Review: Soul Jazz looks to the contemporary when applying their strong archival sense to a new compilation series. A first of two various artist releases, Soul Jazz's Cold Wave draws upon a current pool of electronic artists who consider themselves largely indebted to the cold wave of late-70s and early '80s Europe. Taking in French acts like Krikor and VQOA to splays of lo-fi industrial punk by Gammut and De Ambassade, Detroit's FIT Siegel drops in with a synth driven drum track that nestles up nicely next to Dissembleance's "Capture". With Patrick Cowley and Laurie Anderson to Suicide, Underground Resistance and emergent-genres like new beat all cited as influences, and more besides, Kriedler's "Kannibal" and Celine Gillain's almighty "Fight Or Flight" keep the fires burning.
Review: Knekelhuis, one of the go-to labels for new wave and left of centre electronics, has been providing a platform for De Ambassade aka Pascal Pinkert for the past few years. Unsurprisingly then, the imprint is the perfect place for the act's debut album. Featuring the throbbing electro pop of "Zo Hoog Als De Bogen" and "Geen Genade", Duistre Kamers shows that Pinkert possesses true songwriting craft. It also demonstrates his ability to conjure up mysterious post-punk, audible on the wistful "Malefica" and, most impressively, to veer into eerie, Tropic of Cancer-style pop dirges, as the wonderfully moody "Verloren" shows.
Review: Pascal Pinkert's De Ambassade project hasn't been around for long, but we're sure that this calibre of industrial non-wave will gain more and more fandom over the next few years - after all, it is the sounds of NOW! "Wat Voel Je Nou", ten title tune, is a moody, minimal drum machine beat overlaid with distant, quirky vocals that recall the deepest belly of Berlin back in the 90s. "Green Genade" is of a similar disposition, but Pinkert makes more use of melody here, lifting the darkness of the first tune for something more reminiscent of pop. The results are, of course, still grounded in the artist's neo-romantic vision of the future. Class.
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