Forestalled by a nice single release including some remixes of "The Devil's Hand", the homonymous long-awaited album by this versatile and kaleidoscopic Leipzig-based (that's maybe the reason why there's some gothic nuances in their sound...too near to Treffen's radiations!) band began to sprout on the occasion of a sort of mystical experience its members had while surrounded by the desolate nature of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern County, a place they arguably elected as ideal for their sonic explorations, where they made up their mind in a sort of chilly trance by playing clarinet and moving over the surface of a frosted lake! "The Devil's Hand" comes from a sort of thorough musical revision of that experience, a sonic scanning resulting in a kind of electronic pop, which is not easy to classify for its quick stylistical mutations, an intricate web of sonorities onto which the talented singer Franziska Grohmann aka Delhia de France moves with the agility of a spider. Her voice adapt to all the sonic backdrops built by the intriguing melodic moods crated by Albrecht Ziepert, by Hannes Waldschutz's terse basslines and by Le Schnigg's crossbreed of analog and electronic beats and samples. Her meaningful onomatopoeic spokenword in I.A.M. (the second part of their previously released Fasermarker) - a nice track whose style let imagine a sort of revision of the so-called nu soul by Zero 7 made by Funkstorung - could be immediately linked to Ursula Rucker's art, her voice rapidly changes from a virginal falsetto to more seducing tunes, so that it parallels musical changes from a sort of childplay to a bittersweet dance song in "Out Of The Woods", it evokes a dynamic motionless in some catching electro-pop tunes such as the title-track, "Supervisor" or "On Our Own", it regain some semblance of a chanteuse in the noir-tinged electronic fox-trot track "Determiner" (stylistically close to some stuff by Matthew Herbert and Parov Stelar) and manages to highlight the emotionally tragic sense of suspense and the lovely crescendo of the final track "This Is An Ocean". Even if maybe they don't add nothing new to the scene, their overwhelming peformative passion and the feedbacks from those who took part to their live performace, during which they mix and process sounds in real time aroused my curiosity to see them performing on some stage.

"Derive" is the second full length album by the Genoese band Egida Aurea. Since the first listening I can say that this album is their strongest release to date. Deeply rooted to their territory, they bring their sound beyond the concept of folk music influenced by prog rock. Their lyrics have always been an important element of their music and even if in the past sometimes they were more relevant compared to the musical part, on "Derive" I think that they found a great balance between all the elements. The album starts with three upbeat ballads based on accordion and acoustic guitars, "Pedagogia Dell'Autoconservazione", "Il Forziere Dei Ricordi" and "Il Trasformista" but already on the first one they mixed dark atmospheres, rock guitar solos and wah wah guitar riffs giving to the track a really nice twist. On the short instrumental "Praepotens Genuensium Praepidium", they mixed rock drums and guitar solos which recall renaissance melodies. "Vestale" is a mid tempo ballad with the passionate voice of Carolina giving one of her best performances while drums beat like an heartbeat and acoustic and electric guitars build a catchy web of melodies. "Odore Di Benzina" maybe is the song which is more influenced by progressive and 70s rock and it sounds really energetic and hypnotic. I think that these tracks succeed really well into redefining the band's sound and I'm sure that they will work great live. With "La Prigionia" and "Sindrome Di Babele" we have a nice mid tempo with dreamy atmospheres and a fantastic tune with a driving drum beat which leads the ride followed by vivid acoustic guitar riffs and electric guitar solo inserts. "L'Ardente Fiaccola Della Ragione" closes the album, convincing old and new fans that Egida Aurea sound honest and original as they succeeded into mixing lyrics that are grounded on what's going on by giving their thoughts about society and mankind's weaknesses, making them sound like poems because of how they use the Italian language .

SRMEIXNER's 'Ten Thousand Ways to Die' draws its inspiration from the old spaghetti westerns that were so bountiful in the 60's and 70's. However, Meixner has chosen to focus on the less obvious elements and themes of these movies, many being borrowed from behind the scenes or the subtle undertones and hidden meanings within the films, though there are certainly moments when you don't have to be as well versed in their subculture to pick up on their influence. The opening piece entitled 'Something to Do With Death' spends more than two minutes teasing the listener with brief fade-ins of the buzzing of flies separated with awkward silence. The wait is paid off when more field recordings of insects and animals and darkness and night begin to layer in, really transporting you to the desert, under a pale, moonlit night where the echoes of the wild begin to ring in your head until maddening, deafening; until you're certain you may just be eaten alive and picked clean. The piece continues to evolve out of this with some more quiet ambience and manipulated dialogue samples. The record progresses through 6 songs full of field recordings, audio manipulations, drones and the occasional lone melody. 'Once Upon a Time, The Revolution' invokes a brief foray into darkness with its tense, dramatic layers which eventually melt away into an ambience broken only by more modified dialogue samples, which are quite effective. 'Too Much Gold is Bad For Your Health' opens into a pretty little melody almost baroque in nature, giving fast way to light ambience. Parts of this piece have such openness that they leave the listener little to invest in, but don't get me wrong, what DOES exist in these spaces is both light and beautiful. 'I Am Your Pallbearer' is both one of the more sinister pieces herein and also one of the few obvious references to the theme with some mean harmonica work which makes you think of hopping open train cars full of straw and drifters. Beneath that comes and goes, among other things, some very fitting Native American samples. The entire album has a rather seamless flow and is a good, solid listen from start to finish with plenty highs and just a few lows. Not to mention being the last release on the Swedish label Segerhuva, 'Ten Thousand Ways to Die' has not only a fitting title, but I think is a great swan song for the label.

The lights are out, tensions run high, you break a cold sweat... That is the image I get as 'Twist of Fate,' the collaborative effort of Lydia Lunch and Philippe Petit, begins to trickle down my ear canals. It is instantly eerie, with Petit providing dense textures and thick layers, creating an unsettlingly perfect bed for Lydia's occasionally melodic, always intense 'storytelling.' She does go back and forth every now and again, between spoken word and haunting singing, which surprisingly at times seems vaguely reminiscent of Ogre from Skinny Puppy's side project Ritalin. The layers and digital manipulations come and go, slowly fading in and out like some ocean of sonic fury whose waves relentlessly beat against a shore of bone dust and ash. At times Petit's soundscapes are so sparse, and light that they'll actually relax you just enough so that when the disembodied drones and reverb washed samples quickly creep back in, you feel that much more uneasy. This collection of just 8 songs is both dreamlike and haunting, with swirling evil, enveloping the senses. It'd be the perfect soundtrack for a psychological mindfuck. Not only that, but it comes with a 45 minute companion DVD of a live set performed by the pair, which features versions of many of the songs on the cd. The DVD is definitely more tense, jarring, dramatic. Petit's layers, textures and manipulations are even thicker still, with more of a harsh edge and noisy feel. Lydia's vocals are also noticeably darker and more frenetic; at points nearly reaching a banshee-like screech. She takes the original lyrics and brings them to new places, shifting tempos, ad-libbing, and just overall increasing the intensity tenfold. It's also quite interesting to watch Philippe working his craft, using Theremin like devices, laptops and even using such mundane items as a blown up balloon to build up the audio walls around him. The entire video portion is superimposed with a plethora of mood setting images such as visual textures, and even a wide variety of stills of Lunch, seemingly spanning her entire career. The music is definitely edgier and tenser on the DVD, and while the vocals have a certain magical sense of urgency to them, they are a bit more smooth, refined and evilly seductive on the CD. Together the DVD and CD make a great set; both a great listen and a great watch.

Fragile. Flicker. Fragment. So fitting a title for this, Monty Adkins' latest offering. A seasoned veteran of electroacoustics, has found a new direction of growth with not only this, but his previos release '5 Panels' as well. While his earlier work was more glitchy, erratic (not in a negative way) and densely populated, his newer work shows a different side of his psyche. Fragile. Flicker. Fragment is a very airy, sparsely populated, calm, meticulously crafted world. Here he has come up with an amalgam of field recordings, layers of textures both light and rich, digital manipulations and glitches with a small dose of traditional instrumentation embedded beneath. Pieces like 'Memory Box' truly evoke a feeling of browsing and accessing old memories of everyday life, while a just a few songs such as 'Remnant' build tension with a touch more noise, and deeper bass notes and tones. While this is definitely not an edge-of-your-seat ride, it's not meant to be. It's a single carefully constructed piece broken down into 9 songs, which flow seamlessly together. It's a thought provoking, intelligent listen. There may be a few moments where you find yourself distracted by the goings-on around you throughout the piece but you'll come right back when those textures begin layering back in or pings of music boxes draw a lonely melody or when the native jinglings change things up a bit. Overall it's a very calming yet evolving and transcending release that may be a little slower than planned at points, but remains interesting enough that you'll want to listen the whole way through without missing anything.