Music Reviews of Techno, Trance, Industrial, Electronica
Band Spotlight
Chiodos
Perhaps no one can explain the sheer ferocity and timid quietness it is better than when vocalist Craig Owens says “we don’t want to let the kids down” when discussing the group’s intense vocals live at shows. Well they never let a single kid down with their vicious assault on the ears and grip on the jugular...
Subscribe to our mailing list
Current Top Ten Chart
Skinny Puppy - Mythmaker
Converge - No Heroes
The Graduate - Anhedonia
Death By Stereo - Death Alive
Comeback Kid - Broadcasting
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth
Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
The Geeks - Every Time We Fall
Limbeck - Limbeck
WinterKids - Memoirs
03.09.2007 by J-Sin
Music Reviews of Techno, Trance, Jungle, Trip-Hop, Industrial, Electronica, IDM, House, Drum&Bass
Kyron — Dark Goddess Buy it at Amazon
Experimental electronica music that is lo-fi and not really all that interesting. There’s occasionally some good moments but they’re rare and few between. Yawn.
- J-Sin
Dielectric Field Recording All-Stars — RE:record Buy it at Amazon
Now the third installment in this quick classic series Dielectric Records improv "All-Stars" (prior sets were of minimalists and drone), this one finds the best in field recordings specialists, “RE:record” finds the All-Stars mucking about with even more elaborate settings and eclectic musical treasure hunts. The first song alone features a person eating an apple mixed with pigs in a pen and a squeaky shoe. Bizarre? Yes most definitely. But yet so incredibly inviting but somewhat austere. Stirring and haunting with illusions of sounds that dissipate and resonate with convictions. Featuring eleven of the best found sound artists you may have never heard of, the All-Stars make music that will make you cringe, bellow, and laugh. Delightfully dark and tantalizing all at once.
- J-Sin
Psychic TV — Hell Is Invisible, Heaven Is Her/e Buy it at Amazon
Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle) has always been the mastermind behind the whirlwind of loony philosophical electronic art house band Psychic TV. One of the main forces behind the world of industrial and avant-garde electronica, P-Orridge and his Psychic TV are magical in their talent and odd mirages of facades and intrigues. Conceptually the album seems to follow a strain of reincarnation through the often confusing yet alliterative mind of Psychic TV also known as PTV3. Using acid rock as a backdrop, the group penetrates punk rock with clarified socio-cultural references that is fitting in the wild world of Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo writings. One may think that Marilyn Manson emanates Genesis but would he have had the balls (excuse the pun) to transcend into a hermaphroditic being? Genesis and his/her significant other half Lady Jaye have had various surgeries to emulate one another with Genesis getting cheek implants, large breast implants, facial tattoos (to equal Lady Jaye’s beauty marks of course), silicon lips, and various other cosmetic surgeries. Psychedelic intelligent music that is so completely different from anything else you’ll ever hear, who knows if you ever will again. Brilliant!
- J-Sin
Client — Heartland Buy it at Amazon
These aren’t just a bunch of hot English babes, Client is a fantastic electro-pop outfit whose sexiness in appearance is bested with their sultry sound. “Heartland” is their third album and showcases the group’s innate ability to find the next “it” sound and tweak it thusly. Using Youth (Killing Joke, Verve) and Stephen Hague (New Order, Pet Shop Boys) as producers, Client arm themselves with an album that is far-reaching, looking towards dance floor anthems to melodic bouncy ballads.
- J-Sin
OHN — Revolutionary Revolution Buy it at Amazon
If you’ve been reading Smother for some time now, you’ll remember the other two releases by electronic artist OHN that we reviewed. Here on their third installment in as many years, “Revolutionary Revolution”, OHN mixes in downtempo lounge chill-out music with abstract samples and smooth grooves. The guitars are sexy rock ‘n’ roll chops that add a lush distortion overtop of the sultry rhythms. Pleasant vocals are blended efficiently with soft synths and groovy pads all amid complex jungle rhythms.
- J-Sin
Stahlschlag — Acousticophobie Buy it at Amazon
Gabber stabs and rhythms hit you hard, breaking your jaw with hard dancefloor wizardry. Sounding like something ripped from the Dutch underground rave scene some ten years ago, Stahlschlag rips your head off with old school Detroit techno rhythms subtly played underneath robotic bass hits and rolling beats. Paced extremely well, it builds and builds until you can’t take anymore and self-combust. Nihilists be warned, this is your biography spoken through industrialized dance mayhem.
- J-Sin
ReAdjust — Statement Buy it at Amazon
ReAdjust is another EBM band among several hundred recent pop-ups in this popular electronic sub-genre. Armed with pulsating rhythms, addictive synth melodies, and harsh vocals, ReAdjust has all the outer shells of what’s so celebrated in EBM, especially in Western Europe. I love how industrial music has grown and morphed into things more melodic and yet just as riveting.
- J-Sin
Evolve — Happy Hour in the Gene Pool Buy it at Amazon
This is a very impressive debut record. “Happy Hour in the Gene Pool” will someday be synomonous with chill-out electronica. Superb downtempo breaks are layered with thick heavy bass backbeats while the hi-hats and snares clack to an effective tempo. The production is absolutely excellent with smooth highs and plenty of mids to get the tweeters pulsing. Intelligent electronic music for the lounge generation.
- J-Sin
Earthmonkey — Be That Charge Buy it at Amazon
Wild, ecstatic, insane psychedelic electronica! One moment you may hear what sounds like the soundtrack to a circus and the next it might be some funky groove thing. But what’s for sure is that this Nurse with Wound off-shoot is just totally zany. I love the samples from a baby’s toy on “Efreeme Buzzbomb” that quickly morphs into some ambient nightmare of bizarre neurotoxins. Imagine a weirder Pink Floyd who had access to more psychedelic drugs and more advanced music equipment.
- J-Sin
Poormen — Poormen Buy it at Amazon
Omaha, Nebraska’s Public Eyesore Records may not be one of the best known indie labels but it should be. Poormen is yet another entry in their mighty catalog of noise, avant-garde, and experimental music. This self-titled release is chaotic, filled with samples, insane noise, and just utter scary weirdness. Also it’s 16 tracks of an average of thirty seconds that dares to be so completely different that if you aren’t affected by it, you’re probably deaf. I’m fairly certain that this noisy album is the recording of a madman before he went on a rampage.
- J-Sin
Read More Music Reviews