Modus Operandi – September 2005

A post-apocalyptic wreckage of electronic debris and Industrial remains for a reconstructed world.

Congratulations are in order to Das Bunker in LA for celebrating their 9th Anniversary in October (the 20th – 24th). The Bunker that knows how to throw a show is having a 3-day festival with the mother load of beats including Converter, Psyclon 9, Terrorfakt, Manufactura, E-Craft, Mono No Aware, Tactical Sekt, Icon of Coil, Hecate, Savak, Zymosis and more to be announced. I know lots of you folk travel to shows and missing this will probably ruin your life.

Conjure One
Extraordinary Ways
Nettwerk America
August 30
Conjure One = Delerium – Bill Leeb

The word ‘pretty’ is one I refrain from using in this column, but when Rhys Fulber’s second Conjure One disc is accompanied by Poe and other girly-girls singing I can’t think of any other word to use. Melodic pretty stuff with girl vocals is not something I would give a chance, not even with the talented Fulber writing the music, however when Extraordinary Ways shuffles through the iPod and suddenly I’m singing along in my best Sarah McLaughlin voice with Chemda; it’s hard to deny that I enjoy this on some level. Beautifully composed music comes secondary to the dominant vocals and is a successful experiment for the musician known for his work with Frontline Assembly and Fear Factory. Have these guys become burnt out on Industrial or are they just getting older and this is going to be the adult contemporary for the listener formerly known as a rivethead?

Skinny Puppy
The Greater Wrong of the Right Live
SPV USA
September 27
Skinny Puppy = Ogre + cEvin Key + the spirit of Dwayne Goettel

Concert videos don’t do much for the gal who wants a live experience and a killer band to do it, but when Skinny Puppy does anything you can’t ignore it. The live shows were phenomenal and the live aspect of the DVD reflects that energy with old favorites such as “God’s Gift Maggot,” and “The Choke,” as well as the obvious Greater Wrong of the Right material. I’m sure every show had the same costumes and effects from the green goo spew and the mud and white powder covered Ogre. I’ll never forget the Salt Lake show with the security guard standing front-and-center getting covered like he was on a Nickelodeon kids show and his security buddies o.333n the side just laughing at him. It must be a nice shower that Ogre has after each show. Bonuses like the “Pro-test” hidden video and the “Information Warfare” documentary produced by live guitarist William Morrison show how Puppy is still a political act with a message. Stage footage from the Too Dark Park tour and Last Rights tour are nice, but simply too short. The real treat on the DVD is the footage from the emaciated dogs on the road in Europe in 1988 when Dwayne Goettel was still alive. It’s nice that he is a constant part of the memory of the legendary act. Maybe INXS should take note.

Stephen James Knight
Everyone is beautiful to Someone
Reduced Phat/Thought Bludgeon
August 5
Stephen James Knight = Edgey – violence + emotion

With Edgey, the side project of Stephen James Knight, you get torn up beats where they get mashed into a bloody pulp. To contrast, the latest project of Knight’s takes a visceral tone with intelligible melodies to ride the wave of subtle percussion in eleven compelling tracks. Headphones are a necessity to feel the impact of tracks like “lighter days” and “Good Star” while “Glass Craft” and “Good Star” melt into the background of what you see when your eyes are closed. Edgey spent two years digging into his emotive core to pull out this dreamy tour de force and his effort really shows. To make sure you don’t get too comfortable listening to Everyone is Beautiful … Knight throws in two Edgey remixes showing off how different the two projects are. This very personal outtake abandons the madness of Hyde and reveals his pleasing Dr. Jekyll.

Terrorfakt
Cold Steel Remixes
Metropolis Records
August 23
Terrorfakt = Terror EBM + lots of remixes

Power Noise elitists will call it EBM and the EBM fans think it’s too harsh, so when yet another new genre called “Terror EBM” shows up, I can’t help but think Terrorfakt has inspired it. Cold Steel Remixes gives ten gut-punching beats of the already hard material plus five throbbing new tracks. The Cervello Elettronico remix of “Achtung!” starts the disc with abrasive pounding, Pneumatic Detatch breaks out of the mold of the repetitive nature and brings dark melodies on “Arsenal” then it slows down for two tracks with luscious down-tempo from Totakeke and Displacer. Other remixers like Synth-Etik, E-Craft and Re_Agent return “Zero” and “Arsenal” to the dance floor even harder than the way they found it. The new track “Black Hoods in Brooklyn (Pneumatic Detach vs. Terrorfakt),” pauses from the steady rhythms with multiple tempos and hollow drones. “Corrupt” and “God of Killers” are fast favorites that challenge you not to move. When Cold Steel World was released the label had a hard time keeping it in stock and it’s inevitable that the Cold Steel Remixes will sell fast as well.