Published by Davide Pappalardo on June 14, 2018
DJ LOSER (Τερζόγλου Παντελής) and Penelope’s Fiance (Φάνης Τορνικίδης) are two Greek artists close to the world of techno and industrial music. They have previously collaborated in the past, both with their names (see the abstract work ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ ΑΠ’ ΤΗΝ ΣΤΑΥΡΟΥΠΟΛΗ for Out Of Order), both in the project Magdalena’s Apathy, producing one album called From Magdalena To Leftina (2016, Several Minor Promises) and an EP called Tendine D’Achille (2017, Moral Defeat). There, they played with dark ambient and rhythmic elements, giving us an example of experimental techno with ritualistic and industrial undertones. Now they return as DJ LOSER & Penelope’s Fiance with their album Λ196 ΠΡΟΣΚΛΗΤΗΡΙΟ (roughly translated as L196 Roll Call), a really various work in which they dwell, both together and on their own, in a music-lab where free-form and noisy experiments and soothing, evocative ambiances are melted together in a sound not so easy to define.
The first side is the reign of Penelope’s Fiance, and it starts with a collaboration with Cybermission: post-punk atmospheres and female vocals are the main ingredients in a sombre episode with decadent vibes and minimal melodies, following a retro route. The next track Paranoia changes course, using dissonant and stressful sounds in a lo-fi setting, giving us a strange symphony lasting only some seconds, tempered by looping reverberated drums. Until it feels dumb uses dreamy ambiances and enthralling rhythms, an ethereal pastiche keeping the experimental approach of the artist, and Λ196 sees the return of Cybermission and her female vocals in a “weird synth-pop” episode with elegiacal melodies and passionate, shouted vocals.
A mix of instrumental episodes with research lab-like approach toward music and more relaxed moments seems to be the backbone of this side of the work, and Analysis paralysis with its droning riffs and melancholic guitar sounds its a confirmation of this fact. Death requires courage is a track under the common name Magdalena’s Apathy, which indulges in slow rhythms with distorted beats and lo-fi sounds, touching minimal sensibilities and filtered, unrecognizable, hidden melodies, until a sort of epicness is reached amidst its crunching sounds takes to ghostly movements.
The second side sees DJ LOSER in action, starting with a collaboration with Silkcut called Xapmana. It dwells in 70’s experimental sounds with lo-fi quality, a sequence of reverberated drum rolls and dissonant guitars. This track is in someway linked early industrial sound, forfeiting any kind of easily recognizable strong structure and adventuring into musique concrète. We wanted it all is a rhythmic episode built upon minimal bass and crispy electronic beats, a corrosive take on techno where everything is sharp, and where obscure ambiances enrich the brooding atmosphere.
The balancing safety of one is a dreamy ambient piece, a delicate track made of soothing loops and melancholic lines, reaching an almost meditative soundscape. It grows in harmony during its second half, adding even more melodies and following a sense of pathos full of nostalgia. Panspermia surprises the listener with its strong techno groove and pounding 4/4 rhythms, a straight techno number with mesmerizing electronic vortexes and claps. The spirit of 90’s techno is here, and this time the sound is aimed to the club, displaying the variety of the sound used in this work.
An album like this is the perfect picture of the current situation in experimental/underground electronic music: different sounds and atmospheres coming from different times and scenes are used with a free approach in which the common theme is the will to craft engaging music moving between easier moments and full-front experiments and collage of sounds. She Lost Kontrol confirms itself as a label paying attention to this “gray zone”, giving once again space to artists following this path with an eye on the past, and the other on the present and future.
Label: She Lost Kontrol
Rating: 7