glok: dissident

GLOK is the electronic solo project from Andy Bell of shoegaze legends Ride (formerly of Oasis/Beady Eye/Hurricane #1). His debut album under the moniker, Dissident, was originally released in 2019 on a limited-edition cassette by Bytes, an offshoot of Ransom Note Records. That sold out in 24 hours, and was followed by a vinyl pressing of 500 copies, on transparent green vinyl. However, with that edition now sold out pretty much via word-of-mouth, due to popular demand, Dissident is being repressed and is this time being made available to a wider audience. The name GLOK is a misspelling of the German word for "Bell". The German connection fits well as there is a strong krautrock influence in the music, especially on the title track, an epic clocking in just shy of the 20-minute mark, which blends synth wave, minimalism, trance, Detroit techno, and John Carpenter soundtracks, with Andy even dropping in some killer John Squire-esque guitar licks. The album was supported by Andrew Weatherall, Justin Robertson, Tom Ravenscroft at BBC 6 Music, The Times, Electronic Sound, Clash, DJ Mag, ChainDLK, Stamp the Wax, and Groove. Transparent red vinyl.