Another Bandcamp Friday’s come and gone, and it seemed like a slightly more stacked one than usual (as you’ll see in this week’s tracks!). One somewhat new trend seems to be using the event as an opportunity to announce albums and make pre-orders and preview tracks available, and not just releasing stand-alone singles or archival material. It seems a savvy move on the part of artists and labels to encourage folks to pony up for an album they’re planning on purchasing at some point anyway while they’re already planning on paying for a number of formally released records, and we’d be curious to learn if the tactic does lead to a bump in pre-sales. Something to circle back on in a year, perhaps.
Feyleux are here, everyone look busy
Converter, “Death and the Miser”
Few powernoise acts have had the same impact as Converter, nor as loyal a fanbase. After making a trilogy of best-in-class albums back in the early 2000s, Scott Sturgis retired the project decisively, and permanently. So where does this (presumably) final EP The Last Four Things fit in? Well, the credits list Daniel Myer in a way that suggests he may have had a roll in constructing these tracks, or rearranging them, or some combination of them, so it’s possible that this is some unfinished demos being finally brought to light with Sturgis’ blessing. Regardless, if you listen to “Death and the Miser” you’ll hear Converter, and that’s really all that matters.
SDH, “Rider”
“Rider” is the first single from the forthcoming album by SDH of the same name. We’ve had a sneak preview of the entire LP, and between us its an early Year End honours contender. Their minimal wave and synthpop leanings have blended in such unusual and lush fashion, it really does feel like something entirely new, while also being very familiar. Get on this one, nowish.
Statiqbloom, “A Knife From Above”
We were intrigued by the left turn Statiqbloom’s self-released Winter LP recently took, departing from the TBM-driven sound Fade Kainer’s been hewing to since relocating to Berlin. It’s tough to theorize what forthcoming record The Casket Nest might sound like in total from just one preview track, but if it seeing release on Hands wasn’t enough of a clue, based on “A Knife From Above” we might be getting some decidedly powernoise styled work from Statiqbloom. The mix of high-end distortion and compressed beats feels like classic late 90s Hands fare, while there’s still enough of Kainer’s characteristic psychedelic wooziness worn into the corners of this track.
Antigen Shift, “The Fog (feat. Encephalon)”
Ottawa’s punched above its weight for years when it comes to Canadian industrial, at least at a per capita level. Here’s an unexpected but welcome collab between two of the capital’s stalwart acts in Antigen Shift and Encephalon. It’s a combination which not only works, but makes for an organic overlap of plenty of elements shared by both projects – the warm melodicism that’s never far from hand in Antigen Shift compositions blends in very nicely with Matt Gifford’s cagey seething, and the sort of cinematic groove both projects can tap into at will drives the whole track forwards.
Invisible Cities, “Path Of The Moon”
Here’s a nice bit of melodic post-punk from Brooklyn lifting from the classic peace punk tradition mined by the likes of Spectres and Home Front, with a healthy dash of early continental coldwave (think Parade Ground) thrown in as well. On this and the other cuts on Invisible Cities’ second EP, there’s a nice and tuneful sense of build and development, with time and care being given to the softer and more driving elements of the tracks in equal measure.
Feyleux, “Frailty”
Hey, new Feyleux! One of our great 2024 suprises was Midnight Hearts, the record that introduced us to the American darkwave duo whose sound is steeped in classic and classy goth styles. Much like the songs on that record, the material on Frailty manages to be both substantial and propulsive, without detracting from the spooky charm of its spidery melodies. Especially great to hear those vocals again, always a highlight from them. New album soon?
