We Have a Technical

The site might be on hiatus for the annual holiday break, but we're still gonna be recording the recently established traditional "Pick 5 songs from this year" episode of We Have a Technical. Find out which songs by acts not represented on our Year End list tickled our fancies, along with some broad discussion of how they relate to broader trends and styles we're interested in!

As is traditional, we're capping off our Year End Coverage with a discussion of our Top 25 list, as well as getting into some statistical analysis of the last 12 years of this exercise and of course our honourable mentions. This episode was produced under slightly adverse circumstances as our production box bit the dust minutes before recording, so it may sound a little rougher than normal (althou...

This week's We Have A Technical is a bit of a housecleaning episode, as we're talking about our favourite record of the year which fits just outside of our normal purview - Endure by Special Interest - and discussing how a recent live tape from Rhys Fulber got us thinking about that legendary producer's work in some new ways.

The two albums format has us shifting from an Oz goth debut in Ikon's In The Shadow Of The Angel to a US electro swansong in Alter Der Ruine's I Will Remember It All Differently . We'e also talking about the just announced line-up for next year's Verboden Fest, and catching SRSQ live.

This iteration of our ever popular Pick Five format has us casting our minds back to the days before we were the worldly and jaded connoisseurs of all things goth and industrial we are today. We're each picking five 'precursor' experiences; points of contact with various elements of what would go on to be Our Thing before we truly understood or recognized it.

As selected by our Patreon backers, this month's commentary subject is Re-constriction Records' 1993 covers comp  Shut Up Kitty . A document of both the emerging US coldwave sound as well as larger trends in 90s alt music, it's a mixed bag in terms of quality, but as we hope this discussion shows, holds real value to those fascinated by the evolution of industrial sub-genres and themes. 

This week's episode of We Have A Technical features an interview with none other than London After Midnight mastermind and all around goth icon Sean Brennan, who's joining us to discuss the band's new Oddities Too compilation, as well as the band's different eras and aesthetic dimensions over the years. We're also discussing Synth Kids , Thomas Z Westerberg's graphic novel about coming of age in S...

We're joined on the podcast by Jill Sheridan and Eric Oehler of long-running midwest synthpop act Null Device to discuss their new record, The Emerald Age . Between broader world events and shifts in the band's philosophy, Null Device's sound has changed and matured a great deal in recent years, and we were keen to get Eric and Jill's sense of the band's relation to the nebulous notion of synthpop...

It doesn't get much more broad or accessible than a discussion of records by Joy Division and The Cure, but to put a particular spin on this episode we're each discussing our favourite live record by our favourite band. There's also some discussion of the peculiar and hotly discussed Sick New World festival line-up on this week's podcast.

On the occasion of this past week's Kanga/Kaelan Mikla show, we're using this podcast as an opportunity to discuss the experience of watching bands change and grow over the course of multiple live performances. Does a band become more loose or more theatrical over time? How does a band's live evolution differ from their discography's? Do you "owe" an act a second chance after a mediocre show? All...

This month's We Have A Commentary has the Senior Staff flipping back through musty old scrapbooks both personal and historical, as they discuss Rasputina's debut LP,  Thanks For The Ether . It's a rich record both capturing and countering the 90s alternative zeitgest, which touches on the lives of working class women, the horrors of fame, and the most peculiar corners of history. 

On this week's podcast we're joined by Jack Armondo to talk about Psychogoria , the big and sweeping new record of darkwave and goth from Panic Priest. It's a record marked as much by AM radio hooks as it is darkwave atmosphere, and Jack had plenty of thoughtful insight about his influences, the malleability of Panic Priest, and the very serious business of fun during lockdown. We're also chatting...

It's a two albums episode this week, with FLA's forays into game soundtracking and the high-modernist deathrock of Cinema Strange up for discussion. We're also recapping set we caught from the likes of Front 242, New Order, and Pet Shop Boys.

The ascent of Italo disco and related sounds within the broader world of body music has been in effect for a year or two now, and we're more than happy about that fact. That's why this week's podcast is dedicated to Italo disco and the strange ways in which that most summery, upbeat, and melodic of genres shares a parallel history and countless fans with ostensibly darker and harsher genres like i...

It's a classic two albums episode of the podcast this week, and there's a pretty wide gulf between our selections. The melting-pot approach to industrial rock taken on Circle Of Dust's Disengage , incorporating nu metal, breaks, and plenty other alternative sounds of the 90s is very far removed from the oppressive and bleak approach to post-punk taken by Porl King's In Death It Ends project on For...

Back home and at least somewhat rested, Alex and Bruce are giving a full run-down of this past weekend's mammoth four day iteration of Chicago's Cold Waves festival, topped off with a trio of performances from undisputed masters of EBM. 

Inspired by a conversation with DJ Major Tom of Seattle, we're switching up our venerable Pick Five format on this week's podcast. In this "Prompt Five" episode, we'll each be prompting the other to react to hypothetically hearing a range of tracks in a nightclub in 2022. Which club classics prompt eyerolls from the jaded Senior Staff and which might still send us dashing to the dancefloor? How do...

Our monthly commentary podcast finds us pondering mortality and the passage of time with David Tibet and a broad and motley crew of Current 93 collaborators on 1988's Earth Covers Earth . One of the most unified and direct statements in Tibet's sprawling discography and equally fluid poetics, Earth Covers Earth prompts discussion of the aims of neo-folk, the less savory of Tibet's musical partners...

The passing of Metropolis Records founder Dave Heckman has been keenly felt by countless people in dark alternative music across the world over the past several weeks. To get a better sense of who Dave was and how he built and operated Metropolis Records, we're joined by label manager Jim Smith as well as several other friends and associates of Dave's. We also suggest checking out ReGen Magazine's...

We're joined this week by the charming duo of DJs Hate Mior and Vernal Trash of Darkness Forever Toronto. The pair spoke with us at Terminus about making the most out of streaming platforms during the pandemic, and how the communities built and lessons learned during lockdown can be carried forward into the future. We're also talking about recent live shows from Gary Numan, Leathers, and Actors, a...

After a healthy run of interviews, we're back to our classic two albums format for this week's podcast. We're talking about the anxious and aggressive EBM laid down by The Invincible Spirit on their debut LP "Current News", as well as some post-millennial futurepop right from 2004 courtesy of State Of The Union's "Inpendum".

This month's Patreon-supported commentary podcast finds the Senior Staff careening through the over-caffeinated mania of Wulfband's debut LP. Offering a unique spin on neo-oldschool EBM, the mysterious Swedish duo use a plethora of structural and programming tricks to keep things redlining for a full half hour, and Alex and Bruce do their best to highlight some of them as detuned synths and gramma...

Shannon Hemmett of Actors joins the podcast this week to talk about the development and upcoming live premiere of her other project, Leathers. We discuss the project's embracing of smoother shoegaze and electropop sounds, preparing its music for live audiences, and how the heavy touring sched of Actors has shaped her approach to songwriting. We're also talking about the news of Front 242 beginning...

Recorded just before her smashing performance at Terminus, this week on the podcast we're proud to bring you our interview with Louisahhh. Considered, impassioned, and substantive, this interview shares a great deal with the live rendering of music from her The Practice Of Freedom LP which Louisahhh brought to the stage in Calgary. We're also discussing the line-up of New York's just announced Fle...

Few first-time festival acts piqued our interest as much as Randolph & Mortimer, who made their North American debut at Terminus. The project's combination of groove-heavy EBM and subtly sardonic social commentary has intrigued us for years, and so we were delighted to sit down with Sam Evans to discuss how the project grew out of his backgrounds in techno and hardcore, as well as the socio-politi...