Back catalogue: Industrial/Noise

Review: Originally formed in 1977 (the year punk supposedly died), the Mark Perry-led collective known as Alternative TV are often cited as one of, if not, the first act to marry reggae rhythms to punk rock motifs. Refusing to rest on these laurels for long, however, the group would go on to utterly defy easy categorisations over the ensuing decades, with their 1979 second album Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One) eschewing much of the anthemic mayhem of their debut The Image Has Cracked, in favour of a more experimental free-jazz form. This early anecdotal evidence is vital when attempting to unpack their new eleventh LP Direct Action. Following on from 2015's Opposing Forces, and serving as their first project of new material in almost a decade, this latest collection opts to be their most challenging, impenetrable and unwelcoming yet. Utilising tape loops, isolated guitar passages, minimal vocals and an overall industrial-leaning quality, the fact that the group so many decades ago had their first rehearsals at Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records studio seems like no great revelation in retrospect. Unconcerned with listener expectation or radioplay, Direct Action demands animated response yet refuses to offer any helping hand down its path of caustic, alien sonics.

Review: We're starved for two-sided 12"s in the world of ambient music, but Chris Madak aka. Bee Mask has refreshingly graced us with one this week. It should be said that there's Skee Mask and then there's Bee Mask; the latter is far more unsung, undeservingly so. Madak's music is abstract and cerebral enough to have lent him credo enough to have released on the likes of Weird Forest, Spectrum Spools and Room40. But this latest reissue, 'Versailles Is Not Too Large Or Infinity Too Long', hears him plunge the ethereal heights for the US label Unifactor. Originally released on cassette on Chondritic Sound in 2008, these pieces deserve the renewed attention and the fresh laying to wax, since they're not 'regular ole' ambient cuts in the slightest. Unafraid of indulging the high end freqs, Bee Mask fleshes out a mood of uncertain, urgent bliss - sizzling, crunching and soaring the drone, as if its maker were a modern Icarus flying too close to the sun.

Review: Former Throbbing Gristle alumni Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti are in the middle of remastering and reissuing their superb studio albums. The electronic pioneers were known for their perfect melodies and compelling rhythms and 1989's Trust is no different. It's a superb selection of electro-pop sounds skewed through their own erotic lens. Despite the signature coldest of their sounds, these tracks somehow exude plenty of warmth. Form the deep-frozen synths of 'Watching You' and the glacial aesthetics of 'Deep Velvet' this is early and essential tacker from these enduring pioneers.

Review: This version of Chris & Cosey's Musik Fantastique! is a reissue of their original 1992 album, which features a mix of new wave, post-punk, and electronic influences to produce a slick slew of dreamy melody and threnody. Chris & Cosey's sharp, often confrontational lyrics explore themes of love, politics, and society, on what is otherwise a more centre-field and dreamy album in the pair's overall brutal discography; it's a cherished part of their synthpop / dream pop era from the early 90s.

Review: Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti are busy reissuing remastered versions of their most classic albums. Pagan Tango originally came in 1991 and was described at the time by Melody Maker as "perfection." This is the first time the album has been available on vinyl since it was originally put out and it comes on limited red vinyl with a printed inner sleeve of archival photos making it a real collector's special. Tracks like 'Ecstasy' reference the trendy drug of the day, there is taut EBM on 'Take Control' and more sultry tunes on 'Face to Face'.

Review: Electronic pioneers and former Throbbing Gristle alumni Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti are held in high regard amongst those who know, and their records have always been in high demand. Right now they are being reissued in remastered form with a printed inner sleeve of archival photos and nice coloured vinyl. Techno Primitiv came came first back in 1985 on Rough Trade during the iconic duo's icy synth and minimal period. This one is the latest in the reissue series which started back in March with Elemental 7, Muzik Fantastique! and Feral Vapours Of The Silver Ether.

Review: UK noise maverick Russell Haswell has had an impressive, star-studded career, and we're pleased to see that he's sticking close to the underground thanks to his recent friendship with Powell's Diagonal imprint. After a series of appearances for the lo-fi imprint, Haswell comes through with an album, a whopping seventeen tracks of brutal power electronics and quasi techno. This is the sort of shit you can stand back and be thrown backwards by, or exactly the sort of gear you can layer over DJ sets for added damage. There are pieces such as "Wholly Unaware" and "Gas Attack", which do verge onto the 4/4 sphere. In any case, this is some serious stuff and it comes hotly recommended

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: This debut from the mysterious duo Atiq and dreadmaul is an immersive concept album which explores the ancient themes of transformation and initiation by blending mysticism and archaic rituals with modern electronic beats. Each track transports listeners into a haunting soundscape rich in organic elements like bone flutes, throat singing and shamanic invocations, all woven into intricate electronic arrangements. The album strikes a perfect balance between the ancient and contemporary with a feeling of ritual and cermet in the long form and immersive rhythms that are as unforgettable as they are hypotonic.