A home for post-punk, new wave, Italo and disco fever, Ombra International is the brainchild of Luca Venezia, aka Curses of Drop The Lime fame. With a specific curatorial approach to the various artist format, and based out of Berlin, Ombra International invites artists from around the globe to widen its remit for new beat, industrial and electronic body music. With solo outings so far coming from Theus Mago and the yet to be revealed Montessori, you’ll find choice cuts from artists like Volta Cab, Borusiade and Sebastian Voigt peppered throughout its catalogue, only adding to its appeal as a the place for contemporary disco and synth-based sounds.
Review: Curses' Ombra International returns this week with its 23rd release titled Passion Incarnate, featuring four heroes of the dark disco sound. Brazil's Rotciv and Barcelona's Agle channel some serious attitude respectively, the former doing a particularly fine job of it on the muscular '80s EBM of "Dancity", while Jorkes & NIKKNAME get weird on the oddball groove of "Akiro", and we also see the return of John Parsley - who last appeared on our radar a few years back with some impressive material on Sulk Magic - his hypnotising cut "Buy N' Sell" makes a welcome addition to this release.
Review: A first release for Ombra International in 2021 comes through some more choice pairings of tracks, artists and collaborations that make their way onto the Destiny-themed Ombra Intl 017. Taking in music from as far afield as Argentina, Chile and Spain to Belgium, the UK and Germany, London-based artist Birds makes her Ombra debut with a dirty post-punk tinged tribute to the late Andrew Weatherall. Buenos Aires born and Berlin-based musician Skelesys returns to Ombra with an accelerated dark wave bomb incorporating his enigmatic vocals and guitar work alongside Alvaro Cabana and Silicodisco's hypnotic krautrock-techno number "Misty". A six-tracks large, unearth some more new wave and post punk!
Review: Following on from the ninth spilt release earlier this year, Ombra Intl 010 sees this Berlin label offer up more distinctive sounds. Cornelius Doctor's "Soft Rocket" revolves around a throbbing groove that's shot through with spiky percussion and post-punk shrieks. Meanwhile, Mufti's "Control" is somewhat more upbeat, but here too rough guitars and breathy vocals cut through the shiny rhythm. On Sebastian Voigt's "EX2", the mood turns bleak, with dubbed out drums supporting a murky bass and razor sharp percussion, while for its finale, the tenth volume in the series sees Colossio drop the hypnotic post-punk meets disco of "Eco".
Review: Next up on Ombra International is Theus Mago, a DJ and producer from Mexico as well as co-founder of the Duro label. From the grinding, neon-lit synthpop of "Ella" (feat Doog) which is followed by some sombre minimal synth journeys - such as the remix up next by Il Est Vilaine and the haunting "Smokey Red Lights" again featuring the nonchalant vocals of Doog. Belgian Arthur Russell (La Dame Noir) delivers a punk-funk rendition up next and label head honcho Curses delivers a cheeky indie-dance version -which also will appeal to fans of the Tel Aviv sound - popularised by the likes of Red Axes and Autarkic.
Review: Ombra International is a Berlin based indie-dance label run by Luca Venezia aka Curses (formerly Drop The Lime) featuring artists from around the globe sharing a mutual love for post-punk, new wave and other weird guitar and synth sounds. What's more, they're united by lust and fury and alone.. together! Commencing with the hazy and slow-burning cosmo-psychedelia of Bordeaux based enfant terribles Bagarre Perdue with "Cowboy", Sutja Gutierrez' "Great Chain Of Being" will take you deep into the exotic with its enchanting west Asian musical aesthetics. On the flip, more cosmic rock for fans of legends like Can courtesy of Frenchman Mondowski while Russian act Seven Knives channel the early '80s vibes of Neue Deutsche Welle on "Wires Go Golden".
Review: Like the label's previous release, Ombra International's third EP is an all-star affair featuring contributions from a quartet of artists. Veneno kicks things off with the clandestine, post-punk dub-disco trip "Attencion Especial", before Teniente Castillo blasts off into space via the psychedelic synthesizer arpeggio lines, undulating acid flashes and extended guitar solos of EP highlight "Not That Way". Perel's "Hildegard" does a fine job in straddling the thin line between mind-altering acid house and quirky, off-kilter nu-disco, while former Nein and Magic Feet duo Roe Deers steal the show via the wonderfully weird, loose and eccentric closer "Metal Ants", a track that defies any attempts at categorization.
Review: Ombra International is inviting artists from different cities from around the globe to contribute their rock and roll or post-punk influenced grooves via slo-mo disco and cold wave sonics. OMBRA INTL 002 is four tracks bringing together Cannibal Ink (Madrid) with the sleazy psych rock of "La Haine", Dawn Again from Sydney, K-effect (Toledo) and Curses in Berlin. Curses is the dark and romantic moniker from New York City native Luca Venezia aka Trouble & Bass main man Drop The Lime who serves up the awesome "Neu Dimension".
