It's a slightly bulging at the seams episode this week, folks, with the Pick Five format yielding lots of talk, some of it slightly contentious. The concept has us choosing records we feel to be emblematic of the labels that released them, with the Senior Staff careening back and forth through history and across genres.

It's a classic two albums episode as we get back into the swing of the ID:UD sched here in 2026. First up, we're discussing the beginning of Die Sektor's experimentation with the well-trod aggrotech formula with 2011's Applied Structure In A Void. Next, the precisely minimal electro-EBM of Dejan Samardzic of Haujobb's solo DSX project is considered via its 2018 Soviet Synthesizer EP.

The last Foetus album in JG Thirlwell's uncompromising four-plus decade run under the fluid moniker has been released, and we're discussing Halt in detail on this week's podcast. What's changed and what hasn't with regards to Thirlwell's brand of misanthropy, as well as how his increasingly ambitious orchestral arrangements have been folded back into the free-roaming experimental industrial project are just some of the points we're touching upon.

We wanted to continue the tradition of having our December instalment of We Have A Commentary deal with an album well outside of Our Thing, and loved the idea of doing a "Weird Al" Yankovic LP. Al's been a huge influence on our lives and cultural tastes from a very young age, so the only question was which album we'd discuss. We turned things over to our Patreon backers, who selected Al's third record, 1985's Dare To Be Stupid. It's an end to end burner and gave us all sorts of opportunities to discuss both the minutiae and the broad strokes of what's made Al such a beloved and admired figure to us and so many others.

As a bit of a denouement to our Year End coverage, we're each picking five tracks we loved from the past year. There's maybe a bit of a club tilt to some (but not all) picks, and we're aiming for bands and releases not featured on either our Top 25 list or the honorable mentions discussed on last week's podcast.

With our Top 25 records of the year up and discussed on the website, it's time for our annual year in review episode of We Have A Technical, where in addition to a quick look at the list itself, we're discussing some trends and statistics from the year that was, and each picking five honourable mention releases we wanted to ensure got some time and love as well. A reminder that written coverage on the site will be pausing for a couple of weeks over the holidays, but we'll keep the podcast coming on schedule to give you something to listen to when you need a break from your relatives.

As we careen towards Year End coverage we're using this week's podcast to get some formal comments down about new records by long-time deep scene acts in Corpus Delicti and Forma Tadre. The French goth rock act reformed a couple of years ago and their new record Liminal does a solid job of carrying on the qualities which distinguished them from their second wave peers, while new archival record Seven Century Factory is fascinating listening for die-hard fans of Andreas Meyer's work, serving as a missing link between very distinct eras in Forma Tadre.

An interview we've been meaning to put together for a long time finally came to fruition, with our friend Abelardo of The Invisible Orange joining us to discuss the state of live event promotion in 2025. From the differences between tiny and large shows to the boutique differences in promoting events to niche audiences corresponding to musical aesthetics, this is a getting into the weeds conversation we're very happy to offer to you.

This month's commentary podcast has us winding the clock back to the days when futurepop still ruled club floors and when German act Rotersand were just beginning to make their way onto that arpeggio-laden territory. The band's 2003 debut "Truth Is Fanatic" absolutely holds up as an exemplar of the styles of the time, but as we learned and discussed in closely reexamining the record, also used a range of compositional and programming experimentation to plant its flag.

An alliteratively themed two albums episode has us discussing the debut LPs of House Of Harm and Multiple Man. We're digging into the former's infectious and well-executed melodic new wave, and the latter's restrained, aloof, and decidedly funky reinvention of the earliest of EBM sounds.