Mentiras
(Holodeck - HD030) LP $16.75 (Out-of-stock)
Two thirds of the now defunct electro-trio Medio Mutante, José Cota (Ssleeperhold) and Mariana A. Saldaña (ex - //Tense//) continue to deconstruct, sharpen, and enhance their idiosyncratic cold wave tradition. Cota’s vivid analog compositions form a solid foundation for Saldaña’s indelible and predominantly Spanish vocals to sink into, reflecting a unique confluence of Texas’s vibrant electronic music scene with its rich and inextricable history of Hispanic culture. The dark romance of Saldaña’s alluring vocal delivery seamlessly oscillates between the sanguine and the apocalyptic with cold, stoic detachment. Cota’s bass-lines and sequences fuse into dense melodic structures that lock-in with his signature half-time drum beats, propelling each piece forward with aggressive momentum. With a variety of punchy downtempo swing rhythms Boan’s innovative vocabulary of beats makes room for deeper melodic refrains to confidently emerge while simultaneously drilling themselves deep into the unconscious. Saldaña suspends lurid and haunting lyrics above Cota’s rich bass lines and arpeggiator hooks, creating lush and complex melodies that are meticulously integrated with massive drum hits and intoxicating effects processing. Mentiras is deeply saturated with stereo chorus, reel-to-reel tape delay, and countless other elaborate studio experiments in order to create nuanced layers of vocals, drums, and musical phrasings that continually unveil refined subtleties with every repeat listen. Includes free download card
Infinite Floor
(Holodeck - HD034) LP $17.25 (Out-of-stock)
The sophisticated and nuanced debut by this Austin native interweaves a spectrum of electronic subgenres, moving seamlessly from abstract drum’n’bass into screwed four-on-the-floor and ambient 2-step rhythms. Sharply honed samples, intricately layered drum beats, and crafted analog synth tones churn through a host of studio hardware. Cameron’s effortless procession of songs subversively cycles forward, reacting to the hyper-sensory state of the current DJ culture in America, and adapts the modern platform of dance music into a refined format. Includes free download card
Un Autre Voyage
(Holodeck - HD033) LP $17.25 (Out-of-stock)
Intimate solo work by one of Montréal’s foremost electronic artists in contemporary pop. The handling of synthesizers and drum machines by his long-time member of Les Momies de Palerme, Hotel Monochrome, DKMD, and Essaie Pas coalesces in synchronized harmony, punctuated by Davidson’s hypnotic vocal delivery, sung and spoken in French and English. Her surreal, atmospheric compositions show irrepressible traces of exuberance, displaying a fresh luminosity in her palette, while her use of direct experience and candid self-examination as topics for song convey a newfound serenity that playfully underlines her otherwise brooding and pensive soundscapes. This is a potent assembly of real life expositions that are coarse and organic, yet undeniably nuanced and refined. Includes free download card.
Check out “Balade Aux USA” here: https://vimeo.com/112065630
DROPDEAD / SILENT LAND TIME MACHINE
From Ashes Comes The Day
(Holodeck - HD020) LP $16.00 (Out-of-stock)
This collaboration by Montréal’s Eric Craven (drummer for Hangedup and HRSTA) and Austin’s Jonathan Slade interweaves vignettes that swell and decay into and out of one another. This brooding and lucid work is in a constant cycle of ruin and regeneration, where fragmented wreckage degenerates into the fertile breeding ground for the genesis of the next. Movements of rhythmic guitar sweep in and fade out, propelling the album through a series of pensive destinations, while damaged viola phrases frantically build and collapse alongside increasingly distraught vocal howls. At times the strings rise to a panic, forming invasive waves of tension that eventually disintegrate into sparse minimal soundscapes consisting of dense columns of guitar feedback and clearings of near silence. There is no percussion on From Ashes Comes the Day, but Craven’s atypical drum-style translates directly into texture and improvisational structure (for which his ear is suberb), while Slade’s melodic articulation surfaces unbalanced and unhinged. Hand-silkscreened fold-over sleeve by Nick Kuepfer. Edition of 300.
Black Medicine
(Holodeck - HD025) LP $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
Inspired by the entrenched ethos of live-hardware sequencing cultivated within the Austin electronic establishment, Flatliner embraces and embellishes the marriage of modern gear with vintage tones. The dance-based utopia of Jesse Strait and Adam Fangsrud uses high-end studio equipment and hoards of rare synthesizers to achieve an ominous yet seductive euphoria. Includes free download card.
Ruleth
(Holodeck - HD021) LP $20.00 (Out-of-stock)
Grinding his way up the ranks of the American underground electronic scene, former Medio Mutante José Cota introduces a fresh and heavy approach to synth-based composition. His solo debut punctuates immense bass lines and brutal percussion with invasions of tape manipulation and the sounds of buckling steel. Edition of 300
Sungod
(Holodeck - HD027) LP $16.00 (Out-of-stock)
Five expansive tracks that condense decades into seconds and centuries into minutes. Michael Sharp and Braden Balentine, who record out of their home studio with a rotating cast of like-minded musicians from Austin, incorporate an ever-broadening inventory of influences; methodical arrangements and layers of meditative repetition hearken back to ’70s krautrock, while polyrhythmic drums and arpeggiated synthesizers propel the procession forward in harmony with acoustically-oriented pieces. Initially composed around an awe-inspiring single-take drum performance by Sharp, “Shiftless in Nkawkaw” is supported with additional vocals by a pair of Sharp’s coworkers who jumped onto an impromptu recording session after a shift together, chorusing between psycho-activated guitar solos and fully engrossing flute melodies (courtesy of Kristine Reaume). The epic closing track “L’âme de Toute Étoile” strips back down to Sharp and Balentine, proficiently exhibiting their command of drums, guitar, and synth in one of their most elemental works to date. Edition of 500. Listen to “Shiftless In Nkawkaw” here: https://soundcloud.com/holodeck-records/lungod-lhiftless-en-nkawkaw
HD037
(Holodeck - HD037) Cassette $7.00 (Out-of-stock)
As heard on the Netflix show Stranger Things, HD037 is steeped in vintage analog synths and pummeling, down-beat drum programming -- an exploration of their darkest territory to date, with masterful melodic sensibility, texture, and arrangement.
Survive
(Holodeck - HD015) LP $16.50 (Out-of-stock)
“A vicious blend of powerful melody and challenging noise,” says Guide Me Little Tape about this Austin-based electronic quartet. The “piercing, buzzing synth chords” on this first-time U.S. vinyl reissue, originally released in Europe (Mannequin 2012), but available domestically solely on cassette (Holodeck 2013), “echo with deep, pulsating emotion…. [S]harp … and yet somehow hazed out and elusive. Constantly shifting rhythm and modulating frequencies seduce…. [A] filthy corridor of slowly evolving hiss and grind [emerges] into an eerie astral plane…. [S]inister darkwave meets horror cinema….” Check out “Dirge” here: http://youtu.be/5nVtzdAeKr4
Online Architecture
(Holodeck - HD022) LP $16.75 (Out-of-stock)
Signal processing and corroded elegance reign on the debut solo album by Christopher Royal King (film-score composer, lead guitarist of orchestral-rock ensemble This Will Destroy You, member of Austin's amorphous ambient collective Amasa•Gana). Organic sound-sources are meticulously transmuted through chains of modules and magnetic tape, and each successive stage creates a compounded quantity of detail and decay. Gorgeously tranquil and devastatingly heavy. Edition of 500. Includes download card.
Listen to a track here: https://soundcloud.com/holodeck-records/symbol-clear-passage-online
Graphic
(Holodeck - HD035) LP $17.25 (Out-of-stock)
Austin’s darkwave metal trio returns with a pleasurably harsh second album, focused this time on layered composition and biting sound design. Perfectly unhinged and hideously sophisticated. Includes download card.
Troller
(Holodeck - HD003) LP $21.00 (Out-of-stock)
Brooding melodies and gothic song-architecture that tap into the underworlds of drone, noise, various waves of dark electronica, and, surprisingly, pop. Troller negotiates a balance between sanguine stabs of analog synth, destructive, blown-out bass lines, and screwed-tempo drum sequences. Space-soaked siren wails narrate, equal parts sweet and sinister, giving voice to the shadow. Troller pull off atonal, nearly demented freak-outs (a la Milk) almost too convincingly to also produce bubbly, sequenced naïve-pop (a la Winter).