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CD
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WYS 026CD
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When it comes to explanations for what exactly Glaare has done this time around, you need not look much further than the name of the album itself. Your Hellbound Heart, just like the book it's named after, is the embodiment of pleasure granted to someone after a time of extreme torture. Its relation to the '80s classic movie Helllraiser, as well as countless other nostalgic stories involving familiar metaphors of life journeys, is most certainly not by accident either. Don't be fooled by its synth heavy dance introduction. Behind the relentless party your face off, drive faster 'till you crash tracks is anything but a story about a good time. This album is the perfect representation of what would have been running through Sarah Conner's head while she did chin-ups in the looney bin. Waiting for the day that she gets her revenge on a world that's gaslighting her. In fact, one of the songs is none other than "T2" in honor of the apocalyptic cautionary tale. The process for these California natives has always been no process at all. They firmly believe in letting the album write itself and just submit to what it wants as though it is an entity in and of itself that demands from its members the way a dictator would. If their first album To Deaf and Day was the aftermath of when your heart breaks, then its successor is the aftermath of when your mind breaks.
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LP
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WYS 026LP
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LP version. When it comes to explanations for what exactly Glaare has done this time around, you need not look much further than the name of the album itself. Your Hellbound Heart, just like the book it's named after, is the embodiment of pleasure granted to someone after a time of extreme torture. Its relation to the '80s classic movie Helllraiser, as well as countless other nostalgic stories involving familiar metaphors of life journeys, is most certainly not by accident either. Don't be fooled by its synth heavy dance introduction. Behind the relentless party your face off, drive faster 'till you crash tracks is anything but a story about a good time. This album is the perfect representation of what would have been running through Sarah Conner's head while she did chin-ups in the looney bin. Waiting for the day that she gets her revenge on a world that's gaslighting her. In fact, one of the songs is none other than "T2" in honor of the apocalyptic cautionary tale. The process for these California natives has always been no process at all. They firmly believe in letting the album write itself and just submit to what it wants as though it is an entity in and of itself that demands from its members the way a dictator would. If their first album To Deaf and Day was the aftermath of when your heart breaks, then its successor is the aftermath of when your mind breaks.
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LP
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WYS 025LP
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Combining electronic frames, reverberated guitars, keyboards, and tight drum machines, 20 Years unfolds in spectral explosions and dark but colorful tensions. Strange to see how your instincts always lead you to the same place. The "cave" was the place for the three members of Sure: a fantasized dancefloor where post-punk's grim could seamlessly mix with mainstream pop, and where hardcore fans could dance on a catchy beat. But that frame was too precise to stand the test of time. Shades and balance changed the cave's space, as the tracks echoed in its damp vaults. What if the cave wasn't just a den of iniquity, but a real shelter -- the choice of words can also reveal a different meaning than what you had in mind. The words of Sure thought they were talking about a present absurdity, while their mind was relentlessly heading towards a catastrophic future awaiting with open arms. Thank god, the initial vision was failed.
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CD
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WYS 024CD
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New York industrial punk band Pop. 1280 return with the album Way Station. The album's genesis took them back to when they were putting the finishing touches on their third LP, Paradise (Sacred Bones, 2016). Returning to New York, hungry to write new songs, the band decided to rethink their musical model. Their weekly band practice nights became sampling sessions, the exploration of new and disorienting sounds that they could adapt to their new confinement. The simplicity of the duo led to an aesthetic of minimalism, and they could figure out how to perform the songs live later. Now was about expunging their systems of the creative virus. The door began to creak open when Matthew Hord (Running) moved to New York in 2018 and the band discovered he knew more about analog synth hardware than anyone they'd worked with before in Pop.1280. Lyrically, Pop. 1280 plumbed the deepest depths of their inner selves and also allowed themselves to translate those painful and fearful themes to new extremes of purpose.
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LP
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WYS 024LP
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LP version. New York industrial punk band Pop. 1280 return with the album Way Station. The album's genesis took them back to when they were putting the finishing touches on their third LP, Paradise (Sacred Bones, 2016). Returning to New York, hungry to write new songs, the band decided to rethink their musical model. Their weekly band practice nights became sampling sessions, the exploration of new and disorienting sounds that they could adapt to their new confinement. The simplicity of the duo led to an aesthetic of minimalism, and they could figure out how to perform the songs live later. Now was about expunging their systems of the creative virus. The door began to creak open when Matthew Hord (Running) moved to New York in 2018 and the band discovered he knew more about analog synth hardware than anyone they'd worked with before in Pop.1280. Lyrically, Pop. 1280 plumbed the deepest depths of their inner selves and also allowed themselves to translate those painful and fearful themes to new extremes of purpose.
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12"
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WYS 022EP
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In early 2013 Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe) and Felix Skinner (Wreck & Reference) conspired an escape. In a simulated oak-paneled studio, unconstrained by the limitations of real-life recording, the two availed themselves of the finest and latest simulated musical equipment. Armed with a dizzying array of vintage guitars, drums, bassoons, analog synthesizers, and boutique effect pedals (all simulated), the two churned out ten songs, recorded onto simulated 2" reel-to-reel tapes over the course of a single 36-hour marathon recording session.
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12"
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WYS 023EP
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While the songs from this newest release retain the sheer power and intensity of Second Still's previous two releases, Equals sees the band evolving their sound and progressing forward. The four main components of the band's signature sound are still there -- chorus and delay-heavy guitar, hypnotic bass grooves, heavyweight drum machine beats, and hauntingly beautiful vocal melodies -- but they have added analog synthesizers into the arsenal. Commanding synth bass, subtle ambient soundscapes, and forceful lead synth hooks now supplement and enhance their distinctive sound.
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7"
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WYS 019-2EP
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This one is a special one, as it pictures the cover THOT made for "Now's The Only Time I Know" by the mighty Fever Ray. While it is close to the original, this cover reveals also a whole new perspective to Fever Ray's classic with a hectic and noisy feel, mixed in heavy and flashy colors. Side B is revealing a new interpretation of THOT's song "VLTAVA" remixed by Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe, White Horse, Revelator) who spans the song with a fierce and menacing touch.
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2LP
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WYS 019LP
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Double LP version. "The river that everything drags is known as violent, but nobody calls violent the margins that arrest her." This quote from Bertolt Brecht is the best way to portray FLEUVE, the devastating new album of Belgian outfit THOT. After a decade of challenging its music across several albums, EPs, videos, alternative versions, remixes, and European tours, the gang led by Grégoire Fray brings a breath of fresh air to the industrial-rock and post-rock genres. Produced by Magnus Lindberg (Cult Of Luna), FLEUVE features nine songs built around a powerful drums/bass/guitar trio, on which passionate vocals, heavy synths, clarinet laments, and Bulgarian choirs meld together perfectly.
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7"
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WYS 018EP
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White Noise is the follow-up to 2016's 7" Performance / Strange Identities (WYS 016EP) from Belgian post-punk outfit Whispering Sons. This song is not new to their hardcore fans as it's been part of their live sets in the past months. On Side B is a remix of "Performance" by B, the techno project from Bert Libeert of Goose. RIYL: Soft Moon, Interpol, The Cure.
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LP
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WYS 017LP
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Animal Youth is a band from Brussels. Formed in 2016 from the ashes of Siamese Queens, the Belgian trio romantically mixes '90s flavored shoegaze and post-punk, hitting ears with waves of noisy guitars, bass chorus, cold reverbed drums, and a nod to influential bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins, and My Bloody Valentine.
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12"
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WYS 007EP
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Koban is a storm that has been gathering over the Pacific Northwest since 2011. After an EP and full length recording behind them, the Vancouver-based duo is striking out again with this six-song EP. Koban naturally and seamlessly genre-bend, their punk roots buried deep under layers of melded synth, goth, and post-punk. This creates a unique sound which is simultaneously full and sparse, atmospheric and uneasy. A drum machine creates a baseline over which moody interchanging vocals and blown-out guitar noise quickly and organically oscillates. Their lyrics nod to their influences and are sung in French for an icy touch.
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7"
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WYS 014EP
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Drab Majesty is the solo project of Deb DeMure who self describes his music as "tragic wave" or goth mid-fi. Drab Majesty combines pulsing synthesizers accent with colorful post-punk in all the right ways. In a world of darker music that conjures greyscale imagery, mastermind Deb Demure's creations shine neon bright in the haze of a drunken night. Deluxe cardboard sleeve with holographic foil. Edition of 500.
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3x12" BOX
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WYS 003LP
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White Horse is the somber vision of musician Ben Chisholm, who is also a full-time member of Chelsea Wolfe. Recording under the name White Horse since 2010, he has released a number of highly praised experimental solo recordings including Final Coordinates (2010). In 2012, Chisholm retired White Horse and adopted the Revelator moniker, under which he released a split 7" with Jacob Bannon's Wear Your Wounds project in 2012. This deluxe box set collects Chisholm's three Revenant Gospels EPs on vinyl for the first time; they were previously available as digital releases in 2010 and 2011. "All vocals performed by those whom are no longer with us." Somewhere between life and death, in a Lynchian in-between, a human face awakens, its eyes misty and feet walking on ground that it still does not recognize. This music is a mix between brutal reality, prosaic lo-fi, and hypnotic moods. The first two volumes of The Revenant Gospels contain songs from dusty records from the early 20th century, directly unloaded from the abyss of oblivion and accompanied by a piano from beyond the grave and strings straight out of horror films. Volume III takes us on a journey through other generations and points on the map, as old field recordings give way to more contemporary voices, though the overall concept and style is the same. Suffocating and mysterious, the music of White Horse still manages to remain melodic and pure, thus magnifying the wonderfully chaotic and sublimating Chisholm's excessive taste for heavy atmospheres tormented by a thin but continuous strand of seraphic light.
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12"
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WYS 013EP
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Charnier is a Brussels based trio developing a large range of frantic and highly energetic sounds composed by a wavy bass and gloomy vocals. Stark electronics, frenetic beats, glassy but straightforward guitar sounds, in the purest postpunk tradition, all mixed with a powerful and rocky aesthetic. Clear blue vinyl with black smoke. Deluxe cardboard sleeve with printed PVC sleeve. Edition of 300.
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7"
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WYS 016EP
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After their critically acclaimed first LP Endless Party (2015), Whispering Sons return with a two-track EP that sees the quintet digging into an already very distinctive sound. Fenne Kuppens's stark and warm vocals and lyrics are giving the finest polish to the bands's cold sonic darkness. The two songs are giving a very strong idea of what the quintet is the best at. While "Performance" has this quite lyrical and impetuous swirl, "Strange Identities" sounds and evolves in a more obscure and humble place.
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7"
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WYS 011EP
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Pure Ground delivers some real tasty old school minimal electronic sounds and dark lights... For lovers of early Neon Judgement, Klinik, etc.
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LP
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WYS 010LP
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Regeneration, Vancouver band Weird Candle's debut LP, was made in frenzy of excitement, beginning with the tracks "Regeneration" and "Science." The band had found their sound through months of co-producing and writing together, with Caleb Blag beginning with drum beats and lead synth and Kilroy Katerwol on bass synth and vocals. They drew inspiration from '80s industrial and darkwave, as well as from playing with admired locals like //Zoo, Koban, and Animal Bodies. Katerwol's lyrics are dark and abrasive, and are delivered through sharp rhythmic bursts, rather than sung. He tells a story through his words, an intimate reveal of his own personal deaths and rebirths, ups and downs; it's a story of hardship, tragic love, and of ongoing mental turbulence in relation to the world around him.
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LP
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WYS 008LP
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Pressed on 140-gram vinyl; includes download code. All Your Sisters's take on the post-punk paradigm is decidedly non-retro. The basic building blocks are there -- heavy drum machine rhythms, pumping melodic bass lines, swaths of atmospheric guitars, and cold synth melodies -- but where many bands are content to wallow in the shadows of their influences, All Your Sisters sounds like the future. Originally released on cassette by Swedish label Beläten in 2014. All songs written and performed by All Your Sisters (Jordan Morrison and Mario Armando Ruiz) and recorded at Mission Records, San Francisco, CA, Oct-Nov 2013, by Sebastien Richard. Mixed and mastered in January 2014 by All Your Sisters and Richard. "*" and "**" contain samples from the movie The Demon Lover (1977). Additional noises on "Whites" and "Good Clean Men" performed by Sebastien Richard. Cover photo by Mar Brisa Aceves. Design and layout by Michael Thiel.
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LP
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WYS 009LP
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Pressed on 180-gram vinyl; includes printed inner sleeve and download code. At Temple Gate immerses you in a kind of shamanism of which the echo has long since been lost. It is an interstitial album which marries a modal ancestrality with the power of electronic soundscapes, revealing a duality, an incantation at the threshold of death. The Sound is what immediately strikes the listener, even before the Logos, the word, the music itself; At Temple Gate is a kind of sonic ritual. It is not the dead, these deities, who are terrifying, but the living and their ever more ardent desires to communicate with those whose bodies have spread throughout the cosmos into a billion particles of stardust; where we come from and where we end up, ashes to dust. At Temple Gate is evocative of all of this: the bait of Time, Cruelty, the bite of Sound. Jessika Kenney: voice, electronics; Eyvind Kang: viola, electronics; Hyeonhee Park: percussion, electronics; with Timm Mason: modular synth. Numbered edition of 300 copies.
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