SEATTLE-BASED DARK ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC DJ
BEST OF 2023
POWER NOISE & TECHNO BODY MUSIC
Maelstrom & Louisahhh
Sustained Resistance
The debut release of the collaboration between these two techno punks comes just a couple of years since each of them released a couple of groundbreaking records in their own rights. It describes itself as speaking to the darker parts of the human psyche, be it depression, angst, self-betrayal, or loss of bodily autonomy, and it illustrates those parts in heavily distorted rhythmic poetry mixed in with breakneck chaos.
Monolith
Concrete Playground
While we are all still dancing to "Tekno Buddha", the project of Eric van Wonterghem released this 16 track 75 minute record that makes full use of the sonic landscape at his disposal rather than atmosphere you to death with relentless 4/4. While there of course is no shortage of that rhythmic footprint, numerous elements of melodic ambiance is layered with textural sound design throughout the record. It keeps with the sonic brutalism that has become synonymous with European techno industrial while evolving how it is delivered.
New Frames
Scherben
Scherben has one speed and one gear, and that is "GO"...which can seem like it's a one-note product but once you press play it acts like you're strapped into the passenger seat of a nitrous-infused European sports car driven by a teenager who just chugged five Monsters and a Four Loko. The rhythms are raw, abrasive and unrelenting and yet structured in a way that it would find a home in any underground rave.
riotmiloo
blackout
The 2015 debut release la pierre soud​é​e was a story told in the curation of tracks illustrating the suffering of women around the world. While that release was a series of collabortions with other ant-zen powerhouses, this year she flies solo with blackout and explores the struggles within herself while still retaining that power of her own storytelling. The record is cold, somber, and chaotic...using atmospheres of droning analog synths and harsh arrhythmic beats to paint this picture. While there isn't a lot of "club tracks" on this record, this is a really powerful front-to-back listen that will be having you feel some sort of way when it's done.
Sonar
Future Cries
When Dirk Ivens and Eric Van Wonterghem brought back Absolute Body Control, you had to wonder if Sonar was gonna be making a comeback after nearly a decade...and we were right! It's right down the pipe in that old-school European industrial rhythmic noise sound that made these two a part of the Mt. Rushmore of the genre, harsh and hypnotic all the way through throwing in bits of abstract noises and throbbing bass tones along the way.