We Have a Technical

Classic two albums format of the podcast for you this week folks, with a pair of fairly obscure records from a couple of decades back under the microscope. First up, the fanatic devotion to and imitation of Front 242 shown by Mastertune on their second LP prompts some discussion of the je ne sais quois possessed by the Belgian masters which makes that sort of homage so rare and awkward. Next, the synthpunk/deathrock car wreck of the Bay Area's Subtonix getsd us talking about what we are and aren't interested in in those genres.

A 2001 record which was rather out of step with industrial club styles of the time, Stromkern's Armageddon proved to cast a long thematic shadow as well as stand the test of time musically. We're discussing Ned Kirby's electro-acoustic arrangements, the eerie political polyvalence of its addressing of fanaticism, and how the album left a mark on the midwest industrial scene in this month's Patreon-supported commentary podcast.

It's a Pick Five formatted episode this week, and we're each trying to find tunes which summarize or represent the larger catalogs and aesthetics of the artists involved; a surprisingly difficult task as we found it.

At long last, we're proud to present the 500th episode of We Have A Technical. We're joined by Joakim Montelius and Eskil Simonsson of the legendary Covenant to discuss the entire history and discography of the innovative electronic project. From industrial to techno to EBM and from teenage friendships to major label deals to fractures within the band, Joakim and Eskil spent nearly three hours with us laying down what we hope stands as the definitive interview with this storied and beloved act.

As we often like to do when a new album by a landmark legacy band is released, we're setting this week's podcast aside for the discussion of Rampen - APM: Alien Pop Music, the brand new LP by industrial royalty Einstürzende Neubauten. We're making some attempts to situate the record in relation to the rest of the latter-era Neubauten catalog, but also spinning off into discussion of Blixa Bargeld's poetics, the exactitude of the band's not-so-noisy percussion, and the experience of listening to a new record by a band as storied as Neubauten.

The thorny issues of social media and general online presentation and how they shape our understanding of artists is the subject of this week's podcasts. From gaining additional context about a record to seeing other sides of artists to the perils of parasocial delusion, we're talking about the ins and outs of what we do and don't see of artists online. All that, plus discussion of the allegations against Arnaud Rebotini and our experience at the HEALTH show.

Some numeric jiggery-pokery? From us? To do with the chronology of We Have A Technical? Never. On this episode we're looking at records from Black Tape For A Blue Girl and Black Strobe, plus running down news related to Nitzer Ebb, and the Cold Waves ans Terminus festivals.

We have a special two-part version of We Have A Commentary for you this week, as we're tackling both discs of the Mick Mercer-curated Gothic Rock compilation, a companion record to Mercer's book of the same name. In the first instalment, we're discussing some absolutely foundational tracks by the likes of Bauhaus, X-Mal Deutschland, Virgin Prunes, and plenty of others, noting both the variety of sounds and the emergence of unifying tropes across the genre's early years. Stay tuned for our discussion of the second disc this weekend! 

We ain?t getting any younger, and neither are the formative records which turned us into the sort of sick bastards who?d end up running a website for a dozen years and a podcast for nearly 500 episodes dealing with industrial music. To wit, on the occasion of Trent Reznor and so many other people?s comments on the thirtieth anniversary of The Downward Spiral, we?re dusting off our scratched CDs, getting our hand-dubbed tapes out of storage, and reconsidering one of the records which shaped our understanding of music in general, let alone industrial, lo those many years ago. Regular listeners will know that we barely ever talk NIN on this podcast simply because it?s well-worn territory by outlets much larger and broader than us, but this felt like the right time to do so. All that, plus some Of The Wand & The Moon and Gridlock talk.

What on earth might records by Hocico and Gloria Mundi have in common with one another? In and of themselves, perhaps not much, but given that Hocico?s debut demonstrates how early the band?s decidedly harsher take on European dark electro was formed, and how a case can be made for Gloria Mundi being the first goth band, both fall well within the boundaries of We Have A Technical. In addition to those two records, Alex offers his thoughts on the Vancouver stop of the ongoing tour featuring Front Line Assemble, Gary Numan, and Ministry. 

It's a Pick Five episode this week, as a slightly irreverent one, as we're talking about stupid songs we actually quite like. From brodustrial to novelty tracks to questionable lyrical choices, this one was a lot of fun to record. We're also talking about the announcement of Front 242's final shows. 

Teased off and on for several years, it's our commentary podcast on a singular record in both of the Senior Staff's understandings of electronics, hip-hop, and industrial: Pop Will Eat Itself's 1989 sophomore LP, This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!. Chock a block with samples, yobbish irreverance and pop culture bricolage, it's a riotous trip through a long-gone day-glo era of nuclear paranoia and appreciation for everyone from Public Enemy to Alan Moore.

Hot on the heels of their new album Pendulum and some touring for it, Twin Tribes join us on this week's episode. Luis and Joel offer their thoughts on the band's cross-generational appeal, getting the balance of synths right, and Latino representation.

On this week?s podcast we?re using the occasion of Meat Beat Manifesto and Merzbow?s new collaborative record as an opportunity to talk about each project as well as that new record. Both Jack Dangers and Masami Akita?s respective paths and discographies have brought them into proximity with industrial music, but both have

This week's two albums-formatted episode of the podcast takes up Psyche's 2001 return to dark dancefloors with the futurepop-flavoured The Hiding Place and Skeletal Family's stone classic 1985 statement of how tightly dialed in but also expressive and creative early goth could be, Futile Combat. We're also talking about upcoming shows from Lords Of Acid and Images In Vogue.

Cosmic, stygian, abyssal, impassive, call dark ambient what you will, just don?t call it late for dinner. On this week?s episode we?re discussing how this unique and often deliberately occluded genre emerged out of industrial and has taken on a life of its own. 

Coming hot on the heels of the dissolution of Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey's debut LP Heartbeat doesn't just function as a bridge between their work as experimental enfants terrible and the dreamier, trance-like synthesis their work as a duo would explore, but also between major eras in experimental music. In this month's commentary podcast we're examining how the record links the origins of industrial noise to the emerging eras of synthpop and post-industrial music.

We're looking back at specific live performances which left an impression on us in this episode of the podcast. Whether it's the humanization of icons, extremities of sound or circumstance, or performances which changed the way we think about a particular style or music in general, it's a very rhapsodic (but hopefully not too nostalgic) Pick Five episode this week. We're also talking a bit about the tragic passings which hit Los Angeles and the broader dark music world last week.

One goth rock record and one EBM record: not sure there's a more down the pipe format for an episode of We Have A Technical than that! Sunshine Blind's debut and Spark!'s most recent LP prompt discussion of production, vocal range, and all of the usual hair splitting Bruce and Alex are wont to get into.

An oft-overlooked record by a crucial artist about to make their big move, and a reunion record which is surprisingly of a piece with the artists' earliest work, despite everything they did in the interim. This is a needlessly wordy way of saying that we're talking about Leæther Strip's Science For The Satanic Citizen and Absolute Body Control's Shattered Illusion on this week's podcast, as well as a handful of records on the immediate 2024 docket. 

We're casting an eye not to the year ahead, but to the year that was a full decade ago here at I Die: You Die. We're talking about the records which earned top marks from us in 2014, festivals, larger musical trends, and our approaches to our coverage at that time, and considering what has and hasn't changed in the intervening years. We're also discussing the tragic passing of Jaimz Asmundson of Ghost Twin. 

For the second time, we're using our December We Have A Commentary as the opportunity to talk about a record we love but which has nothing to do with the genres we normally discuss. Our Patreon backers voted to have us discuss a Wu-Tang Clan record, and so we're talking about an unparalleled achievement in lyricism and flow, as well as one of the RZA's most musically evocative productions, the all-time classic that is GZA's Liquid Swords.

Our coverage of the year that was is officially completed (though that doesn't quite mean the end of Year End fun) with a Pick Five episode designed to touch upon individual tracks which caught our fancy this year outside of the specific records we've placed in our Year End coverage. Club bangers, heavy atmospherics, and tracks which offered fresh spins on familiar sounds - here are ten tunes to check out as you're prepping for New Year's.

ith our final five top records of the year coming out yesterday, we've effectively discharged our Year End duties...save for recapping that list, looking back at a few trends in the year that was, and tossing another dozen honorable mentions your way on the podcast edition of our Year End coverage. 

Bruce and Alex fight their way through the flu to talk about recent records by HEALTH and 3Teeth, with the ins and outs of various form of industrial rock and metal being discussed along the way. Also, the stacked lineup of their local Verboden Festival is discussed.

On the occasion of the passing of Paranoid's Michael Formberg, we're talking about the German duo's first LP Strain and how it fits very particularly within the mores and sounds of classic EBM, as well as a contemporary debut from fellow German EBM act The Psychic Force which has its own specific set of markers, gear, and themes. We're also parsing the lineup of next year's just announced iteration of the Cruel World festival in Pasadena.

The Senior Staff are taking stock not only of the specific shows and tracks Skinny Puppy played in their final hometown performances this past weekend, but also how those moments and moods connect to their larger histories with and feelings about one of their most beloved bands. We're also talking about the work and legacy of Geordie Walker after his unfortunate passing.

For this month's We Have a Commentary, we're joined by Jason and Shannon from Vancouver's ACTORS, to discuss the band's 2015 debut LP It Will Come to You. The genesis and evolution of the now global post-punk phenomenon, how playing the record live feels in 2023, and all manner of other topics are touched on in this very special hometown episode of our special Patreon-supported bonus podcast. 

On this discussion topic driven episode of We Have A Technical, we're talking about the vague catchall term or genre that is "electro", at least in the European usage of the term. How and why is it that so many different bands from differing genres like EBM, dark electro, and electro-industrial all ended up heading in the same smoother direction at the same time? What are its defining features? Does it have a future? We're talking about all of these issues, plus offering our thoughts on the current Artoffact/Kanga discourse on this episode of the podcast.

After a bonanza of interviews we're back to what brought us to the dance: talking about goth and industrial records. One apiece, in fact as Suspiria's hybridizing of second wave goth rock and electro goth splits the Senior Staff, and they look back at powernoise's flirtations with other outlying electronic genres via Noisex. We're also talking about the recent discussion regarding the reissuing of a Mr.Kitty remix, plus a couple of exciting new festivals.

A trio of interviews (which we'd like to think nicely cover the breadth of our coverage here) wraps up with a conversation with Isaac Howlett of Empathy Test. Catching up with Isaac amidst the band's first headlining tour in North America, we were keen to get his thoughts about the band's reach across demographics, the benefits of being a DIY outfit, and leaving your heart permanently on your sleeve. 

We're happy to be joined on this week's episode by Ian Ross of Flesh Field, on the eve of the release of Voice Of The Echo Chamber, the band's first new LP in nearly twenty years. Ian had plenty of thoughtful and considered things to say about the embracing of guitars on the record, his compositional process, and the record's theme of violent radicalization. In addition, we're also talking about the recent platforming of bigotry on Brian Graupner's podcast. 

For this month's commentary podcast, we're looking back at Light Asylum's stunning 2012 self-titled debut (and to this date only) LP. Linking darkwave to a whole slew of other sounds and genres, it's still a remarkably varied listen, though of course unified by the singular presence of Shannon Funchess' vocal power, charisma, and emotion. 

We're joined by Ringfinger on this week's podcast to talk about the Vancouver duo's rapid emergence as one of the most highly touted new darkwave bands in North America. We talk balancing synth and guitars, the strict rules underpinning their live shows, and the formatting choices which shaped their excellent debut LP, In A Black Frame. All that plus some chat about Skinny Puppy's unexpected Polaris award win.

Our recurring Pick Five format always gives us the opportunity to take larger or more lateral views of records, and that's what we're doing today as we each pick five album covers which communicate something of import about the record itself. From easily identifiable genre markers to individual artists' aesthetics to broader artistic movements, this ended up being a rolling conversation through a whole host of the bands and styles we love to dig into here at We Have A Technical. All that plus the troubling news coming out of Bandcamp land this week.

We're using our classic two albums format to discuss records we hadn't previously heard (as well as keep our Oktoberfest run of German bands going), namely the debut LP by Das Ich and the most recent outing from Armageddon Dildos. Also, chatter about a couple of festival lineups with a crossover/mainstream and deep scene focus, respectively. 

Our classic two album format gives us the chance to talk about Cannibal Anthem, a middling record from :wumpscut: in the grey period in that project's trajectory, and A Sign Of Life, a stunning statement of return from Neuroticfish. We're also using the recent announcement of a Ministry/Numan/FLA tour as an opportunity to imagine what we owe to younger versions of ourselves. 

For our 475th episode, the Senior Staff are quizzing one another as to their own history with I Die: You Die. That is to say, we've each grabbed passages from reviews the other wrote years back, and seeing if the original author can identify the records they were writing about. We're hoping it'll be a chance to think about what has and hasn't changed in terms of our understanding of specific moments and artists within Our Thing. We're also throwing some roses Debby Friday's way, and talking Cold Waves FOMO.

For this month's commentary podcast we asked our patrons which release by Aussie enfents terrible The Birthday Party they'd like us to discuss, and 1982's Junkyard was the resounding answer. We're talking about how the record captures a band which forever seemed on the verge of collapsing inward upon itself, the emergence of the themes and fixations which have gone on to define the next forty years of Nick Cave's art, grooves, spasms, Americana, Shakespeare, and oh so much more.

The aesthetics of cringe, that is to say, the reasons why people within and without darker music are likely to view certain examples of it as profoundly embarrassing or amateurish, is the subject of this week's podcast. The Senior Staff end up talking about social identity, our perceptions of quality, and how and why goth and industrial music are specifically judged, fairly or unfairly. We also have some talk about recent sets from Ms.Boan and Nuovo Testamento.

Records by Noise Unit and Prager Handgriff are prompting Bruce and Alex to get into the weeds regarding cross-pollination of EBM sub-genres, foreshadowing of artists' future directions, and what is often overlooked when genres are looked back upon historically. Also, do we know as much about the Euro fest scene as our dogpiling on it would suggest? 

It's one of our vaunted Pick Five episodes this week, with Alex and Bruce each asking "How'd this get here?" That is to say, they're both selecting some artists whose inclusion within the worlds of darker alternatives might be puzzling to outsiders, or even themselves, at least initially All that plus a little bit of the "what are your first memories of Band X?" game so often featured on Bombers.

We?re talking about Flesh Field?s Viral Extinction and Project Pitchfork?s Inferno on this week?s episode of the podcast, records which pushed dark electro into a denser, cyber-orchestral direction and into moody, prog-rock influenced territory respectively. We?re also talking about Edmonton?s recent Purple City fest, plus the announcement of new music from the aforementioned Flesh Field.

Released in 1991 to critical and commercial success, supergroup Electronic's debut LP was Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr's opportunity to break from the respective legacies of New Order and The Smiths and run headlong into contemporary dance culture, but as the Senior Staff are arguing in this month's commentary podcast, it's always been less than the sum of its parts and incapable of measuring up to its dance music contemporaries. Bring some tequila, because this We Have A Commentary gets salty.

Bruce and Alex are home from their respective trips, and are getting back in the swing of things by releasing the interview they conducted with longtime IDUD faves Ashbury Heights at Terminus Festival. A congenial conversation that touches on the entirety of the catalogue, the current live incarnation of the band, and what the future may hold, the Senior Staff were incredibly pleased to get this opportunity to chat with them on the occasion of their first ever North American performance. All that, plus some catching up on and chatter about recent live shows to boot!

Welcome to In Conversation, a fill-in/bonus format podcast series wherein each of the Senior Staff invites a friend to sit in for some casual chat about shared interests relevant to the normal goings on at I Die: You Die. This week, Bruce is talking with author Bess Lovejoy about their shared experiences in 90s Vancouver goth clubs, Bess' work in death studies and death positivity, and the distinction between the gothic and the just plain morbid.

Welcome to In Conversation a fill-in/bonus format podcast series wherein each of the Senior Staff invites a friend to sit in for some casual chat about shared interests relevant to the normal goings on at I Die: You Die. This week, Alex has a jaw with longtime friend of the site Evilyn13 about DJing, twitch streaming, the world of cosplay, dogs eating our microphones during the recording, and so much more! Thanks for tuning in, we think this is a really fun one. 

Four days, thirty acts, one venue, countless pints of 88 Brewing's Wave Pool IPA, two very exhausted but happy podcasters. In one of our favourite annual traditions, we're discussing all of the acts running the gamut from synthpop to goth rock to doom rap to EBM who graced our beloved Terminus Festival this past weekend at Calgary. Please note that written coverage at the site is on hiatus until the 21st as we're both away on family trips, but we'll have a pair of specially formatted podcast episodes on the next two Thursdays to tide you over.

A loosely Terminus-themed two albums episode of the podcast has us discussing Trepaneringsritualen's Kainskult and Chrysalide's Don't Be Scared, It's About Life on the eve of our heading out to Industrial Summer Camp. We're also talking about Sinéad O'Connor's passing, the second leg of Skinny Puppy's final tour, and the prospect of a new mind.in.a.box record on the last We Have A Technical before we take a bit of a break from the website, but don't worry; we'll have regularly scheduled podcasts for you every Thursday through this brief hiatus.