Back catalogue: Industrial/Noise

Review: Yu Asaeda's been putting out a whole range of quality, bass-centric sounds under the name ENA since the late 2000s, but these have come out on a rather sporadic basis. Appearances for the infamous 7even Recordings was followed by material on Samurai Horo, the excellent Hidden Hawaii and, more recently, the Samurai label's offshoot, Horo. Divided: Body is so much more than a mere 'bass' EP, and it actually manages to veer off into some pretty strange and imperceptible sounds that remind us of the material emanating from the PAN consortium. For instance, the opening "11th Divided" manages to create a raw, loose groove out of fractured synth sounds, which is followed up nicely by the swarming drones operating in the higher ends of "12th Divided". Over on the flip, "13th Divided" launches a subtle yet hefty groove made up of what sound like bass pops made from a monophonic synth, which leaves "14th Divided" to linger in its dreary pool of fuzzy drones and washed-up sonics. A massive, merited TIP!

Review: The legendary experimental German band Einsturzende Neubauten is back with their first album since 2020, Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Since their formation in 1980, the band his sought out to blaze their own trail in making what others would assume is noise into their own brand music. Their own music language was created and brought with them legions of followers that have added a bit of Einsturzende Neubauten's influence to their own sounds. The band has once again pushed their sound even further - alien pop music. This edition comes on yellow vinyl.

Review: Industrial music formed amidst the concrete decay of post-war Berlin, Einsturzende Neubauten emerged as pioneers of genre. Their sonic alchemy fuses unconventional instruments crafted from scrap metal and construction tools with traditional ones, creating a raw and unsettling symphony. Their new double album "Rampen (APM: Alien Pop Music)" showcases their sonic prowess. Despite the abrasiveness of their sound, the group's music is imbued with a sense of theatricality. Blixa Bargeld's stoic vocals narrate surreal tales of urban decay and existential unease, while the band's live performances evoke industrial rituals. Over the years, the band's music has evolved, incorporating elements of ambient and even pop into their sound. Yet, their core ethos remains intact: to challenge musical boundaries and create a sonic tapestry that reflects the harsh realities of the modern world. This album still helps cement the band moving forward but still respecting their past.

Review: Einsturzende Neubauten's description by label Potomoak - as a band that constantly evolves - is accurate enough. Over forty years on from their debut album Kollaps in 1981, Rampen appears as the latest and most unruly incarnation of their sound yet. Here, Blixa Bargeld, N. U. Unruh, Alexander Hacke, Jochen Arbeit, Rudolph Moser and Felix Gebhard present their least predictable and conventional sides: APM is described as alien pop music; the songs therein have been specially crafted not only for our universe but for every adjacent parallel universe to ours, with every slight multiversal variation in humanity's collective tastes held firmly in mind. The album fully lives up to its billing as anti-pop as alien pop, its challenging twists and turns fully sating the difficult whims of society's outcasts and cosmic punks.

Review: Duma's Lord Spikeheart and serial collaborator Elvin Brandhi come totters for some mind-boggling left-of-centre sounds here on Drunken Love. These are unhinged sounds that feed the noise of bands like Napalm Death into an industrial grinder and come out even more demented no the other side. Core to it is Brandhi's unique vocal treatments which make use of a singular sampler technique and have been present throughout her work. Even the Francis Bacon-esque cover art is brilliantly grotesque yet alluring. Though not for the faint of heart, the is a fascinating record.

Review: Paul Purgas and James Ginzburg's Emptyset project has gone on quite the journey, emerging from Bristol's experimental underground to head in the direction of austere European brutalism and noise exploration. Recent albums have appeared on Thrill Jockey, but now they return to their regular home Subtext and reconnect with their West Country roots by assembling this series of sound experiments with a soundsystem physicality in mind. It's still sharply angled, challenging fare, but there's more than enough weight to do the damage, not least with the experimental outlook of so many strong dances these days.

Review: Here come wild conceptronics from The Ephemeron Group, an as of yet little-known solo project of an artist known only as Vymethoxy Redspiders. Already being hailed as probably one of the most important underground albums of the year, 'Psychonautic Escapism' is a wildly intense journey evidently built with love, time and precision, written and produced over a span of 14 years and raucously colliding dream pop, dub techno and black metal influences. We hear ego deaths, abominable angelics and trudgy, vocal-processy brain fogs in this gargantuan world, all ultimately reflecting the artist's personal journey as a trans woman. Redspiders, otherwise known as Uroceras Gigas, was lead brain of the Leeds-based xenofeminist crisis energy rock duo Guttersnipe - as should be evident, they playfully break and remould their identity as they see fit, evidently staying rightly critical of the confines of genre, border or category. This effect is just as well translated into the music; this is a whopping protean statement, not to be missed.