Archive for March 2020

Pulsing, gorgeous, ethereal soundscapes are the order of the day. I’d barely say that this even fits into the genre of vaporwave, having more in common with ambient or even the trippier side of the psytrance movement. A million miles from invoking nostalgia, Building A Better World instead seems to look forward to the future in all its dreamy, hazy synth meandering. A fantastic collaboration and recommended to any fan of electronic music.

With a name like PrismCorp (is that a Watchmen reference maybe?) Virtual Enterprises, and of course the artwork displayed above, one surely could not be accused too harshly of heavily assuming what kind of tunes that are in store on Home(TM)? Think 80s television mixed with The Sims or that weird upbeat music you’d get over porno on VHS, and you’re on the right track. Home(TM) meanders in its own way, sometimes to jazz, sometimes…

Just look at that art! Despite the heavy nostalgic tones, Diskette Park instead wallows in oceanic waves of moody, melancholic synth work, rather than your more [ t y p i c a l ] vaporwave. In fact, as time goes on, and whilst I agree that the genre does have its own solid base, I find that these days it is more of a marker for a starting point; a pointer as to the…

Beautiful, glorious, dreadfully obtuse acoustic guitar strummery, wallowing in the depths of the avant-garde and the straight-up pretentious. But hey, its okay, because you surely must know that going in to this record or you wouldn’t be here in the first place. This record offers 13 rituals of dark, atmospheric musings using the acoustic guitar partly as a conjurer of atmosphere, and secondly as a weapon. For fans of the strange and the occult, I…

I suppose this could be categorised as true industrial music? I am instantly reminded of the group called Stomp that we used to watch videos of as a kid. All sorts of machinery and noises are utilised to create bizarre mechanical soundscapes. Fireworks (I think? Ha!) and the scrape of metal on metal is the order of the day, resulting in the beauteous song of the furnace at work. Good stuff. 

Odyssey is… well… a near 50 minute odyssey (I can only apologise) through vaporwave style and gorgeous electronic production. HOME doesn’t seem to fall as hard into the trappings of the genre, for better or worse, and the music just sounds more original and inspired, rather than “hey, this is just slowed down 80s infomercials!”. I was building my home work rig (an overstatement if I ever wrote one) whilst listening to this and I…

The Hellraiser movie is more than disturbing enough without having to think about all the juicy goodies that were scrapped before the final product was released. Among many changes made to Hellraiser as it went along was possibly the greatest casualty of the lot – the original score by Coil. There seems to be a confusing array of formats and releases for these tunes, which thankfully saw the light of day eventually. But, I’m pretty…

I’ve always had a lot of respect for Ed Snowden, and this account, not only of how the powers that be are watching us all, but of the personal journey through his entire life leading up to the point where he decided to spill the US Government’s secrets to us all, echoes that aching question that has always been in the back of my mind when it comes to Snowden. If in the same position…

Well, I absolutely snoozed on this, that much I can tell you. Imagine my shock then, when chucking this on and thinking “oh, cracking, a remaster should even out the rougher, more heavily compressed edges of A Grand Declaration…” – the difference here is staggering. It sounds as if the record has been completely re-recorded. I half expected Attila to crop up and do some throat-singing. The immediate notice is the absence of the overblown…

Lightening fast black metal a la Thorns meets the more blockier, Matrix-influenced techno of the late 90s. Where Thorns has that cold air to it all, Aborym has the energy and vibrancy of the soundtrack to something you’d hear in an exclusive sex club full of vampires wearing PVC, or something. That is, at least, when the electronics are playing. When the group focus on things more black metal-ly, one must admit that the scale…

Lush, gorgeous, unfolding electronics and ambient soundscapes driven forward by pulsing and catchy beats. Oh, and you’ve got the Salad Fingers music in there too, just to shit you up out of the blue if you associate that tune with Dai Firth’s menacing creations. I’ve never been one for the hipster hype train of Boards Of Canada but it is hard to deny their genius, and Geodaddi cements that.

I picked up Annihilation because the film struck something of a chord with me. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was about the movie, but something about it had me wanting more, wanting to peel back more layers, or more-like, consult the source material in the search for answers to this intriguing puzzle. In book one of the Southern Reach trilogy however, there are no answers. Or, no significant ones. Where the movie channeled…

I’m not entirely sure what it was that made me watch Annihilation for the first time. It might have been Alex Garland’s work with Ex Machina, which I really enjoyed. I didn’t really know what to expect going in to Annihilation, other than mostly everyone I knew that had watched it had hated it. And I suppose, I can see why. Annihilation isn’t a bad movie per se, its just that I had no fucking…

There have been many retellings of the Dracula tale since the classic silent-era Nosferatu (1922). Not all of them have been particularly amazing, and I suppose you can count 1992’s big Hollywood stab at the tale in that camp. This movie hits the mark about half of the time. The atmosphere, the imposing danger and creepiness, and most importantly, the casting in these timeless and crucial roles. Hopkins as Van Helsing is fantastic, as is…

Basket Case is a bizarre low budget horror movie from the beginning of the sleazy 80s. I’m not sure if this would count as body horror (probably not), but the little monster in the basket (spoiler alert) has a very Cronenberg kinda feel to it, if just a little tackier. This movie seems infamous, and I suppose it is – with good reason – but I can’t help but point out my issues with pacing…

This Hedge Wizard record is probably one of my favourite dungeon synth records of recent times. It’s not necessarily the tunes themselves, as there are many projects out there producing quality compositions of varying intricacy, but Hedge Wizard has that special magic ingredient in spades: atmosphere. From the minute I press play, to the completion of the run time, I am cast back into a world of 90s DOS role playing games and hokey high…

Utilitarian is a solid later-career effort from Napalm Death, with experimental variations on the group’s usual ferocious grindcore template. We’ve got clean singing (I’m getting an 80s industrial vibe) and a saxophonist guesting on one track, which is just all kinds of horrible and lovely at the same time.

As much as I yearn for the raw beginnings of Lifelover’s sound, I also love how it developed and matured over the band’s later albums. The anguish is more restrained and doled out across tracks that almost sparkle with their own morose beauty.