A slimmed down couple of weeks of posting continues here what with Alex being off at Infest getting to bug out to Utah Saints and the like, but back home at the HQ the arrival of the anniversary vinyl edition of Forma Tadre’s masterpiece Navigator has been, ahem, something good. While ID:UD’s main remit remains coverage of new releases within the broader world of Our Thing, taking time out to reflect on and enjoy something as classic and replayable as Navigator is always worthwhile (and hey, our commentary podcast on it is nearly a decade old to boot). On with the new stuff…
Skren
MRDTC, “Kommen (Unhuman)”
We’re still making our way through the slew of archival releases underrated EBM experimentalists Divider dropped on Bandcamp a few months back, and now there’s an equally sizable morass of beats and basslines from German fellow travellers MRDTC which has just gone up on BC. It’s a bit difficult to ferret out what’s what but it looks as though the Kommen single (or “standalone concept EP” as the band term it, indicating variations on a theme rather than a traditional remix single, but who’s counting) is the new release from the duo, and its mix of murk and expertly sequenced beats makes for a solid introduction to the group and an invitation to go ham with the PWYW back catalog.
Ortrotasce, “Not Mine”
Each new release from Ortrotasce is a stylistic roll of the dice, and their latest single draws just about all of the moods Nic Hamersly’s work cycles through in a tight and elegantly minimal package. The throwback body music style’s right up front of course, but Ortrotasce’s ear for synthpop and minimal wave is still fully in play.
Skren, “Asphalt”
Germany’s Skren have drawn our attention over the past couple of years by cogently picking up where aggrotech acts of preceding (harsh) generations left off while imbuing the classic sound with fresh energy. They’re clearly taking a page from modern dark techno on this new original track from their new remix release, yet are completely detouring around the modern TBM template for the sake of holding to the style’s connections to gabber and hardcore.
Odonis Odonis, “Yeah Whatever”
Lastly, some proper CanCon game recognizing CanCon game for you. Not sure how we missed this earlier in the year, but Toronto machinists Odonis Odonis did right by one of Nettwerk’s most mercurial acts, Moev. The Yeah Whatever album at large remains a high watermark for a style which drew together fans of new wave and industrial, and the title track’s mix of languid harmonies and tight rhythms proved to be good and satisfying grist for Odonis Odonis’ steely mill.
