Album: Sam Hatzaras 2007-2012

Sam Hatzaras is the Canadian musician behind   ƸC†OPL∆SM,  G∞gle, WHITE TRI∆NGLES and 5 or 6 other projects. The witch-y, psychedelic blend of trip-hop and ambient music on this compilation has captivated me on each listen. It's rich and well produced, and rises above the net-music ghetto, and into the  realm of serious electronic music.

The limited edition tape has sold out, and the release is now a free download, but he has  kept to the cassette format for the digital release,  an 'A' side and a 'B side'.  The material works well as a set, and the inability to skip encourages one to listen through. You will be glad you did.

The busy Hatzaras runs the label Revolving Door Records
--- jump to their Bandcamp and look through the many amazing releases.   

SIDE A 
01 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - Artificial Intelligence 
02 - doeTheGhost - Trapped (ƸC†OPL∆SM Remix) 
03 - Chains Made Of Chalk - Wind 
04 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - Geesha's Ghost (feat. Fire Coral) 
05 - No_Body - Bring Out Yr Dead 
06 - ƸC†OPL∆SM & Nattymari - Frost 
07 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - Microscopic Machines 
08 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - Oliver Found A Leg On His Roof 

SIDE B 
01 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - Metropolis 
02 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - Galactic Grid 
03 - Cold Clouds - Moving On 
04 - WHITE TRI∆NGLES - Memories 
05 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - HiveLight3 
06 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - Soft Winds & Spiralling Skin 
07 - Duktap - All I Have (ƸC†OPL∆SM Remix) 
08 - ƸC†OPL∆SM - Entheogenocide

New Artist: TOO DEEP

I followed a link on Facebook and found TOO DEEP  last week, to my delight. The Soundcloud page was new--only a few followers, zero comments, and little information beyond "a collaboration between two special artists", and yet this stuff was hotter than fuck, and clearly not the work of  beginners. It's not often I hear tracks that make me run to my computer to make a blog post; this stuff rocked-to-the-max.

While I ruminated on this post, the lovely Mishka beat me to the punch with their post, which revealed the identities of these 'special artists', who turn out to be pretty fucking special indeed. TOO DEEP is a virtual super-group, or at least it's a collaboration between two of the post-witch house underground-internet-music-scene's  brightest stars, both alumnus of Aural Sects and AMDISCS; Chris Danko of the amazing band Religious Girls and his solo-project Witowmaker and Joe Volmer of Party Trash, Police Academy 6 and Blown.

The collaboration turned out to be fruitful, and sounds quite unlike any of their previous work.  TOO DEEP the album is the result,  fourteen tracks of deliciously detailed, impeccably produced, garage-inspired post-dubstep EDM that will please the hordes of UK garage fans and underground net-geeks alike. TOO DEEP is a sort-of Where Were You In '92 for the later '90s; a loving homage to the best of  in UK garage, drum & bass and jungle techno, but filtered through post-witch house sensibilities of  Volmer and Danko.

I've selected a few favorite's for sampling here but I strongly urge downloading the whole zip from their Bandcamp, linked HERE. The individual tracks are downloadable from their Soundcloud, for cherry pickers. 

EP Review: First Mutation by ZEX MODEL

Too much chill  makes Jack a dull boy, so how about a little of the evil-mean-wicked-nasty as an antidote ? Paul Von Aphid of  Modern Howl (Aural Sects, Phantasmadisques)  has a new solo project called Zex Model, which has just dropped an EP that's a perfect antidote to too much EDM conformity in the DIY scene. For the unacquainted, this is the hard outer edge of post-witch darkwave, emanating from Kalingrad, where Aphid abides.

Zex Model is not going to be for everybody. This is some red-pill shit, and most will  prefer the blue pill, especially chillwavers. But there are  those for whom the light is but a foil to set off the darkness, and that, they will find here, in spades.

First Mutation is an upfront homage to  mid-eighties Industrial dance music, one of Von Aphid's musical obsessions. Before there was Nine Inch Nails, there was Cabaret  Voltaire, Coil, Front 242 and Ministry, and a whole sub-genre flourished in the dark dance underground. Industrial dance combined the techniques industrial music, derived from Throbbing Gristle [the genre 'industrial' is named after their record label], and  synth-driven dance music of the Depeche Mode type. This weird hybrid ruled the dance underground in the mid 80s, with labels like Wax Trax dominating US and European underground  charts, and  found lasting influence and commercial success with Skinny Puppy and NIN.

This music is hard and dense. The layers of sonic disturbance add up to a  sound that is delirious and disorienting, thought provoking and visual.  Paul's Nivek Ogre-style growling and chanting is washed over tracks that pound with relentless energy. If  you're one of those that does not avert your gaze when confronted with real horror, you'll love this.

With the planet nearing ecological collapse, and the veneer of democracy peeling away in the entirety of Western Civilization, the world is at the end of a cycle. Lift the veil and behold the swirling abyss of ancient evil  binding the earth in it's magic spell.  First Mutation holds up a mirror to an ugly world, and shines light on the soft white underbelly of the beast called Babalon...

You can keep sleeping, and dream, or wake up, and confront the nightmare of the modern world. You might want to to keep some Ambien handy tho.

OUR AIM IS WAKEFULNESS, OUR ENEMY IS DREAMLESS SLEEP - old TOPY proverb.

Download: Flourescent Records Presents "Summer Vacation" Compilation LP

Again, this embedded player is not showing the different artists who contributed these tracks. Dunno why. To see the track line-up with the artists, just jump to their Bandcamp. There's some great stuff on here of the post-witch, seapunk variety. Apparently the label is based in Tallahassee Florida.