Andrew Lagowski, Hellscion, NovA17

Band / Artist: Andrew Lagowski, Hellscion, NovA17
Year: 1995, 2012, 2012
Genre: Techno, Industrial, Hardcore Techno, Trip Hop, Breaks, Electro, Dark, Ambient, Dark Ambient, Film Score, IDM

My Review:
So I had hoped to have a really special exclusive to offer today, but that didn't really come together like I was hoping. BUT I WAS PREPARED. Instead I'm serving up 3 different flavors of dark electronic goodness.

Andrew Lagowski

Dark techno is what I'd like to find a lot more of. Like, REALLY dark. This one is well on its way there. It has these nice buildups, that slip back into a murky subdued sound of ominous ambient. I was enjoying the plays on build and release that is common in techno. Sadly its only available on heere as a Lo-fi format.




Apparently this album was even reviewed in Wired back when it came out. Good on ya.

Andrew Lagowski – Prismatic ()


Hellscion

This is his 4th release, and he's getting better and rougher every time. This one is right on the edge of EBM, and i really wish there was a vocalist growling out some great lyrics across the top of this, I dunno, something about hell and bondage or something. Either way, its dark and gritty.



Hellscion - Burning Bridges


NovA17

This one is some nice hip-hop beats, edging on horrorcore beats. An interesting instrumental album with a really dark edge to it, biting horror scores and dark ambience from horror, only to hack them up and loop them into the beats. This is the most chill of the posts today. It comes off like the little brother of "Genocide Memoria" from LFO Demon.

NovA17 - FFUNS [darkhiphop instrumental]


Alright. Enjoy another night of fright and horror.

Darius Greene - Theory of Escapements

Band / Artist: Darius Greene
Year: 2007
Genre: Dark, Jazz, Experimental, Neovictorian, Operatic

My Review:
My friend says “It sounds like something with Primus and skits from Insane Clown Posse in the Nightmare before Christmas” I find this to be an apt start to describing it.

Darius Greene is an artist out of Chicago who works in a very vaudvillian style. If you're enjoying his release here, and would like  to find more of his works, his website could help you along, that links to soundcloud and many other places.
http://about.dariusgreene.com/

There are probably half the songs on here that directly pertain to Halloween, or goblins, ghouls, and what have you. His work has a very operatic quality, sometimes moving more toward a circus chorus, sometimes sliding more into the rock opera quality of sound. I was really enjoying the way that the lyrics played out amidst the sound as well. They poetically lay out their story, giving you something meaty to listen to, with a nice imagery.

Darius Greene - Theory of Escapements

Since it is a smaller release, I feel like this should have a little additional track. So here’s Bats & Brooms

..And Bones & Shells 

EDIT; Well. that was short-lived. He's paywalled all but the Bats & Brooms single. Sorry..

Graffiti Mechanism, a little more than the normal.

Band / Artist: Graffiti Mechanism
Year: 2009-2012
Genre: Acid, Acid House, Ambient, Dub Techno, Techno, Lo-fi, Chillout, Chiptune, Dark, Downtempo

My Review:
In 2011, my life had gone sideways on me. Some friends were helping to pull me out of a lull that had and has somewhat persisted since mid 2010, like a cloud over and through my life. During a part of that, I started to find my artist legs once again, and began to build back some of my joys and motivations. I was playing through a lot of music I had missed out on during a stint where I had been mentally vacant, and had saved a folder for a day when I needed to focus on something.

And that is how I found Graffiti Mechanism.

This guy is named Adam Crammond. He runs, or has a hand in running a netlabel called Proc-rec, I believe it started up in 2007. He has released so much work, that I still find new pieces of his.

Today will be special because I'm showcasing 4 of them, showing a progression I noticed.

Graffiti Mechanism - Blotter Beats


The first one I'll post as these are all in chronological order. This isn't just acid in the way it's often heard. He brings in a background in ambient and noise.

The drug references seem to be a sign of where he intends for you to go with his music, and that he wants to make you dance a little while you're there. It seems to cycle back on itself, always gaining complexity as it reloops, and the sound seems to pick up more muddled layers while others fade inward below. The use of Lo-fi sounds as a tool instead of an issue with equipment is so interesting a choice to me, and it really works for him.

Graffiti Mechanism - The Fabric Of Existance

A step from acid in some ways, but keeping it going as the lifeblood of the tracks in many ways. This shows an evolution more from the kind of music made to dance the night away on drugs, to something showing a growth and a maturity. It is where I start to pick up on what I called Acid-daze, the sound that seems to be created for you to sit in a dark space and contemplate all layers of your life on hallucinogens.

Graffiti Mechanism - Fueled By Emotion

The first album I heard. This is the point where he really stepped into this meditative acid-daze sort of sound. I looked beck through everything of his I could find, and nothing else seems to capture this sound that he suddenly grasped with both hands and began knitting into a wonderful dreamscape.

I'd rate this one the highest of all of them if I were to be the type to rate albums. I can honestly say that something about this album helped me to find and heal some small part of my soul, although i cannot quantify that in any way. I can still listen to this on repeat for a whole day without even a trace of regret.

Graffiti Mechanism - Synesthesia

The shortest of the albums, an EP by any standard, even if the tracks are 7+ minutes each. This compounds on the top of the "Fueled By Emotion" set, adding a more clear and meditative approach to the sound he is exploring.  If he continues down this path, I do wonder what he is going to incorporate into it next.

Either way, Hats off to Graffiti Mechanism.

Somatic Responses - Mercury

Band / Artist: Somatic Responses
Year: 2009
Genre: Dubstep,  Dark Techno, Electronica, Breakcore

My Review:
This one is a band that was starting out doing breakcore with Venetian Snares back in early 2000s. The release is on Acroplane records. This sounds like something a dubstep fan would enjoy, though I wouldn't call it that. I've had it in my collection for about 3 years, and I've been following the group since early '04.

I love when I can get a chance to support those dark horse guys who were in the background since the beginning of a music era, and this would be an example of one of those bands.

Somatic Responses - Mercury