SINthetik Messiah : "Beneath the Surface"

This project is based in Louisiana and is the work of Bug Gigabyte. The first track is a dystopian soundscape that transcends his swampy roots. "Caught in the Grip of the City" is more deliberate in its downtempo thump, with a tense vocal narrative that is broken up by samples. With electronic music, the challenge for artists can be to not get carried away by cool beats and sound, but to tell a story. This is typically forsaken by dance music altogether. This project is geared to the dance floor, though it would take a great deal of Absinthe to get moving to the narcotic throb invoked here. The vocals have purpose when applied, so songwriting is the focus more than booty shaking. I can see psy-trance fans being into some of the dark vibes going down here.

"Idealogical Subversion" makes the most of the samples it uses. I like that while there is a political theme, it looks at the bigger picture, outside of the fihbowl being very aware of the puppet show in motion rather than aligning itself with one team or the other, with a wink in the direction that this is all a game. This is the first song where I hear a trip-hop influence. Perhaps not as dark as say Tricky, but slinky in its midnight grooves. The sampled vocals work well and get the job done without conforming to mainstream songwriting. 

The last song "Life Hack' is a head bobber, it's short and sweet. There sounds like there are some organic qualities like a guitar on it, but it could just be tones sampled into a digital audio workstation. It is more about the beats than the storytelling, though the samples do have a narrative they are unfolding. I will give this album a 9. I have high expectations when it comes to electronic music, as I hold all music to the same standards, no matter if your drums are coming from a laptop or a kit, and this project excedes those expectations making it one of the better electronic album's I've heard this year, granted it's industrial adjacent enough to give my dark tastes what they need. 

Thanks for reading, give a listen to the song below, and  please "like" and share on social media to give music a voice 

https://www.facebook.com/abysmalhymns

Check out our Podcast here ... https://www.youtube.com/@abysmalhymns666

pst398

The Top 10 Electronic Albums of 2024

The Electronic albums list covers music that is less organic than what is on other lists, without being pop music. There is a little more button-pushing this year but balanced out by songwriting rather than just cool sounds thrown together. Also, we have a little mix of synth wave, TRIP-HOP, and new wave projects leaning albums. These are not the coolest electronic albums, but the best, fuck what other blogs say. 

  After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of 2024. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Electronic albums of 2024.

10-Master Boot Record- "HARDWAREZ" 

 11 full-lengths into this project, things are getting bigger and more polished. How could they not? The mastermind behind this project is producer Victor Love, who after playing with a live band on tour decided to use actual live guitars in the studio, rather than just over-driven synths. Sonically this album works off the themes that fans are familiar with, some of the songwriting feels more mature 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/master-boot-record-hardwarez.html

9-EIVØR : "ENN" 

There is a difference between exploiting and embracing your culture. This Nordic siren might sing in her native tongue of Faroese, but she is not pulling out folk instruments to play Viking. She owes more to the ethereal darkwave acts of the 80s than any neo-folk. Ironically she is on tour with Heilung who are marketing geniuses despite their primitive shtick. The ambiance is thick, though she is not just about capturing a sound, she is capable of writing songs. It's closer to the dance floor than Enya, but there is a slight new-age meditative quality, even to the more sultry moments

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/03/eivr-enn.html

 

8-Haunted Plasma- "I"

This Finnish band features members of a guest Oranssi Pazuzu and Grave Pleasures, which was enough to lure me in for a listen, Their sound broods in the realm of darker synth music but has enough melody in its drone to appeal to me. Not the kind of music you are quick to associate with Finland, but the album works to capture the  intended mood 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/haunted-plasma-i.html

 

          

7-JUSTICE- "Hyperdrama" 

This slick button-pushing take on disco is almost too happy for me. But respect what these guys do as songwriters and it made me willing to give the album a chance. Maybe this is what gay clubs are playing these days. If not it should be. Not only was this better than expected it is also one of the better electronic albums I've heard this year.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/justice-hyperdrama.html

 

6-Kite- "VII" 

This grandiose synth duo from Sweden has released a lot of singles but has yet to produce a full-length album despite having been an ongoing project for the past 16 years, They have assembled their singles and compiled them here into this album. They are highly skilled at grooves and big sprawling atmospheres, so those skills are showcased here. The vocals are oddly androgynous but work well on the anthemic  jams. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/gothtober-kite-vii.html

5-Ulver- "Liminal Animals" 

Rygg is back on the tip of the smooth groove, making music that comes close to the 80s homage synth-wave bands are making these days. But with a dusky winter haze cast as he coasts down the beachside highway of life, these songs are cruising. Lyrically things are getting darker and more dystopian. He has been watching the news. Took time to grow on me but sunk in. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/ulver-red-light.html

 

4-Amiture - "Mother Engine" 

It's an odd blend of 90s styles that in some ways reminds me of the  Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, as electronic beats are set against more organic melodies.  The vocals have a great deal of emotion to their croon, and the atmosphere draped around the song is thick. I like all the sounds that are in play here. This album feels dark, but not in a goth sense, it is possessed by the loneliness of a solitary road trip. If Luscious Jackson had been a depressed man who wandered the open highways of upstate New York a similar feeling would have been invoked. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/amiture-mother-engine.html

 

3-Underworld - "Strawberry Hotel" 

The 11th album from the British electronica icons feels like everything you expect from them. The familiar way they build their songs but then find them incorporating new sounds and dynamics into that formula, which is really all you can ever ask for from an artist like this.I appreciate their willingness to try new things even this late in their career. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/underworld-strawberry-hotel.html

 

2-Chelsea Wolfe -" She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She"

Wolfe's 8th album, yes we are counting "Mistake in Parting" finds her diving into more of a trip-hop feel. That is a trip-hop that is thicker on the trip than the hop. It is propelled by slinky electronic beats and it captures a great mood, though I did prefer the songs on this album when she presented them in her stripped-down ep "Unbound" 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/chelsea-wolfe-she-reaches-out-to-she.html

1-Snow Strippers -"Night Killaz 2" 

producer Graham Perez, and singer Tatiana Schwaninger. have totally killed it here, sonically it's almost like a cross between Charli XCX and Grimes, but on old-school techno drugs. This glitched-out more experimental take on electronica finds the emphasis is on the beats and soundscapes being woven here. Tatiana is not the greatest singer, but the secret to this album lies in how her voice is presented. She has her own charisma in her persona. An infectious listen that got as much playtime as faves like the Cure and Taylor Swift. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/snow-strippers-night-killaz-vol-2.html

pst632

Amiture : "Mother Engine"

 

This album came out in February, so I am just now catching up with it. It's an odd blend of 90s styles that in some ways reminds me of the  Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, as electronic beats are set against more organic melodies.  The vocals have a great deal of emotion to their croon, and the atmosphere draped around the song is thick. I like all the sounds that are in play here. This album feels dark, but not in a goth sense, it is possessed by the loneliness of a solitary road trip. If Luscious Jackson had been a depressed men who wandered the open highways of upstate New York a similar feeling would have been invoked. 

They are down with the 90s beats for sure. But they are not just obsessed as they are capturing seedy places in the moonlight. 'Billy's Dream" feels a little more like Nick Cave covering "Army of Me".  The more emotive croon to the vocals of "Law * Order" provides a counterpoint to the more organic blues-based instrumentation. The more head register-focused vocals of "Collector" create a more Radiohead-like vibe. Sometimes, they make me think of a darker take on Shudder to Think. Once again this version of darkness creeping in is more depressive and has none of the goth spookiness. The guitars are steamy on "HWL" to give things a more trip-hop feel. 

"Baby" has a more electronic pulse which causes it to bump more like Love & Rockets. This is pushed further in the Daniel Ash direction with the hushed baritone vocal giving a breathy plea over things.  Though the vocals take on a more dramatic croon for "Dirty", things go even further in the early 90s electro-rock direction. It's the kind of sexy music you might expect in a vigilante movie where they go give a drug dealer an ultimatum in the club. Speaking of drug dealers "Cocaine" is in an even more trip-hop direction. It feels more like the morning after a cocaine binge when you are still awake and everyone else has passed, and it's the loneliest sunrise ever. If you can relate to that feeling this album is for you. 

"American Flag" finds the vocals taking on more fragile desperation as the guitars brood in pentatonics.  The slithering groove of this bleeds with the kind of pain that leaves you feeling hollow inside. Perhaps the most gloom is save for the last song which feels like you are floating out into dark waters, looking up at the night sky before deciding to just let yourself drown. This is a beautiful album with the kind of desperate yearning I want from music it takes me back to the 90s and with all the angst y introspective those days held, I will give it a 10. 

 

  `

pst409

Chelsea Wolfe : " She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She"

 

Wolfe's 8th album, yes we are counting "Mistake in Parting" finds her diving into more of a trip-hop feel. That is trip-hop that is thicker on the trip than the hop. Tv on the Radio guitarist Dave Sitek is the wild card in the creation of this album. It opens with  "Whispers in the Echo Chamber", which is less of a surprise than the tempo drive to "House of Self Undoing". This gives it more of a 90s feel like recall bands like Curve. "Everything Turns Blue" was also released ahead of the album, so it was less than a surprise as well. Her voice is front and center, and it is yet another song that is bound to draw comparisons to Portishead. 

The most conventional approach to songwriting she takes thus far can be heard in "The Luminal". It holds a steady groove, and melodic hook without descending into the kind of murky ambiance that is this album's calling card. Both choices are equally effective here. Things do not get really experimental until "Eyes Like Nightshade". Her fragile vocals drift over an assortment of sounds that might even feel avant-garde on a Bjork album. This is a purposefully disjointed excursion into playing with sounds. One that might even have to grow on me, though I appreciate her willingness to experiment.   

A song like "Salt' resonates with me more, as the vocal melody is solid enough to warrant a more minimalist accompaniment. There remains a languid desperation in her voice that really sells me on it. I really like the exotic grandiosity of "Unseen World" that really grabs you. She wanders off into an almost Tori Amos-like balladry for "Place in the Sun". The album closes with "Dusk" which she released back in September. It's a great song that needed a second to listen to fully click, though the guitar solos at the end are cool. 

This album flows with her body of work. Nothing feels out of her wheelhouse. It is going to take a few listens for the more experimental moments to really click with me, but the moods she invokes are once again welcome. I will round this up to a 10, I foresee it getting a great deal of play from me, and have already sat with the lead singles for some time, so none of this was a surprise except for the deeper cuts. 

 

pst65

Hollow Sunshine : "Bible Sea"

<
The drugs must have really kicked in on this one as gone is the last shadow of the band they used to be on the previous album and now there is a more electronic vibe taking over. Things grow a shade darker on "Masks of Saturn", though the vocal melodies don't have as much invested in them. With each song it sounds like the album is slipping into a deeper and more distant lethargy with the delicate hesitancy of the title track making a project like Massive Attack seem upbeat in comparison. There is more focus to the song writing of "Jewel After Another" that floats out of the more trip hop feel into something closer to a sedated Cocteau Twins.

The pace picks up rather marginally with a distorted synth that reminds me of the backing track to "the Hills" by the Weeknd. He verses seem very clear cut in their direction. Lyrically it's all rather vague. Most of this is due to where the vocals sit in the mix. This keeps the album from coming across poppy, but also keeps the lyrics in a veil of secrecy. Things become more obscured in a misty murk on "Hades" that closes the album. The vocals become another texture thanks to the opaque production which really only provide clarity to the more tribal beat layered over the song. I'll give this album a 9. I quit doing drugs years ago so I am not sure how much use I would get out of some of the moods created here, but I'll likely give this a shot on my iPod. Fans of forward thinking shoe gaze will like the new direction this duo has taken and it's a good lazy album to nap to by the pool this summer.