It’s the marketing campaign behind Full Spectrum Dominance, out on Tympanik Audio, that both irritates and appeals to me. I mean, it’s clever and well played even though it’s totally ludicrous. And now Thrussel’s even managed to get Side-Line in on the whole thing.

Some background (in case you skipped the review): in essence, DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), a shadowy government organization, commissioned Thrussell to “produce a recording that reflects the ideals and reality of Vision 2020, a futuristic military strategy program.” DARPA granted him a sizable budget and gave him access to defense installations and personnel the world over in an effort to utilize field recordings and the sounds of sensitive hardware and technology in an effort to weave together a soundtrack reflecting the aims of an undercover Skynet-like organization.

Y’know, puuure bullshit.

DARPA itself is not bullshit. It’s actually a pretty frightening organization. But the rest of it? C’mon. I’ll give Thrussell points for coming up with such a grand sounding scheme. Unfortunately the music is terrible.

Side-Line did an interview with Thrussell that was apparently “censored” by US military authorities. And Side-Line bought into it. So the guy scores some points with me for sticking with this whole thing so diligently and coming across as convincing, to some.

Now if he could only make music as cool as his cover stories.

Their last release, 2009′s Mercury was offered as a free download (which is still accessible here) and they’ve been putting out material for about a decade and a half now so it’s impossible for me to break their output down for you (although Discogs did manage a pretty comprehensive list of their output). On the 22nd of this month Hymen Records is releasing their latest work, Neon, and it’s something those of you with more adventurous tastes should pick up. The press release mentions that its “pulsating sub-bass and acherontic (where did that word come from?!) synth lines induce a multitude of moods (including) aggression, disarray and melancholy.” Yep, sounds like Somatic Responses. This is one to which I’m looking forward. You should be as well, particularly if you were ever a fan of Aphex Twin and Autechre. Early on the act’s material could be pretty spotty but as of late they really seem to have hit their stride and evolved into a consistently satisfying outfit with which you should be familiarizing yourself if you haven’t already.

MIAB’s latest effort is due out at the end of February (early March in the States) and it offers something a little different. Sampling the chip music of old C64 video games and throwing in a few covers such as Last Ninja 3 and Giana Sisters that geeks the world over will no doubt relish, R.E.T.R.O. promises to match kitsch with a hefty portion of cleverness. It eschews the dark and alluring feel of their first three albums for something more playful and fun. But don’t let that turn you away as it still has that Mind.In.A.Box atmosphere that we’ve come to enjoy over the past eight years. Just check out the samples they’ve posted on their website.

Even if you decide to pass on this latest project the act are planning on putting out a proper album later this year that will mark a return to the continuing storyline of the first three releases. MIAB are on the freshly resurrected Dependent Records in Europe and Metropolis Records in the US.

The most irritating thing about the track is that the chord progression during the chorus sounds almost exactly like Dead Or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record).” This could be deliberate, but I doubt it. The lyrics have something to do with making Electro music for the underground and seem to be rifled off in a mocking tone. This would make sense as Erickson has relayed some disdain for the club circuit in the past. Yet the song itself is a clubby track. I suppose that’s supposed to be “ironic” or something. It might be considered as such if it was a significantly more worthwhile piece.

What makes this single worth it are not the four largely uninteresting remixes of “Caustic,” nor the reworking of “Killed In Space.” The last two tracks are from the Toxic Coma days, an early Erickson project apart from VAC. “Mental Itch” and “Zombie Sex” actually sound more lively and vital than anything on The Art Of Breaking Apart. Now that is ironic. “Itch” could actually be used by modern DJs as it straddles a line between classic sounding material and a contemporary production feel but “Sex” has a rather bright sound with a lot of silliness throughout and it actually grows quite irritating after a couple minutes.

The Caustic Disco single is available digitally from Metropolis Records.

The band blends romantic, melancholic Weimar poetry with danceable dark electronic music. Basically it sounds like Harsh EBM with occasional fits of angelic female vocals. But they have a “new angle” in that the lyrics are based on classic poetry verses. I mean, that makes it fresh and new, right?

You decide.

They’ve got a new full length album coming out at the end of February on Metropolis called Change In The Neon Light which will serve as a proper debut in spite of the self-released ’07 EP Into a New Mausoleum. To warm up potential new fans and whet the appetites of established admirers they have presented a new five track single for “Anthem Of A Doomed Youth” which contains that song and another album selection along with three remixes.

Named after a book which compiled poetry from those who served in the first World War, the title track rings with bittersweet guitar and crunchy bass while its companion piece, “Modern Lust,” shimmers with synth and propulsive percussion which serve as the backdrop for an overly familiar sounding chorus.

The three remixes of “Anthem” run the gamut from the bouncy and ebullient “Cheap Speed Remix” to the dramatically slowed down and phasered echo of “No Wave In Hell Remix” to the intriguingly restructured “Gomorrah Remix.” None of the three are particularly memorable and probably won’t serve to make the band much of a presence in the club circuit.

While I could count myself among the crowd that thought at first this was just another pointless retread I have to admit that the more I listen to Veil Veil Vanish the more I like and appreciate what they’re doing. They’re definitely a band to watch and it would seem their wildly growing popularity will make it that much easier to do.

“Something I Choose To Ignore” has rapid beats and raw, Punk guitar providing a platform for Zomboy’s impassioned roar. There’s an awkward fade-out at the end that lends an unfinished feel to the song but it does serve as a quick two and a half minute burst of energy to get things going. A little production assistance from The Dark Clan’s Dan Clark makes “Imported Failure” a catchy number, infusing a bit of icy synth melody which compliments the guitar riffing nicely.

Assemblage 23′s Tom Shear did such a great job with the reworking of “Within Silence” on the Intelligence: Revised remix album that he was invited to make another contribution. This time out he handles “Gone” with a surprising amount of restraint but adds a juicy club flair to the track, adding crisp percussion and subtle layering that make it extremely palatable for dance floors. “Rid Of Me” showcases Liebchen one last time with a wispy throwback of a tune that has elements of New Wave combined with power ballad flair. It would have benefited from a little brevity as it gets overly repetitive toward the end but it’s an intriguing experiment that stands apart from all the band’s previous material.

The last track is a live recording of one of their most popular songs, “The World Ends Today,” performed at a show in Madison last year. The sound quality is surprisingly clear and represents a hard working act tirelessly dedicated to providing even more energy in a live context than can be heard on their studio recordings.

Five tracks for five bucks, available in hard copy format only (no digital release), All Things Belong To Us Now is one for the fans as much as it is for those who haven’t yet looked into what XuberX is all about. Preorders are being taken at the Radio-Active site.

So be sure to read I:Scintilla: The DTC Interview and if you don’t already own The Approach and Optics or the Havestar and Prey On You EPs then you should seriously consider picking them up in preparation for their latest batch of electronic-tinged club Rock.

As of January 5th (last Tuesday);

Veil Veil Vanish Anthem For A Doomed Youth – Uh oh. Lookout. Another Synthie Pop Rock act wearing their degeneration on their sleeve in an effort to formulate some degree of cool for the hipster kids. I mean, seriously. Anthem For A Doomed Youth? Cry me a friggin’ river. From what I’ve heard of this act they’re actually pretty good musically but it certainly is no reinvention of the wheel. Either you’re going to be endlessly irritated at the derivative nature of the songs or you’re going to be happier than a pig in shit that another band sounds like this. Click the links and decide for yourself.

IAMX My Secret Friend (digital single) – For less thatn a dollar a track you can have the latest single from IAMX’s brilliant album, Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction. The two remixes are okay, I suppose, but nothing spectacular. You’re going to really have to adore the song to want to invest your time and money in this.

Velvet Acid Christ Caustic Disco (digital single) – More remixed hijinks from Bryan Erickson. If you’ve long given up on his music nothing I say is going to convince you to buy this. But if you actually enjoyed the latest album…well, there’s this.

Aaand this week;

Grendel Chemicals + Circuitry – So Grendel opted to make a stylistic change that they’ve been talking about doing for some time now. Gone are the Harsh EBM vocals and in their place are some impressively clean sung lyrics. But this sounds like less a shift in style than maybe a opportunity to cash in on Combichrist. There’s little to no originality here. In fact I had to check the liner notes on the first listen to make sure it wasn’t an Andy Leplegua guest shot. C+C is just three similar sounding new songs and what seem like an endless list of remixes for two of those three tracks.

XP8 Drop The Mask – A bold new album by this Italian duo featuring a cameo by Aesthetic Perfection’s Danial Graves. Thirteen new tracks virtually guaranteed to make you move.

Liquid Divine Autophobia – Tangerine Dream, Haujobb, Kraftwerk and New Order are listed as strong influences and these guys remind me a little of Mind.In.A.Box (who also have a new release dropping in a couple months). You might want to check them out because they really ain’t bad at all.

Unlike Nightraven, I wasn’t all that impressed with 2009 from a musical standpoint. There has been so much repetitiveness that things have grown either bland or completely stale in a fractured and shrunken scene. I don’t mean to imply there weren’t some fantastic releases in ’09 though. As part of what I do here I have to listen to hundreds of albums each year and like I mentioned in the list I put up twelve months ago it’s significant when you go back to albums about which you’ve already written. There rarely seems time to actually enjoy something again and again so I think it says a lot when an album compels me to put it in the player, sit back and not think about writing deadlines and such. I’m not going to make a numerical list and declare “bests.” I’m also not going to limit my selections to the psychologically satisfying number “10.” This list merely represents what I feel were such powerful works that they managed to rob me of valuable time which should have been spent working. I highly recommend you add them to your own collection.

Autoclav1.1 Where Once Were Exit Wounds (Tympanik Audio) –our review– While this isn’t a numbered list I felt compelled to place Tony Young’s latest work at the top as it was probably my personal favorite of 2009. If you’ve followed him album by album you’ve most likely enjoyed the progression as much as I have and WOWEW beefs up the organic instrumentation to a startling degree making for an electronic release that rocks about as hard as anything else out there, if not harder, regardless of genre. Yet in Young’s hands the songs are crafted with such emotional depth and layered brilliance that every spin reveals some new discovery, either in regard to the music or just yourself. Tony’s friend and collaborator Jamie Blacker announced this year he was putting to rest his ESA project after one more album. If Young made a similar pronouncement I might feel compelled to make an exit wound in my own body. He’s definitely one of the best out there in the current scene.

ESA The Sea & The Silence/The Immaculate Manipulation (Tympanik Audio) –our review of TS&TS– Okay, so I’m cheating on this one a little. Technically The Sea & The Silence was released at the ass end of last year just as its remix companion, The Immaculate Manipulation was put out at the very end of ’09 (and as such I haven’t had a chance to review it yet). But the impact of Jamie Blacker’s music was felt throughout the year and I feel both releases are worthy of a mention. Complex, challenging and fierce yet invitingly adventurous and strangely alluring ESA gets everything right with music that reinvigorates Industrial in a compelling way even as it celebrates the darker urges within the human condition. The remix album offers tracks that will make club floors quake and others that will broaden your perspectives on all that can be done with song structure and analysis. Both should be considered must-own CDs. Unfortunately, Blacker revealed in our interview with him last August that his plan was to record only one more album as ESA. I’m still having a great deal of difficulty coming to terms with that.

Prometheus Burning plague called huMANity (Crunch Pod) –our review– I was pretty shocked even from the first listen of this one. I mean, I was expecting it to be pretty good but I had no idea it was going to be so good that I would forget about everything else for at least a couple weeks. This album is an addiction and the sounds have a classic feel that still seem fresh and unique thanks to all the personality injected into the music. The vocals are highly acidic but I couldn’t imagine any other kind within the act’s sound and because of that I don’t think they diminish the appeal of ProBurn. All the noises are expertly crafted and mixed together with near-perfect precision. Beyond that the work can be ingested on a variety of levels with an overarching storyline, creepy artwork and recurring themes. I almost feel bad for these guys because I can’t imagine they’ll be able to top this. I just really hope they’re able to prove me wrong. Actually, I’m counting on it.

Impurfekt Human (Shinto Records) –our review– This is one of those “from out of nowhere” releases that can surprise the hell out of you in the nicest of ways. It’s self-recorded and, to be honest, sounds a little muddled with the low end levels mixed too high but musically Human is an amazing amalgamation of styles melded together to form a powerful and thematic piece of art. The rhythms have hooks like talons and the melodies sting with a methodical sweetness. Picked up by the rapidly rising upstart label Shinto Records this is one you simply must hear. Judging from this album alone I predict big things and much success for Aaron Russell.

Stendeck Sonnambula (Tympanik Audio) –our review– This isn’t just a good album. It gets better with every listen and has tremendous staying power. It can be beautiful, it can be harsh, it can be accessible and it can be complex. Throughout the duration it’s always appealing, however. Swiss musician Alessandro Zampieri has created a stirring epic of an album with Sonnambula and has manufactured a sound that is unique even as it references its influences. Beyond that it seems to fit in with most any mood or atmosphere. Regardless of how I happen to be feeling or what the weather may be like outside I find that I reach for this blissful collection quite frequently. It’s going to be interesting to see how Zampieri follows this up.

High Wycombe Reverser (Wycombemusic) –our review– The word that comes to mind when I think of High Wycombe is “smooth.” Reverser is a startlingly good progressive electro album with rhythms that aren’t necessarily aimed at dance floors but could find a home in any club regardless. The electronics and samples are extremely thoughtful and deliciously moody. This isn’t at all an oppressively dark release but it also ain’t bright and shiny either. As with Stendeck you could put this album on at any time and, goddammit, you really should. Guaranteed to impress on a variety of levels.

Imminent Cask Strength (Ant-Zen) –no review– Yeah. I never got a chance to review this. And if you happen to pick it up and listen to the first few tracks you’ll think you’ve been duped. It’s not as though those first three songs are bad, they’re actually quite interesting. But interesting enough to warrant inclusion on a list of the finest releases of the year? Eh. It isn’t until track four when Cask Strength begins dropping jaws and after that it never looks back. The level of diversity is stunning, from ambient to near-Gabber level intensity. This album is an amazing piece of work that will leave you beside yourself. I still pick up an diffent things when I listen to it. It’s not the kind of CD to which the club kids are going to flock but if your tastes are a little more open and adventurous you really need to experience Imminent’s latest batch of sour mash-ups.

dISHARMONY Evolution (Tympanik Audio) –our review– For all the talk in ’09 about how Coldwave was seeing a resurgence I guess I was more impressed with the return of great Dark Electro and it’s a trend I hope to see continue in the coming year. Evolution managed to surpass dISHARMONY’s critically acclaimed previous album, Malignant Shields, with stunning track after stunning track of bleak yet lilting numbers filled with the decaying remnants of human hope. Evolution is a study of the beauty in utter dessication. It even resurrects some of the funk aspects of classic Dark Electro though not to the degree for which someone like me might wish. Even so, this release isn’t so much memorable as it is haunting in a way that you will simply not be able to shake once you’ve given it a few spins.

Millipede All My Best Intentions (Hymen Records) –no review– I really wish I’d had the time to do a write-up for this one when it was released. It’s one of those unclassifiable albums that will most likely be labeled “Ambient” by default and yet the beatwork is incredible given that each track is mid-to-downtempo in nature. It’s much too powerful and heavy to be relegated to the airy atmospherics of most Ambient artists and yet there’s so much more depth and diversity than you would expect out of most uptempo electronic outfits. Every time you think you’ve got the aims of a song in mind Don Hill reveals a sly surprise that throws each expectation on its ear. Just as with Imminent the club kids aren’t going to “get” this one. And that’s a shame given the cerebral nature of Hill’s work here.

Cenotype Origins Unfold (Origins Productions) –our review– It seems pretty odd to me to include not one remix collection on a year end list but two. Remix collections are easy throwaways for artists. They don’t require work so much as handing over your tracks to other acts and letting them pass back to you material for a new release with your name on it. And yet just as the ESA remix collection encompassed a variety of styles that transcended the typical “extended club mixes” that you invariably get with these outings Origins Unfolds uses Cenotype’s debut album as a foundation for something stellar. A number of the mixes even take two, sometimes three tracks and fuse them together to further a non-linear storyline. While some of these reworkings could find a home in some enterprising DJs club set many of them set out for something deeper and less of-the-moment. The list of contributing artists is quite impressive and their handiwork is woven together expertly. Hopefully you didn’t miss this limited edition collection.

Uberbyte DOS (Crunch Pod) –our review– When it comes to straightforward, hard-hitting club music most people these days defer to Combichrist. Maybe that’s why Uberbyte is invariably compared to Leplegua’s crew. Yet Combi is at a point where the project is just spinning its wheels and Richard “Uberman” Pyne is juuust getting warmed up. Uberbyte’s second album steamrolled over their first effort to claim high ground within the Body Music category (EBM, TBM, what have you). Already a third and even more aggressive release is about to hit the internet and it’s virtually guaranteed to give Uberbyte some well deserved and wide-ranging name recognition. While my own list hasn’t quite been as friendly to the club kids as some may like I highly endorse this absurdly infectious piece of work that deserves rotation in every single DJ set list you see posted online.

SE Epiphora (Tympanik Audio) –our review– The introduction of harsh or scathing sounds in the midst of beautiful synth movements can be a tricky proposition and it requires as delicate a balance as you can muster to ensure neither approach cancels out the other. SE manages to achieve this balance in what comes across as a seemingly effortless manner, providing plenty of lofty, appealing atmosphere with an underlying edge that gives the music a bite you wouldn’t ordinarily expect out of Ambient. And it’s probably his work in other musical genres that lend him such a great hand at song structure. Hopefully we’ll be hearing a lot more out of Sebastian Ehmke in the future.

While these albums represent the ones I felt carried the most weight during the year there are certainly others that, at the very least, deserve an honorable mention. Tyske Ludder‘s Anonymous. Caustic‘s This Is Jizzcore. IAMX‘s Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction. W.A.S.T.E.‘s A Silent Mantra Of Rage. Access To Arasaka‘s Oppidan. Rotersand‘s Random Is Resistance. Cervello Elettronico‘s Process Of Elimination. Assemblage 23‘s Compass. Undermathic‘s Return To Childhood. And of course I should mention Tympanik Audio’s brilliant Emerging Organisms compilations, the third volume of which was recently released.

And now on to 2010…