homeboys at Complete Control Productions is Complete Command, and as the track from their debut cassette below suggests, the imprint is dedicated to down n’ dirty dance music in the classic acid and body vein. This track by Celldöd has some of the markers that we’ve been tracking in the sound of flagship CCP band The Pain Machinery, and although details aren’t 100% clear, we’re sure that at least some of the folks involved in projects on the main label will be also producing some stylistically different material for Complete Command. First release Pulsdisco#1 is orderable now, in a hella limited cassette edition.
Yingthi, “MarsOne”
Finally, a piece from new Minneapolis producer Yingthi’s first release. Nautical and spacey, this piece is rather chill and super abrasive in equal measure, which seems to be as good a guidepost as any for the rest of Reverse Polarity‘s woozy compositions. Thoughtful late-night stuff.
Celldöd = Anders from TPM so there’s that 🙂