We Have A Technical

This month's We Have A Commentary takes up the third LP from Vancouver's chameleonic Moev. Yeah Whatever brought together elements of synthpop, post-punk, funk, nascent alt-rock, goth, and body music, all under the aegis of then-new vocalist Dean Russell's exploration of deeply spiritual and personal issues. The Senior Staff discuss it in relation to Moev's broader history (as well as that of Nettwerk Records)

On the last episode of We Have A Technical before our special podcast series The New Canon takes over the month of August, we're talking about the classic mid-90s fusion of industrial programming and guitar of Steril's Egoism and the timeless and intimate sound design of Octavius' Laws. Some Ashbury Heights and Front 242 chat rounds out this week's episode.

The sometimes strained and sometimes incredibly powerful crossover between industrial and hip-hop is the subject of this week's We Have A Technical. From both genres' shared roots in sampling to thorny questions of MCing to current forms of hip-hop which create noise ex nihilo, we're aiming for a relatively subjective discussion of this unique intersection rather than an authoritative history thereof. We're also touching upon a recent article detailing connections between noise/power electronics artists like Dom Fernow and the far right.

The return of the listener-favourite Pick Five format has us considering records we like to listen to whilst traveling on airplanes. Being stuck in a tightly compacted space hurtling through the sky for lengthy periods of time can be stressful, monotonous, and wonderful, and from IDM to shoegaze, choosing the right soundtrack can lessen anxiety and offer much-needed focus.

After a few weeks of holidays, medical leave, and 10th anniversary celebrations we're back to our usual schedule here at the site, including a classic two albums format episode of the podcast. This week we're discussing the 1994 crossover success of Delerium's Semantic Spaces, wherein an ambient/industrial side-project primed itself to become a mainstream phenomenon hybridizing trance, trip-hop, and "world" music, and the final missive from Ipswich experimentalists Nagamatzu, whose 1991 record Igniting The Corpse pushed sampling and neo-classical sketching ahead of their post-punk and minimal synth roots.

I Die: You Die turns 10 years old this year, so naturally this week's podcast is of a reflective tack. We're looking back at the very first writing posted to the site, and talking about how the site's changed and how it's changed up. Self-indulgent? Maybe, but the site's entering its cantankerous pre-teen years now - let the baby have his bottle.

This month's We Have A Commentary episode, made possible as always by the generous financial support of our Patreon backers, has us taking up the sophomore record from London After Midnight. An inescapable presence in goth nightclubs, headphones, and bedrooms in the late 1990s, Psycho Magnet gathered elements of darkwave and deathrock around the striking figure and vocals of frontman Sean Brennan.

A most contentious of crossover genres is the subject of this week's podcast, dear listener. Yep, Alex and Bruce are tackling the neon-veined beast that is synthwave, and try to wrestle with its revisionism, aesthetic markers, audience, outliers, and possibilities. We're also talking about the line-up of industrial legends scheduled to take the stage at France's Hellfest next year.

From the sugariest of highs to the most oppressive of lows, it's tough to imagine records with vibes as different than the pair up for discussion on this week's podcast. The mature synthpop of Beborn Beton's 2015 comeback A Worthy Compensation is considered alongside the abject miserablism of darkwave duo Forever Grey's Alabaster Chamber. All that plus some griping about guest lists on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

After almost a full month away from it, we're back to the classic two albums format in this week's episode of We Have A Technical. Voices, the 1998 LP from Lights Of Euphoria, is discussed as a sampling of the styles in European electro of the day, while //TENSE//'s 2011 swan song Escape is revisited as a precursor to the entire next decade of North American EBM. We're also checking in on the rescheduled Cruel World festival set for LA next May.

The new record from the website and podcast’s namesake is up for discussion on this week’s podcast. Yep, Uncle Gary’s new record Intruder looks to be following in the footsteps of its predecessor in terms of chart success, and we’re talking not just about the ins and outs of the new record and its place within the Numan catalog, but also the long-term shape and legacy of Numan’s longstanding partnership with producer Ade Fenton. All that plus some news bites on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

This month's Patreon-supported bonus commentary podcast finds us heading back to the still-oontz driven days of the industrial club scene circa 2008 with Aesthetic Perfection's breakthrough LP A Violent Emotion. We're interested in reconsidering and discussing the record in light of both the era which produced it and also the ways in which AP's Daniel Graves has steered the project away from traditional club industrial sounds towards mainstream pop. Can the seeds of Graves' debts to Katy Perry and Carly Rae be heard in the thumping aggrotech of tracks like "Living The Wasted Life"? Find out in this month's We Have A Commentary!

In this week's episode, Jeff Cancade - AKA Devours - joins the Senior Staff in East Van's bucolic Robson Park to talk about his fantastic new genre-hopping LP Escape From Planet Devours. It's a conversation which touches on DIY releases, depression, the allure of nostalgia, making it as a synth-punk act in Vancouver, and which we hope communicates something of what makes the new record so enjoyable.

Our popular Pick Five format has us choosing a selection of Down To Mope records. What the hell does that mean? Well, you'll just have to listen to this week's episode to learn about the particular flavour of melancholy we're interested in exploring. We've also got a breakdown of the just-announced line-up for the ninth edition of the Cold Waves fest coming to Chicago this September on the latest installment of We Have A Technical.

Obscure, murky electro-industrial and brightly anthemic post-punk are the subjects of this week's podcast, as we discuss records by Yeht Mae and Spectres. We're also talking about the recent HEALTH/NIN collab, Debby Friday teaming up with Clipping., and finally some local live event news!

We're on the cusp of a new double-LP from one of our favourite bands at I Die: You Die, Kirlian Camera. And before we dig into the elaborately titled Cold Pills (Scarlet Gate of Toxic Daybreak), we thought it'd be fun to take a look at the band's earliest days in the form of It Doesn't Matter, Now and their most recent LP, Hologram Moon. What's changed over the forty year career of one of the most ornate and outre darkwave bands of all time, and which of their characteristics have remained from their earlier days? All that plus some festival news (!) and some generalized silliness on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

The podcast is taking a rambling and conceptual route this week, with some discussion of changing perceptions of Our Thing within broader culture. Is the "Sure, kind of like Nine Inch Nails" explanation still accurate? From what background might newcomers be approaching crossover acts? Does keeping your club life separate from your day life still matter in a more forgiving age? All this plus some discussion of yet another Oscar win for Reznor & Ross, plus the passing of Anita Lane on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

We're hunting big game with this month's commentary podcast, as we tackle the last release from one of the most infamous bands we're ever likely to cover - Andrew Eldritch's attempt to finally transform The Sisters Of Mercy into the machine-rock juggernaut of his dreams, Vision Thing. It's a record with terrifying lows, dizzying highs, and creamy middles, but ultimately stands as the purest expression of Eldritch's aesthetic fusion of sex, politics, and Americana. From Leonard Cohen-isms of varying strengths to Jim Steinman's final contribution to the band to Eldritch's constantly shifting relationship with his own fame, this is a jam-packed episode of We Have A Commentary you won't want to miss!

A two albums episode of the podcast finds us discussing Klanstabil's strange journey from Ant-Zen minimalism to the surfeit of passion and pop of Math & Emotion. Next, we take up Witchman's attempt to draw industrial atmospheres and grime into the worlds of breaks and drum n' bass on Explorimenting Beats. All that plus some musings on how our DJing may have changed over the past decade on this week's episode of We Have A Technical.