We Have A Technical

The rivet internets were all abuzz this week over Pitchfork's best industrial album's list, and we're certainly not afraid of tossing in our two cents on the subject. In addition to discussing the pros and cons of the list and the perspectives underlying it, we're talking about the broader attitudes and bblindspots often endemic to mainstream coverage of industrial music.

We're putting a new spin on a classic format with this episode of the podcast. Rather that LPs, we're picking two compilations to discuss - comps by Subconscious and X-IMG, to be precise. What happens when the Puppy clique goes dub? How many different paths to techno-body music are there? We have all that, plus some previews of forthcoming LPs by Numb and Hide on We Have A Technical!

Hooky Canadian new wave and dubious German EBM are taken up in in this two album episode of We Have A Technical. Cygnets' "Isolator" and Bigod 20's "Supercute" are discussed, along with some talk about The Cure's recent "Disintegration" shows...and somehow Canadian sci-fi author Spider Robinson as well? Not sure how that happened, but the latest episode of We Have A Technical is coming at you regardless!

What makes an artist name an album after a song, or vice versa? Does this one track manage to sum up all of the musical and thematic energy they've been mustering for over a year...or does it just look like a cool phrase on a tour poster? Either way, the Senior Staff are each picking five title tracks from releases in Our Thing this week. Factor in some talk about Rammstein's new provocative videos and you've got everything you could ask for from a new episode of We Have A Technical!      

An ahead of its time, genre-busting classic is the subject of this month's Patreon supported We Have A Commentary podcast! Haujobb's 1996 LP "Solutions For A Small Planet" was a landmark release not only for the German duo but for all of post-industrial music. How can we read the record's engagement with then still nascent net culture? How do its forays into electronic genres well beyond industrial hold up? There's so much to discuss with a record this rich and beloved, so join us, won't you?

On this week's podcast we're striking while the iron's hot and talking about Hatari, the Icelandic BDSM-themed industrial band whose Eurovision run took the world by storm. How are they connected to Our Thing? Do their aesthetics relate to their politics? And how is mainstream media still so easy to hijack? All these questions and more are taken up in this week's episode of We Have A Technical!

It's a classic two album format episode of We Have A Technical this week, with the Senior Staff discussing the glam goth of Gene Loves Jezebel and the minimalist dark ambient of m² (aka Squaremeter). There's also plenty of discussion regarding the new Threshold Archives set of Coil reissues, and all of the metaphysical questions related to Coil's posthumous legacy. We hope you wouldn't expect anything less from us at this point.      

A very special friend of the podcast just happened to be in town, so we're joined this week by Real Cardinal of Comaduster! He's sitting in on our conversations about news and events pertaining to Ulver, Merzbow, and Combichrist, as well as giving us the skinny on his newest music.

The new record from FIRES pushes forward with the project's synth rock ethos into punkier territory, and AJ from the band joins the podcast to talk about the deeply personal themes on "All My Dreams Are Of This Place". We've also got some talk about the Cold Waves one-off nights on the West Coast, and some chatter about 3TEETH and Rammstein that goes off the rails right quick. Intrigued? We thought so. It's the newest We Have A Technical - hop on it!

Merch. Loot. Tchotchkes. Whatever you call it, bands are hustling it, and fans are buying it. What's the difference between a quality shirt folks would be happy to rock and an ugly as sin one which'll quickly be relegated to the back of a closet? What particular items or recording formats meet a particular band's mien and which don't? We're diving deep into the wacky world of merch on this episode of We Have A Technical, along with some talk about the recent Ministry shows and the oddly timed Merzbow podcasts.

DAF's stone classic "Gold Und Liebe" is the subject of this month's We Have A Commentary. An absolute touchstone for all EBM to come, the record is also an intriguing mix of krautrock and disco and paved the way not just for EBM but techno as well. We're digging into the record's deployment of provocative sexual and political imagery, as well as its philosophical and psychological underpinnings. Join us for a half hour of tense, sexy, and dangerous body music of the highest caliber.

Verboden Festival came through Vancouver like a tornado, leaving us in a dazed state with the memories and merch of umpteen post-punk, darkwave, and related bands swirling about our heads and our apartments. This week we're discussing some highlights from this, the fourth installment of Vancouver's dark music fest, and featuring an interview with Forrest Avery LeMaire of Mr.Kitty, unquestionably one of the highlights of the weekend.

Back in action after a couple weeks of pre-recorded episodes, the Senior Staff are getting back to basics with discussion of records by Ulver and yelworC. Also, they're doing their best to catch up on all the news that's happened since they were last sitting down together, namely the eighth Cold Waves line-up. All that plus an account of the most genteel Laibach show ever on this week's We Have A Technical!

The second part of our Pick 5 doubleheader is here! After wallowing in the deep-friend excesses of Americana, we're crossing the Atlantic to discuss some bands who only could have come from Europe. Are we as Canadians projecting inherited stereotypes regarding our friends to the south and continental cousins? That's more than likely, but join us anyway! 

The first of two Pick 5 episodes of the podcast recorded well ahead of time, so much so that we don't remember much of what was said! We know it had something to do with North American bands in Our Thing? I guess we'll have to listen to find out, why not join us on this journey of discovery friend? 

On this month's Patreon supported bonus podcast, Bruce and Alex tackle Grendel's "Timewave Zero". A notable change in approach and thematics from the project, it's a record that pushed the project into new arenas and showed massive artistic growth, all of which the Senior Staff examines in detail on We Have a Commentary! 

On this week's episode, the Senior Staff delve headfirst into the history and enduring legacy of one of the most iconic record labels of all time. Julia Nash, daughter of Wax Trax Records founder Jim Nash, talks about the passion and process behind her documentary film, "Industrial Accident: The Story Of Wax Trax Records". All that, plus the just-revealed lineup of this year's installment of our beloved Terminus Festival on the latest episode of We Have A Technical.

With the heavy doses of last week's truth serum finally wearing off, the Senior Staff is back to a tried and true style of episode. Yep, we're sticking with what brought us to the dance: each picking a record to talk about. This week, it's a peculiar sophomore LP from Rosetta Stone and a groovy release from KMFDM side project excessive Force.

We've reached our sestercentennial episode of We Have A Technical! Yep, that's right: 250 episodes are in the can, and to celebrate that anniversary and everyone who's joined us along the way, we're cutting through the BS, chugging some Truth Serum, and shooting straight on some hard hitting questions submitted by our readers and listeners. This ain't your mama's podcast: we're sayin' it!

This week's episode of We Have A Technical careers through a plethora of the genres and sounds we like to talk about, thanks to our Patreon backers! Yep, we have four of our listeners joining us to talk about records by Kraftwerk, Manufacture, Pouppée Fabrikk, and The Cure!