We Have A Technical

We're talking records by Mesh and Mlada Fronta on this week's podcast, as synthpop/alt rock and rhythmic noise/IDM combos are considered. Also, talk about the first major concert the Senior Staff have been able to attend since everything went down!

As selected by our Patreon backers, an album which needs no introduction whatsoever is the subject of this month's We Have A Commentary podcast. We're discussing 20 Jazz Funk Greats' recurring theme of manipulation, the ways in which it presaged the various post-TG projects each member of the band would pursue, and its eternal position at a strange intersection of pop, noise, experimentalism, and emerging dance styles.

We're talking about the changing roles served by vocals in industrial and post-industrial music in this week's episode of the podcast. Whether tilting towards pop conventions or serving to explode the control machines, how has the human voice been deployed in music ranging from Throbbing Gristle to futurepop? Lock your eyes on your navels and prepare for a deep dive with the Senior Staff.

Was 1998 a peak year for darkwave? You decide after listening to this episode of We Have A Technical, which discusses the broad-reaching electro-acoustic laments of Deathwatch Beetle Repairman's Hollow Fishes and the foray into chill breaks which was Love Spirals Downwards' Flux. All that plus a run-down of the lineup for the upcoming Terminus: Fragment fest in Calgary!

From an uncertain electroclash hangover to an experiment in pure drone, this week's two albums formatted episode covers a lot of ground. First up it's a discussion of Mount Sims' 2004 Wild Light LP, and then a dive into 2, the 1996 LP by Justin Broadrick's solo project Final. We also touch upon a recent interview with Steve Albini in which the infamous engineer and songwriter reckons with his own 'shitty edgelord' past, and some hopeful intimations from the folks behind Terminus Festival.

This month's commentary podcast conveniently coincides with news of a new Boy Harsher LP and tour as we discuss the duo's 2017 EP, Country Girl. Though short in run-time, the EP's sound and mood served as a flashpoint for the explosion of interest in Boy Harsher's approach to classic darkwave and electronic sounds, catapulting them to their current position as one of the most preeminent and influential dark electronic bands of the moment.

This week we are picking five "easy records". What does that mean? Who knows, listen and find out! 

It's a down the pipe two albums episode of the podcast this week, with Bruce picking a record by semi-notable German goth rock band and Alex picking a record by a distinctly obscure German industrial act. The blatant Sisters-isms of The Merry Thoughts and the Eurodance/prog EBM of Fortification 55 are discussed, with more than a few charms being ferreted out from each.

The thematic complexity, musical variety, and labyrinthine discography of Current 93 is the subject of this week's We Have A Technical. David Tibet's work has had a profound impact on both of us and the genres we cover here at I Die: You Die, and so without intending to be at all authoritative or all-encompassing, we wanted to have a conversation which would take up a host of questions and issues extending out of one of the most singular bodies of experimental music from the past century. Buckle up, shit's gonna get gnostic.

Our two album discussion episodes don't get much more down the pipe than this! Two fun and funky EBM records of different stripes are on the docket. First, we're catching up with Randolph & Mortimer via Manifesto For A Modern World, a compilation of their acid, grebo, and Wax Trax indebted instrumental EBM bangers. Next, we're looking over the second record from musically Belgian but geographically Dutch duo The Force Dimension, Deus Ex Machina, which adds a quirky mix of new age, synthpop, and new beat elements to EBM.

On the cusp of the release of their sophomore record Acts Of Worship, we're joined on the podcast this week by Jason Corbett and Shannon Hemmett of Actors. There's lots on the table as we discuss the refinement and expansion of the band's weighty post-punk sound, emotional reckonings, and the pragmatic side of planning shows during the pandemic. We also talk about Cold Waves FOMO and the latest drama emerging from Ministry's Industrial Strength tour.

It's a Pick Five episode of the podcast this week, with each of us talking about some samples which stuck with us for better or worse. It's somewhat bitterly ironic that that's our subject, as the passing of sample and industrial pioneer Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire is something which we're also discussing with Susan Subtract of Physical Wash and High-Functioning Flesh.

Mark Trueman of Choke Chain joins Alex and Bruce to discuss his new release Invoking Shadows, his history with EBM and industrial and how this release is distinct from its predecessors. 

For too long we have been delinquent in our duties as supreme judges of the nature of industrial music and culture. For too long we have hidden behind mealy-mouthed equivocation out of a desire to keep the peace. No more. On this episode of We Have A Technical we at last embrace our destinies as the Arbiters of Industrial and pass judgement on the rivetness of all things great and small. Should you deign to dispute our rulings you may do so on social media or in the comments below, but remember that your petitions will be to us as the flitting of gnats is to an intractable basalt column.

A classic two albums episode has us kicking between darkwave and industrial metal. Diva Destruction's debut Passion's Price, with its synth strings and high-goth aesthetic, is considered alongside Unit 187's Loaded, balancing programming and Vancouver metal. Some recent tour cancellations and postponements, plus the dissolution of Iris are also discussed.

After four weeks of our New Canon series, the regular We Have A Technical podcast is back! This week we're discussing Sinner Get Ready, the new album from Lingua Ignota. Its rural mood and shift towards acoustic/folk instrumentation while maintaining the harrowing tones and themes for which Kristen Hayter's work has gained acclaim are just some of the topics we're discussing. Also, we try to catch up with a full month's worth of news bites.