Binary Park + Haujobb

While earlier in the year saw the release of the bands debut LP The Deviated see's Binary Park come into their own. Mixing the subtlety of the LP with a seemingly new found vocal energy works wonders for the band - go get this!

Earlier in the year Haujobb released The Dead Market E.P. with the promise of an album later on in the year. While this album dropped quite quietly it's worth a listen; laid back, distinctly Haujobb tracks await your listening pleasure!

Acretongue & Encephalon

There's a strange allure to finding new electronic artists, it's like you're a little kid playing in the woods for the first time - there's something magical about it. Acretongue is a band I've only recently heard, and while the groups 2011 LP Strange Cargo is utterly enthralling sometimes it's nice to start from the beginning of a bands discography. Luckily Nihil is completely free, go get it here.

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Awhile back I posted one of my absolute, all time favorite E.P's Drowner from the little known group Encephalon. Turns out the group's debut is finally here - everyone I give you The Transhuman Condition. It might be a bad thing to have high hopes before I've even delved into it, but I really think this is going to be an excellent debut - as large as the album art at the very least!

Soman, Surgyn, CTRL

Soman, being signed to the ProNoize label, have always been a band known for their hard hitting tracks. With their latest release, Noistyle, Soman tone down the beats and slow down for an album that shows signs of a band trying to evolve. From the guest vocals on "Side Chain" and "Skin Deep" to the minimalist (don't get all excited or you'll be in for a huge let down) cover of "Blue Monday" featuring Sarah Blackwood Soman seems to be changing, and I'm not sure if it's for the better. For a hard hitting song check out the title track, perhaps it may strike your fancy.

Surgyn are from Scottland, and it's cool to see somewhere not normally associated with industrial begin to make their mark. Being entirely self produced Vanity comes off quite clean, and the only real downfall is that nothing here is new to the avid industrial fan. It's worth a listen if you hunger for a new name and face however.

This has been shared before, but deserves the spotlight again.

While futurepop and synthpop can often leave the listener bored, it's a genre pitfall many a listener has to stomach when checking out new artists. When it seems as if every up and coming group wants to imitate the juggernauts vocally, and synth lines remain stale an undeveloped it really can be hard to listen to anything that looks a little bit too blase; luckily CRTL is luckier than the rest. CTRL's sound is, in a word, nostalgic. As E.P. opener "City" begins the nostalgia of acts long since past (Depeche Mode) and ones dear to many an electronic lovers heart (VNV Nation). Here are seven tracks that deserve your attention, that weep nostalgia.

VNV Nation - Automatic

Ah VNV... I don't want to talk about how this album makes me feel.
Try

Purchase

Ashbury Heights - Take Cair Paramour (2010)

Release Date: July 2, 2010

Call me crazy, but tag team of man and woman Ashbury Heights disappointed me with this album, Take Cair Paramour. However, if I were to dwell on the reason why you would have absolutely no reason to check this album out! But let's end off with a high note; their track Unbearable Beauty has GOT to be one of my favourite songs of 2010. Ah, I have you now...



Try it

Neuroticfish - No Instruments (1999)

THIS IS HOW FUTUREPOP IS DONE

Try it

Unitary - Safe From Harm

It's been a ridiculously long wait, but Unitary has finally released a new album - 12 tracks of futurepop goodness. But is it good?

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Solar Fake - Frontiers (2011)

Release Date: July 22, 2011

The newest album from the duo that combines futurepop with a few harsh elements. Wasn't expecting this to be excellent or anything, but Frontiers really exceeded my expectations by making it one of the better EBM albums of the year.

Try it

UnterART - Memento

While browsing youtube with a friend we stumbled on UnterART, and I can't emphasis enough how happy that made me. Sadly the band is now defunct (as far as I can find) but this just adds to the appeal; sounding like a mix of Icon Of Coil, Imperative Reaction, and featuring vocals slightly reminiscent of Covenant the group really is instantly catchy to anyone who has a grasp of the futurepop/industrial genre. The synths are driving, the tracks are layered, and slight additions such as guest vocalists make this a fun album to listen to. While I have yet to check out the bands debut I can easily see UnterART making it's way into the hearts of many new listeners.

Try Me

CTRL - Make Things Right (2011)

Release Date: June 1, 2011

On behalf of Hopeless Sound, I apologize to all of our followers for the long absence. But enough chit chat; CTRL is back with another guitar-tinged futurepop album and let me just say that it kills. As much as I love some of CTRL's releases, there are others that I feel are just terrible. Make Things Right was a pleasant surprise where CTRL return to that particular sound that I just love and BOOM, a good album was born. Only problem is that it's short; only 7 songs. But I dare you to skip one.

Try it

Iris - Blacklight [2010]

Release Date: September 21, 2010

Iris really surprised me with Blacklight last year because the album was actually really solid. Normally with Iris (or this entire style of music) I'll tend to only like a few songs (as I've probably stated many times before) but this time on Blacklight, nearly all of the songs were great. Highly recommended if you're a fan of the band Mesh, whose album I had posted a while back.

Enjoy

Cesium_137 - Identity [2009]

Release Date: October 6, 2009

Cesium_137 (or is it Cesium:137?) is about as futurepop as you can get. The duo is literally a defining artist when it comes to the genre not only because they demonstrate the elements required for the genre, but also because they're actually good at it. Another thing about Cesium_137 is that they produce very modern sounding futurepop, not quite as harsh or raw sounding as another futurepop titan like Assemblage 23. My favourite songs on Identity are easily Embers, Dither, and Firewalker and if you enjoy this release, be sure to stay tuned for the rest of their albums to be posted soon.

Try it

Covenant - Modern Ruin [2011]

Release Date: January 14, 2011

Call me a picky bastard, but good EBM is rare these days. I still listen to a lot of it, but there's never an album in which I can conclude that all the songs, let alone most of them, are solid. Recently it's been a pick and choose kind of thing where I keep my favourite songs from an album and discard the rest. And when Covenant released Modern Ruin I thought it would be the same old routine, but they really suprised me. Modern Ruin is easily one of the most solid EBM releases I've heard this year and given their great reputation in the EBM community I suppose I should not have been surprised. However, they too have never released an album I've enjoyed back to front but Modern Ruin comes darn close.

Try it

Apoptygma Berserk - Harmonizer

Apoptygma Berserk seem to have this magic about them, I just can't figure out if it's due to having such a tongue twister of a band name or not. Harmonizer is the bands fourth album and is surprisingly old, being released in 2002. Don't let it's age fool you however, Harmonizer features some of the best the band has to offer ala "Unicorn" and the various remixes featured throughout the album. When the listener hears the opening distorted synths their attention is piqued; the fantastic vocals of Stephan Groth then slam the trap shut, locking the listener in pure danceable, catchy, electronic bliss. While "Unicorn" is wonderful and comes highly recommended the album is littered with surprises, "Rollergirl" and "Until The End Of The World" are both excellent and prove that APOP is can dish out "thinking mans" music. This is an album that deserves your attention, there's even a track called "Pikachu" - gotta catch 'em all.

Youtube video of "Unicorn (Duet Version)"

* As Linux is acting up I can't post a video directly, I hope to remedy this soon however.

Informatik - Nymphomatik [2002]

Release Date: April 9, 2002

Firstly, I'd like to thank Blindsided and Willie for inspiring this post in ways they will never imagine. Now, I am certainly no stranger to Informatik, and if you are no stranger to futurepop then you should not be either. It's true that the duo started off as more of a harsh ebm act, but as soon as they released Nymphomatik they transformed their sound into futurepop and to be honest, I was confused as to why they never started off as futurepop. Informatik is what I like to call a "futurepop titan" and although they may not be the first act that comes to your head when you think of the genre, this album may change that. Nymphomatik is easily their strongest album (although all of their albums are good) so do not be shy to give it a listen.

Try it

Mesh - We Collide [2006]

Release Date: April 3, 2006

So if you remember in my last post, I name dropped a particular band known as Mesh. Now, if you're unaware of this act, think of them as a more manly Echo Image. Their album We Collide flawlessly blends futurepop with rock guitar work to create something so catchy it should be illegal. But don't think of it as a gimmick, as Mesh fuses incredibly deep lyrics with the music to create the ultimate listening experience. And even after 5 years since its release, We Collide remains as one of my favourite albums of all time so you know it's good ;)

Try it

Echo Image - Compuphonic [2001]

Release Date: February 20, 2001

Echo Image has this particular sound that I've always had trouble categorizing. It's certainly not a rare sound or anything, but it somehow takes elements from synthpop, futurepop, and rock to create a very enjoyable concoction. But hold the hell up, Compuphonic isn't some industrial rock album. Think of these guys as more like Mesh or Iris, but with no guitars (yeah yeah, I know I said rock but Compuphonic is a rare exception). So try this out and at the same time, you might as well get your dancing shoes on. Compuphonic still remains as a great album to dance to, sing to, or just to listen to. Hell, I would think the hot ginger on the cover should be more than enough incentive for you to check this out, no?

Try it

Assemblage 23 - Failure [2001]

Released: November 13, 2001

One of the greatest things about A23 is that all of his albums are able to stay melodic yet have a very raw atmosphere and production around them. His first few albums demonstrate this feel best, and I must say Failure is probably his strongest album because of this. The last track on this, "King Of Insects" still remains as one of my favourite ebm songs.

Try it

Assemblage 23 - Contempt [1999]

When you think about futurepop, there may be a certain duo that comes to mind: VNV Nation. And while I do not doubt that VNV did coin the "futurepop" label, I do feel as though a certain somebody is always overlooked and that man is Assemblage 23. The one man project consisting of Tom Shear (lyrics & music) really does what the definition of futurepop is: emotional vocals and dance-y arpeggios layered on simple 4/4 beats. Any fan of VNV Nation, Pride And Fall, or Neuroticfish is sure to become a fan of this man. And despite already having 6 studio albums, Assemblage 23 remains as one of the most consistent futurepop acts I've ever heard.

Try it

Xpq-21

In honor of my favorite (sarcasm) holiday I thought I'd share one of the bands that I love even though they are relatively new to my collection. Xpq-21 is from Germany and mixes together many genres (industrial, techno, some trance, and gothic) to create some insanely catchy tracks. From their cover of the classic Bauhaus track "Bela Lugosi's Dead" featured on Belle Epoque to the the 8 minute "In Your Eyes" from their limited edition Alive LP, Xpq-21 really have a diverse offering at their disposal. With a plethora of remixes, edits, and guest vocalists on many of the bands tracks there are multiple versions of about everything they have ever done, making it easier for people to find something that they enjoy. The Vampire Freaks Fxxk The Mainstream Compilation version of "Jesus Was Gay" is an example of this, as the track has been remixed specifically for the collection. Overall this is band that fans of many genre's can enjoy, go check them out!

Give the cover of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" a listen

Buy it!