We Have a Technical

As an addendum to our main roster Year End coverage, we're poking out of our Tofurkey comas to each pick five tracks from the past year which stuck with us. Separate from our records of the year and honorable mentions, these are club-joints, one-offs, or just damn catchy ditties we wanted to throw some roses at before the the ghost of Dick Clark does the countdown. We're also discussing the lineup of next year's Verboden festival.

Wrapping up our week of Year End coverage we have an episode of the podcast discussing some common trends and notable factors in our Top 25 records of the year, some statistical number crunching looking back at previous years' lists, and each of the Senior Staff choosing five honourable mention records from the year which didn't quite make the list. Thanks so much for checking the podcast out, whether you're jumping in to get a crash course in the year's best music or you've stuck with us all year.

Just ahead of next week's year end coverage, we're playing catch-up on this week's podcast. Four records from Black Nail Cabaret, Orange Sector, Vision Video, and Kite released over the past year which we did not formally write up or discuss but wanted to be on record about before releasing our Top 25 records of the year are taken up here.

The criteria and membership of a (entirely hypothetical) industrial hall of fame is the subject of this week's podcast. What sort of criteria would be used to evaluate a band's legacy? Who's a shoo-in? Which artists' candidacies might inspire screaming matches and bare-knuckle brawls? How might we ensure that the rivethead equivalent of Harold Baines would not end up enshrined within these (again, entirely hypothetical) hallowed halls? We're talking about all that plus the Sick New World cancellation.

It’s a down the pipe two albums episode of the podcast this week, as we discuss the cinematic body disco of Molasar and the late period dark electro/electro-industrial hybrid of Novakill’s first record. We’re also discussing the Cleopatra Records AI music controversy, plus announcing the Vancouver spot on the Lana Del Rabies/God Is War tour which we’re co-presenting.

The debut LP of Wax Trax sleaze peddlers extraordinaire, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, is the subject of this month’s commentary podcast. Between the duo of Buzz McCoy and Groovie Mann getting in on the ‘darkened 60s psychedelia’ angle years before it went mainstream, to their placement within Wax Trax and industrial music overall in the late 80s, to the more restrained (and dare we say tasteful?) sounds which crop up in the band’s early work, there’s plenty to discuss. 

In an episode dedicated to splitting the finest of hairs and analyzing the specific dance steps of angels on pinheads, we’re each picking five micro-genres for discussion. Do they exist? Are they distinct from neighbouring styles? What can be learn or take from them? We’re also discussing Metropolis Records’ recently announced charity initiative and corresponding compilation series

It's a pretty diverse two albums formatted episode this week; we're talking about the freeform, hip-hop and rock tinged EBM chaos of Scapa Flow's final LP Heads Off To Freedom and Marhseaux's big and direct 2013 electro-pop LP Inhale. 

Hey, folks. As we talk about off the top, it's both the larger global news and a much more personal tragedy that we're both wrestling with this week. We're trying not to let that effect the podcast too much, but given the themes and mood of our subject, the first new album from The Cure in sixteen years, a little bit of real life pain is going to sneak its way in. Listening to music we love and talking about it with the people we love has always helped us both, and if us two goofballs talking about Bobby Smith & His Cures helps you with your day in any manner, we'd be humbled and overjoyed. 

On this week's Halloween-themed episode of the podcast, we're simulating an experience that'll be familiar to all DJs: fielding requests at a Halloween party. What tracks from within and without the boundaries of Our Thing might we be happy to play? Which would be anathema to us? Which might we consider if you greased our palms or plied us with liquor? We're also discussing the passing of Winterkälte's Eric De Vries.

Keeping the momentum going from last week we're sticking with a decidedly industrial pair of records to discuss from Worms Of The Earth and C-Drone Defect. We've also got reactions to the just announced line-ups of next year's Cruel World and Dark Forces festivals. 

The tar-black, mechanically thrashing blast of negativity and angst which is Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's debut LP is the subject of this week's commentary podcast. Talk About The Weather Distilled extant strains of post-punk and goth rock into one of the tightest and noisiest records of its generation, and we're looking at how it fits into the Lorries' own progression as well as the broader musical histories they drew upon and influenced in turn.

We have a slightly industrial metal themed two albums episode of the podcast for you this week, dear listener, as we chat a record needing no introduction in Killing Joke's Pandemonium and the rare modern industrial metal record which gets us excited about the genre again, Black Magnet's debut LP Hallucination Scene. We're also talking about a surprisingly great Sisters of Mercy live show and what can be gleaned from the latest Sick New World lineup.

The return of the Pick Five format has us telling on ourselves, revealing some of our own apathies, and possibly taking some contentious positions as we talk about records which we haven't got around to yet. We're also talking about Ministry reformation news, and a video essay about goth and race making the rounds.

After dalliances with the meaning of goth and post-punk royalty, we’re back to what brought us to the dance on this episode: obscure industrial releases scant few people are aware of. We’re talking about Jean-Luc De Meyer’s science fiction odysseys with 32Crash, and the strange path German collective Ars Moriendi took in linking classic industrial to powernoise. All that, plus some Cure (sorry, more post-punk royalty) and Pixel Grip talk. 

This month's commentary podcast dives into the often overlooked mid-period work of synthpunk pioneers Portion Control. Having an outsized influence on countless EBM and industrial acts, the band's more melodic movements into "post-industrial" with plenty of dalliances with synthpop and post-punk are perfectly captured on ..Step Forward. 

Having just seen Peter Hook & The Light, we’re spending this episode discussing not just Hooky’s presentation of the Joy Division and New Order catalogs, but also how our thoughts and feelings about those two bands have changed over the past thirty years. By equal measures we’ll be getting into the nitty gritty of JD/NO lore and ephemera, but also wrestling with what has and hasn’t changed about ourselves since we first came in contact with music which has never lost its gravitational pull upon us. We’re also talking about some possible Tear Garden news.

We like to mark every 25th episode of the podcast with some sort of special theme or format, and so on this episode we're taking up the hefty topic of to what degree goth is a subculture tied to music. Grab your snakebite and Aquanet and expect gatekeeping, gateletting, takes spicy and mild, and no small amount of cattiness. We're also talking about the passing of Roli Mossiman, the news of North American And One dates, and a Devours gig.

It’s a mixed format episode this week, with Alex giving a rundown of his trip to Edmonton for the Purple City Festival this past weekend, including the I Die: You Die showcase stage. Then, we’re switching gears to talk about the era of high technoid via Access To Arasaka’s 2009 LP Oppidan. All that, plus some horseshit about mainstream media’s annual fixation with "goth" fashion around Hallowe'en. 

We’re back to the classic two albums format for the first time in a hot minute, with the grinding industrialized noise rock of Head Of David and The Horror’s first kick at the can as a spastic garage band in goth/scene garb on the table. We’re also indulging in a bit of wanton speculation about the Nine Inch Nails name being attached to the next Tron film.

Our least favourite records by some of our favourite artists is the subject of this week's Pick Five formatted episode of the podcast. Is it a real Sophie's Choice situation or are we eager to throw some underperforming records under the bus? Find out, along with some talk about the recent Ex-Heir show which passed though Vancouver.

The third and final of our Terminus interviews features longtime site fave Kontravoid. Cam spoke with us about new LP "Detachment", the shifting scope and success of the project, and the significance of masking up. Also, some news about ID:UD's presence at Purple City in Edmonton. 

This month's Patreon-supported commentary podcast tackles the glammy-gothy new wave fusion of Edmonton's dearly departed Cygnets. Featuring captivating vocals, savvy synth work, and hooks, hooks, HOOKS, Isolator is representative of everything that made them one of the most captivating and underrated bands of their time. 

Our post-Terminus afterglow continues with another interview recorded during the festival - we're joined by James and Jordan from Male Tears about new album Paradisco and how it weaves pop from decades past into current darkwave and goth aesthetics.

The first of our Terminus-related interviews is here, and with their new LP The Tower set to drop in just over a week, we're very happy to share our conversation with Urban Heat. Jonathan, Pax, and Kevin were very forthcoming with their thoughts on the influence that the heterogeneous music culture of Austin has had on them, the craft of building a live set, and what it's been like to be on the inside of one of dark music's biggest breakthrough acts of the past two years.

Our annual wrap-up of our favourite festival of the year is year, with night by night recaps of all four days of Terminus. Which hungry up and comers grabbed the proverbial brass ring? Which legacy acts fought like hell to retain their top billing spots? And which hotly hyped acts fell flat? Grab a pint of '88 Night Gallery and a plate of Street Eatery seitan chicken and find out...

As we head out the door for Terminus, the schedule of written content on the site is going on a break but the podcast keeps rolling. This week we're looking at mid-90s records by Machines of Loving Grace and Placebo Effect and discussing the effects of the major label pursuit of alternative hits and the evolution of dark electro, respectively.

As selected by our patrons, this month's commentary podcast takes us back to the heyday of the minimal wave revival, with the self-titled debut of Linea Aspera. As we discuss, even more so than being representative of its time, it's a record which points the way forward for both Alison Lewis' work across a range of projects, but also the next decade-plus of club-focused darkwave.

On this week's episode of the podcast, the very amorphous topic of non-musical points of attraction to Our Thing is taken up. Half cod-anthropology, half therapy sesh, half wanton conjecture, this is about as loose as our general topic episodes are likely to get. 

We're talking about an of its era European electro record by Chrom and some off the beaten path video game soundtracking by Daniel Myer on this week's podcast, plus some talk about general shifts in DJing from both a personal and demographic perspective.

In a "wishful beginning" themed episode, we're each picking five projects which have effectively started and ended in the time that we've been running the website. We've seen them come, we've seen them go; bands who we had flagged for great things but maybe passed the torch on to other acts down the line.

We're joined by Matt Green and Athan Maroulis on this month's commentary podcast to discuss their memories of and reflections upon Spahn Ranch's 1995 sophomore LP The Coiled One, on the occasion of its recent remaster and reissue. Matt and Athan speak with us about the membranes between industrial, goth, and general 90s alternative culture, the role of clean vocals, and plenty more. 

We're navigating some illness on the Senior Staff's part to bring you discussion of records we missed last year by Container 90 and Vacious Cuerpos. We're also talking about Ted Phelps, Substance, and forthcoming Haujobb and Encephalon records.

Prompted by catching an absolutely electric show from all around cross-genre rock legends The Damned this past weekend, we're dedicating this week's episode to discussing their history, their strengths, and the ways they've drifted in and out of proximity to and influence on goth while maintaining their own utterly groovy sense of cool. We're also discussing some coverage of recent darkwave in The Guardian.

It's a very specially formatted episode of the podcast this week, as we're joined by three of our Patreon backers to discuss records by Steril, Black Light District/Coil, and GusGus. These episodes are always a treat as they prompt us to listen to records we might not have otherwise considered for the podcast, or listen to old favourites from new perspectives. Thanks very much to Dave, Jeremy, and Adam for joining us!

We're happy to present an interview with Mark Burgess of legendary UK act Chameleons on this week's podcast. The band was in town on the first leg of their Strange Times album tour, but are also hot on the heels of their first new material in over two decades, so there was a lot Mark was enthused to discuss with us. In addition to offering our own thoughts about the Chameleons show, we're also throwing in our two cents about the Praga Khan/Lords of Acid tour which made its was through Van.

We have a Pick Five episode of the podacst for you folks this week, as we're trekking twenty years back to look at some representative records from 2004, spinning out of a conversation about that era on our recent [:SITD:] commentary. Also some talk about the New Beat Blind test and the Purple City fest in Edmonton.

Fifteen years on from its release, we're looking back at Rot, the high watermark for Germany's [:SITD:], on this month's commentary podcast. It's a record which stood out at the time in terms of structure and sound design compared to a relatively creatively inert club industrial scene, and we're getting into the minutiae of why that is. 

The odd pairing of Gitane Demone and Mark Ickx for the Demonix project, as well as some of David Thrussell’s earliest dark ambient experimentation as Black Lung make up the body of this classically formatted, accidentally 1994-focused two albums episode of We Have A Technical. We’re also discussing Spencer Sunshine’s delivery of receipts concerning Boyd Rice’s participation in neo-nazism. 

Despite our post-fest blues and exhaustion, we're back to bring you a plus-sized version of the podcast breaking down each and every act we caught this past weekend at Verboden Festival here in our own Vancouver backyard. Relive the memories if you were on the trip with us, and flag a couple of live acts to keep an eye out for if you weren't. 

In this week’s episode of We Have A Technical, we’re jumping off from a discussion Bruce had last week with our friends at Cemetery Confessions in order to examine the idea of the goth-industrial club format. A marriage of necessity? One which yielded productive hybridization? Is it of use or salience today? Was it ever? We’re touching upon all of this, as well as the death of legendary engineer Steve Albini and some Sisters touring news.

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. 

On this month's patreon-supported commentary podcast, we're hanging out with Devours, AKA Jeff Cancade, to talk about his new record Homecoming Queen track by track, discussing in turn its themes of reflection, family, and secondary attacks of various SNES characters. 

Bruce and Alex are taking a throwback trip to late 00s dancefloors with Kloq's Move Forward and another into the weird melodies and formal experimentation of Domagoj Krsic with the Cyborgs On Crack compilation Industrial Polka Classics on this week's podcast. All that plus your regularly scheduled discussion of clickbait industrial listicles, as well as t-shirt giveaways on this week's episode of We Have A Technical.

A rather heavy and somewhat morbid Pick Five formatted episode of We Have A Technical has the Senior Staff selecting opening lines of songs which have stuck with them, and considering their power and implications. Which lyricists' renderings of themes of depression, mortality, nostalgia, and love lost have stuck with Bruce and Alex as they now hurtle through middle age? All that plus some Infest and Rammstein news bites.

Records by Shadow Project and A Split Second cover the extremes of the goth and EBM dimensions of ID:UD's purview on this week's episode of We Have A Technical, and as it turns out, lead to at least one rare split decision between the Senior Staff. We're also talking about a couple of passings within the industrial and goth worlds, additions to Terminus Festival, and the first issue of the new Statik zine.

Our latest commentary podcast has us going back to the deepest roots of one of the most important and celebrated industrial bands of all time. Holed up in West End apartments, Ogre and cEvin Key recorded Back & Forth, a collection of minimalist demos which pointed towards their interests in dub, Portion Control, and The Legendary Pink Dots, yet still hold some early trace of the version of Skinny Puppy we would all come to know and love.

It's the twelfth anniversary of I Die: You Die this week, and thus we're taking a look back at the road that took us here on this week's podcast. In particular, we're (briefly) discussing records from each of the years in question. Rather than simply reviewing our favourite records or undisputed classics, we're looking at some records which speak to their contemporary zeitgeist, maybe never got their just desserts, or which have stuck with us through the years more than we might have expected. We're also talking about the Darker Waves festival in Los Angeles and Edmonton's Purple City Music Festival.

On this week's podcast, we're discussing the reasons why certain acts seem to cultivate a much more dedicated fan base than others. Charisma? Solid live show? Tapping into hitherto unexplored themes? What's defines the line between broadly successful acts and cult ones? We're talking about all that, plus some Ministry and Comaduster chat, on this week's episode of We Have A Technical.

Aggrotech and darkwave might not have much in common musically, but we're finding some interesting links between the two albums up for discussion on this week's podcasts in terms of aesthetic focus and intentionality. We're referring, of course, to the dramatic arrival of Scotland's Surgyn with 2011's Vanity and the high watermark of X-Mal Deutschland's ambition, 1987's Viva. 

We're speaking this week with Raven Rissy and David from Vancouver band Hem Netjer. The band's woven a unique tapestry of industrial and darkwave sounds as well as broader folk instrumentation from around the world, with a very particular set of mythological and spiritual themes. We're also looking back on The Cure's set here in Vancouver last week.

This week's Pick Five formatted podcast has us discussing some unlikely cover selections. What tracks were we surprised to find taken up by various goth, industrial, and EBM acts, seemingly at odds with their own moods or stylings? Have those selections gone on to shape our understanding of the artists who made them? We're also discussing the recent allegations made against Rammstein and their associates by various fans over the last week.

This month's Patreon-supported bonus podcast has us taking up a slightly different style of release than the usual LP: we're talking about the first salvo in that most 90s of rivethead conflicts, The Remix Wars. Yes, in 1996 :wumpscut: and Haujobb squared off, each remixing three of the other act's tracks for 21st Circuitry, and we'll be talking about where each of these storied industrial acts were in their respective careers, as well as offering History Channel-styled evaluation of each remix's military prowess.

We're very happy to have our interview with Alison Lewis of Zanias on this week's episode of We Have A Technical. Lewis spoke frankly and earnestly with us about the personal and musical changes tied in with her new record Chrysalis.

There's no beating around the bush as the entirety of this episode is dedicated to recapping the three night multi-stage iteration of our local Verboden Festival which went down this past weekend (full disclosure: the Senior Staff served as emcees for the fest). We're talking about unexpected show stealers, divisive stage shows, and a whole mess of Canadian premieres.

Recorded a couple of days early so as to allow each member of the Senior Staff to fulfill our patriotic duty and go see Skinny Puppy live, this episode has us scratching our heads and offering thoughts about the ways in which Canada's identity, history, and geography has and hasn't shaped the darker music made within the true north. 

This week we're talking about the gloomy, atmospheric post-punk of Poland's Ziyo, and the odd n' sods Euro electro of Human Decay's swan song. We're also pushing back a bit against the presumption of Euro festivals' primacy in a moderately spicy episode of We Have A Technical.

As voted on from a selection of early/mid-period Killing Joke LPs, we're talking about 1985's Night Time on this month's commentary podcast. We're discussing Jaz Coleman's pet lyrical themes, the role played by Paul Raven's bass playing at this juncture in the band's development, and how their maximalist, excessive tendencies at times clashed with their moves towards a more commercially marketable sound.

Prompted by the prospect of finally getting to see Ashbury Heights, we're each picking five bucket list "yet to see" acts we've always hoped to catch live, be they legacy acts or idosyncratic Euro groups which are unlikely to cross the Atlantic.

Deep scene records which perhaps bracket a certain history of dark electro are on the docket for this week, as we consider records by Controlled Fusion and vProjekt. From the dry double kicks of the German act's mid 90s workman dark electro to the Aussie solo act's attempts to find baroque paths out of the corner intro which aggrotech had painted itself, this is an episode illustrating our recurring comment about genres being cemented by lesser known acts. We're also talking about Skinny Puppy's tour thus far, catching Debby Friday live, and the just announced second iteration of Chicago's Sanctum fest.

The experience of listening to a new record by a longstanding legacy act is the subject of this week's episode of the podcast. We're looking at how we perhaps grade records by bands we love on a curve, our mistaking of subjective experience for objective fact, and our shifting allegiances to bands, genres, and eras amongst other things, plus some discussion of this year's Substance festival in LA.

We have something of a news grab-bag episode for you this week, folks, as the list of items we wanted to talk about off the top of the show just kept growing until we had to give the full hour to it. We're discussing the revealing of the Terminus Fest lineup and the Cold Waves LA showcase, the passing of the legendary Ryuchi Sakamoto, Tina Root returning to music, and the labour dispute brewing at Bandcamp.

It’s a very 90s two-fer episode of the podcast, as we look at Swamp Terrorists’ Combat Shock and Perfume Tree’s A Lifetime Away this week. 

This month's commentary podcast revisits 2015's Remain, the central work of Them Are Us Too. It's a beautiful record which ably fits into darkwave and dreampop traditions, but more importantly showcases the incredible talents and special personalities of Kennedy Ashlyn and Cash Askew. From its alternately delicate and crushing sounds to its radical demands for a peaceful existence, it was a pleasure to revisit this masterpiece. 

We try to make these landmark numbered episodes of the podcast something special, and we think we've come through on that account. This week, we're happy to be joined by bass player, Wax Trax legend, and all around thoughtful guy Paul Barker as the release of The Eternal Present, the new Lead Into Gold album, draws close. Paul spoke with us about the particular mood and sound of the new record, how his approaches to LIG and other projects have shifted over the years, and plenty of other topics both musical and philosophical. We're also talking a bit off the top about the recent Ticketmaster vs. The Cure business, and catching The Residents live.

After a week missed due to scheduling mishaps, we’re back with another instalment of our ever popular Pick Five format on this week’s podcast. This time, we’re each picking tracks from our respective 20+ year DJing careers which we just could not turn into dancefloor hits, despite our best efforts. Rather than pointing out “failures” in the songs themselves, we’re using this as an opportunity to reflect on what we’ve learned from our mistakes as DJs over the years. All that plus the announcement of the Cold Waves lineup plus some Cure chat on this week’s episode of We Have A Technical. 

Due to circumstances beyond our control, a new episode of We Have a Technical was not possible this week. In place of the planned episode (which we still hope to record), we are re-presenting episode 40, "The :Wumpscast:", our commentary on :Wumpscut:'s seminal Bunkertor 7. 

We're joined this week by two of our Patreon backers, Stuart White and Richard Gould, to talk about albums they've each chosen: Bloodline, the reunion LP from formative UK goth-punk act 1919 which found them tackling resurgent political and economic crises, and the self-titled record from France's Les Clopes, which puts a bemused indie spin on some classic French coldwave and minimal wave sounds. We're also talking recent Laibach and festival news, plus some talk about a recent Moor Mother and Saul Williams show.

As selected by our Patreon backers from the slate of the four "classic" Front Line Assembly records, 1991's Tactical Neural Implant is the subject of this month's commentary podcast. It's viewed as the high watermark for the band and arguably for electro-industrial itself for a number of reasons, and we find ourselves discussing how it and FLA overall have been shaped by grooves and constant refinement as the distinct character and mood of the band comes into crystal clear focus on TNI.

While both of the records we’re talking about are from nominal side-projects, you couldn’t get much further from one another in sound (and perhaps quality?) on the industrial spectrum than Santa Hates You’s Crucifix Powerbomb and Anima Nostra’s Atraments. We’re also talking about the cost of live shows, Laibach’s just-announced show in Kyiv, and a solid “goth for metalheads” list. 

The new LP by industrial legends Laibach is the subject of this week’s podcast. The band has perhaps never been more active, releasing a slew of soundtracks and other releases, but Sketches Of The Red Districts finds the band returning to both tWe’re also talking about the new single from (occasional labelmates of Laibach) Depeche Mode.

We're joined on the podcast this week by journalist Konstantina Buhalis, for a conversation emerging out of her recent article on the role of social media in shaping contemporary goth culture. While being a participant within our scenes, Buhalis is often writing for more mainstream readerships, and so we were keen to speak with her about the ins and outs of writing for broader publications, and trying to inform and educate neophytes about the particulars of goth. We're also addressing the staggering amount of live news to have come out in the past few days, as we look at the just announced tours from The Sisters Of Mercy, Ministry, and Skinny Puppy.

Deep scene records from the 80s and 90s make up this episode of the podcast, with the politically savvy EBM of Borghesia's No Hope No Fear and the turn of the millennium trance/coldwave experimentation of Kevorkian Death Cycle's A​+​0​(​m). We've also been playing along with the latest EBM-flavoured Electronic Beats Blind Test. 

The subject of this month's commentary podcast blends post-punk with exotica, and tranquility with brutality. Yes, we're taking a look back at Feast, the first LP from Siouxsie & The Banshees side-project The Creatures. We're talking about the record's experimental song structures, its literary and cultural influences, and its handling of the themes and music adopted from Hawaii, where Siouxsie and Budgie wrote and recorded the record in early 1983. 

Now is the winter of our discontent, as the Senior Staff are each picking five tracks which scratch a particularly misanthropic itch for them. We're also talking about the upcoming Cruel World and Fixation festivals, along with some general observations about DJing in dark(ish) clubs in 2023. 

We're joined by longtime friend of the site Rexx Arkana to discuss the release of his new 4-CD compilation, Passing Strangers. Partially a tribute to the legendary There Is No Time Comp, partially an attempt to triangulate and link all manner of industrial and related sounds from the past decades, it's an ambitious project and we were happy to discuss its aesthetic and historical goals with Rexx. We also have some brief thoughts about the passing of electronic pioneer Yukihiro Takahashi of YMO.

After last week's odd couple pairing, there's at least a spiritual link between the two solo/side project records we've chosen for this week's podcast: the sculpted technoid of Daniel Myer's S'Apex project, and the anxious looping mania of Angelo Bergamini's Uranium USSR 1972. We're also discussing the first news about this year's instalment of the Mechanismus festival in Seattle.

The first podcast of the new year has us returning to the classic two albums format. Here's where we'd normally make some pithy contrast or comparison between the two records, or some comment about how the pair shows the breadth of records we like to talk about on We Have A Technical, but we'll cop to not being able to think of a goddamn thing which might link or frame the difference between 23 Skidoo's drone/industrial/gamelan hybrid on The Culling Is Coming and Stefan Poiss' odd detour into buttrock with the Loomec project. We're also talking about the passing of Psychotica's Pat Briggs and the announcement of this year's instalment of the Cold Waves festival. 

We're hybridizing traditions right at the end of 2022, as we combine our customary off-topic episode of We Have A Technical and our monthly commentary episodes. We asked our Patreons what sort of non-scene related album they'd like us to discuss, and with pop music making a late run from behind to beat out metal and hip-hop, we're talking about the 2009 debut from UK electropop artist Little Boots. Hands was in constant rotation in the Senior Staff's headphones in 2009 (and occasional club sets) as they sought escape from the then-depleted landscape of club industrial releases, and revisiting its blend of electropop and synthpop (as well as more nebulous contemporary tags like nu-rave and bloghouse) was a real treat. We hope you'll enjoy this detour from I Die: You Die's usual beat as we close out the year.

The site might be on hiatus for the annual holiday break, but we're still gonna be recording the recently established traditional "Pick 5 songs from this year" episode of We Have a Technical. Find out which songs by acts not represented on our Year End list tickled our fancies, along with some broad discussion of how they relate to broader trends and styles we're interested in!

As is traditional, we're capping off our Year End Coverage with a discussion of our Top 25 list, as well as getting into some statistical analysis of the last 12 years of this exercise and of course our honourable mentions. This episode was produced under slightly adverse circumstances as our production box bit the dust minutes before recording, so it may sound a little rougher than normal (although that may just be the general exhaustion of the Senior Staff you're hearing), but we just couldn't finish things off without this Round Up episode of We Have a Technical!

This week's We Have A Technical is a bit of a housecleaning episode, as we're talking about our favourite record of the year which fits just outside of our normal purview - Endure by Special Interest - and discussing how a recent live tape from Rhys Fulber got us thinking about that legendary producer's work in some new ways.

The two albums format has us shifting from an Oz goth debut in Ikon's In The Shadow Of The Angel to a US electro swansong in Alter Der Ruine's I Will Remember It All Differently. We'e also talking about the just announced line-up for next year's Verboden Fest, and catching SRSQ live.

This iteration of our ever popular Pick Five format has us casting our minds back to the days before we were the worldly and jaded connoisseurs of all things goth and industrial we are today. We’re each picking five ‘precursor’ experiences; points of contact with various elements of what would go on to be Our Thing before we truly understood or recognized it.

As selected by our Patreon backers, this month’s commentary subject is Re-constriction Records’ 1993 covers comp Shut Up Kitty. A document of both the emerging US coldwave sound as well as larger trends in 90s alt music, it’s a mixed bag in terms of quality, but as we hope this discussion shows, holds real value to those fascinated by the evolution of industrial sub-genres and themes. 

This week's episode of We Have A Technical features an interview with none other than London After Midnight mastermind and all around goth icon Sean Brennan, who's joining us to discuss the band's new Oddities Too compilation, as well as the band's different eras and aesthetic dimensions over the years. We're also discussing Synth Kids, Thomas Z Westerberg's graphic novel about coming of age in Sweden's late 80s synth scene. 

We're joined on the podcast by Jill Sheridan and Eric Oehler of long-running midwest synthpop act Null Device to discuss their new record, The Emerald Age. Between broader world events and shifts in the band's philosophy, Null Device's sound has changed and matured a great deal in recent years, and we were keen to get Eric and Jill's sense of the band's relation to the nebulous notion of synthpop itself, as well as the particular themes the record explores. All that plus BS about Cure Funko Pops, apparently.

It doesn't get much more broad or accessible than a discussion of records by Joy Division and The Cure, but to put a particular spin on this episode we're each discussing our favourite live record by our favourite band. There's also some discussion of the peculiar and hotly discussed Sick New World festival line-up on this week's podcast.

On the occasion of this past week's Kanga/Kaelan Mikla show, we're using this podcast as an opportunity to discuss the experience of watching bands change and grow over the course of multiple live performances. Does a band become more loose or more theatrical over time? How does a band's live evolution differ from their discography's? Do you "owe" an act a second chance after a mediocre show? All that, plus some discussion of friend of the site Andi Harriman's just published "50 Best Goth Songs" article at Rolling Stone. 

This month’s We Have A Commentary has the Senior Staff flipping back through musty old scrapbooks both personal and historical, as they discuss Rasputina’s debut LP, Thanks For The Ether. It’s a rich record both capturing and countering the 90s alternative zeitgest, which touches on the lives of working class women, the horrors of fame, and the most peculiar corners of history. 

On this week's podcast we're joined by Jack Armondo to talk about Psychogoria, the big and sweeping new record of darkwave and goth from Panic Priest. It's a record marked as much by AM radio hooks as it is darkwave atmosphere, and Jack had plenty of thoughtful insight about his influences, the malleability of Panic Priest, and the very serious business of fun during lockdown. We're also chatting a bit about the Minuit Machine tour and Substance LA FOMO. 

It's a two albums episode this week, with FLA's forays into game soundtracking and the high-modernist deathrock of Cinema Strange up for discussion. We're also recapping set we caught from the likes of Front 242, New Order, and Pet Shop Boys.

The ascent of Italo disco and related sounds within the broader world of body music has been in effect for a year or two now, and we're more than happy about that fact. That's why this week's podcast is dedicated to Italo disco and the strange ways in which that most summery, upbeat, and melodic of genres shares a parallel history and countless fans with ostensibly darker and harsher genres like industrial and EBM.

It's a classic two albums episode of the podcast this week, and there's a pretty wide gulf between our selections. The melting-pot approach to industrial rock taken on Circle Of Dust's Disengage, incorporating nu metal, breaks, and plenty other alternative sounds of the 90s is very far removed from the oppressive and bleak approach to post-punk taken by Porl King's In Death It Ends project on Forbidden Knowledge. We're also talking about the news emerging from the Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails camps.

Back home and at least somewhat rested, Alex and Bruce are giving a full run-down of this past weekend’s mammoth four day iteration of Chicago’s Cold Waves festival, topped off with a trio of performances from undisputed masters of EBM. 

Inspired by a conversation with DJ Major Tom of Seattle, we're switching up our venerable Pick Five format on this week's podcast. In this "Prompt Five" episode, we'll each be prompting the other to react to hypothetically hearing a range of tracks in a nightclub in 2022. Which club classics prompt eyerolls from the jaded Senior Staff and which might still send us dashing to the dancefloor? How do personal and regional histories with specific bands and sub-genres shape our reflections on the sounds of years gone by? All that plus some last minute Cold Waves talk and discussion of the upcoming Minuit Machine tour.

Our monthly commentary podcast finds us pondering mortality and the passage of time with David Tibet and a broad and motley crew of Current 93 collaborators on 1988's Earth Covers Earth. One of the most unified and direct statements in Tibet's sprawling discography and equally fluid poetics, Earth Covers Earth prompts discussion of the aims of neo-folk, the less savory of Tibet's musical partners, and why metaphysical poetry from the 1600s might have resonated with Tibet at this point in his artistic development. 

The passing of Metropolis Records founder Dave Heckman has been keenly felt by countless people in dark alternative music across the world over the past several weeks. To get a better sense of who Dave was and how he built and operated Metropolis Records, we're joined by label manager Jim Smith as well as several other friends and associates of Dave's. We also suggest checking out ReGen Magazine's tribute to Dave as well as The Philadelphia Inquirer's obituary. Our 2012 interview with Dave can be read here.

We're joined this week by the charming duo of DJs Hate Mior and Vernal Trash of Darkness Forever Toronto. The pair spoke with us at Terminus about making the most out of streaming platforms during the pandemic, and how the communities built and lessons learned during lockdown can be carried forward into the future. We're also talking about recent live shows from Gary Numan, Leathers, and Actors, and tour cancellations by Bauhaus and Dead Can Dance.

After a healthy run of interviews, we're back to our classic two albums format for this week's podcast. We're talking about the anxious and aggressive EBM laid down by The Invincible Spirit on their debut LP "Current News", as well as some post-millennial futurepop right from 2004 courtesy of State Of The Union's "Inpendum".

This month's Patreon-supported commentary podcast finds the Senior Staff careening through the over-caffeinated mania of Wulfband's debut LP. Offering a unique spin on neo-oldschool EBM, the mysterious Swedish duo use a plethora of structural and programming tricks to keep things redlining for a full half hour, and Alex and Bruce do their best to highlight some of them as detuned synths and grammatically fractured German swarm around them. 

Shannon Hemmett of Actors joins the podcast this week to talk about the development and upcoming live premiere of her other project, Leathers. We discuss the project's embracing of smoother shoegaze and electropop sounds, preparing its music for live audiences, and how the heavy touring sched of Actors has shaped her approach to songwriting. We're also talking about the news of Front 242 beginning to step back from live touring.

Recorded just before her smashing performance at Terminus, this week on the podcast we're proud to bring you our interview with Louisahhh. Considered, impassioned, and substantive, this interview shares a great deal with the live rendering of music from her The Practice Of Freedom LP which Louisahhh brought to the stage in Calgary. We're also discussing the line-up of New York's just announced Flesh & Steel festival in December, plus an excellent article by Konstantina Buhalis discussing how recent social media trends are intersecting with renewed interest in goth culture.

Few first-time festival acts piqued our interest as much as Randolph & Mortimer, who made their North American debut at Terminus. The project's combination of groove-heavy EBM and subtly sardonic social commentary has intrigued us for years, and so we were delighted to sit down with Sam Evans to discuss how the project grew out of his backgrounds in techno and hardcore, as well as the socio-political perspective of the uniquely instrumental act.

We're back home and moderately well-rested (though as you'll hear not entirely organized) after a weekend of Industrial Summer Camp fun at Calgary's Terminus Festival. This is our recap episode, with discussion of each and every of the twenty-seven acts who took the stage at Dickens. There's also some brief discussion of the sudden passing of Metropolis Records founder Dave Heckman.

With one foot out the door to meet up with all of our fellow Industrial Summer Campers at Terminus today, we're doing a grab-bag episode of the podcast. Various bits of live news, forthcoming record announcements, luke-warm takes, and seething rants make up the entire body of this episode, so if you're the sort of person who normally tunes out after the first fifteen minutes of our normally formatted episodes, boy howdy do we think you'll like this one!

This month's We Have A Commentary bonus podcast has the Senior Staff casting their eyes back to 2009 and the release of Din A Tod's second and final LP Westwerk. While it's a record that offers some highly polished darkwave and post-punk, it also presaged a number of sounds to come, as well as taking some curious detours into strains of dance and rock music well outside of Our Thing.

This week’s episode has us each picking five pairs of tracks we’ve come to have linked in our minds, whether it be through our personal mixtape or DJ histories, or some other mystery of the human mind. From noise to synthpop to psytrance, we’re hoping these picks also speak to the broader ways in which we all interact with music. All that plus some discussion of the just-announced Substance festival in LA! 

Inland Empire coldwave and Bay Area no wave are far more different than nomenclature and physical proximity might suggest, as we find out in this episode of We Have A Technical. The loosely thrashing debut from Penal Colony and the abstracted to almost nothing experimentalism of Subpoena The Past are our picks for this two albums episode of the podacast, alongside some gleeful hand-rubbing over the impending arrival of Industrial Summer Camp season. 

Bruce is away this week, which means we've tapped our good friend Mildred Strange from the excellent History Lessons for Misanthropes to join us as the resident academic. We discuss one of her favourite bands 12 Rounds, and the enduring appeal of their 1998 sophomore album My Big Hero before trying to make sense of the bizarre, somewhat inscrutable-to-us German medieval NDH act Tanzwut. What mysteries will we uncover and how many german words do we mispronounce? You'll have to listen to find out!

From post-futurepop to post-witch house, we're hopping across some big gulfs in style with this week's podcast's two records. First, the tasteful to a fault Edge Of Dawn's Enjoy The Fall puts Frank Spinath's unmistakable vocals squarely in the spotlight, and then, the first split record between V▲LH▲LL & M‡яc▲ll▲ brings us back to the days of artists using the witch house explosion as the opportunity to reconsider approaches to classic dark synth sounds.

Settle in for a lot of fast talk, as the Senior staff power their way through the debut LP from Texas' Twin Tribes. A modern darkwave classic through and through, be prepared for a lot of gushing about songwriting, albumcraft, and the beauty of simplicity on this I Die: You Die bonus podcast. 

One of our chin-stroking big topic episodes is coming your way this week, as we discuss the thorny question of the cost of digital releases within the culture of the darker music scenes. What shapes artists' decisions regarding price points? What impact do people's motivations with their music play in how they try to distribute it? And what goes through the head of the budget-conscious music purchaser as they're browsing through slews of releases on Bandcamp? All these questions and more on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

Two rather different records in terms of era, sound, and (presumably) audience make up this week's episode of We Have A Technical. We're talking about Ashbury Heights' debut Three Cheers For The Newlydeads and Contagion's Contaminant PCB. We also have some words about the passing of our friend Bryan Hughes, and Minuit Machine's upcoming North American tour.

It’s a slightly spicy episode of We Have A Technical this week, as we find ourselves sharing an appreciation for the thoughtful dark ambient of Blink Twice…and debating the foibles of the nominal deathrock of Fear Cult. We’re also talking Andy Fletcher, Front 242, and the Manufactured In Los Angeles fest.

As we recently opined, the new album by The Legendary Pink Dots ranks among the best works in the long-standing experimental band's voluminous discography. It's a timely honour, then, to speak to the band's frontman and chief songwriter Edward Ka-Spel on this week's episode of We Have A Technical. Edward spoke with us about the structuring and execution of The Museum Of Human Happiness, how his songwriting has changed to reflect different eras, and shifting senses of utopias past and present, all with the characteristic wit and humanity instantly recognizable to any long-term LPD listener. 

This month's We Have A Commentary brings you an album-length discussion of KMFDM's 1995 LP, NIHIL, as selected by our Patreon backers from a range of records by the long-standing German/American industrial rock act. A record of big hits and big misses, NIHIL prompts discussion not only of KMFDM's quirky assemblage of musical elements and personalities, but also their position within the general alternative 90s zeitgeist. 

We'e getting right to business with a jumbo-sized podcast breaking down each and every act from Vancouver's five day (FIVE DAY!) Verboden Festival. It was a slew of performances at different venues from bands both new and unfamiliar to us (with yours truly serving as your humble emcees), and we're here to get you up to speed and hopefully direct you to some new bands of interest.

We’re taking a detour from anything remotely related to industrial with this week’s two albums formatted podcast. First up is the goth-inflected machine rawk of Ulterior’s proper debut, Wild In Wildlife, followed by the immaculately curated 90s neo-folk of Nature And Organisation’s Beauty Reaps The Blood Of Solitude. We’re also talking about the reveal of the long-awaited 2022 installment of our beloved Terminus Festival! 

This month's Patreon-supported commentary podcast has the Senior Staff revisiting Curse, an early chapter in the massive discography of The Legendary Pink Dots. Both Alex and Bruce hold LPD in a special place in their hearts, and are offering thoughts about what has and hasn't changed about the band since Curse, the genres which the band border upon yet never quite occupy, and the early occurrences of some of Edward Ka-Spel's recurring lyrical themes. 

We're joined on this week's episode of We Have A Technical by Robert Katerwol, who's discussing the fifth iteration of Vancouver's Verboden Festival. After having had to forestall the fest by two years, Robert had a lot to say about the logistics of booking a festival while still wrestling with the pandemic, establishing a diverse lineup, and what new sounds he's interested in ferreting out to bring to the stage. On a sadder note, we're also discussing the news of the passing of electronic pioneer Klaus Schulze. 

Three of our fantastic Patreonies are joining us to talk about some records near and dear to them. We're discussing Too Deep by Kontravoid, Berlin 2007 by Collapsed System, and Death On The Installment Plan by Numb. We also talk about a couple of unfortunate passings, as well as good news regarding Jean-Luc De Meyer.

The Senior Staff is back in the saddle and returning to our tried and true Pick Five format in this week's episode. In an homage to the scene which inspired our Pick Fives, we're going right down the pipe by each picking Side 1s, Track 1s. Additionally, we're talking about the just announced line-ups for the New York and Los Angeles Cold Waves satellite fests, and the postponement of Front 242's touring due to Jean-Luc De Meyer's health issues. We should note that a positive update concerning JLDM has been posted since this episode was recorded on Monday. 

The Senior Staff is celebrating 400 (actually a lot more, but officially 400) episodes of We Have a Technical by having a big ol’ party, and by party we mean we had on several friends of the podcast who are distinctly NOT immersed in industrial, EBM, darkwave, and goth music to talk a little bit about some genre classics. What fresh observations might these notable folks from the worlds of music, literature and podcasting have to offer on songs we all know like the back of our hands? You’ll have to listen to find out!

Alex rejoins the podcast in a lead-up episode before our 400th one. By way of catch up, we're talking about recent records from melodic Swedish post-punk act Principe Valiente, and Devours side-project The Golden Age Of Wrestling, alongside some chatter about new activity from the Bauhaus camp.

We're joined on the podcast this week by guest host Sharon Kyronfive. In addition to having written some great 199X columns for ID:UD, Sharon's tenures at 21st Circuitry and Industrialnation make her the ideal person to discuss some mid-90s envelope-pushing records on Zoth-Ommog, specficially Cleen's "Designed Memories" and X Marks The Pedwalk's "Drawback".

With Alex still tending to family matters, we're once again tagging in a friend of the site to co-host. This week, musician, scholar, and all around authority concerning industrial and goth music Alex Reed of Seeming joins Bruce to talk about records by Dive and Cranes, as well as some touring news.

With Alex dealing with a family emergency, we've asked long-time friend of the site and frequent guest Matt Fanale to co-host this episode of We Have A Technical. There's lots of news to catch up with, from the impressive lineup of Cold Waves Chicago to the Absolution Fest in Tampa to the sale of Bandcamp. At Matt's behest, we're also talking about Nitzer Ebb's 1991 crossover bid "Ebbhead".

Hi folks, Due to a family emergency we're unable to record and offer an episode this week. Thanks for your understanding, and we hope to be back as soon as possible.

It’s EBM Day and everyone’s celebrating. Well, at least we are. The not so terminal state of EBM is the subject of the day, as we move through our initial conceptions of and experiences with the genre towards an overview of recent developments and sub-genres ranging from Los Angeles to Berlin to Bogotá.

This month's commentary podcast is one of the rare ones in which we invite an artist to walk through their new record, track by track. It's a great time to catch up with long-time friend of the site Scott Fox of iVardensphere, as his new LP Ragemaker isn't just the first new work from the long-running rhythmic industrial act in a number of years, but also signals several shifts in how iVardensphere operates as a project and what its aims are. We had a great conversation with Scott about the record's mythology, its eschewing of traditional club sounds, and its cinematic ambitions. 

We don’t necessarily intend for our two albums format episodes to end up mapping the reach of genres we discuss on We Have A Technical, but they often end up that way. This week is no exception as we take up a new(ish) stay the course record from Die Form in their dark and slinky industrial/minimal synth style, and the post-goth grandeur and honesty of Weep. We’re also running through the just-announced lineup of Seattle’s Mechanismus festival.

After a far too long absence, it's the return of our popular Pick Five format! Slower club tunes are the subject of the day, with Alex and Bruce each selecting five lower-BPM tracks they like to play out to cool the floor out while still keeping it packed. We're also talking about the recently announced NIN tour dates, and the wave of hype pertaining to their gig with Ministry and Nitzer Ebb.

This month's We Have A Commentary podcast features the Senior Staff's discussion of In The Nursery's landmark 1990 LP L'Esprit. Questions of acoustic versus synthesized symphonics, military metaphysics, and the virtues of bombast are all taken up in an episode which features a bit more disagreement than your average WHaC. 

Both Boy Harsher’s new film The Runner and its accompanying soundtrack have been released, offering us the chance to talk about how both works draw upon and move beyond the group’s aesthetic and thematics. We’re also talking about an uptick in italo-related releases, as well as the winding down of the Dub Ditch Picnic label.

In the wake of the passing of Mike Wells, we're discussing his legacy both as one half of the legendary Gridlock and as a mastering engineer. We're thankful to Alex Reed, Daniel Graves, David Dutton, Sharon Kyronfive, and Eric Oehler for sharing their thoughts and memories of Mike and Gridlock. We're also getting caught up to speed on the latest festival news in North America.

Inspired by last week's discussion of legacy acts, we have a very specific iteration of our two albums format for this week's episode of We Have A Technical. It's a 'masters of dark electro' themed ep, with discussion of the abrupt reunion and return to form from The Klinik's classic line-up on Eat Your Heart Out, and Claus Larsen's return to deep exploration of the notion of symphonic dark electro on Serenade For The Dead II. What new terrain and ideas were these progenitors able to strike upon decades into their storied careers? Listen and find out.

The role of legacy acts (and their definition) in the broader industrial and goth diasporas is the subject of our first podcast of the year. How are festivals and club nights shaped by them, and how does the particular nature of Our Thing foster them? 

We're tying up some Year End odds and sods on this week's podcast, with a quick rundown of our Top 25, and then some discussion of a whopping twenty releases we're putting forth as honourable mentions. Finally, what are the larger trends which marked the year that was? How many self-released records made our list? What can we make of the artists appearing on the list for the first time? And most importantly, what the hell was up with all the italo disco?

It's a bit of an odd catch-up episode of the podcast this week, friends, as we're discussing three recent albums released too late to be given regular review coverage. Records by Deine Lakaien, The Necromancers Union, and HAEX are taking us through darkwave, goth rock, and industrial territory respectively. All that plus the skinny on the just announced 2022 iteration of Vancouver's own Verboden Festival on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

We're talking records by Mesh and Mlada Fronta on this week's podcast, as synthpop/alt rock and rhythmic noise/IDM combos are considered. Also, talk about the first major concert the Senior Staff have been able to attend since everything went down!

As selected by our Patreon backers, an album which needs no introduction whatsoever is the subject of this month's We Have A Commentary podcast. We're discussing 20 Jazz Funk Greats' recurring theme of manipulation, the ways in which it presaged the various post-TG projects each member of the band would pursue, and its eternal position at a strange intersection of pop, noise, experimentalism, and emerging dance styles.

We're talking about the changing roles served by vocals in industrial and post-industrial music in this week's episode of the podcast. Whether tilting towards pop conventions or serving to explode the control machines, how has the human voice been deployed in music ranging from Throbbing Gristle to futurepop? Lock your eyes on your navels and prepare for a deep dive with the Senior Staff.

Was 1998 a peak year for darkwave? You decide after listening to this episode of We Have A Technical, which discusses the broad-reaching electro-acoustic laments of Deathwatch Beetle Repairman's Hollow Fishes and the foray into chill breaks which was Love Spirals Downwards' Flux. All that plus a run-down of the lineup for the upcoming Terminus: Fragment fest in Calgary!

From an uncertain electroclash hangover to an experiment in pure drone, this week's two albums formatted episode covers a lot of ground. First up it's a discussion of Mount Sims' 2004 Wild Light LP, and then a dive into 2, the 1996 LP by Justin Broadrick's solo project Final. We also touch upon a recent interview with Steve Albini in which the infamous engineer and songwriter reckons with his own 'shitty edgelord' past, and some hopeful intimations from the folks behind Terminus Festival.

This month's commentary podcast conveniently coincides with news of a new Boy Harsher LP and tour as we discuss the duo's 2017 EP, Country Girl. Though short in run-time, the EP's sound and mood served as a flashpoint for the explosion of interest in Boy Harsher's approach to classic darkwave and electronic sounds, catapulting them to their current position as one of the most preeminent and influential dark electronic bands of the moment.

This week we are picking five "easy records". What does that mean? Who knows, listen and find out! 

It's a down the pipe two albums episode of the podcast this week, with Bruce picking a record by semi-notable German goth rock band and Alex picking a record by a distinctly obscure German industrial act. The blatant Sisters-isms of The Merry Thoughts and the Eurodance/prog EBM of Fortification 55 are discussed, with more than a few charms being ferreted out from each.

The thematic complexity, musical variety, and labyrinthine discography of Current 93 is the subject of this week's We Have A Technical. David Tibet's work has had a profound impact on both of us and the genres we cover here at I Die: You Die, and so without intending to be at all authoritative or all-encompassing, we wanted to have a conversation which would take up a host of questions and issues extending out of one of the most singular bodies of experimental music from the past century. Buckle up, shit's gonna get gnostic.

Our two album discussion episodes don't get much more down the pipe than this! Two fun and funky EBM records of different stripes are on the docket. First, we're catching up with Randolph & Mortimer via Manifesto For A Modern World, a compilation of their acid, grebo, and Wax Trax indebted instrumental EBM bangers. Next, we're looking over the second record from musically Belgian but geographically Dutch duo The Force Dimension, Deus Ex Machina, which adds a quirky mix of new age, synthpop, and new beat elements to EBM.

On the cusp of the release of their sophomore record Acts Of Worship, we're joined on the podcast this week by Jason Corbett and Shannon Hemmett of Actors. There's lots on the table as we discuss the refinement and expansion of the band's weighty post-punk sound, emotional reckonings, and the pragmatic side of planning shows during the pandemic. We also talk about Cold Waves FOMO and the latest drama emerging from Ministry's Industrial Strength tour.

It's a Pick Five episode of the podcast this week, with each of us talking about some samples which stuck with us for better or worse. It's somewhat bitterly ironic that that's our subject, as the passing of sample and industrial pioneer Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire is something which we're also discussing with Susan Subtract of Physical Wash and High-Functioning Flesh.

Mark Trueman of Choke Chain joins Alex and Bruce to discuss his new release Invoking Shadows, his history with EBM and industrial and how this release is distinct from its predecessors. 

For too long we have been delinquent in our duties as supreme judges of the nature of industrial music and culture. For too long we have hidden behind mealy-mouthed equivocation out of a desire to keep the peace. No more. On this episode of We Have A Technical we at last embrace our destinies as the Arbiters of Industrial and pass judgement on the rivetness of all things great and small. Should you deign to dispute our rulings you may do so on social media or in the comments below, but remember that your petitions will be to us as the flitting of gnats is to an intractable basalt column.

A classic two albums episode has us kicking between darkwave and industrial metal. Diva Destruction's debut Passion's Price, with its synth strings and high-goth aesthetic, is considered alongside Unit 187's Loaded, balancing programming and Vancouver metal. Some recent tour cancellations and postponements, plus the dissolution of Iris are also discussed.

After four weeks of our New Canon series, the regular We Have A Technical podcast is back! This week we're discussing Sinner Get Ready, the new album from Lingua Ignota. Its rural mood and shift towards acoustic/folk instrumentation while maintaining the harrowing tones and themes for which Kristen Hayter's work has gained acclaim are just some of the topics we're discussing. Also, we try to catch up with a full month's worth of news bites.

This month's We Have A Commentary takes up the third LP from Vancouver's chameleonic Moev. Yeah Whatever brought together elements of synthpop, post-punk, funk, nascent alt-rock, goth, and body music, all under the aegis of then-new vocalist Dean Russell's exploration of deeply spiritual and personal issues. The Senior Staff discuss it in relation to Moev's broader history (as well as that of Nettwerk Records)

On the last episode of We Have A Technical before our special podcast series The New Canon takes over the month of August, we're talking about the classic mid-90s fusion of industrial programming and guitar of Steril's Egoism and the timeless and intimate sound design of Octavius' Laws. Some Ashbury Heights and Front 242 chat rounds out this week's episode.

The sometimes strained and sometimes incredibly powerful crossover between industrial and hip-hop is the subject of this week's We Have A Technical. From both genres' shared roots in sampling to thorny questions of MCing to current forms of hip-hop which create noise ex nihilo, we're aiming for a relatively subjective discussion of this unique intersection rather than an authoritative history thereof. We're also touching upon a recent article detailing connections between noise/power electronics artists like Dom Fernow and the far right.

The return of the listener-favourite Pick Five format has us considering records we like to listen to whilst traveling on airplanes. Being stuck in a tightly compacted space hurtling through the sky for lengthy periods of time can be stressful, monotonous, and wonderful, and from IDM to shoegaze, choosing the right soundtrack can lessen anxiety and offer much-needed focus.

After a few weeks of holidays, medical leave, and 10th anniversary celebrations we're back to our usual schedule here at the site, including a classic two albums format episode of the podcast. This week we're discussing the 1994 crossover success of Delerium's Semantic Spaces, wherein an ambient/industrial side-project primed itself to become a mainstream phenomenon hybridizing trance, trip-hop, and "world" music, and the final missive from Ipswich experimentalists Nagamatzu, whose 1991 record Igniting The Corpse pushed sampling and neo-classical sketching ahead of their post-punk and minimal synth roots.

I Die: You Die turns 10 years old this year, so naturally this week's podcast is of a reflective tack. We're looking back at the very first writing posted to the site, and talking about how the site's changed and how it's changed up. Self-indulgent? Maybe, but the site's entering its cantankerous pre-teen years now - let the baby have his bottle.

This month's We Have A Commentary episode, made possible as always by the generous financial support of our Patreon backers, has us taking up the sophomore record from London After Midnight. An inescapable presence in goth nightclubs, headphones, and bedrooms in the late 1990s, Psycho Magnet gathered elements of darkwave and deathrock around the striking figure and vocals of frontman Sean Brennan.

A most contentious of crossover genres is the subject of this week's podcast, dear listener. Yep, Alex and Bruce are tackling the neon-veined beast that is synthwave, and try to wrestle with its revisionism, aesthetic markers, audience, outliers, and possibilities. We're also talking about the line-up of industrial legends scheduled to take the stage at France's Hellfest next year.

From the sugariest of highs to the most oppressive of lows, it's tough to imagine records with vibes as different than the pair up for discussion on this week's podcast. The mature synthpop of Beborn Beton's 2015 comeback A Worthy Compensation is considered alongside the abject miserablism of darkwave duo Forever Grey's Alabaster Chamber. All that plus some griping about guest lists on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

After almost a full month away from it, we're back to the classic two albums format in this week's episode of We Have A Technical. Voices, the 1998 LP from Lights Of Euphoria, is discussed as a sampling of the styles in European electro of the day, while //TENSE//'s 2011 swan song Escape is revisited as a precursor to the entire next decade of North American EBM. We're also checking in on the rescheduled Cruel World festival set for LA next May.

The new record from the website and podcast’s namesake is up for discussion on this week’s podcast. Yep, Uncle Gary’s new record Intruder looks to be following in the footsteps of its predecessor in terms of chart success, and we’re talking not just about the ins and outs of the new record and its place within the Numan catalog, but also the long-term shape and legacy of Numan’s longstanding partnership with producer Ade Fenton. All that plus some news bites on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

This month's Patreon-supported bonus commentary podcast finds us heading back to the still-oontz driven days of the industrial club scene circa 2008 with Aesthetic Perfection's breakthrough LP A Violent Emotion. We're interested in reconsidering and discussing the record in light of both the era which produced it and also the ways in which AP's Daniel Graves has steered the project away from traditional club industrial sounds towards mainstream pop. Can the seeds of Graves' debts to Katy Perry and Carly Rae be heard in the thumping aggrotech of tracks like "Living The Wasted Life"? Find out in this month's We Have A Commentary!

In this week's episode, Jeff Cancade - AKA Devours - joins the Senior Staff in East Van's bucolic Robson Park to talk about his fantastic new genre-hopping LP Escape From Planet Devours. It's a conversation which touches on DIY releases, depression, the allure of nostalgia, making it as a synth-punk act in Vancouver, and which we hope communicates something of what makes the new record so enjoyable.

Our popular Pick Five format has us choosing a selection of Down To Mope records. What the hell does that mean? Well, you'll just have to listen to this week's episode to learn about the particular flavour of melancholy we're interested in exploring. We've also got a breakdown of the just-announced line-up for the ninth edition of the Cold Waves fest coming to Chicago this September on the latest installment of We Have A Technical.

Obscure, murky electro-industrial and brightly anthemic post-punk are the subjects of this week's podcast, as we discuss records by Yeht Mae and Spectres. We're also talking about the recent HEALTH/NIN collab, Debby Friday teaming up with Clipping., and finally some local live event news!

We're on the cusp of a new double-LP from one of our favourite bands at I Die: You Die, Kirlian Camera. And before we dig into the elaborately titled Cold Pills (Scarlet Gate of Toxic Daybreak), we thought it'd be fun to take a look at the band's earliest days in the form of It Doesn't Matter, Now and their most recent LP, Hologram Moon. What's changed over the forty year career of one of the most ornate and outre darkwave bands of all time, and which of their characteristics have remained from their earlier days? All that plus some festival news (!) and some generalized silliness on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

The podcast is taking a rambling and conceptual route this week, with some discussion of changing perceptions of Our Thing within broader culture. Is the "Sure, kind of like Nine Inch Nails" explanation still accurate? From what background might newcomers be approaching crossover acts? Does keeping your club life separate from your day life still matter in a more forgiving age? All this plus some discussion of yet another Oscar win for Reznor & Ross, plus the passing of Anita Lane on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

We're hunting big game with this month's commentary podcast, as we tackle the last release from one of the most infamous bands we're ever likely to cover - Andrew Eldritch's attempt to finally transform The Sisters Of Mercy into the machine-rock juggernaut of his dreams, Vision Thing. It's a record with terrifying lows, dizzying highs, and creamy middles, but ultimately stands as the purest expression of Eldritch's aesthetic fusion of sex, politics, and Americana. From Leonard Cohen-isms of varying strengths to Jim Steinman's final contribution to the band to Eldritch's constantly shifting relationship with his own fame, this is a jam-packed episode of We Have A Commentary you won't want to miss!

A two albums episode of the podcast finds us discussing Klanstabil's strange journey from Ant-Zen minimalism to the surfeit of passion and pop of Math & Emotion. Next, we take up Witchman's attempt to draw industrial atmospheres and grime into the worlds of breaks and drum n' bass on Explorimenting Beats. All that plus some musings on how our DJing may have changed over the past decade on this week's episode of We Have A Technical.

We say this a lot, but trust us: you'd be very hard-pressed to find a more different pair of records than the one's we're discussing in this week's podcast that still have some relevance to the larger world of industrial. So join us as we travel from Velvet Acid Christ's 2000 foray into goa, Twisted Thought Generator, and art-rockers These New Puritans' use of industrial percussion on Hidden. All that plus some blue-sky thinking about in-depth interview subjects on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

As much as we'd like to convey the image of austere, stoic hermits who only listen to music when we're giving it our full attention in a darkened room with top-of-the-line stereo equipment, like everyone else we throw records on while we're doing other stuff. It's with that in mind that we're each picking five task-driven records this week - what do we listen to while we're driving, cleaning, working, and whatnot? Listen to this episode and find out! All that plus some talk about the slow reemergence of live shows in the US and (*sigh*) the new :wumpscut: record.

The gents from Sturm Café are our guests on the podcast this week, and we had a blast chatting with them about their changing relationships with EBM, the importance of a catchy melody, and the nation-wide rewards of investing in music education (no, really!). Sturm Café are a band that has long been a favourite of the Senior Staff and we were very pleased to finally have them on the show. On a less upbeat tip, we're also discussing recent discoveries about goth rock band Sonsombre.

The mean and gritty retro-futurism of Pure Ground's brand of minimal synth and Absurd Minds' uncanny obsession with a particular era of Project Pitchfork's work inspires this episode of We Have A Technical, in the classic two albums format. The Senior Staff are also talking about the recent reporting on and revelations about abuse and harassment at LA's Cloak & Dagger club, and on a lighter note, teeing off on that forthcoming Smiths movie which is just gonna be total dogshit, y'all.

This month's bonus commentary podcast finds us discussing the charming confidence of Cabaret Voltaire's overt push into funk and pop territory, 1983's Micro-Phonies. A band whose evolution in some ways mirrors that of industrial as a genre, Cabs don't get nearly enough love and discussion around these parts as they perhaps should, so we're atoning with some discussion of Cold War paranoia, the free-flows of influence from dub, electro, funk, industrial, and post-punk, plus the band's johnny-on-the-spot conversance with the emerging cyberpunk aesthetic.

Scene-rooted cover tracks are the subject du jour in this episode of We Have A Technical. The expressive, the rote, and the crassly commercial versions of other artists' work which we've been drawn to and repulsed by over our years in the goth/industrial trenches are all up for discussion, along with new release news concerning Hide, Clock DVA, and Cygnets.

A striking pair of electro-industrial and EBM debuts are the focus of this week's podcast, as we turn our attention to Necro Facility's The Black Paintings and NTRSN's People Like Gods. How bands adhere to and break from their formative influences is always something we're interested in, and we have two very different approaches to that issue at hand. All that in addition to the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of Love's Secret Domain anniversary reissues on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

After going ham with some rather abrasive rants on last week's episode, we're taking the backseat this week and welcoming on some Patreon backers who are keen to talk about records from a bands ranging from Russian synthpop (Stereopolina) to German darkwave (Diary Of Dreams) to American synthpunk (Six Finger Satellite) to Swedish neo-classical (Sanctum)!

This month's Patreon supported commentary podcast is dedicated to the infinitely varied and strikingly confident expression of high goth prowess that is Faith And The Muse's third LP. On Evidence Of Heaven William Faith and Monica Richards stride through history, love, and metaphysics, and marshal ethereal, neo-classical, deathrock, and many more sounds to a proudly flown standard. Ancient spirits, vengeful phantoms, and fuccbois sliding into the Queen's DMs are among the various topics grandiose and sundry the Senior Staff consider as they work their way through this classic goth stormer. Y

Do not adjust your podcasting device - We Have A Technical has not been replaced by that sports radio station you hear annoying ads for. We are, however, coming into our 350th episode guns a'blazing, with each of us picking five hot takes regarding the state and legacy of the music we love and discuss. No quarter given, none asked for. What legacy bands do we actually find rather dull? Which younger acts would we rather see in the spotlight than some less deserving bands? You'll hear all of that plus some discussion of new music from The Horrors and Alan Vega, and initial thoughts on the new Coil remaster.

Our two albums format finds us talking about retro dark electro and the outer limits of technoid in this week's episode of We Have A Technical. The last record from Necrotek has us discussing the slow emergence of consciously-throwback dark electro, as well as the atmospheric charms of that genre overall. Next, one-off side project Ammo's foray into drum and bass raises all sorts of questions concerning the rapid evolution of powernoise, and at what point breakcore completely diverges from anything pertaining to industrial. As if all of that genre splicing wasn't enough, we're also revisiting the legacy of minimal synth pioneer Absolute Body Control on the heels of some new tunes from them.

From the perspective of your co-workers who really wish you'd turn your headphones down, industrial music seems as far removed from pop as is possible. But that ain't the whole truth! This week's episode finds the Senior Staff discussing the role pop has played in shaping the sound and delivery of industrial music, as well as contemporary artists who are borrowing more liberally from pop traditions. We've also got some talk about forthcoming releases we're hyped for, in addition to Negative Gain Productions' cool new digital magazine.

Deep genre records from Z Prochek and Manuskript have Alex and Bruce talking about the odd intersections of sounds and styles only possible at particular periods in industrial and goth history. The tragic passing of Sophie and the recent allegations made against Marilyn Manson are also discussed.

The Senior Staff are discussing a modern EBM classic in Spark!'s Hela Din Värld in this month's Patreon-supported commentary podcast! In 2012 Mattias Ziessow and Stefan Brorsson added ambitious pop instrumentation and melody to their established anhalt EBM template, and produced one of the most enjoyable records it's been our pleasure to write about and discuss on I Die: You Die. We're discussing themes of conspiracy and humanism, breaking down the percussive structures which propel the record, and even working in some Nabokov and Mega Man!

The Pick Five format returns, with Alex and Bruce each highlighting some behind the scenes folks. Be they engineers, writers, label heads, or DJs, there are countless people who've helped to shape the music and culture we discuss who aren't as front-facing as the musicians themselves. We're discussing them, plus some Neubauten business on this week's episode of We Have A Technical.

The classic two albums format brings discussion of Minuit Machine's Violent Rains - an early example of the current wave of European darkwave we're continuing to enjoy - and Moskwa TV's Dynamics & Discipline - less an LP than a field testing of mid-80s electronic dancefloor sounds from Talla 2XLC & co. All that plus playing catch-up with the latest batch of (conflicting?) Coil reissues in this week's episode of We Have A Technical.

FLA mastermind, studio wizard, and all around industrial legend Rhys Fulber joins the Senior Staff this week for an illuminating conversation. Rhys discusses the process behind the new Front Line Assembly record, Mechanical Soul, the freedom afforded to him by his solo work, and having his passion for EBM come full circle in German clubs. This is a wide-ranging interview with one of the landmark figures in Our Thing, and we're very pleased to be able to bring it to you this week. We're also talking about forthcoming records by Cevin Key and Gary Numan!

We're starting the year off with our classic two records format for the podcast. First up its the sui generis 2012 12" from Aussie act Forces, which brought together classic body music and techno sounds in a way that's perhaps never been matched since, yet has definitely paved the way for many current acts. Next, we're examining the sober and somewhat dour approach to synthpop and futurepop taken by Namnambulu on their 2003 LP Distances. We also have thoughts on recent KLF news, plus the ongoing strife south of the border in the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

It's the annual off topic podcast! Recorded weeks ago in a haze of pre-holiday cheer, we honestly have no idea what we spoke about on this cast. Probably a lot of tired banter about our usual off-topic obsessions, pro-wrestling, Iron Maiden, comics and science fiction, whatever really. If that doesn't sound at all appealing to you than no worries, we'll be back next week with an on-topic 'cast. Until then, you're stuck with this mess.

The written coverage on the site might be taking a holiday hiatus, but the podcasting doesn't stop. As a coda to our Year End coverage, the Senior Staff are each picking five fave tracks of the year which didn't figure into our Top 25 list, and which they maybe wish they'd been able to spin IRL.

The last commentary podcast of 2020 has the Senior Staff discussing the deep songwriting and production charms of Neuroticfish's Gelb. The emotional and psychological complexity of the 2005 record, not to mention its knack for working in just the right amount of contemporary synthpop sounds, didn't just make it a high point in Sascha Klein's discography, but also arguably the last great record of the futurepop wave of the early aughts.

With the Top 25 releases of the year written up and posted, Bruce and Alex are looking back at the year that was, not just in the form of those specific records, but also honorable mentions, stats regarding regular Year End contenders, and larger musical trends we noticed over the course of a year unlike any other.

It's a bittersweet and emotional episode of the podcast, as we are joined by Chris Peterson to talk about the life and work of Jeremy Inkel, specifically focusing on the recent posthumous release of Hijacker, curated and shepherded by Peterson in conjunction with Inkel's family. We're also preparing for next week's Year End coverage and discussing the news of :wumpscut:'s return in 2021.

This week's classic two-albums podcast format brings discussion of the sole record by the enigmatic industrial/black metal project The Bleeding Light and some late 90s envelope-pushing dark electro from Abscess, with Bruce and Alex by happenstance each picking records the other had never heard. They're quite different in terms of style and development, but both resulted in some extended discussion of genre markers and development. We've also got some (politely worded) ranting about the importance of metadata in digital downloads on this week's episode of the I Die: You Die podcast.

For genres with a lot of clearly recognizable visual markers, industrial and goth can live and die by how they finesse them. In a high-concept episode of We Have A Technical, Alex and Bruce are examining a plethora of themes and types of imagery common to Our Thing, and discussing how they can function successfully...and how they often don't. All that plus some discussion of a recent Quietus article on industrial metal and the beautiful new live Kite video.

It's a pretty left-field choice for this month's track-by-track commentary podcast, with the Senior Staff discussing the final record by German goth rock/gothic metal act Love Like Blood. Made up entirely of covers of goth classics, Chronology Of A Love-Affair offers the opportunity to discuss the place of plenty of bands in the goth canon, the distinctions between goth trends in Europe and in North America, and the connection (if any) between gothic metal and the broader goth rock tradition.

This classic two albums format episode of the podcast couldn't more clearly convey the range of sounds we like to talk about on We Have A Technical if we'd planned it that way. The field testing of powernoise's various forms on Asche's Distorted Disco and the dreamy, autumnal and ethereal goth of The Shroud's A Dark Moon Night represent the archetypal "stomp and swoon", industrial & goth dichotomy ID:UD was founded upon. We're talking about the ins and outs of both records, as well as gassing on about a stellar new Springsteen cover from Deine Lakaien.

The lasting impact and intensity of groundbreaking UK act Portion Control is discussed on this week's podcast, with a specific focus on their first and most recent LPs: 1982's I Staggered Mentally and 2020's Head Buried. From emerging out of the industrial primordial soup and laying the groundwork for '80s electro-industrial to maintaining a bitter yet highly developed EBM style into the present day, we have lots to say about one of Our Things most enduring yet still underrated acts. All that plus some hot takes on the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame inductions of Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode on the latest installment of We Have A Technical.

Recorded in ages past, in the Before Times preceding the election (ie, last Monday), the latest episode of We Have A Technical finds the Senior Staff discussing two very different records which fall under the post-punk aegis but also connect to very different extraneous sounds and traditions: Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's 1985 debut LP Talk About The Weather, and Agent Side Grinder's 2012 record Hardware. The lines between goth rock and machine rock, and what happens when rock instrumentation is transposed over to synths, and plenty of other questions of genre and style are taken up in this week's edition of the IDieYouDie.com podcast.

It's a Halloween like no other for which the Senior Staff are gearing up, or, more accurately gearing down. In anticipation of a more laid back Halloween, Bruce and Alex are each picking five cuts for a hypothetical Halloween mixtape. Which bands or tracks are far too obvious and risk goth cred? How can you maintain an atmosphere that's both spooky and engaging? And how goth are certain Canadian folksingers? We're covering all of those things, plus an unexpected glut of new releases, in this week's episode of We Have A Technical.

As selected by our Patreon backers, this month the Senior Staff is running a track by track commentary on the third LP from Jack Dangers' genre-hopping, sample-mad Meat Beat Manifesto project. We're talking about how hip-hop, funk, and electro all come together on a record that pointed the way towards the electronic takeover of 90s radio, and the thorny question of Meat Beat's proximity to or distance from industrial music at large.

We're talking about The Mighty Killing Joke on this week's podcast, specifically the 2013 documentary The Death And Resurrection Show which is just getting some recent wider distribution. It's a lengthy and rollicking look at the egos, personalities, and possible literal magick which has guided one of the most beloved alternative bands of all time, and the Senior Staff are chiming in with their reactions to the film and thoughts on the mysteries and happenstance lying beneath. We're also rolling through recent news regarding The Damned and Front Line Assembly, plus a solid article introducing the uninitiated to Coil's discography.

It's a wintry and atmospheric Swedish two'fer on this week's episode of We Have A Technical. As the air chills and nights grow longer, the Senior Staff take up and discuss In Slaughter Natives' Enter Now The World and V▲LH▲LL's Leaning On Shadows. While both have some heavy sounds and philosophical themes, we're also discussing how each of these records fuse genres and speak to complex post-industrial histories.

We're cracking open the venerable ID:UD mailbag this week, answering questions fired our way via Patreon and Twitter. How can or should we parse genre? Is nostalgia anathemic to a theoretically future-obsessed genre? And whose at home COIVD era cuisine reigns supreme? You have questions, we have answers...or at least five minute meanders and hobbyhorse rides.

It's an odd couple pair of records being discussed on this week's episode of We Have A Technical, with the proto-goth, proto-industrial, proto-Ministry work of Blackouts sitting next to the thoughtful hybridization of dark electro and aggrotech sounds of Distorted Memory's sophomore LP. All that plus discussion of recent mainstream articles dealing with Ministry and Nine Inch Nails for better and worse, and the recent passing of Kurt Grünewald.

For this month's commentary podcast we're honored to be joined by Tom Shear of Assemblage 23, who takes us on a track by track overview of his new record, Mourn. It's a deeply personal record, as Tom discusses, but also one which conjures up some of Shear's early synthpop influences. We hope you'll join us as we talk with Tom about changes in process and location, and how he's continued to try to explore emotional states through Assemblage 23.

We have records from the peak of late 90s electronica mania and the new(ish) wave of goth-punk on the docket this week in the form of Pitchshifter's www.pitchshifter.com and Belgrado's self-titled debut. How does a Godflesh-indebted industrial metal act end up selling tens of thousands of copies on a major label? How are today's grim realities being filtered into grimier, less-frilly expressions of goth? We take up those questions plus some discussion of Nine Inch Nails reissues and the return of Salem on this week's episode of the podcast.

Ain't no one getting younger right now, and that certainly includes the Senior Staff. With both Alex and Bruce hurtling though middle age, we thought we'd address the thorny questions that come with ageing in subculture, adapting one's listening protocols, and wrestling with the bugbear that is nostalgia. We also have some thoughts on Debby Friday's recent short film Bare Bones and the "TOS2020" charity single.

A pair of recent surprising releases from long-standing acts make up this week's episode of the podcast. An unexpected return to early darkwave glory from The Birthday Massacre charms the Senior Staff, and Sascha's choice to take KMFDM into a pure dub direction earns head-scratches but also begrudging respect.

It's a slightly goofier iteration of We Have A Commentary which we bring you this month, as the 25th anniversary of the Mortal Kombat movie and its accompanying soundtrack seems as good a time as any to discuss the strange mid '90s intersection of metal, electronics, and industrial. From the midwest industrial rock of Gravity Kills to the euphoric perfection of Orbital to prime era KMFDM to...some much less fondly remembered tracks, the Mortal Kombat soundtrack bundled together plenty of markers from the decade of the "extreme", and served as an able gateway record for a generation of kids high on digital fatalities. The Senior Staff are here to discuss the dizzying highs and the abysmal lows of this soundtrack on this month's Patreon supported commentary podcast.

With some assistance from Uatu the Watcher, we're using this Pick Five-styled episode of the podcast to speculate about, er, peer into the Multiverse and perceive possible alternate histories of industrial music. What records, genres, or trends might we have lost or gained had the capriciousness of the Fates led us elsewhere? And would we still be able to argue about "real" industrial music on the Internet? It's a jam-packed, jumbo-sized edition of the podcast (along with some Coil reissue talk), so prepare to have your consciousness blown to smithereens by the infinitide of possibility on this week's We Have A Technical!

We're delivering a bit of a twist on the classic two albums format this week, with the podcast taking up both the first and the most recent LP by that pioneering and chameleonic dark electro project, X Marks The Pedwalk. 1991's Freaks and 2017's Secrets bookend André Schmechta's oeuvre (at least for now) and point to just how varied it's been. Differences between the records in ambition, aim, and sound are discussed by the Senior Staff in this episode, alongside some initial thoughts on the announcement of a new Cabaret Voltaire LP.

Back to the classic two albums format this week, the Senior Staff are discussing a pair of morbidly-minded concept records: Pain Station's Cold and Bernard Szajner's Some Deaths Take Forever. What similarities (if any) can be found between the most minimal and pared down of dark electro and the weird intersection of prog and early electronic programming? Find out, won't you?

Bruce and Alex do one of their semi-regular jaw sessions with a selection of Patreon Supporters about albums of their choosing! In this batch we discuss Winterkälte, The Echoing Green, Zebra Katz and Iszoloscope, and what the specific album selection means to the friend of the site who chose it. Lotsa chatter, all this week on We Have a Technical! 

We've said this before, but you'd be hard-pressed to explain to your Skynard-loving uncle what the two records up for discussion on this week's episode of We Have A Technical have in common. Katscan's 2005 Weapons Of Crass Dysfunction and Sad Lovers And Giants' E-Mail From Eternity are a yobbing electrogoth kiss-off and a fan-curated trove of deep cut post-punk gems, respectively, but Bruce and Alex have plenty to say about each of them. All that plus Terminus reverie and Manson reflection on this week's episode of the idieyoudie.com podcast.

The dreamy, high-camp Edwardian gothic of The Damned's Phantasmagoria is the subject of this month's podcast. What happens when one of the UK's most beloved punk acts steers itself right towards the gloomier sounds which they've always skirted? How many baby-bats experienced a sexual awakening to the "Shadow Of Love" video? Does lamping around with The Young Ones make you more like The Cramps or The Beatles? All these questions and more are taken up by the Senior Staff in this month's Patreon-supported bonus podcast!

In an age in which music is digital and albums are increasingly ephemeral, surely record art doesn't matter anymore, right? Dead frigging wrong. The Senior Staff discuss the changing role and value of album art in the digital age on this week's episode of the podcast, tracking how artists and labels continue to tap into symbolic codes and create their own micro-scenes via visual aesthetics.

It's a cosmic dyad of a podcast episode this week, as the Senior Staff go space trucking with Kangarot and Negative Format for their respective Nursery Of New Stars and Distant Pulses LPs. Both records address space as a theme, but as is discussed the execution of Kangarot's lo-fi kosmische electro-industrial and Negative Format's smooth combo of trance and breaks are quite distinct. All that plus live stream reviews (and the Senior Staff's reactions to dill pickle beers and Japanese wrestling shockers) on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

We're joined by renaissance woman Andi Harriman to talk about DJing during quarantine and her new EP for aufnahme + wiedergabe, Corpse To Corpus. How do you heat the floor when it's spread across multiple time zones? What might a more feminine approach to EBM sound like? And do real goths love freestyle? All of these questions and so many more are discussed on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

As an incidental observation of Canada Day, the Senior Staff are selecting a pair of albums from above the 49th to discuss: Volt 9000's Mutronix and Decree's Fateless. Representing some of the lesser celebrated sides of Canuckistan industrial, we have Cory Gorski's satirical journey through bio-punk dystopias and Chris Peterson & co.'s absolutely churning and punishing demonstration of fully textured noise rock. Plus discussion of recent streams from Mr.Kitty and Harsh R! All that and some other grabassery on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

The absolute stone classic that is Leaether Strip's Solitary Confinement is given the commentary treatment in this month's installment of the Patreon-back We Have A Commentary series. The sound of 90s dark electro was established with this LP, but there's so much more to love and discuss about Claus Larsen's exploration of spiritual and psychological alienation and the horrors of war. The Senior Staff consider the record's lasting influence, its themes, and its undeniable charm and intensity.

It's turned into an accidentally synthpunk-themed week here at I Die: You Die, and in keeping with that we're looking at two albums proximal to the sounds we normally discuss on the podcast, but that made inroads into goth/industrial club play in the early '00s: The Faint's Danse Macabre and The Vanishing's Still Lifes Are Failing. All that plus catch-up on the third Telekompilation release and some news about a new book detailing the history of LA deathrock on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

With the 'teens in the rearview, the Senior Staff are reflecting on the club tracks which defined the past decade. We're each picking five great club tracks from 2011-2020. Not our faves or personal go-tos, mind you, but the nigh-ubiquitous tracks that shaped the last ten years of life in dark clubs. In addition, we're introducing the third volume of our Telekompilation series of releases featuring tracks by members of our Slack community, which will be available tomorrow on Bandcamp to coincide with Bandcamp's NAACP fundraiser

Bruce and Alex are talking about records by Light Asylum and The Final Cut on this week's episode of the podcast. Topics include Shannon Funchess' ability to move between countless moods and genres and the pioneering techno-industrial programming of Jeff Mills. All that plus some continuing discussion of Black artists within Our Thing in light of ongoing events, on the latest edition of We Have A Technical!

We're taking a break from our usual episode formats to speak with Danesha Artis of Standard Issue Citizen and Jairus Khan of Ad·ver·sary and Antigen Shift. We wanted to hear their thoughts on race and anti-racist work as it relates to industrial culture and music at this particular point in history, and thank them for joining us on short notice to speak on what can be difficult and painful topics.

For this month's Patreon-backed commentary podcast, the Senior Staff are looking 2015's Night Maze. Glass Apple Bonzai's sophomore record simultaneously demonstrates Daniel Belasco's talents for precise and minimal synthpop arrangements and melodies and his ability to flesh out and enlarge the scope of his music with his vocal talents. Add in a well-executed theme throughout the record and you have a modern Canadian synthpop classic.

There's very little that binds the two albums we're discussing on the latest podcast. The downtempo dark ambient slash rhythmic industrial of Tzolk'in's "Haab" and Cure-indebted post-punk act Veil Veil Vanish's sole LP "Change In The Neon Light" have likely never been mentioned in the same breath, but the Senior Staff are noting some of the subtle shading that comes with deep genre work in both records. All that plus some discussion of recent drama related to a certain German synthpop band on this week's episode of We Have A Technical.

Amidst all of the broader chaos and confusion, a pioneer in industrial music passed away this last week. Bruce and Alex are joined by Alex Reed to discuss the life and legacy of Genesis P-Orridge on this week's podcast. Gen's wide ranging and hugely influential body of work, and at times deeply troubling life, are considered in a round table episode which tries to avoid reductive hagiography or cancellation.

The 301st episode of We Have A Technical finds Bruce and Alex returning to the classic two albums format, and between LPs by The Phantom Limbs and Stendeck they're reaching into about as disparate genres ID:UD covers. We're also catching up with all of the live biz that's been happening in Van.

The 300th episode of We Have A Technical finds Alex and Bruce digging into the pre-history of I Die: You Die. What club trends were popping off in the mid aughts? What would have the site's top records if it had been founded a few years earlier? Tune in and find out if Episode 300 goes "Just Like You Imagined". (That's a very relevant and contemporary joke about the "300" trailer, if you didn't catch it.)

A monumental album celebrating its 20th anniversary is the subject of this month's Patreon supported commentary podcast. "Empires" helped to establish futurepop as a major force in the history of industrial music, but it's so much more. Alex and Bruce consider the metaphysical and political themes of the record, its deployment of trance sounds, and its enduring emotional impact on the latest We Have A Commentary.

The millenial (and curiously continental) stylings of US electro act cut.rate.box are discussed on this week's episode of We Have A Technical. We also have a healthy helping of our mailbag to work through, and loads of live news. Tell your friends in the Stonecutters: this is a real royal sampler of an episode of the IDieYouDie.com podcast!

For the first We Have a Commentary of 2020, we're digging in on a genre classic that is both representative and wildly divergent from its parent discography; namely Fad Gadget's "Gag"! Thrill to the Senior Staff discussing themes and ideas in Frank Tovey's work, how his final FG LP cinches his status as an all-timer and lots of talk about what a smart producer and performer he was. 

A rare Vancouver snow storm has the Senior Staff separated in meatspace, but that doesn't stop the podcastin'. Records turning twenty this year are on the table, with In Strict Confidence's Love Kills! and The Echoing Green's Supernova. There's also plenty of talk about the major North American tour announcements from both Ministry and Einsturzende Neubauten on this week's episode of the Internet's longest running vegan Canadian wrestling-friendly industrial music podcast.

Your boys Alex and Bruce find themselves at the end of a long grind of Year End coverage plus a slew of pre-recorded podcasts to last over the break...and are keen to talk about pretty much anything OTHER than darker alternatives. Yep, it's the annual Off Topic podcast here at We Have A Commentary, featuring all of the banter about comics, movies, life, books, whisky, watches, and pro wrestling which is always at the periphery of regular episodes. It's sloppy, it's indulgent, it's therapeutic (at least for us).

Hot on the heels of our traditional Year End Top 25, the Senior Staff chops up their choices, talks some honourable mentions and ruminates on the year that was 2019. Insights into our review process, whether our mode of thinking about what constitutes an eligible release is still valid and various statistics from the last nine years of the exercise are discussed, dissected and eventually discarded. Also we get mildly tipsy. 

On the last standard issue podcast of the year, we're picking two 90s goth records by female fronted acts...who couldn't really be further apart other than those characteristics. The first record from Faithful Dawn lays down the template for the oft-forgotten electrogoth subgenre, and Miranda Sex Garden's most well-recognized LP points to intersections with broader 90s alt music as well as experimental composition. All that plus discussion of recent sets by She Past Away and Lingua Ignota on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

We've got an autobiographical-cum-historical Pick Five for you folks this week. What records took a while to reveal their charms to us? Which LPs were we either too provincial or too snobby to enjoy in their own time? We'll fill you in on that plus a recent show from Hide on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

This month's WHaC is a brief but absolutely frantic run through the roller coaster of emotions, impossibly catchy hooks, and grandiose symphonic ambitions of Kite's 2011 release, "IV". The Swedish duo have transcended synthpop both in terms of sound and reach, and their fourth EP acts nexus of all their sounds and moods, and is also an ideal jumping on point. Whether you're as much in thrall of their work as the Senior Staff, or are only passingly familiar with it, join us on this month's Patreon-supoorted bonus podcast.

It's November of 2019, and even if we're not in Los Angeles you'd better believe we're not missing the opportunity to discuss Blade Runner, arguably the film with the most influence on industrial music and culture. Which samples work and which don't? How does Chew's Eye Shop relate to William Burroughs' control machines? We have all the Blade Runner-themed industrial pontificating you never knew you wanted on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

We got a classic two album podcast for you this week, with the Senior Staff discussing the baroque technoid elegance of Architect's "Consume Adapt Create" and the chill genre pastiche of Snow In China's "Electromensch". Also: Brazilian drag queen covers of Front 242? We have you covered on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

Navel gazing ahoy! Our recent forays into both digital and physical releases, as well as recent discussion of high-level physical reissues, has us considering the distinctions between physical and digital releases in Our Thing. Nostalgia, economics, collecting and archiving are all taken up, along with some discussion of recent sets from Physical Wash and Statiqbloom on the lastest episode of We Have A Technical!

You couldn't find records much further apart from one another in terms of mood than Aghast View's "Carcinopest" and Displacer's "Cage Fighter's Lullaby", but that's what we're working with on this week's episode of We Have A Technical. Deep genre electro-indistrial and fluidlly warming downtempo? We have you covered, along with some talk about recent Legendary Pink Dots shows and FLA reissues.

The Senior Staff have seen a hell of a lot of scene bands in their time, but even they still have their bucket list bands. This week, they're picking five acts they'd still love to see live, as well as introducing not one, but two new musical releases coming soon from the ID:UD camp. Exciting times lie ahead! Fins out all about then on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!