We Have A Technical

It's the twelfth anniversary of I Die: You Die this week, and thus we're taking a look back at the road that took us here on this week's podcast. In particular, we're (briefly) discussing records from each of the years in question. Rather than simply reviewing our favourite records or undisputed classics, we're looking at some records which speak to their contemporary zeitgeist, maybe never got their just desserts, or which have stuck with us through the years more than we might have expected. We're also talking about the Darker Waves festival in Los Angeles and Edmonton's Purple City Music Festival.

On this week's podcast, we're discussing the reasons why certain acts seem to cultivate a much more dedicated fan base than others. Charisma? Solid live show? Tapping into hitherto unexplored themes? What's defines the line between broadly successful acts and cult ones? We're talking about all that, plus some Ministry and Comaduster chat, on this week's episode of We Have A Technical.

Aggrotech and darkwave might not have much in common musically, but we're finding some interesting links between the two albums up for discussion on this week's podcasts in terms of aesthetic focus and intentionality. We're referring, of course, to the dramatic arrival of Scotland's Surgyn with 2011's Vanity and the high watermark of X-Mal Deutschland's ambition, 1987's Viva. 

We're speaking this week with Raven Rissy and David from Vancouver band Hem Netjer. The band's woven a unique tapestry of industrial and darkwave sounds as well as broader folk instrumentation from around the world, with a very particular set of mythological and spiritual themes. We're also looking back on The Cure's set here in Vancouver last week.

This week's Pick Five formatted podcast has us discussing some unlikely cover selections. What tracks were we surprised to find taken up by various goth, industrial, and EBM acts, seemingly at odds with their own moods or stylings? Have those selections gone on to shape our understanding of the artists who made them? We're also discussing the recent allegations made against Rammstein and their associates by various fans over the last week.

This month's Patreon-supported bonus podcast has us taking up a slightly different style of release than the usual LP: we're talking about the first salvo in that most 90s of rivethead conflicts, The Remix Wars. Yes, in 1996 :wumpscut: and Haujobb squared off, each remixing three of the other act's tracks for 21st Circuitry, and we'll be talking about where each of these storied industrial acts were in their respective careers, as well as offering History Channel-styled evaluation of each remix's military prowess.

We're very happy to have our interview with Alison Lewis of Zanias on this week's episode of We Have A Technical. Lewis spoke frankly and earnestly with us about the personal and musical changes tied in with her new record Chrysalis.

There's no beating around the bush as the entirety of this episode is dedicated to recapping the three night multi-stage iteration of our local Verboden Festival which went down this past weekend (full disclosure: the Senior Staff served as emcees for the fest). We're talking about unexpected show stealers, divisive stage shows, and a whole mess of Canadian premieres.

Recorded a couple of days early so as to allow each member of the Senior Staff to fulfill our patriotic duty and go see Skinny Puppy live, this episode has us scratching our heads and offering thoughts about the ways in which Canada's identity, history, and geography has and hasn't shaped the darker music made within the true north. 

This week we're talking about the gloomy, atmospheric post-punk of Poland's Ziyo, and the odd n' sods Euro electro of Human Decay's swan song. We're also pushing back a bit against the presumption of Euro festivals' primacy in a moderately spicy episode of We Have A Technical.

As voted on from a selection of early/mid-period Killing Joke LPs, we're talking about 1985's Night Time on this month's commentary podcast. We're discussing Jaz Coleman's pet lyrical themes, the role played by Paul Raven's bass playing at this juncture in the band's development, and how their maximalist, excessive tendencies at times clashed with their moves towards a more commercially marketable sound.

Prompted by the prospect of finally getting to see Ashbury Heights, we're each picking five bucket list "yet to see" acts we've always hoped to catch live, be they legacy acts or idosyncratic Euro groups which are unlikely to cross the Atlantic.

Deep scene records which perhaps bracket a certain history of dark electro are on the docket for this week, as we consider records by Controlled Fusion and vProjekt. From the dry double kicks of the German act's mid 90s workman dark electro to the Aussie solo act's attempts to find baroque paths out of the corner intro which aggrotech had painted itself, this is an episode illustrating our recurring comment about genres being cemented by lesser known acts. We're also talking about Skinny Puppy's tour thus far, catching Debby Friday live, and the just announced second iteration of Chicago's Sanctum fest.

The experience of listening to a new record by a longstanding legacy act is the subject of this week's episode of the podcast. We're looking at how we perhaps grade records by bands we love on a curve, our mistaking of subjective experience for objective fact, and our shifting allegiances to bands, genres, and eras amongst other things, plus some discussion of this year's Substance festival in LA.

We have something of a news grab-bag episode for you this week, folks, as the list of items we wanted to talk about off the top of the show just kept growing until we had to give the full hour to it. We're discussing the revealing of the Terminus Fest lineup and the Cold Waves LA showcase, the passing of the legendary Ryuchi Sakamoto, Tina Root returning to music, and the labour dispute brewing at Bandcamp.

It’s a very 90s two-fer episode of the podcast, as we look at Swamp Terrorists’ Combat Shock and Perfume Tree’s A Lifetime Away this week. 

This month's commentary podcast revisits 2015's Remain, the central work of Them Are Us Too. It's a beautiful record which ably fits into darkwave and dreampop traditions, but more importantly showcases the incredible talents and special personalities of Kennedy Ashlyn and Cash Askew. From its alternately delicate and crushing sounds to its radical demands for a peaceful existence, it was a pleasure to revisit this masterpiece. 

We try to make these landmark numbered episodes of the podcast something special, and we think we've come through on that account. This week, we're happy to be joined by bass player, Wax Trax legend, and all around thoughtful guy Paul Barker as the release of The Eternal Present, the new Lead Into Gold album, draws close. Paul spoke with us about the particular mood and sound of the new record, how his approaches to LIG and other projects have shifted over the years, and plenty of other topics both musical and philosophical. We're also talking a bit off the top about the recent Ticketmaster vs. The Cure business, and catching The Residents live.

After a week missed due to scheduling mishaps, we’re back with another instalment of our ever popular Pick Five format on this week’s podcast. This time, we’re each picking tracks from our respective 20+ year DJing careers which we just could not turn into dancefloor hits, despite our best efforts. Rather than pointing out “failures” in the songs themselves, we’re using this as an opportunity to reflect on what we’ve learned from our mistakes as DJs over the years. All that plus the announcement of the Cold Waves lineup plus some Cure chat on this week’s episode of We Have A Technical. 

Due to circumstances beyond our control, a new episode of We Have a Technical was not possible this week. In place of the planned episode (which we still hope to record), we are re-presenting episode 40, "The :Wumpscast:", our commentary on :Wumpscut:'s seminal Bunkertor 7.