It was a jammed-up weekend for dark nightlife here in Van, with the Senior Staff double-dipping between a live set from X-IMG head honcho SARIN and our regular DJ residencies at Coffin Club. There are plenty of crises and challenges facing both live events and club promotion in North America right now, but at the same time things are still active enough that these sorts of double bookings and FOMO pitfalls are still possible, and it’s nice to have a scene healthy enough for them in a mid-sized city like Vancouver. On with this week’s tracks!
Last thing you see before Potochkine finishes you off.
Potochkine, “Endorphines”
We rather enjoyed the 2021 LP from French act Potochkine, a pleasing mixture of continental darkwave, body music club sounds and the occasional dash of minimal and synthpop. The first sounds we’re hearing from the forthcoming Sang d’Encre would suggest that the duo haven’t changed up their style so much as they’ve gotten a lot more intense with it. Check the bassline and those razor sharp cymbals on “Endorphines”, it’s a real manic feeling especially when you drop those sometimes aloof, sometimes shouted vocals on top. Another LP to keep an eye out for this fall!
Antigen Shift, “Because I Want”
We caught wind a while ago that long-running Canadian industrial act Antigen Shift was going to be doing something with Artoffact, and hey, wouldn’t you know it we now have a single to give a proper listen to. The Nick Theriault founded project, now a duo with Jairus Khan, has been on a long journet to the sound of “Antigen Shift”, starting in technoid and rhythmic noise territory, evolving over time into project’s current cinematic electronic club sound. You can still hear those noisy roots in “Because I Want”‘s programming and rhythms, mixed with somet sleek, modern production to create something properly big when played loud.
Gaping Chasm, “Are You Ready Follows”
We mostly know Anatoly “Tokee” Grinberg’s work through his recent slew of collaborations with Mark Spybey within and without the latter’s storied Dead Can Dance project, but a new release of Grinberg’s archival work from far earlier reveals a very different side of the Slovak producer. To wit, tunes like this one from the forthcoming Ergospective compilation are pure and dark 90s dark electro, right from the drippy, stygian schools of yelworC and vintage Mentallo. Within a few seconds you’ll know whether this sort of nostalgia trip is your thing or not; it’s definitely ours.
Memory Index, “Tulpa”
Here’s something interesting; the latest from Indianapolis post-punk project Memory Index goes to some places that you don’t often here in the genre. Yeah, you have the spooky texture and the busy drums that are to be expected, but there’s some pretty weird and wonderful stuff happening with the guitar that’s halfway between Chic-like disco rhythm and Bobby Smith at his strummiest. It’s just a very odd and appealingly different take on a well-worn style, and that’s always gonna grab our ears.
The Exile, “The Passing”
Santa Ana deatrockers The Exile have been in the game for a few years now, but their first LP The Exile offers a solid and tidy consolidation of their style. Mid-tempo numbers with a sustained sense of vocal drama are the order of the day as this opener communicates. Whole lot of TSOL flavour to be found in this stuff.
Codec, “Anomoly (enduser Remix)”
If you have a yen for the good old days when drum n’ bass held a heavy sway over the technoid side of post-industrial, the crew at Component Recordings have the fix for your jones. A lo-fi ghostliness calling back to any number of classic turn of the millennium producers within and without the industrial neighbourhoods of bass combines with some surprisingly warm and fluid harmonics on enduser’s take on the title cut from Codec’s recent Anomaly LP. Grimy, spacey, ultra-aggressive, and rather soothing all at once.
