A Body Without
self-titled
aufnahme + wiedergabe
With the peak popularity of industrial techno some years in the past as of the time of this writing, it’s worth paying attention to the labels and artists that are still plying the hybrid genre, and the labels still putting them out. aufnahme + wiedergabe isn’t the sort of label that is beholden to trends and has been well ahead of the game in numerous shifts in darker club sounds since its formation, thus when they drop a new record by the likes of an unknown to us act like A Body Without, we tend to take notice. The self-title release fits nicely into the pocket of the sound that isn’t especially beholden to body music, and sticks close to the rugged, rhythmic noise adjacent variations of the style, as supported by the inclusion of a remix by pioneering act Orphx. Interestingly, each original cut runs the gamut when it comes to tempo and rhythm; “Panoptikon” is thudding kicks and slowly rising waves of sinister texture, ghostly and physical in measures that compete with one another to lay claim to the composition’s sinister mood. “For the Masses” takes the kicks to half-time and ramps up the grit and air raid siren nastiness, building up a tension that is only released the song’s rhythm snaps into a far more cohesive and insistent form. “What Grief Turns Into” devolves entirely into pure dark ambience, with snatches of percussion and sampled cries that are mangled and reverbed into oblivion, the deep thrumming bass beneath it all suggesting queasy dizziness. It’s one of those cases where an industrial techno release serves both masters faithfully, and with a genuine feeling of danger that isn’t easy to dismiss even after the last notes have faded.
Aurat
Cobra
self-released
At less that eight minutes, LA act Aurat’s new Cobra EP doesn’t even run as long as the average track times as plenty of the acts we cover here, but in terms of an update as to the rebooting and/or reincarnation of the band under a claustrophobic and decidedly electronic aesthetic over the last two years it’s as terse and blunt of a statement as you could hope for. Effectively a digital supplement to the release of a vinyl comp, these three tracks either serve as a quick, stabbing introduction to a band that’s been steadily building LA buzz for years without (yet) fully exploding at a global level, or a course correction for those who have memories of their more trad goth/post-punk roots. “Cobra”‘s shimmering shuffle reaches out via Azeka Kamal’s restless vocals only to pull back amidst a strict rhythmic wall while a heated wave of atmospherics rushes back and forth. “Dunya” pummels the listener with a density of vocals, machine-gun toms, and rattling bass which send genre markers out the window: is it closer to Perc or A Place To Bury Strangers? Who cares, it kicks. Even a more overt EBM nod like the very brief closer “KhudaHafiz” speedruns wet bass programming and breakbeats with such speed that precious little stylistic impression remains other than Kamal flipping betwixt a keening croon and arresting barks.
