Industrial music reviews

When I took ordination I was supposed to sell all my CDs - renunciation and all that (I still have 600). I sold this one to my daughter's boyfriend and boy oh boy the head was saying yes and the heart no, No, NOOOOOOOO!!!

The CD is a superb ride through rhythms that just jump out of the speakers, wrap around your ever-expanding head and leave you, tongue on the floor, drooling for more. But it's not just rhythm - there's an intelligent structure and organic pulse to this CD that begs to be played over and over again. This is machine music with real class!!!

For those who like this, try Zoviet France - vastly different, but just as intelligent in an amazingly organic way, almost elemental. Music to be enlightened to!

"Eternal Sky" is the first album put out by the Anubes. It revolves around a story of some Egyptologists discovering a portal into another dimension, where the Ancient Egyptian gods control the fate of whoever steps into it. In a nutshell, the plot consists of you and your friends being sent on a mission by Anubis to escort a trio of humanoid beings and many souls to the field of reeds.

It's really helpful if you read the booklet before or while you're listening to it. The writer's style of the story is somewhat lacking in some parts, but it gives you the general idea. The music itself is much better for visualising the story. For example, you hear the massive stone door creaking heavily in "Breaking the Seal." "Soul Herder" has energetic tribal beats giving a sense of action and panic. An evil force growls hungrily at you in "Jackal and Nine." There's much more in there, but I'd rather not spoil it for you.

Every song has an Egyptian mood to it, while sounding like it came from outer space at the same time. If you are into ambient spacey stuff, then pick this one up. It's a real trip and won't disappoint.

This was the cd that propelled me into the wonderful world of trance. The selections of music that are on this comp are different from most american trance...so its not the same old thing...its awsome....you WILL love it! Track 1 is sacred! This disc was released in '96 and I still have it in my cd-player!

Soil and Eclipse is one of the finest examples of the modern incarnation of gothic music. With funky electronic beats and mesmerizing angellic vocals by singer James Tye, this album is on the forefront, defining the direction of the genre.

The dark chords and hip techno grooves draw the listener in with passionate lyrics. It's difficult to believe that such a unique album can come from the islands of Hawaii.

Check out the CD for yourself.

Wow. There is so much freakin' music on this CD that it's difficult to believe it's a single. I've got full-length albums that are shorter and have fewer tracks. Of course, there are only three songs, repeated in various guises over and over again, but still, they are great tracks, and some of the remixes really, really shine.

T.O.Y. itself seems like a fairly light synthpop band, but heavy on the dance elements from their other releases. Vocals are not overly high-pitched, and are somewhat heavily accented, and occasionally the grammar is a bit kooky.

But there's some good dancin' on this CD. Some of my standout remixes would be the following:

-- Fairytale (Radio Edit) - short and sweet, with some acoustic guitars near the beginning. Among the most cheerful and poppiest of the mixes.

-- Another Lovesong (Trance Mix by Massiv in Mensch) - I like this one quite a bit, but you can't really dance to it; the percussion goes on and off throughout the song.

-- Fairytale (Syrian Mix) - Very danceable and electro-oriented, with very heavy percussion and some vocal distortion.

-- Another Lovesong (Neuroactive Mix) - Sounds like what you'd expect from Neuroactive, with some of their signature sound elements mixed in. A great pop song and a great dance song; my favorite mix on the CD.

-- Fairytale (Estatuas del Sol Retromix) - as implied by the mix title, this is a bit of a old skool synthpop sound. It does end abruptly, though.

-- Another Lovesong (Tristraum Mix) - a bit more mellow and light, but still a fun dance song.

-- Fairytale (Special Club Mix) - it's interesting to compare this one of the other mix by the band itself, as they sound quite different. This is harder and darker than the Radio Edit.

I couldn't believe how much music was on this single. That's the way all singles should be. Packed full of different versions to choose from. If you love TOY and/or synthpop, you can't live without this in your collection. A lush blend of synthesizer and vocal melodies. Good dance-floor grooves. Great for djs craving alternative mixes. I play a different mix each time to keep my dancefloor guessing! A great value.

this ep has the best song ministry have ever recorded; 'tviii'. no vocals, just cut up film samples and the best riff ever written. an amazing crystallisation of the everything beautiful and hellish about ministry. and the production has to be heard to be believed.

This is one of the most intelligent electronic releases I've heard in quite some time. This manages to maintain the lighter, melodious, analog sound of early 80's synthpop (without sounding the least bit retro), while at the same time sounding remarkably similar to techno-trance and or ambient Goa. The melodies are superb and the music is composed well enough that comparisons to Baroque contrapuntal composition techniques would not be far off the mark. Definitely buy this over "Decade of the Brain" which was only one twentieth of this album in quality!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I do know that sounds patently ridiculous given their backcatalogue but it's true. Music from a play and the instruments are book-binding material! Book-binding material? Surely that cannot work. But then like most Neubauten stuff it actually does for some strange reason. As it skitters around while the actors play their parts which I have no idea what they're saying most of the time apart from some women chanting. It still draws the listener in despite the fact if you can't speak the language too good. An odd and unexpected joy to listen to. It actually makes me wish I had seen that play! Oh well.....better luck ( look? ) next time

1991: Neubauten provides instrumentation for Heiner M�ller's stageplay, Die Hamletmaschine. If you have been lucky enough to hear it, and possibly enjoy it, this one still takes some adjusting to, but hang in there!!

1996: Faustmusik is from Werner Schwab's "Faust: My Thorax, My Helmet" [don't quote me on that translation!]. Einst�rzende Neubauten again make the musik that accompanies the play, whose legendary concept was made famous by Goethe. Blixa Bargeld is actually a character in the play, Mephistopheles [the Devil]. If you know the Faust legend, this recording will be much easier to tolerate, so definitely check up on that before you sit down and try to understand this cd.

The most amazing track on this record is "Das Orchestrion." It consists of a nightmare journey through a deserted house, the wanderer [the listener] not knowing how you got there, what to do, or how to get out. [if you hear it you'll know what i mean.] Suddenly the outside door opens, into a stampede of night creatures, whispering indecipherable phrases to you while they run through the dark... then it is over, merging in with a short sweet vocal solo.

It's quite a ride, and if you're up for something more original than you've ever heard, Faustmusik is the place to find it: beautiful, terribly frightening.. mythical and enchanting all at once.

Yes I do know that sounds patently ridiculous given their backcatalogue but it's true. Music from a play and the instruments are book-binding material! Book-binding material? Surely that cannot work. But then like most Neubauten stuff it actually does for some strange reason. As it skitters around while the actors play their parts which I have no idea what they're saying most of the time apart from some women chanting. It still draws the listener in despite the fact if you can't speak the language too good. An odd and unexpected joy to listen to. It actually makes me wish I had seen that play! Oh well.....better luck ( look? ) next time

1991: Neubauten provides instrumentation for Heiner M�ller's stageplay, Die Hamletmaschine. If you have been lucky enough to hear it, and possibly enjoy it, this one still takes some adjusting to, but hang in there!!

1996: Faustmusik is from Werner Schwab's "Faust: My Thorax, My Helmet" [don't quote me on that translation!]. Einst�rzende Neubauten again make the musik that accompanies the play, whose legendary concept was made famous by Goethe. Blixa Bargeld is actually a character in the play, Mephistopheles [the Devil]. If you know the Faust legend, this recording will be much easier to tolerate, so definitely check up on that before you sit down and try to understand this cd.

The most amazing track on this record is "Das Orchestrion." It consists of a nightmare journey through a deserted house, the wanderer [the listener] not knowing how you got there, what to do, or how to get out. [if you hear it you'll know what i mean.] Suddenly the outside door opens, into a stampede of night creatures, whispering indecipherable phrases to you while they run through the dark... then it is over, merging in with a short sweet vocal solo.

It's quite a ride, and if you're up for something more original than you've ever heard, Faustmusik is the place to find it: beautiful, terribly frightening.. mythical and enchanting all at once.

pigface stands alone for what they have done for music. martin atkins is truely a musical saint. with this record pigface gives a music lover total satisfaction. this is for sure one to have at home and in the car. thank you pigface