Latex Records

01. Televised
02. Reminders
03. Slow Cascade
04. Forgiven
05. The Debate
06. Ruin
07. Sentinel
08. Stand Up
09. Hindsight
10. Delete

Light it Up features guest appearances from Frank Spinath of Seabound and Victoria Lloyd of HMB, Monochrome and Claire Voyant. Founded by J. Ned Kirby in the early 1990′s, Stromkern (including Kelly Shaffer) have created a unique sound in the Electro-Industrial genre by combining hip-hop vocals and ryhthms with classical compositions and post-industrial rock.

One of the things that really stand out to me personally on this album is not just the danceable rhythms combined with the hard electro-industrial themes and styles, but also the addition of piano to this mix. As a fan of keyboard music in general, be it electronic or acoustic, I absolutely love the way Ned combines these elements. I’ve been looking at various tracks by several artists who have used piano in unexpected ways with music styles that it might not normally be associated with traditionally and find Ned’s to be one of the most appealing combination to me personally. There are not many in the Industrial genre who have done this and the first you might think of is Trent Reznor. However, Ned’s work does not become so melodramatic and instead is a smooth combination where the piano accompanies the Electro rather than taking over the mood of it. I hope he continues this with future releases as I’m a huge fan of it. The most melodramatic track, and also a great standout, is probably “Hindsight” featuring Victoria Lloyd of Claire Voyant. However, the softer side of the female vocals and piano is contrasted by heavy rock guitar. Love this track!!

This album is by far my favorite so far by Stromkern and is the one that turned me onto the band to begin with causing me to buy all his previous releases. However, this one stands out far and above his previous releases and I believe he will only get better. As for his use of hip-hop vocals, do not let this confuse you into thinking this is anything but pure hard electro-industrial because it is not some candy-coated hip-hip BS at all. Instead, think of Uberbyte as an example maybe. Though Stromkern’s “Stand Up” came first! Don’t forget it!

This is an excellent album for the Electro, Industrial, and EBM genres and is not only my favorite by Stromkern but is actually one of my favorite releases in the genre overall. This will likely go down as an all-time fave!! Definitely worth checking out!!! This is very well put together and the contrasting elements cleanly combined while maintaining a hard edge.

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01. Numbness In My Eyelids
02. Distinct Darlings
03. Deliverance (org. mix)
04. Pills, Drum ‘n’ Bass
05. Generation Morphine
06. Deathrow Delight
07. I Don’t Have Feelings For Her
08. The Peöple Got Me
09. Suede Denim Secret Police Theme
10. Lose What’s Not Even There
11. 12305
12. Deathrow Delight (lose end version)
13. The Peöple Got Me (electric-body mix)

Ö’dem is a one-man project by Vomitus (co-founder of Mindwerk Records). This debut release was initially intended to include lyrics composed by ABN-PAN of Dead State 81. However, the vocals never made it to the tracks and Vomitus plugged on continuing alone. Thus it became an industrial styled instrumental with ambient moods and Noise elements.

There are some bits that have what I can only think of as ‘empty’ spaces where the use of vocals would have really made the track something not to be shrugged at as it seems the original structures were not entirely changed for an instrumental release. There are some great moments on this release like “Suede Denim Secret Police Theme” which has some really bounce-heavy grooves. Despite the lack of intended vocals, tracks like “Deathrow Delight” make excellent instrumentals. Eclectic ambient industrial rock grooves fill this track. There are many unique quirks about this disc that will probably not be copied on future Ö’dem releases and there are some tracks here which I’d like to see future releases of including vocals.

At times Vomitus reminds me much of the likes of cEvin Key’s recent projects. Very experimental, eclectic Industrial elements combined in unusual fashions that always remain smooth and imaginative. Sometimes robotic and sometimes nightmarish but always creative. Ö’dem and Mindwerk Records are entities which deserve the future observance of the Industrial music scene and may well bring new light to old styles as well as take the genre in new directions.

© Copyright 11/2001 TG Mondalf. All Rights Reserved

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