Recording of Night Foundation live set that took place in September 2023, at The Auxiliary Project Space, Middlesbrough, thanks to the ever-amazing Industrial Coast who also released it on tape. While cassettes are gone now, you can still listen to the performance on Bandcamp.
"Sanctuary", a collaborative EP from E_Death and Kmado came out earlier this year, but I was avoiding checking it out for some reason. Tonight's evening was a perfect occasion to dive into it and I'm so glad to it. Blending hyper-cloud-rap beats with junglist and breakbeat tempos, the duo delivered a post-trance ecstasy on this four-track release. It might just be E_Death's best work to date within her current niche. Blissful electronica! Get it.
Download the EP for free here, and stream all four track down below.
Drum n bass flavoured Vidchajj is peak right now, Final Fantasy magic beatmaking. My only moan would be the length, I want it way longer! Stream here.
Vertigo Cult once again delives a devilishly amazing debut, this time from U.S. producer Beauty. "Down in the Dirt" EP offers a witchy take on Gucci Mane's back catalogue, a trend that SALEM started in 2009 - but Beauty takes it to another level. The opening track "Lifestyle" is easily one of the best singles of the year, flawless mix of witch, rap and club. The whole EP flows perfectly, with ill production that juggles between up-tempo and slow beats, all in sync with the processed vocals of Gucci. I was never a fan of GMane but Beauty made him sound sick, and actually inspired me to dive into his old albums. Do not sleep on this icy package.
Download "Down In The Dirt" here, stream it below.
This is like a peak dubstep/brostep-era sonic onslaught, but with witchhouse and industrial influences all over the place. Hardcore sounds. Support Monomorte and get "Swallow" here.
"Blush", new single from Sad Madona, sounds like an unreleased single from TRST's debut album era, but played at 33RPM instead of 45. Absolute gem, free download as always, get it!
This new 7" split from Retrac Recordings brings together the Tennessee-based wonky psych-tripper New Mexican Stargazers and Chilean guitar-ambient wiz Agate Flow. Two great lo-fi tunes for mellow Autumn sessions.
Grab the vinyl here, and stream both tracks below.
Lush ambient OST from the Kuroi Ame duo, released earlier this year to promote 2023 indie film "Growth". Tense strings, delicate piano, creepy sound design and droney tones. If the movie is half as good as the score, I seriously would love to see it. Enjoy the music in the meantime, it works as a standalone album just fine.
Download the score here, stream it in full down bellow.
Birthday (?) mix from STRFLL, beautifully dragged and blended, featuring underground gems from Valhall, Salem, Sunset Architects, and exclusive preview of his collab with Beauty, and a rare side project of Micke from D040 called Gömstället. All dirge heat no fillers. Download and support here.
One of my fav new bands is back with yet another amazing single. Portland's Human Hollow cooked "Dark Space (Next To Me)" during their incredible "Against the Clock" video series in just over 20 minutes - and delivered a hauntingly capturing dream pop/darkwave anthem that features their back and forth vocals. Seriously keep an eye on those two. Their EP should be out soon as far as I know. Can't wait! You can buy "Dark Space" here.
Montoya's latest single "Black Tee" got a lo-fi video treatment. The track, sampling Jeiddn's "Nigths", is a classic emotional witch-wave production. Good stuff, download/buy here.
Another Halloween special comes from Ritualz. "Policy Of Truth" is a cover of Depeche Mode single, which we get here in three formats: post-industrial witch-pop, dragged out edit and sped-up "nightcore" version. The single got a CD release too, apparently limited, so don't sleep on that.
Grab the CD/digital here and stream all three tracks below.
Halloween special from VC comes in shape of a two track single "Mutiny Party". Acid-witch house with a synthpunk soul on "Mutiny" and more industrial spirit on "Party". Sick, make sure to support here. Adam also has a new album out now on Phantasma Disques, but I haven't checked it out yet.
Tracy Widdess is a visual artist and experimental producer based in Vancouver, Canada. She is probably best known for her "brutal knitting" practise - her textile (art)works have been championed all over the internet for years."Ethereal Mischief" is defacto the first album offered by Vertigo Cult, and what a stunning record it is. Anxiously threading between dream and reality, the album consists of ten compositions that embrace drone, witch house, dark ambient and electroacoustic loops. Feels like an alternative soundtrack to Picnic at Hanging Rock. Dreamy stuff.
Download the LP here, and stream all ten tracks below.
In the most intense year for elections around the world, there's no wonder artists will use their platforms to campaign (in one way or another). While lots of neo-fascists are coming out of the woodwork, others, like Astro Nautico's Agent (who may or may not be a side project of label's founder Paul Jones) use their voice to protest. "I'm Voting" is a sick protest song, set somewhere between minimal synthpunk and coldwave. In the graveyard we'll build a mall! Download here.
The Swedish GOAT is back with a new blazing single, promoting what appears to be a new mixtape. Watch this space, and get the track here, heat!
BVT is a dark ambient/witchhouse producer from Michigan, and his "Static Theory Of Time Remixes" EP (?) is my first contact with his music. It consists of four tracks that are reworked compositions sourced from his debut album from 2018, which I haven't checked out yet. All that being said, this release is really solid, ghostly ambinet tones are mixed with trap, drone and industrial-leaning elements that give those tracks witchy feel. The stretched, possessed-like intro is my fav here, but the whole release feels solid front to back. Will definitely follow his work from now on and dive deeper into his past stuff.
Buy the release here, stream in full below.
I'm a huge fan of ritual ambient, and this one-track, 24 min+ release from mysterious Häxa Komät hits all the right spots. Released by Detroit's Unity Temple on CDR and Vancouver's Bent Window Records on tape, it's one for all the doom shamans, trippy witches and tribal drone aficionados. Kinds reminds me of early High Wolf and Pwin Teaks releases. Highly recommended!
Get your fix here for CDR, here for tape or directly from the artist for digital.
New club album from E_DEATH just dropped. "Abandon Lust" features twelve sample-heavy tracks that span multiple genres, from nightcore and tek-house to synth-trap and witch house. Some of those gems remind me of Nike7up's stuff which is wild.
Download the album here, and stream it below.
Mig Inc is a versatile producer from Bordeaux, France, self-described as a industrial electronic noise musician. His latest two-track project "⚫🔻⬛" is a minimal witch house meets industrial meets warped dark ambient creation that will appeal to fans of bizarre and obscure electronics. Nice discovery, I do recommend diving into his past discography as there's a ton of gems hidden there.
Support him here, and stream circle-triangle-square below.
"Dream Within A Dream" is a retrospective EP from Spanish witch house producer Fl▲sh$i†, who back in 2011 debuted on the cult label Black Bus Records. This project, released by Vertigo Cult, collects seven of his archival compositions in a neat package that includes haunted pop transmissions, tribal chants, lo-fi synthwave, chiptune breakbeats, and haunted beats, all neatly wrapped in a witchy shroud. Back from the dead, not really, but it's a great reminder of a bygone era.
You can get the EP here, and stream it below.
Ahead of Serfs' upcoming European/UK tour in November, the band released a limited 7 inch single for this series of events on Chicago's Trouble in Mind Records. Minimal, synth-pop-punk. Catchy, sweet and short. Grab 'em here or in person from the merch stand.
I have no idea who's behind this project, all I know is that Stay Healthy folks are backing it. Dope track, stream here.
Vertigo Cult is on a missing to bring back some of the forgotten names from the WH scene back to the limelight. Fl▲sh$i†'s "Cold Trance" video promotes his latest EP "Dream Within A Dream", which is now out on Bandcamp. Trippy clip matches the distorted single.
Dancing In Slow Motion's debut EP for Vertigo Cult "Severed" hits different. It's both ultra sad, nostalgic, hypnotic and, first and foremost, witch house to the core. "Amoxicillin" kicks off the project with it's half-lethargic, half-screwed beat, wonderfully backed by intelligible, reverberant vocals. As I wrote in my blog post about the video made for this track, this may be one of my favourite intros in a long while. "Nuffdat" is the heavy hitter here, with fast hi-hat matching its obscure vocals track. "Cry" is a ghost drone dirge that could've crawled out of Twin Peak's Black Lodge, while the closing song, "Again", tips its hat to SALEM's ingenuity with its drum patterns and processed slow singing. Absolutely stellar EP and one of my fav releases of 2024. Do not sleep on this one!
Download the EP here, and stream it all below.
Institute For Alien Research, a netlabel based in Bath (UK) organised this captivating tribute compilation dedicated to the great composer and experimentalist Delia Derbyshire entitled "PsycheDelia". 15 tracks of sonic oddities, embracing musique concrete, noise, glitch and abstract electronic music. The compilation features one of blog's usuals - Humanfobia, with their track "The Spectre of Delia". Recommended!
Download "PsycheDelia" here, and stream it in full after the jump.
Latest single "Keep The TV On" from the Portland-based duo Human Hollow is such a treat. It gives me 2000s indie pop-punk vibe but the sleezy kitsch that defined that era is replaced with darker, shoegazing tone. I don't even own a TV, but want to sing along (and speaking of, Aaron leads on vocals this time). Get the single here.
The ever expanding AKP Recordings universe gains another gem in its crown, thanks to the captivating NY-based duo YAI (David Lackner and John Thayer). Their new album "Sky Time" is an alluring blend of woodwinds, ambient soundscapes and leftfield beats that transports you to a late-night jazz club somewhere in the solar system. YAI's lush fluidity in moving between various moods and sub-genres gives the album a warm, dreamy, and reassuring feel, effortlessly guiding the listener through their astral plane. This wonderful sonic adventure somehow reminds me of the Japanese Hydeout Productions label, though it's less beat-oriented and more spaced-out and jazz-focused. A future go-to classic for all the vaporwave heads.
You can buy the album on vinyl here, and stream it in full below.
Synth trip from two musicians and film composers Heiko Maile and Julian Demarre "Neostalgia" should appeal to fans of 70s and 80s electronic music revival. Krautrock mixed with trippy ambient and post-synthwave retro-futurism. This LP sounds better with each new listen.
Grab it on vinyl and CD here, and steam below.
Crushing noise album from Exome and Halba. Whirlwind of textures, samples and sonic dust from start to finish. I hate boring noise records, this ain't it. Out now via Phage Tapes on CDR and digital. Stream here.
Wild discovery. SLM is a project of London-based sound designer and composer who goes by Brandon Piper. Satanic lofi music pretty much sums up what we're dealing here with, creepy and obscure dark ambient and drone, love it!! Support the dude here.
Stay Healthy cult is going strong, Courtney Cole (fka dirtr4t) has just premiered his new video single "Woa $$" a few days ago. Depressive witch house, yes sir.
Austin's Deep Cross and HIQC got together to record three version of Black Sabbath "Planet Caravan". Zen/drone bliss. Support here.
Third and final EP in a series of releases celebrating Mater Suspiria Vision's latest album "Cosmic Silver Pt. 2". This one features two remixes from the split mastermind of Cosmortropia de Xam: possessed cacophony of sounds by Anna Luisa Syversen on track one, and ghostly manifestations from De Duivelse Zusters. Both unique in their own right.
Buy the EP here, and stream both remixes below.
Since that epic d'n'b remix of Bones, I've been waiting for more drum and bass joints from Vidchajj, dude has mad talent with handling that particular genre. "444" delivers and more, so good!
Isolation Cult homies Chayn Sloth and Pale Palace come through with this sick collabortion "New Queen", delivering a single that's both mellow and powerful. Love love love, free download too! Get it here.
Dorothy Waste is back after a long-ish break with a new Meet Me After Sundown EP called "The End Of An Era". Eight tracks deep, the release is an amalgamation of multiple genres, spanning the darkest corners of electronic music, raw black metal and industrial. In love with the closing track "A Room In My Heart" - wish it was longer!
Support MMAS here and stream the EP below.
This may be the ugliest cover art you'll see today, but NSM and Stardustinmotion delivered some serious spaced out tones for this Bandcamp Friday. Their self-titled split features New Mexican Stargazers delivering his usual (and always excellent) strain of new age psychedelia, while Stardustinmotion serves a calm-down dose of zoned-out ambient. Great stuff.
Get this split here, stream both tracks below.
"Water Machine" is the latest video single from the Swedish witchy noir-pop duo Hinvex. Originally released in May earlier this year, the track should appeal to fans of Fever Ray, IC3PEAK and even Myths. The vidow was produced and directed by the band and shot in Sörmland, Sweden.
I need to catch up with Vertigo Cult offerings on the blog, since my last review of Voodoo Crystals, the label put out 3 new EPs. The end of August saw the release of STRFLL's six-track epic "Birds". Sitting at the intersection of post-Fires in Heaven witch house revival and fuzzy, noise-drenched guitar riffs, the EP cements STRFLL's position as one of the most exciting underground producers at the moment. His ability to compose compelling melodies and blending them with abrasive, dark electronic music to create captivating songs and soundscapes gives him an edge over many of his contemporaries who are lagging way behind. Make sure to check out the video for the throbbing single "The Sun Ain't Gonna Heal No Wounds" or the end-of-the-world anthem "Gummo". The illest.
Grab the EP here, support the artist and get it directly from him here (with bonus tracks), or buy it on limited edition tape here.
One of my fav intros got a video treatment, with a triple horror story plotline. The single comes from the recent DISM EP for Vertigo Cult called "Severed", which you can get here.
"Black Powder Recipe" feels like a natural continuation of CRAVE's "Save Room" album, a horror/survival computer game soundtrack rooted in ominous ambient soundscapes. Great stuff as always. Support here.
Maurr returns with spoken word dark electro / new beat thing that rocks (as always). I'm super stoked for his journey so far, and cannot wait for a proper LP from him. In the meantime, support him here.
New Black Fondu's single "Another Domestic" sounds like some mutated 2011 summer joint. Posi-vibe beat chopped up like early Flying Lotus. Jump on the train here.
Second in a trilogy of EPs promoting Mater Suspiria Vision's latest album "Cosmic Silver". The first version of "Das Haus der Hexe" appeared on group's 2011 album "Inverted Triangle I", and part two is built mostly on the stems from that version. The opening single features vocals from the Austraian cult radio personality Sammantha Leesonja aka Theway Peoplestare, hyping up in her classic fashion the original single. While being solid at what it is, it's the AI-fueled remixes that steal the show here and prove how well this technology can lift work. Death Dance remix is my fav out of the three, alluring darkwave club banger. Проклятая Реальность remix brings some of that soft spoken folk-witch polish, while Cronenberg Complex turns the original into a cross between synthwave and beat instrumental. Just wow. Don't sleep on this one.
You can purchase the EP here, and stream all the tracks below.
Surprising find during late night FB cruising (out of all places), Bukong is a Polish experiental electronic producer out of Gorlice. His latest release "Acid Noise" oscillates between noise, Skrapez-like beatmaking and dark and fucked up club deconstructions that could be easily picked up by French provocateurs Mind Records. Radical stuff, something that will appeal to fans of CRAVE, Ourobonic Plague and Tenshun. Out on Bukocze Records.
Get the release here, and stream in full below.
STRFLL makes the most gnarly short mixtapes, his latest "Summer Tape" is no exception. Featuring some new and rare joints, it's perfectly mixed and wrapps up in no time. Ace. Stream here.
Old Amica's new LP "För Alltid" has been a special guest on my phone for many weeks now (it was released on August 9th via band's Bandcamp), but I never got around to sitting down and sharing my thoughts about it. The lead single, "Tiden far" dropped a while ago and I've loved it to bits. The record is inspired by the themes of time, fleeting moments, and fading memories. While their previous album "Fyr" evoked a sense of post-rock/ambient dreaminess, with nods to Sigur Rós or Foxes In Fiction, "För Alltid" drifts even further into earthy, minimal, and sublime ambient-drone territories. Blending deliacte electroacoustic experiments with field recordings, this record is like a warm, reassuring hug on a cold autumn day. Check out "Klorofyll" or "Tiden Far" to get a taste of this. The closing track "Till dig" gives me chills with its low tempo grandeur. Incredible record from start to finish. Now released on tape via Le Mont Analogue / Dronarivm.
Get the tapes here, or digital directly from the band here. Stream the album in full below.
Pure Life bosses Kuroi Ame return with a new LP "Dreaming Machines" composed in collaboration with vocalist Moe Watadani aka Eulalie. Drawing from their background in dreampunk, the duo utilise their sci-fi-inspired production chops and push their sound into the fourth world techno territories. Think Yaeji doing a soundtrack for Blade Runner. The album makes me want to both dance around and mellow out on my sofa. Nice one.
You can buy the album on ltd vinyl here, and stream it after the jump.
French ambient-pop queen is back with a new single "Family and Friends". Beautiful track, from the delicate vocals to minimal tapping to dreamy flute. Buy it here.
You can't go wrong with "Goodbye Horses", especially in a drag form that feels like it was invented for classics like this one. Fooly Cooly is an alias of For Lunar Dust. Lazzarus is backed with slowed down version of U96's "Club Bizarre". Dance macabre with simple yet effective video.
New STRFLL double-A single dropped a couple of days ago and I can't get over how amazing it is. Utterly ethereal ambient soundscape "In Memoriam" is contrasted with shoegazing witch-house anthem "Forget", featuring vocals from sleepingprayer. A must for White Ring fans. Both tracks are total bliss. Get them here.
Crossgardens is a new witch house producer that debuted with the video single above, channelling old school witch vibe. More to follow.
Pwin Teaks returns in style with a beautifully twisted and delirious "Wrapped In Plastic". Feels like a return to the early days of Black Lodge with Twin Peaks samples. Stylistically all over the place, with improv sax motis, ghost drone, haunted ballroom ballads, acid-soaked musique concrete, voice modifications - witch house at its finest.
Get the album on CD here, digital here, and stream it all below.
