eic: white car

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Monday, January 17, 2011

REVIEW: //Tense// - Memory

7.75 out of 10

Listening to bands like //Tense// and White Car not only puts a huge smile on my face, but also gives me the hope that Industrial music could finally return to it's roots. You know, before all of those "pesky guitars" and Heavy Metal Dance sounds got in the way.. If you're a fan of Industrial music it's no secret that the sound is (somewhat--pretty much) officially dead. The new "Industrial" scene, AKA "Club Metropolis" is in this reviewers opinion pure radio filth with no depth what so ever. Just because your rich parents bought you an expensive synthesizer when you were young and you live in New York and/or Germany gives you no right to rape and reduce a genre to the sad state it's in now. I'm sorry, but I am absolutely disgusted by today's "Industrial" music/scene. Leave the clubber music to the DJ's, leave the guitars to the Metal heads. If you want to be "Industrial", you can do it one of two ways (maybe a few more, but here are a couple basics); 1. Bang on sheets of metal, use a drill, hammers, found sounds, etc. Don't think form and construction, but rather improv & deconstruction. Think of it as a form of expression rather than trying to make a quick buck with a radio hit. 2. Shed light on the Industrial Revolution, no not the music kind. The concept/notion that shapes our entire civilization. Whether it's anti-establishment, dark poetry, or just plain hatred for society in general word these ideas in a way that is unique to your project. Do it with a simple drum machine, a couple synths, vocals, & maybe some samples, NOTHING ELSE (obviously you can use more instruments if you want. Just no you are swaying further and further away from the original concept of Industrial music with the more layers of "Pop" you add). Stop confusing you're shit EBM club music with the real deal. That being said, what is EBM? Electronic Body Music was once a term that referred to the early days of dark dance music where the mixing of Electronic Pop sounds & meaningful lyrics still had depth/originality. It was a somewhat short lived scene that still has it's hardcore fans. NOW there is another form of EBM you need to know about (not to be confused with the good kind) and that's today's "EBM" which is about the same concept but with tripe meaningless lyrics on top of Fruity Loops created beats, uninspiring scene kids, and the same synth sounds utilized by every band on previously mentioned label. It's the kind of music that could fit in perfectly at a top 40 Trance/Dance club or perhaps the headphones of a yuppy kid attempting to fit into some sort of lame suburban Goth club. Stop doing this please, it makes you lame. Seriously, don't you get tired of blending in just because it's hip? Doesn't listening to the same song over and over again get boring. Don't get me wrong, I like to dance and I even love a few morbid things, but originality means a lot more to these ears. If it isn't original, maybe it's more of an homage, it better be done right ..or not at all. Which is why I love //Tense//, they have mastered/captured the sounds of my youth quite perfectly. I can only keep my fingers crossed that people will catch on to these guys. Rivet head's, your new messiah has arrived. Dust off those welder goggles, bust out your collection of cogs, polish those black army boots. Do whatever it is you need to do to get yourself in the right mindset to listen to perfect sounding Industrial homage music.

"Memory", in many ways, is a history lesson in the ways of mechanized art. //Tense// know exactly what to do when it comes to writing simple, yet perplexing Industrial music. On the LP "Memory", they mix styles ranging from the darker somewhat experimental days of Wax Trax to the even earlier days of EBM (think Cabaret Voltaire, Nitzer Ebb, (earlier)Ministry, and maybe even a dash of "Pretty Hate Machine" era NIN). Although I do like their EP's a little more than this particular release, "Memory" is still a prime example of how I need my cold factory sounds. Brooding synth bass lines, simple electronic drum pad sounds, demented samples, and distorted vocals that sound pitch perfect underneath all of the madness. Personally I think everyone should eat up sounds like these, that is unless you live in a farming community where machines and electricity don't exist. //Tense// documents your community for what it is.

//Tense// brings a future back into past of the future Industrial music scene. An absolute 100% no-brainer for anyone into Wax Trax Records/80's - mid 90's Industrial music. "Memory" forms sounds that work best for dark drives through bright depressing cities. My only hope is that more bands like these will continue to pop up over the next coming months/years. Please don't let this be a short trend, please don't let this be a short trend, please don't let this..? RECOMMENDED.

Standout Tracks: My ears always crave sounds like these, so all of them are pretty good. Otherwise; Work Hard, Lost Race, Lead Head

Monday, November 22, 2010

EIC'S10Q'S w/White Car

"..lovers of artsy/dark Post-Punk/"(anti)establishment/political" themes mixed with post neo-modern Electronic/mechanistic backdrops.."

(Photo credit: Zara Katz)

White Car
Methodological Neoteric Sentiment

White Car Bio:
In the rough and humble south side of Chicago, 22 year-old Elon Katz and his counterpart Orion Martin manufacture an Industrial Space Funk sound that taps Ballard and Dionysus on the shoulder to remind them their time hasn’t run dry in 2010. The music struts a particular brand of artifice with a panache swagger that always finds new potential in its birth city’s past revelations- think the Wax Trax lexicon with touches of classic Chicago House. Katz serenades the tracks of "No Better" with 16-bit crushed vocals and the listener is accosted into a paranoid tale of contemporary reality: the mind’s capacity in relationship to the abundance of databanks, hunting as hobby, sexuality as commodity and the ever entangling web of online identity.

Hello, how are you?
Hello. I am good, but feeling a bit stressed.

What are you currently listening to?
Honestly, music has been kind of annoying me lately... But I have been digging on classic Chicago House jams, early techno stuff from the big 3 (Atkins, Saunderson, May), Colin Newman's "A-Z", Butthole Surfers, early IDM stuff, 90's jungle tracks my friend Mike Vallera plays me, Severed Heads, Pink Industry and been getting into The Durutti Column, it's really strange and beautiful music.

Where does the name “White Car” originate from?
The name is a direct reference to the Cabaret Voltaire song from the album "Code". It is also in reference to the concept of 'vehicle'- the idea of a vessel or tool that facilitates new ways of moving, working and thinking.

Are you guys officially signed to any label/are there any prospects?
I haven't signed any binding contracts and I'd prefer to keep it that way. I am currently working on a LP to be release by Hippos In Tanks with a possible buddy label, sometime in the summer of 2011.

I really love “your style” of Industrial music (seriously, keep it up please), can you recommend any current or new projects that may sound similar?
To be honest, there are very few contemporary "Industrial" acts that are interesting at all, I am more interested in artists who share similar ways of thinking about electronic music and popular music culture, some of them sound Industrial at times... People who I like and can recommend are Gatekeeper, Beau Wanzer, TENSE, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tearist, Light Asylum, Von Haze, George Quartz, Teen INC, D'eon, Slava, Gavin Russom, Geneva Jacuzzi, Mutant Beat Dance, Melvin "Traxx" Oliphant III and Nation Records, Medio Mutante, Azari & III, Salem, Love Concept, Brett Naunke and Catholic Tapes, Positive Shadow/Henry Glover, Andre Ferreira and Pacific Housing Authority, Mike Vallera, Mahjongg, Andy Ortmann, Alex Barnett, Ga'an, Mr. 666, Beautiful Swimmers, Weird Records, Veronica Vasicka (Minimal Wave) she is more of an cultural anthropologist than a record pusher- its inspiring and fascinating, her releases may not be new, but they are more than current!

You’re based out of Chicago right? Have you ever considered teaming up with Kill Memory Crash and releasing what could be one of the best Industrial albums of the last 10-20 years?
Not really familiar with them, don't care for those sounds really... I work best alone or with close friends... also not really interested in releasing the "best industrial record" of the last 10-20 years, I found serious inspiration in Industrial Dance music when I first started this project around two years ago, but that doesn't mean White Car will always sound like that... my interests fly by night and I am not thrilled with the idea of becoming a tired dog performing the same tired tricks.

If I was to watch a movie on mute while listening to your latest EP, which movie would sync up the best/act as a good visual representation of said EP?
Background splatter frames from Ren and Stimpy with the characters of Barbarella and Cobra Verde superimposed on them...

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Vangelis "Opera Sauvage" ; serious bubble bath music, I could float in it forever...

Are you living your dream?
In a way...

Thanx Elon!

White Car recently released "No Better", you should probably buy it...

REVIEW: White Car - No Better

8 out of 10

Find it here.

To anyone overly frustrated with the current state of "Industrial" music, you can let your guard down now.. There is a glimmer of hope for lovers of artsy/dark Post-Punk/"(anti)establishment/political" themes mixed with post neo-modern Electronic/mechanistic backdrops. One of the leading bands in this "Re-Revolution"; White Car, hale from Chicago. Hmmm, Chicago? Isn't that the home to the late (great) Wax Trax Records/"Industrial Capital" of America?

"No Better" is a terrific EP with a serious nod towards the Golden Age of Industrial music. Growing up I listened to Dance Pop music, then Kraftwerk, then Wax Trax, etc. From the ages of (about) 12-22 everything I listened to/loved/knew I could "depend on" was Industrial music. It worked for me then, and still (the old stuff anyways) to this day works for me now. For the past 10 years or so Industrial music has changed quite a bit. For one thing it made a huge left turn towards Club/EBM music, secondly people began confusing/crossing it with Metal and Rock music (this is mostly a horrible idea that makes me sort of sick to my stomach sometimes) ..most of it all sounds the same OR to put it kindly; I hate it. I miss the crunchy/cheesy/dark & artsy Industrial sounds of yesterday. Bands like; Ministry (pre 90's), Front 242, Skinny Puppy (pre 00's), Revolting Cocks, The Young Gods, Coil, etc., these were my childhood's soundtrack. (Side note: Interested in Industrial music, but don't know where to start? Start here.) Anyways, outside of the Metropolis monopolized world of "Industrial" music today lays this small uprising which is a direct nod to the bands that got this genre off of it's feet. If you wanna pay an homage to something that completely molded me into the music obsessed junky that I am today than I'm OK with you as a person. White Car is Industrial music before guitars & rock music got in the way. More than just music though (and most importantly) White Car is a rare/lost art form, the very kind that has been missing from much of today's Electronic music. I implore you, please treat yourself to some White Car.

To: White Car, and all the other projects that share similar sounds... Thank you. All we can do now is hope that this isn't just a short "fad" and that it doesn't just fade back into obscurity where it all started. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Standout Tracks: ALL

Sunday, October 24, 2010

EIC EXCLUSIVE(s): "Guess The Next EICV7" Artist"

Is it..

Tense - Work Hard Short Life (White Car Ephemeral Remix)
or..

Universe - I Piano
or perhaps it's..

Seven Saturdays - True Romance (Strangeloop Remix)
or maybe..

Lapalux - The Dead Sea (Space Ghost Remix)
or quite possibly..

Jon Lemmon - Close To You (Demo)

The next EICV7" comes out November 17th. Within these EXCLUSIVE tracks lays the answer on who it is.. Got any guesses?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Check into White Car..

White Car - No Better

&

White Car - The Bridge

This is EXACTLY how I LOOOVE my Industrial. Skinny Puppy fans.. ~~this one's~~these two are for you..

eic

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Good (free) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 2