People often talk about the dog days of summer, and the term applies to album releases pretty well, since it’s often been the practice of larger labels to cool their schedules down in the summer months, waiting until the last quarter of the year to drop their biggest bombs. But that also means that the field is open for the indies and the less ubiquitous artists to sneak their wares onto the table without too much undue competition. In the spirit of that notion, you’ll notice the underground bubbling up to the surface as we zero in on some of the most intriguing releases coming our way this month. Continue Reading →
The Black Dog mark their territory with an hour long warding off of intruders. For bark and bite, the veteran unit’s ambient techno, IDM and interstellar ordinance still doesn’t have to come at you in a blaze of teeth and slobber. The collection of astro bric-a-brac, as if to verify their whereabouts (and title), is intentionally charged with jolting the LP’s flow, but the unannounced changeability of sound does as good a job by itself anyway.
“Atavistic Resurgence” grunts through electro with confrontation on its mind, representative of the sparse shunting together of technology where hard head rests on slender skeleton. Carried on by the blurting “Pray Crash I,” the album is full of heavy loads made nimbler than the naked ear predicts, and primed to dominate venues from only a handful of nuts and bolts, where The Dog’s prestige commands attention even from a position of sat back and scheming. “Internal Collapse” draws you into a game of nerves before the tension tolls, and “Death Bingo” is a duel to see if gravity can be defied.
Any sterility you may experience is just life adrift in the cosmos. Besides, “Cult Mentality” simply strolls as classic deep techno, a loop lieutenant all about business and again, composure with the hint of a scowl. “Hymn for SoYo” is not as smooth, but holds the same ideals, and “First Cut” harks back to bleep-era Sheffield and rolling four-track thunder.
File under: Future Sound of London, Plaid, Dadavistic Orchestra
