Pablo Bozzi
Ghost Of Chance
Dischi Autunno
Lord knows Pablo Bozzi hasn’t recently lacked for various guises through which the Berlin-based producer can pursue specific strains of electronics. Hot off the debut release from the Infravision project which reached well beyond the usual tropes of synthwave, and while continuing to ply a punishing brand of EBM as half of Imperial Black Unit, Bozzi’s second solo EP on the Dischi Autunno offers a hi-def and hard-hitting interpretation of italo disco, underpinned by strong body music fundamentals. While comprised of the same core elements and influences as its predecessor, Last Moscow Mule, Ghost Of Chance just seems to amplify the immediacy of its simple but wholly energized synth leads, as on “Night Voices” and “Vanishing Paradise” as well as the scope and power of its rhythms. Factor in a willingness to experiment with the classic italo form, as on the breaks and big beat-flavoured “Hotswitch”, and Ghost Of Chance delivers a huge amount of colour and creativity across its six tracks while still scratching the chronic itch for classic italo.
Missing Witness
Crawling Down
self-released
Seattle’s Missing Witness have been working a gritty, lo-fi style of electro-industrial that doesn’t skimp on atmosphere. Indeed, a trip through the recent Crawling Down EP shows a lot of dark electro influence, with big reverbs and pads creating space arranged around its tense beats and distorted vocals. For the songs the make up the middle portion of the 4 track release that provides a fair bit of texture to contrast with their speediness. “The Feast” is all degraded kick drums, metallic snare hits and processed-to-rust vocals, but the song is widened out via delays and stereo placement to keep it open in spite of it’s sweaty and proximal feel, where “Run, Hide” allows big washes of synth and noise to inform its progress from the introduction of its fuzzed bassline through to its conclusion. The opening and closing tracks manage a more emotional feel via smart arrangement choices; “A Shadow Passing Over” takes its time building big vocal swells into to a big breakout moment, when it’s rapidfire drums go from hammer to propulsion it’s a huge release, a contrast to the title track’s inevitable crawl across pulled apart bass synths and layers of pained vocalization. It’s deliberately rough-edged stuff but that’s part of the appeal, hearing an errant melody or snatch of human voice rise through the din intriguing and holding the ear.
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