Rad mixtape from Dallas-based producer and singer Endgames. "Fantasia 1" is like a crossover between Mater Suspiria Vision's zombie rave mixes and AIDS-3D dirge. I'm totally hooked with those five tracks, give them a spin if you like your music slower than usual.
You can download the mixtape here, and stream it below.
What a treat, this three track remix EP dropped earlier this month, but only today I had a chance to sit down and check it out. Curses' "Miriam" is undoubtely one of my fav tracks from 2022, so it's a joy to be able to hear reinterpretations of said gem by Boys Noize, Kim Ann Foxman and The KVB. From techno, through acid flavoured breakbeat to new wave-friendly post-punk vibe, no weak spots here.
"Miriam Remixes EP" is available for purchase from Curses' bandcamp here. You can stream the EP below.
Úna Blue is musician and visual artist based in Los Angeles. Yesterday she released her debut single "You Will Be Mist", written and produced in collaboration with Nailbeds (half of dark/synthpop duo Youryoungbody). The two minute track blends hyperpop glam with Una's soft vocals and sets them against jungle drum patterns. Fun and fresh, definitely looking to hear more from her. You can download the track here for free.
New track from Monomorte, once again featuring vocals by Moi Saint, following their collab on "The River". "Open The Portal" is a slowly unravelling synth journey with a hellish undertone. Absolutely love how Monomorte has progressed over the years in terms of his arrangements and composition, and I'm looking forward to his next album. Full support. You can buy the track here.
Sigmund Generous is a Youtube music curator who compiled and curated this mammoth of an album, released to celebrate the third anniversary of his channel. 53 tracks of exclusive, unreleased, rare and forgotten tracks from some of the most exciting names from the hypnagogic pop, vaporwave and post-internet underground, including Sam Mehran, CH ROM, New Mexican Stargazers, Luxury Elite, Honeydrum and Suburban Twilight among many many others. The compilation costs 5 bucks, and all the money goes to Sam Mehran's family who are trying to pay for a memorial plaque bearing his name in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. This is worth every penny, so don't sleep and support.
"The Sigmund Generous Anniversary Compilation" is available here, and can be streamed below.
Wonderful mixtape from Ukrainian producer Leylandi, "Bunker Mix" is an 11-minutes long ride through ethereal spaces errupted with deconstructed club moments. Featuring tracks from Para, Miss Jay, Oklou, Softie, SUS1ER plus a DÆMON & ENDGAME collab. Awesome. Unfortunatey the mix is not downloadable, so get used to clicking the replay button.
"Dahyun" is the latest EP from Ian David's drone project Sapphic Trust. Drifting away from the more experimental approach present on the 2017 project "The Onyx Slaveship", the new EP embraces the sounds of flora and fauna, and pairs them with delicate synth ambience reminiscent of his first two "Compositions" releases. "Moon", the closing track here is the only beat driven composition, and may serve as a transition between those calmer droney pieces and the next chapter in the Sapphic Trust saga. Press play, close your eyes and enjoy.
"Dahyun EP" can be purchased from Lazed In You here, and streamed after the jump.
I've slept on the last few releases from Noir Age, so today decided to check out "Sentimental Atmospheres" from Colombian-born, Miami-based experimental sound artist Doris Dana. The album, dedicated to all the moments in-between, is a collection of desolate soundscapes that mix classical sombreness with luminous ambience, all wrapped up in a cinematic blanket of fleeing moments. It's an album that may crush you with its emotional weight, but the experience will be really rewarding if you last till the end.
There are still some tapes available for sale here, you can also check out the whole album below.
Official video for "American Teenager" by Ethel Cain, from her latest album "Preacher's Daughter". Directed by Ethel, and shot by Silken Weinberg with some additional footage by Salem Anhedönia. Packed with a ton of 90s VHS nostalga, the song is probably my fav cut from the album.
G.R. Zombie is back with "Dead Tape II", a five track continuation of part one from last month. Witchy beats and graveyard raps clash here, with some SALEM influences thrown into the mix here and there. This one should appeal to hip-hop fans in particular, both "Xombie Walk" and "Violent Shit" sound rad, and the screw talk interlude is pretty self-explanatory. Not GR's best work overall, but definitely worth checking.
You can cop the tape for $4 here, and stream it below.
Third cut from DM&BT's collaborative album "Cheat Codes", that will be released on August 12th via BMG. Following ace singles "No Gold Teeth" and "Because" released earlier this year, "Aquamarine" features singer Michael Kiwanuka and prooves that the due is set to drop one of the strongest albums of the year. I'm mesmerized how good it all sounds.
The Local Moon were a darkwave duo of René Le Doil and Ronald Lippok founded in 1987 in n East Berlin. Their self-titled album, originally released on a tape in an edition of 50 copies got a reissue treatment from Aufnahme + Wiedergabe, as part of the Tapetopia vinyl series. The album is a nineteen tracks strong minimal yet moody journey through stories sourced from poets, folk tellers and beatniks. The track arrangement on the vinyl mirrors the one from the original cassette, which according to the press info represents hope and a new beginning on side A, and despair and suicide on the B side. The reissue also includes 3 extra tracks sourced from the 1988's 7" single which was incuded with Berlin underground magazine "Verwendung - Heft4".
"The Local Moon" reissue can be ordered from here (vinyl pre-order should be made available soon), and streamed below.
Vidchajj is back with a horror-themed emo/witchhouse hybrid "Demo2". As the name suggests the track, clocking at 1:14min, may feel short and unfinished, but it doesn't change the fact that it's supper catchy and its guitar-led melody drills itself into your brain from the first few seconds. Vidchajj was also kind enough to write own lyrics for the song, in case you're curious check them out here.
The Discomancer is the latest funky house project from Bunny Intonamorous aka DJ Netflex / Medulasa. To coincide with the UK's hottest day on record, they released a four track EP "Resurrect The Funk" inspired by the French take on disco/house hybrid called filter house, or as the press info says "total Daft Punk worship (...) sample-heavy zugzug house banger". Guilt free heaters to get your groove on. Also isn't The Discomancer one of the coolest names you've heard lately?
You can buy the EP here, and stream it below.
Shout out to Nick from Ourobonic Plague who brought this to my attention. New Flesh Ltd. 萬歲 is a collective of artists led by .mp3Neptune and ∆ΣTHΣR░विज्ञान⎈, who collaborated over the internet and put together "Since The Death Of God There's Been A Vacancy Open" - a 23-track post-vaporwave sound collage goodness. It truly is a proper sonic rollercoaster, from droney proto-witch house era experiments, sample-based breaks and distorted loops, to hypnagogic fever dreams and chopped cloud rap beats, the album could serve as a score to your pitch-black night trips down the highway at 3am.
The credits list includes twenty two artists: .mp3Neptune, waavypanda, ∆ΣTHΣR░विज्ञान⎈, Gods of Something, Shifty Comfort, Caesár, cocaine for toothaches, Georgi1802, Shire, 永遠の悪魔 Eternity Devil, t4c0s, 80ssitcomdad, the monarch, ugly perfection, YUNG CRYSTAL ネオン, Based Frequency, ourobonic plague, ⁂V‡▲D‡M∇R⁂, h º r ¡ z º n щ ¡ r e l e s s, Hyper Reality, madzy and doktorb. It's a mouthful but make sure to check each of them out.
You can download the album for free here, and stream it below.
First video single from the upcoming debut album of Basque punk rockers Flash. It sounds like it's meant to be a soundtrack to a biker's bar fight scene from some obscure 90s movie. It's set to be released on 2nd September via La Vida Es Un Mus Discos.
New single from the unstoppable Male Tears, "Deal3r" can be streamed and purchased here. These guys have been on the roll since the release of "Trauma Club", and this track proves it why. Bandcamp actually also says "another offering from KINX", so could that be a new EP/album on the horizon? Hope so.
Retrac Recordings has just released a vinyl reissue of James Ferraro's "Hacker Track", that was part of the Summer Headrush 2009 Series (more on that here via Strawberry Illuminati's tumblr). Described as "an eXtremely addictive cyber drug downloadable online into your brain" in the insert that came with the original CDR, "Hacker Track" feels like a ghost train ride through the wires of a haunted 1989 PC.
The vinyl edition, "ethically sourced from scans and rips from the original CDr" according to the press blurb, is limited to 400 copies and can be purchased from bandcamp. Digital reissue is planned soon, and should be available from James directly. Dive in.
NMS is back with a new album entitled "Motel Room Thunder", where worlds of hypnagogic drones, lo-fi loops and vaporwave nostalgia collide. It's like the ultimate ride down the childhood memory lane, a soundtrack to those drowsy Saturday mornings in the 90s, sitting in front of a TV waiting for your fav cartoons to start. If you're a fan of anything from Not Not Fun, Skymall, C.G.I.Records and, obviously, New Age Tapes catalogues, this one is for you.
Buy "Motel Room Thunder" directly from bandcamp here, and stream it below.
Latest video from Chris Laufman aka Wise Blood, promoting his new digital single for Future Gods. It's always a joy to listen to this guy, both his vocals and production style are one of a kind. You can cop it on iTunes (unfortunately no Bandcamp).
Ok, I know the bandcamp preview above streams last year's "Once Upon A Time" album, but last week Romance announced a vinyl reissue of the album AND as a bonus it comes with a tape of unreleased material. Entitled "In My Hour Of Weakness, I Found A Sweetness", the half-hour cassette can only be obtained when purchasing the LP from Boomkat, so head over here to save a copy for yourself (and stream the snippets of those bonus tracks). This one will sell out soon for sure.
Last year's "Halveksiva" took me by storm upon its release in the last days of December, and eventually ended up on my top 20 list for 2021. After teasing the next album for a while, yesterday Morgve finally unleashed "Rise Rise Rise", a 10-track continutation and expansion of the trajectory set on its predecessor. The opener "Bad Cocaine" hits the same sweet spot "Halveksiva" managed to define - it's an underground rave anthem that serves as a natural follow-up to the previous LP, but also a portal to darker territories that lie ahead. While last year album's source material was heavily rooted in post-trap, trance and techno mutations, "Rise Rise Rise" feels more experimental and willing to challenge some of those club music traces by delving deeper into industrial sound design and deconstructed electronica territories (check "Garden Of Zillion Roses" for example). It's a subtle but noticeable shift, which reminds me of IC3PEAK's progression a few years back. That being said, fans of Morgve's more witchy productions shouldn't feel excluded, the last three tracks will satisfy anyone hungry for gloomier and grittier witch house beats. With "Rise Rise Rise" the duo continues to craft their own mini-universe in this post-witch house world, occupying it with sounds that will define the Argentinian (and South American) underground for years to come. Do not miss it and support if you can.
The new LP can be purchased here, and streamed in full below.
"Going Along" is the first double-A single promoting the upcoming album "Stepping It Lightly Towards The Abyss" from Australian experimental producer Ourobonic Plague. Side A is a rad jungle cut that sounds like it's meant to be played during a climactic evacuation scene in a dystopian action movie. Oddly specific? Maybe, but there's something gritty about it, hiding behind the layer of fast paced drums. The crambient remix on side B takes away the drumwork, and focuses on building a noisy, droney atmosphere instead, sort of an aftermath of what was going on in the titular track. OP actually did a solid write-up about this release, so head over here to read more about it and cop it.
Drab City (oOoOO and Islamiq Grrrls) decided to share their 2021 Patreon-exclusive single with the rest of the world via their bandcamp. Their cover of An Luu's 80s synth-pop ballad "Pourquoi Tu Me Fous Plus Des Coups?" keeps the lyrics and charm of the original track and takes them back a couple of decades back with their mellow pop rendition. Stream above and buy here.
"Incarnadine" is the third studio album from New York via Berlin musician, producer, singer and Ombra International founder Luca Venezia aka Curses. Since its premiere in March this year, it hasn't left my stereo for more than a few days. I'm still baffled why it took me so long to write about it though, providing it's my favourite album of 2022 so far (and it looks like it will stay this way), which got cemented by seeing Curses play live in April at The Shacklewell Arms in London, where he absolutely killed it. The album itself is an ode to everything what's best in the 80's goth / electronic scenes, but translated for the new millenium. "Incarnadine" draws from darkwave, coldwave, post-punk and EBM, taking just the right amount of each of those genres, applying black mascara and compiling it all into a ten track strong unskippable record. Featuring two guest vocals (powerful Jennifer Touch in "Boundless" and incredibly charming Terr in "Ghost Of Arms") as well as bass from Ben Airey, the album is pretty much all Luca. From paying tributes to vampires on gothic jam "Miriam" to iconic guitar work on "Gretchen Bender" to chain-clad underground bunker anthem "Déjà-vu, Inc.", the record is an unstoppable force defined by bold and catchy melodies, dark atmospheres and throbbing beats. If you have a change to experience Curses live, don't even think twice - do it. Future classic.
"Incarnadine" can be purchased here in digital format, otherwise try to find it through vinyl distros (bandcamp copies sold out). Stream it below.
111111? seems to be the new alias of 127, whose music I covered a few months back. He's back here with a slowed down flip of Shygirl's "Firefly" single. It's like listening to ghostly r&b in a half asleep mode.
New mellow joint from Vidchajj, that takes me back to Clams Casino and Lil B collabs for some reason. Leftfield trap beat with some soothing keys that create a simple but really catchy melody. I can never get sick of this guy's beats.
Dog99 is Chase from witch-grunge trio Stay Healthy. He just released his first single "Leave Da Wrld Behind 👁", which you can hear above. It leaves behind the rock influences of the band, and instead introduces ambient-trance elements to the mix, giving the track a celestial, dreamy-like feel. I absolutely love everything these guys put out, no difference here.
Brown Calvin is Andre Burgos, beatmaker and producer currently based in Portland, OR. After a string of beat-tapes published via his bandcamp, as well as an EP released as Brown Calculus (alongside Vaughn Kimmons), he is now set to debut a solo album on vinyl thanks to folks at AKP Recordings. The record "Dimension // Perspective" is set to come out on August 26th, and is being promoted with single "P e r s p e c t I v e 44". The track is a slower jam that brings to mind dreamy productions from AFTA-1, but with a dusty feel that takes me back to some of Madlib's jazz-oriented side-projects.
Third single from the Ombra International's sub-label D'oro Unlmtd comes from Uruguayan darkwave act Dual Parts. There's literally zero info about them online, so all I can say is check out the track, it's great and make want to hear more from them. Buy it here.
ミラーシーディオラマ EP" (The Mirror Sea Diorama) is a sister release to the new Pwin Teaks album "The Return" (which I'm yet to properly check out), and one of the three mini-CDs available in the triptych "Japan Mini CD Promo Triangle Set #1". The first track was released last week as a video single (you'll find the longer version of it on the album), with its trippy melody set to a simple tribal drum that floats over the glimmering sea of sound effects it feels like taking a stroll by a beach at night. In comparison "Inside The Bermuda ▲" sounds more like scattered remains of a dragged Bonnie Tyler song, heavily distorted and teleported through mindfuck noise portals. The last song, clocking at 9 minutes and a half, is like a mash-up of the other two, a ghost drone lullaby sung by a zombie mermaid that lures lost souls to the Bermuda vortex. I've been returning lately to a lot of tapes from the Hobo Cult Records back-catalogue, and this release just nails the feeling their releases had, but with a spookier edge. Support.
Buy the EP in digital format here, or as a limited mini CD here (it won't be available outside this 3CD set). Stream available after the jump.
New EP from Voodoo Crystals dropped today. Entitled "1717" it's available in digital format from his bandcamp or as a limited edition mini CD, as part of the "Japan Mini CD Promo Triangle Set #1", released via Phantasma Disques. The 3CD set, which also includes EPs by Pwin Teaks and Vengeur, can be ordered here. I only started listening to "1717" but can already tell it's a unique collage of distortion, delay and post-witch beats amplified with lyrics that channel vulnerability, self-destructive tendencies and longing for companionship. The EP is hard to describe with one catch-all term, as darkwave, IDM, dark electro and witch-house elements clash and overlap each other, forming a short and dynamic release.
Buy the digital EP here, CD version here, and stream it all below.
"Innovation Breaks" is the latest album from the producer and music journalist Nattymari. Listening to those fourteen nuggets, advertised as "just some ruff beats", feels like digging through the exotica box in a vintage record store, with each track having a life of its own thanks to eclectic selection of samples and a simple break serving as a backbone of the composition. 90s hip hop heads will appreciate this.
Download the album here for free, and stream it after the jump.
Second single from the new Pwin Teaks album "The Return" which will come out on July 4th via Phantasma Disques on July 4th. I missed those old giallo/obscure cinema tribute videos that CDX used to produce.
This new single by Wrocław-based producer and vocalist Saintwiktoria takes me all the way back to 2010. Gloomy bass and chiptune keys lead the track into a demon-infested void, while the indiscernible vocals serve as a tribute to the early days of witch house. Check out more of her tracks on Soundcloud. Really promissing artist, one to follow for sure.
New EP from the Middle-earth's favourite DJ with attitude. David Goblin is back with a 3-track "Orkstar", available for pre-order here. Expect mud, grunts and next-level bangers. 2018's "Ork Muzik" aged like fine wine, and I am still baffled how come more people did not jump on this incredible trend. Long live DJ David Goblin.