RADKO – The Dirt On Caligula (LP, edition of 250 copies, risograph printed artwork (100 x teal paper, 75 x red paper and 75 yellow paper))
It took quite some time to realize this album by RADKO… back in 2018 their debut single was released and then there was silence… so it seemed… but dedicated and devoted RADKO continued to compose tracks and while doing this expanded their sound… what they came up with is an adventures contemporary/post-wave sound with lots of complexity in it is sounds and structures… but still these pieces are songs… meaning these tracks are daring but will never loose themselves in experimentation or becoming soundscapes… more or less gone (or just more hidden?) are the cold wave and shoegaze elements… these have been replaced with elektro, techno and industrial influences… and instead of dreamy and melancholy the sound is now much more haunting and dark… on the other hand this is very much RADKO like on their debut 7”… but this album is just “next level”… despite this record is more complex the music is still addictive… it is asking for more and more plays all the time… and while their first record was already impressive this one is even more…
How to define the music of RADKO on “The Dirt On Caligula”? Maybe like a mix between the modern wave sound of Hord versus the complexity of the EBM/industrial music by Skinny Puppy? Possibly a bit like the debut album by Distel with a touch of the versatility and scope of the Nine Inch Nails remix releases “Fixed” and “Futher Down The Spiral”? These are at least some references that pop up and give an idea…
But… in the end this is simply an amazing album with daring electronic beats and sounds… verry clearly rooted in the new wave / post-punk / industrial tradition but mostly a contemporary electronic music exercise which could (should?) appeal to everybody with an open mind and interested in dark beats…
