Diagonal Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Diagonal Records continues its unstoppable run of form with the debut release of Bronze Teeth, a duo comprised of Factory Floor's Dominic Butler and Richard Smith, whose music under the L/F/D/M banner on Optimo Music and Clan Destine Trax seems similarly indebted to the heritage of Throbbing Gristle. Far from being a simple exercise in analogue fetishism however, the three-track O Unilateralis contains some of the most uncompromising tracks the label have put out to date, with the 12-minute centrepiece "Tapeworm" proving a punishing exercise in arcane synth improvisation that finds itself forming into a shambling piece of zombie techno. Both "Acetone" and "Glass Tooth" are more conventional in their attention to rhythm, but are no less likely to bend minds on the dancefloor, employing the kind of rhythms that bring Ike Yard to mind.

Review: One can safely say that Powell's Diagonal label has grown and prospered a great deal in the last year or two. While the imprint was previously focussed on bringing forth his own chilling pseudo-techno jams, he's just gone and dropped a two-tracker by none other than Consumer Electronics, a lil' old band comprised of Russell Haswell, Philip Best and Sarah Froelich. Conceptual might be the wrong way to describe these jams, but they certainly have an artistic air about them, where "Murder The Masters", for example, chucks a steady 4/4 kick below a dark and sinister male monologue. The B-side, "Alien Existence" evolves it into a relatively more musical affair, where the same voice is now accompanied by a female counterpart and a further injection of drones and metallic sonics.

Review: Ren Schofield aka Container is back with his first release of 2016 and our favourite noise/techno fiend lands comfortably on Jaime Williams and Powell's ever-excellent Diagonal label. Title cut "Vegetation" sets the scene with a murky, swamped-out techno fuzz that sounds a little like the soundtrack to an apocalypse, a blur of the senses that is swiftly followed by the more militaristic beats of the equally fuzzy 'Soak" - what a tip! On the flip, "Funnel" waves its distorted bleeps through heavy kicks and snares, "Radiator" a certified Container head banger, and the final tune "Insulation" is a broken medley of bass, drums and pure grit. Sick.

Review: L/F/D/M man Richard Smith and former Factory Floor man Dom Butler further outline their fascination for all things oral and techno related with the arrival of their first Green Guns 12" for Diagonal. The pair have already been working together as Bronze Teeth and if you are looking for some element of stylistic distinction between the two projects it would be that Green Gums is an outlet for Butler and Smith to lay down some trackier productions. The Black Tongue EP opens in wonderfully frazzled style with "ZoZoMoMo" which sounds like it was a whole load of fun to produce but it's not all acid madness from Green Gums. The punky, rumbling "Dag" is actually quite reminiscent of Diagonal founder Powell's own productions whilst "Tap Dancing Goat Man" is gloopy, primordial electronics in the vein of Charles Manier.

Review: After a string of EPs on labels like Important Records and PAN, it was inevitable Japan's Kouhei Matsunaga and Toshio Munehiro would end up on the Powell's Diagonal imprint - now a nest of the coldest in experimental, industrio-techno. There's a bit of everything on here, from the broken, percolating percussion of "218"; the gorgeous bassline supporting "845", and the freaky pseudo-acid of "Whispering Gallery". To finish things off, both literally and not, "234" is a noisy, shattered and uber distorted cut, whereas "The Spiral Of Babel" is a rolling, fast-paced drum shuffle fitting of any sci-fi flick. An excellent EP and a fine addition to the Diagonal dynasty.

Review: ** Diagonal Repress ** Since Powell last appeared on his own Diagonal Records label back in 2012 with Body Music, his unique mulch of post-punk textures, industrial techno and jerky no wave beats has taken the world by storm, seeing releases on The Death of Rave and Mute's Liberation Technologies imprint. While Powell's sound to date has been characterised by frenetic, seizure-inducing rhythms, Club Music sees Powell bring things down to a more mixable tempo. "So We Went Electric" is the closest thing to straight techno he's made, though the frazzled textures sound like more Evol than Regis, while the pumped up monosynths that drive "No U Turn" are anchored by an underlying beat and guitar shreds that sound as if they could have come from an old Neptunes beat left to rust. Finally, the Russell Haswell collaboration "Maniac" is as crazed as its name suggests, a shrewd piece of contorted midtempo noise-funk which combines the raw power of both producers brilliantly.

Review: Upon release late last year, Powell's debut The Ongoing Significance Of Steel & Flesh was of course notable for the inclusion of an edit from UK techno royalty Regis, but in truth Powell demonstrated enough of his own musical ingenuity to ensure any future Diagonal transmissions would be eagerly anticipated. Across the five tracks on Body Music, Powell further carves his own distinct sonic niche, drawing on a palette of sounds that includes drum patterns that operate outside standard rhythmic sense, odd vocal samples and textural repetition that burrows deep. The title track demonstrates this aptly, and along with tracks like the lolloping "Grand Street" could feasibly be very much at home on the Downwards DO series, while "Search" discards with percussive notions altogether, relying on droning sub bass experiments to draw you in.

Review:  ** Repress Alert! Powell's second Diagonal release comes back - this time in a plain sleeve not the original classy design ** Upon release late last year, Powell's debut The Ongoing Significance Of Steel & Flesh was of course notable for the inclusion of an edit from UK techno royalty Regis, but in truth Powell demonstrated enough of his own musical ingenuity to ensure any future Diagonal transmissions would be eagerly anticipated. Across the five tracks on Body Music, Powell further carves his own distinct sonic niche, drawing on a palette of sounds that includes drum patterns that operate outside standard rhythmic sense, odd vocal samples and textural repetition that burrows deep. The title track demonstrates this aptly, and along with tracks like the lolloping "Grand Street" could feasibly be very much at home on the Downwards DO series, while "Search" discards with percussive notions altogether, relying on droning sub bass experiments to draw you in.

Review: Powell's Diagonal Records label continues to plunder it's own unique sonic path, with the label debut of Prostitutes following swiftly on from that excellent Shit & Shine EP. Prostitutes is the current creative focus of James Donadio, a veteran of Cleveland's underground music scene, whose blend of blend of primitive rhythms and industrial sonics have graced Opal Tapes and Digitalis after the project's emergence with a self titled release on the artist's own stabUdown label in 2011. Fans of Container, Metasplice and Carlos Giffoni will find much that appeals in the Prostitutes approach that is demonstrated with aplomb on the Shatter and Lose EP. Indeed we'd go so far as say there are echoes of vintage Cabs in cuts like "Poison The Masses" and "Sold A Decade At A Time". As with previous Diagonal releases great attention has been paid to the sleeve art; created by Guy Featherstone and photographer Robbie Maynard, the pair tracked down two real prostitutes off the Caledonian Road in London, and overlaid their pictures on top of each other to create the striking, if disturbing, cover.

Review: There's a tongue in cheek sensibility and an air of confrontation to much that James Donadio does as Prostitutes which made him more than suited to Powell's Diagonal label when the Cleveland artist debuted on the label last year. It's nice to see Donadio back with the Simple Minds-riffing Ecstasy, Crashing Beats & Fantasy and contributing one of the final Diagonal records of 2014, a year that's been most successful for both artist and label. Donadio has said in interviews Powell tries to encourage him to take a more explicit approach to the dancefloor and that's evident on this quartet of Prostitutes tracks. The curdling acid of "Dollars To DMs" and the faltering bleep electro of "Side Effects Of Living" are particularly potent Prostitutes productions!

Review: Fronted by Texan musician Craig Clouse, Shit and Shine's skewed combination of primitive techno, industrial, noise and classic garage rock has gained them a significant live reputation, bolstered by their intimidating array of releases, predominantly arriving on the UK-based Riot Season label. Their thick-set musical style makes them an ideal candidate for a release on the Diagonal imprint run by Powell, and like his music, this eponymous EP takes a similarly skewed take on the dancefloor; "Blowhannon" is like vintage Cherrystones with added disco muscle, "Value" throws raw rhythms into a gravel filled washing machine and "Shower Curtain" combines a deeply sleazy sense of funk together with ethereal delay; most visceral is "Dixie Peach", a swollen morass of steroid pumped bass. Big tip on this one, no matter what your musical preferences are...