We Have A Technical

On this week's podcast we're looking at a pair of records which blend a number of goth-related subgenres and styles. First up is Australian veterans Ikon, with their excellent 1998 LP This Quiet Earth. Next, US synth act Fiction 8's Chaotical from 2000.

The glue of any good DJ set, bridge or transition tracks, are our focus on this week's episode of the podcast. We're each picking five song we use to bridge different moods, tempos, and genres in the club as seamlessly (?) as possible. This ended up being a really fun discussion which got us thinking consciously and attentively about something which often feels instinctual in the moment; we hope you enjoy it.

It's the classic two albums format on deck for the podcast this week, folks. First up, after the dissolution of the classic Klinik line-up, Marc Verhaeghen's attempt to find a balance between the project's past and future with 1992's Contrast is on the table. We're then jumping to a much more contemporary record, with the oddball pocket universe of Mellow Code's hybrid of EBM and synthpop on 2023's Objekt Reality. All that plus some fun news on the ID:UD merch front. 

It's time for one of our roving, topic-driven discussion podcasts, as we talk about what works and what doesn't in different genre hybridizations. From sub-genres which emerged out of the blending of styles, to artists within Our Thing reaching out to mainstream music's sounds of the day, to co-evolutionary histories in which two or more genres borrow back and forth from one another as each grows, we're talking about the good and the bad that can happen when you do cross the streams.

A two albums formatted episode of We Have A Technical ends up taking two very different detours into trance music, of all things. First, we're looking at the just remastered and digitally reissued sole LP from Portland duo Violet Arcana, 1994's In The Scene Of The Mind, which takes the road less travelled by slowing and stretching trance programming into psychedelic ethereality, and finding commonalities with contemporaneous downtempo approaches to electro-industrial and dark ambient. Next, 2012's Altered Creature by Fostercare has us flashing back to the aftermath of witch house, in which all manner of bands and producers were experimenting with the occult, sample-happy liberty that genre afforded, including Fostercare's grimy cyberpunk read on a wide range of classic rave styles.

This month's commentary podcast has us looking at a retrospective rerecording of selections from the catalog of Absolute Body Control - the Belgian minimal synth project helmed by Dirk Ivens and Eric Van Wonterghem in the years before the pair would go on to shape all manner of industrial-related sub-genres. Serving as an introduction to their sound to many (including us!), "Wind[Re]Wind" offered a chance to explore the roots of electronic pioneers while offering them the chance to rethink and represent their sound in light of their lengthy histories.

It's a slightly bulging at the seams episode this week, folks, with the Pick Five format yielding lots of talk, some of it slightly contentious. The concept has us choosing records we feel to be emblematic of the labels that released them, with the Senior Staff careening back and forth through history and across genres.

It's a classic two albums episode as we get back into the swing of the ID:UD sched here in 2026. First up, we're discussing the beginning of Die Sektor's experimentation with the well-trod aggrotech formula with 2011's Applied Structure In A Void. Next, the precisely minimal electro-EBM of Dejan Samardzic of Haujobb's solo DSX project is considered via its 2018 Soviet Synthesizer EP.

The last Foetus album in JG Thirlwell's uncompromising four-plus decade run under the fluid moniker has been released, and we're discussing Halt in detail on this week's podcast. What's changed and what hasn't with regards to Thirlwell's brand of misanthropy, as well as how his increasingly ambitious orchestral arrangements have been folded back into the free-roaming experimental industrial project are just some of the points we're touching upon.

We wanted to continue the tradition of having our December instalment of We Have A Commentary deal with an album well outside of Our Thing, and loved the idea of doing a "Weird Al" Yankovic LP. Al's been a huge influence on our lives and cultural tastes from a very young age, so the only question was which album we'd discuss. We turned things over to our Patreon backers, who selected Al's third record, 1985's Dare To Be Stupid. It's an end to end burner and gave us all sorts of opportunities to discuss both the minutiae and the broad strokes of what's made Al such a beloved and admired figure to us and so many others.

As a bit of a denouement to our Year End coverage, we're each picking five tracks we loved from the past year. There's maybe a bit of a club tilt to some (but not all) picks, and we're aiming for bands and releases not featured on either our Top 25 list or the honorable mentions discussed on last week's podcast. 

With our Top 25 records of the year up and discussed on the website, it's time for our annual year in review episode of We Have A Technical, where in addition to a quick look at the list itself, we're discussing some trends and statistics from the year that was, and each picking five honourable mention releases we wanted to ensure got some time and love as well. A reminder that written coverage on the site will be pausing for a couple of weeks over the holidays, but we'll keep the podcast coming on schedule to give you something to listen to when you need a break from your relatives.

As we careen towards Year End coverage we're using this week's podcast to get some formal comments down about new records by long-time deep scene acts in Corpus Delicti and Forma Tadre. The French goth rock act reformed a couple of years ago and their new record Liminal does a solid job of carrying on the qualities which distinguished them from their second wave peers, while new archival record Seven Century Factory is fascinating listening for die-hard fans of Andreas Meyer's work, serving as a missing link between very distinct eras in Forma Tadre.

An interview we've been meaning to put together for a long time finally came to fruition, with our friend Abelardo of The Invisible Orange joining us to discuss the state of live event promotion in 2025. From the differences between tiny and large shows to the boutique differences in promoting events to niche audiences corresponding to musical aesthetics, this is a getting into the weeds conversation we're very happy to offer to you. 

This month's commentary podcast has us winding the clock back to the days when futurepop still ruled club floors and when German act Rotersand were just beginning to make their way onto that arpeggio-laden territory. The band's 2003 debut "Truth Is Fanatic" absolutely holds up as an exemplar of the styles of the time, but as we learned and discussed in closely reexamining the record, also used a range of compositional and programming experimentation to plant its flag.

An alliteratively themed two albums episode has us discussing the debut LPs of House Of Harm and Multiple Man. We're digging into the former's infectious and well-executed melodic new wave, and the latter's restrained, aloof, and decidedly funky reinvention of the earliest of EBM sounds.

It's a Pick Five ep this week folks, and we're opting for a theme so basic and simple we had to triple check that we hadn't done it before: side projects. Ranging from overrated to criminally forgotten, we're looking at a slew of projects folks had running on the side, whether to explore different sounds or to avoid certain bandmates. 

We're looking at a pair of industrial records, albeit in fairly different styles on this week's podcast. First up, it's the 2007 reactivation of cult German act Individual Totem with their Mothfly record which broke from their hazy read on dark electro. Next, the 2019 LP by US BDSM terrorists Spit Mask, You May Feel Some Pressure is being revisited as we sit a fair distance away from the wave of new acts Spit Mask were (unfairly?) bundled in with. We're also talking about the promising lineup for next year's Grauzone fest and a recent Norillag show. 

It's an open topic episode of the podcast this week, as we're discussing what factors go into choosing songs for club play. Novelty vs. familiarity, immediacy, place within genre(s)…there's a lot underlying an art which, when it's done best, should feel as instinctive and natural as possible to those enjoying it.