New releases last two weeks: Coldwave/Synth

Review: The cult favourite Dark Entries hits 15 in style here and celebrates in the only way it knows how - with more great music. This time it is the legendary synth-punk yahoos Crash Course in Science aka Dale Feliciello, Mallory Yago, and Michael Zodorozny who are in the spotlight. The group formed back in 1979 and set out to make music using toy instruments and kitchen appliances. Their punk-y, aggressive, angular sound soon found a hardcore fan base and gave rise to big tunes like 'Cardboard Lamb' and 'Flying Turns.' In 1981 they recorded Near Marineland, a full-length that never actually saw the light of day but does now and shows the band moving into more diverse and polished territory.

Review: Le Couleur consistently sidesteps complacency with each new album presenting a fresh musical experiment without ever losing its familiar foundation. With Comme dans un penthouse, the band takes its biggest leap into musical exploration yet as they revisit elements of 'Voyage Love' while delving deeper into disco infused with new wave nuances. The result is a cooler, more distant vibe compared to their previous work. The album crafts a narrative universe around Barbara, introduced in 'POP,' as she seeks excess, pleasure, and happiness amidst frenetic rhythms. From the Krautrock-inspired 'Autobahn' to futuristic tracks reminiscent of Das Mortal, Le Couleur deftly balances innovation with familiarity here on another sublime-sounding album.

Review: Pye Corner Audio is one of the fundamental projects on Ghost Box, as Martin Jenkins indulges his hauntological synth fantasies on an increasingly fertile seam of investigation where drone, wave and death disco can all intersect. Jenkins has never been trapped by retro-fetishism with his analogue sound, and on The Endless Echo he's all the more inspired as he meditates on themes of science fiction and the illusory nature of time. Throbbing, chugging beatdowns sit comfortably alongside spatial, beatless investigations, all sculpted with the masterful touch that comes from considerable experience and a generous assortment of vintage boxes.

Review: By the time 2024's Pendulum landed, Twin Tribes had been building up a vehemently passionate following among members of black-nailed, dark-hearted subcultures for nine years. Also known as Luis Navarro and Joel NiNo Jr., the pair clocked up underground wins with two preceding records, Ceremony and Shadows, garnering attention among fans of cold wave and post punk. Now they take the whole concept to even higher - icier - heights. One wrong step and you'll be cast down the mountainside, it's dizzying at times. Chunky basslines drive us into yearning, strangely subdued-yet-soaring melodies that seem to speak to despair and hope in equal measure. It's hugely evocative stuff that rarely lets up in terms of intensity, 'Caldron of Thorns' among the tracks at the lower end of tempo scales, and even then it's not really hanging about.