WL//WH: The Favorite Releases Of 2024 by MIKE D

• AGE O.P.F. – “nEgeN” LP [Self Produced]

The entire “nEgeN” LP is full of minimal synth (punk at times) music with some passionate urban stories to tell. The whole situation here is a thundering experience…The album features 10 new tracks that can make you dance in the comfort of your dancefloor, evoke emotions, and give you hope that the ‘electronic minimalists’ can rediscover old gems…from the future.

• PRINZESSIN – “Minimum Security” LP [TONN Recordings]

The amazing new album “Minimum Security” by French synth wizard Nicolas Fournial (Nantes) aka Prinzessin. The album was released on January 4 and has 8 brand new tracks and synth-tales of high-energy Cold Wave music.

• VIOLENCE – “La Somme De Mes Soifs” LP [TONN Recordings]

“La Somme De Mes Soifs” LP features eight tracks that showcase the duo’s artistic flair and a sense of adventure. You will hear their experimentation with the cold wave, using a minimal synth approach that is utterly groovy. (R.I.P. Julie  Ferron-Morand).

• VOID REPUBLIC  – “Frontiers” EP [TONN Recordings]

Void Republic brings us everything we could wish for in minimal synth. Cool and composed, with its enigmatic vocals and classic staccato synth pulse, elegantly articulated over a brooding undertone.

• MONSIEUR CRANE – “Les Ravages Du Temps” LP [TONN Recordings]

What they accomplish is remarkable and very artistic, reflecting a distinctly French style as they challenge the listener to internally compare all the information across different fields.

• DEAD ASTRONAUTS – “Ghosts” LP [COLD TRANSMISSION MUSIC] 

Dead Astronauts are one of the leading acts in the synthwave & synthpop scenes, blending the lines of darkwave, goth, and post-punk. Their new album is simply AMAZING.

• KALTE NACHT – “URGE” LP [COLD TRANSMISSION MUSIC]

Minimalism, and the cold, dark wave are woven masterfully and are simultaneously very danceable. Their music features a very special voice that leads the listener through several theatrical paths.

• IAMTHE SHADOW – “To End What Never Began” LP [COLD TRANSMISSION MUSIC]

This album deserves a lot of admiration; it is undoubtedly their best album to date.

• NECRØ – “Into Oblivion” LP [COLD TRANSMISSION MUSIC]

The conscious darkness of a unique record – release the bats.

• NEW HAUNTS – “Hooks” LP [COLD TRANSMISSION MUSIC]

It is an enjoyable album from a talented musician; the style, explorations, and results justify her skills to an absolute degree.

• ULTRA SUNN – “US” LP [Artoffact Records]

The impressive debut album by Ultra Sunn leaves a lot of promise for their bright future.

• NOX NOVACULA – “Feed Ther Fire” LP [Artoffact Records]

Another superb record that discreetly and deafeningly played on my stereo all year long; Deathrock Rules.

• LEATHERS – “Ultraviolet” LP [Artoffact Records]

Shannon Hemmett (the keyboardist of acclaimed Vancouver post-punk band ACTORS) as LEATHERS on a journey through the realms of synth-driven dream pop, darkwave, and shoegaze, illuminating the thin line between fantasy and reality.

• CHRIST vs. WARHOL – “We, The Victims Of History” LP [Mass Media Records]

You don’t need anyone to tell you about the importance of Christ vs. Warhol, art school sedition with guitars instead of guns; Deathrock rules.

• THE NOX ENTITY – “NOX Entity” LP [Self Released]

It’s a complex debut album. It’s dark, unbelievable, brilliant, very intelligent, etc, etc, etc…I gave it loud applause.

• CONVEX MODEL – “In Human Hives” LP [Self Released]

This album is ultra danceable and groovy, and the music runs steadily in the old-school black-and-white new wave directions. There is no synth revival in their music; rather, the synths serve as their medium for self-expression and self-decompression.

• NIGHT IN ATHENS – “Wasted Reflektions” LP [Wave Records]

The music she creates is always powerful and with specific goals in mind; To convey her ideas and lyrics using an intense combination of synthpunk industrialism, with the cold wave occasionally, and the darkwave this year more than ever before in her music…” desire is fate, a symphony of brokenness”.

• ECHOBERYL – “Through The Chaos” LP [Mother Solitude Records]

The entire album is a manifestation of their perspective on what we love to listen and dance to – in poems irresistible, simple, and ‘dangerous’, all upon the rails of the darkwave, coldwave, EBM, synthpop, minimal, and all sooooo groovy, as Cecilia‘s fragile, and sometimes pale voice, frames Adriano‘s electro-industrial reflections in a final motion of pure gothic modernism.

• DUCTAPE – “Echo Drama” LP [Swiss Dark Nights]

The album contains 8 new songs that passionately explore the cold-darkwave in the executive part, with clear and bittersweet lyrics that reflect real life, and I dare to say that each of the 8 tracks could be a maxi single alone.

• WHISPERING SONS – “The Great Calm” LP [PIAS]

I hope that the ‘humanity’ of the post-punk genre understands how important this incomparable band is, period.

• NEW AGE HEALERS – “The Spin Out” LP [Self Released]

The band from Seattle managed to create such a masterpiece. They have written an album that is simply marvellous, and the lyrics of the songs contribute to its overall quality.

• THEN COMES SILENCE – “Trickery” LP [Metropolis Records]

I don’t want to write now what I heard on the disc, it’s not really necessary, and you don’t need me to describe the “Trickery” LP, but I listened to the best version of the band (and this was like a gift to me).

• PRINCIPE VALIENTE – “In This Light” LP  [Metropolis Records]

“In This Light” LP contains 10 songs with highly aesthetic and impressive performances, superb orchestrations, critical vocals, and a sense of the insurmountable. Things got acrobatic here.

• TWIN NOIR – “Chapter 2” LP [Self Released]

Twin Noir fluctuates between monotonous electronic sounds, expansive atmospheres, and melodic interludes, all given like a disco-punk statement, and this explosive blend will create a unique celebration on stage. What an incredible band!

• DATE AT MIDNIGHT – “Fading Into This Grace” LP [Young & Cold Records]

Outstanding and outrageous lovely album, creating an intense and enveloping voyage that melts emotional depth and a captivating mood.

• ESTETICA NOIR – “Amor Fati” LP [Swiss Dark Nights]

The Italian post-punk school has been a trademark for decades. Estetica Noir is among the modernists of the current dark genre. I hear a passion within the “Amor Fati” LP, as there are musical ‘explanations’ and also the clear golden rule of post-punk music: when a song is over alone, it must end without further ado.

• CONG JOSIE – “Moto Zone” LP [IT Records]

It is a social album that has stories and incidents to tell according to the musical path of each track and many of these will commemorate some of your glorious days and nights when you later became a mature and brave person.

• VENTIRATI – “Victorian” LP [Sleaszy Rider SRL]

The album takes listeners on a fantastic journey through dark and introspective lyrics, and overall, it offers a blend of hardness and sweetness, as the band intentionally maintains the deathrock element that creates a restless yet captivating soundscape, quite agonizing at several points.

• ORBIT SERVICE – “I’m Not Supposed To Be Here” EP [Cloud City]

The band consists of two members from the Legendary Pink Dots, Randall Frazier on synths, samples, vocals, and Erik Drost on the guitars, reverb sparks, and synths. The whole record is an adventure, a very cool story to listen to in a quiet environment. I suggest some wine and press play.

• SUNSET WRECKS – “Fade Relic” LP [Self Released]

Everything in their trajectory comprises shoegaze, experimental, doom, electronic, psychedelic, noise rock, and space rock, all delivered with incredible ease and immediacy. Many moments in their songs lead me to believe that these innovations will be adopted by other artists in their future albums, as this path is often forged by such artists with a vision.

• BLACK NAIL CABARET – “Chrysanthemum” LP [Dependent Records]

Dark Pop, by an amazing band, with a fantastic album, and…for BLACK NAIL CABARET,” the chrysanthemum’s blossom paves the way for our own deathbed portraits”.