New releases last two weeks: Industrial/Noise

Review: Originally released on cassette in 1984, Borghesia's Clones album now resurfaces on vinyl courtesy of the dons at Dark Entries. It's a fine glimpse into early electronic experimentation from 1980s Ljubljana, all created using borrowed gear and recorded live without overdubs. The results are an album of hypnotic proto-techno and acid-inflected instrumentals intended for video installations and performances, all of which speak to the raw, pioneering spirit of the scene in Yugoslavia at the time. The A-side has driving club energy, while the flip drifts into more immersive ambient territory. It might be four decades old, but this album still has a visceral impact on mind and body.

Review: "Random, tense, scary and compulsively fascinating". That's how Chris Connelly describes the period in which the tracks on this album were originally written. As the main man behind some of the most iconic and influential industrial bands in history - Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Murder.Inc... - he's definitely well placed to make this kind of judgment. And it comes across even more understandable if you grasp the fact he's meaning all that in a good way. Throbbing Gristle should need no introduction, having pretty much written the blueprint for industrial musick in the nuclear age. A sound that screamed "get us out". Combine that oeuvre with this guy, then, and you have something which is uncompromisingly explosive and effective. Not to mention fitting, given half the people on the street seem convinced we're rushing headfirst into another atomic standoff, if not something much, much worse.

Review: Developed as off-the-cuff cassette overdubs, work taking place in Manchester and Massachusetts, combined with syncopated vocals, Human Engineering very much lives up to its name. Narrated by Rick Myers, with long-time collaborators Andy Votel and Sean Canty in charge of the noises, it's a strange place to spend some time but it's also oddly beautiful. At first ear, the aesthetic feels rough and mechanical, definitely anything but human. But as things draw us further in to whatever this plain is, the organic at the root of everything rises to the surface. Suddenly, the obtuse noises no longer sound alien, and instead have taken on their true form - products of people, perhaps artefacts from a time we're about to forget. One in which machines were ours, not their own.

Review: Walhalla Records reissues Underground Wave Volume 4 from its exciting series that helps collect and release minimal synth gems from the 1980. Belgian acts dominate this expertly curated edition, including M Bryo, Schicksal, Ratbau and Bene Gesserit, each contributing tracks that pulse with analogue nostalgia and DIY grit. Schicksal opens the record with 'Power Hate Destruction', an exclusive track that sets a dark and brooding tone. M Bryo's entry is particularly arresting with Mark Burghgraeve's knack for eerie atmospheres. The Arch delivers 'Ice In Your Eyes',, a swirling track said to be their live concert closer in 1988, oozing with gothic tension. Side-B has 'Genetic Factor', a haunting 1982 cut by Richard Zeilstra that evokes early Klinik. Elektronische Maschine adds a refreshing 90s synth pop twist, while 'No Honey From These' stuns with a raw, Suicide-like energy. Paschen's Law channels YMO and Logic with intricate programming, before Bene Gesserit closes things with the mesmerising 'Les Aliens, a track that fuses eerie piano with an Attrition-style evolution. This compilation is a passionate preservation of underground history, led by Walhalla's curator Lieven De Ridder's deep archival instincts and unmatched dedication.