We Have A Technical

Back in action in 2020 and back to Thursdays, it's the first We Have A Technical of the year! The Senior Staff are each picking five things they're looking forward to in the year ahead. Live events, release trends, new records: find out what's (likely) on the road ahead!  

Your boys Alex and Bruce find themselves at the end of a long grind of Year End coverage plus a slew of pre-recorded podcasts to last over the break...and are keen to talk about pretty much anything OTHER than darker alternatives. Yep, it's the annual Off Topic podcast here at We Have A Commentary, featuring all of the banter about comics, movies, life, books, whisky, watches, and pro wrestling which is always at the periphery of regular episodes. It's sloppy, it's indulgent, it's therapeutic (at least for us).

Hot on the heels of our traditional Year End Top 25, the Senior Staff chops up their choices, talks some honourable mentions and ruminates on the year that was 2019. Insights into our review process, whether our mode of thinking about what constitutes an eligible release is still valid and various statistics from the last nine years of the exercise are discussed, dissected and eventually discarded. Also we get mildly tipsy. 

On the last standard issue podcast of the year, we're picking two 90s goth records by female fronted acts...who couldn't really be further apart other than those characteristics. The first record from Faithful Dawn lays down the template for the oft-forgotten electrogoth subgenre, and Miranda Sex Garden's most well-recognized LP points to intersections with broader 90s alt music as well as experimental composition. All that plus discussion of recent sets by She Past Away and Lingua Ignota on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

We've got an autobiographical-cum-historical Pick Five for you folks this week. What records took a while to reveal their charms to us? Which LPs were we either too provincial or too snobby to enjoy in their own time? We'll fill you in on that plus a recent show from Hide on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

This month's WHaC is a brief but absolutely frantic run through the roller coaster of emotions, impossibly catchy hooks, and grandiose symphonic ambitions of Kite's 2011 release, "IV". The Swedish duo have transcended synthpop both in terms of sound and reach, and their fourth EP acts nexus of all their sounds and moods, and is also an ideal jumping on point. Whether you're as much in thrall of their work as the Senior Staff, or are only passingly familiar with it, join us on this month's Patreon-supoorted bonus podcast.

It's November of 2019, and even if we're not in Los Angeles you'd better believe we're not missing the opportunity to discuss Blade Runner, arguably the film with the most influence on industrial music and culture. Which samples work and which don't? How does Chew's Eye Shop relate to William Burroughs' control machines? We have all the Blade Runner-themed industrial pontificating you never knew you wanted on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

We got a classic two album podcast for you this week, with the Senior Staff discussing the baroque technoid elegance of Architect's "Consume Adapt Create" and the chill genre pastiche of Snow In China's "Electromensch". Also: Brazilian drag queen covers of Front 242? We have you covered on the latest episode of We Have A Technical!

Navel gazing ahoy! Our recent forays into both digital and physical releases, as well as recent discussion of high-level physical reissues, has us considering the distinctions between physical and digital releases in Our Thing. Nostalgia, economics, collecting and archiving are all taken up, along with some discussion of recent sets from Physical Wash and Statiqbloom on the lastest episode of We Have A Technical!

You couldn't find records much further apart from one another in terms of mood than Aghast View's "Carcinopest" and Displacer's "Cage Fighter's Lullaby", but that's what we're working with on this week's episode of We Have A Technical. Deep genre electro-indistrial and fluidlly warming downtempo? We have you covered, along with some talk about recent Legendary Pink Dots shows and FLA reissues.

The Senior Staff have seen a hell of a lot of scene bands in their time, but even they still have their bucket list bands. This week, they're picking five acts they'd still love to see live, as well as introducing not one, but two new musical releases coming soon from the ID:UD camp. Exciting times lie ahead! Fins out all about then on this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

2003's "Damaged" by Razed In Black is the subject of this month's Patreon backed and Patreon selected We Have A Commentary. A real "call Is coming from inside the house" record, RiB's unabashed blend of goth and industrial is very much both a product of its time and the vision of one writer and producer, Romell Regulacion. As it turns out, the Senior Staff have quite varied experiences with and opinions of the record, so gear up and be ready to head back to the futurepop-shocked club floors of the early aughts.

How does A Split Second's "...From The Inside" buck that band's reputation, and is The Legendary Pink Dots' "Nemesis Online" the perfect capper to their 90s period? We have opinions, to no one's shock, in a classic two albums episode of We Have A Technical. All that plus some discussion of the just announced Dead Can Dance tour and Throbbing Gristle reissues this week!

The Senior Staff break down the anatomy of a club night on this week's episode of We Have A Technical. From format to venue to promotions to DJs to audience, what makes a club night work or fail? Plenty of discussion on that, Pharmakon, deeply obscure US EBM, and the spotted legacy of Thee Temple of Psychick Youth on the latest episode of the IDieYouDie.com podcast.

Coming at you a day earlier than usual (and for the rest of the year), We Have A Technical is discussing a pair of record at opposite historical ends of goth rock, which may have some less than obvious connections to Our Thing: lié's Consent and Lene Lovich's Flex. Where do deathrock and riot grrrl blur together? How did camp theatricality influence pre-formalized goth? We have opinions about all these things and more, including some discussion of the new KMFDM record, on the latest episode of the I Die: You Die podcast.

On this month's Patreon-supported bonus podcast, we take on one of the best Vancouver albums of the last decade, synth-punky darkwave modern classic The Killing Scene by Animal Bodies. Personal reminiscences and observations about what makes the record special mix as we examine what has brought Bruce and Alex back to this obscure local classic time and again over the last 5 years! 

One half of the Senior Staff took in the four days of rivethead festivities in the Windy City this past weekend, Cold Waves Chicago! We have a full report on all the goings on from both the main stage and the after parties, and best of all we have interviews with the likes of Bootblacks, Chemlab, Twin Tribes, Andi Harriman, and Sean Payne. Whether you're looking to catch up on what you missed out on or are looking to relive all the Wax Traxy fun, this week's episode of We Have A Technical has you covered.