Musical Choices that are Keeping Me Mentally Healthy During this Self-Isolation.

(Cyberpunk Seoul)

Well, my latest musical choices have been keeping me inspired, motivated, and energized! It's interesting the musical listening choices I have been making during this pandemic, and period of self-isolation. Now, initially I was trying to stay away from music that was typically Cyberpunk themed, cause initially focusing on that and listening to the lyric content kinda stressed me out, and quite frankly being that dystopia may be a reality or possibly could be a reality, just focusing on that aspect it was initially stressful, but as of recently, I accidentally turned on Blush Response... and at first I was like "Nope. Not the right music for right now.", but I let it play through a little bit of the song, and I wasn't stressed out anymore, I was actually enjoying it. Now that is definitely not a commentary of where I think things are going... I still think that dystopia is bad, and I do think we need to do whatever it takes to not end up in that reality... but for some reason I'm finding music that has cyberpunk themes inspiring right now... and I will be honest, I haven't really been listening to a lot of the old standards that you would think would help with maintaining a healthy mindset. Like, even though Nine Inch Nails has released their new "Ghosts: V - VI", I truthfully am having a harder time listening, at least to side VI, cause it really is too dark and depressive for me, cause I do think musically, it captures at least part of what I am feeling right now, and I feel like, to maintain mental health, I just have to avoid listening to it (truthfully speaking, I haven't listened to a lot of NIN in these past 3ish months... the most I've listened to them was a few days ago, when a DJ here in Calgary, hosted a NIN night on Twitch.tv, that is it). 

(Deckard Cain)

There is a select list of bands that I am listening to right now, like I said... not the usual standards to help maintain a healthy mindset (which right now, I don't feel is helping maintain my mindset), but new stuff that I typically wouldn't listen to... here's some of the bands I've been listening to these days: Dope Stars Inc (I absolutely do not know why I'm listening to them, normally in the past I wouldn't have, but I feel like their music is really resonating with me right now). Blush Response (like I said, initially when listening to them, it was actually causing stress, but for some reason now, I'm really connecting with it). Chrysalide, Atari Teenage Riot (anything that is typically labeled Digital Hardcore). Cocksure. Cubanate. Cyanotic. Encephalon. Era Nocturna (not entirely sure why, but I feel her music is kinda this calmness, and currently what fits on the playlist that isn't heavy or hard). Covenant is also on this list (but, thematically their music seems to fit and is helping me stay focused, even though they are kind of an old standard... "Dreams Of A Cryotank" seems to be really helping with my mindset). Fear Factory is also on this list. Julian-K (their latest album "Harmonic Disruptor" is excellent). Paul Barker's Malekko is also on the list (just purely from a sound design aspect, for some reason this is fitting into the list). Nevada Hardware. Some noise stuff as well like; P.A.L., NeedleSpit, Stahlschlag and Wychdoktor. Panic Lift is also on the list. A band called The Rain Kills Quietly (dark industrial techno type stuff, for some reason really helping out with the mindset). Skinny Puppy (I realize they are an old standard, but they are on the list as well, and I'm finding their music really helping with the mindset). I realize this band may not fit into the industrial side of things, actually these next couple of bands don't, and they are kind of old standards, at least for me: Slipknot (only a select couple of tracks), as well as Sepultura (once again, a select couple of tracks), and Korn... now these bands are on the list, cause they are heavy, and seem to capture a part of what I'm feeling right now. Standalone and Hate Dept. are also on the list. Yes, also my own project Twitch is on the list. Venus In Aries. Wumpscut. And finally even though I haven't listened to a lot of Nine Inch Nails in the last little while, after the NIN night on Twitch.tv that a DJ from Calgary hosted, I added them to the playlist, cause it really has been quite some time since I've listened to NIN, and I realized I was missing them (but that was really only in the last couple of days here... so yeah, it's been a while)!

(Out for a walk during this period of Self-Isolation and Social-Distancing)

So, that seems to be the playlist recently, and what has been keeping me mentally well, focused, and highly inspired in my own endeavor. You can listen with us here!

What music has been helping with your mindset and keeping you inspired, and motivated during this period of self-isolation?

Atari Teenage Riot: Why I like them!

Yeah, if you've been in the scene for a while, you may know of a band called Atari Teenage Riot. Granted they aren't exactly industrial, they call the genre of music they create Digital Hardcore... which funnily sounds like a mixture of hardcore punk, and hardcore techno mixed together. I would say they step into the industrial realm slightly though, there are definitely industrial elements in the music. I first came across them in 1997 when a former band member introduced them to me... as his own music was inspired by ATR. I eventually found their album "Burn, Berlin, Burn!" in a record store in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan here in Canada. Atari Teenage Riot started in 1992 in Berlin, Germany. They took their name from a Portuguese Joe song called "Teenage Riot" and added 'Atari' to it, as they used an Atari ST computer to compose songs. Their tracks are highly political, with a very anarchist and anti-facist view. They were and still are quite chaotic and noisey, their songs at least in the beginning, mixed hardcore techno with breaks screamed vocals, and sampled guitars and shit... funnily enough, if I'm not mistaken they sampled Slayer, The Sex Pistols, Nirvana, and all sorts of other bands!

I think the one thing that stood out for me was the screamed vocals, and general chaos with the songs... there is song structure, but I feel like the way things were written and sampled it came out really chaotic... which I really liked! Also, their shit has become more and more pertinent with what's going on in the world politically. They have started riots with their performances! Years and years later, seeing their performances (on Youtube), and how they put together their live show, I find really inspiring! When I was writing the first Twitch album one of the songs I wrote on that album I exclusively sampled one of their songs... not gonna tell you which song, not sure you would recognize the sample I used anyway, as I pitch-shifted it and distorted the fuck out of it!! If you are curious, here's the album:


(And hey, this album is free... so fuckin download it!)

Over the years, Atari Teenage Riot, has remained relevant, and still very politically charged! They came to our city (Calgary) at one point, I could of gone to that show... and now I kind of regret not going, I would love it if they came back... as it would be amazing to see them live!
Are you folks into ATR? If so, why do you like them?

Industrial Bands That I Wish Were Still Doing Stuff

Alright, today's blog is all about bands that are no longer doing stuff, or have been inactive for a long time that I wish would become active again!

The first band that had a very short life, that I thought their music was excellent was; ERROR. This band was a project of Atticus Ross (now a member of Nine Inch Nails)... it was quite short lived, they put out one EP, and it was kind of in the vein of digital hardcore mixed with industrial. The lyrics were quite nihilistic too. I wasn't really a fan of the lyrics and the subject matter, but I thought the music was excellent, and when I first heard it, I was hoping for more releases. Unfortunately, it didn't make it past the first EP, and I think they could have released more material cause it was quite good!

Here's ERROR's "Nothing's Working":

The second band I wish was still active is Wumpscut! Now, we all know who Rudy Ratzinger is, and his endeavour Wumpscut (if you don't know, here's the wikipedia). I'm not entirely sure why Rudy ended Wumpscut, from what I understand, as time went on, his project started to not do as well commercially (at least in the goth/industrial scene), and he felt the project was dying. So, he decided to cut his losses and fold it. Wumpscut for me was, at least in the earlier days, was highly influential, and inspirational for my own endeavour... and I feel like Rudy could have continued.

Here's Wumpscut's "Soilent Green":

The third band I wish was still active, or has been silent for a very long time is; Necro Facility. Now this band, kinda started off sounding like Skinny Puppy, and from my understand they were highly inspired by Skinny Puppy. Their earlier music I wasn't too keen on, but their last release called "Wintermute" took their music in a more poppy direction... and was quite excellent! It is my favorite album by them, and I thought they could have continued, cause I thought this album really set them outside of what they were doing previously, and they really were starting to create their own sound!

Here's Necro Facility's "You Want It":

Obviously there are a lot of other bands that I wish were still active, but I would say, these are the three that really stand out for me!

What bands do you wish were still active?