Salford Electronics Bandcamp Raid!

Salford Electronics Bandcamp Raid.

Since the end of the Grey Wolves, Dave Padbury has concentrated on his solo project Salford Electronics. I often imagine Padbury living in a large tower block in Salford making these tracks late at night or in the twilight hours, are these tracks diaries of a daily existence?

I bought and reviewed the CD of Communique No.2 that was released on Tesco last year, I would describe it in these times as a soundtrack to somewhere that simultaneously exists in the future and now, a dystopian now, I’d also call it the soundtrack to insomnia during the lonely early morning hours. I reviewed Communique No.2 and liked it a lot, so I have decided to carry out a Bandcamp raid on this project and review select titles. I have been meaning to for some time, but in late March 2020, this is now the perfect time.

In total there have been five Communiques released between 2016 and 2020, as well as frequent individual tracks that appear online and there have been two physical releases on Tesco Organisation and Hospital Productions as well as a few compilation appearances.

Salford Electronics - Communique 1 – 2016 – Digital Release – SECOMM1

Communique 1 was the first Salford Electronics release in 2016, it consists of various tracks that were recorded in 2015. I’d been revisiting Communique 2 over the last week in preparation for the overview and it is downbeat in comparison to Communique 1, this has prominent beats and optimistic overtones, the subtle use of noise and vocal speech samples that are used add a voice to the work. Wavering distortion and warbling noise play over the harmonies and beats that populate tracks.

This carries on from where GW left off, beats populated Exit Strategy, here they thrive and flourish. When I got Exit Strategy and Communique 2, I had been reviewing a lot of beat driven noise work and understood it immediately, this is the maturation of Exit Strategy. I found Exit Strategy had a marmite effect when I posted a pic of it on Social Media, some loved it, some whined it – with the emergence of projects Cut Hands, Soft Kill and the beats that grew in artists like Prurient, I didn’t understand why, there are many different shifts happening at one time in the noise underground, often too many to comprehend at once. Communique 1 doesn’t have the absolute focus and clarity of atmosphere that Communique 2 has, but it is the livelier, more aggressive, dirty entry of the project that gets to grips firmly with its themes. A strong beginning to the project, but  I am left with another question, is this a secret dance past being reminisced about, whilst simultaneously being forged into a new future.

Salford Electronics – Communique 3 – 2018 – Digital Release – SECOMM3

Communique 3 consists of selected works recorded between 2017 – 18. My first impression of Communique 3 is Northern liveliness that seems to push back in time whilst simultaneously being rooted in the present. It seems to be reference to the riots across the country a few years ago but it could easily be the Poll Tax riots of decades gone. I also get the impression of exploring a different (or similar) side of the self, maybe the actual realisation and reality of breaking societies rules. This is again livelier than Comm 2, beat and noise combinations are developed and actualised even further.  

Some tracks pull back to very slow pace into deep atmospherics as they pulsate the listener gets pulled deeper into the album. Minimalism kicks in, so beats and samples echo off each other to form spacious, exhausted atmospheres whilst voice samples and film samples converse to form a nocturnal dialogue of discontent that spreads across the album. In its later stages the sound becomes haunted as it strips back further. I am left with questions - is Communique 3 the disco of discontent or a soundtrack to subversion?

Salford Electronics – Communique 5 – 2020 – Digital Release – SECOMM5.

Communique 5 is the most recent album, made of selected works from 2019 – 20. This is the most fully realised Salford Electronics album, the sound is immediately bigger, the bass is deeper, and the atmospherics are more cutting. Padbury does slice into the sound with sharp noises and hisses, I don’t know if there was an equipment upgrade in-between Communiques, but this one seems to have a better, bigger sound with a sharp mix thrown in.  There is frequent and playful use of bouncy beats, interrupted by samples throughout the album.

Relentless is the projects best combination of noise and beats to excellent effect. The rhythm is sharp and cuts through the sound like noise, the hiss just seems to form a base. When the atmosphere is as minimal as it can be, the sound and depth still seems huge. Communique 5 demonstrates sharper clarity, depth which intensifies the work of Salford Electronics to new levels.

Various Recent Individual tracks on the Salford Electronics Bandcamp.

Collapse – February 23, 2020 – Download.

Collapse seems to revel in Dark Ambient atmospherics, it still feels like a Cityscape at once futuristic and atmospheric.  Padbury’s previous project Grey Wolves did intense atmospheric slow tracks away from their livelier violent assaults at times, Salford Electronics continues that. The harmonies emphasize sorrow, as the atmospherics create a Barren landscape of sound, no beats, just punctuated emptiness.

Destitute – March 10, 2020 – Download.

This again has no beats or liveliness, just atmospherics created through contrasting drones and phone like interruptions of sound. This is also different, it that it seems to form an event rather than an imagined landscape, is this something I missed on the Communiques as it is the first time that I have noticed this.

Still – March 23, 2020 – Download.

Are these Self Isolating times a time of productivity for Salford Electronics? Repetitive beats are cut into with double tracked beats and interruptions of noise. The work seems to resonate on the beat for a long time, allowing only a minimal palette of sound to work around it – the focus on the beats repetition without tainting it too much or too often is a frequent theme in Salford Electronics.

I feel I have gained a wider understanding of Salford Electronics and really dived into it. I missed right out on The Grey Wolves, but I am right here for this. I have indulged into a good selection of the projects body of work and remain very impressed. All works by Salford Electronics are available here - https://salfordelectronics.bandcamp.com/

Nevis Kretini 2020. 

Links.

Salford Electronics Bandcamp - https://salfordelectronics.bandcamp.com/

Hospital Productions - https://hospitalproductions.bandcamp.com/album/deconstruction

Salford Electronics twitter - https://twitter.com/salfordelectron

Communique No 2 on Tesco -  https://tescogermany.bandcamp.com/album/communique-no-2

Salford Electronics - Communique No. 2

Salford Electronics – Communique No. 2 – Tesco Organisation Germany – CD/DL- Tesco 117 – 2017.

https://salfordelectronics.bandcamp.com/

https://tescogermany.bandcamp.com/album/communique-no-2

     1.    Neon Rain.

     2.    Prestwich.

     3.    Cease to Function.

     4.    Broken Shadows.

     5.    Ritual No.6.

     6.    This Sickness.

     7.    Lost Transmission.

     8.    Another Place.

     9.    Capitulation.

    10.  Getting the Fear.

I’ve been sat on this album for a few months, When I ordered a Grey Wolves CD, I decided to also see what Dave Padbury does now, so I got Communique No. 2 as well as a Grey Wolves album (Exit Strategy), both oddly enough tie in well together as that is the end and this is the now. This ties into my ‘now’ massively, through my interest on the blog in fractured, moder atmospheres of projects like Occulting Light and Tetsuo coupled with my personal obsession with Tower Block Flats this work appeals to me.

To trace the timeline, I must go back to The Grey Wolves, for example their contribution to the Death Odours compilation - Riddled with Cancer (as I only have little bits of GW). This is a classic example of the more ambient side of The Grey Wolves that existed, as did the more aggressive Power Electronics side. Also if you listen to the Broken Techno of Exit Strategy, you hear a rich atmosphere that also exists in the straight ambient material too, it was indeed an exit strategy, but in a way bits of the old project that were always there carried on into Salford Electronics. I needed to say that, but I also need to get back to Salford Electronics.

When I think of Salford Electronics, I think to the Twitter account that seems to post images of buildings, particularly Tower Block flats, graffiti that points towards social unrest. Most of these images are from the past, they seem to often be based in Manchester. I often wonder, does the creator of this music come from or live in Salford, perhaps live in a tower block making these sounds at 1.00am in the morning walking around at odd hours for inspiration?

The music on Communique No 2, is rich and atmospheric, not just ambient, more of a soundtrack. It’s described as Bladerunner like and futuristic, I believe the project jars the then and now of Salford, of Manchester. It’s a walk, late at night around the city, seeing the lights, the shops, the houses and remembering what was once there.

When I play this, I feel that it looks back to past events in places. I question is it best to walk around Salford in the early hours listening to this to get the full picture? I scrolled the Twitter as I played this and the images and sound just jarred off each other. As daunting as some of the images are, they are also intensely beautiful.

The electronic soundtrack element is rich, when I play this I feel like it’s midnight and I haven’t slept, I feel this music makes perfect sense during those times and fits in well with the Autumn season. The deep drones seem to resonate, as if a long urban landscape, some of the electronics resonate night activity and rain. I feel the music resonates the beauty of the past and present as if in awe of the coldness of different times and locations. I find myself lost in the work when playing it, at times I am submerged in it.

In terms of my relation to the sounds and the images, I think this is a rich album that fuels the imagination. I feel more visuals are needed with the album, but they are also out there to find. There are other Communiques on the Bandcamp for me to investigate. I may have waffled about the past and wanted to get more of it, but instead I got smacked with everything that is great about the sound of now. Get this CD before it sells out.

Nevis Kretini 2019. 

Detrimental Effect - Your Truth.

Detrimental Effect – Your Truth – CD/Download – Tesco Records – 2019 – Tesco 137.

Detrimental Effect is a Germany based, one-man project that has been releasing albums since 2017. There have been two releases on Unsound Productions (aka Unrest) – To Brandon Bryant (2017) and Be My Enemy (2018). ‘Your Truth’ is the project’s third release and first on Tesco. The album deals with the wider spectrum of media and political distortions/versions of Truth and what Truth is to individual people. – this furthers out to the effect and divide that this has on populations.

Your Truth is an album that begins with a sense of restraint, it stays in the simmering zone in its early stages. There are hostile atmospherics to the early tracks on the album, demonstrated to good effect - the fucked off vocals that overlay this do work well within the whole mix.

Cruel-Fiction allows a repetitive beat and recordings of dialogue to play off each other, there is a slight buzzing that interferes with and teases this. That is then followed by looping electronics and a distorted dialogue that along with slight, subtle noises intensify the sound.  I like the contrast of tracks using just samples and noise against tracks where it is vocals and noise, this allows a wider sonic dialogue. There is a very good use of Power Electronics noise, twerky, farty, distorted noises that threaten, particularly on the title track Your Truth. The way the shouted vocals are restrained in the mix is excellent, it works very well on Gloves are Off, this is a hard thing to do, particularly as the album really begins to intensify in its latter stages.

Further tension grows as recorded speeches and screechy noises play off each other in The Lie of the Lands, here the noise plays a more prominent role, reed like noises become pure torture as the speech intensifies. The nature of torturous noise continues into Final Truth, without explosion or delving into displays of Harsh Noise this is as intense as it gets – tension close to breaking point. The final track simmers away with distant dialogue and murky electronics as vocals are reigned further in as if they are drowning in a distorted mud, this continues with resonating synthesisers until its death.

Your Truth is a very controlled, strong album. Restraint in Power Electronics can sometimes fail, this is always held back perfectly. As a result of this, the slightest rises in sound or changes throughout the album have a strong effect. This is my introduction to Detrimental Effect, I am very impressed and now a fan. I want to hear more of the projects work for sure.

Nevis Kretini 2019.

Ke/Hil – Syndrome/Antidrome.

Ke/Hil – Syndrome/Antidrome- Tesco – LP/cassette – 2017 – Tesco 113

Side A.

1.    When comes such another.

2.    Farmed flesh.

3.    The trite of life.

4.    My soul is dead.

5.    Designed poverty.

Side B.

1.Men to Drome.

Dusty Ruins.

3. Alone Kind.

4. Adumbration of man.

5. Clear sight on no land.

The stoic virtue of steadiness must lead to silence in its most extreme case. Isolation in silence.

Quote on the back of Syndrome/Antidrome.

I was thinking a lot about doing this review as it is tough reviewing a project you aren’t that familiar with. I was keen to review this as I’m a recent convert to GO’s work and Ke/Hil is two members of the said project. This album has sat on my shelf for quite a few months. Ages in fact. As with most releases on this label, they need a lot of thought as they are so confrontational.

I’d gone for a few walks over this time. I have a long-held fascination with tower blocks/flats those gigantic structures holding hundreds of family homes. Monuments to the living ideals of decades past that are always there and always relevant; even more so now in the wake of the tragic Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017. I always take photos of various tower blocks when I see them on my walks as they amaze me, they signify various points in my own past. I visited in flats, played in flats, fought in flats and ran for my life down the stairs of those flats. Due to this, they have a massive emotional resonance. Pillars of pure isolation. Cold, images of Tower Blocks and Flats dominate landscape on the covers of Syndrome/Antidrome. Staring at these gigantic, compressed living areas gave me a way into this album.

 

The first side of the album demonstrates long passages of cold, repetitive electronics. Drones, slow beats and echoing noise build an image of the hard landscape of tower blocks. The album certainly alludes to the failure of the tower block as a project. Farmed Flesh, Designed Poverty and My soul is dead are sonic poems about the isolation, humiliation and emptiness tower block life can bring.

Voice samples are abstract, are they representative of what Blocks of Flats became? Is it the true intentions of the projects? Are they the tortured screams the residents? The arguments and shouts are inaudible during which some of the urgent, taunting electronic methods of Genocide Organ pop through. Murky abstracted sound eventually builds clear pictures. The albums description reads like Science Fiction made from present day reality. It could easily be the tower blocks in Blade Runner, Judge Dread or today.

Death radiates through hums and drones, I don’t know what the vocals say a lot of the time, but they constantly signify pain and despair. The dialogue of My Soul is Dead breaks this as the beats clearly draw a picture of the desolation of empty dwellings. Whose Soul is Dead; resident or building?

The second side of the album seems to pull back into itself further allowing for foreground sounds and vocals to create a wider space and deeper sense of desolation. Vocals and loops seem more excited than the previous side which seems to suggest a rise from the desolation, or an alternate state of being in what already is. There are more ambient qualities, which make side 2 simultaneously abstracted and direct. Pulsations and radiating sounds shift the listener into the different stages of each soundtrack which serve as a platform for lengthy dialogues backed by minimal collages of sound. Things occasionally get busier, only to break it down into bleaker acts of despair. The vocals sound as if they are broadcasted into enforced emptiness, is it a voice too late, has this society already failed too far down the line? ‘Clear sight on no man’s land’ certainly tries to reach out, kicking off until it dies into an ending.

Good bleak electronics, reviewed in my coldest room for full effect. This album does mash up genres and sounds to exist in its’ own muddy threatening territory. Great work.

Choppy Noodles 2017.

Tesco website 

Tesco Bandcamp 

United Forces of Industrial IV London 29.04.2017.

United Forces of Industrial IV London 29.04.2017.

UFoI setlist.

Attending the Saturday of United Forces at Electrowerkz in London was a bittersweet event. The impressive footage  of the previous night makes me very aware I only saw one great night of two. EDGE OF DECAY, ARMOUR GROUP, SHIFT/KOUFAR, KEVLAR and KE/HIL were all said to be on impressive form. 

Military Position is the project of Australian based artist Kate Harriet Morgan. PVC clad and pissed off Morgan gave an angry set that combined harsh, repetitive electronics and rabid vocals. Knives and chains were rubbed against contact mics until they gave out. Military Position’s set intensified to a climatic end with Morgan swinging way too closely at the audience with her chain. The institution themed background film’s female narrative wasn’t present, it was replaced by Military Position’s fucked off, threatening barrage. Morgan was confident, strong and in-control. Her set was impressive through its’ sheer dominance and aggression.

She Spread Sorrow is Italian based Alice Kundalini, formerly of Deviated Sister TV, has released one album ‘Rumspringa’ on Cold Spring and is soon to release ‘Mine’ on the same label. Her whispered vocals and low level Deathscapes worked in perfect conjunction with her background videos. They featured a young girl moving and posing in a kind of abstract narrative that was contextualised further by Kundalini’s whispers and chimes as electronics rumbled and echoed in the low levels. She Spread Sorrow delivered a fractured nightmare of a performance, clearly a leader and not a follower. 

Haare is the project of Ilkka Vekka from Finland. For this live appearance Haare was a duo, with another guy on laptop and electronics while Vekka played guitar. The guitar work was digital and affected, it wasn’t all riffs and solos, more in line with how Sutcliffe Jügend use electric guitar. The set was abstract, psychedelic, occult laden topped with complex visuals. I had a 'whatever' attitude to Vekka's crowd glaring, but the confrontational, menacing factor added another dimension to their layered performance. The sound was slow and expansive with a lot of intricacies gradually woven in as it constantly shifted and developed. 

Isomer from Australia was one of the most surprising acts, in contrast to the online tracks I have heard, David Tonkin’s performance had a compressed, hidden emotive, layered quality. Tonkin was an impressive frontman, but that indescribable something woven deep into the sound was there.  It wasn’t anger or aggression, but something other; a deep and heavy context which you could close your eyes and absorb as the core of the performance. Sharp, repetitive frequencies and contact mic abuse built things up. Isomer is well worthy of further investigation; another epic performance to the night.

 Isomer photo by
Marcin Klimek.

Following such a solid batch of impressive younger acts, headliners Genocide Organ had a lot to live up to. Past glories of the last 30 years wouldn’t be enough after what came earlier in the night, tonight was the acid test. I was immediately thrown as G.O. didn’t wear masks as I thought they would. The four members combined electronic noise that immediately ripped into an impressive set that was a barrage of their trademark abrupt, urgent style of Power Electronics. Both lead singers took turns to whip the audience into an intense frenzy, Wilhelm Herich on the edge of the stage shouting into the audience which stirred things up and slight chaos began to erupt. I don’t know what happened, the audience became further frenzied into a pit as Genocide Organ dug well into their back catalogue right from Leichenlinie up to Obituary of the Amerikas. I was impressed by their direct audience manipulation/confrontation. Genocide Organ’s complex, multi-faceted collective sense of self intensified the night’s proceedings relentlessly through layered visuals that consistently intensified the atmosphere. This brought United Forces of Industrial 2017 to an impressive and frenzied finale. 

Choppy Noodles 2017

all photos by me, Isomer one used by kind permission of Marcin Klimek.

Links:

Unrest Productions 

Unrest Facebook 

Trapdoor Tapes 

Isomer Facebook
She Spread Sorrow Bandcamp 
She Spread Sorrow Wordpress