Dame Area is the industrial synth-punk duo of Silvia Konstance and Viktor Lux Crux. Based in Barcelona, and descending from both Catalan and Italian roots, the duo stumbles into an anarchic industrial wilderness on Toda la Verdad Sobre Dame Area, a departure from its more melodic predecessor that nonetheless promises a nightmarishly good time. “One of our biggest influences is doing what our influences”—like Suicide and Big Black—“wouldn’t do,” the musicians said in press materials. “Some songs on the album are based on flamenco rhythms, others influenced by ’60s experimental pop, heavy metal, or contemporary electronic music.”
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Nídia & Valentina: Estradas [Latency]
Estradas unites Príncipe mainstay Nídia with the chameleonic multi-instrumentalist Valentina Magaletti, whose prior collaborators range from Sampha to Nicolas Jaar to Jandek. Produced by Tom Halstead, of the apocalyptic post-dubstep outfits Raime and Moin, the new album is at once gloomy and tropical, entwining drums, marimbas, and diffuse synth melody in a hothouse of sweltering dance energy.
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Mermaid Chunky: Slif Slaf Slof [DFA]
Mermaid Chunky spent years orbiting England’s underground jazz and experimental scenes before ending up on DFA Records, after LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy heard their song “Friends” playing outside a Brooklyn cafe. Formed between Gloucestershire and London, the duo presents a suite of synth-pop odysseys, woodwind fantasias, and ceremonial folk jigs situated midway between a sleazy club dancefloor and Stone Henge.
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