IDLO- In/Out

Artist: IDLO
CD Title: In/Out
Label: Galaxy Records
Reviewer: Mattew Johnson
Date: 7-3-05

IDLO was a Belgian EBM act in the 1980s formed by the brothers Tcheleskov and Trevosky Ivanovitch. Though the band achieved cult status in the European scene, they never managed to garner the same level of attention in the United States as their contemporaries in Front 242. Tcheleskov, now the mastermind behind the experimental techno/EBM project GrandChaos, has put together this collection of remixed classic IDLO tracks as a sort of final farewell to the band. For the most part, things stay fairly minimal, with Shizuka contributing two separate mixes of “1,2,3…” that stick with old-school beats and simple loops. Olivier Moreau of Imminent shows up with a mix of “In Sedens” that remains catchy and danceable while delving into glitch music territory, and Angst provides a brief blast of power noise on the “Drum Bass Wave” mix of “Mission.” Olivier T., who works with Tcheleskov in GrandChaos, also appears in several different guises; as himself, he offers up a buzzing house-influenced mix of “Athe,” while as Metamorphose he takes the same song in a more atmospheric direction with martial beats and orchestral soundscapes. The “Korruptiv” mix of “Bad to the Bone” by Muckrakers is similarly atmospheric, drenching the chanted vocals in a morass of reverb and ambient industrial noise. This is a great cross-section of the more experimental side of European EBM; unfortunately, since IDLO’s previous albums are impossible to find (most haven’t even been released on CD), it’s also a bit of a tease. Hopefully this will generate enough interest for a record label to finally make the original tracks available again, but in the mean time, rumor has it that the first GrandChaos full-length will be coming out some time this year.

For more information on Tcheleskov Ivanovitch, IDLO and GrandChaos, go to http://users.skynet.be/grandchaos/.