Cambiaforma
Una luz inaccesible
Of Dolls and Murder
Argentinian duo Cambiaforma make some of the rawest EBM you’re likely to hear anywhere on their debut release Una luz inaccesible. While the three original tracks certainly adhere to the bassline above all template, they aren’t necessarily throwback in their aims, and push in some interesting directions in their design. Where the opening title track has the sort of 16th note bassline that is the basis for a goodly portion of all body music, the skeletal arrangement of drums and shouted vocals end up playing against it in ways that lend it a funky and punky energy, and that’s before the washes of noise and chattering cymbals sweep through the song. Follow-up “Tenofeudo” follows in similar fashion, but then brings in a tweaky lo-fi synth and some syncopated hand claps that port matters into electro territory, complete with speak and spell voices. “Blindaje” is closer to the former song with it’s atonal synth programming, but takes the extra step of adding in some very zippy acid sounds and stuttered samples, a fine compliment to its hyped up tempo and strangely relaxed vocal. It’s the kind of modern take on lo-fi EBM that is rooted in the style’s foundation but borrows liberally enough from adjacent sounds and genres to take it well beyond the usual muscle and hate and into much more intriguing territory.
Blokkontroll
Blok 5
self-released
Another month, another Blokkontroll EP. Okay, that’s overstating things, but the Ukrainian producer’s streak of five EPs seeing release in a hair over twelve months has been something to behold. If you’ve been keeping up with the project’s read on speedy, modern yet lo-fi EBM blow by blow, release by release, then Blok 5 certainly won’t reinvent the wheel, and will instead reveal the slightest of adjustments while still delivering on the project’s immediately apparent promise. For those just tuning in, the larger mission remains the same: stripped down electro/EBM programming rushes through the four tracks here with hyper-caffeinated energy and a real charm, even while the limited range of sound design means you have a clear handle on what to expect for the next fourteen minutes after the first one. Light percussive presets flit above and kick beneath throwback synthbass stabs programmed into simple but nimble arpeggios, but all the while the manic vocals echo and jitter above the anhalt styled “Territoriya” and the more electro-darkwave adjacent “Zapad-Vostok” with the same nervous energy. These echoing, often indistinct vocals aren’t always the most accessible calling card, but they’re reflective of the energy and commitment which has made Blokkontroll work from day one.
