Coming out of a Canada Day long weekend which also timed up with the twelfth anniversary of the site, we have a whole bunch of Canadian and ID:UD biz to mention, from our commentary podcast looking back at the very beginnings of that most Canadian institution, Skinny Puppy, to an accidentally very Canadian episode of Bombers, to the new anniversary t-shirt design we’re taking orders for right now (along with reprints of the classic False EBM design). Thanks for all the support over the years, and we hope ID:UD can continue to help keep you abreast of business happening in all corners of dark music, not just Canadian ones. On with this week’s Tracks!

DSTR is back baby, wooooo

Ultra Sunn, “Broken Monsters”
Ultra Sunn have just recently been announced as signees to Artoffact Records, a label who have a good history of picking up bands on the ascent. The Belgian darkwavers have been a near-constant presence in the modern electro-darkwave conversation, with a stream of releases that have given their growth a spotlight, with new track “Broken Monsters” a good example; it has that funky groove in the bass and cymbal programming that helps it sit with cuts from many of their peers in a club set, but puts a big focus on the deep voice of Sam Huge for some extra gravitas where it counts. Excited to hear what this means for them going forward.

Kanga, “Rehab”
The shift to a more overtly poppy sound which Kanga’s previous LP, You And I Will Never Die pointed to looks to be continuing with forthcoming third LP Under Glass. But there are still some notable differences between this teaser track and the LA singer/producer’s previous work – even more so than the moody “Magnolia”, the first teaser track to see the light of day, there’s a brash and direct crispness to this number which points to a brighter overall presentation. Of course, we’ll discuss this further when Under Glass arrives in October.

Andi + Machino, “Softly, Softly”
NYC’s Andi and Los Angeles’ Machino have been working on their debut collaborative EP Parafernales for a couple years now, sending sounds and ideas back and forth and building up five tracks. You can definitely hear the new beat and classic body and rave influences that have informed Andi’s productions thus far, but the doubled shouted vocals and analogue clatter of the preview cuts has a synthpunky vibe we’re definitely feeling. Mark this one in the calendar.

DSTR, “Disappear (Single Version)”
A reworked version of a track which originally appeared on Haus Arkana’s recent quad comp, this number finds Myer and co. taking full advantage of the flexibility of the DSTR project. Tapping into recent continental darkwave sounds while still using the motorik industrial grounding of latter-era Haujobb, this version of “Disappear” almost sounds like Ash Code doing their own take on the sort of weighty and moody bangers featured on Loudspeaker.

Paladin, “Cavern Dwellers”
Longtime site fave Chris Gilbert is back with another single from his Paladin project, once again zeroing in on the very particular “wizard disco” aesthetic he’s had on lock for almost a full decade at this point. If the italo body music trend is starting to get a bit too raved-up and trancey for you, Paladin has the cure: Munch some fungi at dusk and go out in search of the titular cryptids while listening to this chill but lively number. (DISCLAIMER – I Die: You Die does not actually endorse psychedelic nocturnal spelunking. Just stay at home and watch ‘Lair Of The White Worm’ while tripping.)

Antigen Shift, “Extinction Event”
Antigen Shift has been a few different things over the years; evolving from the solo rhythmic noise project of Nick Thériault to it’s current formation as a duo with Jairus Khan, with the project moving towards a bass-music influenced orchestral technoid sound in recent releases. “Extinction Event” is one such track, showing both the breadth of ideas that Thériault and Khan are working with, and their experience as composers and programmers. Always nice to have something new from these cats, and to hear where their journeys have taken them most recently.