Tubehopping!

I've come up with a fun game, called Tubehopping. Here's how it works. Go to Youtube, and think of a song, any song in the whole world. Search for it and listen to it. When it's finished, check the Recommended Videos on the right, and pick one by a different band than the one you just listened to (there should be at least one or two). Try and choose one by a band you've never heard of. Listen to that song. Repeat. It's fun!

So yesterday I felt like listening to S.P.O.C.K.'s "Last Man on Earth", the last song on their 1993 debut album "Five Year Mission" (for those unfortunate enough not to know S.P.O.C.K., they are a Swedish synthpop band who do songs based around Star Trek characters and stories; yes it is as awesome as it sounds). So listened to that, then jumped to a semi-decent Culture Kultur song (don't know much about them). Then decided I finally needed to listen to Frozen Plasma (dear God, they're as bad as I'd heard). Then I spotted a VNV remix of a Lights of Euphoria song I don't mind (I have grown to completely hate VNV Nation, but Lights of Euphoria haven't made my shitlist yet). Then I spotted... what the hell? A VNV Nation remix of a Within Temptation song? I'm happy to stand up and say that I really like Within Temptation. But what the hell are they doing prostituting themselves by collaborating with VNVengaBoys? Anyway, it was as awful as you would imagine (I submit for the prosecution Exhibit A, below).

Having landed at Within Temptation, I then proceeded to take a merry tour of a whole bunch of odd Scandinavian and German folk-metal / goth-metal bands on Nuclear Blast, most of them moderately terrible, including a very odd group who mainly sing in Gaulish (a thoroughly extinct European language which nobody has spoken for around a millenia and a half), and somehow ended up with the hilarious film clip for "Superheroes" by German cock-rock band Edguy (which I somehow stumbled upon a couple of years ago). Rock on! Anyway, to play us out, take it away Edguy!

PS: Tubehopping is fun, give it a try.

Always be ready for anything!

Well a few days ago it turned I was called upon to perform a very impromptu DJ set at a club called Foundry at the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville. One of the DJs was facing technical issues that made his set an impossibility, so I ran home, grabbed my giant CD bag of doom, ran back, and put together a set on the fly! Goes to show you need to be prepared, anything can happen. Played some big, loud, stomping industrial club hits, and it went down well. I started a bit late so didn't have a whole lot of time. This is what I played.

Reaper: Urnensand

Noisuf-X: Tinnitus (remixed by Implant)

Implant: Violence (Mizuh remix)

Modulate: Electronic Battle Weapon

Soman: Mask

Uberbyte: Industrial Bitch

Combichrist: Lying sack of sh1t

Rosewater: NME

I'd forgotten how good the Implant remix of Tinnitus is... go have a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpLZJQGc86k

Defqon 1!

Yesterday I had the privilege of DJing at Defqon 1 Sydney, which is the largest rave event in the Southern Hemisphere - I think there were about 30,000 people there. Of course these were scattered across a large number of stages, and we didn't have too many at our industrial stage (put on by the awesome Shallow Nation crew). But it was still a great day and a lot of fun and I was happy with my set. We had quite a few people who were "outside of the scene" (i.e. general raver / hardstyle people) poking around our stage and having a dance, and it was interesting to see their reactions to industrial music in various forms. Anyway, here is what I played. It was fun playing some really fast tracks (my set finished around 170 BPM) that I don't normally play out at clubs, since most industrial music is around 140 BPM.

Setlist: DJ Dasein - Defqon 1 White Stage
Reaper: Urnensand (SAM remix)
The Azoic: Conflict (Combichrist remix)
Soulless Affection & End: The DJ: MEIAN
Grendel: Dirty
Implant: Violence (MIZUH remix)
Modulate: Electronic Battle Weapon
Hocico: Final Resource (therapy version)
Memmaker: Death Audio Blow Your Brains
Combichrist: Lying sack of shit
Rosewater: NME
Feindflug: B66883
Dulce Liquido: Misanthropy
Converter / Asche / Morgenstern: Monster
Black Lung: Sinister Control Minority

In defense of record labels

There have been some seismic shifts in the music industry in the last ten years; the rise of file-sharing networks, e-commerce and digital music services have seen a big move away from physical media for music distribution, the closing down of brick-and-mortar music retailers and a question being asked: is there still a place today for the record label? Or is it a relic of a forgotten age? I would like to write in defense of record labels. I think they serve an important function in music, irregardless of what media it comes on, and I hope they are around for as long as music is around.

For me, the record label represents two things: a commitment and an accreditation. First, the commitment part. Assuming a record label is going to pay for the physical production of a music release (whether on CD, vinyl, DVD, or some other more obscure form), then this represents a financial commitment on the part of the record label. They are essentially gambling part of their funds in the hope that this release does well. No label (assuming it is run as a business, rather than a bedroom label) would do this without a strong belief in the quality of the product, and even bedroom label managers are usually looking to at least recoup their costs. Thus, the fact that a label is prepared to take the financial risk of putting out a release is an indication that it is something they believe in, and therefore it has probably got something going for it. This to me, while certainly not a guarantee of quality (there are a lot of releases out there I don’t like), is still a more reliable sign of quality than the rising phenomenon of “here is sum music I made it on my komputer and put it on the suondclouod LOL!”.

Second, it is an accreditation, and by that I mean something that a person, or group of people, are proud to stand by and be associated with. The guys who run Malignant Records would probably make some very decent coin if they somehow landed the right to release Lady Gaga’s next few albums, but I’m sure they wouldn’t release it, because they wouldn’t want to be associated with something like that (not saying Lada Gaga is crap, just saying it’s not their kinda thing). So for me, if Malignant Records puts out a CD, that’s like having a sticker on it saying “approved by Jason Mantis of Malignant Records!”. Which means a lot to me, and probably to a bunch of other people too. And once you have found record labels that you like and trust, this accreditation can become very useful. Of course there is good music being made out there and not released, or self-released. But if something is put out on Ant-Zen, or Hands, or Hymen, or Tympanik, then there is already a really, really good chance I’ll like it, before I've even heard it. I’ll still probably do some research before I decide to get something new of course, but this accreditation factor counts for a lot, and is often a really good way of finding out what’s going on in your favourite music genre. Go to the wonderful discogs site, look at the release history for the record labels you like, and see what’s new.

My favourite labels are the labels that perform not only those functions, but also put a stamp on the final product: all of the Ant-Zen releases have amazing photography taken by the manager S.alt, with his own distinctive style, and it is some of the best music artwork you’ll find. All of the Hands releases come in a unique and baffling cardboard box contraption, almost resembling a puzzle more than a CD case, causing some to despair at the “Hands Scratchpack”; care must be taken by the novice to extract the CD without marking it. Every Malignant Records release comes with some kind of epic, brooding artwork, and with Phil Easter’s distinctive (and amazing) touch at mastering, giving it a recognisable style.

So for me, a record label performs more than a simple (and important) financial service, i.e. paying for the production of the release; they help shape and give birth to the final form of the artistic product, and represent a commitment by a person or people to whom one can potentially identify with. And that is a very valuable thing indeed.

Top five industrial bands to watch for in 2011

OK here is my list of exciting bands to watch out for this year... obviously this was a tough list to narrow down to 5.

5. Formalin
I received Formalin’s debut (and still only) release, an album called Bodyminding, as a review copy from Out Of Line recently. I’d never heard of this band and I must say was very impressed. It’s mean, growly, German EBM, heavily incorporating the spirit of some of the more minimal pioneers like Klinik and Dive, but without being too derivative. It’s full of tough attitude and tight beats and I like it! Looking forward to more from Formalin!

4. Tzolk’in
I’ve mentioned before how much I completely love Tribal Industrial, despite the fact that the number of bands in the world making it you can count on one hand. Well Tzolk’in is one of those very few, and they are completely fantastic. Both albums Tonatiuh and Haab rock my socks off with their grim but uplifting Mayan-inspired tribal beats (but if I had to pick one, Haab is slightly better). Note that there is currently no actual evidence that Tzolk'in are working on a new album, so this is largely wishful thinking... But have a listen to their amazing track Kumk'U in the meantime:


3. Hecq
After a couple of early underwhelming releases, Hecq suddenly started putting out some of the best IDM influenced industrial around, taking a couple of leaves out of Kattoo’s books but including a whole bunch of unique creativity. He put out a spurt of amazing releases from 2007 to 2009, but since then has fallen a bit quiet, only releasing a split 12inch with someone called Exillon (??). Hecq’s website simply says “Coming back soon!”. Not soon enough!

2. The Panic Lift
I recently described Panic Lift as one of the very few bands who can rescue aggrotech from the pit of mediocrity into which it is rapidly sliding. This thoroughly inspiring band has recently put a new track on their Myspace, and left some pretty clear indications in their blog of a forthcoming release. The big question is however, which label will pick them up? Tympanik Audio have largely filled the void left by Hive Records, but it remains to be seen if something like Panic Lift, with feet planted more in the “club” side of industrial than most Tympanik releases, can find a home there. If not, maybe the bigger labels like Out of Line can wake up and see how much talent this group has?

1. Totakeke
OK I’ll be straight up: Totakeke is the single most creative and brilliant artist producing electronic music in the world right now. I like this band more and more every day and all the albums I have of his are completely inspiring. To anyone who claims that industrial music is dead or boring, bash a Totakeke CD over their head until they shut it. So what if the band name sucks, the music is simply jawdropping in its intelligence, emotion and production. If you don't believe me, have a listen to Permanent Note:

And with three studio albums released in the last three years, the man is showing no signs of slowing down. Go Totakeke!

Why all the hate?

OK so in an earlier post, I described what I believed to be the most overrated artifacts of industrial music, albums or artists which have received love and adoration that I feel they do not at all deserve. Now I’m going to take the opposite tack: defend those that have been unfairly attacked. Those unfortunate souls who have unwittingly invoked the wrath of enough industrial scenesters to bring down torrents of unjustified abuse.

Front Line Assembly: Implode
This album came out in 1999, and underwhelmed a lot of people. The miserable hacks on rec.music.industrial were particularly savaging in their appraisal of it. I’m not entirely sure why; its’ certainly not one of FLA’s best works, but it’s far from the worst (Civilization takes that prize in my books), and has a couple of great tracks, such as Synthetic Forms. I think the reason this album put people offside was that it signalled the shift of FLA’s sound away from their guitar-heavy days of Millenium and Hardwired (which they of course received lots of criticism for), towards their highly-produced electronic sound that dominated their next few albums (which they also received criticism for, from the same people who criticised leaving their earlier electronic sound for guitars). I guess sometimes you just can’t win, huh.

Decoded Feedback
This band has been a perennial favourite for bashing on rec.music.industrial and other forums. And I’ll admit they’re not the greatest or most original band in the world; they play fairly bog-standard 90s EBM, with the occasional splash of guitars or trance-influenced beats. But they’ve got some perfectly decent songs, and their album Combustion from a few years ago actually had some real smashers. They won’t go down in the annals of all-time industrial greats, but they really don’t deserve all the hate they’ve received.

Velvet Acid Christ
Ahh good old Velvet Acid Christ. Probably no band in the history of industrial music has attracted more criticism. The man behind the project, Bryan Erickson, certainly hasn’t helped his cause any. Bryan has jumped into every shitfight and flamewar concerning VAC, bit at every morsel of trollbait dangled before him, and argued himself into more corners than I can care to remember. He’s put huge numbers of people offside with his aggressive rants about animal rights, politics, or whatever crusade he’s currently obsessed with. And like all good internet villains, every year or so he declares he’s 'finished with all you losers' and deletes his blog or newsgroup account or whatever his most recent method of getting flamed was, and then a few months later he emerges from the swamps and the whole process begins again. But what about the music?
Velvet Acid Christ is actually really kickarse stuff. I know saying this will instantly reduce my 'industrial scene cred' to zero, or negative, or whatever, but I don’t care, I like it. OK so he had some crap releases like Hex Angel, and Church of Acid has some of the worst overuses of sampling in industrial music, but there is some real classic stuff there. I recently dusted off my copy of Calling ov the Dead, and it still stands as an absolute cracker of an album, and made a huge impact on me when I first heard it. Twisted Thought Generator also goes in that basket, and was one of my favourite EBM albums for a while. Neuralblastoma had some genuinely creepy and powerful tracks on it, even if the second half is mainly filler. But the recent album Lust for Blood is the best thing he’s ever done; almost every track on it is fantastic, from the Pornography-era Cure influenced Crushed to the amazing retro-futuristic synths of Ghost in the Circuit and Ghost Regen.

Velvet Acid Christ is one of the classic examples of why you should always separate the music from the person; Bryan is a deranged, judgemental dick, but writes some really good music, which should b e judged on its own merit, and with some rare exceptions, it rocks.

Is there a future for aggrotech?

I’ve been wondering lately if there is a future for the sub-genre of industrial music known as aggrotech, or if it will gradually fade away to near-invisibility, like power noise almost has. For those who aren’t familiar with it, aggrotech (also known by some even sillier names, such as "Butcher EBM" or "Hellektro", urgh) is a split-off of EBM that begun really with Suicide Commando’s 2000 album Mindstrip. It’s a form of EBM that keeps the traditional EBM synth sounds but adds distinctly aggressive overtones through heavy distortions of vocals and often drums. I believe Suicide Commando's "Hellraiser" probably exhibits aggrotech in its most pure and traditional form:


I will admit, I really have a soft spot for this stuff. It tickles my fancy and puts me in a good mood. Why? Who on earth can say. But I really feel that the genre is stagnating.

About five years ago, it had become arguably the most popular and dominant form of industrial music worldwide; Mexico’s Hocico were putting out stunning albums, Suicide Commando was packing out festivals in Europe and releasing live DVDs and commemorative CD releases all over the place, and a legion of “clone” bands were infecting compilations and DJ playlists around the world. Tactical Sekt in 2006 released one of the definitive classics of the genre, Syncope, which thoroughly kicked my arse and the arse of anyone who listened to it (it even eclipsed their strong Burn Process EP).

However, nothing much of interest is happening in the genre. Suicide Commando is regularly putting out albums that are slightly worse than the one before; let’s hope he stops before he paints himself into a corner of irrelevance. Hocico are still putting out solid releases which are very listenable, but almost identical to the last couple. The innumerable clone bands are rapidly becoming tiresome and pointless. Tactical Sekt have sadly become completely inactive.

So who are the potential saviours who can resurrect this flagging style, like Mind.in.a.box did for EBM in 2005 and SKET did for power noise in 2006? I see two possibilities, two young bands that have recently produced genuinely interesting aggrotech music (especially the latter).

Distorted Memory: This one-man project has only put out one release, a debut album on Noitekk in 2006. While the album as a whole is inconsistent in quality, when it hits its stride and delivers (God’s Wrath, Burning Heaven), it is some of the best music this genre has ever produced.

Things unfortunately seem very quiet on the Distorted Memory front; let’s hope Jeremy Pillipow is working away under the covers and will have something new to show us soon.

The Panic Lift: This New Jersey act released a truly outstanding album (Witness to our Collapse) on the excellent Hive Records in 2008, just before they sadly departed this world (RIP Hive). It is an uncompromising, intelligent and intensely emotional work that pushed the boundaries of aggrotech as far as they probably can go… or can they possibly raise the bar higher? A new album is due this year and this could be the one that places them at the top of this genre (or perhaps in a genre of their own).

Essential aggrotech albums: Suicide Commando’s Mindstripor Axis of Evil, Hocico’s Sangre Hirviente or Tempos de Furia (or basically anything except Wrack and Ruin), Tactical Sekt’s Syncope, Distorted Memory’s Burning Heaven, Panic Lift’s Witness to our Collapse.