Datacide 16 Record Reviews by Zombieflesheater

Honey Disco 1-4
Honey Disco is a label from Canada that releases single-sided, clear 7” vinyls with beewax on the flipside and honey smell included.The first two releases by Hristo and Koosh contain some cool funkedelic disco-dub. Number three By Eddie C was my favorite so far, with a dubby downtempo tune that reminds me slightly of T.Rex’ “Hot Love“. I heard number four by Osmose recently, wich works in a similar way, re-working Billy Idols “Sweet Sixteen”.

Myler
Gorilla Biscuits
[Pennyroyal] Myler
Northern Extension [EarToGround Records]
Irish producer Myler with 3 tight and rumbling techno tracks, released in 2014 on Untolds Pennyroyal label, soundwise somewhere between JoeFarr, J. Tjin and Randomer with those thick bassdrums and a certain funkiness that all of them have in common. The other record came out in ocbtober 2016 with 4 tracks and a locked groove on vinyl and one good digital bonus track that goes in direction of the pennyroyal material. A1 is shuffling breakbeat techno, quite ok. A2 and AA2 are more or less solid techno tracks but the real gem is the AA1 track “D’Electrocution” which is raw, straight forward basement techno with an intriguing filtered piano. Opinions might differ about this, but for me it totally works.

Ossia
Control
[Berceuse Heroique]Outstanding double 12” by Ossia on british label Berceuse Heroique with 4 hypnotic long tracks between minimalistic dancehall, dub and techno a la Powell or Blawan, plus a big fold-out poster on heavy paper in a full printed sleeve. I am not sure, but might have been a good idea to put the versions on the respectively other plate, so it would be possible to mix the Originals with their versions. Nevertheless a great addictive sound that will make you flip the records over and over.

Genghis/C_C – Split EP
[Small But Hard]
Gorgonn was previously part of Dokkebi Q and Devilman and on this split cassette with C_C comes his first solo output under the Genghis moniker. Gruff, distorted beats with traces of dubstep and experimental hip hop. C_C dug up some older tracks in his unique harsh tape & feedback, industrial breaks style. Comes nicely packed in a printed cardboard box with artwork by label co-founder Simon Fowler.

Black Seed
Logical Consequence EP
[Details Sound]
Most of the releases on this label contain a heavy paper sheet with the infos on one side and a humans portrait on the other side. I am not sure if there is more than just the exotic aesthetics behind those pictures of people from different ethnic groups. The music on this black label vinyl is nice, slow and grinding hardware techno… nightmarish… industrial house? 300 copies.

Various – Where It All Began
Various – Wild By Nature
[Phat Bubba Records]
The first two releases of that new strictly vinyl jungle label from Plymouth . Both 12″ are 4 trackers with massive “new oldschool” from Percussive P, Kid Lib, Bazia, Dwarde, Sonars Ghost and Tim Reaper. Amazing how they manage to transport this fat, rolling oldschool feeling into fresh new tunes without sounding outdated or artifical. You can really hear the passion and fun they had while making the tracks.

Various
Black Carpet 001
[Black Carpet]
A 4 track 12″ on this new label from the Netherlands with bold and hard techno by Ontal, Honzo, Ayarcana, and Stingray, whose track is my favorite with hectic rattling percussions and screeching noises. This is one of the better releases in the recent industrial techno wave and if the machines ever rise they will keep them as minstrel slaves, i am sure.

Oppositaer
Exarchia EP
Nice 6 track digital release from Berlin based Oppositaer aka Ari Nev from Concrete Cosmos. Uneven improvised breakcore with a dirty basement feeling, that
reminds me on some of the best Trash Tapes material. It is dedicated to and inspired by the anarchist uprising in Greece and available for free at archive.org.

Various
V – 5 Years Of Artefacts
Chapter Four
[Stroboscopic Artefacts]
My favorite tune on this 4-tracker is the one from Jonas Kopp, a long mesmeric techno thing that could go on for ever. Dadubs track starts as dark slow motion experimental hiphop inna Mille Plateaux style and merges into some faster trip hop like rhythms. Eomac sounds like gloomy autumn or a dramatic b/w parfume commercial, must be the strings. And finally Chevel with a IDMish break thing where the synths are a bit too soft. Diverse package for different situations.

KK Null
Machine In The Ghost
[Dry Lungs Records, Hirntrust Grind Media] 6.R.M.E
ANRSE
[Hirntrust Grind Media]
Another two 7 inch vinyls on the prolific Hirntrust label. Number 41 – “Machine In The Ghost”, in collaboration with Dry Lungs Records, from Japanese noise veteran KK Null with speedcorish industrial rhythmic noise, exploring new territories. Number 42 from french producer 6.R.M.E are distorted and deconstructed, slow broken beats, kind of industrial hip hop. Both in a run of 300 copies with picture sleeves. Excellent as always.

Wah Wah
No Borders
[Kool Killer Records]
Kool Killer Records is a new multi-style label, founded by Dj Schleppscheisse in Berlin and the first 10″ release contains two solid acid techno tracks by scene veterans Wah Wah aka Brandon Spivey & Richie Anderson. It comes in an edition of 300 copies, with a nicely designed 3 color riso printed cardboard cover.

BLÆRG/Low Entropy
WTF Is It?
[Tri-P Records]
Two hyper-edited IDMish tracks by BLÆRG, made with Audiomulch, an unusual equipment and approach, wich makes it a bit more authentic and personal than the current run-of-the-mill “breakcore”. But the Genesis sample is a real “wtf is it and why?” moment. On the other side Low Entropy hands over 3 tracks of broken beat hardcore and chip tunes with a good portion of disortion, in the way of his early material. Overall a solid record, Patrick Bateman approved.

C Mantle
1996 EP
[Obscuur Records]
The man of many styles delivers a massive techno ep for the dutch netlabel Obscuur Records. Its a homage to his favorite techno sounds and the mid-late 90s Edinburgh techno scene and so you get 5 diverse tracks between variations of club techno and broken beats plus 4 remixes from Swarm Intelligence, Kill Ref and Ingen.

B-Ball Joints
Untitled
[Dog In The Night Records]
One of the strangest records i purchased in the last year and one of my favorites. B-ball Joints is Low Jack who released on labels like Trilogy Tapes and L.I.E.S., if you are familiar with that you see wich direction it takes, just a bit weirder. The A side tracks could’ve been released on Reverse Records, monotonous minimalistic “speedcore” mixed with lo-fi noises wich surprised me as i ordered it for my favorite track on the B side, an odd lo-fi breaky house (?) track full of disorted screams. The last one is a beatless outro, the sound of a radio on short wave rebuild with music equipment…

Violet Poison
Absence Generator
[Veleno Viola]
Black Tears
The Long Decline
[Veleno Viola]
Veleno Viola is the successor of Violet Poison Records with a similar sound between experimental techno and industrial noise. 5 slow stomping and droning tracks on Absence Generator while The Long Decline has 11 tracks of less agonising murky broken techno on double 12″. Each release on white marbled vinyl in nice printed sleeves, giving it an classy touch. Well crafted apocalyptic soundscapes for a crestfallen techno youth that, for my taste, could risk a bit more sometimes. I give them 7 tortured souls out of 10.

Shed
Constant Power
[The Final Experiment]
Very british sounding breakbeat techno on side A and some more broken compositions on side B. Best track is B 3, hard industrial broken beats in AFX style and without the friendly synth pads that water down the other tracks a bit. But overall a solid release on this hardwax imprint.

Shapednoise
Different Selves
[Type]
The picture of an endless, grey city in fog/smog on the full print sleeve sets the tone for the nine tracks on this LP. The first track features Justin Broadrick and reminds on the bleakest 90s techstep minus the beats and from there it just gets darker. Harsh scraping noises and decaying industrial beats imbedded in an atmosphere of hostility and deadness. Shapednoise made the appeal of negative power audible. Stunning release.

Whirling Hall Of Knives
Arc Molt EP
[Candela Rising]
Four tracks of grinding and jarring techno and rhythmic noise, including a remix by the duo Talker, who have good 12″s out on Downwards. If Frank Henenlotter made a movie about club techno, this would be the technos evil twin brother hidden in the basket case.

Honzo
das Unheimliche
[Haunter Records] Cage Suburbia
Argument #03
[Haunter Records]
Weightausend
Meet Your Doom! (Green Death) [Haunter Records]
Haunter Records from Milan release an interesting mix of industrial techno, breakbeats, dark ambient. D. Carbone from Berlin, the pretty active man behind different projects and labels, under his Honzo moniker with 5 tracks of analog sounding, mostly broken beats over mesmerizing melodies and eerie sounds. The Cage Suburbia 12″ was the first one that caught my attention with its distorted analog techno-breakbeat hardcore mixture, the political message it transports and a bold visualization. The latest release on the label from Weightausend who is also part of Cage Suburbia and Heith with dark ambience, unformatted breakbeats and a gloomy Christoph De Babalon remix in screen printed paper sleeve.

BATTLE BREAK – BATTLE BREAK
[PRR! PRR!]
Freaks at work on this french 12″. Low Jack opens the record with his bawling low jackness, Bischepiehls (Jean Bach) forwards the annual dancemix. DJ Dee Kay is unknown to me but the short track sounds like a mix of the previous names. Trio Venderstrooik end side A with their very own vocal-house-inna-nigerian-karaoke-style. Evil Grimace opens Side B with a gæbber/wodka tune, followed by an cut-up interlude from Tough! aka label honchos Cloarec & Coquelin, a slab of slow techno spiked with lols by L.A.A.M and finally the battle brawl collage to make the confusion complete. Questions have to be asked.

Silver Waves
Ep3
[Portal Editions/ Howling Owl Records]
By all the assumptions about wether breakcore is dead, resurrected, a fart joke or never gone, its clear that the relevant music sometimes happens outside of the established and often boring & bored circles. I don’t know what the background of this artist is or if he considers those tracks being breakcore, but for me, this release is definitly more bc than most of the stuff in the current “scene” and funny enough it happens outside of this scene and coincidentally in the surrounding of music I reached out to in recent years, that has a similar energy and adventurousness to me as the b-core I like. Side A starts with a 12 minutes track of harsh noises, bass and rapid fire beats, reminding me on Noize Creator’s 12″ on Praxis, dark and menacing. The second track on that side plays even more with broken beats and distortion, clocking in at 8 and a half minutes, and has a more industrial sounding aproach. On the other side of the plate we have a superb remix by Ossia, like Silver Waves, from Bristol, in the vein of his double 12″ on Berceuse Heroique, extremly compelling, dubby deconstructions. The last one is by a project called Giant Swan with trudging industrial and variations of the noises from the original.

Jöte Gubien
NULLRIOT.
[Flop Beat Disk]
Transparent 7″ in DIY Artwork, with nine tracks that sound like one consecutive track on each side. Jean Bach is behind that and so you get his unique abradant “fundustrial” (i made this one up, sorry) with found nonsense samples and askew beats. Definitly no Quaddeljazz on this release. Good music from idealists for the interested.

Nplgnn
Sigma Tau [Where To Now?] Nplgnn
1925 [Okno]
Both 12 inches contain broken beat lo-fi techno in the vein of Low Jack or Rezzett, maybe the best you can get out of the limited possibilities of a Korg Electribe. My favorite track is the brutish distorted “Ravers Are Still Living” from the Okno release. Flimmering Beach feeling , till you see the sewer pipe leaking into the ocean, something like that.

Rancid Opera
Azionismo Bolognese In Rap
[- Belligeranza]
DJ Ballis latest concept sees an 12″ output on Sonic Belligeranzas sublabel. 4 Tracks of gory and aggressive horrorcore styled hip hop in italian language, opera samples and irreverent references to the prestigious 3 tenors. The english translation of the lyrics is printed on the inner sleeve. Not for the faint hearted.

Various
A Different Point Of View EP [Self Reflektion]
4-track 12″ released in late 2015 on techno label Self Reflektion from Rotterdam. The Logotech track is a bit to soft for my taste but the tracks by Hiroaki Iizuka & Remco Beekwilder are nice straight and uplifing bangers, especially “The Circle”. Lenson ends the record with a slow, hard pounding acid track. Very functional in a very good way.

Delien
Identity Annex
[Detroit Industrial/Void]
The Duo Delien seems to be active for over 15 years, I think the only other release i knew so far was the really good Low Res 12” from 2004. Here we have a four-track cassette/ digital release on the detroit based labels Void and Detroit Industrial,out since november 2015. 2 really long and two shorter tracks of raw electro, industrial broken beats and breakcore. Brutally funky.

Naturkunde Museum Ostkreuz
Tropycaliptic Excursions
[The Death Of Rave]
Sam Kidel
Disruptive Muzak
[The Death Of Rave]
Boomkat puts out some very diverse and good records on this sublabel. NMO here come with 3 awsome variations of quirky marching band techno on blue or black vinyl, that would also fit on Hemlock. Disruptive Muzak is an interesting concept album that contains 2x 20 minutes of music designed after the background muzak in shopping centers and businesses or telephone queues, diffuse and hypnotic, just a bit less predictable and more disruptive than the original muzak. This muzak was played to call center employees instead of a voice. The recording of this was arranged into the track you can hear on one side. on the other side you have the clean composition do listen or making your diy version. This comes on clear or black vinyl. Hello-o?

Gaja
Money Create Taste
[Ophism]
Latest output by italian, berlin-based Gaja on, i think his own, Ophism records. 4 extremly chunky, ruff and pumping analog techno tracks, live recorded, straight to the point. White label with a stamped sleeve in an edition of 300 copies. Clobber-techno.

Les Neiges Noires De Laponie Frozen Relics
[Plasma Vortex Frequency]
Les Neiges Noires De Laponie Olmmai
[Angstprod]
Those releases hit hard. Frozen Relics with 4 tracks of experimental speedcore, noise and breakcore on white vinyl, limited to 100 copies, genres attached to the track names on the full printed cover, to have that straight. It came out short after the 11 track LNNDL CD “Olmmai”. Both releases are good and interesting just that at some point you have the feeling with the splintered beats and glitches all over the place that the tracks go nowhere. Thats not necessarily something bad, it can also work as a relaxing metallic sound shower, but especially when played in a mix at a party, it lacks a bit of a clearer build up. My favorite seems to be the breakcore track “Anoba” which is on both releases.
Chilly permafrost electronics.

Various – Waschmaschinenfest 2K16
[Limbs]
The notorious Waschmaschinenfest goes into the third round with even more music this time on a C 60 cassette on Raketenbasis Haberlandstraße sublabel Limbs. The specially packed tape contains 19 multistyle compositions of washing machine sounds by DJ Coquelin, NEIN., Philipp Münch, Toddy Baldischwylah, aehm, Annihilation Operator, Jandlsepp, defaults and a lot more. Matmos came late to the game, laundry is punk!

Perc
Ma
[Stroboscopic Artefacts]
On the A side are two cold monotone 4/4 techno tracks with clanging industrial percussions, nice but too repetitive. Its all about the title track on the B side wich stretches over 12 minutes, also following that formula with industrial sounds, almost a version of the two other tracks, but stays in a broken beat structure, reminding me on Photek, Noize Creator and Perplex Barquettes. Great desolation in sound.

Zombieflesheater
Bloodsport Soundclash EP
[Kritik Am Leben/ Flop Beat Disk]
Grindmaster Flesh
Schädelfrost
[ThirdTypeTapes] Annihilation Operator
Bludgeon
[Raketenbasis Haberlandstraße]
I had a good run this year and released those three releases on different labels.
Bloodsport Soundclash is a 12″ Ep that has 4 tracks from the 8 track Alarm tape that came out exactly one year before, plus one exclusive track. i always had the plan to put those out on vinyl and i teamed up with Minor/Flop Beat Disk for that. (Un)typical ZFE sound from 2000-2016, limited to 150 copies. The Grindmaster cassette was in the making for some time but finally saw the light in april 2016 on the always great ThirdTypeTapes with the iconic artwork of forgotten 80s tape designs. 14 tracks of chewy no-fi and stressful distortion against the delusion of clean perfection. 75 copies. And finally the Bludgeon tape on RH, a weird “monophonic beats vs. odd samples” experiment with a good portion of humour. 14 tracks, 40 copies.
I would totally buy them!

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