New releases last eight weeks: Coldwave/Synth

Review: Blkmarket Underground Music Party Edits is a sub-label to the influential Blkmarket, an esteemed label and event series in New York. Contrary to what that catalogue number might indicate, this is actaully their second release and has Facets at the controls. First up is 'Computers' with its raw and snappy analogue drum sounds and late-night synth details. 'Time Of War' is another full-fat blend of analogue drum thump and driving synth motifs, 'Talk To Me' has crashing cold-wave synths and deadpan vocals and 'Paranoia' has loopy vocals and moody atmospheres for freaky dancing. 'Lies' and 'Dub To Destruct' shut down this varied and retro-tinged EP with jerking rhythms that will do plenty of damage.

Review: Few tracks capture the icy allure of early 80s electronic experimentation quite like this underground classic. Originally released in 1981, this Swiss post-punk/coldwave classic has transcended its era, becoming a cult favorite across underground scenes and DJ sets of various genres. Now reissued on limited blue vinyl, its influence remains undeniable. 'Eisbaer' is a track that bridges stark, minimalist electronics with the raw energy of post-punk. The hypnotic bassline and cold, robotic drum programming lay a foundation for jagged guitar stabs and eerie synth flourishes, creating an urgent, mechanical pulse. The disaffected, almost mantra-like vocalsideclaring "Ich mochte ein Eisbar sein" ("I want to be a polar bear")iheighten its existential detachment. Echoes of Throbbing Gristle's industrial edge and Cabaret Voltaire's abstract electronics blend seamlessly with the emerging synth-pop movement, helping to push new wave into more danceable, electronic territory. Side B's 'Film 2' takes a more abrasive approach, a pounding, near-industrial instrumental that pulses with motorik intensity. 'Ich Lieb Sie' is more restrained but equally unsettling, its sparse arrangement and ghostly atmosphere reinforcing Grauzone's unique ability to evoke emotion through minimalism. Timeless and still chillingly modern, this reissue ensures that Eisbar and its B-sides continue to inspire. A crucial document of coldwave's evolution, reaffirming why this track remains a DJ favourite decades later.

Review: Next up on Bordello A Parigi is the prolific Kirill Junolainen under his Konerytmi alias with a four-track EP bridging disco, Italo, synth pop and wave. The title track is an emotive analogue ride full of glittering synths and distant melancholy, and is followed by the icy electro of 'Klassikkoelokuva' with crisp claps and bending basslines. On the flip, 'Hirvijarvi' takes a slow, sci-fi-inspired journey through spacey synths and probing percussion. Closing cut 'Uusiaalto' blends computer chirps, soaring strings and fractured drums for a bold yet fragile finish. It makes for a colourful showcase of Konerytmi's breadth and is melodic, mysterious and unmistakably good.

Review: Don Thigpen's artistic debut came under the pseudonym LEO, inspired by his zodiac sign and his desire to bring an edgy persona to his music. A familiar face behind many notable tracks from the Jackson area, Thigpen, along with his friend Sam Anderson, also recorded the highly sought-after 'Shirley Baby' on his CJR (Capitol Jackson Records) label. 'Fee Fi Fo Fum' marks LEO's electro-infused contribution to the 80s wave of computer culture; inviting parallels to Zapp & Roger's 'Computer Love,' the track humorously explores the idea of a computer falling in love with a woman, and the machine attempting to woo her through flashing the words "Fee Fi Fo Fum" on the screen. Limited to just 450 copies with a hand-made risograph sleeve, this is as authentic as early electro number can get; sodden in trigger pad swish and askew, circuit bent wonk.

Review: Platform 23 platform the Italian 80s avant-garde and anarcho music scene on a fresh 12" compilation, kicking things off with an unreleased cover, by the band Nengue, of Los NiNos Del Parque's electro-pop-wave track 'African Beat'. Amid the political unrest of the Anni di Piombo (Years of Lead) - which saw the autonomist Marxist movement, and backdrops of government-mafiosi collusion, labour strife, and terrorist splinter group formations - underground artists found themselves transducing the radical energy of the time into rapidfire releases, put out through DIY networks. Rome's Nengue embodied this, blending industrial, jazz, and futurist influences. Initially, the release aimed to highlight their Kraftwerk-inspired African Beat, but the discovery of their cover of 'Los NiNos Del Parque', described as "powerful anarchic nonsense", became the focal point. Berlin's Bionda e Lupo contribute a remix, with Sneaker's sharp production and Sano's vocals adding a fresh dimension. Andrei Rusu (Khidja) delivers a deep, dub-heavy reinterpretation of African Beat, perfect for modern dancefloors while honoring its raw origins. A vital document of Italy's underground electronic resistance.

Review: Back by popular demand comes this four track revisitation of the famous 80s synthpop classic, which emerged in December 2024 with the kind of slightly Euro twist in the vocal department you might expect from the Netherlands-based Random Vinyl stable. The Master Mix is perhaos the most poignant, given that its airy, lush pads were put together by the late producer Marc Hartman who very sadly passed away in August 2024 at the far too young age of 58. But all four show due reverence to this monolithic moment in electronic music history, without resisting the temptation to add a little new. Grey-t stuff.

Review: UV & Nenor link up once more and return to Fossils with three new edits that take the form of spaced-out deep cosmic chuggers. These are all classy tunes with an analogue edge, great deference to the classic synth sounds of days gone by but all with nice modern touches. 'Space Love' is a widescreen odyssey with sultry female vocals and a sweet theremin sound. On the flip, 'Shwag' has hazy pads and slowed down, rugged, sleazy drums and bass and then last of all comes 'GoGo Stomp' with another bubbly bottom end, squelchy bassline and weird but wonderful vocal sounds. A brilliantly high-grade addition to your record back.

Review: Cititrax proudly presents the debut LP from Another Body Found here, which is the latest moniker of A// who is well known for his pioneering work as Le Syndicat Electronique. Emerging from the French underground with a dark electro, industrial, minimal synth and wave style, he has a stark and visceral take on raw energy and haunting atmospheres. There are plenty of mechanical, hypnotic beats here with heft bass and hints of dystopian fears. The title track reimagines Bronski Beat's 'Smalltown Boy' and strips it to its emotional core, 'Lost In The Northern Lights' has a cold, urgent sound and 'Murderous Earth' is brilliantly unsettling and melancholic.

Review: The Birthday Massacre, hailing from Canada, command a bracing gothic blend of 80s electronica and aggressive guitar work. Formed in 2000 as Imagica, the band is led by vocalist Chibi and guitarists Rainbow and Michael Falcore. They debuted in London, Ontario, before moving to Toronto and rebranding, with the 2002 self-released Nothing and Nowhere inducting us into their horror-comedic sonic aesthetic, drawing on macabre cabaret and Grande-Guignol rock. Though little light but fan speculation has been shed on their new album Pathways, this purple detour has sparked rumours of a fresh direction and stylistic tangent for the band, coming helmed up by the pre-released streamer single 'Sleep Tonight', lighting up oneiric stadia worldwide with their mega-metal shreds and huge electronica arrangements.

Review: Broken English Club is the alias of techno veteran Oliver Ho and here he explores his signature industrial wave and post-punk sound with unflinching intensity as he lands on Dekmantel's UFO Series with Songs Of Love And Decay. It is a raw, brooding album dedicated to the late Juan Mendez aka Silent Servant with tracks like 'Crawling' and 'Death Cult' echoing his tribal techno roots. 'England Heretic' meanwhile channels eerie synthwave and Giallo vibes and 'Vessel Of Skin' delves into distortion-laced post-punk that contrasts with the stark futurism of 'Pacific Island Kill.' Ho blends cinematic textures with club energy throughout so makes for a dark, emotionally charged tribute that pushes beyond typical boundaries and is sure to resonate in the club.

Review: John Carpenter's knack for cinematic storytelling without the screen takes centre stage on this deluxe reissue, marking ten years since the release of the great American soundtrack artist's first Lost Themes edition. The new expanded edition, complete with artwork by Greg Ruth, offers more than just a nostalgic revisit; it adds a new 7" featuring two unreleased tracks, 'Cruisin' With Mr. Scratch' and 'Dominator', both pulled from the original sessions. When it first came out, the album stood out for its vivid, visceral style, blending horror, science fiction, and eerie synthwork into standalone pieces that could easily score unseen films.

Review: Charles Rowell stops off for another release under his Crush Of Souls moniker, hammering yet another gothic sonic nail in the coffin. Recorded at the aptly named Catacomb Soul studios, where he had recently finished recording the antecedent release '(A)Void Love', Rowell's latest LP is dedicated to the French capital city Paris, but we've a sense that *his* Paris isn't *our* Paris. There are of course catacombs in Paris, subjacent to the metropolis' surface romances. With the LP's title punning on French words for "lizard" and "desire", a lustily unnerving synthpop record unfolds, and this is one mood requiring only the slightest touch of grimness to evoke: such as pitchy, drawled vocals on the otherwise glittery and well-rounded 'Cult Of Two', and eighteenth note tenebrae on 'No Soul', serving to bury an otherwise melodic tune in hollow chaos.

Review: As a former member of Kraftwerk, Wolfgang Flur is never short of offers to collaborate. On Time, his first solo album for three years, he's once again taken up many of these offers. So alongside regular collaborators Peter Duggal, U96 and Miriam Suarez, you'll also find contributions from New Order bassist Peter Hook, Thomas Bangalter (aka Vangarde, taking his disco-making father's moniker surname here) Detroit electro and techno pioneer Juan Atkins (who appears on opener 'Posh'), and long-serving techno producers Anthony Rother and Fabrice Lig. As a result, Time is rooted in sharp electro, synth-pop and revivalist new wave, but also offers nods to techno, electroclash, acid house and proto-trance, with Suarez and Flur take it in turns to add their own atmospheric vocals. If you enjoyed Flur's previous album, Magazine, you'll lap this one up - it's an even stronger proposition.

Review: Wolfgang Flur is of course the former electronic percussionist of Kraftwerk during their classic era from 1974 to 1986. He's now set to release a new studio album featuring collaborations with several synth-pop and dance music icons. They include German techno duo U96, Yello's Boris Blank, Thomas Vangarde - better known as former Daft Punk mainman Thomas Bangalter - Juan Atkins, Antony Rother, Emil Schult and New Order legend Peter Hook. Flur has since become a celebrated solo artist whose music blends retro-futurism, melody and narrative while always maintaining an optimistic vision for humanity.

Review: Paul Hardcastle's self-titled 1985 debut receives a special reissue for Record Store Day 2025 in celebration of its 40th anniversary. Remastered at AIR Mastering for the occasion, this synth-pop milestone showcases Hardcastle's innovative fusion of electro, jazz-funk and socially conscious themes. It is of course anchored by the chart-topping anti-war anthem '19' but also features standout tracks like 'Just For Money,' 'Rainforest' and 'Don't Waste My Time' featuring Carol Kenyon. The album comes from a key moment in '80s electronic music this reissue reaffirms Hardcastle's enduring influence on it.

Review: Marking the 25th anniversary of The Magnificent Tree, Belgian trio Hooverphonic release a special limited edition of their third album, available on translucent blue vinyl. This edition comes strictly limited to 1,000 numbered copies, each with a commemorative insert; its four core singles 'Mad About You', 'Vinegar & Salt', 'Out of Sight' and 'Jackie Cane' became career milestones for the ethereal band, clinging to the Flemish Ultratop 50 for 107 weeks as they continued to hone and plane their established blue noir, post-trip-hop sonic vernacular. Also marking their 30th anniversary as a band, The Magnificent Tree is probably the best touchstone to describe their coming of age, ripping up the the comparatively innocent sonic formula of Blue Wonder Power Milk.

Review: Beaming into the future from the 1980s Belgian EBM scene, The Klinik (now reduced to two core members Marc Verhaeghen and Mark Burghgraeve) are a pivotal force. They helped found the underground, all while influencing a generation of EBM artists both locally and internationally. ‘Pain And Pleasure’ was their first blush, first released as an EP on Antler Records in 1986. Now recovered and “album-ified”, it takes on a new form as a full-length LP elongation, retitled Plague & Pain And Pleasure. With a new sado-leathered, plague doctoral, marble vinyl aesthetic, this is an electrifyingly chalky expansion pack taking after the original three-tracker, and which proves again the dark efficacy of their gluttonous, motoric overwhelmer sound, evidenced on the likes of ‘World Domination’, ‘Go Back’ and ‘Outside’.

Review: This release, which was recorded for Bremen Radio in 1971, features four extended tracks showcasing German pioneers Kraftwerk in a very different light from their later work. The short-lived lineup of Schneider, Rother and Dinger fused electric guitar with their then-signature electronic sounds and it gives rise to unusual, exciting and innovative music. Half of the tracks here, as hardcore fans will recognise, are drawn from their debut album, Kraftwerk 1, and the recording quality is excellent. This release also includes full recording details along with extensive sleeve notes that help offer a fascinating glimpse into Kraftwerk's early, experimental sound before their more iconic and pioneering electronic phase.

Review: Reissued over two decades since its original release, the second full-length from Liverpool's Ladytron still thrums with the same sharp-edged futurism that made it such a cult touchpoint. Tracks like 'Seventeen' and 'Evil' captured a tension between robotic detachment and raw emotional charge, anchored in the band's icy synth palette and minimal, deadpan vocals. While 'Blue Jeans' flirts with glammy melancholy, 'Turn It On' and 'Fire' dial up the menace, tapping into something more volatile. There's something surgical about the sequencing tooi'Cracked LCD', 'NuHorizons' and 'Cease2exist' stretch into more abstract terrain, before folding back into hook-laced electro-pop with the closing title track and 'The Reason'. With Daniel Hunt and Mickey Petralia co-producing, the album took shape in Los Angeles but never lost the European chill that defined their sound. It's a record that helped redraw the map for synth-pop in the early 2000sineither retro-futurist pastiche nor pure nostalgia, but something sleek, cinematic and entirely their own.

Review: Laibach and A/political present Alamut, a new, symphonic album inspired by Vladimir Bartol's 1938 novel of the same name. Recounting an 11th-century Persian tale - centered on the charismatic and enigmatic Hassan-i Sabbah, leader of the Nizari Ismailis and founder of the Order of Assassins - this is a shadowy, ninja-black-wax initiation into an esoteric order of spies. Laibach's work blends classical Persian poetry, minimalist orchestral textures, and industrial elements, reflecting both historical propaganda tactics and Bartol's critique of rising Fascism in 1930s Italy. Released on double vinyl and CD box set through Mute, the album was recorded in 2022 at a former Crusader castle in Ljubljana; it features the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Tehran's Human-Voice Ensemble, the Gallina Women's Choir, and the women's accordion orchestra AccordiOna, conducted by Navid Goharib.

Review: In 1984, Gary Numan launched Numa Records and started a new phase in his career with the release of Berserker. This album introduced a harder-edged digital sound into his canon while maintaining the analogue textures of his earlier work. It's a testament to the fact that Numan's creative evolution never stopped and blends both personal and fictional narratives into haunting tracks like 'My Dying Machine,' 'This Is New Love' and 'Berserker.' The remastered double vinyl edition includes the original album with bonus tracks that add extra perspective to this pivotal period in his career.

Review: If you at first mistakenly read the title of the new Pye Corner Audio box set as "Where Things Are Now: No Tomorrow", you're not alone - Martin Jenkins' effortless blend of retro-nostalgia and forward-facing production is a keen match for reflexive cynicisms like this. His use of sizzling vintage audio-tropes could only have been achieved in the 21st Century and helps foster a reinstated optimism. The name of the full series is actually Where Things Are Hollow; and while two volumes have been released already, a third original one now comes added here, on top of a full remix roundoff featuring Alessandro Cortini, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and John Talabot, producing this rather banging four-volume set.

Review: Royksopp revisit the club-driven heart of their sound with True Electric, a new 19-tracker of reimagined material, largely drawn from audio captured from the Norwegians' 2023 tour of the same name. Newly upscaled studio editions of past flashes of brilliance resound over fan favourites 'Do It Again' with Robyn and 'Running To The Sea' with Susanne Sundfor, alongside selections from the equally bewitching Profound Mysteries trilogy. If that weren't enough for you, we've also a formerly unreleased tune for true heads, 'The R'.

Review: Legendary British outfit Saint Etienne returned with their 12th studio album late last year, and now it lands on vinyl via Heavenly Recordings. A much-awaited follow-up to 2021's I've Been Trying To Tell You, this ambient collection offers a gentle, immersive experience designed to ease the noise of daily life. It was produced with Augustin Bousfield and blends songs, spoken word and rain-soaked textures into a seamless dreamscape, all recorded between Saltaire in the north and Hove down on the south coast. It captures the fragile space between waking and sleep with highlights like 'Half Light' and 'Preflyte'. As such, The Night is best experienced on headphones and is ideal for late hours, reflection and introspection.

Review: Renowned German electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze enjoyed a lengthy touring spate after the release of his 1977 album opener 'Velvet Voyage'. Made up of synth chimes in sequence - icicling cycles - the Mirage frontispiece served to irreversibly weld the idea of the "voyage", and connotations of "journeying" to Schulze's music as popularly imagined. Later in 1981, Bon Voyage would take form: this was a closing tour performance at the Hamburg Audimax concert hall, concluding a two-week tour through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and France. One of many bonnie voyages undertaken by Schulze in his lifetime, it would nonetheless prove unforgettable and salient among them; from 'The Journey Begins' through to the templar titillations of the three-part 'Bon Temple' and the ex-sanguine 'Moulin Bleu', this is a live synthetic forget-me-not.

Review: Born from the success of Soft Cell's triumphant *Happiness Not Included record, the iconic and somewhat elusive - five studio LPs in 41 years - Soft Cell have decided to go all in with a package of alternative rides, previously unreleased mixes, and single-only B-sides. Nothing here featured on the original LP, and there are a few bonus workouts of stuff not from the source album, too. Cover versions of Fad Gadget's 'Back to Nature', X-Ray Spec's 'The Day The World Turned Day Glo', and a freshly minted take on the Cell's own landmark 'Last Chance' all elevate this, not that people were likely to have needed another reason to stick it in their basket. A great example of why less is more, but generosity is the secret to true satisfaction.

Review: Phaedra is the fifth studio album by German electronic group Tangerine Dream, recorded in November 1973 at The Manor in Shipton-on-Cherwell, England, and released in 1974 through Virgin. An icier, tempoless departure for a band otherwise better recognised for their sequencer-led, soundtrack-bred sound, this was a hidden moulin for frost-drone fanatics, and a deviant pupil of the otherwise strict Berlin School. Despite receiving little to no airplay, Phaedra gained significant traction through word of mouth when it was released by a rather more hippified Richard Branson's fledgling Virgin label, eventually reaching number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and remaining on the charts for 15 weeks. Its long-form pieces, such as 'Sequent C' and 'Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares', represent an indifference to constraints of timing, instead washing over the ears as diachronic, swirling, crisp ice ambient smirrs.

Review: Brighton-based Australian vocalist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Penelope Trappes shares her fifth album, requiescing ten captive ambient soundscapes, all of which share the aim of integrating dreamsand nightmares, grief and personal empowerment. Through the use of carnal, transcendent cello drones, Trappes explores historical and generational traumas in a chilling piece of gothic experimentalism. In a residential prelude, Trappes trapped herself in Scotland, eking remote studio solitude as a cranny in which to unleash personal demons, exploring and transmuting familial chaos and history. Raw and spiritually charged, the album offers a powerful meditation on loss; its threat, its meaning, and the process of coming to terms with it.

Review: Synthwave, or "outrun" as it is sometimes popularly known, is one of the defining micro-aesthetics of the 21st Century. Cornered then abrogated by filmmakers like Michael Mann and Nicolas Winding Refn, the style was expanded upon in the music imaginary sometime in the early 2010s (though seeds were sown much earlier). This Wagram compilation charts the earliest stirrings in the sound, from the circuit-breaking Moog experiments of Giorgio Moroder through to the nightridden vrooms of Kavinsky, and the fuzz-static analog snows set to sample-funked beats of VHS Dreams.

Review: The influential German band Xmal Deutschland are overhead rafters in the great mead hall of goth. Their propulsive successes throughout the 1980s meant the genre likely couldn't've done without them. A large band come music collective, made up of at least eight members at any given time, Xmal's formation in Hamburg and would presell audiences on a stalwart performance rep, thanks to an early tour and gig residency in support of dream pop preeminents Cocteau Twins. Rallied to fame by their goth classics 'Incubus Succubus' and 'Qual', this 2xCD review conjoins two of the earliest and most pivotal albums on which both of said singles were housed - Fetisch and Tocsin - along with tracks from other key releases, such as Incubus Succubus II. Helping blacken an otherwise dreamy time, these LPs highlight the gloomier soils of a superficially bright 1980s soundfield, which otherwise roseated by shoegaze. Photography by Kevin Cummins, Paul Slattery, Sheila Rock and more all capture the spirit.

Review: Xmal Deutschland commemorate their influential 4AD years (1983-1984) with a brand new release, literally presenting us with Gift. The collection celebrates the band's profound impact on British audiences in the early 80s, marked by a unique and half-devised lyrical language, as well as a magnetic feminine mystique commandeered by the women in the group. Their breakthrough support slot with Cocteau Twins accompanied the first two albums to come out via 4AD, which grabbed audiences by the collective ear with a painter's stroke of hard-graded darkwave and goth. Gift brims with a penumbral presence, while the titular "gift" is intended as pharmakon, both a present and a poison; Xmal's music is appropriately contradictory and complex, skating thin ices of beauty and elusivity. This limited-edition 3xLP boxset includes Abbey Road remasters of their albums Fetisch and Tocsin, along with tracks from related releases like Incubus Succubus II and Qual, packaged with striking artwork and a photo booklet. The magic of Xmal Deutschland lingers like radiation and has an indelible half-life.

Review: The 2019, full-length, 11-track album by Years Of Denial is said to have been written and produced in a country house once surrounded only by vast, empty landscapes and an endless sky. Despite the isolation feeding its making, the debut album Suicide Disco is still an inescapable somatic provocation; it's not where you are, but who you are inside. The duo of Jerome Tcherneyan and Barkosina Hanusova now hear their debut album for Veyl reissued here, not long after a second noose in the form of Suicide Disco Vol. 2 was heard strung up a in 2023. Suicide Disco was a comparatively greyscale exercise in delay and decay, the likes of 'The Pain I Meditate' and 'Contradiction' making for manic dust-clouds of post-industrial fallout; sonic , Industrial Revolutory sequelae, topped off by an expressionist vocal narrative from Hanusova.