We Have A Technical

Klack's blend of throwback new beat and self-aware Hi NRG sounds seemed to emerge fully formed with the 2017 "Do You Klack?" EP. That's perhaps no surprise given the resumes of Eric Oehler and Matt Fanale who, in addition to having broad ranging histories in electronic music, have never been accused of underthinking their own work. So we thought that sitting down with the mid-western duo to get their thoughts on new EP "Introducing The 1984 Renault LeCar" wouldn't just yield some insights into their own working dynamic or the intricacies of making dance music about dance music, but would also yield some pretty great anecdotes. And we were right! So here's a rare artist-assisted episode of We Have A Commentary.

It's an accidentally Swedish-heavy episode of WHaT this week, as the Senior Staff discuss "Buried Again" by Colony 5 and "III" by Kite. We're kicking from post-futurepop to synthpop this week, along with some discussion of Odonis Odonis' new festival venture in Toronto, and Al Jourgenson's dalliances with David Hasselhoff. Bork bork bork!

It's still Terminus catch-up season here at the HQ, as we offer interviews with Neuroticfish and Pictureplane garnered from our weekend in Calgary. There's plenty on the table from artists who might be working in different styles but are brought together by Industrial Summer Camp. All that, plus some talk about a recent trad goth bonanza here in Vancouver on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

Terminus is in the can and we've got the ingredients list...or some such other terrible metaphor. The Senior Staff is breaking down all of the highlights from this year's installment of Industrial Summer Camp, with more than a little help from various friends of the site along the way. Buckle up for an extra-sized edition of We Have A Technical!

Okay we're gonna level with you: we recorded this episode with our pals from Talking to Ghosts and The Blood of Others like three weeks ago and don't remember a god damn thing about it. We might have talked about podcast stuff, but also about Michael and Wes have feelings about gallery shows and other alternate ways to present their music? Yes, that sounds right. Also, some talk re: the Severed Heads. It was pretty good probably, why not listen to it now?

The new record from Drab Majesty makes brings some interesting new sounds and moods to the dreamy gloom which was so finely honed on "The Demonstation". And as it happens, the Senior Staff have some varying opinions as to what new LP "Modern Mirror" portends, and they're hashing it out on the latest episode of We Have A Technical. We've also got last minute Terminus talk and news regarding the release of material from the infamous Nurse With Wound list.

An ur-source for goth music and thematics, The Virgin Prunes' "...If I Die I Die" is the subject of this month's We Have A Commentary. The secrecy, world-building, and religious/mythic imagery of the record have made it a classic for a reason, and the Senior Staff are here to discuss all that and more! Crack a Guiness or pour yourself an absinthe and traipse through the stranger lands of The Virgin Prunes.

It's a Pick Five episode of We Have a Technical this week, as the Senior Staff chooses bands emblematic of I Die: You Die we think you should know. But this ended up being a super roaming episode, touching upon everything from PC Music to Virginia Woolf to Senor Cardgage. Stick with us, and we hope you find some new bands to check out!  

Avi Roig from Harsh R dropped by the old ID:UD HQ this past weekend in anticipation of his set at Vancouver's Body 2 Body Cascadian EBM showcase. We chatted with him about his roots in hardcore, the importance of minimalism, and just how freaking much Babyland rules. We've also got a breakdown of all of the sets from the aforementioned Body 2 Body, along with news about a far-reaching dark music event just announced for November in LA. It's this week's We Have A Technical: come on in, the water's fine!

I Die: You Die turned eight years old this past weekend, and in light of that we're using this week's episode to compare the sort of music the site covered in its infancy with what's on the table today. Bands, labels, club play: how does 2011 stack up to 2019? All that plus the latest on our patron saint Gary Numan and an upcoming Cascadian EBM showcase on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

In the same vein as last year's "Ain't It Dead Yet?" episode, this month's We Have A Commentary is a Rifftrax-style accompaniment to MInistry's 1990 tour video "In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up". Cue the video up, crack a beer, and join the Senior Staff on the couch as they discuss how Ministry fit into the alternative boom of the early 90s, how the differing eras of Ministry's sound have (and have not) lent themselves to live performance, and the all-star cast of industrialists wrangled onstage. As always, this episode of We Have A Commentary is made possible with the generous supporters of our backers at Patreon.com.

Looping bass riffs are just about the only thing the two records we're talking about on this week's podcast have in common. Revolting Cocks' "Linger Fickin' Good" and Iron Curtain's "Desertion" are on the docket, along with the dissolution of Terminal Gods and some last minute additions to Terminus Festival. All the rivet news that's fit to blab about: that's our guarantee to you on We Have A Technical.

The rivet internets were all abuzz this week over Pitchfork's best industrial album's list, and we're certainly not afraid of tossing in our two cents on the subject. In addition to discussing the pros and cons of the list and the perspectives underlying it, we're talking about the broader attitudes and bblindspots often endemic to mainstream coverage of industrial music.

We're putting a new spin on a classic format with this episode of the podcast. Rather that LPs, we're picking two compilations to discuss - comps by Subconscious and X-IMG, to be precise. What happens when the Puppy clique goes dub? How many different paths to techno-body music are there? We have all that, plus some previews of forthcoming LPs by Numb and Hide on We Have A Technical!

Hooky Canadian new wave and dubious German EBM are taken up in in this two album episode of We Have A Technical. Cygnets' "Isolator" and Bigod 20's "Supercute" are discussed, along with some talk about The Cure's recent "Disintegration" shows...and somehow Canadian sci-fi author Spider Robinson as well? Not sure how that happened, but the latest episode of We Have A Technical is coming at you regardless!

What makes an artist name an album after a song, or vice versa? Does this one track manage to sum up all of the musical and thematic energy they've been mustering for over a year...or does it just look like a cool phrase on a tour poster? Either way, the Senior Staff are each picking five title tracks from releases in Our Thing this week. Factor in some talk about Rammstein's new provocative videos and you've got everything you could ask for from a new episode of We Have A Technical!      

An ahead of its time, genre-busting classic is the subject of this month's Patreon supported We Have A Commentary podcast! Haujobb's 1996 LP "Solutions For A Small Planet" was a landmark release not only for the German duo but for all of post-industrial music. How can we read the record's engagement with then still nascent net culture? How do its forays into electronic genres well beyond industrial hold up? There's so much to discuss with a record this rich and beloved, so join us, won't you?

On this week's podcast we're striking while the iron's hot and talking about Hatari, the Icelandic BDSM-themed industrial band whose Eurovision run took the world by storm. How are they connected to Our Thing? Do their aesthetics relate to their politics? And how is mainstream media still so easy to hijack? All these questions and more are taken up in this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

It's a classic two album format episode of We Have A Technical this week, with the Senior Staff discussing the glam goth of Gene Loves Jezebel and the minimalist dark ambient of m² (aka Squaremeter). There's also plenty of discussion regarding the new Threshold Archives set of Coil reissues, and all of the metaphysical questions related to Coil's posthumous legacy. We hope you wouldn't expect anything less from us at this point.      

A very special friend of the podcast just happened to be in town, so we're joined this week by Real Cardinal of Comaduster! He's sitting in on our conversations about news and events pertaining to Ulver, Merzbow, and Combichrist, as well as giving us the skinny on his newest music.