Music

Review: Foetus – Not Adam
Foetus Not Adam Birdman Records Foetus is an act most rivetheads are not familiar with. Since 1981, Jim Thirwell made his mark as an early industrial pioneer working with the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Coil and Lydia Lunch. Surprises ensue when putting Foetus in for a listen. The title track of the single, “(Not

Review: Lights of Euphoria – Gegen Den Strom
Lights of Euphoria Gegen Den Strom Metropolis It’s common nowadays that if your album isn’t good enough to stand alone, you should add some remixes from artists that people like. Lights of Euphoria were smart enough to do that for the limited-edition North American release of Gegen Den Strom (Against the River). The 12 tracks

Review: Combichrist – Everybody Hates You
Combichrist Everybody Hates You Metropolis In the last year, Combichrist has released some of the best music to cross my desk in a long time. It’s lighthearted, evil, sexy, danceable and delicious. Fifteen years ago, I felt the same way about Nitzer Ebb; it got in the veins and you were hooked. “This s*it

Review: Wumpscut – Blondi
Wumpscut Blondi Metropolis Blondi was the name of Hitler’s German Shepherd. Coincidence or not, Blondi is the name of Rudy’s latest bitch. Not even a year since Bone Peeler, this six-track single, with two original tracks, previews for the latest, Evoke. It starts with military camp sirens for “Rush,” a catchy, danceable, 4/4, monotonous,

Review: The Dead Science – Bird Bones in the Bughouse
The Dead Science Bird Bones in the Bughouse Absolutely Kosher The drummer plays in a jerky, attacking motion that reminds me of Tori Amos. The vocals are hushed, falsetto and reaching for a dramatic beauty that falls between the dissonance of the guitars and stand-up bass. It’s mutant jazz on downers twitching along in

Review: Ffa Coffi Pawb – Am Byth
Ffa Coffi Pawb Am Byth Empyrean Before Gruff Rhys was mesmerizing the world with Super Furry Animals, he and a cast of characters who would go on to play in Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Mogwai and Cornelius were kicking around Wales as Ffa Coffi Pawb. Am Byth is a compilation pulled from their three albums and

Review: Billy Idol – Devil’s Playground
Billy Idol Devil’s Playground Sanctuary Having placed himself in a self-imposed exile, the majority of the last decade was decidedly Idol-less. Billy was off losing himself in cyberpunk culture (rather prophetic, considering The Matrix was far from view) and the excesses that defined him as one of the 80s most reckless superstars. Then there was

Review: Erasure – Nightbird
Erasure Nightbird Mute On Erasure’s last release, Other People’s Songs, Vince Clark and Andy Bell sounded tired. Their bag of tricks had been spent, reducing them to an album of poorly constructed cover songs, and even though it pushed the duo back onto the radar in America, it was quite easily their worst effort

Review: Rosetta Stone – Adrenaline Deluxe
Rosetta Stone Adrenaline Deluxe Cleopatra In the late 80s, goth had become a bombastic beast that for better or worse was bent on imploding. It had grown from the small seedy clubs of London into the ugly stepchild the UK press tried to edit out of the family photos. No surprise then, that by the

Review: Lost Soul – Chaostream
Lost Soul Chaostream Earache Records By the horns of Satan, I had to listen to this album twice just to make sure it was as insanely kick ass as I first thought it was! INDEED it was! When you hear Lost Soul, you will KNOW that you have been brutalized and punished to the