Review: IAMX is Chris Corner's solo project, which can be traced back to 2004, around the time his former band, Sneaker Pimps, went on hiatus. Spanning multiple genres, from burlesque-hued dark cabaret to electronic rock and unbridled dance music, there have now been eight studio albums, two remix records, two live albums and two experimental albums released under the moniker. Fault Lines² is among the finest in that oeuvre, and the most recent. Fresh for 2024, this collection of work paints a vivid picture of the artist - at times unsettling and slightly eerie, in other moments melancholic-yet-euphoric, it's dramatic, theatrical, innovative and strangely teetering on the brink of traditional and more explorative schools of sound. Probably not something you'll hear much like again this month.
Review: Identity Theft is the solo electronic music of Michael Buchanan, commencing in 2011 with the album Night Workers. Having previously released on labels such as Oraculo Records, Treue Um Treue, Record Label Records, and Katabatik, here he continues to astonish with the atmospheric, brooding and liturgical electro opus, Omnia Vitas. Rooted in Dusseldorf-school electro with strong leanings towards the more abstract krautrock origins of the genre, Vanitas continues to flesh out the themes of surveillance and paranoia - themes endemic to his music from the outset - albeit this time he also works in samples culled personally from the posthumous sonic archives of several departed (and unnamed) producer friends.
Review: Onsen Music isn't just the title of Shoko Igarashi's second album, but rather a manifesto of sorts. The name refers to a "genre" of music the saxophonist, flautist, and vocalist has created. A strange, bouncy-yet-angular corner of the electronic music universe that feels like it's inviting you to a party thrown by Mr Soft and a flying unicorn. Sounds extend themselves, curve, wobble, warp, float, glitter, and do everything else in their power to make sure you know this is a safe listening space that's equally danceable. Ever bubbly and colourful, 'Rainy' represents the full blown nu disco end of the record's vast spectrum, while the likes of 'Ukigusa' come over far closer to Ryuichi Sakamoto's clean, crisp and cuddly pop excursions - staunchly leftfield and out there, but strangely familiar and universally likeable.
Review: Italoconnection deliver the second volume in their Midnight Confessions Italo trance albums series. The partnership of Fred Ventura and Paolo Gozzetti first saw the first edition of Midnight Confessions in 2021; three years later, a whole new fresh set of modern yet true-blue Italo sonics are unleashed. As Ventura's unmistakable lead vocals regale tails of optimistic liaisons and lost love, Gozzetti's monumental production style brings a torrential sheen to an otherwise well-known Italian dance style. On the likes of 'Cold War Lovers' and 'Systematic', we hear a further set of ruminations on current events, the former track marking a synthwave sojourn as Ventura laments the energetic anomie, the inhibitions of today: "we should be dancing, we should be dancing all night..." Released on a limited edition 2xLP via Bordello A Parigi.
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