Proud goth, ex DJ and music reviewer

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Back in 2020, we covered the release of the album Prepare For A Nightmare by Norwegian post-punk band Mayflower Madame, They have now re-released their second full length album as a deluxe version, on Only Lovers Records, with five new tracks included. In celebration, Mayflower Madame have dropped the single “Dresden“.

Photo by Tim Harris

The wandering guitars echo and plunge, for going out on this night might change your life forever, whether that is for your betterment or walking into disaster. The vocals are lethargic and almost unenthusiastic, like the singer knows the future, like a fortune teller, and there is a portent of gloom, especially if you take into account, Dresden burnt to the ground in WW2..

The accompanying video for “Dresden“, is a collection of noir, mostly silent films, cut together in a lovely montage of breathtakingly porcelain females. The signature psychedelic guitars are present and the synths have created an eerie background, held together with the drums and bass. Post-punk from Norway is alive and kicking with Mayflower Madame at the fore.

Prepared for a Nightmare (Deluxe Version) | Mayflower Madame (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/mayflowermadame

https://www.instagram.com/mayflowermadame/

http://www.onlyloversrecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/onlyloversrecords/

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Some music projects go on hiatus, but they never truly go away. After twenty years, DC Astro and Martha A. Hoffmann, have breathed new life into their electronic/darkwave band Deep Red, and what better way to celebrate this than with the release of a new single, “Battle Lines” which features Element 104.

The low tones are heavy and bass driven, giving the track a voluminous depth, and a long with the rhythm hurtle this track forward. Hoffmann’s vocals range from whispered to clear and true, just as the synths chime out and spin about a relationship gone sour, and the fight to be able to walk away from other person.

In 2002, the album Chimera was released, which has the original version of “Battle Lines” on it. I can hear why they wanted to, in a way, resurrect this track and give it another run, modernising it. A note of interest is that the mastering was done by Doruk Öztürkcan of She Past Away fame. The over all feel of “Battle Lines” is a big break through track bound for the dance floor, which will ensure we will be hearing more from Deep Red.

Battle Lines | Deep Red featuring Element 104 | Deep Red (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/TheRealDeepRed

https://www.instagram.com/therealdeepred/

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The first half of the year has seen a lot of really great new darkwave albums, and this includes, Crystalline, the latest from Norwegian Karl Morten Dahl, also known as Antipole and Brit Paris Alexander. This album is now out on the Young & Cold Records label with it being recorded between the UK and Norway, and the production, mixing and mastered by Alexander at his Blue Door Studio.

The album starts with “Perceptions“, which is one of three singles and it is a smooth affair between the synths and Alexander’s vocals, raising your heartbeat with anticipation with the rising guitar. “Nightshade” has been known to kill, yet the solemn delicacy of this track might make you want to live just that little bit longer so you might be able to hear “Bleached“, another single. Bleak and creeping with sorrow, but yet you cannot but be mesmerised by the sensual vocals and dirty electronic bass.

The desolate lushness of “Disjointed” brings a delicateness that sets you up for the third single, “Midnight Shadows“, where you can almost feel the spirits are reaching out to you through the echoing and enticing whispers. that draw spectral fingers up your skin, catching your breath. The rhythms knock away and the guitar draws you into its embrace as you share with Alexander, his hope and anguish in “Marble“.

We find ourselves at the gently flowing “Infractions“, bathing in its warm heart. The track has a Johnny Marr glazing with a pop sensibility. The final track is the sublimely elegant “Sentiments” with the low bass electronics balanced by the both the sweet guitar work and high end synths.

The production of the album is clean and so fluid, making it almost ethereal, and yet the tracks will also guide your feet to the dance floor. Paris Alexander’s vocals truly convey a lot of emotion, sometimes bordering on dark seduction, while Karl Morten Dahl’s playing in this conjures reminders of Robert Smith’s tantalising guitar prowess and form. Each track is devastatingly beautiful, unveiling the never ending cycle of the dark versus the light, with hints of all the shades of grey in between, as Antipole & Paris Alexander take you to the places that yesterday’s ghosts still haunt, in perfect Crystalline.

Crystalline | Antipole & Paris Alexander | Antipole (bandcamp.com)

http://www.facebook.com/antipoleband

Music | Paris Alexander (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/parisalexandermusic?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://bluedoormusicproductions.com/

https://www.facebook.com/youngandcoldrecords?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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From sun drenched Florida, Violet Silhouette are back with a new single, titled “Strange Wind“. This single is off the soon to be released EP Feverblue, which is the follow-up to the 2021 EP, SEMI-PERMANENTDEREALIZATION.

The metronome drum beats are twinned with the extruded electronics reverberating, which are joined by a classic post-punk heavy bass. The clean guitar breaks through, which heralds a burst of joyous, danceable sound. The vocals complete the booming shivers down the spine, as the music runs circles around your pleasure centres.

Longing and need are palpable in this track, along with the cascading layers of instrumentation. Violet Silhouette has mixed post-punk with both industrial dance and dark pop to give us the sublime “Strange Wind“.

https://violetsilhouette.bandcamp.com/track/strange-wind

https://www.facebook.com/violetsilhouetteofficial?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.violetsilhouette.com/

https://www.instagram.com/violetsilhouetteofficial/

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The wizard of techno-industrial dance, Simon Carter, is inviting you to join your weird brothers and sisters in the mystical coven through the latest EP, Initiation. Released at the end of May, Simon has said that these four tracks were cut from the up coming 2nd album with collaborator Fabsi, because they didn’t quite fit the overall sound but gelled well together for the EP.

The curtain raiser is “Seher (Initiation Countdown),” a call to the floor for all the warriors of dance and a taste of what is to come. There is a mixture of psytrance with EBM in “Hexennacht Rave” that interchanges, giving the track ebb and flow, building the energy, bewitching your senses. Big bass beats wub into your chest cavity, cut by the voice speaking at you about reality versus dreams, and you are waiting for your next techno hit in “Dancefloor Delusion.” The last track, “The Magic Coven (Welcome To the Coven),” is slower and pulsating with power, hypnotic suggestion from Carter’s deep spoken words, that you join the witches circle.

May black cats and bats fill your dreams while Carter fills your ears with techno delights of the strange kind, bidding you to indulge in the Saint Vitus dance macabre. Welcome to the Initiation.

Initiation | Simon Carter (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/HumansCantReboot

https://simoncarter.contactin.bio/

https://www.instagram.com/simon.carter_official/

http://www.twitch.tv/sy_carter

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When was the last time you listened to a piece of classical music? Many will start to appreciate it as they get older, because we grow with life experiences and often tastes develop. In this vein, new US label, Moon Coil Media have signed Western Australian, Father Robert Nixon, OSB and released his neo-classical album, Celestial Void. Everything was recorded at the New Norcia Monastery, then mastered by Sean Beasley, with the lovely cover art created by Greg Rolfe

Yes, you did read correctly. Father Robert is a man of the cloth and God, as the OSB stands for Ordo Sancti Benedicti or more commonly known as a Benedictine Monk. Before Father Robert took his vows, he previously been involved in post-punk, goth and classical projects.

As a classically inspired instrumental album, heavily saturated in piano and backed up by synths, it is unfair to pull apart Celestial Void track by track. Instead I will give you my impressions in general. Some of the tracks are lilting and sweetly calming sanctuaries, such as the “Ode To A Nightingale“, with wending piano strains that gently caress your senses. Others. like “Elude melancholique” are saturated in exquisite mournful gloom, and Father Robert creates darkly beautiful tracks that remind me of pieces such as “Moonlight Sonata” by Bach or the evocative “Clare De Lune” by Claude Debussy.

Most pieces would be in the category of toccata, and it really does not surprise that the Chopin piece, “Valse In C# Minor,” was chosen as the one cover version. Not only is it a gorgeous piece of the Chopin Opus, but in reality, it is a very hard track to play properly due to it being in C sharp and Father Robert pulls it off perfectly.

If I had to choose a favourite track, I might pick “Nocturne In C# Minor” as it has the heart of a Franz Liszt waltz, the difficulty of a Chopin piece and the moonlit supernatural beauty of Vaughan Williams‘ “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis“. Father Robert Nixon, is not only a talented musician and composer, but also a theologian, poet and well versed in Latin. A renaissance man staring into the Celestial Void.

Celestial Void | Father Robert Nixon, OSB (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/MoonCoilMedia?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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Today’s quickie is from Swedish electronic band, Fatal Casualties. They are Stefan Ljungdahl and Ivan Hirvonen, and we are bringing to your attention a cover of The Cure track “One Hundred Years” with guest vocalist Alex Spalck of Pankow.

This track has always been a favourite of those who love the 1982 album Pornography, and the dark electronics follow this paradigm. Spalck’s wonderfully crazed and mournful vocals capture the essence of the track, while Fatal Casualties manages emphasis the heavy feeling of longing through their manipulation of synths and programmes. The music video is a must watch affair, and this twist on the gothic tune is so well done.

http://www.fatalcasualties.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FatalCasualtiesBand?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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Darkwave duo, producer Mario Del Rio and vocalist Rayne Lew, are Adore Me. They are based between Los Angeles and Mexico City, and their EP, Kira #1 came out on the 28th of May, on the Sublime Exile label.

Oh yes… first and title track is electronic bass heavy, with a dance floor savvy. “Kira #1” is sexy musically, lyrically and the vocals melt like molten wax on bare skin. The techno is unleashed in “MABH“, crossed with 80s synth and Lew’s singing is light, floating in the uncertain grimly electronics. There is even a quote from Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliette‘, which is in relation to the fairy Queen Mab or MAbh, whom the track is dedicated too.

The vocals echo within the cocoon of deranged synths of “Psyphon“, both beautiful and yet seemingly set on the edge of cliff, poised to fall into infinity. “Bruise” is the last track, not as fast paced but just as entrancing. It is delicate with a darker undertone. The imagery from the lyrics is coloured by red or rather the blood spilt by death.

Graceful darkwave sensuality oozes from Kira #1, but it is also has a bite about it. Lust, magic and death, create an aura of funereal delight which lures the listener to move to the rhythms. Adore Me or not to Adore Me, that is the question, but you should have a listen to Kira #1 so you might know thy self.

Kira #1 | Adore Me (bandcamp.com)

http://facebook.com/adoremeband

https://subexile.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/adorememusic/

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NØIR is the electronic project for Athan Maroulis (vocals) and Erik Gustafson (synths/guitar/producer). joined for live events by keyboard players Jamie Parganos and Kai Irina Hahn. The new single/EP “Fallen” was something NØIR had been working on just as Covid was kicking in and then was put on hold after the unfortunate passing of Metropolis Records creator, Dave Heckman, but now it has now seen the watery light of evening, in May.

There is a euro cool chic glamour that coats the slick synths and Maroulis‘ vocals are, as always, wonderfully smooth, entrancing your senses into the dance that NØIR is bewitching you with. The Paradox Obscur remix is far more filled with thumping rhythms that has a disco like attitude, that is aimed straight for your pleasure zones. The darkwave retro fingers of Silver Walks caresses “Fallen“, giving it the feel as if the track could have come from the early 80s during the time of Midge Ure’s Ultravox, while the Femme Mix features the sensual vocals of Kai Irina Hahn, as she goes from backing singer to replacing Maroulis.

You also get the brand spanking new track “Death Is Easy“, which is going to haunt you in your sleep and you are going to believe that death really is easy in a sexy, stalking and lurid way. If you are as old enough, like some of us, the Psychedelic Furs song “Love My Way“, was an iconic dark love of many in the 80s, where we could all feel the words pull at our heart strings. NØIR have taken the track, playing it as an acoustic and the vocals actually remind me very much of Bowie’s.

The synths literally sing themselves, sparkling in “Fallen” and the vocals…. well, Maroulis proves his vocals are scintillating and beautiful as ever. The remixes have been wonderfully handled, and the extra tracks definitely show the depth of the musicianship of the members of NØIR.

Fallen | NOIR (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/NOIRmetropolis

https://www.instagram.com/noir_nyc_official/

https://metropolis-records.com/artist/noir

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They say the road to ruin is paved with good intentions and maybe US band, Bellhead might know this better than many. As of May the 8th, their latest EP, aptly named Good Intentions, was released on Oppressive Sky Records. What makes this project a little different is the fact that there are two styles of bass being played and no lead or rhythm guitar, so you know from that fact alone that their sound is going to be something a little special. The Chicago based duo is made up of Karen Righeimer (low bass, vocals) and
Ivan Russia (high bass, vocals, drum programming), while they have entrusted Bellhead’s sound to regulars, audio engineer Neil Strauch (Iron and Wine / Counting Crows / Owls / Joan of Arc / Walking Bicycles / Slow Mass) and mastering engineer Carl Saff (Acid Mothers Temple / Smoking Popes / Red Fang / Guided by Voices).

When you say “Bad Taste“, I admit I think of the New Zealand comedy horror movie, but in the case of this song, it feels more like Steven King’s ‘Misery‘, claustrophobic and just a tad a bit deranged in a stalkerish kind of way. The music for “Into The Deep” feels like really dark surf rock, that has the even darker tale of a relationship that is dragging the couple to their proverbial doom. The vocals are beautifully carried off between Righeimer and Russia. “Valentine” is both sweet and bitter at the same time. There is something poignantly timeless about this track as it wends it way through the unabashed sorrow and loss.

Oh my, Righeimer is vocally channelling Kim Gordon for “Apathy“. In fact, the whole song has the signature groove of Sonic Youth all over it, making lassitude ever so cool. There is a cover in the track “No Big Deal“, which was originally written and performed by Love And Rockets, appearing on their 1989, self titled album. Honestly, I can hear why they picked this song, and I think Love And Rockets might be a big influence on Bellhead’s overall sound. The two basses absolutely inject the funk into this cover. Last track is the delicious “Drugstore Keri“, a raw and sleazy ditty about some bird named Keri, who can supply the drug of your choice, on the sly.

Bellhead literally rumble, causing your speakers to buzz at times, in a very good way. Having the two bass married to a drum machine makes for an ever so tight rhythm section, also giving you the melodies as well. This definitely gives the music a dirty post-punk groove to each track, and this new EP leans more into pop rock. The Good Intentions of Bellhead is fun, nostalgic and rocking… in that fabulously gloomy way.

Good Intentions | BELLHEAD (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/bellheadband

https://bellheadband.com/

https://bellheadband.com/