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Apparently, the project Habitable Moons is air and atmosphere out of Stockholm, but actually, it is a guy called Peter Lindström out of Stockholm and back in January, they debuted the EP, oddly called….well… EP1. This kind of alludes to the fact that there might be other EPs in the future.

“October 3” kicks off, with highly rhythm intensive textures layering over each other. The pulsating electronics are almost futuristic in nature. Perhaps this is a date in future that we are awaiting with trepidation. There is the feeling of movement and the build-up of something ancient in “Winter Storm, Baltic Sea“, though it does not seem like a violent storm, but rather swells and ebbs with driving rain. The third track is “Cape Breton, Nova Scotia” and the sounds of gulls and guitar give you a glimpse of sun drenched beach running into the ocean, and early morning when the day is but young. It seems at peace with the world as the land wakes up. The guitar looping could be mistaken for church bells, and we even get to hear the voice of the progenitor, Lindström.

Just a small observation of mine was that the Bandcamp player that you can preview tracks on, was not showing any minutes, nor seconds for any of the three tracks, which is something I am not used to and it kind of gave an air of uncertainty as to how long the tracks went for. Maybe I should pick the word “timeless” as that suits these electronic tracks that conjure up visions with their rhythms and experimentation. EP1 runs for approximately twenty-five minutes, but it definitely doesn’t feel that long, and maybe that is what happens on Habitable Moons.

EP1 | Habitable Moons (bandcamp.com)

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

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Akustikkoppler (Acoustic coupler) is Hamburg duo, Matthias Schuster (Geisterfahrer, Das Institut) and Malte Steiner (Notstandskomitee, Das Kombinat). They create experimental electronic music and last year they dropped their fourth album. Alles Muß Raus (Everything Must Go), which was mastered in 2021 but the actual recordings were made between 2008 – 2012.

The whole ten tracks are instrumental and they most certainly run along the lines making noises that please them and incorporating those noises into music that they inspire. There is the space like “Heimweg“, with a 70s kitsch feel, and yet it could be a science fiction horror in the cold void. Or the throbbing and wandering nature of “Horses And Carriages Burn“, as spikes of electronics speak up or the oddity that is “Dinge, Die Unter Dem Tisch Lagen” or the things that were under the table, which could be a whole new world with out of place bleeps and reverberations.

It might be experimental but Alles Muß Raus is very enjoyable. There are bright noodling bits and even tracks that have a dance beat, yet overall the album is nearly hypnotic as you become engrossed in listening to everything going on. Akustikkoppler seems to be hitting all the good notes.

Alles Muß Raus | Akustikkoppler (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064120891094&mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.block4.com/musicprojects/Akustikkoppler/index.php

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Not often that you have a group that is known as a collective, but this is just what Flowers Of Hell is, which a group of sixteen musicians revolving through, based between London and Toronto. The project encompasses both classical and modern alternative rock and in 2012, they released the album Odes, a collection of covers, from bands that have influenced them.

Photo by Greg Jarvis

Now, in April 2023, Odes will be getting its first showing on vinyl with Space Age Recordings. At the time, back in 2012, the legend Lou Reed acclaimed it ‘an amazing, amazing album‘. You can’t get much better praise than from the guy who was the voice for The Velvet Underground, about an album that bears one of their tracks. In fact, they have used the original lyrics that were penned by Reed on the Velvet’s original demo for “Walk On The Wild Side“

There are covers of Bob Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man“, Siouxsie And The Banshees‘ “Last Beat Of My Heart“, and Stereolab’s “Super-Electric” just to give you an idea of the variation in styles. You can even go check out the new video created for the post-punk track “Atmosphere“, which is of course, originally, by the beautifully sad Joy Division. Flowers Of Hell treat both this, and all the other songs with great reverence whilst giving each a classical twist. Odes is a musical salute to the tracks that have influenced generations, and Flowers Of Hell have acknowledged they are building their own wonderful legacy on the shoulders of giants. The release date is April 22nd.

https://flowersofhell.bandcamp.com/music

http://www.flowersofhell.com/

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

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Out on the rather impressively named Culture Vomit Production, is the new album from London’s Pillars Of Golden Misery, called Turbo Necropolis. Another experimental noise project of the very busy Howard Gardner, who is also Non-Bio and a member of Decommissioned Forests.

The lethargy of “The Demon Ray” turns your way, low wave pulsing which continues into the stalking “Ultimate Fighting Claw Death“. The ominous “Big-Time Blade Trader” lumbers with reverberation causing rising internal tensions and this is built on with “Temple Of Catastrophe” as Gardner adds his intonations to the track that is forever doomed to haunt that mystical abode, and this is just a few of the pieces.

For the most part, Turbo Necropolis is an instrumental affair, and as I always say, it is never good to pull apart instrumental albums as they are crafted often to create a mood. Gardner has put together eleven tracks, that paint a picture in sonics of an ancient city inhabited by the dead. The oppressive dark spaces, wind swept halls, temples where possible sacrifices were made and the people that never left.

The chanting in the title track makes me think of the Indiana Jones movie, Temple Of Doom, and the imagery fits so well. A place tainted by blood sprays and screams of the unfortunate, now rendered in shadowy electronic creepiness, as you make your way through the establishment. Pillars Of Golden Misery are inviting you to visit their Turbo Necropolis…..it’s a nice place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there.

Turbo Necropolis | Pillars Of Golden Misery | Culture Vomit (bandcamp.com)

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

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

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Lunar Paths is the Trans-Atlantic goth duo of Diane Dubois and Kevin Hunter, and the 15th of March saw the release of a new single, “Silvania“. The band have said the track is based on the werewolf like creature, Loup Garou, from the Margaret Atwood novel Surfacing.

Layers of electronics waver throughout, chiming sleigh bells and drum loops, build a sensuous myriad of a swirling moon bound soundtrack, into which the vocals, sumptuously croon to you, which has a wonderous Siouxsie Sioux style. A vibrant ode the Lycan kind, with the wilderness in their blood that rages, driving them a little insane in the pale light of the Goddess Diana. A pertinent song for a band called Lunar Paths and “Silvania” might have you howling in delight.

Silvania | LUNAR PATHS | Lunar Paths (bandcamp.com)

https://www.lunarpaths.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LunarPathsMusic

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Seems those guys from The Drood have a new single with video called “Hallow” out on the label eMERGENCY heARTS. Join me in listening to the experimental, dulcet and alternative tones on offer with the extra joy of a video!!

You are entering the zone of The Drood, so don’t adjust the horizontal or vertical because this is where sounds of the electronics takes on a life of their own. A psychedelic trip into a world lived, perhaps online, where humans look for attention and adulation, as if their existence depends on it. There are trap like rhythms mixed with a slow burn reverse tape feel. Even more fun with the music video, so check out the trippy “Hallow” from The Drood.

Hallow | The Drood (bandcamp.com)

hallow | The Drood | eMERGENCY heARTS (bandcamp.com)

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

http://www.emergencyhearts.com/

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

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Diane Dubois and Kevin Hunter are Lunar Paths, an experimental darkwave transatlantic project and the 10th of February, saw the release of their newest single “Yeraz“. Yeraz is the Armenian word for ‘dream’ and the track itself features the Armenian wind instrument called a duduk.

There is a mix and flow of both traditional and modern drone in the form of drums which could mimic the dhol (Armenian Drum) and modern percussion, that creates a hypnotic undertow, giving a platform to the vocals, piano snippets and the duduk. The duduk is an exotic inclusion that paints a picture of faraway places in the Middle East.

The duduk is the a star of the track, with its low and warm tones that conjure visions of ancient peoples and meandering waterways. It is mesmerising while the even lower tones beneath, take on the sound of deep prayers in a temple. The vocals snake through the ethereal dreamtime. Join the the Lunar Paths new world order with “Yeraz“.

Yeraz | Lunar Paths (bandcamp.com)

https://www.lunarpaths.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LunarPathsMusic/

https://www.instagram.com/lunar.paths/

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Alexander Leonard Donat... teacher, marathon runner, musician, man behind the label Blackjack Illuminist Records, co-conspirator for several musical acts, driving force behind his own project Vlimmer and very possibly a crime fighter by night (just saying Vlimmer man has a certain ring to it!). November saw Vlimmer’s second, full length album, Menschenleere, enter the watery light of day.

The first tastes of forbidden fruit came our way in the form of the two singles, the rhythm filled darkwave tendrils of “Erdgeruch” and the wondrously 80s inspired eccentricity of “Kronzeuge“. There are such gems hidden within, such as “Mathematik” with its giddy synths that remind me so much of the electronic trailblazer, John Foxx, even more so for the fact his backing band were The Maths.

“Noposition” has a magical trance like quality within its warm embracing beats, while “Schwimmhand” leaves you not only amazed by the sheer brilliance but also experiencing tingles through your extremities. Even the title track has an ancient feel, whilst playing with time signatures. “Menschenleere” is vast and echoing in the chamber of what might not be a pained reality.

Yes you can dance to Vlimmer, but for me, there is something akin to multiple storylines. Each track is crafted just so, this one with a more science fiction vibe, another with more sombre tones and yet another with a spinning glorious shoegaze vision. All held together by Donat’s vocals, be they happy, sad or even imploring.

Vlimmer is the centre of this world he has created, and has the knack of spinning his musical tales that capture us up into this web of darkwave delights. Even better is the fact that Alexander touches back to the styles that have influenced him but he never let’s them consume him, rather experimenting to create tracks that encapsulate his music journey. Beautiful, fragile and ashened songs to drink, dance to, and watch the moon…Menschenleere (Deserted)

https://blackjackilluministrecords.bandcamp.com/album/menschenleere

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

https://www.facebook.com/Blackjack.Illuminist/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

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Well, if you are going to do Christmas music then may you Have Yourself A Noisy Little Christmas care of STAHLSCHLAG. Sometimes I think German, Sebastian Sünkler is half man, half machine, the way he puts out music and tapping that vein of cybernetics, the noise master has graced us with an EP of Christmas covers.

Honestly, you really haven’t lived until you have heard a rhythmic noise version of “Jingle Bells“, which does seem to be a firm favourite with people, as Sünkler ramps up a screaming sleigh ride to get the heart pumping, in a most delightful way, hey! For me, however, my interest lay with the rendition of “Carol Of The Bells“, which is a beautiful track, even if it is a Christmas tradition and one can appreciate the intricacies of its splendour. Could Sünkler really pull this off? Let’s just say that I was not disappointed. Like razor edged snowflakes, perfect in their icy glory, both beautiful and full of cold fury.

There are also covers of “White Christmas” (no Bing Crosby in the mix), “Frosty The Snowman” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town“. If you don’t particularly like the Chrimbo music but want to kind of participate, then this is perfect. Christmas cyber party…. then you can’t go past STAHLSCHLAG’s, Have Yourself A Noisy Little Christmas.

https://stahlschlag.bandcamp.com/album/have-yourself-a-noisy-little-christmas

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

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December is the time to catch Lunar Paths new single, “Shine“. The transatlantic darkwave duo are back after the launch of the EP, Fuse.

There is a crunchy, broken glass like texture in the rhythm at times from the electronics. The vocals are beautifully clean and clipped, holding your attention, until they drift into another dimension, sliding you with them.

Currently, I cannot put my finger on what exactly but this track reminds me a lot of Siouxsie And The Banshees, around the time of A Kiss In The Dreamhouse (1982). Lush, charismatic and experimental might be some of the reason why. The way they have distorted the rhythm, giving it a modern industrial feel, mixed with the gorgeous singing. “Shine” is possibly my favourite Lunar Paths’ track to date yet.

http://www.lunarpaths.com

https://m.facebook.com/LunarPathsMusic/

https://m.soundcloud.com/user-215916315/shine