HIV+ & FRIENDS: Spanish Electronic Body Music

Release year: 2023
Label: Zoharum

Now, here’s a release that truly wears its heart on it’s sleeve. It’s title tells exactly what it’s all about e.g., EBM from Spain. And the artist name – HIV+ & Friends – also says it all: this release features long-running Spanish EBM act HIV+ aka Pedro Peñas y Robles with an assortment of friends and collaborators.

Ain’t nobody can say they didn’t know what they were getting into when putting this on.

Usually, it’s a bit of a moot point to drop various technical specifications, but in the case of this compilation, these are extremely relevant. So: Spanish Electronic Body Music is a compilation that spans two CD’s, contains a hefty 29 tracks culled from various releases, with a total running time of over two and a half hours. In other words, a lot of music.

This release is basically all about collaborations and remixes. As such, it features a ton of HIV+ tracks remixed by different people, various collaborations between HIV+ and other people, as well as tracks by other artists on which HIV+ features. It also contains plenty of tracks by Adan & Ilse, a two-man electro/synthpop duo, one half of which is HIV+.

The above translates into one thing: this is very much fan service. For the uninitiated, it is absolutely the wrong point to get started. The fact that the song Nuevo Siglo is featured in four different versions says it all.

And guess what? I am very much uninitiated, having never heard HIV+ before. So aim your expectations of expertise low, ha.

But, ultimately, it’s a bit of a moot point to dissect the tracks on this compilation for the very same reason. These are remixes and other oddities, which will have value to ardent fans – and not so much for others, at least in this anthology form.

That said, I’ve been spinning this massive compilation quite a lot, and I really like it. It’s full of enjoyable tracks, and even though consistency obviously is sometimes a bit lacking thanks to the nature of this compilation, it’s not too much all over the place. Danceable, gritty synth-industrial remains the core component here, even though various remixers take this foundation in many different directions, from more techno oriented sounds to retro synth sounds to more purely industrial soundscapes.

Some highlights include Adan & Ilse’s cover of DAF’s cult 80’s hit Der Mussolini – decidedly retro sounding, this is a wonderfully danceable rendition. I also like Raul Parra’s remix of Miss Conceptual by HIV+ and Dave Inox, with its slightly menacing techno synths. My favourite probably is Cruise [Ctrl] & HIV+’s Los Niños Del Parque (a Liaisons Dangereuses cover), which straddles middle ground between synthwave style 80’s retro and industrial electro.

The whole thing is presented in a nice cardboard packaging with gold colored details and text. The covers just look really, really nice. Combined with extensive and enjoyable content, this makes Spanish Electronic Body Music a nice artifact for fans of HIV+ to add to their collection.

The only shortcoming of the compilation is that it doesn’t contain any info about the original releases from which these tracks were culled. This is an unfortunate miss, which doesn’t ruin the listening experience, but is a non-trivial flaw in a release of this nature.

But, this one blemish notwithstanding, Spanish Electronic Body Music is a fine release for fans. And even if us outsiders won’t perhaps fully “get” it, enjoyable for us too.

HIV+ doesn’t appear to have an official online presence