It's not only the first compilation release for Rexx Arkana's newly established label Haus Arkana, it's also kind of a heart-melting project which at least has some historically meaningful content to offer. There's a sentimental storyboard behind this 4CD-set. Let's turn back an imaginary wheel of time into the years 1994 -1996. The Milwaukee-based radio-DJ and writer for the legendary Industrial Nation-magazine, Ric Laciak, has founded his own label RAS DVA out of the Leaether Strip US-fan base GAWMUS. First releases have been such notable outputs of Benestrophe (a Mentallo & The Fixer-side project), “Sensory Deprivation”, or the well recognized Kevorkian Death Cycle debut “Collection For Injection”.

Since I was personally involved as being a writer for the German glossy print-magazine Vertigo to that time, I still remember our days of pride, to have had contact with this fine, eloquent person and the inspiring conversations with him just from the beginning and for the most time without e-mail – fax messages or written letters did the job. It resulted in a license deal of a Kevorkian Death Cycle-track to be switched on one of our Vertigo-compilations accompanying the print-magazine (“Faithless (Club Edit)” - Vertigo Compilation 03/1996). However, the biggest impact this small label has left for the posterity was without doubt the legendary 4-CD / quadruple compilation “There Is No Time” with its innovative cardboard slipcase packaging. This opulent compilation still stands for being one of the few groundbreaking, must-have-items in anyone's collection. It has presented the state-of-art of underground Industrial music and included dozens of music projects licensed from various labels world-wide.

Again, and just check out the terrific track list via Discogs with well-known artists side by side with promising newcomer acts, this hallmark of a compilation can't be missed at all. The activities around the label RAS DVA then ended in 1998, shortly after the release of Jihad's “A Prayer In The Night” debut album. In 2006 the label made some online activities with future music plans but finally it hasn't worked out. Founder Ric Laciak unfortunately passed away in November 2014 from complications with cancer.

To conclude this and the tragic loss of Ric, here finally comes a fact I had to learn out of this history. It was Rexx Arkana being pretty much involved, doing promotion works for RAS DVA and collaborated with Ric in those days. It was all about to share their love and dedication for Industrial and, unfortunately but necessary, a history of cancer. Both have seemingly had their ideas for a second edition of the “quadruple monster” before Ric passed away. So this is all about it, “Passing Strangers” is the quadruple release, that kind of dedication to RAS DVA and to Ric Laciak – maybe that imaginary second edition already considered. Actually I feel myself pretty much thrown into a similar feeling of curiosity to listen CD after CD and to discover the pearls which also “Passing Strangers” has to offer. Just check the track list below and with respect to the meaning behind this compilation, it is almost impossible to give out a track-by-track review. I rather like to pick out a few of the most valuable contributions.

Disc One impresses with the highest amount of popular global-players compared to the all other discs on this quadruple set and with Orange Sector, Kevorkian Death Cycle, Lights Of Euphoria or Leaether Strip (here available as guest vocalist for Blind Vision), there are a few participants which have been already guests on “There Is No Time”, 27 years before. On the other hand, since there are so many familiar names on Disc One here, the amount of exclusive tracks only available on “Passing Strangers” here is reduced to zero. Nevertheless I like the float on it thanks to cleverly chosen apposition, this whole CD1 impresses on almost all tracks. Worth to point out are a few of the lesser discovered projects so far. Texas-based Curse Mackey, founding member of Evil Mothers and collaborator for My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, offers us with “Lacerations” a solid, stomping Industrial-tune with subtle, accompanying guitar riffs. The icy, deep and dense synth-layer- programmings of Daniel Myer (haujobb.), here active under his pseudonym DSTR, are definitely ear-catching resulting into another fine tune. “Man Made” by Kevorkian Death Cycle can be found originally on their 1996-debut “Collection For Injection”, but lately the band around Roger Jarvis and Ryan Gribbin made a few re-recordings from a few tracks out of this phase and this is one of them.

Disc Two kicks off with a stomping Suicide Commando-track (also a contributor to “There Is No Time”) and presents with Point5 a new project by Ole Anders Olsen (alias Andy LaPlegua –> Combichrist, Icon Of Coil, Scandy, Panzer AG, and, and, and...) until Rexx Arkana himself participates under his famous FGFC820 with a new, unreleased remix of “Crush”, a track originally taken from their album “Homeland Insecurity” (2012). After some closer to guitar-driven Industrial sounds by UK's Inertia or Stoneburner, the tone of this disc changes more and more into TBM / EDM styles (Stoppenberg, ESA, Cenotype). Pretty Retro-EBM-like bass lines and a straight drum pattern programming – so sounds the contribution of the UK-based talent Discipline & Control, while the dramatic, out-of-range-like vocal performance is somewhat of getting used to it. Venal Flesh and their unreleased track “Calcination” could be a well-working addition in the row of some Dark Electro-projects with a modern twist in vain of VAC for example, while the rhythmic Powernoise-specialist Endif unites with Retcon to present us an unreleased re-recording of the Endif-track “Ashes”, originally released on the debut “Meta” (2006 – Crunch Pod).

The third disc pushes further the already discovered hard-edged TBM / EDM sound with Soman or the second appearance of ESA, while mastermind Jamie Blacker this times joins the ranks of Mika Groedrijk's rhythmic Powernoise-project This Morn' Omina. Although signed to the German ProNoize label, Neuroklast is a newcomer to me, founded by the both German producers Kay SchÄfer (ex-Chainreactor) and Markus Horschig (former ReAdjust). A bit more compositorial creativity can be discovered by the UK-based musician and DJ, Matt Hart, who isn't afraid to reanimate some classic Coldwave-like guitar-driven structures on his exclusive remix of “To The Core”. Civil War on the other hand would musically fit well to the row of prominent old-school EBM veterans like Orange Sector or Pouppée Fabrikk – but they are a promising newcomer out of Argentina. Back to Europe to Manchester, UK, with another newcomer, Red-Meat providing us “angry queer body music and sex positive energy”. Also worth a mention and relatively comparable to the both predecessors is the Denver-based electronic musician Fernando Altonaga and his EBM-outfit eHpH. More and more the music turns into Dark Synthpop with classic New Wave-undertones with the contributions of Coldkill (a mutual project by Rexx Arkana with Eric Eldredge of the NYC-based Futurepop-project Interface) with their interpretation of Minitry's “We Believe”, and Dead Lights.

Disc Four starts with the Munich-based Rue Oberkampf and their 80s-inspired minimal Synthpop outfit, while the Italian-based Unconscious aka Andrea Riberti impresses with a hammering, classic EBM-inspired tune entitled “You Belong To Me Now (Re-Edit)” - another one of the previously unreleased tracks. Florida's Aeon Rings, recording for Negative Gain Productions, offer a quite different sounding tune turning towards into Synth- / Electropop-regions with natural sounding male vocals. A pretty much Dive-/The Klinik-inspired tune with its typically distorted rhythm- and percussion work can be discovered by E.L.I., a project by Mike Smith, who is a modular producer and DJ from Scotland.

To conclude this review it should be mentioned, that Rexx Arkana did an amazing job to collect as much as possible diversity in Electronic music styles for this quadruple release. Additionally I tend to say that the times, evolution and development of this music has continued into stylistically wider and more complex forms and in uncountable variations, than it has been during the days when”There Is No Time” came out.

Finally – maybe the most important reason to purchase this fine compiled quadruple set - $5 from the direct sale of each CD compilation will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, https://www.stjude.org/

Also: no download available – you have to purchase the physical product.

Track list:

CD 1:
1. A Split – Second – Rigor Mortis 2.Covenant – Judge Of My Domain 3.Absolute Body Control – So Obvious (Live At E-Only Festival) 4.Curse Mackey – Lacerations 5.DSTR – Disappear (1st Draft) 6.Blind Vision ft. Leaether Strip – DDF 2 (Album Version) 7.Lights Of Euphoria –Access Denied 8.Armageddon Dildos – Colder 9.Orange Sector – Blood Brothers 10.Pouppée Fabrikk – Burn Forever 11.Noisuf-X – Finish Him! 12.Fusspils 11 – Fleischfresser (PS Edit) 13.Kevorkian Death Cycle – Man Made 14.Fektion Fekler – Let's Jump (Yes You Will Mix) 15.Rohn - Lederman ft. Jean-Luc De Meyer – Where The Wild Roses Grow

CD 2:
1. Suicide Commando –Kill All Humanity (Short & Painless) 2. Point5 – The Kid Is A G 3.FGFC820 – Crush (Letting Go - Mix) 4.Inertia ft. Steve White (KMFDM) – Scowl 5.Stoneburner –Excrementorium 6.Stoppenberg –Soldat 7.Electronic Substance Abuse – BBWO (Expel Mix 2022) 8.Cenotype – Hour 10 (Live Action) 9.Discipline & Control – Burning Up 10.Reichsfeind – Wish There Was A Drug (Exclusive Mix) 11.Marred – The Fragrance Of Blood 12.The Gothsicles – INFL8-R (Resurexxion Mix) 13.Venal Flesh – Calcination 14.Endif Vs. Retcon – Ashes 15.Kounter Mezhure – Golden God

CD 3:
1. Soman – Divine (2022 Short Remix) 2.Moris Blak – Umbra 3.ESA vs. This Morn' Omina –Consumption (Compounded) 4.Neuroklast – Scavengers 5.Her Noise Is Violence – Djinn (Original Mix) 6.Matt Hart – To The Core (Further Down Mix) 7.Civil Hate – Honor & Dignidad 8.Red-Meat – Vore (Gordon Young Mix) 9.eHpH – Rust 10.INVA//ID – The Sinner 11.Spankthenun – Crushing Blow (Mirland Remix) 12.Coldkill – We Believe 13.Dead Lights –Ice Queen (Club Mix) 14.Lola Kumtus – Wasted Years 15.Hem Netjer – Connect

CD 4:
1.Rue Oberkampf – Never Stop To Dance 2.Unconscious – You Belong To Me Now (Re-edit) 3.Visitor – What World Is This 4.Hammershøi – Hélas (Remix By Coldkill) 5.One Flesh.Infektion.–Martial Doom 6.XTR Human–City Hai 7.Aeon Rings –Lover 8.Dry_feel – Repellent Machine 9.Soj – Pensamientos Impuros 10.Black Light Odyssey – Under Your Spell (Hexmaschine Vs. Blo Edit) 11.Sanderson & Esterhaus – Composition 080621 12.E.L.I. – The Antagonist 13.Crying Skies – Around The Walls Of Horror 14.Sigsaly – L'avenir 15.L – Discipline

SixTurnsNine is back with a new full album called 'Borders' and gee, I'm glad they thought of me, because I was wondering what happened to them and this album comes along and it happens to be really good! Perhaps you may recall their debut EP titled 'Spinning Numbers' from 2018 which I reviewed positively here. Well, if you didn't see that (go to the Chain D.L.K. archives and look it up) let me remind you that SixTurnsNine is Philip Akoto (bass guitar); Lutz Bauer (keys/programming/electronics); and Anja Trodler (vocals) formed in 2015 in Dusseldorf. Their music is minimal Non-Pop music inspired by Proto-Gothic, Trip-Hop and Post-Punk. There aren't many (are there any at all?) outfits doing this kind of music currently that I know of, so SixTurnsNine has a big leg up on the competition.

'Borders' contains 10 songs in about 40 minutes time. Within their sound pathos from the Proto-Goth era and beats reminiscent of the golden era of Trip-Hop in the late 1990s meet primal Post-Punk power and hippie vibes. Discreet industrial glitches and well-tempered dark ambient sound collages provide additional tension. This is very moody stuff, and comparisons to Portishead are inevitable. I think SixTurnsNine is much more in the trip hop spirit than Portishead of late because they really lost me at P3. No, SixTurnsNine doesn't really sound like Portishead, excepting the downtempo trip hop grooves, and Anja's uber-emotive voice.

I've listened to this album multiple times in a single session and at first, I thought songs sounded too similar. Subsequently I found much more going on with repeated listenings, from the opening Massive Attack kicks, phased sticks and drop bass of "Moments" I knew this was going to be great. Man, do they ever know how to milk a creepy vibe! These folks have improved substantially since 'Spinning Numbers' and there is waaaaaay more going in than you might imagine for a kind of minimal 3-piece band. You've got to love how Anja weaves some astounding melodic melodies through not terribly melodic instrumental backup. Akoto's bass may seem minimal but that is exactly what the music needs; no notes wasted, holding up the bottom end perfectly. As for Bauer, his atmospheric electronics and programming tickle all the right spots enhancing the SixTurnsNine sound to make it unique. I don't hear a Top 40 single on this album but why should there be? Cult music for the masses? Stranger things have happened. Highlty recommended!

Jeff Danos and his pretty much under the radar flying Testube-project has always had the ability to come out with a blast with well received reactions and reputation by press media, fans and supporters – and to vanish unfortunately soon afterwards into obscurity. It happens often that music-projects seem to be misunderstood or get at least ignored because they tend to express their musically style too ambitious for the listener. Testube has never been the same-sounding band project like your beloved daily burger for a dinner, as diversity and style-breaking changes of Jeff's musically outfit have always been occurred. To mix it all up out of multiple Electronic music styles like Ambient, Trance, Industrial, Synthpop, Glitch, IDM and/or EBM, Jeff is a manic-possessed explorer of new and undiscovered sound ideas and Testube has always been a hodgepodge providing a surplus of unpredictable and innovative ideas on the hunt for stylistic reinvention.

Already established in 1994, Testube has had its most recognized output with the 12-tracker release“Bioplaza”, a highly successful album out in 1999 and the addition to the DSBP Records roster to the end of the same year. “Bioplaza” was kind of Jeff's career buzzer which consequently continued with the release of the full-length remix album entitled “Reconstructive Surgery” in 2000, which featured several diverse remix contributions by among others Pain Station, Biopsy, Thine Eyes, Oneiroid Psychosis or Austria's Trylok. The buzz around this project was vital, as “Reconstructive Surgery” received clubs and radio stations across the globe and remained in the CMJ national RPM top-20 charts for six weeks, peaking at the No. 4 chart position in September 2000 side by side with such global players like Juno Reactor or A Guy Called Gerald. Also a further limited edition of the “Bioplaza” album (“Bioplaza Revisited”) out in late 2000 with additional remix works and previously unreleased tracks got released.

Three years later Jeff returned with his all new follow-up studio album “Corporation”, which couldn't follow the same successful course which “Bioplaza” pursued before. “Corporation” wasn't at all a weak album – actually with Jeff's well-known meticulously programming skills and a controversial idea to reflect an inside look at the dysfunctional clockwork of the "American Dream" and its dependence on corporate anti-justice, brought him a lot of well-balanced reviews while the club-goers almost went their ears and faces off regarding Jeff's ongoing attempt to hunt for innovation and to push Testube towards to lesser accessible areas of sound-design and programming skills.

It took some years with relocations, soundtrack works, and a few remixes until Jeff returned in 2008 with the establishing of his own label Glim Records and a handful of releases like Type001's last album “Finished Business”, a few Lowhero.dll releases (featuring Jeff's Glim Records co-label founder Jonathan Chalker) and his very own Testube-project with the “Covert” EP and later on in 2010 with the full-length album “Off Purpose”. Accompanied by a remix-album soon afterwards (“Unintentional”), Jeff decided to take a radical break and to live his life in a simpler environment. He constructed his own off-grid cabin the Ozark mountains, where he experimented without running water and electricity. During this time, Testube's output was limited due to the difficult conditions but Jeff continued to write new music. A handful of these new tracks appeared on the “Atavistic” EP in 2015.

At least in 2019 and the hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeff decided that he had gained enough perspective from his simpler living and returned. With a filled storage of many raw tracks conducted during his abstinence from electricity, he has chosen 17 of them to release them under this new “Backwater” album. Alex Stilts, known for his involvement musically in Rekt / also label co-founder of Point Source Electronic Arts, of Orbit Room Audio has provided the mastering process in all brilliance.

Be assured that Testube in the year 2022 won't stop his hunt for diversity when it comes to get an overview on these 17 tracks of “Backwater”. The title track kicks the album relatively straight off with a breathtaking quality. “Backwater” impresses with it's Glitch-laden percussion elements and the overall futuristic, Industrial-like outfit with multiple usage of vocal samples and layered synth-textures. Jeff's vocal performance additionally avoids pseudo-aggressive outbreaks and comes out relatively laid-back. If one of the new tracks reminds at closest to the “Bioplaza” era, then this one would it be.

In a relative comparable style we have with “Backyard Burner” another favorite with it well-thought rhythmic straightness woven in a smooth and catchy, almost Synthpop-like melodic construction. The track “Themself” differs with its nightly bass guitar loop leading the musically spectrum and seems to be a kind of a tribute to the rather “organic” sounding era out of the Glim Records years. Deeply impressed I am personally also with the dark and ominous sounding, voice-sample driven Ambient-tunes like “Big White Lies (at Standing Rock)” or “Arkanstayed”.

All in all, Testube's latest album impresses once again with a widely installed diversity out of all thinkable Electronic music styles and the indispensable will to provide the listener music to expand ones horizon. Jeff's programming skills often result in multi-layered textures and unique sound experiences which can be hardly compared to any other artist. Even if a few of the tracks have been in the works for longer than 10 years under limited circumstances, there's no limitation noticeable when it belongs on the quality of Jeff music expression. This is purest art of sound design, futuristic and ground-breaking to the same time.

17 tracks are included plus a hidden, rather improvisational tune live recorded under the circumstances of the COVID lock-down. In addition to a digital release available at multiple streaming services, a limited edition cassette release can be ordered too (25 exemplars) via Jeff's Bandcamp account with handmade hydro-dipped cases. Surely soon this cassette release will be a collector's item.

Julia Bondar's 4th longplayer builds on the strength of last years 'Industrial Symphony' and developes her deep techno style further. A total of 9 dreamy, slighly acidic soundscapes follow each other seamlessly. Sometimes with a distant voice and a duet on "La Neige Et Ses Messes Noires" which is a collaboration with French collective Maman Küsters and was the first (digital only) single but nothing makes this an incoherent album - partly due to using their own analogue modules she developes with her partner Andreas Zhukovsky who also recorded the tracks, partly due to her sense of mingling melancholy, space, drifting and euphoria to a special pleasure. The original sound design and superb mastering does no harm either.
Again published via their own independent company Endorphin.es Productions, based in Barcelona nowadays this born Ukrainian artist transfers after midnight emotions based on solid grooves with a surprising nonchalance and elegance.
An album bond to be in various reflective year end listings, not only mine.

Continuing on in the attempt to clean up some of the backlog of unreviewed promos sent to Chain D.L.K. central, we have Sean Von Sleight and his Covid-inspired album, 'Life Under Quarantine.' Von Sleight is the label head of Fringe Biology Recordings (I know I've reviewed something on this label before, but can't remember who or what) and also has a project called Rubber Band Banjo. This album features the rare Suzuki Waraku Koto Synthesizer, a synth that looks like a koto (encased in exotic wood) with 27 keys and 5 string bridges and 4 assignable drum pads using traditional Japanese instruments such as koto, shamisen, shakuhachi, etc. The album consists of only two traclks - "Prepare/Pandemic/Response" (15:33) and "Recovery" (25:18).

Most of the first track is hypnotic/tribal, building slowly with only synth bass notes and a light synth pad and drone at first, then at almost the 3 minute mark, acoustic drums/percussion coming in, minimally at first, then expanding the rhythm track as things move forward. Outside of the percussive embellishments and some additional drone and sparse electronic effects, things don't change much for a good long while making this repetitively hypnotic with a very tribal feel. Midway through the drums temporarily drop out before they come back stronger a number of measures later. At 11:35 a strong seven-note melodic pattern (in sync with the rhythm of course) comes out of nowhere taking over until the piece falls apart in various echoed elements and noises. Not sure that melodic pattern was necessary...but...moving on...

"Recover" emerges seamlessly out of the preceding still seeming randomly experimental. At about the 2 minute mark a couple of gauzy ambient chords emerge laying down the pads that will continue to be the mainstay of the piece for awhile until the kit drum track kicks in at 5:45, but the pads continue on along with the drone. Not really too tribal here because the beat is fairly straightforward drumkit (even if a little Enigma-ish) but still somewhat hypnotic in its repetition where there is little change, except the drone is sounding organy now. At some later point nearly everything drops out but the drums (and maybe bass), then after a little while a little echo-tapped repeating synth melody emerges which seems to have been played manually rather than sequenced because the timing isn't perfect. Perhaps that was the point. After awhile that too disappears. (It will emerge again by the end.) Something eventually replaces it but by this time I'm getting kind of bored knowing this probably isn't going anywhere other than where it's already been.

So to sum up - Track 1 - very cool in its hypnotic/tribal phase, not so much when the melody comes in towards the end. Track 2- I have no idea what was on Von Sleight's mind when he composed the track; the drum rhythm track was well-defined but there wasn't enough to hold the piece together in my opinion. Kind of a mixed bag. Apparently the CD is limited to 25 copies, and the vinyl is sold out. Otherwise there is digital and cassette.