During 2020, when the world was in turmoil and a lot of musicians and gig goers were feeling socially lost, KPT (pronounced “Kept”) delivered a record that felt suitably dark and befitting of the time. ‘Big Witch’ jumped between electronic genres, sharing soundscapes that blended deep drone (‘Lament’), heady beats (‘Untamed’), and even ventured into into industrial sounds (‘Second Thoughts’). The relatively minimalist album really came into its own, though, when KPT explored some wonderfully bleak soundscapes that evoked ominous sounding film scores. It wasn’t the kind of album you’d necessarily pull off the shelf every day, but within its half hour playing time, it offered some enjoyable instrumental noise when approached in the right – suitably detached – frame of mind.
Tag Archives: industrial
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #100
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have dropped into our inbox over the past few weeks. This time out, there’s another single from a now familiar electronica act, a quirky piece of hard edged dance-pop, a great track from a much-loved rock band, a smart cover tune, and more besides. There’s even something that doesn’t quite work, but has been included as a point of interest. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy…
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GOTHMINISTER – Tonight EP
The final part of Gothminister’s ‘Pandemonium’ song cycle/musical saga, the ‘Tonight’ EP plays brilliantly, whether you’re already a fan of the one man Norwegian goth machine, or approaching his music for the first time. These four tracks provide a truly effective showcase for a blend of 80s goth and 90s darkwave sounds, peppered with occasional black metal vocals and even a couple of industrial grooves.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #97
Featured at the Singles Bar this time around, you’ll find a couple of familiar names. You’ll also uncover a world of eclectic sounds ranging from jazz, to light country, to calypso. There’s also a really quirky piece of pop and an almost unrecognisable cover tune to be found amongst the eight picks. With submissions still coming in at a frightening rate, we’ve certainly not been short of musical choices, but we feel that these definitely represent some of the most interesting sounds to be found at present. As always, we hope you discover a new audio treat or two along the way.
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MORLOCKS – Amor, Monstra Et Horrore Profundi EP
In terms of musical interest, Morlocks’ 2023 LP ‘Praise The Iconoclast’ didn’t sell its listeners short. On the stand out track, ‘I’m The Payload’, the band managed to fuse orchestral sounding synths to a relentlessly mechanical rhythm, before loading the arrangement up further with alt-pop vocals, 80s keys and a few rock-edged guitars. The result sounded at times like an industrial band channelling early Oingo Boingo, with a couple of vocal phrases in the latter part of the number that hinted at a love of KMFDM. Rather fittingly, that legendary band’s Käpt’n K would also make an appearance on the record, and somewhat predictably, his presence throughout ‘Mean World Syndrome’ leant that number more of a KMFDM flavour. Elsewhere, ‘Instigation’ swamped vocal samples with a heavy groove and nods to classic Ministry, and taking another curveball, ‘Cold War Fusion’ melded soundtrack-like elements and darkwave melodies into an epic closer that more than suggested this most cult of bands still had musical ground to cover somewhere in the not too distant future.