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Phoenix hairpins.
For those who enjoyed The Thing On The Doorstep, I give to you: Phoenix Hairpins, Capa Nostra Syndicate, Ghosts In The House, Habit Of Sex, Fantasmi Macchina and Soundhead. For the crusty beginnings of...
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The Sisters of Mercy, Corner Hotel, Melbourne, March 1st
The “industrial groove machine” known as The Sisters of Mercy recently performed twice in Melbourne at the Corner Hotel and apparently also at the Soundwave Festival. The crowd was a good mix, but...
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Jesus and Mary Chain “Psychocandy” 30th Anniversary
It is rather frightening to think that it’s now over thirty years since Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain graced the airwaves. Well, frightening to people of a certain age such as this reviewer....
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Se Delan: Drifter (2016).
The press release page (includes album stream) says “dark, alternative, new wave” and studiously avoids the word g*th, but OH COME ON. 1992 in black with songs; Curve doing early eighties Cure. ’80s...
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The enduring popularity of bishonen: the Wraeththu Trilogies by Storm...
I have unresolved literary trauma, so you can have some too. These books are “sexy gender-ambiguous goth boys ahoy” porn from Storm Constantine as early ‘80s goth girl. (Note the cover star’s hand...
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Alixandrea Corvyn makes her deserved bid for fame.
This is Alixandrea Corvyn, of Last July and Rhombus and various previous bands. It’s a cover of “White Rabbit”, but with this grasp of imagery she’s on the right track. This video is just made to be...
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Strap On Halo: Altar of Interim EP, Prayers for the Living CD (2016).
Strap On Halo are a goth rock band from the goth scene. This is unfortunate, insofar as not even current goths are interested in current goth music — it’s a subculture of new clothes and old music. As...
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Reviews: Amy’s Arms, Foster Body, Uranium Club (2016).
Today we hit the Bandcamp for various recommendations of mates’ mates’ bands. Send yours in! At worst it’ll be ignored. AMY’S ARMS: My Dear Violet — Toronto indie goth rock band with dual female vocals...
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Links: cultural markets in late capitalism, Patricia Morrison, the 1938...
The consumer markets are not for you any more, and particularly not the cultural ones. A nice interview with Patricia Morrison of the Gun Club, Sisters of Mercy and the Damned. Restoring a synthesizer...
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Reviews: Vanguard, Dark Narrows, Navvi (2016).
VANGUARD: Never Surrender (Infacted) — EBM is rather closer to ’80s Hi-NRG disco than its proponents will generally admit. Ian Levine with an Access Virus and a shouty bloke on top. Probably more...
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David J. of Bauhaus on Alan Moore, interviewed by Phil Sandifer.
David J. Haskins is not just the other guy from Bauhaus (the person Peter Murphy was talking about when he said he wasn’t going to sing anyone else’s lyrics ever again), he’s also an old mate and...
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Reviews: Deerful, Brandy Kills, Milan (2016).
DEERFUL: Without Borders — Deerful time again already? Excellent. This is atmospheric floaty pop that nevertheless nails its chorus into your head with relentless efficiency. It’s also a political song...
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Review: Queen Of The Damned
(2001; dir. Michael Rymer) My feed is back! I can post again after about three weeks of harsh withdrawals! And what’s my first post going to be? Well, read the subject line again and despair. This is...
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Dark wave: Voight, LisaWars, Dear Deer (2016).
VOIGHT: Malware — some bands played Movement by New Order and heard a manifesto for action. This record suggests to me potential for a short rambling thesis on Movement as a template for non-goth...
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Reviews: Massenhysterie (2015), The Big Sun, Dyan (2016).
MASSENHYSTERIE: Massenhysterie EP — “kinky electro punk”, or Neue Deutsche Welle revival from Austria: authentic “we just bought our first MS-20” sound, shouting in German and unfortunate tendency to...
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Witch house: I’d make myself a majickal sandwich.
Witch House is a made-up genre that became real. It was invented as an in-joke and now goth DJs claim they play “witch house”. Perhaps the secret ingredient is the gr▲†u‡†Øu§ Un‡cØd3. The closest to a...
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Post-punk: Belgrado, Radar Eyes, Rakta (2016).
BELGRADO: Obraz (La Vida Es Un Mus) — old-style homemade dub-leaning sparse post-punk. Compressed collage fragments, fraught with meaning, assembled just right. And it’s all sung in Polish. There’s a...
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Synthpop: Crystal, Vile Electrodes, Hante (2016).
CRYSTAL: “Ride”; “Ride” (All-Night Remix) — “Synthwave” is a Bandcamp tag that mostly means “I can’t find a vocalist”. In musical terms it sounds like frenetic synth-lead and Linn drum film themes...
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Reviews: Arsia Line, The Primary Colors, Lindy Vision (2016).
ARSIA LINE: The Beyond — straight-up unabashed witch house, in the wild, in my reviews! May or may not have lasting qualities, but it’s certainly pleasant enough for eight minutes. Spooky darkwave...
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Witch house is the new coldwave: totally not goth video links.
Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy being interviewed by a kid. Nivek is just super nice. This is wonderful. What goth clubbing was like in 1984: The Height of Goth: 1984: A Night at the Xclusiv Nightclub....
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