Articles
17 Pygmies
Bruno Heinen
Daniel Wohl

Albums
17 Pygmies
ACV
Airhead
Arborea
Aufgang
Dinky
Ecovillage
Ekin Fil
Fausten
Greg Haines
Ian Hawgood
Bruno Heinen Sextet
Human
Mathew Jonson
Jacob Kirkegaard
The Knife
Lacuna
Machinefabriek & M. Pilots
Moonshoes
My Home, Sinking
RP Boo
Rhian Sheehan
Spazzkid
Aoki Takamasa
Dandy Teru
Time Is a Mountain
Witxes
Daniel Wohl
Zeitgeber

Compilations / Mixes
Aquarius
Calibre
minMAX
Schwarz / D & W / DIN
Silence Was Warm 4
Under The Influence 3

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Anomalie 002
Chroma
Dying Machines
Kres
Kuantum
Mako and Villem
Martsman
Kate Simko
Spargel Trax 3 & 4
Test House
Chris Weeks

Test House: Spirit Rebate
Test House

New York City-based duo Peter Schuette (ex-Silk Flowers, ex-Psychobuildings) and James Elliott (ex-Bear In Heaven, ex-School of Seven Bells) describe their Test House sound as “synthetic pop with a human heart. ” That serves as a pretty good starting point for capturing the type of vocal-based electronic-pop heard on their Spirit Rebate EP.

“Days Deep” inaugurates the release by accompanying Schuette's ultra-smooth voice with an arrangement heavy on Tarkus-styled Moog-synthesizers, handclaps, and old-school drum programming. Elliott's serpentine bass pulse gives “Flooded” a low-end throb, while, goosed by thick synth stabs, the title track also traffics in a funky brand of synth-pop. Electric guitars add a raw edge to some songs (e.g., “Wild Ride Over”) in a way that connects the Test House sound more directly to the members' former bands.

On this digital-only, twenty-two-minute follow-up to a recent seven-inch on the Geographic North label, the duo's five songs occasionally call to mind Tears For Fears, ABC, and Duran Duran, even if Schuette's vocal delivery is a tad less distinctive than Simon LeBon's (less mannered, if you prefer). Don't get the wrong idea, however: while those bands' roots are in the ‘80s, Test House delivers its material in a high-energy manner befitting the modern-day descendant.

June 2013