Hubrizine sees Theologian's extremely prolific Lee Bartow reworking material provided by the duo of Jasse Tuukki and Toni Myöhänen (Strom.ec) into a noisy mass of sci-fi tinged electronics in tribute to Philip K. Dick. Even with the large number of Theologian releases, he shapes this material into an album that shapes the ugliness of noise into captivating musical structures with an impressive depth that makes for a distinct, unique sounding record.
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These two new releases from Deupree's 12k label have him working in very different capacities. On his collaborative release with Vitiello, his sonic perfectionism is the focus, all hushed melody and introspective expanses of sound. On the compilation, however, he opens up a bit and shares some early versions and sketches, warts and all, that leads to a very different experience.
Excitotoxicity is an unwanted process where neurons become over-activated from a surplus of the neurotransmitter glutamate, resulting in cell death and, ultimately, tissue damage and degeneration. Essentially, neurons receive too much stimulation causing the usually well-balanced internal physiology of each cell to become off-kilter and produce excessive levels of harmful molecules that break the neuron down from the inside-out. It is believed to be an underlying part of a number of serious neurological diseases including motor neuron disease, a disease that Graham Bowers has become a victim of. This album is partly a musical diary, an artistic interpretation of neurophysiological processes and a very human response to an unfathomable loss of control.
Protection is a long-gestating synth duo consisting of New Orleans' Sam Houston and NYC's Daniel McKernan, the latter of whom has collaborated with both Coil and Cyclobe in the past. Given that pedigree, it is not surprising that this debut EP boasts a distinct Coil influence, but that nocturnal, hallucinatory thread is wonderfully bolstered by both a knack for strong hooks and a guest appearance by the always charismatic Little Annie.
This material is a series of soundtracks that Rutger Zuydervelt composed to complement Esther Kokmeijer's short films of Antarctica and Greenland, thus fitting in well with this Italian label's frigid, isolationist aesthetic.  Rather than overemphasizing minimalism and emptiness, Zuydervelt instead works in subtle and understated conventional electronic moments in, giving the album a unique feel rather than by-the-book sparseness that could have been.
The Touch label's extensive roster only has a few artists who would be considered classical in the traditional sense, and Hildur Gudnadottir is one of those.  With instrumentation consisting only of her cello and her voice on some of these pieces, and guest musician Skuli Sverrisson on bass for one of them, Saman is a stripped down affair that excels at what it intends to do, but does not step out of that comfort zone either.
The title of this Australian artist’s latest album is extremely fitting.  Passages of roughly edited tape, collages of indecipherable found sounds, and bizarre production is disorienting at best, and downright baffling much of the time.  It is because of this confusing, jarring, and sometimes frightening nature that the disc works so well.
500m beautifully combines Gudrun Gut’s programmed percussion and editing discipline with Jochen Irmler’s meandering organ playing and natural spontaneity.
As a split release with each artist submitting three pieces, the pairing is perfect.  The two projects share similar aesthetics and aptitude in their own take on modern industrial music.  Even though their individual work is clearly distinct from each other, the two fit together very well into a cohesive whole.
